Top 10 books to becoming President

1. BE 2.0 - Jim Collins

2. The Servant As Leader - Robert Greenleaf

3. Mindset - Carol Dwe ch

4. E-Myth - Michael Gerber

5. 5 dysfunctions of a team - Patrick Lendon

6. Traction - Giho Wickman

7. Extreme Ownership - Jocko Willink

8. Stillness is the Key - Ryan Holiday

9. Range -David Epstein

10. The Goal - Eliyahu Goldratt

BE 2.0 - Leadership + Business

Leader Job: crystalize vision, shape culture, build people 

Qualities of BEST leaders:

A) Humility (We > I )

B) Will (Resolve)

“Training + exec coaching isn’t a perk … it’s a business advantage”

A VISION: 

1. CORE VALUES - principles /foundation

2. PURPOSE - reason for company existence

3. BHAG- Big Hairy Audacious Goal

B STRATEGY: How to Achieve Vision

1. Where to place the bets

2. How to protect flanks

3. How to extend victories

C TACTICS:

1. Hire

2. Inculcate (teach values + vision)

3. Train

4. Goal Setting

5. Measure

6. Appreciate (go back to #2 & repeat)

Trust by confidence in values + competence

2 levels of consciousness

1. Real world- in the dirt today

2. Balcony - in the sky without the context of history and future

3 Hats to wear which lead to foresight

1. Historian

2. Contemporary Analyst

3. Prophet

St. Francis "Lord grant that I may not seek so much to be understood as to understand.”

People Using vs. People Building

-  Unlearn mindset from educational system

-  Detaching results to self-worth

Growth vs Fixed Mindset

A belief in effort, human development, + unlimited potential

Fixed mindset = fragile … give power to others to define oneself

Real world = messy + ladder w/”failures”

Growth mindset reframes the real world to tap into full potential + learn through a real education in post-school.

Listening, learning, nurturing to tap into the limitless human potential we have.

3 Key Roles in business:

Technician: "Doer", Current Value; "Assembly Line Focus"; How much can do oneself

Manager: Pragmatic, order, Execution Fulfillment Symbolic relationship: How many technicians can supervise

Entrepreneur: Creative, Big Thinker, Get Work - pursuit of vision, leverage public speaking, story telling

• How many managers can engage in pursuit of vision

• System Dependent > Person Dependent

• Organization w/no structure = mob

• Customer is a continuous parade of changing wants begging to be satisfied

• Job Descriptions: set the rules of the game

• Build a business that works not because of you but without you

Political = not speaking mind... saying something based on how want others to react

Politics = symptom of ambiguous goal

Vision = Laser Beam

Internal Growth of people leads to future greatness

P+L = too late as a scorecard

Problems are like mushrooms... when dark + rainy they multiply

Issues (“IDS”): Identify, Discuss, Solve

People: Get it, Want it, Capacity to do it (“GWC")

Successful Business:

1. Vision: crystal clear shared by everyone

2. People: right people, right seats

3. Data: pulse on operations by watching handful of #s (weekly)

4. Issues: identify + solve promptly in open+honest environment

5. Process: document all processes + followed by everyone

6. Traction: establish priorities for each employee + high level of trust, communication, + accountability exist

Manager Skills: simplify, delegate, predict, systemize + structure

Delegate: By hanging on to tiny details, you're constricting company growth

With a Vision: people are fighting for great good NOT politics

Ideal Team size: 4-6 + Leader

• > all SEAL teams are like this structure

• > Humans not optimized to lead more than 6-10 at the

Decentralized Command: empower others

• Allow juniors to make mistakes and support as long as intent is to achieve strategic objective

• Team leads (dictate the “HOW”): must understand WHAT + WHY

• Simplicity: clear guidance + establish boundaries

Plans: 

• + simple.: team should not need to think to understand

• + clear: correlation of action & consequence

“What you tolerate are your standards"

Solutions for problems are found at  the front line (team within the team)

Leader must understand where needed most.

Prioritize + Execute

“Good decisions are not made by those remaining on empty."

"Does it not harm other people if you are stretched too thin?” (190)

“You don’t solve a maze by rushing through” (188)

Napoleon secretary would wait 3 weeks to give Napoleon mail to allow urgent issues to resolve on own to filter to what's important.

“Chop wood, carry water. Chop wood, carry water. Chop wood, carry water.” - Zen proverb

- Do the work!

Sleep is the source of all health and energy!

"The world is like muddy water. To see through it, we have to let things settle... if we are patient and still, the truth will be revealed to us.” (47)

"A person who puts their body to good use - volunteering protecting, serving ... will not need to treat it like an amusement park.”

21st century: change + uncertainty drastically increased …  value of breadth leads to insights

Nintado: Pivot- Physical card game → technology gaming

Yokoi great grandson (G4) + visionary NOT specialist becomes hired specialists

Frogs

Focused frogs in mud

Delight in the details

Vertical

“Ledge hog”

Visionary Bird

“I figure out the fundamental questions to arc, and if you ask these questions of the people who actually know their stuff … It’s mosaic building.”

“A rapidly changing, wicked world demands conceptual reasoning skills that can connect new ideas and work across contexts” (57)

Manager Role

• What to change? (core problems)

• What to change to? (Solution no side effects)

• How to cause change? (create enthusiasm)

Bottleneck: whoever /whatever moves slowest governs throughput

Financial KPIs

Net Profit

ROI

Cashflow

inflow

stuck

outflow

5 focusing steps

1. Identify system constraints

2. Decide how to exploit system constraints

3. Subordinate everything else

4. Elevate system constraints

5. If constraint has been broken go back to step 1. Do not allow inertia to cause a system constraint

Production capacity must be stronger at the end of throughput the strength of the chain is determined by the weakest link.