I have had the good fortune to work with several organizations that are scaling up, growing their capacity to meet higher demands. I call this intentional evolution. My engagements have centered on helping these groups customize their growth, better serve their mission while simultaneously increasing their capacity. As a result I have learned a good deal about what it takes to successfully stay ahead of the curve yet avoid overbuilding.

Here are eleven lessons I now share with CEOs in advance of helping them with their organization’s intentional evolution:

1. At the center of dramatic growth is your organization’s mission.

It will guide every choice that is made, both strategic and tactical, as you scale up to deliver broader and deeper impact. It must be clearly understood and stated explicitly as it is your compass. This is especially true in times of stress or when tough decisions are called for.

2. Scaling up must be people and community focused.

Organizations are made up of people, inside and outside the org-chart. Regardless of imposed structure, these people work in communities and ultimately they contribute according to the social rules they have established. Therefore, every plan regardless of its logical excellence relies on engagement, support, and contribution, or it will fail.

3. Scaling up is a significant, whole-system, transformational process.

It is not something to be entered into lightly or without due diligence. Due diligence means the major players must be involved, first in interviews and then in the construction of significant portions of the scale-up. These players are both inside and outside the organization. They certainly include leadership, but extend beyond the senior team to include beneficiaries, front line staff, partners, vendors, thought leaders, technical experts, policy makers and government officials, and media, Appropriate involvement is the approach you want. Not everyone should be in on every aspect, but apposite engagement is required across the board.

4. Scaling up requires attention to the details of circumstance.

Resources and adoption do not flow evenly. You want to stay ahead of the curve, providing a track or infrastructure for growth, but you do not want to get too far ahead of actual uptake. This requires ongoing steering, not mindless following of a project plan that has been written and endorsed.

5. To oversee the effort, you will need a Steering Group.

These leaders may include board members and other critical players outside the day-to-day activity of the scale-up effort. Every member must understand and support the potential positive impact of the scaling opportunity. This group is responsible for big picture oversight, helping to make critical strategic decisions during implementation, as circumstances will inevitably change midstream.

6. To run the effort, you will need a Collaborative Leadership Team.

Ownership of implementation must reside inside the organization and held by a select few senior staff who can work well together. These are the folks who drive the change day-to-day, address tactical challenges, help each other out as emerging opportunities and challenges become apparent, ensure that the ball is not dropped on critical initiatives, and balance the load over the span of the project.

7. You must have a Chief Information Officer / Chief Knowledge Officer.

It may or may not mean the addition of a senior team member. But, you will need someone at the executive level who understands the role of knowledge sharing and technology to realize the potential the scaling up offers. In these two areas in particular, strategic leadership is required.

8. Every successful effort examines twelve core topics.

These are your primary variables. Each situation is different, but due diligence requires an audit to set a baseline as well as a clearly defined target to establish objectives. Moreover, these twelve topics are cross-related and interdependent. So, they must be dealt with together. They are in no particular order:

1. Leadership
2. Business Development
3. Partnerships
4. Thought Leadership and Public Relations
5. Finance and Risk Management
6. Operations
7. Talent and Human Development
8. Knowledge Sharing, Training, and Support
9. Procurement
10. Legal
11. Information Technology
12. Business Processes and Administration

9. Customization is achieved by listening to the stories of your most valuable players.

To create a individualized picture of your current state and the detailed goals of your scaling up, including measures of success and value identification for the twelve core topics, conduct a systematic listening effort with your key people of influence inside and outside the organization. This will include intensive sessions with the senior team collectively as well as individual interviews across the range of existing and future stakeholders (your growing, right? You have new stakeholders on the horizon).

10. Due diligence means learning from other organizations.

Find enterprises that are a good match your critical factors and have succeeded in their own growth. Conduct a real search to find these parallels in your industry or circumstances. Engage in face-to-face knowledge sharing. The value is stunning. You can expect to glean lessons learned on scope, execution, trouble spots, strategy, and tactics… plus get some really good guidance from people who have paid their dues.

11. Use community-building techniques to engage people in the overall effort.

I use a people-centered approach that is quite different from traditional mechanistic models for scaling. Community building is about empowering people to create different types of solutions that can be fit into the larger strategic initiative. It requires a tolerance for creativity, which can succeed with a plug-and-play attitude. The payoff is long-term success grounded in innovation, ownership, and integration.

I am often asked, what is the right sequence of events to begin? How do we start? Here are some rules of thumb:

1. Begin with the CEO or Executive Director.
2. Convene the senior team. Expect to reconvene periodically.
3. Build the Steering Group and establish the Collaborative Change Leadership Team.
4. Conduct interviews of your most valuable players to set your baseline, and talk to other organizations
5. Create a plan including goals, metrics, and value identification.

Scaling up, like any change initiative, is risky and hard. There are many moving parts. Things will come in clusters, and sometimes activity will feel overwhelming. But, the payoff is significant and sometimes immediate: increased capacity, improved delivery, and a better world. It’s worth doing right.

________________________
Seth Kahan (Seth@VisionaryLeadership.com) is a Change Leadership specialist. He has consulted with CEOs and executives in over 50 world-class organizations that include Shell, World Bank, Peace Corps, Marriott, Prudential, American Society of Association Executives, Project Management Institute, and NASA. His website is VisionaryLeadership.com.

Seth’s book, Getting Change Right: How Leaders Transform Organizations from the Inside Out, will be published in May by Jossey-Bass. Order it now from Amazon, Borders, or Barnes and Noble.

Terrell, Hundley & Carroll

They take what they do, being stewards of the tax payers dollar to oversee right of way projects, very personally and seriously. They care about the people they work with and wanted their marketing materials to reflect that – not so corporate, but not too casual. Check out their website for yourself.

Terrell, Hundley & Carroll Web Site

AquantUs

AquantUs, LLC may be a new Executive Recruiting and Coaching firm, but their experience is vast. After working in the industry for over 15 years, Tiffany Hoffine, CEO, is branching out to bring integrity back to the executive placement industry with her company.

Not only did we create the website for AquantUs, but we also handled the naming and identity creation. Please feel free to check out the website yourself.

AquantUs Web Site

Whether you need a booth that looks like a ship or just a banner stand to list your services, Rock, Paper, Print can handle all of your booth display needs! Big or little, cost effective or an investment piece, we are here to help.

P.S. Hand outs, promotional pieces, event ads and direct mail are also available to make your event a true success!

Jacabee Tradeshow Booth / Boat

Innovation Techonology Banner Stand

Modular Trdeshow Display

Get ready for the RPS Social Media Event, Part 2, February 18th at the RPS studio.

We will be discussing some new trends and introducing tracking programs to help you monitor your success. It will be an open forum event and your questions, comments and concerns will be addressed as delivered. Feel free to send in questions ahead of time. Bring friends, family, coworkers, pets, etc, who might be interested in the content as well!

Details to follow in early February!

Ladies and Gentlemen. The world of commerce is progressing. The newest area of growth is called M-Commerce which stands for Mobile Commerce. This is not researching products and making buying decisions with the help of your mobile device; it is the act of making a purchase with your mobile device. Check out the following article to find out a little more about the newest way to make purchases: http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/1516-Mobile-Commerce-Is-Coming-

As seen on Marketing Profs:

After every flight, Qantas pilots fill out a form, called a “gripe sheet,” which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics correct the problems, document their repairs on the form, and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight. Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humor. Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by Qantas’ pilots (marked with a P) and the solutions recorded (marked with an S) by maintenance engineers. By the way, Qantas is the only major airline that has never, ever, had an accident.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.
==

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.
==

P: Something loose in cockpit.
S: Something tightened in cockpit.
==

P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back-order.
==

P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent.
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.
==

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.
==

P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to more believable level.
==

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That’s what friction locks are for.
==

P: IFF inoperative in OFF mode.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.
==

P: Suspected crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you’re right.
==

P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.
==

P: Aircraft handles funny. (I love this one!)
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious.
==

P: Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.
==

P: Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed.
==

And the best one for last …
P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from midget

Our hope is that you all had a very restful and happy holiday season. In December, we got some great news at RPS when the Livelys announced that they are expecting a baby girl in March. Nicole ended 2009 with a jolt when she used a tree to stop her car instead of the breaks.  The upside is that she wasn’t badly injured and she has a new set of wheels to get around town, so look for her driving a stylish black Corolla. On a more somber note, Rock, Paper, Scissors lost one of its greatest fans over the holidays, Kay Sutt. Randy’s Mom was our one-woman cheering squad for everything Rock, Paper, Scissors and we will truly miss her.

There is no doubt that Kay would agree with me in saying that each new year brings not only new challenges but also great opportunities. To seize those opportunities, all of us should study trends and continually improve communication with our customers and business network. For some insights into upcoming trends, read “10 Crucial Consumer Trends for 2010”. Just go to http://www.trendwatching.com. Then how about “4 Steps for Effective Online Networking” at mashable.com, 4 Steps for Effective Online Networking. Enjoy the read. They are both filled with good tips and interesting information.

February 18th we are also planning RPS Social Media Part 2. Last year we had a great turnout and created a second session to accommodate all who wanted to attend. Everyone is invited so call or email us to reserve a seat. It’s a fun evening of food, beverage, networking and sharing.

Happy New Year Everyone. See you all very soon.
Cindy Sutt

Cyber Monday brought a lot of traffic to social media sites. On both Twitter and Facebook pages, some retailers had giveaways just to get you to become a fan or follower. Such as products or gift cards. Some even had special codes needed to obtain from Twitter or Facebook in order to input to get your deal. Top tweeted deal was from Toshibalaptops.

Retailers were able to use a free service to advertise their deals. #Cyber Monday even became a trending topic, since so many people were tweeting about so many deals. Deals were then able to be re-tweeted which made word spread faster.

Even places you would not think to have deals had “Cyber Monday” deals, such as Flamingo Hotels in Vegas. (on both Facebook and Twitter)

Cybermonday.com even had its own Facebook fan page, which had tons of Cyber Monday deals posted on it.

Facebook Fan Pages for Cyber Monday:

Macy’s made you become a fan before you could see the deals = smart. (easy enough and they can update you from now one on products and specials.)

Best Buy did not have just a Cyber Monday tab. They have a holiday fun tab with lots of fun links to click.

Not just large retailers had deals posted on twitter and Facebook. Even single product distributors selling items had special deals and were using Facebook and Twitter to post. Such as Chill Out & About

A lot of the deals being tweeted were by people that sell their items through etsy.

One way I know that social media (Twitter) was crowded on Cyber Monday was because I got the “fail whale” more than 10 times during this research. This holiday season, think of using social media to get the word out there. Why not? It’s free.

Yes, plan. More than ever it is important to have a plan and stick to it. Gather up your marketing materials and look them over. Review your web site. Is your message still relevant to what your company offers? Is it stale and dated? What new services or products can you offer your clients? Reinvent yourself and roll out the new year by getting your whole team excited.

We are practicing what we preach. At RPS we have some new products—like mobile Web site design and development—to address significant changes in the marketplace. With three times more smart phones than PC’s in use, we now have advantages that allow us to reach this broad audience. RPS is also working the Social Media Marketing arena, as you all know, and helping more clients adapt SM into their marketing plan. As we experience the benefits of following our own advice, we encourage you to consider the same opportunities.

Sometimes the hardest part of evaluating your sales and marketing efforts is having an outside perspective of what you are doing and how it is received. In the days of doing more yourself, RPS is offers marketing consultations to help you focus. Contact Us to get ready for 2010 and set up your Marketing Consultation!

Most of all don’t delay, start planning for a more profitable new year today. Let’s Rock’N Roll!