Mario’s How I(‘d) Do Business Document

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Purpose

• The purpose of this document is to help me get my bearings straight and maybe, in the process, inspire you the reader in some way. 
• I’m creating this document as inspired by Noah Glass’ How I Work document, since he shared it with me. https://mindmaven.notion.site/Noah-s-How-I-Work-Document-1e15353e1f394f34ab97dcb0b97c16d1
• For now, this document is on “How I would Do” Business. These are the things I believe in and will apply when I become the executive leader of my own company.
• This is a living document! Expect changes.
• It will take 30 minutes to read through the entire document. I did my best to keep it concise, yet thorough.

My Values

1.) Core Value 1 – Think Different.

Who are we and what do we stand for? Who am I and what do I stand for?

No one* who has moved the world was ordinary and conformist. They were rebels, misfits, different. I will claim that we are rebels, misfits, troublemakers and we stand for normalizing it, celebrating it, applying it. I am inspired daily by Apple Inc. and Chait/Day’s Think Different. ad first aired in 1997 where they described Who They Are and What They Stand For as a company. This is my style. If there is nothing you learn about me from this document, its this stance on life and business.

Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes…the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules…You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things…they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Think Different.
Apple Inc., under Steve Jobs’ Leadership

We strive to be a little crazy, to think outside our boxes in pursuit of our mission and to be in alignment with our core values. I think about this daily as I carry myself in business and in life. I used to be very rigid in dogma and in the damn standard operating procedure. What even is “standard”? I challenge us to question our assumptions constantly. Standards were established for a reason, under some context, by specific people and therefore the questioning of why we need certain procedures (and their rationale) is critical to cutting the fat. We very well know procedures aren’t always right and we know for damn sure past procedures don’t lead to new future results.

* Some might disagree with my statement, “No one who […] was ordinary.” What I mean is, people who value a status quo or an ordinary procedure that involves no creativity or those who are prescribed to an old world order possibly in fear, will not move the world forward. If there is no resistance there is no growth. Think strength training with weight.

I think if you were a self-proclaimed “ordinary person” who redefined the ordinary and used it as a way to resist certain feelings, then I would argue that you are a rebel and a nonconformist who is thinking different. It’s about intention. Not everyone is like the great tech founders or social justice advocates of our century. Our world would rather have one million small rebels than 100 of the “greats.”

And so in the beautiful masterpiece that was Apple’s Think Different ad campaign, I challenge you to Think Different.

2.) Core Value 2 – Ostinato Rigore – Rigorous Persistence; We Don’t Give Up

Ostinato Rigore is the Italian phrase meaning “rigorous or stubborn persistence.” If we encounter difficulty, we will not give up. We are stubborn in our higher pursuit but not necessarily in our current task.

There is a clear distinction between giving up and pivoting. 

There is also a clear difference between pivoting and changing ideas. 

• I like to think about it as macro- versus micro- pivoting, or adjustments if you prefer
• I’m a firm believer in micro-pivoting for the sake of moving forward, even with sub-optimal solution with the conviction and confidence that things converge. Micro means making small enough adjustments within a given threshold of our direction (tolerance, within spec, deviation: for my engineers reading this)
  • Think fine tuning adjusters on a machine or a violin
• Macro-pivoting is changing the general direction of an idea or decision in big enough ways where actions don’t connect or converge
  • This is like the big pegs on the violin
  • Changes don’t connect to previous iterations
  • This to me is giving up

Fail forward, fail often, fail early. 

As I will discuss later in this document, failing as the byproduct of the intentional exercise in experimenting, IS a PART OF THIS WORK. I expect it as a team member and our company expects it for the attainment of its mission.

• Especially when there is a significant roadblock preventing progress when developing a Minimum Viable Product or Solution; we must ask ourselves, “Is there a simpler solution or decision for this step that could get us to the next step?” Micro pivoting to achieve the goal. Then do that next best thing. 
• I value drive and judgment more than experience. Period.
  • ** As much as I value experience, I refuse to let it blindly become my gatekeeper metric for our organization. If someone is a college dropout but has the drive to learn a new skill, create projects, etc. – I want that skill on the team. **
  • I believe in empowering people who have drive and judgment over mindlessly choosing those with experience or an “attractive” resume. I prefer colorful resumes. The ones that need explaining. 
• Have the attitude that everything is “figure-out-able” whether by you or someone on the team. But I come from the core belief that everything could technically be figured out. 

I show this diagram of our knowledge amidst all the knowledge of the universe that could ever exist and exists, along with our own ignorance. I discuss it in the context of my business style below, but I want to highlight a perspective related to this core value.

The very act of persistence moves things from the Unknown Ignorance to our pool of Ignorance, which with {the right people, resources, books, experience, experimentation} will eventually become our knowledge. But it takes persistence and the willingness to fail in order to perform this dynamic. It doesn’t happen by accident.

I created this flowchart to illustrate the flow from one state to the other. It takes an experiment to flow ideas and knowledge from a state of unknown ignorance or known ignorance to eventually knowledge. But it takes a willingness to fail. Experiments by definition have an expectation of failure. “Screw around and find out” if you prefer. The act of experimentation takes persistence to pursue it and to endure the task of failing forward and often.

3.) Core Value 3 – Empathy Over Profits; Remember A Human Is At The Center Of What We Do

Every endeavor is ultimately human-centered by nature and we can’t forget that. Human-centered design is supposed to be a redundant term. How can you have design that isn’t inherently human-focused?

We don’t serve “USERS” we serve humans, community members, our people. “There are only two industries that call their customers ‘users’: illegal drugs and software” (Edward Tufte). We never want to be this type of business. Our people, those that run the operation and those we serve, are more than numbers and a metric. 

Every decision we make has a human cost associated with it. For every action, there is an equal human reaction (or consequence), often an opposite one (negative). 

The question lies in how we do this. How can we possess radical empathy as an organization? I propose asking these question instead:

How does this decision impact a human we are serving?

In what ways do we serve [our people] with this decision?

4.) Core Value 4 – 1% Better Every Day

One percent better daily compounds exponentially and is hard to compete with. 

Focus on the smaller picture first. How can we get only 1% better today?

(Image source: https://images.app.goo.gl/k53ANsQmcCbUw9pRA)

I used this chart when I was teaching my algebra students about exponential functions. I continue to think about it when I reflect on my life.

Focus on the 1% versus the larger metrics or the 37.78; doing so only overwhelms.

Similar to startup ideas, trying to find that One Million Dollar Idea is one of the most mentally taxing and torturous tasks there is. It will burn out any entrepreneur. There are million dollar ideas but identifying them from a cold start is not the way to go. In the same way, we can only focus on the 1% idea to get us just a fraction better than the previous day. 

How can I be 1% better at home?

What can I do as the executive in this company to be only 1% better?

In what area of our business could we improve in today? What does 1% better look like in that area?

There is so much that could happen in a year. Time is a precious resource not only due to its quantity being limited, but also in the way that it provides a runway for actions and reactions to take place within it. Aging processes are more valuable because of such a time principle. 

5.) Core Value 5 – Be Resourceful

Resourcefulness is a general term which could apply to physical or mental scenarios. I expect that we are resourceful with:

• Time (personal time and company time)
• Mental processing and thinking
• Money
• Physical resources (reduce waste)
• Our Emotional energy

I will almost always push for pursuing the resourceful path. If we have the option to run to Lowe’s and get a commercially available part versus manufacture the solution for the sake of a prototype, then we will go with the commercially off the shelf part every time. 

IDEO, a design company I admire, uses this principle (along with every good engineering design firm). They build their prototypes with whatever they could find and often within reach. We often want to validate an idea, a part of a larger idea, and to do that we must create someone as quick as possible.

Aim to create SOMETHING as quick as possible. Prove the concept with a proof of concept. 

For design roles, I will usually ask my interviewees to design something with what’s around and see how their brain works. They have access to all sorts of random materials all in a section of our studio that is new to them. If a prospective designer without having seen the arrangement, create something from nothing, I see them as good engineers. It’s the designer who is stuck in traditional practices and dogma that I get concerned about. This isn’t a black and white point either. 

Transitioning to being good stewards of our time – Our time is among the most costly of resources that we as an organization have. We must assign value to it wisely. 

1. Think about your hourly rate and your professional value cost. 
2. Now think about the hourly cost of the task you’re working on. 
3. If the cost of the task is worth less than your hourly rate, than figure out a way to:
   • Automate the task,
   • Do the task faster,
   • Spend less energy on this task, or  
   • Delegate the task to someone else (may or may not be feasible)

Always think about the value of the task and whether it’s worth your time. I promise you, it will make you rethink all the things you do or consume. Random unsolicited surveys for a “chance to win a prize” will be a waste of time because those people are making you spend 10 minutes of your time filing it out (1/6th of your hourly rate). Nope. Waiting on hold while calling Xfinity, wasting 1-2 hours of your time. Nope. (They’re a shitty company and I wish there was a way I could bill them for my time).**

What’s my hourly rate? You can figure this out by calculating the hourly rate of the position you hold or want to hold based on the value you bring to an organization. Some companies under-appreciate their staff so be sure to look at other competing companies. But for the sake of self-analysis, make this number up. You and only you know your worth and the value you can bring. 

**We as a company must also be good stewards of the time, money and resources of the people we serve. 

• We must take into account the value or their time when we are interacting with them.
  • Drawing out processes when we could be more efficient,
  • Bring slow to interact/communicate with them, 
  • Being indirect to our people. 
• All these things waste time for our people and as such communicates to them that – “We don’t value your time; you are in fact our ‘user’ and to hell with you as long as we make a profit.”
• The people we serve pay us with their hard earned money. Some are wealthy and some are not. We may not understand the effort it took to pay for our service (the journey of that dollar) but we do understand that it is of great value to our community and as such, honor its value. We can tangibly look through the eyes of our people and recognize that they could’ve spent that money anywhere else, yet they chose us. Our decisions and actions should communicate, “We thank you and value you.”

All of the above can be interpreted as the core value of being empathetic of our people and I agree. I challenge the executive team to view the labor behind the operation of the company as the most valuable aspect of who we are. Without our team, we remove the proposition from the value proposition! Therefore it is imperative to be good stewards of the people we have in our organization and value the time, energy, spiritual, and intellectual resources they bring every day. 

My personal values overlap with these core values of business. Some other values include:

• Trustworthiness and building Loyalty 
• Actions have more weight than words. Prove the words you speak. 
• Risk-takers and trailblazers in any field are more valuable than anyone with a fancy resume and degree(s). Both are great. 

My Style

1.) On Servant Leadership:

Leaders are in charge of driving our mission towards actualization and always moving in the direction of our vision. Nowhere in there does it say the purpose is the accumulation of power or status. In fact, a leader is ought to serve all their stakeholders above themselves:

• Our team, the people who make things happen
• Our customers, those we serve 
• Our partners 
• Our investors
• The community 
• The environment 

If our people are served, we are achieving our core business objectives. We are also becoming better leaders in the process. 

We as leaders have a duty to bring out the best in people. A leader puts in effort to see and understand the people they work with so that the best of each can be combined in the orchestra of business to create the greatest good for the company and above all its people. 

I loved this part of Noah Glass’ document which I included here: 

• My goal is to pave the way for each member of my team to contribute.
  • I want to take on the pain, and let the team experience the glory. (WOW! This is what I believe in)
  • I want to remove roadblocks that are getting in your way.
  • I want to empower you to perform your best. 

“I want to take on the pain, and let the team experience the glory” has got to be the most tangible definition of servant leadership I’ve ever heard. 

My executive team ought to learn what it means to embrace this for themselves. This is what we’re called to do. 

2.) Curiosity and Open-Mindedness

Be curious, always. Ask inquisitive questions. Challenge ideas, processes, systems, procedures, all of it — except the vision and mission of what we want to do. My great professors and mentor engineers left me with this piece of advice as a new engineer. I stand by it. We embrace curiosity as a core style of how we do business. To enter into this posture, we must acknowledge that we don’t know everything, not even close. We know so little, that it’s amazing just how much we claim we know. Great companies are made of ignorant people continually seeking to understand what they have yet to know and begin to cultivate that knowledge. 

(This is a VERY generous representation of ‘what we know’ compared to ‘what we don’t even know we don’t know’…just saying.) Great people and companies understand this well. The pursuit isn’t about learning more, the real challenge, the more marketable challenge is to discover more of the bigger pie and move its contents into the ‘things you don’t know’ pile. For a company the most valuable part is understanding what we yet to learn about our market or the people we serve. New opportunities for innovation come out of here. 

Child-like curiosity drives innovative thinking. Asking these questions almost always reveal new opportunities. If you’re on the receiving end of the questions you are challenged to justify your decisions and forces you to understand what you’re making. 

Now imagine living believing that you know everything there is about your market/industry/people. How much growth is there for that company? That’s not who we are and not who I am. 

A Note on Open-Mindedness: 

Being open-minded is NOT being spineless. I had someone who I thought knew my heart tell me that I was spineless because I developed different views during some period of time. It stuck with me even though I don’t believe it. I was opening my opinions and thoughts up to other perspectives in order to root them in truth. By embracing a posture of openness, I sought truer versions of what I once thought. This is healthy and essential; as long as I was the one processing them and not others or the media!

3.) Mutual Accountability; Mutual Praise 

I expect you to hold me accountable to our core values and my personal responsibilities. As a part of our company, it is one of your duties, no matter where you stand in our company. 

You are called to respectfully and clearly keep me align with others accountable and expect others to do the same for you. 

All I ask is that you – 

• Keep it professional 
• No personal attacks, ever
• Keeping the company’s mission in mind and as the focus of the interaction (no self promotion or other negative motives)
• Respect the person’s dignity

The purpose is to grow. When we all grow, we build a stronger company. 

4.) On Decisions

Decisions should be quick, but methodical. 

What I don’t want to see is a decision taking too long, waiting on many people to approve it, and at its worst, never be made. 

Take accountability. “I will do XYZ by this date.” Or “Maria will finish this by this date, I will do this to support.” A clear Who, What and When. Maybe a Why will be helpful for context. Leave out the How. The person in charge of the decision or task has the intellectual capacity to create their own solution or consult with others. 

Fast and small decisions aligned with the mission are much better than decisions made over a long period of time with decision creep effects. I trust someone who considers the following when making decisions:

• The core values 
• The people we serve 
• The people on our team
• The mission of the company 
• The mission and scope of the project 
• All the information in addition to what’s listed above, needed to make the decision. 

If you consider these, what more do I need? Why should leadership micromanage this process?

I don’t mean rush the process when I say quick. I believe you must set a timeframe for a decision and determine the steps needed to determine the courses of action needed to determine the answer. Reverse engineering the decision. What would it take to make this decision? 

There are two types of decisions: reversible and irreversible decisions.

• Reversible can be undone, they’re experiments with minimal detrimental impact to the daily operations of the company. I encourage anyone with decision power to make these types of decisions. Certain decisions for new initiatives can be framed as experiments, with adjustments done later depending on the result. They can be reverted.
• Irreversible decisions are made by me or other senior staff members and usually involve more time and context to make. They’re like one-way valves and their effects are detrimental to the operation of the business should it be the wrong decision. There are many of these choices in the beginning of a business’ lifetime but become less frequent (and more critical) as the company grows.

5.) We Are Experts of Our Own Business; Customers Are Experts of Their Own Problems. 

Our task as leadership is to maintain the boundary between the two roles.

The people we serve know their problems more than we will ever begin to understand from afar. Our task is to enter into their space with their permission, to learn about it. Empathize with them. Engage directly with people. 

Customers help describe their Problem, while WE synthesize their needs to determine the Solution(s).

Customers suggesting what they need is a bad idea, for they usually suggest ideas that are too narrow to serve more than themselves. We as problem solvers can do the work of widening the solutions in a way to serve not only this customer but others.

“The customer is always right!” is only half true. It is woefully misrepresented and used to weaponize employees. It’s a shame that many “leaders” – sorry – managers use it to save face in their business. The customer is always right with their problems and lived experience, but that’s when things stop. We are striving to be right with the other half. 

AS A LEADER, I WILL ALWAYS STAND BY MY TEAM. I trust that we are striving to understand those we serve fully and to do right by them. Mistakes happen and become learning moments when they do – therefore I will support my team at all times and trust that they are working towards our mission. 

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My Book Recommendations:

Follow this link to see my favorite books.

Working Hours

• 6-9a: I make my coffee and spend time with my partner or in morning reflection.
  • My personal time with those I love come first
  • During this time, you may send me emails
  • Text messages for urgent matters
• 9-11a: I have “creative time,” when I work on tasks that require high-levels of thinking and creativity.
  • This is my most productive time of day
  • Work on high level work.
  • Because this time is so valuable, I prefer to keep my meetings after 11.
  • If something is urgent, text me. 
• 11a-12:30p: I am fully online and available.
• 12:30-1:30p: Lunch.
• 1:30-6p: I am fully online and available.
• 6-10p: Family time.
• 10p-12a: Catching up on work or even other creative side projects.

• On Weekends, I am typically not working during the day. I may hop online and do work post evening events and dinner or really late at night.
  • Weekend time belongs to me and my family. 
  • I can arrange to be available when I need to be, but it is not often. 
  • If something comes up that is urgent and important, you can text me. 

• For Scheduling Meetings:
  • If you want to schedule a meeting with me, please fill out the following Google Calendar Meeting Sign Up: https://calendar.app.google/BN33xXvPCUiAgURx7
  • You can also email me if you want to quickly discuss something over the phone. 

What You Can Expect From Me

1.) I Will Always Have Your Best Interest In Mind. 

I will never withhold information to gain personal advantage or to put anyone else at a disadvantage. My focus is always on fairness and collective success. I recognize the VALUE of each person I work with. Life and business is fragile, it takes a ton of work to maintain relationships and even more work to grow deeper in them. 

To lead good people in the service of a shared vision, adding value to our customers’ lives while doing it together is more than I could have ever needed. Everything else is a bonus. I strive to give more than I take. My people and my team (that includes every stakeholder involved in propelling the mission forward) are the focus of my mission.

You can expect me to pour into my people first. I see you as an independent human who CHOSE to spend your working time supporting our mission with your TIME, which is the most valuable resource you can give. Money is a great resource for driving our company, however it doesn’t compare to the time you give. It is for that reason that I value you as a person and will do everything I can to prove that I do in tangible ways. 

I also see you as a human with desires, goals, creativity, (a) family(ies), struggles and successes. I see beyond your resume. As much as I value your commitment to our team, I equally value your real life and would love to support you in those other ways. While working for us, I expect you to be committed to adding value and in return, you can expect me to support you in your work AND for me and the company to support your growth and wellbeing in other areas. 

Again, I value the Whole you, not just the employee version of you (should you choose to share that with me).

2.) My Door Is Always Open.

I will make time to hear you and want to be approachable should you ever want to bring up concerns or joys! 

There are a few non-negotiables (outlined below, such as any discrimination) with which I need to know if they are happening in our company. My door is figuratively and often literally open. Please talk to me. I have no stipulations for this one. 

3.) I Will Give You Feedback.

I will give candid feedback in a way that makes a clear distinction between how I feel and the facts of a situation. As an enneagram 4, I recognize that the delivery of feedback is equally important to good human relationships. 

Feedback will be given based on 1.) Facts, 2.) My Strategic Judgement for a Course of Action based on experience and (lastly and least importantly on) 3.) My Feelings towards the situation. I will provide fine-tuning feedback but in large part, feel as though my team understands that my feedback is for the betterment of the company and our team as a whole.

I also understand that different cultures give and take feedback in different ways. You can expect me to actively work on understanding the cultural nuances of feedback so I can serve you the best way I can. 

I will typically provide more positive feedback than negative towards others, which is something I am working on balancing out. Please call me out on it. Your duty is to become the bet version of yourself and grow, so please ask for feedback if I don’t provide it. 

With negative feedback, two parties are involved, with one of them being my part and responsibility. I will take ownership of a part of the feedback. What could I have done to prevent or minimize this situation? 

4.) You Can Expect Me To Make Mistakes.

If you are looking for a perfect leader, please find another company to work for (but that pursuit is mostly a losing battle). 

I will make many mistakes; but you can expect me to publicly acknowledge the mistakes, learn from them and create actions for me to grow. 

Like I mentioned earlier, you are on the hook to keep me accountable and call me on my bullshit and my mistakes. Once again while honoring my dignity as a human. 

I strive for continual improvement – per our core value of becoming 1% better everyday – not perfection.

5.) I Have Trust In My Team.

As adults, I trust you in making decisions that are in the best interest of the company. 

I will assume trust as the default mode of operation. If you joined our team, we trusted that you are right for the company or have the potential to grow and provide future value. 

To grow, maintain and strengthen your trust, I will do the following:

1. Keep you informed on what I’m going to do and what’s going on. I won’t bullshit. 
2. Then I will do the thing(s) I said I would do.
3. I will inform you when things go wrong (of course, within the confines of what I can legally disclose). 
4. Be on time with what I promise. 
5. I will publicly acknowledge mistakes or ignorance and seek help from my team. 

What I Expect From You

I expect the same things you expect from me. I am a team member first, and have served in every position in this company in a high-level capacity. But once more, I outline them below:

1.) Adhere to Our Company’s Core Values:

Simple enough. These guiding principles are in my opinion the best strategies to get us to where we want to go. They may evolve slightly, but in the meantime I expect our team to use them to drive us in the direction we want to go. 

There is no half-assed approach to excellence. We are not seeking average. Average pursuits lead to even worse results. Perfectionism is not the same as excellence. 

2.) You Are Helping Build the Future of The Company. 

We like for things to work within the long-term. We recognize that short-term thinking leads to rushed decisions and mistakes that are costly. As a team member, you will focus on our vision when doing this work. 

You own a part of the future of our company. Believe it and embrace it. We see this special task when we bring you on board. Remember, the goal of our leadership is to see and pull out the best in our team. Your best is unique to you and it is your obligation to cultivate it daily. 

Develop yourself and be proud of who you are. Offer your version of work at our company. We need it. We hired you for it. 

Our goal is to co-create with you. 

3.) You Will Always Have the Best Interest of the Company In Mind. 

While working for us, I expect you to be committed to adding value in every action you take. 

Think, Is this [action, decision, time] adding value and is it serving the best interest of the company? 

Every little action compounds. Remember 1% better everyday. 

And I trust you because I believe you to have the company’s best interest in mind. Your trust is built.

To grow, maintain and strengthen my trust, you should do the following:

1. Keep me informed on what you’re going to do. Don’t bullshit. 
2. Then do the thing(s) you said you would do. (Bonus for going beyond that; again, don’t bullshit)
3. Then, Repeat, with increasingly less direction and oversight. 
4. Inform me or someone else when things go wrong within a reasonable time. 
5. Be on time with action items. 

4.) You Will Give Me and Others Feedback.

You will give candid feedback in a way that makes a clear distinction between how you feel and the facts of a situation. I expect you to balance grace and honesty when giving feedback to others. 

You will not lose your job for providing feedback to others. It is part of the culture. If you fear retaliation, please reach out to me directly with the feedback of another team member and I will handle it. Feedback is how we grow. 

Remember that feedback is given based on 1.) Facts, 2.) Strategic Judgement for a Course of Action based on experience and (lastly and least importantly on) 3.) Feelings towards the situation. 

Take into consideration different cultures when giving feedback. 

Like I mentioned earlier, you are on the hook to keep me and others accountable and call me on my bullshit and my mistakes, while honoring the person’s dignity. 

5.) I Expect You To Make Mistakes and Fail.

Read and re-read the section above on Failure.

I expect you (and not only in the sense of anticipation because you are human, but) as your duty as a team member to fail. Fall forward, fail often, fail early. If you are not failing, then it probably means you aren’t trying new things that are challenging. I will add the disclaimer that the feeling of constant failure is not healthy and not the point of this…Please refer to the graph below.

(Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Challenge_vs_skill.svg)

The classic challenge level versus skill level. We want to strive towards maintaining flow in the caliber of work we pursue to add value and avoid burnout. 

In a similar way, I view failure as not trying. Our core value of Persistence drives us to pursue tasks that yield mistakes at worst and breakthroughs at best. 

(Source: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FMakadiaHarsh%2Fstatus%2F1548695220203692032&psig=AOvVaw1Bn3ioyyg2fpGTrow1sCpg&ust=1733245451089000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBcQjhxqFwoTCMDKz8_IiYoDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAp)

Failure is not trying new things. I expect you to fail and learn. I read a new perspective on failure that I need to include here: 

As one of the subjects in the study put it, “I always live by the motto of Ready-fire-aim. I think if you spend too much time doing ready aim-aim-aim-aim, you’re never gonna see all the good things that would happen if you actually start doing it and then aim. And find out where your target is.”

Our target is our mission, our vision and the people we are serving. As long as you are aiming, shooting, adjusting and repeating, you are adding tremendous value to our company.

6.) I expect you strive for continual improvement – per our core value of becoming 1% better everyday – not perfection. 

I won’t ever expect something from my team that I wouldn’t expect from myself. Period.

Non-Negotiables

1.) Carelessness

We always do our best. Blatant disregard or wastefulness of any resource is a surefire way to trigger a negative emotional response from me. 

When we are careless, the people we serve notice and lose trust in us. 

We must do our due diligence to catch mistakes and ensure excellence in the work we put out. This doesn’t need to be a long process. 

2.) Disrespect Towards Others of Any Kind.

There is no room for it at our company. Be an adult, deal with your personal shit, and learn how to respect each other like humans because it will never be tolerated here. 

Disrespect for our team or the people we serve is NOT acceptable. This behavior is not aligned with the mission nor the vision of our company. 

THERE WILL NO DISCRIMINATION OF ANY KIND. WE HAVE A ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY. If you see it, report it immediately. My door is open, reach out to me.  

I don’t care whether you are a seasoned and valuable member of our team. No one is immune from the consequences, not even me. 

3.) Closed-Mindedness or a Refusal to Grow/Learn.

I am triggered by people who believe in firm ways of doing things or self-proclaimed “facts.” They are seldom true. If this is a non-negotiable for you, we will point you in a different direction and company where your thinking aligns with theirs. 

Our company is built on a growth mindset operation. Humility is essential for a cohesive team of professionals and is the culture here. I ask that you embrace the practice of questioning assumptions in the pursuit of learning, growing and experimenting. 

Do things have to be done this way?

Seek a First Principles approach to problem-solving. 

Communication

I require communication that is:

• Direct and Concise
  • Communicate your needs or the subject in a straightforward way. 
  • No need to beat around the bush
  • Be clear. I want to know the details without the fluff

• With Context
  • I want to know the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHY of a situation in as clear a way as possible

• Timely
  • I don’t want to be surprised.
  • Please let me know about things as soon as they are processed or received. I understand that things may need to be processed before broadcasted. I want to know as soon as you possibly can, depending on criticality 
  • More time-sensitive matters should be communicated via text or Zoom or in-person.
  • Less time-sensitive matters should be communicated via email.

• Respectful
  • Remember, there is a human on the other end of the phone, email, text

• Appropriate
  • Use an appropriate mode of communication for the occasion
  • As situations arise, I can outline them here. For now, please use your better judgement. 

How You Can Help Me Develop

1.) New Ways To Learn and Grow.

I am open to new ways to improve my craft as a leader and founder. Please let me know about them, whether they are people to talk to, books, blogs, documents or podcasts. 

Like I said, it is your obligation to give me feedback for the sake of growth.

2.) Help Me Give Honest, Thorough Feedback.

3.) Call Me Out On My Bullshit or When I Am Not Doing What I Said I Was Going To Do.

4.) Remind Me To Celebrate the Small Wins.

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