Let Your Work Run Itself By Declaring Your Big Promise with Mike Michalowicz (Episode #106)
If your head is sent spinning by a constant swirl of financial and business priorities, today’s guest will open a path to clarity and peace of mind for you. Mike Michalowicz’s “zone of genius” is in simplifying the most dizzying concepts. He is a master at using easy-to-remember stories and analogies that help his insights soak in for us all. In today’s episode, we talk about his recent book “Clockwork” and a few of the ah-ha moments can send your working life in fresh and fundamentally exciting new directions.
About Our Guest
Mike Michalowicz is the author of seven business books published by Penguin Random House, and I would consider at least three of them to be “must reads” if you are trying to make sense of the business world right now as an employee, owner or founder.
I was introduced to Mike’s work by a wildly successful, generous trusted advisor of mine who attributes much of his own savvy and success to having discovered Mike’s books. After I read the first that my friend recommended, we had a subsequent conversation that included a lot of comments like, “Oh, I wish I’d known some of this when I was just starting out!”
All three of my 20-something kids have all read “PROFIT FIRST”… which I would recommend to everyone listening, no matter their age or stage,
And at the Goodness Exchange, we are actively using Mike’s book: FIX THIS NEXT… a road map approach to prioritizing… invaluable to anyone running a business, non-profit, or a small start-up project of some kind… even if you are in the business office of some endeavor.
But we are here to talk about CLOCKWORK today.
The subtitle is “Design your business to run itself” and after reading this book, I know most of us – regardless if we are an owner or a team member – can use the insights in this book to experience lives well-lived.
Resources
- Mike’s Bio
- Mike’s Books:
Show Notes
[00:00- 01:23] Opening
[01:24- 03:23]
- Mike’s bio
- Some of Mike’s Books: Clock Work, Fix This Next, Profit First
[03:24- 05:05]
- Clock Work focuses on business efficiency
- Embracing the humanity within ourselves
- You don’t treat people as a resource but treat them as a human being
- Leverage of systems and processes
[05:06- 11:08]
- Declaring Your Big Promise
- What is the most important?
- From more complex perception to simplified perception
- Delivering excellent service over and over again builds a reputation for excellence
- Eradicate entrepreneurial poverty
- The big promise is the deliverable
- Purpose is the internal drive
- We all have something that’s driving us
[11:09- 13:14]
- You don’t have to leave your vocation to have a form of expression
- Purpose is not found overnight
- Find out how you want to express yourself
[13:15- 20:21]
- What is QBR?
- Heart of an organization
- The bees
- Fedex
- Troubled but not compromised
- Southwest
- Figure out what you’re most known for
- Wrapping around the package
[20:22- 23:17]
- Deductive reasoning
- Start off with your promise
- You don’t have to be the same as your competition
[23:18- 25:50]
- Parkinson’s Theory
- The constraint makes us use it more efficiently and innovatively
- Cram and scramble technique
- Intentional disruption
[25:51- 27:55]
- Psychological ownership
- Owners should be the creators of the job
[27:56- 31:06] Closing
- Fix This Next is like a roadmap
- How to handle ideas