“You own the accelerator for the speed of your own work and the work of those that you lead.”   — Immutable Law of Speed #1 From “Lead With Speed”

There was a tree down across the road. Speed limits were suddenly irrelevant. The engine power of any of the cars waiting had also been made irrelevant.

We have had many storms in the area recently, and trees down across trails and roads have been a more frequent experience than usual. Road workers have become the leaders who own the number one key to speed in this situation. They have chainsaws.

Over the years, and especially recently, I have worked with numerous leaders who encountered various types of metaphorical storms that put multiple barriers in the way of speed. These barriers have ranged from the impacts of the pandemic to events like significant changes in tools that affect everyone’s workflow.

The best leaders I work with are on the constant watch for anything from a speed bump to a roadblock impacting their teams. These leaders walk around with their own ‘chainsaws’ to clear those barriers. They do and say things that are different from those said by less attuned leaders. For example, these exceptional leaders say things like:

• “Put in a purchase request for the things you need.  I will ensure they are funded.”
• “I see what the technical issue is.  I don’t know how to fix it, but I know who can.  I will ask person X, and you will be flying again.”
• “I understand the policy I put in place is negatively impacting your ability to get things done. I will modify it to address your issues.”

The most extraordinary thing great leaders do is give people their own chainsaws and teach them how to use them. 

Yours in the calm pursuit of excellence,

Alan Willett

Immutable Law of Speed #4:
The higher the cost of rework, the slower you are going.— From Alan Willett’s book, Lead with Speed

This old picture I found well represents what I am talking about today. That broken axel has disrupted everyone’s workday. This disruption removes everyone involved from any creative work they were doing to advance the goals of their organizations.

Now consider some of the headlines I have collected about defects that escaped into the world, disrupting people and organizations.  

Two years ago:  Fiat Chrysler recalls 4.8 million US vehicles for a cruise control software defect.

Last year: GM is updating a brake controls recall they originally issued in December of 2019 because the first recall caused additional problems.

This year: Southwest Airlines cancels 500+ flights after a computer glitch grounds their fleet.

I have collected hundreds of headlines like these over the years. Each of these issues represents problems with customer loyalty. It cost hundreds, even thousands, of hours of lost productivity in the organization. Sometimes it even cost lives.

There is a problem I see consistently across many organizations. Quality is typically assumed. Leaders ask a lot of questions about dates. They want to know when the project will be done. They also have many requests for more features.  

However, there are typically few if any questions about quality. But those questions must be asked. And the answers to those questions must be based on data.

Here are a few examples.

• Our quality levels in system test show 0.05 defects per thousand new lines of code compared to the average of 2 defects per thousand lines of code we found in our previous releases.
• Our inspections had a defect removal efficiency of 42%.  58% of the defects escaped into testing or out to customers.
• Our economics of quality numbers show that the defects captured in the system test are costing the organization an average of 125 hours per defect.  The smallest cost was 30 hours, and the greatest cost was over 1,000 hours.
• Only 27% of product features were delivered to our customers within our criteria for high quality with no critical or level 1 defects. This is unacceptable. We are taking action to address the root causes.

You may not know what these data descriptions mean, but you should.

Claiming quality without knowing data like this is just talking.

And if it is just talking, the results you get will be talked about just like in the headlines I mentioned.

Yours in the calm pursuit of excellence,

Alan Willett

Find a list of quality questions you should ask in this free download.  100+ Questions That Lead Teams to Build Smart, Aggressive Project Plans.

Contact [email protected] to learn more.

“Observation opens the windows of knowledge around us.”
— Sukant Ratnakar

While walking across a bridge in a local park, I noticed a bunch of mysterious items hanging on wires strung parallel to the bridge across the inlet’s waters. It took me a moment to recognize that fishing lures were dangling from the wires – many, many fishing lures.

There are quite a few very nice spots to fish along the inlet, and they are actually straightforward to get to. However, none are quite as convenient as standing on that bridge. The ample visible evidence of lost lines and lures is apparently not enough to dissuade many fishers.

It seems that too often, businesses, and many of us individually, are tempted by the convenient bridge where it looks like it is so easy to get quick benefits.

I have seen many teams skip the difficult design phase to see if they can quickly catch a fish. Likewise, I have seen many people skip inspections because they are boring, and it is another 200 paces to the fishing spots around the corner.

Then repeatedly, I see them have to spend hours and even weeks in rework. This is because their fishing line got caught on the same wires that caught so many fishing lines before them.

The warning signs are clear if you keep your eyes open and watch for them.

I encourage you to learn from those who came before. Walk the extra paces to the bank up river a little way. If you want to catch some big fish, invest in a boat to take you out farther.

Catching the big one is worth it.

Yours in the calm pursuit of excellence,

Alan Willett

Are you ready to do exceptional leadership in technology development?  Learn about the Exceptional Difference programs here.

Contact [email protected] to learn more.

“Those who don’t jump will never fly.”— Leena Ahmad Almashat

The manager said, “I am sorry. I can’t support you going to that training at this time.”

Respond to this situation by showing your conviction.

This post continues the focus on ensuring your organization is making investments that return great value. In my first post, Why to Invest $ in Training, Coaching, & Making Leaders Better?, I proposed five key steps. This post is an elaboration on step #5, have conviction.

In my experience, if the first four steps I outlined are done well, the outcome is most likely a yes.  If you understood the needs of the executive, and if you focused on value based on their needs, and if you researched to ensure that others had greatly benefited, and if you made a plan that showed your commitment, then it is likely they will say yes.

You still must be prepared for a “no.”  Here are four possible responses that demonstrate your conviction.  

1. Ask, “What is the main barrier? If the main barrier is budget, you may find budget items in your personal control that can be sacrificed. You may have the ability to attract new clients to ease the budget concern. Having these discussions keeps the possibility open.
2. Ask, “What can I do to make this possible now?”  This shows that you are ready to do more to make this investment a reality.
3. Make an offer.  If you really believe that you want this to happen, be prepared to make an offer.  The offer could be unpaid overtime. The offer could be taking on an additional special project. 
4. Pay for what you want yourself. This sounds extreme to some people, and I suppose it is. However, doing this shows you are convinced that this investment will benefit you and the organization.

I have had to use option 4 a couple of times.  Each time, management was quite startled but was quickly convinced of my conviction. I went to the training I believed in. I received the world-class coaching I wanted.  Each of these experiences was greatly beneficial to my organization and me.

The question is, how convinced are you of the value?  Show your conviction.  Today’s quote is correct. If you don’t jump, it’s hard to fly!

Yours in the calm pursuit of excellence,

Alan Willett

Are you ready to do exceptional leadership in technology development?  Learn about the Exceptional Difference programs here.

Contact [email protected] to learn more.

It always feels too soon to leap. But you have to. Because that’s the moment between you and remarkable.”— Seth Godin

Are you ready for a leap of faith?

That is the question any leader is answering when they choose to invest in something new. This question applies to training, coaching, new tools, or anything that costs time and money.

Do they trust that this investment will be worth it?

This newsletter continues the focus on ensuring your organization is making investments that return great value.  In the first newsletter, I proposed five key steps. This newsletter is an elaboration on step # 3, Ensure the investment is highly recommended.

The question almost always comes down to “How do I know the expert I am hiring is worth the investment?”   Even if you are buying new tools, you are putting your faith in the people who will train and support your use of those tools.

The number one way to discover this is to research the people who came before and found great value working with those experts.

When I say this out loud, everyone knows this. However, it is interesting how few people do the proper research. Here are three suggestions to get the information you need to make the leap of faith.

1. Read the reviews. This one sounds easy, and most people do it.  However, bring your critical thinking skills to this step. Dig deeper to see what’s behind those reviews.
2. Talk to those who are recommending this solution.  What value did they find?  How did they ensure that they received the best outcomes from their investment?
3. Judge the quality of the expert and their solutions from the quality of their students.   When I see people being greatly successful, I often find a mentor in the shadows smiling at their success. 

I have followed these steps whenever I make a large investment. The third step has given me the greatest confidence to make the leap of faith and invest the money and time.

Yours in the calm pursuit of excellence,

Alan Willett

Are you ready to do exceptional leadership in technology development?  Learn about the Exceptional Difference programs here.

Here is a quote from one of the heroes from the program.

“One of the mantras we discussed in depth in the Leadership Experience is that design rules. I couldn’t agree more. I now have much more influence on my teams and organization to ensure that great design powers our speed.”

—Dylan Greiner, Chief Product Architect, Team Leader

Contact [email protected] to learn more.

“I am building a fire, and every day I train, I add more fuel.”— Mia Hamm

When preparing a proposal for an investment, such as coaching, training, or new tools, there are some critical questions that must be asked:

• How will the investment help the organization in the short term and the long term
• What tangible improvements will the investment bring?

Ask these questions when making a proposal to the person with the checkbook. Get these questions answered even if the idea is yours and you have control of the checkbook.

This post continues the focus on ensuring your organization is making investments that return great value. In my previous post, Why Invest $ in Training, Coaching, & Making Leaders Better?, I proposed five key steps.

This post is an elaboration on step #2, A Focus On Value. In it, I gave an example of a team leader justifying the investing in computer language training with this phrase:

“The python training will show us how to use advanced methods for better data dictionaries.” 

The training was denied.

Consider this alternative approach which more clearly states why the investment is important to the person with the checkbook.

If management cares about speed to market, and most do, this is a much more compelling argument and almost certainly funded. Here are three critical items to examine when considering coaching, training, and other investments.

“The python language training will improve our speed to delivering content to our customers by between 30 and 50%.

The majority of our applications are using more complex databases than ever before.

This training by a leading expert will provide us with the skills to move our products faster to the marketplace.”

If management cares about speed to market, and most do, this is a much more compelling argument and almost certainly funded. Here are three critical items to examine when considering coaching, training, and other investments.

• Objectives?
• How broad of an impact will this investment have on the value we are delivering to our customers?  How many people and teams does this investment help?
• How will this improvement yield benefits year over year?

When I learned to base all my investments on answers to these questions, something very exciting happened.  When I knew why I made the investment and what I expected from it, I ensured that I got those results.  For example, I went into the training or coaching with a clear vision, and I held the experts I hired accountable to get the results I needed.

To paraphrase Mia Hamm, I am building a fire of value for my customers. Every investment must add a log to the flames.

Next week I explore the next step, “ensure it is highly recommended”.  I will answer the question, “How do I know the expert I am hiring is worth it?”

Yours in the calm pursuit of excellence,

Alan Willett

Are you ready to do exceptional leadership in technology development?  Learn about the Exceptional Difference programs here.

Exceptional Difference graduates have improved their speed to value in the following ways:

• Improved team productivity by 5x.
• Improved the quality of delivery to customers by 4x.
• Improved the speed of onboarding new team members to be productive by 6x.

Contact [email protected] to learn more.