Episode #135
WE Take Action
Your team isn't stuck because of bad ideas. It's stuck because everyone is waiting for permission. Taking action and making mistakes is OK. Being idle is not. In episode 135, I break down WE 4 from Kyle McDowell's Begin With We, and I'll be honest: this is the one I struggle with most. You can set great standards. You can lead by example and keep every commitment. If nobody on your team is willing to move, try or risk, everything you've built is a well-organized parking lot. Ideas, strategies and plans, parked and going nowhere. McDowell tells a story about a leader named Bob. Bob heard a talk on culture, loved it and wanted to bring it to his team. First, he said, he'd need to ask permission. Permission to talk culture with his own team. Who's stopping you? Nobody. Bob is in every company, at every level. Senior leaders waiting for permission to do the very thing they were hired to do. In this episode: - Why being idle feels like caution and prudence, and why it's really a choice - The question Jesse Itzler asks his kids every night at dinner: "What did you fail at today?" - The best restaurant in the world, and the man in the back of the room who said, "That looks exhausting" - What happens to people when you ask them to do less than they're capable of - Why nobody pays for average - Why "we've always done it that way" should be considered profane, and what Northwestern basketball teaches about losing cultures - The one question to ask about every process on your team: would I keep doing this if I owned the company? Your move this week: 1. Name one thing you've been waiting on permission to address. A process that makes no sense. A conversation you keep putting off. An initiative sitting in the parking lot. Get it done. You are the leadership. 2. Have one conversation with your team that gives them permission to act. Not a policy. Not a memo. Tell them: if you see something to improve, go do it. "Taking action and making mistakes is OK. Being idle is not." — Kyle McDowell Chapters 00:00 WE 4 of the Begin With We series 03:10 Why this is the WE I struggle with most 04:22 Taking action is OK, being idle is not 04:48 Ben Newman and stacking days 06:30 Recap: WE 1, WE 2 and WE 3 08:23 A well-organized parking lot 08:56 Books, people and the risks you take 13:26 The enemy of action is being idle 14:09 Shawshank and asking permission 15:19 Who's stopping you? 17:04 Bob is everywhere 21:55 Mistakes are inevitable 22:45 What did you fail at today? 24:39 Write this down 25:15 Being idle is a choice 27:09 "That looks exhausting" 29:25 Asked to do less than they're capable of 30:31 Nobody pays for average 32:35 The status quo sandwich 33:45 "We've always done it that way" should be profane 34:21 Northwestern basketball and a losing culture 39:22 If I owned this company 42:57 Two actions for this week 45:13 The parking lot's full Mentioned in this episode: - Begin With We by Kyle McDowell - The Standard by Ben Newman - Mindset by Carol Dweck - 2 Second Lean by Paul Akers - Don Meyer, Jesse Itzler and Ed Mylett This is WE 4 of 10 in the Begin With We series. Catch up with episode 132 (We Do What Is Right, Always), episode 133 (Who Sets the Temperature on Your Team?) and episode 134 (Built or Destroyed One Commitment at a Time). If this one hit, send it to the leader on your team who's still waiting for permission. Find out where your team stands. Take the free 30-question SDE assessment and download the SDE Playbook at https://deadthreecoaching.com/sde-assessment
