It's Not Rocket Science! Five Questions Over Coffee
Five Questions Over Coffee with Jeff Standridge (ep. 112)
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Episode notes
Who is Jeff?
Jeff Standridge is a seasoned business strategist and consultant with a strong focus on innovation and strategic growth. He is the founder of a company that serves two distinct customer segments - startups in the state of Arkansas, and larger companies worldwide. With sponsored funding from the federal and state government, he provides resources and support to startups in Arkansas. For larger companies, he helps them challenge the status quo through innovation exercises and assists in creating and implementing strategic growth plans. Standridge is dedicated to helping businesses of all sizes achieve their goals and drive success.
Key Takeaways
00:00 We serve startup and larger company markets.
03:42 Transformed insurance group achieved significant growth.
09:25 Team commitment, empowering communication, accountability, organizational agility.
13:26 Subscribe for podcast updates, transcripts, and resources.
Some free resources at https://jeffstandridge.com/free-resources
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Transcript
Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Innovation Junkie, strategic growth, business operation, start up segment, larger companies, federal government, state government, revenue growth, profit growth, business growth, sustained growth, systematic approach, growth plan, strategic planning, cultural fit, accountability, leadership, organizational behavior, mergers and acquisitions, global operations, organizational success, corporate troubleshooting, organizational agility, business owners.
SPEAKERS
Jeff Standridge, Stuart Webb
Stuart Webb [00:00:22]:
Hi and welcome back to It's Not Rocket Science 5 questions of a coffee. Get my hand into the camera properly so you can see the 5 questions. I'm Stuart Webb, the the host, and I'm here today with Jeff Standridge. Jeff is an Innovation Junkie. He's founder of Innovation Junkie. He's helping his customers to to be more innovative and to help them to produce innovation in their businesses. I'm really looking forward to this conversation. Welcome to, It's Not Rocket Science 5 of question 5 Questions Over Coffee.
Stuart Webb [00:00:54]:
Jeff, I hope you're there with a drink in front of you.
Jeff Standridge [00:00:56]:
Yes. Thank you so much, Stuart. It's great to be here today. I appreciate it.
Stuart Webb [00:01:00]:
No problem. So, Jeff, tell me a little bit about, the sort of customers you help and how you help them to be more innovative, but how you also help them to sort of, you know, standardize that as part of their business operation?
Jeff Standridge [00:01:13]:
Sure. So we we actually serve 2 different segments of of, customers. 1 is the start up segment, and and we do that in a specific geography, the state of Arkansas, within the United States because we have sponsored funding to be able to provide that, that types of resource to them, funded for federal government and the state government, to be able to provide that kinds of work. We work with larger companies, call it 5,000,000 to 500,000,000 independent of location all around the world, and we help them challenge the status quo through some very focused innovation exercises, but also to help them build out a a, strategic growth plan and implement a system around the actual execution of that plan.
Stuart Webb [00:01:59]:
Mhmm. Mhmm. And and what are the things that some of your customers I mean, let's let's look at those those people that you have to to challenge the standard, the the status quo at the moment, Jeff. What is it they tried before which which maybe hasn't worked and that you bring as a different way of thinking to them and make them, look at things in a different way?
Jeff Standridge [00:02:21]:
Well, generally, you know, everyone says they want to grow, and they either wanna grow their revenue or they wanna grow their profit or they wanna grow their cash flow. But many times, they don't have a system to actually execute on that growth. And and so that's one of the challenges is is they wanna generate sustained growth, but they don't they don't really know where to start.
Stuart Webb [00:02:43]:
Yeah. It's often a problem, isn't it? I do a a lot of that sort of work with customers as well, and, not only do they not know where to where to start, but but some of them have this belief that somehow it's it's it's magic. It just happens when it happens, and and, actually, it it it doesn't just happen when it happens. You have to be systematic about it, don't you?
Jeff Standridge [00:03:02]:
You you absolutely do have to be systematic, and and, you know, if if we're not planning for that growth, the likelihood that we're gonna be successful in spite of ourselves is not very great.
Stuart Webb [00:03:13]:
Yeah. Deliberate deliberate strategic action is is really important, isn't it?
Jeff Standridge [00:03:18]:
For sure. For sure.
Stuart Webb [00:03:20]:
And and sometimes that deliberate deliberate action is is very often sort of founded on people sort of maybe not knowing where they're going, but deciding they're gonna go somewhere anyway.
Jeff Standridge [00:03:33]:
That's right. I completely agree with you.
Stuart Webb [00:03:35]:
Can you can you give us an example of somebody you've helped to, who's been in that situation and how you've how you've helped to move them forward?
Jeff Standridge [00:03:42]:
Sure. So, worked with an insurance group, an insurance agency, and, independent agency representing multiple insurance carriers. I actually became an investor in this group. And, you know, the the organization had been in existence for over a decade, when we first started working with them, and, but they really haven't hadn't hadn't grown. They were really just paying the bills, paying the people, and continuing to kinda trade sideways, so to speak. We implemented a strategic growth system with them, and, they now have 3 locations. They're growing at double digits. They own the real estate under all three of those locations, and they also just over the course of the last, oh, I don't know, probably 2 years, they have been able to transform their employment environment such that they've got, multiple top talent in the industry coming to them saying, I wanna go to work for you.
Stuart Webb [00:04:38]:
Yeah. And that's a really important part of anybody's growth strategy, isn't it? It's having access to those people that are gonna help you to grow. They've got the behaviors that have got the got the the the the attitude. And I often think that's one of the things that as business owners, we fail to do often. We we hire for skill, whereas we should be hiring for attitude and behavior
Jeff Standridge [00:04:59]:
That's right.
Stuart Webb [00:05:00]:
And training and for skill because skill can be taught, but behaviors, attitudes can't be taught that easily.
Jeff Standridge [00:05:06]:
You know, it's interesting. Jack Welch, who who headed up GE a number of years ago, said that if you've got someone who is a cultural fit for the organization, but they're struggling to be successful, then you probably have the wrong combination of skills and job role. But if you've got someone who is successful in their job, but they're a cultural mismatch, you never should have hired them in the 1st place, and you're gonna have to get rid of them because they'll go bad at point, and they'll take a lot of people with them.
Stuart Webb [00:05:34]:
Yeah. Yeah. You're absolutely and and he was a he was a great he was a great thinker in that way. So, Jeff, I I know and I'm hoping that I've got this right. You've got some you've got some great resources that we can pull up on. So so talk to us a little bit about some of that free resource that we can get. And I'm gonna put the link here at the moment, and it's it's just simply your name, Jeff standridge.com/freehyphenresources. To to tell us a little bit about what we can Yeah.
Jeff Standridge [00:06:00]:
So we've
Stuart Webb [00:06:00]:
got a
Jeff Standridge [00:06:00]:
get there and how
Stuart Webb [00:06:01]:
to use that.
Jeff Standridge [00:06:02]:
We've got a description of our strategic growth system there, and, and they can download the the the strategic growth system that we use with clients, that to really take them from where they are to where they ultimately wanna go. It's not just a planning document. It's an actual implementation of a system. It systematizes the execution against that strategic growth. Be glad for them to pick that up.
Stuart Webb [00:06:24]:
Terrific. Jeff, there there must have been something in terms of a a course, or or something which started you down this journey. What was that what was that that that course or that journey that actually sort of made you realize that you could help companies become more strategic about their innovation and about their growth?
Jeff Standridge [00:06:45]:
You know, years ago, I read a book by Jim Collins called Good to Great.
Stuart Webb [00:06:49]:
Oh, great book.
Jeff Standridge [00:06:51]:
That book, Good to Great, and the the rigor of the research behind that book, was really impactful to me. So I, you know, I have an, a a doctorate in in leadership and organizational behavior, and and, and so I kinda come at things a little bit academically or I used to, not so much anymore. But the the the science behind his research really, really impressed me, and, and so, I began implementing some of those things in the in the work that I do. And, over the years, it kind of evolved. You know, 25 years of doing mergers and acquisitions and running global operations, for a publicly traded US technology company in the UK, across Europe, and Asia, the Middle East, etcetera. And, you know, just I decided about 8 years ago that I'd spent the first half of my life making a living. I wanted to spend the second half making a difference, and so I stepped out on my 50th birthday to do what I do today and have it looked back one day.
Stuart Webb [00:07:50]:
That's brilliant. I love I love that. And it really takes me to what I think is probably the best and last question that I can ask you, and that is, what's the question I've currently failed to ask you to now that mess must be the burning one that you think I just need to get this out of? So what is the question that I should have asked you? And, obviously, once I've asked you that question, you really do need to answer it.
Jeff Standridge [00:08:14]:
Sure. So, you know, what are the patterns that you see in organizations that do achieve sustained strategic growth? So that's the question that that, I would say that that we should have asked. And we talked a little bit about culture a few moments ago. And one of the things I've had the privilege of doing is working with with hundreds of companies over the years. And my my colleagues and I have identified 6 specific components that organizations that do achieve sustained strategic growth demonstrate, and those components really we've organized those into a framework we call the culture of excellence. You wanna hear about them?
Stuart Webb [00:08:51]:
I certainly do. I was hoping that you were gonna say that.
Jeff Standridge [00:08:54]:
Very good. Very good. You know, it starts with strong leadership. Strong leaders, a team of strong leaders who are committed to the direction of the company, who are committed to systematizing the actual strategic growth plan that they have, and who are committed to surrounding themselves with people who are also bought into that direction. Yeah. Number 2, they ensure clarity and focus in the organization. Yeah. They know precisely where they're going, who they are, where they're going, how they're going to get there, and they make sure that their employees also understand how they contribute to that direction.
Jeff Standridge [00:09:25]:
They surround themselves with engaged and committed teammates, and and number 4 is they engage in empowering communication. Empowering communication is communication that helps people become the word empower stronger and more confident in dealing with the circumstances they're facing. So they may have to have tough conversations, but they don't stop just at tough. After they have the tough conversation, they then try to convert that conversation into helping someone feel stronger and more confident in dealing with how to move forward. The 5th element is 100% accountability. In other in other words, everyone knows what they're responsible for, and they are 100% held accountable and submit themselves to being held accountable to deliver it. And then finally, the last item, really comes from a a, comment by the great management philosopher, Mike Tyson, who said everybody has a plan until I punch him in the mouth. Organizational agility is the 6th element of a culture of excellence where an organization can be knocked down, but they can get up more times than they've been knocked to the mat.
Stuart Webb [00:10:29]:
Jeff, those are some really powerful messages there. I mean, the those six things are I absolutely identify with those. The the number of organizations that I've come across who, you know, the the leadership might wanna sort of embed a culture of of excellence, but when it comes to the accountability, they shrink away. It just destroys everything unless you have all of those 6, and I think you're absolutely right. Although, I must admit, I use a different planning, a a plan which is no no plan survives for his contact with the enemy, which I guess is what Mike Tyson is telling us.
Jeff Standridge [00:11:03]:
That's exactly right.
Stuart Webb [00:11:05]:
But, you know, it's that accountability and clarity and communication. And those are the things that I've always thought are absolutely critical to every organization. And unless you get accountability, clarity, and communication, no plan is ever gonna work and nobody's ever gonna be agile because nobody's gonna tell you something's gone wrong, and you're gonna carry on working as if everything was okay. That's the secret to organizational success, isn't it?
Jeff Standridge [00:11:29]:
It really is. And and, a lot of leaders make a mistake of assuming that clarity exists in the organization.
Stuart Webb [00:11:36]:
Yeah. They do. They do. I spent a lot of time, like you in sort of corporate troubleshooting, and nearly every organization I walked into to try and understand where things have gone wrong, somebody somewhere hadn't been clear. Somebody somewhere hadn't told somebody else what was wrong. And as a result, somebody was either not being held accountable for something or being held accountable for something where the planner drastically changed and nobody could work out what was going on. And in every single case, all that needed to start the process was for somebody to actually start the well, can we be clear about what we're trying to do? And it's those conversations which eventually lead to great growth and great innovation, isn't it?
Jeff Standridge [00:12:19]:
Yeah. I've, you know, I've seen so many times where someone came up with a great idea in an organization, and and they rallied throngs of people around that idea to try to implement it. And no one took the no one took the step to say, what's the problem we're trying to solve here, or what's the opportunity we're trying to seize? And and and if they did answer that, they didn't really try to quantify it to see if it was going to be worth the effort.
Stuart Webb [00:12:43]:
Yeah. Absolutely. Oh, I love that. Jeff, we could and probably should spend many, many hours talking about this, but I have a feeling that, business owners need to actually just go back and reflect upon some of this. And then, obviously, they can go back to jeffstandridge.comhyphen sorry, slash free hyphen resource, resources and pull that information down to start doing that. And, obviously, we'd we'd welcome further conversations from anybody who's watching at the moment that wants to actually sort of get in and understand how that, that their organization can take advantage of some of those resources to grow. Jeff, thank you so much for spending just a few minutes with us talking us through that stuff. It's been brilliant.
Stuart Webb [00:13:26]:
I just wanna just point us towards one thing. If if you want to get on to the, the mailing list, which allows us to tell you about when we have such brilliant guests like Jeff coming up and to, to make sure that you can get the transcript that's gonna be coming out of this podcast, in the future, please go to this link, which is httpscolonforward/forward/link.thecompleteapproach.co.ukforward/newsletter. Get on to that. You will then get notification of when this comes out as a transcript. You can read some of the great stuff that Jeff's just given us. You can find out once again where that resource is and go to that resource and pull it down and read some of the great ideas that Jeff has got. Jeff, thank you so much for spending a few minutes with us. Really appreciate you spending a few minutes today, and I sincerely hope that we've got a few people out there that have rethought what they're trying to do with their business because they haven't got clarity or they're not holding somebody accountable for something which has gone wrong in the organization.
Jeff Standridge [00:14:27]:
I appreciate it, Stuart. It's been a pleasure. And if any of them wanna reach out to me, I'm very active on LinkedIn as well. So thank you so much. It's been an honor.
Stuart Webb [00:14:35]:
I will make sure that we get that LinkedIn, that LinkedIn that the LinkedIn link. Yeah. I think that's a word. Yeah. That LinkedIn link in the in the show notes. Jeff, thank you very much.
Jeff Standridge [00:14:45]:
Yes, sir. Thank you.
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