May
16 Business-wide Learning from the Great Books
At some workplaces, the priority is to get the work done. The ideas have been thought up, the contracts have been signed, and the people and equipment are in place. Now turn the crank, get the work done.
Some places are more fluid than that. New ideas are constantly being introduced by upper management, the market, competitors, new technologies. Staff are given guidelines, but rather than following instructions as in a fast food franchise, they are adapting to change, making decisions, and trying to fulfill the company's goals by using their best judgment.
Which of these two is closer to your workplace?
I'm not smart enough to come in and solve your problems, improve your processes, and make you more money. But some really smart people have written about how they have done exactly that, and those great ideas are just sitting there, in books.
Now, based on Pareto's law, I estimate that you can get roughly 80% of the value of the great idea out of those books. The last 20% is why the authors make thousands of dollars an hour consulting. But 80% of a great idea is still pretty valuable.
What if there were lots of 80% values being added to your company regularly? What if you used your staff to hunt for great ideas by giving them all great books to read?
If you sponsor a "Coffee Break MBA" program at your company, great ideas will filter into your staff. You will be able to identify people who can grasp new ideas and translate them into improvements for your company. This makes the program a great management recruitment tool.
Your company is going to be investing in your employees, making it more attractive to job-seekers, and improving your retention.
New ideas coming in will solve some of the problems your company faces. Given permission to learn and apply those ideas at your company, some employee is going to introduce something that will make a huge difference in your bottom line. It might take 6 months, but I guarantee that you will see a difference.
I want to help you see that happen in your business.
I will help you set up a corporate training program. It will not be based on my ideas, but on the Great Books of Business. I will help with the infrastructure, matching employees with books, setting up reading partners, and working with managers to integrate new ideas into their processes (again, using ideas from Great Business Books).
Pricing will depend on the size of the business, but will be very reasonable.
Example Setup:
50 Staff
50 Kindle app downloads
(free)
50 Business books purchased (half Kindle downloads, half
hardcovers for the corporate library): $1500
Ongoing Business Library Purchase budget: $500/month for 3 additional months, then ~$200/month to supplement library.
20 minutes sponsored reading time after lunch daily, for everyone in the company.
1 30 minute meeting every 2 weeks, by team, to discuss and share the ideas from the reading time.
North Creek Consulting: $2000 for the first month, $500/month for 3 months to help establish processes, then $50/month for #nextbook subscription (curated reading lists with new books and classics, tailored for your business, by role, goal, challenge).
Total Investment (first 4 months): $6500
Ongoing Investment (monthly): $250
You retain: Corporate Learning Library, Learning Processes, Empowered Staff, #nextbook subscription
This is just a sample. Contact me (dave@northcreek.ca, 780-604-2602) for a detailed quote based on your situation.
Let's not leave the accumulated wisdom of the last 100 years behind - let's turn your company into a learning organization!
Dave
North Creek
P.S. Your competitor is probably going to ignore all those great ideas in the bookstore. Why not increase your advantage by learning faster than them? Call me (780-604-2602) or email me now, before they do!