Investing for Sustainability - Growth Hurts
D. Brown Management
February 26, 2018
“I can’t afford to invest more in talent development or process streamlining because we have a bunch of bad projects.” Contractors must invest for sustainability.
Four Steps to Sustainable Growth (10+10=0)
D. Brown Management
February 25, 2018
Growing contractors face an overwhelming number of problems and opportunities as they move through the different stages of growth. Prioritizing these, aligning the team, then executing becomes progressively more difficult and important.
Accountability + Compensation: The Myths and Realities
D. Brown Management
February 24, 2018
No amount of accountability or compensation will create the competencies and capabilities required to deliver results. If your results are falling short, make sure that you are diagnosing the root cause correctly so you can design the best solution.
compensation management
Allocation of Management Resources
D. Brown Management
February 23, 2018
Most new initiatives that contractors try often fall short of expectations due to poor management time allocation during start-up. We work with a lot of contractors and rarely see truly bad ideas or teams that truly can’t execute.
Effectively Leveraging Trainers, Coaches, and Mentors
D. Brown Management
February 21, 2018
Contracting is a high-risk sport and the training of yourself, your managers and your craft labor should be as rigorous as a professional sports team. We are facing a massive shortage of critical talent yet most spend very little on talent development.
Process Improvement and Cycle Times
D. Brown Management
February 20, 2018
When contractors grow inefficient processes usually get substantially more inefficient dramatically changing the Return on Investment (ROI) model. Saving a few minutes over 1,000 cycles per month means $60K+ potential savings over a couple years.
Black Box Thinking
D. Brown Management
February 19, 2018
Failures, mistakes and problems are part of every contractor’s business. What separates out high-performing teams is a relentless focus on learning from these problems then creating systems and training to mitigate them in the future.
The Leadership Vibrancy Curve
D. Brown Management
February 18, 2018
Leaders must navigate (1) the stages of contractor growth, (2) the phases of management team development, and (3) the arc of their own career and life. Maintaining the right levels of leadership vibrancy leads to sustainable scaling and succession.
business management career leadership succession
Discipline Vs. Motivation
D. Brown Management
February 17, 2018
Leadership requires a balance between motivation and discipline. These are two very different things and if you are relying on motivation to keep you going it is likely that you will come up short on long-term goals.
Business Operating Layer
D. Brown Management
February 16, 2018
Execution is the discipline of getting things done and is especially critical for contractors because we work in a highly competitive business with relatively low margins compared to the risks taken.
