S02E02 A Culture of "Strong Convictions, Loosely Held", with Byron Darlison

Rethink Culture

“The thing to be careful about, which always worried me, was just drinking your own Kool-Aid too much… “strong convictions, loosely held” the value of the company, which means that this is our culture, this is how we do things. We're very, very committed to this... if you come along and you speak a truth that's going to improve or… invalidate something in here we are not attached to it. We will throw it out and adopt your truth... So I think it's extremely important… when creating your culture to make sure you don't become so attached to it that it's just one big group thing.”

S02E02 of the Rethink Culture podcast shines the spotlight on Byron Darlison, the visionary founder of Rise – a cutting-edge Canadian content management firm for digital signage. He has spent a lot of time thinking about culture and organizing the business for efficiency. Byron unravels three impressive decades of invaluable insights in under 45 minutes, making every moment a treasure trove of wisdom.

Discover how Byron seamlessly integrates Peter Drucker's concept of performance agreements with Kim Scott's skip-level review framework and witness the transformation of mundane quarterly planning into an exciting game. Byron ingeniously incentivizes his team by turning goal achievement into a joyous celebration, complete with cash rewards and a dedicated Slack channel known as the "Happy Room."

The episode delves deep into Byron's personal evolution as a leader, highlighting his journey of overcoming biases and fostering an environment where employees thrive. Explore how he masterfully built a team of domain experts, empowering them to channel their focus, creativity, and productivity while staying out of their way.

Listen to this episode to find out:

· Why at Rise employees either exit after the first year or stay for a very long time.

· Why when shaping your organizational culture, it’s crucial to have “strong convictions, loosely held” and avoid becoming too attached to it.

· How having experienced and knowledgeable employees and empowering them to excel defined the uniqueness of Rise.

· What makes Rise special and what the words “focus, discipline, and cadence” mean for Byron.

· How to tackle the Peter Principle using radical candor while also ensuring employees are in roles where they feel content.

· How Byron extended the “Rocks and Sand” concept even further.

· What is the practicality behind the concept of a functional accountability chart.

· Byron's personal favorites among the myriad frameworks he has explored and implemented, such as Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), Scaling Up, 3HAG, StoryBrand, Topgrading, and more.

· What Shannon Susko's strategic functional and hiring swimlanes are.

· How Byron gamified the quarterly theme, injecting fun and uniqueness into the workplace.

· Byron’s invaluable lesson on leadership: focus on one task at a time, and never underestimate the importance of punctuality in meetings.

Further resources:

· Radical Candor, by Kim Scott: https://www.amazon.com/Radical-Candor-Revised-Kick-Ass-Humanity-ebook/dp/B07P9LPXPT/

· 3HAG WAY, by Shannon Susko: https://www.amazon.com/3HAG-WAY-Strategic-Execution-Wild-Ass-Guess-ebook/dp/B07C7RGVD2

· Topgrading, by Bradford D. Smart, Ph.D.: https://www.amazon.com/Topgrading-Hire-Coach-Keep-Players-ebook/dp/B09GS9GT25/

· Building a StoryBrand, by Donald Miller: https://www.amazon.com/Building-StoryBrand-Clarify-Message-Customers-ebook/dp/B06XFJ2JGR/

· The Six Week Cycle, by Basecamp: https://3.basecamp-help.com/article/35-the-six-week-cycle