The staff plays upbeat music on the radio in the kitchen just loud enough that you can faintly hear it in the dining room.  They regularly dance and sing to the songs in a playful way that reminds me of my sisters or daughters just having a good time with their friends.  They remember what I like to eat and drink and treat me like a kid brother that they can tease and tell stories with.  When I am busy and just need to eat and roll they support that too.

All that is wonderful, but they still find new ways to delight me.  This morning, a bendy straw.  Yes a bendy straw was put in my cup.   The server was almost giddy at sharing this new delight, encouraging me to be a kid and have fun with it.  Sharing stories of how other customers reacted to this new and exciting addition.  It might sound silly, but a damn bendy straw stirs up the ability to play and have fun.  Who doesn’t enjoy a bendy straw?  Sure it might cost 10 cents more per straw, but it sure as hell delivers more than 10 cents of delight.

Is customer delight on your mind? What is your bendy straw?  What 10 cents are you adding for your customers today?

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My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Good advice that could probably have been summed up in a multi page blog post. It started to get stale after the first few chapters. The biggest take away, clutter isn’t just physical it can be mental too. When you clean out your closets, clean the mental ones too.

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My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Solid. Absolutely solid. Clay nailed it with this one. The content covers everything from good business to personal purpose in your work and everything in between. Kept me completely engaged and eager to discuss with others from cover to cover.

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The post Sunday Book Review : How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton M. Christensen appeared first on Derek Neighbors.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Adrian does a good job highlighting how few teams are truly high performing and the importance of shared vision towards success. There were several items I could take right back to my organizational coaching work and apply to teams. The book did drag a little and was too focused on case studies for my liking.

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My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book has influenced my thinking more than anything I have read in the last twelve months. Carol has nailed it with this one. So simple, yet so deep. Take the time to read this book. If it is on your list, move it to the top. I am not kidding. It is that powerful.

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The post Sunday Book Review : Mindset – The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck appeared first on Derek Neighbors.

Agile Weekly put together this video showing you how to run a Lean Coffee meeting.

When you need a structured, but agenda-less meeting. Lean Coffee is a great way to allow participants to gather, build an agenda, and begin talking. Conversations are directed and productive because the agenda for the meeting was democratically generated.

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My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Johnson’s books are just plain good. This one is no exception. So much great information. This is a must read for anyone wanting to increase serendipity, innovation or creativity in their organization or community.

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The post Sunday Book Review : Where Good Ideas Come From by Stephen Johnson appeared first on Derek Neighbors.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The book had lots of good content. An example, “Blur requires that we construct organizational structures that are designed for adaptability, not efficiency.” is relative to my thoughts around Agile structures vs more Lean structures in organizations. The biggest problem is the book feels dated. Perhaps there is a newer, updated version with some more modern samples. It was a quick read that gave value despite being outdated.

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Connected Citizens: The Power, Potential and Peril of Networks from Knight Foundation on Vimeo.

At Gangplank our work lines up very well with the model put forward to help in connecting citizens and mobilizing them to action.  In a nutshell here are some good practices.

Listen to and consult the crowds.
Actively listen to both online and offline conversations and openly ask for advice.

• Make participation fast and easy.
• Show you’re listening.
• Develop a clear contract with participants and abide by it.

Design for serendipity.
Create environments, in person and online, where helpful connections can form.

• Make it easy to enter.
• Build trust through repeat interactions.
• Design the space, NOT the outcomes.

Bridge differences.
Deliberately connect people with different perspectives.

• Develop systems for establishing reputation and trust.
• Use influence to recruit diverse participation and catalyze bridging.
• Make it FUN!!!

Catalyze mutual support.
Help people directly help each other.

• Leverage existing and underutilized resources.
• Provide enough structure for immediate benefit and enough openness for new opportunity.
• Build trust in the system.

Provide handrails for collective action.
Give enough direction for individuals to take effective and coordinated action.

• Give clear instructions for action.
• Make it gratifying.
• Build platforms that structure individual contributions into something greater.
• Develop leadership.

We do some of these things really well. We suck at some of them. We have a number of things underway to start leading in this area. A better Arizona relies on strong citizen involvement to move us forward. If this stuff is interesting to you, join me in trying to figure out ways to make Arizona better.

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The Arizona We Want

What are the biggest challenges facing the technology sector in Arizona?

Lack of talent. We think we have a lot of entrepreneurs, but that isn’t the same as the workforce needed to execute. Scaling a company to thousands of people in a year or two is an enormous task if you have to train every employee from the ground up. As our market heats up the lack of talent will only increase and so will the pain.

Lack of density. We are too sparse. People are not connected enough to allow for maximum serendipity. We have to start thinking of ourselves as a region with cores in various cities. No one wants to hear this, but it is a reality. The other option is embracing this and figuring out a way to make it an advantage.

Lack of culture\tolerance. We don’t have the essence of placemaking at our core. People love the weather and the outdoor activities, but we aren’t creating the attachment to physical place. Music and Art are poorly supported. Tolerance for view points outside those made famous by our politicians is limited in most areas.

Lack of leadership. We are a young state. We lack quality leadership in nearly every way civic, education and business. Those with experience aren’t connected to Arizona. Accelerating young leaders needs to be a top priority.

How are small technology companies being pushed to succeed in the state, and what more needs to be done to develop more technology companies.

I believe at this point we have more incubators, collaborative spaces and angel groups than we do actual entrepreneurs. Excuses shouldn’t be accepted anymore. What is missing?

Experience. We lack “smart” money. We don’t have the “pay pal mafia” or “Tony Hsieh’s” that have been there and done it in the new economy to invest in the next wave.

Cohesiveness. Arizona is fiercely independent. Every cowboy wants to own the gold mine. I think this is a by product of our land development mindset. Everything is fear and scarcity based. Instead of trust and abundance based. Arizona needs to learn to work together.

Workforce Development. The need for a digital blue collar exists. Think of operations at Paypal, Go Daddy and Yelp. They require technical literacy but not advanced technical knowledge for a lot of their positions. We need to have programs in place to transition people through the entire chain of technical opportunity.

Education. We need to be fast tracking technology the same way we do healthcare professions. High school students should be graduating with enough skills to be workforce ready or primed to fast track through university. Arizona could lead in this category. Hello EVIT and WESTMEC.

What are the biggest opportunities available for Arizona technology companies?

Climate. Creatives like to get out and explore. Arizona is primed for outdoor activity 300 days out of the year and is a great base camp to explore the entire Southwest. We can not under estimate this asset. We need to stop gutting our state park system and instead INVEST heavily in our open spaces.

Young. Arizona may be 100 years old but it didn’t really start attracting people until the 60′s when air conditioning became mainstream. We are a mere adolescent compared to other states. This means the business leaders of today will define the future of Arizona. It will be difficult work, but will offer significant rewards to those willing to pioneer.

Affordable. The cost of living here and doing business here is just hard to beat. We need to leverage it while we still have it.

Family. Despite what the overall numbers say, most of the suburbs have fantastic school systems. Neighborhoods are safe. We are well positioned for raising families. We should recognize and embrace that.

Cities such as Boston and Austin have been successful in developing an ecosystem for technology companies, both in terms of developing them and recruiting them. What can those cities and others show Phoenix about developing its own ecosystem?

Culture. Culture. Culture. Boston was at the center of the creation of this country. Austin has made a point to be weird. They are willing to be unique and embrace their DNA. We should be willing to do the same.

Tolerance. Tolerance. Tolerance. To be blunt we are the laughing stock of the world in this department. We need to stop judging, oppressing and silencing those that aren’t like us. Ideas and execution need to matter more than appearances.

Sense of place (Density). People need to be able to identify with landmarks, neighborhoods and memories. We need to engage people and make a mark on them. Transportation plays a part in this.

Define a better tomorrow. We need a deeper university system. More research, more private options. See education above.

Boston had deep pockets (Venture Capital). Austin had Dell and University of Texas. Portland, Seattle, Boulder and Las Vegas are all rising. We need to use our unique attributes to differentiate ourselves.

What do you see as the role of groups such as the ACA, GPEC and cities in developing technology companies?

Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA). They need to be influencing legislation. Help implement everything listed above.

Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC). They need to continue recruiting and doing site location. They need to be fostering/amplifying what is already happen. They need to drive density cluster activity without picking winners/losers.

Cities. They need to provide the infrastructure for success. They need to emphasis place making and strengthen their downtown cores. They need to build talent hubs and provide migratory growth patterns for high growth companies.

How do you bring together the different sectors of technology, from software and hardware to everything from aerospace, renewables and green, together to speak with a unified voice to further the future of technology in the state?

Technology is technology. Stop trying to specialize. Load up with smart people. Create the right envirnoment and get the hell out of the way.

Talent. Everyone needs it. Focus on that. Unify on making sure that a pipeline of quality talent is here for years to come.

ACA has outlined a strategy that focuses on aerospace, entrepreneurs and renewables in its approach. Are there other legs to the stool that need exploring?

Stop picking winners. Let the market decide. Help existing clusters.

Richard Florida says it well. Technology. Talent. Tolerance. The three T’s. ACA get on that. Help stop stupid policy and encourage good policy.

I am ready to make Arizona better. Are you? What are your opinions? What is the Arizona We Want?

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