Contact William Buist on M: 07880 794127 E: william@williambuist.com
The subtitle of this book is “how to solve problems before they happen”, and the book is devoted to clarifying what we can each do to eliminate problems before they arise. It is a very thought-provoking work that provides many examples to draw insight and inspiration.
Masters see decisions in the broader context. They are curious about the chain of causation for their challenges; they seek out the underlying truths more deeply and make more robust decisions.
This month’s book review is written by Paul Laughlin and first appeared on Customer Insight Leader.
This book review will be particularly relevant for those running their own businesses, but developing intentional mastery can also be for all leaders.
It was delightfully cloudy on Saturday 9th July, at about 5am. We breathed a sigh of relief as we realised that the potential heat from the sun in a clear sky would not be with us, at least for the start of the Race to the Stones, #RTTS.
Radical Candor is a strong, conceptually robust, idea. The purpose of the book is you demonstrate to people how to be both clear, direct and effective. The basic idea is relatively easy to grasp for anyone with experience in working with groups of people.
Masters of business follow a similar plan. They build a business that is fit for purpose. Then they build strength into that business by developing their skills, improving their knowledge, and transforming experience.
Planning how to ensure that there will be the money needed by the business, planning to ensure that the company will have access to the required resources, and planning to ensure that a sudden unexpected change does not harm the business creates resilience. It is how the most masterful companies manage themselves all the time.
You can’t get away from it – this is a book about communication that communicates its message better than any other that I have read. In many ways the book is more like a conversation than a text yet gold dust within it paragraphs is sprinkled liberally throughout.
We had a chance to visit Kuekenhof, a fabulous centre only open during the tulip season, to see the work of those that plan their beautiful gardens. It’s very special.
At some point you may not understand the process to go through for the most important projects, or you cannot determine what you should do to start all of the things that you wish to start. For that reason, I think this book is one that every small business owner should, at some point, read.
When we understand the context of the work we are being asked to do, and when we understand the stage of the journey to mastery that our client expects, then we can deliver extraordinary value and exceed the expectations that they have with ease.
Being in the moment, truly focussed on what is happening and knowing that the future will come, come what may, means we can really connect with others, and with the environment.
This is an important book, a book that will leave you with questions as well as answers. It is a book that demands thought and provides the substance to let those thoughts develop.
The master’s of business know that the better strategy is to use strategic pace. That needs a good plan, a steady series of well designed efforts that mean at the point you need the stamina and strength, it is all ready.
If you want to be seen as the master of what you do, get clarity of the contexts in which you do it. Gather an understanding of them, and be ready to explain them to others seeking the value your mastery brings.
When you speak up, and provide the context that others need, then they will see the true value of your words and feel the gravitas with which you say them.
Mastery is as much about knowing how to communicate what you know and teaching the skills that you have, and that’s teamwork too. When your teams are focussed on the one thing they do, and learn to do it well together, they really do stand out.
Too often business is played as a finite game when there is a determination to hit a particular target by a particular date, or to beat the growth rate of your nearest competitor. Playing an infinite game will open opportunities that affect the way that we both do and think about business for the future.
Eunice’s blows were both powerful and anticipated, yet specific consequences cannot be predicted. Which trees will stand and which fall can never be known accurately in advance.
The same can be said for running a business.
It was a chance encounter. I had been walking with a friend and we had decided to have a pub lunch together.
What we found was a fabulous establishment with a menu that promised an extraordinary lunch.
I started writing. Words became sentences, sentences became paragraphs and paragraphs became chapters. Towards the end of the two years I had something approaching 50,000 words, just a rough draft.
Much more than that though, I had two years’ worth of thinking, of developing the thinking and garnering (and testing) insights.