Lattice network

Your employees do not work as hard as you do to make your business successful.
You will never be able to hire an employee that feels the same as you do about your business.
Employees do not feel ownership in your business. Partners do, share holders do, but not the paycheck receiving , salary getting, come to work to grind it out person you have working for you now.

You know this.

I was part of a company that fostered ownership in the ranks, created new products from the minds of the workers and reduced turnover without raising wages.
Over the next few months I will be writing about the processes and philosophy of one of the most forward thinking business of the last 4 decades.

Here is a summary:

Leaders know the big picture and the focus of the company. Their job is to define the market  or niche that the rest of the company or division will fall into. If another market is large enough, outside this focus, another division is formed. Sound familiar? Pretty typical of most businesses.

Management encourages the growth of the supervisors and employees and relays the company direction to the rest of the ranks. They also are also responsible for their own commitments. Again nothing new.

Here is where it gets interesting.

Employees make commitments. They are not given tasks.  Now that management has outlined the company and product direction, employees are free to commit to parts of the project that they can contribute with their specific knowledge and skills. Employees are responsible for getting the job done as they see fit. Using the skills and resources available to complete the task. Some may chose to work alone, some may gather commitments from others to complete the task. In this way, future leaders are defined. The employee is responsible for his or her commitment. Ideally, no tasks are assigned and a certain level of achievement is felt by everyone.

An employee knows what he is capable of and takes on the duty that best fits his skills. Compensation is determined by the level of responsibility taken. More on this in future posts.
There is one rule that is essential to the success of this process. Open lines of communication between everyone in the business.

Compensation is determined by the level of responsibility 

Lets's face it, your supervisor does not have all the answers. He/she has her own set of skills and knowledge that may not be ideal to answer all questions. Employees must have the ability to talk to anyone necessary to get the job done. You can imagine the animosity this can create between an employee and a supervisor. It is just one of the challenges faced with the lattice network style of management.

There are lots of question. I will attempt to answer them over the next few weeks.

Mark Winstead
twitter: @modhm

My 19 year old daughter is living the life we all should

If only I would have lived my youth like my nineteen year old daughter Haley.

I would have done things I love to do everyday and learned with a passion how to be a better person in a way that only having a passion can provide.  

We all went to dinner the night before Thanksgiving. My wife and I sat there surrounded by our daughters, we reveled in our contentment and joy.  They were young and out in the world making their way the best they knew how.

Haley said to me "I think I qualify for an internship with Sub Pop Records".  Sub Pop had releases by by bands like Nirvana, Mudhoney, Soundgarden to name a few.  She earned an internship to get her current job at a record store and is now the only marketing intern for the Tree Fort Fest music festival. She said "I think it would be great experience for me".  I thought to myself "She is living her life like she memorized Robert Greene's book Mastery or something".

She is living... Robert Greene's book Mastery or something.

She is my youngest daughter. Haley started her freshman year of college feeling all the excitement, fear and anxiety of any young person leaving home, moving to another state, not knowing a sole and questioning every move she made...like every freshman. But that is where the similarity ends.

She had stared a music blog when she was a sophomore in high school www.iconicvillage.com . She subscribed to Alternative Press in eighth grade and thoroughly enjoyed turning her friends on to new bands no one had heard of. She knew if a band would do well musically even if the group would implode later due to personality conflicts. She knew just naturally because she loved it, it was her passion.

Haley is working at one of the greatest record stores in the country, The Record Exchange in Boise Idaho.  She earned it by beating out all others for a 3 month internship with the marketing division of the company. She has an amazing wit and personality and with her music knowledge she crushed it and was soon working there.  

While in Seattle for Thanksgiving we went to a huge record store in downtown. She immediately saw they're prices were high, the inventory large and offered no online sales or downloads. 

We drove by the modest offices of Sub Pop Records.  I think an internship there became more of a reality for her. A possibility. One of a million that are out there for her.  I said I was proud of her for following her passion over the mighty dollar. She said "You taught me that Dad"  I hid the lump in my throat and glisten in my eyes and smiled. I could not be more proud.  

(Follow Haley at @_haleywinstead )

Not Your Normal Thanksgiving: I Discovered This

I thought this would be the usual Thanksgiving, eat to much and unbutton my pants.  

I was right.  But discovered something great about my daughter in the mean time.

This was my older daughter Hanna's first time hosting Thanksgiving dinner for her Mother and I.  I could tell she was nervous.  After moving to Seattle and getting married, she has made a home in that great bustling city. We arrived a day early and met her at her place after work. After a drink we all became more comfortable and when her husband came home a few hours later, we all went out to dinner, walking to  a local micro-brewery near their townhouse.

The place was hip and comfortable.  Great beers and good food kept the conversation lively.  The subject of Hanna's work came up and a glow came over her face as she described the new and exciting responsibilities she had taken on in her new position.

I looked in her eyes and saw something

It was then that I looked in her eyes and saw something.  She was talking to me about conversion rates and the demographic of buyers in her category (personal care products). She was bought in. Totally bought in to the big picture of the work she was doing and now loving it because she understood where she could make a difference.
Hanna is a big fan of subscription gift boxes. We spent an hour looking over her favorites when we got home. But she turned to me and said "Dad we have thousands of samples and products from my department, I am going to pitch a Nordstrom's subscription service to my managers".

A tear formed in my eye. My daughter, who it seems just yesterday, was playing dress up and debating with her Mother about staying out late, she had formed her own entrepreneurial sprint!

"she had formed her own entrepreneurial sprint!"

She had spent 6 years on the retail floor learning all the details of customer service and merchandising. First at a little party supply store in her home town of Eugene Oregon and then later, after moving to Seattle, as a floor sales person with Nordstroms. I like to call that her customer service boot camp.
While still on the sales floor at Nordstrom's, she networked with her managers, letting them know of her desire to learn all aspects of the business, not just sales.  It paid off and after a couple of years she accepted a job in the corporate glass palace downtown. It was with the online division of the Nordstrom brand called www.shop.nordstrom.com .

The subscription idea may or may not be a great new thing for her.  That's not important.  What is important is she saw an opportunity, saw potential because of past successes in the subscription services like Birch Box and Shave Club. She formed an idea, that with proper execution, could make a difference in peoples lives, create jobs and make a bump in the bottom line of her employer.

Yes she has to execute the pitch but, I saw something in her I hadn't before and I am a proud Dad.

Garage Product Photography

I have a product that I needed good pictures for my web site and social media.
Of course I turned to the Internet. Specifically You Tube.

1. Cut squares out of three sides if a box
2. Glue tissue paper on the inside.
3. Drape old wrapping paper (back side up) up the back of the box.
Your done.

Timber Rivets

My personal work of art

Workofart video It's funcshart

Silly video inspired by silly art.

Untitled

Custom Steam Shower with Japanese Tub

Tile steam shower

This tile steam shower features a large 9 foot long glass wall and a barrel ceiling that curves to help shed water droplets. Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

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Check out this new install.
Concrete counter top with glass inlay.
Casted in molds and set in place. Up to 700 pounds for one section.
http://www.newstyledesign.com
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

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Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®