Your crew has to fully understand your revenue models. They have to know how you raise money. They have to understand that how people raise money is a key factor in success.

Some crews get paid to win. They know that their performance and that of their boat depends on their ability to beat the competition. They hone their skills on their competitors' skills. They learn every tactic`known and then some about how to out sail the competition. They practice their tactics against the best competition they can find until they are the masters or get onto a better boat – then they strive to stay ahead of the fleet.

Thus it is not uncommon for a whole crew to walk out if a better boat comes along when their pay is performance based.

When you are hiring a crew you must be crystal clear about your revenue models. You must be crystal clear about the revenue model for the crew. You must check to ensure the fit is right between your new crew members and your revenue models. You must make sure they understand the revenue models of any consultants, coaches, crew support, etc who are associated with your Big Red Boat. You must accept and understand that poorly designed and designated revenue models can distort the workings of your crew. You must also accept and understand that poorly designed and designated revenue models for support staff can distort the working of your crew.

Recently I submitted a simple plan of work and fee structure to a client. He was happy with it and took it away to get approval for the work to begin. As usual with my proposal this one contained two options. He said he had backing for the more expensive one. So we looked set to start work. But at the last minute he came back to me with a compromised proposal – the new proposal dramatically changed my revenue model.

Under the new proposal all my revenue would be paid but the contract would be performance based. As he put it “that is not unreasonable is it?” No it is not unreasonable for me – if anything it made my assignment so much easier. But I had to decline to do the work. The new arrangement totally missed the point of my original proposal. I had a proposal built on building new demand whereas to fulfill this contract I was being forced to simply increase market share. I had intended to build a new customer base but the new proposal had a revenue model that compelled me to simply win customers over from the competition.

Business is being done this way every day of the week. Consultants are hired to do what can be done not what everyone knows has to be done. Any wonder consultants have such a bad reputation. Consulting houses have to pay bills as does everyone else so they need cashflow. Cashflow assignments are often based on performance revenue models because these agreements seem to protect the clients and lower their risk. What they do is screw up their revenue models and make genuine business change almost impossible.

Revenue models define organisations, they dictate behaviours, they anchor failure, they form barriers to change, they distort cultures, they complicate mergers, they lock-in legacy systems, etc.

Revenue models are often the reason the crew is not efficient nor effective. 

Make sure you have a good fit between your revenue models and your crew.

You have formed a Big Red Boat learning group.

You have five to eight people in your group. You have one or two from your workplace and the others are peers or colleagues who work elsewhere. You need to ensure the “group dynamics” work well to maximise your learnings. After just eight weeks of group sessions you will have unlearnt as much as you have learnt if your group dynamics are good. You will unlearn habits, ways of thinking, and ways of being in your workplace that do not suit your purpose. Meanwhile you will also learn new habits, ways of thinking, and ways of being that better suit your purpose at work and in life.

The Big Red Boat challenge of group learning awaits you and your colleagues. The first challenge is to ensure you have a variety of group learning modes. The more modes the better but this depends on the mix of people, personalities, learning styles, etc within your group.

Your first session is important because this is where you set up the group dynamics. At this session your group will establish the ways things are going to be done (the culture). At this session you must establish a mode of learning that suits each person in the group – some people learn best by reading, some by talking, some by doing, and some by listening. It will be a very good start if all those modes are covered within your group. It will be good if at least three of those modes are catered for within the group. It will be something of a challenge if all participants share just one of those learning modes.

I suggest you read aloud a Big Red Boat riff to begin each group session. This riff can be one from this site or, better still, one you or others within your group have written. The simple act of reading “out loud” to the group will engage the listeners. It will also engage the reader. It will also engage the talkers because the subject of the riff will be used to prompt discussion, information exchange, and debate.

Your first session is important for you because this is where you decide what your core purpose is at work and in life. You need to clarify your purpose with your group. In the process you will explore your values, your revenue models, your needs for recognition, etc. In the process too you can test your values and needs against what your workplace or organisation has to offer.

Do the revenue models at work match the rhetoric of management, brand marketing, customer service, etc?

Do your work associates understand the core revenue models that shape their jobs, pay, status, etc?

Do your work associates understand the core revenue models of the suppliers, including contractors, who work alongside them?

Do your work associates understand how they actually impact the core revenue models of the organisation?

Do your work associates understand what it will take to actually change the core revenue models of the organisation?

Do your work associates share a set of values that match the core revenue models of the organisation?

Your Big Red Boat crew needs a mix of talents and skills. Skills with systems to keep the boat ploughing ahead when the growth storms hit. Talent to finesse the gentle breezes of new demand. The mix of talent to keep systems and talent in balance when demand is medium. This can be one crew or three. If it is one crew it will operate as it is three. If it is three crews they will cooperate so well they might as well be one.

Configuration change is the core benefit of the Big Red Boat. Change is built-in it happens seamlessly. It is one boat with one purpose that can be reconfigured to meet the prevailing socio-economic conditions. The crew has to be special to be able to handle such sudden change. They have to confident, decisive, doers, thinkers, and fun lovers. Crew that are on the bench, on the beach, or not exactly at the coalface right now have to able to contribute to the overall success of this venture.

Selecting such a crew is not easy. Normal interviewing techniques can be pretty much abandoned. This is about who each crew member is not about what he or she can do or how they think. Crew can be trained to do and to think but they can not be trained to “a sense” about them that makes them standout in the crowd. A certain way about them that makes sure they get the extra dob of cream in their coffee, or the best table in dinner, or all the attention when they are talking. These people may appear to be a bit rough when you first meet but all they need is a little buffing to become true gems. You will spot them if you trust your instincts and if you look beyond the qualifications, track-record, and past successes.

Past failures are as good an indicator of a gem as past successes. Ask those who have had failures what they learnt. Ask them what success models they have also learnt from and what they intend to do differently in future. Ask those who have had great success what they intend to do differently in future. Ask them what they think of people who fail. Ask them if they have ever felt the impact of failure – in what circumstance, who did they share those feelings with, and what did they learn from those feelings.

Press people to express their feelings. Ask those who love systems to tell you about their feelings. Ask them what they think about people who do not share their passion for systems. Ask them what they think about new technologies – which ones are worth exploring and why are they so promising. Ask them how they go about displacing legacy systems. Ask them if they have re-engineered processes and what was the outcomes. Ask them if they are in favour of re-engineering as a change strategy. With all these questions there is no right answer just passion and feelings or the lack of it. If they do not express their feelings move onto the next question until you get to “feelings”. Those who love to work with other people need an equally demanding set of questions.

Feelings are what is shared between crew members. People who can not express their “feelings” easily are not ideal in a crew that is built to reconfigure the boat quickly. People have to be able to share information, knowledge, know-how, and feelings with all other members of the crew. People on your Big Red Boat form a cooperative that is reconfigured regularly into different formats. People who can not easily share feelings are good collaborators perhaps but they will struggle in a cooperative environment. People with passion have to be able to get along if this boat is to be great workplace.

Interviews for people on your Big Red Boat will be either short of long affairs. Short if they are not right for the boat and if they are. Long if they are rough diamonds because you will need to work out if they can be polished into a true gem for your boat.

Your crew has to fully understand your revenue models. They have to know how you raise money. They have to understand that how people raise money is a key factor in success.

Some crews get paid to win. They know that their performance and that of their boat depends on their ability to beat the competition. They hone their skills on their competitors' skills. They learn every tactic`known and then some about how to out sail the competition. They practice their tactics against the best competition they can find until they are the masters or get onto a better boat – then they strive to stay ahead of the fleet.

Thus it is not uncommon for a whole crew to walk out if a better boat comes along when their pay is performance based.

When you are hiring a crew you must be crystal clear about your revenue models. You must be crystal clear about the revenue model for the crew. You must check to ensure the fit is right between your new crew members and your revenue models. You must make sure they understand the revenue models of any consultants, coaches, crew support, etc who are associated with your Big Red Boat. You must accept and understand that poorly designed and designated revenue models can distort the workings of your crew. You must also accept and understand that poorly designed and designated revenue models for support staff can distort the working of your crew.

Recently I submitted a simple plan of work and fee structure to a client. He was happy with it and took it away to get approval for the work to begin. As usual with my proposal this one contained two options. He said he had backing for the more expensive one. So we looked set to start work. But at the last minute he came back to me with a compromised proposal – the new proposal dramatically changed my revenue model.

Under the new proposal all my revenue would be paid but the contract would be performance based. As he put it “that is not unreasonable is it?” No it is not unreasonable for me – if anything it made my assignment so much easier. But I had to decline to do the work. The new arrangement totally missed the point of my original proposal. I had a proposal built on building new demand whereas to fulfil this contract I was being forced to simply increase market share. I had intended to build a new customer base but the new proposal had a revenue model that compelled me to simply win customers over from the competition.

Business is being done this way every day of the week. Consultants are hired to do what can be done not what everyone knows has to be done. Any wonder consultants have such a bad reputation. Consulting houses have to pay bills as does everyone else so they need cash flow. Cash flow assignments are often based on performance revenue models because these agreements seem to protect the clients and lower their risk. What they do is screw up their revenue models and make genuine business change almost improbable if not impossible.

Revenue models define organisations, they dictate behaviours, they anchor failure, they resist change, they distort culture, they complicate mergers, they lock-in legacy systems, etc. Revenue models are often the reason the crew is not efficient nor effective.

Make sure you have a good fit between your revenue models and your crew.

Your Big Red Boat needs a unified crew. Unity comes when people have shared values. Difference between crew members will be tolerated far more easily when everyone shares a core set of values. Like most organisation theory this is easy to say but hard to do.

Management usually starts with a Mission Statement. This statement is accompanied by a charter of values. Once the values are “done and dusted” everyone moves on through Vision to Strategy to Corporate Plans to Leadership, etc. All this takes a huge amount of time and resources. After such an exhausting process you trust everyone is on the same page. Even then there can be problems.

Some years ago I was working in the Boardroom late at night with the executive and the topic came around to revenue models. This issue was critical to the future success of the place but the discussion was over in an instant. Given how much time we spent on other matters the brevity here surprised me. I wondered what it meant – I remember thinking to myself this has to be significant.

We all gathered for a cup of coffee to revive us for what seemed destined to be a long night. I took the opportunity to take a stroll around the room as is my want. I like to see what messages hang on the walls. I spotted something very interesting indeed.

When we resumed I asked the chairman and CEO if what I had read on the wall represented his and the other executives values. He said “yes!” without hesitation and proudly. He quickly went through them for everyone else in the room. I noted once he had finished that there was no mention of revenue models.

The room was hushed as everyone suddenly realised they had assembled a crew that agreed about everything in the moral compass but had no agreement about just how they were going to make money. Because there was no agreement on key issues around making money they simply ignored them. They tried not to spend too much time on such issues.

I had earned my fee right there in the coffee break. The company had a problem and it was clear for all to see – they prided themselves on having a common or shared set of values but when it came to doing business they did not. As the night dragged on the money issues became more and more complex and pressing. The crew aboard this boat was not working well together at all. They did not share a common set of values around money issues and so the cracks began to appear immediately.

When you hire a crew make sure your purpose is crystal clear – eg to sail your boat the very best you can in the prevailing conditions. Make sure too that your revenue models are crystal clear – eg to raise money that is not directly geared to racing results and rather comes from sponsorship, endowments, etc.

Google has a set of revenue models that are relevant to but still remain totally detached from their single purpose. The purpose is to provide the best internet search engine in the cosmos. The revenue models sit nicely to one side as they extend the ability of consumers to find the goods and services they need. This separation of purpose and revenue models is huge asset for Google. Googlers can work on the search engine in the knowledge that it helps you and me to find whatever we need. There is a common or shared set of values in the Google mantra “Don't Be Evil”. The Google mantra leads them to offer their core service “free” and then to “charge a fee” to those who hang their products and services off the search results.

Pick a crew with a common or shared set of values which includes revenue models.

The Big Red Boat is a complex vessel and onboard the crew has to deal with three modes, three cultures, and yet focus steadfastly on a single purpose. Crew members who fear complexity will not cope.

The more I think about what constitutes a great Big Red Boat crew the more I come to recognise that all crew members must love complexity.

Complexity will only ever be understood by those who stretch their minds and actions. Complexity is the challenge that lies at the core of confusion (remember “confusion” is the first step in learning something new), unlearning (all crews have to unlearn some bad habits), teaching (all crew members have to teach each other), striving (all crew members have to aim to do better), etc.

Complexity is not something to be feared, scorned, ridiculed, or shunned rather it is something to be fully embraced. Complexity is the state of being that demands new thinking, new actions, new mindsets, new inventions, and new ways of being in the world. Complexity demands we seek variety in life. Complexity is produced in nature because she knows it is needed to survive.

When choosing your Big Red Boat crew seek out those who embrace rather than fear complexity. Those who can admit their past failures and tell you what they learnt from them. Those who admire and learn from the successes of others and love to tell you about those lessons learnt. Those who know that tomorrow's Big Red Boat and crew has to be better than today's combinations if the complexities of the world are to be taken on. Those who seek to build in redundancy and variety into everything they do so they are more than willing and able to meet the challenges of today's complex world.

My favourite fairy tale was of St George slaying a fire-breathing Dragon – l loved it because I always identified with the Dragon not St George. I always wondered what the Dragon could do to unseat St George.

With management myths, legends, and fairy tales I also tend to identify with the slayed not the slayers.

When people rant and rave about poor customer service, including myself, I tend to see the customer at fault not the service provider. When the customer is me, and when I have settled down, I know I was largely to blame. I know I got whatever I got because of my attitude not because of “poor customer service”. Upon reflection, I know that a person with my knowledge and experience of management systems should know what to expect in any situation and therefore should never be disappointed with what is delivered.

I find these days when I am disappointed by a service provided to me it was because I was in a bad space, with a negative mindset, going into the situation. Similarly when I am delighted with a service it is because I was in a good mood going into the situation. Those few exceptions when something other than my personal mindset or mood is the cause of poor service - well they are the exceptions that validate the rule.

Miserable people do experience a great deal of “poor customer service”. In their lives it is an epidemic. They are constantly talking about “poor customer service”. Those who listen also have similar experiences – yeah they are miserable types too. Pretty soon some of these people begin writing blogs about “customer service” because they have a wealth of evidence, examples, and experiences of it. They have enough to convince you and me that there is indeed an epidemic of it around us too if we go looking for it. Once such people attach a revenue model to their storytelling they are in business providing advice on “customer service”.

When you are hiring a crew for your Big Red Boat choose people who talk about the “good customer service” they received at their local cafe yesterday. Choose those who always seem to have people wanting to give them more – some people always seem to get extra cream, ice-cream, coffee, and attention. Choose the people who tell stories about receiving excellent customer service because they will provide it. Choose people who can help you create “positive myths and legends” about your Big Red Boat.

Imagine if you hire a crew of people for your Big Red Boat who are perpetually in a “good mood” just how many positive myths and legends you could create over the next decade

Those of you who have taken up the “eight week challenge” to better understand the workings of your Big Red Boat can benefit greatly by observing other crews. Your crew can learn a great deal from the other crews' successes and failures. Your crew can probably recruit excellent talent from other crews once you understand why they want to leave their current boat to join you. Your crew can learn from all those other crews that struggle to over simplify what alway turn out to be complex issues. Your crew can learn the importance of being focussed on a clear and present purpose while observing other crews attempts to deal with their single points of failure. Your crew can learn to love complexity and variety when you see how many other crews are stressed out by their need to rework simple mistakes.

Why would crew leave Microsoft to go to Google?

The reasons crew leave Microsoft to join Google are many and varied. Whatever list we compile it will not cover them all so let's start with the "no brainers" – they leave because they can, they leave for the same reasons you and I queue hop at the supermarket, they leave because it is fashionable to do so, etc. They also leave because the “Googleplex Campus in Mountain View” is more like college than the “Microsoft Campus in Redmond”. They leave because Google has a clear and present purpose which is “search” whereas Microsoft has a far less clear grand vision which includes to set “a global standard for personal computing”. They leave because the Google culture is a good fit with a global networked economy where demand is generated by users not by marketing to consumers. They leave because to continue to work on their current project they will not get the recognition nor achieve the same success as some of their peers.

Why would crew leave iGoogle to go elsewhere?

The transition from Google to iGoogle – from search engine to Google Gears – will be interesting because it will shine a spotlight on management at the Googleplex. There will be plenty of good lessons to learn from the management crew at the Googleplex in 2007 and beyond. Crew will leave the Googleplex because I sense the likes of Marissa Mayer, and her spirit of organisational counter-culture born in those early days of Burning Man expeditions, etc will be surrendered to the new revenue models attached to Google Gears, YouTube, etc.

You can learn valuable lessons for your crew and your Big Red Boat if you closely examine these revenue models as they evolve. Look at the background of the iGoogle managers before they signed on at the Googleplex. Look at who is walking out the door and what projects they are leaving behind them when they go. Look on as “the media love affair with Google” changes as iGoogle struggles to be the flavour of the month.

Crew will leave iGoogle and those talents will be difficult to replace, replicate, and renew because the essence of Google will have changed. Any attempt to simply transform Google into iGoogle without a major culture change will fail and so it is inevitable that crew will leave the Googleplex over the next few years.

What would it take to ensure you and your crew never leave your Big Red Boat?

Answering this type of question is one of the key task you have to perform over the next eight weeks.

Big Red Boat organisations need a crew – always.

Have you got a crew? Do you trust your crew? Do they trust you? What is your crew doing next week?

Can I suggest you get your crew to evaluate your organisation.

If you do not have a crew can I suggest you assemble one. Can I also suggest a crew size of no fewer than three and no more than eight – five seems like a good number. Can I further suggest your crew has a mix of talents and gender. Can I finally suggest that your crew NOT be exclusively from your organisation.

Assemble your crew. Arrange to meet for an hour per week. Insist that every crew session be fun time.

Prepare to change your life.

Weeks one and two. Analyse your organisation in terms of context, culture, purpose, talent, and revenue models. Remember context determines demand. Demand determines frameworks for action. If demand is heavy then you know you need “systems led people” if demand is light you need “people led systems”. The culture in the former is based on self-service and automation. The culture in the latter is based on talent and facilitation. The talent needed in the first culture is very different to that needed in the second. The revenue models attached to the first culture is also very different to that attached in the second. In all these situations the purpose must be clear. [If you need more input read or re-read earlier riffs on Big Red Boat organisation.]

Prepare to engage change.

Weeks three and four. Determine your fit with your organisation. Are you the type of talent needed? Do you agree with the revenue models attached to your current work?

Prepare to be enthused, disappointed, confused, etc.

Weeks five and six. Determine the agility of your organisation. Is it capable of reframing its context, culture, and revenue models? Does your organisation have a culture change program? Do you fit the current or the proposed culture? Will the current or proposed revenue models deliver a new culture?

Prepare to quit OR to progress.

Weeks seven and eight. Discuss your organisation until you decide to quit or find your new niche

Big Red Boat organisation has “a sense” about it. Why? Because it is built-in.

This is “a sense” that comes from a clear and certain purpose, a context, and an ability to reconfigure.

The Church (see last riff) did not have “a sense” about it. It did not excite, inspire, model, teach, etc. It did not have a clear and certain purpose thus it did not “feel good” to be there.

What can you do about this problem?

Lots of things can be done but the one thing you can not do is simply “transform it”.  It is a C20th myth that you can simply transform an organisation from one state to another and retain the same sense about it.  Strangely that is precisely what we try to do all the time. We try desperately to transform the group, gathering, meeting, party, event, etc and we fail.

Google has “a sense” about it. A lot of what constitutes “a sense” at the Googleplex you can experience if you go on a tour of Stanford University. The culture at Stanford is something the founders of Google knew well. Googlers at the Googleplex feel very comfortable within that type of culture too. At the Googleplex the Google culture is a variation on the one at Standford but the essence is the same.

There is “a sense” at Standford with its relaxed environs, casual work hours, catered lunches (paid for in a local currency called “Cardinals”), and intellectually charged atmosphere. Some of that culture has found its way across from Palo Alto to Mountain View and so now the Googleplex has “a sense” that is very similar.

Google developed “a sense” as it grew within a Stanford University room, then in a rented garage, and now at the Googleplex. But can this happen all over again as it becomes iGoogle. Can iGoogle retain “a sense” about it ?

I believe the transition from Google to iGoogle will be tough. It will take some fancy footwork from iGoogle management to pull this trick off. The thing that will be hardest to retain is the culture. Why? Because Google was a by-product of the Standford days and a search engine research project. It had “a sense” because it grew up with that free wheeling, burning man, counter-culture.

Google was about search but iGoogle is about more than search.

Already there are workers at Google who are wondering if they fit. They are not working on Google News, Google Maps, Google Earth, or Google Gears so they do not feel part of all the success they read about in the media. How will they fit into iGoogle? What is the culture of iGoogle? How do you tranform Google into iGoogle?

The challenge for iGoogle management is to discover “a sense” for this new company. They need “a sense” for iGoogle that is very different from Google and yet is still viable.

For many months now I have been thinking about a Big Red Boat Church.

First a personal explanation. I am a lapsed Christian. Earlier in my life I was an active Christian who wanted to go into ministry. As I got closer to the workings within my Church I found it lacking as an organisation based on faith. It was the Church, not necessarily the people, that let me down. I gave up on my Church and eventually my faith. About 18 months ago I met a person who was attempting to put “faith” back into his Church. He said that God had left the place. This started me thinking about what could be done to help “rebirth” the Church as an organisation based on faith. I began by researching some successful models. I added them together. I mixed in a few of my own ideas and I came up with the Big Red Boat Church.

I chose three role models for my Big Red Boat Church. Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church, Bill Hybels of Willow Creek Community Church, and Nicky Gumbel of Brompton Holy Trinity Church. Pastor Rick Warren defines the purpose, Bill Hybels the sense of community, and Nicky Gumbel the essence of faith.

Let's start with purpose. I use Pastor Rick Warren's purpose. So my purpose is “to change people's lives” – not to change people but “to change people's lives”. I think of that purpose as the “rebirthing” of people's faith. Thus the Big Red Boat Church is a “rebirthing” Church. It is based on faith and that faith is “rebirthed” each and every time a person accepts Jesus as his or her saviour.

The Big Red Boat Church has a simple purpose and a simple test of faith. This faith is “rebirthed” each day within groups. These groups are self-regulating. They form casually within people homes to reaffirm the faith. They are led by different people at different times. They have different leaders for different activities. These groups work because they provide continual affirmation and progress. They attach revenue models to their activities where and when they are needed; otherwise they offer everything as a free good or service.

Let's move onto the need for a sense of community. Bill Hybels has led me to provide a Church that is the focal point for both a tangible and a virtual community. Worshipers and their friends congregate both in person and online at the Big Red Boat Church. People are drawn to the Church to attend events. These can be ticketed or free. These can be formal or informal. These events are run by professionals not volunteers. They are inclusive. They are community orientated. They offer a good experience to all who attend.

The Big Red Boat Church has “state of the art” technologies at all its venues. Soft touch technologies that offer participants instant information on all aspects of the event. These technologies are either installed or hired for the event. These events are commonplace. These events are topical. These events have vibe. Like the Big Tent at the Circus they are assembled and reassembled continuously. Eventually these events will be run 24/7. These events give the Big Red Boat Church a sense of community. This community is of unlimited size because people link into it online as well as under the Big Tent.

Finally I rely on the wisdom of Nicky Gumbel to find a test for the faith of those who attend my Big Red Boat Church. Nicky Gumbel has shown me that facilitated sessions with provocative themes or questions can be used as a test of faith. Strip back the illusion. Strip back the group think. Strip back the pretense. Strip back the simplicity. Replace it all with hard questions. Demand that people confront the hard questions about their faith. Engage in open and transparent discussion. Use skillful facilitators to better enable the cross-fertilisation of ideas and communion. This is a facilitated “rebirthing” of faith.

Big Red Boat organisation has a virtual memory built-in.

Adjust your organisation like you adjust the driver's seat in your car. Set the virtual memory and when you get back into the car the seat adjusts to your position. The steering adjusts as do the external mirrors. Everything automatically sets up for your mode of driving. If you have a an automatic gear shifting device all you do is select economy, power, or sports mode and then away you go.

The Big Red Boat organisation has a virtual memory built-in too. It will adjust to three modes as we know and then you have to fine tune it. But the important aide here is the virtual memory ensures you are correctly set up when you switch back from each of the other two modes. In the car seat it is your dimensions and driving comfort that is the key factor programmed into memory. In your organisation it is the management regime (eg “people led systems” or “systems led people”) that is key and that choice is based on revenue models.

Big Red Boat organisation is designed to cope with new regimes.

New regimes form wherever and whenever there are “paradigm shifts” in revenue models. As you know this is precisely what is happening today. The new technologies have enabled revenue models with a scale and a reach unknown to C20th management.

New regimes are being forged as the means of production, distribution, consumption, and wealth creation converge into global networks.

Those riding these “paradigm shifts” are devising new revenue models. Revenue models based on networks, clusters, and groups. These revenue models are fundamentally different from what preceded them. The new revenue models are usually passive offshoots of mainstream production, distribution, and consumption. This “paradigm shift” changes the nature of the organisation. It changes the culture. It changes the purpose. It changes the design. It changes the sense of belonging.

These new revenue models are one-to-one matching systems. You see it everyday, for example, a one-to-one match of TV ads to the viewers interests and then needs. Brand marketing is subsiding. Lovemark reinforcement is everywhere. Searching on iGoogle for products and services has become a rewarding experience. It is a free, efficient, and effective. It has all the ingredients to become a “lovemark” for you as you take up online shopping. iGoogle ads match your search interests and needs to products and services.

Dell Inc is re-inventing itself. It was a new regime for delivering computers direct to consumers. It built a huge business and a strong brand with the old revenue model. But early this century the model got tired. The consumers moved onto other computer suppliers. However in the new regime at Dell Inc the purpose is to link with prosumers who are eager to participate in production, distribution, and consumption of computer bits and bytes.

These new regimes all have one thing in common they are about matching like with like. Match the production process to the current crop of prosumers. Match the product to the consumer. Match the consumer to the support system. Match the revenue models to the growth networks.

The mindset that “small is beautiful” is being challenged. Small is always high risk. Small is the initial phase, making the very best of all there is, a constant struggle, or doomed. Small is difficult to network. Small is difficult to grow. Small is not sustainable in heavy mode. Small is barely sustainable in light mode. Small is based on exclusion not inclusion.

The mindset that “big is bureaucratic and unmanageable” is being challenged. What we always considered large is becoming ordinary. Networked growth has brought its own set of rules. Rules that apply in heavy mode when demand is constant and almost overwhelming.

The mindset that “growth strategies are essential” is being challenged. Growth is networked. Growth comes because you do what you have to do in your prevailing conditions. Growth comes because you stick to your clear and present purpose. Growth comes because you serve others. Growth comes because you facilitate new demand. Growth comes because you connect with clusters of demand. Growth comes because you run a vibrant organisation. Growth comes because your organisation has the vibe and it is the one.

Big Red Boat organisation brings new rules. Rules that apply in medium mode when demand is steady but never fully guaranteed. Rules that apply in ligh mode when demand is fluky. Rules that apply in heavy mode when demand is a storm. Within each mode networked growth is available. Within heavy mode the key is “experiential networks” that connect you to clusters of strong demand. Within the medium mode the key is “purpose-driven networks” that connect you to repeat demand. Within the light mode the key is “influential networks” that connect you with the facilitators of new demand.

Big Red Boat in “light mode” is all about the talent. The systems on the boat have been stripped back to spartan levels. The sails are light but massive so they catch every wisp of breeze. The crew is there to seize every slight opportunity presented by the weather to go where they need to go. This is the ultimate in “people led systems”. This is where the talent on your boat is what makes you the best. This is where the environs have to be worked over with good technique and sound principles.

In “light mode” the talent is focused on facilitating demand. They search for it, they create it, they aggregate it, and they exploit it. They are skilled facilitators. They network the environs to magnify any demand that is present. They capture that demand. They value that demand. They place a premium value on that demand. They massage that demand. They ensure the value of the networked demand increases as the network increases.

This talent works on the “inclusion principle”. A network built on the inclusion principle in an environment of light demand is a high value asset. It is an intangible or a virtual asset. This asset is outside not inside the organisation. The value of the asset is dependent upon or magnified by the organisation. In light mode, for example, the demand comes from early adopters. This is frontier demand. This is high value demand. This is also fluky demand.

This talent must provide the vibe needed to attract this type of demand. This demands “top shelf” talent at least in the key roles of facilitators. One of the most prized C21st assets will be talent that can facilitate new networked demand. This talent is learning the skills needed to create new connectors to early adopters. They are pioneers. They are as innovative as the target early adopters they seek to connect to and with.

“Paradigm shifts” are the big challenge for organisations in the early part of C21st. Because most C20th design is not adept at change management the workers in such entities are in for a bumpy ride. Their fortunes will rise and fall with a tidal wave of new demand from China, India, Korea, and Africa. Demand for resources. Demand for jobs. Demand for technologies. Demand for higher and higher living standards. Demand for increased life expectancy. Demand for a better share of economic good fortune.

Those who are destined to suffer most will be locked into the moribund world of C20th organisations. They will work longer and longer hours but achieve less and less. They will become super competitive and thus super suspicious towards all outsiders. They will engage in bloody purges of peers, rivals, and colleagues. They will become over zealous guardians of existing legends, myths, brands, leadership roles, revenue models, strategic thinking modes, etc. They will become obessed with security concerns. They will become control bullies. They will become creatures of “management by committee”. They will become “meeting junkies”. They will become captives of a “closed system”.

Those who cope best with the “knock on effects” of C21st “paradigm shifts” will work in and for organisations that are open, transparent, and proactive. They will become vocal advocates of Big Red Boat organisation.

Big Red Boat organisation is an open system. It has built-in feedback loops. It has built-in capabilities to configure to best suit the prevailing conditions. It has built-in ability to “disrupt with purpose”. It has built-in focus on new ways of thinking and executing. It has built-in frameworks for handling “paradigm shifts”.

Clear Space Thinking is about mental models. The mental models you need to focus on “a clear and present purpose” in your life, career, social spheres, and communities. The basic message is simply this is a time of “paradigm shifts” and thus “staying with old habits, behaviours, and ways of thinking is not an option”. The core “paradigm shift” in Clear Space Thinking urges you to sail your own boat. In the process you will find your clear space to be just beyond the reach of your best competitors.

Given that you must “paradigm shift” I sought to encourage you to do that with my 30-day course in “Disrupt with Purpose”. The disruption focused on thinking paradigms (eg messy minds, 1+1= 3, Mandelbrot, Clusters, 8 – 6 = 2, bubble minds, etc.) that can change your ways of thinking. The purpose is to remind you to stay grounded whenever you “paradigm shift”. Later this year a book of this course and some extra instructions should be available for you to share with a group of your peers, colleagues, family, and friends. You and your peers can help each other to find new mental models. “Disrupt with Purpose” is a much more efficient and effective process when done as a group.

I sensed you may have needed some frameworks for action as you came off that 30-day course. Twenty New Ways was meant to get you to establish a context for your new mental models, to test your models, and to execute them with commonsense. At this point I introduced you to my “black-ice incubator”. Why black-ice? Because black-ice forms a skid pad on highways that is invisible and thus causes accidents. Black-ice issues form inside organisation with similar outcomes. So the “black-ice incubator” is a simple mechanism for tranmogrifying a set of complex issues into mundane processes and revenue models.

Big Red Boat organisation is the next step. This will take many months to fully develop – it is “a work in progress” product of over 20 years thinking about organisation theory and practice. The key features of Big Red Boat organisation include the fact it has three not one mode. It is based on purpose not vision. It is configured to compete against weather conditions not other boats. It is based on inclusive not exclusive revenue models. It is based on the leadership models demonstrated by the Vietnamese freedom fighters not C20th management. It works because the workload is shared between systems and people equally, or with a bias to systems, or with a bias to people. It works because it links revenue models to “a clear and present purpose”.

Big Red Boat organisation is designed for our times.

These times are different. The economy is networked. Industrial growth has relocated into China, India, Korea, etc. Business models are based on free products and services. Users and consumers are not always customers. Customers still provide your revenue but they may also provide you with the information, innovation, design, etc you need for a whole new revenue model.

In the new revenue models consumers are often also producers – ie they become “prosumers”. Prosumers are a new form of “talent” who work both inside and outside the organisation. Prosumers provide you with new pathways to growth. Along these pathways you will discover an endless stream of open and transparent growth enterprises.

Big Red Boat is designed to cope with the “paradigm shifts” disrupting market growth, industry definitions, demographic outcomes, immigration impacts, environmental factors of production, business models, human capital distribution, etc. Your organisation has to be able to shift modes quickly, efficiently, and effectively. You must design the modes of your boat to best fit your “paradigm shifts”.

Big Red Boat organisation is designed to get the right mix of people and machines in the right places at the right times. You can alter your particular mix within weeks because “the change process” is built-in.

Big Red Boat organisation is simple – it is a simple mix of machines and networks in three configurations.

When demand is heavy the machines dominate. When demand is light the networks dominate. When demand is medium the machines and the networks are in dynamic balance.

Machines connected to machines is the basic infrastructure for a growth storm. People networks connected through facilitators is the basic infrastructure for all new growth. People and machines networked together is the basic infrastructure for organic growth.

People play a backseat role in growth storms, they play the key role in new growth, and they play an integral role in organic growth. The culture for all three configurations is the same because the purpose is the same. The ability to change from one configuration to another is built-in. The steady state of organic growth is the most difficult to manage.

As it turns out there are just two basic ideas you need to design, build, and sustain your Big Red Boat.

Those are:

• change lives not people

• focus on health not growth.

Medium conditions are what most organisations face everyday.

In medium conditions neither vision nor talent is key. Key is purpose. In this mode change is constant. In this mode balance is the result of dynamic change. In this mode the crew are change experts. They cope with change well because they always have a clear and present purpose – their purpose is to sail the boat the best they can in the prevailing conditions.

Purpose driven organisations are flexible. They are complex. They are a constant challenge. They are packed full of variety. They are organised into groups. They are connected to dynamic “communities of interest” to keep their knowledge updated. They are the best today that they can be at whatever they have to do.

Crew who are good at sailing in medium conditions are usually “gifted all rounders”. They have a good store of both the theoretical and the practical knowledge they need today. They have the requisite skills to “disrupt with purpose”. They have success if and only if they can find practical solutions to complex problems.

Most organisations struggle in medium conditions because managers are content to sail against the competition. They are content to let the competition set the standards. They are content to benchmark against the best competition. They are content to win against their current competition no matter how poorly they all perform in the conditions. They are content to be mediocre.

If you compete against the conditions rather than the competition you will soon get to know what this medium mode is all about. It is about being really good at everything you do. It is about finding better ways to do what you do even as you are doing it. It is about visualizing “the big picture” all the time and yet focusing down tightly on your clear and present purpose. It is about making sure and certain that your systems are agile, flexible, and reliable. It is about making sure your crew are all consistent performers.

Getting to know the medium mode of your Big Red Boat organisation is all about understand the constraints that bind you now yet having the type of mindset needed to embrace unlimited changes. A mindset that can quickly change-up to heavy mode or down to light mode. To truly get to know this medium you need to see it from the point of view of those who excel in heavy mode and those who excel in light mode. But you need to always remember that medium mode is neither one nor the other. Most importantly it is also not simply a combination of the other two.

Medium mode is unique, difficult, testing, long lasting, and rarely mastered by a particular crew.