The Dual Operating System For Growth

In business, you can find yourself on a path you didn’t expect to be on.

Climbing a different peak than you set out to climb.

And in some cases, this can be exhilarating!

But in my case a few years back, I was heading in a direction I didn’t want to be going in.

At the time, no matter how hard I pushed for growth and change, the universe (and some big jerky people) had other plans.

But in the thick of it all, I remember reading something that said… 

In order to orchestrate positive change and continue to sustain growth, leaders must learn how to run two companies simultaneously.

The business you’re in today.

And the business you want to run in the future. 

I remember thinking…

“that’s brilliant!”

“But I can’t even get this business right”

 (We had some serious growing pains)

But the more I sat with the idea, the more I saw the remarkable value in it for building a bridge to the future.

So I fully embraced the concept of running two businesses to explore it.

And the result?

Our business naturally steered towards those lofty ideas for our future business. 

Plus I also deleted those big jerky people along the way…

And today, I want to share how you can use the same process to orchestrate change in your own company and transform from where you are, to where you wanted to be.

Let’s jump in. 

To paint a picture of exactly where I was mentally and physically. 

Understand this...

I started a business after a massive failure. 

It was all or nothing and I told myself it was going to be big and excellent. 

No more small businesses where I couldn’t afford a brilliant team of people to help. 

But all I cared about initially was keeping my head down and making world-class products and delivering shit-hot, genuine service. 

We were busy on day one which was great. 

Growth happened organically (and sometimes strategically).

But I found myself still doing everything.

Behaving like a typical small business owner who was tied to every BAU task.

Responding to urgent problems, emergencies, complaints, covering people calling in sick, 3 am deliveries, 11 pm book work. sales, HR and everything in between seven days a week.

Weirdly I felt great because we were growing. But when I started to think about it, it didn’t look like the business I had in mind at the beginning.

We were good but weren’t excellent.

And it was all my fault.

Now, even knowing that, I struggled to figure out how to make the transition.

Adding to the challenge, I had hired mates and friends of friends as all-rounders to get the business going.

It made it super difficult to demand excellence when everyone thought they were doing me a favour by just being there. Even though they were paid to work, took home free shit, only worked the hours they wanted and… wait... I’m ranting.

Anyway, it was around then that I discovered the concept of running today's business and the future business. 

Something I later found that a dude much smarter than me had named the dual operating system. 

This concept was the turning point for transitioning from the happy-go-lucky workplace we’d become, into a high-performance team capable of pioneering new frontiers in our industry.

And here’s exactly what I did to kickstart the shift.

1. Began to Dream Again.

I thought about the ideal company I wanted to build again.

What pissed me off about bad ones. What excited me about great ones. 

Then I took a few days off and got away to document my ideas and refine them. Something I stole from Bill Gates.

I went through every facet of the business and painted a picture in my mind so clear that it could have been a feature film at the Leeton Roxy Theatre.

• What the company did.
• Who and how we did it.
• Who our ideal customer was.
• What we stood for and against.
• An organisational chart with specific future roles.
• What type of leader I was and how I spent my time.
• Where we had sites and what it was like to enter one.

I even went into detail about how we behaved as a leadership team, the types of things we discussed and so on. 

Annnnyway, you get the picture. It was pretty detailed. 

And I suggest you do the same.

2. Got Honest About Today. 

I documented the same things I was dreaming about but was brutally honest about the standard they were done at today.

The result?

Two completely different companies on paper.

I noticed a massive gap between where we were today and where I wanted us to be.

I even saw an entire market and business unit I thought we should be trying to build.

3. Assembled A Team

Don’t assume that people are on board with this type of transformation.

I was lucky enough to find a few brilliant people who were all in.

But many weren’t. 

Most loved the idea of being on the winning team but didn’t want to do more than they were already doing to help get us there… Dealing with those people is an email for another time.

But remember that a movement can start with just one extra person joining your cause.

4. I Shared My Vision

After going through a massive (mental) transformation in private I emerged and hoped everyone would subconsciously pick up on my new vibes and start doing it immediately. 

Don’t do that…

Instead, schedule time to meet with your key people.

Explain the whole process you’ve just gone through and give plenty of context.

I did this in small groups and 1:1 over a short period of time to make sure they heard it from me first. 

5. Put A Line In The Sand.

It’s important that you take responsibility for the current state of the company. 

After all, you’re leading it. 

Even if you think you’ve told everyone the direction before and they should know.

Suck it up.

Say something like:

“We’re currently (here) when we have the opportunity to be (there)”

“This is completely my fault because up until this point I haven’t given you enough clarity about where we’re going and the expectations I’ve placed on each of you to ensure we get (there).

And I apologise because it must have been incredibly hard to work here for many reasons without that clarity.

Today I wanted to share my vision with you... (fill them in on why you shooting for the stars)

Followed by something like: 

“Now you can see the bigger picture. The game we’re really playing”

When you return to work next week, understand that our standards have changed. Our measurement of success will be at (x) level and I expect you to adjust your standards to help us get there.

Because we’re more likely to build something wonderful, if we commit to building it together.: “ 

Your team must fully understand that it’s a line in the sand and what was acceptable yesterday will not be accepted tomorrow. 

There is an expectation to lift the standards.

PHEW!

That was a juicy one today.

Thank you to those who made it this far.

Plenty to unpack in this week's email. 

But today was about helping you explore the idea of running two businesses for the purpose of changing your future.

So...

If you leave here today only remembering ONE thing
it would be this:

Think about the company you’re running today and the company you want to run in the future. 

They’re almost certain to be different.

And if they are, build a team and align on a plan to bridge the gap. 

I hope this helps.

Take care,

Jarrod.