Every once in a while I pick up a book that really resonates with me. The author brings out an idea that confirms what I’ve been thinking and gives me further clarification on those thoughts.
“Mastering the Rockefeller Habits” by Verne Harish is one such book. Harish describes three habits which Rockefeller applied to help Standard Oil grow.
There are so many truths in the book to choose from, so I’ll just pick a few that really spoke to me.
Habit #1 – Priorities
As a company grows, the owners must work harder and harder to communicate the major priorities to its staff. Harish provides some great tools to aid in the communication process. He boils business down into six major areas to focus on. Harish calls this his, “Right Things Model”.
- Customers
- Employees
- Stakeholders
Get, Keep and Grow (i.e. get customers, keep customers, grow employees or any other combination)
- Selling
- Producing
- Record Keeping (accounting)
Better, Faster and Cheaper (sell better, sell faster, produce cheaper etc.)
Habit #2 – Data
This is something I’m especially passionate about. As your company grows, it is impossible to speak to every employee each day or even each week. Metrics become the primary way to monitor and predict what’s going to happen. Metrics allow you to make the necessary adjustments. Each of the six major areas of your business should have their associated metrics.
Habit #3 – Rhythm
This habit speaks to making sure all major areas of business are meeting regularly to review the metrics and make sure they are in alignment with the priorities outlined by the owners. Harish says this keeps everyone, “informed, aligned and accountable”.