As an interim communications/marketing manager, I have a mantra that I frequently use in the companies that hire me. When a member of the team advises, for example, a campaign that is expensive and from previous efforts we know it is not very effective, I react: “If this was your own company, would you pay for that campaign?” Usually, the answer is no.
This is exactly the subject of the excellent book ‘A company of owners’ by Daren Martin. To have success as a company, you’ll have to create an owner’s culture. Martin: “Owners have a psychological stake in the success of the company that drives their daily behavior. They treat the company as if it were their own. Owners deal with expenses as if the money were coming out of their own bank account. Owners are outcome fanatics. Owners are fundamentally different from employees. Employees are less engaged, less productive, and less accountable.”
Snackable
What I like about the book is that it isn’t written in an old-fashioned ‘textbook’ manner, but similar to the books of for example Austin Kleon (Steal like an artist). Highly snackable content: one-liners, slogans, quotes, bullet lists, and drawings. I love these types of books, everything that is redundant is omitted. The same approach as a mind map. Read both, I bet you will recognize many things that happen in the company you own or work for. Next: change it. The last sentence in Martin’s book is:
“If you want to survive and thrive in the coming years, demonstrate an owner mentality at every turn.”
About the author
Hans Buskes is a business consultant, marketing communications manager and mind mapper. He’s the author of several mind map books and mind map blogger on Mastermindmaps.
