Amp It Up by Frank Slootman, CEO of Snowflake is a must-read.
Frank knows what he’s talking about. He took three software companies public, including ServiceNow, and today he’s worth ~$1.8B
If you don’t have time to read it, here are my 10 favorite nuggets:
Nugget #1: Amp It Up (the concept)
Organizations have room to improve their performance without making expensive changes to their talent, structure, or fundamental business model.
- Raise your standards
- Pick up the pace
- Sharpen your focus
- Align your people.
Nugget #2: Be mission-driven
Criteria for a great mission: Big, Clear, Not about money
Mission-driven is not just what you believe, it’s how you make decisions every day about your time, effort, and resources.
Nugget #3: Create clarity
“In every company I’ve ever encountered, distractions are a huge threat. They often become a major source of self-defeating behavior.”
Clarity is the unlock to greater productivity and performance.
Don’t leave it to chance.
Nugget #4: Avoid incremental thinking
Instead of seeking incremental progress from today, work backward.
What needs to happen to get there? This exercise is inspiring and motivating, as you become guided by your future vision.
Don’t steer the ship by looking at its wake!
Nugget #5: Think execution first
Put execution ahead of strategy.
Great execution is rarer than great strategy.
Nugget #6: Get strategy right
Great execution can’t save a failing strategy, but it will help you decide to make a change more quickly.
Avoid groupthink and confirmation bias. These will kill an enterprise.
Leadership must maintain a culture of brutal honesty.
Nugget #7: Culture matters
It matters more than you think.
Culture is not about making people feel good
Culture enables the mission with the behaviors and values that serve that purpose.
Nugget #8: Shoot for breakout growth
For a business to break out and reach escape velocity, it needs a ton of differentiation.
It needs to profoundly upset and disrupt the status quo.
People yawn when offered a marginal change.
Nugget #9: Create great goals
Behavior is informed & driven, by expectations.
“I asked my team what it would take to increase an estimate by 25%. They rattled off things they had to do to get there. So, I said let’s do that then.”
Goals are powerful: they change behavior.
Nugget #10: Speed is an advantage
All my experiences have taught me that when in doubt, you should lean in and try to grow faster.
Ask yourself – what needs to change to accelerate our results.
TL;DR: Here are the 10 nuggets:
- Amp It Up
- Be mission-driven
- Create clarity
- Avoid incremental thinking
- Think execution first
- Get strategy right
- Culture matters
- Shoot for breakout growth
- Create great goals
- Speed is an advantage
If you enjoyed this summary and want to hear more on startup leadership and growth, follow me on LinkedIn or Twitter @bockius
