The Power of Elegance in Action

In 1978 my brother, Kevin, graduated from college and bought a stereo system with a turntable, receiver, and two three-foot loudspeakers. He had several hundred albums stored in milk crates that seemed to cover one whole wall of his apartment. In 2005, Kevin and his wife, Sue, bought their daughter Kaylee an iPod. The iPod took up six square inches and held more than 10,000 songs.

The iPod was elegance in action.

Business elegance consists of simple, clear, clean, and powerful processes that deliver great solutions. I encourage you to look at every aspect of your business and search for ways to make it more elegant. I'm not just talking about the products and services you sell. I'm talking about your internal activities. Let's start with perhaps the most inelegant aspect of business: small group meetings.

A typical one-day meeting that I've observed has 16-20 agenda items. Invariably, the group attacks the first item with enormous passion regardless of what it is about, quickly realizes they are going to run out of time, decides to keep the meeting going through lunch, extends the meeting for an hour past the ending time that was communicated, and rushes like cats in a roomful of rocking chairs to wrap up the last eight agenda items. Then they push back and say things like, "We got a lot done today, but we've got a lot more to do."

That's inelegance in action.

The question to answer is, "How can we make this event process simpler, cleaner, and more powerful?" The next time you have a one-day meeting I suggest you send out the agenda one week before the meeting with just three questions on the agenda. Select the three highest priority desired outcomes for your business group and turn them into open-ended questions.

Notice: I said three items on the agenda, and each is turned into an open-ended question. That's it, no more.

Attach to the agenda any important documents, articles or reports that people should read before the meeting in order to improve the conversation on the three open-ended questions.

When the group walks in, start with the first open-ended question. You break the large group into small groups and you discuss the question. You get everyone's best ideas on the table. Then you pull the small groups back together for a large group discussion. At the end of two hours, the decision-maker on the topic either says, "Based on what I've heard today and my own research, here's what we're going to do…" or she says, "I've heard all of your input. I'm going to consider it, and I'm going to make a decision within three days. And I will communicate that decision to you. Thank you for all your insights." Then the group moves to the next question.

That's business elegance. When people are together they are discussing key issues as opposed to listening to long reports, decisions are being made faster, and actions are being taken to drive the business. If there has to be a presentation, it is at most ten minutes long and transfers the key insights necessary to enhance the open-ended discussion.

Meetings start and end on time. People get reasonable breaks to eat lunch, clear their head, and go to the bathroom. People show back up on time and don't keep the whole group waiting while they answer their cell phone.

It takes courage and sacrifice to generate elegance. It means you're not going to stuff every possible thought on to the agenda. An elegant agenda has lots of white space, and is clean, clear, and powerful.

Great brands operate with elegance.

• Toyota has elegance in the way they make cars and trucks.
• Nordstrom's has elegance in the way they provide customer service.
• McDonald's has elegance in the way they serve hot food with fast and friendly service in a clean environment.
• Marriott has elegance in terms of providing a friendly lodging experience.
• Wal-Mart has elegance in its inventory management.
• Target has elegance in its store layout of wider aisles and fewer items and relatively small retail space.

  BBQ (Business-Building Question) on Elegance

  How can you increase the elegance in the value you provide, and the way in which you generate that value?

  Resource Recommendations

  • POP! Stand Out in Any Crowd by Sam Horn
    This book is by far the best book I've ever read on how to create sayings, titles, and catch phrases that stand out and become memorable. I have a hard time thinking of any individual or organization that would not benefit from her powerful and practical insights. If you're giving a speech, putting on a presentation, writing a company newsletter, creating an ad campaign, or just trying to make an event more memorable, I encourage to read POP!

  • Setting the Table by Danny Meyer
    This book is a modern day "How to Win Friends and Influence People". I love his definitions of hospitality as a dialogue versus service as a monologue. It's a very powerful book that shows how eloquence can make a difference in every situation.
  Take care and have a great month!

  Dan Coughlin

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  Accelerate Update This section is always current to the current month

  I suppose every book changes an author's life to a certain degree. My first book, which was self-published in 1995, was called Inside Out: A Catalyst for Conscious Living. It's out of print now for a number of good reasons. The layout, which yours truly did, looks like something a first grader could do today. And the ideas are very theoretical, which doesn't fit my approach anymore. However, I read the book a few months ago, and I was pleased by how clearly I had explained my early thoughts on improving performance.

  My second book, Corporate Catalysts: How to Make Your Company More Successful, Whatever Your Title, Income, or Authority was published in 2005 by Career Press. That book was a step forward in clarifying my ideas on improving performance and understanding how to write a whole book. It's one thing to dream about getting a book contract and another thing to write a 70,000 word manuscript.

  My third book, ACCELERATE: 20 Practical Lessons to Boost Momentum, which was published in May 2007 by Kaplan Publishing, has changed my business dramatically. Up until that book was published, I mostly did projects for four companies: McDonald's, Marriott, GSD&M, and Toyota. In the past 12 months, I've worked with business owners, executives, and managers within dozens of small, medium, and massive organizations in more than 20 industries ranging from boats to banks to software to financial services to trucking to lighting to home healthcare to hospitals to optometrists. It's been an exciting adventure.

  If you want to see my speaking calendar for 2008, which we'll try to update every two weeks, please click here.

  Currently, I have 66 speeches scheduled for 2008. If you would like for me to speak at one of your events in 2008 or 2009, feel free to contact me at dan@thecoughlincompany.com and I will be glad to see if we can make it work.

  If you want to see my speaking topics and a video of footage from some of my keynote speeches, please click here.

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