Every once in a while, I come across a video that makes me say: 'wow, that's so true' and 'where were you all my life?'.

This is one of those.

I've been on the receiving side of these discussions for years when I had an agency and an IT service company. One of the hardest things I had to learn as an entrepreneur was not to renegotiate in these situations. Since I'm a 'nice guy' who believes the best in people and that a handshake is more binding than a contract, well, I got chewed the wool off my back more than once.

But I sleep better at night believing the best and not always supposing the worst. I've just become 'cautiously optimistic'.

This video flies in the face of the notion that 'the client is always right'. He's not... but he does need to be educated sometimes.

Whether one is an entrepreneur or an employee, whether we need to satisfy our boss, our client, our supplier, our employee or our spouse, managing expectations is the single most important key. Countless expensive systems and processes are developed to ensure that we define the promise, we accomplish the promise and we demonstrate the return on the promise.

It's all about expectations.

Two days ago, someone walked on stage at a talent show across the pond. The expectations and the assumed promise could not have been lower. And yet...

A model for all of us who manage expectations of any kind. Let's shatter them like Susan Boyle did.

Quite a change for me. After 11 years of starting, building and selling businesses in technology, I decided to join an existing corporation. I am now an 'intrapreneur'.

Wikipedia says : An Intrapreneur is the person who focuses on innovation and creativity and who transforms a dream or an idea into a profitable venture, by operating within the organizational environment. Thus, Intrapreneurs are Inside entrepreneurs who follow the goal of the organization.

So what would push a hardened entrepreneur to switch gears ? From my own experience, I can talk about a combination of variables.

Time with family
As en entrepreneur, the family is usually the stakeholder that is the least satisfied in the entrepreneur's ecosystem. In order to keep my clients, my suppliers, my employees and my investors satisfied, it often demanded super-human patience and understanding from the ones I love. Funny how the first people in your heart are sometimes the last in your calendar.

My wife works with Child Protective Services and the job isn't an easy one. I often say that I get to meet and work with the cream of society, while her clientèle are child abusers and neglecters... the bottom of the barrel in my mind. And soon our third boy is going to see the light of day and it was a bit of a wake-up call for me. Are we both going to keep living fast lives where I am preoccupied by demanding clients and she is preoccupied with emergency abuse situations ? I certainly don't want to reflect back on my life and say I should have spent more time with them.

Focus
An entrepreneur has to learn to juggle multiple hats and perform tasks that are often outside their unique ability. Focusing on this unique ability is a luxury that most can't afford, especially in the beginning phases of startup life. In my current role, I can focus on one expertise : digital strategies. I help internal and external clients optimize their content and digital reach.

Learning
One of the reasons I joined a corporation was that I was seeking new experiences and new learning opportunities. I've done the entrepreneur thing for 11 years, and while I still have lots to learn, I felt I have sufficiently experienced it... for now. This certainly does not preclude the fact that I will return to my own business in the future.

Colleagues
I was a consultant for the company a couple of months before joining them, so I got to appreciate the team there. They are believers in the mission, they are experts in their field and they are genuinely nice people.

Challenge and openness for change
Finally, the organization has demonstrated a huge appetite for change in the media industry. They are Canada's biggest paper publisher and their understanding of future growth potentials in the digital world is refreshing and motivating.

The people and the challenges were the most important factor in my decision process.

Now, I'm addicted to startups, so to help my weaning process, I still
- mentor and coach Montreal tech start-ups
- teach engineers at the Bachelor's and Master's level how to start and sustain their businesses
- participate actively in the Montreal tech startup community

Oh, and I will still keep blogging on entrepreneurship and strategies in this space...

I don't often appreciate reductionist formulas where people say ' Do this and you're life will be better '. Life is so much more intricate and complicated.

However, I fell on this little formulaic reminder of corporate structure and priorities and thought it worth putting on the sticky side of my mind :

3 P = 2 P

Products + Processes + People = Profits and Phun (ok, I cheated on the last P, but it works)

Products : The right widget or service to fill the right need with the right message in the right market at the right time.

Processes : The right way of doing things to optimize revenues and expenses.

People : The right ready, willing and able people.

Equals

Profits : Not just financial, but also personal growth.

Phun : The most important part of the equation. If you're not having fun, STOP, go back to the left part of the equation and figure out what's wrong... then fix it.

Sometimes, I come across stories that inspire me to be a better person, to excel and go beyond established limits. This story is from the Bible, from the book of Nehemiah.

Nehemiah knew that to be a good leader you had to have clean hands and a pure heart. The basic quality for leadership is the same as the basic quality for success in a person's life. And that is to be true to one's belief and values.

So what made Nehemiah so special ?

Nehemiah had a sense of calling.
Nehemiah patiently waited for the right timing.
Nehemiah established reasonable and attainable goals. You know one of the reasons why leadership fails is 1) they have no goals whatsoever or 2) they establish goals that are not reasonable, measurable or attainable.
Nehemiah made prayer and recollection a priority in his life.
Nehemiah rearranged his priorities in order to accomplish his goals.
Nehemiah acted decisively when it was time for him to act.
Nehemiah took time to rest, to plan, to pray, to think.
Nehemiah became personally acquainted with his task.
Nehemiah made shrewd use of his time.
Nehemiah surrounded himself with trusted allies.
Nehemiah provided vision for the people.
Nehemiah involved a broad-based work team in the work.
Nehemiah never wavered in the face of opposition.
Nehemiah executed a plan to accomplish his goal.
Nehemiah didn't hesitate to take emergency action when emergency action was necessary.
Nehemiah was very visible and approachable.
Nehemiah managed his resources very well.
Nehemiah verbalized his dependence on other's help, and he did it again and again.
Nehemiah was not afraid to get his hands dirty.
Nehemiah took care of his people financially.
Nehemiah personally sacrificed to accomplish his goal.
Nehemiah refused to live above his people.
Nehemiah didn't hesitate to discipline inappropriate behavior.
Nehemiah had a great view of the value of his own work.
Nehemiah exuded integrity before everyone.
Nehemiah showed discernment in dealing with people.
Nehemiah didn't hesitate to attribute his success to others.
Nehemiah kept his promises.

Whether you believe in the veracity of the Good Book or not is besides the point. The example given here of someone who wisely persevered against all odds is worth a moment of reflexion.

I know. I promised there would only be 3 in this series, but only fools don't change their minds.

A reader sent me brilliant and striking parallels made from the Hierachy of Needs from Maslow to (A) corporate maturity and (B) types of individuals within a corporate structure. I just couldn't resist complementing the series with these parallels while acknowledging Celine Gravel and the Renoir Consulting company where these notions are continually developed and used. They work, I've been through each level and lived the thrill / stress / doubts / all nighters in the passing to the next one.

So here are the 5 levels of corporate maturity mapped out on Maslow's levels. I also included the types of employees per level.

LEVEL 1 : Physiological needs
Company needs to establish stable revenues and answer clients
Manages emergencies, very reactive and short term
Product is defined according to founder's idea
Initial systems and processes in place, trial and error to tweak them
Rapid production with little resources
Complete one-man-show decision making

Employees :
single tasked or inefficient multi-tasked
production focused
5% interpersonal abilities, 95% task execution

LEVEL 2 : Security needs
Company builds in parity with clientèle
Developing ideas to be proactive to maintain the flow
Product is modified according to client one-off demands
Certain critical systems are tweaked, secondary systems are still ad-hoc
Resources grow by client demand
Production is somewhat standardized
Some delegation takes place from founder on what the founder views as 'less critical' matters

Employees :
slightly more efficient multi-tasked
management by fear
Individualist profiles, little team spirit
Managers roles are created
15% interpersonal abilities, 85% task execution

LEVEL 3 : Belonging needs
Company grows by the market it is in
Ideas are out in place to be proactive towards the whole market, not just specific clients
Product is seen as an entry-point to satisfy market needs, complimentary products are envisioned
Internal processes are set with minor tweaks being brought to them
Resources are added in anticipation of market response and feel as though they are part of a global solution
Leadership is being executed by a team, with coherence still being tweaked as the founder learns to involve and 'let-go'

Employees :
customer service focused jobs
interdepartmental teamwork
supervisors, facilitators, management are put in place
management by relationships
less Individualist profiles, more team spirit
50% interpersonal abilities, 50% task execution

LEVEL 4 : Esteem needs
Company becomes a market leader
Recognition is there for work done to accomplish market needs
Future versions of the product now anticipate the market needs (and sometimes can even create those needs)
Internal processes are all 'in-sync' and have been optimized for top-line and bottom-line growth
Resources are lining up to be a part of the success story, supply passes the demand for HR
The leadership team have pride in accomplishments and have the constant challenge to keep the success going
Strategies for sustained growth become more diversified : new products, new markets, acquisitions, decentralization, recentralization
Corporate vision becomes challenged

Employees :
client and strategy focused
collective thinking, based on client services
like-minded individuals with similar value systems
team is king
85% interpersonal abilities, 15% task execution

LEVEL 5 : Realization needs
Company becomes a social heritage, a legacy to society, to its clients, to its employees
Recognition for social change and positive outcomes of the innovation becomes prevalent
Thriving internal culture with strategic alignment
Growth strategies have been successful and the challenged vision is now clear to all stakeholders
Strategic decision making revolves around how profits will be used to better the lives of those around the company
Succession planning becomes a priority for the founder(s)

Employees :
CXOs, VPs manage with creativity, unity and innovation
inventors, creatives thinkers, trainers are sought after
95% interpersonal abilities, 5% task execution

So where are you in this process ? Where do you want to be ? What kind of challenges do you thrive on ? What kind of leader are you ? What kind of employees do you need now ? and what kind should you look out for ?

This is the path awaiting you. Don't forget to have fun ;)

Value chains. You've studied them, heard about them and most probably been involved as an actor in many of them. In my 11 years of entrepreneurship and corporate value-making experience, I have learnt that mastery of the value chain is key.

Influenced from too many books and sources to count, here is my conception of the Product Value Chain - going from idea to satisfied costumers, from the product life cycle angle.

1. Planning value chain
          o Investments
          o Market research
          o Product research

2. Supplier value chain
          o Raw material
                + Creation
                + Transformation
          o Inbound logistics
                + Brokers
                + Dealers

3. Organization value chain
          o Creation / invention
          o Tech transfer
          o Product hardening
          o Transformation
          o Product development

4. Channel value chain
          o Marketing
          o Sales
                + Brokers
                + Resellers
                + Distributors
                + Retail
                + Direct
                + References
                + Partners
                + Final client
          o Outbound logistics
                + Brokers
                + Distributors
                + Direct

5. Customer value chain
          o Customer service
          o Product return logistics

Audit your company to see where the holes are between the idea and the happy customer. Master this process and you become a value - creation expert.

One of the subjects I deal with daily is the increasing chasm between the baby-boomer generation and the students entering the workforce today. Much ink has been spilled on the subject and no clear solution has been brought forth. The debate goes far beyond the older generation saying 'they want everything without working for it' and the younger one saying 'they are doing things the old inefficient way'.

Listening to the other side is a crucial step to mutual understanding is the realization of what your company will inevitably look like in the very near future. Both sides can gain from youth's tech knowledge and previous generations' experiences.

The following video was created by the (brilliant) teacher and the 200 students in ANTH 200 : Introduction to Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University. It began as a brainstorming exercise, thinking about how students learn, what they need to learn for their future, and how our current educational system fits in.

The conclusions drawn are applied to the school system (that I also teach in) but most importantly, it should be clearly explained to future bosses and HR personnel. This is tomorrow's workforce, these students are your biggest assets and your ultimate threat.