Who is Alastair?
Alister Esam was a frustrated CEO and Founder who felt so passionately about his business he was working 80 hours a week trying to make everything perfect. At the same time he drove his employees up the wall. Disempowering them to the point that they could no longer contribute to the business, demotivating them and heaping more stress on himself. He found salvation in a surprising place. People associate process with control, monotony, routine, the status quo and with an overall death of creativity. It's a Dirty Word they try to avoid. Alister discovered that if implemented correctly it provided empowerment, autonomy and creativity for employees and delivered business freedom for himself with total reassurance his business was running itself. It also enabled him to massively accelerate improvement in his business by harnessing his team's collective brainpower. In his book 'The Dirty Word', Alister looks at why process is so important, why people get it so wrong and make it so horrible and how to put it in place in a new way which can change the whole culture of a business.
Key Takeaways
1. Process is an effective way to grow your business and staff
2. Critical to the success of adding process is to ensure there isto get people to want to improve and give them the empowerment to improve
3. Process is useless if it does not 'live' with the business as it changes
Valuable Free Resource or Action
See
https://processbliss.com
A video version of this podcast is available on YouTube :
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Transcript
Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
business, people, process, question, staff, empower, thinking, book, run, realise, improvement, documentation, shelf, work, empowerment, point, employees, bit, mistake, drove
SPEAKERS
Stuart Webb, Alister Esam
Stuart Webb 00:21
Hi, and welcome back to it's not rocket science five questions over coffee. I'm here today with Alastair Easson, who is the author of the dirty word, that work that fills people with dread. That's the key to business freedom. So Alastair, really looking forward to the conversation, I know you've got a great offering, I'm really looking forward to to hearing some more about what you've been doing.
Alister Esam 00:43
Thank you. Thanks.
Stuart Webb 00:44
Yeah, no problem. So let's start with the with the the obvious first question that I was asked, What's the what's the problem that you're trying to help your clients overcome.
Alister Esam 00:55
So I always kind of go high level on this. But the problem is I see it. If I describe a typical client, they're typically a CEO, or founder, or they can be a head of operations, but they are massively passionate about their business. And they are typically frustrated because they can't get their business to do what they want it to do. And that's limiting their ability to scale. And they probably they probably feel like they're the only ones with good ideas in the business. And the trouble is, they're suffocating their staff with their passion. And if I can tell you my story, because I was this person, and I basically was, was in the business working 80 hours a week. And I just wanted everything to be perfect. So I was policing quality. I was everywhere I was on top of everything. And when your business is really young, that's okay. But at some point, you've got to let go and trust your staff. And, and I kind of eventually found that the way to do that. It was a surprising place. For me it was it was within process. So I initially put process in to try and control my business. But then actually found that if I just passed over the process to my staff, and let them run it, I suddenly they weren't trying to do a bad job, they were trying to do a great job. But once they got process, they got the tool we needed to help them do it. And they took ownership of it and ran with it. And I suddenly had this massive amount of trust in them. And they love the empowerment and the autonomy that they got. And so it's amazing how this little thing just provided the key. So that mean that that's the background to to why I developed process bliss, which is the tool that helps you do this. And why develop the dirty word, right, the word dirty word, which is the book that kind of explains a bit more about this concept.
Stuart Webb 02:31
That's a really interesting story asked, and I guess it leads me to the second question, which is the common mistakes that you found people were trying to solve, without any of that process in place in order to sort of, you know, help to bridge out promote, provide that framework?
Alister Esam 02:46
Yeah, so what happens is, people get to a point where, you know, and it could be anything between five and 25 employees where you are, you're wrestling with your business, yeah, and you're trying to make everything happen. And they know they've got to do something because they want to get bigger, and they can't do any more hours. And that's where I was. And for me, it was about 10 employee mark. And what they first of all do is they try to document their processes. I've seen this done before. And it's just such a pointless exercise, because it's not totally pointless. But people come in and they write down what the processes are, they put them in a file on a shelf, or in a file share, no one ever looks at them. And there's no point looking at them because they're immediately out of date, because everything evolves. And people change the way people are changing the way they work constantly. So it just doesn't work. So the common mistake they make is they do that. And then it doesn't work. And I knew that the solution there had to be to embed the process somehow in the business. But then the trouble then that is the second mistake they make if I can have two answers to the question is they they just make processes and extenuation of their control. So they put process in for them to control the business. And they see it as their tool to make people do what they want them to do. And that's so disempowering. So demotivating, you're not getting the best out your staff. And you're still you're still the one that's out there, writing all these things and managing it. And the solution really is to see processes, something that's theirs, not yours, that's there to help them do a good job. And then to give it to them, and let them run with it, and allow them to kind of evolve with it and do what they want. Because they're not trying to do a bad job. People are smarter than process. And if you combine the two, it gets really powerful. So yeah, they're the common mistakes. But yes, that's why we're here to help.
Stuart Webb 04:32
And I think I think you're absolutely right. I've seen it so many times myself, you know, these documentation. I think documentation is great, particularly if you're trying to sort of, you know, get the ideas and if you want to sort of, you know, package your business in such a way that you can explain it to somebody else. Documentation is really useful. But you're right, too often documentation sits on a shelf, nobody looks at it, nobody refers to it. It's a living document, but nobody updates it when something changes. It's all still buried in somebody's head. And then when that person goes off sick it all falls apart what you have to do Is have to turn that documentation into something which actually is the breathing embodiment and the sort of the spirit of the business don't you have to make it the thing which people live and, and work through. And those processes and systems then become the thing which actually drive business value.
Alister Esam 05:15
I couldn't agree more, you've got to exactly it's so it the fall in the shelf is so disconnected from the business, but what but it's so difficult to work out how to make it the living breathing part of the business. And there's one way of doing that, which is training. And that that kind of works to an extent, there's only so much you can keep in people's heads, and they still forget things. And they forget the bits that are really important, not to them, but to other people like the communication. And so, yeah, that's exactly what process busters is effectively, it's kind of like check with software that allows you to embody it in the business. So people live and breathe it to do list. And actually, it's an interesting point, because your average person in the business doesn't really see process, they just see a list of tasks. They just see a list of stuff to do. And they don't necessarily think oh, they probably know at the back of their mind, but they don't think it's part of a process. So it's about having this process, but then presenting it to people who are doing the work in a way that it's just, it's just like, This is what I need to be doing next. This is this is these are the jobs I've got to get done. So. Yeah. And that that's, that's where I'm where we fit in. Yes,
Stuart Webb 06:18
brilliant. So I guess that brings me to the third point of this, which is obviously there are people who will be watching this in the in the recording and thinking well, that's that's kind of rings a bell with me, what's my first step towards that? And I know you've got a sort of really valuable free offer that we can talk about.
Alister Esam 06:34
Yeah, so. So we like to introduce people to this concept, kind of, and have a bit of a background to the thinking behind it, which is you know, what I'm here to talk about today. Because it's it's not just about putting a software product is about changing your paradigm, it's about letting go. It's about those sorts of aspects. And so what we've devised is a bit of a kind of a journey around that. So yes, you can just contact process person, and we'll give you a look at the software, but where we'd like to start is something called the dirty word assessment. So my book, The dirty word, is all about the theory behind this. And the dirty word assessment really takes you through I think the 30 questions, just score them really easily. And you'll get a report. And the report will tell you exactly where you fit on the scale. You know, how you rate with regards to the four key components we see for from a business's implemented process correctly? And they are, you know, consistency Have you got? Have you got these processes? Have you got things been done consistently in your business? Improvement? Have you got a mechanism that's making sure that things evolve and improve over time, and you're not just accepting the status quo, but you're, you're capturing people's feedback from throughout the business? Empowerment? So have you created a culture where it's not you driving all this from above, but actually, the people who own the processes are the people that are involved in them. And trust and trust is, you know, the bit the deliverable for you? You know, have you got a business where you just, and this is what I call it process bliss when we develop the product. Because for me, once I got that trust, and I could see everything happening in my business, and people were doing a far better job than I could ever do. It just that was where the bliss came from. And that's kind of why we named it that way, even though Yeah, learning process was bliss. But yeah,
Stuart Webb 08:16
it's brilliant. I love the fact that you sort of made the middle to those that the improvement and the empowerment, because I think those are absolutely critical to making this a company wide process of improvement, isn't it, there's no point in it just sitting in the top table or up in the CEOs head. unless everybody lives improvement unless everybody's empowered to make that improvement, it just once again becomes a dusty thing that sits on a shelf that nobody's taking notice.
Alister Esam 08:40
When I when I sold my business, I had about 75 employees. And the best part about it was all those 75 employees were providing input. I had all their brains working on the business. Yeah, right. You know, it 10 People, it was just me doing it. And it's just that was rubbish, there was no way. There's not the diversity of thinking there's not the kind of I don't have the sight of everything. So much more powerful, and it really accelerates.
Stuart Webb 09:02
You've mentioned one book, but I'm gonna ask the question, I guess I guess another book might come in here after but what's the the concept or the programme or the book that's most impactful in your experience?
Alister Esam 09:14
Do you know what I think it's more of a concept. And it goes back to something my father said. I didn't appreciate how important this was until recently, but he said, I realised that it played a part in this journey. But my father said to me when I was young, and if you only said it a few times, he said it was one of them when I'd made done something wrong and it made an error. I said if you make if you make a mistake once you human, he said he made the same mistake twice. You're a fool. And I always stuck with me and what what that drove was when I got when I was running my business now sort of doing things what drove me up the wall and I didn't realise it was his in his influence at the time, was you know, we'd make a mistake. I could screw up for clients. I mean, we'd go wrong. But we do it again and again and again. And I'd be like, how's this keep happening? Why are we not? You know, what are we not learning here. And that's where you get drawn in to try to kind of make everything perfect. And, you know, I wanted a mechanism where I could put something in the business said, you know, okay, that's fine. Every time we get something wrong, we look at it, we learn from it, and we make sure that thing never happens again, and we'll move on to the next thing we get wrong. And the next thing and eventually we'll, we're just striving for perfection. So I mean, that's that was probably the, in relation to this topic and where it came from, I thought, why I thought, Well, where does it go back to? I thought, well, that's actually probably the key or where all this comes from, you know, so yeah.
Stuart Webb 10:43
Love it. Love it. I'll still we're kind of coming to the end of the conversation. And I always leave this one till last, because it's my ability now to relax and allow you to do my work for me. So there must be a question you're thinking, I wish you'd asked me. It's never come out. So what's the question you would like me to ask me? Ask you have you? And then once you've done that done the asking, Would you mind doing the answering as well, so So I don't do any work at all.
Alister Esam 11:10
I love I love the empowerment very process faster.
Stuart Webb 11:14
Let's go with Empower dialysis.
Alister Esam 11:19
Guys. Wonderful, very precious. But I think I think what in all of this, the thing that we we run up against, that people really struggle with is how do I get my staff to see something like processes are positive? You know, because because as soon as you say the word basic, I put it in my book, in the first chapter of my book, I talk about a story how people started associating me with process. And even though it's not what I am, they suddenly invented this persona for me, of Mr. Boring, Mr. Routine, Mr. organism, actually, I'm chaos. And, and the reason I needed this process thing was because I'm chaos, you know, so. And, and so I think it's now the staff scene, you say, Oh, we're going to do something around process stuff, just go, Ah, you're going to control me even more, you're just gonna make this business more miserable, more palatable. So how do you get them set as a positive? And I think, for me, from day one, it's all about getting them to do it and handing it over to them. So the answer to that is, if you want to put processes in your business, don't just don't try to control your staff empower them to Yeah, it's a bit to be their tool for them to control for them to improve the business and for them to have their say, which is what it effectively is. So I see it all the time. I say in my it's kind of about letting go. But I mean, you see it all the time. So the evening meeting this morning, my weekly meeting, something happened with one of my team, and they suggested an idea, and I just my initial reaction was, well, I look, you know, I wanted to control it from above, I wanted to say no, we're not gonna do that, we're gonna do that. Let's just do a, you just, if you say that you're just killing, you're just killing their their enthusiasm and value, it's the worst thing you can do. And you will, it will reverberate for months. So remember that comment. And be, maybe they've got a good idea. You know, maybe you don't know it all. And so actually passing over, if you're going to implant process, really pass it over to them that remember that. And actually, you'll think they're doing it wrong, and they're doing it badly. And they're not looking at the important things, but they won't be they'll probably be looking at the important things you don't realise they're more important than the things you think are important. So it's, it's kind of, yeah, it's all about letting go and delegating, this got to do so.
Stuart Webb 13:32
I, I've used this analogy on a couple of occasions, obviously. So you don't mind me sort of, you know, coming in and supporting what you've just said. But, you know, I've said to people in the past, you have people working for you who run very successful businesses outside of this, but they call them skank groups, or they call them church groups, or they call them families, they manage negotiation, they manage budgets, they work out scheduling and planning, they resolve issues. And yet you expect them to put all of that down as they come in through the door to come to work and not bring any of those skills. If you can turn around and go Well, look, you can really effectively run something outside of this place. Go do it for me, for goodness sake, because, you know, you've got all the skills I really can't. I couldn't I couldn't scout group if I tried. So why don't you do what you do at home here? And if you can get that spirit, if you can empower them to think, Okay, I've done it before, why not? You've got a workforce, which is 2050 times more effective than you've ever had before. So just let them go.
Alister Esam 14:30
Yeah, you remind me of actually why I gave up employment. Going down years ago, I remember thinking, I'm doing this great job for this employer. And you know, I'm adding all the value to them. You know, they're getting all the value of the hard work that I'm doing. I you know, I should be getting that I'm going to be getting that value. I wouldn't be getting all working for myself and getting the rewards myself not just getting a salary. Well, they get they kind of get massive profits. And I remember thinking, you know, so if I turn that around, and I think about Got it. Now just think, you know, if you run a business, you actually have got all these people who are creating value for you. Yes, you can let them do it and find a way to let them do it and not not get in their way. And so many CEOs and founders do that. So yeah, it's, it's wonderful. Yeah. Brilliant stuff.
Stuart Webb 15:15
Allison love the discussion. Thank you so much for taking the time to come and tell us about process place. And, and that book and I really do encourage people go on to Aster, esa.com, dirty hyphen, word, hyphen assessment, that's dirty, hyphen, word, hyphen assessment, and get that, get that assessment, find out where you are on this journey. And yeah, go towards the the trust and empowerment and input and improvement that you need in order to see your business grow. Alison, thank you so much. I would just encourage you, if you want to be on the mailing list, we send out a mail an email every Monday telling you who's coming up on these sessions. So that we weren't coming out on Monday with who's going to be here next week. Go to HTTPS forward slash forward slash I don't know why give all of those because I think they're now standard but it's a TC a dot FYI. Forward slash subscribe. That's TC a dot FYI. Folks, I subscribed get on the mailing list and find out who's coming up join in live so that you can ask questions of the of the presenters that we have here on it's not rocket science questions, coughing, honestly, thank you so much for being here. Really looking forward to sort of following people getting in touch with you and finding out how to go about making their business more effective by putting in some of that process that you've been talking to us about? Thanks to No problem. Thank you very much.
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