The Intelligent Startup: A New Model of Coordination for Tomorrow's Leaders

By Julio C. Canedo PhD and George B. Graen PhD

The Intelligent Startup: A New Model of Coordination for Tomorrow's Leaders is a transformative work by transformative authors.

In this perception-shattering book, George Graen, one of the world's most cited leadership scholars, and Julio Canedo, creator of the Strategic Alignment App, revisit major management theories using results from their combined decades of research and practice.

Drawing on both quantitative and qualitative metrics, the authors craft a framework to create results-oriented cultures around high-functioning teamwork.

In today's shifting landscape of knowledge workers, mobility, and flexible work arrangements, such cultures can only be achieved by aligning, empowering, and motivating individuals to deliver strategic attitudes, behaviors, and results. Supported by decades of evidence, the authors show that the implementation of leader-member exchange alliances (LMX-A) are key in this process.

Entrepreneurs, executives, and leaders everywhere cannot afford not to learn from Graen and Canedo.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: May 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9781955026277

Book preview

Ballast Books, LLC

Washington, DC

www.ballastbooks.com

Copyright © 2022 by George Graen

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher or author, except by reviewers, who may quote brief passages in a review.

ISBN (ebook): 978-1-955026-27-7

Library of Congress Control Number has been applied for

Published by Ballast Books

www.ballastbooks.com

For more information, bulk orders, appearances or speaking requests, please email [e-mail]

Contents

Title Page

List of Abbreviations

Foreword

Author’s Note

Acknowledgment

1. Knowledge Workers’ World

2. Management, Leadership, and Organizational Culture

3. A New Workplace

4. Starting Again

5. Learn from Others’ Success

6. The Bottom Line: Business Results

7. A Model to Create a Results-Driven Culture

8. Design for Results

9. Putting Everything Together

References

List of Abbreviations

AI - Artificial Intelligence

ASK - Authentic, Safe, and Knowledgeable

CTC - Catalog of Technical Competencies

HRM - Human Resource Management

IR - Incumbents’ Results

IT - Information Technology

KPI - Key Performance Indicators

KW - Knowledge Workers

LMX - Leader-Member Exchange

LMX-A - Leader-Member Exchange Alliance

MSVC - Model of Strategic Values and Competencies

OR - Organizational Results

OS - Organizational Success

PM - Performance Management

POM - Principles of Management

PPP - Policies, Processes, and Practices

SES - Socio-Economic Status

TMT - Top Management Team

Foreword by

Robert Navy Bob Roncska

The submarine thriller Crimson Tide opens with these words: The three most powerful men in the world: the President of the United States of America; the President of the Russian Republic; and the Captain of a United States ballistic missile submarine.

Having served as a commanding officer of a nuclear submarine and as a commodore of Submarine Squadron Seven, the largest submarine squadron in the US submarine fleet, I can attest to having the weight of the world on my shoulders with the possibility of World War III beckoning and an arsenal of weapons unmatched by most military vessels.

When I arrived as the new commanding officer of the USS Texas (SSN-775) with an assignment to lead this nuclear-powered submarine for Arctic certification, something never done for a Virginia-class vessel, I felt that weight. The ship ranked last in the squadron in retention and morale, and I worried whether we could complete the mission. I had to get to the root cause of their apathy. The crew walked around like zombies. The old military model treated sailors like robots.

Just do as you’re told, was a common adage.

The father of the nuclear Navy, Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, flipped that model on its head. He wanted those working nuclear-powered submarines to think for themselves—to question something that concerned them. They’d still follow orders and respect the chain of command, of course, but that new model made for independent thinkers, and that’s the model I wanted to implement.

I incorporated a method known as the Crew Top Three to discover the crew’s concerns. I literally had them write them down. I soon discovered they’d been treated like robots. They had not been given simple tools to do their jobs. That’s when I discovered the root cause: It was the culture. I immediately called the crew topside and apologized. I began treating them like family. We gave them the right tools and followed the Rickover model. We showed them proper respect while maintaining accountability. I witnessed the measurable results.

We went on to achieve Arctic certification, the highest squadron rank, the best retention, and stellar morale. We were also awarded the coveted Battle E Efficiency Award, a gold standard in operational readiness. It’s a perfect case study for the leader-member exchange (LMX) and dyadic relationship principles Dr. Graen teaches.

Long before I heard of Dr. Graen, I began a quest for the phenomenon of what makes great culture, and in particular, great ships. As a United States Navy nuclear submarine officer for 28 years, I’ve witnessed the best and the worst cultures. The ones that struggled had leaders who recycled tired platitudes. Like cotton candy, as soon as the hearers received it, it went away. There was no meat or sustainability. They might have had some success, they might have spoken well, and they might have utilized transactional leadership, but the formula failed. The great ones, however, had that family feeling—that magical feeling. Those great leaders focused on relationships. One trait could be found among them all: They had the backs of those under them––at the cost of their own backs.

During my doctoral studies, my professor assigned me the task of briefing the class on the theory of LMX, a concept unfamiliar to me. One name seemed continually tied to my searches—Dr. George B. Graen. As I absorbed this theory, I had a euphoric feeling, realizing that someone had encapsulated what I’d witnessed but had yet to define. It was as if I had found that big piece of the puzzle. I discovered that I had run Dr. Graen’s playbook but never formalized it.

As a leader of your organization, you’ve no doubt felt the weight of the world on your shoulders. You may have felt both the awesome responsibility and sheer terror of making your company thrive in an increasingly competitive environment. You know that mission failure lies with you. Simply issuing orders, like that old military model, won’t cut it. The business world has seen a drastic change with the rise of the millennial worker who wants to work from home or be treated as if they’re self-employed. They think they’ve not been listened to. The key word in this climate is change. It’s time you turn that model on its head and embrace this change by changing the culture.

Have you ever been part of a magical culture? It’s like beauty: hard to describe, but you immediately know it when you see it.

The process to achieve that culture requires a methodical effort of relationship building and recognition of past mistakes. Dr. Graen brilliantly reveals that formula of organizational improvement, which he developed over 50 years ago. Readers will find a time-tested theory that can make a difference for them as leaders and create a culture that benefits those across the organizational spectrum. While larger companies might have unlimited resources, Graen’s book provides the perfect tool for creating a marked transformation for a team of any size.

The nuclear Navy has not had a reactor accident in over 70 years of operations with 20-year-old sailors operating this highly enriched and complicated nuclear reactor. That’s incredible! Why? Culture. If a culture heavily invests in systems that, as Dr. Graen writes, empower and motivate individuals, just imagine the results. If it works on a nuclear-powered submarine, surely it will work for your team. I’ve long sought the Holy Grail for leadership that creates a successful culture. I found it in this book!

Author’s Note

The home office revolution demonstrates that present ideas about business startups are not appropriate for today’s home office practitioners. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the economic, social, and psychological problems with conventional management systems, and unicorn wannabe startups demonstrated the glaring need for a hybrid model. Most thinking about solving the buggy whip status of the present design calls for minimal change in management systems by allowing present emergency home office managers to use their new, tailored at-home workplace part of the week and their brick-and-mortar office the rest of the week.

This seems to solve the wrong problem. We need to think larger. We need to think of the present system’s mismatches with the temper of the times. Many things have changed since the adoption of World War II’s military model for civilian workers. This baby boomer management system has become hated by both managers and knowledge workers. The best example is the performance management system, which has few friends. The changes have been a series of culture shocks: moving from boomers to millennials to Gen Zers, evolving beliefs and values, the market changing from quality to innovation, the social changes in institutions, digital exploitation, mobile computers—the list goes on.

Most needed is a hybrid model for business––beginning with new people, new markets, new productive systems, and changes to our natural environments. We need to capitalize on what works, as suggested by useful ideas from practice and science, before it’s too late. The millennials and Zers have been frustrated by the old guard and should be included in the models of their futures. We need to change as forcefully as the pandemic demanded of us. We must find an urgency for new, creative leadership by owners, managers, and knowledge workers at home offices full time, part time, or not at all.

We had this renewal in mind when we reviewed the relevant engineering, economic, and psychology science and began writing this hybrid startup handbook (Graen & Canedo, 2018). Our ideas are based on our readings and experiences as scientists, teachers,