Better late than never, though it wasn’t necessarily because I didn’t have the time. As I edit the things that passed my mind over the last week I am looking out over a beautiful lake, though sheltered from the elements inside. It’s opening weekend of hunting season here in Dairyland, and I was again invited to my friend’s hunting camp. I don’t hunt, but that’s not why I am here. Though altered a bit this year, it has been an overdue respite and good way to burn vacation time I would otherwise lose at the end of the year.

Sing it, San-ta Claus is Driving Through Town – Where I live there’s an annual tradition of a Christmas parade preceded by the Santa Scamper, a running sprint down the route the parade will take. Said Scamper has gone virtual this year, and instead Santa will be taking to the streets. The latter will be reminiscent of my kiddos (and heck, my wife and I) watching Santa riding the El trains in Chicago.

Digging Too Deep – Every so often I hear of an app that, upon the surface, sounds like a great idea, but upon further review is lurking a privacy nightmare. Once such app is Tiller. Not only do I not want an app mining my financial data, I certainly don’t want it handing it over to Google either. Talk about a one, two knockout.

Head My Way – Just when you thought (or likely didn’t) the calculation of latitude and longitude was difficult, you can simplify it with the Maidenhead Locator System. This is by no means nothing new, rather new to me, and has its roots in HAM radio. You can easily determine any short code with this lookup site as I did by determining Fenway Park in Boston is at FN42ki. Hat tip to the PodcastIndex podcast for once again unleashing more of my inner geek.

DRYV She Said – I learned of the acquisition of DRYV, a Chicago-based dry cleaning and laundry delivery service by Rinse. If you search here at The Hot Iron you will see several mentions of the previous service, as I was one of their first customers and a huge fan of the startup. What was once a new thing to me is all I do these days as my current cleaning service went all-delivery earlier this year. Congrats to all involved, and hopefully the unique DRYV brand will continue on somehow.

Ignore What I Said – The HBO Max app is now “legitimately” on Amazon Fire TV devices. So you can ignore what I previously said about sideloading it.

Happy 25th Scrum – This past week marked the quarter-century anniversary of the Scrum framework, a better way for managing all kinds of projects. To celebrate this, its co-creators Dr. Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber released an updated version of the Scrum Guide which states the core principles of the framework. Among the changes are the inclusion of all members into one Scrum Team and an overall product goal. For more you can watch the recorded Webinar presentation of all of the festivities.

Golden Attitude Change – Over the years since I graduated from college I have had an indifference with it. At every turn the school was not talking to me about what I wanted to know about – the major and school I graduated from, nor its radio station – rather it was just hitting me up for money. This week the school previously known as Western New England College and now a university released a video from its new president, Dr. Robert Johnson, with a holiday greeting. This is the first time in decades that the school has actually spoken to me and I was interested. Maybe it’s the start of something more? Who knows, but I will take it.

Do You Apologize? – After having to spend some of my “time-off” centered around work and reflecting on the time spent, I posted this question to Linkedin with a simple query – do you apologize in the workplace when a mistake is made? So far I have a few thoughtful responses, and I welcome yours too.

Stubborn But Tasty – I happened to come across the Stubborn Brothers Brewery in Shawano, Wisconsin by simply driving by it. What was a former theater is now a gleaming, beautiful space producing some great beers (I’m partial to Whiskey Fugitive) and food. As part of the artistry is the respect for the original design elements of the theater and some new ones, including the unique restroom sign pictured above.

To The Hunt!

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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Have you ever had a major event happen and when it was over there wasn’t great satisfaction from it? That happened to me this past week. But at least I can look back at some lighter learnings over the last seven days.

Keeping It Real Human – I get a lot of comments on my blog. Unfortunately most of them aren’t real – not from real people, not real comments, and a combination of both. This week I was able to integrate Google reCAPTCHA on the comments form for each post thanks to the Hinder add-on. But don’t take my word for it – leave a comment and say hi!

Sweet and Guilt-Free Season – I have been a fan of the tortilla chips by Siete Foods for a long time. These Paleo grain-free chips taste great. Buñuelos are a traditional Hispanic treat for the holidays, and Siete has adapted a version of them to be grain-free and equally tasty. If you can’t find them at your local store you can order them online. It’s nice to find guilt-free holiday treats, as I did when I adapted my Mom’s pizzelle recipe to be grain-free a few years ago.

Honorable Nonetheless – I caught the “acceptance speeches” by Depeche Mode and Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Where there was no musical performances, it was cool to see these music legends I have been listening to since college.

Web Site Unseen – I was referred to a local restaurant this week and went to check out their Web site. The SSL certificate (for the non-technical, the thing that puts the S in HTTPS and displays the lock symbol in your browser) had expired, thus I got a warning message that the site was unsafe and the world was coming to an end… ok, I am exaggerating, but it display the warning. So I tried calling the restaurant and left them a message. Several days later the site is still throwing the error and no call back. This unfortunately was another case of trying to contact a business about their Web site problems with no resolution.

Breaking Thru As An Author – I met Mark Boeder several years ago. He is an executive search pro and leads WarHorse Executive Search, and over the years has been a great career resource to me. He offers more of that great advice in the new book out this week he has co-authored Brilliant Breakthroughs For The Small Business Owner Vol. 4: Fresh Perspectives on Profitability, People, Productivity, and Finding Peace in Your Business. I ordered my copy and am looking forward to reading his and the other author’s wisdom for small businesses.

End of a Great Era – Ken Smith, the long-time Executive Director of YouthBuild Boston, has announced his retirement, and will be succeeded by Brian McPherson. YBB offers young adults in Boston training in the building trades, as well as the support they need. I met Ken almost 2 decades ago when I was back in Boston, and have been honored to help with their Web needs over the years. He is a leader in the truest sense, and his impact on the community is immense. Best of luck to Ken and his family on whatever is next, and to Brian as well – he has big shoes to fill, but I am sure he will make an equal mark on Boston.

Moneywise Advice – When I was in Chicago I had the good fortune to have connected with Jonathan Hoenig. He is a successful hedge fund manager and a TV business commentator. I got word this week he is giving a presentation next week Tuesday, November 17 on How to Buy A Stock. The presentation is free, and I am sure will be valuable way above and beyond.

Belated Trick – Just before Halloween I decided to unsubscribe from the Omni Hotels rewards program newsletter. I have only stayed at an Omni once, and though it was awesome, getting messages about hotels these days when I likely won’t be staying in one isn’t desirable. Interestingly, when I did I got an error, and of course in these days of marketing Big Data they knew it. The next day they sent me an email with the graphic above saying that I would be getting a “treat” if I stayed on the list. But I never did, so I decided to unsubscribe after all. Not sure why they would make such an offer and not fulfill it. But as I indicated above, contacting a business about their technology is futile.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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Believe it or not, other things went on in the world this week besides the US presidential elections. As it looks right now, I will likely be able to make this same statement next week as well. In looking back at my notes for the week there were other things that went on that had nothing to do with voting.

Ok I Lied – My cousin’s father-in-law voted this week in New York City. Why is that such a big deal? He is 99, and turns 100 soon. He also fended off that nasty virus that is shutting down the world. There’s also more awesome stories about him I swore not to repeat! And likely there will be more for years to come.

Ok I Lied Again – In passing my oldest kiddo said to me, “Dad, did I tell you I am on Student Council?” I was caught off-guard and was equally thrilled and inquisitive, asking her about the election, especially as she has done “virtual learning” all school year. Apparently there was no election, and if anyone was interested they simply clicked a button to join it. Not quite my middle-school Student Council election experience. Now to ask her about her platform.

Projects Come and Go – In his latest email newsletter on one-page Web sites, Rob Hope mentioned about his Project Graveyard where he lists projects he has worked on in the past and are no longer with him, or us for that matter. This triggered me to come up with my own list, which at first pass is at 8 with an additional one on life-support. As it’s good to celebrate our successes and failures, I will keep this list going and will eventually publish it.

An Oasis of Ideas – Speaking of newsletters, veteran tech journalist and co-host of the No Agenda Show John C. Dvorak has launched one called The Oasis. He describes the newsletter as covering politics, technology and world affairs. I subscribed.

Good Coffee, Troubling App – At some point recently Starbucks changed the functionality of their mobile app when it comes to adding additional gift card balances. And changed for the worse. As I haven’t added a card in a while, my guess it was timed around recent functionality to use other payment methods. I was literally lost in adding another gift card’s balance to my main card. I don’t know how I was able to add it, but I did, and I don’t look forward to the next time I try to add a card.

Hearing The Progress Too – I met Randy Streu when I joined my co-working space, World HeadQuarters, as he works from here as well. A voiceover artist and writer, he decided to chronicle his weight-loss journey with the Obese podcast he started earlier this year. Where I have seen his progress, I just started listening to the podcast this week – I know, I suck. It’s a good listen with a mix of comedy and stark reality, which reflects what you go thru when you try to lose weight.

Plan B Video – With another round of Congressional testimony from the digital giants in recent weeks, I have been thinking more of my own digital footprint, especially video. With YouTube’s desire for a brand-safe platform, I have looked into others, like LBRY.TV, where I started setting up a channel. Granted I don’t have many recent videos out there, but it’s good to have options in the ever-growing landscape of changes to how platforms we all know and love, well, not being so loving.

It’s OK to Judge This Album By Its Cover – My friend Steve Lawson is a solo bassist based in the UK and his latest album, Still My Soul, caught my eye because of the “historical marker” depicted on it (click the link to see it). I have been listening to this album and others from his Bandcamp site as I have written what I have learned this week, and for a low annual subscription price you can too. Where I am no music reviewer, it’s good music to end this week.

Jump If You Still Can – One certainly new to me and likely old to everyone else is Paul Anka’s 2005 album Rock Swings, where he did covers of rock songs in his own unique style. One of them is Van Halen’s Jump. This is one I certainly wish I knew about even 10 years ago.

I Think I Canva – Another new to me is Canva, an online service for creating images and designs. There are other services out there, and this one was fairly intuitive to use. Plus they offer a free version for personal use, which I used to create a header for my LinkedIn profile and the image at the top of this post. Before my designer friends start after me, Canva (yes, it’s an affiliate link) is good for people with little to no budget, or who want to experiment/play with design. When you have budget and want to knock it out of the park, talk to a great designer like my friend Emily at Visible Logic.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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Despite all odds and even with all going on in the world, some business just simply flourish. They make headlines and flaunt their success. They do this while driving down the road of fortune, fame and growth that was paved by those who didn’t do so well. But why is this? Is there a “secret formula” some these companies follow that others don’t?

The authors of Exponential Organizations believe there is a pattern to this; companies that leverage the latest in technology, big data, algorithms and the broader community will not only find success, but exponential growth as well. They call these firms ExOs, short for exponential organizations. The approach they modeled in this book back in 2014 has led to a global organization, OpenExO, that consults and trains people on ExOs. As well there are startup consulting firms like BostonExO, which is how I learned about this book, as my good friend Eric Patel started such a firm this past summer.

Intrigued by this, I bought a copy of Exponential Organizations to try to understand better what this was about, and from it I have several takeaways.

Gotta Have Attitude – If you think you can be successful, it will help you more than if you are unsure about it. Upfront I saw this with what they call a Massive Transformative Purpose, or MTP. Typically, someone will say their firm has a vision or mission, but if you want to consider yourself an ExO, you call it an MTP. Where on the surface an MTP and vision statement may look the same, the key to the former in the word transformative, which implied you are making a large, dare I say exponential, impact by what your business does.

Supertankers and Tugboats – The book covers all of the elements of what make up an ExO. In laying these out, it discusses how they can be used for creating a new firm, as well as applying them to an existing firm who likely doesn’t operate anything like a smaller, more nimble entity. A larger firm will setup a smaller firm or simply acquire one, often times integrating the smaller firm in the larger, and often times losing a lot of why they made the acquisition to begin with. The analogy I read of tugboats guiding supertankers really resonated with me – these smaller firms don’t have to be engulfed, and they can guide the larger firm and likely will be vital in their success.

Disrupt Thyself – Another idea I took from the book was to setup your own ExO to disrupt yourself. The thinking is here where you give the start-up money, your data and your intellectual property, and leave them alone. If someone is going to disrupt you, it may as well be yourself, and that way you can use what is created to save your business.

My Thoughts on Version 2 of the Book

As Exponential Organizations came out 6 years ago, a lot has changed in business and the world, and as a result some of the content – especially examples of businesses – is dated. The authors have thus embarked on an endeavor to update the book. In case anyone is interested, I will share my thoughts for a version 2 of the book.

Separate Theory from Examples – Woven in with the principles of what an ExO is are examples of entities that the authors consider either follow well the model of what an ExO are, or don’t. As these are tightly coupled, it can be distracting when a business is mentioned as a good example, but is no longer in existence today, as it was acquired or changed since the initial publication. This, however, is not just a challenge for this book but many I have read over the years, as businesses always come and go. Separating theory from examples will go a long way to keeping the main ideas relevant, even though the examples down the road may not be.

More Relatable Examples – Many of the examples of what an ExO were entities that seemed out of reach to me – Amazon, Zappos, Tesla, Google. Many books cite these businesses as pinnacle examples, and certainly they are. But for the average person, these businesses almost seem irrelevant; if you don’t become the next Google, are you a failure? There are certainly businesses that are smaller in scale, scope, yet truly transformative and exponential, and there should be a focus on them. Companies founded by people who were directly inspired by reading Exponential Organizations would be the ultimate examples.

An Online “Addendum” Connected by QR Code, Subscription – Almost every book has an accompanying Web site these days, and tucked away on them is an “errata” or section on changes to the book since the print copy went into the wild. The previously mentioned thoughts for version 2 should also leverage the Web or an app for this, and could tie them together with a QR code in each section of the book or an email newsletter subscription or RSS feed to notify readers of the book as to these types of changes. Registered users could even get an overall updated copy of the book over time when the authors decide to fold these changes into the published version.

Passing Along The Learning

As I do with all books I read, I pass it along once I have finished it and have written my takeaways here at The Hot Iron. In this case I am sending it to a work colleague. There are changes going on in our organization, and I want to share these ideas as they may be relevant to what we are doing.

I recommend Exponential Organizations to anyone starting a new business or working in an existing one. The ideas here can help you in evaluating how to move forward with projects and changes in your organization towards a transformative journey.

Editor’s Note: All links to the book are Amazon affiliate links, which means if you click on them and buy the book, then I make a few pennies.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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As I write this I am sitting inside my front door. By me are a couple of large bowls of processed-sugar-laden candy, complete with a ladle to be relatively contactless. In the background music from the movie Psycho is blasting from SiriusXM Scream Radio. There is trick-or-treating here in the city I live in, though I haven’t seen anyone yet. Despite my kiddos wishes, any excess candy at the end of the night will go to a local police department.

I think I Kanban – This week I started a virtual course on Kanban. It is an Agile scheduling tool that dates itself back to the 1950’s. The course is taught by Anthony Mersino and his firm Vitality Chicago, and I have learned a lot already just about a third through the course. A basic example of a Kanban board is what I wrote about previously and I have learned there’s much more to Kanban.

A New Scrum Guide – The Scrum Guide is the definition of Scrum from its co-creators Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber. This week it was announced a new version of the guide, which was last updated 3 years ago, will be launched on November 18. I have signed up for it and am looking forward to seeing what’s new and changed in what some call the Bible of Scrum.

Me and My Ballot – Did you know it is illegal in some US states to take a selfie with your ballot? Here’s a list of all states and whether it is legal or not to take one. As I have many readers in Massachusetts, Illinois and Wisconsin, I’ll save you the click and bring on the disappointment right away.

May C-Force Be With Your Car – The ultimate car wash solution, C-Force Ceramic, was launched globally this week. Congrats to my wife and her team for all the hard work they put into the product. Look for it at your local car wash – it comes orange-vanilla scent too!

Eleven Seconds Remembered – On Thursday Travis Roy died. Eleven seconds into his first game as a member of the Boston University Men’s Hockey Team, Roy went headfirst into the boards when trying to check an opponent who got out of the way. From the impact Roy became a quadriplegic. He went on to be an advocate and fundraiser for disabilities and a motivational speaker. I still remember the tragedy, 25 years ago, like it was yesterday as I was at the game. In this story on that night, literally minutes after BU hoisted its national championship banner and a goal was scored, is a link to an interview with Sean Grande who was in the broadcast booth at Walter Brown Arena covering the game. His recount is exactly as I recall it.

Sleep Out So Kids Don’t – My friend Omid has been involved with Covenant House California, an organization that works to prevent youth homelessness. He is again going all in with a Sleep Out in the Los Angeles area, where he will be sleeping outside one night to raise money and awareness. You can watch his presentation on it here and pledge him here.

Somewhere, Kirk Gibson Did a Fist Pump – Speaking of LA, the Dodgers won the World Series. I had to actually go out of my way to find this out as I haven’t been following baseball, or much of any pro sports, this year.

He’s Coming To Town Somehow – As pretty much nothing has turned out as anyone would want this year, why should Santa’s time at the mall be any different? It certainly is at least at the local mall by me and as it is owned by a mall conglomerate, it likely will be the same at a mall near you.

IPFS New To Me – Though it has been around for a few years, the InterPlanetary File System, or IPFS, came into view for me this week as I was catching up on recent episodes of the Podcast Index podcast. In short, from how I understand it, it’s a way of having a distributed file system where files can live on any server around the world. This intrigues me and I am going to put some time into learning it this week.

An ongoing battle will come to an end on Halloween over this display. One child of mine thinks that both hands of the zombie to the right should be together, and the other thinks one should be in a potted plant about 20 feet away. The latter is the case when this photo was taken, but I believe it has changed since.

In America, Happy Halloween and set your clocks back Sunday morning!

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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