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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