Simply Brilliant- Book Review

1 April 2023

Dr. Moria Levy

Simply Brilliant: How Great Organizations Do Ordinary Things In Extraordinary Ways” " is a book written in 2016 by William Taylor. The book moves away from all the "commotion" around new technologies and examines how values, leadership, right thinking, and right conduct can make companies excel and stand out above all those around them and over time. The book is structured as a combination of ideas through the presentation of stories of organizations visited by the author and insights into their path to excellence.

Concept map of the book:

The future, therefore, is not open only to high-tech workers. It is open to everyone.

Thought-provoking. I recommend reading.

What is offered?

Mission

The future is shaped by those people who want or believe in something very much.

And this something, unlike all the others, is no longer a copy of what everyone has already done but a new idea that the organization is leading. An idea that you think about in a big way, but also detail it down to the smallest details.

The organization, of course, begins with activity in a certain sector, but it believes that it can dream ahead, and it is redefining the business and occupation in which it is located. Do something special that others haven't done at all.

The organization's unique activity definition shapes the organization's identity and affects all activities.

Example: a parking space that became a unique event hall with accompanying dedicated productions.

Example: A bank that offers innovative banking with actions such as opening an account that is performed in a few minutes.

Tips:

It's always surprising how much the competition doesn't. Don't let it dampen your spirits and your enthusiasm to move forward. Chase your dreams!
When offering something extraordinary and spectacular, the belief and passion of the organization in doing it are just as important. In such organizations, the managers are usually more concerned with "doing something meaningful" than with "making money".
This is not a one-time innovation. Innovation becomes a way of life, and each time it is promoted further.

The main message: stop competing with others, and offer a new choice - more interesting and higher quality. Looking for and making a change that will have an impact.

Breakthrough thinking

Outstanding organizations think.

They fight the "boredom" that the world and others offer.

They combine-

Acceptable business thinking:
Thoroughness, wisdom, business oriented, with integrity.
Investment in learning. From the outside world (content, organizations, and people) and from what happens at home (learning lessons).
A lot of training.
Provocative thinking:
Challenging, curious, and surprising thinking, restless, with flight and imagination.
Not afraid to change perspective.
Lead thought processes outside the lines.
Think about the good of the activity more than the personal good of those who take part in it.
They don't let themselves fall into the traps of fixed concepts and habits.

How?

Customers: Wholehearted service

The chapter on customers opens with a statement that faithfully represents the message: courtesy is not the enemy of productivity.

Conduct of wholehearted service:

Treating the customer as a human being and not as a "customer"; Application of personal details from the world of interpersonal conduct also to the relationship with customers.
Treating the client as one we want through whom the bulk of the recommendation activity is carried out - word of mouth. decreeing the conduct accordingly.
Lots of smiles for customers.
Striving for dialogue with the customer.
Finding ways to be nice to the customer in a way he would not have thought of (for example- sending someone to change a tire for the customer at the company's expense).
Providing flexibility to employees, in a financial or other defined area, to give gestures to customers, according to the context, according to their understanding. For example - offering a free drink. Remember that the employees themselves are customers of many other companies, and they surely know what would make them happy.

In conclusion: make the employees good ambassadors of the organization.

Employees

To provide good service, you should have employees who have:

Adaptation to society. Choose candidates while examining their suitability!
Friendly people with positive energies. Likewise - by choice.
To instill in them a sense of service - that they do serve the customer like a servant serves a king or queen.

Employee management:

Including emotional management and not just functional.
Including multiple warranties, more than in similar competing companies.
In the design of the work processes, we take into account the need, the difference from the competitors, and... the employees who we wish to retain, and how to adjust the processes so that they suit them and promote them.
In the corporate ecosystem, employees are aware of their opportunities to act extraordinarily.
Defining the rules in the organization, that everything that is not forbidden is allowed for everyone to do (instead of the opposite, as is customary).
Cultivating and strengthening the employees' sense of belonging. At the end of the day - they are the significant brand of the company.
The work environment is pleasant and inviting, unusual and special (for example, in the painting of the walls).
Two organizations are presented that, in different ways, share the employees in the company's management, in the democratic decision-making processes while involving employees, and even in profits - such as shares in high-tech companies (one of them is very well known - the Levies jeans brand).

The leader

Typical attributes of the leader:

Wise men
Thinking outside the box.
Passionate about what we do.
Give a personal example in terms of Walk the Talk.
Curious and learning all the time. Don't think you already know everything.
Have personal self-confidence, but not excessive, such that it would hinder them from listening and learning.
Maintain a combination of innocence and desire to have fun, yet discipline, modesty, and pride.
Are insatiable, succeeding and immediately attacking the next target...

Activity management principles:

Enables the development of coalitions (structured and random) to create diverse ideas.
Creates an enabling environment where you can experiment.
cooperative.
Personal responsibility for each employee, common overall identity.
A social mindset that everyone is together for a common goal.
Encourages everyone to develop new ideas.
Creates opportunities and turns them into incentives so that employees want to pursue them.
Gives maximum independence and autonomy to units, branches, and even employees in the way of conduct.
Marathon thinking (not a sprint): maximizing long-term success.