http://akfpartners.com/techblog/2007/12/07/seed-feed-and-weed-to-succeed/ The Scalability Blog Tue, 10 Apr 2012 23:04:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://akfpartners.com/techblog/2007/12/07/seed-feed-and-weed-to-succeed/#comment-17 4 Things I Wish I’d Learned as an Undergraduate | AKF Partners Blog Tue, 23 Mar 2010 04:31:22 +0000 http://akf-consulting.com/techblog/2007/12/07/seed-feed-and-weed-to-succeed/#comment-17 [...] Independent variables are intelligence, drive, commitment, behaviors, etc.  Look to build the right teams with the right behavior at the right time.  Don’t get tied up in how much “experience” [...] [...] Independent variables are intelligence, drive, commitment, behaviors, etc.  Look to build the right teams with the right behavior at the right time.  Don’t get tied up in how much “experience” [...]

]]> http://akfpartners.com/techblog/2007/12/07/seed-feed-and-weed-to-succeed/#comment-16 Wabb Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:16:39 +0000 http://akf-consulting.com/techblog/2007/12/07/seed-feed-and-weed-to-succeed/#comment-16 Wow Demeter Design - what a great addition. We do discuss this notion a bit in our book. Look in the management and leadership chapters and look how we analyze people along both the "contributions/performance" axis as well as the "culture/behavior" axis. Thanks for the comment. Wow Demeter Design – what a great addition. We do discuss this notion a bit in our book. Look in the management and leadership chapters and look how we analyze people along both the “contributions/performance” axis as well as the “culture/behavior” axis. Thanks for the comment.

]]> http://akfpartners.com/techblog/2007/12/07/seed-feed-and-weed-to-succeed/#comment-15 Demeter Design Mon, 22 Mar 2010 17:56:05 +0000 http://akf-consulting.com/techblog/2007/12/07/seed-feed-and-weed-to-succeed/#comment-15 Excellent article. I would add that in a garden you are limited by space in which case you might need to prune (not weed or eliminate entirely) over-reaching prize plants. Some people might not fit in your space. The more you tend to your oak tree the healthier it will be, but it won't share an 8X6' plot well. The garden analogy is most appropriate for a small business with limited resources. Bonzai! Excellent article. I would add that in a garden you are limited by space in which case you might need to prune (not weed or eliminate entirely) over-reaching prize plants. Some people might not fit in your space. The more you tend to your oak tree the healthier it will be, but it won’t share an 8X6′ plot well. The garden analogy is most appropriate for a small business with limited resources. Bonzai!

]]> http://akfpartners.com/techblog/2007/12/07/seed-feed-and-weed-to-succeed/#comment-14 Top 10 Internet Startup Scalability Killers – GigaOM « Real Life Hitch Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:10:25 +0000 http://akf-consulting.com/techblog/2007/12/07/seed-feed-and-weed-to-succeed/#comment-14 [...] written about how to hire, fire and mentor and why to remove underperformers quickly for superior teams. Our message is simply that you can [...] [...] written about how to hire, fire and mentor and why to remove underperformers quickly for superior teams. Our message is simply that you can [...]

]]> http://akfpartners.com/techblog/2007/12/07/seed-feed-and-weed-to-succeed/#comment-13 Top 10 Internet Startup Scalability Killers – GigaOM Mon, 21 Dec 2009 02:20:18 +0000 http://akf-consulting.com/techblog/2007/12/07/seed-feed-and-weed-to-succeed/#comment-13 [...] written about how to hire, fire and mentor and why to remove underperformers quickly for superior teams. Our message is simply that you can [...] [...] written about how to hire, fire and mentor and why to remove underperformers quickly for superior teams. Our message is simply that you can [...]

]]> http://akfpartners.com/techblog/2007/12/07/seed-feed-and-weed-to-succeed/#comment-12 Resonant or Competent? | AKF Partners Blog Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:46:03 +0000 http://akf-consulting.com/techblog/2007/12/07/seed-feed-and-weed-to-succeed/#comment-12 [...] to compare these theories is using our 2×2 matrix that we usually use to explain our “Seed, Feed, and Weed” approach to leadership. In case you haven’t gotten a chance to checkout the rough cuts [...] [...] to compare these theories is using our 2×2 matrix that we usually use to explain our “Seed, Feed, and Weed” approach to leadership. In case you haven’t gotten a chance to checkout the rough cuts [...]

]]> http://akfpartners.com/techblog/2007/12/07/seed-feed-and-weed-to-succeed/#comment-11 Abbott, Keeven, Fisher &#038 Fortuna Partners Wed, 18 Mar 2009 20:05:14 +0000 http://akf-consulting.com/techblog/2007/12/07/seed-feed-and-weed-to-succeed/#comment-11 [...] The important point to remember here is that recruiting is an activity you should ALWAYS be performing.  Don’t wait for an employee requisition to source qualified candidates.  You might not have a job to offer today, but if you are always looking to upgrade your team you may find an individual that is twice as good as the worst performer on your team. [...] [...] The important point to remember here is that recruiting is an activity you should ALWAYS be performing.  Don’t wait for an employee requisition to source qualified candidates.  You might not have a job to offer today, but if you are always looking to upgrade your team you may find an individual that is twice as good as the worst performer on your team. [...]

]]> http://akfpartners.com/techblog/2007/12/07/seed-feed-and-weed-to-succeed/#comment-10 Survival is Competitive Differentiation - GigaOM Sat, 06 Dec 2008 17:00:54 +0000 http://akf-consulting.com/techblog/2007/12/07/seed-feed-and-weed-to-succeed/#comment-10 [...] are cash flow positive, you should be looking during these times to make sure that you are cutting every piece of non-performing fat from your organization. Keep the folks you need to do the work that is contributing to profitability and remove your [...] [...] are cash flow positive, you should be looking during these times to make sure that you are cutting every piece of non-performing fat from your organization. Keep the folks you need to do the work that is contributing to profitability and remove your [...]

]]> http://akfpartners.com/techblog/2007/12/07/seed-feed-and-weed-to-succeed/#comment-9 F|R: The Top 5 Reasons Tech Execs Fail - GigaOM Sat, 02 Aug 2008 16:26:29 +0000 http://akf-consulting.com/techblog/2007/12/07/seed-feed-and-weed-to-succeed/#comment-9 [...] 5. Failure to Build World Class Team As important as any other aspect of your job is the need to cultivate the best team possible given the limitations of your budget, mission and headcount. Rather than spending time on improving the capabilities of their teams, we find that many chief tech execs spend a great deal of time attempting to compensate for deficiencies within their teams. A very typical example of this is a CTO personally taking responsibility for every technology decision within a company. While this is a necessary practice when the team is very small, it does not scale into organizations of hundreds or thousands of engineers. All managers must be able to delegate to succeed. [...] [...] 5. Failure to Build World Class Team As important as any other aspect of your job is the need to cultivate the best team possible given the limitations of your budget, mission and headcount. Rather than spending time on improving the capabilities of their teams, we find that many chief tech execs spend a great deal of time attempting to compensate for deficiencies within their teams. A very typical example of this is a CTO personally taking responsibility for every technology decision within a company. While this is a necessary practice when the team is very small, it does not scale into organizations of hundreds or thousands of engineers. All managers must be able to delegate to succeed. [...]

]]> http://akfpartners.com/techblog/2007/12/07/seed-feed-and-weed-to-succeed/#comment-8 Abbott, Keeven &#038 Fisher Consulting Tue, 25 Mar 2008 02:38:14 +0000 http://akf-consulting.com/techblog/2007/12/07/seed-feed-and-weed-to-succeed/#comment-8 [...] Caring about people does NOT mean creating a sense of entitlement or lifetime employment within your organization. We argue just the opposite within our article entitled “Seed, Feed and Weed to Succeed”. Caring also does NOT mean setting easy goals – once again per our previous articles the effective leader sets aggressive but realistic goals for an organization – see our article entitled “Be A Leader!” [...] [...] Caring about people does NOT mean creating a sense of entitlement or lifetime employment within your organization. We argue just the opposite within our article entitled “Seed, Feed and Weed to Succeed”. Caring also does NOT mean setting easy goals – once again per our previous articles the effective leader sets aggressive but realistic goals for an organization – see our article entitled “Be A Leader!” [...]

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