In the sixth installment of the Freedom by Design series, Michael Walsh distills a transformative idea on a literal paper napkin: The Social Contract. It’s a powerful reframing of the unspoken expectations that define the relationship between companies and their employees. More than a list of responsibilities, it’s a shared agreement—designed not just for performance, but for mutual growth.
Michael, founder of Walsh Business Growth, has long championed the notion that businesses should be engines of human flourishing—not just economic engines. In this episode, he puts that belief into structure, separating the contributions of the owner/company and the individual employee, and then aligning them toward a greater shared purpose.
“You don’t build a business. You build people—and people build the business.” —Michael Walsh, Ep. 256
The left side of the napkin reflects the company’s obligations: generate individual and collective results, build a strong culture, and move meaningfully toward a larger purpose. The right side lists what employees receive: compensation, growth, meaningful work, and meaningful relationships. It’s not a transaction—it’s a relationship.
This Social Contract offers a practical and ethical lens through which leaders can assess whether they are holding up their end of the bargain. Are they truly building a culture that supports progress, or just expecting loyalty in exchange for pay? Are they offering meaningful work—or just tasks?
“We don’t just hire hands. We hire hearts and minds. And we better create space for them to grow, or we’re breaking the contract.” —Michael Walsh
Michael also notes that this framework becomes especially vital during periods of business change—like scaling up, restructuring, or navigating economic uncertainty. Without clarity and alignment, the social contract breaks down—and with it, the culture and performance.
Let’s dive into the 5 key takeaways from this thought-provoking episode.
5 Key Takeaways from Michael Walsh – Ep. 256
1. The Social Contract Should Be Made Explicit
Too often, company-employee expectations are implied, vague, or even contradictory. Michael argues that this napkin makes the implicit explicit. It lays the groundwork for transparency and accountability on both sides.
Take Action: Create your own “Social Contract” with your team. Are you aligned on what’s expected and what’s offered?
2. Business Results Are Both Individual and Collective
Owners expect individuals to perform, but they must also foster collaboration to produce collective results. Performance isn't just about personal metrics—it’s about how the team wins together.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Govindh Jayaraman (00:02):
Michael Walsh. Welcome back to paper napkin wisdom excited to have you here for Number 5 in our series. Man, time values when you're having fun.
Michael Walsh (00:11):
It does, doesn't it?
Govindh Jayaraman (00:12):
It sure does all right. So we just to recap where we are really quickly recap. We talked about the 4 danger zones in our 1st app danger zones around growth of an organization, 1 million 2 million. So 1, st one would be in 1 million 2 million 5 million just before 10 million, and then, just before 20 million. And then, after
(00:35):
talking about those danger zones, and you know those sort of hidden beneath the layer danger zones
talk about why those danger zones exist. And it's really about growth of an organization. A growth in an organization happens through people. When more people come into an organization. There are more complexities. People bring obviously value and perspective and
horsepower, but they also have relationships with other people. And this is what gets really really complicated, because every time we double the number of people we have in the organization, we exponentially increase the number of relationships. 4 to 9 people, for example, go from 6 relationships to 36 people
(01:12):
double it again, let's say, to 16, not even doubling it. You go from 9 to 16 people. You go from 36 relationships to 120. So that's an exponential increase in the complexity of how to manage that. And, Michael, when you talk about that. You talk about. You add people, you outstrip your structures very quickly.
(01:32):
and then in understanding that complexity. So so we understand that people bring value to organization, but at the same time understanding their influences. What influences them helps us understand what structures would be supportive of a scaling organization. And we went into the 4 driving influences of human behavior
(01:53):
survive, thrive, connect, and adapt. I'm just repeating that because that'll be important as we continue. Then the next step last episode we discussed rethinking the core
where your teams
drive results which yield profit and value. But instead of thinking that core being the results of the organization that drives profit and values. The team is part of the results. The team and the results live in the same part of the core, and there are now 3 drivers, 3 dimensions to the output, not just profit and value, but also professional and personal growth of the team itself. Correct.
Michael Walsh (02:34):
Right.
Govindh Jayaraman (02:35):
All right. So where are we going today?
Michael Walsh (02:37):
Well, the only one thing that I would add to what we've done so far. Of course, the purpose of all this is to assist established business owners of service, based businesses or businesses that that have a service component, how to increase their freedom in their business from their business and because of their business. So the whole idea is, it's like when you're adding all these people. And you're getting all this complexity. You're outstripping structures. You're doing a bunch of stuff. What happens is your freedom goes away as an owner.
(03:05):
owners, senior leaders, and managers. So the key is, how do we actually bring back the freedom. How do we actually make this far more effective? And one of the things we've done is we've talked about the difference between treating your business like a machine that's there for the benefit of the owners, and the people become cogs in the system versus treating it like an intelligent ecosystem. And so the whole premise of how I grow a business in the 21st century is looking at it as an ecosystem, not as a machine.
(03:32):
So that that's and of course that's essential to this whole notion of.
instead of having the the core of the business be about your ability to generate results for your customers that also give you a profit. It's it's your ability to generate results. And the people who do it.
as far as that's concerned, because here's the thing the days of
(03:54):
I'm the boss, and you're the employees do your job. Those days are gone.
They don't exist anymore. Some people like to think they'd exist. But it doesn't actually work very well, even when it's still tried. In the 21st century
the power within service-based companies has shifted. Okay. It used to be that the power would sit with the boss.
(04:18):
Do what I tell you, or you won't have a job. Well, we're not in that type of environment anymore. The truth is, the power sits right now with the
intellect of your individual teams of knowledge workers because they're the ones that actually generate the result.
(04:38):
Okay, and I could force somebody to lift a rock. You could hold a gun to my head and say, Michael, lift that rock or I'll shoot you or hold it to one of my loved ones and say that, and then I'd lift the rock, whereas if you say, Michael, I'm going to hold a gun to your head. And you need to actually be creative, or else I'm going to shoot you.
The brain just doesn't work that way. And given that the brain doesn't work that way like we freeze up, we do all the different things.
(05:05):
I need an environment that allows me to breathe where I don't have to worry about my survival where I can actually trust my fellow workers, that together we could build something that's really interesting. That's where thriving comes in. That's where the ability to connect comes in, but it also allows us collectively, if we trust each other to adapt to the environment as far as that side of it is concerned. So all that to say is that
(05:27):
it just sort of underlines this whole notion of having teams be part of that core, you know.
Govindh Jayaraman (05:33):
So what you're really saying is, let's go back a little bit and make it really simple.
Michael Walsh (05:37):
Yep.
Govindh Jayaraman (05:38):
In modern organizations. If you want freedom in the business, freedom from the business and freedom because of the business, which is what leaders want what entrepreneurs want within organizations. You cannot have those
by using the command control style of leadership that existed in the past because your team is not adaptable. The world is changing quickly, and if you don't
(06:04):
have them be, bring all of themselves to the organization you don't get the freedom you want, because that's that's you having to run around and protect everybody and protect the organization from mistakes because they're not even aware they're just going through the motions. And and I think that that's the critical part of this. You cannot get freedom in the business from the business, and because of the business. If you run, command and control anymore. That's just not the way it works.
Michael Walsh (06:29):
Correct and and a a key part of that. How do I turn? Well, my people are part of the core. Okay.
The truth is that they are part of the core, whether you like it or not, but they have expectations as well.
You see, when you're looking at, and this is where we enter today's napkin, which is labeled The Social Contract.
(06:53):
You see in every all of a sudden it's not like, Do your job, or else you won't get paid. People are like snore. I'll go elsewhere because somebody will pay me better, or somebody will treat me nicer, or whatever you know. And and actually, you know, I was raised either a millennial or Gen. Z. Or Gen. Z. Depending on which side of the border you're on, and and
my parents like me, and I like my parents. So you know. What if I if I am without a job, they'll actually put me up. I still have my place. You know, it's been interesting. The average. My understanding is the average time, like the age when children leave the nest for the final time.
(07:31):
Okay, used to be 21. Now it's 33.
So, and parents are like, sure, if you need something for 6 months or so while you get things sorted out or organized. No problem come back as far as that's concerned, you know that's a big difference. So all of a sudden, the bosses can't browbeat their people into doing what they want, because they'll just vote some different direction.
(07:53):
So what there's this thing called a social contract. Now, in a social contract, both parties need something. Okay, employer wants things. The employee wants things. There's 4 things that I've listed for each. Okay, the 1st thing, if you take a look at the 4 things the owner or the company want.
They obviously when they hire somebody, you know, if you hire me, you want me to generate an individual result.
(08:17):
I mean, I'm there to generate a result if you don't have me there generating result, what am I doing there? Okay, the second, that's the most basic. The second one is, you expect me. It's basically as we're
as I'm working with others. Can I learn to work together with other people to generate a collective client result, in other words, a result that's larger than the individual result. So I may be able to do my thing. But really, I'm also expected to participate on a team to the extent that teamwork is is needed in different types of services, so that we collectively generate larger results for larger client situations.
(08:54):
Now the the 3rd and the 4th lead from those 1st 2. So you want me there to be able to either learn how to, or already be able to deliver an individual result, but also learn how to work with other people and generate a collective result with them. The 3rd one comes from that. If we've got people learning how to and really defining how to work well together, what happens is you strengthen the corporate culture. So that's that's a spinoff from the 1st 2.
(09:22):
Okay, predominantly. The second. And of course, the 4th thing that owners and the company want is basically to make progress towards achieving the company's larger purpose or its mission, if you want to call it that, whatever it is you call it. But you know what's the larger gain that this whole business provides. They want people to make progress towards that, and they don't necessarily say we have to make progress towards a focus towards a purpose. What they'll say is.
(09:49):
if you learn how to generate the individual result. And you're actually doing that well, and you grow as an expert doing that. And then, if you collectively can, can work and generate the larger client results, and if you do it in a way that actually serves and supports each other. That's what's sustainable. That gives me a stronger corporate culture, and it actually invariably leads to the purpose that that you know, I, as an owner might want, or you, as an owner might want of me or one of us collectively, as far as that's concerned. So that's the owner. Half of this contract.
Govindh Jayaraman (10:19):
Yeah. And and so you put them in sequence. And I want to make sure that we understand so generating an individual result.
generate collective results, because individual results play into collective results. And and I think that what I'm trying to get at is they are in that order. Right? Individual results generate collective results which helps to build a strong culture.
(10:41):
So so culture isn't cupcake carts and and coffee in the lobby, it's collective results which then makes progress towards the company's higher and larger purpose. Correct.
Michael Walsh (10:55):
So. So how do you know there are? There are projects. Many projects require more than one person on the same job.
Govindh Jayaraman (11:02):
Hmm.
Michael Walsh (11:03):
Okay, so how do I make sure that that you actually know how to work with each other in a manner that actually generates results for these larger clients situations, and as a company grows you get more of those
when it's tiny, it doesn't necessarily have those sometimes, but not always. But but when it's bigger it absolutely has those.
Govindh Jayaraman (11:21):
Yeah.
Michael Walsh (11:22):
And so individual corporate. And you notice that I have number 2 underlined. I'll get to that in a minute.
Govindh Jayaraman (11:27):
I did. Yep.
Michael Walsh (11:29):
Okay? So then there's the individual employees. What does each employee expect? Number one
to be paid? Everybody wants to be paid. Okay, you got to get the money right? Obviously. But that's not where it stops. You see, that's a trend. If it stopped there, that would be a transactional basis, and that's what that's what the old industrial model was. It's like you work for me. You get your pay. Go away.
Govindh Jayaraman (11:51):
Actually.
this is where it's. It's sort of like some parity, right? Because individual results are sort of like table stakes for traditional companies, just like compensations. Table stakes.
Michael Walsh (12:02):
Yep.
But then, when you go to number 2, when we talk about collecting, you know, generating collective results with each other towards larger client situations. The second thing in in the employee side is professional training and growth.
Now, if I just give you compensation, but I don't grow you, then what happens is that you get as you go for as much as you can get as an employee. You'll get, you know you. You just want as much as you can get, because that's all you're getting from the relationship.
(12:30):
When I actually say, well, we'll also support your training and growth as a professional. Now you're getting career growth that's actually worth something to employees. They want as much to grow in their career as they want the money. What do you do with money, you either spend it or you save it to spend it later. I mean, you know, whereas what do you do.
Govindh Jayaraman (12:48):
Yeah, for sure.
Michael Walsh (12:49):
My professional training and position, I can get higher career growth. I can actually get better jobs. I can actually make more money that way. There's a number of things I can do, and that's just as important to people as getting the money right now. You have to get the money right. You can't not get the money right. But at the same time that's not enough.
It's actual. The professional training and growth is is there, and it's critical. So you notice I've got that underlined. And again, I'll come back to that in a minute. Okay, the 3rd thing is access to meaningful work.
(13:20):
Now think about this. If you're
commitment to me, let's say I'm your employee is to give me professional training and growth
every job you give me if you gear it so that it also helps grow me even jobs that I might not be thrilled about. If they're growing me, they're now meaningful.
(13:43):
So what happens is all my work becomes meaningful, and if all my work is meaningful, even if I don't necessarily love it all, I'm growing from it. Then all of a sudden it becomes meaningful work. So it's actually easier to accomplish than people
initially get concerned about. If somebody's got a commitment to professional training and growth. And of course, the other one. The 4th element is access to meaningful relationships, both in my workplace with with fellow employees. And again, when we're learning how to work together to generate larger results that comes from that, but also in client relationships and supplier relationships. You know, there's a number of different relationships that go because we want meaningful work.
(14:21):
We want meaningful relationships. But I gotta tell you the core base thing is compensation. But you know, number 2 is probably the most important piece on this list for both sides, the ability to generate collective results, and the professional training and growth.
Govindh Jayaraman (14:36):
Yeah, and and so like, with the company side.
Michael Walsh (14:40):
Yep.
Govindh Jayaraman (14:41):
And I just wanna so the company side it felt like one led to 2 led to 3, led to 4. Is that the same on the employee side. Are they? Sort of?
Are they building blocks from one.
Michael Walsh (14:53):
Well, they are, except
they all occur like it's they're they're building blocks in terms. Here's the thing. If you don't get the compensation rate, none of the rest of it matters.
You don't get the compensation and professional and training and growth. It's really hard to have meaningful work and meaningful relationships, because everybody's worried about one or the other of numbers one and 2.
(15:17):
Okay, if you have one and 2 in place, access to meaningful work becomes far more material. And over time you develop meaningful relationships as you work through, not only to get your own growth, but also to generate the results on the other side. So it's not like, well, I did number 2. Now I can go to Number 3. You need to do all 4, but they're different. They're similar levels to each other, as far as that's concerned, you know, stepping into the levels of
(15:42):
depth of the relationship of the Social Contract. But what's happening is.
if you think I'm the boss and you're the employee, just do your job. If that's how you think you will continue to have problems, you will not get freedom. You will constantly be putting out fires. And you're constantly chain, you know, chasing people based issues. If you can actually base it and understand and appreciate the importance of this little thing called the Social Contract. It's not so little
(16:09):
because it's the basis of really treating your people as part of the core of your business, and it's the basis of everything else that comes from it. Because if people feel like they have each other's backs, and they're actively at work and making a difference for your clients in ways that they can enjoy the success and just the achievement of it, because they don't have to protect themselves.
(16:30):
I don't have a boss stealing my ideas. They actually credit the team for the work that we do things like that. Then all of a sudden this place gets far more interesting for me to be at as an employee, and if if it's more interesting for us to do, we'll give our best, and if you've got us
structured to give our best, and we're giving our best all of a sudden, you, as my boss, have more freedom than you otherwise would have.
(16:52):
So so there's a direct link, not only from the Social Contract from both sides, but there's also a direct link between the Social contract, rethinking the core, and your access to gain more freedom in from, and because of your business.
Govindh Jayaraman (17:07):
So here's the thing that I think is interesting about this.
You you call this the Social Contract, and I know you're very careful about wording
frequently. Right? This is, you're very careful about the wording.
When we hire people to join our companies, we say, this is what we want you to do individual results in exchange for this compensation.
(17:30):
You know, if we're really good employers, we might talk about some culture stuff.
We might talk about some access to meaningful work stuff.
We might talk about what we do as a company, as a call or a purpose, or you know what role we play, and and we might talk about how great
the company is and the people that are in it, and blah blah, but we really
(17:55):
like when we hire them. It's not in the offer, you know. Compensation is vacation. Time is because I think compensation is part of vacation, like benefits, compensation that all sits together, and the results are part of it. But you called this a social contract, because whether or not we
are intentional about these things or verbal, these things are happening like our unconscious minds. We we want all of these things right.
Michael Walsh (18:24):
Correct, and the truth is that I would actually make sure that at least numbers one and 2 are spelled out in agreement.
See number 3 and Number 4 that are the qualitative aspects
of the work. And that's why we call it the Social Contract, because it's not just trading
things back and forth there. There is a social or a qualitative aspect to it. Now there's quality to the work, obviously as well. And there's, you know, quality to the, to the training and the and the growth as well. So qualitative hits it all but but 3 and 4 on each side really are.
(19:01):
They're almost entirely qualitative. But you can tell when they're present versus when they're not. If you've got a strong corporate culture.
Okay? You can tell. And if you've got a weak corporate culture, you can tell. You can see it in sports teams. You can see it. You can see it in. You can see in just about anything. You can see it. If you're going to a play, you can see it when you're you know, watching.
Govindh Jayaraman (19:23):
But but for a second.
Yeah. But, Michael, let's talk. Let's talk about this.
Michael Walsh (19:28):
Okay.
Govindh Jayaraman (19:29):
Right. People say that you can see it, and I agree.
Someone's listening right now, and they're saying, in
what do you mean by that, my small business? What does that mean? What does that look like.
you know people have may be familiar with, you know, culture books and culture codes, and again, cupcake carts and coffee shops, and all this. That's not what we're talking about.
(19:58):
We're talking about a culture that you can feel, see, and breathe when you walk into the organization, whatever it can be a retail shop. It can be any kind of. There's a culture there right.
Michael Walsh (20:07):
Yep.
Govindh Jayaraman (20:07):
What is that? What does it give me? An example of what that looks like?
Michael Walsh (20:11):
Well, sure, let's go back to our survive versus 5 thrive thing. If I have to protect myself at work from others. It's obvious to everybody. I'm focused on me. I'm focused on what I need. I'm focused on what I get and everybody's focused on themselves or enough people are focused on themselves that it actually is a little bit of a problem. Okay, when people are focused on supporting each other, or when somebody is stumbling or having difficulty. Somebody else just naturally goes in and helps them.
(20:41):
Or if somebody's out of line, somebody else naturally goes. Yeah, we don't do that here. I mean, things like that are
absolute evidence that you've got a team-based culture rather than a self-based culture. And I need a self-based culture. If my survival at stake, either physical survival. But even my emotional survival like, if I feel like I'm being put down or I don't feel like I'm considered as valuable or things like that. I'll do whatever self-advocacy comes up all the time.
(21:09):
Okay, and it could be the difference between you know, somebody needing to get. I got you on that. No problem. I mean, you could be a brist at a coffee shop, and and you're actually helping the other person as opposed. Well, that's your issue. Don't talk to me.
I mean, you can tell very quickly whether you're in a group where people help each other, or whether you're in a group where people take care of themselves, and it's the other person's issue. And I pick any any facet of life, any business you can see it. Am I naturally helping them? And are they just as quick to naturally help me?
(21:42):
You know. Or am I in a situation where? Where? No, it's it's, you know, each to his himself or herself, or you know, what have you? And then you know one place that you see this consistently. The military runs people through 17 week boot camp.
They have one goal in mind.
(22:02):
Okay, they will work the people beyond what they're comfortable with, and to their breaking point.
and they want to see when I get you to and past your breaking point. Where do you go? Do you go to yourself and go as a lone wolf? Or do you go to others and actually look for the team for support, and actually also look to support each other? The people that go to the team are the ones that make it. The people that go to the self, no matter how good they are, get caught. And the reason that's the case is because I cannot put a platoon of people when there's life and death involved
(22:32):
and have somebody worried about themselves at the expense potentially of the whole platoon.
We need people that are each on for each other. You know the reason that people will actually go into harm's way. And I mean this is, that's their 17 weeks of Boot Camp. It's there for 2 years in navy seal training. Okay? The reason people go for get themselves into harm's way is because they know that the person to their left or to their right would also do the same for them.
(22:58):
People say that they actually give for their country. In theory they do in real life. They give for the person to the left and to the right, and the others in their group because they trust each other with their lives, and as a result they know that other people can trust them with theirs. That's when it gets really good. When life and death is involved. You also find it in fire departments. You'll find it in more
(23:18):
under the gun police environments. I can't speak for all police environments. That's its own hornet's nest these days. But but you'll definitely see it in fire departments, because there's a common enemy, and the common enemy is the flames right?
And so and and so it's amazing to see what happens there. Okay, you can also professional teams.
Govindh Jayaraman (23:41):
If you're wondering, like, if you're listening to this right now, and if you're wondering that's true in the military, it absolutely true, you can go back and listen to Christopher Schmidt or Navy Bob on paper, napkin wisdom. Both were on. Both are senior ranking. Military people both talked about how love in the military, loving on your teams, giving love and spreading love within your teams is the right way
(24:09):
to build high performance military teams, and that's you know, I was talking about the nuclear submarine Commander, Navy Bob, talking about how the very 1st thing was he bought brought a loving team environment to his submarine command, and that changed all of their results. So
(24:31):
so if you're doubting this, go back and listen to it from the horse's mouths because they'll talk about special Operations Forces command, which is where Christopher Schmidt came from. You know, this is like dark Ops, secret Ops, kind of stuff and navy Bob. Nuclear submarine stuff, and both of them talked about love at work, which is incredible to me.
Michael Walsh (24:51):
Well, it makes full sense, because guess what
if anybody has hesitation? People die not good.
Govindh Jayaraman (25:00):
Yeah, generally. Avoidable.
Michael Walsh (25:01):
Yeah, who would put themselves voluntarily into an arrangement if they had any doubt whether the person next to them has just as much resolve as they do.
and that means that there's this responsibility for them to have results. So this is not just like, you know. Hold hands, Kumbaya stuff. This is like real life, life and death stuff.
and that power to connect, and the power to adapt has to come from a commitment to thrive. And you've got to have survival taken care of. If you can take survival off the mat, you've got access to the rest of it. And these are basic human needs.
Govindh Jayaraman (25:35):
So so once we've got access to it, they're part of the core understanding. So this is the key right understanding. The Social Contract puts you in a position of dealing with these unconscious needs that everybody's got.
But no one's necessarily talking about unless you make it part of the dialogue as leaders. It's your company.
(25:57):
Make it part of the dialogue. So why did you underline number 2 on both sides of the equation?
Michael Walsh (26:04):
Because the individual client results. People already know they expected to do that. Okay, where the real growth of people is and the real opportunity for people and the opportunity to have them work with each other and take care of this survival thing shows up when you start putting them together. Most people are not very skilled at how to build and work with teams.
Okay, we're taught. And we've got a whole section on this in one of the future in one of our future episodes. But I gotta tell you we're not very good working teams, and the and
(26:34):
owners need their people to grow in that in that area. The other side of it is, people want to grow in their careers, and and what we're going to be talking about next time. We in our next episode, number 6 is is actual. The whole thing about hiring okay, and and
not everybody should be on your team, not everybody should be a navy seal, not everybody should be in the military, not everybody should be in the fire department, not everybody should be on that play where you know where you've got a bunch of actors that are working with each other to actually generate a result for their audience. So so you don't have to take everybody. The key is, you want to get right fit people that work for you, and we'll, you know again we'll get into that there. But just because these but where you do want somebody.
(27:19):
then
what are the commitments that you need to make to them? What are the commitments that you expect them to make to you
you. If you get clear on that, it's easier to have them be part of the core, because you're actually betting that your ability to generate a result on the people that you bring in.
Now, whether you do the Social Contract or not, you're still betting that
(27:40):
the only difference is, we're making it conscious and saying, You know, if you want this social contract, or if you want this, this, including people as part of the core, to really work. This is part of what it looks like.
And and all of a sudden it's like, Oh.
I could live with that. I could do that you know what this is expected of me once more than I would have thought. But you know it's not that much more, and I can do that, and yes, I do expect that from them, and it's probably a little bit more than they may have thought. But you know what if for the right person. This could work really well.
Govindh Jayaraman (28:08):
And if you're speaking it, you have a shot of making it happen. If you're not speaking it. People are just fill in the blanks. And the way the way that employees on your team right now are accessing meaningful work. If you're not filling the pathway is
they're doing it with their feet right? They're they're thinking about where they can do it somewhere else, aren't they?
Michael Walsh (28:30):
Correct, absolutely. And and back to the other things. We're actually, we're going to be providing tools for each of these, like for for professional training and growth. There's whole sets of tools with regards to that. And and it really will.
It becomes way easier than you think to give people meaningful work right now. It's like, you know, in an architecture firm. I really want to get the cool projects as opposed to the the more mundane projects. Well, if people are actually committed to professional growth, and even the mundane projects start to become really interesting if they help you grow your skills and grow as a professional.
Govindh Jayaraman (29:02):
Hmm.
yeah. And you know, one of the things that I think is really important. So I'm a big believer in scorecards. And we had this conversation prior to starting the episode, the recorded portion of this. But I'm a big believer in scorecards, making sure that people understand
not only what they
what great looks like within their roles, but what they could be obsessed about, what you know, what skills they could bring to the table, what their mission is within their role, how it contributes to greater greater organizational results, so what their individual contribution means relative to the organization. But the other part of this that, I think, is so
(29:38):
brilliant that a lot of people, miss, is these are other things that could be on their scorecard right? Access to professional training growth, how they can understand what success looks like in that regard, how they can learn, solve, and adjust and tweak it, to move them towards more meaningful work towards meaningful relationships. All those things could be put right there and empower the individual so they could see that map right? And that's that's important to do, isn't it?
Michael Walsh (30:05):
Absolutely. And and if you do that, and it's a conscious, active step, it's not just talking about stuff. It's a conscious, active step. And there are ways to actually support people in their in their professional training and growth. But if you do that piece, it goes back to what you mentioned earlier, when you're doing the recap, that the core actually is designed to generate results that provide your customers with value, while at the same time
(30:30):
generating your profit, while at also concurrently generating the professional growth that your people require. In other words, these can all be done with the same
actions, and so by overlapping them, and we're going to show how to overlap them eventually, or, you know, in a future year. Well, in a few comments. But but if you can overlap all 3 concurrently.
(30:54):
then I'm not increasing the workload to accomplish this.
and that's the biggest thing that people are afraid of, especially when they feel like there's limits to their freedom, and it feels like it's shrinking, not growing well. Actually, it's a little bit of a you know. This is not one of those. That's obvious. Okay, it's counterintuitive by doing. It is easier to line up the 3 things when you take an ecosystem model because it just has to work for everybody, for an ecosystem to work. And the good news is there are ways to actually have it work for everybody.
Govindh Jayaraman (31:26):
Yeah. And that's what we're going to start to dig into deeper and deeper as we explore the freedom framework as we explore how you can get freedom in the business from the business, and because of the business
by understanding and leveraging the Social Contract as a means to communicate more effectively align your team to the things that are all important to them, and empower them in that direction. Michael, another powerful episode. Thank you so much.
Michael Walsh (31:54):
Cute.
Michael Walsh. Welcome back to paper napkin wisdom excited to have you here for Number 5 in our series. Man, time values when you're having fun.
Michael Walsh (00:11):
It does, doesn't it?
Govindh Jayaraman (00:12):
It sure does all right. So we just to recap where we are really quickly recap. We talked about the 4 danger zones in our 1st app danger zones around growth of an organization, 1 million 2 million. So 1, st one would be in 1 million 2 million 5 million just before 10 million, and then, just before 20 million. And then, after
(00:35):
talking about those danger zones, and you know those sort of hidden beneath the layer danger zones
talk about why those danger zones exist. And it's really about growth of an organization. A growth in an organization happens through people. When more people come into an organization. There are more complexities. People bring obviously value and perspective and
horsepower, but they also have relationships with other people. And this is what gets really really complicated, because every time we double the number of people we have in the organization, we exponentially increase the number of relationships. 4 to 9 people, for example, go from 6 relationships to 36 people
(01:12):
double it again, let's say, to 16, not even doubling it. You go from 9 to 16 people. You go from 36 relationships to 120. So that's an exponential increase in the complexity of how to manage that. And, Michael, when you talk about that. You talk about. You add people, you outstrip your structures very quickly.
(01:32):
and then in understanding that complexity. So so we understand that people bring value to organization, but at the same time understanding their influences. What influences them helps us understand what structures would be supportive of a scaling organization. And we went into the 4 driving influences of human behavior
(01:53):
survive, thrive, connect, and adapt. I'm just repeating that because that'll be important as we continue. Then the next step last episode we discussed rethinking the core
where your teams
drive results which yield profit and value. But instead of thinking that core being the results of the organization that drives profit and values. The team is part of the results. The team and the results live in the same part of the core, and there are now 3 drivers, 3 dimensions to the output, not just profit and value, but also professional and personal growth of the team itself. Correct.
Michael Walsh (02:34):
Right.
Govindh Jayaraman (02:35):
All right. So where are we going today?
Michael Walsh (02:37):
Well, the only one thing that I would add to what we've done so far. Of course, the purpose of all this is to assist established business owners of service, based businesses or businesses that that have a service component, how to increase their freedom in their business from their business and because of their business. So the whole idea is, it's like when you're adding all these people. And you're getting all this complexity. You're outstripping structures. You're doing a bunch of stuff. What happens is your freedom goes away as an owner.
(03:05):
owners, senior leaders, and managers. So the key is, how do we actually bring back the freedom. How do we actually make this far more effective? And one of the things we've done is we've talked about the difference between treating your business like a machine that's there for the benefit of the owners, and the people become cogs in the system versus treating it like an intelligent ecosystem. And so the whole premise of how I grow a business in the 21st century is looking at it as an ecosystem, not as a machine.
(03:32):
So that that's and of course that's essential to this whole notion of.
instead of having the the core of the business be about your ability to generate results for your customers that also give you a profit. It's it's your ability to generate results. And the people who do it.
as far as that's concerned, because here's the thing the days of
(03:54):
I'm the boss, and you're the employees do your job. Those days are gone.
They don't exist anymore. Some people like to think they'd exist. But it doesn't actually work very well, even when it's still tried. In the 21st century
the power within service-based companies has shifted. Okay. It used to be that the power would sit with the boss.
(04:18):
Do what I tell you, or you won't have a job. Well, we're not in that type of environment anymore. The truth is, the power sits right now with the
intellect of your individual teams of knowledge workers because they're the ones that actually generate the result.
(04:38):
Okay, and I could force somebody to lift a rock. You could hold a gun to my head and say, Michael, lift that rock or I'll shoot you or hold it to one of my loved ones and say that, and then I'd lift the rock, whereas if you say, Michael, I'm going to hold a gun to your head. And you need to actually be creative, or else I'm going to shoot you.
The brain just doesn't work that way. And given that the brain doesn't work that way like we freeze up, we do all the different things.
(05:05):
I need an environment that allows me to breathe where I don't have to worry about my survival where I can actually trust my fellow workers, that together we could build something that's really interesting. That's where thriving comes in. That's where the ability to connect comes in, but it also allows us collectively, if we trust each other to adapt to the environment as far as that side of it is concerned. So all that to say is that
(05:27):
it just sort of underlines this whole notion of having teams be part of that core, you know.
Govindh Jayaraman (05:33):
So what you're really saying is, let's go back a little bit and make it really simple.
Michael Walsh (05:37):
Yep.
Govindh Jayaraman (05:38):
In modern organizations. If you want freedom in the business, freedom from the business and freedom because of the business, which is what leaders want what entrepreneurs want within organizations. You cannot have those
by using the command control style of leadership that existed in the past because your team is not adaptable. The world is changing quickly, and if you don't
(06:04):
have them be, bring all of themselves to the organization you don't get the freedom you want, because that's that's you having to run around and protect everybody and protect the organization from mistakes because they're not even aware they're just going through the motions. And and I think that that's the critical part of this. You cannot get freedom in the business from the business, and because of the business. If you run, command and control anymore. That's just not the way it works.
Michael Walsh (06:29):
Correct and and a a key part of that. How do I turn? Well, my people are part of the core. Okay.
The truth is that they are part of the core, whether you like it or not, but they have expectations as well.
You see, when you're looking at, and this is where we enter today's napkin, which is labeled The Social Contract.
(06:53):
You see in every all of a sudden it's not like, Do your job, or else you won't get paid. People are like snore. I'll go elsewhere because somebody will pay me better, or somebody will treat me nicer, or whatever you know. And and actually, you know, I was raised either a millennial or Gen. Z. Or Gen. Z. Depending on which side of the border you're on, and and
my parents like me, and I like my parents. So you know. What if I if I am without a job, they'll actually put me up. I still have my place. You know, it's been interesting. The average. My understanding is the average time, like the age when children leave the nest for the final time.
(07:31):
Okay, used to be 21. Now it's 33.
So, and parents are like, sure, if you need something for 6 months or so while you get things sorted out or organized. No problem come back as far as that's concerned, you know that's a big difference. So all of a sudden, the bosses can't browbeat their people into doing what they want, because they'll just vote some different direction.
(07:53):
So what there's this thing called a social contract. Now, in a social contract, both parties need something. Okay, employer wants things. The employee wants things. There's 4 things that I've listed for each. Okay, the 1st thing, if you take a look at the 4 things the owner or the company want.
They obviously when they hire somebody, you know, if you hire me, you want me to generate an individual result.
(08:17):
I mean, I'm there to generate a result if you don't have me there generating result, what am I doing there? Okay, the second, that's the most basic. The second one is, you expect me. It's basically as we're
as I'm working with others. Can I learn to work together with other people to generate a collective client result, in other words, a result that's larger than the individual result. So I may be able to do my thing. But really, I'm also expected to participate on a team to the extent that teamwork is is needed in different types of services, so that we collectively generate larger results for larger client situations.
(08:54):
Now the the 3rd and the 4th lead from those 1st 2. So you want me there to be able to either learn how to, or already be able to deliver an individual result, but also learn how to work with other people and generate a collective result with them. The 3rd one comes from that. If we've got people learning how to and really defining how to work well together, what happens is you strengthen the corporate culture. So that's that's a spinoff from the 1st 2.
(09:22):
Okay, predominantly. The second. And of course, the 4th thing that owners and the company want is basically to make progress towards achieving the company's larger purpose or its mission, if you want to call it that, whatever it is you call it. But you know what's the larger gain that this whole business provides. They want people to make progress towards that, and they don't necessarily say we have to make progress towards a focus towards a purpose. What they'll say is.
(09:49):
if you learn how to generate the individual result. And you're actually doing that well, and you grow as an expert doing that. And then, if you collectively can, can work and generate the larger client results, and if you do it in a way that actually serves and supports each other. That's what's sustainable. That gives me a stronger corporate culture, and it actually invariably leads to the purpose that that you know, I, as an owner might want, or you, as an owner might want of me or one of us collectively, as far as that's concerned. So that's the owner. Half of this contract.
Govindh Jayaraman (10:19):
Yeah. And and so you put them in sequence. And I want to make sure that we understand so generating an individual result.
generate collective results, because individual results play into collective results. And and I think that what I'm trying to get at is they are in that order. Right? Individual results generate collective results which helps to build a strong culture.
(10:41):
So so culture isn't cupcake carts and and coffee in the lobby, it's collective results which then makes progress towards the company's higher and larger purpose. Correct.
Michael Walsh (10:55):
So. So how do you know there are? There are projects. Many projects require more than one person on the same job.
Govindh Jayaraman (11:02):
Hmm.
Michael Walsh (11:03):
Okay, so how do I make sure that that you actually know how to work with each other in a manner that actually generates results for these larger clients situations, and as a company grows you get more of those
when it's tiny, it doesn't necessarily have those sometimes, but not always. But but when it's bigger it absolutely has those.
Govindh Jayaraman (11:21):
Yeah.
Michael Walsh (11:22):
And so individual corporate. And you notice that I have number 2 underlined. I'll get to that in a minute.
Govindh Jayaraman (11:27):
I did. Yep.
Michael Walsh (11:29):
Okay? So then there's the individual employees. What does each employee expect? Number one
to be paid? Everybody wants to be paid. Okay, you got to get the money right? Obviously. But that's not where it stops. You see, that's a trend. If it stopped there, that would be a transactional basis, and that's what that's what the old industrial model was. It's like you work for me. You get your pay. Go away.
Govindh Jayaraman (11:51):
Actually.
this is where it's. It's sort of like some parity, right? Because individual results are sort of like table stakes for traditional companies, just like compensations. Table stakes.
Michael Walsh (12:02):
Yep.
But then, when you go to number 2, when we talk about collecting, you know, generating collective results with each other towards larger client situations. The second thing in in the employee side is professional training and growth.
Now, if I just give you compensation, but I don't grow you, then what happens is that you get as you go for as much as you can get as an employee. You'll get, you know you. You just want as much as you can get, because that's all you're getting from the relationship.
(12:30):
When I actually say, well, we'll also support your training and growth as a professional. Now you're getting career growth that's actually worth something to employees. They want as much to grow in their career as they want the money. What do you do with money, you either spend it or you save it to spend it later. I mean, you know, whereas what do you do.
Govindh Jayaraman (12:48):
Yeah, for sure.
Michael Walsh (12:49):
My professional training and position, I can get higher career growth. I can actually get better jobs. I can actually make more money that way. There's a number of things I can do, and that's just as important to people as getting the money right now. You have to get the money right. You can't not get the money right. But at the same time that's not enough.
It's actual. The professional training and growth is is there, and it's critical. So you notice I've got that underlined. And again, I'll come back to that in a minute. Okay, the 3rd thing is access to meaningful work.
(13:20):
Now think about this. If you're
commitment to me, let's say I'm your employee is to give me professional training and growth
every job you give me if you gear it so that it also helps grow me even jobs that I might not be thrilled about. If they're growing me, they're now meaningful.
(13:43):
So what happens is all my work becomes meaningful, and if all my work is meaningful, even if I don't necessarily love it all, I'm growing from it. Then all of a sudden it becomes meaningful work. So it's actually easier to accomplish than people
initially get concerned about. If somebody's got a commitment to professional training and growth. And of course, the other one. The 4th element is access to meaningful relationships, both in my workplace with with fellow employees. And again, when we're learning how to work together to generate larger results that comes from that, but also in client relationships and supplier relationships. You know, there's a number of different relationships that go because we want meaningful work.
(14:21):
We want meaningful relationships. But I gotta tell you the core base thing is compensation. But you know, number 2 is probably the most important piece on this list for both sides, the ability to generate collective results, and the professional training and growth.
Govindh Jayaraman (14:36):
Yeah, and and so like, with the company side.
Michael Walsh (14:40):
Yep.
Govindh Jayaraman (14:41):
And I just wanna so the company side it felt like one led to 2 led to 3, led to 4. Is that the same on the employee side. Are they? Sort of?
Are they building blocks from one.
Michael Walsh (14:53):
Well, they are, except
they all occur like it's they're they're building blocks in terms. Here's the thing. If you don't get the compensation rate, none of the rest of it matters.
You don't get the compensation and professional and training and growth. It's really hard to have meaningful work and meaningful relationships, because everybody's worried about one or the other of numbers one and 2.
(15:17):
Okay, if you have one and 2 in place, access to meaningful work becomes far more material. And over time you develop meaningful relationships as you work through, not only to get your own growth, but also to generate the results on the other side. So it's not like, well, I did number 2. Now I can go to Number 3. You need to do all 4, but they're different. They're similar levels to each other, as far as that's concerned, you know, stepping into the levels of
(15:42):
depth of the relationship of the Social Contract. But what's happening is.
if you think I'm the boss and you're the employee, just do your job. If that's how you think you will continue to have problems, you will not get freedom. You will constantly be putting out fires. And you're constantly chain, you know, chasing people based issues. If you can actually base it and understand and appreciate the importance of this little thing called the Social Contract. It's not so little
(16:09):
because it's the basis of really treating your people as part of the core of your business, and it's the basis of everything else that comes from it. Because if people feel like they have each other's backs, and they're actively at work and making a difference for your clients in ways that they can enjoy the success and just the achievement of it, because they don't have to protect themselves.
(16:30):
I don't have a boss stealing my ideas. They actually credit the team for the work that we do things like that. Then all of a sudden this place gets far more interesting for me to be at as an employee, and if if it's more interesting for us to do, we'll give our best, and if you've got us
structured to give our best, and we're giving our best all of a sudden, you, as my boss, have more freedom than you otherwise would have.
(16:52):
So so there's a direct link, not only from the Social Contract from both sides, but there's also a direct link between the Social contract, rethinking the core, and your access to gain more freedom in from, and because of your business.
Govindh Jayaraman (17:07):
So here's the thing that I think is interesting about this.
You you call this the Social Contract, and I know you're very careful about wording
frequently. Right? This is, you're very careful about the wording.
When we hire people to join our companies, we say, this is what we want you to do individual results in exchange for this compensation.
(17:30):
You know, if we're really good employers, we might talk about some culture stuff.
We might talk about some access to meaningful work stuff.
We might talk about what we do as a company, as a call or a purpose, or you know what role we play, and and we might talk about how great
the company is and the people that are in it, and blah blah, but we really
(17:55):
like when we hire them. It's not in the offer, you know. Compensation is vacation. Time is because I think compensation is part of vacation, like benefits, compensation that all sits together, and the results are part of it. But you called this a social contract, because whether or not we
are intentional about these things or verbal, these things are happening like our unconscious minds. We we want all of these things right.
Michael Walsh (18:24):
Correct, and the truth is that I would actually make sure that at least numbers one and 2 are spelled out in agreement.
See number 3 and Number 4 that are the qualitative aspects
of the work. And that's why we call it the Social Contract, because it's not just trading
things back and forth there. There is a social or a qualitative aspect to it. Now there's quality to the work, obviously as well. And there's, you know, quality to the, to the training and the and the growth as well. So qualitative hits it all but but 3 and 4 on each side really are.
(19:01):
They're almost entirely qualitative. But you can tell when they're present versus when they're not. If you've got a strong corporate culture.
Okay? You can tell. And if you've got a weak corporate culture, you can tell. You can see it in sports teams. You can see it. You can see it in. You can see in just about anything. You can see it. If you're going to a play, you can see it when you're you know, watching.
Govindh Jayaraman (19:23):
But but for a second.
Yeah. But, Michael, let's talk. Let's talk about this.
Michael Walsh (19:28):
Okay.
Govindh Jayaraman (19:29):
Right. People say that you can see it, and I agree.
Someone's listening right now, and they're saying, in
what do you mean by that, my small business? What does that mean? What does that look like.
you know people have may be familiar with, you know, culture books and culture codes, and again, cupcake carts and coffee shops, and all this. That's not what we're talking about.
(19:58):
We're talking about a culture that you can feel, see, and breathe when you walk into the organization, whatever it can be a retail shop. It can be any kind of. There's a culture there right.
Michael Walsh (20:07):
Yep.
Govindh Jayaraman (20:07):
What is that? What does it give me? An example of what that looks like?
Michael Walsh (20:11):
Well, sure, let's go back to our survive versus 5 thrive thing. If I have to protect myself at work from others. It's obvious to everybody. I'm focused on me. I'm focused on what I need. I'm focused on what I get and everybody's focused on themselves or enough people are focused on themselves that it actually is a little bit of a problem. Okay, when people are focused on supporting each other, or when somebody is stumbling or having difficulty. Somebody else just naturally goes in and helps them.
(20:41):
Or if somebody's out of line, somebody else naturally goes. Yeah, we don't do that here. I mean, things like that are
absolute evidence that you've got a team-based culture rather than a self-based culture. And I need a self-based culture. If my survival at stake, either physical survival. But even my emotional survival like, if I feel like I'm being put down or I don't feel like I'm considered as valuable or things like that. I'll do whatever self-advocacy comes up all the time.
(21:09):
Okay, and it could be the difference between you know, somebody needing to get. I got you on that. No problem. I mean, you could be a brist at a coffee shop, and and you're actually helping the other person as opposed. Well, that's your issue. Don't talk to me.
I mean, you can tell very quickly whether you're in a group where people help each other, or whether you're in a group where people take care of themselves, and it's the other person's issue. And I pick any any facet of life, any business you can see it. Am I naturally helping them? And are they just as quick to naturally help me?
(21:42):
You know. Or am I in a situation where? Where? No, it's it's, you know, each to his himself or herself, or you know, what have you? And then you know one place that you see this consistently. The military runs people through 17 week boot camp.
They have one goal in mind.
(22:02):
Okay, they will work the people beyond what they're comfortable with, and to their breaking point.
and they want to see when I get you to and past your breaking point. Where do you go? Do you go to yourself and go as a lone wolf? Or do you go to others and actually look for the team for support, and actually also look to support each other? The people that go to the team are the ones that make it. The people that go to the self, no matter how good they are, get caught. And the reason that's the case is because I cannot put a platoon of people when there's life and death involved
(22:32):
and have somebody worried about themselves at the expense potentially of the whole platoon.
We need people that are each on for each other. You know the reason that people will actually go into harm's way. And I mean this is, that's their 17 weeks of Boot Camp. It's there for 2 years in navy seal training. Okay? The reason people go for get themselves into harm's way is because they know that the person to their left or to their right would also do the same for them.
(22:58):
People say that they actually give for their country. In theory they do in real life. They give for the person to the left and to the right, and the others in their group because they trust each other with their lives, and as a result they know that other people can trust them with theirs. That's when it gets really good. When life and death is involved. You also find it in fire departments. You'll find it in more
(23:18):
under the gun police environments. I can't speak for all police environments. That's its own hornet's nest these days. But but you'll definitely see it in fire departments, because there's a common enemy, and the common enemy is the flames right?
And so and and so it's amazing to see what happens there. Okay, you can also professional teams.
Govindh Jayaraman (23:41):
If you're wondering, like, if you're listening to this right now, and if you're wondering that's true in the military, it absolutely true, you can go back and listen to Christopher Schmidt or Navy Bob on paper, napkin wisdom. Both were on. Both are senior ranking. Military people both talked about how love in the military, loving on your teams, giving love and spreading love within your teams is the right way
(24:09):
to build high performance military teams, and that's you know, I was talking about the nuclear submarine Commander, Navy Bob, talking about how the very 1st thing was he bought brought a loving team environment to his submarine command, and that changed all of their results. So
(24:31):
so if you're doubting this, go back and listen to it from the horse's mouths because they'll talk about special Operations Forces command, which is where Christopher Schmidt came from. You know, this is like dark Ops, secret Ops, kind of stuff and navy Bob. Nuclear submarine stuff, and both of them talked about love at work, which is incredible to me.
Michael Walsh (24:51):
Well, it makes full sense, because guess what
if anybody has hesitation? People die not good.
Govindh Jayaraman (25:00):
Yeah, generally. Avoidable.
Michael Walsh (25:01):
Yeah, who would put themselves voluntarily into an arrangement if they had any doubt whether the person next to them has just as much resolve as they do.
and that means that there's this responsibility for them to have results. So this is not just like, you know. Hold hands, Kumbaya stuff. This is like real life, life and death stuff.
and that power to connect, and the power to adapt has to come from a commitment to thrive. And you've got to have survival taken care of. If you can take survival off the mat, you've got access to the rest of it. And these are basic human needs.
Govindh Jayaraman (25:35):
So so once we've got access to it, they're part of the core understanding. So this is the key right understanding. The Social Contract puts you in a position of dealing with these unconscious needs that everybody's got.
But no one's necessarily talking about unless you make it part of the dialogue as leaders. It's your company.
(25:57):
Make it part of the dialogue. So why did you underline number 2 on both sides of the equation?
Michael Walsh (26:04):
Because the individual client results. People already know they expected to do that. Okay, where the real growth of people is and the real opportunity for people and the opportunity to have them work with each other and take care of this survival thing shows up when you start putting them together. Most people are not very skilled at how to build and work with teams.
Okay, we're taught. And we've got a whole section on this in one of the future in one of our future episodes. But I gotta tell you we're not very good working teams, and the and
(26:34):
owners need their people to grow in that in that area. The other side of it is, people want to grow in their careers, and and what we're going to be talking about next time. We in our next episode, number 6 is is actual. The whole thing about hiring okay, and and
not everybody should be on your team, not everybody should be a navy seal, not everybody should be in the military, not everybody should be in the fire department, not everybody should be on that play where you know where you've got a bunch of actors that are working with each other to actually generate a result for their audience. So so you don't have to take everybody. The key is, you want to get right fit people that work for you, and we'll, you know again we'll get into that there. But just because these but where you do want somebody.
(27:19):
then
what are the commitments that you need to make to them? What are the commitments that you expect them to make to you
you. If you get clear on that, it's easier to have them be part of the core, because you're actually betting that your ability to generate a result on the people that you bring in.
Now, whether you do the Social Contract or not, you're still betting that
(27:40):
the only difference is, we're making it conscious and saying, You know, if you want this social contract, or if you want this, this, including people as part of the core, to really work. This is part of what it looks like.
And and all of a sudden it's like, Oh.
I could live with that. I could do that you know what this is expected of me once more than I would have thought. But you know it's not that much more, and I can do that, and yes, I do expect that from them, and it's probably a little bit more than they may have thought. But you know what if for the right person. This could work really well.
Govindh Jayaraman (28:08):
And if you're speaking it, you have a shot of making it happen. If you're not speaking it. People are just fill in the blanks. And the way the way that employees on your team right now are accessing meaningful work. If you're not filling the pathway is
they're doing it with their feet right? They're they're thinking about where they can do it somewhere else, aren't they?
Michael Walsh (28:30):
Correct, absolutely. And and back to the other things. We're actually, we're going to be providing tools for each of these, like for for professional training and growth. There's whole sets of tools with regards to that. And and it really will.
It becomes way easier than you think to give people meaningful work right now. It's like, you know, in an architecture firm. I really want to get the cool projects as opposed to the the more mundane projects. Well, if people are actually committed to professional growth, and even the mundane projects start to become really interesting if they help you grow your skills and grow as a professional.
Govindh Jayaraman (29:02):
Hmm.
yeah. And you know, one of the things that I think is really important. So I'm a big believer in scorecards. And we had this conversation prior to starting the episode, the recorded portion of this. But I'm a big believer in scorecards, making sure that people understand
not only what they
what great looks like within their roles, but what they could be obsessed about, what you know, what skills they could bring to the table, what their mission is within their role, how it contributes to greater greater organizational results, so what their individual contribution means relative to the organization. But the other part of this that, I think, is so
(29:38):
brilliant that a lot of people, miss, is these are other things that could be on their scorecard right? Access to professional training growth, how they can understand what success looks like in that regard, how they can learn, solve, and adjust and tweak it, to move them towards more meaningful work towards meaningful relationships. All those things could be put right there and empower the individual so they could see that map right? And that's that's important to do, isn't it?
Michael Walsh (30:05):
Absolutely. And and if you do that, and it's a conscious, active step, it's not just talking about stuff. It's a conscious, active step. And there are ways to actually support people in their in their professional training and growth. But if you do that piece, it goes back to what you mentioned earlier, when you're doing the recap, that the core actually is designed to generate results that provide your customers with value, while at the same time
(30:30):
generating your profit, while at also concurrently generating the professional growth that your people require. In other words, these can all be done with the same
actions, and so by overlapping them, and we're going to show how to overlap them eventually, or, you know, in a future year. Well, in a few comments. But but if you can overlap all 3 concurrently.
(30:54):
then I'm not increasing the workload to accomplish this.
and that's the biggest thing that people are afraid of, especially when they feel like there's limits to their freedom, and it feels like it's shrinking, not growing well. Actually, it's a little bit of a you know. This is not one of those. That's obvious. Okay, it's counterintuitive by doing. It is easier to line up the 3 things when you take an ecosystem model because it just has to work for everybody, for an ecosystem to work. And the good news is there are ways to actually have it work for everybody.
Govindh Jayaraman (31:26):
Yeah. And that's what we're going to start to dig into deeper and deeper as we explore the freedom framework as we explore how you can get freedom in the business from the business, and because of the business
by understanding and leveraging the Social Contract as a means to communicate more effectively align your team to the things that are all important to them, and empower them in that direction. Michael, another powerful episode. Thank you so much.
Michael Walsh (31:54):
Cute.
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