Let's Scale Out, Not Scale Up

I'm a big advocate of leading by example, practicing what you preach, eating your own dog food, etc. That means when The unFIX Company grows, we should?not?do this upwards.

For fifteen years, I have suggested that?networks beat hierarchies?and that organizations should favor horizontal growth (with peer-to-peer markets) over vertical growth (with management coordination). Now, it's time to put my money where my mouth is. (How many more idioms and expressions are there, actually?)

My team is joint venturing with entrepreneurial people who are eager to bring the unFIX model to customers with a range of various business models and value streams. David Cummins and Andreas Ollman will lead the?unFIXcon events; Brandon Brown is working on an?unFIX webshop; Denniz D?nmez will work on new?unFIX courseware, and Thiago Brant stepped forward to run?unFIX Brazil. And we have more joint ventures in the funnel. This is so exciting!

Months ago, I realized I didn't know the best way to turn unFIX into a viable company with sustainable services and happy customers, and I can't be bothered to predict the future.?So,?why not enable the network to run many experiments in parallel??The most successful business model might emerge in an area I least expected. An?unFIX TV channel?would be cool. Or an?unFIX road show. Or an online?unFIX organization design tool. I hope some entrepreneurs will surprise me.

Mind you, I am not collaborating with just anyone! In the past, I have sometimes been too naive, putting all my faith, trust, and time (not to mention my valuable brand) in the hands of people who—despite their best intentions—created and delivered absolutely nothing. Zero. I won't allow that to happen again.?Joint venturing with me and my team means business: quarterly goals, small experiments, continuous feedback, regular assessments, and step-by-step buy-in.?No results = no ownership.?I'm totally fine with people freewheeling without direction and supervision for a year. But they can do that with their own brand, not with ours.

By being stricter on how we collaborate, we will have more committed team members. As a network, we can bring the unFIX model to whoever needs it, in whatever products and services my fellow entrepreneurs can think of.?Together,?we scale out, not up.

My great inspiration is Mr. Zhang Ruimin, the former CEO of Haier, whom I met in China and who wrote the foreword for the Chinese translation of Management 3.0. He turned Haier into?a network of 80.000 people which included 4,000 entrepreneurs of micro-enterprises. And then he spent most of his time reading books. That's the job I'd like to have!?

I have no idea where we will end up, but it will be quite an adventure!

Jurgen