Operating Principles

Agyl
Operating Principles

1/25/2022

Company decisions conform to the Strategic Objective, Operating Principles, and Working Procedure documents.

We are the highest-quality process management and business transformation consulting firm in the United States. We do whatever it takes to ensure impeccable service to our clients, employees, and vendors.

We operate the company via an abundance and growth mindsets. Abundance mindset is a paradigm that there is plenty out there for everybody. With growth mindset, we believe that an individual can develop their talents (through hard work, good strategies, and input from others). We worry less about looking smart but put our energy into learning.

We recognize that innovative thinkers are going to make mistakes. It is OK to make mistakes. But it is unacceptable not to identify, analyze and learn from them. Because of this, the more mistakes we make followed by quality, honest diagnoses, the more rapid our progress will be. This is the reality of learning.

We are extremely open and radically transparent.

We have integrity and demand it from others. We do not tolerate dishonesty.

We do not let "loyalty" stand in the way of truth and openness.

We never say anything about a person we would not say to them directly. Bad mouthing people behind their backs shows a serious lack of integrity and is counterproductive. It doesn't yield any beneficial change, and it subverts both the person you are badmouthing and the environment as a whole. Next to being dishonest, it is the worst thing you can do at Agyl. Criticism is both welcomed and encouraged, so there is no good reason to talk behind people's backs.

We operate the company via documented procedures and systems. Recurring actions are managed via work procedures. We take the necessary time to create and implement systems and procedures.

We view problems as gifts that inspire us to action. A problem prompts the act of creating or improving a system or procedure. We do not want setbacks, but when one occurs, we think, "Thank you for this wake-up call," and take assertive system-improvement action to prevent the setback from happening again. We think about each problem individually and as the product of root causes—like the outcomes produced by a machine. We then think about how the machine should be changed to produce good outcomes rather than bad ones. We find the simplest solution. Ockham's Law, also called the Law of Economy, states, "Entities are not to be multiplied beyond necessity … The simplest solution is invariably the correct solution." A written procedure is created to prevent the problem from happening again. On the other hand, we do not bog down the organization with processes and procedures targeting situations that occur only occasionally. Sometimes we elect to not create a procedure.

We are not fire killers. We are fire prevention specialists. We do not manage problems; we work on system enhancement and system maintenance to prevent problems from happening in the first place.

We are thrifty and look for ways to save money. We are careful not to devalue the worth of a dollar just because it has to do with the business.

We assign responsibilities based on workflow design and people's abilities, not job titles.

1+1=3. Two people who collaborate well will be about three times as effective as the two of them operating independently because they will see what the other might miss, they can leverage each other, and they can hold each other to higher standards. This symbiotic relationship of adding people to a group will have incremental benefits (2+1=4.25) up to a point at which there are no incremental gains and beyond which adding people produces incremental losses in effectiveness. Each group should have someone who is responsible for so as to get out of the meeting/task/activity the most possible.

We know each day what we need to do and have the discipline to do it. We have good work habits with to-do lists that are prioritized, and make ourselves do what needs to be done. We do not randomly react to the stuff that comes at us. We do what we set out to do. We push through!

We complete tasks and assignments to the satisfaction of the customer. The customer may be internal to the company or external. Remember that the goal is to find the best answer/solution, not to give the best one you have.

We distinguish the important things from the unimportant things and deal with the important things first. We keep in mind the 80/20 rule, and know what the key 20% is. We are not perfectionists. We don't mistake small things for unimportant things, because small things can be very important.

Employees come first. We employ people who have an innate desire to perform at 100 percent. We reward them accordingly. The natural outcome is we serve our clients well.

"Get the job done." Can the employee do his or her job, or is there always a complication of one kind or another? This ability to "get the job done quickly and accurately without excuses or complications" is the most valuable trait an employee can possess.

We focus on just a few manageable services. Although we watch for new opportunities, in the end we provide "just a few services implemented in superb fashion," rather than a complex array of average-quality offerings.

"Just don't do it." Eliminate the unnecessary. Many times, elimination of a system, protocol, or potential project is a very good thing. Think simplicity. Automate. Refine to the smallest number of steps or discard altogether. Would a simple "no" save time, energy, and/or money?

Our documented systems, procedures, and functions are "off the street." This means anyone with normal intelligence can perform procedures unassisted. The real-world evidence of this is we can hire an individual off the street who has good typing skills and have him or her processing calls by the second day. For this result, protocols must be efficient, simple, and thoroughly documented.

Do it NOW. All actions build on "point-of-sale" theory. We do not delay an action if it can be done immediately. Just like any major retail outlet, we "update inventories and databases at the exact time the transaction takes place." There is no paperwork floating around the office after a physical transaction. We ask, "How can we perform the task NOW without creating lingering details that we must clean up later?"

We glean our mindset from the following books: Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Good to Great by Jim Collins, and Principles by Ray Dalio..

We pattern individual organization upon Franklin-Covey theory. We use organizing mechanisms that are always at hand. We prioritize, schedule, and document. The system is always up-to-date and we use it all the time. We use Asana and ClickUp.

Sequence and priority are critical. We work on the most important tasks first. We spend maximum time on "non-urgent/important" tasks via Stephen Covey's time-matrix philosophy.

We double-check everything before release. If a penchant for double-checking is not an innate personal habit, then it must be cultivated. Double-checking is a conscious step in every task, performed either by the individual managing the task or someone else.

Our environment is spotless: clean and ordered, simple, efficient, functional. No "rats' nests," literally or figuratively.

Employee training is structured, scheduled, and thorough. Assertive client contact is also structured, scheduled, and thorough.

We are obsessed with deadlines. If someone in the organization says they will be finished with a task or project by a certain date and time, then he or she commits to finishing by that deadline (or, if legitimate delays intrude, advise coworkers well in advance that the deadline is impossible).

We maintain equipment and keep it 100 percent functional at all times. If something is not working as it should, fix it now—fix it now even if it's not necessary to fix it now. It's a matter of good housekeeping and of maintaining good habits. This is just the way we do things.

Mastery of the English language is critical. We are aware of how we sound and what we write. We do whatever we can to improve. We are patient as a coworker corrects us.

We study to increase our skills. A steady diet of reading and contemplation is vital to personal development. It is a matter of self-discipline.

As opposed to "doing the work," the department manager's job is to create, monitor, and document systems (which consist of people, equipment, procedures, and maintenance schedules).

The COO (Chief Operating Officer) oversees department heads and overall systems. It is the COO's job to direct, coordinate, and monitor managers.

We avoid multitasking activities. When communicating with someone else, we are 100 percent present. We give full attention to the person in front of us (or to the task at hand). We focus on listening and understanding. Read the classic Treating Type A Behavior and Your Heart by Meyer Friedman. "Mindfulness" is paying complete attention to one thing at a time: read Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn.

When in the office, we work hard on Agyl business. We keep our heads down and we focus, and in turn the company pays very well. That's "the deal." The workweek rarely exceeds forty hours.

Complete means "complete." Almost or tomorrow is not "complete." In particular, this is germane to administration staff's use of task functions.

We strive for a social climate that is serious and quiet yet pleasant, serene, light, and friendly. Agyl is a nice place to work.