This is a late start to the Thursday Review.  In a flashback to the time clock and how times have changed, Seth Godin talks about assets and flow and how execution determines the value of both.  Pink snow in Utah, followed by a Reuters video with images of May.  Wonderwall waits for his suitcase, and Sir Elton John has a favorite Nu-Metal band.

-

When I was a young manager in charge of several hundred employees, the time clock, or the Kronos Timekeeping System, was critical to the business.  Everyone clocked in and out when they were at work; I spent several hours every week looking at time reports, fixing payroll, and all the other administrative tasks that go with hourly employees and a payroll system.  This was the 90s, and with systems like these, the goal was to verify that an employee was in a specific place for a specific time.  The timekeeping system had no control over what the employee did during the time, only how long they were in a specific place.  My time in that environment was limited, and I was in that position to learn; as soon as I could leave it, I did.  That was the last time clock I ever worked with.

I moved from management of people and things to clients when I started a business, and we used time, but it was time used to calculate the cost associated with a result.  We would provide clients with estimates on how long it would take to complete a project and charge based on the estimates.  When the business grew, and staff started to come on board, everyone was on a salary.  No time clocks, but some time tracking was used depending on the project.  When I interviewed new people, we talked about results and how to achieve the best ones.  If someone can achieve results in 6 hours a day versus 8, it worked for me. 

Mark Dent wrote a piece with some of the same ideas for The Hustle; he digs into the details and brings in a few more ideas of innovative companies that focused on results over hours.  One of the examples discussed was an idea created by two HR professionals working at Best Buy.  Jody Thompson and Cali Ressler led a movement at Best Buy called ROWE, which stood for 'Results Only Work Environment.  According to the article, Best Buy's new results focus movement led to increased productivity and reduced turnover.

“Results Only” can work depending on what sort of business you are in, but the reality of time clocks, hour estimate pricing, and results only requires much more nuance.  Even people who move up from hourly into a salaried role will be the first to tell you they work more hours per week on salary than they did as an hourly employee.  What happens when the results-only team slows down due to sales, supply chain, or whatever.  Remember to ask the robots when they take over!

7 minutes of good cheer every day. Become a Fan to get daily posts and updates.

Seth Godin discussed Productive assets and useful flow on his blog earlier this month.  His contention is that we need to audit our business's most important assets and look at our flows, which sound like execution strategies.  Godin always makes language and concepts easier to say and understand.  In this 2-minute read, Godin says to look at your product or service and how you deliver that to the customer.  Where you can improve it, you should.

Sounds more like a new craft cocktail, but the pink snow that has blanketed Utah at the start of the summer is more algae than a martini.  This year's huge snowfall in the west has left several mountains with snow on them, and with that snow, algae that grow on top of it can turn pink.  In this report from The Hill, Scott Hotaling from Utah State University gives us the science of it all.

The images of a beautiful world with all its pleasure and pain.  Life in pictures and images that prompt laughter and tears.

How would you like to wait for your baggage sitting next to the guy who wrote Wonderwall!?

Another great new artist.

Click on the Apple Music image to listen to the song on Apple Music or on the Spotify Image to listen to Spotify.

-

Thank you for spending a few minutes with us. Here’s one for the road!

With A Shout newsletter is written by Johnny Christian with the support of a thousand idea bits and the help of many people.

7 minutes of good cheer every day. Become a Fan to get daily posts and updates.

O/X