14 Principles for Creating Value

We see these principles applied frequently within profitably growing contractors.

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Most of the problems we see are due to a breakdown in the application of these principles.

Leadership Tools: 14 Principles for Creating Value in Business, on Projects and in Life.

Have a clear vision. Know your resources and that there are many ways to get there, but none are perfect.

Learn from others. Often with conflicting perspectives engaging in rigorous debate.  

Develop a pragmatic forecasting model early and refine it frequently with S.M.A.R.T. experiments to understand the resources required, returns, and risks.  

Zoom out to see the bigger picture, including synergies, redundancies, and comparative value-add.  

Keep things simple.  

Be clear about who is best to decide what and by when.  

Commit fully to execute aggressively and optimistically with discipline and the stamina to stay the course.  

Track progress and adjust accordingly.


In future posts, we will continue to unpack each of these principles and provide more details.  

We help contractors grow profitably by keeping pressure on your vision. 




Degree of Discretionary Time with Growth in Role Levels and Business Size
The degree of discretionary time that someone has in doing their job grows with their role level - for example from crafts person to VP of Operations. For similar roles, that time decreases with company growth as the job roles become more tightly defined.
Production Tracking - Total Daily Production
Look at productivity as a daily “Jar” where your objective is to pack as much “Earned Value” into it as possible. Look at your costs in three major categories and focus on tracking what matters the most.
Eric Hoffer - "Learners Inherit the Earth"
How would you rate the overall effectiveness of your team when it comes to learning something new and applying that knowledge? How would you rate your own effectiveness at learning?