Differing from sceptics or cynics, being productively paranoid encourages you to look at your environment, rivals, industry, trends, new legislation or changing market conditions. What could go wrong? What could change? 

10xers are rarely comfortable and are always prepared for the future. Even in their greatest success, they are asking themselves – “What happens if things change?”, “Where will my next rival come from?”, “What if there’s an economic downturn that wipes all of our shares?”.

They don’t dwell on this as a means to develop some serious anxiety and sleepless nights, but channel these concerns into strategic, actionable preparation plans. 

Spending time to understand this clearly will mean that in turbulent times you can rely on your research to quickly respond and identify new opportunities. 

An example of this is Southwest Airlines. 

In changing times and trying to navigate a tumultuous competitive environment, SouthWest Airlines CEOs and directors put together a ten-step document on operating procedures. 

These procedures weren’t in any way groundbreaking. 

They simply outlined the expectations, processes and procedures of the company. 

For example, these included commandments like – “Use 737 aircraft”, and “Stay out of food services”.

What SouthWest Airlines was doing in this process was approaching changing and uncertain times with specific, methodical and consistent outlines. 

They strictly followed that list with rigorous self-discipline, and despite only changing 20% of company operational procedures in the development of the list, it was the consistency in persevering with the commandments that demonstrated a specific behaviour of 10x companies. 

“10x companies are experts at developing specific, measurable, consistent operating procedures. They base their lists on the huge amount of empirical evidence they collect, knowing what procedures will work and which will not…” – Jim Collins, Great By Choice. 

There are three primary areas of paranoid productivity:

1. Build cash reserves and buffers – on average, 10x companies hoard huge reserves of cash – up to three to ten times higher than their competitors, according to Jim Collins. 

2. Prepare for unexpected events and bad luck before they happen – although many people believe the old adage “there’s no such thing as luck, only hard work…” 10x companies do believe there is a strong element of luck or ‘right time – right place’ when it comes to success (something we’ll come back to later on). 

3. Actively bound and manage risk – A way to begin preparing a productively paranoid company is to ‘zoom out, then zoom in’, to explicitly assess both internal and external factors that may negatively disrupt a company. 

Zoom Out 

Zooming out consists of seeing the bigger picture. A leader can observe business climates, changes in industries, and new opportunities or risks on the horizon. It’s the ability to fast forward 5, 10 or 20 years to predict the health of the company, and what might influence that. 

A step-by-step process of assessing something that may warrant paranoid productivity includes:

Step One: Sense a change in conditions. 

Step Two: Assess the time frame

Step Three: How long before the business is at risk?

Step Four: Assess with rigour

Step Five: Decide – do we disrupt our plans? If so, how?

Zoom In 

Once you have zoomed out, it is fundamental that you then connect your observations to what is currently being done in your company.  

• Focus on the supreme execution of plans and strategies 
• Review and reflect on how your business responds to demands, pressure and issues

This allows greater adaptability. We talk a lot about EQ (which is important) but looking at your team and organisation AQ ‘adaptability quotient’ is also critical in our fast-moving, ever-changing world.  AQ tests how you manipulate things given a constraint to achieve a certain goal.

Good questions you can review to assist build these competencies are:

• What things could happen that could significantly impact/kill your business?
• What if something was to impact your main source of revenue overnight? 
• What if a major competitor came into the market tomorrow that offered the same services or products as you? 

Looking at things with a beginner mindset and having the ability to ‘unlearn things’ will be an important skill set to learn and develop an Adaptability Quotient within your organisation. 

Return On Luck

The idea of ‘luck’ is not just heavily relying on the notion that things will just fall into place at the right time without any form of exertion or effort. 

10x companies know there is a small element of luck and perfect conditions that contribute to the success of a company, however, they have a differing relationship with luck in comparison to other competitors. 

A few things 10x companies do differently include:

1. They acknowledge both good and bad luck will happen, but regardless of luck, they keep pushing and striving towards a goal without luck influencing their goal-driven behaviour. 
2. They build a culture that can achieve results with or without luck. 
3. They don’t wait for luck – they continue firing ahead with actions that present new opportunities.
4. They manage risk to combat bad luck. 
5. They practice zooming in and zooming out to identify luck, and whether that influences their decision making. 
6. They create a tangible plan that is specific, methodical and consistent and guides the company through a ‘luck’ based event. 

Do you want to learn how to develop a productively paranoid company culture?

The 90-Day Culture Accelerator consists of a highly comprehensive researched model of high-performing companies, consisting of four critical pillars (Define, Attract, Manage, Grow), 12 modules and 36 Culture Sessions to upskill you and your team.

The all-access online program guides you step by step through the systems and processes I use with my clients to help them build a profitable, enjoyable business they love. 

The 90-Day Culture Accelerator is an intensive 3-month online coaching program designed to build a business you and your people love. 

Based on practical HR methods and high-performance team management, the program guides you through a step-by-step system with ACTIONABLE steps to:

✔️Define your big vision and develop a comprehensive blueprint to turn it into a reality in the next 90 days

✔️Attract 10x company standard talent, and keep them motivated and engaged in growing your business

✔️Set standards in your business so all team members comprehend what your business’ expectations are. 

✔️Manage your team with ease, and efficiency and empower them to work with high autonomy

✔️Level up your leadership with intensive leadership training and emotional intelligence development

✔️Identify, find and hire rockstar talent that fits your specific needs and is the perfect fit for your company culture

✔️Radically improve your communication skills and run highly productive meetings

✔️Understand any personality on your team and learn how to effectively communicate and understand the differences between the four main personality types

✔️Leave a legacy and begin building something greater than yourself

✔️Create your own culture code – a unique philosophy of how “you do business” that enables all staff to instantaneously understand your vision, mission and goals, and meet you there.

✔️Think big and develop innovative strategies to keep your business growing and thriving into a new revolution of disruption and technological advancement. 

To find out more, CLICK HERE.