To answer the question of offsetting the demotivation that comes from a lack of training or advancement opportunities, Josh advises, "Be crystal clear about where you are and what your process is." By doing so, Mr. Zolin believes that your will also help our organization to, "Weed out the people in the beginning that could ultimately be susceptible to this passion suck." Managers and owners might be tempted to think that employees have unrealistic expectations about advancement, but they also have ask themselves a few key questions:
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• Has our communication been clear
• Is our process consistent 
• Are we holding ourselves accountable to the same standards as our team members? 

This video is a snip of what will become The DYOJO Podcast, Episode 88. With our guests, Josh Zolin and Kelsey Isaacson.  The video also introduces the article that will be released in Cleanfax Magazine titled Goals, Effort and Results, Developing Your Team. Josh wrote the skilled trades advocacy book, Blue is the New White and hosts a weekly podcast by the same name. 

This thought-provoking question that Mr. Zolin dropped during our discussion has caused me to think through our understanding and implementation of EFFORT versus RESULTS in our local contracting company, ARES Restoration based in Puyallup, Washington. Josh continues, "This was a big mindset shift for me. Look, it's a good indication of character. But that's about where it ends."

In preparing for this podcast episode, which you can view on YouTube or listen to on Spotify, I did some research. I found an article called The Effort Effect from Stanford magazine. In addition to our discussion with Mr. Zolin, we're going to be talking about the research efforts of a professor of psychology, Carol Dweck. We will also review several quotes from other business minds on the topic of effort versus results including this one from Mark Cuban whom you may recognize from the television show Shark Tank. ​

Gathering pennies is a reference to a rather old video and article (see above) title The Five Phases of Business Startup. Distinctives of Business Startup Phase One include:

• The clients that we are drawing to our business likely are pennies
• Our resources are similarly in pennies
• Our focus is exposure - we must get our name out there so that people even know that we exist
• When we consider investing resources we want to pursue the lowest cost, because we have the lowest resources, yet we want to find the highest exposure
• We are looking for opportunities that we can get out in the community for low cost or even free

In this first phase of business, the entrepreneur is asking, "Where can we get our name out there with fairly low cost and high exposure?" Often, these opportunities are in the various networking meetings that not everybody likes going to.  

For The DYOJO Podcast, Episode 88 we consider this question from Josh Zolin and review several others, such as the one above from Tony Buzan, with Kelsey Isaacson, a successful realtor in Pierce County, Washington. It is important for people in a position of leadership to question whether what they believe, practice and reward is leading their team down the right path to achieving their shared goals. Dweck's research uncovered many interesting insights about goals, performance, and achievement which we will discuss in this episode and dive deeper into for the Cleanfax article. As people in a position of leadership, it is important to take a step back and determine, with brutal honesty, whether we are developing the right mindset and habits for success; both for ourselves as well as for our teams. 

​Please join us on Thursday as we help you shorten your DANG learning curve! 

For the upcoming Episode 88 of The DYOJO Podcast, we have a conversation with a returning guest who shared a thought-provoking question that I believe all leadership teams should consider, “Which is more important, effort or results?” ​

Josh Zolin is an advocate for helping young people recognize opportunities for gainful employment and career development within the skilled trades. This passion is the impetus behind his book and podcast, both by the same name, Blue is the New White. As prominent as Josh has become as an author, podcast host, and speaker, he is also the owner of the rapidly growing WCE in Phoenix, Arizona where he is implementing the leadership challenge that he shared. 

This teaser video gives you a glimpse of our discussion on the intersection between goals, effort, and results as you develop your team. Be sure to check out the article Goals, Effort, and Results: Developing Your Team by Jon Isaacson and published in Cleanfax Magazine.

In this content clip:
0:00 Josh Zolin drops a thought-provoking bomb
1:30 Psychology professor Carol Dweck weighs in
2:14 Kelsey Isaacson squares up with Mark Cuban
3:17 Pennies for your business growth
4:25 Join us for the 3rd Annual SOCKTember Competition
5:55 Curse words and question marks

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Thursdays are for The DYOJO Podcast - helping you shorten your DANG learning curve for personal and professional development. 

This content is sponsored by the new best-selling book, How To Suck Less At Estimating: Habits For Better Project Outcomes by Jon Isaacson. ​

How often is there a miscommunication between the estimator (scope of the estimate) and the production team (agreed-upon scope of work)? What if there was a resource readily available to every member of your team that could help you reduce miscommunication and increase profitability? In this article and accompanying video we will discuss how you can improve project outcomes with THIS simple tool. 
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• What happens when the production team DOESN’T complete all of the scope of work?
• What happens when the production team does MORE than the scope of work?

Watch The Video ​

Prevent Scope Creep & Increase Profitability 

Doing less than you estimated and having to go back is costly as it takes resources that could otherwise be performing profitable work offline to return to a jobsite that should have been completed. Doing more work than you estimated and not capturing the revenue means your teams are working for free. Both outcomes will impact project completion, profitability, and customer satisfaction.

One simple tool, that is already in the tool kit of every estimator, is the video function on their smartphone. Did you know that conducting a job walk through video recording what they are seeing and uploading that to a shared database, can help offset miscommunication during the project lifecycle? Save your team time, your company money, and your customer frustration by making a recorded initial scope walk a habit. 

Conducting a Video Construction Scope Walk Through 

A video construction scope walk through does not have to be anything complex, but it does need to cover a few key points.

• Walk through each area of the damaged structure 
• Record the conditions and the estimators thoughts about the scope
• Comment on unique aspects of the project
• Speak to customer concerns or areas of importance 

The estimator walks through the project and verbalizes what they are seeing on-site, unique aspects of the work, specific directions from the client, and how they are approaching the estimate. Having this video in the shared database will help everyone downstream to have a better understanding of what IS and what IS NOT in the agreed-upon scope of work (contract). 

• The estimator can review the video before they compose the estimate to refresh their memory 
• The project manager can review the video after the project file handoff to understand the scope and conditions
• The project manager can review the video with their production team to clarify the gameplan and resource allocation 
• The project manager can review the video with their subcontractors to clarify their scope of work and materials list

If this is helpful, tune into The DYOJO Podcast - helping your shorten your DANG learning curve - Thursdays on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple podcasts.

The DYOJO Podcast SOCKTember is an annual competitive community involvement event (see video). It was designed as a team-building exercise as well as a great outreach tool for local restoration contractors. Would you believe that SOCKTember started with four teams in Washington State raising over 5,500 pairs of NEW socks for local charities in 2020?  ​