CiOPS (Continuous Improvement, Operations, Planning, and Strategy): Recent Episodes
John Brandt
Do you have the CiOPS? "CiOPS" (pronounced chops) is an acronym for Continuous Improvement, Operations, Planning, and Strategy. Our goal with CiOPS is to support small businesses and small functional teams inside of larger organizations in evolving their way of working to the next stage of maturity. Whether you are starting a team from scratch or trying to advance the capabilities of your existing organization, we've been through it and want to help you achieve, and sustain, your next level of success.
John picks up the story of getting the JRG Fitness deal assembled. In this walk, he talks about the business strategy planned to make a portfolio of gyms to be more profitable and the West Virginian who ultimately made the deal possible.
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Today’s Guest Walker is Melanie Wilson. Melanie is an expert in software sales to the fitness industry, a Solutions Engineer and an amateur power lifter. She also happens to be an amazing person with a valuable perspective on the fitness industry.
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The most challenging thing John has faced during this experience with Coronavirus turns out to be a blank page. Given the opportunity to reframe his whole department, he talks about how difficult it is to get started.
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Inspired by Simon Sinek and his new neighborhood, John shares thoughts on how your mental state has a heavy influence on your ability to survive a crisis.
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It has been an incredibly emotional few days, both personally and professionally. Buying a home for the first time and moving in while layoffs and work furloughs abound. The strength of my co-workers was stunning and I have a glimmer of hope for the way in which the economy may be made better by the impact of Coronavirus.
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April 1st. Turns out the Coronavirus wasn’t just a big hoax, so it continues to dominate news and thoughts. John share his perspective of how politicians continue to be opposed despite the very real threat we all face.
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What happens when you have a solid hypothesis, but don’t have the discipline or industry expertise to keep it on the rails...John tells you about the search to find acquisition targets under just those conditions.
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This morning, John remembers back to his first store management experience and how he took the store from 150 out of 150 to Top 10 with the same employees by providing them clarity around the 4P’s: Prompt, Productive, Professional, Polite
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This Morning’s Walk is actually a morning drive through Atlanta which has John recounting how he started a part-time gym membership sales position which put him on a path to become President of one of America’s largest individual Fitness Franchisees. (Part 1 of multi-episode story)
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Our first Guest Walker episode. Alesha Lynch is a mom, Solutions Engineer, advocate and all around great person. Alesha’s shares her perspective on community and the impact that the Covid-19 virus experience is having on her life at work and home.
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John takes a walk around his local neighborhood shopping center and reports on signs of life in this time of uncertainty. Things are looking up, good times ahead, but don’t miss the lessons that are being provided by this time of challenge.
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After walking up late, I find myself thinking about how I need to be able to adapt to the situations of the time. Including how I interact with individuals on my team, how we communicate and my decision-making process.
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The blue sky is starting to shine through. As conversations become increasingly serious around Covid-19, John shares lessons learned from managers and mentors pat and present which he hopes can provide positive guidance in these trying times.
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On a bleary gray morning, John shares some personal passion by teaching the basics of the Commedia dell’arte, an Italian form of comedy which has created the foundational roots for a lot of Western performance art.
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What will our new normal look like?
Some general meanderings about our future after this social distancing.
What will happen to movie theatres? Unlimited data? The rise of gaming? Remote work? Bidets? Perspectives on Climate change? Final death of retail malls? Social media disinformation?
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Do you find yourself or your teammates over-reaching, committing to unachievable goals or generally trying to solve the world’s problems single-handedly? Hero-mentality may be at work. John shares his experiences and perspective on hero-mentality, his own struggles to find balance and some reflection on what it may look like as decision-making speed picks up.
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On this sunny spring day, in the midst of the Covid-19 shut down, John talked through the Support/Results framework he uses to think about employee performance and management focus.
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