Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxPy9VdFbFgVGJo2mRwPXKDFKU7yRE9hd

These core values are intended to be an internal operating system for how we think and act at Growth Tools. They paint a picture for you to emulate and adopt. If you’re ever stuck or in doubt on what to do next, this is a good place to come. 

1. We figure it out

• We constantly look for problems to solve
• We constantly look for opportunities to advance the mission, fix inefficiencies and cut red tape, do something better 
• We install quick tests to try to test our hypothesis 
• When they work we roll out full scale solution 
• We aren't afraid to fail and we do it as quickly as possible
• We fire bullets then cannonballs 
• We believe radical ownership

• We don’t tinker with stuff we haven’t taken the time to fully understand 
• We don’t typically start with big projects 
• We don’t let these feel like giant projects   
• We don’t tell people “just figure it out” in response to questions we can help them with 
• We don’t blindly do anything, we dig in to understand why and figure out if its the best thing to do 

• Have I had an idea and taken steps to test it's efficacy recently?
• Have I found a problem and fixed it recently? 
• Have I been posting an FIO each month? 
• Have I been waiting for someone else to fix a problem I'm seeing?
• Have I invented workarounds on weird workflows or processes we have or have I fixed the weirdness? 
• Have I found a way to grow the company recently?

• Part 1: Problem Finding & Solving
  • Major steps:
    • Locate problems
    • Talk to people that have solved similar problems before
    • Think like an owner
    • Guess, test and revise on solution
    • Fail forward
  • Questions to find problems
    • 1. What am I doing that seems like busy work?
    • 2. What should we stop doing?
    • 3. What wasted expenses do we have?
    • 4. Where is the red tape?
    • 5. Where do I or others get frustrated?
      
      
• Part 2: Oppurtunity Finding & Testing
  • Major steps
    • Find opportunities 
    • Alignment with goals  
    • Fire small bullets to test 
    • Surface to leadership if they land 
    • Think like a scientist
  • Questions to find opportunities
    • 1. How can we do less and go faster?
    • 2. What would it look like if it were simple? 
    • 3. What is our / my goal?
    • 4. If I were starting from scratch, knowing what I know now, what would I do different? 
    • 5. Who else has solve this and can I copy them?
      
      

•  1-Page Cheat Sheet
• FIO Brainstorm Sheet 
• FIO Proposal Sheet
• FIO Proposal Checklist 
• FIO Workshop Recording (Q3 Team Retreat)

• https://public.3.basecamp.com/p/ZZh5WMWxRR3HSjnBkqiET2zR
• https://public.3.basecamp.com/p/FzEV1YQ9DiLtGHioKENxUjfE
• https://public.3.basecamp.com/p/vowg5r4V7SvfLmKWMrxNhh6V
• https://public.3.basecamp.com/p/38KqCdsnfzgHZDT8ouWKjtuF
• https://public.3.basecamp.com/p/Dke1S8eomqkRxECAhRNXRgos
• https://3.basecamp.com/3097764/buckets/15434307/messages/2646671275

2. We are disciplined 

1. We are prepared people
2. We show up on time 
3. We do what we say we’ll do (and communicate proactively when we can't)
4. We learn and share those learnings out loud and publicly
5. We document the stuff that works so we can repeat
6. We follow our own best practices 

• We don’t use this as an excuse to move slow 
• We dont use this as an excuse for procrastination or taking too long to get started 
• We don’t blindly follow a process and stop asking “why”
• We are not obsessive compulsive over being perfect

• Do you show up to meetings prepared, on time, clear on the agenda and ready to contribute?
• Do you typically deliver on time?
• When you need to adjust the deadline out, do you clearly communicate that ahead of time? 
• Are you writing at least 1 public post per month sharing something you've learned? 
• Are you following and building upon the already known best practices of the company? 
• Are you updating SOPs and playbooks from what you've learned through executing on them? 
• Do you think of yourself and prepare for your day like a professional?

• Eustan new we had an upcoming webinar and that the rest of the marketing team was out for the week, so he proactively reached out to set up a time for us to sync and make sure every was lined up well (screenshot) 
• Sam proactively pinged me with an update on lead I had asked him about a few days earlier. He knew I was curious what happened with him. Not only did he answer my first message days earlier, but gave me a update a few days later as well. This type of communication is huge (screenshot)
• Eustan proactively reached out to me to fix a credit card problem. Then let the entire team know when it was fixed (❤️ Saving the test! - What are we Figuring Out?)

3. We are kind

1. We communicate clearly and succinctly 
2. We say hard things in a nice and respectful way 
3. We always take the high road
4. We communicate adjustments to expectations 
5. We surprise and delight people

• We are not pushovers 
• We are not superficially kind
• We don’t do this for show 
• We do not default to the easy path 

• How many times did you say no? (If you aren't saying no, that's not a good thing)
• Are you kind and respectful when you say no?
• Are you communicating adjustments to plans and expectations clearly and ahead of time? 
• Did you take the high road when someone got heated with you? 
• Are you working on clear and succinct explanations? 
• Are you communicating proactively?
• Have you improved your writing skills? 
• Are you using the fewest words possible to communicate? 
• Are you being fake? 
• Are you saying yes just becuase it's the easy path to avoid confrontation or disappointment? 

• Communicating an expectation adjustment ahead of time
• Customer receiving an unexpected gift from Bethany

4. We always know the score

What it means

• Every person clearly know if they are winning or not
• You are clear on if you are working on the right thing or not
• You have quarterly goals that guide what you do
• You have weekly goals that guide what you do and are tied to quarterly 
• Are your writing after action reports on your quarterly goals?
• Do your goals follow SMARTER framework? 
• You have specific KPIs that track your progress in your role and towards your goals
• You knows how to quickly find out if you are winning 
• You look at their scoreboard every day 
• You evolve the goals and scoreboard as more information comes in 

• We don’t overcomplicate things (keep it simple) 
• We don’t have scores that are at odds with each other 
• We don’t continue to count numbers that aren’t beneficial to core mission 

• Do you have quarterly goals set? 
• Do you have SMARTER weekly goals set by EOD Monday each week?
• Do you have a simple dashboard that shows your primary KPIs?
• Are you publicly sharing progress on your quarterly goals and KPIs each week? 
• Do you understand and agree with your KPIs and how they're counted?
• Do you know what it looks like to win at your role?
• Do you have an up to date scorecard for your role? (core areas, KPIs and what winning looks like) 
• Do you know your job title? 

• Specific
• Measurable
• Action oriented
• Relevant 
• Timed
• Evaluated
• Reported 

5. We don’t take ourselves too seriously 

• We have fun 
• We make fun of ourselves
• We enjoy what we do
• We enjoy each other 
• We optimize for high happiness and low stress 
• We aren’t self centered or overly serious 
• We don’t think we’re the smartest or most important people on the planet
• We leave room for us or our best practices being incomplete or wrong  

• We aren’t lazy or sloppy
• We aren’t mean spirited 
• We aren’t uptight or present ourselves as better than anyone
• We aren’t elitist 

• Is your happiness high?
• Is your stress low? 
• Are you having fun in your role 80% or more of the time? 
• Are you cracking jokes and enjoying the team?
• Are you isolated and just kinda doing your thing? 
• Have you laughed in a meeting recently? 
• Does your team have inside jokes? 

Next: Read about our Mission: Mission - Growth Tools HQ