Jen's Journal

I just finished reading Zilch: The Power of Zero in Business by Nancy Lublin and I am really energized by the tone and insights expressed! As a fellow not-for-profit business leader, I could relate to many of the examples referenced in the book and I love the way that book puts a spotlight on our sector and how we create a lot of value with minimal resources to work with. While the book is designed for business leaders in the for-profit sector, it is highly relevant to all sectors and builds momentum for those of us who grow great organizations without great budgets.

Here’s a few quotes from the book that really resonate with me:



* "The key to successfully doing more with your people with less money is figuring out what really makes your employees get out of bed in the morning...and then giving them more of it." p.10

* "More often we are squished into tiny spaces, or we outgrow a building and figure out a way to 'make it work.' And (most of the time) it does. 'Working tight' not only is cheaper but also fosters teamwork, shared knowledge, and camaraderie." p.17

* "Tradition isn't something to respect, it's an opportunity for improvement...Don't just tell them what to do, tell them why it matters. Tell them the pain points you're trying to eliminate." p.26

* "Thinking of your people as human beings, not just as employees, changes the dynamic of the review process. It's no longer just about being judged but about mutual exchange of meaningful information." p.28

* "Your loyalty must be to your audience and to your brand, not to your current lineup of products and services. And if your audiences' needs can or must be addressed in a new way, then it's up to you to make the changes in your products and services necessary to retain them." P. 44

* "Your reputation doesn't exist in isolation; in fact, it's a dynamic, ever-changing creature, shaped and colored by every person and every partnership your company is association with." P. 47

* "When people feel consistently respected and cared for, they become more than the sum of their roles and responsibilities; you develop a relationship. They become stakeholders, friends, and friends." p.56

* "Never break up with your ambassadors. Ever." p.61

* "Selling a cool experience is an amazingly effective way to move product."

* "If you want your audience to feel something, you've got to give them the time to think. Let them fill the hole in the air with their own voice. Let them try to tell you that no, they really don't want to help you." p.89

* "Constant overwork doesn't help morale either - unless people love what they do. Ever notice that happy people don't complain about being overworked? They talk about being busy. I suspect your office can afford to lose the "overworked." p.146

* "Humanity is often missing from corporate communications, be they press releases or memos or even annual reports, which have pretty pictures but dull prose that lacks even a hint of vividness. At times it seems as if a corporate communications department couldn't create buzz among stakeholders if it released a swarm of bees into a field of roses." p.156

* "One of the most popular, effective genres is stories about how the organization overcame a crisis. Many times these stories reflect organizational values - how leaders stood firm in the face of adversity or displayed courage and initiative to overcome major challenges." p.164

* "Modern storytelling has certain characteristics. We tend to like triumphant endings. We appreciate a good arc. We root for the underdog. We enjoy being surprised. We like clever phrasing and innovative methods." p.175

* "Because the overhead question looms large at all times, people bring to bear persistent inventiveness and a creative penny-pinching attitude. It's a nice way of saying we're cheap...and proud of it." p.183

* "Achieving a balanced budget year after year is no small task, given restricted funding, inconsistent funders, an uncertain economy and other serious challenges. The discipline that results, however, produces well-conceived, highly pragmatic budgets." p.187

* "It's not product diversity I'm advocating, but income-stream diversity. An organization's best hedge against future volatility and uncertainty is revenue diversity." p.193

* "Not-for-profits engage in a free exchange - barter - all the time. We do it out of necessity, since it's a great way to stretch our limited dollars. But even if we didn't have to barter for goods and services, we'd probably do it anyway because barter has value way beyond its considerable tangible benefits." p.197

* "We're capable of stretching, moving, leaping, changing our minds, and so on. Those bendy people are pushing the buttons and signing the contracts and making the handshakes at every company in the world. We're people, not robots. We're capable of negotiation." p.198

* "We also have to be careful about how we let other organizations use our name so we don't just sell our likeness to the highest bidder. With these provisions, however, as in cause marketing, we're able to lend our reputation to help garner something we also need in exchange." p.206

* "Not-for-profits have to be innovative continuously in order to survive. We need to be creative in order to keep costs down, to find fresh sources of funding, to energize our own overworked, underpaid staffers, and to figure out an original way to put on an annual event. Without an abundance of resources or manpower, innovation is a way of life." p.214

* "A company can foster creativity by bouncing ideas off people with divergent skill sets who are yet aligned with its goals. Keep shuffling the people who work together, keeping conversations fresh." p.221

* "I'm as much of a last-minute crammer as the next person. And it's in those pressured moments that my thinking is crystallized. It has to be." p.222


As you can tell, there's a lot to learn from the book! It's a fun read so I'd encourage you to get a copy: http://www.zilchbook.com/

diversity, ngos, pradical