The Laws of Aggregation
Sakrete is one of the handiest products ever developed for those small do-it-yourself construction projects.
It’s basically a bag of rocks and dust. But to a weekend warrior with a honey-do list, it can be a sack of magic.
Packaged in relatively small bags, Sakrete is an aggregation of cement mix, sand and different size gravel. When you stir in water and apply it, in time, it becomes concrete.
So, what can small business owners learn from a sack of rocks? Plenty, actually.
There’s the chemical reaction that the components have to one another when mixed with water. In order to become effective quickly and have lasting strength, both Sakrete and organizations must have the right chemistry.
But the most valuable lesson is in the aggregation. Sakrete doesn’t just aggregate the correct material, but also different size material – from powder, to sand, to stones. The larger pieces provide substance and strength, while the smaller ones bind everything together and nimbly fill in where needed, to eliminate weak spots.
In the marketplace, chemistry between people and organizations is pretty intuitive – if it’s not right, we move on. But aggregation is not so intuitive, which is why there are no Blasingame’s Laws of Chemistry, but three Blasingame’s Laws of Aggregation.
The first one is about leading people, the second one is about execution, and the third one is about brand building.
Blasingame’s First Law of Aggregation: Find your success in the aggregation of the success of your employees.
Effective leaders hire smart people, train them well, provide them with the tools and information they need, give them both responsibility and authority and show them how their success serves the organization’s goals. But leaders who have enduring success, year after year, are those who feed their ego through the success of their employees. They celebrate that first and their own accomplishments last.
Blasingame’s Second Law of Aggregation: Aggregation prevents aggravation.
In business, aggregation is also known as strategic alliances, which small businesses must build with other organizations, especially larger ones.
It’s aggravating at least, and dangerous at worst, to manage threats and take advantage of opportunities without strategic resources. Compare the merits of forming a strategic alliance with an organization that already has what you need before you risk the expense and possible delay of capitalizing the ownership of that resource.
Blasingame’s Third Law of Aggregation: Associate your brands with those that are more established.
As you develop strategic alliances, look for partners with brands that have a higher recognition factor than yours, and arrange for the relationship to include your brand begin presented in the marketplace alongside theirs. Brand association is smart aggregation.
Write this on a rock… If you’re not having the level of success you want, perhaps you should take an aggregation lesson from Sakrete.
Jim Blasingame
Small Business Expert and host of The Small Business Advocate Show
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