Ep. 87: TL;DL - Seeing the Forest from the Trees with Mark Jehning

Summary:

This episode features a "Too Long, Didn't Listen" (TLDL) summary of my conversation with Mark Jehning, founder and CEO of Acuity Dynamics. With over 35 years bringing Fortune 500 level business process optimization to organizations of all sizes, Mark helps founders see the forest from the trees so they can reclaim their freedom while building more profitable, efficient operations. Scott breaks down Mark's key insights on systems thinking, his metric-driven framework focused on leading indicators, and how to release the tribal knowledge dependency that keeps so many organizations stuck.

Show Notes:

01:30 Foundational Insight: The Bigger Picture

02:32 Metric-Driven Framework

03:40 Releasing Tribal Knowledge Dependency

05:12 Final Thoughts

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:32 Guest Introduction
• 1:30 Foundational Insight: The Bigger Picture
• 2:32 Metric-Driven Framework
• 3:40 Releasing Tribal Knowledge Dependency
• 5:12 Final Thoughts
• 5:59 Outro

Transcript

Intro

Scott Raven: Welcome to The Corvus Effect, where we explore what it takes to succeed professionally and truly enhance all parts of your life. I'm Scott Raven, Fractional COO and your host. Each episode we go behind the scenes with leaders who've mastered the delicate harmony of growing their professional endeavors while protecting what matters most. Ready to transform from Chief Everything Officer to achieving integration in all facets of your life? Let's soar!

Guest Introduction

Scott Raven: Hello everyone. Welcome back to The Corvus Effect and this TLDL episode, "Too Long, Didn't Listen," from my conversation with Mark Jehning, founder and CEO of Acuity Dynamics. Across his 35-plus year career, Mark has seen some truly dynamic environments and has brought Fortune 500 level business process optimization, intelligence, and corporate management to all types of organizations. His mission: helping founders and leaders see the forest from the trees so that they can reclaim their freedom while building more profitable, efficient organizations. I encourage you guys to go back and listen to the full episode when you get a chance. It was awesome. But I'm just going to go over some of the key takeaways in this TLDL for you.

Foundational Insight: The Bigger Picture

Scott Raven: First, Mark's foundational insight that came from his aerospace and defense work is you have to look at the bigger picture to understand how everything interacts and affects the whole. As he explained, when his director said, "You need to start thinking outside the box," Mark realized he needed to take a look at the operations, the procurement process, the engineering process, and see how they are all impacting each other so that they aren't becoming inadvertent constraints to each other and the overall operation. The challenge that he sees consistently is that companies optimize one part of their overall system, but it causes a suboptimal result to everything else because of the interdependencies. Being able to come in and take a look at how these different elements come together and what truly is the first thing that needs to get improved is part of his insight.

Metric-Driven Framework

Scott Raven: Second, his revolutionary metric-driven framework quickly identifies the business process constraints that are inhibiting order to cash and product development. It measures things differently than everybody else because it is taking a look at the leading indicators, not always the lagging indicators. By taking a look at the leading indicators, those are things that can be influenced through direct action and activity. Because of that, he is able to come in and say, "I can negotiate a percentage of the measurable savings that I will help them achieve because I know I will find actions they can put into practice right away and take money to the bank, and I will get a piece of that." That's what distinguishes him from other consultants who do things on a time and material or project billing basis. It is a true partnership, and I think that's part of his revolutionary approach.

Releasing Tribal Knowledge Dependency

Scott Raven: Finally, his powerful insight about releasing founders from the tribal knowledge dependency to create true operational independence. When it comes to tribal knowledge, he says, "Look, they know how to do the job, but the problem is they've never really documented the process for anybody else who comes into the organization." That leaves the organization stuck. Using his operational assessment and different aspects, he can take a look at how their practices stack up against leading practices and leading KPIs and help them with the appropriate process mapping to make sure they are disseminating and distributing the information so that anybody can come in and pick it up. Ultimately, he has people to the point where they know he is going to hold them accountable. From a Corvus perspective, when we talk about the things we are looking to do in our professional endeavors where we want to trust but verify, Mark's approach means they know he's going to come in and verify. If the verification doesn't happen, he's going to make that call and call them out on it. It can be done in a nice way, but it has to be done in a firm way. That's what really drives the needle, and that's something which is very much a part of Mark's DNA.

Final Thoughts

Scott Raven: I encourage you guys to go back and take a look at the episode, give it a listen. Please feel free to give us feedback in the comments on the podcast page. As always, subscribe and share with those people who could really use this lesson in their lives. And remember, one of the big things that Mark says is you can't fix what you can't see or measure. That's not just applicable to this conversation, that's applicable to all of us from a Corvus perspective. Make sure that we're keeping our eyes on the measurements that matter towards the legacies that we desire. Until next time, I'm Scott. I'll see you on The Corvus Effect. Take care.

Outro

Scott Raven: Thank you for joining me on The Corvus Effect. If today's conversation sparked ideas about how to free yourself from overwhelm, visit TheCorvusEffect.com for show notes, resources, and our free Sixth Dimensions Assessment, showing you exactly where you're trapped and how to architect your freedom. While you're there, check out the Corvus Learning Platform, where we turn insights into implementation. If this episode helped you see a new path forward, please subscribe and share it with others who are ready to pursue their definition of professional freedom. Join me next time as we continue exploring how to enhance your life through what you do professionally. It's time to make that your reality!