Fast: Patrick Collison's list of ambitious projects that were accomplished in a small amount of time (Patrick Collison)

+ BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) can be accomplished in incredibly short periods of time provided leadership is clear about the ultimate direction and goal of a project. Consider some of the notable accomplishments by businesses highlighted in Patrick Collison's piece above:

"Luckin Coffee. Luckin Coffee was founded in October 2017. Their first stores opened on January 1, 2018. On September 3 2018—245 days later—they passed 1,000 directly-operated stores in China. Source: Why is Luckin Coffee the best experimental field for Tencent Smart Retail?"
"Amazon Prime. Amazon started to implement the first version of Amazon Prime in late 2004 and announced it on February 2 2005, six weeks later. Source: The making of Amazon Prime."
"JavaScript. Brendan Eich implemented the first prototype for JavaScript in 10 days, in May 1995. It shipped in beta in September of that year. Source: Brendan Eich's history of the language."
"Boeing 747. Boeing decided to start the 747 program in March 1966. The first 747 was completed on September 30 1968, about 930 days later. Source: Boeing 747: A History."
"Disneyland. Walt Disney's conception of "The Happiest Place on Earth" was brought to life in 366 days. Source: Under Construction: A look inside Walt Disney’s Disneyland."

As we wind down 2019, there is no better time to contemplate the one or two BHAGs that your organization will be focused on in 2020. How will you accomplish them? How will you plan the process to ensure success? How will you set the project schedule?

In previous editions of The Weekly, we have explored the strategic planning process, the purpose of staff meetings, and other various operational principles (from Waffle House and Bowl America) that we hope can be useful as you set your 2020 goals and plan for success. From our family to yours, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

Bulky and beautiful: how wayfair is poised to meet massive new demand for home goods - and home delivery (McKinsey)

+ The key lesson here for any business that delivers bulky, durable goods: the customer's perception of their purchase is heavily influenced by their delivery experience: "When our people go into homes, they’re not delivery drivers. They are ambassadors for Wayfair, and we need to train our people accordingly to deliver that experience, to create that trust between us and the consumer. In the future, we’re going to need even more of that."

The money men who enabled Adam Neumann and the WeWork debacle (Wall Street Journal $)

+ Adam Neumann sold investors on a new way of living and working, but ultimately couldn't bend reality to accommodate his vision. This is a deep dive into the financiers who backed Neumann and paid the price after ceding too much control to the firm's founder.

Canva uncovered: how a young Australian kitesurfer built a $3.2 billion (profitable!) startup phenom (Forbes)
+ Melanie Perkins set out to make design easy for non-professionals and demonstrated that making hard things simple can be big (profitable) business.

How a janitor invented hot cheetos (The Hustle)
+ Everyone loves a rags to riches story, and this piece doesn't disappoint: "Montañez was a janitor. But he was a janitor with an idea — an idea that would make the company billions of dollars and become one of history’s most celebrated and iconic snack foods: Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. But first, he had to convince the world to hear him out."

Beginner's guide to SEO (Moz)

+ This is an in-depth 7-chapter e-book explaining the concepts behind Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and demonstrates how to better optimize your website for online traffic.

Twilio's 2019 email benchmark and engagement study (Sendgrid)
+ SendGrid's annual email marketing study is a gem for marketing strategy purposes and a solid macro look at the state of all things email marketing.

Google culture war escalates as era of transparency wanes (Bloomberg)
+ Most small companies don't grow to 100,000+ people in size and don't experience the painful transitions that accompany such massive growth. Google's recent internal turmoil is indicative of the fact that maintaining company culture while growing from 100 to 1000 to 100,000 employees is incredibly difficult.

Away’s founders sold a vision of travel and inclusion, but former employees say it masked a toxic work environment (The Verge)
+ Company culture starts at the top and is reinforced through executives' attitudes towards their employees. While giving constructive criticism is a part of every executives jobs, it shouldn't be used to embarrass and belittle employees.

Retail CEO departures have hit a record high (Retail Brew)
+ "55 retail CEOs departed their roles from January through November, up from 33 last year. That’s the greatest number of retail CEO exits in a single year since at least 2010."

American factories demand white-collar education for blue-collar work (Wall Street Journal)
+ "U.S. manufacturers have added more than a million jobs since the recession, with the growth going to men and women with degrees, the Journal analysis found. Over the same time, manufacturers employed fewer people with at most a high-school diploma. Employment in manufacturing jobs that require the most complex problem-solving skills, such as industrial engineers, grew 10% between 2012 and 2018; jobs requiring the least declined 3%, the Journal analysis found."

Why the most important idea in behavioral decision-making is a fallacy (Scientific American)

+ "To be sure it is true that big financial losses can be more impactful than big financial gains, but this is not a cognitive bias that requires a loss aversion explanation, but perfectly rational behavior. If losing $10,000 means giving up the roof over your head whereas gaining $10,000 means going on an extra vacation, it is perfectly rational to be more concerned with the loss than the gain."

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