Episode 9: Life on the Edge

LIFE ON THE EDGE - AN ENTREPRENEUR'S STORY OF SURVIVAL DURING COVID-19

Life on the Edge is my story about surviving COVID-19 as a small business owner and entrepreneur outside Philadelphia. I started documenting the happenings of each day about two weeks into the mandatory lock-down so that when I look back on this time I will be able to remember it for exactly what it is. 

My goal with Life on the Edge is to provide a inside look into a small business struggling to survive, my first major crisis as a leader, and ultimately the process of saving a distressed company during a global disaster. I hope to that by sharing my experience, I might help other entrepreneurs and business owners during this difficult time.

In Episode 9, you'll watch as I celebrate a disagreement within the team - celebrate our diversity - and give my team a lesson in the concept of "Disagree and Commit," which I learned reading about Amazon. 

You'll see me explain to my team how important it is that we disagree in meetings and that we all contribute our ideas and opinions, but that once a decision is made, we all must put our full weight behind making the decision a success. I'll also explain the critical role middle managers play in creating true alignment within the organization, keeping everyone on the same team and reading from the same page. 

I've loved this concept since the first time I heard of it watching an interview with Jeff Bezos years ago. You've heard the phrase, "We all have to row in the same direction..." a thousand times; Disagree and Commit is crucial for keeping everyone rowing in the same direction. When presenting it to my team, I supported the idea by explaining how it relates to our Core Value : We are 1 Team, which to us means that we are all on the same team, here for the same reasons, and working with the same purpose.