This manifesto contains 15 Acceleration Truths, which are insights about accelerating the many aspects that comprise a highly successful business. These truths are applicable to all businesses, regardless of industry, and all managers, regardless of their business function

Acceleration Truth # 1

To accelerate effective behaviors, ban eight-page performance reviews covering 28 core competencies.

John was not happy. He said, "I just got my annual performance review and what a joke that was. My boss made me fill out this ludicrous eight-page evaluation about myself and give it to her before our meeting. We were supposed to have a one-hour meeting to go over my performance. She put the meeting off for two months, and then when it did happen she showed up fifteen minutes late, left ten minutes early, and at one point stopped the meeting to turn up the radio and said, ‘I really like that song.' During the meeting, she went over my evaluation of my own performance, made a couple of corrections, thanked me for doing a great job, and then gave me a ‘satisfactory' rating. I have no idea what I did to deserve that rating or what I should be working on. I was really looking forward to my review, but as usual, I left the meeting more unmotivated than when I walked in."

The best thing you can do for an employee's future is to be honest.

Inspired performances come from encouraging environments. Regardless of his income, every employee wants to feel appreciated. He wants someone who is honest during the evaluation, challenges him to improve, and doesn't mire him down in meaningless numbers of 3.5 or 4.2 or 6.7 on some arbitrary scale.

Invest the time to share thoughtful answers to the following three questions, for the job this employee is being asked to do:

1.  What do I think this person does that is effective?

2.  What do I think this person does that is not effective?

3.  What do I think this person could do to be more effective?

When you answer these three questions, give specific examples of why you feel this way. Provide observed behaviors and real-life anecdotes to support your answers. Look the person in the eye, be candid about her strengths and weaknesses, and provide plenty of time to listen to her ideas on what she does well and how she can improve in the weeks and months ahead.

Inspired performances come from encouraging environments.

Relationships, honest, open, two-way relationships, improve performances; not cold, perfunctory, one-way written evaluations that employees fill out first.

Acceleration Truth # 2

To accelerate accountability, reward doers, not talkers.

MaryAnn, the regional director of sales, had four options to describe Tim's performance: outstanding, satisfactory, below average, or needs immediate improvement. In her heart, she felt Tim's performance was ‘below average,' but she was hesitant to give that rating. She said, "When 85% of the rest of the team is getting a ‘satisfactory' rating, it's pretty hard for me to tell Tim he's ‘below average.'

It's going to lower his financial bonus by 50%, cause a lot of resentment, eat up a lot of my time and energy, and maybe lead to him leaving our company. What should I do?" I said, "MaryAnn, if Tim's performance is ‘below average,' then you have to give him that rating. You're doing him a disservice by being dishonest, and over the long run you're going to hurt his career and hurt the performance of your team and your business. There's going to be no reason for him to improve his performance if he thinks he's already doing a satisfactory job. When he goes for a promotion and doesn't get it because of his below average performance, he's going to want to know why you weren't honest with him during his review."

If 90% or more of your employees are receiving a rating of "satisfactory," then either stop rating people or get serious about using the process. Poor managers chicken out from being honest with their employees. They give everyone a "satisfactory" rating, and rationalize to no end why being honest with people will ruin individual and group morale.

Look at every aspect of your business and search for ways to make it more elegant.

The best thing you can do for an employee's future is to be honest. Give the person exactly the rating he deserves, explain why he got it, and let him know what he needs to do and achieve in order to improve the rating. This way he will know where he stands and what needs to happen in the future. Then you can see for yourself how he responds to honest and candid feedback. Don't give everyone the same bonus. Money talks. If an employee doesn't deserve a raise, it is counterproductive to give her one. If she deserves a far bigger bonus than anyone else, then give it to her.

If you want your evaluations to have any relevant meaning for your employees, give bonuses and raises that fit their ratings.

Acceleration Truth # 3

To accelerate impact, transform chaos into elegance.

In 1978 my brother, Kevin, graduated from college. To celebrate he bought a stereo system with a turntable, receiver, and two three-foot loudspeakers. He had several hundred albums stored in milk crates that seemed to cover one whole wall of his apartment. In 2005, Kevin and his wife, Sue, bought their daughter Kaylee an iPod. The iPod took up six square inches and held more than 10,000 songs. The iPod was elegance in action. Business elegance consists of simple, clear, clean, and powerful processes that deliver great solutions. Look at every aspect of your business and search for ways to make it more elegant.

Let's focus on perhaps the most inelegant aspect of business: small group meetings.

A typical one-day meeting I've observed had 16-20 agenda items. Invariably, the group attacked the first item with enormous passion regardless of what it was about, quickly realized they were going to run out of time, decided to keep the meeting going through lunch, extended the meeting for an hour past the ending time that was communicated, and rushed like long-tailed cats in a room full of rocking chairs to wrap up the last eight agenda items. That's inelegance in action.

For your next meeting, send out the agenda one week before the meeting with just three questions on the agenda. Select the three highest priority desired outcomes for your business group and turn them into open-ended questions. Notice: I said three items on the agenda, and each is turned into an open-ended question. That's it, no more. Attach to the agenda any important documents, articles, or reports that people should read before the meeting in order to improve the conversation on the three open-ended questions.

When the group walks in, start with the first open-ended question. Gather the best two ideas from each participant, look to combine ideas to make even better ideas, make a decision, and develop an action plan. Then move to the next question. Start and end your meetings on time. Give people reasonable breaks to eat lunch, clear their heads, and go to the bathroom. Make sure people show back up on time and don't keep the whole group waiting while they answer their cell phone. That's an elegant meeting.

It takes courage and sacrifice to generate business elegance.

While you start putting these into action; look forward to more truths in the upcoming issue of Businessgyan.