This means identifying and formalizing methods and decision approaches that might come naturally to the company founder, but which need to be taught to others in order to become repeatable and scalable. In other words, don’t reject the idea of a formal process; just be willing to define your own process.
A little peer-to-peer exchange of ideas, such as the ones that take place in TIGER 21 meetings, can also help keep your methods fresh. Often when we meet another business person we ask “what do you do?” but perhaps a more interesting question would be “how do you do it?” The real lesson may not be in a particular product or service, but rather be in the approach the organization has taken to finding a competitive edge.
It may even help to know a little formal management theory so you can judge for yourself which aspects of it you want to retain, and which you want to toss aside. Understanding the prevailing orthodoxy at least helps you know how much of the competition is thinking.
After all, even rebels should know what they are rebelling against. Beyond that, creating proprietary business processes based on your own inspiration and a thing or two you’ve picked up from people you admire is the way you can write your own textbook for how you want the people in your organization to approach the business.
Barbara Goodstein is CEO of TIGER 21, a high-net-worth investment group.