Transcript 0:00 [gentle music] One of the key components of Blendification is, is that work and life have been blending together for several years now. This myth that we call work-life balance just doesn't exist. 0:13 And the truth is, if we're gonna realize our potential in life, we have to realize our potential at work. We spend over 50% of our waking time at work, so if I'm in any role in a company, I have to maximize that role. 0:26 The idea of work and life being separate is really a fallacy for most of us. 0:36 [upbeat music] Welcome back to The Peggy Smedley Show, the podcasting voice of IoT and digital transformation. Hello, listeners, and welcome back to The Peggy Smedley Show. As always, I'm your host, Peggy Smedley. 0:52 My next guest has an accomplished background in executive leadership, strategic planning, entrepreneurship, sales and marketing operations, brand development, customer service, and corporate finance. 1:05 Drawing on his 30-plus years of personal leadership, he created The Blendification System, a series of workshops and keynotes blending culture, strategy, and execution to help companies, individuals, and communities realize their potential. 1:20 Please welcome Dan Bruder, author of The Blendification System: Activating Potential by Connecting Culture, Strategy, and Execution, as well as CEO of Fusion Dynamics Group. Dan, welcome to the show. Thanks, Peggy. 1:36 Glad to be here. Looking forward to the conversation. So Dan, you have a very impressive background. 1:41 In fact, I, I have to ask, though, I'm gonna start this out, because everybody listening and g- and going, "What the heck is the term Blendification, and what made you write this book now?" 1:51 I mean, we're in a world that everybody wants to read a book 'cause we're all stuck at home, so the timing is perfect. But let's talk about that, 'cause I've got the book right in front of me. Yeah. 2:00 The word Blendification kind of, uh, came together a few years ago. I was asked to do a TED Talk, and, um, I felt like society was moving more towards blending things together. 2:11 Despite what we see out there, we see a lot of separation, the truth is is there's, there's quite a bit of Blendification going on or blending. 2:18 So this, this idea around blending things together is really more prevalent than I think we give credit to. 2:24 So when I started the TED Talk, I really said, "Well, now that all this blending is going on, what's a word that says we take advantage of this blending? 2:32 What's a word that I can create that really puts action around blending or intentional blending?" And that's where I came up with Blendification. 2:39 It's really the, the action side of taking blending and, and blending things together intentionally rather than just watching things being blended together t- totally. 2:48 So if we look at the word Blendification, I mean, the, the, the real truth is, is we've got, you know, we've got racial Blendification at an all-time high right now. 2:56 We've got, um, generational Blendification or blending going on. 3:00 And, and I think what we need to do is really embrace this blending that we see and really look for ways to maximize our potential based on this new world, and it's all around Blendification. 3:10 My kids didn't like the way I changed the name, but, um, I do that with a lot of words, so they had a lot of fun with it. 3:15 When, when you were thinking about that and you were thinking about coming up with this book, and when you did... How long... I, I wanna ask you, how long did it take you to write the book? 3:25 Because then thinking about when to release the book, because if you think your kids didn't like it, because they never like anything we do, you know? 3:33 They're always thinking you're outdated with your terms and everything. You had to think about the audience. 3:39 So that's why I'm curious how long it took you to write this book, to be able to make it relevant, and now, you know, COVID comes, and, you know, everybody is just up in arms about everything. 3:49 I mean, we're just in, in a, in a world right now that I can't even explain to my children what we are right now. So I'm, I'm curious how long, and then knowing that it was gonna hit right now. Yeah. 4:01 Of course, I had no idea that the COVID was gonna hit. Um, but the, the time it took me to write the book, there's a couple different segments. 4:08 So what is in the book is really the compilation of a real high focus over the last five years. So my business platform really is, um, based on blending together culture, strategy, and execution. 4:22 To me, if you're gonna create a great organization and maximize your potential as an organization, you have to have a strong culture, strategy, and execution. 4:30 So I've been working on this in my business, but I also teach this at the executive MBA at Colorado State University, as well as the MBA program at CU Boulder. 4:39 So the, the actual tools that are in the book have been in operation for quite some time. 4:43 The actual book-writing side, which took me about, um, about eight months to actually write, and then we come up with COVID, right? So it, it was literally COVID comes out in March, and I just hit send on my final draft. 4:57 I went back to [laughs] I went back to the publisher and I said, "Hey, can I, can I get another few days just to modify some things?" 5:02 So I went back in and modified quite a few things and related it specifically to COVID and, um, did some forecasting on my own and said, "H- what is gonna be the impact of this?" 5:12 back in March and, um, modified my book to make sure that it really fit within the time. 5:16 So I think, at least my publisher tells me, this is one of the first books that specifically a- addresses COVID in a very, um, comprehensive fashion. 5:26 So as far as timing, by the time I was ready to put this out, I wasn't turning back now. I didn't care what happened, whether it's COVID or anything else. [laughs] I just wanted to get the book off my desk. 5:35 Well, one of- So, um... And that- Well- Go ahead. I, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt, but one of the key parts of this that I thought was interesting is the idea of talking about agile execution. 5:44 You can't be any more agile than we are right now because everybody got thrown to being home, and you had to be agile or you weren't gonna be able to survive in this environment. 5:54 Isn't that one of your key strategies when you talk about Blendification? Yeah. It's interesting because what we need now is we, we need an agile execution model. And when I say agile, um, what does that really mean? 6:06 What I mean by that is that we need an execution model in our organizations where-People and the masses, more people are involved in making modifications and changes in what's going on, or strategic actions I call them. 6:19 So to me it's really two things. 6:21 We need to have rigid strategic focus, meaning we don't lose sight of why our company exists, what we're trying to do, but we need agile strategic execution, meaning that we need to make sure that people, our, our field people, the people that are, you know, even entry-level people are having a say on what should take place. 6:37 So it's kind of a top-down, bottom-up type approach. 6:41 You know, top-down is we, we have, you know, solid str- solid strategic focus, but then bottom-up because, you know, really it's the, it's the, the troops inside the company, you know, that really drive the execution, and that needs to be really prevalent in how we actually move forward, especially now. 6:57 We know this, but we can't just sit back and say, "We're gonna do this for the next four years," you know? 'Cause things change overnight. And isn't that kind of what we're seeing now? 7:07 We're seeing the best of people that most people weren't shining, maybe or maybe they were in the office, but now that they're having to be home, we're seeing the best of some people that, you know, because now we're seeing empathy. 7:21 You know, managers who didn't know how to show it are gonna ha- have to show a different side of themselves to be able to lead in ways that they didn't have to. 7:29 So in order to pursue the best of people and to get the best out, you, you have to lead differently. 7:36 And so what, what are you seeing and, and by using your book, what are you able to kinda show from creating or getting different insights out of all of this right now? 7:46 What have you learned, and what do you hope people to gain out of this book as when, well, as any other book that's out there right now? 7:53 I mean, what, what are you trying to say this, this idea when you think of Blendification or what you want, you know, impacting employees, customers, communities? 8:01 There's gotta be so much we have to positively get out of life today. Yeah. 8:06 I think if we, if we look at, you know, Blendification, one of the key components of Blendification, and this isn't really a COVID-related thing, although we're talking about it now and it's prevalent now, the truth is, is that work and life have been blending together, uh, for several years now. 8:21 Um, you know, this, this myth that we call- Yeah... work-life balance just doesn't exist, and the truth is if we're gonna realize our potential in life, we have to realize our potential at work. 8:32 We spend over 50% of our waking time at work, so if I'm, if I'm in any role in a company, I have to maximize that role. The idea of work and life being separate is really a fallacy for most of us. 8:45 The truth is, is in order for us to do well, work and life comes together, and then COVID comes along, and now we actually have to admit that, you know, work and life are real. 8:54 We're, we're having meetings with two, with two-year-old children in the background. How do you lead a group of people like that? 9:00 So when I look at this, I see how, like, like you said, the leaders have to be more empathetic. They have to be more cognizant of what's going on in someone's personal life and how they lead. It makes... 9:10 It's a very skilled leader, a different type of leader that's really saying, "Hey, what's my impact not only on the person that works for me, but what's my impact on their kids? What's my impact on their friends? 9:20 What's my impact on, you know, the people that they're living with?" So this idea of Blendification really comes true with COVID, but COVID didn't start this, by the way. We've known this forever. 9:31 We, we could've predicted this, maybe not at the rapid level that COVID's brought. The truth is, is that this idea of work and life blending together is real. 9:39 Um, so- We, we now though see because of COVID, we're actually working each day, many of us, two hours more a day. We're not driving to work. We're just, you know... People are, you know, dressing half, you know? 9:50 They're wearing their sweats and putting on dress clothes to have, you know, Zoom meetings or whatever, you know, and Teams meetings, whatever it might be. 9:56 But it's interesting to kinda talk a little bit about how is it, it, do we connect? How does, you know, do we connect that culture, the strategy, execution of business now differently? Will we? 10:09 Will we ever get back to a normal work environment? I mean, is there... 10:14 When you again, you know, you're talking Blendification, how is it possibly to intentionally connect all of these things, or will we go back to a normalcy, or is our life changed forever? 10:27 Well, I think there's, um, there's some unanswered questions there. The truth is, is that, um, you know, some of the stuff I believe will stick, um, you know, relative to working from home. 10:37 Most of the companies that I'm working with now are saying, "Hey, how much of this are we gonna keep long-term," giving people the option. 10:44 So I think there's gonna be some component of working from home, but at the same time, if we really look at what our organization is trying to accomplish and what we're really set, setting out to do, where we're working shouldn't really matter as much as what we're doing and how we're working together. 11:00 So if we're doing it on Zoom or we're doing it in per- person, if we have a really systematic structure, we've defined what our cause is, we've defined what our intention is for our employees, customers, and communities, if we know what type of behavioral standards we have, and then we build a strategy, a, a plan, and then we incorporate everybody else in the company to be part of the execution model, it doesn't matter if we're online, it doesn't matter if we're on the phone, it doesn't matter if we're in person. 11:27 I think then the main thing is, is having a really solid foundation. We're really clear on what we wanna accomplish, and we're really clear on how we're going to accomplish and then how we can adapt to what's changing. 11:38 If we can figure that out, you know, these other things are just really connections that we, that we work with, you know? Connections whether, you know, Zoom or phone or in person. That, that will work. 11:47 Either one will work. When people pick up this book or they sit in on, um, a meeting that you host or you want them to walk away, what do you want them to walk away? 11:57 What's the one big lesson you want them to take away from the book or, or an event that you host? 12:03 Well, I think if we look at the history of, um, companies in the US, and really the purpose of companies, um, you know, business is really just a microcosm of a market-based capitalistic system. 12:15 You know, not to get too big. [laughs] The truth is, is that businesses are really meant to solve problems of consumers in society. So- We got a lot of problems going on right now, but that's a whole nother... 12:25 That's for another radio showI know, and we do, and when we keep looking to all these other areas, and we're alienating the, the true, the, an area that we can really make a difference in is our business. 12:37 You know, eighty-three percent of the US works in a for-profit company, seven percent work in nonprofit companies. 12:44 So ninety percent of the, the workforce works in some organization that's not related to the government, and we spend over fifty percent of our time, like I mentioned, at these companies. 12:54 So if we wanna make a difference in this world, we probably should start with what we're doing at work. 12:59 So that's why I think what I wanted to have people take away is that now we need a business model that really looks at how we impact our employees, our customers, and our communities. 13:11 So that's what The Blendification System is, is where we first develop this culture and then a systematic step-by-step process. 13:18 We use the strategy whiteboard as a way to develop our strategy, and then we back that up with a systematic execution plan, which, which engages people throughout the company. So it's really a comprehensive model. 13:30 It's not a theoretically based thing. 13:32 This is something that people can read and walk away and say, "Okay, I'm gonna do this on page, page, you know, fifty and this on page one hundred, and I'm gonna, I'm gonna implement these things." They're tangible. 13:42 There's charts, there's sheets. So I want people to realize that, you know, the, the truth is, is this is not a, this is not a theoretical book. And I tell people, "If you're going on vacation, don't bring my book. 13:52 If you wanna go to work and you wanna make a difference at work, this is the book for you." But, you know, there's plenty of better books to read out there if you wanna, if you wanna be entertained on vacation. 14:02 Dan Bruder, author of The Blendification System: Activating Potential by Connecting Culture, Strategy, and Execution, and CEO of Fusion Dynamics Group. 14:11 Where can our listeners get your book, and where can they go to learn more about what you're doing? Well, you can, uh, go to Amazon and just, uh, search on blendification. No one else uses that word. 14:22 That'll take you right to my book. You can also go to my website at blendificationsystem.com. Um, you can also order my book on my website too. There's also a whole series of things. 14:33 I have a bunch of supporting things, so if you read the book, it, it says go to my, go to my website, and you can get access to a free video series. 14:39 So I have a whole video series on each chapter, as well as supporting documents and PDFs that will help organizations implement this system without, um, going through too much trouble, so they can access that all, all on my website. 14:52 [upbeat music] All right. Thanks so much. All right, listeners, that's all the time we have this week. Remember, we are broadcast live every Tuesday at twelve PM Central. 14:59 Check out our website at connecttheworld.com or The Peggy Smedley Show at peggysmedleyshow.com, or tweet at us at connectedwmag. This is The Peggy Smedley Show, the podcasting voice of IoT and digital transformation. 15:10 And remember, with great technology comes great responsibility. Have an awesome week.
