Book: Attract or Repel

Attract or Repel - Key Themes and Concepts

Subject: Review of key concepts for building high-trust, agreements-based organizational cultures to attract and repel the right people.

Executive Summary:

The provided excerpts from Walt Brown's "Attract or Repel" outline a framework for building "courageously patient organizations" grounded in trust and clear agreements. The central thesis revolves around systematically addressing the "Seven Critical Needs" of team members through "Seven Promises" made by the organization. This systematic approach, often facilitated by a strong business operating system (BOS) like EOS, aims to create a culture that naturally "attracts" the right people (those who align with core values and accept the promises) and "repels" the wrong ones (those who don't). Key concepts include the BITE Index (Buy-in, Inclusion, Trust, Engagement) as a measure of organizational health, the importance of core values, a strategic plan, the role of courage and patience in decision-making (contrasting the OODA loop with the inefficient OR loop), and the significance of clear, measurable roles and consistent communication. The book emphasizes that a company is a "fiction, given power by people believing in it," making semantics and shared understanding crucial.

Main Themes and Most Important Ideas/Facts:

1. The Problem with "Winging It": The author argues strongly against running a business without a systematic approach. "If you aren’t running a business operating system that answers the Seven Critical Needs and are just winging it with effort and talent, then I truly feel sorry for you." This chaotic approach is likened to an NFL team "drawing plays in the dirt."
2. The Need for a System: As an organization grows, a system is essential. "To get to positive alignment on the Seven Critical Needs, it needs core values, a plan, and plays it can run on a weekly and daily basis so it can grow." A business operating system (BOS) is presented as the solution.
3. The Seven Critical Needs and Seven Promises: The core of the framework lies in identifying and addressing the fundamental needs of team members. While the full list of Seven Critical Needs and Promises is not explicitly detailed in these excerpts, they are repeatedly referenced as the foundation of organizational health. The organization makes "Seven Promises" that answer each member's "Seven Critical Needs."
4. The BITE Index: A key metric for measuring organizational health and the effectiveness of a BOS is the BITE Index, standing for "Buy-in, Inclusion, Trust, Engagement." The BITE Index measures how well the BOS helps the organization "make and keep Seven Promises." A high BITE Index indicates robust organizational health and is linked to improved financial performance. "Your BITE Index is your barometer and road map; it will show you where to put in the effort on your way to attaining and maintaining robust organizational health."
5. Organizational Buy-in and Purpose: Buy-in is presented as a crucial element, illustrated by the story of the three masons. True buy-in means team members feel a sense of purpose and contribution, like the mason "helping Sir Christopher Wren build St. Paul’s Cathedral," not just cutting stones for a wage. "We want their folks—and yours—to stand tall and say, 'I am helping John build the best company he can. I am not anonymous or irrelevant.'"
6. Promises as the Bedrock of Culture and Trust: Promises are seen as voluntary obligations created by an "act of will." Keeping promises builds trust, which is essential for social coordination and cooperation. "Making and keeping promises takes courage and patience." The power of promises lies in their ability to create trust and facilitate cooperation. The author references David Hume's view on the mysterious and powerful nature of promissory obligations. "Promises, when kept, create trust. And trust is the fuel that powers belonging, buy-in, cooperation, collaboration, and great results." Conversely, "when promises are not kept, trust is destroyed."
7. The Attract or Repel Principle: A central concept is that by clearly defining and living by core values and making the Seven Promises, an organization will naturally attract those who align and repel those who don't. This is applied directly in the hiring process, described as the "attract or repel speech." "My goal is to help you permanently install a systematic approach that attracts great people and repels the bad ones. You have no room for and cannot afford detractors."
8. Core Values: Core values are presented as fundamental to an organization's identity and are not better or worse than other organizations' values; they are simply different and reflect a "unique mindset at the heart of how a particular organization does business." Core values should be consistently used in recruitment, hiring, firing, training, communication, and measurement. Team members who "belong" and are aligned with core values will feel more engaged.
9. Courage and Patience: Building a "courageously patient organization" is a key goal. Courage involves enduring difficulties and conquering fear, not the absence of it. Patience is not slowness but having a system in place to make smart decisions quickly when needed. "Patience means having a system and a set of decision matrices in place to make it easier to strike when the time is right, at lightning speed if necessary."
10. The OODA Loop vs. The OR Loop: The military concept of the OODA loop (observe, orient, decide, act) is introduced as a framework for effective decision-making. The "orient" phase is highlighted as the most crucial. Impatient decision-making, characterized as the OR loop (observe, react), is seen as detrimental, leading to rushed, bad decisions that weigh an organization down. "Going through every part of the cycle and taking the time to orient ultimately provides agility and leads to decisions that are smart and as fast as they need to be."
11. System 1 and System 2 Thinking: Drawing on Daniel Kahneman's work, the author discusses System 1 (fast, irrational, bias-driven) and System 2 (slow, rational, fact-based) thinking. Organizations often fall into System 1 thinking, which can lead to poor decisions and resistance to change. Courageous, patient organizations utilize System 2 thinking. "Humans are typically lazy and fearful; they prefer to take the easy way, which is often irrational."
12. Psychological Safety and the SCARF Model: Psychological safety is identified as the most important factor for high-performing teams (citing Google's research). The SCARF model (Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness, Fairness) is introduced as factors that activate the brain's reward and threat circuitry. Social rejection is treated by the System 1 brain as a life-or-death situation, emphasizing the need for psychological safety.
13. The Importance of Language and Semantics: The author argues that language matters significantly within an organization because the company itself is essentially a "fiction, given power by people believing in it." Inconsistent language leads to different beliefs among team members, creating "four different organizations" if terminology is not shared and understood. "Not only does semantics matter, it’s all semantics."
14. Measuring Organizational Health and Performance: Just as businesses measure operational inefficiencies, they should measure organizational health. This is likened to a doctor using metrics like blood pressure and pulse to diagnose a patient's health. The BITE Survey (a 1-10 scale assessment of the Seven Critical Needs) is presented as a tool for measuring organizational health and identifying areas for improvement.
15. Roles, Accountability, and Measurement: Thinking in terms of specific "roles" within "jobs" is crucial for clarity regarding accountability and responsibility (accountability for thinking, responsibility for doing). Each role should have objective, measurable deliverables. These measures should build team members' confidence and provide clarity about status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness, and fairness (linking back to the SCARF model). "Metrics paint the picture and allow employees to be accountable for their defined roles."
16. The Power of "Why": A strong belief statement or "why" is essential for guiding decisions, fostering debate, and inspiring team members. Examples from Apple, Starbucks, and the author's own company, Layline, illustrate how a clear purpose shapes daily operations and creates a competitive advantage. "If you can get to a strong why or belief statement, your center, filling in the how and what are easy."
17. Promises Must Be Accepted: Drawing on philosophical concepts, the author emphasizes that promises are only valid if they are accepted by the promisee. This highlights the voluntary nature of the "Seven Promises" and reinforces the attract-or-repel mechanism during hiring – candidates must accept these promises to be a good fit. "If someone we are interviewing does not want to accept our promises, then they should naturally be repelled."
18. Promises as a Two-Way Street: Promises create a mutual relationship where the promisee gains a degree of "authority or sovereignty" over the promisor regarding the promised action. This mutual accountability to clear standards is presented as the "surest path to trust and great results."

Key Quotes:

• "If you aren’t running a business operating system that answers the Seven Critical Needs and are just winging it with effort and talent, then I truly feel sorry for you."
• "The answer is in the tools."
• "My goal is to help you permanently install a systematic approach that attracts great people and repels the bad ones."
• "The BITE Index measures organizational health, and it measures the strength and effectiveness of your BOS to make and keep Seven Promises—the promises that answer each member of your team’s Seven Critical Needs."
• "I am helping Sir Christopher Wren build St. Paul’s Cathedral." (Illustrating buy-in)
• "Very few moral judgments are more intuitively obvious and widely shared than this: Promises are made to be kept."
• "A company is essentially a fiction, given power by people believing in it."
• "If you systemize the predictable you can humanize the exceptional."
• "Culture eats strategy for breakfast." (Peter Drucker quote, referenced)
• "Going through every part of the cycle and taking the time to orient ultimately provides agility and leads to decisions that are smart and as fast as they need to be."
• "Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable reason why so few people engage in it." (Henry Ford quote, referenced)
• "If you can get to a strong why or belief statement, your center, filling in the how and what are easy."
• "If someone we are interviewing does not want to accept our promises, then they should naturally be repelled."

Implications:

The excerpts suggest that building a healthy, high-performing organization requires a deliberate, systematic approach focused on people's fundamental needs and establishing a culture of trust through clear agreements (promises). Relying solely on talent and effort without a strong BOS and defined values will likely lead to inefficiency and dysfunction as the organization grows. Measuring organizational health (via BITE) is as important as measuring financial performance. Leaders must be courageous and patient in establishing and upholding these principles, consistently communicating core values and promises, and repelling those who do not align.

Further Action/Consideration:

• Explore the full list and details of the "Seven Critical Needs" and "Seven Promises."
• Investigate the structure and tools of the EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) or other BOS mentioned (Pinnacle, Scaling Up, 4DX, System & Soul) to understand how they support this framework.
• Consider how to implement the BITE Survey to measure organizational health within our team/organization.
• Analyze current decision-making processes to identify instances of the OR loop and work towards implementing the OODA loop.
• Review organizational language and terminology to ensure consistency and shared understanding ("semantics matters").
• Develop clear definitions of roles and associated metrics for accountability and measurement.

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