OS 85: Keys to Designing a Business by Design vs. by Default.

Brandon Allen is coach, speaker, strategist and founder of New Work Revolution. Allen's mission is to bring the human element to every work environment. He has coached hundreds of small business owners, the federal government and done corporate training to assist leaders to come to new levels of understanding around how to connect and impact people around them. Brandon is the host of the New Work Revolution podcast and the creator of the Strategic Business Forum workshop series. When not transforming lives, Brandon spends time in Salt Lake City with his wife and four daughters. More about Brandon at http://www.newworkrevolution.com (http://www.newworkrevolution.com/) Interview Transcript Hugh Ballou: Greetings. Welcome to this version of Orchestrating Success. My guest today is long-time friend and a very capable individual, Brandon Allen. Brandon lives in Salt Lake City. He has worked with very high-level thought leaders who have been mutual friends. Brandon, I guess we met eight to ten years ago. We haven’t really spoken for a few years. I’m really glad to be reconnected. I am going to throw it to you to tell people a little bit about you, why you are doing this current business, and what brought you to want to do this. Brandon Allen: Absolutely. Thanks for having me, Hugh. It’s always great to talk. When I think about the genesis of my career, I spent a decade in the corporate world. I was the COO of an Inc. 500 company. After working with a large company but also smaller companies, I got a real big insight into what does it take for a small business to scale and get to the next level? How do they get out of their way so they can really grow and get to that next level? I started a consulting company at the worst time you could start a consulting company, in 2008. Right in the midst of a financial crisis, I decide that’s the time I’m going to start a business. But since then, I’ve worked with hundreds of small business owners, thought leaders, and brick and mortar businesses, helping them get to the next level, grow, feel more confident in what they’re doing, have more freedom in their lives. I do some federal government work and consulting. I’ve done it in Utah and New Mexico for the federal government. I still do a lot of corporate training and government training. People ask me what I do. I say I’m a coach, speaker, and strategist. Ultimately, I am a person of deep curiosity. I love to connect people with people and people with ideas. I’m always curious about the world around me, and I use that curiosity to help other people get more curious about what they’re doing as well. Hugh: Wow. Since you and I last talked, you launched this business. We’ve talked incrementally but not about your business. The title that I see is New Work Revolution. Talk about that. What does that mean, and why did you choose that title? Brandon: The idea behind New Work Revolution is about humanizing work, putting the human element into work. We could talk about systems. We could talk about processes. We could talk about an ideal customer. We can talk about all these different strategies and plans on paper. All those things are meaningful. All those things matter. But if we get the human piece wrong, none of it works. There is an African proverb that says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” New Work Revolution is about breaking the bonds that really tie people down. There are two facets to this.