CK Business Framework | PPE Product Update | The Versatile Rackmount Kit | News to Start Your Day
Happy Friday…the 13th!
(November 13th is National Hug a Musician Day and World Kindness Day. Obviously this holiday was created before covid…no hugging…and we could all use a little more kindness in our lives after this year!)
It’s Friday, y’all! Any fun weekend plans for you? I am looking forward to being home and having little to no plans at all.
I wanted to continue walking through some of the framework we use to run CK and our corporate center functions. Remember yesterday we talked about the Plan > Build > Run model. Within the Plan role, we have a framework we call our Strategy Cascade. Each of our leaders who sit in a role that falls within the Plan function will be a part of meetings where we decide the current strategy for the business unit.
Sitting at the top of the cascade is Objectives, then Initiatives, next is Rocks, and finally Tasks. Objectives are aspirational goals that fit in the 3-5 year time frame. Under that is Initiatives which are themes or goals that fall within a 1 year time frame. Each functional area of the business unit (Product, Marketing and Channel) will have Rocks that connect to these themes. Rocks are 1-3 month long projects and are either cross-functional or multi-tasked by nature. Lastly we have tasks which are 1-4 week to-do items. This structure came out of a desire to adopt a framework. We considered the Harnish method from Mastering the Rockefeller Habits, but we’d attempted it before and it still felt too heavy for our organization. We ended up adapting some things from Traction EOS and plan to implement more of the ideas there as it makes sense for us.
If you’re part of a larger organization a framework like this is likely familiar to you. Small businesses and start-ups may feel overwhelmed by this sort of structure. We used to feel that way too! If you’re in a spot where you feel overwhelmed by a system like this, I want to encourage you that it is worth the investment of time. Having your people aligned, speaking the same language, planning and executing the same way, and working with clear accountabilities is so vital. I believe thinking about implementing a system is harder than just putting one foot in front of the other and walking it. Pick a system, move forward with it as far as you can/it makes sense, and know that it is okay to pick and choose what works best for you, your people, and your business.
I hope this look into how we do things is helpful for someone out there. Feel free to reach out with questions or comments.
More from me on Monday!
Christin
Today’s Product Updates from Rebecca:
Happy Friday! Friendly reminder that we have some awesome UV-C LED Sterilizer Wands on hand! These come in a variety of colors including Black, Grey, and Pink!
We also still have plenty of Non-Contact Infrared Thermometers available! These days we are taking our temperature all the time and these make it fast and convenient!
Did you also know that we have Pulse Oximeter Fingertip O2 Saturation Monitors? Keep a pulse on your oxygen levels with this handy device!
Reminder: Get free shipping on your PPE orders by using coupon code PPESHIP at checkout!
Main Safety Supplies Landing Page: https://www.cablesandkits.com/c/safety-supplies
***What products are you using most or having a hard time finding out there?
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Today’s product spotlight is going to be focused on our most popular rack mount kit: RCKMNT-1RU
This little guy is extremely versatile and fits a WIDE variety of products! The RCKMNT-1RU is a 19” 1RU rack mount kit that includes (2) brackets and all the screws needed to attach the brackets to your switch! It is designed to help you mount your switches for safety and efficiency! If you are really looking to maximize efficiency and keep your rack clean and organized, you can also add in our Cisco 1RU Cable Management Kit in addition to your rack mount kit!
If you’re curious about which switches RCKMNT-1RU fits, here is a quick snapshot of some of the most popular switch series that it fits. RCKMNT-1RU fits many Cisco Catalyst models in the following series:
Please check our product pages to confirm the specific models in each series that this rack mount fits.
Important Announcements
- Just a reminder, today, 11/13/2020, we will begin our year-end physical inventory count. With this in mind, our shipping cut-off time will be 1:00 pm EST today. Any order placed after 1:00 pm will be shipped first thing Monday. So feel free to keep buying and placing orders, we will get them out as quickly as possible. If you have any questions or concerns, please give us a call, shoot us an email, or chat with us on the site.
- Don’t forget that we have our CK Learning Center packed full of awesome and helpful content.
- If you have missed any of our CEO Daily Updates, hop over to our blog to catch up.
- Don’t forget to be kind to everyone and hug a musician today…well, maybe just give them a fist bump since hugging is “out” in 2020.
News to Start Your Day With:
- Right at 53,233,100 cases worldwide, with 37,313,300 people who have recovered, with 1,301,818 deaths AND 10,873,900 cases in the US with over 6,728,300 people have recovered, with 248,585 deaths.
- Eighteen states, most of them in the Midwest, reported record numbers of hospitalizations. As states ramp up restrictions, the Democratic governors of Illinois and Rhode Island are warning that new lockdowns could be on the way. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot asked all residents to cancel Thanksgiving plans and stay at home unless they need to go to work or school or to tend to essential needs such as a doctor’s appointment or grocery shopping.
- Epidemiologist Michael Osterholm, a member of President-elect Joe Biden’s coronavirus task force, said that paying people to stay home during a four- to six-week national lockdown would get the pandemic under control.
- Even with restrictions and mask mandates, California has become the second state to reach over a million cases. Texas was the first earlier this week.
- European nations are warning that it’s too soon to make travel plans for Christmas, given the distinct likelihood that travel bans and lockdown restrictions will still be in place by then.
- Shares of Disney jumped nearly 4% in Friday’s premarket, a day after the media and theme park giant reported a smaller-than-expected loss and better-than-expected revenue in its fiscal fourth quarter. The Disney+ streaming service had more than 73 million paid subscribers as of Oct. 3, the end of the company’s fiscal year. Disney said it would forgo its January dividend payment but still expects to pay the dividend in the future.
- Cisco beat expectations while delivering the fourth consecutive quarter of revenue declines on an annualized basis. Cisco’s forecast for the current quarter leaves room for the company to stop the streak of revenue declines next quarter.