Transcript

00:00:01 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Brandon.

00:00:03 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Hey. Good morning. Just, how are you?

00:00:06 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Doing well. How about yourself?

00:00:07 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
I'm just trying to open up your the file here with the strategic stuff. Let me let me look at here. Scott. I'm I'm look inside your file. Pick your pick your ass. Scott Warner. That's just Okay. Alright. Boom. Let me go back into you. You can see me. Okay. There you are. Good morning, and I can see Good morning.

00:01:01 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
How are you?

00:01:02 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
I'm good. It's kinda I'm I'm sitting in this office, it's, like, it's normally, like, 90 degrees inside, and it's, like, 60. Oh. And what the the the air conditioning is, like, it's cold. It's not working. There's something wrong.

00:01:15 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
I have my, thick sweatshirt on today. You never know what it's gonna be like here. So

00:01:20 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Well, it's supposed to be really hot today. It's, like, 70 or something.

00:01:25 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah. Usually, if it's hot outside, our office gets cold. It's weird. So

00:01:28 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Oh, is that right? So are you are you down at the office right now?

00:01:32 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah. So I've been trying to ever since I took over logistics, I've tried to be onsite, like, four days a week just to kinda get used to the team, get to know them a little better, make sure that they show leadership or they see my leadership kinda thing. So

00:01:45 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. Okay. Very good. So how are things been? How since we saw you maybe two weeks ago, I think. Right?

00:01:51 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah. So things are going well. I mean, really spent time trying to learn logistics and get involved with that. Spending a lot of time kinda just wrapping my head around what's what needs to be done still and and from a leadership standpoint where I can make my impacts. Have

00:02:12 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
you have you got a person that's gonna come in and do the logistics? Do you were you trying to get a director? Weren't you somebody to come in and do that?

00:02:19 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
So I have a director already. I'm assessing him right now as far as whether he can be the guy I need. So I think maybe we talked about this a little bit. So this is the one where Amity and Matt Howard basically told me when I took over that they didn't think he was the right guy. And I was I'm trying to find out, do I get to make that decision, or was that them telling me they've made the decision? And and the answer seems to be somewhere in the middle. If if I say he's the right guy, they'll let me keep him, but they'll also make sure I know that he's my problem, not theirs, you know, kind of a situation. So

00:02:56 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So when what's your timeline for that?

00:03:01 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
So I had originally done a ninety day thought plan, and and it would have been up at the end of this month. I I did ask Amity for a little bit more leeway there just because I've been tied up in a different project that that she put me on, and it's just monopolized all my time. So I just told her I haven't really had time to spend time out there getting to know anything Okay. Really the thirty day plan. Okay. I did kinda send her a thirty day email that just said, here's my observations thus far.

00:03:30 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Yeah.

00:03:31 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
When it comes to John, he's he's he's actually he's not here's the problem. He he executes tasks okay, but he needs direction, and he doesn't think strategically. So the the problem is is he's not bad at his job. He's just not necessarily who I would normally hire. So trying to figure out, like, can I I coach him to be who I need him to be? So

00:03:55 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
We can. I mean, sometimes when you get in those situations, get trapped into, well, I'll take the best of a bad lot. You know? Yeah. Because he's the only guy available, and it's the easiest option. But you can pay a big price for that later on. You know. Would that involve a promotion for him? Would be just like

00:04:14 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
No. I

00:04:17 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
remember you had this little there's a little loop in the job description, somebody reporting to somebody else and type of thing. I remember that. I remember that. Yeah, that's an interesting one. Mean, you try to look at the person and you say, is it somebody who's just going to be in that job for a long time? I mean, there's a lot of people in that organisation, right? So, there's a lot of people related stuff would come up. I mean, you look at the composition of the job and the type of decisions he's gotta make and the type of interactions he needs to have. Does he have the capability to be developed by you or is he limited in that department? Yeah.

00:05:01 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
And that's where I'm at right now. Was just trying to figure out what leadership he would need from me to get where I need him to be. He's just not okay. So nobody dislikes him, but very few people really respect him. And that's a that's a middle ground that I don't like, cause that means that you're not really providing impact anywhere, not on the bad or the good. You're hiding.

00:05:24 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
So I mean, why don't you just be just for a minute here? What what is your option if the answer is no? I I'm not quite comfortable with this guy.

00:05:32 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
So if if the answer is no, I have a person that I am that I have worked close with in in in many years ago, probably eight years ago or so that's actually out of headquarters, and I would look to kinda bring her over kinda like I did with Vera. Yes. She's the right talent. She thinks the right way, incredibly intelligent, ambitious. She's just the right kind of mentality. I've actually connected she and Vera together so they can get to know each other already just because I I I've told Kathy

00:06:00 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Is she is she a US person or is she a German person?

00:06:03 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
No. She's a German person.

00:06:05 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
So therefore, it'd be on assignment, would it be?

00:06:07 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
No. We we asked them to move over here. They come over permanently, and they're on our contract. Now they're on a visa, so if there's ever a visa problem, they have to go home, but it's really not been a problem. So it's it's very much the same thing Vera's on. So she works for me. Okay. And Yeah. She's a German citizen and and doesn't necessarily intend to immigrate to The US, so it's a long term visa situation. So

00:06:30 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
But how would you manage the requisition then? Would you have to have an extra requisition for that?

00:06:34 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah. So I would have to call her boss and her boss's boss and explain why this is a good career move for her and make, first of all, make sure she wants it. And I have spoken to her already and said, you know, hey. I'd I'd really like to work with you. You know, if I ever have something Yeah. Would you be interested? You know? And she said, depending on the depending on the offer, she said, yes. I would be interested. So Yeah. Me and Vera have gotten to be good friends, so they would like to work together as well. So there's just a lot of upside there.

00:07:04 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
There's a pluses. But would you have an issue at Festool in North America to add her as a requisition to your organization because you've just left a whole bunch of people go. I mean, you're trying to save you're trying to save, you know, trying to save headcount. Is it a new headcount, or do you do you free up a headcount somewhere else?

00:07:24 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
No. I would probably replace my current director with her, and then I would combine I would actually possibly even eliminate two directors and put them under her and make her a senior director. And then so she would have supply planning and logistics under her. So I would absorb supply planning, which is currently under Amity, but I don't think it belongs there.

00:07:45 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
I got you. I got you. Okay.

00:07:47 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
And I have Amity pretty much aligned on this. It it fits the direction I wanna go. So

00:07:52 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Yeah. I I mean, it sounds good, but you'd have to fire somebody then. Is that what you'd have to do?

00:07:57 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
I would. So that's why I'm being careful, and I wanna I I I like this guy, so I wanna be fair to him. And if I can coach him, if I can be a good mentor, then I'd rather keep him because he's here. He's not he's not done anything wrong. You know, it's those things. But I but I also need to see from him

00:08:15 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
How do you test it? How can you test it?

00:08:18 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
So what I'm doing is is working through my kinda like I do with Vera. You know, it's like I like to assign, you know, a goal to somebody and and talk about how they plan to execute it. And I just get a feel for what their strategic mind looks like, make sure that they are capable of of the right steps. The problem is is what I've seen so far is he'll get stuck on a project, and he's like, well, like yeah. I'll say, why are we working on that right now? And he'll be like, well, like, Clint told me, you know, it would be a good idea. And I'm like, when did Clint tell you this? He's like, well, two years ago. And I'm like, we're two years ago, the company's changed, John. You need to be able to recognize that. And, you know, we need to invest our time where where there's return on investment, and he just doesn't necessarily seem able to do that.

00:09:06 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. No. Okay. You gotta you gotta weigh these two things together here. It's not a slam dunk. It's not it's not a slam dunk. Okay.

00:09:14 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
No. But you you

00:09:15 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
come back to me anytime you were trying to do that. If you're trying to if you're trying to make a decision here, right, and you want to, you're playing both sides.

00:09:23 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah.

00:09:23 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
You know? When you're right to have that when when you feel comfortable to have that discussion, do do lean in on me on that too if you want.

00:09:31 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah.

00:09:31 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay?

00:09:32 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
I probably will just because especially as I kinda go through the next two steps, there's a lot of there's a lot of feel that needs to happen as far as and, yeah, being able to run through someone someone through it who who can see it with an external lens would helpful. So

00:09:46 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
I mean, you know, there's some of the criteria. I mean, yeah, I'd go I'd go back to Spiral Impact there, and I say, okay. What's my intention? What do I really what? What what what's my intention? Okay. What information is missing? What do I need to know? I'd go around that loop. Okay. What role do I play? What sport do I need to have? I'd go around that loop and I would do my X on the page and I'd write down my intention. I'd write down what questions I have. I'd write down energy I'm gonna put into this and the support I need to make this because it's a decision. You gotta make a decision. So you can do it even though it's hard, can do it. And you know, you could document when these things are in your head without going through the one, two, three, four, it's hard to get it. Okay. I've evaluated number one, her. I've evaluated number two, him.

00:10:41 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah.

00:10:42 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. And here's my criteria. And, you know, you also need to take into consideration your criteria, the impact on you. Mhmm. The the word impact on you of either option. Because for you, I know what you're trying to do, and your organization needs you to play a bigger, broader role. So you have to ask yourself if option a, option b, what's the impact on me? You know? So you you you probably need to have a set of criteria. What are the four or five criteria under which you would evaluate this decision? You see the word not to make this, but evaluate them. Yeah. So impact on me would be a criteria, and you could go through four or five criteria and then put option a, option b, and score each one and see, okay. Big picture, it's not perfect, but, you know

00:11:38 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah.

00:11:38 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Watch this.

00:11:39 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
So this is kinda where I'm at with it. So Okay. So here's kinda where I've been evaluating them. So, like, business outcomes, cross functional alignments, people leadership, strategic capability, you know, things like that. So then I walked through my day zero to 30 plan, and then I

00:11:57 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. Okay. Very good. Yeah. That's exactly what you need to do. That's very good.

00:12:01 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
So then for each leader so this is John's. So I came up with a scorecard. So I talked about what their role does, what they own, where they interface. So, yeah, I just spent a lot of time building that. So

00:12:14 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. So you've already gone done through some of that. Okay. Okay. Anyway, I'll leave it to you what you're right now. You're you're on the right path of what you're doing there. Like what you do? Okay? You're very analytical in the way you go through this thought process, which is very, very good. Just make sure that in the analytical process, you don't get too analytical and you don't make a damn decision. Right.

00:12:34 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
So that that's where yeah. That's kinda so I was just upfront and honest with Amity, and I just and she knew. She put me on a really tough project, and I told her, like, it will impact my ability to execute that timeline, and she said she understood that. So

00:12:47 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. Good. Good. Good. So what do you wanna talk about today? We we're on our strategic thinking thing. But before we do that, I want to make sure that is there something else you wanna talk about, or what else would you like to get out of today's session?

00:13:00 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
No. I I think today, you know, going through the rest of the strategic things, I think that that's good. I I think that we're going into the goal setting stage, and I think that I was worried we were gonna have to have a discussion about my interactions with Amity, but she called me back the next day after something happened and said, sorry. I was just in a really bad mood that day.

00:13:23 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. Okay.

00:13:24 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
We had a meeting that wasn't very positive, and she would I was

00:13:27 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
kinda

00:13:27 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
taken aback by it, but she she called me and said, sorry about that. That was me just being very

00:13:33 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay.

00:13:34 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Frustrated with things. So, realistically, I think it's good. I think the you know, just reiterating things like spiral impact and things like that's good. It's good to hear. I think you'll see some of some of what I put together today on those slides. I was trying to kinda take into account things that we've talked about and and and stuff like that. So, you know, I guess as we go through those, just let me know if you see something that looks like a concern or or something that doesn't match up with what what we've been working on.

00:14:05 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Is the is the goal set I did have the first session with Vera, by the way. Was the introduction session. And she I I know at the time she was having some issue with Robert and getting his goals or whatever he's has that been resolved, you know? She

00:14:23 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
No. So I spoke to her on Friday and I sent Robert a demand to complete it, and he apologized and said he would get right on it. She says she wished I would have just let it go so that he would have had to answer in front of the whole team why he didn't get his done. But on the other hand, she she recognized that she needs his, so she appreciated the support. So it's just it's typical. Right? It's it's it's people with that mentality think that they can push their agendas twenty four seven, but yet they don't have to they don't have to answer the same question. So, to me, my role was to hold him accountable to it, and that's what I

00:15:01 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
was doing. Yeah. So Yeah. Yeah. And at her level, I mean, she can try the best she can, but she doesn't you know you know Robert's style.

00:15:09 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah.

00:15:10 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
He he'd blow her away in two seconds. Right?

00:15:12 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah. And with no remorse.

00:15:16 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
With no remorse at all. And, you know, so and when I talked to her, I say, you can communicate to Robert, but you might want to escalate it if if if you think you need to get it escalated. But she had some deadline with Germany or other to report stuff back to Germany that was a week ago. I mean, I it wasn't like this week. It was a week ago to whether she had any leeway in that that Yeah.

00:15:39 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
They ended up giving her some leeway because Clint was sick. So she actually got some reprieve from that. So I I think it ended up being okay, but it Yeah. It's the frustration that's there. And, yeah, you're right. It it's she's she's that's the one area she's gotta learn is is when can she handle it and when should she escalate. Because she doesn't ever wanna let me down, so she tries not to escalate things to me, but sometimes she has to. So

00:16:05 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
She's a tough cookie. I mean Yeah. I mean, she

00:16:10 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
I love her to death. Yeah. She's she's tough. Don't get in her way. But you know? But no. We work together great. I I very much appreciate her. So

00:16:18 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Yeah. It sounded so I have I and I have her I'm gonna do Eli with her, I believe, on Thursday or Friday this week. Okay? So I'll I'll kinda get into this a lot more with her and see where she's at. But, you know, she sounds like she's a she's a live wire. There's no doubt about that. Yeah. Yeah.

00:16:35 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
She was excited to get started because I think I told you she's never done anything like executive training or or any training really, so she was really excited to get started.

00:16:44 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
So That's good. Okay. So where are we going today? I'm trying to think where we want. Is there some direction you wanna go before we go into, have you done any prework on the strategic thinking thing or not? Did you

00:16:57 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
The I sent the slides. Did you get those?

00:16:59 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Oh, shit. Hold on. I didn't see. When did send them to me? This morning?

00:17:02 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Just this morning. Yeah.

00:17:04 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
So Okay. I mean, I just came for my cup of coffee. Okay. Hold on. Let me see if I can find them. Well, why don't you just

00:17:11 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
I can just share my screen.

00:17:12 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Just you put them put them up. They're on my I've saved them, but just put them up on the screen. K. Oh, brilliant. You you are anyone that ever does this for me. Everybody else, like, BS's me into let's do it while we're alive. You know, I I hope you do your prep. Okay. Be life, not learning. Okay?

00:17:33 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah. So I like to try to have it ready for you. So okay.

00:17:35 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. This is a way. Okay.

00:17:38 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
So, you know, culture of learning, I I like this. You know, it's because they're good thoughtful questions. So I really spent time on, you know, willing to read, research, share. I think you and I have talked about it, but I'm a relentless researcher. I mean, podcast twenty four seven, read books all the time, you know, stuff like that.

00:17:54 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Did you get did you buy the did you get the book? I think you did. The Spiral Impact. Did buy that? You did?

00:18:02 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
I've I've got it. Yeah. I've actually read it twice now. So

00:18:05 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. So that's really good in your head. That's that's an excellent book. Okay. Yeah. Alright. Okay. Keep going. Keep going.

00:18:11 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
So I just I really just tried to spend time, you know, really thinking about through these and, you know, really going through it so that when I came to this, I could really answer it. So what learning areas could you focus on to further advance your career? So I said to further advance my career, I wanna continue developing capabilities that move me from functional execution, so a doer, towards enterprise leadership. So, you know, someone who helps lead the company. So You did. Yeah. Key learning areas included. So enterprise operating models. So I wanna understand how high performing organization structure decision, rights, governance, cross functional integrations. You know, I wanna understand all those things so that I can say that we can take strategy and actually turn it into execution. Right? Yes. Too many people can do one or the other, but it takes it takes work to put them together. Okay. Executive communication and influence. So I really wanna sharpen how I frame complex issues. I wanna you know, how I influence senior leadership and how I drive alignment across the different leadership styles. I've got Matt Howard. I've got Robert. I've got Amity. They all lead me differently. So I'm the I'm the mixer. I'm the guy who takes it all and makes it into the comprehensive plan.

00:19:21 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Yeah.

00:19:21 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
You know, the struggle for me is sometimes I feel difficult or resistance trying to influence those senior leaders. How do I make them understand, you know, that I'm I'm trying to solve for the right issues?

00:19:36 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. Okay. Very good.

00:19:39 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yes. Strategic thinking and system design, I wanna improve my ability to see that those second order impacts, you know, anticipate organizational friction points, design operating mechanisms that make execution repeatable rather than personality driven. So I really like things like standard operating procedures. I like things like policy and things like that. Not because I think companies should be ruled by them, but necessarily because it creates boundaries for people. We know where we work, and and I think that that helps everybody. So Yeah. And then last but not least, leadership under ambiguity. So strengthening my ability to make decisions and guide the organization when information is incomplete and the stakes are high. Often Yeah. This organization paralyzes itself because we don't know enough and everybody just stops thinking. So I wanna be the guy who who can help push through the barriers because I'm not afraid to make decisions, and I can help specifically Amity be better at this. So

00:20:35 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. Okay. Very good. This is it. I mean, this is really beautifully worded. Okay? Alright? Keep going. It's beautifully worded. Okay? If you map it out, you're a very good use of words. You're not using AI here by any chance, are you?

00:20:49 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Nope. I like to write. I'm a writer.

00:20:51 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. You write very, very well.

00:20:53 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
I was actually thinking on the way to work. I probably should have became an author. I love writing. So

00:20:57 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
So what else do you I mean, this is very interesting because you you write with superior use of language. I mean, what else what else do you write?

00:21:08 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
So I'm a programmer. Right? So I write a lot of, like, programming documents and things like that, but that's a little different. I I help my kids, my nieces, my nephews. They all send me their school papers for help. So I guide them through how to write, how to structure sentences, how to use Yeah. Vocabulary without being obtuse. Right? You can use vocabulary in a way that's too big, and too many people do that. So to me, it's find the right word for the right situation and then take an idea and boil it down into the right number of sentences. That's that's Okay.

00:21:46 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Very good. I mean, really, it's a it's clearly a very good strength of yours. I mean, now the only problem with having a strength is what? What's the danger of having a really strong strength?

00:21:58 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
It gets overused or you lean on it too hard.

00:22:00 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Yeah. You put too much emphasis on the strength and it can become a weakness.

00:22:05 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
For sure.

00:22:05 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Because it can it can limit you. You have to be careful not to overuse this to the point of extreme that causes you not to be able to move forward. You know what I mean? Yeah.

00:22:16 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
That's kinda how I got the legal part of my job because I write all of our legal agreements now pretty much myself, You know? So I got really so I'm really critical to detail and things like that. So anyway.

00:22:28 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. Go to the right side. Keep going down. I wanna see what you wrote. This is how this is what you can do. You the practical aspect of turning the left side into the right side is what we have here. Okay.

00:22:37 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah. So how can I create a culture of learning in my organization or business? So I said creating a culture of learning starts with modeling curiosity and reflection as leaders. Ways that I can reinforce this include, so normalizing after action reviews. So after a major initiative or a decision, I wanna capture lessons learned rather than simply moving on. I I have found this to be a huge benefit to my team. Okay. What did we screw up and why, or what went great and why, and how do we find those repeatable? It's encouraging experimentation with guardrails. I like the word boundaries a lot. Guardrails is the same thing for me. Okay. Teams can test ideas while maintaining accountability for results. So my team knows they can try anything they want. As long as they go by my rules, I will never I will always support them. I will never hang them out to dry.

00:23:25 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay.

00:23:26 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Making learning visible. So sharing insights from leadership discussions, industry trends, and external perspectives with the team. So whenever we have an ELT, other than the private stuff, I always share with them what I what I came what came from those meetings, what I did with them, what I've read out industry, and then, you know, I I share a lot of things from you, Brendan, as far as external perspectives and things like that. Okay. You know, just things like that. So Okay. Developing leaders who teach others. So encouraging my management team to coach their teams, share expertise, and build capability rather than solving every problem themselves. Right? How do we avoid a bunch of Scotts running around trying to solve everything?

00:24:04 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. Okay.

00:24:05 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Rewarding through improvement, so recognizing not just short term outcomes, but the behaviors that help others identify gaps, improve processes, and strengthen the organization over time. Each of my people is powered and pushed to make the org better, not just themselves.

00:24:21 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. Very good. Okay. I mean, all of that stuff, it's it's very it's very flowery, and it's very, very clearly everything is is full of wisdom. Okay? So can I ask you a challenge question now? Okay. Here's my challenge question. So I see all those things on the right side, which are all perfect. Yeah. Okay? Describe a situation that you see in your organization right now where learning is required from past experience since you don't repeat the errors of the past?

00:24:54 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
We let's see. Okay. I was gonna go with one, but I think I'll pick something else. Okay. So I'm gonna pick the AI initiative that we have that we've kinda discussed, I think, the last year.

00:25:06 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay.

00:25:08 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
We have gotten to a point where that project is in danger of stalling because other things

00:25:15 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Can you can you get rid of the screen right now that I did charge you for a second? Okay. So I can see you properly. I can see no. That's okay. Good. Off you go.

00:25:22 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah. So we have gotten to a point where the project is in danger of stalling because there are competing priorities coming in from the ELT team, and the ELT often doesn't understand that when they tell people to do something, it can change the entire destiny of the company. Right? It's not just telling Jimmy to go do something. You're directing a whole department to change its flow. So Yeah. My the way I'm handling this is is making sure that my people, for in this case, it would be Shawn. I'm making sure Shawn knows that he has the power of of my voice to challenge that back and to say, yes. But and then he'll talk through the concern and the issue and let people know what's going on. You know, he works to educate them on if this, then that. So, really, it's it's teaching my people no matter what level they are that they have an equal voice in the in the future of this company if done respectfully and within the boundaries that I give them.

00:26:24 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. A voice. Okay. Okay. And what does that mean then in terms of the AI initiative? What what has to happen?

00:26:31 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
So I I don't want it to get stuck. So it's making sure that we we may we have identified it as a top four corporate priority. So we cannot we we must not let it be be bound by by being buried under other things. It needs to stay forefront in people's minds. It needs to be a real priority, or an intentional decision needs to happen at the ELT level to to to deflate its importance or to deescalate it, and we've not done that. So my big push here is this intentional decision making. I want things to be intentional.

00:27:07 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Very good. So and so you you what so let me can I paraphrase what I hear? We as an organization have a habit of getting all excited about something, pushing it forward and then stalling, and then coming back six months later and starting over again.

00:27:27 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
And then asking why, you know, will I Why is it not progressing? What what yeah. So

00:27:31 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. So how do you how do you get them to understand that pattern of behavior so that you don't actually end up stalling?

00:27:40 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
So this is where Vera is really helping me out. So we are creating, redesigning the entire corporate goal and decision making structure from the top down. So we took the the unchangeables, which come from the board. Right? Those are our level zero goals. The board issues them. We cannot change them. Then we have our level one goals, which are the ELT, which is the local. Okay? And from there, we developed OKRs, which is at the department level. So, you know, the key results Okay. Objectives to reach those goals. And then we have the IT training. And then from there, we're designing actual department personal goals. Through that whole thing, everything must support one of the co corporate goals. Every goal will be tied directly up through

00:28:30 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. Makes sense. Yeah. Okay. And Once I can do the once I can do the AI.

00:28:35 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
So AI is a top four corporate initiative. So if if, say, example, Sean is asked to do any random task and it and it directly conflicts with his ability to get that done on a long term scale, he can challenge it and say, you know, we won't be able to get to that until when because we have this corporate goal, and I I am tasked with with focus on that. Now there's there's some give and take there. Right? I mean, daily tasks and things like that. But what happens a lot let me give you an example. It's like marketing will come up with a new ecommerce project, and they'll wanna you know, Angela's team will be pushing that. And Shawn can now say, you know, hey. I'm happy to add that to our list, you know, as we get as we free up capacity. However, my time right now is tasked between these three items, and I'm gonna be focusing on those, and a new ecommerce project is not on the list right now. Then Okay. Angela can go to the ELT and say, hey. Look. I have an ecommerce thing. I think it's super important. I think we need to adjust our priorities a little bit. And if that happens, then Shawn could then change his his workflow.

00:29:46 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
What's what's Shawn's job? What does he do?

00:29:48 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
I'm just picking on Shawn. So he's, equivalent to Vera on the business, development side, so applications and IT and stuff like that.

00:29:57 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
So and I see charged with AI

00:30:00 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yes.

00:30:01 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
In execution. So you're saying AI is a higher priority than, let's say, the ecommerce project?

00:30:06 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Correct.

00:30:08 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
But the and and so is AI is there a specific direction on AI that's that's just driving to some goal? Is there a specific direction?

00:30:16 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah. So part of the corporate goals is is to achieve use of AI and automation tools to lower impact of daily repeatable tasks. We have a lot of people who are manually refreshing Excel spreadsheets and manually inputting data, all things that can be automated by by machine learning and things like that pretty quickly. And that's what the office is actually hired to do. So

00:30:39 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. So to keep the emphasis on that that particular goal that you're so, I mean, that potentially has freeing up a lot of people's time ultimately

00:30:48 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
That's

00:30:48 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
do other stuff or jobs can be eliminated. Right?

00:30:52 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Well, it's more of covering the the the we just eliminated a bunch of positions, so now we're trying to figure out how can we remain that retain the same level of productivity we had before that. And right now, the industry can't. But with automating some of this, the idea is is that we can get more efficient overall.

00:31:10 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. Okay. Okay. And is the is the is the goal setting they keep bringing up the goal setting in some context here, many contexts. Was that whole goal setting process is it I mean, we're now in March. We're talking about 2026, you know, or mid March almost.

00:31:27 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yes.

00:31:28 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Is that process you know, you can overcomplicate that process too.

00:31:33 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Vera has done a great job. So she we gave her that project in February and she's really driving it hard to get it done, which is why she's frustrated with Robert is because he's holding up the process for everyone and and so that's why we sent the emails. But

00:31:46 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
But you do have a prospect. So is is the is the is the leadership team is there a forum for that leadership team to say, okay. This is this we're coming in. The next meeting, I believe, is March, is this what Angela told me. Is that right?

00:32:01 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Okay. Out there, but yeah.

00:32:03 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. So then are is that gonna be a focus inside? Are you just going drift into that Mars team with, hey. We'll we'll discuss the agenda the day before. Or is there an agenda being built for that? Or this goal setting is gonna get resolved. There's we're agreed. We're we made decisions. We move forward.

00:32:20 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
So I'm big on bringing my people into meetings and letting them speak. I don't like to speak for them. So for every ELT meeting, I give Vera a half hour where she comes in and we go over the corporate goals, what the status is, what the hang ups are, and what next steps are. So you'll come into the next one. She and I will align before it, which we'll probably

00:32:37 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
do Yes. Okay.

00:32:38 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
In the next

00:32:38 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
few weeks.

00:32:39 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
So but then that way she gets exposure to speaking to executives because I think that's important. I get I get to show how great she is to the rest of the team, and, you know, it's it's just part of my development for her. So Yeah. Care very much about my teams, and I try to make them I don't want them to go through the same struggles I had trying to come up and and do executive leadership. So

00:33:03 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Yeah. Okay. Okay. I I I see where you go. Okay. I'm I'm with you. I'm I mean, I do I deep down, I have a concern about you guys still with your org structure and the inability to make local decisions. And this whole thing with Matt, Matt's off doing 150 other jobs and he's still the guy at the top and you guys not necessarily aligned on how to make that decisions. I mean, somehow between you and Angela and whoever else driving for a process by which decisions can be made.

00:33:31 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
I have a plan. I have a plan.

00:33:35 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
What's your plan?

00:33:36 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Well, I always joke. Like, I don't necessarily wanna be the number one guy, but I really like to be the number two guy. So I've always called myself a kingmaker. It's it's someone who sits and and I help someone else get to the front, and then I can help keep them going.

00:33:51 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Yeah.

00:33:52 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
So with the way Amity's role did not work out, I really started working a lot closer with Matt Howard and having more conversations with him because I think That's good.

00:34:02 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
That's fine. Yeah.

00:34:03 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
I think I can make anyone better at their job because I'm good at being behind the scenes and moving pieces. I see things that other people don't see. Yeah. You know? So so it's really something I've been working on with him, and he actually called me on my way home the other day just to say thank you, and he and he was really impressed with the way I communicated a topic to to headquarters. And he said they he said, I had two people call me and say how impressed they were with you and and the way you handled that. And so just trying to make better impact for him. So

00:34:31 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Yeah. But that's a win. That's a win. That's a really good win. Okay. That's that's good. But then, you know yeah. I mean, it's it's your company still hasn't understood that a clearly defined org structure might help you resolve a lot and you don't have it. You still have this mixed up org structure. And I think Amity is part of the problem here, not part of the solution, because she wasn't willing to take on Robert. So I don't know where I mean, if it is what it is and you gotta make the best out of it, but if you're going to make the best of all, you gotta find a way of not having to stall stuff because of the same old habits about overanalyzing everything before a decision is made or somebody everybody happened to be involved in every single thing.

00:35:25 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah.

00:35:25 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
You mean, you you know you know where you've gained you changed your org structure. You've done some amazing things, really. You got rid of a whole bunch of people, but you're still left with this how do we make decisions?

00:35:38 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Well, and that's kinda why so the way I'm pushing is is creating the processes and the structures around it to make decision making lightning fast. Everybody knows what what's needed. So everybody so Amity got this is part of what she got cranky with me on the other day is maybe I can pull it up real quick. But just because I wanna redo the exact wording. Give me two seconds. Is this me? Yeah. Here we go.

00:36:06 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
And by the way, it's okay to ruffle feathers.

00:36:09 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
It's kind of a skill.

00:36:12 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Yeah. But but it don't it's like it's it's like you get to a point in leadership where ruffling feathers is not necessarily a problem. So you piss off Amity is not necessarily a problem.

00:36:22 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
No.

00:36:22 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. And you don't have to take it personally because you're trying to drive some change agenda here, and she may be slow to come to the to the party. Okay?

00:36:32 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah. Alright. So I'm gonna share my screen one more time. Sorry.

00:36:35 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay.

00:36:36 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
So this is Yep. Just I've written and sent to her.

00:36:40 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. Okay.

00:36:41 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Kinda give you so let me scroll all the way up. So what the here. Let me zoom out just so can get a bigger picture. So we have this why is it doing that? There it goes. Okay. So you you have your thing here, and then you do so I did I added these two things. I did end of oh, I haven't picked one yet, but I was coming up with an end of year success definition, what I think it looks like. So I'll fix one when I send it, I'll fix one.

00:37:05 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. So can I read that sentence? Did we see? But that's a very it's very important to me. I want to read that sentence. Success in relation to company's execution system and improving enterprise execution and reliability, increased organizational throughput, and strengthening leadership and decision making capacity across the organization. Yeah. Beautiful. I love it.

00:37:22 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Love it. So there's another the longer version's up top if you wanna see that one.

00:37:27 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. Okay. Okay. This includes supporting the executive. My help in translating the strategic portion into. So given the entering the final one, the q one, I I'll treat q one as a business. Okay. Perfect. Yep. Gotcha.

00:37:42 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Okay. So then what we have to do is identify core competencies for our role. So as VP of operations, so I have strategic prioritization and enterprise focus. So Okay. One of the things she got upset with is I changed my core competencies to be enterprise focused or business focused instead of just operations focused because I have designs on being more to this organization than just the operations guy. Okay. Okay. Know, I talked about where is it? Oh, it's down below. Okay. So that's easy. Empowering leadership and organizational development. I added this one. I want to develop leaders. If we spend time and investment in in growing our leadership team, then we get better at the company. Look at, example, what I'm doing with Vera, I wanna do that through all my leadership team.

00:38:28 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. Yeah. Okay.

00:38:29 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
And then cross functional leadership and stakeholder alignment, so it's I wanna, you know, you know, ability to align leaders across all departments, make sure that everybody understands their priorities, clarify expectations, trade offs, etcetera. So those things we just talked about. Okay. Then if you scroll down here to individual objectives, this is where we had misalignment. So I said improved decision quality and enterprise alignment. So number one here is a decision framework is implemented and actively used for major operations led initiatives. Amity didn't really like that. She said, are we really gonna have, like, things that we have to do in order to make decisions? And I said, yes. It's gonna be here's the here's the here's the information or data that we need to be able to execute on any decision. So she and I kind of struggled with that one a little bit, but I I really think I'm right. I think this is what would help us be faster.

00:39:19 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Yeah. Yeah. You're you're saying you want a you want a framework to exist at the enterprise level. So Yeah. How we make decisions. I mean, a lot of it can be delegated down into the department area like finance and sales and marketing, there are certain decisions that need to be made across the enterprise, how are we gonna do that? That's all you're asking. Yeah.

00:39:36 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
So point two is decision decision ownership, scope, and success criteria are clearly defined. I mean, that should be big. Right?

00:39:43 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
So Yeah.

00:39:44 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
We don't do these things, and that's what slows us down. So and then the rest of

00:39:47 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
it is

00:39:48 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
basically similar stuff. So this is about the automation and stuff. So I I did wanna put that in here. Yeah. The last one is reducing single point leadership on myself. You know, how do I create less Scott specific decisions? So

00:40:05 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. Yeah. I like the way he did there's a lot of stuff inside there. He's just it's just not it's not a ton of stuff. And what's this employee comments, manager comments? What's that about?

00:40:16 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
So at the at the midyear or the end of the year, when you

00:40:19 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
come Okay. Okay. Okay. So

00:40:21 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
you write how you went. So, like, for example

00:40:26 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay.

00:40:26 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Last year's oh, shoot. That's not gonna share.

00:40:31 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
I gotta So where did you guys end where did you guys end up here, by the way, on this so you had a disagreement.

00:40:36 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Time to look at them, and then she'll get back to me.

00:40:39 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
See, but that's okay. Classic. Okay? Classic willingness to kick it off, kick it kick it kick it, punt it away, work on other things, and then come back to it or never come back to it.

00:40:52 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah. Exactly. So so here's

00:40:54 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
That's that's that's a she's demonstrating she's demonstrating the problem. Yeah. And that's By that reaction.

00:41:03 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
My issue there is is she kinda creates it. So

00:41:07 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
So she won't so she as far as she's how quickly is she gonna come back? She I don't know whether she will or not. That's clear. She'll say, but you guys have to close this stuff out, don't you?

00:41:17 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah. It's I mean, we haven't set a due date yet, but it's already March. And if we don't have goals, then what are we supposed to be working on? Right? So

00:41:24 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
I mean, the other thing you can start saying is that, you know, Amity, this we're not talking about this doesn't have to be super analytical. We just need a framework on which decisions need to be made. Okay? Can we just agree? We might be able to put it on one a one a one pager. How how does how decisions how you know? I mean, you can make it very complicated or you can make it very easy. Right? I think I wouldn't make it too complicated.

00:41:49 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
I told her no matter what, we're doing it in my department. I said if your department doesn't want to do it, fine. But anyway, we'll get there. So

00:41:56 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
But it's the decisions that I mean, like, how do you deal with, like, what you just said, the framework with Robert? Robert's strategy inside in his organization to rip apart, you know, I'm gonna fire X number of people a year and gonna replace them. And I mean, is that a decision he's free to make with inside his department or whatever consulting? What what gets elevated? What decisions come into the leadership team? No. So What decisions?

00:42:26 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah. So that's kinda where I've I've been working with HR to decides, like, what what what would the frame like look like for an HR decision? What's the criteria necessary before we should we mentor somebody? Should we remove them? Should we Yes. You know, put them on a performance plan? Like, there's all these things that can happen. What are the criteria for each one of those? And and it's not been written down. So so it's hard to be upset with someone for not knowing, right, because we don't write it down. So that's why these processes I'm building, I think, will help everybody.

00:42:58 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Yeah. Okay. Okay. Just just one one point. Remember from my one experience at ELA, company over many years, When you make policies and procedures like that, you can make them as close to black and white as you want, but you always want an element of space, a little bit of a gray area. Because if you lock yourself in to black and white, you sometimes don't want to execute it. I learned this a long time ago having written procedures about certain types of accounting policies and then I find out E and Y, the auditor said, well, you didn't follow the procedure. Said, well, kind of was a bit and I remember the chief accounting officer, Brenda, need to leave just leave enough room that you have discretion to be able to do something different if you want. I mean, just don't be so black and white. Yeah. Don't you rock yourself into something?

00:43:46 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
I said, yeah, being too rigid works against you. I agree. So

00:43:49 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Being too rigid sometimes works against you. You wanna leave a little bit of room. It's the spirit of it is and the consistency is there, but there's room for wiggle room for for extenuating circumstances that could come into play that would allow for some flexibility. I see this in HR decisions all the time. Somebody's coming in late for work. It happens in manufacturing sites. Somebody has three strikes and you're out. He might be the best guy you have in the department, but he was late three times in a row or three days in a row or something. And then they said, well, he's got to be fired. Well, that makes no sense. He's the best guy you have in the department. Maybe he wants do

00:44:27 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
something temporarily, right?

00:44:29 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Yeah, you see because you don't know what the problem is. He has his wife is sick and he has to go home because that's a bigger priority than than coming to fricking work. And so you're you're losing the guy because you're so rigid in your procedure because I gotta tell this to the other guy that somebody else got fired who was not performing on the job and he needed to be fired. And somehow we're going to find out that we're applying this differently. Well, you need to leave enough wiggle room for management discretion to say under the circumstances in this particular situation. Yeah. Etcetera, etcetera. That's all I'm gonna say. Be careful. Okay?

00:45:03 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Got it. Do you wanna look at anticipate the future real quick?

00:45:07 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Yeah. Let's go to get to go to that. Okay. 1014. I mean, you're doing a really good job here, but I you've I can see you got your hands full to navigate this into turn turn somebody's app. You know?

00:45:17 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Working on it.

00:45:19 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Yeah. But you know where you're going. I like you know where you're going. You have a you have a good strategic intent here. This is good. Okay? So keep going down here. So off you go.

00:45:27 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah. So what threat oh, somehow I deleted that or something. What threats and opportunities exist in my business company today? So some of the greatest threats to our business are organizational misalignment and unclear decision rights. It creates drag, rework, slower execution as complexity increases. We have an overdependence on individual performers and workarounds, which limits scalability, increases risk when key people are stretched unavailable.

00:45:53 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay.

00:45:54 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Market and supply volatility, tariff exposures, capacity constraints, shifting demand patterns require faster, more disciplined decision making, but because of point one, we're too slow. Yeah. Okay. Leadership capability gaps, especially if the organization grows faster than its ability to build repeatable operating mechanisms. So we just cut a bunch of people out. And if we're gonna grow as fast as they say, we're gonna explode past our boundaries pretty quick. And then we're missing external signals from customers, partners, competitors until until they after it's a problem. So we don't have a way of really monitoring what's going on in our world and knowing it. So Okay. Okay. Greatest opportunities, building a clear North America operating model with better governance, accountability, and cross functional integration, increasing local autonomy and decision making capability, especially where we can move faster and more effectively by reducing unnecessary dependencies, strengthening leadership bench and internal talent, which creates both stability and long term growth capacity, utilizing day data systems and AI enabled tools more effectively to improve visibility, speed, and quality of decision making, and then learning more effectively from customers, partners, competitors, and market shifts so we can spot risks and opportunities earlier.

00:47:05 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Very good. I mean, again, very comprehensive. I mean, this is a good reference document for you to create. I mean, it really is.

00:47:15 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah. I've already tried to use I've used some of it in some of my assessments of other situations because it's it kinda kinda problems.

00:47:23 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
I think it's a good it's a good document for you to refer to when you're dealing with individual situations to say, What did I say here about these threats and opportunities? And what am I saying about what we do? What, you know, what can I do about it? Okay? So keep reading what you can do.

00:47:38 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Okay. So to better anticipate the future, I can look beyond immediate issues and identify recurring patterns, especially where today's friction points could become tomorrow's structural weaknesses. You often will see a problem before it becomes a recurring problem because it happens once, and then Sure. You don't fix it, it happens again, you know, stuff like that. So use scenario based thinking to pressure test major decisions and ask. So what happens if this continues? What breaks? What scales? What the you know, things like that. Yeah. Build leadership indicators, not just lagging ones so that we can see problems forming become they become before they become urgent. Create more repeatable operating mechanisms, clear decision rights, cadence metrics, escalation paths. The organization can adjust faster under pressure. You kinda see that repeatedly.

00:48:27 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
See, I mean, it's we just talked about it. It's the same as the last one. The whole goal setting process is an example of that. Okay?

00:48:33 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Stay close to both internal and external signals, including leadership dynamics, customer needs, market shifts, and supply chain realities, so the decisions are based on what is coming next, not what's happening now. And then study customers, partners, competitors, and even lost business more intentionally so I can spy external risk and opportunities before they show up.

00:48:52 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Yeah. Yeah. And look, a lot of this doesn't even belong to you. A lot of this belongs in other parts of the organization. Right? It belongs in Robert's shop. It belongs in in the Amity's shop. And it belongs in the Angela's shop. I mean, a lot of those points belong in somebody else's shop. Right?

00:49:09 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah. I think I I was writing it from my space on the ELT to make sure that I understand what's Yes. What's facing us. So

00:49:17 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Yeah. But it puts you in a position to ask the right questions.

00:49:19 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Right.

00:49:20 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
So it's like it goes back to the Spire Olympic again. So a lot of what you have here is is your strategic intent. This is what you're trying to you're you're taught it out. This is strategically with very good articulated intentions. Now, when I get to play the broader role at the ELT, you know, I want to play that broader role and I'll either do it visibly in the ELT or I'll do it invisibly behind the scenes with with Met.

00:49:48 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah.

00:49:49 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
So you're doing it you're doing it to you're trying to influence the group without intimidating them. So at one level. Mhmm. And and and this gives you a framework for you to ask the right question. It's all about those questions you ask. Are we considering have we considered the impact of blah blah blah? How do we know the customers the direction? You know, like for instance, we have this here's another example. I'll you another example, which came up with Angela was this shaper thing, is that what I call it? The shaper thing?

00:50:20 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah.

00:50:20 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. Shaper thing, you're trying to integrate that and it seems like it's a bit of a floating project. Right? Where the hell is it going? Who owns it? And I talked to I mean, this is confidential, but kind of in a way I've got be careful because, you know, it's hard to not talk about both of you guys. But who's driving that project? Who owns it? And I I wasn't get wasn't getting the clearer. So so where is this gonna land if somebody isn't doing it?

00:50:46 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Right. Yeah. Who who yeah. Who's responsible? Right? That's the question. Who's it's not?

00:50:50 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Because it's in a really good example of a strategic well, it's an initiative where something is closing down and you're inheriting it and it's not a big part of your business, but we're told there's a deadline to get it done. But nobody is driving project managing this thing to get it done. So therefore what is important and not urgent now, because it doesn't have to be done till October, November, what is important and not urgent now, if you leave it the way it is, in about three months time this thing is gonna be oh shit.

00:51:21 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah.

00:51:21 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
It's now important urgent, and it's going to disrupt much bigger stuff way better or way more important than the value that this stupid shaper thing has worked. Mhmm. So now you're in a position where you can be impactful in decision making now so that we know we have a process to get it done. But what is the process to get it done? And who owns it? And who's driving it?

00:51:47 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Right.

00:51:47 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Is it is it Vera owns the project or somebody else owns the project? You have to but if it's is it you? No. Is it her? Angela, she was kinda indicating no. So who wants it? Is it is it Amity? No. Is it ELT? Yes. Yeah. You guys own it. So how are you making the decisions regarding to position this project for success using the anticipated a really good example. That's a really good example. Yeah. Where you could blow it by not anticipating the future. I can tell you the future, and you can too, if we take our eye off the ball in this thing, which we may be right now, but Robert's off building sales forces and firing people, and this is so unimportant to him as 10, 15 of your business. He could care less, right?

00:52:33 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah.

00:52:33 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
So who really is driving it? And it's a corporate initiative because it impacts Germany as well. And there's legal issues, there's marketing issues, there's all sorts of other issues. I believe she's talking to you about the legal issues. Right? Yep. Yep. That's

00:52:50 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
actually the project that Amity put me on to try and develop some structure because it's such a mess right now. So that's Okay.

00:52:57 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
So I'm I'm my my finger is on the ball. Okay? Yes. So that You know? And I was no. I have to be careful. I I can't I don't wanna cross over between the two of you guys. Okay? But I I mean, I was you know, I I said, somebody in your leadership team needs to drive this thing. You know? And if you're if you're concerned about if you speak about it, you own it. That's one of the concerns. Or if you bring it up as a hey. We have an issue here, then suddenly you want it, which sounds like what what you're getting into.

00:53:31 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah. It's Angela and I met multiple times last week, and then Vera's kinda getting involved in it. So it's it's frustration from top to bottom. Amity is supposed to be the local leadership, but she doesn't really have time for it. So I don't know. The whole thing's just an absolute disaster. So

00:53:47 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Yeah. And then the problem is you the problem is you guys didn't even create this. It was handed to you. Somebody else gave you this on a hey. On a platter. Here it is. Here here's this. We're just take you gotta do this. Suddenly but the question is, how much is that going to interfere with other projects and initiatives that need to be taken? I I don't know.

00:54:06 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
100. The problem right there that needs solved, We gotta understand it. So

00:54:11 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. So, I mean, that's a that's a really good another example of that where they anticipate you can see where this is going.

00:54:18 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yep.

00:54:18 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Right? Mhmm. Okay. Very good. You've done a really good job there. I like what you did. It's really it's it's a good exercise for me to go through. But you gotta get real practical and and and take all that stuff. How do you apply it to real like, the shape or thing, like the goal setting process, like the what are decisions are being made? Like, for instance, the tariffs. God forbid. I don't even can't even imagine what's going on with that. Right? That? Who Who owns that one?

00:54:48 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah. That that's a Mike in finance owns that here. So I feel bad for him. But

00:54:55 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
because you can't even I mean, that has the potential to make your life a whole lot easier based on what just happened, maybe. Exactly. Except you can't anticipate the future because the unpredictability of the people in in the federal government making decisions are totally unpredictable.

00:55:09 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
And that's the real struggle, right, is is you don't know what the next step's gonna be. Like, you just have no idea because it it all depends on did someone make somebody mad? Did you know? I don't know.

00:55:21 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
It's it's So do you guys get do you guys get the opportunity to to file a lawsuit to get money back?

00:55:28 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
That's all still kinda up in the air right now. I think the answer long term will be yes if it's required, but our attorneys are saying we may not have to file a lawsuit because the government may just have to give it back. But I don't know if you saw. So immediately when the supreme court said that wasn't legal, Trump turned around and put tariffs back on it at 10 using a different method. So now Yeah.

00:55:50 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
But then but that method that method has only a 100 and fifty days of life.

00:55:54 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
So But We're we're gonna see where it goes. I mean, it would be a huge boon to our business if if those would go away, but who knows? Right?

00:56:03 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Yeah. There's we live in it. We live in crazy. This is you know, I live in Zionsville, and I live in a cocoon. Yeah. But the world out there right now with what's going on in Washington and and what's going on in Europe and what's going on in in Asia and all that. It's just it's insane what's going on. That's the right word. It's insane.

00:56:24 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
It's insane. I said that's the right word. So

00:56:27 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. Okay. Okay. Alright. This is really good work, my friend. This is really good work.

00:56:34 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah. It's it's a fun exercise. I I really do think so.

00:56:38 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
I think what you should do we've done the the strategic some strategic thing. I I think you should think about the application of what you've done this last this week and the prior time we did the previous ones we did.

00:56:53 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Okay.

00:56:54 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Just think more of the application rather than building more. I think you have enough in there right now.

00:56:59 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Okay.

00:57:00 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay.

00:57:01 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
So, like, pause to because I think we had, what, one more left or something like that? Yeah. Implement change. That was the last one.

00:57:07 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Yeah. I would say just just pause a little bit. Okay. I I think you need to digest what you got and take what we did so far and say, 'Okay, so now apply this to my business. I have the AI situation. I have the goal setting situation. I have the shipper situation. I have the tariff situation. Are we as a leadership team? And so apply the anticipate the future? Are we learning from our past mistakes? And put yourself in a situation to start applying those and what you said inside there. And don't forget, you'll fail. You'll make a mistake. You're gonna learn from what you're doing, you know, and you're gonna ruffle some feathers. I sure said love your next leadership team, it was a well structured leadership team that wasn't flying all over the place. And that that you guys had, you know, I haven't I believe you haven't had one for a while, have you?

00:57:58 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
No. It's been a while. And I think it's the end of this month or something. I forget when it is, but it's

00:58:04 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Who drives who drives this the the the the what we call the PAL, the purpose, the agenda, the length of time of that meeting? Who who who who drives that?

00:58:15 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Really, Howard drives it.

00:58:18 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
So he's driving, but he's not close enough to all the stuff.

00:58:21 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Nope. That's that's the problem, I think. So then So if he starts

00:58:25 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
putting an agenda together, he's he's playing by the seat of his pants. How do you help shape the agenda for that meeting with the right people coming in? Is this gonna be, like, an all day type thing?

00:58:35 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
It's usually three hours, I think. Three hours, four hours. So what it usually happens is Amity will like, during my one on ones for the week, she'll say, you know, what do you have for the ELT meeting next week or whenever? And, you know, I'll kinda walk through with her what topics I think are important. And then I I assume everybody does something the same. And then somehow, Matt and Amity or it used to be Clint. They put together that agenda, and it gets sent out to us, like, either the night before or or two days before the meeting. So

00:59:05 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Yeah. Yeah. You know, somehow maybe you need to this is where you need to go back into Amity and Matt and sort of start influencing that agenda and who comes to the meeting and what the link to the meeting. Yeah. You know? And so, I mean, there's a really good opportunity there. And then you don't stuff it with 150 things so nothing gets decided. That you, you know, go back to what you said, we want to have a process where we're going make decisions that are really going to help us in 2026. So, are the top? Even if some of the objects don't get in there, can we make sure that really important ones get in there and that we're going to make a decision and we just don't talk about stuff for three hours and then throw it all back out into the organization and we come back in a month to month. Let's have another meeting in a month to month time, which is the standard protocol that you guys have. How do you make that work? Mean, that's a really good another example of how do you start applying this. You said to me, resistance from senior said, one of my problems is resistance from senior leaders. That was one of the first things you said to me this morning. I wrote it down. So how do you how do you influence that resistance by true, like, informal dialogue with Hey. Here's a question. Amity. How do we make this a successful leadership team? That's a question. How can we do a good job there?

01:00:26 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Right? Yeah.

01:00:27 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
And, you know, going in with that's that's not gonna this is what I think we need to do. Hey, how do we make this successful? I have a few ideas maybe we could have a chat about. Right? And can you and I influence the direction of this meeting so that we get good stuff in there, good decisions made, and we can move forward? What are those things? Right? And so you don't you don't go in there on the attack. You go in there on a let's collaborate around this thing. Make her feel she hates being pushed into a corner. Analytical people hate being pushed into a corner. Okay? She will resist that like what you did with your objectives, she was felt a corner and she kicked for touch. Hates being pushed in the corner. So, in there and you know, can we talk about how to make this a successful meeting? That would be your opening question. And then let's say, can we would be a good time? If this is coming up late March, what do we need to let's not make it the night before agenda so that then nobody is prepared for the meeting. Right? Etcetera, etcetera.

01:01:27 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
I think that's good. And I think that shows good strategic viewpoint on my part as well if I got involved early. So

01:01:34 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Early the early girl. And it could be Angela too. I mean, Angela, I I've encouraged Angela to play a leadership role too to try to influence how certain things get discussed and decided. I've had I'm trying to use her. I'm trying to I mean, just between you and me, I'm trying to help her be more broader in her thinking.

01:01:50 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah. And,

01:01:55 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
and of course, have the very first thing we talked about is getting that logistics thing sorted out for you is going to be important Mhmm. Lest it buries you. I don't know if it's you know you know, if that's gonna bury you, the logistics part of your organization, that's gonna be an issue. Right?

01:02:11 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah. It it definitely could if I don't get something figured out quickly. So

01:02:15 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Yeah. You gotta the direction. Anyway, listen. Pick another meeting. Let's get another meeting before you have your meeting on the thirty first.

01:02:23 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Okay.

01:02:24 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
What about the week of the twenty third? What was what's twenty third look like?

01:02:27 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
So pretty open in, like, midafternoon for I'm out of the office on Friday. So Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday are all good for me. Do you have a better

01:02:35 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Why don't do why don't you do, like, 0100 on the twenty third?

01:02:40 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Deal. 0100?

01:02:42 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Yeah. Put in 0100 on the twenty third, one to two, and that'd be really good. That that'd be really good. I have I put nothing in for that week yet. That that sorry. That day. My week is pretty full except Monday's wide open.

01:02:55 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Gotcha. On its way.

01:02:58 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. And you just reminded me when I saw the twenty third. It's my brother's birthday too. Oh, okay. I think I think he's 70. He's 70 on the twenty third. I gotta remember that one. Okay.

01:03:11 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Good times.

01:03:14 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. And in the meantime, I'll be I'll be doing a bit of work with your friend, Vera. Okay?

01:03:21 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Yeah. Let me know how that's going, if I can support in any way.

01:03:24 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Yeah. Okay. I'll give you an update. By the twenty third, I'll have I'll have at least an Eli one or two of those sessions done before. Okay?

01:03:31 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
Perfect, sir. Okay. You have a great day. Okay?

01:03:34 - [BRENDAN_CROWELY]
Okay. You too. Bye.

01:03:36 - [SCOTT_WARNER]
See you.