#73 – Scaling Businesses, Leadership Strategies, and AI: Insights from Mark Logan
Introduction
In this episode of Tag Lab, Laura welcomes Mark to discuss various aspects of business, including scaling, starting new ventures, and overcoming challenges.
The conversation delves into Mark’s insights on optimising for agency within companies, understanding the scale-up journey, and the importance of effective communication in leadership.
Mark shares his experiences from Skyscanner and his role as Chief Entrepreneurial Advisor to the Scottish government, providing valuable lessons for entrepreneurs and business leaders.
Key Topics:
- The Concept of Optimising for Agency
- Navigating the Scale-Up Journey
- Effective Leadership and Communication
- The Scottish Scale-Up Ecosystem
- Improving Gender Balance in Entrepreneurship
- Scotland’s Position in the AI Space
The Concept of Optimising for Agency
Mark begins by discussing the importance of knowing what organisations are optimising for when making changes.
He likens organisational change to an engineering problem, where the goal must be clearly defined. Mark uses the analogy of building a car to explain this concept: optimising for speed in a sports car versus optimising for space in a people carrier.
He highlights that many organisations fail to explicitly define their optimisation goals, leading to suboptimal outcomes.
Mark advocates for optimising for agency, which he defines as enabling employees, especially frontline staff, to perform their jobs effectively with the necessary skills, resources, and clear ownership.
This approach ensures alignment with company strategy and enhances overall performance.
“Agency is the North Star with which you should navigate when it comes to organisational design.” – Mark
Navigating the Scale-Up Journey
Mark and Laura discuss the common challenges faced during the scale-up phase, such as maintaining productivity despite growing team sizes.
Mark emphasises the need for senior leaders to stay connected with frontline employees to understand their frustrations and barriers to productivity.
He introduces the concept of identifying and addressing bottlenecks in business processes to improve efficiency.
Using the analogy of water flowing through pipes, Mark explains how the slowest part of a process governs the overall speed and how addressing these bottlenecks can enhance organisational performance.
“Trust, but verify.” – Mark
Effective Leadership and Communication
Mark shares his insights on leadership and the evolution of his communication style during his time at Skyscanner.
He stresses the importance of incessant and bidirectional communication, where leaders actively listen to their employees as much as they communicate their vision and strategy.
Mark highlights the significance of setting ground rules for communication, managing expectations, and ensuring that feedback is acted upon appropriately.
He also discusses the balance between maintaining agency and avoiding micromanagement, emphasising the need for leaders to trust their managers while staying informed about frontline realities.
“You are there to enable the people on your team to be much more effective than if you weren’t there.” – Mark
The Scottish Scale-Up Ecosystem
In his role as Chief Entrepreneurial Advisor, Mark discusses the state of the Scottish scale-up ecosystem.
He identifies the key components needed to foster growth, including talent development, infrastructure, and funding.
Mark emphasises the importance of a cohesive approach that integrates educational initiatives, physical and social infrastructure, and funding opportunities.
He highlights successful models from other countries and stresses the need for Scotland to adopt a consistent, multi-year strategy to enhance its tech ecosystem and support the growth of scale-up companies.
“The worst thing that can happen to a senior leader is to become isolated from the reality.” – Mark
Improving Gender Balance in Entrepreneurship
Mark addresses the issue of gender imbalance in entrepreneurship and the need for dramatic improvement.
He advocates for societal change to challenge ingrained gender stereotypes and encourages initiatives like the Pathways Pledge to promote gender equality in business.
Mark shares examples of positive steps taken by organisations, such as the Scottish National Investment Bank’s commitment to gender diversity in investment decisions.
He calls for a shift in mindset towards achieving equal participation and emphasises the importance of role models and peer networks in supporting female entrepreneurs.
“Let’s start every conversation in every business and every institution from why is it not 50-50?” – Mark
Scotland’s Position in the AI Space
Mark discusses Scotland’s potential in the AI sector, given its strong university system and research capabilities.
He points out that despite having world-class universities, Scotland needs to improve its conversion of research into high-impact tech companies.
Mark suggests developing deep tech manufacturing pathways to support the growth of AI and robotics companies beyond the prototyping stage.
He highlights the importance of creating an ecosystem that facilitates the transition from academic research to commercial success and calls for a more ambitious approach to leveraging Scotland’s academic strengths.
“Scotland still has per capita the highest concentration of world-class universities anywhere on Earth.” – Mark
Conclusion
In this insightful episode, Mark shares his expertise on optimising organisational performance, navigating the scale-up journey, and fostering effective communication within businesses.
He also provides a comprehensive overview of the Scottish scale-up ecosystem and the steps needed to support its growth.
Mark’s passion for improving gender balance and leveraging Scotland’s academic strengths in the AI space highlights his commitment to fostering a vibrant and inclusive entrepreneurial environment.