CentreCourt

Acknowledge and embrace the fact that there is always room for improving oneself and our organization.
Do not be fearful of making a mistake but do be fearful of making a mistake twice.
It is important to quickly, openly and loudly identify when an outcome is sub-optimal and follow-up with the right questions to get to the root cause. Commit the time and attention to resolving the root cause to ensure that the organization is improved for future situations.
Meticulously and constantly track and re-visit “lessons learned” to ensure that the organization is constantly learning from the experiences throughout the organization and in the past.
Formulate tools and systems to imbed organizational knowledge and lessons learned into repetitive tasks of significant importance.

Developing personal connections, trust and strong relationships are critical to our success.
Honesty, transparency and integrity are the cornerstones of developing long-lasting relationships.
Acknowledge and understand that we have a responsibility to groups and individuals we can interact with; homeowners, City staff, consultants, trades and the community at large.
Building a strong relationship takes a lifetime, but destroying a relationship only takes a moment.
It is important to align ourselves with partners that care as much as we do.

Communicate all relevant information and never withhold information because it is uncomfortable to share.
Discussions should be conducted in as open and transparent a manner as possible.
If you have constructive feedback, you should share such feedback honestly and directly with relevant parties.
Make decisions openly so that all relevant parties understand the logic and feel the process is fair and efficient, and have a chance to co-mingle their own ideas.
Direct communication where you succinctly and clearly communicate your viewpoint (rather than sugar coating or talking indirectly around the topic) is the most effective form of communication.
All thoughtful opinions should be expressed – keeping a thought to yourself or only sharing with select individuals is corrosive.
Actively listen – superior outcomes are often achieved simply by listening.

Overconfidence and arrogance are a very common root cause of poor decision-making.
If you think you know all the right answers and that no one has anything else to add, you are doomed to fail.
You should acknowledge and accept that you will not have answers to many questions and that you are not the expert on many topics.
Figure out who the experts are and seek their input and counsel before finalizing strategy and decision-making.
We should constantly be bringing a humble perspective and open mind to all our discussions.
Success is “we” and failure is “I”.

Quality of people is the single most important driver of desired outcomes and attracting, motivating and retaining exceptional talent is essential to our long-term success.
Invest a great deal of time in sourcing, meeting and exploring talent.
Our organization should have the highest level of competency on analytics and logic-based decision-making.
Skills, judgement, attitude and work ethic are the most important attributes in any individual.
It is important to build trust with someone rather than assuming trust early on.
We strive to bring people into the organization that are passionate about what they do and genuinely wake up excited every morning to go to work.
Building teams of highly competent and motivated talent ensures individuals remain challenged and engaged with their colleagues.

Conduct business with the highest degree of honesty, integrity and professionalism.
There is zero tolerance for actions that contravene our policies designed to protect our corporate integrity.
Invest time into evaluating the character and moral fabric of everyone that we work with.
Follow through on your commitments and do what you say you will do.

Our people should think and act like owners and take full responsibility for the outcomes of their actions.
Strive for excellence in undertaking all activities.
Don’t blame suboptimal outcomes on other individuals or parties or outside factors – take ownership, examine the issue and make sure the organization learns from experience.
Hold yourself accountable to the high standards you hold of others.

Employ the best talent available based on skills, attitude and qualifications.
The best idea or answer should be supported by logic and analytical back-up.
Upward mobility of our employees is based on their contributions and not on their tenure.
Our employees are encouraged to openly share and debate viewpoints with the simple objective of arriving at the best answer.

Details are critical and no detail is too small.
Small oversights or assumptions can lead to significant negative consequences.
Focus and forward planning can lead to major positive outcomes.
Success is the sum of the details.
Spend significant time and effort focusing on all the downside risks, potential problems and topics that you may be missing.
Have as many informed eyes looking for problems as possible and openly encourage people to bring forward potential challenges and risks.
Constantly challenge assumptions and steps required to get job done and don’t assume that people’s answers are correct just because you’re not an expert on the topic. It is not a matter of not trusting people, but rather elevating the desire for an outcome and challenging all concerned to be accurate in conclusions they make.
Missing small details or mistakes can turn into big problems.
Checklists, detailed notes and tracking of files is critical.

Investing ample time on the front end of a task to map out goals and key success metrics is critical to achieving a good outcome.
Openly communicate your goals and key success metrics to all relevant stakeholders to ensure full alignment.
Constantly track outcomes against your stated goals and share this information, whether it is positive or not.
Constantly set the bar higher and strive for improved outcomes.
The more time you can invest in thoughtfully planning on the front end, the more likely you will be in achieving your desired outcomes.
Each time you react to a problem, think about how you could have planned to avoid the issue and imbed that learning in your future actions.
Constantly think three steps ahead and understand how your actions (or lack thereof) today will impact your outcomes tomorrow.
Anticipate problems and seek solutions well in advance.
Never be complacent and “go through the motions”.
Detailed and thorough checklists that map out the past, present and future are a very effective tool in proactive planning.