People Design

Chapter 23: 500 Desks  –  On Succession Planning

It was the arrival of two top executives that put you on the jetway towards IPO. In the wake of Pat Jansen’s tumultuous departure,...
Tom Mohr Tom Mohr
10 min read

Chapter 22: 350 Desks –  On Leadership Development

In the past three months, the temperature climbed steadily in weekly exec group meetings. You and the executive group were frogs in a pot...
Tom Mohr Tom Mohr
10 min read

Chapter 21: 310 Desks  –  On Layoffs

In the fourteen months after acquiring Weblastic, integration with SparkLight Digital proved difficult. Talk about oil and water. The two cultures couldn’t be more...
Tom Mohr Tom Mohr
14 min read

Chapter 20: 330 Desks –  On Integrating Acquisitions

With a big smile and wave, Aiden McPhee walked through French Laundry to your corner table. You put down your glass of 2010 Silver...
Tom Mohr Tom Mohr
14 min read

Chapter 19: 280 Desks  –  On Horizontal vs. Vertical

  SparkAction CRM crossed 4,000 dealer stores in June, punctuated by the re-signing of the 130-store McBride Auto Group. One year on DealerGasket’s CRM...
Tom Mohr Tom Mohr
9 min read

Chapter 18: 200 Desks  – On Headquarters vs. Remote

  The McBride debacle was a galvanizing moment. To lose a 130-store deal — the largest auto dealer in the country — because SparkLight Digital couldn’t launch stores...
Tom Mohr Tom Mohr
12 min read

Chapter 17: 150 Desks  –  On Managing Workflow Groups

Sometimes you really can grow too fast. Victor was at his desk when he received the RFP from McBride Auto Group, the largest dealer...
Tom Mohr Tom Mohr
11 min read

Chapter 16: 120 Desks  –  On Recruiting, Hiring, and…

Your board meeting is going well — in fact, the excitement is palpable. Everyone leans in. The three VC partners are to your left (Mark Goldstein...
Tom Mohr Tom Mohr
11 min read

Chapter 15: Ninety-five Desks –  On Communications Architecture

Demand grew for more engineers at SparkLight Digital. The sales side CRM required further optimization. But it was also time to get to work...
Tom Mohr Tom Mohr
16 min read

Chapter 14: Eighty-five Desks –  On How to Make…

  Ever notice how a crisis begets opportunity? That’s just what happened with SparkLight Digital. When the system outage hit, everything needed doing at...
Tom Mohr Tom Mohr
6 min read

Chapter 13: Seventy Desks  –  On Compensation

  The SparkAction CRM security breach might well have been fatal, had it not been for the discovery of the hacker. By day two...
Tom Mohr Tom Mohr
13 min read