by Grant Petruzzelli For the past couple weeks, my son Nixon has asked to go to work with me. During a recent school break, it seemed like a good day to do just that.
As the leadership team here at DCO Commercial was preparing for our company’s annual summit, I warned him that I would be focused on prep work, including poring through reports and sifting through data, which could substantiate achievements and supplement plans and sales presentations.
After hanging out for a while, Nixon asked if he could help. Sarcastically, I replied with, “How are you with spreadsheets?” Surprisingly, he replied, “I’m pretty good at adding up columns using the Sum formula in Google Sheets.” That was good enough for me.
I exported a copy of our Work In Progress report into a more navigable PivotTable and uploaded it onto a laptop. Then I took out an index card and asked him to answer five questions for me:
- Which top three clients account for the most revenue?
- Which three clients contribute the most profit?
- Which three jobs still have the most work to complete (balance to finish)?
- Who are our top producing project executives based on this report?
- Lastly, who did he think were our best clients based on his findings?
After a few minutes of demonstrating how the information could be found and filtered, I turned Nixon loose and he dove in. After 20 minutes or so, he presented me with an index card complete with his answers.
I showed him what gross profit margin was, how it was computed and how it could affect some of his answers. A few minutes later, he refined his list.
The exercise was fun for a few reasons:
- It was certainly a proud dad moment, a clash of two worlds. It was fun to see my son connect some dots between the two.
- It illustrated how someone who is willing to learn can perform rather sophisticated tasks, regardless of their age, experience or prior familiarity.
- When something complicated can be simplified—and the right things can be put into focus—extraordinary results can follow.
I had a chance to illustrate to my 11-year-old son why the little things matter. By showcasing what I do each day, why it’s important and how I do it, I got to “pull back the curtain” and help him understand how math, logic, deductive reasoning, etc., can affect business. For an 11-year-old, it’s hard to see how those things create value, but a light bulb surely illuminated.
Will he become a CFO or a work-in-progress report guru? Who knows! But I never imagined he would be asking me about the profitability of specific customers on our drive home!
I have to give credit where it’s due, though. My wife, Courtney Petruzzelli, deserves a shout out. A home school teacher’s days are often hard fought. (We also have a 7-year-old daughter, Channing, who has also demonstrated an interest in the work I do.) Amid the journey, it’s hard to see the impact being made, but this experience was a good reminder that you are doing something special for our kids.
Grant Petruzzelli is vice president of DCO Commercial Flooring, an Atlanta-based commercial flooring contractor. As a third-generation contractor and industry thought leader, he is focused on encouraging the next generation of sales and organizational leadership. Petruzzelli is also actively involved in Starnet.
