Leadership Lessons from Dan Purvis and Jason Smith, authors of 28 Days to Save the World

​In 2012, Dan Purvis was busy building a medical-device business. It would be called “Velentium,” which is a combination of the words velocity, momentum, and talent. It’s not just the name that’s creative. From the start, Purvis was also carefully and intentionally designing the culture. The business reason for existing was to support the development of medical devices but the human reason was deeper. In four words, Purvis describes it as: “culture-forward, family first.”

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Over the past decade, he’s succeeded in growing the company with intention, and—what’s more—the company played a critical role during the COVID-19 pandemic. As he describes in 28 Days to Save the World: Crafting Your Culture to Be Ready for Anything, co-authored with Jason Smith, Velentium, in partnership with their client Ventec Life Systems, successfully increased production from 100 units of ventilators per month—to 10,000 per month.
 
Today, the company continues to boom, and they have not lost sight of their aspirations for a people-centered culture. When Purvis talks about the vision to grow to 1000 employees, you will hear him say that the company will “include 1000 families.” Families, not employees, because the whole person is at the heart of every decision. With every business decision, he acknowledges that each employee has many dimensions and roles in life, and the ‘career’ part is just one…
 
At this past month’s CliffsNotes Book Club, we had the honor of hosting Purvis and Smith. It was one of those meetings that gives you goosebumps and fills your notebook with ideas. I encourage you to read the book, but in the spirit of the CliffsNotes Book Club, where we pass notes to our besties, here are some of my takeaways from the discussion.
 

• Principles heavy; rules light – I was struck by how intentional and thoughtful Purvis was about designing the company culture. A guiding principle was to be “principles heavy and rules light,” or “more like soccer than football.” Purvis knew that the company could not be innovative and nimble if weighed down by overly cumbersome rules. I was impressed by how they managed to stay true to this rule even in a space like medical devices, where documentation and regulation are rigorous.
• Humble charisma – Purvis is passionate and committed to the mission and dedicated to excellence, but he does not take work too seriously, and he considers mistakes to be inevitable. When he talks about mistakes, he talks about “humble charisma” as a key trait and success strategy at Velentium. In recruiting, he looks for smart professionals, but mostly, he wants people who are “teachable” and will learn from mistakes.
• You decide – Purvis says his favorite words are, “You decide.” Pushing authority and decision-making down to the lowest levels is critical to empowerment. When discussing what it takes to make a culture where people at all levels are empowered to make the tough calls, Purvis talks about the key elements: “authority,” “ability,” and “autonomy.”
• Saving starfish – Purvis shared the story of the child who walks along the shore and tosses beached starfish back into the ocean. When a passerby says, “You’ll never save them all.” The child replies, “Yes, but I can save this one.” In much the same way, Purvis looks for unique and personal ways to celebrate his team members, with personal gifts and recognition that are deeply meaningful.
• Smart meetings – There’s tremendous opportunity cost to gathering a team in a meeting, and Purvis aims to make the most of the meeting time. One practice he has implemented at the end of each meeting is to have each person rate the meeting, on a scale of 1 to 10. If anyone rates the meeting an 8 or less, they discuss why, and aim to adjust, and learn from it.
• Forward-looking – In the Book Club meeting, we talked about looking back to learn from mistakes and looking ahead at what’s next—you must do both. In the spirit of Appreciative Inquiry and what’s working, one of the questions Purvis recently posed to his leadership team is, What is one thing you currently do that, if you doubled it, would make us better off next year? That’s one for my back pocket!

 
And that’s just the CliffsNotes, folks! Check out the book and head to the portal for the presentation notes.