Work vs Work

Most everyone works. It's a basic requirement to eat. 

But what if work didn't feel like work? I've been intrigued with this idea for a while and I've had conversations with a couple people in the last 2 days in which this idea has come up. 

There seems to be a distinct feeling of some work that doesn't feel like work and on the flip side is work that feels very much like work.

In the first category of work there is a feeling of "flow". It comes naturally. It isn't difficult and it doesn't seem like hard labor. It actually gives energy rather than sapping it. It's, dare I say, fun? I have become very aware that there are components of what I do when this is very much the case. I walk away from certain things saying to myself, "Wow, that didn't feel like work!"

On the total opposite end of that spectrum is the other work. This work feels like work. It's burdensome, it requires monumental effort and it's painful. It zaps our energy and we often do everything we can to avoid it. Why do you think Facebook is so popular?? Facebook is an excellent way to avoid the work that we don't feel like doing - and don't worry, I'm speaking from personal experience here. 

Marcus Buckingham, the author of several books, makes the claim that we should only operate in our strengths and delegate our weaknesses. I'm probably not doing the whole idea justice, but the question looms, "Is that possible?"

Maybe, maybe not. 

There's an advantage when you're self-employed like I am to choose. If you have a job that requires you to do certain things that feel like the bad kind of work then that's another matter. However, even if that's the case, should you have to accept that as the reality of your destiny? I don't think so, as lofty as that may sound.

I am, in fact, on a personal mission to do more of the things that don't feel more like work. The things that fulfill me, that give me joy, and that I'm actually pretty good at. By the way, when you do something for your clients that you don't normally do and they hug you and say this is what you should be doing full time - that's a pretty good indicator.

Why don't you join me on my mission? Let's take our work back and make it an enjoyable, fulfilling part of our lives, especially since we have to spend so much time doing it anyway!

"Hi Giraffe? It's Joshua calling."

This is my nephew Joshua, no doubt brokering some multi-million dollar investment deal between a giraffe and hippopotamus. Joshua has a stellar imagination and consistently amazes my family at the things he says and does. He's only 3 but he informed my dad a couple months ago that Egypt was getting a new leader. How did he know this? No one really knows. I guess he'd been watching the news - by himself.

The point is Joshua is always learning and always coming up with new ways to amuse and entertain everyone. He's a smart kid, extremely insightful and really, really funny to boot.

Too bad he'll be an adult one day.

Kids are always amazing because they're in a constant state of curious exploration. They explore their physical environment, they're fascinated with their own toes, and they're parrots - repeating back what you say (sometimes this backfires...). They don't have to force themselves to learn, they just do. Why do they stop?

Being in marketing, I'm fascinated with human behavior and why people buy certain things. We all have criteria for why we buy what we do and more often than not, our decision hinges on whatever is the cheapest. Money means something to us. But to Joshua? Not so much. He's more interested in the sounds something makes, how fun it is to play with and whether or not he can smack it against a concrete wall or terrorize his brother with it.

Different criteria.

The point is, adults seem to lose the creativity, the fun, the amazement, the Wow, the exploration, the wonder, the delight, and the natural learning behavior that kids so effortlessly exhibit. Too bad.

Childish behavior doesn't seem to be hard to find, child-like behavior, on the other hand, is a rare commodity and it sure is fun when you find it!

Hope that deal works out Josh, I think it's gonna be a good one.

Sometimes I forget important things...

It's true. Even with lists and automatic reminders and electronic calendars, I still forget things. Unfortunately, often times the things I forget are the really important things. You know, the things that shouldn't ever be forgotten but somehow do.

Like being authentic.

Sometimes I forget this. And sadly enough, it seems like 98.72348% of the population struggles with the same loss of memory. But why? Why are we afraid to be authentic?

Maybe because it costs more.

I recently read a story about a little boy who grew up in the 50's watching his favorite cowboy show set out in the Wild West. One year his parents took the little boy to see the set as a treat. With eager anticipation, the little boy imagined how great it would be to experience in real life what he had experienced for so long on the other side of a glass screen sitting in his living room. However, upon arrival at the set, his expectations were dashed. Turns out it was filmed on a studio lot and the Wild West wasn't really all that wild. And to make things worse, the town was little more than a meticulously constructed facade that looked great on one side but was propped up with a few boards on the other side.

I suppose the set designers could have created a whole town that would have undoubtedly captured the delight of the little boys who were fortunate enough to come visit the site where their action heroes existed - but they didn't. It would have cost too much.

The facade worked just fine. Well, until you saw the other side that is.

It's so easy to say yes when you really want to say no.
It's so easy to say that you understand when you really don't.
It's so easy to over-promise and under-deliver.
It's so easy to say what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear.
It's so easy to be something, or someone, else than what you really should be.

It's so easy to fake it.

And it's also so very easy to blend in.

It's much harder to stick out. It's hard to be unique. It's tough to be authentic. That in itself is almost reason enough to try it, but there's more to it than that. When you're authentic people take notice. When you tell the truth people are shocked. When you stand your ground it's as though you can feel the solid surface beneath you rising up and connecting with the skin of your toes and the bottom of your heels. It becomes firm. Unwavering. Unyielding.

I'm going to do a better job of reminding myself to be authentic. And you?

The Extra Mile (It's not a requirement)

"Going the extra mile". We've all heard this phrase many times probably without understanding where it originally came from. So, without further delay, allow me to provide a small history lesson gathered from the cobwebs of my brain (and Google).

During the times of the Roman Empire, there was a law that allowed Roman soldiers the right to force Jews to carry their heavy packs for a mile. The law was very specific though, it was only for one mile. The soldier would actually get into trouble for making a Jew carry their pack for a greater distance than was permitted. So Jesus, in his infinite wisdom, told his followers that if they were made to carry a Roman soldiers' pack for one mile, that they should not drop the load at the mile marker- but keep going. This accomplished two things. It first made the soldier uncomfortable because someone was doing more than was expected from them. It was truly an expression of freedom. And secondly, it was a clever way of potentially getting that soldier in hot water with his superiors for seemingly breaking the law. Pretty interesting hunh?

Fast forward a couple thousand years and now we have this saying, "Go the extra mile." We may not know the meaning but the addition of the word "extra" seems to imply that it's not compulsory. No one is going to make you do it. And going one step further, no one is going to expect you to do it and they certainly won't hold you accountable for NOT doing it.

And that, my friends, is the key to it all.

I recently talked about a guy named Jay Abraham, a marketing genius. Jay talks about the difference between a client and a customer. A customer is someone who purchases a product or service from you. A client  is someone under your protection.

Read that again.

What this means is that when you have customers your responsibility is pretty much complete at the point of transaction. "You have a product, I have your money - hope your happy." In other words, I walked the one mile that I was compelled to walk.

But when you have clients, your responsibility for their well-being is never over. Not even after the transaction is completed. Hmm, this sounds a lot like an extra mile. Or two extra miles. Perhaps three.

The point is, when you have clients you have the responsibility to protect them; to care for them; to watch over them. And maybe even when doing so is outside the normal scope of your normal products or services.

No one is going to make you walk the extra mile, that's the point. But if you decide to walk it, you'll have a client for life.

"You take the front, I'll take the back."

It sounds like a clichéd line from some cop show you've seen a thousand times. Two cops pull up in front of a house and jump out with guns drawn. Their faces etched with menacing confidence, they survey the situation and prepare to move in. The 'perp doesn't even know what's coming.

"You take the front, I'll take the back."

It sounds pretty good- knowing that someone is on your side...

Someone is looking out for your best interest...

Someone is there to protect you... 

But what about in real life? And what if you're not a cop? Who has your back then?

Who will take a risk on your behalf?

While this question can be applied to any situation or any relationship, I naturally place it in the context of business. Who is looking out for me and who am I looking out for?

Jay Abraham is a highly paid and very experienced marketing consultant. One of the key concepts that he teaches is called the Strategy of Preeminence. This strategy is at its core simply saying, "I've got your back, and I'm always going to do the right thing for you."

Pretty basic and yet not many businesses function with this philosophy. Because the truth of the matter is that it's risky to trust someone else. How do we know that what they are trying to sell me is what I really need? Far too often, it's much easier to not trust, to not engage, and to not seek to understand. 

This is the safe route, but it's ultimately hollow and exhausting. Far better to take a risk and say, "I've got your back."

Hi, ate us?

I was curious about where the word "hiatus" came from, so I looked up the etymology online. It's a Latin word meaning a gap, or an interruption in events. This is a pretty accurate description of what I've been going through over the last several months - I've been on hiatus. I haven't blogged in quite a while and honestly, I haven't had much to say.

There are many reasons for this, the details of which I won't bore you with at the moment, but it's been a valuable time of reassessing a lot of things in my life - some good, some bad, some painful. Regardless, I think it's good for everyone to recognize the season of life they are in, whether it's in our businesses, our relationships, our finances, our purpose, etc, etc.

I've learned a lot of things over this process and I can look back at the not-so distant memory of 2010 and say with confidence that it was a significant year for me. It didn't always go how I'd planned but that seems to be the general nature of life anyway.

So, now with 2011 already underway, I don't feel it appropriate to do the normal rah-rah pep talk about making this your best year EVER! For some reason this year feels a little quieter. I don't know what to expect for 2011 but I expect good things, extraordinary things, and I hope you do as well.

Signs of drowning

Apparently the signs of drowning are unlike what we saw on Baywatch (not that we ever watched Baywatch - but that's neither here nor there). There are no cries for help. There isn't a massive struggle with hands waving in the air.

Here's why.

They can't. Most drowning people are unable to speak because the natural response in a drowning situation is to breathe - not to talk. Breathing must be taken care of before before speech can occur. Kind of important that breathing...

Turns out they're also unable to wave for help. A drowning person is essentially programmed by nature to extend their arms and press down on the surface of the water to try and keep themselves from being submersed - not to wave them wildly above their heads. (info sourced from Lifehacker.com)

And so since the drowning victim doesn't display the expected "signs" of drowning we don't even pay attention.

It's so easy to go unnoticed. 

It's so easy to blend in.

It's so easy to make it look like nothing is wrong - even though we might be frantically sinking.

In other words, it's pretty easy to drown.

Luckily lifeguards are trained in this sort of thing and they can quickly identify the nuances of behavior that alert them to avert such crises. So if you begin drowning at the beach or in a pool, there's probably a fairly good chance you'll be rescued.

Life and business is another story. There's no one perched on a tall chair slathered with sunblock watching you intently for signs of trouble. You're on your own. You succeed, bravo! You fail, so sorry, we didn't even really notice you sinking.

Scary. Unless you have a plan that is. So here's the metaphorical plan I recommend: Wear a lifejacket and go into the water with friends that you can trust to watch out for you.

Be knowledgeable, seek and gain wisdom, don't be afraid to ask for help, recognize what you're good at and outsource what you're not. And above all, don't drown.

Manufactured vs. Organic

There's an amusing discussion taking place amongst my family at the moment. My wife is an evangelist of organic, whole foods that have not been processed or tainted by chemicals. She believes food in it's natural state is best for consumption. This explains why our refrigerator looks like a garden minus the dirt...

On the other side of this lively debate is my cousin who is a chemical engineer. His point of view is that processing is only done to provide an improvement of some kind. Chemicals aren't bad, rather they are the necessary components to making something better. He's not defending the over-consumption of Twinkies, but he also doesn't believe that processing equals bad.

Organic vs. Manufactured 

Now consider the same topic, but in a different context...

• Enthusiasm
• Sales
• Communication
• Motivation

If you really pay attention to the world around you, it quickly becomes apparent that we don't know how to grow anything. Ultimately we don't know how to be real so we're forced to manufacture - which is hard work.

Go pick up any sales book and you'll find the following commands:

• Be enthusiastic about your product or service
• Sell more by using these closing methods
• Communicate carefully so you can build rapport and create results
• Get motivated by talking to yourself in the mirror, verbalizing your goals, and jumping up and down 26 times!

And yet the question remains...How do you be or express what you're not??

Several years ago, when I was looking for a job, I interviewed at a lot of different places. I walked in with a suit on, resume in hand, and pre-programmed answers to the questions I thought would be asked. For the most part I believe I interviewed well. But I got very few offers.

Why?

I didn't want it. I guarantee it didn't show on the outside because I was saying all the right things, but I lacked convincability. I was communicating extremely well on a subconscious level to the interviewer that I didn't have belief in the company or the product. I didn't really want to work there. I was there because I needed a job and a paycheck - not because I believed in the company or the product.

Manufactured vs. Organic

I tried to manufacture belief but I couldn't and so ultimately I was ineffective. I was trying to produce something that hadn't actually been grown organically. So at the age of 33 I'm focusing on developing myself and designing a life and a business from an organic perspective. It's a longer road, it's frustrating, and I lose patience very easily with this process. But it's better. Much, much better.

The Edge

The Edge.

A scary, awesome place.

Rumor has it that people of long ago thought the world was flat. We've all heard this before. Everyone stayed in the safe middle because if you ventured too far you'd go over the edge. That was the prevailing philosophy of the day and it was truth. Until someone proved it false, that is.

Thinking outside the box.

A popular term meaning to do something unexpectedly brilliant that produces inspired innovation, heroic ideas, and celebratory parades. Or something like that. But can we really just think outside the box?

It didn't take thinking to discover that the world was round and not flat and that you would indeed live if you sailed past the horizon. Someone actually had to go discover it. They had to do something. They had to risk their very life and limb to sail right up to the edge and look into the supposed chasm of death.

Except that there wasn't any such chasm. There never was. And yet, from what we know, an entire global population was held captive to the middle, to what they knew. They were imprisoned by their own ideas.

And the same thing holds true today. We live in the middle because its safe. We dare not venture past where we can see because we assume there is a chasm of death eagerly waiting to swallow us up. We play it safe in our own backyards and so we ultimately play it small.

We risk nothing and gain the same. The people that you and I admire have stepped out of their own yards and are consciously and continuously moving toward the edge. This isn't to say that they don't have doubts and that sinking feeling in the pits of their stomachs at what could happen - but they don't stop.

Why then should we?

I need to (fill in the blank)

This is a small taste of the constant ticker running through my frontal lobe...

I need to call that guy back.
I need to work on that project.
I need to develop some new marketing campaigns.
I need to go work out.
I need to pay the electric bill. 
I need to schedule a dermatologist appointment.
I need to prepare for a client meeting next week.
I need to design my business and life on purpose.
And on, and on, and on.

We're all very aware of the majority of the things that we need to do. Some of these things get done - and some don't. Some are important - and some really aren't.


So what stops me and you from doing the other things we "need" to do?

Resistance. This the answer and phrase coined by Stephen Pressfield in his book the WAR of ART. It is the force that holds us back from accomplishing the thing we strive to achieve. Or the thing we would've strived to achieve if we hadn't decided to instead watch TV or waste our time doing something else.

Resistance is excellent at its job. It skillfully maneuvers us from away from designing our lives and our businesses to instead reacting hastily to the series of mini-crises that pop up on a daily basis. Resistance is very good at letting us win just enough battles so we lose sight of the war that is defeating us.   

The funny thing about Resistance is that it permits us to do occasional good things. I think it figures that if we're looking down at something good we're probably missing the really great thing that just slipped out of view. 

I've said it before, and I'll say it again (mostly for my own personal benefit) - we get one shot at life. It thus becomes imperative that we fight Resistance and move forward one inch, one phone call, one blog post at a time.

It's the economy...it must be

Funny how we all turn into economists when the economy goes south, "Well business is down because the economy is down."

And yet when the economy is good we attribute the fact that we're doing good based on how awesome we are at running our businesses....

Economy is bad - we're macro-economists, "It's happening to me!"
Economy is good - we're micro-economists, "Look how good I am!"

And the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

But here's my question for this new batch of macro-economists blaming the economy - "Is there enough business for you?"

If there is, stop whining and get better. Be excellent. Be the one your clients will turn to. Build trust. Quit thinking about 2005 and get on with life. Marty McFly isn't going to show up with a Delorean to transport you back to the glory days of your bank account.

If there isn't enough for you (which I suspect there is) go find something else to do where there is enough for you.

Last I checked you're not responsible for managing the economy of the US. Be responsible for your own economy.

Blame them and you'll be hopeless and powerless.
Take responsibility and you'll become hopeful and powerful.

The price of authenticity

Authenticity in our society is becoming rarer than (long pause while I try and think of something appropriately witty...)

I can't think of anything. And I'm extremely disappointed in myself for not coming up with something funny. But this post is about being authentic, sooo....

Moving on. Let's take a look at Facebook as a prime example. Most people post their Farmville scores, the fact that they're happy it's the weekend, pictures of their kids dressed like dinosaurs, and YouTube videos featuring an big, ugly dog cuddling with a baby hamster.

But where's the authenticity?

Now of course you could argue that Facebook isn't the proper outlet for posting authentic, personal information. And I'm totally down with that. But would it hurt? Could it hurt?

There are specific people that I've found from a book they've written, videos they've posted on YouTube, or TED talks where they've been featured. I follow these people and maintain tabs on what they're doing because I like what they say. I like their authenticity. I don't know how they are as people, since I don't know them personally, but they seem to exude an above-average ability to communicate in a way that reaches emotion. And because of that I follow them. Or to say it another way, they lead me.

I hope you're understanding the power of this concept.  

The message that is shared, the philosophy that is expounded on, and the projects they embark on all seem to be born out of their insistent fervor to be authentic -  which shows up in their emotional output.

This is raw. Being authentic always is. It's the opposite of polished and shiny. Rather it is marred with the signature of life which is not always so perfect but is ultimately relate-able.

Speaking of raw and authentic, watch this video. Be forewarned, this guy is pretty raw but his message is pretty compelling:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhqZ0RU95d4

The price of change

I'm not going to start a lengthy discussion about change. It's upon us, it's scary, and we have to deal with it.

But to deal with it effectively, I believe we have to know the price we have to pay to experience the benefits that change can bring.

Here's my paraphrase of an Einstein quote:

The same thinking that got us into this mess can't get us out of it.

That's a scary thought. It means we have to change the way we think. Which means we have to change our philosophy. Not a simple task.

I've been in the middle of change for quite a while now. The company that I worked for previously went belly-up, so I decided to start my own business. I'm still starting that business and it's been a difficult road. I often don't know what to do. But I do know this. I have to shift my philosophy from the way I used to think to a new way of thinking. 

Here's an example. Sales. Ugh, what a horrible word. It conjures up all kinds of unpleasant images that make us feel icky. Yes, I just said icky. 

The reason it makes us feel that way is that we're thinking how sales has been done in the past. Not the distant past, more so the recent past - like the last 50 years. 

Let me explain. Sales used to be a demonstration of communication, trust, authenticity, and honor. Sales were made by shaking hands. Commitments were honored because our word had been given. Now I know this is somewhat idealized - I know there were shysters and everything wasn't Mayberry perfect. But there was more honor then than what followed.

And then TV came along. The relationships were gone. Now we had to coerce, and persuade, manipulate and cajole, use scarcity, and tactics and suddenly there were hundreds of books being written about how to "DO" sales.

How in the world did people sell before all these books were written? I'm sure they did, but it was most likely a fluke of nature. 

Wasn't it?

Or maybe salespeople back then used to have character. Maybe they knew how to build relationships. Maybe they were okay with being authentic and honest. Maybe they didn't over-complicate things.

And maybe that's what we should go back to. Maybe part of the price of change is giving up our reliance on tactics and going back to providing real authenticity - if even we think it makes us look bad. 

It's a shocking idea but that's the challenge I'm issuing to myself. Be authentic or go work in a factory making widgets. Those are really the only options. And because the second option makes me ill, I'm gonna stick with the first one.

Monday

Monday. It might as well be a four-letter word as much as it is reviled and talked about with such venom.

But why?

Well for most people it means they have to go back to the J-O-B, the grind, and the 9-to-5. It implies they have to stop doing what they like (whatever they do on the weekend) and start doing something they don't like.

This sad state of affairs really stinks. But obviously since we live in Communist China we have no hope. Every one of us was informed by a state official long ago of what we would be doing for our livelihoods and we had zero say in the matter.

And because of this, burly men toting guns come to our houses every morning and force us at gunpoint to march grimly to our daily doom as we sip our bland cups of Totalitarian Toffee Nut flavored coffee.

And of course once we're chained to our desks, we're then compelled to actually work by our sadistic, electric cattle prod wielding bosses that expect us to produce results - or else...

It's terrible, I know.

Except this isn't your reality, nor mine. We don't live in China so we don't have to act like we do. We have something called the "freedom to choose". In fact, we have the responsibility to choose.

So if this is the case, why do so many people choose poorly? And why are so many people miserable when Monday rolls around?

Last I checked this isn't a dress rehearsal. This is for realz. If you're upset every Monday morning maybe you should do something about it. For realz.

It's your life to waste.

But I would encourage you not to. We need what you've got - whether you realize that yet or not.

Your WHAT is busted?!

In addition to being the Architect of Wow!, I also like to consider myself as a Give-A-Damn repairman (totally different from the Maytag repairman by the way...). I realize that's blunt and somewhat crass, but to be honest too many peoples' Give-A-Damn be broke!

Well actually that's not totally true. Their Give-A-Damn is working at 50% of it's capacity - but it's the wrong 50%. It's only functioning toward what they want, not for what anyone else wants.

Harry Beckwith wrote a really good book entitled: What Clients Love. In that book he made an interesting distinction between vision and mission. He said that your vision is selfish. It's what you want to accomplish for yourself. Not a bad thing of course, but it's not all about you...

Your mission, on the other hand, pertains to the broader societal impact you want to have. Your legacy, your contribution, the demonstration of your selflessness.

In other words, your Give-A-Damn only works at 100% capacity when you have both your vision AND your mission in place.

By all means, you need to know what you're personal aspirations are.  But that doesn't mean you can forgo helping others get what they aspire as well.

(Although ironically, once you focus your Give-A-Damn on helping others achieve their visions, yours seems to manifest all on its own.)

Take a long, hard look at your Give-A-Damn - does it need an overhaul?

The value of your values

Knowing what you value is a good thing to know all the time... But even more so when it comes time to make a decision.

Some decisions are easy forks in the road, while others cause us to stand and ponder. Not a bad thing that pondering, but determining your values beforehand can reduce the time it takes...

Here are some of my values that I communicate to my clients:

Philosophy is everything, so come up with a good one

The way you think determines everything. What you believe shows up everywhere. I believe the quality of your philosophy determines the quality of your business and your life.

Relationships first, money second

People are more important than money. I believe building relationships is at the core of every successful business and those should always be prioritized over money.

Do what you do on purpose and with purpose

We could have done anything in life but we all chose the path that we're on. Since we did, I believe we should honor those choices by creating a clear and strong vision and mission. Do what you do well.

Take yourself seriously, but not too seriously

Life is short and can be difficult. Despite that, I believe those that find more opportunity and have more fun in life are those that laugh easily and don't get too big for their britches.

We're all one-hit wonders

The reports are in and they show a 100% fatality rate. Since we only get one shot at this thing, I believe we should remember what is really important and not get caught thinking short-term. Building a business is good, but building a legacy and an honorable reputation is better.

A story about a kid with a garbage cart

Sounds like a real page-turner eh, a kid with a garbage cart? Well let me tell the story and you be the judge...

Recently, following a late night workout, I was in the mood for some ice cream. Yes, I recognize the irony of that statement but let me get on with my story.

I wasn't in the mood for just any ice cream though, I really wanted an Ice Dream from Chick-fil-A with the chocolate sauce. It's pretty fantastic. Unfortunately as I drove up, I noticed the drive-thru lights were off and they were obviously closed.

About the time I was noticing this, a teen-aged employee was in the process of pushing a garbage cart, like the one above, full of garbage to the dumpster. However, when he saw my car, he stopped what he was doing and walked over to my window.

Stooping down, he proceeded to apologize for the fact that they were closed and then wished me a good evening.

Really?

Would that have happened at McDonald's or Burger King? I highly doubt it. Because those restaurants are in the business of transferring systems, whereas Chick-fil-A seems to be in the business of transferring a clear value structure from the top down. This explains why I became more important in that moment to a teenager who could've easily ignored me and simply finished his garbage duties so he could go home. Why did he care about me? Because he works in an environment where that sort of idea is encouraged.

Startling isn't it?

Chick-fil-A knows WHY they are in business. And not only do they know their WHY, but they're also extremely effective at transferring their WHY in the form of their values to the kid pushing the garbage cart.

Amazing. Why do they get it and yet it seems to be such a mystery to everyone else?

Safe stories are boring stories

Moxie.

Chutzpah.

Guts.

Courage.

Daring.

Bravery.

These are the elements found in the stories we like and the ones we repeat over and over. No one cares about reading a book about climbing a 20 ft tree, we wanna read about climbing Mt. Everest.

We don't talk about our one hand that has no scars, we talk about the one that does. There's a story there. And we like stories.

Stories engage. Stories capture. Stories last.

What kind of story is your life?
What kind of story is your business?
What kind of story is your job?

Is it worth talking about or have you settled for a non-story, a non-event, a non-challenge, a non-gutsy existence?

If you're still breathing it's not too late. Create a new story.

This applies to people as much as it does to the businesses they run. Most businesses are so boring that it's pathetic. And I don't mean we can all be like Richard Branson and do insane stunts to promote our mega-brand. I simply mean that we can, and should, find meaning in everything we do. 

And for your sake, find a story that is characterized by more than safety. Being safe all the time doesn't make for a good story. Introduce a little peril, a little adventure. Remind yourself why you're alive - it may just keep you that way.

The signs are everywhere...Literally!

Back in the day holding a sandwich board, like the guy in the picture, was a popular form of advertising. Well, it appears that it's back. I've been noticing it more and more as I drive down South Florida Ave - the main road through Lakeland - but today it really struck me. I really SAW what was going on.

If you read my post yesterday, I talked about how many business consultants focus on improving the business, or the Transaction, for the business they're consulting. They'll change pricing, or advertising, maybe renegotiate vendor contracts, and perhaps sell off portions of the company, and on and on and on. But what's missing?

The people.

They forgot about the #1 key to success which is serving the clients first and foremost. They forget that the human element of business is often the most overlooked, yet one of the most significant things in a business.

And so now driving past Pizza Hut, and the Cash for Gold place, and the pizza buffet place, and sandwich shops you see real, live people holding signs out front. Why are they doing this?

Because we all crave human interaction. Normal signs and billboards and bus benches are no longer seen like they used to be. We've had to revert back 50 years to people holding signs on the roadside just to get noticed. Everyone wants to be noticed but are they doing anything notice-worthy? Not really, no.

This form of advertising will be scrapped before you know it. They do, however, have something right...focus on the people.

It's all about the people.

Caveman drawings, a Business How-To

Welcome to another installation of "Caveman Drawings - a Business How-To"

This particular drawing describes early business. Actually, it describes late business and every other business come to think of it...Let me explain.

A person (Owner) starts a business - this could be your local dry cleaner or Ford. A real, live person started each of those businesses. And one of their primary goals for starting this business was to sell a Thing (a product or a service) to another person (Client) in exchange for money (the Transaction).

This is how business has been done forever. And over the past 80 years (or so) the focus has been on the part in the middle - the Transaction.

The Owner wanted to make more money by selling more Things to the Client so they tried to make the Things cheaper and sell them for more. So they might manufacture their Things in China to save on costs. Or maybe they tried to make a winning TV commercial that would sell a lot more Things and gain them more money in the process. Regardless of what they did, the focus was always on the Transaction, or trying to exchange more Things for more money. Sometimes the Owner would hire a Business Consultant to help him figure out how to produce more money from the Transaction. They would tweak pricing, and run new advertising, and squeeze their vendors, and poke and prod every cranny of that Transaction to see where it would yield more money.

And it's worked okay. Lots of Owners have made lots of money and continue to do so. And if that is their definition of success then Hooray - they've been successful. Doesn't matter if anyone else was successful in the process (such as the Client...) but they were, so who cares?

But contrast with the concept of nobility, of honor. Can you find those things in this "Transaction"? I can't.

What happened to the days when Owners built relationship with their Clients and that trust was sealed with a handshake and with a word that would not be broken? Seems to be a relic of the past. Kind of like treacherously tall metal playground slides - but that's the topic for another time...

If you take a look back at the Caveman drawing above you'll see that the Transaction is in the middle of two people - the Owner and the Client. It's not more important than those two, it just resides in the middle. It's the method that these two people transact value with each other.

I've come to the realization that the best, most honorable business Owner knows why they are in business and it has nothing to do with just making money. There is another reason. And I've seen how when an Owner becomes Client-focused instead of Transaction-focused, that nobility, sustainability, reputation, referrals, loyalty, and yes profit, are produced in truckloads.

This is why my business consulting doesn't exalt the Transaction over the people...I believe this:
The Owner needs to get clear on their Why...
The Transaction needs to run smoothly and communicate effectively...
The Client needs to be valued and respected...

I've said this before, we all get one shot at this thing called life. Just one.