“Spring Cleaning”
January 27, 2010
Last week was a very long one: we spent seven days, virtually non-stop, cleaning out my mother’s apartment. You may remember that she passed away in November, and this was a task we were all dreading.
And not only because of the emotional impact, but also because of the sheer scale of what she had accumulated, living in the same place for 45 years as she did.
My mother didn’t like to throw anything out, and we had an incredible number of individual papers to go through, most of which went right out the door, along with about 30 large (contractor size) bags of clothing that got donated.
My sister and my wife both left the place with an urgent desire to undertake a similar exercise at their own homes because they suddenly had become aware of the impact that clutter was having on them personally.
I know from personal experience that when I start falling behind at work and the papers on my desk start piling up, my stress level rises and my productivity declines.
Many people have a tradition of performing a major “spring cleaning” on their homes; why not take a few hours and do something similar at work? At the very least, it will make you feel better, and in all likelihood, it will make you more productive.
The Kardashians: Then and Now
January 27, 2010
I listen to people complain constantly about all sorts of things, and then watch them act in a way that actually perpetuates the exact thing they’re complaining about.
They complain about not having enough money, but spend way too much on things they really don’t need. They complain about not having enough energy, but don’t do activities that will energize themselves. And they complain about not having enough time to get everything done, but squander their free time on mindless distractions.
In all fairness, I’ve been guilty of all three of these from time to time, with the entrepreneur’s fascination with “bright shiny objects” being one of my biggest problems. And yet, people seem to have such a fascination with other people’s lives that entire publishing empires exist just to serve this market.
On my two most recent trips to the supermarket, I’ve glanced at the magazines displayed at the checkout aisles. Us Weekly featured the headline:
The Kardashians: Then and Wow!
USA Today featured an article about Kate (from “Jon & Kate Plus 8″) and her 20-hour hair makeover with this headline:
Kate Gosselin Puts Some Curl in Her New Hair
Articles about people who are famous for, well… being famous . And we haven’t even gotten into Brad and Angelina, Tiger’s “rehab,” or whole magazines dedicated to television soap operas.
There’s nothing wrong with taking some time for yourself to just relax and do something mindless like read a trashy novel or watch something on TV (“Modern Family” is our current favorite), but too much of anything can be dangerous, and spending too much time worrying about the lives of celebrities – or even fictional characters – robs you of valuable time you could be spending on more important things.
Take a few minutes and think carefully about what’s commanding your attention. Focus on what’s truly important, and maybe you’ll become so successful that someone will write a magazine article about you!
Say “Hello!”
January 14, 2010
Sometimes the little things say a lot about a business. Last weekend, we went to a free wine tasting at the Angus Barn restaurant in Raleigh. This is a local institution of sorts, and is one of only 72 restaurants to hold Wine Spectator’s Grand Award.
The wines we tasted were okay, not great, but the highlight was the tour of the restaurant’s 30,000-bottle wine cellar. To get to the cellar, you had to walk right through the main kitchen, and pass by the teaching kitchen where Iron Chef winner Walter Royal was giving a demonstration.
The interesting thing was that everyone we passed in the kitchen and in the back hallways – from the chefs to the waitresses to the dishwashers, stopped as we walked by, smiled, and greeted us. “Hi!” “How are you today?” “Thanks for coming in!”
Clearly, they had been trained to do this, but it wasn’t just one or two people – it was every single employee we passed!
Creating that kind of culture – and seeing it play out in “real life” means that everything else about the place is going to be done right. That’s why they’ve been around for 40 years, and why it’s the local institution it is.
Do you have similar processes in place in your company? Do your employees – even the ones who don’t have regular customer interaction – know what’s expected of them and how their work ultimately does impact the customer?
Figure out how to make that happen in your organization and you’ll have a good reason to celebrate the new year!
What Do You Know?
January 13, 2010
As I talk to our clients and members, I find that a lot of them are anxious about making 2010 a better year than 2009 was – in some cases, a much better year. They’re trying to take full advantage of everything we provide them in our various coaching groups, from our Business Self-Defense™ Program, and from our Inner Circle Newsletters and CDs.
If you find yourself in the position of looking for some resources to help you navigate your way through this recession, then there’s one thing you must be aware of:
There’s a profound difference between knowing and memorizing.
As an example, many years ago when I worked for a large telecommunications company, a group of us was sent to a leadership training class. The instructor was a professor from a college in the area.
About 20 minutes into the program, I started to get a little uncomfortable with what he was teaching – not because it was inappropriate, but it just didn’t sound right. Oh, it made sense on the surface, but there was just something about what he was saying that made me think it wouldn’t work in our group
So when we got to a break, I wanted to find out what was causing this uneasy feeling. We had this conversation in the hallway:
Me: I was just curious – where have you personally applied these management strategies in a high-tech software development environment?
Him: Well, I’m a professor of behavioral psychology at NC State University.
Me: I’m sorry; I may not have stated that question quite right – where have you personally applied these management strategies in a high-tech software development environment?
Him: Well, we’ve done years of research on what works and what doesn’t work in a variety of settings.
Me: I’m still interested in where you have personally applied these management strategies in a high-tech software development environment?
Him: Me personally? I guess I really haven’t.
Me: Then why is it appropriate to stand in front a group of very stressed out, overloaded managers and tell us this is the way we should run our groups?
Him: Because I’m a professor of behavioral psychology at NC State University!
There’s a huge difference between theory and practice – between memorizing and knowing. Whenever you seek advice – on any subject – make sure you’re dealing with someone with practical experience and not just a passing interest in the subject.
Why “45″?
January 6, 2010
To celebrate our son’s college graduation and the end of a busy year, we spent the holidays at our favorite place, Club Med, this one in Cancun. After a few rainy days at the beginning of the trip, the weather was basically perfect: around 80 degrees, sunny, and with a nice breeze blowing throughout the day.
When the wind was up, we went sailing; when it was flat, we went snorkeling. Oh yeah, and we learned to salsa dance, but that’s a story for another week.
There was one thing you couldn’t miss as you walked through the facility: the people wearing Club Med “45″ shirts. There’s nothing really special about these shirts – essentially they’re T-shirts that have the name of the Club Med village and a large number “45.”
The story of these shirts, however, is particularly relevant to how you create the products and services you market to your customers, members, and clients.
These shirts were originally created to celebrate the 45th anniversary of Club Med in 1995. When the 50th anniversary rolled around in 2000, they naturally made shirts with “50″ on them. Unfortunately, for some reason, these shirts didn’t sell very well in the Boutique shops in each village, and people kept asking for the “45″ shirts.
Now clearly, a 50th anniversary is a bigger deal than a 45th anniversary, but to their credit, Club Med did two things you should consider very carefully:
1. They didn’t spend an inordinate amount of time or effort trying to understand why people preferred the “45″ shirts or try to convince them that the “50″ shirts were better.
2. They recognized the demand for the original “45″ shirts and brought them back where they continue to be top sellers throughout Europe and North America.
What are your customers telling you about their preferences, and what are you doing to give them what they want, not what you think they should have?
Welcome to 2010!
January 6, 2010
I don’t know about you, but it seems as if the last decade has really flown by. We celebrated New Year’s Eve in 2000 at a James Taylor concert in Chapel Hill. My kids were 13 and 9, and things were hectic with our then five-year-old business.
Flash forward ten years and my son has graduated college; my daughter is off to college herself, and the whole thing has been a complete blur.
Things like this tend to be more visible on cyclical anniversaries like the end of a year, decade, or even millennium, but they also happen on the smaller, almost invisible cycles in our lives as well.
And even though I’m not a big fan of New Year’s Resolutions, here are a few things you might want to consider as you return to work this week:
* You Can Make Resolutions Any Time – Why wait until the end/beginning of the calendar year to make a resolution? If you decide to do something (diet/exercise/take a class/learn a language, etc.) you don’t have to wait for a new year or even a new day to start. You can do it today; right now if possible.
* If You Fail to Plan…. – There’s an old expression that if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail. Sure, it’s a bit cliche, but it’s also valid and important. During the month of December 2007, we spent two solid days planning our strategy for 2008. We identified three specific areas we were going to focus on, and this figured into every decision we made. We didn’t do this the following year and as a result we strayed a bit from what would have brought our business the greatest return on investment.
* Make Decisions and Follow Through – Too many people procrastinate, both on reaching decisions and then on implementing them. They get stuck in “analysis paralysis” and when they finally do decide on a course of action, they take so long to do anything about it they might as well not have decided at all. Sometimes any action is a better course than no action at all.
As you start the new year, you have 525,600 minutes at your disposal; what are you going to do with them?
