Last week I wrote in my Friday Redux that we need to Allow Time to Notice.
On the weekend at a friend’s barbeque afternoon, I was asked how I was able to continually generate ideas, thoughts, solutions and if it is hard to do. One person even commented that I must spend an inordinate amount of time on such matters.
Actually the opposite is true. We need to allow the Muse to whisper in our ear.
Doug King (the poet) said: “Learn to pause … or nothing worthwhile will catch up to you”.
What problem, issue or project are you working on that could benefit from a pause? Find your little piece of paradise, pull up a seat and admire the vista.
Ric will be in Melbourne CBD on Wednesday 21 March 2012 and has some available time.
If you would like to meet with him during his visit, get in touch by telephone or e-mail and we can arrange a mutually convenient time around his schedule for the day.
HR appear driven on utilising psychometric tests and analysis in the workplace. Mostly, I believe this is to explain away behaviour rather than attempting to improve behaviour. HR ought to be focusing on:
Creating alignment among every position and corporate strategy.
Marrying succession planning to career development and ensuring “bench strength”.
Proactively helping line management with greater efficiencies and productivity.
Optimally focusing resources on the product, the service and the relationships with customers.
Ideally, no one should have a career insulated in HR. I recommend to CEOs in my Mentoring & Coaching Program that they routinely rotate HR into other areas of the organisation so that HR gain first-hand knowledge and experience of what the staff face in their specific roles. Of course, the colour usually drains from the faces of HR people in the room when they hear me say that to their boss.
Life balance is not only about play, family, fun and alike. Life balance means having an excellent working life, as well. To achieve a positive, fulfilling life balance you must ensure that your work is sustaining your enthusiasm and zest.
What do you need from your work to generate high levels of enthusiasm and zest for what you do?
An A-Class client list?
A preponderance of high-level, quality projects?
Access to the tools, resources and support you require to do good work?
Highest standards requested, expected and embraced by all members in the business?
Organisational brand and repute that helps the individuals within the firm reach the marketplace?
Working with like-minded professionals who share the same drive for quality, ethics, mutual support, collaboration, cooperation and values?
Intelligent and energetic colleagues?
An organisation driven by principle, not expediency?
What would you add to this list for you personally?
A leading business university undertook research into their graduates. It was discovered that their past students were successful during the early part of their careers after graduating, but ten years on, they were superseded by a more street-wise, pragmatic group.
The professor who undertook this research explained that the education the graduates had received was in “problem-solving”. What was more important was the ability to recognise opportunities.
Innovation trumps problem-solving.
Pragmatic thinking beats university degrees.
Action is the only precursor to success.
Are you looking for the opportunity in this current economic environment? Honestly?
I shared coffee with the owner of a business consultancy firm bemoaning the terrible circumstances that have decimated his business revenues. He was worried, distressed, more distressed than a consultant should be faced with such slight contretemps.
I also had coffee with the partner of a mid-tier accounting/auditing practice who relished in dissevering himself from the doomsayers. “Ric, we’ve been using your approaches to pricing, marketing and client-evaluation. Just yesterday, an existing client called to explain one of our competitors had proposed to do their audit at half the price we’ve been charging and would we reduce our fee. Remembering your advice, I calmly reiterated our value, our expertise and the significant levels of service delivery we provide which equate to greater ROI for the client. They stayed with us. Overall, we are 40% ahead of budget for this year.”
In the current business environment, there is an absurdity in the gap between the pragmatic, opportunity-thinking of successful professionals and the trivial reasons others adduce for failing.
Greek philosopher and mathematician, Plato, dictated that the circle was the perfect form for celestial movement. So, then for the next one-and-a-half millennia, astronomers said that the planetary orbits were circular even though their observational data suggested otherwise.
Even Copernicus utilised circles in his heliocentric model, explaining the universe and its relationship to the planets. Finally, it was the German mathematician and astronomer, Johannes Kepler who described the planetary paths around the sun as being elliptical.
We all have extrinsically-imposed shoulds and values that influence our views, opinions, decisions and thoughts. And, this is many a time, the reason why we are unable to get out of the dog house and enjoy the mansion.
What dogma is holding your thinking back from breaking conventional wisdom? What could you let go of that would allow you to challenge current beliefs and discover an alternative path to Executive Wisdom Blog?
When was the last time you were sitting in a conference room with the obligatory mints and bottled water, when it happened? That flash of brilliance where you were inspired to innovate and you generated new ideas that catapulted the performance of your business over the next six months.
How often does that happen?
Not a lot, really, does it?
Then why do it?
Inspiration, innovation and successful business ideas come out of the blue. Most times when you least expect it. They fly in from the edge of consciousness and delightfully startle us. They are random, sometimes the result of wrong turns, errors, mishaps and misdirection. They don't naturally and regularly occur when we're forcibly confined in the staleness of another conference room that emits a musty odour of damp carpet.
If you're looking for inspiration, innovation and successful business ideas you need to be having fun. Drop the qualitative thinking. Don't invite the devil's advocate. And, ignore conventional wisdom and practicality.
Inspiration, innovation, blue ocean ideas do not evolve from conservative thinking and approaches. They come from having fun and being excited. Let's do it! You know it works.
A new Australian Defence report slams the quality of terrorism studies in Australia and overseas, saying the field is dominated by self-proclaimed experts who are inexperienced, do little primary research work in the field and have rarely met with genuine extremists. The study concluded there were common deficiencies in much of the writing on terrorism issues.
Similar charges could be laid against the preponderance of recent business and management texts. Most are shoddy and tawdry, fallowed and simplistic. Again, the business consulting field, like the terrorist field, is dominated by self-proclaimed experts who, once you research their backgrounds properly and fully, are inexperienced, do little primary research work in the field of business management and have rarely met with or consulted to significant and successful CEOs of major organisations.
Be careful whose advice you buy. First, check their credentials, thoroughly. Have they successfully achieved what you are wanting, and what they are telling you to do? Have they the experience or are they simply a theorist who has read a book or Googled a topic? If you go diving on the Great Barrier Reef you want the guidance of an experienced instructor who has swum that reef, not someone who has simply read a diving instruction manual, otherwise you might just drown. In Australia at the moment there are many self-proclaimed experts consulting to the accounting, coaching, legal and recruitment professions, who themselves actually failed in the same profession - although they are unwilling to admit it.
As the Sunscreen Song suggests, "advice is a form of nostalgia". But for you, right now, in this economy, you want your advice to come from those of us who do the research, are experienced, and engage at the highest levels. And, so should you, to ensure that you deliver exceptional value to your clients and guarantee them a substantial return on their investment in you and your professional advice.
The number of business coaches, trainers and speakers in my Mentor Program who work from home are growing exponentially. The excitement and trepidation rise as you take your seat at your desk realising you are independent, answerable only to yourself, free to manage and prioritise your time, efforts and schedules. Many consultants, trainers, coaches and speakers are escapees from the corporate world; relishing the freedoms afforded self-employment and entrepreneurialism.
However, the transition is not always trouble-free, uncomplicated or stress-free. Friends will telephone while you are working, assuming you have an abundance of time to chat. Others will call in mistakenly believing you have ample time for socialisation as well. You may also consider that you may have the discretionary time to quickly complete some household chores during your productive work time.
Establishing a business from your home premises is not always as liberating as it sounds or imagined. The abundance of distractions competing for your attention can destroy your concentration as well; young children, dirty dishes and television can be daunting challenges for home-based entrepreneurs attempting to establish, grow and develop a successful business.
There are a number of measures you can implement to support and assist your efforts to be successful as a home-based entrepreneur. Here are Ric’s Tips:
Formalise your working environment.
The temptation can be to treat working from home informally, especially considering you are your own boss and answerable to no one (excepting maybe your bank manager). Specifically, formalise how you will manage and prioritise your procedures and operations of working from home. This can incorporate scheduling of regular tasks, such as, telephone calls to clients, report-writing, invoicing, and so on.
It will benefit you to clearly understand how you will handle various scenarios which may impinge upon productivity, like: drop-ins by friends and relatives, interruptions by family members during important telephone calls, or children illnesses requiring they remain home from school. You might consider designating scheduled appointments for household chores, family errands, and recreational activities that you might otherwise be tempted to slip in to your working day.
Maintain balance.
For many of the professionals in my Mentor Program, there is a preponderance to work far too hard, and not nearly smart enough. Be realistic and be kind to yourself; emotionally, physically and creatively. Your success or otherwise will have less to do with the number of hours you work and more to do with the results and outcomes you produce.
There is no reason at all why home-based entrepreneurs could not be sitting by the pool at two in the afternoon, reading some journals, magazines or a good book. (See my article: “A martini by the pool.”) Thereby having no guilt at dropping by the ‘office’ at nine at night for an hour to do some emails and write a report. Just because you have your office at home does not necessarily require you work ‘office’ hours. But it is incumbent upon you to be disciplined to do what is needed, when it is needed.
Pronouncements for the home.
Just because you are clear about your patterns of work and priorities determined, it is negligent to assume your family and friends have the same clarity. There is no valid reason why you cannot close the door to your home-office as a simple indicator to your family that you cannot be disturbed and/or you are on important telephone call and quiet is important. Explain the measures to your family in advance, and then use those measures as needed, but only as needed so that they are not only understood but respected by others in your home.
Location, location, location.
Where your office is located within the confines of your residence will play a big role in the potential distractions and how enticing those distractions may become to you. Ideally, your office should be away from the busiest areas of the home; not in the thoroughfare of life. Neither should it be in your bedroom! It does need a door … that closes.
It is imperative that you maintain a separate and dedicated business telephone line that nobody else in the family answers … ever! And it is preferred that you have your own office equipment that is not for family use. Computers, printers, scanners and alike are tools of your business. Let the family have their own in another area of the home.
Achieve more by doing less.
Whether it be home duties or business needs, where it makes sense and is readily done with minimum supervision, outsource tasks. Get a housekeeper, have the lawns and gardens handled for you by a contractor, hire an external bookkeeper, use a virtual assistant; you get the idea. Utilise others to quickly accomplish tasks that distract and unenthused you so that your creative and productive energies remain focused on bringing in the high-premium business results.
Being a work from home entrepreneur has as many challenges as it does rewards; whether you profit from the opportunities it affords you, is a matter of choice. The level of efficacious productivity will be solely determined by the decisions you make. There is a rising tide for home-based entrepreneurs, unless you wish to be a victim of the water.
Geelong dentist Paul Gardner, a confessed "God-botherer" has been described by a tribunal investigating his professional conduct as likely to re-offend. He has been accused of spouting fundamental Christian views during consultations. Lawyer Patrick Monahan, acting for the Dental Board of Australia said Mr Gardner has failed to comprehend the seriousness of his actions and was as "likely to repeat his behaviour as he ever was". (The details of this case can be found by searching your favourite news website.)
But here's a thought: If you don't like your dentist - change and get a new one!
Why, why, why do we seem intent on replicating the moronic litigious culture of the United States? When things go wrong in our lives, are we as a people really so weak, indecisive and pusillanimous to deal with it? Let's take back responsibility for ourselves from the legislators. In business, become responsible and make your own path. If something in your firm doesn't work, change it. If it upsets you when you do something, stop doing it. If what you're doing now isn't working, do something different. Build some resolve to be accountable for your own success. Execute some action that will go towards achieving your desired objectives and results. You're in control.
The proverb in Luke 4:23 was right: Physician, heal thyself.
