365QOD- Day785

"You are going to teach what?" - a co-worker's surprise

The other day I was asked to teach a yoga class. Yup!  Did I care if I made a fool of myself? Could I fail?

When confronted with choices in life, I believe that we always ask ourselves one very important question.  It is "Why me?" or  "Why not me?" 

I tend to look at my world from the why not me perspective.  Steve Jobs' words to the Stanford class to stay young and stay foolish resonate with me.  If there is no room for failure then there is no room for growth.  By stretching one grows.

Today's question is:
"What have you done lately that scares you?"

365QOD- Day784

The last distinction is:

Distinction#10 Entrepreneurs take risks because of faith.
                        Employees play it safe because of fear.

If you do not believe in yourself then it will be difficult to get anyone else to believe in you.  Why would they?

Other people will like you and love you BUT your lack will not inspire them to have faith when you do not have it. 

I always visualize a circle with a line splitting it in half vertically.  On the left side is fear.  On the right there is faith.  We have to nudge ourselves to be on the right side.  Start with small decisions and ideas and get some success behind you then your faith will grow. 

Today's question is:
"How do you stay in the rights side of the circle?"

365QOD- Day783

"Have you ever driven a car while looking at the rear view mirror?" - a question

Distinction#9 Entrepreneurs look into the future.
                       Employees look into the past.

Your past decisions and experiences have made you in the person who you are today.  Stop and spend time understanding your current state.  The pause is important.

BUT after you understand what got you to here then focus on the present and future only.  Work on your business in the now and once in a while look up to see where you are heading.

The 80/20 rule comes in handy.  Spend 20% understanding the past an the other 80%- 60% doing the present, and 20% looking forward to the future.


Today's question is:
"What percent of your thinking time do you spend in the past, present, and future?"

365QOD- Day782

Distinction#8: Entrepreneurs fly with eagles
                        Employees peck around with chickens.

Not the prettiest of distinctions but it will do.  The idea here is that when trouble hits you do you rise above it or do you wallow in it. 

An eagle raises above the trouble.  If there is a gust of wind the eagle uses to rise above it.  In other words adversity is converted into an advantage.

An employee sees trouble and wallows in it.  It could last a day, week, months, and sometimes the rest of their career.  They can not let go of problems and move on. 

Today's question is:
"Do you know how to rise above it?"

365QOD- Day781

Distinction #7 Entrepreneurs build wealth.
                        Employees get paid.

One of the secrets to building a nest egg is getting rid of your debt.  Most debt pulls you down into a cycle of working for someone else forever.  Good debt is an investment into your future.

An example of good debt could be the decision to get a college degree.  If you choose a good major then you are rewarded with a future in which you can repay your loans quickly and start to grow your nest egg.

Another example of good debt would be purchasing a tool.  The tool is then used to increase your earning potential.

Example of bad debt is buying a fancy car to impress others.  So instead of buying a reasonably prised vehicle which can be paid of in a matter ofthe to give years, you choose a vehicle that you pay of on threw bit you are car rich and life poor.  you have a car but no money to do anything else.

Today's question is:
"Are you building wealth or earning a paycheck?"

365QOD- Day780

"I am responsible"- my admission

Distinction#6: Entrepreneurs say, "The buck stops here."
                       Employee says, "It is not my fault."

I allow the construction supervisors that work for me a lot of freedom.  They are allowed to make decisions as if I made them.  The main reason I allows this is that a good decision right now is better than a perfect decision much later.

I delegate BUT I also accept the fault when the decision turns out to be a poor one.  I have to in order to retain the trust and not to introduce doubt in their decision making.

It is hard to admit fault when someone else makes the decision BUT I believe that as the boss you have to accept the blame if you are to share the successes.

Today's question is:
"Can you take the fall for someone else's decision?"

365QOD- Day779

"The sandwich method"  - technique for offering a correction

Distinction#5 Entrepreneurs give and receive praise and correction.
                     Employees don't praise and try to avoid correction.

I enjoy praising my co-workers.  If praised, I try to re-direct the praise towards my team.  If need be, I often use the sandwich method to offer correction.

The sandwich method consists of giving praise, followed by the correction, and lastly ending it with praise.  This takes away the defensiveness and allows the person to hear the correction without being defensive.

I find that a most employees are insecure and seldom give praise as if praising takes away from them.  And God knows they hate any corrections.  Correction for me is simply feedback on what I need to improve on. It is information that I can use to get better.  I do not take it personal unless it is offered by someone I do not trust.

Today's question is:
"Do you avoid correction?"

365QOD- Day778

"I am a generalist.  If I need a specialist I hire one" - paraphrase of Henry Ford's words during a trial

Distinction#4 Entrepreneurs know a little about a lot.
                     Employees know a lot about a little.

I remember reading a version of the above quote many years ago.  It made me realize that if I wanted to be someone who runs companies to be more of generalist than a specialist.  To me understanding the big picture  while being able to execute it is deep enough.  If I am completely focused on the execution then I am becoming a specialist.

Over the years I have stayed away from ladder climbing.  I want to get paid what I believe is in line with the specialist position I hold but be given the time outside of work to pursue creating my own ladder.

I believe that I know a lot.  Sometimes I feel like I will never know enough.  Would I claim mastery of many work processes?  Absolutely no!  I know enough about a lot.

Today's question is:
"Do you know a little about a lot OR a lot about a little?"

365QOD- Day777

"777 lucky number!" - a common belief

Distinction#3: Entrepreneurs are solution finders.
                        Employees are problem solvers.

I watched a series while back about the men that changed America.  This series took a look at some of the giants titans at the end of last century.

The series educated me that often these guys were not looking to solve a small problem BUT looking to create industries.  It was not by luck that they created these industries.

Maybe I am wrong about that?  Maybe they started by trying to solve a single problem and then generalized it to create an industry.  They were looking for a solution to a need that society had.

Vanderbilt was looking for a way to cheaply transfer goods across the nation so he started the railroad industry. Rockefeller started oil and gas.  Carnegie created the steel industry.  Morgan the finance industry.

Today's question is:
"Are you focused on the solution or the problem?"

365QOD- Day776

"Knowing the difference is half the battle"- Anonymous

Continuing with our differences series:

Distinction#2: Entrepreneurs have an empowering perspective of failure. 
                        Employees see failure as bad.

This distinction fits well with my beliefs.  My first book, The Result, defines that there is no such thing as failure but a result that we need to nudge towards our definition of success.  By believing this, one allows oneself to be empowered instead of being focused on failure.  This results in continuous improvement and increase in confidence. 

The second portion of this quote is the belief that many people and employees have is that failure is bad.  By placing it in a good vs. bad frame of mind the idea of improving the result is non-existent.

Today's question is:
"Are you empowered by failure?"

 

365QOD- Day775

"What are the differences?" - an obvious question

Recently I looked through a book called the Top 10 Distinctions Between Entrepreneur and Employees.  The tittle made me pose the question. I am going to start a new label: entrepreneur for the blog.  Why start a label? Under business I will focus more on business actions and in in this new label I will focus on applying new business thinking.

Distinction#1: Entrepreneurs educate themselves more than they entertain themselves.  Employees entertain themselves more than they educate themselves.

I believe that this distinction is right on the money.  In my opinion we always have to be aware of our gaps.  If something is important to your success then determine the gap between where you are and where you want to be when you become successful.  Now that you have identified the gap then determine what education will fill that gap.  It could be a course, it could be a book, it could be anything that helps reduce the gap.

The second portion in the distinction is that employees entertain themselves.  If you spend your time at work and at home watching TV or just surfing the web then you are not educating yourself.  It is a choice.

Today's question is:
"What are you educating yourself to do?"

365QOD- Day774

"You wrote an app?" - an innocent inquiry

I recently published my first app.  So what?

Marketing it is everything.  I recently read these four questions that an app developer needs to answer:
1.  Who are your competitors?
Looking through the academy app section I did not see anything close to it.

2. What are the key features of your app?
In one app it teaches the theory, provides complete examples, and a tool for further learning.

3. What are the benefits of your app?
User can learn the theory, application, and experiment with a topic by playing with the app.

4. What is unique about your app?

The unique mix of theory, application, and tool to learn a subject

Today's question is:

"How would you answer these questions for your product or service?"

365QOD- Day773

"Bamboo is flexible, bending with the wind but never breaking  capable of adapting to any circumstance.  It suggests resistance, meaning that we have the ability to bounce back even from the most difficult time...Your ability to thrive depends, in the end, on your attitude to your life circumstances.   Take everything in stride with grace, putting forth energy when it is needed, yet always staying calm inwardly"- Ping Fu Bend, Not Break 

Recently I have been getting up at five and doing yoga for a half hour.  Initially, it was somewhat of a chore to get up and stretch but now if I do not do it I feel the difference.

Most animals stretch when they wake up.  There is a reason why many of the stretches are named after animals: downward dog, cat, cow, frog, cobra, etc.  Maybe there is wisdom to stretching first thing in the morning?

I have also noticed that I not only feel good that I have stretched but also my mind is calmer due to the breathing portion of yoga.  The calm typically lasts for a few hours.  By noon I note no difference.  Maybe I need to do a lunch session to get it back?

Today's question is:
"How do you begin your day?"

365QOD- Day772

"Never be bullied into silence.  Never allow yourself to be made a victim.  Accept no one's definition of your life. Define yourself"- Anonymous

I recently saw this quote.  Often we are bullied into silence.  We give away our power and play the victim card.  Fear?  I believe that is one part BUT that we also allow others to define our life.

So in the end the only way to succeed is to define yourself.  Define your limits.  Define your dreams.  Find your voice and be the victor.  Others will push you but you have to allow them to move you.

Today's question is:
"How do you define yourself?"

365QOD- Day771

"Here's what's in our DNA at Apple. We stand at the intersection of art and science; at the intersection of creativity and technology"- Steve Jobs

Imagine four intersecting circles.  Top left is Art(A).  Top right is Creativity(C). Bottom left is Technology(T).  Bottom right is Science(S).  Apple owns the ACTS intersection.

I believe that this idea should be the playbook for any company that wants to succeed.  If a company can create products that fit that intersection then it will survive and thrive.

Unfortunately many well known companies will survive by being in three out of four circles.  Microsoft is a great example.  They do not make anything that fits the Art circle.  Their products are functional but not fun. 

In my opinion, recently Samsung has been developing into a company that is joining Apple in the ACTS area.  In other words it is possible to push one's company into the intersection.

Today's question is:
"Could you develop something that fits in the ACTS intersection?"

365QOD- Day770

"You Only Got Video Game"- t-shirt slogan

I am a believer in not claiming expertise in anything unless you have truly done it.  I am surrounded by people who think otherwise.

I have had people claim that they are something that they have never directly done.  They might have been around people who were the doers and they simply observed.

The t-shirt slogan above brings forth a new version.  Is simulation the same as actually doing it.  Some might claim that it is as good.  I disagree.  Simulation is good training but it can never replace the real thing. 

Don't believe me?  Imagine getting on a plane and when everyone is seated the captain comes on and says, "Welcome everybody.  I am your captain.  I have 10000 hours of simulation behind me and this is my first flight" How comfortable do you feel as you buckle up?

Today's question is:
"What kind of game do you have?" 

365QOD- Day769

"Copyright infringement for free ebooks?" - an idea

I recently read an article in MIT press. It described a company that someone started to 

make free ebooks that mimic the topics and presentation in most popular books. 

It has gotten sued by major publishers.

 

So the idea is you take the table of contents from a popular book and the company 

does a search on Wikipedia to extract the topics and create a book that mimics the flow 

and information.

 

It made me wonder if a flow of a book is patentable? For example, if I am teaching a course 

I would follow the table of contents pretty closely because the order makes intuitive sense. Yes you can vary the flow a little by moving topics but for overall coverage in most classes the flow will not change that much.

 

Today's question is:

"Could you create a book, on a subject of interest, for yourself based on a Wikipedia contents?"

365QOD- Day768

"Wow.. cool picture"- my typical observation

As an engineer I am not suppose to appreciate art like I do.  But man when I see a picture that moves me it is no different than words or music that move me.

Maybe I allow myself?  I am always taking pictures of pictures.  I probably have over 1000 such pictures that I have taken in the last few years. 

My newest addictions is Facebook pictures with slogans.  I can't seem to get enough.  I read them and appreciate the picture.  If they truly move me I download it. 

Sometimes I even create a slide show to reemphasize them.

Today's question is:
"What moves you enough to stop and notice?"

365QOD- Day767

"Do not be an email queen."- Squire Elliot

I worked with Squire for about a year.  When I first joined my current company he gave me this advice.  This advice was due to a former member of our team just staying in his office and sending emails out to people.  

He told me that once I sent an email to follow up with a visit to the person.  In his observations he noted that people quickly forgot about an email but tended to remember the visit and the request.

I have followed Mr. Squire Elliot's advice and it has made a great deal of difference in my experience at work.  Connecting in person makes a big deal to most people who are overwhelmed with the flood of email requests.

Today's question is:
"Do connect in person? 

365QOD- Day766

"They were connectors" - my answer

I wrote a post about Paul Revere yesterday.  I provided my hypothesis that the effect of making communication easier also makes it more difficult to connect to people.

You probably have your doubts about this idea.  Well a couple of examples.

Paul Revere was not the only rider that night.  DO you know the second one?  I do not know the name but I know that I have read that there were two.  So why do we know Paul and not the other one? 

He was a connector.  Paul was a member of many clubs and groups and had a public reputation.  The other person did not have the same level of influence.

Another example.  Rosa Parks.  She was not the first person to protest moving to the back of the bus BUT she is the one that we all remember.  Why?  Like Paul Rosa was a community connector.  She not only was a part of the black organizations in her town but interacted with many white people.  She served as a personal tailor to many your white women getting ready for their cotillions. 

Her influence was great because she belonged to many groups of different types of people. This is the same reason why Paul Revere is known today.  They connected to lots of people.  They not only connected BUT connected strongly to lots of people.

Today's question is:
"How good of a connector are you?"

365QOD- Day765

"The British are coming" - Paul Revere's warning

I recently saw an ad.  It is Paul Revere, a legendary figure, as a person making a cell phone call to warm the other towns that the British are coming. 

I stopped to think about this.  What if phones had existed back then?  What if Paul Revere had called instead of riding through the night?  Would people have prepared to meet the British head on.

I believe the answer is no.  If something is easy to do then it is easy not to do.  The call would not have moved people as a face to face interaction between Paul and the other villagers.

Today's question is:
"Does technology make connecting on a personal level harder?
 

365QOD- Day764

"I got an app for that!" - something that I always wanted to say

I am no longer a "want to be" app creator.  I have created an app.  It is available though the Google Play store.  Do a search under Business Academy.  Select the apps folder.  Scroll down until you find it with my name next to it.

Cool! 

It feels great when the world opens up.  A couple of years ago I stared writing my blog.  It fills me up every day.  It lead to me finishing my first book.  After I finished my first book I could not believe it why I had not done that before.  This lead to me writing my second book. 

Now I have started creating apps.  I plan to create a new app every month.  This might seem optimistic BUT it is not.  Recently, I created a "shell" which will allow me to just insert screen shots into in order to get my ideas to be implemented quickly.  It is in a sense a jig that will provide consistence and ease to create the apps.

I am going to focus on creating apps this year.  I have even placed a slogan on my wall "The Year of the Apps...".  NEXT year will be the year of the video.  My creative universe is growing.

Today's question is:
"Do you know your NEXT?"

365QOD-Day763

"A floating mug" - an idea by Tigere Chriiga

I recently saw a picture of this mug.  It was unusual.

What made it unusual is that the handle did not just simply protrude on its side.  The handle was larger than normal and it ended in a little circular base with a gap of half an inch between the mug and the base.

The mug simply floats above the base.  It is a piece of art that I can not stop looking at. It was artsy but yet very functional because now your hand can hold the cup without squeezing.  In addition, hot cup will not leave a stain on your desk because of the small base.

Today's question is:
"What is the last piece of functional art that you have used?"

365QOD-Day762

"A One-Acre Farm in a 320 Square Foot Box"- title of an article

I recently read two articles about how companies have figured out how to use a 320 square foot shipping container with LEDs, climate controls, and hydroponics in order to be able to produce 900 heads of leafy greens per container each week.  The cost of the one company's containers are $60,000.

Wow!

I am not impressed with the price but the idea of re-using the containers. The cost of old used containers can not be much.  Lets go with $1000.  To outfit it with the electronics and necessary tools to make it functional , probably another 9k.  All together maybe $10,000 would do the trick.

So if you can create a way for someone to buy up a bunch of containers, update them and place them in inner cities on old lots that have a power and water connection, you could turn a profit pretty quickly.

Today's question is:
"What other uses besides gardening could old containers be put to use?"

365QOD-Day761

"Wow.. here it is"- my surprise

On Saturday I walked into a Whole Foods grocery store.  This is my second time to walk into this brand store.

What I noticed surprised me.  As I walked down the isle I saw price tags that were adaptive.  The price could be changed electronically instead of replacing a paper tag with another paper tag.  The electronic change could be done adaptively from an office by an algorithm.

You are probably wondering, "So what!".  Well, this was an idea that I considered implementing almost 10 years ago.  I could see the writing on the wall that all stores would need to go to this system.  I do not know why I lost interest in the idea. The idea was brilliant but my execution was non-existent.

How many of my ideas do I see like this?  Unfortunately many...

Recently I was in a Forever21 department store.  They have a million articles that are marked down.  Women are fighting through a million dresses without any order.  The items are not sorted at all but thrown in different rooms.  It has to be a nightmare for the store when they want to change the price of an item.

The adaptive price tag is the answer to all of their troubles.  I wonder if they know it even exists.

Today's question is:
"How do you force yourself to execute a brilliant idea?"

365QOD-Day760

"Productivity per hour" - a measure

I watched an old 60 minute piece about how people are working extremely long hours.  It seems people are connected through laptops, email, voice mail, and cell phones to their job 24/7.  Some people are working 15 hours per day connected to their job.

The French people tend to take 5 weeks of vacation per year and tend to work 300 hours less than us Americans.  This statement made me wonder if we are busy or just crazy busy.  Just because someone is trying to earn the 80 hours per week badge, it does not mean they are more productive than someone working 40 hours per week.  It is quantity vs. quality of the time that matters.

The way one french writer explained it is that we Americans believe that the future will be better than the present and the French believe that the present will be better than the future.  This is a striking difference in mindset.

I know that when I come back from vacation I feel recharged and ready to make a difference.  Maybe I am unusual but I take my vacation and often combine it with my schedule to give myself time to read and introduce new ideas into my mind.  Ideas I would be too busy to work on while working a full week.

Today's question is:
"What is your productivity per hour?"

365QOD-Day759

"I did it!" - my relief

I went for a run on January 1, 2013 and felt a pain in my right Achilles tendon.  I ran through it and thought that was the end of it.

Well, after coming back home I realized that the pain only temporarily went away.  So I decided to give my body a break and take a month off.

February 1st I tried to run.  My run lasted 1 minute and 30 seconds.  I stopped and decided to give myself another month.  During this month I started doing yoga and working out on an elliptical machine.

On Sunday March 2nd I went out for a 3 mile run.  I ran it and it felt good.  My leg muscles were letting me know that I have not pushed them that hard in a while BUT that was a good pain.  To tell the truth, I probably ran a little faster than I wanted because on the way back I struck a conversation with another runner.  I ran it in 30 minutes.

Today's question is:
"Can you stop hurting yourself in order to heal?"

365QOD-Day758

"So what should I charge?"- Tommy's question

Tommy is a connector.  He knows a lot of people and is in a position were he can offer a connection to someone looking to grow their business. Tommy knows people who know people.

The other day we had a conversation and he wondered out loud what his services were worth.  It was an excellent question.  Compensation for an introduction would be different than compensation for future business.

After some thought I came up with:
fees= IntroductionFee + Percent*(FutureBusiness)

The introduction fee should be enough to not fee like a demand but a reward.  The way I see it that the one person you are connecting is looking to expand their business and should be willing to reward you for the introduction.  A good number?  $500 is an acceptable fee in my mind.

The future business is the potential business that could result from the introduction.  This number as well as the Percent that are acceptable create the biggest challenge   If the business will earn 1M new business then 2% is not unreasonable.

Putting it together for a situation where an introduction would lead to 1M on new business is:
fee=500+.02*1000000
fee=500+20000
fee=20500

If they meet but do not end up doing business then $500 is the fee.  If they do more than 1M then the Percent*FutureBusiness portion grows.

Today's question is:
"How valuable are your connections?"

365QOD-Day757

"I got it!"- Maria Gonzalez

Maria and I had a conversation about perfumes a couple of weeks ago.  I mentioned to her that I tend to notice a nice perfume smell on people and often will compliment the person.  I also told her that even though I put on a different scent each day, I never get complimented.  Out loud I wondered why.

The other day, she walked in my office and said, "I got it".  It bothered her enough to keep thinking about our conversation and come up with an opinion.  In her opinion it has to do with sexual harassment   Maria believes that because of it people just keep those compliments to themselves.  It is no longer PC to compliment.

This bothers me.  I wondered how complimenting a woman or a man that the scent they are using smells good can be misconstrued as harassment.  In my world it is a genuine compliment.  BUT I guess the rest of the world considers it differently.  Which makes me wonder...

Today's question is:
"How do you compliment someone without them feeling harassed?

365QOD-Day756

"..secret creative life of others.."- Mel Resnof

The line above was another line I heard in the I Believe CD series.  It immediately caught my ear and made me wonder.

Many of us have talents that if displayed would make the people around us marvel at why we are not pursuing that talent instead of working.  Some even take their secret talent to the grave.

I believe that many graveyards are full of dreams unfulfilled or delayed.  We always believe that we will find the time to do it tomorrow. Tomorrow comes and we never seem to get to it. 

We say that we did not have the time.  BUT time never runs out.  We run out. 

Today's question is:
"What secret creative life you live that the world would benefit from?"

 

365QOD-Day755

"..awakening from an inauthentic life..." - Gloria Steinem

I listened to a CD set called I Believe that is based on a PBS program.  It was great because it allowed people of all walks of life to tell us what they genuinely believed.  They were restrained from telling the audience what they did not believe.

The line above was a part of a segment that Gloria recorded.  I just loved the combination of words. 

Recently I have been working on creating a table of contents for an autobiography called Un-Examined Life.  Each day I go though my outline and add a few lines that will fill a page or a chapter.  In a sense I am awakening in order to write this book. 

The audience? Me and my children.  If no one else reads it then it would be OK with me.  It is a gift to give them the answers to why I made the choices throughout my life.  To examine my choices and determine if they were consistent with who I am.  In my opinion this is a difficult level to reach.

Today's question is:
"Are you living an authentic life?"