365QOD- Day1090

Future Perfect People

“When I hire designers, I look for future perfect people. Some people have the potential, but they haven’t had the opportunities. Their portfolios are full of mediocre work, but it’s not because they’re mediocre designers. It’s because they’ve been given mediocre opportunities.

A lot of future perfect people are stuck in current mediocre positions. They just haven’t had the chance to do their best work.”- Jason Fried, 37Signals

In past posts I argued that the hiring process is faulty.  Often as hiring managers we tend to hire copies of ourselves.  As I have said it before, that doubles the company’s strengths and doubles the company’s weaknesses.  So I would rather hire individuals that think and do different than me.  This gets rid of the echo chamber that a lot of managers enjoy.

So Jason brings up an interesting twist.  He bets on the employee being a ‘future perfect person.’  This is a dangerous bet but if you invest in people I believe he would succeed. 

I believe that the key is the investment in making sure they are not stuck in mediocre positions and are nurtured with guidance and training to elevate them to the ‘future perfect’ level.  Most companies fail in either or both of these aspects that lead to success.  They have rigid rules for promotions and or no training to help the employee succeed.  This is not a symptom at only small companies but also in large global companies.  The reason is that it is not a value to a founder/CEO and it never gets engrained in the culture.

Today’s question is:

“Are you a future perfect person stuck in a mediocre job?”

365QOD- Day1089

5 Million Dollar Loan

“What would I do with it?”-  my question to myself

Last night a friend of mine mentioned to me a process by which one can obtain a 5 million loan.  The repayment of the loan does not start for 18 months.  My ears perked up.

I have never in my life envisioned having a brick and mortar business.  My ideal business would not involve directly manufacturing anything.  Most likely it would involve a small team that does not have to be in a single office in order to produce products that can be supported by me.

So what his story did was made me question myself.  If money availability was taken off the table, what would I do?  Would I think differently and do a brick and mortar type of business?  Or would I stick with my current plans?

To me money has never been a limiting factor.  I have never felt that I needed more resources then what I have to fund the execution of an idea.  But I know for many people this is a big stumbling block.   With sites like KickStarter and others if you have a great idea then you will get the money to execute it.

I believe that the most precious resource for me is time.  I can never get enough of it.   So the answer for me is that I would do the same things I am doing now as side projects but only do them full time.  The money would simply replace be my income.

What about you?

Today’s question is:

“What business idea would you pursue if you were given a 5 million dollar loan?”

365QOD- Day1088

The Seven Year Plan

“I don't know why the word "lazy" gets such a bad rap -- I'm a big fan of lazy.”- Brenton Hayden

Brenton Hayden wrote an article in Entrepreneur magazine about how he constructed a plan when he was 21 to retire at 27.  A seven year plan.  The quote is the start of his article.

After reading the article I noticed that he did not explain his starting point too well.  He mentioned that at 21 he had a business that was a year old.  The article does not explain how much he needed to start the business, where the money came from, and his financial position. 

But you he does do a great job explaining that he came up with a  plant to retire at 27 and that he had to create a business that would be self-sustaining without him.  While reading the article I could not help but note the similarities to the strategy I read in the book Build to Sell.  I take my hat of to him that he pulled it off.

I am impressed with Benton.  He created a seven year exit plan and executed it.  I will all of us were better at creating and executing our plans.  But it is never too late to create and execute.  The execution of such a plan has nothing to do with the financial end.  It has everything to do with having the freedom to do anything that you wish to do for the rest of your life without financial worries.  That is a true freedom.

By the way, I would definitely not classify him as lazy.

Today’s question is:

“Do you have a seven year exit plan?”

365QOD- Day1088

Two Mistakes Per Year

“People who don’t take risks generally make about two big mistakes per year.  People who do take risks generally make about two big mistakes per year. “- Peter F. Drucker

I happen to work in the chemical industry that is very risk averse.  The potential for loss of life is too great to be accepting of more risk.  So anything we do must go through rigorous process by which the risk level is quantified, understood, mitigated, and eventually accepted. 

 

But most of our lives are made up of things that will not result in a loss of life.  So to be afraid of making mistakes is silly.  I believe that for most adverse things that could occur to me that I could recover to the same state or better in a short time.  Without having this belief, I would be paralyzed.

The interesting advice that Drucker offers is that no matter what our approach is that we will make two big mistakes.  Acceptance of that wisdom should lead us to be free to risk a bit more.  Hopefully, our lives end up being more rewarding once the risk has been accepted and conquered.

Today’s question is:

“What two big mistakes did you make last year?”

365QOD- Day1087

Your Message

“Turn your mess into a message”- speaker’s advice

The other day I watched a presentation during which the speaker uttered these words.  I loved the urging so much that I wrote it down.  Lastly, I decided to write a post about it.

I believe that this quote is very relevant to me.  I often write about topics of interest to me and sometimes share my growing pains.  But I have never used the words ‘mess’ to describe my pains.

I do believe that all of us have messes.  Some we share and others we try to hide.  But what makes us real to others is when we do share them.  This allows us to make a genuine connection to others by exposing our mess to sell the message that we are trying to pass on.

But be careful!  The message has to be real in order to connect and not appear as an attempt to sell.  In my opinion it has to provide a solution to the mess that people have in common with you.  That is your message for getting them out of the same mess.

Today’s question is:

“What is your mess and your message?”

365QOD- Day1086

The Three Percent

"Can you drink a liter of water each day for thirty days?"- a question to an audience

The other day I watched a snippet from a seminar.  In it the presenter explained to the audience that most of us are dehydrated.  He then asked the audience if they could drink a liter of water for the next thirty days. The logic for thirty days was the old belief that if we do something for 21 days continuously it will become a habit.  Everyone raised their hands agreeing that they would drink the liter of water.

The presenter then informed the audience when this experiment was done with 1000 people the result was that only 3% percent of the audience actually stayed committed to the end.  Shocking?  I was expecting the three percent.  It is no different than the number of people with written goals.  The same number who actually persevere to achieve the great things with their lives.

So why did they fail?  I believe that they committed intellectually.  They know that drinking water is good for them and that the effect would be positive.  As the Heath brothers would categorize it, the rider committed to the journey.

However, there was no emotional connection to the goal.  Drinking water is not something that most of us get emotional about.  Unless you have seen someone dehydrate in a matter of a couple of hours there is no emotional commitment.  As the Heath brothers would categorize it, the elephand moved towards a different goal.

Even better there is no way to set yourself up on the path to getting to the one litter goal.  It is not like pre-punching 2 holes on a reward card as Subway did.  It is not like someone could have started you with one forth of liter base level.

So the experiment is  a set up for failure?  Nope.  In my opinion it is strictly a willpower to commit and stay with that commitment.  I urge you to set it as a goal and achieve it.  Then raise the bar to 1.5 liters.  I will commit to do so also.

Today's question is:
"Can you commit to drinking a litter of water for a month?"

365QOD-Day1085

Measuring the Right Things

“Are you measuring the right thing? “- Steven J. Thompson

Our worlds are full of data.  It is only going to get worse.  With smaller and smaller sensors and cheaper and cheaper storage, we will have more and more access to all kinds of data.  The conversion from data to information is the next level. Even though this conversion is critical to improving it is often not done or done effectively effectively.  So we just collect data and do nothing with it/

So if we are collecting data and not obtaining useful information from it, then why bother collecting it in the first place.  Steven also teaches us that, “In almost any data-gathering situation, there are far more types of information that could be gathered than you can possibly tackle. Compare the contradictory claims that U.S. wireless phone providers make for their network coverage. No one's lying--they're all just picking different aspects of coverage to measure.”

In other words we might diligently collect the wrong data.  As the example illustrates, even if we did obtain information from it, the information would lead us to the wrong conclusion.  This is worthless!

We would be better off if we  make sure we are measuring the right thing and then forcing ourselves to extract information.  This would minimize the effort and storage, and maximize the understanding of the results.

Today’s question is”

“How do you know you are measuring the right thing?”

365QOD-Day1084

Dream Job vs. Current Job

“Would you apply to your current job today? If you answered 'no,' then you're among the 50% of executives today who feel disengaged, unchallenged and stuck in the wrong job.* As the New Year begins, now is the best time to stop wasting time in the wrong position — and take action.”- ExecuNet email content

In my opinion, for most people, this question is very dependent on the state of the economy.  During down times people would just keep their heads down and just work.  This is when employers have an advantage. 

But when times get better and opportunity starts to return then the desire for a change and to do better starts rising to the top.  As the quote points out, they “feel disengaged, unchallenged, and stuck in the wrong job” so changing to a better job becomes a must.

The reason I titled this post dream job vs. current job is to point out that often the jump is not to a dream job but to a ‘better’ job.    It might be the better pay.  It might be the less hectic hours.  It might be the new co-workers, etc.  Whatever it is the change might not be to our ideal job.  It just might be a slight improvement over our current one.

Remember that we often make decisions for two reasons: avoid pain or get more pleasure.  So when evaluating anything new ask yourself if you are trying to avoid pain or trying to get more pleasure.  This first decision lets you know if you have the right reason for wanting to make a change.

Today’s question is:

“Would you apply to your current job today?”

365QOD- Day1083

Of Service to Others

“Let me tell you a story”- my favorite words to hear

The other day I was driving home when I called a friend.  James is a very good friend.  He also happens to be very religious.  At the end of our conversation he told me a story.

James told me a story how at work things were difficult.  Nothing seems to gel.  Everything seemed to lead to conflict with the people in his work environment.

Then one day he went to a sandwich shop.  While in line he heard a voice instructing him to pay for the meal of the young  couple in front of him.  He ignored it.  The voice inside came back a second and a third time.   He could no longer ignore it, offered, and paid for their meal.  They were delighted and finally he was at peace.

According to James, the next day everything started changing.  Life seemed to become easy and his relationships at work seemed to improve.  It seemed as if someone had turned a switch on.

James’ story made me realize that often we are self-focused too much.  We are offered guidance from around us and above that we tend to ignore.  But if we get out of ourselves then we will be rewarded with peace of mind and our lives will shift towards a better state.

Today’s question is:

“Do you get out of yourself by being of service to others?”

365QOD- Day1082

Three Types of Entrepreneurship Success Stories- Type3

"OK I Built It, BUT They did not Come.  What is the third type?"- a second realization

According to Eric, the third type of start up story is the We Saw a Need, We Filled It.  This is the story in which the start up founder observes the need in others and creates a product for their need.  The founder is doing this for others AND almost immediately customers start to demand the product.

An example of a founder that fits the We Saw a Need, We Filled It is Sara Blakely.  She saw a need for a slimming product by other women and filled the need by creating Spanx.

The reason for writing this post is to ask yourself if the We Saw a Need, We Filled It narrative fits your life story.  Does it feel natural?  Is it believable?  You are the only one that will know. But you will never will be believable to others if you don't believe it.

Today's question is:
"Does your life story fit the We Saw a Need, We Filled It narrative?"

365QOD- Day1081

Three Types of Entrepreneurship Success Stories- Type2

"OK Rags to Riches does not fit me.  What is the second type?"- a realization

According to Eric, the second type of start up story is the We Built It, They Came.  This is the story in which the start up founder creates a product for their own need.  The founder is doing this for themselves BUT almost immediately customers start to demand the product.

An example of a founder that fits the We Built It, They Came narrative is Howard Schultz.  He started a single coffee shop that eventually created the giant Starbucks.  The key to their success is by creating a third place away from work or home that people can meet and hang out.

A more recent example of this is Mark Zuckerberg.  He took his need to communicate with his class mates friends and grew it into an Facebook.  He grew it from a one campus relevant into the giant that everyone connects through.

The reason for writing this post is to ask yourself if the We Built It, They came narrative fits your life story.  Does it feel natural?  Is it believable?  You are the only one that will know. But you will never will be believable to others if you don't believe it.

Today's question is:
"Does your life story fit the We Built It, They Came narrative?"

365QOD- Day1080

Three Types of Entrepreneurship Success Stories- Type1

"There are said to be only a handful of plot lines in all of world literature- as few as seven or as many as 20, depending on which comp-lit professor is counting.  Through the cannon of business- start up tales is not exactly literature, I count at least three narratives"- Eric Schurenberg, Inc. magazine editor

According to Eric, the first type of start up story is the Rags to Riches.  This is the story in which the start up founder takes an existing good business and drives it to greatness.  From good to great is hard to do.  Jim Collins details how difficult it is for good companies to become great in his classic book Good to Great.

An example of a founder that fits the Rags to Riches narrative is Sam Walton.  He started a single Ben Franklin store and eventually created the giant Walmart.  The great company continues to grow even years after his death.  That is a perfect example of taking a good store and creating a great company.

A more recent example of this is Gary Vaynerchuk.  He took his family liquor store and grew it into an online presence Wine Library TV channel.  Again, he grew it from a good one store to a giant within the industry.

The reason for writing this post is to ask yourself if this type of narrative fits your life story.  Does it feel natural?  Is it believable?  You are the only one that will know. But you will never will be believable if you don't believe it.

Today's question is:
"Does your life story fit the Rags to Riches narrative?"

365QOD- Day1079

The Spark of Invention

"Summer 1995...I wanted to invest in an IPO for gaming company.  The company went public at $15 a share.  My broker calls me and says, 'Well, you got the stock at $24. ' I'm like, ' How come?' He said, 'Well, $15 was the ideal price, not the price that people like you can get.' I was like, 'What do you mean people like me?'  The takeaway was that the theory of efficient markets is really great- in theory.  In practice, regular people are locked out.

I started thinking.  This internet thing- maybe I could use it to help people bring power of financial markets to regular people.  Of course, regular people aren't selling stocks in their households.  They're selling stuff.  I thought, There's a real opportunity to create a marketplace that could bring the power of efficient markets to regular people.  So that's what I did that Labor Day in 1995."- Pierre Omidyar, E-Bay founder

Pierre started Ebay in order to solve a problem.  He felt the problem when he could not purchase a good at the price that was advertised.  He then realized that this problem exists for all of us.  Lastly, he realized that the opportunity for many folks was different than what he was trying to take advantage off.  This process is the spark.

Unfortunately, most of us do not think that way.  If we have a problem we most often just get mad and complain.  We might think of a solution to that specific problem.  And that is where it ends.

The difference is that we don't always look for the need.  Pierre realized that the need was in a completely different arena.  By understanding the pain he and others felt and then transferring that pain into a solution to the need he succeeded.

Today's question is:
"Can you transfer the pain into the spark?"

365QOD- Day1078

Becoming Above Average

"But I am not average."- a common belief that we all have

It is not uncommon to believe that we are better than the average.  In yesterday post I discussed the idea that you are the average of five people you spend the most time in your life.  I am sure that some, if not all, of you had a reaction to that idea.

So what does it really mean and how do you change it?  Imagine a team of five members A, B,C, D, and F.  Their values are 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 respectively(5=excellent, 1=OK).  You are the C.  Why? Their average is sum/5=(5+4+3+2+1)/5=3 ==> C (you).  Any team will always have members that are better and below average.

Now suppose everyone on the team raises their level by one.  The average becomes (6+5+4+3+2)/5= 4.  This is above average.  The lesson is if everyone improves the average gets better.

Now what would happen if we drop the top team member (A) from he original team and replace the member with an average team member.  The average becomes (3+4+3+2+1)/5=2.6 (slightly below average).  And suppose everyone again raises their level by one.  The new average becomes (4+5+4+3+2)/5=3.6  Not as good as the 4 before but pretty close.  In other words even replacing team members with average ones but the team strives for better you still come out better off.

Consider would happen if we drop the bottom team member (A) from he original team and replace the member with an average team member.  The average becomes (5+4+3+2+3)/5=17/5=3.4 (slightly above average).  And suppose everyone again raises their level by one.  The new average becomes (6+5+4+3+4)/5=4.2  Better than the original 4.  In other words replacing team members with below average scores and the team strives for better will make you the best team possible.

Today's question is:
"How will you become better than average?"

365QOD- Day1077

You are the Average of Five People

"The best advice I ever got is: You’re the average of the five people you associate with the most," Ferriss, author of the best-selling book "The 4-Hour Workweek  the advice from a wrestling coach when he was in high school

I have heard this advice before but today I was reading a Business Insider story on best advice 12 successful entrepreneurs received and for some reason this one stopped me.  My first thought was, "The advice is truthful but is it actionable? "

If I take the time and think about the 5 people, or most meaningful several people, in my life and ask myself, “What do these people average out to?”   I can consider their income.  Is my estimate of their income higher or lower than mine?

Another dimension I can consider is their overall happiness.  Are their lives more fulfilling and happier than mine?  Do they seem to exude happiness?

Overall balance is another dimension I should evaluate.  Do they tend to spend their time working or living?  Are they tied at the hip to their smart phone while spending time with the people in their lives?  Do they take vacations to recharge?

I am sure there are other dimensions that you can come up with that might be more meaningful to you.  The idea is powerful and very true.  In the end you might decide that one or more of the people in your life are no longer aligned with what is important to you.

Today’s question is:

“What are you and average of?” 

365QOD- Day1076

Awareness of Five Minutes

“Durr, a new concept wristwatch that buzzes every five minutes, in an effort to jolt you into doing something with your day. “-Jason O. Gilbert

A while back I wrote about a Mindfulness App I have been using for a while.  The app randomly sounds a meditation bell once per hour from 9 am to 9 p.m.  The purpose of the app is for you to stop and think about what you are doing and whether you are mindful.

Initially I used the app a lot but at times it would go off during meetings and folks would wonder what the bell sound was all about.  I eventually started turning the sound off during meetings.

The idea of having a wristwatch without a working face that serves this reminder function is interesting.  It provides the same reminder in five minute increments with a simple vibration.  This is regular repetition teaching you physically the meaning of five minutes.  Most of us are aware that when we do unpleasant tasks that five minutes seems like an hour.

I believe that initially it would be wonderful especially since you are not bothering others.  BUT I believe that after a while your body would tune into the repeated vibration and you would start to ignore it.

Today’s question is:

“Would you find it helpful or ignore a five minute vibration reminder?”

365QOD- Day1075

Positive vs. Negative Influencers

"Simply put, you want to deliberately reduce and restrict the amount of your time left vulnerable to random thought or association, and deliberately, sharply reduce the amount of time given to association with people who won’t make any productive contribution and may do harm. Does that mean you can only spend time with people you are in complete philosophical agreement with? No. In fact, such isolationism can be dangerous. But it does mean you should avoid association with people who believe and promulgate beliefs diametrically opposed to “success orientation.”- Dan Kennedy 

You want to deliberately increase the amount of your time directed at chosen thinking and input, and constructive, productive association. You time should be spent with strivers and achievers, with winners and champions. These types of people become an uplifting force that translates into peak performance.  In the end being this deliberate makes all your time more valuable.  

Is this hard to do?  I believe anything is achievable if you nudge yourself towards that goal a little at a time.  Spend some time classifying the people in your life as positive or negative force.  Then repeat this exercise at least every six months.

Today’s question is:

“Have you ever classified the people in your life as positive or negative influencers?”

365QOD- Day1074

Tools Can Make You or Break You

"Computers are only amplifiers. They can amplify your intelligence or amplify your stupidity. Which would you like?" -- Richard Campbell

I believe that this quote can easily be re-written and more relevant as: "Smart phones are only amplifiers. They can amplify your intelligence or amplify your stupidity. Which would you like?"  Most people would probably rather lose $100 rather than loose their smart phone.  They become an amplifier for what we do every day.  I know for me my smart phone is a tool.    

What I like about this quote is that it instructs that they can be used to amplify one's intelligence or one's stupidity.  If I am playing games mindlessly then I am leaning towards stupidity.  If I am analyzing an app and later create a better app then the phone is amplifying my intelligence.  Outlining a book is intelligence but reading mindless novels is fun but not very productive.  

So chose your tools carefully and even better how you use them wisely.  

Today's question is:

"Which one are you amplifying?"

365QOD- Day1073

Use of Solitude

"In order to be open to creativity, one must have the capacity for constructive use of solitude. One must overcome the fear of being alone."- Rollo May

I have no fear of being alone.  It is not in my nature that I have to have people around me.  But I am no hermit.  I can be an extrovert or an introvert.

When there is no one around then I become very productive.  The idea of constructive solitude is how I recharge.  Sitting around on a vacation drains me unless I am doing something creative.  The quality of my life is highly dependent on my perceived level of creativity.

I believe that the secret is in having a plan.  Usually I know what I need to bring with me to fulfill a specific goal and how long it will take me to do it.  If my time is planned then I have less of a temptation to do something wasteful.  This not to say that do not break my plan but that I work at sticking to it. 

Today's question is:

"Do you fear being alone?"

365QOD- Day1072

Delay vs. Deny

“God gives you answers in three ways: he says yes and gives you want you want, he says no and gives you something better, or he says wait and gives you the best.”- Unknown

For many years I turned down every request that my kids made to me.  No matter how medium or large size it was, I just told them no.  Within a week or so I granted their request.  Sometimes I even exceeded what they wanted in the first place.

This line teaches the principle behind my actions.  We often want immediate gratification but life and God do not work in that fashion.  Seldom do we immediately get what we want.  BUT as my kids learned, the short wait is often worth it. 

The principle behind the delay is the old marshmallow study in which kids were asked to deny themselves for 15 minutes when faced with a bowl of marshmallows.  The ones who managed to deny themselves got twice as much candy vs. the tempted ones who immediately dug into them.

Today’s question is:

“Could you delay your want to double your result?”

365QOD- Day1071

The Taste of Pain

“Recycle your pain”- Eric Thomas

The other day I listened to several YouTube segments in which Eric motivates people to not use excuses to live a meaningful life.  The videos are pretty motivating messages that take the excuses off the table.

This line appeared on one of the screen shots and immediately I knew that I had to comment on it.  What does pain taste like?

I believe that we often get motivated or de-motivated by people and events.  Unfortunately, most often it is the demotivating that tends to stick with us.  Just because someone tells you you can not do something we allow it to become our reality.  It does not have to be BUT we just accept it.

This line teaches us to taste the pain of being demoralized and to recycle it to better use.  The taste should motivate us to move forward and achieve.  In many classic Bruce Lee fight scenes he tastes his own blood that someone has caused and gets motivated to kick their tail.

Paint should be the source of wanting to do better.  For most of us it takes a mind shift before we can recycle the pain for benefit.  But we must be like Bruce.  Taste it and use it against the causer.

Today’s question is:

“Do you recycle your pain for good cause?”

365QOD- Day1070

Knowledge vs. Experience

“What is the difference between knowledge and experience?”- a naïve question

Many years ago during a panel  interview I was asked why I was so comfortable.  I proceeded to draw on a white board my knowledge areas.  These by themselves were many. 

I explained to the panel that I could easily work in any one of the fields and feel comfortable.  They nodded BUT what shocked them was when I showed connections between the fields, the dots, that I claimed knowledge in.

In my opinion, that is the difference between knowledge and experience.  The ability to connect the knowledge pieces into a meaningful whole is where the magic occurs.  Just learning and creating the dots is not enough.  It is the application, after the facts are connected, that provides the strength that leads to experience.

By the way, I got the job because of that explanation.

Today’s question is:

“How do you connect your dots?”

365QOD- Day1069

ReMarkable

“What is the point of being alive if you don’t at least try to do something remarkable?”- John Green

We all get one life.  This quote brings home the idea of how important it is for us to do something meaningful with it.  That part is the challenge

Unfortunately, most of our days are no different than the day before.  We tend to live our lives as if tomorrow is guaranteed.  For some reason we also believe the old age is guaranteed.

The wisdom in this quote is the word remarkable.  The word remarkable to me means ‘worthy of remark.’  If no one comments on my post, is it remarkable?  If no one takes the moment to think about it how it applies to them, is it remarkable? These are small ways I can test if my work is being noted or not.  In the end if no one follows you or remarks about you, do you really contribute?

Today’s question is:
“Was your day worth remarking about?”

365QOD- Day1068

Bulling Others

“A teacher was teaching her class about bullying and gave them the following exercise to perform.  She had the children take a piece of paper and told them to crumple it up, stomp on it and really mess it up BUT be careful not to rip it. 

Then she had them unfold the paper, smooth it out and look at how scarred and dirty it  was.  She then told them to tell it they are sorry.  Now even though they said they were sorry and tried to fix the paper, she pointed out all of the scars they left behind.  And that those scars will never go away no matter how hard they tried to fix it. 

That is what happens when a child bullies another child, they may say they are sorry but the scars are there forever.  The looks on the faces of the children in the classroom told her the message hit home.”- Anonymous

I read this story as if it was written on a crumpled up piece of paper.  It moved me and helped me realize the importance of our words.  We have the right to say what we believe BUT that does not mean that it will not cause scarring of the other person at who the words are directed.  Reality is that words can be smooth or leave scars behind that no matter how much we apologize for will never go away.

To me, it seems that we need to slow down, use a pause, and think through our words more than with do.  We should not be in a rush to respond and simply listen and respond a bit slower.  The damage we could cause will be reduced by adding a simple pause button.

I realize that this story is about children and the words that they use and things that they do.  BUT I believe that these types of actions occur in work places all of the time.  Maybe the visual is enough to make us slow down and think twice before we hurt others.

Today’s question is:

“Are your words leaving scars on others?”

365QOD- Day1067

Life Performance Review

“I am great!”- one employee’s comment on their performance review form

At this time of year companies force their employees to do a self-evaluation of their performance.  Their  opinion hopefully matches the opinion of their supervisor.   Either way it is stressful and seldom helpful.

But what I am talking about is an end of year review with yourself of yourself for yourself.  You take a look at your performance across all areas of interest to you(work, family, financial, etc.) and review how well you did or did not do. Now that should be helpful.

I am a firm believer in stopping and thinking through our years.  I have an underlining theme for the year(This year is The Year of the Sales) and I come up with 1-5 goals in each key area of my life.  It is amazing to me but sometimes I do not even look at my list till the end of the year when I realize that many of the items have been achieved.

Today’s question is:

“Have you ever given yourself a Life Performance Review?”

365QOD- Day1066

Running Experiments

"I will do X and observe what happens to the output Y"- typical format of my experiments

A couple of months back I decided to label my posts.  For the first 1000 posts I started them simply with the quote and decided to run an experiment.  The experiment was to see if it made a difference to the number of readers if I simply added a title.  The result is that it did increase the numbers by a little bit.

Today I did notice an unusual effect that I did not predict.  I re-read just the titles of the last 60+ posts and found the flow between topics to be very interesting.  But another observation was also disappointing.  I do not believe that I create very effective hooks that pull in readers that might not know me really well. My understanding is that hooks should be like newspaper headlines begging you to buy the paper and read the story.

So try an experiment, observe the result to the number of readers, and then make another nudge.  This is the main idea behind my first book, The Result, applied to blog audience.

Today's question is:
"Do you run experiments in your work?"

365QOD- Day1065

The Five Second Rule- Tricking Yourself Into Action

"If you want to change anything about your life just do the things that you don't feel like doing."- Mel Robbins

I discovered Mel this weekend.  I happen to be listening to TED talks and her speech moved me. It moved me enough to look her up and watch some of her other spots on various shows.  One of the YouTube videos was for Success magazine.  In it she says the above quote and other words of wisdom..

One of the things that she speaks of is anti-actions.  These are actions such as surfing the we, updating Facebook, watching TV, updating twitter, etc. that fill your time and take away from your true work.  I completely agree.  These things are easy and require no effort.  They are mindless time fillers.

She speaks of, "every time  you push through you are making a long term investment in yourself".  So every time we push through the 'I don't feel like it' we are building our muscles for taking actions.  We have to make now the time instead of saying that this is not the time.  In reality, we will never feel like it.  We have to take action anyway.

I believe that the best way to build this muscle is to execute the 5 second rule.  When you get a thought to do something towards your goal to immediately start, within 5 seconds, and get momentum to move you forward.  So the only question you should quickly ask is, "Is this action strategic towards my goals or an anti-action?"  If the answer is first then do not stop and start doing it.

Today's question is:
"Are you going to execute the 5 second rule?"

365QOD- Day1064

Intermediate Steps

“What is your intermediate step?”- my question

Recently I talked with a person who was so focused on their goal that when I asked this question they looked stunned. Their response was, “ Why is that important?”  I almost fell over out of my chair.

I believe that identifying our end goal is very important.  BUT you can lose the war if you do not fight the small battles along the way.  To me the intermediate goals are the key.  These smaller objectives let you keep your forward momentum towards the goal.

When I asked this question I asked the person, for his goal, I was looking for him to identify one large intermediate step.  I do believe that a bunch of smaller steps is better than one big step but not always.  Sometimes one large intermediate objective is better.  When?

Consider someone interested in going to medical school.  She is still in high school and believes that being a doctor is her calling.  She is applying to different schools to get a basic science degree as the intermediate step.  But getting a basic science degree gets her almost nothing.  Those degrees are OK but do not provide a great intermediate step because they do not lead to great paying jobs.

What would happen if she would pursue a pharmacy degree?  She will walk out as a doctor of pharmacy within 6 years instead of 4.  BUT now you are a doctor already.  If you want to pursue an MD degree then the world is yours.  If you chose to continue towards the MD you can.  If you decide that you had enough of school you can get a great paying job. 

The point is that a great intermediate step could also be a great stopping point if need be.

Today’s question:

“Does a great intermediate step exist on your journey to your goal?”

365QOD- Day1063

The Year of the Sales

“You want to be the best-writing author and I am the best-selling author”- paraphrase of Robert Kiyosaki advice to an interviewer

I have written three books in the last three years.  My sales have been weak.  Is it because the books are just not good?  I do not believe that is the case.  I think it is about marketing to the right audience.

Books are no different that websites or products.  If you have the best product but no one knows about you or have seen your product then you should not be surprised that the product does not move.  You have a better mousetrap but people are not aware of it. 

Every year I like to create a theme to help me focus for the year.  Last year I titled my year The Year of the App.  My goal was to create an app.  I produced my Business Academy app and placed it in the Google Market for free.  It was my test run on what it took to make an app and put it out on the market.  The intent was not to make money but to understand the process and to be able to use this source for income generation if needed.

The theme for this year is The Year of the Sales.  I want to market my products and see if I can nudge the sales up.  It is my goal to understand how to market in social media and re-package my products so that I can attract many customers and readers.  I want to drive myself to best-selling status.   So how will I know I am successful?  If the sales amount to 25% of my income I would judge my experiment successful.

Today’s question is:

“What is this the year of _______  for you?”  

365QOD- Day1062

Freedom to Fail

"Instead of trying to make your life perfect, give yourself the freedom to make it an adventure, and go ever upward"- Drew Houston, CEO of Dropbox

Humans are planners.  I admit that I am one. I plan most things in my life BUT I truly enjoy when something unexpected happens.  Life then turns into an adventure and it becomes memorable.

I believe that we do not like to fail and that is why we plan.  We believe that by planning we can control our desired outcome.  I believe that the planning process is very valuable but once you are into execution the plan often gets tossed.  That does not make the planning process any less valuable.  It gets you to think through the path before you have to adapt to the curves along the way.

Drew also said that,
"As you might expect, building Dropbox has been the most exciting, interesting and fulfilling experience of my life.  What I haven't really shared is that it's also been the most humiliating,frustrating and painful experience too, and I can't even count the number of things that have gone wrong."

We need to hope that at end of execution that the experience turns out to be 'exciting, interesting and fulfilling.'  BUT be ready for it to be 'humiliating,frustrating and painful experience' along the way.  We have to detach ourselves from the outcome and put our best effort to make it a success.  That is all that we can control.  As Einstein observed, "God does not play dice with the world."

Today's question is:
"Do you get discouraged by things going wrong along the way to success?"

365QOD- Day1061

Real Leaders

"Wannabes are something like metric-maximizing robots.  Given a set of numbers they must 'hit,' they beaver away trying to hit them.  The leader knows their job is very different: not merely to maximize existing metrics, which are often part of the problem (hi, GDP, shareholder value), but to re-imagine them.  The leader's job is, fundamentally, not merely to 'hit a target'- but to redesign the playing field.  It's architecture, not mere archery.  If you're hitting a target, you are not a leader.  You're just another performer, in an increasingly meaningless game."- Umair Haque

This is a powerful quote. It helps differentiate between goal hitting and 're-deigning the field'.  Targets could be given to you and might not be correct.  They are often opinions of what detached leaders of leaders believe it is going on.  They have a good view of external factors BUT when it comes down to specific targets typically they are fuzzy.

As a front line leader you must 're-imagine' the metrics to make them meaningful and actionable. If they are not achievable you are setting your team up for failure.  It is your job to help them feel that they can succeed with your help.

I think that meaningful targets could pull a team forward BUT targets for targets sake are just a game and have no meaning.  The targets are best derived from bottom up once the vision is shared with the team.

Today's question is:
"Do you re-imagine AND re-design targets that are given to you?"