365QOD- Day1362

Expand Your Mind Expand Your Success

"I got lazy.  I stopped doing the things that got me the success"- Matt Morris on why he went broke after becoming a millionaire

This morning I went for a run.  While running I listened to an Eventual Millionaire show featuring Mike Morris.  It was a very good 4.5 mile run and the podcast was very engaging.

What I found interesting about Mike is that he recognized the laziness in himself and others.  He recognized that by using the three piece formula
              Success= Financial Vehicle + Effort+ Skill Set

Financial vehicle is the business you are in.  Are you selling a product?  Are you providing a service?  What is your way to financial freedom?  Is it through working for others? 

The Effort piece has to be ongoing never ending drive to outwork others.  If you are not getting up early working on your business before getting to your office to execute your business you are behind the next guy.  You must work harder than anyone you know.  There has to be a sacrifice in order for you to do that.  You have to be willing to pay the price in other areas of your life.

Skill Set is something that is easiest to pick up.  Initially your skills might not be great.  So it will require incredible amounts of work to build up your skills.  Expending your skills is very easy.  You can read books, attend seminars, listen to podcasts, etc.  Your skill goal is to be within the 1% of the knowledge level for that particular area.   In my opinion, this can be achieved in any area of interest within 2 years of daily effort. 

One thing that Mike mentions is an example of trying to lift a plane on a runway.  He says that one can not get liftoff by having the throttle 50% of the way, 70% of the way.  You must have the throttle 90-100% back in order for liftoff to occur. 

Today's question is:
"What are your vehicle, level of effort, and skill set level on your road to success?"

365QOD- Day1361

Problem with Customers

"Now I have to do something."- an observation

As an entrepreneur I want customers.  I want my ideal customer to buy my products and services.  This is how they solve their problems.

But this is an ideal scenario.  Eventually your customer will have a problem.  You need to step in an resolve the problem as quickly as possible even if you suffer a loss on the transaction. Yes, even if you loose.

Why?

Most entrepreneurs struggle with how to identify their ideal customer.  BUT once you can visualize and attract your ideal customers you must take care of them.  So ideal customers are the ones you want to work with.  

BUT even more importantly, "Who are you passionate to service and take care of?"  Imagine a line of customers with a complaint.  What do you want that make up of that line to be?

Today's question is:
"Who are you passionate to service and take care of?"

365QOD- Day1360

Rewards for Achievement

"I win!"- joyful outburst

I recently read a story in Entrepreneur magazine of a young millionaire.  He came up with a very cool idea.  He makes strategic alliances with companies and when people get to a certain level in a game he rewards them with a gift from the sponsor.  

Cool!

I thought that this is brilliant.  It connects a gamer with a business and rewards them with a small gift.  Very inexpensive and very direct.  

Why am I writing about this?

Well, the idea of reaching a peak without a reward is often a big letdown for most of us.  Often we achieve the goal and without rewarding ourselves we shrug our shoulders and look for the next goal to reach. It is a letdown and it should not be.

Companies need to figure out what is their ideal customer and what types of rewards these customers or potential customers would appreciate by reaching a goal.  Even better start a contest that offers rewards for reaching levels on your site. This will engage your potential customers and reward them.  This will make you stand out.

Today's question is:
"How do you engage your ideal customer?"

365QOD- Day1359

Forcing Yourself to Focus

"Focus on one thing at a time."- sage advice

We fool ourselves into thinking that we can multi-task.  We are designed to be serial doers and when we try to do things in parallel, we fail to achieve quality results. 

I am someone who often has many ideas that I want to execute.  So trying to focus at times is often a challenge.  But I force myself.

How?

I pick the one thing that I will focus on during the next 90 days and everything else just gets added to the list.  At the end of the 90 days I reconsider what I will focus on.

This is not to say that at times I do not loose focus and start working on something else.  BUT I will quickly catch myself that I am drifting.  Another way I catch myself is through my notebook in which I keep my daily schedule.  Once I see that I have not worked on my main focus for a day or so I know that I am drifting.

Today's question is:
"How do you catch yourself drifting away from your focus?"

365QOD- Day1358

The End of a Mentor

"RIP"- my words

We all hope that our end comes quickly and in our sleep.  And hopefully we all would be granted such an end.  

On Sunday one of my earliest mentors, Howard Schmid, passed away in the arms of his wife Veronica.  Howard was special to me.  He was someone whose words influenced my behavior during my life.

Mr. Schmid was my freshmen English teacher.  But he was more than that.  He was the first person that told me I was a genius.  Whether I was or was not, his words stuck with me and made me feel like I should live up to that level.  Hopefully, I have.

He was always kind to me with his words of encouragement after I had completed his course and always encouraged me to write.  Well, for someone who had learned English just a year and a half before his class this was very powerful.  It made me believe that I had a voice that others should hear.  

I believe that his encouragement throughout high school helped me become the valedictorian of my school.  I am convinced that his words and nudging helped me become a better student.

Mr. Schmid was the last editor of my first book.  After 10 people had read it I gave it to him to read amd give it its final blessing.  Of course he found errors.  But overall he was very positive about my work. 

His words have always meant the world to me.  Maybe that is why I have finished four books and plan on writing many more in the future.  

THANK you Mr. Schmid.... you were a great mentor and a friend. I will miss you.

Today's question is:
"Who was your first mentor?"

365QOD- Day1357

Are You a Cleaner?

"1 hour and 9 minutes"- my recent initial 6 mi result

In the last six months I have been regularly running 3 miles twice a week.  Once in a while I would strecth myself to 4.5 miles.  But I kept trying to not hurt myself more than trying to stretch myself.

So a couple of weeks ago a former running buddy asked me to train with him.  He was getting ready for a 10k and wanted to test himself.  I said OK.  Immediately I thought to myself, "My knees are going to hurt."  But I did it anyway.

So my buddy stopped by and we ran the 10k in 1:04.  This was our normal running pace a couple fo years ago when we ran together.  We could have pushed ourselves to 1:02 but we did not.  He felt good and  believed taht he could run his race in 50 minutes.  I also felt very good about the run.

AFter that day I decided to start running 6 miles more often.  I ran it by myself a week later in 1:09.  A few days later I ran it in 1:06.  Then something happened.

Friday night and Saturday morning I read Tim S. Grover's book called Relentless.  In it he identifies the icons he worked with as Cleaners.  A Cleaner is someone who is willing to push themselves to the limit.  They are not limited by physical limitation BUT push through them.

So on Sunday I decided to go for a 6 mile run.  Before the run I told myself that I am a Cleaner and that I am going to run as a Cleaner.  I finished my run in 59:36.  This is almost 10 minutes less than the first run after my run with my buddy.  I felt good pushing myself to the limit.  I believe that 50 minutes is possible for me.

Today's question is:
"Are you a Cleaner?"

365QOD- Day1356

Relentless

"All of the rules are numbered #1"- my observation of Tim S. Grover's chapter headings

Last night I started a book and finished it this morning.  It was a book by Tim called Relentless.  The R word became a new addition to my power virtues that I repeat to myself. 

In the book Tim tells many stories of how he worked with elite athletes when they worked on become icons.  Icons such as Jordan, Kobe, Dwayne Wave, etc.  Each story illustrates one of the many principles taht Tim outlines in the book.

There are two interesting things about the book that were unique.  He numbered all of the rules as #1.  Why?  Because if he used the normal numbering scheme someone might literally think that rule#1 is more important than rule#2, and so on.  He felt that all of the rules were equal and we should not get bogged down in the importance but to focus on adopting them to improve our level.

Second thing that stood out to me is that the rules were all about mindset.  He helped the athletes with their physical limitations or injuries BUT his focus was on the mental game.  What is missing in the book are any physical tasks to improve your performance.  Similarly, he lacks any tools that you could use to adopt the rule.  It is left up to you to think for yourself and embed the rule in your life.

Today's question is:
"Are you relentless?"

365QOD- Day1355

Slackers

"What if it isn't good enough?"- A quiet question

I believe that often we ask this question of ourselves.  Unfortunately it is done quietly in our minds and not out loud. If it was loud we would hear it an quickly realize it as a limitation we are placing on ourselves.

So why do we ask this question?

In my opinion we often ask this question when we are attempting something for which we can not assure the end result.  If we are running a race and have never seen the course but are predicting a certain outcome, we might not push ourselves and give ourselves the out when we do not finish it in good time.  By saying it was a new course we can give ourselves a break as to why we did not succeed.

We do not only back off from doing our best when it comes to stretching our own limits .  The ugly truth is that we often do this when competing against others.  We might believe that we can beat the other guy but during the race pull back and slow down.  Why?  What if we are wrong and maybe we are not as good as the other guy?

This phenomenon is very interesting to me.  When I used to teach martial arts classes we often instructed the students not to punch with full force but to pull back their punches.  The punches were suppose to touch and slightly push into the opponent.  The punches and kicks were not suppose to bend the other person over and wince with pain.  I understood the reason but often believed that this set the students up for failure.  What happens is if they are ever in a fight they tend to pull their punches back and the opponent easily hurts them instead of them stopping the opponent.

So we pull back from doing our best.  This slacking allows us to give ourselves a pass when we fail.   Because if we really give it 100% and it is still not good enough then maybe we are not good enough.  That truth might be too hard for us to accept.

Today's question is:
"How do you stop yourself from slacking?"

365QOD- Day1354

Learning for Sake of Learning

"I can learn...therefore I can improve"- My belief

Recently I was given a gift.  A young co-worker gave me a pdf file of a book.  Along with the book he also gave me serious of lectures that complement the book.

I went home and started reading the book.  I got up to chapter 6 out of 13 and my momentum stalled.  It seemed that I hit a wall.

Then I remembered that I had the videos and started back at chapter 1.  WOW!  I thought I understood the book BUT after watching the videos I really understood.

What it is interesting about this book is that it is something that I might never need in my life.  BUT it is good to know.  It makes me see things completely differently.  

So what is the book?  A book on plant piping design.  

Today's question is:
"How do you learn things for the sake of learning?"

365QOD- Day1353

Self-Sabotage

"We have met the enemy.  It is us"- Unknown

It is interesting that one of the least talked about aspects of success is sabotage.  Yup!  In hundreds of hours of podcasts that I have listened to I have only heard one CEO talk about it.  

Why?

Well some people fear failure.  Others fear success.  And now I want to identify a third type:  one who gets overcomes failure to get to success and then drives it down into failure.  

This does not have to be an entrepreneur.  It could be an employee who is hot one year and out the next year.  Great performer one year and then on list of bottom performers.

I do not think it is a fear of the level.  It could be boredom.  They have reached the level and know that they can get there again quickly.  So there is nothing to lose.  It is almost a need to fail in order to show people that they can get to that level and higher again.

Today's question is:
"Do you self sabotage?"

365QOD- Day1352

Importance

"Just because you can, does not mean you should."- my words of advice

In last two posts I talked about understanding the Issue and Impact of a problem that you are trying to solve for your client.  The two pieces are powerful when combined BUT they are still not enough.

What!

Yes, understanding the problem creates a bond between you and your client.  Providing a visual confirmation assures the client that a solution can be found and that you have invested a bit of time and money.  The impact understanding is the icing on the cake.  It assures the client that you know the value of the problem.

So what is the problem?

Just because you have knowledge of the problem and the impact it might not be enough.  The problem has to be worth solving for you and the client to benefit from it.  If you do not benefit from it then it is a win-loss and you should turn the sale down. Unless you have a win-win and the importance is high for you both to work towards the solution, it is better to walk away and focus on another opportunity.  You can always suggest someone that the client can work with.  Possibly even your competition.

Today's question is:
"How do you evaluate whether a problem is important enough to solve?

365QOD- Day1351

Impact

"I believe that I understand your issue."- A good start

In yesterday's post I talked about taking the time to understand the issue taht your client has.  This is very important to your success.  Without understanding the issue completely you will sound like a salesperson instead of a problem solver with the best of intentions.  

But that is not enough!

I was so proud of knowing the issue.  This by itself sets you apart from others that are bidding for work BUT I never got to the next level of need.  The next level of need is Impact.  

You must understand the impact that the problem is creating for your client.  Yes I did ask for a paragraph or two detailing the Issue.  Yes I did go and see the problem with my own eyes and  create a 3D sketch of the problem.  

Understanding the problem impact is the next level of selling to a client.  By drilling into the why behind the problem you will learn why the client's bosses felt it was necessary to solve this problem.   They might have even generated a business case for the project.

You can think of the ISSUE as the WHAT part of the problem.  The IMPACT is the WHY part of the problem.  By looking at the two pieces as the what and why you get a better understanding of the client and their boss' pain.

Today's question is:
"How do you obtain the IMPACT portion of the problem?"

365QOD- Day1350

Issue

"My company offers this solution."- a misguided sales pitch

Recently I have been working with several companies for which I offer proposals for work to be done by a team of engineers and designers.  One of the things that I learned very quickly is to not sell the client on the offer.  

What?

Yes, I would make an appointment and offer to go out to the field to get a better picture of what the issue the client was having.  I often times asked that my client clearly state the issue in one or two short paragraphs.  This would serve as the basis for the meeting and  my understanding of the issue.

After the initial office meeting and discussion, we would go to the field and see the issue that the client was having in front of us.  Then I would return to the office and have a designer generate a 3D sketch of what I saw and the proposed changes that need to be made.  This sketch would then get sent to the client in order to communicate that I understood their issue.

This system is a wonderful way of understanding the issue before submitting a proposal.  But it is not enough.  Tomorrow I will tell you why.

Today's question is:
"How do you understand your client's issues?"

365QOD- Day1349

Not Moving Fast Enough

"What is my brand?"- My question to myself

A few months ago I wanted to get the URL for my name.  It was my goal to make it the gateway to my creative work.  But it was not available.  My name is the same name of an Australian soccer player.  SO no luck.

So for the last few months I was bummed out.  I kept thinking that I missed a great opportunity.  It seemed to me that I did not move fast enough.  

Not moving fast enough was a blessing that I did not see at that time.  It was ego that wanted the name URL.  My name is not easy for people to remember so getting it would not have made it easy for people to get to my site and to find the resources I offer.  

Then it hit me. I own the URL that is incredibly easy to remember and it is 1000 times better than my name.  That URL is
www.UltimateOnlineLearning.com

Easy to remember.  Easy to spell..... Wow why did I not think of it before.  Most of my creative works deal with learning so it is a natural landing page for all of my efforts.  I just need to do some re-design and cleanup.  

Today's question is:
"What did you benefit from by a brief delay?"

365QOD- Day1348

Daily Regret

"What is one behavior you keep doing...and regretting"- Jim Rohm

This is an excellent question.  It was posed by a very great motivator. 

So what is it for me?

I have a tendency of pulling on my cuticles.  To the point that the area around my fingers bleeds.  This is something that I have done for most of my life and it is almost unconscious.  Often times it is while thinking about something stressful that I do it. 

Even though it is unconscious I still regret it.  Recently I have been running an experiment with myself.   I work on not doing it for a day.  Then I try to go two days in a row.  And so on...

It is my goal to win the battle and stop regretting the unconscious choice I make.

Today's question is:
"What is one behavious that you do daily that you regret after you do it?"

365QOD- Day1347

The Wall in Front of You

"What is it that you do not want to do?_________....DO IT!"- Darren Hardy

The other day I listened to an old Darren Hardy daily text/video message.  In it he used this line.  It offers great wisdom.

Often times the answer to the blank is the greatest fear or wall standing in front of us. It stands there and challenges us to climb it.  All we can think of is how high it is.  The

The wall is symbolic of anything we do not want to do.  It is the resistance that we offer to ourselves to get to the other side.  The wall could be making a call.  It could be paying a bill, IT is anything that stands in front of you that you fear.

At the instance when we see the wall we have to challenge our fixed mindset.  This is where we have to enter our flexible mindset and realize that we might fall down but that we are strong enough to attempt the wall again and again.  There is no wall!

Today's question is:
"What is it that you do not want to do today?"

365QOD- Day1346

Mind vs. Mindset

“What makes millionaire millionaires is their mind.”- Tommy’s belief

This was the opener of a great conversation I had yesterday with Tommy.  I immediately disagreed by pointing out that it was the mindset and not the mind that makes a difference.  Let me explain.

Many years ago I laid on a bed not being able to get up.  My back went out and I felt like a Sumo wrestler was sitting on my back.  I had a ripped stomach and was in the best physical shape of my life BUT I could not get up.  It took me 45 minutes and drenching sweat all over my body to get up. 

While laying there I kept thinking how my brain knew that I was physically in great shape.  It knew that I had no physical problem with my back.  In knew that I had a strong core.  So strong that I used to do up to 750 crunches every other day. 

At that time I recognized that a mind is not the brain.  It is elsewhere in the body.  It could be in the heart, it could be in the stomach, it could be in the brain, etc. 

I concluded that a mind is a terrible master but a wonderful servant.  This began my journey to self-knowledge and growth.  I have read veraciously.  I have attempted to adjust my mindset so that I can control my mind. 

Am I successful at doing it?  I am a lot better than I was eight years ago. 

My conversation with Tommy continued about mindset and the importance of being “preset” and aware.  It was not about having a million experiences but experiencing and understanding this experiences by placing pauses and achieving clarity.

Today’s question is:

“How do you achieve clarity?”

365QOD- Day1345

Cost vs. Value

“We have to be the cheapest.”- a leader’s admonition

Recently I worked with a company that had a distinct advantage. Unfortunately almost no one in the company understood the advantage.  Sad!

The company aggressively competed with larger competitors strictly on price.  My questioning of that was met with looks of confusion.  I did not see being the lowest priced bidder as an advantage.  A bigger company can always kill you if you solely compete on price.

The value that the company had and it did not understand was their processes for getting work done and not the cost structure.  I saw this value and contributed by adding a piece to this process in which a customer would be shown a 3D sketch of what the work consisted off.  This would not only educate the customer but make the company stand out as someone who not only understood the customer’s problem but invested in modeling the solution before it even produced it.  Talk about an advantage!

The leadership of the company thought that this was a waste of time and money.  The initial investment of a few hundred dollars on one project helped us win a million dollar contract.  The effort was not appreciated and eventually we parted ways because of the leadership wanting to wage a cost war instead of pursuing the value proposition I pushed for.

Today’s question is:

“How do you compete on value?”

365QOD- Day1344

Life Resume

“Tell me your story.”- my typical introduction

Often times people lead with the question, “So, what do you do?”  In an old post I proposed that a better question is to ask someone to tell you their life story.  By doing so you will not only get them to tell you all about themselves but indirectly answer the typical question.

Notice that the title of this post is life resume.  I believe that often people self-identify so much with their current job that they will give you their title as who they are.  But the title I placed o this post is asking a bigger question, ”What have you done besides your work?”

It is an important question.  If you identify with only the work you do for a business, even if it is your own, you are limited.  You might be successful at work but you are not successful at life.  You might be only successful at work and nothing else.

So what is required to be successful in life?  Well a successful life is one in which all aspects of your life are on equal footing.  Your family life is as good as your work life.  Your relationships with friends are as strong as your family relationships.  Your financial house is strong and can not be knocked down due to a job loss. 

A balanced person is difficult  to knock down.  There are too many pieces that support them.  Too many pieces that make sure the person’s fall is temporary and there is a hand lifting them up.

Today’s question is:

“What is on your life resume? 

365QOD- Day1343

Slow Motion

"Left knee up with right arm up, right knee up with left arm up...repeat"- usual running stride

I run a couple of times a week.  I usually run 3 or 6 miles when I do.  I usually want to do as good as I have done in the past if not better.  If I do not feel good then I give myself a break and do not focus on the time.

The funny thing is that often when I run I see an older gentlemen who also runs.  His style is very unique.  He looks like as if he is running in slow motion.  His body motion is one of a runner but yet the result is a very slow motion looking run.  

I could not resist and one day I stopped him and asked him a few questions.  He told me that he runs a few times a week and that each time he runs 5 miles.  I was impressed.  He had a style that was not jarring to his knees but yet he was in great shape and achieving great results.  It is hard to judge his age but I would guess 80+.  

The lesson that I learned from observing him was that by moving slower one can achieve greater results than rushing to get to the finish line.  

Today's question is:
"Do you believe you can get ahead by slowing your motion?"

365QOD- Day1342

Your Message

“…Your message has to be super tight and easy to transmit in as few words as possible. ‘1,000 songs in your pocket’ is the answer to ‘what is an iPod?’ Before that, the Macintosh was introduced as ‘The computer for the rest of us.’ If you can boil your message down to just its syrupy goodness, you can achieve lift

—the irresistible force of millions of customers selling your product for you.”-David Meerman Scott

In the last couple of days I read an ebook by David on Viral Marketing.  It was a great short book that gave me a lot of ideas.  The book was written several years ago and it is amazing how the rules he lays out still hold true.

What I liked about this quote is the idea that you must be able.  to reduce your message down to as few words as possible.  The examples he gives reduce it down to 6-7 words at most. This is tough.

Suppose you are an entrepreneur that wants to offer an ebook on time management.  How would you make it syrupy?  Maybe...
The time management book for the overwhelmed people with no time to manage.  

Would this work?   Maybe it needs to be shorter?   
The time management book for the overwhelmed.

Maybe it needs to include a reference to the digital world we are drowning in.
The time management book for the digitally overwhelmed.

Today's question is:
"Can you simplify your message down to just its syrupy goodness?"

365QOD- Day1341

Making Hot Things Hotter

"I figured that what was inside the pepper was hotter than the pepper.  So if you can take what is inside and use just that you can make a much hotter sauce"- David Hirshkop 

I was walking the other day when I heard this quote.  It was one of those realizations that makes you stop and immediately think about how to apply it.

The lesson I got out it was that in order to be more successful at doing something you need to drill down and understand what makes that niche a niche.  He took hot sauce and realized that the inside of a pepper has to be hotter than the outside of the pepper.  In other words be understood the inside before he could improve the outside of the product.

Suppose you are an author.  You realize that vampire books are very successful.  You want to make the ultimate vampire book.  In order to do so you need to understand what it is about the vampires that makes the books success.  What is it about them that makes them hot and then take that to an extreme.

Today's question is:
"How do you make your niche hotter?"

365QOD- Day1340

Getting Things Done

"Getting things done is the inverse of holding things in your head."- David Allan

I recently listened to an interview with the founder of GTD- Getting Things Done on Eventual Millionaire.  In the past I have had a hard time getting excited about this system.  This time it was different.

David believes that in order to be more effective and to get things done you must get the noise out of your head.  This is done by constantly noting things down and filing them in their appropriate place.  Once they have been noted then one must set aside time to prioritize them.

As a formula,

GTD=1/WhatIsInYourHead

Do I agree with it?  I do because it is simple.  I have seen the effects of having too many things in my head on my effectiveness.  The more time I spend thinking on paper the better I am overall.  I do not necessarily follow his system but I believe it could be helpful to get everything down on paper.  And then to make a plan on how you will deal with that information.

Today's question is:
"How often do you get things out of your head?"

365QOD- Day1339

Manager of The Future

"Let's get our crystal ball out."- my words

In the Forbes article titled, The evolution of the Manager and What it Means to You by David Sturt and Todd Nordstrom. also details the characteristics of a Manager of Tomorrow.

In this third part I want to show how the chart evolves the role over time and check its predictions for future.

If I look across from past to present to future
An Authoritarian from the past ->became a Coach/Motivator -> and will become a Remover of Boundaries

This transition makes sense.  I coach does not necessarily removes barriers BUT helps the team to overcome them.  So if a coach can help remove the barriers the team will perform better and most likely will achieve the goals.

Second characteristic of the transition of a manager over time is
In the past an authority Oversaw Compliance -> which morphed into Oversing Performance -> and will in the future Oversee Potential

What this means to me is that we are moving from distrust to trust.  In the past the employee had no trust and had to be monitored.  Now the employee is trusted to do the work but their performance is judged.  The future will force the manager help the employee tap into their potential.  This is at risk that if he employee gets better developed they might leave the team in order to fulfill it elsewhere.

Third transition is
In the past authority was Focused on Correction -> which became Focus on Improvement -> that will become Focused on Possibility

This transition moves from employee being seen as defective.  Now we tend to believe that performance can be monitored and an employee can be improved.  Next we will see the employee as having talents taht we are not tapping into and will try to pull out what is possible for that employee.  This transition is from employee being limited to limitless.

Fourth change that we will observe is from
A boss Looked over you Shoulder -> to a manager who Looks Over Results-> to a leader who Looks Over Alignment

This change shows how the original focus was over whether the employee will achieve the work to today where that result has to be reviewed.  The future leader will need to make sure that the team is aligned and gets out of the way to let the team achieve greater results than any one member can achieve by themselves.

Fifth directional change is from
A boss that strictly Enforced Policy -> to a manager who Enforces Productivity -> to a leader that Enforces Purpose

I can see how a boss in the past focused on enforcing policy.  As the authority he knew better and had to make sure everyone else also did what they were suppose to.  I can also see how today with the yearly evaluations a manager is trying to enforce productivity.  But how does a leader enforce purpose?  I believe that the future manager will do more of the "why" Sharing the Purpose with the team.  This will help explain and hopefully inspire the team to follow towards that purpose. 

Sixth directional change is
Authority that Managed Voices-> to a coach that Accepts Perspective -> to a leader that Organizes Collaboration

Manged voices seems as if the employee in the past had a voice.  They did not.  The transition to a manager today accepting the perspectives of others is correct.  How do you organize Collaboration?  By rewarding people for collaborating.  This is something that no performance system even attempts.

Last directional change over time
A boss that Demanded Subordination-> to a manager that Demands Cooperation -> to a leader that Demands Innovation

Over time the boss is giving away authority for the sake of productivity.  The productivity is only achieved though a team effort and this requires cooperation.  Ultimately the highest level of giving away authority if for the employees to feel that they know enough to start providing ideas and innovations.  So maybe instead of demanding the boss is Encouraging Innovation.

In the end the manager of the future needs to be a leader.  By giving away some of the authority and control the leader can get better performance and innovation from their team.  In a sense the boss will be treating their team as adults and not kids that need to be constantly monitored.

Today's question is:
"Which period management style do you best fit?"

365QOD- Day1338

Manager of the Present

"Lets go team!"- a manager's urging

In the Forbes article titled, The evolution of the Manager and What it Means to You by David Sturt and Todd Nordstrom. also details the characteristics of a Manager of Today.

If we were to look back into management theory of today, what would a manager of a typical department do and behave during the last 5 years?  What would be some descriptive terms that we would use?  How did they make their employees feel, act, and do?

Most mangers of today realize that just because they are the boss their true title is more of a Coach/Motivator.  They see their role as the person that needs to build up their team.  Everyone on their team might not be their first choice but they need to coach them to get them to a better state.

The manager of today has to Oversee Performance.  In the end without results nothing matters.  Without results there is just talk of intent.  A coach has to help the team to get to a better performance level.  Some companies take this to an extreme and systematically hire 10% of their bottom performers.  But if you have been coaching and overseeing eventually your bottom performers will be equal to your top and then you are getting rid of great employees.

The focus on performance is driven by Focusing on Improvement.  With many quality arena today a manager can reduce the number of defects that are produced and ultimately drive towards a near perfect quality.  Sometimes the focus is so much on improvement that the people doing the work feel like they can not keep up.

The manager is judged by the results that they produce.  They have to Look Over the Result constantly. As the old saying goes, "Trust but Verify."   The manager of today is not like the boss of the past.  They will not hover over you but will periodically check in to make sure that forward progress is being achieved by reviewing current results.

A team gets judged by performance.  The manager of today is aware that people have many distractions these days and that they have to Enforce Productivity.  By periodically checking in on the status that manager of today is saying to the employees that this is the expected place that I need you to be.  If the team is not there a manager typically woks with the team to help them achieve that intermediate goal.

A manager of today is mart enough to know that they do not know it all.  Unlike the boss of the past, they have to Accepts Perspectives of their teams.  Their team's knowledge and experience brings solutions to the table that the manager might not have seen.  The manager has to accept that and encourage it.

Because the world is moving so much faster than 50 years ago, a team must produce now and a manager has to Demand Cooperation from each team member.  As many managers of today say, "There is no I in team".  Teams must be functioning and perform in order to exist.

Today's question is:
"Do you fit the mold of a manager today?"

365QOD- Day1337

Manager in the Past

"I can see the past clearly, now what do I do?"- a great question

First of all notice that this post and the future two posts will deal with management and not "leadership".  To me those are two different skill sets.  These posts will be based on a Forbes article I read titled, The evolution of the Manager and What it Means to You by David Sturt and Todd Nordstrom.

If we were to look back into management theory, what would a manager of a typical department do and behave like 50 years ago?  What would be some descriptive terms that we would use?  How did they make their employees feel, act, and do?

First word that we would use is Authority.  The boss was the boss back then.  He, and it was usually only he, had complete authority to hire and fire people who worked for them.  They knew they were the boss and their employees knew they were the boss.

Based on the authority that the owners granted them, they Oversaw Compliance of the workforce.  There was no challenging the boss.  You were not asked for your "feedback".  You  were told to do X and to get going.  The boss was there to make sure you complied.

The compliance that the boss demanded often Focused on Correction.  Since the boss knew best, he would tell you how to correct your mistakes and to make sure you did it correct.  Repeat corrections led to you being let go.

In order to make sure that the corrections were followed the boss had to constantly Look Over Your Shoulder.   You were given a very tight leash and you were treated as such.  You had to do what you were told.  Or you were corrected or let go.

Since the boss was the authority figure, he Enforced Policy.  There might not have been a reason for the rule, it was just company policy.  The boss did not have to explain the policy to you.  All he had to do was enforce it.

Another one of the functions of a boss was to Manages Voices.  Your voice, like a kid, was to be kept low and to yourself.  There was no talking back.  There was no challenging the boss. 

Behavior of bosses and employees in the past Demanded Subordination.  It was complete subordination.  The boss demanded it and the employees gave it.  No question asked.

I would use two words to describe the manager of that time: Positional Leader.

Today's question is:
"Do you know anyone that behaves this way today?"

365QOD- Day1336

When Good Enough is Good Enough

"MVP- minimum valuable product"- a good enough product that can be shipped

In a 99u.com article on When is Something Good Enough to Ship Keith Frankel outlines five rules for making a decision that a deliverable can be shipped:"

1. It successfully solves the problem, addresses the need, or conveys the message intended.
2. It is clearly and distinctly on brand.
3. The quality of work is consistent with or above the level of previous work.
4. It has been thoroughly yet objectively scrutinized by other qualified individuals.
5. The final decision of preference had been left in the hands of the creator."

First one is obvious.  It will solve a problem successfully.  But what about the second one?  How do you know that it is clearly a brand?  The only way I can answer this is that it is a unique solution that no one else has achieved.

The third rule is that it is at a level that you can accept or have accepted.  But just because you can accept it does the rest of the team and leadership accept it(Rule#4)?

The last rule is to just let it go.  You have to let your baby out.  You have to give it to the world to critique it and hopefully accept it.

Today's question is:
"How do you decide if something is good enough?"

365QOD- Day1335

Creativity is Dead

"I do not know what to eat."- an uninspired person

I love to make up dishes on the fly.  All I have to do is look inside a fridge and I can create a dish.  So for me cooking is not hard.  It is pleasurable.

When I hear that people throw out maybe a third of the foods that they buy I have to believe that they are not creative.  Why would someone get in their car, drive a while, stand in line, wait for the waiter, wait for the meal and then quickly eat their food?  As someone who has been in the kitchens of some fancy restaurants, I can tell you that their cleanliness is not the best either.

To me the creative process is such that I am proud of most things I prepare.  I tend to eat better and healthier foods by preparing them myself.  I know what I put in vs. what the restaurant put in them.

So what is the answer for the creatively challenged?

Well IBM has the Watson super computer.  It has beat chess  and jeopardy champions.  So if you tell Watson what you have in your fridge it will kick out 100 recipes of what you can make with those ingredients.  It actually can produce more but they limit it to 100.  10 seemed too low and 1000 seemed too big.

So if you need an idea of what to cook and can not creatively come up with one, Watson can suggest 100 ideas. It made me think of what else we can do with

Today's question is:
"Do you need the brute force of  asupercomputer to overcome a creativity challenge?" 

365QOD- Day1334

Lagging Mindset 

"What I found in the past my life is that the amount of money I make lags about 10-12 months.  It is now down to 6 months."- Dane Maxwell on Eventual Millionaire podcast

I heard this quote today and I immediately knew I had to write about it.  It made me wonder what my lag was.  If I go though any self-help improvement what should the delay be before I see a change?

I suspect that if you work with something and then let it simmer then Dane is probably correct 10-12 months before you notice a change is correct.  But what if you do not let it just simmer but continue to actively work on it?

Focus is the magic pill.  I believe that once you learn something it has to become ingrained in your daily systems and then the reduction to 6 months is probably what you will see.  I guess the point is that the delay will be reduced but not eliminated.

The key is to keep finding what change is necessary for you to make and not to expect the results to be immediate.  But just because there is a delay does not mean that it will never happen

Today's question is:
"How far behind your learning is your mindset lagging?

365QOD- Day1333

Going Sideways

"Markets go up and down and at times, and for what feel like a long time a long time, go sideways."- financial presenter

I think that when most of us think of the market we like to think of it as always going up.  But as we know markets do go down such as around 2000 and around 2008.  But these are usually shorter periods.

What I find interesting is that for shorter time spans, 1-3 months, markets tend to look like they are going sideways.  At times slightly up or slightly down but general pattern is sideways.

So what?

I believe markets are no different than our lives.  We also have periods when we feel like we are stuck going sideways.  We might feel like our lives are getting a bit better only for the flow to reverse and all of sudden you feel like you hit a wall and starting to go down.  It could be a self-induced period when you take a sideways move in the company in order to be considered for a future move up.

The wisdom I want to offer is that when you do hit that small valley, while moving sideways, to think about how to gain more momentum to keep moving up.  In technical analysis there is an indicator called MACD- moving average convergence divergence.  All it tells you if the pattern is positive or negative and the strength. 

So take a moment, when feeling like you are stuck sideways, and determine if the recent past is more positive or negative and ask yourself what you can do to increase the positive momentum.

Today's question is:
"How do you change a sideways move to an upward move?"

365QOD- Day1332

Adaptability

"Arrange whatever pieces come your way."- Virginia Wolf

I have always believed that being adaptable is very important in both personal and professional aspects of our lives.  Often I even mention this to the teams that I lead.  This often takes the form of referring to Charles Darwin.

Darwin said that,
"it is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able best to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds itself. :

So it is not the strongest or the most intelligent BUT the most adaptive to change.  So what happens during change?  Usually we get a lot of new pieces that are thrown at us at once.  This is why Virginia's advice is to just do the work and arrange them.

But you say that it is not so easy?

It is not easy to go through the change but you must believe that you are adaptive enough that you will come out ahead at the end.  By focusing on how to optimize the pieces we could reduce the stress of going through the change.  After all you control how the peices get organized.

Today's question is:
"How do you stay adaptive while arranging the pieces in front of you?"