business as i see it

image by csitscenter, flickr collection

i was in a meeting recently with a senior associate in my firm, and spent the vast amount of the 4 hours we had together furiously taking notes.  unfortunately i couldn’t write as fast as he was talking, so i ended up not capturing all of the information that was there for the taking.  for the most part, the vast majority of the time was spent discussing our earned value management capabilities at booz allen.  we did talk some about business in general and building capabilities that can grow and expand, and it was from this discussion that my largest, boldest, “even used a highlighter on it” note came from.  he said something to me that made a lot of sense:

always plan on success.

it’s a great quote.  you may mistakingly take it as an inspirational message, but that’s not at all what he intended.  it was actually meant to scare us, and remind us that we need to be prepared to succeed.  to be successful in business, it’s not enough to have a good idea.  even having passion and being a hard worker isn’t enough.  when you’re trying to stand up or start up something brand new, you have to have certain things in place to handle the change in environment.  nothing can kill a good idea quite like being unprepared to succeed.  if you aren’t ready to expand with the business, you’ll undoubtedly experience growing pains – much like wearing a shoe that’s two sizes too small.

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image from Crashmaster007, flickr artist

it’s easy to tell people what to do or what’s expected of them, but leading by example says a lot about who you are as a person, not just as a leader.

when you’re a leader, one thing you expect from your team or organization is accountability.  you expect your people to embrace their roles, take ownership of their tasks, and ensure that their work is done when it needs to be, at a level of quality that will positively represent your organization.  if you expect that from your people — shouldn’t you expect that from yourself as well?

everything that you expect from your people, you should be willing to do yourself.  work hard, and let people see you working hard.  be prepared for different situations, and let people see you prepare.  you should do what you expect the people following you to do, and you should let them see you do it.  it’s inspirational, it forges trust, it sets a good example.

you can’t tell your people, “stop working so hard and take time for yourself,” and send emails at 1:00a on a weekday or 9:30p on a weekend.  it seems more like a challenge to work harder than a sincere concern about work-life balance.

so as a leader — when you make a promise, or institute new rules, or try to change habits — it’s best if you start with yourself.

leading by example says a lot about who you are.  what are your actions saying about you?

you want my business, right?  you want me to choose you over your competitors, yeah?

let me give you a hint: ordinary is not unordinary.

as i’m currently in the new car market, i’m taking a look at just about every car maker under the sun right now (except dodge/chrysler/jeep).  this new car has to be the car i keep for a good while because i plan on saving up for a house or condo; i just want to upgrade my car while my trade-in is still a good value.  the one thing i’ve seen — from everyone! — has been really incredible: auto makers and dealers trying to sell me on things that are truly pedestrian…

AM/FM radio?  ordinary.
CD player?  ordinary.
power windows?  ordinary.
floor mats?  ordinary.
rear window defogger?  ordinary.
air conditioning?  ordinary.
cup holders?!  ordinary!

if you’re selling cars, boats, motorcycle sidecars, televisions, mobile phones.. yourself to a potential employer (or your organization to a potential employee!) .. whatever it is if you expect to sell, you have to remove the ordinary from your sales pitch.  you won’t earn new business by selling what everyone else has.  you need to differentiate yourself.  you need to identify where your product, services, or skills are different from the next closest competitor.  first, identify those areas, then sell that.

if you’re looking for a job, to hire a new employee, or to sell more cars, you have to make yourself special.

ordinary is not unordinary.

image copyright the walt disney company, all rights reserved

i’m a big pixar fan.

i love everything about their company.  john lasseter’s drive to pursue his dream until it was fulfilled is something that we should all admire and look up to.  then, there’s the unsung heroes of pixar — the animators. every pixar movie made is 100% animation. that means there’s no help from motion-capture tools or other technological devices. the animation is done 100% by hand on computers.

and, of course, there’s the stories!  there’s a reason pixar wins year after year at the oscars for best animated movie despite competition from dreamworks animation, blue sky studios, and disney animation studios.  that reason is their ability to tell fantastic stories that appeal to young and old alike.  they’re stories that we all can learn from.

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when i was growing up in south philly, my family didn’t have much money.  but being kids, my brother and i did what kids do anyway.  we played roller hockey without helmets, gloves, shin pads… pretty much any protective equipment at all.  i tended goal with nothing but leg pads, a — what we called it back in those days — waffle board, a baseball glove, and a stick (all of which was borrowed, hand-me downs, or bought with my paper route money).  i’ve been hit with sticks and pucks in the face, and had more than my share of scrapes and bruises.  looking back at it — it was stupid.  it was dangerous.  but i loved playing hockey!

fast forward about 10-12 years, and i’m wearing a suit and tie — screaming at my team from behind the bench at the penn state ice pavilion with my heart beating out of my chest in my first game as assistant coach for the ACHA division 2 ice hockey team.  my love of hockey that was sown on the streets of philadelphia is the only reason i was able to reach that point in my life.  we beat SUNY stony brook that night by a score of 3-2 — the #1 ranked team in the league.  it was one of the greatest wins in our program’s history, and was the staging point for a season-long run that put us into the quarterfinals of the national tournament in fort collins, colorado that year.

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image by hugh, flickr artist

when i was team manager and assistant coach with the penn state ice lions, we had a saying that we used often:

“stay out of the @#$!!*” … i.e. — poop.

it was a simpler way of saying, when the game degenerates into a bunch of people trying to hurt each other — don’t get involved.

usually when people act out in aggression, it’s because they’re frustrated.  they’re unhappy with the way things are going, and they usually act out in aggression because they haven’t the skills, abilities, or position of authority to change the situation to favor themselves.  people will act out in aggression because it’s the only thing they can do.

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“well, we can’t [blank]. but keep thinking about these things and bringing them up.”

if you hear those words in your job — leave it.

i’m not joking. those are quite possibly the worst words that you could ever hear from your manager. those words say, “we’re not committed to diverse viewpoints.” they say, “we’re not committed to rewarding people for good work.” and worst of all, they say, “we’re not committed to being agile. we don’t like change.”

you don’t want to work for a company that doesn’t want to change. find a new job while you still have one. in your interview process with any new, potential employers, be sure to ask “how do you solve problems?” and “i have big ideas. if i wanted to change things, what kind of resistance would i face?”

you need to feel free to make the changes you see fit, and you need to have leadership that will allow you to change the world… even if it’s their world.

photo by tiarescott, flickr artist

i couldn’t tell you the number of times people have said to me, “i wish i wasn’t in meetings all day; i’d be able to get some actual work done for a change.” if i had a nickel for each time someone moaned or groaned about having to go to a meeting, i’d have easily paid my student loans off by now. it’s no secret: meetings suck.

but they don’t have to!

if a meeting you’re in is ever boring, or uninteresting, or leaves you totally disengaged — you’re doing it wrong. read through these 5 reasons your meetings suck, and learn from them. Read the rest of this entry »

the Pareto principle says that 80% of the effects of something come from only 20% of the causes. it’s certainly something that i have encountered in my work. as a consultant helping to analyze the business needs of particular resources, i see a lot of resources and how they affect an organization. i can say with a high level of conviction that this pareto principle holds true for the vast majority of instances.

i was reminded of this when i saw a tweet from a colleague with a link to a bit of research completed on twitter users. from the article, research shows that most twitter users are those, “hey, seeing what this twitter thing is all about,” people who never return to the service… however! the top 10% of twitter users (in terms of their number of tweets) account for 90% of the overall tweets on the service.

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