Sometimes It's Not What You Think

I was listening to Tavis Smiley today. He had a great interview with Samuel L. Jackson (Snakes on a Plane). Aside from discussing Sammy L's amazing dreadth of work (I saw him first in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever as a jumpy crack addict), he mentioned that Mr. Jackson's the highest grossing actor in Hollywood.

Not Brad. Not Tom. Samuel L. Jackson.

Interesting thing is that Jackson was just released from addictions treatment when he started shooting Jungle Fever. Remember the song from the last post ("There's Hope," India.Arie)?

There's Hope

I got a call from a friend who's a biz buddy (or is it a biz bud who's become a friend) yesterday. I don't think I've heard him this -- flat. He's faced down things that would put anyone else under their car with a hose in the mouth. Still, he's pressing on with his business and his life. He was looking to take another incremental step up and over.

I'm so honored he called me.

Brother of mine, I didn't know what to say to you. Then, I heard this on the radio. I'm borrowing from India.Arie when I say...

There's hope.
It doesn't cost a thing to smile.
You don't have to pay to laugh.
You better thank God for that.

Stand up for your rights.
Keep shining your light.
And show the world your smile.

Brighter days, my friend.

-----
As an aside, catch the NPR interview with India from earlier this summer. It includes a nice selection of music.

LNB #025: Objectives, Strategies and Actions (Biz Plans)

As the final part of this series on business planning, we cover Objectives, Strategies and Actions. These elements round out your business plan and will help clarify what you want to produce, the broad approaches and specific actions you'll take.

Useful Business Planning Resources:

• The One Page Business Plan for the Creative Entrepreneur
• Fast Company (great magazine for business owners)
• Business 2.0 [6-month subscription]
• Listen to the Mastermind Audio info session. Visit
  www.totalteamsolutions.com/success_factory/Success_factory.htm

Requests:

• Record your intro to this podcast. Want to know more?
• Visit my Guestmap (left) and let me know where you're
  listening from
• Click here to take a quick survey on this podcast
• Tell a friend about this podcast and about the e-zine

Listen Now: 23:26

You Know You Shouldn't

I'm on vacation. Right now, I'm on a veranda in Nashville, TN, watching the sun begin to set while I have a quiet moment. My brother, his wife, Amee, and their kids are off to the store and my grandmother is quietly watching a DVD (she's 80 and seeing her with the small player in her lap it just the best).

When my brother gets back, I'm going to be in trouble. I know I shouldn't do, but his kids are going to get some Diet Coke and Mentos and I'm going to give these home-schooled kids a science lesson. Now, I know I shouldn't do it, but this temptation (seeing them run screaming while diet coke jets up 8 feet) is one I'm just not going to resist.

See, I'm going to "own" that this will be messy and leave these kids wondering what else they can drop Mentos in (spaghetti sauce, chocolate milk), but I can live it with, as long as they're doing it at home.

Besides, what good is being their aunt if not to teach them things they will later torture their father with?

I'll bet you know some things you shouldn't have done at work. Maybe it was the deadline you agreed to, pretending you could make it work. Perhaps it was the employees you hired when you felt desperate -- the one that never worked out.

For me, telling the "stank, nekkid truth" (the truth beyond the pretty lies) is about the best thing I can do. It might not change my choices, but it sure gives me power over what comes next.

Until I return....
Cheers!

And Then They Sent Me a Survey!

OK, I’m indulging in a little ranting. I’ll admit it.

To recap: I contacted HP for a replacement non-skid rubber foot for my laptop (around which the angelic hosts circuit). I did get the 5 they promised; only they were attached to extra plastic “doors” for the bottom of my computer and cost a mint. Rather than using peel-n-stick to slap on one little rubber foot (the size of a bean), I’ll need a Philip’s-head screwdriver and a magnifying glass to affix a new door on the bottom my computer (the size of your wallet).

Now, they sent me a survey. A customer satisfaction survey. Being the hopeful sort, I opened the link, pulled my tea close and settled in to respond. The survey was over 30 questions, none of which addressed my concern: I didn’t get what I asked for and no one told me that I would have to rebuild my computer in the process. Oh, and did I say the survey was over 30 questions?

I feel better. Thanks.

Got a favorite customer service rant? Let’s hear it.

LNB #024: Without Vision, the People Perish

Not having a clear vision and mission will add unnecessary complexity to your business. It will be harder to stay on track and to determine quickly whether a new opportunity is consistent with your business model. However, the concepts of Vision and Mission have become obscured with consultant-speak (yeah, we did it).

Here's a simple way to plan these two important factors into your business plan.

• Vision: include your target market, niche, products/services, territory, scope, productivity level, and other key factors.
• Mission: use as few words as possible to convey why you're building the company you're building.

Get these resources:
The One Page Business Plan for the Creative Entrepreneur
The One-Page Proposal: How to Get Your Business Pitch onto One Persuasive Page

Listen Now: 30:10

Aargh! Just Gimme One Rubber Foot!

I saw the FedEx truck and was on my way to the door before I fully realized I was on the move. those trucks do that to me -- like a present under the tree, I just can't wait to see what's there. Anyway, when I finished my pleasantries (with the surliest driver ever), I went to open my package.

It was from HP. You guessed it: the rubber feet I ordered.

Here's what I got: Three different plastic "doors" for different compartments on the bottom of my computer, each of which had at least 1 rubber foot on it.

No instructions, just plastic doors with rubber feet.

Let me see what happens if I escalate this. More soon.

I Just Want ONE Rubber Foot!

Earlier this week, I noticed that one of the little, rubber feet was missing from the bottom of my notebook computer (the one that makes me as happy as a basket of kittens when I even think about it -- the one I decorated.....yeah, I need a hobby or a therapist). Garland, being the helpful sort, interjected that one rubber foot would be impossible for HP to replace -- I'd have to get a package of 5 for $17.50.

Jolly Joker.

So, I went directly to the HP website and IM'ed a nice lady, Patricia (who was probably a prisoner at Attica on an internal work release program). "She" got all of my information and set up a call from their order department.

So far, so good.

I wasn't out of their chat room 5 minutes when "Sam" called. It's weird to be talking with an Indian operating under an assumed "Euro-sounding" name, when I'm a Black American with a very Indian name (named for a goddess, by my Baptist mother). He took down my information and very professionally confirmed my particular needs: one rubber foot. When he gave me the total, I almost passed out: Not $17.50, but $41.29! (I liked Garland's price better).

I want one rubber foot -- these must be made of platinum!

I'm asking myself what I'm going to do with all of these extra-damned-rubber-damned-feet (wonder if they'll breed like Tribbles in my credenza). Here's my current thinking: I think I'm going to raffle them off on my podcast show! Any other suggestions (and be nice, I'm delicate).

LNB #023: What If Everything We've Been Told About Business Planning Is, Well, Wrong!

People know that the chief reason businesses fail is lack of planning, followed by lack of a system for implementation. Still, business owners don't create them and don't operate from them.

What gives?!

Here's what people are saying:

• I put together a business plan for my company when I started it. It was a horrible process and I ain't doing that again.
• I put one together. It cost me a mint and then the consultant wanted more to implement it.
• I don't have time.
• I don't have a business that needs a 70 page business plan.
• My other managers are doing "stuff," but we're not all on the same page.

and more.

People are looking for a process that will allow them to have a business planning and implementation system that's nimble, simple and elegant.

Here are the key questions you need to answer with your planning:

• What are we building?
• Why does this business exist?
• What results will we measure?
• How will we build this business?
• What's the work to be done?

Be looking for a 25 October 2007 webinar on business results. The webinar will be from 11 am - 12:30 pm ET (US). Check back often for additional information, including how you'll sign up for this complimentary webinar.

On Bullshit -- a Great Book

There I was, hiding out at Books-a-Million (there was web stuff back at my office I just didn't want to do). My plausible excuse was that I was supposed to be in a Black Enterprise magazine article that explained coaching and the coaching industry and wanted to pick up the mag to read it. I couldn't wait to get my hands on it -- I've been in the professional coaching industry for over 15 years and from the view here at Babel Towers, this baby isn't getting any clearer.

With the magazine tucked under my arm, I walked up the center aisle to get a cuppa tea and I spotted this book along the way.

Yup. An entire book on the topic of bullshit (well, about 70 pages, anyway). On Bullshit was written by a retired philosophy professor and put out by the Princeton University Press. Pretty reputable, no?

I wondered to whom I could get this little book. I stood and read it and it was real and dear and sweet. A former professor of mine and his wife (THE philosophy power-couple at Purdue University) came to mind. Martin taught me to challenge what I thought was real (I took it as getting a handle on my own bullshit, which has served me well). Yeah, that'll do just fine.

Off to read and sip.

Oh, and there was not mention of me in the article. Just some of the usual and customary -- dare I say it...bullshit.

It's National Meetings Week -- Um, Yay?

Imagine: I'm sitting at my desk, furiously typing on a project with the NPR station playing softly in the background. I'm so totally in the zone, I can barely hear the murmur of the station, which had switched to BBC World News.

What had me stop typing wasn't the report about Congressman Foley and House-Page-Gate. It was the report that in Britain it was National Meetings Week.

Huh? An entire week devoted to events we would rather lie "I've got root canal that day" than attending. In fact, I can think of only one other commonly-accepted time waster -- the off-site --that starts eyes a-rolling.

Seems this annual event started in 2001 was formed to generate more business for, you guessed it, meeting organizers. Crafty.

There are ways to have your meetings be more effective. Chief among them is not having them. If you find you really must get a group together for planning of to discuss execution of a project or process, keep these things in mind:

• Decide what results you want to achieve -- even before you consider anything else.
• Decide whether this is a stategic meeting or a tactical meeting. Strategic meetings focus on high-level issues of planning, guidance and alignment with other capabilities -- the kinds of things you see at 30,00 feet. Tactical meetings focus on how things are getting done, focusing on the work -- what you see on the ground.
• Then choose the people who can best help achieve these results.
• Think about how much time you'll need. Here, you'll need to be thinking about the value of each person's time.
• For the results desired, the people attending and the value of their time, think about whether the meeting needs to be held in-person or virtually. Many meetings are made up mostly of reporting (kill me!), which can be taken care of with a group email. You'd be surprised how many meetings can be cut in half with better communication.

Some other considerations:

• Lunch or breakfast meetings are mostly about the food
• Meetings after lunch are more sparsely attended (meaning: get 'em in early)
• Crackberry addicts (I'm not bitter) will suck up a lot of your time checking emails instead of paying attention
• The higher level the manager, the more late they'll be -- even if they called the meeting

Consider well, gentle Brits, Happy National Meetings Week!

Cheers!

Make Your Own Ringtone? I'm All Over It!

OK, folks. Here it is -- another technological red herring for me to chase. As if I'm already time-strapped (marriage, grad school, business, life), I'm going to make my own cellphone ringtone.

Seems CNN's Techno File report says I can do it. As long as I have a legally-owned piece of music. More as this develops.

LNB #022: Great Wizard, I Just Want C-c-c-courage!

Funny how we're told to show courage and innovation, but we're not rewarded for having the kinds of key failures it takes to succeed like mad? Ever notice how, starting in elementary school, the teacher asks who knows the answer rather than asking who doesn't? The kids who know the answer don't provide much, when you come to think about it, but asking a kid who doesn't know the answer to come up to the board for help with by the teaching in figuring things out can provide much to the others -- including those who knew the answer, but, perhaps, couldn't tell you how they came up with answer if you held a snake to their heads.

I've been pondering several kinds of courage, trying to understand why we (that includes me, here) tend to show such bravado but balk when it comes to turning talk into action. Here's what I've come up with so far. Adrian Furnham talks about the courage to fail. He hints at the courage to innovate. I don't see being "fearless" here, though some might see if differently. Fearlessness, like color blindness, is evidence of a disability in a key adaptive area. People who claim to be fearless scare me, frankly. They pretend not to see threats, but seem to let others take the hits when things go awry. Color blindness, well, isn't something you can have and get a job printing 4-color materials.

Innovation comes when people can fail. Now, by failing, I mean flat-out didn't work, screwed the pooch, f-ing it up. There's nothing like trying to dry your travel mug by holding it out the window at 55 miles/hour and dropping that rascal that will teach you something very valuable. I figured out some really important things about who the right clients are by having worked with the wrong ones (slow pay, slow thinking, low risk tolerance, high fear, lots of excuses -- get it?). Now, I can spot the wrong ones, Name That Tune style, after just a couple of notes. That also means that I can find the right ones almost as quickly.

Furnham talks about interpersonal courage -- the kind of of state where you can be with a customer or employee's strong emotions and not get upset just because they are. This is the skill of the manager who doesn't try to shut up a crying woman employee who's complaining of harassment -- just because he can't stand seeing someone cry -- and risk landing the company in court when it goes to the hounds.

The last kind of courage here is interpersonal courage. When Furnham talked about this as the courage it takes to resist temptation, I thought of President Bill Clinton. No wonder he's considered the First Black President: Like so many brothers I know, he can't seem to pass by a sweet, available young thing. As much as the Republicans challenged his policies, they despised him for his moral failings. African and Russian business dealings dealings are long-storied quagmires of bribes and payola, choking much-neede economic development.

Question: Where in your business dealings are you having trouble showing courage? (If you're feeling a little timid, you can answer anonymously). It might be in sales, telling the plain unvarnished truth to your partners about the financial State of your Union, dealing with an employee or resisting the temptation of a delicious-looking married staffer.

Read Adrian Furnham's article, "Managers as Change Agents" found in the Journal of Change Management, Vol. 3, 22-29.

Listen Now (20 minutes, 18 seconds):

Here's a treat: the audio of Bert Lahr (the Cowardly Lion's) Address: Audio mp3 of Address delivered by Bert Lahr where he declares

Cowardly Lion:
Courage. What makes a King out of a slave? Courage.
What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage.
What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist or the dusky dusk?
What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage.
What makes the Sphinx the 7th Wonder? Courage.
What makes the dawn come up like THUNDER?! Courage.
What makes the Hottentot so hot?
What puts the "ape" in ape-ricot?
Whatta they got that I ain't got?

All answer: Courage!

Lion: You can say that again!

At One Company, Email Gets Fridays Off

I sat at a coffee shop, trying to get some work done in a different location (you know, the geographical project relocation cure). It wasn't working -- too warm and sunny. I found my attention drawn to the other business types with their Treo-Berries.

Certainly, I was jealous. You know me: Inspector Gadget.

Then, I really started to watch. None of the people was alone; however, each of them put a finger up "hold on" style while they checked to see what the little buzzer what signifying. I wondered how important each of those messages was, whether they could have waited and what the impact was on the relationship with the person across the latte from them.

Listening to NPR (I'm a junkie, listening to NPR, the Daily Show, the Colbert Report...and Bill O'Reilly -- no clue on that last one), I head an article about a company, PBD Worldwide Fulfillment Services who, by edict of Scott Docktor, the CEO, has banned internal emails on Fridays. He spoke of the many unnecessary emails (the CYA's), the manners-zapping ones (a manager emailing during a meeting) and the silly ones (he and his assistant emailing...in the building...just steps from each other.

Interestingly, he's found that Monday's inbox isn't as full as one would have thought, finding little to no impact. His verdict: more banned email days.

Listen to the NPR audio article.

LNB #021 - When Good Habits Go Bad

Change in your organization is made up of more than discussions of character or morals. Change requires shifting to new habits -- repeatable behaviors that become "automatic" and produce the same results over time.

Lewin's model: Unfreezing the old habit, moving of transforming behavior, re-freezing an altered or new habit.

Prochaska & DiClemente's Model of Change: Pre-contemplation (not now), Contemplation (someday, but not today), Preparation (someday soon), Action (now), Maintenance (locking it in).

Get some help. Your organizational and individual habits have staying power. The "buddy system", an advisory council, a Mastermind Group or individual coaching should help you to make the necessary shifts -- and keep you on track when your old systems and habits call

Email llamos@totalteamsolutions.com to discuss how coaching can help
you win.

Interested in the power of a facilitated Mastermind Group? Click here for more info and to register for an informational session.

Listen Now:

Victory from Defeat!

This was really good. A jilted bride who found out that her man was cheating only after the invites had been sent and the money was spent, turned what could have been a very sad and expensive day into an opportunity to make a difference. Get this: she turned her wedding reception into a charity event and took her mother on her "honeymoon" trip!

Sweet! I love that this woman, at such an upsetting time, had the presence of mind to find another way to think about her situation.

LNB #020 - Make it Simple, Cancel Complexity

Happy 40th Birthday, Star Trek! No one could ever predict that a cancelled television show could spawn 6 series, 10 moves, hundreds of books and an entire language. This ground-breaking program (featuring, among other things, the first televised interracial kiss) was considered a failure after only three seasons. It just didn't fit the mold.

Some Simple Ways to Cancel Complexity in Your Business:

• Guerrilla Marketing: Secrets for Making Big Profits from Your Small Business (Guerrilla Marketing), by Jay Conrad Levinson.
• The One Page Business Plan with CD-ROM, by Jim Horan.
• The One-Page Proposal: How to Get Your Business Pitch onto One Persuasive Page,
  by Patrick Riley.
• Cafe Press, fun stuff to create and buy for your business.

Duration: 29:16 File Size: 7.03 MB

Listen Now:

LNB #019: What Were You THINKING!

One of the biggest challenge for business owners is what we think we know. It gets in the way of our being able to see things in new ways or explore new options.

When asked why an action was taken, most people can't come up with a really well thought-out reason: "Why is your business plan written this way?" Because someone else said to do it. "Why are you at that location?" Because other people who seem to be successful are there.

But, do you understand how you arrived at that decision? Many times our own thinking is a mystery to us.

Please visit my website for books and other materials to challenge your thinking.

Listen Now: 27:01

This is the End of Civilization as We Know It!

I love Shani, my husband's daughter. When I met her, we struck up a conversation in the ladies room at a restaurant. We were chatting very happily together for quite a while before we realized we were there to meet each otherl. We walked out of that ladies room like we'd known each other forever.

It's that a family comes together -- not how it comes together -- that matters.

So, when she called to ask us to watch her on the MTV Video Music Awards, of course I said "yes!". I promised to record it for her and, at 8 last night, settled down to watch (she was going to be one of about 20 dancers painted pink or yellow -- piece of cake).

I cut class to watch MTV's birth. I remember the first two videos -- "Video Killed the Radio Star" (huh?) and Pat Benetar (who I could listen to sing the names in the phone book). MTV has been just like that for me: a collection of hits and misses. Last night was no exception. Jack Black (who is famous for what exactly?) did his best "look-at-me-being arch" routine and was about as funny as tooth extraction with string and a slamming door.

So I waited for Shani's dance number with Busta Rhymes (whose stuff I generally like quite a bit). While I waited, I endured almost 3 hours of inconsistent performances (Justin - yay, OK Go - fine, Beyonce -nice, the Jackass guys - kill me, Al Gore talking about glaciers - what?...really, I mean WHAT!). The statuettes kept falling apart and so did the show.

Finally, there was Busta -- for about a minute. I'm going to have to scan frame by frame to find Shani, but it's worth it. She's perfectly wonderful.

In the end, I turned off the tv and stared at Garland. It was like having watched a traffic pile-up...from inside the pile.

At least I got to see my girl...kind of. Shani's been on SNL dancing with Nelly Furtado and on an Elephant Man video among others.

Keep calling, Shani. I'll be watching -- no matter what!

Kill Me Now!

OK. This one hurts.

Remember a few years ago when advertisers were convincing poor (silly) college students to walk around with logos and branding materials on their heads? Well, this goes quite a bit further down the road.

CBS is tattoing eggs with logo information...on eggs.

Really.

Here's a potent ad message, critical to the progress of civilization: "CBS Mondays - Leave the Yolks to Us."

Business innovation is being driven by design and creativity. However, we need to consider not just what we can do, but what's worthwhile. This falls into the "just because you can do it, doesn't mean that you should" category.

I fear for us all.

Read the Money.cnn.com article.