Nice is a four letter word. When someone tells me I'm nice, I'm doing something wrong. I'm not saying something that needs to be said. Or I'm being a door mat and getting walked on. I don't want to be a nice guy. I'd rather be a good guy. Nice is not a saving grace. Good is. People seen as highly disagreeable make nearly $10,000 more per year than those seen as highly agreeable. Does that mean you need to become an ass to make more money? No. It means you need to start adding … [Read more...]
Are you supposed to be here?
August 17, 2011 by
One of my favorite movies is Clerks. It's clever, raw and funny. There are two lead characters. One writes his own rules for reality. The other allows reality's rules to be written for him. The second guy, Dante, keeps muttering "I'm not even supposed to here." through the movie. He's torn between what he wants to do and what he feels he's supposed to do. I am most miserable when I think in 'Supposed to' "I'm supposed to get a merit increase." "They're supposed to refill my drink." … [Read more...]
What will you find when you get there?
August 15, 2011 by
Get out through the in door or or get in through out door. Either way, no matter where you are, there you are. Are you trying to get out of where you don't want to be? Something will follow you. You. You can't escape yourself. Most of the times we want to get out of something ... it turns out the something we want to get out of is ourselves. That new job won't make you any more valued. That other guy (or girl) won't make you any more lovable. That pint of ice cream won't … [Read more...]
Out through the In Door
August 12, 2011 by
I was down in a depressive funk for the last few weeks. It tends to happen each year as approach my birthday. This year wasn't an exception. I was walking in the morning. Walking in the sunlight is a prescription for the funk. As I walked I prayed. I was asking for a way out. I received an answer. "Stop looking for a way out. Look for a way in." Looking for a way out isn't about finding something new. It's about leaving something old. You're not going anywhere. You're … [Read more...]
Understanding the gravity of the (business) situation
July 18, 2011 by
Gravity is generated by objects that have mass. The greater the mass, the stronger the pull of gravity. The stronger the pull, the more it influences everything within it's reach. We float weightlessly when there is no gravity. We are like immovable boulders when there is a lot gravity. The longer a business is around the more likely it is to accumulate mass. The mass accumulates in the form of people, processes, culture, habits, inventory, customers, etc. As mass accumulates, so does … [Read more...]
Perfect is a myth… A simple way to overcome it
July 15, 2011 by
I said, "Quality is overrated." Richard's jaw dropped. This was heresy to a man of German heritage like Richard. I took time to explain. If we wait for perfection to get something out the door, we can wait a long time. A working prototype comes before the good enough product. Focus on getting to "It works ... enough" before striving for perfection. Ernest Hemingway said "The first draft of anything is sh!t." The first draft of anything is a draft completed. It is a completed piece of … [Read more...]
Leadership is a contact sport
July 6, 2011 by
I don't enjoy playing basketball shirts vs skins. I just don't enjoy sweaty men pressing and bumping into me. It affects my commitment level. I don't play as hard. It's not fair to my team for me to play and not be committed to the contact required of the game. When shirts are on, I'm in. I'll throw my elbows around with the best of them. Shirts off, I should walk away. Adam said, "That's not easy." I asked Adam whether being a good leader is easy or hard. He said, "Hard." One of … [Read more...]
Is Something is better than nothing?
July 3, 2011 by
We knocked on the door. Dogs barked. We stood waiting. The dogs stopped. Jen texted Henry to let him know we were at his door. A minute later his girlfriend opened the door. It was our first time to meet. We walked in. Henry was in an explosion last week. He experienced burns that will take a while to heal. He was in the hospital for a couple of days. He got home today. A friend of ours called to let us know what happened. We picked some things up for Henry. We forgot to pick … [Read more...]
The problem with the perfect plan
July 2, 2011 by
I was listening to Car Talk on NPR. Click and Clack were following up with a caller from an earlier show. The caller wanted to transport a chicken coop via the highway on a snowmobile trailer. Click and Clack told him it wouldn't work. They were right. Chicken Coop guy's perfect plan was changed in real time as they tried to implement it. They managed to move the coop with the snowmobile trailer. But not where they needed to move it. The snowmobile trailer died in town after a valiant … [Read more...]
