The power of patterns

Here's a fascinating visualization of air traffic patterns in North America:

http://www.sciencemag.org/sciext/vis2006/show/images/flightpatterns_excerpt.mov

What kinds of patterns can you discern in the video?

Now, visualize the connection patterns in your business: the interactions between people in your network, referrals, when (and to whom) you send out and receive e-mails or phone calls...

Every project, every system is a living being, based on interpersonal connections. Learn to recognize the patterns then you can build on them or modify them so that you get closer to the results you really want...

The Two Rules Of Success

Found in the "Ideas" section of my PalmPilot (I must have jotted this down years ago)

Successful people have two rules:

#1 NEVER ALLOW YOURSELF TO QUIT
#2 ALWAYS REMEMBER RULE NUMBER 1

Two thoughts to shake off the summer doldrums

I think that the summer months are the best time to shift into research and development mode, to prepare a new service or product launch, or to meet new people that could refer contacts or become customers.

However, when sharing this with fellow solopreneurs, I come face to face with deeply held beliefs like "summer is time to relax" or "I need a vacation".

I agree, enjoy the nice weather. But also take time each day to keep in touch with your project, to move it forward a bit... If you love what you do, why would you want to stay away from it for long?

The masters in the art of living make little distinction between their work and their play, their labor and their leisure, their minds and their bodies, their information, their recreation, their love and their religion. They hardly know which is which, they simply pursue their vision of excellence at whatever they do, leaving others to decide whether they are working or playing.
- James Michener

But what is work and what is not work? Is it work to dig, to carpenter, to plant trees, to fell trees, to ride, to fish, to hunt, to feed chickens, to play the piano, to take photographs, to build a house, to cook, to sew, to trim hats, to mend motor bicycles? All of these things are work to somebody, and all of them are play to somebody. There are in fact very few activities which cannot be classed either as work or play according as you choose to regard them.
- George Orwell (1903 - 1950), The Road to Wigan Pier.

Boldly Go

How does being 'realistic' get in the way of success?

Here's an article I wrote back in 2003 that I found and posted on my website:

Boldly Go

(...) To boldly go where no part of me has yet been, requires big dreams. Or, in the words of James Collins ('Built To Last'), 'Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals'.

Big, Hairy, Audacious Dreams make space for Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals, which set me up to take Big, Hairy, Audacious action steps. Am I 'guaranteed' to hit these outrageous goals that I declare? No. Can I hit them? Maybe, but probably not. So what. The action steps that spin out from my Big, Bold goals will most likely land me much closer to what I really want, compared to the safe, timid action steps that ooze from realistic goals. And that's all that's important for me.

If I stay within what is 'realistic', my future is limited to just being an extrapolation of the results I am currently getting, which pretty well guarantees me that I'll always get what I've always got. Small dreams spawn small goals, which results in staying in my 'zone of everyday results'.

The key to successful Big, Hairy, Audacious Dreams and Goals is to just focus on the 'WHAT' and ignore figuring out the 'HOW', at least for now. If I know how to do it, then the dream is still within my 'zone of everyday results'. Bold Dreams need to be so far out there that the means to make them happen are, up until the moment I declare my dream, unthinkable. Reaching to realize my goal must require me to invent new ways of thinking, doing and being, if I am to really step out of my everyday results and into a new reality.

Read the full article here.

Keep the ball rolling

I received a call yesterday that gave me a well-deserved kick in the pants.

Of course, summer is now here, with sunny skies, warm weather and a general sluggishness around me as people switch into vacation mode. This week, I found myself slipping into idle as I put off a couple of important phone calls thinking that my contacts would also be moving into vacation mode.

The call I received was from an entrepreneur/coach from another part of the province (of Québec, Canada). I was particularly struck by his optimism as he described his projects for this summer, especially the launch of a business networking club during the months of July and August.

Keep in mind that in Québec, most networking and business development events shut down for the summer months, because they don't generate sufficient participation. I saw this in my Toastmasters group during the last couple of weeks, as well as at the Chamber of Commerce events in June.

And here he is, gushing about the demand he's getting for his events this summer...

Not that this is naiveté - this entrepreneur has many years experience, both locally and abroad. I realized that it is his passion and energy that is creating an environment where business is good for him during the summer. He doesn't buy into the "conventional wisdom" that solos have to shut down during the summer because there are no clients - so why should I buy into that same fiction?

I think that us solos must keep some creative tension going during the summer. Just like an athlete between seasons, if he spends the off-season drinking beer and eating hot-dogs ("I'm on vacation!") then the pre-season risks to be very painful. Smart athletes keep some training going during the off-season, or try a different sport. I'm especially impressed by nordic (cross-country) skiiers who shift to cycling or mountain biking during the summer. They then come back to the skiing season refreshed and in shape.

Summer is a great time to try out new things: launch a new service and sell it to a couple of clients to see if *you* like providing it, or invest time in developing a new product. Stay in touch with your contacts, invite them to a cool ice-tea on a patio somewhere - it's a great way to get past the business façade and get to know the real person. Organize an informal networking event with your personal circle of contacts, they will also appreciate staying in touch with others.

I shared this observation with a colleague of mine (an insurance representative) who said that his goal during the summer was to create personal connections with major clients, so that when September comes along he well have his fall already lined up while everybody else is panicking to create cash-flow to pay the bills accumulated during summer vacation. Smart!

Even with just a couple of hours focused on your projects each day, you will still have time to go play outside and be miles ahead of everybody else come Labour Day.

So enjoy the next few weeks, and keep on doing something every day towards your big goals, keeping the ball rolling. You will find that with just a little effort, you can profit from this great weather, and make this great weather profitable for you!

What comes first, the "idea" or the "vision"?

I like the article by Jack and Suzy Welch that graces the back page of each issue of Business Week magazine. These articles are available on-line as podcasts that are wonderful to listen to (main page here.)

Recently, the Welches responded to the question:

"What are the instincts of leadership required to start a venture?"

In his response, Jack Welch talks about having "a great idea" as the engine of startup success.

Which got me thinking - is having "a great idea" really the engine of a successful business?

Prerequisites like the willingness to risk, the ability to execute, leadership and communication abilities, the ability to innovate, those are all aspects that I agree are important for entrepreneurial success.

But what about franchisees? Network marketers? Independent salespeople, realtors, agents, are they "really" entrepreneurs? If I'm selling somebody else's products, am I still an entrepreneur?

I would say that what's required is more than just a "great idea". I think what's really required is a "great vision".

The distinction between "idea" and "vision" for me is this:

• idea: a concept of an end result
• vision: a concept of an end shift, along with the experience of passion (creative tension) to make it happen

Great ideas are a dime a dozen. For me, hardly a day goes by when I notice a need or an opportunity that could be filled. But do I really want to take action to fill that need? That's why vision is so important: beyond just seeing an end result, a vision captures a shift, a change, a win-win impact for the receiver (client) and the sender (entrepreneur).

An idea is one-dimensional, while a vision is multi-dimensional, because it combines the idea with an creative tension that moves to action. Vision also moves along the dimension of mission, the deep-down personal values which define the end experience that the client receives.

With this distinction, then franchisees, network marketers, independent salespeople, realtors, and others are also true entrepreneurs if they are motivated by something beyond an end result of a transaction, when they are propelled by a vision to make the world around them a better place through what they do in that world.

In my work, I see lots of entrepreneurs with great ideas, and an obvious demand for what they are offering, however they suffer because there is no spark in them, no passion, nothing driving them beyond mere survival. So having a great idea, while necessary, is not sufficient. On the other hand, I've seen entrepreneurs with banal, ordinary products and services do extremely well because they are passion-driven, exuding a personal energy that goes beyond what they do, transforming them into people that are fun and empowering to be with. That's the difference between "idea" and "vision".

The entrepreneurs that I admire, small, medium or large, all have a passion to make a change in the world, a "great vision" that becomes a "magnificent obsession". And that's what I believe is the true engine of success.

(I highly recommend that you listen to the podcast here)

What does "being coachable" mean?

What does "being coachable" mean? Does it mean taking a passive role and accepting whatever your coach (or boss, or mentor, or upline) says?

A post by Seth Godin describes it very well (click here for original post)

"Coachable

A friend is wrestling with his ability to be coached. For the coachable, "Turn right at the light" is seen as a helpful suggestion for someone lost in a strange town... the advice goes in, is considered and then acted upon. For someone wrestling with coaching, though, it's like surgery. It's painful, it has side effects and it might lead to a bad reaction.

Coaching happens all the time. Most often, it's not from a boss or a professional coach. In fact, the best insights and advice usually come from informal or unexpected sources.

In fluid marketing and organization environments, where the world changes rapidly, coachability is a key factor in evolving and succeeding. Not because all advice is good advice. In fact, most advice is lousy advice. No, the reason coachability is so crucial is that without it, you don't have the emotional maturity to consider whether the advice is good or not. You reject the process out of hand, and end up stuck.

Symptoms of uncoachability:

• Challenging the credentials of the coach
• Announcing that you're being unfairly singled out
• Pointing out, angrily, that the last few times, the coach was wrong
• Identifying others who have succeeded without ever being coached
• Resisting a path merely because it was one identified by a coach

Years ago, at the great Bolshoi Ballet, auditions for the troupe were conducted among 8 year old girls. That's because it took ten years to become great. How did the auditions work? The teachers weren't looking for the best dancers. They were looking for the dancers who took coaching the best. The rest would come with time."

Coachability requires trust, trust from the coach to the player, and from the player to the coach. Trust is based on shared values and shared goals.

This is why I rarely offer coaching to someone. They have to ask me to help them. The coaching relationship cannot be imposed, it must be earned.

(See also my article "Some Thoughts About Trust" for a deeper discussion on breaking and building trust.)

Death by PowerPoint?

A great video by Don McMillan about how to kill your presentation using PowerPoint

(click here to link to video "Life after Death by PowerPoint")

Also see how he uses PowerPoint to make a comedy routine even more hilarious

(click here to link to video "User's Guide to Life")

Don is a former electronic engineer that now does standup comedy. Who says engineers can't be funny?