We all have the power to create, whether we realise it or not. The environment in which we live in is indeed, well, created by us. And the thing is, two people can live in the same environment but behave in totally different manner. Say, two kids growing up in an environment where there is love, given the best education, and shown equal amount of care could end up differently in life. One could become extremely successful while the other may turn to drugs. Likewise two kids living in extreme challenging environment could end up being successful or taking drugs.
The point is, the same environment while being perceived differently would lead people to behave differently. Therefore the next time you hear someone say to you, "oh, it's because my environment leaves me with no choice..." reframe their perception from another context and you may just create new meanings for them.
You see, many of us are so conditioned by the perception that it's the environment that cause us to behave in a certain manner. That is true, but only to a certain extent. If you believe you are Pavlova's dogs, then maybe it is so. Forgive me, but in no way am I suggesting that dogs are dumb. It is when we throw our hands up in the air and say, oh what's the use, that's when we've just declared ourselves dumb and submit to the 'inevitable' environment.
Just take a look at some of those life stories of successful entrepreneurs who went against all odds and succeed despite the fact that no one, at least in the beginning, believe them or would listen to them. Of course for every success story, you'd have hundreds or even millions who failed to overcome those obstacles. The main difference was not their capabilities; you and I know of brilliant people who failed, it was their beliefs. So, how did their beliefs come about? Yes, it can be shaped and conditioned by their environment, background, education, and even occupation. Then again we come back to the point that environment is what dictates our beliefs and hence our behaviours. True, if you follow the vicious cycle. But if we want to break this vicious cycle, then we need to do something.
And that something goes deeper than beliefs, which is our identity; the "who am I" question. If you see identity as someone who is not creative, then even in the most conducive environment you will still find it challenging. But if your identity is someone who is creative, then even in the most rigid of environment, you will find ways to be creative. So while the environment can facilitate, and of course it could help people break away from their beliefs and change, it cannot be the only answer. The most sustainable solution is when one can uncover that he is more capable than he thinks he is. So, how can one unleash their power to create? Uncover your identity that you are a creative extraordinary.
How can one uncover this, and is it possible for everyone? The answers to both questions are yes. And specifically how, that answer lies in our willingness to see things from a different perspective or in a different context. Jokes, for example, are usually context reframing, which is basically looking at the same situation from a different perspective. A joke where an Indian man who was thrown off the bus because he asked the lady sitting next to him if she could lift her saree so that he can "take picture"; not as in using a camera but because he dropped the picture of his wife and it was beneath the seat of that lady. So, same exact words but used in a different context or seen from different perspective brings about different meanings and their corresponding meanings.
As such, our ability (and willingness, largely due to ego) to see things from different perspectives or in a different context determines the level of our power to create. Because seeing things from different perspectives bring about different meanings, we will be able to find new solutions and sometimes radically different solutions from the norm. One exercise that we usually use during our workshops is to get people to identify a metaphor or an analogy to the situation they are faced with. While sometimes they are stuck in one area for too long, by using a metaphor it brings about new meanings because it is essentially looking at the same thing but from different perspective or context. Oftentimes, participants then begin to identify solutions, innovative and different ones that sometimes create THE ultimate solution.
While, your power to create can really enhance your ability to add value, it also places you at a level where you now set the industry standard for your competitor to follow. Not only that, with your solution, you may have just created a new market, demand, or need for something that people didn't asked for (like people in the 70s never asked for a cell phone or the internet) or didn't know that they needed it. Additionally it also brings us to the next topic of abundance, where we atune our mindset away from scarcity.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Monday, July 30, 2007
CEO Library
In our last article, our discussion on the definition of money has led us to conclude that money equals value. And the more money you have, the more you can add value to your lives. Likewise for those of us who wants more money (to add value to our lives in your own terms) should understand that the more value you can add, the more money you will have.
This article will focus on how we can increase the amount of value we have to others. One of the ways, if you look at it from the professional angle, is to attend courses to upgrade ourselves so that we can increase our value and add more value to our employers. Some may prefer to read books to build up their knowledge bank so that they can add further value to the people you serve.
Perhaps it will be wise to look at how the highest (and usually higher if you compare to the median salary of the people who works in the same firm) add value by reading books. In a recent Singapore Sunday Times article (July 29), a survey of the CEO's library gave us an insight into their professional development. It mentioned that you will not find the latest management books but what you will find are classic books by great philosophers. This finding does not occasion any surprises. If we must understand that their ability to not just solve problems, but to anticipate them or better still create a new want that people come to expect as the norm rather than the exception, then it makes lots of sense.
Given the different contexts or the different circumstances surrounding the CEO, the ability to think equates to the ability to add value to shareholders, employees, customers, and the community at large. Their ability to think brings our discussion to the next level. Thinking not only enables you to solve existing problems, it also permits you to create a new level of playing field where competitiveness is not that key element, but creation is the one. By being able to create, we do not work within the current limits nor constraints. Instead, we find new ways of doing the same thing, or new ways to satisfy a need.
Next, we will talk about how to create. Until then, think; but think different.
This article will focus on how we can increase the amount of value we have to others. One of the ways, if you look at it from the professional angle, is to attend courses to upgrade ourselves so that we can increase our value and add more value to our employers. Some may prefer to read books to build up their knowledge bank so that they can add further value to the people you serve.
Perhaps it will be wise to look at how the highest (and usually higher if you compare to the median salary of the people who works in the same firm) add value by reading books. In a recent Singapore Sunday Times article (July 29), a survey of the CEO's library gave us an insight into their professional development. It mentioned that you will not find the latest management books but what you will find are classic books by great philosophers. This finding does not occasion any surprises. If we must understand that their ability to not just solve problems, but to anticipate them or better still create a new want that people come to expect as the norm rather than the exception, then it makes lots of sense.
Given the different contexts or the different circumstances surrounding the CEO, the ability to think equates to the ability to add value to shareholders, employees, customers, and the community at large. Their ability to think brings our discussion to the next level. Thinking not only enables you to solve existing problems, it also permits you to create a new level of playing field where competitiveness is not that key element, but creation is the one. By being able to create, we do not work within the current limits nor constraints. Instead, we find new ways of doing the same thing, or new ways to satisfy a need.
Next, we will talk about how to create. Until then, think; but think different.
What is Money?
Money is something that everyone wants more of. However, only those who fully comprehend the question of what money really is, will know how it comes about and how to get keep it flowing in.
Money, as is printed on the pieces of papers that we have in our wallets are used as a medium for exchange. It is convenient. Imagine each time you go to a store, having to bring with you sheeps and cows in exchange of the goods you need. Which is what our ancestors used to do. Then of course, with the introduction of the gold standard, everything was exchanged with the number of gold ingots you have. Look at those period dramas where people buy food using those gold ingots. One wonder how they managed to take flight with those heavy metals weighing them down.
These days, other forms of currency is being invented. Companies with inflated share prices use them as collatoral or as a form of currency to acquire other companies. Of course, this is something we are all familiar with, with assets like houses, you may walk into a bank and convert that into money.
Now, coming back to the question of what money is, let us look at what we have been using money for. We use it to buy food, to get ourselves a drink, to relax at a beach resort, to purchase an automobile (though most people buy on credit), to acquire properties to live in or to invest, to trade securities, and the list goes on. Well, I take it you get the picture. Whatever we exchanged for with money, it gives us something in return. That 'something' could be to satisfy a hunger, to quench a thirst, to rejuvenate ourselves, to get us places fast, to have a roof over our heads, and so on. Notice all that have been mentioned can be categorised (or generalised) into one single item, and that is value.
The value can be real (in the case of a hunger), perceived (in the case of securities - perceived value), or otherwise. Either case, it does not matter. What matters most is that the person who exchanged his money for that something received something of value to him. We may not agree that an automobile brings about a perceived value of having 'made it', nor may we necessarily disagree that a certain kind of food brings us satisfaction. Therefore, it only means that the person who exchanged his pieces of paper (money) thinks he is receiving something of value in return.
If you think about it, most of the items that we purchase did, in fact, bring us some value. Though sometimes on hindsight it may have been an oversight, nonetheless, at that point of transaction, we believed we have gotten something of value to us, be it a tangible good or an intangible service. Hence, money is nothing but value. And the more money we have the more value we can add to our lives. Who doesn't want to be treated to the finest food or being served in the most priviledged of terms? So, here's the thing.
If we want more money, so that we can add value to our lives (be it getting the fastest car, living in the biggest house, eating the finest food, or giving it away to some needy cause), we must be able to be of value to others. If you are the top salesman through and through, you bring value to your employer by increasing his sales. If you are a consultant who is able to solve problems for your clients, you add value by enhancing their operations. If you are a chef, and your creations are unique and delicious, you add value to the restaurant by getting people to come back for more. Therefore, if you want to have more money, first you must be of value to others. And the amount of value you have will determine the amount of money you'll get. Though, there may be some who are able to reap huge profits for little value, that will not sustain.
Given this, does it shatter the believe that some have about, you need to have money to make more money? Absolutely. When any entrepreneur first start out, they may have little money. But with their ability to fulfill the needs of others by adding value, they will be able to make more money. What's even more amazing about this observation is that, anyone who is constantly able to not just add value, but is able to increase the level of value everytime will be guaranteed the constant stream of money he earns. Not only that, he will be able to increase his income overtime, not taking into account inflation.
So how does one ensure his ability to increasing add more and more value to the people he serves? That question is answered in the next article on "The CEO library".
Money, as is printed on the pieces of papers that we have in our wallets are used as a medium for exchange. It is convenient. Imagine each time you go to a store, having to bring with you sheeps and cows in exchange of the goods you need. Which is what our ancestors used to do. Then of course, with the introduction of the gold standard, everything was exchanged with the number of gold ingots you have. Look at those period dramas where people buy food using those gold ingots. One wonder how they managed to take flight with those heavy metals weighing them down.
These days, other forms of currency is being invented. Companies with inflated share prices use them as collatoral or as a form of currency to acquire other companies. Of course, this is something we are all familiar with, with assets like houses, you may walk into a bank and convert that into money.
Now, coming back to the question of what money is, let us look at what we have been using money for. We use it to buy food, to get ourselves a drink, to relax at a beach resort, to purchase an automobile (though most people buy on credit), to acquire properties to live in or to invest, to trade securities, and the list goes on. Well, I take it you get the picture. Whatever we exchanged for with money, it gives us something in return. That 'something' could be to satisfy a hunger, to quench a thirst, to rejuvenate ourselves, to get us places fast, to have a roof over our heads, and so on. Notice all that have been mentioned can be categorised (or generalised) into one single item, and that is value.
The value can be real (in the case of a hunger), perceived (in the case of securities - perceived value), or otherwise. Either case, it does not matter. What matters most is that the person who exchanged his money for that something received something of value to him. We may not agree that an automobile brings about a perceived value of having 'made it', nor may we necessarily disagree that a certain kind of food brings us satisfaction. Therefore, it only means that the person who exchanged his pieces of paper (money) thinks he is receiving something of value in return.
If you think about it, most of the items that we purchase did, in fact, bring us some value. Though sometimes on hindsight it may have been an oversight, nonetheless, at that point of transaction, we believed we have gotten something of value to us, be it a tangible good or an intangible service. Hence, money is nothing but value. And the more money we have the more value we can add to our lives. Who doesn't want to be treated to the finest food or being served in the most priviledged of terms? So, here's the thing.
If we want more money, so that we can add value to our lives (be it getting the fastest car, living in the biggest house, eating the finest food, or giving it away to some needy cause), we must be able to be of value to others. If you are the top salesman through and through, you bring value to your employer by increasing his sales. If you are a consultant who is able to solve problems for your clients, you add value by enhancing their operations. If you are a chef, and your creations are unique and delicious, you add value to the restaurant by getting people to come back for more. Therefore, if you want to have more money, first you must be of value to others. And the amount of value you have will determine the amount of money you'll get. Though, there may be some who are able to reap huge profits for little value, that will not sustain.
Given this, does it shatter the believe that some have about, you need to have money to make more money? Absolutely. When any entrepreneur first start out, they may have little money. But with their ability to fulfill the needs of others by adding value, they will be able to make more money. What's even more amazing about this observation is that, anyone who is constantly able to not just add value, but is able to increase the level of value everytime will be guaranteed the constant stream of money he earns. Not only that, he will be able to increase his income overtime, not taking into account inflation.
So how does one ensure his ability to increasing add more and more value to the people he serves? That question is answered in the next article on "The CEO library".
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Think-bank
For those of us who have a savings account and credit-cards debts will be able to relate to this.
Imagine you have $10,000 in a savings account and $10,000 of credit card debts, which do you think will grow faster? The savings which earns you 2 percent annually or the credit card that charges you 24 percent annually? The answer is obvious.
Now, the idea of a Think-bank works in the following manner.
Let's say that all these while, you have been harbouring thoughts of a less resourceful kind. What we mean is that, each time you are faced with a challenge, you think of it more of an obstacle, a problem, or just plain unfortunate. It can be in your professional, personal, or even spiritual life.
By continuously looking at things from a less resourceful perspective, you then feel overwhelmed, depressed, or fearful. Sometimes these very thoughts cripple you to the extent that you withdraw from it totally. For instance, someone with a less resourceful perspective may equate a loss in the stock market to their lack of 'luck' or worse, their inability to read the market. And hence swear to never indulge in stock purchases. With that, they may even tell everyone they know not to try their luck in the stock market.
Having these thoughts often will grow on you just like credit card debts. Even though you have some more resourceful thoughts once in a while, these 'minimum payment' will not be able to transform you into a more resourceful person within a short period of time. Therefore, the operative word here is consistency.
Unless you now have the awareness whereby each time you catch yourself thinking in a less resourceful manner, you immediately acknowledge it and then change it into a more resourceful one. And by doing this consistently, you will then start 'lessening your debts' and 'build on your wealth'.
So, start today by paying down your 'debts' and live your life with renewed freedom!
Thursday, February 08, 2007
The Systemic Effects of Customisation
Since the widespread adoption of information technology came into place in the late 90s, customisation has become a possibility for the masses; hence the term mass customisation. The underlying theory was, previously customisation is costly as manufacturers have to tailor their production lines to suit your preferences. The quantity of your purchases does not exceed those available to the mass market, the price you have to pay increases with the degree of customisation you require. Reason is because you need to compensate manufacturers for your smaller quantity purchases.
Anyone who have had the experience of printing name cards or brochures can attest to that. However, with the fall in prices of processing power, memory chips, and server space; now more than ever, manufacturers are able to customise their production to meet your needs at a much lower cost, hence the possibility of mass customisation. Somewhat an oxymoron, but its one of those geniuses of the "And"; as Jim Collins says it.
Mass customisation has come a long way since the late 90s, as now customisation has found its way into services as well. For example, in banking you can find services that is tailored to your needs even if you are not a privileged customer. Generally, consumers become happier as the services they now received are more aligned to their needs. Just looked at Dell and their level of sales when they first rocked the industry by allowing you to pay for what you need.
Even service providers are slowly but surely (either they are enlightened or they are being pressured to) are adopting a hybrid of the "Dell" model. For our firm, we undertake to conduct an initial assessment of the organisations we serve before deciding on our professional fees. From our knowledge, that may not be something every professional firm is prepared to do.
Even in the educational arena, the way to go is to allow educators to tailor the delivery of their programmes to the needs of the pupils. These needs go beyond just learning preferences and also into the relational aspect of the pupil and the educator. The idea behind it is that, if pupils have different learning preferences or styles, by customising the delivery of your programmes so that they can understand better, they will hence be more willing to learn because it connects with them. By engaging in differentiated learning, pupils learn better and if they learn better their results will improve, and with improved results spurned their level of interest further; henceforth the virtuous cycle.
In the not too distant future, when the school-going generation comes to expect differentiated learning as an industry practice, this will naturally impact on their outlook and expectations when they join the society as economically active citizens. With that, anything less than addressing their needs will be viewed as unpreferred or worse, unacceptable. What might now be a good-to-have will become a minimum expectation.
As a result, companies or individuals leading those companies will have to live up to that expectation or be termed anachronistic. Understanding this underlying phenomenon or trend is essential for those wants to not just survive but thrive in the new new economy, where the me-too culture will be magnified many times over.
So, if there is one skill or competency that one needs to have, non-negotiable, is the ability to relate to people. Because unless you are able to decipher their needs, as not everyone will tell you upfront, you will not able to customise your approach to suit them.
So, how may I help you today?
Anyone who have had the experience of printing name cards or brochures can attest to that. However, with the fall in prices of processing power, memory chips, and server space; now more than ever, manufacturers are able to customise their production to meet your needs at a much lower cost, hence the possibility of mass customisation. Somewhat an oxymoron, but its one of those geniuses of the "And"; as Jim Collins says it.
Mass customisation has come a long way since the late 90s, as now customisation has found its way into services as well. For example, in banking you can find services that is tailored to your needs even if you are not a privileged customer. Generally, consumers become happier as the services they now received are more aligned to their needs. Just looked at Dell and their level of sales when they first rocked the industry by allowing you to pay for what you need.
Even service providers are slowly but surely (either they are enlightened or they are being pressured to) are adopting a hybrid of the "Dell" model. For our firm, we undertake to conduct an initial assessment of the organisations we serve before deciding on our professional fees. From our knowledge, that may not be something every professional firm is prepared to do.
Even in the educational arena, the way to go is to allow educators to tailor the delivery of their programmes to the needs of the pupils. These needs go beyond just learning preferences and also into the relational aspect of the pupil and the educator. The idea behind it is that, if pupils have different learning preferences or styles, by customising the delivery of your programmes so that they can understand better, they will hence be more willing to learn because it connects with them. By engaging in differentiated learning, pupils learn better and if they learn better their results will improve, and with improved results spurned their level of interest further; henceforth the virtuous cycle.
In the not too distant future, when the school-going generation comes to expect differentiated learning as an industry practice, this will naturally impact on their outlook and expectations when they join the society as economically active citizens. With that, anything less than addressing their needs will be viewed as unpreferred or worse, unacceptable. What might now be a good-to-have will become a minimum expectation.
As a result, companies or individuals leading those companies will have to live up to that expectation or be termed anachronistic. Understanding this underlying phenomenon or trend is essential for those wants to not just survive but thrive in the new new economy, where the me-too culture will be magnified many times over.
So, if there is one skill or competency that one needs to have, non-negotiable, is the ability to relate to people. Because unless you are able to decipher their needs, as not everyone will tell you upfront, you will not able to customise your approach to suit them.
So, how may I help you today?
How come he get paid more?
We have, of course, from time to time wonder why others get paid more than we do. Especially when you compare the employee at the bottom of the corporate ladder with the CEO. The multiples could be as high as 50 times or even in the hundreds. So, how can a mere mortal just like everyone else command a much salary?
In the dynamic environment that we live in, things change so quickly and even as you read. With change being being the only constant, definitely our ability to respond to such changes will determine our survivability. Consider the mobile phone industry where 10 years ago, a new model's novelty can last for almost a year. These days it seems like new models are being introduced faster than you can complete the entire owner's manual. Besides, with increased competition, mobile phones manufacturers are facing additional pressure on price, downwards that is. So, putting yourself in the shoes of the manufacturer, will you be willing to pay more for design than before; knowing that by doing so will eat into your profit margins that is increasingly being eroded by competition.
Additionally, with increased pressure to develop and bring-to-market a new product so as to maintain the lead in market share, it means each new model's novelty lifespan is drastically shortened. What would you do? Of course you will be less willing to pay hefty sums for design that goes obsolete in a matter of months. Now, from the perspective of the designer, you will need to accept declining fees for your designs, unless you are a McQueen or YSL. So what makes the difference? Why is he paid more?
Well, let's name our two friends Mr Problem-solver and Miss Creator. Mr Problem-solver unique characteristic is that given any problems he will be able to solve it; not only that, he can solve it fast and his solutions are effective and practical. Miss Creator, on the other hand, is able to create new ways of doing things that is unique and effective as well. Let us examine each of our characters in turn.
Mr Problem-solver developed his problem solving abilities over the years as he has had experiences in a wide range of industries. As he's also not a top Grade-A student, Mr Problem-solver has to always find ways and means to work around a regulation, preconceived ideas, or rules. Some people even say that Mr Problem-solver 'breaks' the rule sometimes. What they really meant is because of his limited resources he often has to study the situation carefully and find ways to arrive at his desired outcomes at the minimum costs or resources. Hence, his experiences have helped him (and the companies he worked for) tremendously. Having said that, Mr Problem-solver is not without his limitations.
Being in a constrained situation most of the times, he has developed the perspective that there are just so much to go around. As a result, he becomes so task oriented that people around him feel he just care more about solving problems than about them as people. This has created certain problems for him as he becomes seen as not people-oriented. Many of his friends and even family members find that being around him can sometimes be 'pressurising' as he always needs to get something done, needs to not waste time. Because of his 'people' problems, he sometimes find it hard to work with a certain group of people. This is because of his lack of ability to relate well with people. And some of these people have characteristics of Miss Creator.
One day, Mr Problem-solver met Miss Creator at a social function. Miss Creator finds him really attractive as he seems to know exactly what he wants, while he enjoys her company tremendously. You see, Miss Creator always believed that being in a position where you understand the needs of every individual, you will inevitably be able to relate to people very well. Like what she does at work, she does not need to fear about the competition as she is always creating opportunities for herself and her company that they are always ahead of the competition. Not only that, the company she works for is always setting the industry standard for others to follow. Hence, she believes that there is always opportunities abound as long as you are able to create them and not wait for them.
Besides, Miss Creator generosity has made her a popular person amongst her friends and families, though some always find ways to take advantage of that. However, Miss Creator is not without her flaws. Her believe that there will always be enough to go around has caused some people, including Mr Problem-solver to think that she is somewhat a slacker. Even where there are opportunities to get ahead, she does not as she finds it more fulfilling to create opportunities herself.
Soon afterwards, both decided to see each other more and subsequently fell deeply in love as one seems to be able to fill the void that the other can't. Eventually they got married but the marriage has its challenges as well. Sometimes his urgency about things driver her nuts as she views it as sweating the small stuff. On the other hand, her seemingly easy going behaviour appears to him as being laid-back. Soon, they were experiencing some problems where one seem to not able to see things from the other's point of view. Notwithstanding their challenges, they stuck together as they deeply believe they were made for each other.
One day, they decide to start a business together to achieve their goals together. But it wasn't long before they start feeling that the working style of the other can sometimes impede on each other. After some major challenges, they then realise that they were indeed working towards the same aim. By now, they start to recognise the strengths of each and instead of fighting it.
You see, just like within ourselves, sometimes we know there are two conflicting emotions within us and we fight it. However, the way around it is to acknowledge them, leverage on the strengths of each and understand that each emotion serve us as action signals. Not fight it. Like in Aikido, where you harmonise the force coming towards you and not fight it.
In the dynamic environment that we live in, things change so quickly and even as you read. With change being being the only constant, definitely our ability to respond to such changes will determine our survivability. Consider the mobile phone industry where 10 years ago, a new model's novelty can last for almost a year. These days it seems like new models are being introduced faster than you can complete the entire owner's manual. Besides, with increased competition, mobile phones manufacturers are facing additional pressure on price, downwards that is. So, putting yourself in the shoes of the manufacturer, will you be willing to pay more for design than before; knowing that by doing so will eat into your profit margins that is increasingly being eroded by competition.
Additionally, with increased pressure to develop and bring-to-market a new product so as to maintain the lead in market share, it means each new model's novelty lifespan is drastically shortened. What would you do? Of course you will be less willing to pay hefty sums for design that goes obsolete in a matter of months. Now, from the perspective of the designer, you will need to accept declining fees for your designs, unless you are a McQueen or YSL. So what makes the difference? Why is he paid more?
Well, let's name our two friends Mr Problem-solver and Miss Creator. Mr Problem-solver unique characteristic is that given any problems he will be able to solve it; not only that, he can solve it fast and his solutions are effective and practical. Miss Creator, on the other hand, is able to create new ways of doing things that is unique and effective as well. Let us examine each of our characters in turn.
Mr Problem-solver developed his problem solving abilities over the years as he has had experiences in a wide range of industries. As he's also not a top Grade-A student, Mr Problem-solver has to always find ways and means to work around a regulation, preconceived ideas, or rules. Some people even say that Mr Problem-solver 'breaks' the rule sometimes. What they really meant is because of his limited resources he often has to study the situation carefully and find ways to arrive at his desired outcomes at the minimum costs or resources. Hence, his experiences have helped him (and the companies he worked for) tremendously. Having said that, Mr Problem-solver is not without his limitations.
Being in a constrained situation most of the times, he has developed the perspective that there are just so much to go around. As a result, he becomes so task oriented that people around him feel he just care more about solving problems than about them as people. This has created certain problems for him as he becomes seen as not people-oriented. Many of his friends and even family members find that being around him can sometimes be 'pressurising' as he always needs to get something done, needs to not waste time. Because of his 'people' problems, he sometimes find it hard to work with a certain group of people. This is because of his lack of ability to relate well with people. And some of these people have characteristics of Miss Creator.
One day, Mr Problem-solver met Miss Creator at a social function. Miss Creator finds him really attractive as he seems to know exactly what he wants, while he enjoys her company tremendously. You see, Miss Creator always believed that being in a position where you understand the needs of every individual, you will inevitably be able to relate to people very well. Like what she does at work, she does not need to fear about the competition as she is always creating opportunities for herself and her company that they are always ahead of the competition. Not only that, the company she works for is always setting the industry standard for others to follow. Hence, she believes that there is always opportunities abound as long as you are able to create them and not wait for them.
Besides, Miss Creator generosity has made her a popular person amongst her friends and families, though some always find ways to take advantage of that. However, Miss Creator is not without her flaws. Her believe that there will always be enough to go around has caused some people, including Mr Problem-solver to think that she is somewhat a slacker. Even where there are opportunities to get ahead, she does not as she finds it more fulfilling to create opportunities herself.
Soon afterwards, both decided to see each other more and subsequently fell deeply in love as one seems to be able to fill the void that the other can't. Eventually they got married but the marriage has its challenges as well. Sometimes his urgency about things driver her nuts as she views it as sweating the small stuff. On the other hand, her seemingly easy going behaviour appears to him as being laid-back. Soon, they were experiencing some problems where one seem to not able to see things from the other's point of view. Notwithstanding their challenges, they stuck together as they deeply believe they were made for each other.
One day, they decide to start a business together to achieve their goals together. But it wasn't long before they start feeling that the working style of the other can sometimes impede on each other. After some major challenges, they then realise that they were indeed working towards the same aim. By now, they start to recognise the strengths of each and instead of fighting it.
You see, just like within ourselves, sometimes we know there are two conflicting emotions within us and we fight it. However, the way around it is to acknowledge them, leverage on the strengths of each and understand that each emotion serve us as action signals. Not fight it. Like in Aikido, where you harmonise the force coming towards you and not fight it.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Seeing through the eyes of love
Have you been to a 3-D movie in the past where they hand you this pair of flimsy glasses with special lens, where half way through the movie your ears start to hurt and when you take it off, you can't figure out what's going on? My recollection of such an experience was Jaws 3D. Man, the sharks were like jumping out on you.
This is the same in life. An illustration would be two different persons who witnessed the same car accident but may describe what they saw differently. If you weren't at the scene, you'd probably think was two different accident that they were talking about. Just like in a situation where two people are faced with the same situation, one may see more problems while the other may see more opportunities. Both are not wrong in the way they view the situation, it's just their way of re-presenting those events that differ.
The reason why we view the world through probably different 'lenses' is because of our background, our culture, our experiences, or our predominant representation system. So what is this thing called the "predominant representation system"? Its essentially the way we re-present the events that happened in our mind so as to derive a meaning to it. Because events or words have no meaning accept the meanings we give to them. None of these meanings are right or wrong, but essentially with those meanings, we then create the emotions linked to it and it affects how or why we react.
As a result it would be accurate to say that the current results you have achieved to date are essentially a result of your view of the world. How you view the world is based on the meaning you give to it. These meanings will create the emotions, which in turn affects the questions you ask yourself and the options that you are prepared to evaluate. These in turn will impact on the kind of actions that you'd take and hence your results.
Now that we have understood the steps or the processes, we can go out there and change the different components that we are challenged with and bring about the results that we truly seek.
However, unless you are able to wear a pair of glasses with a lens that allows you to see things differently, understanding the process by itself is only an intellectual awareness. Besides, because this pair of glasses is new, your ears may hurt a little. But once you are acquainted with those pair of glasses, you'd feel more comfortable and confident with the way you see things. Eventually, you will even grow to love it, hence seeing through the eyes of love.
This is the same in life. An illustration would be two different persons who witnessed the same car accident but may describe what they saw differently. If you weren't at the scene, you'd probably think was two different accident that they were talking about. Just like in a situation where two people are faced with the same situation, one may see more problems while the other may see more opportunities. Both are not wrong in the way they view the situation, it's just their way of re-presenting those events that differ.
The reason why we view the world through probably different 'lenses' is because of our background, our culture, our experiences, or our predominant representation system. So what is this thing called the "predominant representation system"? Its essentially the way we re-present the events that happened in our mind so as to derive a meaning to it. Because events or words have no meaning accept the meanings we give to them. None of these meanings are right or wrong, but essentially with those meanings, we then create the emotions linked to it and it affects how or why we react.
As a result it would be accurate to say that the current results you have achieved to date are essentially a result of your view of the world. How you view the world is based on the meaning you give to it. These meanings will create the emotions, which in turn affects the questions you ask yourself and the options that you are prepared to evaluate. These in turn will impact on the kind of actions that you'd take and hence your results.
Now that we have understood the steps or the processes, we can go out there and change the different components that we are challenged with and bring about the results that we truly seek.
However, unless you are able to wear a pair of glasses with a lens that allows you to see things differently, understanding the process by itself is only an intellectual awareness. Besides, because this pair of glasses is new, your ears may hurt a little. But once you are acquainted with those pair of glasses, you'd feel more comfortable and confident with the way you see things. Eventually, you will even grow to love it, hence seeing through the eyes of love.
Learning to create
In my role as a consultant focusing on the development of educators, I have come across the issue of return of investment in training many times. I have also been asked numerous times how we know that the training has been effective, which is essentially the preceding question phrased in a different manner. I feel that training or learning (being more than just attending courses) goes through a 5-step process. So unless we understand this 5-step process, we will always be left to wonder how learning can be more effective. Of course we also need to understand the individual who is receiving the learning to be even more effective in our approach.
Studies have revealed the 4-stage of learning that all individuals undergo. First is the stage of unconscious incompetence, which means you don't even know what you don't know. This is probably an extremely critical stage because without knowing what you don't know, you will stick to the old ways of doing things. This is easily illustrated by a child who uses a particular study technique to help her in her work. This leads to inconsistent results, sometimes good, sometimes bad. And she doesn't know how else to make it better.
However there are other more effective techniques out there that can help her in the challenge she faces. When she sees other kids using this more effective technique, she moves to the next stage of knowing what she doesn't know; or conscious incompetence. She now wants to learn this other technique so she approaches her friends and they teach her. Now she practises using this technique but as she is still learning it, she needs to refer to her notes every time she wants to apply this technique; or conscious competence. Let's say after numerous rounds of practice, she mastered this technique and the next time when she needs to apply it she becomes so familiar with it that she doesn't need her notes anymore. This is when she achieved the level of subconscious competence.
As adults, we all have many types of subconscious competence, for example driving, cycling, swimming, playing tennis, typing, dialling in the dark. But what can allow us to not just remain relevant but also to keep us at the fore-front is when we are able to create something new, ground-breaking, or innovative. It is here that we are able to take our learning to a new level.
Continuing from our discussion above, we know that by being aware opens us up to new possibilities or new areas of learning. By being aware that there is a better way of doing something, we now know that when we master this better technique, we will be more effective or more efficient; or both. So creating awareness amongst your staff is a good start, as they now know of the benefits of this new way or this new framework. They can also understand how this new way can make them more effective. When that happens, and if sufficient awareness is being created, individuals will want to know more, or to learn it.
That's when attending a seminar or a course will help. It gives the participants the tools, techniques, and knowledge for this new way. Of course they can read a book or observe a colleague to see how it's done. Hence, attending courses is just but one of the ways. The thing is, usually after a course they are pretty much left on their own with little or no follow-up. Hence, they might revert to their old ways.
This is just like learning to type with 10 fingers after you've been typing with your index fingers for as long as you can remember. You try using 10 fingers, it feels odd, and what's worse, you may even be typing slower than before; and you wonder if typing with 10 really has any virtues at all. Hence you may revert to your old ways and stop practising. All learning may then be lost. Worse, you might even come to believe that typing with 10 fingers is worse. The next time you come across a similar course or a colleague tries to convince you about typing with 10 you can probably tell them why it doesn't work or it's useless.
Therefore it is essential that learnings be reinforced with application so that it will be strengthened towards the stage of subconscious competence. This is where guidance or coaching is critical as the learner can receive support for her application. During application, the individual may also find out the pitfalls or challenges. She may also meet with success and its through this process of application that understanding deepens. To further deepen the understanding, she can share with her colleagues about her successes and non-successes, and through the sharing, she could perhaps receive other perspectives on the challenges that might help her resolve them.
At this stage, she is likely to be in the stage of subconscious competence. Now, to further the learning is to apply the same techniques with other techniques. This is when the next level happens where the individual is able to synthesize. This coalescence of two or more techniques can bring about cross fertilisation of ideas or solving issues with a combination of more than two techniques. At this point, the learning may become so deeply entrenched that she can create new solutions or techniques to solve problems. Here, the level of learning creates new products or services that are innovative or ground-breaking. This is when the learning really pays many times over and reap returns like 2000% or more.
How an individual can achieve the last level depends on what some might say, resourcefulness or creativeness. And to be creative, you need to adopt a new perspective on the same issue. By doing so, you can then be able to create new and innovative solutions to the issues at hand.
So understanding where the individual is at is critical; understanding what kind of learning deserves such attention and allocation of resources is also extremely critical.
Studies have revealed the 4-stage of learning that all individuals undergo. First is the stage of unconscious incompetence, which means you don't even know what you don't know. This is probably an extremely critical stage because without knowing what you don't know, you will stick to the old ways of doing things. This is easily illustrated by a child who uses a particular study technique to help her in her work. This leads to inconsistent results, sometimes good, sometimes bad. And she doesn't know how else to make it better.
However there are other more effective techniques out there that can help her in the challenge she faces. When she sees other kids using this more effective technique, she moves to the next stage of knowing what she doesn't know; or conscious incompetence. She now wants to learn this other technique so she approaches her friends and they teach her. Now she practises using this technique but as she is still learning it, she needs to refer to her notes every time she wants to apply this technique; or conscious competence. Let's say after numerous rounds of practice, she mastered this technique and the next time when she needs to apply it she becomes so familiar with it that she doesn't need her notes anymore. This is when she achieved the level of subconscious competence.
As adults, we all have many types of subconscious competence, for example driving, cycling, swimming, playing tennis, typing, dialling in the dark. But what can allow us to not just remain relevant but also to keep us at the fore-front is when we are able to create something new, ground-breaking, or innovative. It is here that we are able to take our learning to a new level.
Continuing from our discussion above, we know that by being aware opens us up to new possibilities or new areas of learning. By being aware that there is a better way of doing something, we now know that when we master this better technique, we will be more effective or more efficient; or both. So creating awareness amongst your staff is a good start, as they now know of the benefits of this new way or this new framework. They can also understand how this new way can make them more effective. When that happens, and if sufficient awareness is being created, individuals will want to know more, or to learn it.
That's when attending a seminar or a course will help. It gives the participants the tools, techniques, and knowledge for this new way. Of course they can read a book or observe a colleague to see how it's done. Hence, attending courses is just but one of the ways. The thing is, usually after a course they are pretty much left on their own with little or no follow-up. Hence, they might revert to their old ways.
This is just like learning to type with 10 fingers after you've been typing with your index fingers for as long as you can remember. You try using 10 fingers, it feels odd, and what's worse, you may even be typing slower than before; and you wonder if typing with 10 really has any virtues at all. Hence you may revert to your old ways and stop practising. All learning may then be lost. Worse, you might even come to believe that typing with 10 fingers is worse. The next time you come across a similar course or a colleague tries to convince you about typing with 10 you can probably tell them why it doesn't work or it's useless.
Therefore it is essential that learnings be reinforced with application so that it will be strengthened towards the stage of subconscious competence. This is where guidance or coaching is critical as the learner can receive support for her application. During application, the individual may also find out the pitfalls or challenges. She may also meet with success and its through this process of application that understanding deepens. To further deepen the understanding, she can share with her colleagues about her successes and non-successes, and through the sharing, she could perhaps receive other perspectives on the challenges that might help her resolve them.
At this stage, she is likely to be in the stage of subconscious competence. Now, to further the learning is to apply the same techniques with other techniques. This is when the next level happens where the individual is able to synthesize. This coalescence of two or more techniques can bring about cross fertilisation of ideas or solving issues with a combination of more than two techniques. At this point, the learning may become so deeply entrenched that she can create new solutions or techniques to solve problems. Here, the level of learning creates new products or services that are innovative or ground-breaking. This is when the learning really pays many times over and reap returns like 2000% or more.
How an individual can achieve the last level depends on what some might say, resourcefulness or creativeness. And to be creative, you need to adopt a new perspective on the same issue. By doing so, you can then be able to create new and innovative solutions to the issues at hand.
So understanding where the individual is at is critical; understanding what kind of learning deserves such attention and allocation of resources is also extremely critical.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Different strokes for different folks
Say you were given $2000 to spend it all within 2 hours, and you can spend it anyway you choose to and with whom you will enjoy this windfall with; what would you do?
I believe some of us would spend it on something we've been wanting to if only we had some extra money; or some will choose to spend a night out with families and friends. There will be some who would expend this on some less privileged people or for a good cause. Whatever the case is; many of us would find ways to spend that money in many different ways.
The same is true on how we spend our time, money, or even our lives. We all have varied ways of fulfilling a particular need and while some may be similar, others can be bipolar. For instance, when it comes to relieving stress; we all have different ways to 'manage' it. Either go for a run, skydive, fix a strong drink, or just meditate. Whatever the case is, we find some ways to indulge in one or a combination of our senses.
In understanding this fundamental truth, we can now begin to explore how this can be applied to one of the most crucial aspects of business; sales. Sales, they say, is 100% emotions. Now, think about all the items you have bought, tangible or otherwise; it very much fulfill the number one underlying factor and that is our need to feel good. Everything that you've bought is, in one way or the other, to make you feel good, whether it is a dress, a watch, a handbag, a computer, or a washing machine. With this understanding, you can now sell anything to anyone, like they say, sell ice to the Eskimos. How can we achieve this? To do this, we will need to understand how people make choices.
One of the easiest to understand is this very concept of familiarity. There are certain items we buy again and again because of familiarity. These are items which fall into two categories; the ones we have tried before and the ones we have not but are familiar with. For example, when you have a headache and need medication quickly what do you buy? You'll probably get a paracetamol. Why, because there were instances in the past when you had a headache and taken one either bought or given to you. You'd taken it and were relieved of your pain. So whenever you are faced with a similar situation, you will go out and get the same thing. You do it over and over again to the point where you almost become conditioned to it, that you can almost link it to the very incident. Think headache, and paracetamol comes to mind. This brings us to the next point of items you have never tried before. Because the conditioning is so powerful, you link a need to that product or service.
For instance, social status for most people is linked to Mercedes Benz. Or when you think of good looking sports apparel, you think of Nike. Fast food; you think McDonald's. It is this element of familiarity with which these companies have so successfully linked their products to that their name will come to mind the moment you mention it. So for this category of products or services, you need to ensure that customers can associate with your brand or product almost immediately. How you can do that is to create such a strong conditioning that its almost natural. You see now why it can be so difficult to convince someone who is successful to drive a Korean car, when the Benz has been so strongly associated with status and class.
Even for Benz, to cater to different category of customers, they need to provide variety like capacities and styles that reach out to the conservatives or the avant-garde. Therefore, another crucial factor is variety. No one enjoys eating the same food everyday, we all need variety sometimes. Imagine going to the same resort at the same location every single year for the next 10 years for your holidays, you'll be bored out of your mind. Or asking ladies to wear the same pair of shoes everyday or the same type of dress everyday, unless of course its a uniform where you have no choice, we will want some form of variety in life.
So if you are in the business of fashion, you'd be out of your mind to only have one type of dress and in one colour, like the Ford-T where you can have any colour as long as its black. And that is because we all want variety in our lives. Which is great news because if you can convince the customers by using your product it can still fulfill the same underlying need but at least you now have a choice, just like in telecommunications where the introduction of another player gives the consumer more options to choose from. And one of the ways to convince your prospect is cost.
Imagine if you can still make the call but at two-third the price you used to pay and what's more you now can exercise your right to choose, who would you pick? It depends. If both provides the same level of service, then more often than not you will pick the one with the lower cost. This is easy to understand. However, if your pricing is not that straight forward, then you'll need to educate your customer that your product is indeed lower in per unit cost even thought it may appear more costly. One example in this category is ink jet vs laser printers.
If the consumer's primary need is to print text in black and white, by telling him to get a laser printer might put him off initially because of the cost of the printer and its cartridge. However, once you understood his needs for a printer, you can now convince him that based on a per-page basis, printing for laser is actually more economical. Not only that, you can also share with him the benefits, which brings us to the next point.
Whenever we make a purchase, it has to benefit us, even if it can kill in the longer run us. There must be some benefits involved. And unless you can convince the prospect of the benefits, you are not going to win him over. Sometimes the benefits can even be perceived benefits, like looking good or feeling good. Not all of us buy a watch for investment purposes, so unless we are convinced of the benefits that it will look good on us or even put us in a different class, we will still revert to the so-called trusted names. Therefore some of these perceived benefits like being in a class of its own is indeed a major selling point.
As human beings, we all want to be accepted. Children may even conform to the friends around them to feel accepted and that's why some kids smoke or have indulge in sexual activities in order to feel being part of the 'group'. Sounds irrational to us adults but we all do it. We all want to feel special, significant and we can do it in many different ways. We drive cars that show that we have arrived, or we dine out at members' only club, or we dress and/or speak in a particular manner to show our alliance with a particular group in society.
That's why people can spend huge amount of money just to belong to a particular club. Because it makes them feel significant. Of course it doesn't have to be in a material sense of the word. We belong to groups in society that have a certain belief/mission or to engage in a particular activity. Whatever the case is, we need to feel accepted. So if your product or service has that exclusivity feel to it then you need to accentuate it. Of course we don't always buy something because we want to be special. There are products or services that we buy because of convenience.
Can you imagine putting money with a special bank that has only one branch that operates in a secluded part of town and opens only for a few hours everyday, would you trade convenience for specialty? Not likely, so the ease of accessibility is also a crucial factor as well. Just like getting petrol has to be easily at reach or very soon you will switch to something more convenient. That is why, especially consumer products where the cost-benefits are few and not easily distinguishable, convenience becomes an extreme key factor. And the issue with convenience is of course linked to the last factor of our discussion here.
Time. It is but one of the most valuable resource and is not replenishable. So time is so crucial that we sometimes feel not being in a position to influence it. You see, there is never a better time than now to buy a product. Because the minute you purchase it, you will reap the benefits quicker. Just like buying an exercise membership, or starting with insurance, or taking nutritional supplements. Perhaps even getting a service. When you are able to distort time in such a way that it can make your prospects feel that starting early has its benefits and what's more, it gives you more time (in the sense that you do not have to spend time looking and trying the suitable product when you so desperately need it) later on.
Just like training. As long as it's seen as a luxury, there will never be a better time to start as there will always be other more pressing matters. By getting your prospects being trained early, it can bring about benefits such as increased productivity and hence place you in an advantageous position than your competitor that when the need arises you'll be more prepared and equipped with to engage the challenge.
Now that we understood the 7 factors that will influence how people choose to fulfill their underlying need, we can begin to bring our sales to the next level. Of course, the danger is to assume that everyone is the same. But once you understand that different people have different ways to fulfill the same need, success will soon follow.
I believe some of us would spend it on something we've been wanting to if only we had some extra money; or some will choose to spend a night out with families and friends. There will be some who would expend this on some less privileged people or for a good cause. Whatever the case is; many of us would find ways to spend that money in many different ways.
The same is true on how we spend our time, money, or even our lives. We all have varied ways of fulfilling a particular need and while some may be similar, others can be bipolar. For instance, when it comes to relieving stress; we all have different ways to 'manage' it. Either go for a run, skydive, fix a strong drink, or just meditate. Whatever the case is, we find some ways to indulge in one or a combination of our senses.
In understanding this fundamental truth, we can now begin to explore how this can be applied to one of the most crucial aspects of business; sales. Sales, they say, is 100% emotions. Now, think about all the items you have bought, tangible or otherwise; it very much fulfill the number one underlying factor and that is our need to feel good. Everything that you've bought is, in one way or the other, to make you feel good, whether it is a dress, a watch, a handbag, a computer, or a washing machine. With this understanding, you can now sell anything to anyone, like they say, sell ice to the Eskimos. How can we achieve this? To do this, we will need to understand how people make choices.
One of the easiest to understand is this very concept of familiarity. There are certain items we buy again and again because of familiarity. These are items which fall into two categories; the ones we have tried before and the ones we have not but are familiar with. For example, when you have a headache and need medication quickly what do you buy? You'll probably get a paracetamol. Why, because there were instances in the past when you had a headache and taken one either bought or given to you. You'd taken it and were relieved of your pain. So whenever you are faced with a similar situation, you will go out and get the same thing. You do it over and over again to the point where you almost become conditioned to it, that you can almost link it to the very incident. Think headache, and paracetamol comes to mind. This brings us to the next point of items you have never tried before. Because the conditioning is so powerful, you link a need to that product or service.
For instance, social status for most people is linked to Mercedes Benz. Or when you think of good looking sports apparel, you think of Nike. Fast food; you think McDonald's. It is this element of familiarity with which these companies have so successfully linked their products to that their name will come to mind the moment you mention it. So for this category of products or services, you need to ensure that customers can associate with your brand or product almost immediately. How you can do that is to create such a strong conditioning that its almost natural. You see now why it can be so difficult to convince someone who is successful to drive a Korean car, when the Benz has been so strongly associated with status and class.
Even for Benz, to cater to different category of customers, they need to provide variety like capacities and styles that reach out to the conservatives or the avant-garde. Therefore, another crucial factor is variety. No one enjoys eating the same food everyday, we all need variety sometimes. Imagine going to the same resort at the same location every single year for the next 10 years for your holidays, you'll be bored out of your mind. Or asking ladies to wear the same pair of shoes everyday or the same type of dress everyday, unless of course its a uniform where you have no choice, we will want some form of variety in life.
So if you are in the business of fashion, you'd be out of your mind to only have one type of dress and in one colour, like the Ford-T where you can have any colour as long as its black. And that is because we all want variety in our lives. Which is great news because if you can convince the customers by using your product it can still fulfill the same underlying need but at least you now have a choice, just like in telecommunications where the introduction of another player gives the consumer more options to choose from. And one of the ways to convince your prospect is cost.
Imagine if you can still make the call but at two-third the price you used to pay and what's more you now can exercise your right to choose, who would you pick? It depends. If both provides the same level of service, then more often than not you will pick the one with the lower cost. This is easy to understand. However, if your pricing is not that straight forward, then you'll need to educate your customer that your product is indeed lower in per unit cost even thought it may appear more costly. One example in this category is ink jet vs laser printers.
If the consumer's primary need is to print text in black and white, by telling him to get a laser printer might put him off initially because of the cost of the printer and its cartridge. However, once you understood his needs for a printer, you can now convince him that based on a per-page basis, printing for laser is actually more economical. Not only that, you can also share with him the benefits, which brings us to the next point.
Whenever we make a purchase, it has to benefit us, even if it can kill in the longer run us. There must be some benefits involved. And unless you can convince the prospect of the benefits, you are not going to win him over. Sometimes the benefits can even be perceived benefits, like looking good or feeling good. Not all of us buy a watch for investment purposes, so unless we are convinced of the benefits that it will look good on us or even put us in a different class, we will still revert to the so-called trusted names. Therefore some of these perceived benefits like being in a class of its own is indeed a major selling point.
As human beings, we all want to be accepted. Children may even conform to the friends around them to feel accepted and that's why some kids smoke or have indulge in sexual activities in order to feel being part of the 'group'. Sounds irrational to us adults but we all do it. We all want to feel special, significant and we can do it in many different ways. We drive cars that show that we have arrived, or we dine out at members' only club, or we dress and/or speak in a particular manner to show our alliance with a particular group in society.
That's why people can spend huge amount of money just to belong to a particular club. Because it makes them feel significant. Of course it doesn't have to be in a material sense of the word. We belong to groups in society that have a certain belief/mission or to engage in a particular activity. Whatever the case is, we need to feel accepted. So if your product or service has that exclusivity feel to it then you need to accentuate it. Of course we don't always buy something because we want to be special. There are products or services that we buy because of convenience.
Can you imagine putting money with a special bank that has only one branch that operates in a secluded part of town and opens only for a few hours everyday, would you trade convenience for specialty? Not likely, so the ease of accessibility is also a crucial factor as well. Just like getting petrol has to be easily at reach or very soon you will switch to something more convenient. That is why, especially consumer products where the cost-benefits are few and not easily distinguishable, convenience becomes an extreme key factor. And the issue with convenience is of course linked to the last factor of our discussion here.
Time. It is but one of the most valuable resource and is not replenishable. So time is so crucial that we sometimes feel not being in a position to influence it. You see, there is never a better time than now to buy a product. Because the minute you purchase it, you will reap the benefits quicker. Just like buying an exercise membership, or starting with insurance, or taking nutritional supplements. Perhaps even getting a service. When you are able to distort time in such a way that it can make your prospects feel that starting early has its benefits and what's more, it gives you more time (in the sense that you do not have to spend time looking and trying the suitable product when you so desperately need it) later on.
Just like training. As long as it's seen as a luxury, there will never be a better time to start as there will always be other more pressing matters. By getting your prospects being trained early, it can bring about benefits such as increased productivity and hence place you in an advantageous position than your competitor that when the need arises you'll be more prepared and equipped with to engage the challenge.
Now that we understood the 7 factors that will influence how people choose to fulfill their underlying need, we can begin to bring our sales to the next level. Of course, the danger is to assume that everyone is the same. But once you understand that different people have different ways to fulfill the same need, success will soon follow.
Monday, January 08, 2007
Proactive vs anticipative strategies
Recently, during one of my conversation with a teacher; I was sharing with her about machines replacing analysts by scanning through press releases of companies and issuing blurts through Reuters machines. I then went further, probably too far for her liking, that perhaps one day teachers will be replaced by machines. She dismissed my thoughts and said it can never be possible.
The discussion ended when I mentioned that you can choose to ignore or deny it and continue with what she has been doing or you can acknowledge it and do something about it. Should it become a reality, you will be caught if you think the former or you will be prepared if you think of the latter. Question is, sometimes, not whether the matter will become a reality but the fact that you have such a mindset, you will always be one step ahead of the competition.
The truth is many of us are like this teacher sometimes. We sometimes know that if we continue doing what we have been doing, we will become irrelevant one day. But because circumstances have yet forced us to look squarely at it, we choose to ignore it. Let's cross the bridge when we come to it, as now there are just too many variables. However, when the worst happens, we are caught and hence react to it in ways that may not be the best of. Also, when we react to any situation, we are more often than not being at the mercy of it. Of course, some will cry out saying, why me? Others may learn from this painful episode and gain an invaluable lesson for life.
Otherwise, we can be proactive and say, well if we continue doing what we have been doing we will be irrelevant, so let us find a way to circumvent this. Let's see what we can do now so that we can become prepared for the event should it happen. Here's where we know, to a certain extent, the damage or risk involved and hence doing something about it now. That's being proactive and taking the initiative to change the way we do things so that we can remain relevant. Thing is, by being just proactive we can also sometime be caught. Because the risk could take a different form and no matter how much you prepare yourself for, the events that take place result in a complete shift of focus. You did not anticipate that something could happen that no matter what you did to prepare yourself for becomes irrelevant! Many of us have seen industries disappear almost overnight. And no matter what the companies did, it did not matter anymore because new things have happened.
Which leads us to be being anticipative. To do that, you will need to be able to anticipate possible changes that will have an impact on what you do. So, apart from being proactive and sighting what might take place, you will also need to anticipate all the various possibilities about other situations. Maybe machines will replace you, or maybe not but machines will take away the lower value added portion of your service so you will need to think of ways to hone your skills on higher value added services. So you look at what's happening in your industry but in more developed countries or what are other industries doing to cope with these changes. By doing so, you will be able to come up with various scenarios that you can prepare yourself for. Now, this is hard work as it could mean endless things you will need to do in order to prepare or it could mean you have to deal with all the underlying uncertainties, which most people are not comfortable to deal with. There are just too many variables and soon you become overwhelmed and hence result in a lack of focus where you attempt to do too many things at the same time. We all know when you spread yourself too thing, you become more susceptible to vulnerabilities.
So then, what could you do to remain relevant? I believe, when you are able to develop the skill set to formulate creative strategies, that's when you can be assured of being relevant. Think about just 20 years back. There was no demand for mobile phones and the reason was because we did not even know we needed one! Then zoom forward to 2007; how many of us feel like we are one limp short when we forgot our mobile phone or whenever the network breaks down? Between just 2 decades, mobile phone companies have successfully created the need for one. Yes, it has to do with the change in our lifestyle as we become more mobile instead of being at one place all the time, there is now a need for mobile phones. And because of the availability of this equipment, it has made it more possible for people to be mobile, hence reinforcing the need for one. Of course with the platform, companies now can create more higher value added service and thus making the mobile phone a commodity and raising it's value by appending these higher value added services to it.
Now, how does one become creative or adopt a creative mindset that allows you to formulate creative and not just proactive or anticipative mindsets? If we look at all the people who are creative in all industries, they all have one common trait that runs across. And this trait is nothing more than adopting a perspective that others don't. What I mean by that is this. When you look at iPod and the its creator, Steve Jobs, you see someone who is able to successful understand how people want their needs fulfilled. What are the ways that they have been fulfilling those needs and asking what other ways can those needs be fulfilled. If there aren't any right now; then its simple. But if there are many different ways of fulfilling those needs then you ought to find a way to create a way to fulfill the same need but in a different manner that will make people want to switch. If for example, the ideas that most people have about relaxing during weekends include catching a movie, going to the park or beach, doing some exercises, getting a massage, chilling out with a group of friends over beer, dancing the night away, or maybe just spending time with family and loved ones.
Now, how Ikea did it different is by creating an environment where going to a furniture mall is a family affair. The kids can enjoy themselves at the playroom, while mom and dad can take their time to explore ideas provided by the showroom items to furnish their place. What's more amazing is, they can actually see and touch the many items on display which helps them visualise how it will be like if they've got the same fixtures at home. Mix and match ideas are also provided so that you can buy a matching cabinet to go with your sofa. What's more interesting is the items are often inexpensive and fun to put together too. Which can also serve as a do-it-together family thing. Then when you are done shopping, you can dine at the cafe where you can also pick up some of these food items on your way out. Never has a privately-held company achieve this level of success before. And to see that reality of providing more than 20,000 items at an inexpensive price requires you to have access to thousands of suppliers worldwide which can then provide the items quickly and in a cost-effective manner.
Of course being in a position like Ikea offers you tremendous advantage, as competition will find it hard to beat. To date, no serious competitor is in sight. Also it offers you unprecedented ways to woo your customers over and over again. Ikea items are not made to last, and that is fine as they are rather inexpensive and besides when you change a sofa, it gives your place a new look and possibly a conversational piece!
So as an individual, how do you formulate creative strategies that allows you to be in the fore front and also gives you the advantage that your peers can only dream of? I believe the secret is this. To be creative, you need to be open. And to be open, it means you must be willing to look at things from various perspectives. Go beyond the usual perspective of yours and the customers, and look at it from your competitors, your non customers, your suppliers, your partners, the people in the environment you are operating in, and so on. It is important that you look from these various perspectives so that the challenge can be viewed from various angles and not just a biased point of view. Sometimes the most unattached perspectives can provide you with a solution where you were previously blinded. Once you have adopted this ability to see things from various perspectives you can be creative. However the next part will require you to take concrete actions to move forward. And then at each step of the way, you gather feedback to see what's working and what's not and you change accordingly. Remember that once you keep your eye on the big picture (of why you want to be creative), the little things don't matter as much. So go on, be creative, be playful, have fun, test the ways possible and move on.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Opportunity only knocks once; not!
I recently attended a business opportunity meeting, where the presenter was sharing with us amongst the greatest thing about the opportunity was the timing. And then he went on to mention that opportunity only knocks once. I cannot disagree more.
If you were like me, you must have heard this phrase before and it's probably told to you either by someone who loves you or someone who wants to sell you something. There are two parts to this phrase and let us take a closer look at it one at a time.
Some of us probably heard that in order to be successful, you just need to be at the right place at the right time three times in your life. That is another load of garbage. Should you believe that opportunity only knocks once; you not only believe that opportunities are in control of you and not the other way round. Also, if you'd believe it to be true, it means you should be looking out for opportunities.
The fundamental flaw with this perspective puts you in a situation where you force fit yourself into the opportunity. Let me ask you this, if you saw a $50 bill on the floor, would you keep it? Probably yes, probably not. But if you knew that $50 bill dropped out of the pocket of an elderly ladt, would you keep it? Chances are you will not. Now, was that not an opportunity to have an extra $50 in your pocket? Yes. Was it there staring at you in the face? Yes. So why won't you keep it? I think for most people it is just not the right thing to do. This is pretty direct.
Now, what happens when its a situation where you are really in dire need of a job or an opportunity to let you make some decent money. Except you are not quite sure if the product works or it requires you to persuade someone to part with a large sum of money for something you felt quite certain that its priced too high? Now this becomes a little less clear and its merits become debatable. Would you accept the offer or would you pass?
What's your choice?
My believe is it depends on how you view this as an opportunity. If you, like some people, view this opportunity as a once-in-a-lifetime chance, you'd might jump on it. That said, you become controlled by the opportunity and hence surrender your destiny to this so-called opportunity. On the other hand, if you take the view that you are able to create opportunities for yourself, you may take another look to weigh the consequences and see if the opportunity is in line with your core values. At the end of the day, you might find that this opportunity fits hand-in-glove and you grab it. Or you might find there are some issues that are in conflict with your values and let it pass.
So, some of you might say, well not everyone is capable of creating opportunities for themselves, that's why some ends up more successful than others. Well, if you have nodded in agreement, you have just succumb yourself to the principle of limiting beliefs. Think about all those people who were not only not offered opportunities but had opportunities denied from them. People like Anne Sullivan who was not only not given the chance to go to school, but was denied from attending one. And everyone around her told her they won't let her.
Or Viktor Frankl who was thrown into a concentration camp and was not just denied of survival but had survival literally taken away from him. How did these two individuals who were not only denied of almost all opportunities but also being in a disadvantage position to be able to create the opportunities for themselves and even subsequently inspired many others after them? What sets them apart from you or me? I believe fundamentally it was the choices that they need to make.
If Anne Sullivan didn't go to school, she'd probably die of some infectious diseases that killed many other children. If Viktor Frankl didn't dived into the pile of corpes, he would have been gased or tortured to death by the Nazis. The choices they made allow them to not just look for opportunities but to create them.
So, the point here is simply this, to quote Sumner Redstone, CEO of Viacom from his Commencement Keynote Address to MBA Graduates Kellogg School of Management in 2002; “Opportunities never knocks”. You need to create them if you want to succeed. If you just simply look for opportunities, it may sometimes disguise itself in a form that cause you to miss it altogether. Besides if you believed that opportunity only knocks once, it means that once this opportunity is exploited, you will need to wait a while before something like this comes around again; and you'd still might miss. So meanwhile you should just settle for a mediore life.
Additionally, holding the perspective that opportunity only knocks once means they are rare; they are scarce. In short, it's limited in supply so if you don't take it someone else will. That is true if you believe that you can only look for opportunities and not create them, because you are just not smart enough, you just don't have enough capital, you just don't have the time, blah, blah, blah.
Once you accept the perspective of abundance you will be able to not just spot, but create opportunities. Just to use an analogy, you not being able to spot opportunities or spot them too late means it is reactive. To be proactive you got to be able to keep a look out for those 'rare' opportunities. Key point here is 'rare'. If you can anticipate the opportunities that are coming up, or trend spotting if you like, you ready yourself in anticipation of the opportunities.
Sometimes you are spot on, sometimes you couldn't feel more lousy than the man who predicted the end of the world every year only to have the day past without any commotion. However, when you are able to be creative and create opportunities, then your only limit is your imagination.
So, remember that opportunity never knocks. You need to create them. And you don't need an MBA to do that. All you need, first as an important pre-requisite is to hold the perspective of abundance.
If you were like me, you must have heard this phrase before and it's probably told to you either by someone who loves you or someone who wants to sell you something. There are two parts to this phrase and let us take a closer look at it one at a time.
Some of us probably heard that in order to be successful, you just need to be at the right place at the right time three times in your life. That is another load of garbage. Should you believe that opportunity only knocks once; you not only believe that opportunities are in control of you and not the other way round. Also, if you'd believe it to be true, it means you should be looking out for opportunities.
The fundamental flaw with this perspective puts you in a situation where you force fit yourself into the opportunity. Let me ask you this, if you saw a $50 bill on the floor, would you keep it? Probably yes, probably not. But if you knew that $50 bill dropped out of the pocket of an elderly ladt, would you keep it? Chances are you will not. Now, was that not an opportunity to have an extra $50 in your pocket? Yes. Was it there staring at you in the face? Yes. So why won't you keep it? I think for most people it is just not the right thing to do. This is pretty direct.
Now, what happens when its a situation where you are really in dire need of a job or an opportunity to let you make some decent money. Except you are not quite sure if the product works or it requires you to persuade someone to part with a large sum of money for something you felt quite certain that its priced too high? Now this becomes a little less clear and its merits become debatable. Would you accept the offer or would you pass?
What's your choice?
My believe is it depends on how you view this as an opportunity. If you, like some people, view this opportunity as a once-in-a-lifetime chance, you'd might jump on it. That said, you become controlled by the opportunity and hence surrender your destiny to this so-called opportunity. On the other hand, if you take the view that you are able to create opportunities for yourself, you may take another look to weigh the consequences and see if the opportunity is in line with your core values. At the end of the day, you might find that this opportunity fits hand-in-glove and you grab it. Or you might find there are some issues that are in conflict with your values and let it pass.
So, some of you might say, well not everyone is capable of creating opportunities for themselves, that's why some ends up more successful than others. Well, if you have nodded in agreement, you have just succumb yourself to the principle of limiting beliefs. Think about all those people who were not only not offered opportunities but had opportunities denied from them. People like Anne Sullivan who was not only not given the chance to go to school, but was denied from attending one. And everyone around her told her they won't let her.
Or Viktor Frankl who was thrown into a concentration camp and was not just denied of survival but had survival literally taken away from him. How did these two individuals who were not only denied of almost all opportunities but also being in a disadvantage position to be able to create the opportunities for themselves and even subsequently inspired many others after them? What sets them apart from you or me? I believe fundamentally it was the choices that they need to make.
If Anne Sullivan didn't go to school, she'd probably die of some infectious diseases that killed many other children. If Viktor Frankl didn't dived into the pile of corpes, he would have been gased or tortured to death by the Nazis. The choices they made allow them to not just look for opportunities but to create them.
So, the point here is simply this, to quote Sumner Redstone, CEO of Viacom from his Commencement Keynote Address to MBA Graduates Kellogg School of Management in 2002; “Opportunities never knocks”. You need to create them if you want to succeed. If you just simply look for opportunities, it may sometimes disguise itself in a form that cause you to miss it altogether. Besides if you believed that opportunity only knocks once, it means that once this opportunity is exploited, you will need to wait a while before something like this comes around again; and you'd still might miss. So meanwhile you should just settle for a mediore life.
Additionally, holding the perspective that opportunity only knocks once means they are rare; they are scarce. In short, it's limited in supply so if you don't take it someone else will. That is true if you believe that you can only look for opportunities and not create them, because you are just not smart enough, you just don't have enough capital, you just don't have the time, blah, blah, blah.
Once you accept the perspective of abundance you will be able to not just spot, but create opportunities. Just to use an analogy, you not being able to spot opportunities or spot them too late means it is reactive. To be proactive you got to be able to keep a look out for those 'rare' opportunities. Key point here is 'rare'. If you can anticipate the opportunities that are coming up, or trend spotting if you like, you ready yourself in anticipation of the opportunities.
Sometimes you are spot on, sometimes you couldn't feel more lousy than the man who predicted the end of the world every year only to have the day past without any commotion. However, when you are able to be creative and create opportunities, then your only limit is your imagination.
So, remember that opportunity never knocks. You need to create them. And you don't need an MBA to do that. All you need, first as an important pre-requisite is to hold the perspective of abundance.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Personal comfort is not the only thing worth seeking
"Personal comfort is not the only thing worth seeking," so says Lance Armstrong in his book, "Every Second Counts". The context with which he spoke about was on moving out of the comfort zone. You see, when things around us no longer challenge us the way it used to, we tend to either rest on our laurels or stop expanding our inner capabilities. When this happens, we become at the mercy of circumstances.
I once mentioned to a friend that I'll want to be more productive in how I use my time. As time is the golden moment that we sometimes take for granted, we end up feeling lousy at the end of the day about how we've used it. Sometimes this could go on and on until the day of reckoning arrives. And this day of reckoning can be the day we lose our job, all of our savings, or it can be the day that we find out we are diagnosed with some nasty disease, or when our family and loved ones start losing faith in us, or when we are about to meet our maker.
By then, we suffer too hard a fall that some of us fail to pick ourselves up. For those of us who do, we will always remember the circumstances we were in and silently tell ourselves we will not go down that road again. But then again, we can promise not to harbour another idle thought, or not to overeat, or not to smoke another cigarette, or not to drink another beer. However we end up doing it once again. It seems like once the pain is over, when we get comfortable, we start indulging in lousy patterns all over again and self-sabotage.
It was once said to me that everyone should be motivated towards something BIG, so that the internal engine will hum and work all the time. I believe not. Instead, we must understand that we need a balance of both; motivated away and towards, and how much of which will depend on our circumstances. For instance, when I have a huge debt to service, I become really motivated to work on it so that I pay down my debts. However when it starts coming down, I become comfortable and say that maybe I could use a new watch or glasses or shoes. Don't get me wrong, it is not wrong to spend. But to spend without taking into account your current situation will lead you back where you came from.
So then what's the deal here? Again, it leads us back to how we make our choices, what our target is, and how we plan to get there. You see, some of us are motivated but only to a certain point, as described above. By understanding how we make our choices and combining it with a balance of motivation towards and away will ensure that we keep on the path. So let's say you want to quit smoking. We need to understand first how we make our choice to pick up a cigarette. Once we understand that, we now know what are the trigger points. What are the things or emotion we link to it.
So let's say you link smoking with pleasure, to relaxation, to taking a break. Then you need to know what are some of the signs that will trigger these. Perhaps whenever you feel like you've work too hard, you need break, so you reach for a smoke. So the next time you recognise that trigger, you first link it to all the unpleasantness you have identified; like you became a slave to the cancer stick, like you see yourself being shortchanged of an opportunity because of the lack of funds to invest in a hot stock, like you lose control over yourself, like your mate hates you when you smoke, like you become branded as indulgence in an increasingly anti-social behaviour, like you become sick and short of breadth, like you stink and become undesirable, like your prospect can't stand the stench and hence can't wait for the meeting to be over. Then the next step is to identify what you replace it with and how that will change the way you feel and all the good things that come with it. So, essentially, we are using a balance of both towards and away motivation to drive us towards our goal of not smoking.
The next is when you need a plan. For instance, challenge yourself that for the next 30 day on, you will stay off smoking and reward yourself with a variety of the towards motivation to reinforce the feel good factor. Once you start doing this, and for 30 days you will then find that its a lot easier to stick to your plan. And as we all have times when we need a little motivation towards, thats when our brain will start to want more of. And thats when we will be advancing faster towards our goal.
So bottomline is this, personal comfort will lead you to emptiness; as when you achieve it, you'll start wondering, what's next. But when you have a plan and that plan dovetail with your bigger plan, thats when we can drive ourselves to our ultimate goal.
"Something in human nature causes us to start slacking off at our moment of greatest accomplishment. As you become successful, you will need a great deal of self-discipline not to lose your sense of balance, humility, and commitment."
— H. Ross Perot
I once mentioned to a friend that I'll want to be more productive in how I use my time. As time is the golden moment that we sometimes take for granted, we end up feeling lousy at the end of the day about how we've used it. Sometimes this could go on and on until the day of reckoning arrives. And this day of reckoning can be the day we lose our job, all of our savings, or it can be the day that we find out we are diagnosed with some nasty disease, or when our family and loved ones start losing faith in us, or when we are about to meet our maker.
By then, we suffer too hard a fall that some of us fail to pick ourselves up. For those of us who do, we will always remember the circumstances we were in and silently tell ourselves we will not go down that road again. But then again, we can promise not to harbour another idle thought, or not to overeat, or not to smoke another cigarette, or not to drink another beer. However we end up doing it once again. It seems like once the pain is over, when we get comfortable, we start indulging in lousy patterns all over again and self-sabotage.
It was once said to me that everyone should be motivated towards something BIG, so that the internal engine will hum and work all the time. I believe not. Instead, we must understand that we need a balance of both; motivated away and towards, and how much of which will depend on our circumstances. For instance, when I have a huge debt to service, I become really motivated to work on it so that I pay down my debts. However when it starts coming down, I become comfortable and say that maybe I could use a new watch or glasses or shoes. Don't get me wrong, it is not wrong to spend. But to spend without taking into account your current situation will lead you back where you came from.
So then what's the deal here? Again, it leads us back to how we make our choices, what our target is, and how we plan to get there. You see, some of us are motivated but only to a certain point, as described above. By understanding how we make our choices and combining it with a balance of motivation towards and away will ensure that we keep on the path. So let's say you want to quit smoking. We need to understand first how we make our choice to pick up a cigarette. Once we understand that, we now know what are the trigger points. What are the things or emotion we link to it.
So let's say you link smoking with pleasure, to relaxation, to taking a break. Then you need to know what are some of the signs that will trigger these. Perhaps whenever you feel like you've work too hard, you need break, so you reach for a smoke. So the next time you recognise that trigger, you first link it to all the unpleasantness you have identified; like you became a slave to the cancer stick, like you see yourself being shortchanged of an opportunity because of the lack of funds to invest in a hot stock, like you lose control over yourself, like your mate hates you when you smoke, like you become branded as indulgence in an increasingly anti-social behaviour, like you become sick and short of breadth, like you stink and become undesirable, like your prospect can't stand the stench and hence can't wait for the meeting to be over. Then the next step is to identify what you replace it with and how that will change the way you feel and all the good things that come with it. So, essentially, we are using a balance of both towards and away motivation to drive us towards our goal of not smoking.
The next is when you need a plan. For instance, challenge yourself that for the next 30 day on, you will stay off smoking and reward yourself with a variety of the towards motivation to reinforce the feel good factor. Once you start doing this, and for 30 days you will then find that its a lot easier to stick to your plan. And as we all have times when we need a little motivation towards, thats when our brain will start to want more of. And thats when we will be advancing faster towards our goal.
So bottomline is this, personal comfort will lead you to emptiness; as when you achieve it, you'll start wondering, what's next. But when you have a plan and that plan dovetail with your bigger plan, thats when we can drive ourselves to our ultimate goal.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
I want you to succeed
Yes. I want you to succeed, period. You see, some people around you, be it your family and friends, do not want you to succeed. Ok, I know some of you might be thinking, "what's he on?" or "has he completely lost it?!". Now, before you start 'flaming' me or dismiss me altogether, let me share with you why I said this. But before we get to that, let me ask; how many of you are afraid of success?
So, what is success? My favourite short definition of success is by Earl Nightingale, "the progressive realisation of a worthy goal or ideal". Because success is not a destination; it is a journey, or some will see it as a marathon without a finishing line. Metaphorically, the definition means that success is something that you achieve on an on-going basis. You set a worthy goal, something that is meaningful not just to you but also to the people around you and the environment that you live in, and you identify some milestones or indicators which shows whether you are on or off track. You see, success is not a grand prize that is achieved only by yourself. If that was the case, then you know your goal is not big enough. When you have a small goal, you not only limit yourself but you are also less motivated to work towards it because it does not move every pore on your skin.
When the goal you are after is huge, you need to enlist the help of others. And when you are able to do that, it means that people get excited about your goal. Perhaps it's because they would like to achieve a goal similar to yours but they feel they don't have the access to resources or they don't have the skills to do so. An example will be Dr Myron Wentz. His dream is a world free of diseases, which propelled him to sell off Gull Laboratories and start USANA Health Sciences. Given his dream to truly spread the word globally, he enlisted the help of several thousands individuals, who as independent distributors have little or no knowledge in cellular nutrition but are excited and shared about his dream. They participant in the business to spread the word and at the same time get compensated in monetary and other intangible gains, such as helping a friend.
You see, when your dream is big, it creates synergy that brings people from different walks of life, culture, faith, beliefs together to make it a reality. By taking on the leadership role, you paint a picture for others to dream about; you create a road-map to link their current situation to the dream, and more importantly you allow them to see for themselves how by connecting the dots they too will be able to achieve their dreams.
So, what is your own definition or favourite definition of success? I invite you to write it down. Make sure there is a worthy goal, that it's big and brings about synergy so that it will also excites others to want to participate.
Next, I'll like to invite you to list down the reasons why you think you are not successful (according to your own or favourite definition and not society's or your mom's definition - sorry mom). Once you have done that, distinguish those reasons that were caused by you and those reasons that were caused by external forces. Now, I've got good news and better news for you.
The good news is, for those of you who've got more external reasons than self-inflicted reasons you now know that you have mindset that needs to be changed. I mean, sure you can go out and blame your boss, colleagues, parents, friends, spouse, or even your cat for being the impediment to your success. Thing is, then who has control over your own success? Them or you? For those of you who've got more self-inflicted reasons or purely self-inflicted reasons, you now understand why you are yet successful. And the better news is, you are in control of whether you succeed or not from hereon.
Now that we have gotten over this, let us talk about why some people, including myself in the past, are afraid of our own success. To some of us, success, the way we define it, will result in some or massive changes depending on your size of the goal. The bigger it is, the more changes we anticipate. And being human, or the result of our conditioning, has led us to resist change. Why? Simply because we don't want to feel uncomfortable but like what Anthony Robbins said, "we want to move away from pain". By our definition of success, we foresee that it will cause us to become someone we don't want to be.
Some of us have strange prefixes such as filthy-rich or preconceived ideas that to be successful we have to be mean or cunning, or worse still, evil. Perhaps its something we picked up from shows such as Snow White (and her wicked but rich step-mother) or Working Girl (where the successful but lonely boss played by Sigourney Weaver). Or maybe it was your parents or relatives who related stories about how so-and-so who became successful by engaging in underhand or unscrupulous activities. Either way, these subliminal messages that reside in your subconscious mind are holding you back from your own success; hence you become afraid of your own success. Now, you need not go out and tell Walt Disney or your parents that they are wrong. As they serve a purpose. The purpose was to protect you, to show you the pitfalls before you fall. And these are useful because you now know that you can be successful doing the right thing. You can be successful being nice. You must not violate your own core values or you'll be sorry. So, embrace and acknowledge these messages and let yourself know that you will do the right thing and yet be successful.
So, the reasons why your friends or family don't want you to succeed is also because of such messages. It may not be the same as yours but they serve the same purpose. They don't wish that you lose your soul or become a totally heartless person when you become successful. Or on a less dramatic level, they want you to be around for them and to treat them the same as before. They do not want you to get hurt too. So, acknowledge that and better still engage them in your journey so that they can not only take part, but also contribute to your success.
Now, why do I want you to be successful? Why does this person who do not know you at all or well enough want you to succeed so bad? Because your success does not rob me of my successes. In fact, when you succeed it does not make me any less successful. It's not a zero-sum game. Or put it bluntly, your success has got nothing to do with me. So then why am I so darn serious about your success? It is because I believe that your success will bring about a better life for you and the people around you, providing your success does not accrue all benefits solely to you. And when that happens it allows others to gain their own successes.
Also, another important belief is that of abundance. Success, like I said is not a zero-sum game. In fact, there are people who wish you not succeed because they are envious or they want to feel superior that they are better than you. These are the people with the scarcity mindset. And not only will they hurt themselves as a result of this mindset, they will also impede others. And by adopting a scarcity mindset you do yourself more harm than good. So engage in an abundance mindset, a mindset that with more successes, it will bring about even greater successes. Hence, I really want you to succeed, period.
So, what is success? My favourite short definition of success is by Earl Nightingale, "the progressive realisation of a worthy goal or ideal". Because success is not a destination; it is a journey, or some will see it as a marathon without a finishing line. Metaphorically, the definition means that success is something that you achieve on an on-going basis. You set a worthy goal, something that is meaningful not just to you but also to the people around you and the environment that you live in, and you identify some milestones or indicators which shows whether you are on or off track. You see, success is not a grand prize that is achieved only by yourself. If that was the case, then you know your goal is not big enough. When you have a small goal, you not only limit yourself but you are also less motivated to work towards it because it does not move every pore on your skin.
When the goal you are after is huge, you need to enlist the help of others. And when you are able to do that, it means that people get excited about your goal. Perhaps it's because they would like to achieve a goal similar to yours but they feel they don't have the access to resources or they don't have the skills to do so. An example will be Dr Myron Wentz. His dream is a world free of diseases, which propelled him to sell off Gull Laboratories and start USANA Health Sciences. Given his dream to truly spread the word globally, he enlisted the help of several thousands individuals, who as independent distributors have little or no knowledge in cellular nutrition but are excited and shared about his dream. They participant in the business to spread the word and at the same time get compensated in monetary and other intangible gains, such as helping a friend.
You see, when your dream is big, it creates synergy that brings people from different walks of life, culture, faith, beliefs together to make it a reality. By taking on the leadership role, you paint a picture for others to dream about; you create a road-map to link their current situation to the dream, and more importantly you allow them to see for themselves how by connecting the dots they too will be able to achieve their dreams.
So, what is your own definition or favourite definition of success? I invite you to write it down. Make sure there is a worthy goal, that it's big and brings about synergy so that it will also excites others to want to participate.
Next, I'll like to invite you to list down the reasons why you think you are not successful (according to your own or favourite definition and not society's or your mom's definition - sorry mom). Once you have done that, distinguish those reasons that were caused by you and those reasons that were caused by external forces. Now, I've got good news and better news for you.
The good news is, for those of you who've got more external reasons than self-inflicted reasons you now know that you have mindset that needs to be changed. I mean, sure you can go out and blame your boss, colleagues, parents, friends, spouse, or even your cat for being the impediment to your success. Thing is, then who has control over your own success? Them or you? For those of you who've got more self-inflicted reasons or purely self-inflicted reasons, you now understand why you are yet successful. And the better news is, you are in control of whether you succeed or not from hereon.
Now that we have gotten over this, let us talk about why some people, including myself in the past, are afraid of our own success. To some of us, success, the way we define it, will result in some or massive changes depending on your size of the goal. The bigger it is, the more changes we anticipate. And being human, or the result of our conditioning, has led us to resist change. Why? Simply because we don't want to feel uncomfortable but like what Anthony Robbins said, "we want to move away from pain". By our definition of success, we foresee that it will cause us to become someone we don't want to be.
Some of us have strange prefixes such as filthy-rich or preconceived ideas that to be successful we have to be mean or cunning, or worse still, evil. Perhaps its something we picked up from shows such as Snow White (and her wicked but rich step-mother) or Working Girl (where the successful but lonely boss played by Sigourney Weaver). Or maybe it was your parents or relatives who related stories about how so-and-so who became successful by engaging in underhand or unscrupulous activities. Either way, these subliminal messages that reside in your subconscious mind are holding you back from your own success; hence you become afraid of your own success. Now, you need not go out and tell Walt Disney or your parents that they are wrong. As they serve a purpose. The purpose was to protect you, to show you the pitfalls before you fall. And these are useful because you now know that you can be successful doing the right thing. You can be successful being nice. You must not violate your own core values or you'll be sorry. So, embrace and acknowledge these messages and let yourself know that you will do the right thing and yet be successful.
So, the reasons why your friends or family don't want you to succeed is also because of such messages. It may not be the same as yours but they serve the same purpose. They don't wish that you lose your soul or become a totally heartless person when you become successful. Or on a less dramatic level, they want you to be around for them and to treat them the same as before. They do not want you to get hurt too. So, acknowledge that and better still engage them in your journey so that they can not only take part, but also contribute to your success.
Now, why do I want you to be successful? Why does this person who do not know you at all or well enough want you to succeed so bad? Because your success does not rob me of my successes. In fact, when you succeed it does not make me any less successful. It's not a zero-sum game. Or put it bluntly, your success has got nothing to do with me. So then why am I so darn serious about your success? It is because I believe that your success will bring about a better life for you and the people around you, providing your success does not accrue all benefits solely to you. And when that happens it allows others to gain their own successes.
Also, another important belief is that of abundance. Success, like I said is not a zero-sum game. In fact, there are people who wish you not succeed because they are envious or they want to feel superior that they are better than you. These are the people with the scarcity mindset. And not only will they hurt themselves as a result of this mindset, they will also impede others. And by adopting a scarcity mindset you do yourself more harm than good. So engage in an abundance mindset, a mindset that with more successes, it will bring about even greater successes. Hence, I really want you to succeed, period.
Friday, December 22, 2006
Its a choice you won't regret
I once bumped into an acquaintance, someone who was a friend of my friend. I called him and we spoke for a while. Initially he had trouble remembering my name; he still couldn't recall after a while. I reminded him but to no avail. Finally, I told him and it didn't ring a bell to him. However, after describing to him, he recalled, not my name but my actions he did. He said, "oh, you are the chain-smoker, I always see you with a cigarette in your mouth!". That was definitely not very flattering.
And that's how I was remembered. Question. How would you'd like to be remembered? For the wonderful things you did? Or for some actions you wouldn't be proud enough to brag about it? Certainly, if you are like most people, it will be the former I hope. Many of us behave in a certain manner that sometimes caused other people to recognise us in ways that we may not appreciate.
For instance, there are a few people in my Aikido class that aren't as popular as others. Not that they are mean, it's just the way they behave that caused others not want to be around them. There are also others who tried extremely hard to suppress or delay their emotions who after a while caused others to doubt their sincerity. Like I said, they are just like you and I who wants to be accepted; who wants to be liked (who here does not want to be liked?); who wants to blend in with the rest; who wants to belong to the group.
And that's fundamentally a human desire. The desire to be connected. I mean, I have yet to come across anyone who prefers to be by themselves. Even those weirdos, as we ignorantly called them, also have an innate desire to be connected to other people. Just because they don't feel comfortable with you and I doesn't mean they like to be alone. They probably feel more comfortable connecting with others through the computers or through pen-pals (how many of us still remember pen-pals?). Having said that, being connected through different channels will also, over time, shape your personality. Because of their affiliation with the computers and text messages, some of these individuals are viewed as "no EQ".
Personally I have encountered many such people through my course of work, and also others by the nature of their occupation, they treat people like how they would in their job; both positive and not so positive.
So, the point is this. How you identify yourself, your identity, your personality is something that some of us don't pay much attention to. For instance, by the way that acquaintance identify me could lead me to identify myself as a "chain-smoker". Can you imagine when I am trying to quit but that "label" stays with me subconsciously? Just like if someone identifies himself as the keeper of the law, he will tend to make sure that no one breaks the rule or he'll give them a earful. Or if someone identifies himself as a doctor, a healer; he may extend that identity to superiority! Or if someone is a consultant, he'll always be ready to dispense with advise.
Therefore, it is critical that we identify the identity that we want others to remember us for, something that we can be proud of, something that allows us to connect with other people; many different types of people. The company you keep will give you an idea. This is a choice we need to make as soon as possible, as its not only going to make our eulogy sounds much better; its also going to impact on our behaviour and hence how people treat us. Its not their fault if they think you are weird; its not their fault to think you are aloof; and its certainly not their fault to not include you on their Christmas get-together guest list. Its how to choose to be identified as that is causing people to treat you the way they do.
So, if you treat people with respect and love, they will reciprocate. May not be in the way you'd imagine or prefer, but it will certainly be on their minds. Its a two-way traffic; how you perceive others will treat you, you will return the favour. And as a result of them doing so, it will also mean that they love and respect you. With that, you will feel more comfortable being with them and hence you will start to act in a manner in which they will accept and return. If you think the best of humans, they will live up to your expectations; and same applies in reverse. Would you be disappointed from time to time, when someone fail to live up to your expectations or worse still, take advantage of you?
Yes, it will happen. The thing you need to remember is you can be responsible to them but you cannot be responsible for them. The actions or behaviour that others choose are entirely their choice. You just need to do your part and understand that their intentions are always good; may not be good for the people around them but the only reason why they behave in that manner is solely to protect themselves. Ultimately, its not your fault if they take advantage of you. As we discussed before; you can be responsible to them but you cannot be responsible for them.
And that's how I was remembered. Question. How would you'd like to be remembered? For the wonderful things you did? Or for some actions you wouldn't be proud enough to brag about it? Certainly, if you are like most people, it will be the former I hope. Many of us behave in a certain manner that sometimes caused other people to recognise us in ways that we may not appreciate.
For instance, there are a few people in my Aikido class that aren't as popular as others. Not that they are mean, it's just the way they behave that caused others not want to be around them. There are also others who tried extremely hard to suppress or delay their emotions who after a while caused others to doubt their sincerity. Like I said, they are just like you and I who wants to be accepted; who wants to be liked (who here does not want to be liked?); who wants to blend in with the rest; who wants to belong to the group.
And that's fundamentally a human desire. The desire to be connected. I mean, I have yet to come across anyone who prefers to be by themselves. Even those weirdos, as we ignorantly called them, also have an innate desire to be connected to other people. Just because they don't feel comfortable with you and I doesn't mean they like to be alone. They probably feel more comfortable connecting with others through the computers or through pen-pals (how many of us still remember pen-pals?). Having said that, being connected through different channels will also, over time, shape your personality. Because of their affiliation with the computers and text messages, some of these individuals are viewed as "no EQ".
Personally I have encountered many such people through my course of work, and also others by the nature of their occupation, they treat people like how they would in their job; both positive and not so positive.
So, the point is this. How you identify yourself, your identity, your personality is something that some of us don't pay much attention to. For instance, by the way that acquaintance identify me could lead me to identify myself as a "chain-smoker". Can you imagine when I am trying to quit but that "label" stays with me subconsciously? Just like if someone identifies himself as the keeper of the law, he will tend to make sure that no one breaks the rule or he'll give them a earful. Or if someone identifies himself as a doctor, a healer; he may extend that identity to superiority! Or if someone is a consultant, he'll always be ready to dispense with advise.
Therefore, it is critical that we identify the identity that we want others to remember us for, something that we can be proud of, something that allows us to connect with other people; many different types of people. The company you keep will give you an idea. This is a choice we need to make as soon as possible, as its not only going to make our eulogy sounds much better; its also going to impact on our behaviour and hence how people treat us. Its not their fault if they think you are weird; its not their fault to think you are aloof; and its certainly not their fault to not include you on their Christmas get-together guest list. Its how to choose to be identified as that is causing people to treat you the way they do.
So, if you treat people with respect and love, they will reciprocate. May not be in the way you'd imagine or prefer, but it will certainly be on their minds. Its a two-way traffic; how you perceive others will treat you, you will return the favour. And as a result of them doing so, it will also mean that they love and respect you. With that, you will feel more comfortable being with them and hence you will start to act in a manner in which they will accept and return. If you think the best of humans, they will live up to your expectations; and same applies in reverse. Would you be disappointed from time to time, when someone fail to live up to your expectations or worse still, take advantage of you?
Yes, it will happen. The thing you need to remember is you can be responsible to them but you cannot be responsible for them. The actions or behaviour that others choose are entirely their choice. You just need to do your part and understand that their intentions are always good; may not be good for the people around them but the only reason why they behave in that manner is solely to protect themselves. Ultimately, its not your fault if they take advantage of you. As we discussed before; you can be responsible to them but you cannot be responsible for them.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
What would you do?
I was invited to facilitate a school's strategic planning session recently. The participants were totally sweet, participative, positively oriented, and totally pragmatic. Too pragmatic perhaps. You cannot fault them, as their environment has conditioned them to think that there are certain fundamental issues to address and address those issues well they will.
In order to help them see beyond the current situation, to explore for a while in the near future, to take a step out of the present moment, and to open their minds to new possibilities; I asked them a critical question that was directed at me several years back.
The critical question was, "If time nor money were an object, what would you do?"
From time-to-time I asked myself this very same question. And if for a few days in a row I am not satisfied with my answers, I know its time to go to the drawing board. Sometimes, we can get a little caught up in the current situations, and also some of us may even be in a state of denial, "of course it is what I am doing!" However, just ask ourselves the follow-up question, and that is, if its what you are now doing, then are you happy? Can you rate your happiness a 8 or 9 or maybe even a 10, on a scale of 1 to 10? I discovered, if you can rate your happiness on that level, then you're alright. Just go back to work. But when you find yourself not comfortable with the level of happiness that you have appended, then its time to start asking more empowering questions, as its a sign that things are not as well as you want them to be. Don't brood over it, its perfectly alright if you are not yet happy. Its perfectly fine if you cannot give yourself a 9 or 10. Its perfectly okay that you may not be as happy as you want to be.
And the reason is because, there is still room for growth. There is room for improvement. There is room for excellence. There is room for expansion. There is room for acquiring new knowledge, skills, habits, competencies. There is room for accepting more challenges in your life. There is room for strengthening your strengths and acknowledging your enhancement hotspots. There is room for creating more opportunities.
Once you acknowledge this rather than beat yourself up and start asking disempowering or lousy questions or worse still start affirming negative beliefs about yourself, you'll be alright; for now that is.
When this happens, will it be more assuring to ask yourself what areas can I still improve upon so that I can be happier or would you rather be asking yourself, why is it that everyone seems to be getting on and moving up except me? If you are like me, I'll prefer to ask the former. Reason is obvious. The former allows you to gain a foothold, to plant a seed of possibilities in your mind, to stretch your imagination, to push you out of your comfort zone to make improvements in your life.
Its probably also a good idea to re-evaluate what you are doing and if what you are doing is making the best use of your time and money. Money, to me is just like oil. You need oil to push growth in an economy. You need oil to transport goods around. You need oil to get you to the other side of the world. You need oil to get your electricity. You need oil to get your automobile moving. You need oil even to sleep; well, at least to keep the air-conditioning or heater going. When there is a shortage of oil, growth becomes limited. With prices of oil going up, prices of related goods also start rising. With prices of goods rising, you are going to need an increase in your income as well so that you can, at the very least, still on par with your current lifestyle (even if its a frugal one). When you start asking for a raise, the cost of doing business for your employer goes up. When that goes up, your employer are going to start charging the clients more. However, if they are not able to raise their fees as they see fit, they are going to have to look at ways to trim costs. Maybe we will conserve energy. Something I read during the tech-bubble bust was, "due to recent cut-backs, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off". Just like this bumper sticker, perhaps we will cut down on other areas. Non-essentials. So your employer starts to go back to basics without the bells and whistles. Or maybe your employer decides that you should work longer hours just to keep your job as the increase in cost is eating into profit margins. As a whole, the economy will need to generate more income for everyone to keep up with the increase in oil prices. And in order to do that successfully, it will depends on whether the economy is heavily leveraged. If a lot of individuals are highly leveraged, in consumer spending and also in properties, then unless an increase in income happens, it will be difficult for them to keep up with their payments, or their homes. If the economy is not highly leveraged, then it is possible to get everyone to tighten their belts, and bite the bullet for the time being, until all is well or the cycle continues, viciously.
So, why is oil like money? You see, many people become slave to money. Working day and night for it. Doing anything possible and I mean ANYTHING, just to make a few more bucks. Some even do it at the expense of their health, integrity, or even their soul. When they adopt a mindset like that, do you think when they have made enough, if there is such a thing as enough for money, will their health, family, friends be there still? Maybe, maybe not. I'll bet on the latter. When you view money as a form of "energy", you then start to adopt a different perspective of things. Assuming that oil (it is not, but for the sake of our discussion I am making this bold assumption) or all collective form of energy is unlimited. As in, when all the oil wells dry up and peak production is reached; we will have alternative form of renewable energy such as wind. Therefore assuming that all collective form of energy (nuclear or otherwise) is unlimited, will you be willing to share or will you be keeping it all for yourself? By adopting a mindset of abundance, you not only allow the form of energy to flow through you, and not stop with you. Let's say suddenly you become pessimistic and start to keep barrels and barrels of oil in a warehouse in anticipation of an oil drought, and even when your neighbour or your best friend come asking you for some, as they are suffering from the lack of heat, and you unwillingly turn them away. Why, because you anticipate that you will need all the oil that you have to last you a lifetime. While it may be true, what you really need to focus on is not whether it will last you a lifetime. What you need to focus on is, if you are able to share your oil, will you also help others find ways to explore more oil fields; and as a result of that, they no longer need to bug you for oil and also, at the same time, now everyone has more oil!
So, my point here is, money is just a form of energy. What you really need to focus on is not whether you will have enough. But more importantly is whether in times of crisis, even if you need to cut back on your oil consumption; will you be able to afford it. Are you more heavily leveraged now than before? Are you able to use your time to equip yourself with the best resources available so that oil will always be there for you?
In order to help them see beyond the current situation, to explore for a while in the near future, to take a step out of the present moment, and to open their minds to new possibilities; I asked them a critical question that was directed at me several years back.
The critical question was, "If time nor money were an object, what would you do?"
From time-to-time I asked myself this very same question. And if for a few days in a row I am not satisfied with my answers, I know its time to go to the drawing board. Sometimes, we can get a little caught up in the current situations, and also some of us may even be in a state of denial, "of course it is what I am doing!" However, just ask ourselves the follow-up question, and that is, if its what you are now doing, then are you happy? Can you rate your happiness a 8 or 9 or maybe even a 10, on a scale of 1 to 10? I discovered, if you can rate your happiness on that level, then you're alright. Just go back to work. But when you find yourself not comfortable with the level of happiness that you have appended, then its time to start asking more empowering questions, as its a sign that things are not as well as you want them to be. Don't brood over it, its perfectly alright if you are not yet happy. Its perfectly fine if you cannot give yourself a 9 or 10. Its perfectly okay that you may not be as happy as you want to be.
And the reason is because, there is still room for growth. There is room for improvement. There is room for excellence. There is room for expansion. There is room for acquiring new knowledge, skills, habits, competencies. There is room for accepting more challenges in your life. There is room for strengthening your strengths and acknowledging your enhancement hotspots. There is room for creating more opportunities.
Once you acknowledge this rather than beat yourself up and start asking disempowering or lousy questions or worse still start affirming negative beliefs about yourself, you'll be alright; for now that is.
When this happens, will it be more assuring to ask yourself what areas can I still improve upon so that I can be happier or would you rather be asking yourself, why is it that everyone seems to be getting on and moving up except me? If you are like me, I'll prefer to ask the former. Reason is obvious. The former allows you to gain a foothold, to plant a seed of possibilities in your mind, to stretch your imagination, to push you out of your comfort zone to make improvements in your life.
Its probably also a good idea to re-evaluate what you are doing and if what you are doing is making the best use of your time and money. Money, to me is just like oil. You need oil to push growth in an economy. You need oil to transport goods around. You need oil to get you to the other side of the world. You need oil to get your electricity. You need oil to get your automobile moving. You need oil even to sleep; well, at least to keep the air-conditioning or heater going. When there is a shortage of oil, growth becomes limited. With prices of oil going up, prices of related goods also start rising. With prices of goods rising, you are going to need an increase in your income as well so that you can, at the very least, still on par with your current lifestyle (even if its a frugal one). When you start asking for a raise, the cost of doing business for your employer goes up. When that goes up, your employer are going to start charging the clients more. However, if they are not able to raise their fees as they see fit, they are going to have to look at ways to trim costs. Maybe we will conserve energy. Something I read during the tech-bubble bust was, "due to recent cut-backs, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off". Just like this bumper sticker, perhaps we will cut down on other areas. Non-essentials. So your employer starts to go back to basics without the bells and whistles. Or maybe your employer decides that you should work longer hours just to keep your job as the increase in cost is eating into profit margins. As a whole, the economy will need to generate more income for everyone to keep up with the increase in oil prices. And in order to do that successfully, it will depends on whether the economy is heavily leveraged. If a lot of individuals are highly leveraged, in consumer spending and also in properties, then unless an increase in income happens, it will be difficult for them to keep up with their payments, or their homes. If the economy is not highly leveraged, then it is possible to get everyone to tighten their belts, and bite the bullet for the time being, until all is well or the cycle continues, viciously.
So, why is oil like money? You see, many people become slave to money. Working day and night for it. Doing anything possible and I mean ANYTHING, just to make a few more bucks. Some even do it at the expense of their health, integrity, or even their soul. When they adopt a mindset like that, do you think when they have made enough, if there is such a thing as enough for money, will their health, family, friends be there still? Maybe, maybe not. I'll bet on the latter. When you view money as a form of "energy", you then start to adopt a different perspective of things. Assuming that oil (it is not, but for the sake of our discussion I am making this bold assumption) or all collective form of energy is unlimited. As in, when all the oil wells dry up and peak production is reached; we will have alternative form of renewable energy such as wind. Therefore assuming that all collective form of energy (nuclear or otherwise) is unlimited, will you be willing to share or will you be keeping it all for yourself? By adopting a mindset of abundance, you not only allow the form of energy to flow through you, and not stop with you. Let's say suddenly you become pessimistic and start to keep barrels and barrels of oil in a warehouse in anticipation of an oil drought, and even when your neighbour or your best friend come asking you for some, as they are suffering from the lack of heat, and you unwillingly turn them away. Why, because you anticipate that you will need all the oil that you have to last you a lifetime. While it may be true, what you really need to focus on is not whether it will last you a lifetime. What you need to focus on is, if you are able to share your oil, will you also help others find ways to explore more oil fields; and as a result of that, they no longer need to bug you for oil and also, at the same time, now everyone has more oil!
So, my point here is, money is just a form of energy. What you really need to focus on is not whether you will have enough. But more importantly is whether in times of crisis, even if you need to cut back on your oil consumption; will you be able to afford it. Are you more heavily leveraged now than before? Are you able to use your time to equip yourself with the best resources available so that oil will always be there for you?
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Break that Mindset!
The very word itself, mindset. It keeps us in a frame of mind that is set in its thinking.
What we really need to do is to break that Mindset!
In fact, stop using the word altogether!
We will need our frame of mind to be fluid and flowing. Always adaptable, always willing to seek new insights.
Be open and be respectful too.
If you look at the waves that have been happening over the last few decades, you will find some phenomenal changes that have happened. Some survived, some ultimately survived anyways but not at the expense of something else.
Looking back some 3 or 4 decades ago, you will find that companies were competing with each other largely on price. The, "You think you can go low?! Let's see who can go lower!" And obviously for these companies, the ones that were able to go lower win. Its like the Japanese dumping their goods in the US markets, only to drive the competitors out of business and then increase their prices thereafter. However, not every company is like the Japanese. Some can only go that low. Because there are still wages to pay, loans to service, bills to keep up. So, there is a limit as to how much lower any company can get, without lowering itself out of business.
Then came the, "Well, let's cut our costs so that we can go lower!" With this came the management restructuring, company downsizing, and process re-engineering. So you have a bunch of cost-cutting consultants who advise you where the fats are (not that you do not already know), where you can trim, how if you reorganise your shop floor will be able to streamline your processes, and hence viola! costs are brought down, you can go lower still, and drive out the competition.
After a while, it seems like we are streamlined to our neck! What else can we do? So, what if we do not carry stocks ourselves but let our suppliers carry the stocks for us until we need it? Great idea! Dell did it. JIT manufacturing became the next buzzword. Companies start pushing the baby to the guy lower in the value chain. That caught on quickly, and soon everyone is trying to do the same!
Now, there's no more costs to cut. So let's think out-of-the-box. Do more with less. Go for higher productivity. Let's do benchmarking. Go copy what the best in class is doing and if we can achieve that as well, we'll be ahead of the competition! So here comes the benchmarking consultants and their delivery of the best possibility frontier, to borrow an economics term. Now, we've copied everyone in the industry and more. What else?
How about we innovate? Develop a product where people will need where no one else is doing now! Great concept! Everyone now tries to create a brand, value-add, innovate, creativity. Then comes the creative thinking people. The ones who says you can use your left-brain and your right-brain! People start showing up at work with nose rings, ear-rings, nipple-rings, and what have you. Suddenly its cool to be creative! Let's drop the suit and put on our jeans. Lose the shirt and wear a round-neck. Having a goatie means you are a dude. Being bald is in! For a while, the deal was good.
Then of course, coupled with the fact that everyone was starting a new dot-com company faster than you can say dot-com! All projections and business models were written on napkins, back-of-the-envelopes, on your under-arm! Suddenly new players can now threaten the big boys! Boo-hoo! As you know it, the tech-bubble burst!
Now, everyone is out of job.
And the good news is, the change is not over yet!
It took 3-4 decades for all that to happen.
It will take half (or even less) the time for EVEN more changes to come on!
So, do you need to break that MindSet?
How you may ask!?
Stay tuned....
What we really need to do is to break that Mindset!
In fact, stop using the word altogether!
We will need our frame of mind to be fluid and flowing. Always adaptable, always willing to seek new insights.
Be open and be respectful too.
If you look at the waves that have been happening over the last few decades, you will find some phenomenal changes that have happened. Some survived, some ultimately survived anyways but not at the expense of something else.
Looking back some 3 or 4 decades ago, you will find that companies were competing with each other largely on price. The, "You think you can go low?! Let's see who can go lower!" And obviously for these companies, the ones that were able to go lower win. Its like the Japanese dumping their goods in the US markets, only to drive the competitors out of business and then increase their prices thereafter. However, not every company is like the Japanese. Some can only go that low. Because there are still wages to pay, loans to service, bills to keep up. So, there is a limit as to how much lower any company can get, without lowering itself out of business.
Then came the, "Well, let's cut our costs so that we can go lower!" With this came the management restructuring, company downsizing, and process re-engineering. So you have a bunch of cost-cutting consultants who advise you where the fats are (not that you do not already know), where you can trim, how if you reorganise your shop floor will be able to streamline your processes, and hence viola! costs are brought down, you can go lower still, and drive out the competition.
After a while, it seems like we are streamlined to our neck! What else can we do? So, what if we do not carry stocks ourselves but let our suppliers carry the stocks for us until we need it? Great idea! Dell did it. JIT manufacturing became the next buzzword. Companies start pushing the baby to the guy lower in the value chain. That caught on quickly, and soon everyone is trying to do the same!
Now, there's no more costs to cut. So let's think out-of-the-box. Do more with less. Go for higher productivity. Let's do benchmarking. Go copy what the best in class is doing and if we can achieve that as well, we'll be ahead of the competition! So here comes the benchmarking consultants and their delivery of the best possibility frontier, to borrow an economics term. Now, we've copied everyone in the industry and more. What else?
How about we innovate? Develop a product where people will need where no one else is doing now! Great concept! Everyone now tries to create a brand, value-add, innovate, creativity. Then comes the creative thinking people. The ones who says you can use your left-brain and your right-brain! People start showing up at work with nose rings, ear-rings, nipple-rings, and what have you. Suddenly its cool to be creative! Let's drop the suit and put on our jeans. Lose the shirt and wear a round-neck. Having a goatie means you are a dude. Being bald is in! For a while, the deal was good.
Then of course, coupled with the fact that everyone was starting a new dot-com company faster than you can say dot-com! All projections and business models were written on napkins, back-of-the-envelopes, on your under-arm! Suddenly new players can now threaten the big boys! Boo-hoo! As you know it, the tech-bubble burst!
Now, everyone is out of job.
And the good news is, the change is not over yet!
It took 3-4 decades for all that to happen.
It will take half (or even less) the time for EVEN more changes to come on!
So, do you need to break that MindSet?
How you may ask!?
Stay tuned....
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
REIN-TIME
I've had this obsession for some time now, and that is what are some of the traits of successful people. One of the common traits that I've found out is, and I'm sure you'll have some references for what I'm about to say, how they use their time.
Someone once said, time is like a suitcase. Give the same suitcase to two different people and the amount of items each will put into their respective suitcases will differ. One may put more items in a suitcase then the other. Additionally, when you look at the kind of items each pack into their suitcases, it will generally reflect their personality. Perhaps one may wish to leave more space so that it can accommodate additional items. You get the idea.
Bottom line is, we can draw a parallel between time and suitcase. How for someone, it seems like they get a lot done within a day, while for another; its never enough time. In fact, I'm a proponent of being able to use your time in the most optimal fashion. Saying that puts me in the spot sometimes. You see, most people want to be able to spend time chilling out and just doing "brain-dead" activities. I don't deny we all need time to rejuvenate ourselves and we all need time to relax and stay away from 'work'. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
True. Having said that, Jack needs to be able to create a Balance between what's 'work' and what's 'play'. So for instance, if Jack chose to select a 30-70 rule in proportion to his work-play time division, then he needs to understand the returns this will give him. Should Jack be happy with the returns from this 30-70 division, so be it. Now, what I begin to hear about certain people is that they are not happy with the returns they have. "... but John has a bigger house!", "... but Jill now drives a BMW", and so on. However, they are not willing to relook at the fundamental equation of work-play time division. Worse they turn around and say, "... but I have a life you know?!"
One of my friends say, but you do not always put your time to 'productive' use. You need to relax your mind. Get away from the subject. Stand back. Ponder. Gain a new perspective. And I totally agree. I didn't say anything about making money! I only say, you put your time into the most optimal use. I don't think Mother Teresa spends her time reading trashy magazines or watching trashy movies! So, some may say, "... but I am not as great as she is you know?!" My respectful response will be, "You can if you choose to. In your current situation, you may choose another course of action, which doesn't confine you to only reading 'useful' materials and watching 'relevant' tv programmes." Of course, there are research out there that shows that sometimes staying away from the 'herd' instincts does pay. Just like in investment, where George Soros, Warren Buffett, and John Templeton certainly do not confine themselves to reading and watching what everyone else is reading or watching.
You can, and probably should; divide your time in an optimal fashion that you can get the highest returns, whatever your definition of returns may be. If you can just picture a downward slopping curve, with work on one axis and play on another. Any point on this curve will determine you work-play time division. And the curve that you are on will determine your returns. Let us assume that everywhere on this curve will give you the same level of returns now. In the immediate term. However, your choice of the position on the curve will determine how your time curve will look like in the future.
Let's take an example that, you have a fixed amount of monies in a time deposit. It will generate a fixed amount of income for you, based on the existing rate of returns. Now, assume you do not do anything to cause this amount of monies to grow overtime, do you think your returns will remain the same over the years? In fact, for most of you, you'll already know that your returns will diminish in value over the years. Faced with an inflation, you could even possibly run the risk of drawing on your fixed amount of monies, thereby reducing this sum and causing your returns to diminish even more. So, certainly you can still engage in the same work-play time division, but your returns will change over time.
Of course relating this to real life, when you fail to invest your time in a manner that places you in an advantageous position that in the event of certain fundamental shifts in the economic structure, social conditions, or political upheaval.
For the second part of this blog, I'll like to touch on the systems perspective to respecting your own time. Picture this for a second. Say, Jill, a good-natured graduate who left her employer to start her own enterprise. With her experiences and educational background, she is able to provide consulting services to small business on their marketing plans. Being a one-woman outfit, she then decide to be contactable and so got herself a blackberry where she will always be able to answer to emails on the fly. Great for the customer. They feel like they are the only customer and that she is dependable. Of course, Jill does a decent job (probably more than decent as she needs to prove herself). After a while, it got the client thinking. Wait a minute, if she is able to answer to my mails so promptly and is always contactable whenever I need to speak with her, then she might not have a very large client base. If she doesn't have a large client base, which means she will be hungry for business. And if she is hungry for business, she will be willing to accept a lower fee than others who have more clients and are more successful, and possibly better at what they do as well. Now, Jill thinks she is proving an excellent service to the client by being prompt and diligent. Meanwhile, she attempts to ask for a higher fee and find that this become quite challenging. As a result, she needs more contracts to keep herself afloat and because of that she spreads herself too thin and might even ends up compromising on her quality of work, which will prove the client's perception that "... maybe she's not that good".
Now, lets examine this illustration in detail. First, Jill does everything she could to provide the best services for her client. Second, the client is basically just perceiving all of these, where it may not be real in the first place. However, as a result of Jill, unknowingly not respecting her own time, she created a delusion for her client that she may not be too hot a consultant if she is always at the beck and call of the client. Another interesting factor involved in this is, when the client has the slightest thought that "... maybe she's not that good", the client has already activated his reticular activating system, where subconsciously he will be looking for evidences that "... maybe she's not that good". And as we all know, what the mind seeks, the mind finds. Now, the client will start having evidences that "... maybe she's not that good" and as a result of that be not willing to pay her higher fees for her services.
Please don't get me wrong here. I am certainly not advocating that you suddenly refuse to take the calls of people, stay aloof, and demands everyone to make an appointment with you just to see you. Should you do that, you'll see a slight in your popularity that will very soon make you redundant in your organisation or your industry. What I am saying is simply this. Respect your own time. If you say you are going to devote 30-70 to work-play, for heaven's sake, adhere to this and do not let others talk you out of it. There will be people who will sway you from your firm adherence to your work-play division, and that is because its not the social norm that is practiced by everyone. These people probably tried doing it themselves but met with limited success or just didn't have the courage to see it through. What I'm saying is, your firm adherence may make them uncomfortable.
Now, once you firmly adhere to your 30-70 division, you not only demonstrated to others, but more importantly; demonstrated to yourself that you are serious about this commitment and not just paying lip service. When others observe this from the outside, what they generally see is a focused individual who works at what he desires. And how would you feel when you meet someone like that? You'll respect them! You'll not waste the time of Donald Trump, or Warren Buffett, or Steve Jobs. When you respect their time, you'll find that whatever time you spend with them was well worth it, and also you appreciate them taking time off their schedule to be with you. You'll feel honoured as well. You'll feel special. More importantly, you'll find that whatever they tell you to be of value of some sort because your reticular activating system is turned on and your subconscious mind is searching for evidence to back this up.
Of course, if you are Jill, you'll need to be of certain substance. But what can you do if you are in Jill's shoes? If you totally respect your own time, you might get a voice mail instead, so that you can screen the calls and return the ones that are important or urgent. You might check your emails but choose to respond to those that are of priority to you. You may wish to allocate your time and activity in such a way that you can allow yourself to play? You don't want to work yourself to death! See, as a consultant, when you stop working, your income stops as well! What's more, you can invest in an inexpensive call answering service that will screen the calls for you. More importantly, you will be able to demonstrate to clients that when you are with another client, the time is for that client you're physically with. You want to be fair to this client who is currently with you and will give them the same priority if you are with them as well.
So, bottom line of this blog is to REspect and INvest your TIME.
Now for the challenge of the day:
1) Itemise what you do each day for at least a week.
2) Look at the time-stealers (things that are unproductive) and look at how much more you can achieve if you were to fill these (maybe not all, as you're not a dull child) with optimal-time activities?
3) Visualise yourself doing this to see if you are comfortable with this new work-play division.
4) Once you are done visualising, be sure to adhere to it firmly, respect your own time by investing it by engaging in more meaningful activities.
Love and respect,
Melvyn Tan
PS: Just a side note. There was once a friend of mine referred a website designer to me because I was looking for one. I spent at least 2 hours explaining to him about what I do and what I'll like to do for my company's website. To be fair, he did gave some good suggestions and proposed to get back to me with a proposal and quotation. He asked for one week. Its been more than a month now. I hope he's not met with some mishap that impede his speech or ability to send emails. God bless him.
Someone once said, time is like a suitcase. Give the same suitcase to two different people and the amount of items each will put into their respective suitcases will differ. One may put more items in a suitcase then the other. Additionally, when you look at the kind of items each pack into their suitcases, it will generally reflect their personality. Perhaps one may wish to leave more space so that it can accommodate additional items. You get the idea.
Bottom line is, we can draw a parallel between time and suitcase. How for someone, it seems like they get a lot done within a day, while for another; its never enough time. In fact, I'm a proponent of being able to use your time in the most optimal fashion. Saying that puts me in the spot sometimes. You see, most people want to be able to spend time chilling out and just doing "brain-dead" activities. I don't deny we all need time to rejuvenate ourselves and we all need time to relax and stay away from 'work'. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
True. Having said that, Jack needs to be able to create a Balance between what's 'work' and what's 'play'. So for instance, if Jack chose to select a 30-70 rule in proportion to his work-play time division, then he needs to understand the returns this will give him. Should Jack be happy with the returns from this 30-70 division, so be it. Now, what I begin to hear about certain people is that they are not happy with the returns they have. "... but John has a bigger house!", "... but Jill now drives a BMW", and so on. However, they are not willing to relook at the fundamental equation of work-play time division. Worse they turn around and say, "... but I have a life you know?!"
One of my friends say, but you do not always put your time to 'productive' use. You need to relax your mind. Get away from the subject. Stand back. Ponder. Gain a new perspective. And I totally agree. I didn't say anything about making money! I only say, you put your time into the most optimal use. I don't think Mother Teresa spends her time reading trashy magazines or watching trashy movies! So, some may say, "... but I am not as great as she is you know?!" My respectful response will be, "You can if you choose to. In your current situation, you may choose another course of action, which doesn't confine you to only reading 'useful' materials and watching 'relevant' tv programmes." Of course, there are research out there that shows that sometimes staying away from the 'herd' instincts does pay. Just like in investment, where George Soros, Warren Buffett, and John Templeton certainly do not confine themselves to reading and watching what everyone else is reading or watching.
You can, and probably should; divide your time in an optimal fashion that you can get the highest returns, whatever your definition of returns may be. If you can just picture a downward slopping curve, with work on one axis and play on another. Any point on this curve will determine you work-play time division. And the curve that you are on will determine your returns. Let us assume that everywhere on this curve will give you the same level of returns now. In the immediate term. However, your choice of the position on the curve will determine how your time curve will look like in the future.
Let's take an example that, you have a fixed amount of monies in a time deposit. It will generate a fixed amount of income for you, based on the existing rate of returns. Now, assume you do not do anything to cause this amount of monies to grow overtime, do you think your returns will remain the same over the years? In fact, for most of you, you'll already know that your returns will diminish in value over the years. Faced with an inflation, you could even possibly run the risk of drawing on your fixed amount of monies, thereby reducing this sum and causing your returns to diminish even more. So, certainly you can still engage in the same work-play time division, but your returns will change over time.
Of course relating this to real life, when you fail to invest your time in a manner that places you in an advantageous position that in the event of certain fundamental shifts in the economic structure, social conditions, or political upheaval.
For the second part of this blog, I'll like to touch on the systems perspective to respecting your own time. Picture this for a second. Say, Jill, a good-natured graduate who left her employer to start her own enterprise. With her experiences and educational background, she is able to provide consulting services to small business on their marketing plans. Being a one-woman outfit, she then decide to be contactable and so got herself a blackberry where she will always be able to answer to emails on the fly. Great for the customer. They feel like they are the only customer and that she is dependable. Of course, Jill does a decent job (probably more than decent as she needs to prove herself). After a while, it got the client thinking. Wait a minute, if she is able to answer to my mails so promptly and is always contactable whenever I need to speak with her, then she might not have a very large client base. If she doesn't have a large client base, which means she will be hungry for business. And if she is hungry for business, she will be willing to accept a lower fee than others who have more clients and are more successful, and possibly better at what they do as well. Now, Jill thinks she is proving an excellent service to the client by being prompt and diligent. Meanwhile, she attempts to ask for a higher fee and find that this become quite challenging. As a result, she needs more contracts to keep herself afloat and because of that she spreads herself too thin and might even ends up compromising on her quality of work, which will prove the client's perception that "... maybe she's not that good".
Now, lets examine this illustration in detail. First, Jill does everything she could to provide the best services for her client. Second, the client is basically just perceiving all of these, where it may not be real in the first place. However, as a result of Jill, unknowingly not respecting her own time, she created a delusion for her client that she may not be too hot a consultant if she is always at the beck and call of the client. Another interesting factor involved in this is, when the client has the slightest thought that "... maybe she's not that good", the client has already activated his reticular activating system, where subconsciously he will be looking for evidences that "... maybe she's not that good". And as we all know, what the mind seeks, the mind finds. Now, the client will start having evidences that "... maybe she's not that good" and as a result of that be not willing to pay her higher fees for her services.
Please don't get me wrong here. I am certainly not advocating that you suddenly refuse to take the calls of people, stay aloof, and demands everyone to make an appointment with you just to see you. Should you do that, you'll see a slight in your popularity that will very soon make you redundant in your organisation or your industry. What I am saying is simply this. Respect your own time. If you say you are going to devote 30-70 to work-play, for heaven's sake, adhere to this and do not let others talk you out of it. There will be people who will sway you from your firm adherence to your work-play division, and that is because its not the social norm that is practiced by everyone. These people probably tried doing it themselves but met with limited success or just didn't have the courage to see it through. What I'm saying is, your firm adherence may make them uncomfortable.
Now, once you firmly adhere to your 30-70 division, you not only demonstrated to others, but more importantly; demonstrated to yourself that you are serious about this commitment and not just paying lip service. When others observe this from the outside, what they generally see is a focused individual who works at what he desires. And how would you feel when you meet someone like that? You'll respect them! You'll not waste the time of Donald Trump, or Warren Buffett, or Steve Jobs. When you respect their time, you'll find that whatever time you spend with them was well worth it, and also you appreciate them taking time off their schedule to be with you. You'll feel honoured as well. You'll feel special. More importantly, you'll find that whatever they tell you to be of value of some sort because your reticular activating system is turned on and your subconscious mind is searching for evidence to back this up.
Of course, if you are Jill, you'll need to be of certain substance. But what can you do if you are in Jill's shoes? If you totally respect your own time, you might get a voice mail instead, so that you can screen the calls and return the ones that are important or urgent. You might check your emails but choose to respond to those that are of priority to you. You may wish to allocate your time and activity in such a way that you can allow yourself to play? You don't want to work yourself to death! See, as a consultant, when you stop working, your income stops as well! What's more, you can invest in an inexpensive call answering service that will screen the calls for you. More importantly, you will be able to demonstrate to clients that when you are with another client, the time is for that client you're physically with. You want to be fair to this client who is currently with you and will give them the same priority if you are with them as well.
So, bottom line of this blog is to REspect and INvest your TIME.
Now for the challenge of the day:
1) Itemise what you do each day for at least a week.
2) Look at the time-stealers (things that are unproductive) and look at how much more you can achieve if you were to fill these (maybe not all, as you're not a dull child) with optimal-time activities?
3) Visualise yourself doing this to see if you are comfortable with this new work-play division.
4) Once you are done visualising, be sure to adhere to it firmly, respect your own time by investing it by engaging in more meaningful activities.
Love and respect,
Melvyn Tan
PS: Just a side note. There was once a friend of mine referred a website designer to me because I was looking for one. I spent at least 2 hours explaining to him about what I do and what I'll like to do for my company's website. To be fair, he did gave some good suggestions and proposed to get back to me with a proposal and quotation. He asked for one week. Its been more than a month now. I hope he's not met with some mishap that impede his speech or ability to send emails. God bless him.
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