Have you heard about creating fans instead of customers?
I’ve heard that all you need is 1000 true fans and you’re financially set for life.
Here is an excellent slideshare presentation that talks about the new fan economy.
Wow, the things you learn when you know people (or the right people). This guy, Bud Caddell, gets paid to sit around and think all day. He reads about 300 blogs a day. (So I guess he does more than thinking.)
Maybe I’ll give him one more to read.
flickr photo by wvs
Companies set up systems in order to produce their products, then they put their heads down and produce. 
“We don’t have time for that new fangled mumbo jumbo, we’re busy doing real work here.”
I wonder when the first company decided that telephones were a good idea to give their workers?
And give a computer to every employee? That’s crazy talk!
I do remember when everyone in our company was given full access to the internet. That was quite the controversy. “They’ll just be surfin’ the web all day.” Maybe, but it seems like each new advance in tools or technology requires a lot of trust. Mostly because the most powerful tools can be used for good or bad, productivity or wastefulness, innovation or drivel.
Well, here we are in another phase of new tools – Web 2.0. It seems like companies should be able to learn from the past. And I think they are, but there is still resistance, and progress is slow. Again, trust is a factor, plus a lack of understanding of the impact or potential that the new tools can provide.
Here is a great article from a reputable source (McKinsey) on how companies can make the new Web 2.0 tools work for them.
The info is out there. Companies really have no excuse for not understanding and benefitting from new things.
Everyone should have the experience of building an igloo.
That’s what I did this weekend. And let me tell you, it’s not easy.
But I learned many lessons that I think could be applied in other situations.
1. To get the great feeling of significant accomplishment, you have to do something really difficult.
Spending 5 hours packing snow, shoveling snow and lifting heavy blocks is not a small task. And it helps your motivation if you have nowhere else to sleep that night. Commit to something big, and you’ll feel great when it’s over.
2. Follow instructions.
If someone has experience, or knows more than you, and has provided you instructions, it would be wise for you to follow them. We had specific instructions for building an igloo, including layout size, block sizes, and techniques. There were others who tried to build igloos just based on what they thought was a good idea, but in the end, they didn’t turn out so well.
3. Have faith in those with experience.
This is similar to # 2 but there were times when the instructions just didn’t seem to make sense. Only later in the process did we understand the wisdom of the specific instructions. There were also times when we didn’t think the blocks were very stable and that the whole thing could come crashing down in an instant. But we had faith, followed the instructions, and the structure turned out very sturdy.
4. Persist.
When you’re really tired, and nothing seems to be going right, and you want to quit… don’t. Don’t give up. The thrill of success will be so much sweeter when you’ve gone to the edge of defeat. When one of our key large blocks broke, we thought we were done and had no way to finish, but we kept working it and figured out a way to make it work. Only pure persistence got us through, because logically, we didn’t seem to have any options.
These probably sound like old fashioned lessons, but that’s why they’re so valuable, they have stood the test of time and apply to almost any situation.
It took building an igloo for me to understand them at a deeper level.
What do you need for economic stimulus?
First you need business ideas that will generate income and make money for the owners and employees.
Done.
Seth Godin and some friends provided 999 ideas. That should be enough to get started.
Next, you need some seed money to make them happen.
Done.
Billionaire Mark Cuban has plenty of money for funding new businesses and he wants to give it away, but he has laid out specific rules and stipulations for the type of business he is looking for. That’s okay because it’s his money and beggars can’t be choosers.
What else is needed?
Oh yeah… hard work.
That’s the missing link.
So it looks like we have unlimited money and ideas available, we just need the tough sweat equity work to make things happen. Then we don’t need an economic stimulus package, we need a hard work stimulus package.
Let’s go do it.
Here’s a link that a friend of mine sent to me today.
It talks about the art of generating buzz, or word of mouth marketing which is so powerful.
Do you know how to do it?
Here’s a concept for you. Before you launch that revolutionary innovative idea, or tackle that BHAG (Big Harry Audacious Goal), it might be wise to start small.
Maybe you should practice that skill at a lower level until it is mastered before you move on to the next step.
Maybe there’s something you just can’t understand at that higher level without knowing what it takes to exist at the lower level.
Maybe you’ll give up altogether if it is too difficult to reach that final state.
Sometimes when we learn about how awesome running is and how it can get you places so much faster, we want to just do that first, and don’t have time for that crawling and walking stuff. But sometimes it’s just not possible to really run correctly without taking the time to master the crawling and walking stages.
Are there things you could be better at if you went back to crawling or walking?
Are there things you’ve been putting off because you haven’t felt ready to run yet? What could be a crawling stage to get you started?
Fear of failure is overrated.
You’re likely not going to get fired over trying something new and radical. So it’s not really failure that people are afraid of, it’s blame, criticism.
This is another great topic that Seth Godin elaborates on in his book Tribes.
He says that we’re afraid to launch that new idea or product or presentation because we’re worried, deep down, that someone will hate it and call us on it. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!” “What a waste of money.” “Who’s responsible for this?”
Sometimes the criticism doesn’t have to be that obvious. The fear of hearing “I’m surprised you launched this without doing more research” is enough to get many people to do a lot more research, to study something to death, and then kill it. Hey, at least you didn’t get criticized.
Seth admits, getting a bad book review hurts his feelings, and it is about enough to ruin his day. But it’s not enough. It’s not enough to ruin his day because his book got noticed. He realizes that a bad review is a badge of honor because it means that he confounded expectations – he did something worth remarking on.
So the challenge, as you contemplate your next opportunity to be boring or remarkable, is to answer these two questions:
1. If I get criticized for this, will I suffer any measurable impact other than feeling bad about the criticism? If so, how does that feeling compare with the benefits from actually doing something worth doing? Being remarkable is exciting, fun, profitable, and great for your career. Feeling bad wears off. If you’ve decided to take the remarkable path, answer this one:
2. How can I create something that critics will criticize?
If you haven’t heard about it, you should, which is why I’m just another voice spreading ‘ideas worth spreading’.
I don’t know the history or too much of the background, but TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and it is basically a conference of amazing presentations regarding a wide variety of topics, some from famous people, some from everyday people who have a unique story to tell. The presentations are video recorded and shown on their website for free.
There are two major events, the one in the US just ocurred in Long Beach CA with some interesting stuff from Bill Gates, and the TED Global conference in London in July.
I’m sure they’d be an incredible event to attend, but with all the video, you’re almost there.
You now have a lot of video to watch. (Don’t worry, many presentations are short. Just start with a quick one.)
So how do you do it?
The philosophy outlined in the previous post always sounds good in theory, but how do you actually do it? How do you get someone to care about what you feel is important?
Here are 3 tips.
1. Find out what is important to the other person.
When people feel understood and listened to, they are given a fresh breath of ‘psychological’ air. They get the feeling that you are on their side, that you can relate to where they’re coming from, that you care. But here’s the key point: you do have to really care. You can’t just manipulate them with saying the right words, they’ll smell it, they’ll find out, it won’t work. You have to show that you truly care about what is important to that other person.
2. Support others in acheiving their goals.
Do whatever you can to help people accomplish what they trying to do. Go out of your way to do something that will be appreciated. Add value to their efforts. Spread the word about their efforts. Give an encouraging word and sincere appreciation. Again, it must be a sincere effort, something you do willingly because you want them to succeed, not because you expect something in return.
3. Share what you care about.
Talk about what is important to you, in an honest and sincere way. Don’t tell people why they should change, share how it has affected you personally. Be truthful and honest. Make sure your words and actions are congruent and that your integrity is clearly apparent.
Then let people choose.
When people fundamentally share the same deep down beliefs and goals, they are willing to work together to accomplish great things. When you follow these tips, you are connecting with people at a deeper level that allows real synergy for working together. If people choose not to connect with you, or accept your help, or share the same fundamental beliefs, then maybe you don’t need them to. You can’t force others to care about what you feel is important. So don’t even try it, you’ll damage the relationship, making it even more impossible to have any influence in the future.
I’ve learned these concepts from various sources and experience, which I’m sure you can also relate to and validate, but these specific tips were articulated perfectly by Dick Axelrod in his ebook, so I just had to share them.
There are two ways to get someone to do what you want.
One way is easy and gets results. The other way is difficult and results are not consistent.
One way makes things happen in the short term, but damages long term possibilities. The other way creates a solid relationship with potential for even greater accomplishments in the future.
One way derives power from compulsion. The other way derives power from true caring and respect.
Which type of leader would you rather work for?
Which way would you rather be known for?
I’m sure there are a lot of creative type web sites out there, but someone pointed me to this one. And to me, anybody that does a podcast with Seth Godin must be pretty cool.
If you scroll down to the bottom of their site, the whiteboard session is really good too.
It’s called the Accidental Creative.
This might seem like a simple topic, but it has tremendous potential depending on the system you are applying it to.
Focus means to put all your energy into doing one thing. When you do that, you become more productive and produce better quality work. Think about all the things you’re thinking about and working on. You probably pride yourself in being able to cover so many bases. And yes, we are pretty complex creatures with amazing brains and capabilities to do lots of stuff.
But the problem is that when we are trying to get a lot of things done at the same time, and we are switching back and forth between different projects, we lose our effectiveness on each task. Plus, we may have made progress on many things, but we haven’t finished any of them.
On the other hand, if we focus on one task, and work on it until it is done, then we’ve actually finished one task, and we can move on to the next one. With this method of linear, sequential completions, you are actually able to complete more projects in less amount of time than the multi-tasking method. Of course it depends on the complexity of the project or tasks, but as a general rule, this is true. And it especially holds true for corporations who have their knowledge workers running every which way trying to show progress on multiple projects for multiple bosses.
When an athlete is “in the zone” they are focused on one thing, and they perform it flawlessly. When they get distracted, they lose concentration and don’t perform well. The quality of our work will be much better also if we can focus our attention on the task at hand.
One of the reasons it is difficult to focus is because we have a hard time saying “no” to things that show up as needing to be done. Many times there is a false sense of urgency, so we want to alleviate that discomfort by at least starting to work on that thing. But in reality, if we are disciplined, and make wise judgements regarding the true priority of items, then we may be able to finish that item even quicker by having it wait its turn, but more importantly we will be accomplishing the things that are the highest priority or have the most value in our lives.
This doesn’t mean that our priorities can’t change in an instant. While I was writing this post, my son woke up crying because he wet his bed. I determined that taking care of his needs was more important than finishing this post, so I switched tasks, took care of him, and then switched back. When emergent issues arise, we need to be cognizant of the true priority and make wise decisions.
The point is that when we focus, by being more judicial in deciding what to work on, we can actually get more things done – the things that are most important to us – and accomplish them with a higher quality output.
It just takes practice.
“Focus power, Danielson!”
Are you a naysayer?
Are you “one who denies, refuses, opposes, or is skeptical or cynical about something?”
I suppose there are times to be skeptical or cynical, but when someone presents an idea that they are passionate about and that they’ve put a lot of work into, does it really help to be skeptical in front of the whole group? You may want more substantiating data. You may want a more logical argument for their point. Or you may want to see proof that their concept will work. But being skeptical just means that you don’t believe it, which means that you don’t have proof to substantiate your position either.
Naysayers usually don’t have any better ideas, they just want to tear down anything new or different. They are defenders of the status quo.
So the best way to minimize the effects of the naysayers is to call them on it. Ask them why they are against progress or innovation or new ideas? No one wants to be seen as a fuddy-duddy, unimaginative or old-fashioned.
Then, if they are not key decision makers, ignore them, go around them. Make your ideas happen in spite of skeptisism.
It can be lonely out on the cutting edge, but that’s why it’s cutting, no one wants to be out there. It is difficult to break the status quo.
So don’t be a naysayer. You’re holding up progress for everyone, and reducing the number of people who might have had the next big idea, if it weren’t for you.
I thought I’d try a new tactic and keep you in suspense for a day (of course, it only works for my one daily reader. There’s more? Please reveal yourself.)
Or it could be that I just ran out of time last night and didn’t want to finish the post.
Anyway, here’s the rest of the story.
The Meeting Canoe is about how to design a meeting, and it gets it’s name from the shape associated with the design concept, which looks like the top view of a canoe, when you’re looking down it – thin on one end, getting fatter in the middle, then getting thin again at the end.
1. Welcome
The first thing you want to do in a meeting is welcome people. Let them know that they are in a different space. One of the most important aspects in architecture is how one enters the building – the entryway. The same is true for a meeting, make it pleasant and welcoming. Let people know you are glad they are there and make it a place they want to stay.
2. Connect to each other and the task
Remind people what they have in common and why they are there. When people are connected to the group, they are more likely to participate and be engaged in the conversation.
3. Discover the way things are
Share information, have a discussion about the current state of whatever topic you are meeting about. Allow all perspectives to be presented.
4. Elicit people’s dreams
Get people into the future. What would the situation look like if everything happened the way they’d like it to? Get creative and invoke the arts, use skits, freewriting, stream of consciousness, headlines, or any method to get people thinking outside the norm.
5. Decide who does what
This is where you create action plans, give assignments, and have a clear understanding of the next steps.
6. Attend to the end
Review agreements. Understand the path forward. End with a feeling of excitement, motivation, and possibility. Appreciate everyone’s time and contribution.
Those are the 6 steps to the meeting canoe. The canoe shape is derived from the size and depth of the conversation. At the beginning, it is somewhat small talk with little emotion or feeling. As the meeting progresses, discussion gets deeper, more involved, more passionate and detailed. Then, in closing, we begin to converge on specifics, wrap up the loose ends, and feel complete or finished. It’s a gradual curve, thus the canoe shape – a great memorable image for designing any meeting.
One of my favorite consultants I had the opportunity of working very closely with is Dick Axelrod. He was basically the father of the Engagement movement with his books, Terms of Engagement and You Don’t Have to Do It Alone. He taught me a lot about consulting, putting on workshops, and working with groups. His books contain simple, yet powerful concepts, with his latest free e-book as a perfect example, a short read with timeless lessons. In fact, his whole Everyday Engagement effort was developed when working with our team, so I’ll take a little credit here (but no where else.)
One of my favorite concepts I learned from Dick was the meeting canoe. He really keyed in on meetings and said to me, “If you want to find out about the culture of a company, just attend one of their meetings.” How people interact with each other is truly surfaced in meetings, so his take was that if you wanted to change the culture of a company or organization, just start by changing their meetings. Meetings are what people seem to hate the most, therefore, they are the greatest source and have the greatest potential for changing the organization’s culture.
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