the ignore list

You should all read this Harvard Business Review blog post by Peter Bergman. He discusses two lists; a focus list and an ignore list. I'm sure we all think about goals, so I'm going to focus on the not so common ignore list. We are flooded with information on a consistent basis. It's overwhelming. We have too much to do. Everything seems like a priority. How are you going to get it all done? In today's information world, prioritize has a new meaning. It's not only what needs to get done and in what order. It's what can't we get to and what can we choose to ignore? As Bergman says, we need to ask ourselves: what am I willing to overlook? What doesn't make sense to me? What's not important to our achievements? What's going to get in the way of my success?

So tomorrow when you see an e-mail alert ask yourself, "Is this something I need to read immediately?" When you get an invite question, "Is this a meeting I need to attend?" Make sure you know what you plan on ignoring in advance. Achieve your goals not only by prioritizing, but by realizing what's not important to your company's, your department's and your own success.

saying no

Earlier this month I had a post on getting to yes.  I talked about negotiating to find common ground.  Sometimes getting to yes first takes learning how to say no. Last week our email delivery team was dealing with an inventory problem.  We sent three emails to our customer base and anything further would be perceived as spam by our clients.  Of course a request came in late in the week for an email blast.  The marketing team filmed an on location video of our customers getting the most of our services, and worked with public relations to have the video air on a local news program.  The station posted the video on their site and marketing wanted to promote the piece via an email campaign.  Well, the answer was no, but we can't just say, "No, we don't have the inventory."   So, how can we communicate no in order to get to yes?

First, I think some praise is in order.  "Congratulations!  You did an amazing job on the video.  That is great for our company!  I understand why you want to launch the campaign this week and we can certainly use the publicity, but I'm afraid the open rate on the email is going to be really low.  We've already sent three emails this week, and another one from the company is going to come across as spam."  That's how you say, "No."

Let's work on getting to yes.  "So, instead of having a blast from the company this week why don't I do this for you?  We'll create a template for the account executives in the market.  If the email comes from the account executive it is more personal and more likely to be opened.  If that doesn't work for you, we can send it first thing next week ahead of some of the other emails that need to go out.  Or, if you really insist we'll send it tomorrow, but I want to reinforce that it will most likely not have the desired effect.  So, what do you say?"

Saying no in the right way can help you to more easily get to yes.  First, offer well deserved praise or understanding.  Next, explain why you are saying no.  Finally, offer some options.  Sometimes your customers aren't from outside the company.  They're you're colleagues.  When you are a service provider you have to treat your internal customers as well as you would treat your clients.

ideas

Heading into Thanksgiving weekend I thought I'd take a break from the blog and link to today's excellent post on Seth Godin's blog. Where do ideas come from?

1. Ideas don't come from watching television
2. Ideas sometimes come from listening to a lecture
3. Ideas often come while reading a book
4. Good ideas come from bad ideas, but only if there are enough of them
5. Ideas hate conference rooms, particularly conference rooms where there is a history of criticism, personal attacks or boredom
6. ...

Read the rest over at Seth's blog.

getting to yes

Last post I tried to form a habit. Well, it's weeks later and all I can say is life got in the way.  It's time to give it another shot. Years ago I sold ERP Software to mid-sized companies. The software company gave me a book to read, and then I had to read it again a couple of years later in business school.  It's called Getting to Yes. There is no business skill more important than bringing people to mutual agreement.

The line of business I work in caters to thousands of small customers.  For years we were the only company who provided our type of advertising platform.  This allowed the company to have strict credit and discounting policies.  If it didn't comply with the policy we said no.  It was black and white - non-negotiable.  Over the years, the company garnered a reputation for being difficult to work with and arrogant.  Of course we also started to face competitors and our sales growth slowed.

I spoke earlier about simplifying and our goals of increasing sales, average order size and retention rate.  We can't continue to be black and white in our policies if want to achieve these goals.  I was chatting with our EVP and she told me, "I want us to find a way to say yes."  That reminded me of the book I mentioned from business school.  We may think the discount the sales rep wants to offer is too high, or disagree with the customer's disputed payment, but we can't simply say, "No."  We have to find common ground.  We need to find a way to bring both parties to an agreement.  We need to get to yes.

self assessment

I have two sons.  They are both bright kids, but they learn very differently.  My older son was given a self assessment called "Knowing How I Learn".  It turns out his strongest learning preference is kinesthetic.  He's the type who looks for challenges and exciting projects.  He's a doer.  I think my younger son is more of a visual learner.  He likes to see someone else do what he needs to learn.  He's an observer. Self assessments are very valuable.  I wrote earlier this year about Strengths Finder 2.0.  It was a very helpful in finding out my strengths in the workplace.  I was recently pointed to an online personality test called the Jung Typology Test.  I highly encourage you to take the test.  It's only 72 questions and will help identify your personality.  After you take the test the site will tell you your personality type, and also provides links to a couple of different descriptions of your personality type.  There's also a link to the Jung Career Indicator based on your type.  For a shorter personality description you can look here after taking the assessment.

It turns out I am an ENFP - Extraverted iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving.  A short description: enthusiastic, idealistic, and creative. Able to do almost anything that interests them. Great people skills. Need to live life in accordance with their inner values. Excited by new ideas, but bored with details. Open-minded and flexible, with a broad range of interests and abilities. I certainly like to think that's an accurate description.  I read somewhere that Mark Twain was an ENFP, and that's good enough for me.

Why don't you find out something about yourself and give it a try?!

don't be a cog

Today my ten year old son was on a learning website called Study Island. He's a smart kid who's heading into fifth grade and had straight A's in fourth. On Study Island, which is only accessible through schools, he has the high score in the state for one game and several other top 5 scores in other games. Today as he was showing off to me he gave me a disturbing answer to one of my questions. I asked him, "Why don't you start trying out the fifth grade games?" His answer, "Because my teacher told us not to." Wow! Is that what what the public schools are teaching our kids? Don't take initiative. Don't try something that might be difficult. Fear failure. Obey orders. The way I see it our schools are ancient institutions. They were designed to turn people into cogs. If you do what you're told you'll get a good, steady job. The problem is the good, steady jobs are not the same as they were 30, 40 years ago. We don't churn out machinery, parts and other factory items anymore. To succeed today you need to be able to stand out - not blend in. As a manager I will never tell you what not to do. The best people I've worked with always want more. They look for the next challenge and rise above it. If they fail it doesn't stop them. It only makes them want more. Don't be a cog in the system. Be a Linchpin. Stand out!

just do it

I spend a lot of time in meetings, or I should say I waste a lot of time in meetings.  Most meetings start 5 minutes late.  Then it takes 10 minutes to setup the video conferencing.  Once the meeting begins there's no agenda.  Often we have meetings to plan other meetings.  We hypothesize.  We dream up of new processes.  We talk about what we should be doing.  Sometimes we even talk about why something is impossible when we haven't even tried it yet.  Enough is enough.  Let's stop talking about what we want to do and let's just do it! Meetings can only be productive when everyone is focused.  That's the responsibility of the organizer.  The problem is most people either don't have the time to prepare for the meeting or simply don't know how to run a meeting.  The organizer must begin by stating the goals.  She must keep the conversation on topic and keep the talk moving forward.  At the same time she must recognize productive conversation and allow these to continue.  If people are no longer needed in the meeting she should let them go.  If they were never needed they shouldn't be invited in the first place.  Believe me, people don't want to be invited to meetings if they're not needed.  Make an effort not to waste productive time.  Be sure to keep meetings short, focused and productive.

complacency

Complacency is dangerous.  The world has never changed as quickly and as dramatically as it is now.  You can't afford to sit still and watch it go by.  You'll be left behind.  If the competition doesn't pass you by, the trends will.  People and companies need to change. We need to ask ourselves, how?  How can I continue to improve my strengths?  How can I make an impact?  How can I get my ideas noticed?

We need to ask ourselves, why?  Why is this process in place?  Why do we use this design?  Why are we watching the competition?  Why are we following this trend?  Why aren't we focused?

Seth Godin suggests we think in terms of 'if only'.  I could be more effective if only...  We could streamline our process if only...  Our customers would get more from us if only....

There's no time for the status quo.  We have to see the waves as they form and pick the right one to ride.  We have to see our destination and then build a new road on the map.