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.

difference maker: two

I've spent a couple of posts now on getting to yes.  I'd like to introduce you to William Ury, the author of the book.  Bill is a master negotiator.  In this TED speech he describes how he feels his ideas can help achieve the lofty goal of creating more peace in the world.  Bill talks about the third side.  When there is conflict there is always a third side that can play a constructive role in resolving disputes.  If you don't have 20 minutes to spare please listen to the first seven, especially how Bill responds to criticism with what I would call a positive no in minute six.

http://www.ted.com William Ury, author of "Getting to Yes," offers an elegant, simple (but not easy) way to create agreement in even the most difficult situations -- from family conflict to, perhaps, the Middle East. TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes.

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.

habits

Research says it takes 66 days to form a habit.  I don't know if everyone feels this way, but I think habits  have a bad stigma about them. Instinctively, I think of biting nails or smoking... you know, the bad habits.  But really most habits aren't bad.  Good habits can have a major impact on how you go about your work.  When was the last time you intentionally set out to form a habit? I have a goal of two blog posts per week.  If you look at my history, I rarely hit that goal.  How can I turn blog posting into a habit?  I've made exercise a habit.  I wake up early each morning and workout within 30 minutes of getting up. I can try writing at the same time every night - after the kids go to sleep.  The problem with late night blog posts is I'm bound to be too tired to think (like this rambling post to nowhere - ha!).  What could be more effective?  I can write every day on the train ride into work.  Better yet I can do that and associate it with something enjoyable - like a hot cup of coffee.  I'm setting out to form the habit.  Hopefully when you check back toward the end of December you'll find a two post a week minimum is the norm.

How can you use habits for personal growth?  How can you use habits to strengthen your teams?

simplify

I work in a very complex division of my company.  There are multiple advertising products to sell and several sales messages to pitch.  There are times when our sales reps lose focus and they're not sure what to sell and how to sell it.  Communication problems are prevalent.  Goals aren't clearly defined.  Budgets are too high.  The compensation plan recently changed.  Complexity creates a environment of fear.  Fear breeds upon itself.  It starts with, "I'm not good enough."  Soon enough it becomes, "My boss doesn't think I'm good enough."  Then, "I'm going to lose my job and that will hurt me."  Paralysis sets in and nothing is accomplished. What can we do?  Simplify!  My business line has a new EVP.  She has defined three goals.  1) Increase new sales; 2) Increase the average order size; 3) Increase our retention rate.  All projects and sales goals are evaluated on these three clearly defined, simple goals.  It's so much easier when you simplify.  You know where to direct your efforts.  You choose the products to sell that drive toward these goals.  You know what to do.  You are confident.  The budget is no longer too high and the compensation plan makes sense.  You can do this!

The KISS principle applied.  Keep It Simple and Straightforward.  There's no need to over complicate.  Set simple goals and create projects and products to achieve them.  It sets a winning attitude throughout the organization.

small wins

Have you ever stared at a project list and felt nothing but overwhelmed? It's like walking up the stairs to my attic. I get to the top, see the mess, quickly shake my head in dismay, turnaround and walk back down the steps. The scope of work is too overwhelming. The end goal is out of reach. I'll never be able to get this finished. Dan and Chip Heath talk about shrinking the change in their book Switch. Sometimes you only need to get started. Take 15 minutes here and 15 minutes there and eventually you have a series of small wins. In technology, projects are broken into epic stories; epic stories into user stories; and user stories into tasks. It's easy to look at a task, get started on it and finish it. Before you know it you've knocked out a user story, and all of a sudden these small wins start to snowball. The project doesn't seem as daunting.

This same method can be applied to any goal or change. If you have a sales goal that seems impossible, break it down and shrink the goal. I want to make 50 calls over the next two days and close 10% of them. Over the next two weeks I want to write a chapter of my book. Shrink your objective and earn some small wins.

Who wants to spend ten minutes with me cleaning the stairs of my attic tonight?

difference maker: one

I would like to introduce you to Dr. Pawan Sinha. He is an incredible man who is committed to doing and rethinking. This man has climbed Mount Everest - literally and figuratively. Pawan identified a problem. We can all identify problems. Most of us like to point them out to others, and even complain about them to our confidants. But let me ask you, how many of us actually do something about it? It's easy to complain about problems, but it's difficult to do something about them. Dr. Pawan Sinha identified a problem AND he's doing something about it. 30% of the world's blind population reside in India. Many children in India are born with congenital eye problems. Over 50% of these cases are treatable, but much of the population has little access to modern medical care. In response, Pawan created Project Prakash - a humanitarian effort to bring medical care to the treatable blind population in India. Importantly, not only did Pawan decide to do something about the problem he identified, but he challenged the status quo and found holes in Nobel Prize winning science.

Neuroscientists, David Hubel and Torsten Weisel were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1981 for their research into processing in the visual system. Hubel and Weisel contended that the brains of patients who received treatment for blindness past age four or five are not able to process the information being transmitted from the eye to the brain. Pawan poked holes in their science and testing, and added a scientific mission to the humanitarian effort of Project Prakash. Pawan is proving the Nobel Prize winners wrong. Project Prakash is not only providing much needed care to the children of India, but Pawan is breaking ground with research into how the brain's visual system develops.

Pawan Sinha's speech at the TEDIndia conference is nearly 20 minutes long. It's incredibly moving and well worth your time. We all have the capability to make change in our worlds. We may not have the same impact Pawan has made, but there is no reason why we can't change the things around us for the better. Make a difference. Challenge today's notions. Have an impact.

Pawan Sinha is changing the world. What's Stopping You?

http://www.ted.com Pawan Sinha details his groundbreaking research into how the brain's visual system develops. Sinha and his team provide free vision-restoring treatment to children born blind, and then study how their brains learn to interpret visual data. The work offers insights into neuroscience, engineering and even autism.

difficult things

Almost all things worth doing are difficult. You've probably heard a variation of that before. A friend asked me if I was concerned about repercussions from my blog. He had a blog at one time and his former company came down hard on him and forced him to shut it down. My first reaction was defensive. What am I doing wrong with my blog? Have I said anything damning? As I thought about it, though, I realized that this blog is my brand. This is who I am; this is my philosophy; this is how I work. After a decade at my company I better have challenged the status quo and put myself out on the line often enough to have an impact. If what I say in this blog doesn't create a stir and inspire debate among my colleagues then this blog isn't worth its space or my time. This is worth doing. Each time I publish I want it to be difficult. I don't ever want to settle or compromise for fear of the consequences. I hope I can make you think and consider alternatives to your routine. I hope I can contribute to inspiring change in the way you go about your day. I hope I can open your mind, so you can make positive changes in your organization. This blog is real. It's about how I try to make an impact in my world. This is my brand. I have nothing to hide.

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.

perception

Perception. We tend to see the negative. We ask ourselves, "What's wrong with this picture?" It's human nature. The lizard brain is taking over. Our instinct puts us on the defensive. It prevents us from seeing the bright side, but the bright side is often where the solution resides. When we concentrate on what's wrong, we over analyze and come up with fixes that will take a long time or likely never be implemented. We should know what is broken for long term fixing, but when we know what we do well we have something to build upon. What's the perception at my company? Why do we call the people we do business with advertisers and not customers or partners? Why are we focused on decreasing our cancellation rate instead of increasing our retention rate? Perception is the way we look at things. When we focus on cancellation rates we focus on the negative, but if we focus on retention rates we'll look at what we're doing well. When we know what we're doing right we can spread that focus throughout the company and influence our employees and customers. Then we can make a difference and begin to effect change.

appealing to the rational and emotional

People have rational and emotional sides.  The rational side attempts to reign in the emotional side.  Some people have strong control mechanisms and others do not.  I’m reading Switch, by Chip and Dan Heath.  They refer to the rational side as the ‘rider’ and the emotional as the ‘elephant’.  It’s hard work for a rider to control an elephant, and when the elephant wants to take over the rider often doesn’t have a chance.  When presenting an idea you have to tap the audience’s elephant.  It's the only way to break through and create an urgent need. I have a dominant rational trait, and I tend to base my presentations on analytics, research and cold-hard facts.  I have been the champion of pursuing a CRM system for my company for nearly four years.  I've faced nothing but resistance.  I have presented the system from a cost benefit perspective; presenting a logical ROI.  I’ve tried to base my case on facts, but only now I realizing that I haven’t played to my audience's emotional side.  I’ve built my case rationally, but need to get the elephants involved.  I'm working on how to do this.  Right now my best idea is to produce a video presenting a dramatic example of how our customers perceive our company with the current systems we have in place.  My thought is the misery the customers and our employees face will hit home with my audience.  Their emotional side will take control of the decision and we’ll be able to move forward with the project.