Blog Moved - jaredlarson.com

I have moved my blog to jaredlarson.com.

I am self-hosting it now.

It took all weekend to get the site up and running.  Don't believe people when they say it is easy.

J

What Is Your Waffle House Index?

Recently the Wall Street Journal had a great story by Valerie Bauerlein called How to Measure a Storm's Fury One Breakfast at a Time.  


The story explains that one of the index's that FEMA uses to track recovery from a disaster is how quickly Waffle House restaurants come back online.

"If you get there and the Waffle House is closed?" FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate has said. "That's really bad. That's where you go to work."

I was fascinated to read how the chain prepositions supplies outside of storm areas, works with a limited menu in areas without power, and generally works hard to provide a place of refuge from any disaster.

This made me start to think about what my "Waffle House Index" is during presentations, or when I communicate.

During presentations I have the "Blackberry Index".  Take the number of people in the room and if Blackberry usage is great than 20% of your participants, you have a problem.  You solve this problem in a couple of different ways.

1. Know your material so well that you can actually pay attention to how people are responding to it.
2. When the Blackberry Index hits 20% drop in a statistic or a story.  These tend to grab the crowd and bring them back.
3. Speed up a bit.  People listen at a rate that is twice as fast as you can talk, and think 10 times faster than that.  Speeding up a bit catches peoples attention and helps them pay attention.
4. Vary the pitch and tone of your voice more.  If you drop down and start to speak softly the Blackberry folks will notice this and look up to see what is happening.
5. Add some complexity.  When we start with a simple message, sometimes an audience will dismiss it.  By adding another layer of complexity you can lever up the attention it takes to understand the information.  It will also bring questions to the audiences mind that will then allow you to start with simple answers and then add depth.

Clip the Waffle House story and add it to your Evernote account.  Tag it as a story, company history, and with WSJ as it's source.  What is really interesting is that in the South, Waffle House and Chick-fil-a a stories that win with audiences.  Use them.

Who Would You Hire?

This young man is a star soccer goalie at my son's High School.  He is over 6 feet tall with a tremendous wingspan.  During warmups he was like a wall in front of the goal, nothing got past him.  During the first few minutes of play he shut the other team down with his ability to direct his team's defense.

He allowed three goals during the game.

This is the goalie for the East Rowan Mustangs.  He is at least six inches shorter, has a moderate wingspan and did an OK job during warmups.  About 30 percent of the shots I saw got past him.  He was pretty quiet during the first period as the center sweeper and the center fullbacks seemed to have a good handle on the defense.

He allowed six goals during the 78 minutes of the game.

During the last two minutes something happened that left me deeply impressed with the East Rowan player.

Making The Message Simple

I was humbled today.

I enjoy taking pictures of the various sports teams at my sons high school.  I have a Canon 40d and a "big" lens so I am allowed on the sidelines of all the games.

I have been thinking about getting a newer Canon camera that is better for photographing sports.   It is called the Canon Mark IV and it shoots 10 frames per second.  It is amazing.  It is so much better then my little 40d which "only" shoots 6.5 frames a second.

Before I left my house to shoot a soccer game I sat down to "glance" through my owner's manual. I wanted to understand a bit more about the auto focus points inside my camera's viewer.  Well, much to my chagrin, I happened upon the section that dealt with the setting for the number of pictures the camera will take continuously. I was horrified to read that for four plus years I had the camera on the 3 frames per second setting not the 6.5 frames per second.

So tonight I took my humbled self down to the stadium and was amazed at how my "new' camera performed.  I just saved myself several thousand dollars, by reading a simple instruction manual.

This experience made me think about my "Nothing New" sales retreat.  How many times have we put ourselves on auto pilot and done something the same way without even thinking about other data or potential steps in our process?

When you communicate with people, respect them by breaking your message down to its most simple state.  Then add complexity as you see understanding.

Are You Courageous?

I had a very thought provoking conversation with a peer today, who is also a manager.

During the course of the meeting we were talking about how to help our direct reports be more creative and show more initiative.  You see the old model of telling directs everything they need to do is out.  Most individuals say that they want to work where they are able to be assigned a project with clear goals and then figure out how to accomplish it.

We talked about how this tends to break down when the project isn't sexy, or when roadblocks appear, or when there is the perception that the individual on the project is working harder than anyone else on the team.

We figured that it took real courage to stand up and grab a project and see it though no matter what.  We also felt that it took confidence to understand what an individuals talents were and then courage to continue to work in those area's of strength.

We talked for a bit more about what holds people back from the ideals of the above and decided that communication had a role.  Communication to help the direct understand all the areas where help was needed and the resources that would be available to the individual that stood up to handle the project.

The rest is up to them.  Do they want to be told what to do or do they want to choose what they want to do?

What do you think?  What does it take to step up and stay up until a project is over?

Team Meetings - Learn From My Failure

Almost a year ago, I had just finished reading Patrick Lencioni's Book Death By Meeting, when I got a request to do a presentation in front of a group of mid-level managers.  As luck would have it, they needed help with their team meetings.

I was really excited and walked through all the materials that were available from Patrick's group, on his website www.tablegroup.com.

If you dig a bit you will find his job aide for team meetings entitled, The Weekly Tactical Meeting Guide.  After walking through this I was convinced that this was EXACTLY what the group needed.  I was smart enough to call a couple of the managers and run a few ideas by them, but not bright enough to dig deep and find out how interested they would be to implement something totally new.  That should have been the first sign to "slow things down" and provide a small piece of this books ideas, then work on the invitation to come back and share some more during another gathering.  Of course, I missed this sign.

The day comes, I leap onto the stage, "begin with the end in mind" and tell a story with a nice hook, leading the audience to be interested in what they could learn from my presentation.  As I progressed I felt the crowd starting to slip away.

If you look at the job aide the first part of the meeting is a "Lightning Round" where the manager zips around the room and hears a 60 second update from everyone on the team.  I should have recognized that in teams of 12-15 that takes some significant time.  I thought through that, but felt that getting an update from everyone in 15 minutes would really help the manager get a feel for where the team was.

Months later I did this with another team with varying results.  You have to have a timer to get people used to speaking for 60 seconds.  You also have get the individuals on the team focused on giving a quality report and not just a verbal smile sheet.  When certain members of the team go overtime, with how amazing their week was, the eye-rolling from the rest of the team is amplified.

The second section on the worksheet was where the presentation fell apart.  Patrick suggests that the manager sets the agenda for the meeting here, after listening to the team in the Lightning Round.  You could have heard a pin drop as the group digested this and then turned on me.  They didn't throw things, but the questions started to come and you could tell that the group was VERY uncomfortable with this, to the point of not doing it.

To be fair this is something that I have NEVER seen modeled and requires the manager to be very sharp as they have to put the meeting together on the fly.  However, it is also a great opportunity for the team to bond together and take their experience as a whole to solve the challenges from the Lightning round.

This is where I compounded my mistake. I moved to the tactical and then strategic portions of the job aide thinking that this would save the presentation.  FAIL!

I should have recognized that ploughing ahead wasn't the right thing to do, and circled back to the Lightning round and spent more time on that, and how the managers could use that information to understand and then provided training, role-plays, and leadership opportunities in future meetings.

The Lesson Learned

Just because I thought the whole job aide was amazing didn't mean the audience did.  I should have tested my presentation out with 3-5 of the managers in the group, listened to their feedback, and then made some changes.

I also should have acted when I started feeling the audience slip, and moved back to the ground that they felt safe on - The Lightning Round.  After all, if the grouped adopted just this one idea, they would have been much better off throughout their year.

Please be smarter than I was with this opportunity.

Time Management - The Presentation Paradox

I recently attended a 90 minute men's group meeting whose purpose was to motivate and inspire.

The Meeting Agenda was as follows:

• Welcoming remarks and introduction - 12 minutes
• 1st Presentation - 12 minutes
• 2nd Presentation - 10 minutes
• 3rd Presentation - 10 minutes
• 4th Presentation - 10 minutes
• Short 5 minute break
• 5th Presentation - 12 minutes
• Final Presentation - 15 minutes
• Close

The meeting started four minutes late.  Here are the timings of each presentation.

• 1st - 14.5 minutes
• 2nd - 12 minutes
• 3rd - 11 minutes
• 4th - 19.5 minutes 
• 5th - 4 minutes
• Final - 15 minutes

What was scheduled for 69 minutes took 76 minutes.  No big deal right?

It was a big deal because it effected the audience, the "flow" of the program, and caused the fifth presenter to chop their remarks by 60%, in order to get the program near it's agenda.

Timing Rules for Presentations

1. Start right on time.  If you start late you push everyone back for the rest of the day.
2. If things start late, the first presentation has the job of ending early to get things back on time.  Otherwise, see rule one.  If the first presenter misses this it is up to the second presenter to get things back on track etc.
3. Understand that the "biggest" speakers are usually at the end of the program, or end of the day.  It was a MAJOR problem when the 4th presenter took TWICE their allotted time.  There is NO excuse for that.  The usual comment would be to ask why that person didn't get signaled to finish their remarks. That is a tough one as it is really hard to signal a non-professional speaker, and communicate that they need to finish, without totally throwing them off their game and disrupting the presentation.  Professional's would not have that problem as they end on time.
4. Don't run long.  In fact, make it a game to end on time.  I can remember Elizabeth Dole's speech at a National Political Convention.  She had a specific amount of time and if you watch the tape you can see her finish and subtly tap her watch.  Apparently, she finished on the exact second.  The audience will punish you for running long by pulling out the smartphone, iPad, Blackberry, or engaging a neighbor in a whispered conversation.

Timing seems like a little thing, after all what is five minutes either way?  Unfortunately it is never JUST five minutes.  Be a professional and know your presentation cold.  Plan on a 50%, 75% and 100% version.  Lift your head out of your notes and see how things are running on the agenda.  You will be a hero if you truncate your remarks to get the program back on time.

Pick Your Best Time to Make A Great Decision

The New York Times recently ran a great article by John Tierney entitled "Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue?"

The article basically states that EVERYONE needs mental energy in order to make good decisions. When we are tired, a portion of our brain starts looking for immediate rewards.  Those rewards can have disastrous long-term consequences on our diet, or budget, or our need to be paroled.

The article is packed with examples, which means you should print the article out and mark it up for later use in presentations. Here are a couple of gems.

• Judges deciding who got paroled provided it 70% of the time in the early morning.  Anyone who was scheduled for later in the day received parole only 10% of the time.
• Grocery Stores understand that by the time you hit the checkout lane your willpower will be low from making dozen's of "good" decisions about what to put in your cart.  Therefore, they provide a host of sugary sweets to give you the shot of glucose you need to make it home.
• A man decides to buy a custom suit.  He enters the store and faces a very important decision at the start of the experience.  He is taken to a table filled with thousands of mini-fabric samples to choose the fabric for his suit.  A few minutes later, after being worn out looking at fabrics that seem to be similar, the man starts taking the recommendations of the tailor just to get out of the shop.  The large number of selections at the start of the experience killed the man's willpower to consider details at the middle or end of the experience.

The article then provides the key's to making great decisions

1. The idea is to conserve willpower throughout your day.  
2. Don't put yourself in situations where you need to make important decisions after making many small decisions.
3. Don't make similar decisions each day.  If you are going to exercise, don't ask yourself each morning if you are going to exercise that day.  Just make the decision to exercise X times per work and lay out your workout gear before going to bed.
4. Don't make important decisions later in the evening or when your energy is low.

How I avoid decision fatigue

• If I am asked to present to a group or in a meeting, I want to go first, right after lunch, or at the end of the conference.  All the other spots are low energy and I know that the crowd/leaders won't have the energy to pay attention, or make a good decision.
• If I have to make a decision I do it between 7-11 AM.  11 to 5PM is bad as I am tired and burned out from hitting things hard earlier in the day.  If I am allowed to get up and move around from 11 to 5 I am refreshed and can work and make decisions from 6-10PM.
• When you have a problem come in and talk to me.  Present the problem, provide two solutions, and then indicate the one you would select and why.  80% of the time I will go along with you.
• Travel tips: Always take the first flight of the day as the plane is already on the ground and the crew is coming over from the hotel.  This means getting up at 4AM so arrange things so you don't have to make important decisions on heavy travel days.
• I try and put as many of my everyday decisions on autopilot as possible.  I have built a morning routine that I do not have to think about. Exercising, reading the papers, and the first hour of the work day are the same everyday.  When I travel I work to find a great place to eat right near my hotel.  I keep the location in Evernote and then when I return I stay at the same hotel and eat at the same place again.  No decision required.

I really enjoyed this article because it provided me with multiple mini-stories that I can use in presentations to make my points, and spur the audience to action.

Just Stand Up

This morning I read a great article in the Wall Street Journal entitled "The Truth About Being a Hero" by Karl Marlantes.

The article states that "we all want to be special, to stand out...but now it's special in the eyes of your peers and it comes out in the form of being better than or having power over someone else."

Karl goes on to talk about his experience in Vietnam and how he struggled to not fall into some of the traps that are set for those who have won medals.

The real meat in the story comes when he describes being in a firefight and realizing that he and his men would be wiped out if he didn't do something.  "I did a lot of things that day, many of which got written into the commendation, but the one I'm most proud of is that I simply stood up, in the middle of all that flying metal, and started up the hill all by myself."

That got me thinking about how we lead at work.  How many times has your team, or group, or division needed someone to just stand up and take the first step?  What's stopping you from being that person?

I have found that I respect those individuals who stand up and start moving rather than waiting for me to tell them what to do or where to go.  Do they get things right every time?  No, but I have found that if they will just stand up and start, I can provide subtle course corrections along the way.

What's keeping you from standing up?

How To Motivate During Lunch

Last week I was asked to attend a retreat that celebrated the success of a group of top performing salespeople.  The group couldn't afford a motivational speaker so I was asked to fill in (I didn't take that as a slam).

Here are the details.

Audience: Top Performers
Time: 90 Minutes during lunch
Topic: Anything - Motivational in nature

This was a bit of a challenge, so let me walk you though my thinking.

First, I spent some time thinking about the audience.  If they are all top performing sales folks then as soon as I start speaking they are going to take what I am talking about and compare it to what they think and believe creates success.  If what I tell them veers off that line, or takes to long, or is deemed "squishy" then they will tune out.

The problem with them tuning out is that I will never know it.  They will look at me and smile, they will shake my hand at the end and tell me I did great.  They aren't being fake as this is what we do in a corporate environment.

Second, I looked at the time:  Having the lunch slot is really tough.  People are eating, talking and generally doing anything but paying attention.  It isn't there fault, but the slot can be difficult.

Third: The Topic.  "Anything motivational" is about as broad as you can get.

After thinking about this for an hour I did the following.

Pulled out my personal book reviews for Rapt, Drive, and Talent is Overrated.  I glanced through them and pulled out one idea from Drive (2nd page of book summary point #9).

I went and pulled the book off my shelf.


Daniel Pink has a section that starts on page 169 where he talks about a "FedEx" day.  This is where an employee would get some time to create something outside of their normal duties (i.e. Google).  This sounded like a catchy name for the exercise I was going to do.  That's all I got from that section...just the name.


The next idea came as I skimmed pages 154 and 155.  These pages talked about summing up your life in a sentence and then asking yourself if you got a little better each day.  These two things caught my eye for a number of reasons.

1. It seems like it would be a challenge to sum up your life in a single sentence.  Especially if the example sentence is "Lincoln: He preserved the Union and freed the slaves".
2. It puts everyone to work thinking about their favorite subject...themselves.
3. The focus then becomes the individuals not the speaker.  I have gone from being the main event to facilitating a discussion around the group.  This is much easier

The final idea is a foundational item.  Asking the group to reveal 1-2 secrets around how they got successful.

Now I had to take these items and combine them into an activity.  I wanted to do an activity because it would get the group moving, talking, laughing and thinking.  After about 20 minutes I would then get each person to share their thinking with the group.  That would go well because each person would have the spotlight for a bit, and share a bit of themselves with the group.  That knowledge would help someone in the group at some point in the future.

Finally, I created an activity sheet that would provide the details and instructions of my activity.  I choose to have the individuals draw, color, glue or cut out their secrets of success.  At first this seems like a bad, squishy idea, but it isn't.  I did this once before with a group of professionals and they loved it.  It is so nontraditional that it is reasonably fun for a short time.  You have to make sure that the directions are clear, that they don't "play" for too long, and that they have a purpose for their play.

Here it is...The FedEx Lunch

Energize Your One-On-One's

One of the constants in any managers life is the One-On-One.

Years ago I started out seeing them as a speed bump during my day.  They slowed me down, made me less productive, and introduced me to a variety of situations that I wasn't quite sure how to handle, as I felt I would have never gotten myself into them.

This has changed over the past five years as I have recognized how important they are for my direct report, and then how much "juice" I get from them.

I have a certain flow that I would like to share.  It is pretty simple.  For a more detailed, and very nice PDF I found online click Manager Tools. Mark and Mike do a nice job.

I do most of my interactions over the phone as my team is spread out across the country.

1) Set the expectation that the direct report will kick things off with their own agenda.  I like to have it sent to me through email before the meeting.  This allows me to place it in the employees Evernote file, so I can take notes during the meeting.  I also like to see the order that their agenda is in, it lets me know what they feel is most important.

2) Ask some good questions about the points on the agenda.  I don't like to let the employee race through their items at breakneck speed, giving me an item's accomplished report.  I continually ask them to take it up a level and tell me how their actions help our department.  Are they talking to the right people, are they helping people, are they making friends and treating people right?  What is their strategy for the meeting, why is each person invited, what will tell them that the meeting they run is a win?  I try not to play 20 questions but I really learn a lot from their answers.

3) After they are completely done I run through my list.  It is usually a list of things that I am working on.  I explain what I am doing, who I am working with, and how finishing the project can help the department.  I believe that it is my responsibility to help the employee "see" a broader view, "feel" some energy from that view, and finally "act" to help finish the business.  I like ask their opinion, and check how they "see" things that are going on at my level.  Their comments aren't always actionable, but most of the time they say something that causes me to think a bit differently.

4) At the end of the meeting I run through the action items, and we close.

It's usually a 30 minute meeting.  Long enough to be a strong touchpoint, but short enough that we don't get into the favorite TV show, political view, or religion.

The Power of Two

Over the past two years I have learned to really enjoy working with a peer who is 70% my opposite.

When I started a new role at my current company, I had one side of the business, and another individual had the other.  We each did our thing, in our own way.

About 3 months into the year we worked together on a project and found out that we really enjoyed working together.  I was the creative, he was the analytic.  We found that the common thread between us was the desire to a) understand our clients and b) provide amazing solutions and support.

I am not saying it didn't take a bit of adjustment, learning to moderately enjoy slowing down to look at the data, but I found that my groups output was much better when the analytic was involved.  The reverse was also true.  How do you make data come alive and move people to action?  I was able to help get people fired up.

Find someone that isn't like you and engage them in a project.  I bet you will both gain.

We Have Always Done It That Way

One of the great joys of my job is helping sales leaders think though how they want to structure their retreats/off-sites/sales meetings.

The current structure is very easy and has been used for many years.  The group gathers for a day and a half, so time away from production is minimized.

The group is welcomed, senior leadership provides an update and answers questions, and then the fun begins.  Each business partner that attends the off-site gets a one-hour slot to talk about their product.  The team hears between 6-10 presentations during the day and a half.

The team concludes with a wrap-up and everyone heads to the airport.

What I find interesting is the reluctrance to step out of this structure.  I have some questions that I like to ask, that usually creates some good discussion.

1) What will be the focus of the off-site?

2) What are the 1-2 things that you want the team walking away with?

3) Are you going to be setting a BHAG goal?  If so, when did you want to do that?

4) Are you going to give any business partner a slot or do they have to earn their slot?  If so, how?

5) Have you thought of having one of your team members, who is an expert in that area, work with the business partner to do a joint presentation?

6) Are you going to go over the business partner's presentation before the off-site?

By just asking a few questions you cause the sales team leader to back up and start really thinking about what they want to accomplish.  They don't have to do things the way everyone else does things.  In fact, the best off-sites are where the leader builds off the last off-site, and helps the team grow by providing JUST the things they need.  No fluff

Can You Get Your Team To Move One Foot?

Leadership involves moving people.  Moving them with an idea, or a goal.  In order to illustrate the importance of moving in the right direction, you need a great story.  I have used the one below with great success.

I went to How J Say in order to hear the generals name pronounced correctly.

Epaminondas (E pam in nondus), the great Theban general, was the first to beat the Spartans - at the battle of Leuctra (Luke Tra) in 371 B.C.

The evening before the fight, Epaminondas called his warriors together and declared that he could guarantee victory on the morrow if his men would vow to perform one feat at the moment he commanded it.  The men, of course, responded aye.  "What do you wish us to do?"  "When I sound he trumpet," said Epaminondas, "I want you to give me one more foot.  Do you understand?  Push the enemy back just one foot."  The men swore they would do this.

Battle came.  The armies clashed and locked up, shield against shield, each side straining to overcome the other.  Epaminondas watched and waited till he judged both armies had reached the extremity of exhaustion.  Then he ordered the trumpet sounded.  The warriors of Thebes, remembering their promise, summoned their final reserves of strength and pushed the foe back only one foot.  This was enough.  The Spartan line broke.  A rout ensued.

Source: The Warrior Ethos by Steven Pressfield

Getting Synced with A Guest Speaker

Have you ever had a guest speaker, or a "motivational" speaker at a conference, offsite, or retreat? If so, what do you remember about their presentation?  Did you make positive changes in the way you did business, or can you just remember the name of the speaker?

I recently attended a team retreat where the highlight was having a well-regarded, luxury hotel chain come in and give a two hour presentation on how they focus on the customer.  The presentation started strong with a few stories about the chain, and how they saw their guests.

After about forty-five minutes the "how" portion of the presentation kicked in with fancy graphs, exotic formulas for guest service success, and a great credo card carried by each hotel staff member.

As this portion of the presentation continued I turned and started to read the body language of the assembled team and literally watched them disengage.

The reason their attention span diminished was that the guest speaker and the team leader didn't spend enough time, pre-presentation, syncing the hotel world with the team's world.  This is a common mistake and the main reason why guest speakers are easily forgotten.

Here are a few suggestions on how to sync your team with potential guest speakers.

1) Get the speakers basic deck - Every speaker has a stock deck that they use, no matter who the audience is.  Look for basic themes that will or won't work with your team.  Do they need more help with connecting with clients, or their listening skills?  Ask the speaker to deepen the content in areas you need and lighten or remove areas you don't.  This will cause some heartburn for the speaker as they as used to giving the show their way.  Hold firm as you are usually paying them a ton of money for their work.

2)  Focus on the translation between worlds - In the hotel example above the main focus was on interactions with the client that lead to increased satisfaction and the potential for increased business.  How does that translate to your teams world?  How do you interact now, and how can the hotels principles be used to interact with the team's clients.  An idea would be to have the team leader stand at this point and talk about how this principle could be used with the team's clients.

3) Less is More - The hotel's presentation had three large, guest-focused formula's.  Seventy-five percent of the presentation was spent on the first formula and the other two were covered very quickly at the end.  If the team leader and the guest speaker had agreed on covering one, in-depth, the presentation would have been more memorable.  The fear to overcome is "I have so much great stuff, I will just zip through these last two items, because they are so good."  They aren't.  You may feel great about them, but that is because of the time you have spent with them.

4) Provide more interaction - Every guest speaker could learn from this.  Rather than just calling on folks to throw out the answer to an easy question, work with the team leader to find out more about the team so that you can ask great questions.  Those questions will help frame a positive discussion, that will make your presentation memorable.  This is scary because any guest speaker is afraid of diving into the weeds and losing momentum during their presentation.  I would argue that proper preparation will help avoid this.

5) Know Your Audience - What roles will be in the room, what are the compensation ranges, what are the main duties of each role, how do they do their jobs now, what are the pain points etc.

Get ready to spend at least 3-4 hours working with your guest speaker to make their presentation pop!

What Can't You See About Yourself?

I was recently talking to an individual who had observed someone at my company sitting with a client.  When I asked how things went, my colleague said, "They didn't connect with the client."

I asked how it went giving that individual feedback, and my colleague said, "They thought they did a tremendous job."

Ouch!  How do you give someone feedback on something they think they are great at?

1) Start by asking questions about specific points in the meeting where you saw a lack of connection.  What did they see, what did you see?  No judgements yet, just what you both saw.

2) After talking about what you both saw, ask what the result of that portion of the meeting was.  Was it a move forward in a positive direction, did things branch out in a different direction, did the client move to a different topic?

3) Can the individual now see that MAYBE there was some room for a better connection that would lead to a positive result?

4) Role Play specific language that would help the individual connect in a more positive fashion with the client.  That means you have to have the specific language in your head first.  The mortal sin is to tell someone to "connect better" and then not have specific language that will bring this to pass.

5) Repeat for each situation

If you want to grow yourself, ask a very good friend if there is an area they feel you need some help with, that you are unaware of.  Take a deep breath as they start talking, as it will probably be something you feel you have a world-class aptitude for.  Ask for specific examples and work through the area together.

Self-Criticism

"One should never criticize his own work except in a fresh and hopeful mood.  The self-criticism of a tired mind is suicide" - Charles Horton Cooley


I have a colleague at work that delivers presentations with me to various organizations within our company.  When we first started to work together we had a great time brainstorming, creating the presentation, and talking about how the presentation went.  It was fun to be able to rip the presentation apart with the goal of getting better.


Over the past 18 months we have started a bit of a death spiral.  We recently did a presentation and afterwards felt that it was our worst ever.  All the critical comments gushed forth like a river.  We had too much material, we went over by five minutes, we were not interactive enough and the killer, we used some text that you couldn't read in the back of the room.  We felt horrible, and it really affected the ride home.


I have talked to some folks that were in the audience about the presentation and they said it was great and they learned a lot.  Now, the first thing you have to do is to dig into their comments a bit to make sure that they aren't just telling you what you want to hear.  The individuals said that unlike some other groups we were prepared, we have some good visuals, we told stories and most of all had some energy in front of the room.  They felt that many of the groups that followed failed on some or all of these points.


The lesson to me is that once a certain level is reached, we shouldn't be so critical.  Yes, there will always be tweaks that can help, but after a certain level, all that is left is tweaks.  Spend more time focusing on the audience and what they can take away from your message

Action Triggers

What is the difference between an Action Item and an Action Trigger?

Action Items are nothing new to anyone who has ever attended a meeting.  As the meeting progresses someone jots down those items that must be accomplished before the next meeting.  This list is then provided to anyone with something that they must deliver.

An Action Trigger preloads the decision by having you imagine the time and the place where the action will take place.  Let me provide an example from the book "Switch" by Chip and Dan Heath.

"In one study, they tracked college students who had the option to earn extra credit in a class by writing a paper about how they spent Christmas Eve.  But there was a catch: To earn the credit, they had to submit the paper by December 26th.  Most students had the good intentions of writing the paper, but only 33 percent of them got around to writing and submitting it.  Other students in the class were required to set action triggers - to note, in advance, exactly when and where they intended to write the report.  A whopping 75 percent of those student wrote the report."

Source: Heath, Chip, and Dan Heath.Switch: How to change things when change is hard. New York: Broadway Books, 2010. Print. p.209


An example from my own life is my desire to clear my head each afternoon by talking a walk around my neighborhood.  I added a TO DO to take the walk around 4 each afternoon so I could gear up for the last hour of the day.  I wanted to end strong so I thought a walk would help.


What happened was that the walk almost never happened.  I would make one more call, answer one more email or read one more page.  I needed an action trigger.  I realized that I had the perfect situation for an action trigger, I just wasn't taking advantage of it.


My wife brings my daughter home from school each day and the garage is on the other side of the wall of my home office.  I figured out that a great action trigger would be to get up and go outside for my walk as soon as I heard the garage door rising.  


So today I accomplish what I want by using an action trigger that helps me master the situation.

The Opportunity for Learning

I recently attended a certification class on the campus of Stanford University.  In addition to becoming certified to teach a change management class around the book Switch, I also took a tour of the campus.

Wow, I felt smarter just walking around.  From the Memorial Chapel to the Stanford Library, the potential to gain knowledge was everywhere.

This experience made me recommit to continue to learn something, everyday for the rest of my life.

I would urge you to take the same challenge. Read, watch, or listen to something that makes you just a little more knowledgable.

Pushing Yourself Helps You Gain Confidence

How many of us want to feel more confident everyday?

Where do we find opportunities that help us gain confident?

Each day I start things off by exercising.  I track the number of calories burned and have several effort points plotted.

The baseline is the number that I won't go below.  That is the "wimp" factor.  Even if I am sick I will push to get past this basic level.  The number is 550

The midpoint is where I have to put in 85% effort for the entire exercise period.  That's 630-650.

The High Point is where I focus during the entire workout and have to push to hit the mark.  It usually moves up just a bit each week.

Monday I hit 700 and felt great.  I had to focus and push myself EVERY minute for 40 minutes, but it was a great feeling stepping off the machine with a new personal best.

The rest of the day was fresh because of my early morning experience.  If felt that if I could hit 700 in the AM that there wasn't anything I could not accomplish throughout the day.

Confidence comes from focus and effort.  Push yourself just a bit each day and feel the difference all day.

Who Should Take The Last Shot?

If you were asked, "When the NBA basketball game is on the line, who should take the final shot", how would you reply?

Sports Illustrated asked this exact question to every NBA player in 2009.  Their answer was Kobe Bryant.  In fact 76% of them said Kobe was, the MAN!

WRONG

According to 82games.com here are the true clutch players (through 2/4 of the '08-09 season)

The Situation: 24 seconds or less, tied or down by 1 or 2 points.

1) Lebron James - 50 attempts/17 Winners= 34%
2) Vince Carter - 51 attempts/16 Winners = 31.4%
3) Ray Allen - 39 attempts/15 Winners = 38.5%
4) Kobe Bryant - 56 attempts/14 Winners = 25%

Why did everyone pick Kobe?

• He is in his 15th year in the league
• 5 Championship Rings
• 25 Games in 2009 on TV vs. 2 for the Timberwolves

Sometimes the person who is "top of mind" isn't the best for the job.  Spread the opportunities around and see who comes through in the clutch.

Set Leaders Up For Success

I went to a sales conference recently and the CEO was the concluding speaker.  His job was to pump up the troops, articulate the vision for 2011, and answer questions from the employees.

There was one problem...

This CEO is a cerebral thinker, and not a pump up the troops type of individual.  His exhortations from the center stage fell flat.

Rather than listening to whoever told him what he needed to do, he could have taken the opportunity to share a story with the employees that helped them "see" the future and understand their part in it.  He could have helped them understand what he sees going on in the future.  This would have fit better with his style and would have be well-received.

He was much better during the Q&A.

I walked away with a lesson:  As a leader, stick to the format you know will connect with your audience and not force you to act in a way that isn't authentic.

What Makes A Seminar Work?

Yesterday I attended the "Switch" bootcamp on the campus of UNC in Chapel Hill.  Switch is a book written by brothers Chip and Dan Health about how to make positive changes in your life.

The seminar was from 9-5 in a large room.  5 people at a table.  Awkward introductions, strained conversation until things kick off.

The secret to this seminar was...

1) We were asked to read the book before attending - This meant that Dan did not have to spend any time teaching us the Switch Framework.  We just started learning how to put it into use.

2) We had numerous exercises throughout the day that helped us understand and utilize the framework.  Dan didn't just lecture about the framework, he introduced a section and then we did an exercise.

3) Controlled Discussion - Just enough so we could learn from each other, but no one was allowed to dominate.

4) Just enough handouts and other materials to help but not to overwhelm.  Dan used 5 in total.

5) Dan had an easy relaxed style.  I didn't feel that there was going to be a big pitch for additional products on the way out the door.  It felt like I was in college again, only I was going to get an "A" in the class.

6) My attitude was correct.  I read the book, I liked it, I wanted to learn more.  That made a major difference in how I utilized the day.

"So Mamma, don't take my Kodachrome away" Paul Simon

In 1917 two friends went to the movies to see a new color film called "Our Navy".  They walked out feeling cheated as the Prizma Color system didn't do a great job representing all colors equally.  Rather than just complain, the two friends went to work and in 1935 invented Kodachrome film.

Kodachrome film was the first successful mass-market film.  It's 74 year product run was due to several factors.  First, the color process allowed the major color groups the ability to produce warm, stunning photographs.  In September 1949, National Geographic used the film to photograph a small basin in Utah.  This basin was later named Kodachrome Basin Stake Park as people came in droves to visit a place that literally leaped off the magazines pages at them.

The second reason for the film's popularity was it's archival longevity.  "It has been calculated that the yellow dye, the least stable, would suffer a 20% loss of dye in 185 years."

The third reason was that until 1954 the price of the film, included processing by the Eastman Kodak company.

Film sales started to decline in the 1980's with the invention of digital camera's.  As sales slid so did the number of labs that processed Kodachrome film.  In 2010 only one processing location remained: Dwayne's Photo in Parsons Kansas.

On December 23, 2010 the last roll of film (shot by the owner, Dwayne Steinle) was processed and Kodachrome film was retired.

How To Use This Story

This is a hero story.  As you read it pick out the elements that might match up with your situation.

• The friends saw something that was billed as amazing, and were not satisfied.  
• They decided to do something about it.
• They found a big company that could help them produce, develop and market their invention.
• Because of the attributes of the film it was in use for 74 years - A tremendous product cycle.
• Newer technology forced it into obsolesce.

Learn to see what elements of a story can help you with your situation.  Spend some time researching the story, and asking yourself questions so you are well prepared to answer most questions that might come up.  Compare the above story with your situation and show how, just like in the story, certain things must take place in order for your group to be successful long-term.

Sources:

Breed, Jack . "First Motor Sortie Into Escalante Land." National Geographic Sep. 1949: 369-404. Print.

"Kodachrome - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Jan. 2011. .

"Kodachrome Basin State Park - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Jan. 2011. .

Sulzberger, A.G.. "For Kodachrome Fans, Road Ends at Photo Lab in Kansas." New York Times [New York City ] 29 Dec. 2010: n. pag. The New York Times. Web. 4 Jan. 2011.

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Isn't That Obvious?

I recently attended a meeting where the individuals involved were presenting best practices.  One of these was the idea that knowing something about the client before talking to them, is very helpful in building rapport.

I about passed out.  In a sales environment isn’t that a given?  Isn’t that the foundation for ANY sales interaction?  Don’t you learn this in the very first minute of your sales training?

As I thought about this I recognized an important truth.  The world is so specialized today that we can’t think that anything is so basic it’s obvious.  Let me give you an example.

I was in Denver recently and was heading out to dinner with some of my colleagues.  I wanted to make sure I knew where the restaurant was, so I stopped by the concierge to confirm the directions.  They were busy so I asked a bellmen.  He said, “It’s on 15th street, eight blocks south of us.”  I said, “So the hotel is on 17th and I just need to go over two blocks and down eight blocks?” He gave me the “you are an idiot” look and said s l o w l y, “No, we are on 15th and you need to go 8 blocks south of the hotel.  Just to give you an idea, this hotel is a city block so you will need to walk 8 blocks south.”  The information was correct but the way it was presented left me with a very bad impression of that individual.  The directions were obvious to the bellman because he worked in that location everyday and had probably given those exact directions hundreds of times.  However, for me, it was all new.

So instead of being shocked, I paid attention to what piece of client data was selected and how it proved the best connection to the client.

Rather then judge, listen to understand.