I saw a great example of how standard business practices really mess with people today.  It really highlighted for me the gap between what science knows about people and what business thinks about people.

I went to McDonald's this morning for breakfast (I got a yogurt in case you were wondering).  They were getting slammed.  The drive-thru line was around the building and to the street.  There was a line of 4 people inside (where I went) being helped by one girl at the counter.  In the corner of the restaurant, an employee was sitting drinking coffee before his shift started (which was to be in about 30 minutes). 

The employee saw they were being slammed and that they were starting to get behind, and he came up from his table and went behind the counter and asked the manager, "tell me where I can help you most".  The manager shrugged it off gently saying, "you can't work while you aren't on the clock".  Before I continue, I should share that this McDonald's is well operated and this manager appears to be very good at her job (I am a management stalker...).  I should also acknowledge that this is likely corporate policy that was likely created for liability purposes.  I know all of these things, but what the employee did next was fascinating.

He ignored the manager and went to work without clocking in.  The manager finally went to him and told him, "you can go ahead and clock in early".  The employee politely ignored her while grabbing some potato cakes from the fryer.  The manager went back to work for a minute or so and then went back to him saying, "you can't work while not on the clock...  it's not fair to you".  The employee went right on working...  off the clock.

Observing the other employees quietly observing this in the chaos, they seemed to get a spark of life.  They had been dragging and struggling with the crowd.  Suddenly this one employee jumping in while off the clock seemed to inspire the whole team.  The line accelerated.  Furthermore, the employee worked with a quiet confidence and satisfaction.

I'm telling you right now, many of the management books and MBA programs would tell you that this kind of things should never happen.  They would tell you that the employee would never not only volunteer to not get paid, but refuse the pay when offered.  They would tell you that the other employees would not work harder when they saw this.  They would tell you that the manager shouldn't have let him work and should have reprimanded the employee. 

Maybe it's time to start thinking about how people REALLY tick...

I have said before that successful entrepreneurs are humble.  The reason is that successful people are successful because they didn't do it alone.  They got a lot of help and they know the value of collaborating and utilizing the strengths and experiences of others.  The famous quote "experience is the best teacher" is actually incomplete.  The whole quote (attributed to Ben Franklin I believe) is "experience is the best teacher, but only fools learn from experience".  In other words, there is someone out there that has been through the things you have been through and knows the things you don't know.  

This is a reason to be very thankful during holiday season. 

One of the best things about what I do is that I get to hang around a lot of smart and passionate people who share their strengths and wisdom.  The Strategy Mastermind Group is just one example of this. 

Take a moment today and thank the people in your life who have made an impact on your business and in your life.  If your list is short, you are missing out and you need to learn to ask for help.  If your list is long, you know how blessed you are. 

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

At our November Strategy Mastermind Group, we learned how to Problem Solve.  I opened up the discussion with an hour rundown of the People-Centric Problem Solving process detailing how to divide and conquer problems (opportunities) within an organization.  Then Kurt Theobald, CEO of Classy Llama Studios and author, led the group in a game in a segment called "Kurt's Dojo".... and all of the training went out the window and chaos happened!

The game simulated an organization attacking a variety of problems.  The organization as a whole earned points by performing tasks between objectives.  There were 7 different objectives (problems) to work on to earn points. 

As expected, the group went to work on tasks and failed to develop a strategy for how to best work the overall system to achieve the most points.  Tasks were duplicated.  Resources were put on projects that lead to negative points.  People got frustrated.  Some were saying that the game was pointless and a few even got visibly mad.

In case you haven't figured it out, this exercise might look familiar to you.  It might be your business.  All too often, we like to be busy plugging away at tasks without determining what path or strategy we want to follow.  We don't take a few minutes to utilize our strengths and apply them effectively at maximizing what we can accomplish.  We just go to work...  and it is frustrating.

The feedback I have received so far from participants was very exciting.  Now as members of the group... I would like your feedback!  What did you learn from the from the experience?

One mark of a successful business person is that they are able to leverage their relationships and create opportunities.  Strategy Mastermind is full of opportunities for you...  are you leveraging them?  Here are some quick ideas to leverage your membership...

1) Set up a meeting with someone else in the group - Meet for coffee (I suggest the Dancing Mule) and discuss how you can help each other in their business or organization. 

2) Invite a client, contact, or friend to a Strategy Mastermind Group - Did you know you can invite others to the group and they can attend one session for free?  What a great value you can show for a potential or existing client, or for that critical business relationship.  When you become a great resource to others, they'll always come back to you.  How do you invite?  Simply send out the link http://www.strategymastermind.com/guestinvitation.html and ask them to register.  This link is always good for the next mastermind meeting.  Go ahead and invite 5-10 of your contacts...  do it now...

3) Tell others about your membership - Don't you think your clients would love to know that you spend time working to make your business better?  This is a great marketing opportunity for you to show that you care.

These are just 3 quick ways to take more advantage of your membership in the group.  Remember that our next meeting is November 19th and it will be a good one.  We are going to play a game and listen to a module presented by Kurt Theobald, CEO, author, and entrepreneur. 

I once read a book (I think it was Outliers) that contained a great interpretation of a phenomenon we all have observed.  Why are Asian students so much better at math than American students?

The education system is often times blamed, but in this book the author gives a different interpretation based on some studies.  It simply showed that Asian students and American students are both equally talented in mathematics, but Asian students are more likely to work longer to solve a problem, where many American students simply shrug and say "I can't do this". 

As a culture, we often go for the quick answer.  If asked what 15 x 15 is without access to a calculator, we are quick to say "I don't know".  Instead, if we (as a professor from college would tell us every day) keep our wits about us, we could solve this problem.  10 x 15  is 150.  5 x 15 is 75.  15 x 15 = 150 + 75 = 225.  The answer isn't on the tip of our tongues, but the path to the answer is.

Problem solving is a lost art in many businesses.  A problem, barrier, or opportunity (these are all the same things in my book) is presented to an individual or a team and the team doesn't see the solution...  so they give up, leaving several potential solutions and the opportunity to not only solve the problem, but come together as a team, on the table. 

In our Strategy Mastermind Group, we are going to start talking about Problem Solving in more detail, but in this introductory article, I want to get one key point across to you...  you probably already know how to solve most of your problems... you just aren't sticking with it.  You need to "work the problem".  You need to take a few steps toward the solution and see if the path presents itself.  Stick with it and untapped opportunity can be yours!

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Times are hard... do you tell your people or protect them from the truth.  

I'm going to answer that question with an observation.  I encounter companies who are struggling from time to time.  One common characteristic of these firms is that their employees think things are actually worse than they actually are.  Did you pick up on that?  They think it is WORSE than it really is. 

What is the impact of this employee malaise that comes with suspecting things aren't going so well?  Remember that the 3 key components of motivation are competence, autonomy, and relatedness.  When an employee feels that things are going badly and that their may be no future, they 1) don't know how to stop it, 2) don't have any control to turn it around, and 3) they stop feeling a part of something bigger because they feel there is no future.  Motivation is killed across the board.  These companies struggle to perform at every level.  It shows in their customer interactions.  It shows in their lack of new ideas.  It shows in their energy. 

Remember that you are always communicating with your employees, even when you aren't telling them anything.  When things are bad, they almost always know.... often even before the owner acknowledges it.  Confront the brutal facts and rally the troops to action.  If you are going to go down, do it kicking and screaming and working together.  Success is not a component of motivation, but it can be a result.  Keep your people engaged and get their input. 

Otherwise, you may find that your employee's worse case scenario isn't as "worst-case" as it would seem....

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If you don't like meetings, you aren't doing them right.

Meetings are your opportunity to create something that is bigger than any one person.  It is a time to utilize the strengths, talents, and passions that can't possibly reside in any one person.  It is a time to built in buy-in to a cause, solution, or opportunity and avoid all the time and energy it takes to "sell the idea" after the fact.

Meetings are good.

Use the People-Centric Cycle to run "good" meetings.  First, obtain the engagement from everyone involved.  Then, as a team, find some focus or clarity in the issue at hand.  Finally, make sure that you create accountability within the team by ending every idea with an assigned action plan. 

A great meeting ends with CLARITY, not frustration and empty coffee cups.

I know a realtor who STARTED in 2009 (near the beginning of the real estate crises) and has built an amazing record of success.  I know a golf pro who got his certification in the middle of a bad economy and has built his business.  I know a film studio that took on Disney in animation and beat them so badly that they had no choice but to buy them out.  

What are the common characteristics of these unlikely success stories?

Each of these organizations / people focused in areas where they can provide a unique value to their clients.  In the world of marketing, we often talk about a Unique Selling Proposition.  The USP is what makes your product different from all other products.  For Domino's Pizza, it was "fast, hot, and ready".  For Harley-Davidson, it is freedom.  This USP separates their product from other products.  (BTW - I am stealing material here from Brett Curry's Marketing Mastermind Group). 

The Unique Value Proposition (UVP) is similar, but with a little different focus.  It is the unique value that you can provide to your client.  Instead of a marketing focus, this requires a good realistic internal view of your organization and what it can do.  Pixar couldn't out-animate Disney, but they noticed that Disney's films were stuck in the Disney paradigm.  The stories were stale.  Pixar utilized computer technology to generate 3-D animation, but this wasn't their real UVP.  Their UVP was their ability to utilize this new medium to tell great stories.  The technology was their leverage, not their core value. 

What is your UVP?  What makes your organization different from everyone else?  What do you do better than anyone else?  Knowing this will give you great insight into your strategy.

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