7 Tips for Creating Your Own Destiny | Inc. 5000 Too many people whine about not having the life they want. The main reason people fall short of their own expectations is the same reason most companies fail to achieve their objectives: poor planning and execution. In fact, I am amazed at how many successful executives create strategy for their business, leaving their life to chance. I choose otherwise. 1. As Lewis Carroll said: If you don't know where you are going, then any road will get you there. 2. Neither of us will be playing for the NBA at our age (or my height). 3. We're defining who we want to be at 60, not what we want to be doing. 4. J and I will challenge each other constantly to get to the truth of who we are and who we wish to be. 5. Every resource is important. 6. I live for constructive criticism. 7. Although being the next Steve Jobs or U.S. Note: If you're interested in learning more about this process, contact me.
Live from BOS2012: "Building a Minimum Badass User" with Kathy Sierra Don't Take Business Advice from Nice People | Inc. 5000 I’ll admit it. I'm not a particularly nice person. In fact some consider me brutal with my honesty. A colleague of mine claims one can offer blatant truth, and still be nice. The alternative to us truth-sayers is people with discretion. These nice people are not doing you any favors. 1. This happens in sales all the time. 2. Most people ask for opinions in hopes they are on the right path with a project. 3. When an achiever is passionately driving down a fatal path, nice people tend to clear out of the way. I’m not suggesting we round up all the nice people and ship them to parts unknown. 1. State clearly you do not want to be treated by nice people the way they want to be treated. 2. It doesn’t matter if you are an entrepreneur, manager or employee. 3. Most nice people can’t help themselves. It may not be a nice time, but it will certainly be refreshing. I look forward to reading all your comments both good and bad.
The Innovator's Dilemma The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail, generally referred to as The Innovator's Dilemma, is the most well-known work of the Harvard professor and businessman Clayton Christensen. Subject matter[edit] First published in 1997, Christensen's book suggests that successful companies can put too much emphasis on customers' current needs, and fail to adopt new technology or business models that will meet their customers' unstated or future needs. He argues that such companies will eventually fall behind. Christensen calls the anticipation of future needs "disruptive innovation," and gives examples involving the personal computer industry, milkshakes, and steel minimills. The book's reception around the world suggests that it may help leaders of organizations see the problems or changes coming their way, whilst showing them how to respond. Reception[edit] [edit] Criticism[edit] Impact on business world[edit] References[edit] Further reading[edit]
5 Ways to Make Your Own Happiness | Inc. 5000 Another Independence Day has come and gone. Now the topic of freedom is mostly left to a barrage of political commercials designed to convince you that your freedom is at risk. Truthfully, neither major party is about to wipe out all the freedom this country provides. But real freedom comes only to those willing to break out from conventional thought and propaganda. On a personal level, I got married this week, which makes freedom a very relevant topic. In that spirit, I am identifying five freedoms you need to be successful in business and in life, as well as ways to achieve them. 1. Cynicism and age seem to go together. Path to Freedom: Make humor a priority. 2. There is nothing wrong with collecting toys: houses, cars, boats, etc., but these things have a way of owning us, particularly when we finance them. Path to Freedom: Make a list of the material needs that truly matter if you were to start over tomorrow. 3. Inertia is a powerful oppressor. 4. 5.
How to Boost Creativity & Innovation in 10 Minutes Trying to be innovative feels, at least for most people, nearly impossible. Don't believe me? Try it. Go ahead. Be innovative. Give up? Our employees don't either. Kill a Stupid Rule is one of the tools described by Lisa Bodell, the founder and CEO of futurethink and the author of Kill the Company. Playing Kill a Stupid Rule is not only easy, your employees will think it's a hoot. 1. Then break them down into two-or three-person teams. 2. "If you could kill or change all the stupid rules that get in the way of better serving our customers or just doing your job, what would they be and how would you do it?" 3. And make sure your skin is particularly thick that day, because many of the stupid rules employees will want to kill are your stupid rules. "At the 10-minute mark the teams will be begging you for more time," Lisa says, "not because they're coming up empty but because 10 minutes isn't nearly enough time to write everything down. 4. 5. 6. Prove you're willing to listen. 7. No problem.
How to Improve Any Skill: 4 Tips Picture someone you know who is incredibly talented: an athlete, a musician, a scientist. You probably wish you had been born with some type of gift, right? You were. "We are often taught that talent begins with genetic gifts--that the talented are able to effortlessly perform feats the rest of us can only dream about. This is false. "I could be them." That's the introduction to Daniel Coyle's The Little Book of Talent, a cool book filled with 52 easy, proven methods to improve almost any skill. Here's an example. R: Reaching and Repeating E: Engagement P: Purposefulness S: Strong, Speedy Feedback Let's take a brief look at each. Reaching and Repeating: Practice should require you to operate at the edge of your abilities; in short, you have to consistently reach and constantly repeat. Say you're leading a training session. 1. 2. The second is the best approach, because everyone has to reach, every time--even if he or she isn't called on. 1. 2. 1. 2. Say you're studying for a certification exam.
Your Desk Is Making You Stupid Your desk, scientists reported recently, is trying to kill you. According to the New York Times, scientists discovered that when we sit all day, "electrical activity in the muscles drops… leading to a cascade of harmful metabolic effects," and sadly even getting regular doses of exercise doesn't offset the damage. But now there's new evidence of the harm of sitting. Sabine Schaefer, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Germany, recently looked at the effect of walking on working memory. The headline finding was that the working memory performance of both age groups improved when walking at their chosen speed compared with when sitting or walking at a fixed speed set by the researchers. Why didn't walking at "fixed speed" have the same effect on working memory as walking at the subjects' preferred pace? Getting up for a walk or a jog is another way to achieve this sort of head space--after all, it worked for Einstein and Charles Darwin.
Cold Calling Script: Make a Call That Works This is part of a package on cold calling. Read the next post: Why Your Cold Calls Aren't Working. While there are other (and usually more effective) ways to generate sales leads, many companies still depend on cold calling. This script was created by a cost-reduction company for use with C-level executives and can easily be adapted to virtually any product or service. By the way, the most important part of this post is the final word of warning--so be sure to read all the way to the bottom. Here's the script, with explanations of each element: Hi, John. Identify yourself immediately, or the contact will hang up on you. Did I catch you at an OK time? This question demonstrates respect for the person's time and an understanding that your phone call is not the only thing on his or her plate for the day. John, I'm sure you're busy and I want to respect your time, so I'll be brief. The reason for my call is this. Now, you may be wondering if we can do this for you, too.
Cold Calls: 16 Ways to Start a Sales Conversation The purpose of a cold call is to have a conversation to determine whether a potential customer has the following two things: a need your offering can satisfy, andthe money to purchase it. That conversation can happen, though, only if you get through the customer's natural reluctance to speak with a stranger. The easiest way to get through that reluctance is to have a reason you're calling, other than just the fact that you have something to sell. For example, suppose you're selling an inventory control system. "I'm calling because I'm selling a great inventory control system that can save you money."" The second example is more likely to result in a conversation because it relates what you're selling to what's called a trigger event, a change in the way that a potential customer operates its business. The following trigger events are all excellent conversation starters: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. Where do you find these trigger events?