Friday Reflections

You can't win today’s game on yesterday’s press clippings

"What you did yesterday is history. What you promise for tomorrow is mystery. What you can deliver today is reality." - Anand P. Shah.

"Your successful path will block your vision to the future" - Joel A Barker.

 

Storyline:

A few years ago, a fellow approached a good friend to take advice about his work situation. Noticing that his job performance was declining, his supervisor had a friendly talk with him.

Now this fellow was very bright, carried credentials from well-known institutions and he had been a strong contributor and a star performer in the past. He was not pleased with his supervisor’s feedback and needed some advice.

He told his good friend about many awards that he had received in the years past, his numerous publications in journals, and plenty of speeches he had given at various conferences. He went on to emphasize that only a day before, he had seen a slide in someone’s presentation that referenced the great work he did in the year 1999.

His good friend told him, “You already got paid for what you did in the year 1999. We are now in 2004, the next millennium. What have you done for your business lately?”

Good Friend continued, “What you did yesterday is history. What you promise for tomorrow is mystery. What you can deliver today is reality. You can not win today’s game on yesterday’s press clippings.”

The fellow became silent. He got the message. After that talk, his performance improved significantly.

 

Reflection:

We are in a dynamic and competitive world. Things are changing at such a rapid pace that the moment you let up, you fall behind. In today’s world there are many people with drive, ambition and the right skills who are waiting for an opportunity. If you do not step up to the plate, somebody else will.

Some people feel that they have “Paid Their Dues” with past success and the others owe them something in return. In reality, no one owes anything to us. Only we owe it to ourselves to plan on growing and succeeding.

Never Rest on your laurels. Keep challenging yourself. Keep raising the bar and keep reaching new heights.

Excellence is not an act but a habit: journey of Steve Jobs

 

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." –- Aristotle

"I am convinced that the only thing that kept me going is that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love and follow your inner voice." -- Steve Jobs

Story Line: “Excellence is not an act but a habit”: The journey of Steve Jobs

There is a saying, “Three times is a charm.” But when it comes to the business of revolutionary innovations with major impacts on the world, there are just a few who have even reached that milestone once. So what would you say about a person whose intellectual and creative achievements have already gained worldwide recognition, with four revolutionary products, and he is about to do it fifth time? “Fifth time is a….” In my books it has to be “…the work of A Creative Emotional Genius.”

The introduction of the Apple II in 1977 created the personal computer industry. When it was already the major revenue producer for the company (a cash cow in financial terms), in 1984, he bet the company on his next creation, the Macintosh with Graphical User Interface technology. Unfortunately he got fired from the very company that he had created in a dispute with the board.

Then he joined a company called Pixar and created a revolution in the entertainment industry by introducing computer animated films. Remember the movies: Toy Story, A bug’s life and many more? Pixar was later acquired by Disney and he is now the largest stockholder of Disney.

Many would have called it a day after the first such creation, and enjoyed the lifetime of financial independence that this creation would have enabled. But not for Steve Jobs. He returned to Apple in 1997 and four years later, introduced his fourth creation, iPOD, that revolutionized the music industry.

Well, that should be enough to take it easy; more importantly when you are battling cancer. But again, he won the battle against cancer and created the fifth product, iPhone that is about to revolutionize the phone industry. Wonder if he is ever going to stop?

But what I have described so far is the work of A Creative Genius. So where is the emotional part? Steve recognizes that a technology is relevant to people as long as it satisfies their emotional needs. The keen understanding of the importance of design and the role of aesthetics is reflected in all his products. His ability to combine and recombine ideas, draw associations from his experiences in other fields (example: calligraphy class and Mac special fonts) and establish emotional connection with people have not only created great products but also created great markets for them.

His emotional side was very evident when he and Bill Gates appeared together in D/All Things Digital interview. The last question was,” What is the greatest misunderstanding about their relationship?” Steve while looking at Bill replied with a line from Beatles song, “You and I have memories longer than the road that streches ahead.” 

Reflection:
For any person or organization interested in getting lessons in Presentation, Marketing, Creativity, Out of the Box Thinking or Emotional Intelligence skills, just click on the following link and get all five in one by watching his iPhone introduction video. You can bring a lot of efficiency by using this 90 minute video of the Master and reduce or eliminate other training programs. 

The most important business relations are personal ones

 

“When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant that I could hardly stand him around. When I turned twenty one, I was amazed how much the old man had learned in seven years.” - Mark Twain   

Story Line: In the United States of America, this upcoming Sunday is celebrated as Father’s Day. Many people have fond memories of their Father or a Fatherly figure or a mentor in their lives. I would like to share one of the very important lessons that I learned from one such person between the years 1965 and 1969.

“The most important business relations are personal ones. Use the power of your finger to keep in touch on a daily basis. It is people who make things happen, not the machines.”
When I was in high school, I noticed that my father spent a lot of time on phone or socializing with people. I used to wonder, “This man has it easy. I have to go to school every day and then sweat over the homework and exams while this old man is having fun talking to people all day.”

Many years later, when I was working for a company in Arizona, my father visited my family. One day, my long contained curiosity prevailed and I asked, “How did you make so much money literally doing nothing except talking to people; while people like me had to suffer through the years of schooling and now sweat every day to earn a productive living?” I wanted to know the secret of his success.

He pointed his first finger and said that the secret was right in the power of that finger. He used that finger to regularly keep in touch with people, either through dialing on phones or writing notes. Those people were not only his current business associates but also the friends from school and college days and people he met in various places (conferences, airports, trains, and previous business ventures). He did not seem to know the modern day Network Theory terminology or corporate buzz words, but what he explained further as advantages of Human Relations falls right into the realms of those two areas.

1. Because of knowing a lot about people, he was able to quickly connect/help people (as well as get connected himself) who needed certain services with the ones who could provide those services. He used to call this his efficient Information Storage and Retrieval database. In Networking Theory terms, he acted as a Router (or others acted for his needs) and connected various Servers (people who had certain products and services) to workstations (People who needed those services). He felt that people spend a lot of time (Productivity Loss) in searching for right services or getting right customers.
2. Having good relationships not only saved a lot of search time but also saved relationship building (qualification) time. When you have maintained relationships with people, when you need to talk to them you don’t have to wait, sometimes for a long time, to get on their calendars. Since the other person knows you and your track record, credibility/goodwill is already established. In such cases, the matters are resolved with a quick phone call or a hallway chat.
3. He believed that when you keep in contact with many people, you are constantly aware of what is going on in this world; know opportunities for your talent and also about the opportunities to enhance your skills. In his opinion, this builds up a lot of confidence.
4. When you share your problems or dilemmas with others, you may find out that you are not the only one. They may have been through such issues and learning curves themselves. It is a great stress reliever when one does not feel isolated.

Reflection: Reach out and touch some one. “Most important business relationships are personal ones.” (He said this long before one phone company came out with an advertisement with that punch line in 1980s)

As Ralph Waldo Emerson rightfully said, "It is one of the beautiful compensations of life, that no man can sincerely help another without helping himself."

Next Week: What color is your bathroom? Creative Genius of Steve Jobs.

The Games inDecision Makers Play

“You'll never have all the information you need to make a decision. If you did, it would be a foregone conclusion, not a decision” - David Mahoney

Storyline:

Deciding not to decide, in such a way that people do not notice, is an art. Here are seven games that are occasionally played in the courtyards of corporations when it comes to postponing decisions or derailing meetings:

Game 1: Ask for “more data”

A meeting is going on between the employees of a components supplier to review a major customer’s new requirements. The customer has asked for a one-day response on Failure Analysis (FA) of returned samples. The director of FA presents his current FA response time: 76 days.

Another director raises his hand and asks, “Does it (your data) include the weekends?”

Game 2: Throw (irrelevant) monkey wrenches

Ideally, create more work by claiming that there is “insufficient analysis” or by asking, “Have you looked into such-and-such area?” (However irrelevant it may be to the subject.) Other popular monkey wrenches are to claim, “We don’t have the authority” or to suggest that the decision be taken off-line for further discussion (even if the decision can easily be made on the spot.)

Game 3: We need to run this by so-and-so

Of course, that “so-and-so person” is not in the meeting, otherwise it would defeat the purpose of the game.

Game 4: Let people who have no skin in the game be directly involved in playing it

Involve a lot more people than needed for the decision. Then, try to arrive at a consensus with all of these people. A great example: instead of telling ancillary groups what specific things you need from them, bring them into the mainstream decision making process. In a sports analogy, this would be equivalent to a tennis player asking the ball boy to make the next serve, or a football quarterback asking the cheerleader to call the next play.

Game 5: It should not have happened in the first place

With the first sign of a problem, start questioning the sound long-term direction, perform name-calling, and begin the hunt for scapegoats. Spend time lamenting over the problem instead of spending time looking for the solution.

Game 6: Ping Pong Diplomacy (Agree with everything)

Even though the proposals and ideas may be diametrically opposite in approach or intended outcome, the team leader keeps agreeing with all parties: “Good idea” “Excellent Proposal”. Here’s  how this game (sort of) works:

Jerry’s proposal says, “New York is in the East.”  The team leader (supposed to be the decision maker) says, “You are right.”  Jack’s proposal says, “New York is in the West.” The team leader says, “You are right.”  Confused, Tim asks, “How can it be both?” The team leader says, “You are right.”

Now if someone is bold enough to question this further, the team leader would say, “Well, it depends where you are in the world. If you are in San Francisco then New York is in the East, and if you are in London then New York is in the West.”  But the point of the story is that decisions are not made by starting such irrelevant discussions - in reality you’re all sitting in Denver, so the answer should be obvious.

Game 7: Start a task force to improve the decision making process

Ideally, to improve the “decision making process”, have well known inDecision makers run it (and/or be the primary members).

Reflection: Many of us have played these games – as victims and perpetrators. An awareness of them is crucial to calling this behavior out and getting things done.  Challenge the indecision makers!