Focus and the Need for 'Craft'

You'd definitely need a plan to get up here....!!(it's the Matterhorn if you're interested)

He's hairy, American and passionate about his subject....! Brad Frost tells it how it is. He calls it bullshit and he might be right...

A great presentation with some quite incredible facts about how the internet and its content is building every day. And the need, in the context of such a quantity of information and data, to simplify and condense our messages and activities. The conclusion - what sets professionals apart from the other 90% - is the term 'craft'. People are starting to appreciate craft, things that make things easier, simpler. Things that are of high quality and useful (without bullshit). Products, services and messages that are simple and more effective and engaging as a result. The future is about focus he says  - maximising the signal and minimising the noise - word of mouth will spread things more effectively than broadcasting through numerous over complicated channels. And the way to get word of mouth working is to provide craft..

Maybe it's exactly the same with business planning and strategy development. The process of doing it has to be simple, and the output simple too. To quote Lou Pritchett - 'people support best that which they helped to create'. When I work with teams to build their strategy and develop their business plans the overriding theme throughout all exercises is to keep it simple and clear. Craft something that everyone can use, understand and be part of. And to climb the Matterhorn it's simply a need to climb carefully and well, with craft even.

Take a look at your latest business plan - has it been crafted carefully and simply so that it works and you are actually using to take the busines forward?

Now enjoy Brad on bullshit:

creativemornings.com/talks/brad-frost/1

Planning and Plans, Goals and Achieving Them

"When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps." - Confucius 

Wise words indeed. 

I find that being flexible with business plans is essential, designing in the opportunity to adjust and recalibrate. Too many times businesses put together a detailed plan with a lot of interrelated actions, which, once one or two have gone pear shaped, all others seem to follow. This is very demotivating for the team and can quickly lead to abandonment of the whole plan, and an increasing disenchantment with whole process of planning too. There's no need for this, it's crucial that a business finds a way to plan, and then a way to implement that plan. If being flexible along the way achieves this then so be it.

I've found that looking no further out than 3 quarters works well, with a review each month of simple summaries of the activities -'investigate and develop a plan for the installation of a CRM system'. If these activities fall behind then just move to them to next quarter (obviously try to get them back on track but if you can't then hey, stuff happens...). In my experience this has proven to be the most satisfactory way to plan and then to actually get things done over the long term. There's no need to beat oneself up, the idea is to set some goals, plan to achieve them and then actually do so! Holding rigidly to a plan at all costs often achieves very little in the end. In essence it is the act of planning, which is an ongoing process, that really produces results. To quote Eisenhower:

''In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable'' 

How are you developing your goals and plans at the moment - and how much flexibility are you building in to the process? Don't be scared to plan for flexibility too. 

Plan, keep planning, and plan to keep planning..... 

Superb Marketing, a Great Example of 'Doing it Right'

I like finding good practice and excellent implementation - the DOING. I particularly like people and businesses that really get it right. Here's a great example - I promise you won't be disappointed!

When you're selling a service which depends on you as the main deliverer, the key thing you need to sell is yourself - but how do you do it?

In this fantastic example of identifying his target market, telling you about the very specific service he provides, and with a tempter to get you to sign up (aren't you desperate to know the 6 1/2 Secrets??) Darryl sells his business to you effectively right from the off.

Using video (he's selling himself remember), and smiling all the way, he tells you what you want to know about what he does and how he does it. Notice how he points to the right parts of the website as he's doing it.....!

The copy on the site is exactly matched with Darryl too - good chap, dependable, trustworthy, someone you would be happy to have in your house.

What else do you need to know? I’m a happy chappy. Like one sugar in my tea or coffee. Support West Ham United. Prefer XFM or Radio 6, but if Radio 3 is your bag, no worries. And I always tidy up after myself.
So if you need a bright sparky who’s competent, confident and smiley, call me on one of the numbers above or drop me an e mail. A site visit and free, no obligation quote will be in your hands in no time.

Check out the testimonials too - what better way to sell your service than to get a quick 30 second video and upload it to the website. And what is the best source of leads for a business like this? Referrals...you may not listen to Darryl but you'll listen to his satisfied customers, particularly if they're saying it to you directly and not just quoted. You can't fake one of these easily!

I also happen to know that if you want to work for him you have to send him a video CV of why you should (he's selling personality remember and you need to fit in) AND he sends his customers postcards from his holidays - a great personal touch, but wow, what a way to keep him in the front of your mind for when someone you know says 'I need a good electrician'.

As I say -  a masterclass - enjoy.

http://www.bertelectrics.co.uk/

(And thanks to you too Darryl - we've never met but I couldn't have written this without you!)

My Kind Of Graffiti

I like lists, top tips and wisdoms that sometimes help you do your job, often with some hidden gem that somehow rings a bell and makes sense (see my Leadership Musts and Shoulds too). Problem is always how to present them. Now I know that this is not graffiti but hey it gets the message across!

In this world of 'work smarter not harder', 'removing  suboptimising', 'cross functional deployment' and generally blinding business-speak, it is nice to come across a list that is down to earth and simply suggests 'How to Work Better', with practical, and frankly doable things that just make sense....don't need to say much more!

How many out of the 10 are you doing today or will try to do tomorrow?

(and yes the little bit of OCD in me did spot the Say It Simple - *Simply...).

aand SMILE!

The Most Effective Leadership Characteristics

I've always been a little obsessed with Leadership. If you've been there and had to lead people it can become an obsession - working out that magic formula that will guarantee results (to get it done), and improve your ability to lead those people effectively time after time. 

The first challenge is defining it - my own personal favourite is:

'The ability to inspire followship'

I feel that succinctly says it all...

You will see on the blog a few other posts on the characteristics too (see my obsession!). One that has been well put, from a favourite book of mine called Good To Great by Jim Collins (http://amzn.to/1ej5Osw), is the concept of a Level 5 Leader. There are two characteristics that define those leaders who make it to the top of their companies, and what is more, lead their companies to success - Humility and Fierce Resolve.

Level 4 - Effective Leader
 
'Catalyzes commitment to and vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision; stimulates the group to high performance standards'.

But a Level 5 - (Chief) Executive

'Builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical combination of personal humility plus professional will'.

The book is well worth a read, some very US based examples but the concepts and messages are very clear and something all leaders and potentially great leaders can learn from. Take a look here for more on this. http://hbr.org/2005/07/level-5-leadership-the-triumph-of-humility-and-fierce-resolve/ar/1

So a question for you - What are you doing to move from Level 4 to 5?

Innovation and Wild Ideas

And talking of innovation.....well, it's right at the heart of any business isn't it? Needing to come up with new ways of pleasing your customers, new ways of providing your services, and even, obviously, new products.

When you're the boss it's a hell of a pressure to be the one who always thinks of the new stuff - spotting the problems and then finding the solutions, listening hard to customers to get those essential insights that will keep you one step ahead. You often feel you're the only one who's doing it! Solution - you need to leverage the people and teams in your organisation to do the spotting for you - set up some way of capturing 'ideas from the front line' - and do reward the spotting, even if you don't (or can't) do something with the information. The key is to get more eyes and ears out there and to encourage it as the culture of your business. Ideas are good. Make it a theme for the month...

Another way is to seek out and cultivate the 'wild ideas' people - there's always one somewhere in your organisation. You know - the one who (when finally asked) says 'I've been thinking we ought to try.....' And sometimes it really is wild, but for every five or six crazy ones there is usually one that has some legs and can be modified, or used as is, to take the business forward. Seek them out and have a talk, you never know...Ideas are good.

And if you want an example of a wild ideas guy take a look here. http://www.scottsbarlow.com/100-awesome-business-ideas-for-2014/

Scott really does have some wild ones...... let me know which ones you think are goers!

#innovation #wildideas #ideasaregood

Doing Less, Leading More - the type of leadership that get things done

Here's a great article on a key theme - doing and leading. I think it asks some really valuable questions about something that is quite close to my heart, and in actual fact at the top of the page right here on the blog. Take a look:  http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/12/doing-less-leading-more/

The key distinction and insight I believe is that to do less and lead more you have to be able to get things done through and with, people. There is no point in being a good leader, in fact you are not being a good leader if things are not being achieved, getting done.... The question is how.

Are you getting it done by doing it yourself, or by doing through other people, by leading them? An interesting and perennial problem we've all grappled with. The instinct to roll up ones sleeves and crack on and do it yourself and be the pacesetter, is very strong, but ultimately that is not leadership.

As the article says.........'the softer skill sets, the real leadership, the ability to work with others and through others, to execute, that is still in very scarce supply.” Learning how to do this and to embed it into the culture of the organisation is the challenge.