Message of the Day - Becoming the Standard

Good Morning,

 

Welcome new recipients!!

 

In Marcus Buckingham’s book “First, Break All the Rules” (http://www.amazon.com/First-Break-All-Rules-Differently/dp/0684852861) he talks about how Netscape, Adobe and Sun Microsystems gave out their programs for free. That is, the web browser, Adobe Reader and Java, the programming language. Why would a company give a project or service away for free?

 

On the outside it does not appear like a sound business decision. In reality, it is genius.

 

A company that shares with others what they do best, especially services, the company that is giving is becoming more widely known for their product or service. In fact, in many cases, this acceptance becomes the standard in the field. How many companies use PDF documents these days? The answer is millions. PDF is the standard for unalterable soft documentation.

 

So how can we become or create the standard? Most of us don’t have the money to invest in making or selling millions of copies or products or hours of service. The good news is that we don’t have to!

 

We can start by giving the best of ourselves to others.

 

We can do our best in anything that we do. Like my wife Karen’s meatloaf. All meatloaf is now compared to Karen’s, it is the standard. And for the record, all meatloaf is inferior to Karen’s. My best friend Howard is a chiropractor. All chiropractic adjustments I receive are compared to his, as he is my standard. My chiropractor in Louisville, Dr. Michael Baker, has matched this standard. Both Dr. Howard and Dr. Baker give their best, and that has become the standard that I based all chiropractic care against. I will not go to another Chiropractor who does not meet the standard I have come to expect. I just need to go see to Dr. Baker more often.

 

By doing what we do well, and sharing it with others, what we do can become the standard for others. These standards are then used as the basis of comparison by others. It does not matter what you do, just that you do it. It could be telling tales, cooking, preparing spreadsheets or PowerPoint slides, or coming up with strategic solutions. When we continue to do our best in what we do, the bar is set, often very high.

 

Strive to do well in whatever you do, and you can become the standard in the eyes of others. And others will want to learn from you, or use your services or get your help.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://www.berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

502-533-9336

 

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