Message of the Day - Rigidity vs. Flexibility - Part 2

Good Morning,

 

I had received a request to follow up on this message from one of my readers to share more examples of being flexible versus being rigid in our daily lives. So, I came up with a few thoughts which I hope can further explain planning and acting with a flexibility mindset.

 

The first thought is to not fill up your day with a huge minute by minute agenda. The less room you leave in your plans for the unexpected, the greater your chance of not completing your agenda, and worse getting less and less completed off the list at all.

 

Years ago I asked a former supervisor of mine, Damian, his secret to being productive in a non-stop, ever-changing environment. He told me that he planned only 20% of his day. If he planned to work 10 hours, he planned less than three of them. This gave him cushion to change gears when something came out of left field.  I have since taken this advice and made it part of my operating procedures. This is good advice because something almost always comes out of left field.

 

I say almost always, because on this past Wednesday I had one of those days where I planned, as usual, only 20% of my day. I finished those items in the morning and by the early afternoon, I had nothing going on. There were no fires to put out, no last minute critical projects to jump on. It was a rare day when the stars were in alignment. So when that happened and after I got through musing over it for about 10 minutes, I went to my list of ongoing projects and found one that I could push forward on, and did so.

 

Another way to be flexible is to see a bigger picture of what is going on. By this I don't mean the big picture of the company, the strategy, etc., rather a bigger picture of being flexible by accepting the fact that everything can and often does change. Even professionals who have performed the same actions over and over again can be caught off-guard. The best are better prepared for the unknown by including curve balls in their training.

 

When something comes along which you are familiar with, you are better able to change gears and take care of what is necessary.

 

Being prepared for what may happen and at the same time, planning for things to change are two keys to embracing the fast paced change which comes at us from all aspects of life.

 

Thanks again for the request for more on this subject. And if anyone would like me to write on any subject or read a specific book and share my thoughts, I would love to, simply send me the request.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Sanford Berenberg
Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/
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Message of the Day - Rigidity vs. Flexibility

Good Morning,

 

This morning I was thinking of a way to describe to someone how have a team with fluid structure as being superior to one with fixed positions and duties.

 

Sure having fixed positions is efficient if the job never changes.

 

For example, the Roman Legionaries each had assigned duties both for combat and non-combat activities. When the legion arrived where they were camping for the night, every soldier had specific tasks to do to set up the camp. So efficient in this task that when the Romans left their camps, they were perfect for the natives to move into and create new towns. If you want to know how many of these camps became cities, look for towns with the name 'Chester' in them. Chester means camp. Worchester, Leicester, Chichester, etc.

 

But what if the tasks need to change? If a member of the legion is taught only to dig trenches, and now they need him to build a tower, he will have to be retrained before can be productive.

 

Here is a modern example. If you build the perfect baseball team, with each player being the best in their respective position, you can conceivably win every ball game. But, what happens when the game changes from baseball to football. Your team of baseball players now have to suit up and play this new game. How good will they be in this new game? Unless they are all like Deion Sanders or Bo Jackson, they may not be able make that change well and in that case, how many games will the team win now?

 

If you think the rules of the game don't change much consider this:

• IBM started out making meat slicers amongst other products. They then moved to making mainframe computers, and now most of their revenue comes from something completely different.
• Sony started out with transistor radios.
• American Express was a freight delivery company.

If IBM, Sony or American Express built their teams solely to make meat slicers, radios or freight delivery they would have gone the way of the Dodo unless they changed.

 

Sure fixed and inflexible teams can change. Baseball players can learn to play football, but this takes time.

 

Building teams based on flexibility allows us to adapt faster, and speed is the name of the game in our no-holds-barred, dog-eat-dog, 500 miles per second, instant messaging, email laden world.

 

If that is not enough, think about Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpiece, the Tokyo Hotel. This massive building was designed to have its foundation sitting in mud. Yes, fluid mud. When earthquakes hit, the mud's flexibility absorbed much of the shocks and cushioned the building.

 

Flexibility can definitely be better than rigidity.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Sanford Berenberg
Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/
Follow Me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/sberenberg

http://learnandgrowdaily.com  Click here to order: "Learn And Grow Daily!"

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Message of the Day - Our Roots

Good Morning,

 

When we talk about people and their roots, we generally are talking about where someone came from and who their ancestors were.

 

If we look at the roots of plants and trees we see they are the lifeline that brings in nutrients from the ground and supports the rest of the plant life. Some root systems are simple and some are complex. Some span further and deeper below ground than the plant or tree does above ground. Some root systems are more like networks, serving multiple plants. During rough seasons and weather, the roots keep the plant alive, even if most or all of the plant or tree is devastated by the weather or storm.

 

What if we looked at people's roots more in these terms?

 

Not so much of where we have come from, but who we are connected with, who is helping us, and who we are supporting and helping and who we are helping stabilize or weather a storm.

 

Our roots are then our networks, our support structures. They are the groups we interact with, the people we rely on and accordingly, other people's roots can include us in how we support and help them.

 

How then do we strengthen our roots?

 

By learning and growing every day, we are feeding our roots, and helping all who are connected to us.

 

By feeding our minds, we strengthen our foundation, our roots and help us weather the storms of life.

 

By helping others when we get the opportunity.

 

By letting others help us when we really need it, but act like we don't.

 

With our roots flourishing, our lives are enriched and so are those who are a part of our roots.

 

I like that. How about you?

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg
Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/
Follow Me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/sberenberg

http://learnandgrowdaily.com  Click here to order: "Learn And Grow Daily!"

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Message of the Day - The Power of [ ]

Good Morning,

 

The other day I was privileged to listen to a live interview of Seth Godin by Tom Heck. Seth recently released "Lynchpins" a book I highly recommend.

 

During the interview, Seth mentioned something that really grabbed my attention. He said that one of the greatest powers in the world is the power of silence. That using silence in the right way can have a greater impact that any number of words or other communication tools to make a point.

 

Think about it.

 

A silent response garners more reaction than many heated responses. One of the reasons is silence infers a whole range of responses to each member of the audience. Some people may feel the silence was positive, some see it as negative. Some see it as it truly is, a non-response. In any event, silence makes people think.

 

Silence forces people to look introspectively into themselves. Something some people have a great trouble doing, and for good reason. Superficial people often hate looking inward. Those who cut others down often do so because they are afraid someone may look at them and see them for who they really are, so in defense they shift the attention to others with verbal attacks, insults and derisive humor.

 

When you ask someone how you did in something, and you get silence as the answer, you are forced to look within yourself for that answer.

 

Silence is also freaky in that getting the silent treatment, or giving it for that matter, can ruffle the feathers of the most stable of people. Humans are communal creatures and by nature we live for human interaction. Silence is a break in that interaction. Silence forces us to be alone with ourselves. In our hyper-interconnected culture, silence generally only happens when we sleep or during a blackout, without internet or cell phones, etc. Too bad, as silence can be used to reduce stress and calm us down.

 

Silence can be used as a strong pause to create an impact in a message. It can be used to prepare an audience for the right message. In a speech or presentation, we can lead up to our point and stop, go silent. The audience waits. They are eagerly looking for our next sentence, but its not coming. After a few moments, people's minds wander. If we let them wait too long, they will get distracted, but while we stand there, silent, they will wait, and the power of our next words are amplified when they come. And when we then speak, the audience listens and hears.

 

Silence is a powerful tool, and should be used more often. Maybe practice it a little bit each day and you too may learn the power of

 

 

 

 

Enjoy

 

Sanford Berenberg
Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/
Follow Me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/sberenberg

http://learnandgrowdaily.com  Click here to order: "Learn And Grow Daily!"

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Message of the Day - The Language of Leadership

Good Morning,

My current read is "The Sir Winston Method: The five Secrets of Speaking the Language of Leadership" by James C. Humes (http://www.amazon.com/Sir-Winston-Method-Speaking-Leadership/dp/0688102247) which covers how Leaders effectively communicate through public speaking.

This book gives a treasure trove of speaking tips, as well as speech writing tips to help better communicate. Filled throughout the book are examples from actual speeches of business leaders, presidents, and of course, Sir Winston Churchill.

The five secrets are:

1. Strong Beginning

By strong beginning, James Humes suggests starting off with a quote or fact which grabs the audience, and strongly suggests to avoid starting with a joke or humor as this often weakens the audience's perception of the speaker. If you need to do a joke, place it in the middle of the speech and use an anecdote (story) rather than a joke. The opening is your chance to grab the audience.

Churchill started off one of his speeches with: "I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this government, I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."

2. One Theme

Keep the speech on one theme. If you have multiple topics to cover, then work to fuse them together to fit into one theme. For example, if you need to speak to your group or organization about budget, production, incentives and recent staffing concerns, then find a common denominator and link these subjects back to this ONE theme. In this case, the theme could be 'Improving the Organization by following the budget, improving production, giving incentives, and addressing staffing concerns'.

3. Simple Language

This is where I have failed often. I have grown accustomed to using the jargon words, or business-eze. Churchill used simple words. Instead of 'Maximize' he would say 'make the most of'. It may be more words, but it is simpler. Simpler is easier to understand.

4. Pictures

Give mental pictures, or use visual aides. In other words, give people examples to compare your subject matter to. If you want to talk about a product, or service, describe it, give mental images for the audience to grasp onto. If you are talking about improving quality of phone analysts, then give the picture of happy customers getting their issues resolved correctly the first time and what that would mean to them. Describe the end result you are looking to achieve.

5. Emotional Ending

This is the ending of the speech, where you build up to the finale. This is your chance to get the audience emotionally invested in your message.

Churchill once ended with: "You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory -- victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival."

As leaders, we need to communicate effectively. James Humes gives some great lessons on doing just that.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg
Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/
Follow Me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/sberenberg

http://learnandgrowdaily.com  Click here to order: "Learn And Grow Daily!"

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Message of the Day - How We Describe it

Good Morning,

Last night I went out to Wal-Mart to pick up hair care products for my daughters and knowing the 50 million different products available by each and every manufacturer, I asked them to write down on a piece of paper what...exactly...they wanted me to get for them as I:

A. Did not want to get the wrong product
B. Have to call home to find out more information about the product and look like a fool in front of the other shoppers who would undoubtedly know the right product they wanted with no trouble at all.
C. Get frustrated and go home empty handed, which would be followed with a: 'If you had only called..."

The first product was a conditioner for my older daughter. This was described as follows:

"Lime green bottle - Garnier Fructis, smooth/straight/silky conditioner (something along these lines). "  - That last note made me think   I was in a little trouble.

So I went to Wally World and I got to the hair care products isle and to my horror there are like 20 different types of Garnier Fructis products. And to my surprise all but four were lime green. I am happy that narrowed the field. Luckily, Garnier had mercy on me and made all the Conditioner bottles vastly different from their shampoos (they are effectively upside-down).

This made me slightly happy in that I have bought conditioner thinking it was shampoo, only to be surprised in the shower when there was no lathering to be had...

Looking for smooth, straight or silky I found silky on most products and smooth on most of the products, and not a single bottle had the word 'straight' in the description.

I looked and looked and finally I broke down, knowing that if I was not home within the next 15 minutes, I was getting a call anyway, I chose unwanted option B and called home. Luckily, I reached my younger daughter. I asked her to find an existing bottle of the conditioner I was looking for and to read it to me.

After we established what I was looking for was the name of the product and not starting from the words at the top of the bottle and working down I was able to find the right one. It was 'Sleek & Shine' for Frizzy, Dry, Unmanageable Hair.

Lets see:

Smooth, Straight, Silky

meant:

Frizzy, Dry, Unmanageable

Even with descriptions, even clear ones, and I know this was clear because anyone else in my family would have been able to pinpoint the right product in seconds, without the need for a call, there are times that we just cannot establish understanding within our communication.

Knowing our audience helps, in which case, my daughter should have given me the old bottle as any description which did not include pictures would make my task harder.

I guess it is all in how we describe it.

Enjoy!

Sanford Berenberg
Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/
Follow Me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/sberenberg

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Message of the Day - Be Outstanding!

Good Morning,

 

My current read is John G. Miller's latest book, "Outstanding: 47 Ways to Make Your Organization Exceptional" (http://outstandingorganization.com/). This book takes what John taught in "QBQ, the Question Behind the Question" and "Flipping the Switch" (his two previous books) to a whole new level. Not only is the book extremely easy to read and follow, each of the 47 ways has both experiences and lessons which we often apply to our own lives.

 

After reading finishing the book I have been seeing people, actions and even myself in terms of what lessons I am applying or at times, not applying.

 

Chapter Five is "See Everyone As a Customer" and uses as its foundation the 360 Degree Review. John talks about how looking at everyone we interact with as our customer, as someone we can serve, we improve our organization.

 

This Sunday I had an experience with two different companies, one which embraced this concept and the other which did not. My Father-in-Law recently moved into an apartment from a house and asked Karen and I to move some of his stuff to our house and to the Good Will. We rented a truck from a company we have done business with before, and since they give such good service, we prefer using them. We started right after church, picking up the rental truck and driving 1.5 hours to my Father-in-Law's old residence and spend about 2 hours filling the truck before heading back to Louisville.

 

After returning home, and unloading the truck, we had a change of plans. A full sized bed which we planned to give to our daughter who uses a twin became a donation to go to the Good Will. My plan was to drop off the U-Haul Truck that night and get my car, which is parked by the company. With donating the bed, I had to change plans. Since it was around 6 PM and being that Monday is Karen's birthday and I would rather spend more time with her then returning a truck, I went to Good Will with the bed.

 

As I pulled into the Good Will, there was a lady there who looked at me and said that 'We are closed and you cannot leave it here, or we will get fined." I told her about my father-in-law moving into a retirement home and us looking to donate his goods. She then said "I have been here since 8 AM and I came in three hours early and I am really tired". Oddly, I had been up and active since 6 AM, including loading and unloading a 17 Foot U-Haul truck and driving over 3 hours, etc., but I did not bring that up.

 

I asked her if there was anywhere else I could bring it. She then told me "The city had a open dumping day where I could have dropped the bed off to be thrown away, but they are closed too". So, on top of her not helping me, she rubs it in that I missed another opportunity.

 

She did not see me as a customer, rather as an annoyance. So, I decide to leave. I even had to back my U-Haul onto a road as this lady sat in her SUV waiting for me to leave and did not allow me to pull through. Sad.

 

I called Karen and asked her what she thought and she suggested some courses of action which included leaving the bed by some apartment complex. I felt bad doing that as I was wearing the T-Shirt for my favorite Kentucky Chiropractor and did not want to be arrested and give Dr. Baker a bad name. (Yes, Dr. Baker, I lifted with my legs).

 

I decided to return the truck to U-Haul and reach out to the on-site after hours manager. As I knocked on his door, I saw he was one of the people who had helped me in the past. I explained my tale of woe to him and he suggested that he could find someone to give the bed to or keep it in a storage unit and auction it off at one of their annual actions. This man had solutions, after hours, in the middle of his dinner.

 

Again, I know why I do business with these U-Haul/Storage people.

 

Anyway, I left the bed in the truck and drove my car home to load it up with the rest of the donations to Good Will, but I will certainly not be going back to the Good Will store I visited yesterday.

 

I want to go to a place that will see and treat me as a customer.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Sanford Berenberg
Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/
Follow Me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/sberenberg

http://learnandgrowdaily.com  Click here to order: "Learn And Grow Daily!"

502-533-9336