ClearThoughts.com

Laugh Out Loud!

Ann Latham — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:14:00 GMT

I'm a pretty serious person by nature. I can be funny, I like to laugh, and I know laughter is good for me physically, mentally, and emotionally. Nonetheless, I can get so caught up in my work that the opportunity for laughter seems to get squeezed right out. So, one of my goals for 2012 is to laugh more.

The result of establishing this goal has been pretty amazing!

I am more aware of my laughing and pause to enjoy the circumstances more completely.
I have been paying attention to my most reliable sources of laughter and seek to incorporate them into my life more regularly.
I noticed that I laugh more on weekends and so I have intentionally added a few minutes of laughter to my mornings with books such as "The New Yorker's Rejection Collection."
I find myself smiling while driving to and from client meetings.
Friends and acquaintances are sending me jokes and links to funny videos.
I am happier.
And, most amazing of all, I am remembering jokes for the retelling for the first time in my life!

This is one of the simplest and most rewarding goals I've ever established for myself. If you could use more laughter in your life, set a goal, tell people around you, and start looking for those opportunities to smile and chuckle.

Don't Get Stuck Like These Guys!

Ann Latham — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:13:14 GMT

I am frequently contacted by long-time readers of my Clear Thoughts newsletter wishing I could help their organizations. This just happened several times in the past few weeks and in each case, the situation was the same:

The loyal reader would love to hire me but doesn't have the authority
The person with the authority has never heard of me and doesn't think a consultant is the answer
The loyal reader has generously shared my newsletters with direct reports and peers
The loyal reader has never shared upwards

This leaves the loyal reader feeling frustrated beyond belief and wondering how to get the boss to give me a call.

Don't let this happen to you!

If what you read here is valuable and relevant to your organization, now is the time to start sharing the value with those with the authority to make changes. There is no reason to wait. Here are some specific approaches you might want to consider:

Pass on a relevant edition of Clear Thoughts with words such as, "I've been reading this newsletter for some time and I think you would find it interesting." You might not want to choose one that is so relevant that it is construed as a pointed and not-so-veiled message. And then send additional editions regularly so they gain no "special meaning."
If there is a particular past edition you would like to use, you can find it in my newsletter archive and send a link to those who might benefit.
Volunteer to bring one valuable tip that you find in my Clear Thoughts newsletter to each staff meeting. Share the idea and follow-up with paper copies or a link to the on-line edition.
Suggest relevant articles be reprinted in the company newsletter. Just have someone let me know and include my byline, copyright notice, and website link.
Give a copy of my book, Clear Thoughts - Pragmatic Gems of Better Business Thinking, to those above and around you. When others have done this, many of those bosses have been so pleased they have turned around and purchased copies for the entire staff.
Suggest to your boss that they consider having me provide a workshop tailored to specific company needs.
Find a particularly appropriate article, publication, or video on my website and either print copies or email a link to those you think might benefit.
Tell your boss what you most value about my Clear Thoughts newsletter and suggest signing up.
Ask your boss if you can share his or her contact information with me so that a simple introductory call is possible.
Send me an email, tell me why you think I can help, and provide the information I need to make the contact.

I am sure you can think of other approaches. Just remember, you are doing your organization a favor! And if you start now, you won't have to regret not doing it later like those who've been contacting me lately.

If you are reading this, but aren't receiving my Clear Thoughts newsletter, you can easily rectify that situation by signing up right now!

Why You Should Learn to Love Moss

Ann Latham — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 14:18:25 GMT

My husband is developing a fondness for moss. After several years of trying to get grass to grow where moss thrives, he is finally learning to respect and welcome the moss. Why anyone would ever expect grass to be a universal solution for yards is beyond me, but that is the American way and it can be hard to shake these preconceived notions for how things should be done and how they should look. Grass simply can't be expected to thrive in every possible situation.

Preconceived notions do not just drive ludicrous lawn longings. They also drive daily business habits. Where are you trying to fill a round hole with a square peg? Where are you insisting on consistency for the sake of consistency? Where are your expectations for employees causing nothing more than frustration for them and you? Where are you striving for "green lawn" goals that aren't really very important? Where are you hoping practice will make perfect despite no progress?

If something isn't working, stop doing it! Reexamine both the goal and your approach. If only moss will grow in your shady, sandy yard, learn to love the moss!

Undercover Boss at Yankee Candle

Ann Latham — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 16:03:05 GMT

I was inspired to watch Undercover Boss for the first time last night because of my connections and proximity to Yankee Candle. The show obviously provides fabulous publicity, though there is no way for me to know how much of that the CEO and team can control.

My experience during more than twenty years of corporate life is that lots of rewards come to those in the right place at the right time. One of the employees alluded to this. Sometimes the motivation is indefensible - discrimination, nepotism, and more. Other times it is mostly luck - getting on a high profile project or unusually talented team. And sometimes, it seems to be a combination of human nature and unaware managers - rewarding the masterful fire fighter who saves the day while forgetting about those who quietly and consistently produce solid results.

Harlan Kent certainly reinforced that belief that it pays to be in the right place at the right time. A few employees got really lucky to be part of the show. But they aren't the only employees at Yankee Candle who work hard, take pride in their work and the company, and face personal challenges. I'd love to see them make all their other employees feel as lucky to be working for Yankee Candle. Imagine if everyone got the mentoring they needed to find a rewarding job, the acknowledgment they deserve for their effort and care, and the extra support that would help overcome personal obstacles! Imagine the loyalty, productivity, and customer care that would ensue!

Haven't Paid and Proud Of It!

Ann Latham — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 14:51:02 GMT

We haven't paid a WMECO bill in over two years and are proud of it!

Why? Because we've had a credit on our Western Massachusetts Electric Company account since April of 2010 thanks to the energy production of our photovoltaic panels and our careful efforts to minimize our energy usage.

By producing more energy than we use, something many told us we could not do, we not only avoid contributing to the growing demand for energy, we also help WMECO meet the energy needs of others. Our monthly statement, showing growing credit, is the kind of tangible feedback I discuss with my clients because it encourages desired behaviors - the continued efforts to minimize energy usage. Everyone wins when the sun shines and we turn off unnecessary lights and power strips, hang heavy jeans and towels in the sun to dry, and ensure the oven, burners, and other appliances aren't running hotter and longer than necessary.

At least you would think everyone would win.

Truth be told, that growing credit on our bill provides no financial incentive because WMECO doesn't ever have to send us a check, no matter how big the number becomes, no matter how many foggy, wintery days worth of consumption our credit would cover, no matter how much of our neighbor's electricity we are providing while WMECO is billing.

Pride and conscience will continue to motivate us because they always have. However, while WMECO and the rest of the industry spends lots of time and money dreaming up new energy reduction programs, it is pretty ironic that they are actually encouraging us to increase our consumption!

When Should You Seek a New Job?

Ann Latham — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 11:32:00 GMT

You've heard people talk about watching for the writing on the wall. If you see signs that your days with a company are numbered, you should start looking for another job. Too many people are blind-sided or do nothing, even when the signs are clear. I agree. You must be alert to what is going on around you.

But that is only half the problem.

You need to take a good look in the mirror as well. Are you excited about your work? Are you learning important skills? Are you contributing effectively? If you aren't operating at the intersection of your company's needs, your passion, and your skills, and you don't expect to be doing so any time soon, start looking elsewhere.

Employment is a two-way street. Don't abdicate responsibility to silver platters and pink slips. No one else is responsible for your career. No one else is going to make you sure you have a rewarding career.

How to Provide Real Value

Ann Latham — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 12:19:00 GMT

Always act in the customer's best interests.

If you can't serve someone well, regardless of the reason (too busy, mismatched need), try to connect them with someone who can be of real help.

If you can't make an appropriate referral with confidence, give advice that will help your customer find a good resource: criteria to consider, places to look, people to ask, etc.

Whatever you do, don't put yourself first.

Should You Use Emoticons in Business Communications?

Ann Latham — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 19:10:51 GMT

If your professional image is as cute as an emoticon, go ahead and use them. If not, refrain. Save the winks and giggles for Gr8 times with BFs with whom you M4C, LOL, and never bother with caps or punctuation.

Are Your Goals Typical and Typically Worthless?

Ann Latham — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 13:42:06 GMT

The top 5 goals for small business owners for 2012 according to the March issue of Inc. magazine are:

Grow the business
Improve relationships with friends and family
Eat healthier
Work out more
Work less

Do these look like your goals? If so, is this the way you think about them or have you taken the critical next steps?

In what way are you going to grow your business? Do you need to find new markets, sell more to the same markets, or just find more customers? Do you need to strengthen your brand, your products, or your sales channels? Do you need to change how you talk about your products or to whom you are talking? "Grow the business" is too broad. You need a strategy that guides your decisions and provides the focus that will allow you to succeed.

The same applies to the other four goals on this list. With whom do you want better relationships? What specifically must you do? When? How often? And what will you stop doing to create the time?

Better eating? What enables your less than desirable eating habits? Are you going to quit buying the foods you can't resist? Do you have to replace the couch in front of the TV with a treadmill? Are there places you should not go anywhere near at certain times of the day? Do you need to learn more about nutrition or get a recipe book that doesn't include a half stick of butter in every recipe? Think seriously about the habits, triggers, and obstacles to smart eating in your life and eliminate them one by one.

"Work out more" sounds like a drudge and a half. If you think of it that way, you are unlikely to do it. "Thin and trim" or "lean and mean" evoke a more compelling image for me. But again, you must understand what is preventing you from getting exercise and take action to remove those obstacles or to create new circumstances that support and motivate you. Furthermore, you must stop doing something. What will exercise replace in your limited daily hours?

"Work less" begs the ultimate what-will-you-stop-doing question. It hinges on having just a few priorities, outsourcing or delegating the things that must be done but don't have to be done by you, dropping many "I really ought to" or "it would be nice if" tasks entirely, and devoting only the necessary time and energy to each task - no perfectionism, no second guessing, no frolicking in a desirable task. Focus, discipline, and the allocation of only as much time as each task deserves.

Avoid vague goals if you really want success. You need focus and specific, concrete steps in the right direction to make progress.

Would You Buy a Car without a Test Drive?

Ann Latham — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 16:41:07 GMT

To celebrate the arrival of winter in New England (now that it is March), I took to the slopes of a local ski area where they have installed an electronic ticket system. Each skier gets a plastic access card to slip into a pocket. Instead of waiting in line to buy tickets, you can charge your card online. When you arrive at the hill, you simply put on your skis and go. At the lift, you slide through a turnstile that lets you pass after reading the card in your pocket. At the end of the day, there are no sticky tickets or wires to remove. Furthermore, if you are interested, you can log in and see how many runs and vertical feet you skied.

The ski area benefits too by reducing staff at the ticket window and no longer paying ticket checkers at the lift lines. They can also collect great market data. They know exactly who is buying tickets, when they arrive, when they leave, how many runs they take, how fast they ski, and which lifts they ride.

Sound great? In many ways it is, for both customers and the business. By using existing technology and applying it to a new situation, the company providing this new system created great value.

But they missed one critical step. They can not have done a proper test drive. They didn't walk through the process either literally or in their heads. While I believe they will continue to use the system, I also suspect they have a lot of rework to do this summer.

First, they used regular turnstiles like you would find at a subway entrance and added flimsy verticals on either side. Getting between the verticals with ski poles, ski clothes, snowboard gear, etc., is not a smooth process.

Second, each of the two turnstiles has its own line. Thus, pairs need to go through consecutively, not simultaneously, and then regroup.

Third, and worst of all, both turnstiles dump skiers down a slight slope into the same small space just short of the loading area. It's a struggle, even for good skiers and boarders to avoid shooting into others or out in front of the approaching chair. Beyond the chaos and anxiety, it is not uncommon for chairs to go empty while people pick themselves up off the ground, untangle poles, or try to figure out who goes next.

Fourth, occasionally a card can't be read properly and the poor skier, after setting off the alarm multiple times, has the awkward task of backing out of the slot, negotiating the crowd behind him, and returning to the lodge.

Fifth, the verticals next to the turnstiles are there to hold up super cool LED screens above the heads of the passing skiers. If these screens provide valuable data, I'll never know because my attention is always on the turnstile and the people I'm about to run into. This is just wasted money.

While the necessary changes are obvious to see, they will involve non-trivial expenses. All they have to do is move the turnstiles back from the lift, merge the lines before rather than after the turnstiles so pairs can pass through simultaneously, eliminate the slope toward the lift, and provide an escape route to accommodate those denied access. But even that plan deserves a test drive.

You wouldn't buy a car without a test drive. Make test drives a habit in other things too. Save yourself a pile of trouble and money by insisting on a walk through at least before finalizing plans and completing the implementation.

What You Need to Know About Time and Money

Ann Latham — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 16:31:17 GMT

No time and no money are the most frequent excuses for not doing what needs to be done. Do yourself a huge favor and drop them from your vocabulary. Time and money are just resources.

No Time + No Money = Not a Priority

We all have the same number of hours in a day and the reality is that far more of them are wasted than you realize, both yours and that of your employees. The waste stems from many sources:

Unclear priorities and expectations
Inefficient processes
Mismatch of talent to responsibilities
Inadequate investment in things like equipment, facilities, training, expert advice, and administrative support
Lack of focus and discipline
Mistakes and rework
Confusion over roles and responsibilities
Perfectionism and analysis paralysis
Ineffective collaboration and communication.

If you want something badly enough, you can make the time. Pay attention to how you really spend your time and redirect it to the few things that will make the biggest difference - your real priorities. Provide enough structure and support so your employees do the same.

The same applies to money. If you want something badly enough, you can find the money. If the ROI is promising, if your goal is a better future, if you have a tangible and compelling outcome in mind, you can find, raise, borrow, or realign funds to achieve your goal.

If you aren't willing to make the time and find the money, you aren't dealing with a real priority.

End the excuses. Abolish "No time" and "No money" from your vocabulary. Get clear about your priorities and then you can honestly say "That's not a priority right now" and turn your time and money to the things the matter.

The Top Few Priorities

Ann Latham — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:16:14 GMT

What couple of changes will make the biggest difference for you this year?

Answer this question at the executive level, the individual level, and every level in between. Focus and alignment are critical.

Do you need to:

Offer different products or services to provide compelling, differentiated, and profitable value
Change your sales and distribution channels to increase sales and profits
Communicate more carefully so your target markets know you exist, customers know what to expect, suppliers know what is important, and employees can contribute successfully
Improve your execution so you are better, faster, and cheaper
Develop new capabilities so you have more opportunities for success

You can't do it all and you can't succeed if your organization is running around like a "chicken with its head cut off," as my mother used to say. Dig into the broad categories above and choose just a few priorities. Be specific. What needs to be different? What will success look like? How can each individual help make those top priorities successful?

Wouldn't It Be Great ...

Ann Latham — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 23:47:20 GMT

Wouldn't it be great if everyone watching politicians, whether during the primary debates or the State of the Union, could use their smart phones like a clicker to signal skepticism with each uttered "fact." If enough people "clicked," the debate, speech, or press conference would be paused while a non-partisan fact checker intervened to either confirm the claim or tell us the truth. Initially, the endless delays would drive everyone, including the politicians, nuts. But don't you think they would all learn to speak more carefully and accurately?

Make it a Great Year!

Ann Latham — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:15:14 GMT

Find the reason to smile in every lesson and opportunity that you encounter in 2012 and you will have a more successful and joyful year.

On Creating Complexity

Ann Latham — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:40:00 GMT

David Maister's Secret to Success

Ann Latham — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:33:00 GMT

Skill, knowledge, insight, brains, experience - these are all important, however:

"He or she wins who gets more done, and he or she gets more done who passionately wants to get to the next level of accomplishment."

- David H. Maister from Strategy and the Fat Smoker

Decide what is important, set priorities, and learn how to master yourself to accomplish those priorities.

For lots of articles on improving personal productivity, visit: Uncommon Clarity Articles.

Too Many Interruptions?

Ann Latham — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:15:00 GMT

If you are interrupted too often, figure out why. Are you:

Too slow to close your door, forward your phone, and turn off email?
Withholding information from others?
Failing to develop and empower others?
Inserting yourself into too many processes?
Insisting on perfection?
Discouraging the decisions and initiative of others?
Unclear in establishing objectives and priorities?
Sloppy in delegation?
Letting others interrupt repeatedly without thinking first?
Unsure of your own priorities?
Biting off more than you can chew?
Afraid you may be extraneous?

You are not indispensable. So why are others acting as if you are? What are you doing to cause your own interruptions?

May I Ask This Question?

Ann Latham — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:11:00 GMT

We had a Japanese student staying with us during her Thanksgiving school break. She was endlessly curious, but unsure how we might react to some of her questions. Rather than refrain from asking, she has developed the incredibly effective practice of prefacing her questions with:

"I don't know if I can ask this question."

This line accomplished four things:

It gave us permission not to answer.
It expressed her sincere desire to learn.
It warned us that we may be in for a startling question.
It made us eager to help her understand and learn.

We can all learn a lesson from Midori. She is not the only one who can benefit from understanding others or a situation better. Too often we shy away from asking important questions. Personally, I would rather others asked my thoughts than have them try to guess. When we guess, we usually guess wrong.

Asking permission shows interest and respect. Don't just "let it drop" next time. Try these variations of Midori's approach to learn what you need to learn:

"It may be none of my business, but I'd really like to know ..."

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

If you are told it is none of your business, at least you've learned something!

Are Best Practices the Holy Grail?

Ann Latham — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:06:53 GMT

Do you value best practices as a means of attracting and retaining customers while also improving the bottom line?

If yes, you are not alone. Many companies devote tremendous time, effort, and money in search of the holy grail of best practices.

However, most organizations have employees who are already producing great results. Whether selling, managing customers, or delivering the goods, you likely have pockets of excellence scattered throughout your organization. These employees have figured out how to:

Excel in your environment,
Deal with your products,
Manage your customers, and
Put up with your management short-comings

They are the keepers of your internal best practices. Their secrets are worth sharing!

Who are they?
What are they doing that others aren't?
What are you doing to capture and teach these internal best practices?

Seek that which is working and spread it around!

Need help identifying, capturing, and disseminating internal best practices? Give us a call: 800-527-0087.

Three Questions to Ask Today

Ann Latham — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 11:49:09 GMT

If 2012 is approaching faster than you ever thought possible, now is a good time to look around and see if your plane is still soaring, stalled on the runway, or out of sight in a hangar. Ask yourself these three questions:

Are we adapting to changes around us, especially changes in our customers' wants and needs?
Are we becoming something new, smarter, and more capable than we were at the beginning of the year?
Are we continuing to eliminate the tasks that contribute least to our profits and the value for which customers are willing to pay?

If you answered any of these questions with no, not sure, or luckily, now would be a good time to embark on a stronger, more intentional approach to better results in 2012!