Milton Levine Died Last Month.

Flash of inspiration . . .

Milton Levine’s eureka moment came in 1956, when he spotted a mound of ants during a Fourth of July picnic at his sister’s poolside in Southern California.

Coalescence into an idea . . .

Recalling how as a boy he had collected ants in jars at his uncle’s farm, thought “We should make an antarium.”

Milton takes action . . .

The resulting product —  Uncle Milton’s Ant Farm — selling for $1.98, the original 6-by-9-inch ant farm was an immediate hit, soon selling thousands a week by mail order to children persuaded by commercials on after-school television shows.

The result . . .

It has been a staple in children’s bedrooms ever since. More than 20 million have been sold. Mr. Levine once said of his company’s success: “Most novelties, if they last one season, it’s a lot. If they last two seasons, it’s a phenomenon. To last 35 years is unheard of.” That was in 1991.

From a dream into a reality . . .

Last year, Uncle Milton Industries, based in Westlake Village, Calif., was sold to the Transom Capital Group for more than $20 million. Mr. Levine died Jan. 16 in Thousand Oaks, CA. He was 97.

Do you have a flash of inspiration? Do you have an idea or dream? Do you take action? Do you follow through?

Take a moment today to assess where you accelerate, where you sputter, and where you eventually stop.

Milton took a simple idea, made it into a novelty, and grossed $20M.

You can too.

Quotes taken and modified from the New York Times.

How To Pick Yourself Up After You Fail.

"The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." - Nelson Mandela

1. Try another direction, tack, or plan.
2. Ask a friend for help.
3. Go for a walk, clear your mind, get back to work.
4. Take action, do anything, keep your momentum moving forward.
5. Read a book, surf the web.
6. Call a past customer or client.
7. Go to an event/meeting.
8. Hop on a webinar or e-learning conference call.
9. Go visit your competition.
10. Hit the museum — I always get inspiration from that.
11. Get in your car and drive.
12. Go to the gym.
13. Have lunch with past colleagues.
14. Read Fast Company, Wired, Inc., or Entrepreneur.
15. Meditate, pray, or do yoga - center yourself.

In the end, don't sit still and wallow in your failure. Stand up, regard it as a learning experience, and move forward.

What have you done to pick yourself up after you've failed?

Smile or Die!

RSA brings us another wonderful white-board executive summary of a powerful business topic — Smiling! Enjoy.

Happy Birthday IBM!

IBM is 100! Check out this imaginative and powerful spot:

How To Make Wonderful Mistakes.

Over the past week, someone I’ve been working with let me know that they made a pretty big mistake. One that might affect me and my business. Don’t worry - it’s not that big. I’m okay.

It’s how she let me know. In her email, she alluded to missing a critical requirement, but never formally apologized and said it was ‘her fault’. Although we discussed this in-depth over the past few weeks, it ultimately (in her opinion), was my fault for not catching this.

In addition, she pretty well closed the door on any possibility of reversing her mistake. And she didn't provide any options moving forward.

Story over — now let’s get to the meat of the post:

Mistakes are natural, occur frequently, and are a part of life. Once you acknowledge this, you'll be a much happier and stress-free person.

In fact, with my teams, I encourage mistakes, because they promote learning and forward movement. If you or your team makes no mistakes, you probably aren’t taking risks, venturing into unknown territory, or pushing yourselves harder to deliver faster, better, and with more quality.

So here are some of my rules about mistakes:

1. Expect that they will happen. If you tip-toe around everything you do, afraid of making a mistake, you will never accelerate you team, project or career. Trust me on this.
2. When a mistake occurs, treat it as a learning opportunity. Get your team to acknowledge the mistake, understand how it happened, and come up with their own solutions to ameliorate it quickly. And also, how to make sure it never happens again.
3. Don't get angry. If it is a serious mistake, still handle it as listed above, but let the team understand the gravity of the situation factually, but not emotionally.
4. Take responsibility for your screw-up immediately. Acknowledge it, say you’re sorry, come with solutions, and a process (and promise) that it will never happen again. You will be instantly respected by your superiors and peers.
5. Don’t point fingers or bring a cadre of fellow players into the mistake. You made it, take responsibility for it. And don’t blame your superiors, your customers, or anyone else ‘if they didn’t catch it’. You are accountable, it your problem now.
6. Stop talking about it and take action. Most problems or issues can be fixed or turned around immediately. There were many times I went to my boss and said that I screwed up, this is what happened, and I’ve already fixed the problem. All I got from him was, “Nice work.” Boy did I feel great afterward.

Now go break some eggs!

Have you or your team ever made a mistake? How did you handle it? How did others react?

Image by Plindberg at Flickr.

Extreme Mojo (or Driving On The Corporate Autobahn).

The other night, I played Call of Duty—Black Ops with my son on his new Xbox 360 (with Kinect!). It's an amazing system — and it's quite entertaining. Unfortunately, I played it all wrong — or at least that's what my son told me (vociferously). I either camped out in one spot and picked everyone off like a sniper, or I ran blindly into the fray as fast as I could shooting everyone in sight. As I was reprimanded by my son, the 'right' way to play is to move slowly and shoot strategically at your enemies. I disagree ;)

What if we migrate this idea into business? There is a theory of moving slowly and acting strategically to hit your deadlines and vanquish your obstacles.

Have you ever started to pick up significant momentum during a project, moving faster and faster, leaving everyone behind? Where your team all aligned behind you like a Lionel train set all chugging faster and faster, and no one dared to get in your way? It's call MOJO.

I see this happen often with executives and businesspeople who have a clear vision of purpose. No one, and I mean no one, will get in their way. They drive forward and make things happen when they want them to happen. Even if the 'human obstacles' complain to upper management, no one wants to get in the way of this speeding train.

You need a few things for Mojo to occur:

• A crystal-clear vision - all mapped out with alternate directions.
• Quick thinking - you must think 3-4 steps ahead of everyone else.
• A good lay of the land - anticipate all the obstacles that might come from other departments or people.
• Firm foundation of support - a few superiors, peers, and subordinates who believe you can do it.
• Energy - the ability to quickly pick oneself off the ground, dust yourself off, and start running.
• Enthusiasm - it's infectious - you need to convert lots of friends, admirers, and help from high places along the way.

I've seen (and had) this Mojo many times in my career. It's beautiful to watch everyone scurry out of the way (but take notice) of a fellow colleague driving on the corporate Autobahn at 180 mph.

Have you ever accelerated past the speed of light at work? What happened? What surprised you?

When Is It Right To Question Authority At Work?

"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." – John F. Kennedy. How often do we let this happen to us at work? We go with the vagaries of the loudest shouters without sitting down, truly thinking about the issue and doing what is the right path for you, your organization, and your customers?

I know JFK meant this for the political process (and it is so apropos today) - but I love to take great quotes out of context and apply them to different situations.

When has it become a bad thing to question authority at work? Because of the economy and changing marketplace, almost every company is in control and the executive is at their mercy.

Many times during my career, I came to these crossroads. When I started with a large advisory firm, management was enthralled with a powerful vendor (who was charging millions for their services). The vendor’s name was hallowed through the halls - you don’t buck them!

I was tapped to take over a struggling team to launch a totally new product with a new website built by this vendor. After working with them for about a month, I realized they were doing nothing and constantly running out the clock.

I thought about it and put my job and reputation on the line by speaking with my immediate superiors. I wanted to fire the vendor. Surprisingly, they wanted to do it too, but were afraid to do it. So I did. And in less than three months, we had a fully-functioning site up and running, blowing away the rest of the company who still had to work with the vendor.

Bottom line, think hard, do your research, and buck the consensus when required.

Have you ever been in this situation?

Add More Torque To Your Organization.

What’s torque? It’s a measure of the turning force on an object such as the pushing or pulling of a wrench handle connected to a nut or bolt. It produces a torque (turning force) that loosens or tightens the bolt. If you elongate the wrench handle (by adding a long pipe) you increase the torque, or turning force on the bolt.

Cars have torque too - it’s your gear system. In first gear, you have the most torque on your drive train (which ultimately moves your wheels) and you can climb any incline. But as you move up the gears (2, 3, 4, 5, and 6), you use less torque and your car can go faster and faster and faster.

I feel like Tim Taylor from Home Improvement right now.

Let’s talk about your career.

How can use less torque to what you do? To go faster and faster with less effort? How can you add a pipe to that wrench to effortlessly loosen the bolt?

The funny thing is, you probably know what ‘torque-related’ elements there are in your career or business — but you’re just not using them. They’re sitting in your toolbox, gathering dust.

Let me list some of the elements and their corresponding tools:

• Promotion/More Pay — Deliver faster, better, get other key execs to recognize you. Ask for more work, exposure, or the ability to work on your boss' projects.
• More Clients — 80/20 rule - who are your best clients? Go find out where the 20% live, meet, and congregate. I promise you there will be more of them waiting for your services. Let the underperforming 80% go away (for the time being).
• Efficient Team — Find out what motivates, energizes and leverages their strengths. You won’t believe what they can do once you initiate these levers.
• Technology — You can do it yourself, learn how to do it better, or get someone to do it for you. Guess which one moves you the fastest?

Get where I’m going? Go out and start shifting into 4th/5th/6th gear or find a pipe to turn your wrench. Don’t just stand there and say “I can only move in one gear” or “that bolt will never loosen”.

You have a complete toolbox to choose from. It’s inside you.

What your favorite tool in your toolbox you use to move faster?

Are You On Track For 2011?

Today is January 20th. You’ve had 20 days to kick off 2011 the right way. You know, MAKE A DIFFERENCE. How’s it working for you? I usually get one of three answers:

• Unbelievable! (face it, they’re lying.)
• Still In The Planning Stage (and when ARE you going to launch?)
• No, Life Still Sucks (buy them a BIG drink.)

The good news is: We’re only 20 days into the new year. You still have time.

There's one caveat, your time is running out. If you want to make a dramatic difference in your life, career, or business, you need to start taking action immediately.

Why? This is how I see a typical year (again, this is how I see it):

JAN - FEB - MAR Critical time to launch and catch your management’s or the marketplace’s attention.

APR - MAY - JUN Moving into the passing lane, accelerating forward, making significant wins. Remember, there are some school vacations and holidays mixed in here.

JUL - AUG Dead time. Everyone focused on having fun with the fam or on the farm.

SEP-OCT Another critical time to impact your management or marketplace, everyone ramping up for the fourth quarter.

NOV-DEC Almost everyone is distracted by the holidays, the weather, etc. Begin planning NOW for 2012.

When are you going to get off your butt and make things happen?

How To Overcome Your Speaking Jitters.

I present to audiences all over the world. In college, I took a communications course which made me stand up and give presentations each week to the class. Most people developed very serious talks. One topic the instructor assigned was to pick a person in our life who helped us cope with the craziness of childhood, most of my peers chose their grandfather/grandmother, mother, father, etc.

I chose Batman. I kept it light, funny, and focused. I spoke about how he helped me learn to read (comics) and gave me a basic ethical structure in relation to crime. He also taught me about how to correctly throw a Bat-a-rang. I got an ‘A’ from the professor.

Rule #1 If you have to speak, be comfortable with your topic and materials.

Most people stand up and keep their topic and presentation style very formal and impersonal. That’s probably why they feel uncomfortable and usually, their presentations suck. Your presentation has to be YOU. They need to see you built it, crafted it, and are delivering it from your personality, your experiences, and your knowledge. Anything less . . . it probably won’t work.

I also took the Dale Carnegie Class (12 weeks/3 hour meetings) and had to stand up each meeting and give an impassioned speech with no notes, no Powerpoint, for a specific amount of time. It was difficult and fraught-ridden with failure.

Rule #2 Speak from your heart to capture their hearts and minds.

Emotions are tricky things to manipulate and master. Candidly, all presentations are ‘Broadway‘ — it’s partially the content, but the real discriminator is the delivery. If you REALLY believe in your topic and transfer all emotions in your talk, you'll have your audience in the palm of your hand.

When I was a young executive, my boss and I worked weeks to develop a speech he was going to give at a major tech expo (1000+ attendees). The morning of the speech, he and I were going over it, and he said, “Rich, I think YOU should do it. It would be a good opportunity for you to really broaden your experience in front of a large crowd,” I was nervous, but I did it, and I hit it out of the park.

Rule #3 Forget about screwing up, the crowd, the pressures — just do it.

This might sound flippant, but everyone I’ve coached and trained in public speaking all agree once you are up there speaking, most (if not all) your ambivalence disappears.

It’s the build-up to the event that terrifies you. You tell yourself stories, develop worst-case scenarios, and mentally watch yourself fail in front of thousands of people.

You also have to practice, practice, practice. Know your material cold. Check your timing, transitions, and ability to handle a basic set of questions.

Once you get up there, a large percentage of your jitters and shakiness evaporate and any lingering insecurity is managed by your focus on the topic and delivery.

How do you shake off your speaking insecurities?

3 Ways To Make Obstacles Disappear.

As I’ve always said . . . work is just a series of problems to solve. You have to have your head on straight all the time, attack each problem head on, and make sure you clean up the kitchen after you’re done. Sometimes though, it’s not so easy. Major obstacles jump into your path and make the process of solving these problems difficult, nay impossible.

When I was a ‘wee lad’ years ago, I had a great mentor who helped me understand how to take care of these obstacles when they appear in your way. He said, “Rich, you have three choices: Fight, Compromise, or Acquiesce. That’s it — pick one — and then do it.” Here's what he meant:

Fight

Is it a hill to die on? Sometimes you need to armor-up, get your troops in order, and take on the enemy to make the obstacle disappear.

Sometimes it’s Mr. Obstacle who is against all change, or they want to control an area you are clearly taking over, or they are just being childish (this happens often) and you need to give them a dose of hard reality.

Bottom line, If you are going to have battle scars, so will they. The best way to fight is first do it privately, behind closed doors and lay out the facts why the decision should it go your way. If it doesn’t work, go public — but again, get your troops and facts in order to win the fight quickly and with the least amount of blood-loss. If you're going to take them down a peg, be gracious, but pull the band-aid off quickly.

Compromise

Time to pull out your ‘Atticus Finch’ hat and begin laying the groundwork for a suitable set of goals you and Mr. Obstacle will agree to. Usually, it’s not much to give up, but it’s the principle of the subtle concession.

If you do compromise - make sure Mrs. Obstacle feels the pain too and they are making you lose critical time, resources, and money to make this agreement. In addition, let them know subtly this is going to be a one-time event, next time you are going to bring the big guns.

Acquiesce

Sometimes for the good of the project and the company (and your job) you have to give in. Immediately figure out what has to change, who will be impacted, what will have to be shortened, expanded, etc.

Just like an armistice after a war, you’re giving in. So make the process as clean, quick, and professional as possible. Set up alternatives and make them instantly happen. Get your staff on-board, show them why you have to give in and move on. Time to fight is for another day.

Think of a recent obstacle in your career - what did you do?

How To Say No.

It's one of the hardest things to do in business.

If you're an executive, you never say no to your boss and you're afraid to say no to your peers. Your team, it's easy — except if you're a pushover.

If you run a business, you never say no to your clients and you're afraid to say no to your vendors/distributors. Your team — again, pushover.

But using the word 'No' effectively puts you in the driver's seat — it allows you to make faster decisions on what you have planned to do. If you let someone else pop in with a request, change, or demand and it throws off your plans — it's frustrating.

So here are some proven techniques to say 'No':

• Say 'Not Now'. You're not saying 'No', you are acknowledging their idea/direction, and you probably see the reason behind the request. But you just can't do it NOW. "Let's look at it in a few weeks, months, and hopefully years." Because most requests have a tinge of self-esteem built into them — you have to keep it up while letting them down easy. "Susan, I have to say, this is an incredible idea. I am blown away you spent a lot of time on it and I want us to take it forward. But, not now. We are in the middle of launching our new nuclear-powered client service system and we just don't have the focus or manpower to do it at this time. Do you see where I'm coming from?"
• Say 'Yes', but with stipulations and the ability to change it radically. Some ideas have merit and some have a little spark of genius wrapped in a ball of unimportant busywork. First, give them acknowledgement for a great idea and say 'Yes', but then dissect their suggestion/demand and pick out the parts which really have merit. "Tom, I see where you're going with this and I'm really interested in accelerating this one small section ASAP into our project line. Are you up to running it? By the way nice work. We can then review the rest and see what is feasible moving forward."
• Say 'Yes', but change their request around so it better suits you and the direction you're traveling in. Often, bosses, peers, clients, and even your team try to throw ideas or '180° turnarounds' to slow you down, jumble up the works, or stop progress entirely. Sometimes they do it unwittingly and sometimes with malice. In any event, you need to acknowledge their tennis serve and return it back with a lot of spin on it. "Igor, your idea of moving the development team to Fiji is well-thought out — I am intrigued by your idea of moving the team to get better work out of them. Your strategy of mixing up the work environment is a good one — let's redecorate their offices."
• Say 'No'. There are times when you just have to say 'No' and take the consequences. But let them down gently and quickly — again, a lot of their self-esteem and work is bundled up into the idea — and it will take a major hit. Take their emotions into account but follow your 'No' with FACTS. Refer to why you can't do it and what elements are out of your control, etc. "Fritz, I'm going to have to pass at this time on your idea. It's not that it's bad, I do see some hard work here, but for this company at this time, I will have to say 'No'. Do you understand where I'm coming from?"

When have you had to say 'No'? What happened?

Creating A Life Plan . . . Today.

Many of my clients ask how can they apply our session learnings to their personal life. I say it's easy — you just have to take the first step. My life plan system is comprised of four areas:

1. Create A Purpose Statement. Why do you want to do this? "I want to see the world and meet new people." What do you want to change? "I want to spend more time with my kids." What do you want to add? Get out a big sheet of paper and begin thinking BIG. Use a huge Post-It notepad with markers. You want lots of room, lots of ideas - this is going to get messy! You are going to change often during this process - hone down ideas, think of new ones, and throw some out the window.
2. Set Clear Goals. What are the specific goals you want to reach? Not "have more happiness" - where? And back to Purpose . . . Why? Take one sheet per goal and start to see how you can transfer your purpose to specific goals.
3. Define Steps & Activities. Articulate each step you'll need to take. Who needs to help you? What will you need to do? What will you stop doing? What other resources do you need to help you move through each step? Get messy on each page - list all the steps then begin to put them in order. Then add completion dates to each activity.
4. Take Action. Just Do it. Pick the first step - and get it done this weekend.
5. Refine As Needed During the journey, life will get in your way. You need to be resilient and stick to the plan. Or make subtle changes as you accelerate or decelerate.

You either have to do it by yourself or have a spouse, partner or friend work with you. The better communication that you have with them (or yourself), the more successful you'll be.

In addition, having someone to do it with makes it that much more fun and powerful. And you will stick to it.

First Impressions Define Your Success.

Okay, I lied. Many things define your success. But one of the more important elements of initial and continued success are the ways other people perceive us. I've broken it down into five elements, so here goes:

Approach

How do you comport yourself? Do you slug along with your shoulders down, leaning on tables, head facing down? Try to change that - walk just a little bit faster wherever you go. Pick up the speed a little bit — a good measure is to move 20% faster, not a run, just a quicker pace.

Adjust your posture, don't stand straight up like a soldier — align your ears, shoulders, and hips — and your spine will relax into a natural 'S'. Try not to lean on tables, desks, cubicles — it communicates fatigue, laziness, boredom. If you don't feel like standing straight, then do something — look and act busy.

Handshake

Handshake is critical. The other day, a person pulled me aside and complimented me about my son's handshake. He was impressed how firm his shake was for a 14-year old boy. Understand, this is probably the only time you will touch another person and the tactual, kinesthetic action is very important to set a first impression. You need to practice it frequently — if it's too weak (clammy) or too strong (vise-like), you'll immediately set the wrong perception.

Facial Expression

Next time you have 1/2 hour and a cam in your laptop, record yourself working. When you review your recording, you might be surprised — most people's resting facial expression is one of anger or unhappiness. So if someone is looking or approaching you — you might not realize that you are actually presenting yourself with a less than appealing demeanor.

Try smiling more often — it takes less muscles and studies have shown that it makes you feel happier and gets the happy hormones flowing!

Dress

I'm not a fashion consultant — but I do know good choices of clothing and bad ones. When you first look at a person, the face is important, but your clothed body makes up a larger remainder of the perceived person. Dress nicely and if you want to, add an element of flair to your wardrobe — a scarf, a sharp tie, a cool belt, cool shoes. Make sure the scarf is not wrinkled, the tie is in-style and clean, your belt is shined with no visible scuff marks, and your shoes are in very good to excellent condition.

I'm also not going to get into the Boomer/Millennial argument about clothing. You know your environment, you know the people that you are trying to interact/reach out to/impress. Dress accordingly.

Let me let you in on a little secret: Years ago, when many offices made the decision to move from suits to casual dress, most employees sprinted into polo shirts and jeans. What did I do? I watched what all of my superiors were wearing — and guess what? I wore what they wore — sharp shirts and expensive slacks. Who got the best projects, the largest teams, the raises, and the promotions? ME.

Hygiene

Pay attention to your body - make sure your hair is perfect (mine is easy), that your smells are not too over-powering — shower, antiperspirant, a little cologne/perfume.

For you older folk, pay attention to hair that appears in strange places (nose/ears/face/hands) — I get more scared as I get older and see my hair migrate from my head to the Twilight Zones of my face. Pretty soon, I'll need hedge clippers from Black & Decker.

Also, good dental hygiene is important too. If you can, brush your teeth after lunch to get all the errant spinach from the crevices of your front incisors. At the very least, check your teeth with a mirror or give them a quick wipe with your napkin. Breath is all important — chew gum if you have too. Mr. Garlic or Mrs. Onion is not welcome when speaking one-on-one.

Hope these have helped. You probably do most, if not all of them. But I find that even I need a refresher course on how we present ourselves to deliver the best first impression.

The Most Inspirational Social Media I've Ever Seen.

Every so often, a good friend sends you a story, an article, or a video in this case, that not only gives you hope and inspires you, it knocks your social media socks off. I know this will go viral (259,000 views since Sunday). It's not funny, there's no vitriol, just Carl Sagan talking to us over some magnificent images of our world from Reid Gower with Michael Marantz playing piano. Bravo NASA!

SIMPLE AND POWERFUL.

Are You A Super-Connector?

Keith Ferrazzi uses a term in his book, Never Eat Alone, called the 'Super Connector'. His definition (paraphrased from his book & site):

"Super Connectors are people who maintain contact with thousands of people in many different worlds and know them well enough to give them a call. Restauranteurs, headhunters, lobbyists, fundraisers, public relations people, politicians, and journalists are the best super-connectors because it's their job to know EVERYONE."

If you want to rocket your career upwards or grow your business exponentially, you need to begin reaching out to these people, become friends, and leverage their talents. I do . . . all the time.

But just knowing a lot of people or knowing the 'right' type of people is only one side of the coin. The other side is how you help connect them to each other — 'get your connections to connect with other connections'.

This is where the rubber hits the road — and where most people stop being connectors. They don't want to volunteer their good friends, colleagues, and clients to other connections. Why? It might not go well, people are very concerned about their time, they might not like the person you connect them to — it could go in a million bad directions.

In addition, we tend to hold onto our connections like a deep, dark secret, never letting anyone know who we know. Guess what? You are sabotaging your own evolution to become a super-connector. If you don't share, the natural symbiosis of contacts never happens.

Here's a simple tool I use to not only connect strangers together, but it ensures both parties immediately connect with one another and if something goes awry, no feelings are hurt. I call it the RICH GEE VIRTUAL INTRODUCTION. Here it is:

Oprah & Phil - I think you both should meet. Why?

Oprah - Phil is a good friend and a rare personality in the world. He's helped many celebrities just like you and his name came to mind when you mentioned your situation with the beef industry.

Phil - Oprah is also a good friend. She has a multi-billion dollar media enterprise and she influences millions of people every day. She makes things happen.

From my point of view, it never hurts to introduce respected professionals - you never know who can help who, who knows who, etc. I love to have these encounters myself all the time. No one is selling anything, no one is looking for a job - the result: good business and marketplace conversation! You never know, you might help one another!

Oprah Position, Company

Address, City/State/Zip

Direct Phone Number

Email

Phil Position, Company

Address, City/State/Zip

Direct Phone Number

Email

If I have erred in any way, let me know. I have introduced you to each other with the highest of ethics and earnestness. You are both nice people and I like to make opportunities happen between friends and colleagues.

Have a great day! Regards - Rich

I've probably used this template thousands of times in my corporate and coaching career. Guess what? It's NEVER backfired — no one ever got their feelings hurt — no one ever called their lawyers.

Try it — one day (in the very near future) you might become a super connector too!

The Best Way To Grow Your Business & Career.

Ask someone. That's it. Go out there into the world, and ask people what they think. Sounds too simple, doesn't it? It's called Voice of the Customer.

But most people don't do that. They're afraid that they might be told something that they don't want to hear. Or they'll be talked out of their dream/strategy. Or that stronger personalities might co-opt their idea, mold it, and it will look totally different from when they started. So they just stop and talk to no one.

Let me help you — go talk to people. People that have done it before. People that have used your service. People that might have great ideas. Yesterday, I ran into a great Reddit question (if you don't follow Reddit, you should):

"I own a liquor store and want to know what type of things do you look for when you shop at your local liquor store? What would make your shopping better?"

Here are some of the responses — pure gold if you ask me:

• I love how one of my local movie rental stores have handwritten notes recommending certain dvds. Why not do the same for liquor? A note that says: "Goes great with: xxx, xxx, or xxx" could be great for people trying new liquors and wanting to switch things up.
• I think that 'employee picks' would be pretty cool. Just like you see in an independent bookstore - just a little note under the product with a name and a short blurb about why it's great.
• Liquor of the week - slightly discount something obscure each week and sell at the counter. It would give people a reason to try new things.
• Offer customers the option of making their own six packs from our selection for a flat rate.
• Free bag of ice with purchase (a store back home used to do this. I went there all the time because of it.)
• Lemons, limes, common mixers (e.g. Tonic, soda water, cola).
• Know your regulars - They often order things for my husband and I that they don't usually carry. Whenever we go in they make a point of telling us about anything new they've gotten in to try. We almost always take the suggestion and buy it. The owner, who is usually there, will even remember what it was and ask us how we liked it. I'm sure we spend a lot more money there due to the extra attention. I don't expect the guy to remember our names, but it's nice that he remembers what we like to drink.
• Solo Cups, Ping-Pong Balls, Playing Cards, Poker Chips, etc., etc. You know if there is a college near by.

You get the idea. One question in the right forum and you get gold from customers.

In Corporate — If you have an idea for a new project at work, run it by some people you trust — talk to mentors outside of your company. Want to make a move — start talking to people, dip your toe in the water. Reach out to industry insiders and ask their opinion.

You might be VERY surprised.

Are We Experiencing A Technology Tsunami?

Over the past 25 to 30 years, technology has been zipping along the mainframe to desktop route and the entire tech institution has been riding along with it (and profiting greatly from it). Lately, I find as each month progresses, I am leveraging the old basics of business and office technology less and less.

Some examples:

1. I never load software anymore - in fact I don't even use my CD/DVD player. With the advent of the App Store this week, I see it going away.
2. I carry my laptop less and less. I use my iPhone and look forward to the iPad2.
3. I can carry most key files I need on my 64GB Flash Drive (duplicates of course).
4. I don't have as many problems/issues/blowups as I used to with tech even 3-5 years ago.
5. More (if not all) of my tools and files are on the cloud, not on my laptop.
6. I hardly print anymore. Thus, no files or file cabinet.
7. Email is slowly going away for me - I text message and call more often.
8. Hardware is getting cheaper by the minute. A $500 backup HD a few years ago is $99 today.

I parallel this change in my life (and business) with the car industry. When I was growing up, cars broke down frequently — there were repair shops all over the place fixing almost every part on a car. Nowadays, it's rare to have to fix your car (maintenance excluded - I have Hondas/Acuras). Engineering, design, materials, and service just got better.

Is the same thing happening in the tech industry and all ancillary organizations who attach themselves like barnacles to tech? If so, what is the impact on the industry? What's the impact on organizations like Symantec (virus), Gartner/Forrester (advisory), HP (printing), and Microsoft (operating systems)?

How is technology changing for you? Is it getting cheaper? More efficient? Concentrated? Expanded?

I run my own business and own all Apple products. All of this is happening very quickly and I fully embrace the change. In fact, I lease all my equipment — by the time the lease runs out, the tech is obsolete anyway.

Do you see corporate tech shops getting smaller as more and more systems are simplified and delivered via the cloud? As moving parts disappear (CD's, Software, Wires, Hard Drives) do the systems, personnel, costs, support and focus also decline?

Open disclosure: I worked for Gartner for six years and was a client for seven.

$17.14 Can Change Your Thinking. Guaranteed.

As I frequently say, most business books SUCK. But there are some that matriculate to the top and it's my job to keep up on the constant volume of new tomes shoved out into the marketplace and decide who makes the top 5%. Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation by Steven Johnson makes that cut.

I stumbled into this book back in October/November when it was published and just got around to finishing it over the holidays. Candidly, I'm blown away.

First off, I had to read it with my trusty highlighter in hand as each info nugget popped out and provided insight into past or current challenges around creativity and problem solving. It's chock full of great strategies and ideas - this is not a boring 'this is my opinion' self-help book.

Johnson's book is written in an easily accessible style that makes you forget that you are reading theory. It's more like reading a conversation. His ideas are thought-provoking, even for people who don't choose to agree with him. This book helped stimulate a lot of discussion in one of my mastermind groups - likely the tone of the book does this. Rather than being confused about what was being said or what the theories were, it enabled all of us to have a discussion around the ideas and philosophy of the book. A stimulating and refreshing read.

I'd recommend it to anyone who's ever had bursts of inspiration and wondered why they haven't been able to replicate those circumstances, or anyone who wants to innovate at all. Go out and buy this book today.

Finally, here's a great 'RSA Animate' video that gives you the jist of what Mr. Johnson espouses. Enjoy!

There's No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.

"There's No Such Thing As A Free Lunch." A powerful quote by Milton Friedman, a prominent American economist in the 20th century. I first heard this saying at my freshman introductory orientation at Ripon College with Dean Harris, Dean of Men. He was speaking to the entire male freshman class (the ladies were in another room in a similar talk with the Dean of Women — boy would I have liked to have been a fly on that wall!). Dean Harris was a wonderful man who reached out to me at different junctures of my college career — giving me sage advice (and reprimanding me when I stepped over the line). He's a special person in my life.

To this day, I can't think of a month that goes by when I either think or speak these words. As a successful corporate executive and coach, what does it mean to me?

1. If you work hard, results and rewards will follow.
2. Odds are, if someone gives something to you, it will probably cost you something in the end.
3. Don't expect anything to happen, plan and ensure that it does.
4. Don't go through life thinking everything will be easy.

Those are MY definitions. What are yours?

Oh, by the way, here's a great corollary to the Friedman quote:

“The small businessman is smart; he realizes there's no free lunch. On the other hand, he knows where to go to get a good inexpensive sandwich.” - Adam Osborne