Is Discipline Optional?

If you have never read The Effective Executive, I recommend you put it on your priority list, right now. Peter Drucker wrote The Effective Executive in 1967, and it is just as relevant today as it was then. Perhaps even more.

In the book, Drucker explains the five facets of executive effectiveness. For the purposes of this blog post, I will call your attention to only one of those five dimensions. What I want to talk about is the importance of individual strengths.

Chapter Four, in The Effective Executive, is titled “Making Strengths Productive.” In the chapter, Drucker talks about the importance of identifying, and building on, your personal strengths. Peter says effective executives are not omnipotent. In fact, an individual's strength is usually bundled with an equally great weakness.

There are any number of things effective people are not good at. But, this need not be a problem. All a person needs to do is identify, and make productive, his or her unique strengths. Drucker warns people to not waste time trying to fix their weaknesses. A much more effective strategy is to utilize your strengths so that you may produce and contribute.

We have now arrived at a part that threw me for a loop. You see, some years ago Donald Clifton started studying strengths as well. In fact, it was Clifton's work that led the Gallup Organization to their current focus on strengths.

Through Gallup we all can take a strengths test to help us identify where our talents lie. Gallup has identified 34 areas of potential strength. So far, so good.

Unfortunately, this is where things start to derail. The folks at Gallup would agree with Drucker that it is wise to build on your strengths and ignore your weaknesses. In fact, this is a common theme in modern psychology.

Herein lies the problem. One of Gallup's 34 talent “themes” is Discipline. This got me to thinking, is discipline optional? I mean, if you take the strengths finder test, and discover that you have little natural discipline, can you simply ignore the importance of discipline?

I believe the answer to that question is, it depends. In order to live a happy life, I believe you can operate with little discipline. However, if you wish to be successful in business, I believe discipline is not optional.

Business is largely about productivity. And, as I wrote last week, productivity is largely about discipline and self-control. Without discipline it is virtually impossible to be very productive.

If it were not for competition, productivity would be unnecessary. Of course, as we all know, business is a competitive sport. Undisciplined companies get their butts kicked by those who are disciplined.

Some years ago, Jim Collins made quite the splash with his book Good to Great. When Collins and his team analyzed what factors caused good companies to evolve into great companies, one of the things they found was a “culture of discipline.” That is to say, disciplined people, with disciplined thinking, taking disciplined action. Like a lot of people, I did not find the idea surprising.

So, to answer my own question, no, I do not think discipline is optional. At least not when it comes to effectiveness and entrepreneurship. I imagine, in life generally, one could get along fine without discipline. However, in the realm of business, I do not believe such a luxury exists.

I guess the next question would be, “If discipline is so important, how do we develop it?” I think that is a good question. And, fortunately, a lot of research is being done on methods to improve discipline. It is this research, that I will touch on, at a later date. For now, I wish you a wonderful, disciplined week and a happy Memorial Day.

Productivity is Dumb

Productivity is dumb. I say that, of course, tongue-in-cheek. Productivity is important. But, a lot of people are going about it all wrong.

Peter Drucker once said, “There is nothing quite so useless, as doing with great efficiency, something that should not be done at all.”

Drucker would make a clear distinction between effectiveness and efficiency. Efficiency is doing things right. And, effectiveness is doing the right things.

A lot of the productivity advice, currently circulating the ether, is concerned with getting things done. It is concerned with efficiency. The problem is that the more important, more fundamental, consideration is deciding what needs being done. That is to say, before we consider efficiency, we need to contemplate effectiveness.

If you understand the effectiveness/efficiency distinction, you will understand why productivity is largely a function of self-control. Productivity is really about courage, and the ability to say “No.”

You don't need some newfangled way to squeeze more tasks into your day. You need to eliminate things that are unnecessary. And, it is the process of elimination that can be intimidating and scary. Thus the importance of courage.

By the time you have come to study productivity, there is a good chance you have piled a ton of stuff onto your plate. You are probably juggling lots of balls. And, the juggling is not necessarily a problem, provided you can keep the balls in the air.

It is when the balls start to hit the ground that people will search for some system to help them juggle more efficiently. People usually try to find some “secret” as to how they can handle all the stuff they have piled onto their plate. There is no secret, you simply need to reduce the size of the pile. An idea that scares the hell out of people.

We seldom admit we are scared. We usually will only suggest that we are not comfortable. A lot of the problem, with saying "No," is driven by FOMO, or the fear of missing out. And, as emotional thoughts tend to do, the fear becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The fear of missing out often causes us to miss out. It is totally paradoxical, and totally true. When we say “Yes” to everything we are seldom present for anything. Sure, we may be there physically. But, mentally, we are occupied thinking of all the things we need to get done.

Drucker would say that one of the first keys to effectiveness is “organized abandonment.” I know it is a weird phrase, but it is an important phrase nonetheless.

Drucker was dogmatic about the importance of systems. Organized abandonment was his way of saying we need to systematically eliminate things from our lives. And, by systematically, he meant we must schedule the time to identify what needs to be abandoned.

In addition to FOMO, another part of the problem is the fact that a lot of people wear their busy-ness as a badge of honor. I think Stephen Covey would call it the laziness of busy-ness. Meaning, a lot of people equate being busy with being valuable and important. So, they use their busy-ness as a proxy for self-worth.

Related to this busy-ness concept is the mistaken pride of the “multi-tasker.” A lot of people brag about their ability to multi-task. What they seem to not understand is that multi-tasking is largely an illusion.

Sure, we can do multiple, mundane tasks at the same time. We can walk and chew gum. But, we cannot do two complex tasks, simultaneously, at a high level.

The upper limit, of the computing capacity of the human mind, is about 125 bits of information per second. For this reason, it is a very bad idea to send text messages while you drive a car. It is also why we can never hope to follow more than two conversations at a one time.

The pride of the multi-tasker is intimately connected to the lazy of busy-ness. The problem is we end up doing a lot of stuff that we are better off not doing at all. Being able to text-and-drive is not something to be proud of. It is very dangeous. And, it is a perfect example of what Drucker was talking about when he warned against efficiently doing that which should not be done.

I say forget about multi-tasking, and quite using exhaustion as a status symbol. Instead, focus. Work on your answer to the question, “What do you want to be remembered for?”

The reality is, most people do not have goals, much less a mission statement. Productivity is dumb if we do not know where we are headed. To paraphrase the Cheshire Cat, if you do not care where you end up, it does not matter the way you travel.

A lot of us simply react to the things life throws at us. And, life throws a lot of things. This allows people to stay busy on what Covey would define as "urgent" but not "important." Instead of reacting, Stephen Covey recommends we, "Be proactive." Identify what is truly important and work on those things.

Another of Covey's Seven Habits is to, “Begin with the end in mind.” It is a critical element of effectiveness. But, again, it is scary.

Productivity is really about being effective. And, effectiveness is really an exercise in discipline and self-control.

Effectiveness is about looking at the universe of possible options, and selecting the very few things we will actually work towards. There is more out there than we could ever hope to do. This conundrum requires us to use discipline and have self-control.

Drucker reminded us that all biological systems must eliminate its waste products, otherwise it poisons itself. Productivity gains are mostly the result of organized abandonment.

Until we have clarified our mission, until we have crystallized what is truly important, I think it is silly to worry about becoming more efficient.

Why MLM Makes Sense

In order to explain why MLM makes sense, I need to first talk about two people: Peter Drucker and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. First, Drucker.

Peter Drucker famously said that a business exists for one reasoning, to create a customer. That being the case, a business has two main functions: innovation and marketing. Click here to read more.

Innovation can be understood as the act of making something better and more valuable. Specifically, more valuable. Because in order to qualify as genuine innovation a product must pass the market test. That is to say, people must be willing to pay for any given improvement. Stated simply, an innovation is any improvement that people are willing to pay for. Click here to read more.

Marketing is a little more simple. I think we all have an idea of what marketing is. What you may not know is that marketing grew out of selling. That is to say, selling came first. However, over time, management principles were applied to selling. and a new branch was created. That branch was called marketing.

Since selling is more fundamental than marketing, we should say that the two main functions of a business are innovation and selling. For example, when you go into the Shark Tank, what they care about is your sales. Sales rule supreme.

Being that innovation and selling are the key tasks, they are also very valuable. When Ben Franklin famously said that thing about, “An investment in yourself always pays the best dividend,” he was talking about innovation. Click here to read more.

Boiled down to its essence, business is really simple. First you need to create, or take ownership of, some valuable. Next you need to sell it to people. That is all there is to it.

Lots of people make things better (innovate) and better everyday. As Felix Dennis once said, good ideas are ten-a-penny. The problem in business (the limiting reagent, as we say in chemistry) is usually sales. More sales solves most problem. Because sales is the ultimate problem-solver, it possesses the ultimate value. Here is where I need to start talking about Franklin D Roosevelt.

I think we all know what happened on October 24, 1929. That day is known as Black Tuesday. In many ways it was the start of the Great Depression, a time of dire economic conditions. In 1933, the United States Congress began to pass a series of laws, that combined with executive orders from FDR, and came to be known as the New Deal.

Part of the New Deal legislation included laws creating a minimum-wage. The idea was to reduce the number of workers that could be under-paid and exploited. But, as is always the case, businesses did not take it lying down.

In 1935, in an effort to avoid the minimum-wage laws, companies began to reclassify their salespeople as “independent contractors.” Pretty nifty. But, what happened? Did people refuse to take a job that did not contain the security of a minimum? Hardly!

Plenty of men and women lined up to take on the job of salesperson. The reason is very simple. While there is no guarantee, the compensation is much more lucrative should you choose to actually produce. And, companies do not mind paying commissions because it means additional revenue.

Like Peter Drucker says, there are no profits inside a company. Inside a company there are only costs. “The only profit center, in a business, is the customer's check that has not bounced.” Salespeople find those customers. Salespeople bring in the money, and so they are well compensated. Like Grant Cardone says, if you want to make more money, get closer to the revenue.

Lots of sales jobs do not contain minimum-wages. And, that is just fine for plenty of salespeople. A lot of salespeople are willing to trade-in the guarantees for increased earning power. Enter MLM.

When a person is a multi-level marketing (MLM) distributor, s/he does two main things. S/he sells and s/he recruits. And, when you really think about it, recruiting is a form of selling. When you are recruiting, what you are selling is an opportunity. So, really, MLM is all about the profession of selling.

So, now, follow me, and think about it. Business is conducted by people. To have a successful business, you need good people. For this reason, all successful business owners know the importance of recruiting. Recruiting is a very valuable skill. And, since selling is the most important/scarce function in business, it is also the most valuable.

Hopefully you can understand why recruiting, and developing, good salespeople is extremely valuable. And, that is exactly what an MLM distributor does. An MLMer is willing to trade-in the safety and security of a guarantee paycheck in order to eventually earn an enormous income.

This is exactly why MLM makes so much sense. A company is willing to pay handsome commissions because, in doing so, the company also makes a profit. Recruiting, training, and developing a sales force is the way to generate lots of revenue for the company. In turn, the person who developed that sales team will makes lot of money. And, shouldn't it be so?

If you have followed me to this point, if you understand what Drucker said, and what FDR did, you will understand why MLM flat-out makes sense as a legitimate, perhaps ideal, business opportunity.

Always remember, selling and innovation are THE entrepreneurial functions.

On Making Mistakes

Last week I talked about taking massive action. This week let's talk about a corollary to the concept of massive action. If you take massive action, there is on thing you can be certain of, you will make lots of mistakes.

Last week I gave the example of a healthy marriage. If you want a loving relationship you will need a lot of communication. And, when you talk a lot, you are bound to make mistakes. You will put your foot in your mouth. Do it anyway, right? It is important.

For our current purposes, we will focus on business and entrepreneurship. Hopefully, by now, you are convinced that entrepreneurship and selling are inextricably woven together. You cannot be an entrepreneur with being a salesperson. I guess you could be a salesperson without being an entrepreneur. That is to say, you could be a salesperson without innovating. But, you will not last very long.

One thing we know for sure, selling and entrepreneurship demands that we fail. It demands that we show up and be seen. And, like Brene Brown says, when you show up you can be certain of only one thing. You will get your butt kicked!

Of course, when we fear making mistakes we often compensate with perfection. We become perfectionists. This idea was summed up, beautifully, in a quote I once read from Robert Kiyosaki. The quote simply said, “Perfection stops entrepreneurship.”

Additionally, I think we have all heard the old Tom Watson quote that says something to the effect of, “In order to succeed, you need to double your rate of failure.” It is a memorable idea. Mostly because it is so counter-intuitive. Indeed, it is a paradox.

The other day I was watching a short clip, from an interview between Bryan Elliott and Gary Vaynerchuk. In the very beginning of the clip, Elliott asks Vaynerchuk what mistakes he has made. And Gary's response was priceless. With typical Vaynerchuk speed, brevity, and intensity Gary V responded, “Most of them.”

Vaynerchuk went on to say that he is obsessed with mistakes. Currently, much of Vaynerchuk's time is spent running his company, VaynerMedia. And, in no uncertain terms, Gary told Bryan Elliot that VaynerMedia was a mistake. What's more, Gary said he knew VaynerMedia was a mistake before he started it.

Understandably, Elliot was a bit puzzled. So Vaynerchuk clarified, saying that his media company is client-work. And, that is a mistake because client-work does not scale. However, when we start to understand, what Gary really means, we realize he did not make a mistake. Vaynerchuk is one smart dude and puts much thought into his decisions.

To understand Vaynerchuk's decision I will make another quick mention of Robert Kiyosaki. In his book, Rich Dad Poor Dad, Kiyosaki makes a rather astute and counter-intuitive observation. Kiyosaki says the rich do not work for money. The money certainly comes, but that is not necessarily the focus. One of the important things to focus on is developing the necessary knowledge and skills. And, that is what Vaynerchuk is talking about.

Gary admits he did not understand corporate America. So, he started VaynerMedia to gain a real-world education on the ins-and-outs of his client base. Very wise indeed.

The point I am trying to make is that mistakes are 100% inseparable from successes. Indeed, sometimes it is impossible to tell the two apart. This is one of the main themes in a great book titled Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes Wins.

In a sense, starting VaynerMedia was a mistake. It was a mistake if you have a rugged, entrepreneurial perspective that says the only purpose of starting a business is to get rich quickly. However, if you remember Kiyosaki's advice, you remember a second form of enrichment. Namely, the enrichment of real-world education. So, in this sense, VaynerMedia was the exact right thing to do.

The exact same decision, the exact same activities, can simultaneously be a mistake and a success. Stated differently, often making a mistake is the exact right thing to do. To my way of thinking, these are the sorts of delicious complexities that make life fun and engaging. More to come!