This Blog is Changing....Slightly

I have long been thinking about becoming more focused with this blog. Previously, I had titled this blog, “On work, emotions, and paradoxes.” Ideas I am interested in because they are so complicated and sticky.

My problem is that the old title was a bit too confusing. Emotions run the gamut and do not tell the reader what to expect. And paradoxes, while fascinating and important, are not something people generally relate to.

Do not get me wrong, I will still talk about emotions and paradoxes, because they are an integral part of effectiveness and business. However, at least for now, I do want to focus on effectiveness and entrepreneurship.

I do not talk about “success” because it is dependent on a very subjective value judgment. In other words, success means different things to different people. I do, however, talk about effectiveness because effectiveness is about achieving your goals, whatever those goals may be.

Also, I talk about sales, and the profession of selling, because to be an entrepreneur means to be a salesperson. A fair number of people resist is this fact. To those people I quote author Dan Pink, “A world of entrepreneurs is a world of salespeople.”

Additionally, I am a big-time student of Tom Peters. If you do not know who Peters is, he's a pretty big bleepin' deal. He is the author of numerous books including In Search of Excellence and Thriving on Chaos. Because Peters is so great I have made a quote of his the sub-headline to this blog.

As you can see, Tom says, “All of life is sales. If you ain’t interested in sales, you ain't interested in getting things done. Period!” Part of what I love about that quote is how it succinctly illustrates the inseparable nature of selling and effectiveness.

As you may already know, a lot of my thinking, about effectiveness, is built on the teachings of Peter Drucker. So, Drucker will continue to feature prominently in this blog. That said, I am also a believer in drawing on genius wherever it may be found. So, many and diverse disciplines will be brought to bare on the beautifully deep topics of entrepreneurship, selling, and effectiveness. As Drucker himself said, business is a liberal art.

Thanks for sticking around, and please let me know what you think of the new focus.

A Lesson from "The Voice"

Do you ever watch that television show The Voice? I do. Actually, I tend to watch the blind auditions and ignore the rest. I am not sure why, I just think "the blinds” are just so compelling. But, that is neither here nor there.

If you are not familiar with The Voice, the blind auditions are at the beginning of the season. The blinds are a big part of what first made the show so popular. During the blinds, singers perform a 90 second song while four judges have their backs turned. The idea, of course, is to have the contestants judged solely on their voice.

Though I usually do not, this season I decided to watch a little bit after the blind auditions. And I am glad I did. I was reminded of a great lesson.

This season there is a contestant named Ashley Morgan. Ashley is a 27 year old gal, from my neck of the woods, in Costa Mesa, California. So I guess, in that sense, I am kind of partial. Nonetheless, all of the judges agree that she has a fantastic voice.

For her blind audition, Ms. Morgan performed “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” by Whitney Houston and got two chairs to turn. Meaning, two of the four judge (Pharrell Williams and Blake Shelton) pushed their button indicating that they want Ashley on their team.

This is another great part of the show. If more than one judge turns around, for any given contestant, the judges are each obliged to make a sales pitch. The judge must sell the singer as to why said contestant should choose them to be on their team. I do not think any of them sell harder than Adam Levine. But, in this case, Adam was not in the running.

After Pharrell and Blake explained their positions, it was time for Ashley to choose. A choice I cannot imagine is very simple. As it turned out, Ashley selected Pharrell to be her coach. Now, after the blind auditions come the battle rounds. This is where the coaches pair-up two of their team members, to battle it out, by singing a duet.

In order to practice for the battle, each coach brings in another artist to help them prepare the contestants. Pharrell's assistant was none other than Lionel Richie. And, for Ashley's battle, Pharrell selected the song “Put the Gun Down” by ZZ Ward.

As the contestants were practicing we learn that Ms. Morgan is a studio vocalist who has been taking singing lessons since she was 5 years old. Her opponent was Mia Z a 16 year old girl who, apparently, has no formal training.

During the rehearsal Ashley was obviously nervous and uptight. Something Williams and Richie picked up on right away. While Morgan's execution was flawless, it lacked color. Pharrell stopped the rehearsal to instruct Ashley to loosen up and let her personality show through.

In order to show her individuality, and personality, Ashley would need to allow herself to be less technical and more imperfect. As a matter of fact, Lionel Richie told her to, “Throw away your training.”

To throw away her training, and let her guard down, would require opening up and being vulnerable. An idea that Ashley said is, “A terrifying thing to me.”

And, herein lies the beautiful lesson. Ashley Morgan is a highly trained vocalist who can execute songs with perfect pitch and tonality. But perfection is not the goal. Two of the worlds greatest music artists (Williams and Richie) were both telling a singer to stop being so perfect. At first glance, kind of a strange idea. Wouldn't you say?

As we grow up with are indoctrinated with the idea of not making mistakes. In school we are tested, and then punished, for the mistakes we make. However, in the real world, perfection is not the goal.

As we all know, the music business is big business. And, Pharrell Williams and Lionel Richie take it very seriously. What they were clearly telling Ashley Morgan was that the most serious thing she could do was stop being so serious. Maybe we could call it the Richie Paradox.

As The Voice has shown, over the years, perfection does not win. There have been numerous singers who have been flawless in their execution. Some were trained at places like the Berklee College of Music and UCLA. And, if my memory serves me right, not one of them has ever won.

Who knows what will happen to Ms. Morgan. But one thing is clear. If she hopes to win she will need to stop hiding behind her singing technique and show the world who she really is. Because the goal is personality not perfection. Remember that next time you are tempted to demand zero mistakes from yourself.

Post #100 or Why We All Should Be Engineers

This is the one-hundredth post added to this blog. And it got me thinking about milestones. Why do people care so much about milestones?

I think the short answer is that we like the accomplishment associated with a given milestone. Agreeably, 100 blog posts is not the greatest achievement in history. But I think that is exactly why we should do it. Let me explain.

It sure seems to be the case that humans love to accomplish things. As mentioned, I believe achievement is a big part of why we pay so much attention to milestones. People like David McClelland have taught us about The Achieving Society. But, for a moment, I will speak about accomplish by revisiting Martin Seligman and his lovely theory on flourishing.

If you do not know, Seligman is a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. In the year 2000, professor Seligman, along with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, launched a branch of psychology known as positive psychology. Here is a link to their seminal paper.

These days, some people refer to positive psychology as “happiness research,” a phrase Seligman does not support. Seligman thinks the word “happiness” has been so overused as to become virtually meaningless. Seligman prefers to use the word “flourish.” Indeed, that is the name of his most recent book.

When you read Flourish you will discover a wonderful acronym. To help us remember the path to flourishing, Seligman came up with the acronym PERMA. If you wish to learn a little more about PERMA, click here and read this post.

As you can see, from that post, the A in PERMA stands for “accomplishment.” We humans are hard-wired, to feel joy, when we accomplish things. And, what we need to remember, is that the accomplishment need not big astronomical. The A, in PERMA, is not reserved for winning an election, getting married, or being inducted into the Hall of Fame. Indeed, if we pay attention, we accomplish things every single day.

Accomplishment is what we make of it. It is for this reason that I have written this specific post. As I have already stated, one hundred blog posts will not win me a Nobel Prize. But it is an accomplishment. And, I believe, it is worth celebrating. The reality is, it is highly unlikely that I will ever win a Nobel Prize. And so, what I think we all know, is that accomplishment is where we find it.

In as much as accomplishment is subjective, I believe we all need to be engineers of sorts. Knowing that accomplishment is such an integral part of happiness behooves us to engineer a life of achievement.

Too many of us wait for a “real” accomplishment, something genuinely worth celebrating. As a result, we rarely make that trip to the party store. This is unfortunate. It causes us to miss out on a lot of opportunities to feel good and to do good work.

I am certainly not advocating naivety or that we all become pollyanna. I am more revealing the fact that my thinking has been influenced, lately, by Steven Kramer and Teresa Amabile. Amabile and Kramer wrote the book The Progress Principle and it is based on rather rigorous science. The findings of the book are well summarized by a descriptive subtitle which says, “Using small wins to ignite joy, engagement, and creativity at work.” Though they happened to mention work, I believe the conclusions are equally applicable to life in general.

Now, while I do believe you should read Amabile and Kramer's book, I will give you one short cut. What the authors are saying, in The Progress Principle, is what I am saying in this blog post. Namely, it takes a little bit of effort to intentionally design a life of accomplish, of small wins. But, doing so will pay off with big psychological rewards.

I will end with the title. To repeat, I believe we should all be something of engineers. With just a little bit of effort with can engineers opportunities to achieve. Thus experiencing one of life's great joys.

The Keys to Productivity

Do you ever read about productivity? Do you ever try to learn ways to become more productive? I know I do. And, I have become pretty fed-up with a lot of the advice out there.

For this reason I wanted to pass along Peter Drucker's Six Keys to Productivity. Before I do I must clarify one point. The six keys pertain to knowledge work. As the name suggests, knowledge work is work largely done with your mind. Meaning, it is not manual labor. And, if you are reading this blog, chances are, you are a knowledge-worker.

That said, here are the six major factors that determine knowledge-worker productivity:

First, Knowledge-Worker productivity demands that we ask the question: “What is the task?” 

Second, It demands that we impose the responsibility for their productivity on the individual knowledge workers themselves. Knowledge-Workers have to manage themselves. They have to have autonomy.

Third, Continuing innovation has to be part of the work, the task and the responsibility of knowledge workers.

Fourth, Knowledge work requires continuous learning on the part of the knowledge worker, but equally continuous teaching on the part of the knowledge worker.

Fifth, Productivity of the knowledge worker is not–at least not primarily–a matter of quantity of output. Quality is at least as important.

And sixth, knowledge-worker productivity requires that the knowledge worker is both seen and treated as an “asset” rather than a “cost.” It requires that knowledge workers want to work for the organization in preference to all other opportunities.

The wording may be a little strange but, if you review, you will eventually get it. In fact, I would commit the six keys to memory. I know I have. I just use single words. For #2 I think of autonomy. For #3 I remember to always innovate, etcetera.

For the time being, let's elaborate on just the first factor, because it is the most important piece. In order to be productive we must ask the question, “What is the task?” This may seem like an easy question. However, I can assure you, the answer is usually anything but obvious (until you get it, then it's a no-brainer.)

A little background. For the majority of human existence, the answer to the question, “What is the task?” was pretty straightforward. Answers would include things like plants seeds in the spring, or harvest in the fall, or clean the house. But, in the age of knowledge work, determining what the task is has become anything but obvious.

If I were to ask you what is your task. Would you be able to answer it? If you were completely honest with me, I bet your answer would be lacking. I am not trying to be rude. I am just being honest. Again, the question is a difficult one. For this reason, I encourage you to spend some time on it.

To help you, I will offer my own situation as an example. I am no genius but I can tell you that I have spent a very long time trying to answer Drucker's question. Let me give you my answer.

I own an MLM business. To be a successful MLM representative, one way to characterize the task is the following three words, “Collect informed decisions.” The more I do that task, and the more I teach that task, the more success I achieve.

A three word task is a pretty good description of what needs to be done. It is simple and understandable. And, because it is simple and understandable, it is actionable. If your job is to collect informed decisions, it tells you what must be done. You have to talk to people. Lots of people. It is not a good idea to sit around, hoping and praying.

There is, of course, more to my job than that. But, not much more. And, as I hope you can see, knowing what the task is illuminates the paths upon which we must travel. It is not easy to accurately identify the task, but it is worth it.

The real key to productivity is to properly answer the question, “What is the task?” Hopefully you can see how this question is connected to last week's post.

Quit Trying to Be Successful

Who does not want to be successful? I think everybody wants to be successful. In America, when we say the word successful, we usually think of financial success. But, as I am sure you know, success has many dimensions. One way to construe success is to say that success means achieving your goals. Whatever those goals may be.

The paradox is the following, the best way to succeed is by not trying to succeed. How can that be? At least when it comes to work, and working, the best way to succeed is to focus on contribution. Instead of asking, “How can I be successful?” it is better to ask, “What should my contribution be?”

"What should my contribution be?" is an excellent question. And, in order to answer it well, you should know your own strengths. To learn more about your unique strengths, go here.

Fear Is A Beacon

I have spent a lot of time in schools and in libraries. As a matter of fact just last night I was at a university library. I was reading Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer's book The Progress Principle. It is a very interesting book and it disputes a lot of what we think we know. But, that book is not the point of this post.

What I have found, over time, is that scholastic aptitude is not the main determinant of success. Meaning, book smarts do no necessarily translate into success. We all know this. But, have you ever wonder what does lead to success (I usually prefer the word “effectiveness”)? I have wondered that question and I believe the main determinant seems to be how we handle fear. Most people avoid it.

Do you know anyone who is really smart, anyone who talks a big game, but never really accomplishes much? Of course, you do. We all do. Regardless of whatever excuses they may make, what holds that person back is fear. Some might say underachievers simply lack motivation but I do not believe that to be the case.

I agree that lots of people do lack motivation. But why? I believe that fear zaps our motivation. A big problem is that we often do not even realize we are afraid. We simply feel uncomfortable. (This is something I wrote about here) As you know, there are lots of things we fear. But, one of the most insidious forms of fear is doubt. Because we can doubt ourselves and be in complete denial about it.

What is doubt? Well, at least when it comes to success and effectiveness, doubt is basically the fear of failure. We often doubt that we can succeed and that is the same thing as saying we are afraid of failure. All-in-all, fear, in all its various forms, will destroy your life. Because, as Dan Gilbert says, we don't regret the things we do nearly as much as the things we do not do.

What I am saying is, not only should we not avoid the things we fear, I believe we should do the very things we fear. If you fear it, do it. We should actually use fear as a beacon to point us towards the challenges we must attack. Why would we want to do this?

A couple weeks ago I talked about how growth is an imperative of life (Here it is) In addition to that truism, I also believe that humans yearn for freedom. I hope you can agree with me when I say that fear makes slaves of us all. The limits of our courage dictate the limits of our freedom.

So, on the one hand, we want to overcome our fears so we can enjoy the rewarding feelings that come with growth. While, on the other hand, we may want to overcome our fears so we can free ourselves from the mental shackles that hold us down.

Whatever the motivation, I recommend we overcome our fears. Because I believe it is largely fear that zaps our motivation. The fear of failure. The fear of being judged. The fear of being seen to be less than perfect. And on and on and on. My prescription? As counter-intuitive as it is, I recommend we use fear as a beacon to point us in the direction we must travel. Stated differently, get comfortable being uncomfortable or spend the last of your days under the avalanche of regret.

The Drucker Paradox

Peter Ferdinand Drucker was born in 1909 and died in 2005. In the course of his 95 years Drucker forever changed the world. Today, his legacy lives on in southern California. It is in Claremont, California that you will find The Drucker Institute.

The Executive Director of The Drucker Institute is a gentleman named Rick Wartzman. Mr. Wartzman works diligently to keep Drucker's legacy alive and effective. In one article, Wartzman talked about what he calls the Drucker Paradox.

Wartzman wrote, “Many of the concepts that Drucker introduced in the 1940s, '50s,'60s, and beyond have been built into the DNA of the world's top companies and embraced as second nature by a generation of social entrepreneurs.” Druckers' ideas are so ubiquitous, they are taken for granted. That is to say, Druckers' ideas are so ingrained in modern thinking that we do not even realize they came from Drucker.

Wartzman explained the Drucker paradox as follows, “His imprint is everywhere, so much so that his contribution has become, in many ways, imperceptible. Yet, at the same time, there are lots of people in business, government, and the nonprofit realm who forsake his wisdom each and every day. The need for effective management and ethical leadership—the need for Peter Drucker—has never been more pressing.”

The following passage comes from Wartzman's article:

A few Sundays ago, I was sitting in my home office, working on an outside writing project—an historical narrative that has nothing to do with my day job as director of the Drucker Institute. The think tank's mission is to advance the teachings of the late Peter Drucker, the man widely hailed as "the father of modern management.”

My stack of reading this day included a 1939 article from The Nation magazine that explored a long-forgotten pension scheme, popularly known as Ham and Eggs, which failed twice at the ballot box in Depression-era California. I was breezing right along—that is, until I got to the penultimate sentence, which contained these six words: "as Peter Drucker has pointed out." I shook my head, burst out laughing, and raced downstairs to tell my wife about my serendipitous discovery. "Geez," I said, "this guy's following me everywhere.”

In the weeks since, though, what has struck me as most remarkable is not that I stumbled upon Drucker in a nearly 70-year-old magazine story. It is that hardly a week passes when a major publication somewhere in the world doesn't invoke him in the very same manner: "as Peter Drucker has said," "as Peter Drucker has pointed out.”

The Big Idea

How many people can you name whose ideas—and ideals—were being discussed in 1939, in 1969, in 1999, and will be, undoubtedly, in 2039? Likewise, how many people can you cite whose counsel was requested and (to varying degrees) followed by both General Electric (GE) Chief Executive Jack Welch and United Farm Workers leader Cesar Chavez? How many get credit for inspiring an organization such as the Girl Scouts while also helping guide a financial giant like Edward Jones?

Drucker's extraordinary staying power and his wide reach speak to several factors: the depth and breadth of his insights, an uncanny ability to anticipate the future, and a prose style that is as clear as mountain water.

But perhaps most of all, he remains highly relevant two years after his death at age 95 because he reminded us again and again that responsible management is not about buzzwords. It's not about fads. Ultimately, it is not even about developing new products or fattening the bottom line (although he believed those things are important).

Drawing From Drucker's Tenets

Rather, it is about far more fundamental tenets—a philosophy that grew directly out of Drucker's experience as a young writer who had witnessed the rise of Nazi Germany (which in the early 1930s banned and burned the Austria native's work).

Drucker wrote that management, at its core, "deals with people, their values, their growth and development—and this makes it a humanity. So does its concern with, and impact on, social structure and the community. Indeed, as everyone has learned who…has been working with managers of all kinds of institutions for long years, management is deeply involved in moral concerns—the nature of man, good, and evil.”

End of quote.

Peter Drucker is everywhere yet he is nowhere. Meaning, we do not even realize his pervasive nature. In that way, he is kind of like the air we breath. I hope you just enjoyed your daily dose of Drucker. Come back often.

The Vulnerability Paradox

A few week ago I posted an article about Brene Brown (Here it is) Brown is a shame and vulnerability researcher. And, what she says is that we are here, on Earth, to connect to other human beings. A lot of people agree.

One of the world's hottest areas of scientific study is an area called “Positive Psychology.” Some people call it happiness research. Different scientists have slightly different perspectives on what causes happiness. In fact, some do not even like using the word “Happiness.”

That said, regardless of their persuasion, or lingo, there does seem to be one thing that all positive psychologists agree on; relationships are central to happiness. Humans are a social creature, and relationships can make life a heaven or a hell.

Back to Brown. In her book Daring Greatly, Brown writes, “Connection is why we're here; it is what gives purpose and meaning to our lives. The power that connection holds in our lives was confirmed when the main concern about connection emerged as the fear of disconnection; the fear that something we have done or failed to do, something about who we are or where we come from, has made us unlovable and unworthy of connection.”

One of the things Professor Brown found is that fear inhibits connection. Which should not be a surprise. But, what do we fear? One of the main things we fear is being vulnerable. And, this leads to an important paradox. Brown calls it the vulnerability paradox. Very simply it goes like this. When it comes to connecting, with another human being, vulnerability is the first thing I look for in you, and it is the last thing I want you to see in me. Big problem.

One of the ways we avoid feeling vulnerable is perfectionism. We often try to be perfect, and flawless, to avoid feelings of inadequacy or unlovability. The problem is, in an ironic twist of fate, the solution is the problem.

Trying to appear perfect, to others, can actually backfire. When we put on this flawless front we often think people will be impressed. As it turns out, the exact opposite is usually the case. People cannot relate to perfection. We all know the truth of the saying “To err is human.” We all know that we all make mistakes. So, when somebody presents themselves as being free of error, we have a hard time trusting them.

I know I tend to be a perfectionist. And, what I have learned it that perfection is a problem. Perfection is really hard to relate to precisely because it is impossible to attain. Yes, I believe perfection is an illusion. I do not believe perfection is even possible. At least not in this existence.

How about an English example? Is it really all that important if we get our possessives grammatically correct? Does it really matter if we put Midas' or Midas's? How about "their" versus "there"? And, is that question mark supposed to be inside the quotation marks or not? And, if you have a pet peeve about any of those mistakes, is it possible that you are a little to perfectionistic? (and, yes, at least that time, I misspelled "too" on purpose)

Back to the vulnerability paradox. We search for vulnerability in others and try to hide vulnerability in ourselves. Don't you agree? And, if you agree, do you see how self-defeating this approach can be? So, I guess the next question is, how do we resolve the vulnerability paradox? In a word, courage.

If we are here to connect, that is to say, if we wish to build relationships with others, we need to have the courage to be vulnerable. So, how do we do that? How do we develop courage? The answer is simple, we develop courage just like we develop any skill, by practicing.

Professor Brown has coined a term for the process of developing courage. She says we develop courage by “couraging.” In essence, what the professor is talking about is practice.

I believe that courage is one of the most important traits a human can develop. For this reason, I recommended baby steps. I believe that small steps are big steps (a paradox in and of itself.) Most people never take a single step towards their fears. So, even the smallest of steps is relatively enormous when compared to doing nothing (doing nothing – another paradox.)

First admit that fear is a problem. Then begin developing courage by taking the baby steps of practice. As a little hint, we often do not even recognize the existence of fear. We usually just feel uncomfortable. So, when you feel uncomfortable, accept that you must just be nervous, and begin Couraging. Give it a try.

Do the Thing You Fear

Some people say it is crazy to write a blog about paradoxes. I disagree. I believe paradoxes are central to our existence. And so, I think it is a good idea to understand what a paradox is and how to make sense of it.

As you probably know, one way to explain a paradox is that it is an idea which seems to be a contradiction but is in fact true, or may be true. An example would be, “The only constant is change.” That statement contradicts itself but it is true.

In addition to paradoxes, I am a big believer in intuition. I believe it is often a good idea to follow my gut. However, I do realize there is a problem. The problem is that a lot of reality is counter-intuitive. For example, paradoxes are counter-intuitive. So, I believe we need to practice identifying the boundaries of our intuition.

Let's run through a quick example. Emerson once said, “Do the thing you fear.” Totally counter-intuitive because, understandably, most people avoid the things they fear. We do not always admit we are avoiding things. We might say we are too busy or we might say our spouse won't let us. When in reality we are making excuses for our avoidance behavior.

I think it is safe to say, the idea of doing things we fear seems practically insane (This is something I have written about before) We construct our lives to be comfortable, so why would we intentionally make ourselves uncomfortable? To my way of thinking, the reason we should do the things we fear is because growth is the imperative.

It appears we have been put on this earth to grow. Each of us might have different strengths and different callings. But, one thing we all have in common is the desire to grow. In fact, we are hard-wired to grow. We enjoy growing.

Think about it. Think about a time when you accomplished something difficult and worthwhile. Something that caused you to grow. Something that cause you to improvement yourself. Do you look back at that accomplishment with pride? Are you happy you did it?

We do not necessarily enjoy the growth process while it is happening. However, upon reflection, a lot of our best experiences are times when we struggle to accomplish a worthy goal. We are literally hard-wired to enjoy growing.

Why am I saying this? Well, let's go back to Emerson's quote. The complete quote is, “Do the thing you fear, and the death of fear is certain.” What was Emerson talking about? He was talking about growth. For most of us, fear is what holds us back. By definition, growing means changing. And, most of us are afraid of change. Oh, sure, we do not usually admit we are afraid. As I said before, we come up with all kinds of inventive excuses, blames, and justification. But, in reality, this is just a way to hide from the fact that we are scared.

Why have you not asked for a raise? Because you are scared. Why do you not have more clients? Because you are afraid. Why have you not pursued that promotion? You got it, fear! Fear keeps us small, and it violates the very reason we were put on this earth. Fear keeps us from growing.

So, how do we solve this conundrum? In a couple of words, baby steps. That would be a paradox in-and-of itself, ya know? “Small steps are big steps.” The truth is most people never takes any steps towards conquering their fears. So, no matter how small the step, it is a big step compared to doing nothing. And, over time, small steps add up to big steps.

Again, I believe we were put on this earth to grow. And, the main thing that keeps us from growing is fear. That being the case, how do we overcome our fears? One small step at a time.

Perhaps the Greatest Saying Ever

A couple weeks ago I referred to Christmas and Christianity. This week, let me mention something for Buddhism.

I read the following quote, often, because I think it might be the greatest saying ever:

“Act always as if the future of the Universe depended on what you did, while laughing at yourself for thinking that whatever you do makes any difference.”

And that, my friends, is why I talk about paradoxes. Amazing!

Safe is the New Risky

A couple weeks ago I spoke of personal development as innovation. I think it was a decent post. And I think it's something you should think about. If you have not read the post, Go Here. It's really important that you read that post, as well as the previous post, referenced in the article. Here it is. This week let's elaborate on Druckers' ideas.

I hope you would agree that personal development is an element of innovation. Now, let me give you another powerful quote by Peter Drucker. In his book Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Drucker said the following, “Innovation is the specific tool of entrepreneurs.”

Let me ask you this, have you ever wondered what an entrepreneur is? If you have, I think you are wondering about the right kinds of things. You see, I believe we should always be trying to improve the quality of our questions. The question “What is an entrepreneur?” is a pretty good question.

A lot of people think they know what an entrepreneur is. However, when I ask people directly, I get some pretty wild answers. A lot of people think an entrepreneur is a person who owns a business. But that is incorrect. Plenty of people would say that entrepreneurs love risk. And, again, that is wrong.

One amazing revelation is the following, what everybody "knows” is often wrong. We all know that entrepreneurs love risk. And, we're all wrong. In fact, it's just the opposite. True entrepreneurs avoid risk as much as possible. Let me give you a quick explanation.

First off, life is risky. No matter what you do there is risk involved. For example, let's say you decide to take the “safe” road and get a job with a large and established company. You always get to work on time, you are reliable, and you work hard. Every paycheck you withhold income and fully fund your retirement accounts. You are taking all the right steps to ensure the security of your future. How could anything go wrong? My response would be, ask the former employees of the Enron Corporation.

Now, I intentionally used an extreme example to illustrate the point that every decision contains the element of risk. I think we all know this. And, I think that is why so many people choose to be indecisive (Is that a paradox?)

One of the joys of true entrepreneurship is not risk, it is the containment of risk. I guess it is not that different from what a daredevil does. I do not think it is fair to say that daredevils love risk. I think it is more accurate to say that daredevils like to minimize risk. Stated differently, the stunt person is not looking to die. He or she is looking to cheat death. That is to say, there is a certain amount of joy that comes from flirting with death and living to see another day.

Daredevils do not love risk. They love being in control and conquering risky situations. An example, that just popped into my head, is Travis Pastrana. Pastrana is a motocycle exhibitionist and was the first dirt-bike rider to ever land a double backflip in competition. If you have not seen it, go to YouTube, it is super impressive.

Pastrana's jump looks practically impossible. And dangerous to boot. When you see Travis go backwards twice, in one jump, you think he must be out of his mind. What you do not see is the countless times that Pastrana practiced the double backflip into a foam pit. You see, many riders have built jumping ramps connected to boxes filled with a foam material. This arrangement allows any stunt to be practiced without danger. Again, it is not the danger that is attractive so much as the defeating of danger.

Now, let's go back to you and I. Back to us “normal” people. Part of the reason that personal development is so important is because it allows us to control risk. Obviously, personal improvement is the process of developing skills. A great skill to learn is the skill of mitigating risk. And, that is what entrepreneurs really wish to do. Entrepreneurs do not love risk so much as they strive to control it.

Life is risky regardless of what we do. And, the riskiest thing of all is to rest on our laurels. Better to be a lifelong student. Better to be an innovator who works on the most important product in the world, ourselves.

What I Learned From A Skateboarder

Have you ever heard the saying, “Fall down seven times, stand up eight”? I love it. In the world of physics, falling down is inevitable. Gravity sees to it. And, life in general, is an extension of physics. I guess that is why we call it the physical world.

Another way it is often put is as a boxing metaphor. You know the idea. The idea that it is ok to get knocked down. The only sin is staying down.

Have you ever heard of Rodney Mullen? If not, Mr. Mullen is one of the greatest skateboarders to ever live. If you have never seen his stuff, you really should check it out. So impressive! Some time ago I stumbled onto Rodney's TED Talk and I figured I would pass it along.

Humans are very visualize creatures. I know I am. And, I like to have a visual, in my head, to remind me of the ideas that I hold dear. One extremely important idea is the value of getting back up. It really starts with giving myself permission to get knocked down. Fall down seven times, stand up eight.

I think skateboarding is a great visualize, a great analogy for life. Click here to watch Rodney Mullen's TED Talk on YouTube.

Business is a Liberal Art

Over the Christmas break I was speaking with my sister-in-law about school. She is currently pursuing a liberal arts degree. And, the conversation gave me the humbling experience of thinking about how wrong I can sometimes be.

I studied chemistry in college and, I must say, it was pretty hard. But, I vividly remember the logic behind my decision. I thought, “If I can graduate from the chemistry department, at Berkeley, business will be a cinch.” I know, I know. Don't remind me. I now realize how foolish I was.

You see, I had always wanted to be a business owner. Although I could not put on finger on it at the time, the reason I wanted to be a business owner is because freedom is my number one value. I cannot sing and I cannot act. And, as you can tell, I am not a very good writer. So, I realized my only chance for true freedom was to build a business.

Now, despite my college folly, here is something I learned. Business is simple, but it is not easy. What's more, business is a liberal art. To succeed (I prefer the phrase “be effective”) in business requires a person to understand many things. You need to know about history, economics, psychology, sociology, marketing, morality, and on and on.

This is the exact reason I am such a student of Peter Drucker. Drucker covered all these subjects, in much greater detail, than any other author I know of. And, the fact that business is a liberal art has led me to write this blog. Though I do not profess to be an expert, I do have some experience.

I know I have nothing even close to the skills of Drucker, so I do not attempt to cover every subject. However, I do know a few things about psychology. And so, that is one of the subjects I attempt to stick to. I talk about emotions (mostly fear) because they are so central to life. And, I talk about paradoxes because they are so central to emotions (and to leadership).

Drucker is known as a management thinker/guru. Which is rather unfortunate because, if you study Peter, you know he was one of the most well-rounded individuals on earth. For example, Peter was well-known as a management expert. But, did you know that he was also a world-renown expert on Japanese art? It is true. Drucker studied Japanese art to train his ability to see. That is to say, his ability to observe and perceive. Pretty cool.

I remember being in school and thinking liberal art majors were a joke. I figured they were either lazy or indecisive. As it turns out, the joke was on me! Have you ever watched that TV show The Big Bang Theory? I think the show is hilarious because they completely nail the personalities types. One of the main characters, Sheldon Cooper, is a theoretical physicist. And, Dr. Cooper has very little appreciation for engineers, biologists, or even experimental physicists. So funny, because it is so true.

One of the things I am trying to say is I recommend we all commit to being lifelong learners. The universe is vast and complicated. And, it will probably take a lifetime to start to truly understand things. Again, a huge lesson is to always stay committed to learning.

I have had to eat a lot of crow in my life. And, realizing the importance of the liberal arts is just one dimension. Talking to my sister-in-law simply reinforced an important lesson that I hope to never forget.

Sacrifice Solves the Paradox

As we come out of the Christmas season I figured I would reflect on one important lesson. Regardless of whether or not you are a Christian, I want to talk about a concept central to the teachings of Jesus Christ. That concept is sacrifice.

As we know, in the Christian tradition, Jesus sacrificed his life for the good of others. A pretty extreme example which illustrates the importance of sacrifice.

Quoting from a very old book titled The Biblical World, “Nothing is more characteristic of the teaching of Jesus than his insistence upon the duty of self-sacrifice. Again and again he goes back to the same thought, that a man must lose his life to gain his life; that no man can be his disciple unless he deny himself and take up his cross and follow him; that no man can serve two masters.”

As that quote suggests, there exists a powerful paradox inherent in the concept of sacrifice. “A man must lose his life to gain his life.” Now, we do not need to take that quote literally. Sacrifice does not have to be about life and death. Sacrifice is about the decisions we make every day.

Stephen Covey would say sacrifice is giving up something good for something better. I like perspective a lot. We are all driven by impulses. And, some of these impulses tell us to be content with the status quo. What's more, our impulses tell us to seek the path of least resistance.

This is not surprising. In fact, the path of least resistance is nature's preferred path. During a chemical reaction the reactants interact, and transform, via the path of least resistance. And, when water flows, it flows down the path of least resistance.

But, do not take mother nature and use her as an excuse to be lazy. Here is why. The path of least resistance is meant for simple substances. Water is a very simply substance. Water to two hydrogen atoms bonded to one oxygen atom. Simple stuff. And so, it operates through a simple channel of little resistance.

When hydrocarbons react with oxygen (combustion) the reaction produces water and carbon dioxide. All of these products are simple substances. As expected, the reaction charts a simple course of least resistance.

But, humans are not simple molecules. Humans are complicated. Humans are capable of making decisions. We are capable of weighing the options and selecting our behavior from many the choices. We understand things like cause and effect, the future and the past. So, we are able to identify the folly of immediate gratification.

I say all that to say this, your impulses are a product of the physical world. So, your impulses will often encourage you to take the path of resistance. Given my examples, taking the path of least resistance is an understandable choice.

What I am saying is sometimes it is wise to not trust yourself. Sometimes it is better to not listen to your impulses. Your impulses are meant to keep you alive and to help you reproduce. But, these impulses are obsolete. Humans have created such a vast array of effective systems that our survival is rarely in question. So, living by our impulses has become maladaptive.

Perhaps this is why we needed Jesus to teach the importance of sacrifice. In a way, what Jesus was saying was, just because you feel like doing something, does not mean you should. Sacrifice is the very paradoxical notion that, just because we feel like doing something, does not mean we should.

Why Successful People Wear The Same Thing Every Day

A couple weeks ago I read a great article by a gentleman named John Haltiwanger. It was so good, I decided to simply repost it. The article was titled "The Science of Simplicity." Here it is, in its entirety:

The Science Of Simplicity: Why Successful People Wear The Same Thing Every Day

Have you ever thought about how much time you likely waste deciding what to wear in the morning? It’s probably made you late to school or work more times than you can count.

We waste so many precious moments concerning ourselves with frivolous details. An outfit will not change the world, it probably won’t even change your day.

This is not to say that fashion isn’t important, as it has an immense impact on culture and, in turn, the direction of society.

Indeed, fashion is where art, culture and history intersect. If we look at the 1960s, for example, the way people dressed was very much a reflection of the counterculture movement and the anti-establishment sentiments of the era.

Simply put, clothes can tell us a lot about sociology.

Yet, at the same time, we’ve arguably become an excessively materialistic and superficial society. Undoubtedly, there are greater things to worry about than clothes.

Similarly, as the great American author Henry David Thoreau once stated, “Our life is frittered away by detail…Simply, simplify.”

In essence, don’t sweat the small stuff. Make your life easier by concentrating on the big picture.

Correspondingly, a number of very successful people have adopted this philosophy in their daily routines.

Decision Fatigue: Why Many Presidents And CEOs Wear The Same Thing Every Day

Whether you love or hate him, it’s hard to argue against the notion that President Obama has the most difficult job in the world. As the leader of the most powerful country on the planet, the president has a lot on his plate.

Regardless of what he does, he will be criticized. Simply put, he’s got a lot of important things to think about beyond his wardrobe.

This is precisely why President Obama wears the same suit every single day. Well, almost every day, we can’t forget about the time the Internet exploded when he wore a khaki suit. Although, that probably says less about him and more about us.

The majority of the time, however, Obama wears either a blue or gray suit. In an article from Michael Lewis for Vanity Fair, the president explained the logic behind this routine. Obama said, “You’ll see I wear only gray or blue suits...I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.” He mentioned research that shows the simple act of making decisions degrades one’s ability to make further decisions.

As Stuart Heritage puts it for the Guardian, “Barack Obama has pared his wardrobe down to such a degree that he can confidently walk into any situation and make decisions that directly impact on the future of mankind.”

The president is not alone in this practice. The late, great, Steve Jobs wore his signature black turtleneck with jeans and sneakers every single day.

Moreover, Mark Zuckerberg typically wears a gray t-shirt with a black hoody and jeans when seen in public. Similarly, Albert Einstein reportedly bought several variations of the same gray suit so that he wouldn’t have to waste time deciding what to wear each morning.

This is all related to the concept of decision fatigue. This is a real psychological condition in which a person’s productivity suffers as a result of becoming mentally exhausted from making so many irrelevant decisions.

Simply put, by stressing over things like what to eat or wear every day, people become less efficient at work.

This is precisely why individuals like President Obama, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and Albert Einstein decided to make life easier by adopting a monotonous wardrobe.

Obviously, as these are some of the most successful and productive individuals in history, they are on to something.

Make Life Simple

Indeed, having a diverse collection of clothing is overrated. We waste so much time worrying about things that have no substantial consequences, and don’t even realize how easily we could change this.

This is exactly why President José Mujica of Uruguay rejects conformity and refuses to wear a tie, stating, “The tie is a useless rag that constrains your neck. I’m an enemy of consumerism. Because of this hyperconsumerism, we’re forgetting about fundamental things and wasting human strength on frivolities that have little to do with human happiness.”

He’s absolutely right. The vast majority of us are guilty of obsessing over material things. When it comes down to it, they bring no real value to our lives. True fulfillment is acquired by going out into the world and fostering palpable and benevolent changes.

Buying a new pair of shoes might make you feel more confident in the short-term, but it will not enrich your life in the long-term.

Undoubtedly, the world would be an extremely boring place if we all wore the same exact thing every day.

Yet, we might all consider simplifying our lives a bit more by reducing the amount of time we spend thinking about pointless aspects of our day. In the process, one might find that they are significantly less stressed, more productive and more fulfilled.

Life is complicated enough, don’t allow the little things to dictate your happiness. Simplify, simplify.

A Critique of the Critics

Last week I talked about Lady Gaga. Maybe I should rename this blog, “From Drucker to Gaga.” Just kidding. Believe it or not, I do try to have a coherence between the items I discuss. Like the title says, this blog is about work, emotions, and paradoxes. Subjects which, I believe, are inextricably intertwined.

In talking about Lady Gaga I referred to something she said. Gaga once had somebody tell her, “If you have no shadows then you're not standing in the light.” The shadows. Those damn shadows. The shadows are the critics. The haters. And, the whole concept got me thinking about Brene Brown.

Do you happen to know who Brene Brown is? If not, pay close attention because she is fantastic! Brown is a professor of psychology at the University of Houston. Her areas of research, and expertise, are shame and vulnerability.

Professor Brown spent a dozen years researching vulnerability. One day she was surfing the web, to numb herself, from attacks she had received from some of her own critics. At one point, she stumbled upon an old quote by President Theodore Roosevelt. And, she said, “That quote was everything I know about vulnerability.” Below is an image of the quote Brene was referring to.

Brown has written several books. The most recent of which is called Daring Great. A title she obviously borrowed from Teddy Roosevelt. She has also given some outstanding talks which you can watch online. Here is one such presentation. Not only is the material important but her delivery style is simply great. Enjoy!

What I Learned From Lady Gaga

As I have said many times, a business has two main functions. They are: innovation and marketing. Fail to do either and your business will not succeed. And, remember, even if you have a 9-5 job, you are still a business-of-one. What's more, you probably want to keep that job. So, you need your company to succeed.

I talked about innovation in this post. And, I discussed the marketing element here. As you can see, in that second post, promotion is an important part of marketing. One of elements of promotion, that applies to every single one of us, is self-promotion.

When I think of self-promotion, a couple names pop in my head. First would probably be Donald Trump. I recently heard that Trump is again “thinking” about running for President in 2016. My goodness!

Another name that comes to mind is Kim Kardashian. Which is kind of surprising because I don't know anything about her. That girl is pure self-promotion. Does she even have a product? The only thing I know of is her derriere.

One self-promoter, who does have lots of talent, is Lady Gaga. If you are not familiar with her talent, check this out. I think that performance is pretty impressive. Whatever you think of Lady Gaga, one thing is for sure, that girl is fantastic at self-promotion.

I once heard an interviewer ask Gaga something about, what was the best advice she had ever received. I will never forget the gist of her response. She said something to the effect of, “If you have no shadows then you're not standing in the light.” And, in that moment, Stefani Germanotta summed up why so many people refuse to promote themselves. (By the way, what does a clownish face, and running make-up, have to do with self-promotion? Everything! It's all about getting attention and being memorable.)

The fact of the matter is, when you step out into the light, there will be shadows. The shadows are the critics and the haters. And, it's the shadows that keep us small. When we fear the opinions of others, we put an artificial limit on how big we can grow. Don't do it. Don't worry about the small-minded people who criticize others. Here's what Taylor Swift recently said about the haters.

If you fear criticism, I have an experiment for you to run. Make a list of some truly successful that you know. Go hang out with them. Tell them about your dreams. I'm willing to bet they won't denigrate you, or knock you, for your ambitions.

What I encourage you to do is get clear about who the critics are. The critics are just fearful, insecure, little people who are projecting their own feelings of inadequacy. Don't listen to them. Get out there and tell the world about how amazing you are.

You're Not Afraid of Rejection

I am a salesman. And, if you are reading this blog, chances are, you are as well. If you are reading this blog it’s probable that we have spoken on the phone. I have probably called you at some point in time. I only point out this fact for one reason, so that you are confident I know a little bit about the job of a salesperson.

In this post I want to talk about one of the most important lessons I have ever learned. Because, believe me, when it came to selling, I had a lot to learn. You see, my formal education is in chemistry. Not exactly the ideal training ground for a career in business.

Knowing that I am trained as a chemist might help explain why I talk about such nerdy stuff. It also explains why my grammar, and prose, are far from the Queen’s English.

At any rate, due to my nature, I studied the sales profession as analytically as I had once studied the periodic table. What I have come to know is that all sales jobs contain three fundamental tasks. Those tasks are: prospect, present, and close.

Just in case any other analyticals are reading this post, let me quickly will clarify one point. When I speak of sales, and selling, I am talking about non-retail selling. Retail sales agents usually do not need to prospect, they simply wait for foot traffic.

Prospect, present, and close. Those are the three jobs of a salesperson. Obviously, you cannot close a deal if you've never made a presentation. And, you cannot make a presentation if you haven’t found somebody to talk to.

It’s been said that 80% of salespeople wash-out, in their first year, due to insufficient prospecting. That’s a BIG problem. Many a trainer has endeavored to solve the prospecting problem. Unfortunately, the solution can actually exacerbate the very problem it seeks to solve.

If you have been in sales for any length of time you have likely heard it said that people fail to prospect because of what? That’s right, many talking heads will tell you that the problem is a fear of rejection. Salespeople don’t do their job because they are afraid of the word “No.” Sounds reasonable. Right? I am here to tell you, it’s not true.

To be clear, the problem does appear to be a fear of rejection. However, if we hope to solve the problem (and this is a big problem in need of a solution) we need to get past appearances.

Allow me to demonstrate. Imagine you are at Starbucks ordering a cup of coffee. Maybe it’s just after the Holidays. You ask the person, behind the counter, if they have anymore of the Pumpkin Spiced Lattes, and the barista tells you “No.” What do you do? Do you cry? Do you run out of the store and “quit”? That is to say, do you never again drink coffee? Hardly.

The truth is, being told “No” isn't that big of a deal. We get told “No” all the time. So, let me say again, unequivocally, that you are not afraid of rejection. That is to say, you are not afraid of the word “No.” What you’re afraid of is the perceived meaning behind the word “No.” I know that might seem like a distinction without a difference but, stay with me, and I’ll do my best to explain.

When the Starbucks barista told you they were out of Holiday drinks, you took it as a statement of fact. No big deal. Right? You didn't read into the comment, or worry that the gal, in the green apron, disliked you. You simply selected something else to drink. The problem is, when we attempt to do our job, as salespeople, we often turn into mind readers.

For example, let’s say you are a realtor and you ask somebody if they have any plans of buying or selling real estate. When that person says “No” many people immediately turn in mind readers. Meaning, people try to figure out why the person said no. That is to say, they attempt to discern what the prospect means.

One possibility is that the prospect doesn't like them. How could that be possible? Well, some salespeople don’t like the sales profession. As weird as it may sound, there are plenty of salespeople who think sales is a dirty job. This is why a lot of people come up with interesting titles to cover-up the fact that they are salespeople. They might call themselves “account executives” or “territory managers” or “financial planners.” All vain attempts to hide the true nature of their job.

When a person, who does not believe sales is an honorable profession, hears a prospect tell them “No” they often project their own feelings of inadequacy onto the prospect. The salesperson often assumes that the prospect must also dislike selling. And so, by extension, the prospect must not like the salesperson. Nobody likes to be disliked so the salesperson feels uncomfortable. It’s an unfortunate situation on many levels.

If this sounds like you, I encourage you to listen closely. Because, if you don’t adjust your thinking, about the profession of selling, you are likely to end up a statistic. If you feel uncomfortable about being a salesperson that discomfort is the result of fear. You fear that people won’t like you (perhaps even hate you) if they find out you’re a salesperson.

Fear is a natural and, sometimes, healthy emotion. And, what we know is that all emotions stem from our beliefs. So, if you believe that salespeople are greedy, manipulative hucksters, you’re going to have a hard time doing your job. Instead of asking people if they are interested in buying or selling, you will probably waste your time trying to come up with a new way to hide your true identity. Perhaps you will try to engineer a new title for yourself, or runs advertisements trying to get people to call you.

Are salespeople greedy and selfish? Some of them are. Personally, I too get quite frustrated with people who proudly proclaim that they can sell glasses to a blind man. It’s pathetic. If you sell glasses to a blind man, you are not a profession salesperson, you are a con artist. Professional salespeople are problem solvers. In order to do business, a genuine problem must exist.

As an interesting observation, I have never heard this type of con-artistry come from the mouth of a true professional. But, I can’t tell you the number of times I have heard an unemployed person brag that s/he could sell ice to eskimos. Oh, the irony!

There are many reasons salespeople avoid prospecting. And, over time, I will address as many of the reasons as possible. For now, I have highlighted one cause of this avoidance behavior. Salespeople don't prospect because they are afraid. It's not really the word “No” they are afraid of. One of the things some salespeople truly are afraid of is being identified as salespeople. It's too bad.

For this reason, I believe you should frequently work on your attitude towards the profession of selling. America herself was discovered by a salesman. According to Zig Ziglar, there is no way you can accuse Christopher Columbus of being a navigator. Chris was looking for India! He only missed by about 8,000 miles. However, he was able to sell Queen Isabella on the idea of giving him three ships to use to search for a shortcut to India.

Our first president, George Washington, was one of the greatest salesman to ever live. Think about it. How did he recruit the Continental Army? Could you imagine? What was his offer? “Listen boys, you will be working for free and if you don't do a great job you'll be killed. Who's in?” I submit to you that George Washington was one hell of a salesman.

I could go on and on. The truth is, sales is a noble profession. If you can come to internalize the truth of that statement, you will have taken an enormous step towards eliminating the fear that is holding you back from doing your job.