Too busy being lazy?

We all know what laziness is. Or do we?

This is from Dictionary.com

1.  averse or disinclined to work, activity, or exertion; indolent.

2. causing idleness or indolence: a hot, lazy afternoon.

3. slow-moving; sluggish: a lazy stream.

4. (of a livestock brand) placed on its side instead of upright.

But this evening I heard another one. No doubt many of you may have heard this before. “Laziness is not doing what needs to be done when it needs to be done”.

You see, in the workplace, it is quite easy to be lazy – all you have to do is to be busy or at least look busy.  I recently met with a consultant, David W. Denny. He has a tagline I really like.  It is “Never Confuse Motion with Progress … “. We have one at 88owls that is part of our work values.  It is “Be effective before being efficient”.

It is all about doing the right thing with the emphasis on “doing”.  As the owner of your business (company or consultancy), are you busy being busy or are you doing the right thing, doing what needs to be done without ANY excuses whatsoever?  We at 88owls also have another value we hold dearly.  It is “Executing without excuses”. These and a few more are what holds us accountable and enables the 88owls team to work remotely and to focus on a result only work environment.

If you are a business advisor, are you able to spot laziness? How do you set goals and milestones to prevent this “laziness”? How does the environment foster mutual accountability in order to stem this problem? How are you able to encourage your clients to do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done? Are you able to recognize the red herring technique and the phantom urgency excuse? And as a business owner, are you able to recognize when your employees and consultant is busy being busy?

As a parent of 6, I see that kids can master laziness without any formal training.

Allan: Why haven’t you done the dishes?

Child: I was in the bathroom…(my mom use to say that lazy people make frequent bathroom trips)

…you get the point.

True Entrepreneurs can say "I did it my way…"

Personally, I like Sinatra’s version more than Elvis’s. I was listening to this while driving yesterday morning. It reminded me a lot of entrepreneurs.  Their sacrifices, their persistence, their perseverance, their successes, their mistakes, their hopes and most importantly, how they dared to do things…their way! I thought I would share the lyrics and I’ve bolded the part that really resonates with me regarding entrepreneurs…

And now, the end is near,
And so I face the final curtain.
My friends, I’ll say it clear;
I’ll state my case of which I’m certain.

I’ve lived a life that’s full –
I’ve travelled each and every highway.
And more, much more than this,
I did it my way.

Regrets? I’ve had a few,
But then again, too few to mention.
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption.

I planned each charted course –
Each careful step along the byway,
And more, much more than this,
I did it my way.

Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew,
When I bit off more than I could chew,
But through it all, when there was doubt,
I ate it up and spit it out.
I faced it all and I stood tall
And did it my way.

I’ve loved, I’ve laughed and cried,
I’ve had my fill – my share of losing.
But now, as tears subside,
I find it all so amusing.

To think I did all that,
And may I say, not in a shy way –
Oh no. Oh no, not me.
I did it my way.

For what is a man? What has he got?
If not himself – Then he has naught.
To say the things he truly feels
And not the words of one who kneels.
The record shows I took the blows
And did it my way.

Yes, it was my way.

Wanna smoke while pumping gas?

I enjoy checking out where and how companies place ads. Some of the strange ones are:

1. Grocery store floor (I guess some brands want to be stepped on)

2. Boxer shorts (to remind you to drink more soda or read more comic books)

3. Tattos or shaved onto haircuts…etc (because seeing the casino shaved into someone’s head makes me want to gamble)

This one here is a cigarette ad right at the gas station. I know that gas stations makes pennies per gallons and that most of their income come from the consumables they sell from within, such as the drinks, snacks and candy.  That is why I HATE it when they think they can lure us into the station by NEVER putting in those rolls of paper for your receipts.  After gassing up, I am told “Please check with clerk for your receipt”.  I know it is to lure me into the store with the hopes of getting me to buy on impulse…That would have worked if I am of the impulsive type.  I never go back to those stations.

So last week, I was standing there staring at this ad while I was pumping gas. I have seen them in almost EVERY gas station and by now hundreds of times. I was thinking, do they really want people to think about smoking while they are gassing up? Isn’t that what advertisers want?  One of the goal is associative desires, right.  If they have a pretty girl posing in front of a sports car, your subconcious mind  “might” have you thinking that by owning a sports car, you might attract those pretty girls or maybe…they might come with the one you are buying!

What if someone who functioning in the alpha brain state, sees an ad like that and and without thinking…lights up?

Another strange place I find cigarettes being sold is at drug stores.  Almost everyone of them have them right behind the cashier. It’s like they want everyone to see and buy them. This is by no means an article against cigarettes but more of those that chose to place those ads/products.  It’s like placing viagra ads in day care centers. I guess at least they are not calling it a health-store. The label “drug-store” is actually quite appropriate.

If it’s creative advertising companies want.  I have a few.  Here they are:

1. Beauty ads printed on mirrors – to remind you how beautiful you “could” look

2. “Feed the Children” ads on refridgerators

3. Hospitals can co-op with advertiser to tattoo new born babies – the tattoo can multiply in size for the same price…10 times or more over the coming years.

4. Alchohol ads at ob-gyns

5. Pizza ads on health food bars

…so have you thought about where to place your ads lately? Did you have other people vet those ideas for you? I would suggest asking a marketing consultant with advertising and product placement experience that is also knowledgeable in your industry.

3 Essential Questions to a Meaningful Business/Life

Philosophers, theologians and business advisors have been trying to help us answer these questions for a looooong time. What are they? They are:

1. Who am I?
2. What am I supposed to do?
3. Where do I belong?

These are core issues and root questions a person should answer in order to have a purposeful life. In business, the founder has to answer these questions and generate buy-in from the team. Those questions become something like this:

1. What is our business?
2. What do we do? What problem do we solve?
3. Where is our niche?

The problem lies in answering these properly and with the right research/insight. Many companies, especially entrepreneurs answer the “what do we do” with features. We can do this and that but what they fail to understand is features tell and benefits sell. The benefits are what the world cares about and no one really gives a hoot about what you do. You get benefits when the features are put into action.

These are simple questions so why are they so hard to answer? From talking to many entrepreneurs, I think the answer is because most of them are looking for those answers from within. Initial idea seems so good. They started out solving a problem/want…their problem and their wants. In their mind, there should be millions of people with the same problem or desire out there. In order to answer those questions properly, it would benefit entrepreneurs and business owners to look beyond themselves, their immediate surroundings and step back and get some perspectives from other business people. They may actually hear what do not want to but so desperately need.

88owls launched a new QandA forum where businesses can ask questions for free and only experienced consultants with 10 or more years of experience are invited to answer.  If the business want to find a consultant with the right skillset, that also have experience in the industry they are in, they can find one within seconds. There are strategist and subject matter experts so whether you want someone to help plan or strategize or whether you have a project and need someone to execute it, you should be able to find someone there.

3 Essential Questions to a Meaningful Business/Life

Philosophers, theologians and business advisors have been trying to help us answer these questions for a looooong time. What are they? They are:

1. Who am I?
2. What am I supposed to do?
3. Where do I belong?

These are core issues and root questions a person should answer in order to have a purposeful life. In business, the founder has to answer these questions and generate buy-in from the team. Those questions become something like this:

1. What is our business?
2. What do we do? What problem do we solve?
3. Where is our niche?

The problem lies in answering these properly and with the right research/insight. Many companies, especially entrepreneurs answer the “what do we do” with features. We can do this and that but what they fail to understand is features tell and benefits sell. The benefits are what the world cares about and no one really gives a hoot about what you do. You get benefits when the features are put into action.

These are simple questions so why are they so hard to answer? From talking to many entrepreneurs, I think the answer is because most of them are looking for those answers from within. Initial idea seems so good. They started out solving a problem/want…their problem and their wants. In their mind, there should be millions of people with the same problem or desire out there. In order to answer those questions properly, it would benefit entrepreneurs and business owners to look beyond themselves, their immediate surroundings and step back and get some perspectives from other business people. They may actually hear what do not want to but so desperately need.

88owls launched a new QandA forum where businesses can ask questions for free and only experienced consultants with 10 or more years of experience are invited to answer.  If the business want to find a consultant with the right skillset, that also have experience in the industry they are in, they can find one within seconds. There are strategist and subject matter experts so whether you want someone to help plan or strategize or whether you have a project and need someone to execute it, you should be able to find someone there.

10 Newspapers That Will Survive The Apocalypse

According to Nicholas Carlson, there are investors who still want to buy local newspapers. That is news to me!

So what do these investors see in the newspaper industry that the rest of us don’t?  Here is a list of ten newspapers worth acquiring…

The Roanoke Times is a “good product,” a “community type paper.” Roanoke is the kind of place where if the car dealers start selling cars again, they’ll start taking out ads in the local paper again. The Roanoke Times also own the Blue Ridge Business Journal which serves 17 counties.

Elizabeth Parsons, their current editor has certainly brought new blood and excitement to the Business Journal. I have had the privilege of being interviewed by Kelly Queijo who is exceptional at being accurate and great at putting people at ease.

It’s good to know some will weather the storm. I think if they can adopt and adapt to the new way people want to get their news, they will be ahead of the curve. Be warned, this is not new news by now but I just found this out a few weeks ago so since it is new to me, it is “news” to me.  Not to mention it is good news. And guess what, it was by old fashion human contact, not electronically.

Robert Scoble Talks About B2B Social Media and CEO Blogging with 88owls and other VT KnowledgeWorks Companies

I had the chance to meet with Robert Scoble along with other companies at the VT KnowledgeWorks and discuss the importance of bloggin to CEOs.

Seated left to right at the round table discussion:  Anne Clelland, http://www.handshake20.com/, Allan Tsang 88owls, Cameron Nouri, Rackspace Email and Apps, Daryl Scott, Attaain, Robert Scoble, Rackspace, Doug Juanarena, GenTek Ventures, Glenn Skutt, VPT Energy Systems.

One of the “take-aways” for me was that a CEO needs to find time to communicate to the world what the company is about…and bloggin seems to be one of the most efficient and effective ways to do that. Most of what I learn from bloggin is through Anne at Handshake 2.0 and my partner Mike Greening.

Robert Scoble Talks About B2B Social Media and CEO Blogging with 88owls and other VT KnowledgeWorks Companies

I had the chance to meet with Robert Scoble along with other companies at the VT KnowledgeWorks and discuss the importance of bloggin to CEOs.

Seated left to right at the round table discussion:  Anne Clelland, http://www.handshake20.com/, Allan Tsang 88owls, Cameron Nouri, Rackspace Email and Apps, Daryl Scott, Attaain, Robert Scoble, Rackspace, Doug Juanarena, GenTek Ventures, Glenn Skutt, VPT Energy Systems.

One of the “take-aways” for me was that a CEO needs to find time to communicate to the world what the company is about…and bloggin seems to be one of the most efficient and effective ways to do that. Most of what I learn from bloggin is through Anne at Handshake 2.0 and my partner Mike Greening.

One wrong decision can destroy you.

Why is destruction so much easier than construction?  Why is it so much easier to make the wrong decision? You do not even have to think about it.

In order to get things working just right, a whole slew of right decisions have to be made in the right order. For example, let’s take a look at starting a business. You have to be incorporated properly, be in the right market, created for the right economy, hire the right people, be in the right location, targeting the right customers, draw the right conclusions from the right research, pricing your product or services properly, picking the right software, buying the right computers, spending your time with the right medium, signing the right copier lease, bringing on the right partners, finding the right attorney or accountant…

However if some of those decisions are made poorly…wham, splat…poof…bam…pow…You could get blindsided.

We have all seen that business located in the poorest of location, the partnership that went horribly wrong, the book-keeper that embezzled, the employee that sued the company out of existence, the economy crashing and taking companies with it…

So how can one entrepreneur answer and deal with all those decisions by him or herself?  According to Jim Flowers of VT KnowledgeWorks, the author of “Start with Moxie”, a cheap risk reduction, you need Mentors. That is one of the ingredients necessary to start a company.  To learn about the others, check out the book. A definite good read for businesses or those that want to start a business. If you are a consultant, get one for your client.

Jim also mentions in his blog that ignorance is risk. So how do you mitigate risk, well, 88owls have just launched a platform for businesses to ask experienced consultant any questions they have. There is something to be said about surrounding yourself with wise counsel.

Chaos out of order

Most of us are at least aware of the management process – Plan, organize, staff, direct and control.

Well, what about the creative process.  Entrepreneurs by nature are quite innovative.  Afterall, they came up with a solution and developed a business around that.  Maybe the company is ALL about providing solutions, or at least provides data for people and companies to find solutions. That is what 88owls is about.

Well so what about an established company.  New startups are by nature chaotic.  They are in the “hobby” or lifestyle stage.  Then somehow they realize in order to make it scalable and bring order into their lives, they either hire a manager or management consultant. All seems to go well.  Okay maybe better. But what about ongoing creativity and innovation (I will talk about creativity and innovation later).

Can creativity and innovation live in a tightly managed environment?  Does the environment you are in foster lateral thinking? Does it embrace “controlled chaos” or does it merely tolerate it? Is creativity and innovation something talked about but never permitted to thrive?

Companies that are innovative and creative fosters what I call “chaos out of order”. At the end of the day, it boild down to control…

…The more you want control, the more you are controlled by control. There is a saying in martial arts. “Those who hold tightly is also being held”. I enjoy seeing what my kids create with their legos after they dismantle all the sets and make something totally whacky and off the wall.