“Change with the world – or it will change without you.” There is always risk with change, and in general, the greater the change, the greater the risk. But you know what? There’s also risk in not changing . . . arguably even greater risk. Changes in the business world are coming at us faster
“The best ideas for improving a job come from those who do it every day.”
Absolutely true. If you want to know where there is waste in your organization, ask your people. They know where it is, but they won’t tell you unless you ask. At a medical practice that has a number of offices, we asked the staff for “time wasters”. . . activities that take up a
“Never let the urgent crowd out the important.”
As small business people, we spend a lot of our time putting out brush fires. When we arrive at work in the morning, we probably have in mind the things we hope to get done during the day. But five minutes later, our best customer calls with a problem or a key piece of machinery
“As managers, we have to get out of the behavior modification business.”
We can help people with skills . . . to improve old ones or learn new ones. But it’s just about impossible to change their behaviors in any meaningful way. Yet we continue to waste time trying. Take the example of Bill, ace IT guy. He’s an electronics genius. There isn’t anything with a circuit
“If you listen closely enough, your customers will explain your business to you.”
Your customers don’t have to do business with you. They have many suppliers from which to choose, but they have chosen you. Why? What is it about the product or service you offer that brings you customers and keeps them? You think you know why your customers have chosen to do business with you, but
“A decision is an action an executive must take . . . “
For owners and managers, decision-making goes with the territory. We can’t escape it. It’s an important part of the job. Even if an executive presides over an inclusive, democratic decision-making process, he or she must still make sure that process is effective and efficient and doesn’t lead to grid lock. Decisions are what move an
“One of the greatest challenges as a manager is how to delegate so effectively that once you have gotten the monkey off your back, your employees don’t return it to you . . . with instructions for its care and feeding.”
An important part of leadership, delegation, is growing the people who are under the leader’s care. It takes time and it takes effort, but it’s the only way to develop a strong, effective team. Picture this. You’ve just given one of your direct reports an important assignment. Soon the direct report returns with questions, lots
“If your horse dies, get off.”
Inertia can be a terrible thing. It can keep us rooted in decisions and activities that may no longer be productive. It can keep us astride ol’ Trigger long after it has become obvious that Trig isn’t going anywhere. For example, let’s say we launch a new product or service, but the new offering isn’t
“A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a joke or worried to death by a frown on the right person’s brow.”
Bruce Lund is the owner/founder of Lund and Company Innovation, a toy design and product invention company (inventors of Tickle Me Elmo). His company is dedicated to the proposition that toys are profoundly important. Great toys teach, entertain, surprise, inspire and invite inquiry. Mr. Lund wrote this blog and I thought it was so good,
“The nicest thing about not planning is that failure always comes as a complete surprise and is not preceded by a period of worry and desperation.”
Many small business owners do not engage in any real, substantive planning activities, even though planning will do more to move the business forward than anything else they can do. This is often because: a) they are so busy putting out the fires of today that they don’t have time to worry about tomorrow, or
