For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
I read with interest an article in the Huffington Post that recounted the 1500 meter race at the Rio Paraolympic games. The top four finishers in the visually impaired category would have beat the Olympic Gold metalist, a very talented Matthew Centrowitz Jr. Abdellatif Baka, Tamiru Demisse, Henry Kirwa, and Fouad Baka all ran faster than Centrowitz.
The 1500 meter race at the Olympics was very strategic and not necessarily fast. In fact, Centrowitz was way off his best time and in fact, there are over a dozen high school kids in the US that have ran faster than the time he posted at the Rio Games, but still the achievements of these blind or nearly-blind running is remarkable.
It leaves me with some “what if” questions.
What if these runners had been on the field at the regular Olympic games? How would they have done? They certainly were capable of finishing the distance in time. But without their sight, could they have known their position in the strategic race that left people guessing until the end who would emerge victorious.
How does a blind or visually-impaired runner judge his position on the track? How does he know if he is in the leading pack or one further back? How does he pace himself (or herself) in the field that is running that day?
And what does this have to teach us about the vision and insight we have today about our businesses, products, and projects? Does having more information make us a better finisher? Not in all cases.
I am inclined to agree with Tim Washer speaking at ContentMarketing World who recently concluded “analysis is good, but don’t let it kill a good idea.” At least not all the time.
Joshua Kauffman, principle at Wisdom Capital Partners, is a well-respected global consultant who regularly talks about the confluence of global spaces, cultures and commerce. He often uses the example of the city of Buffalo, New York, which has never been the same since Bethlehem Steel pulled out, taking 100,000 jobs out of the local economy. He advises that cities, like ecosystems of other types, require diversity to survive over time. When a city is a “one tricky pony,” there is a real risk in the case of a downturn in one business or industry. Putting thousands of people directly at risk and hundreds of thousands indirectly at risk as newly unemployed people spend less on services and goods in the community.
Think about your own town or city. Look up the list of top employers. Is it diverse enough to weather a storm? In Portland, Oregon, there is a big sports and outdoor apparel segment, a growing technology sector, and a number of thriving healthcare systems. It might be more recession proof than other cities, but is not necessarily bringing new investment into the region as it tends to flux with demographics like population and age.
We know the role that governments can play in building diversity in our communities. But what about the role of the individual? Here are six ways you can build the resiliency and diversity of your city’s ecosystem:
- We can all shop local. Not just the day after Black Friday, but every day. I am guilty of purchasing online for its convenience and sometimes cost savings. However, I’d like to see those big online stores make it easier for consumers like me to shop local using their vast networks. I’d like to be able to filter search results for products that are produced (or even warehoused) locally. I like how UberEats is enabling local restaurants to add a service delivery element, employing local drivers. I’d like to see the same from Amazon, Etsy, and other companies who have the infrastructure and brand awareness to help us invest in our local communities.
- Entrepreneurs play a role in diversifying the business landscape with investments in new segments. This includes spin-outs of other business. My company, Planar, was a spin-off from Tektronix over 30 years ago and we have gone on to spin off other companies, like InFocus. We were recently acquired, bringing foreign investment to our region. Many companies that are now employing people in our area have spun out of Intel, Tek, Nike, and some of the larger employers in the region.
- As employees, we all can work within our own companies to add diversity across different industries and verticals to give resiliency to our own businesses. Are there new ways we can attract new customers, utilize resources and vendors in our local area, innovate for new market or product segments, or think bigger to ensure that we are bolstering our own communities?
- We can make personal investments in education in our communities and our homes, with a focus on the next generation of employees for our respective cities. To this end, I volunteer for and financially support Marathon Scholars, which grows talent starting with fourth graders, seeing them through their college graduation, which helps grow our local economy for the long-term. Similarly, the university systems play a key role in building the job market in the future. Helping to partner on research that fuels local corporate innovation and educating tomorrow’s business leaders, scientists, and industry disrupters.
- We can work with lawmakers to encourage government funding in the region. People might forget that today’s Silicon Valley was incubated in its early days with investments in aerospace by the U.S. government and universities like Stanford. What other impactful “epicenters” can be derived from government funding and local entrepreneurship?
- And finally, we all play a role in promoting our cities as a good place for business investment and tourism. We are all part of the chamber of commerce and the economic development commission. What makes your town a great place to live? What makes your city great for business? How can you let your circle of influence, outside your city, know about the brand of your town to ignite the ultimate word of mouth campaign? For many years the only thing people knew of Oregon was the Tanya Harding ice skating scandal. Luckily, we have transcended this reputation (helped in no small part by the popularity of TV shows like Portlandia and it’s over the top depiction of the city’s quirks). People know us for our abundant rain. They know that it is beautiful here. But do they know world-class sports companies like Nike, Adidas and Columbia Sportswear are headquartered here? Do they know that international brands Leyard and Intel have huge presences here? They know we drink a lot of coffee and are snobs about it, but do they know we are like this about all beverages ranging from tea to whiskey, natural soda and handcrafted beers, each of which have local crafters that have built a thriving business here? Do they know about the innovations happening at OHSU, OSU, UO, PSU, Warner Pacific, Concordia, and other higher education institutions in the region? Do they know why you choose to live and work here? It’s our job to tell them.
It’s true: it takes diligent focus to grow a diverse and financially stable local city ecosystem. There are a lot of variables, but I’m optimistic about the ideals in today’s consumers and businesses to “think local” for the benefit of community members and the business sector. It’s not a fleeting expression: I believe it is here to stay and will benefit us all. Shop local, encourage your company to source local vendors and materials, allow local spinoff companies in your city to thrive, engage your local government officials to bring monies to support your businesses, nurture education opportunities for the next generation of workers, and finally, spread the word about your city’s unique attributes to encourage more growth, investment and prosperity.
This article was originally published in Business2Community.
Don't fear the unsustainable. If it is unsustainable, it won't sustain.
Before proceeding with a solution, ask yourself the following:
“Do we have enough data to know if customers have a problem that we have a unique right to solve?”
You will save yourself a lot of money and time if you ask this ahead of time and use it as a strategic filter for investment. If you don’t know why you will win, then you won’t likely win.
Listen in on my interview with PDX Executive Podcast, on SoundCloud or iTunes.
Thanks for talking shop with me, Dan Bruton!
If you want your business to breathe and not gasp for the air required for day-to-day operations without unnatural or outside interference, what do you need? Profit.
If you want the flame of your business is grow, to create more heat and light to attract the attention of an entire industry, what enables that growth? Profit (or capital from other sources to invest).
If you like what you are doing and the people you are working with, what allows that to continue in a sustainable way? Profit.
Profit is not a bad word. Profit isn’t above everything else, of course. But like oxygen it is necessary.
Recently a team from The Muse visited our offices outside Portland, Oregon to observe the culture and interview some colleagues.
In the screen shot above, you can see that the photographer caught us having a great time. This was taken during a lunch meeting of some women in leadership at the company in which we interviewed Lisa Gardner, the NY Times best-selling thriller author. People working together to accomplish great things and having fun is a pretty common occurrence among my amazing colleagues!
The video clips all over this site highlight the experiences of young professionals in our organization and give a glimpse of what makes the company successful. Check out the company profile on The Muse to learn more.
“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because it is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium, and it will be lost. The world will not have it.
It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how valuable, nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges the motivate you. Keep the channel open.
No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.”
- Martha Graham, to Agnes de Mille,
as quoted by Sara Bareilles in her book “Sounds Like Me”
Thank you to Cindy Davis for the conversation about Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality.
Read the whole article, "5 Emerging AV/IT Technologies - The Revolution," in AV Technology Magazine.
- Right user
- Right methodology (asking the right questions)
- Right analysis
- Right time (in the process)
- Strategist at PayPal
What if someone combined a pizza place (like MOD) with the business model of Toms shoes? For every pizza sold, one would be given to a hungry person (through a school, at a homeless shelter, through service agencies, etc). I bet people would pay a little more for their pizza knowing they are helping a good cause. Plus, it could make people choose your pizza place over others when corporate events and birthday parties came around. It would taste good and make them look good while they are doing good.
Someone should do this. And tell me about it. You’re welcome.
I saw one of those motivational parody posters once that said, “Mistakes: It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others.”
I feel that the same can be said of the nightmare managers and bad bosses we have all had in our careers.
One thing that leaders can do to avoid running a company into the ground is let people tell them the truth.
Here are 5 things you can learn from bad leaders.
1. Bad leaders don’t listen
No one sets out to be a bad leader. Even incompetent or emotionally-injured people generally want to do a good job.
And perhaps more often than not, people don’t realize that they aren’t good leaders. Speaking truth to power is difficult and uncomfortable and possibly risky, so people don’t generally tell their managers how they really feel.
If the manager has created an environment where bad news doesn’t get shared, then no one is going to share the news that the leader is bad.
I once asked a CEO boss of mine what was the one thing that leaders could do to avoid running a company into the ground (a time-worn description we have all heard to describe the work of a value-destroying CEO), and he said, “Let people tell you the truth.”
This means creating the right environment of humility and openness, and getting the right people.
2. Bad leaders make bad hires
Bad leaders often hire people who are like them — people who think like them, have similar temperaments, experiences, or even the same alma mater.
Sometimes that works out great because of the comradery and teamwork that develops. But more often, the corner office becomes an echo chamber where new ideas, fresh approaches and alternative views can’t be voiced.
3. Bad leaders don’t fire fast enough
Driven by ego (or naïve optimism that things will miraculously get better for no rational reason), bad leaders don’t like to admit they have made bad hires, and they are more likely to hold onto a poor performer until a lot of damage has been done — not only the opportunity cost to the business or the direct impact of mistakes, but also damage to the credibility of the leader.
4. Bad leaders do the wrong things well
Sometimes leaders can get so fixated on the process, continuous improvement and infrastructure required to scale the business that they forget the value of the business as perceived by their customers. This can lead to the automation of processes that make the company worse.
I have been part of improvement initiatives that assumed the way we were doing something was right and we just had to speed it up or make it less labor intensive, only to find out that it was a waste of time and resources. So we just found a better and faster way of wasting money.
Leaders should know which products make them money, which customers have the best overall lifetime value, and what campaigns or initiatives have delivered the most tangible results in recent times.
5. Bad leaders do the right things poorly
Finally, leaders who rose through the ranks on their technical merits or intellectual prowess might find themselves ill-equipped for the soft-skills part of their job. In his book Emotional Intelligence, author Daniel Goleman outlines why being able to identify and empathize with others is a better predictor of success than IQ.
Bad leaders don’t have the necessary skills to deal positively with conflict, defuse tense situations, provide clear direction in the face of uncertainty, and truly lead.
The good news about these characteristics is that they aren’t set in stone. Being a bad leader isn’t fixed in the stars or determined like a person’s height or eye color. These are things that can be developed and with mentoring, thoughtful consideration and work. If you want to be a good leader, strive for it.
This article was originally posted on The Business Journals.
Other generations owned big things, like homes and cars, and shared communications, like phones.
This generation shares big things and owns their own communications.
“A fatherless girl thinks nothing is impossible and nothing is safe.”
– May Sarton as quoted by Gloria Vanderbilt on the documentary she did together with her son Anderson Cooper
If this is true (and thankfully, I don’t have personal experience), what will this mean to our world as so many girls are growing up without fathers in their lives. More invention. More innovation. More paranoia. More pessimism or more optimism?
“I think we are an outfit headed for extinction,” commented Ernest Hemingway upon seeing fake books in his fancy hotel room. Later, it is said that Hemingway went back to the bookcase and stood there stiffly and as he looked at the pasteboard backs again he said, “Phony, just like the town.” A town who had criticized his writing and was constantly jockeying for their best position at the expense of those who created art.
I think there are a lot of pasteboard book backs in our world as well. Things that are staged for the sale, but not lived in. Furniture that distressed with sandpaper, not with life. People who are photoshopped (as a verb) and filtered until unrecognizable. So much so that photos posted unaltered and raw on social media are often tagged #nofilter, as the opposite is too common.
This makes the authentic so attractive.
High self-awareness is a key element in business success. It can be easily overshadowed by the sexier traits of charisma or sheer intellectual genius. A study a few years back by Green Peak Partners and Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, quantified what employees have known for a while: "Companies and their investors need to put more effort into evaluating the interpersonal strengths of potential leaders. They should focus more on how a leadership candidate does the work, and not focus exclusively on what he or she has done.”
How one gets things done and the improvements one might make over time are rooted directly in a leader’s ability to face truth about themselves. According to the authors of Heart, Smarts, Guts, and Luck, leaders can improve themselves. According to their Harvard Business Review article, leaders must become “more aware of what motivates them and their decision making.”
In the end, there are three characteristics of feedback that I believe capture why it is critical to our success; Feedback is a mirror, a gift, and a miracle.
Self-Awareness Requires a Mirror
I don’t mean the kind of mirror by which you check your teeth for spinach or fix your hair. I don’t mean the kind of mirror that customer service agents to make sure they are smiling when taking phone calls (however effective that might be). I am referring to a different type of mirror. The kind that tell you how you are showing up in your professional life that leads to self-awareness and reflection. That mirror is feedback.
"Although the quietest of the emotions self-awareness is an incredible predictor of emotional intelligence," writes Daniel Goleman in a study with Korn Ferry Institute. Turns out, the ability to respond to crisis, develop teams, and manage your own emotions are all skills that can be improved with better self awareness.
Every journey begins with a first step and there are a variety of assessments that you can take to improve your self-awareness. Some of my favorite are profiled here for your reference. I have used Kolbe and StrengthsFinders as team building tools, as well, to help us better understand our team mates and how to work together.
Feedback is a Gift that Isn’t Easily Given (or Received)
“Not all gifts arrive in neat packages,” said Carole Robin, director of the Arbuckle Leadership Fellows Program at Standard Graduate School of Business. “This is definitely true for feedback.” Leaders must be exceptional at giving feedback in order to develop their teams and achieve their goals. Feedback delivered with candid compassion can transform businesses and relationships and most of us could improve our performance.
Leaders have a double responsibility however. They also need to make sure they are not missing out on the opportunity to receive the gift of feedback themselves. Ken Blanchard called feedback “the breakfast of champions.” And sometimes that breakfast is served is too cold, too warm, or too late, but it can be nourishing in any case.
We need to persevere and to find people who can tell us the truth. “We all need people who can give us feedback,” said Bill Gates. “That’s how we improve.”
People are often hesitant to give pointed feedback to their boss or colleagues. The conversations are awkward and best and can be career limiting, if the leader values comfort and coddling over results and responsibility (and we have all known a few of those).
The gift of feedback must be received and given with open hands, open hearts, and open minds. Create forums for feedback like 1:1 meetings, office hours, or surveys. In listening sessions, sit with your arms in a neutral position and try to constrain your reactions or defensive tendencies.
And just like your grandmother taught you: not all gifts are what you want, but because it is the “thought that counts” you have to treat the gift, and the giver, with graciousness. You must look for how you can best apply what you are learning. You may end up disregarding portions of what was shared, but it is in the consideration and reflection that changes occur.
Truth Telling is a Miracle (considering the obstacles)
In their book Execution, authors Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan, talk about the seven key traits of a leader and among them are “know yourself” and “insist on realism.” That last topic was so impactful to their thinking and their business success that they went on to write Confronting Reality. Yet in order for leaders to face reality, they need to be told the truth and they need to hear it clearly.
Failure to listen is more common than head cold among senior leaders. Combine this with the difficulty of speaking truth to power and it is no wonder that leaders can live in an echo chamber of glossed-over good news and ungrounded positivity. We criticize our culture for believing fake news, but often live in a world of fake news about ourselves and our businesses. It is a wonder hard truth is ever spoken, in fact. We are all guilty of not speaking up boldly enough or not being as open to feedback as we should have. It really is a miracle when it happens. Yet, it is a miracle that we can encourage and even facilitate with the right behaviors and attitudes.
In addition to being open to constructive criticisms, it is critical that you understand the data that indicates business success. In most environments, these include revenue and margin or market share data as backward looking indicators. It is also important to look at early or forward-looking indicators such as sales funnel analysis or engagement metrics on key tools or campaigns known to convert to sales. These business dashboards serve the same purpose as the dashboard of your car: providing you a feedback loop that indicates if you are running at speed, violating conditions of success, or if you have a crisis pending. Data reporting and analysis can be an important part of your truth telling toolkit.
With a combination of mirrors, gifts, and miracles, we can lead better businesses and lead them better.
This article was originally published on LinkedIn Pulse.
"It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it." - Lena Horne
As we start to plan for InfoComm 2017 in June, I was struck by how the show has become the family reunion of our industry.
Here are three reasons why
1. It is the “don’t miss” event of the summer
If you are in the AV industry, you start each year by putting InfoComm on your calendar. You schedule things like vacations and graduation celebrations around it. You make sure you book early. You show up anticipating something great!
2. You always learn something new
At your actual family reunion, you might hear a new story about your favorite aunt. You might learn that your second cousin can also wiggle his ears like you. You might get your niece’s prize potato salad recipe. At InfoComm, you can learn about the latest standards, take CTS-certified courses and get “recipes” that you can use for upcoming projects and client jobs.
3. It is the chance to reconnect
If you work in the AV industry, there are friends, colleagues and partners that you only might see once a year at this show. You learn what is new with their business and what trends they are following and, if you are lucky, those personal relationships also cross over to updates on the kids and hobbies. We love connecting with customers and hearing about their successful projects and what they have planned. And these conversations always end with the earnest promise to stay in touch and help each other out throughout the year
I am looking forward to InfoComm this year and I’ll see you there. I’ll be the one wearing the “AV Family Reunion 2017” t-shirt!
This blog was originally posted on InfoComm All Voices.
It was a pleasure to join with marketing leaders in Portland for the PDX Marketing Forum and discuss how we can apply principles from Lean Six Sigma and Agile Development to the new challenges that marketers face in our dynamic environment and economy. Thanks to Dan Bruton and the organizing committee for inviting me to share some insights.