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Archive for June, 2010

Everything Interesting Happens out on the Fringes

Posted in business, entrepreneur, self-improvement, tagged , , , , , , on June 21, 2010 | 3 Comments »

Everything interesting happens out on the fringes.

Admit it. It’s true.

Artists continuously challenge normal convention to come up with new, innovative expressions. They, along with  chefs, scientists, performers, and other passionate people thrive out on the fringes. We as humans instinctively are drawn to them. They are the quintessential ”cool”.

Take the stodgy world of network television for example. While regulated, every generation of new shows have been attacked by conservatives as immoral and sure to doom the minds of the young people. The industry constantly pushes away from center to the near fringes, which is the only way they can keep the attention of their audience. See, we naturally are drawn away from our center.

Can you imagine living in a society where the conservatives don’t feel threatened? That would be one bland world. Let them clamor, so we’ll know that we are really living.

The most interesting music, the most interesting foods, the most interesting art, the best experiences of our lives are on the fringe.

For me, the first taste of Vietnamese snails, French tartare, English black pudding, Korean silk worms, or even real sashimi were all “living” experiences that I will never forget. Live!

One of my sons is an adrenalin junky and a bit fringy. As a young teenager, he was arrested for jumping between the ledges of two buildings three stories high. When he played in a punk rock band, they insisted on singing a crass Blink 182 song about being molested by a grandfather. Tough to take as a parent? Definitely. Interesting? Certainly. He’s now a straight A student in college with his most conservative girlfriend to date.

My entrepreneur spirit is in many ways is a reflection of my desire to test the fringes: Take the risk and figure out a way to start something from nothing and create eventual tangible value. For me, that’s living.

Everyone has a comfortable center. From there, let’s challenge ourselves outward, farther out to the edges. Your heart might pump a little faster. Your mouth might become a bit drier in anticipation. Yeah, your life will just be more interesting.

My son during his punk rock days

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Building Trust Keeps the Team Strong

Posted in business, entrepreneur, management, tagged , , , , on June 19, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Trust. Why is it so fleeting?

Trust determines your relationships with your most intimate peeps, with your work colleagues, with strangers, with everyone. Some of us have the propensity to trust too much, others too little.

In a team environment, it is critical to trust your teammates. When a superstar athlete does not trust his teammates, he tries to do everything on his own, usually losing to the other TEAM.

In the work place, it is no different. I’ve always said that I’d take three capable and collaborative people over three extremely-brilliant people who can’t work together — or trust one another. The military understands this well, and breaks down new recruits until they are completely built back up in a team concept, learning to trust their fellow soldiers. This is because at times of extreme crisis, trust becomes critically challenged. In order to overcome difficult situations, teammates need to trust one another even more.

In the workplace, people must trust one another to build a powerful team. If people don’t trust one another, then micro-management, finger pointing, gossiping, politicking will begin to dominate. Most energy will be internally focused rather than outwardly toward customer needs or market opportunities and threats.

Building a trusting environment starts at the top. Leadership must show trust toward the team and vision. Then the leaders need to build an environment where failure is okay when trying to solve problems creatively. There needs to be a net for people who may fail, such as a good, clear escalation path and a mechanism by which each experience is used as a constructive learning lesson.

Such a strong, ever-improving team is much more scalable, sustainable and effective than a manager trying to “do it all”.

In all your relationships, do you have the foundation to build trust? In times of marital or parental crisis, your trust will surely be tested. And either you will have the core foundation to trust or you will not.

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Over-Communicate During Times of Change

Posted in business, entrepreneur, tagged , , , on June 15, 2010 | 1 Comment »

Absent of clear information, people generally presume the worst. Therefore, in time of change or crisis, it is good to over-communicate with facts, as well as contextual information.

Unfortunately, it is during these times of change that leaders are buried in the day-to-day and communicate the least. Often, unsure of next steps or too wrapped up in effecting change, we are hesitant and forgetful to be transparent with information.

So, clearly, it is when we need to communicate the most that we communicate the least, causing a crisis situation that further spiral out of control.

Here are some communication priorities during such times:

  • Address the situation at hand with frankness. By speaking clearly and realistically, you as a leader can build credibility that the situation is truly being recognized.
  • Put the current situation in context of the bigger picture. Usually, change causes both progress and pain. Both needs to be understood in context.
  • Clearly outline a plan to address the current situation. Let people know that there is a plan in place and the leadership team is being proactive to remedy the situation. Also, a clear plan dismisses unhealthy rumors that arise.
  • Recognize people’s efforts during the change. Some great talent rises to the top during such times. Re-enforce the attitude, behavior and efforts of such people.
  • Walk everyone to the “light at the end of the tunnel”. Hope is eternal.
  • Communicate more than you think you should.

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Office BBQ & Three Core Components of a Great Work Environment

Posted in business, entrepreneur, management, tagged , on June 12, 2010 | 1 Comment »

This video blog is during an Intrepid US office Friday BBQ.

The reference topic is “Three Core Components to A Great Work Environment” from an old blog post.

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Avoid People With Smaller Worlds

Posted in business, management, People on June 10, 2010 | 1 Comment »

Ever watch people make their world smaller, smaller, smaller?

Once after having lived overseas,  I visited my high school to play basketball with old teammates. They wondered aloud why I would leave the comforts of the strip malls of Tacoma? Actually, I like my hometown of Tacoma, but some of those friends were doing the same things that we were back in high school.

Maybe in church or at work, some people try to make their world smaller so that they can have bigger impact. Yes, to be the proverbial bigger fish in a smaller pond. Some friends don’t want their friends to have other friends. Some mothers try to be more significant in their children’s lives by stifling them in the home. Girlfriends and boyfriends try to monopolize each other’s time so they can be more important to each other.

In building a business, be weary of such people. They will make a mountain out of a mole hill. They will make you sweat running in place. They will be a distraction.

In friendship, be weary of such people. They will monopolize your time as the world passes by. They will trivialize the truly relevant and exaggerate the unimportant. Their intentions are never for you but for their own insecurity.

In relationship, be weary of such people. They will play on your insecurities. They will not let you grow. They will suck energy out of you and never give any back.

So, how small are you making your world?

Or, are you being enlightening to others, inspiring those around you?

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Commitment Makes Relationships Boil

Posted in People, society, tagged , , , , on June 8, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Friends my age are now re-evaluating their marriages, some re-committing, others bailing and still some frozen in indecision. A few of my younger friends are contemplating their first marriage.

To me the big question has never been whether to get married, but how committed one is to the marriage (or relationship)? Caught up in the moment, any legally-aged person can get married. Committing to a relationship, however, is infinitely more difficult because it’s not a spur of the moment decision. Commitment transcends that moment and far beyond.

My father used to tell me that the Western romance starts in a furious boil, then over time fizzles to a simmer until the romance eventually turns cold. He would tell me that Eastern romance starts at a simmer, but eventually turns into a boil with the right commitment to family and to oneself.

Everyone has a choice every day. You can decide to dwell on all that is wrong or missing from a relationship. Or you can decide to see the positives of the other person to the point that your feelings begin to boil again. This takes commitment to someone.

There are definitely unhealthy relationships that need more than an attitude adjustment. But there are many that just require a better perspective.

So, are you contemplating marriage? Make a decision and then make the MOST of that decision.

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Take the Time to Think Big

Posted in business, entrepreneur, tagged , , , , on June 7, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

An entrepreneur can be the visionary, janitor, salesman and office manager all at the same time. The hands-on requirements of a startup appeal to most entrepreneurs. However, all successful people need to have that “strategic time” — the quadrant two (not urgent, but important) in Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (Stephen Covey).
This quadrant involves activities such as prevention, relationship building, recognizing new opportunities, planning, among others.
I learned a while back that I could easily be sucked into day-to-day crisis management. While I felt productive solving urgent problems, whenever I looked up from my situation, I realized that I wasn’t making much progress. It was only after I started scheduling quadrant two time into my days that I could map a more effective and bigger plan for my companies. After all, it is my relationships and vision that is difficult for others to replicate. The day-to-day execution can be done by others, some of whom are more capable in this regard.
Beware, the noise of both urgent and important activities (crisis, pressing problems, deadline-driven projects), can be compelling. They need to be covered from an organizational standpoint. But if they are the more than 75% of the top executive’s focus of any-sized company, that company is most likely running in place.
Want to take your company to a bigger place? Then,spend the time thinking BIG.

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