Lawrence Fine

For years people thought they were being an invaluable part of an organization by playing the role of “devils advocate”. They looked for the negatives. They tried to punch holes in new ideas. Their function was to make sure an organization didn’t embark on a new project without taking all variables into consideration. These people have been valuable but certainly not invaluable.

If you want to become truly invaluable, be an “angels advocate”. Instead of looking for the problems, be the person who finds the way to make things work. Instead of being the person who looks for problems, be the person who finds solutions.

There isn’t a single organization out there who doesn’t need angel advocates. Some might not know they need one but if you are a true angels advocate, you will know how to solve that problem as well!

The great thing about trying to be an angels advocate is it doesn’t require special skills. It doesn’t require great intellect. It doesn’t require an of official title. All that is needed is an open mind and a positive attitude.

If, after reading this post, your mind starts to think about the reasons this wont work, don’t worry, you aren’t qualified for the position anyway!

For those of you who make new years resolutions, consider making one to become an angels advocate. Your life will truly flourish,

Have a great day (and a great new year!)

Lawrence

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One of the things many people don’t take into consideration is the importance of protecting their name.

A week or so ago, there were criticisms in the paper of Michael Jordon because he was suing two small companies for using his name and likeness in their advertising. The reason people were upset with him is the companies were trying to honor him for his accomplishments and people thought it was wrong for the superstar to sue the small companies for doing so.

The thing these people don’t realize is if he doesn’t protect his name and if he allows people to use his name and likeness in their advertising, it would mean anyone could do so for any reason. While these two companies were trying to honor him, the next two might try to portray him in a negative light and would be able to make the argument that since he allowed others to use his name in advertising without permission, they could do so as well.

This is why big companies will sometimes seem heavy handed in their attempt to prevent others from using their company or product name.

How does this apply to you if you aren’t a big company or a nationally known figure? Have you ever wondered what people find if they enter your name into a search engine and do a search? Will they find you? Will they find the information you want them to find about you? Will they find something negative about you?

Some people might be surprised when they search on their name because they might find some things about themselves they didn’t know (or things that aren’t true). They also might find some things they wrote a long time ago that no longer apply (for example, a post from 10 years ago on a forum might have been funny from a 15 year old but now that this person is 25 it might not reflect well on them).

You might want to take a moment to see what you (and others) can find when doing a search on your name. One thing to remember is if it’s something negative, even if it’s about someone else with the same name as you, it still reflects poorly on you.

If you find that searching on your name doesn’t show you in a good light, you might want to consider doing something about it. One thing you can do is, if available, buy a domain with your name in it (for example, in my case, LawrenceFine.com) Put a blog on it and write about things of interest to you. If you don’t know if it will work, take a moment, go to Google.com and enter Lawrence Fine and see what you find. I didn’t start this because of negative things about me but I did start this blog to help protect my name.

Give it some thought

Lawrence

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Rules are frequently made to address a given situation (and usually they are made after the fact). For example, someone finds an “exploit” of a current rule so a new rule is put in place to address this specific exploit. The problem is these revised rules don’t look at the big picture and rather are just trying to address a short term problem

At least once a year all organizations should look at revisiting all of their rules and determine if they should stay, go or be revised.

As an example, an organization might have a rule that says all employees work from 8-5 with a one hour break for lunch. It’s always been that way so always will be that way. While there might be a good reason for this rule, frequently it was because most customers were local so the times made sense. Today, where many organizations have a much larger reach because of the Internet, 5PM on the east coast of the USA is only 2 PM on the west coast so the potential for lost opportunities is much greater. 8AM on the east coast is already 1PM in London. If your organization is working with people in different time zones, shouldn’t your hours take that into consideration? Do your rules currently do so?

Do your rules require your employees to punch a time card when it would be much more efficient and effective to use a time tracking device on a computer instead?

Do you have weekly meetings to get status reports from department heads that could be eliminated with the use of a project management program?

Do your rules address personal phone calls but not personal emails and social networking on company time?

Are your work attire rules up to date?

When was the last time you looked at your travel reimbursement rules?

With some organizations, it would b best to start over and scrap all previous rules and come up with new, up to date and relevant rules. With other organizations, a simple revisiting of the rules is all that is needed. However, I can’t think of any organization that doesn’t need to, at the very least, take a look at your written (and unwritten) rules each year

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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Many people see themselves and their organizations a certain way. It’s difficult for them to see themselves any other way and because of this, they are limiting themselves.

People, and organizations, with a more open mind are able to reinvent themselves when needed in order to better themselves. This does not mean trying to mislead people but rather it’s about realizing that we have the ability to emphasize the many strengths we might possess.

A simple example of how you can reinvent yourself as an individual is if you aren’t being thought of as being “professional enough” by your peers or potential customers, you might choose to change your work attire. Make the transition to more formal business clothing (instead of jeans and a polo shirt go with a suit). Make the decision to always be the best dressed person and see if people start to perceive you differently.

If you feel you need to meet new people, instead of continuing to hang out at the same places, go somewhere different. Instead of going to the local bar, volunteer at the local museum. Instead of spending your time in the evenings watching TV, spend more time at the local bookstore.

In athletics, sometimes the only way to be successful at the next level is to reinvent yourself. The star outside hitter in high school volleyball might be great at that level but might be too small to be an outside hitter in college. The options are to insist that this is “your position” or be open minded, reinvent yourself become a defensive specialist and be a star libero

There are some great examples of business and products being completely reinvented..

Listerine started as a surgical antiseptic and then transitioned to a mouthwash. Over the years, it has been marketed as a way to prevent colds and sore throats as well as a way to prevent dandruff. It’s been marketed as a deodorant, as well as a way to deal with many skin problems. It’s been used as a cleaning product and many other ways. If Listerine was only thought of as a surgical antiseptic, it probably would have been replaced many years ago but instead because it’s been willing to reinvent itself, it’s still a very successful product.

Another great example of how a product has been “reinvented” for multiple uses is Arm & Hammer Baking Soda. Over the years, it’s been marketed as a cleaner, to bake with, as a way to keep pool water clean, as a fire extinguisher, as a way to keep a refrigerator smelling clean, as an antacid, and for many other uses. How many more sales have been made because of the reinventing of the uses of this product?

You can reinvent yourself while still being true to yourself, just be open minded, look at your options and be willing to take the chance.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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During the holidays, it’s important to remember that not everyone works the same schedule.

Many people think of the time between Christmas and New Years as a time when everyone has off and a time to spend with family and friends. However, it’s important to remember just because you might have off (or a slow time) during that time period, many others do not.

The convenience store down the street, the hotel a mile away and 24 hour restaurants are all open and have people working during these holidays (and all other times as well). The fire and police departments are fully staffed during these times as well

Whether it’s the 4th of July, Christmas, Easter, Yom Kippur, Eid Al-Fitr, Boxing Day, Ramadan, Diwali or any other holiday you might celebrate, there are many people working while you are celebrating.

When you get a chance, please take a moment to thank some of these people for working so you have the opportunity to spend time with your family and friends.

Just a thought

Lawrence

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The new year is coming soon and many people establish new year resolutions. January 1st they are all gung ho to lose weight, get a new job, write a book etc.

Feb 1 comes around and the excitement is gone, the resolutions are fading fast

March 1 comes around and we think “maybe next year”

Rather than going through this process again, why not set a true goal and think BIG for 2010?

Things to consider doing:

Organize an event to raise $100,000 for your favorite charity
Get a group of people together to start a new non profit organization in your area that will make a difference.
Create a new online school that helps youth understand the importance of reading and writing
Start a company whose primary goal is to make enough money to hire more people to give others opportunities they don’t currently have.

The opportunities to do something big and truly make a difference are endless. There are different opportunities for different people. There are many reasons not to do something big (“the economy sucks”, “I work too hard now”, “I don’t like to take chances”) but wouldn’t it be cool to really do something big in 2010 and know you made a difference in peoples lives?

Just a thought

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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Businesses frequently do many things to acquire new clients.

They are willing to lose money initially with the thought of making it up in the long run. They are willing to give in even when they don’t think it’s the correct decision. Some even go as far as to say “the customer/client is always right”.

The reality is, there are times when a client is more trouble than they are worth.

The willingness to fire a client, the willingness to say “no” the willingness to acknowledge the client is NOT always right is frequently the difference between a business being able to survive and one that fails.

It’s more difficult for many to fire a client than it is to find a new client. However, it’s important to keep in mind that a bad client can bring an entire organization down much quicker than a good client can bring them up

The key is, when firing a client, to do it in the same way you would want to be hired. Be professional, be courteous and stick to your guns

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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Too often, when we keep track of things (primarily through statistics) we track what was done.

An example would be the baseball shortstop who we “evaluate” based on the number of plays they make vs the number of errors they make (for example, a shortstop who fielded 500 balls and only made 5 errors was successful 99% of the time vs a shortstop who fielded 500 balls and made 10 errors was only successful 98% of the time). While these are easy statistics to keep, it doesn’t factor in the number of balls the shortstop SHOULD have fielded but didn’t. The best fielding shortstop doesn’t always have the best fielding percentage because the best fielding shortstop might get to a lot more balls than others and since he is getting to balls others couldn’t (or wouldn’t get to) those are probably more difficult to field and therefore he is more likely to commit an error but that does NOT mean he is a worse fielder than the shortstop who didn’t get anywhere near that ball.

An attorney who wins 90% of her cases might be an excellent attorney or might simply be very selective in the cases she chooses to take on. By not taking the difficult cases, it increases her “winning record” but is not indicative of her talents as an attorney.

Soccer coaches like to keep track of shots hit and shots scored. I believe it would be just as relevant to keep track of opportunities NOT taken.

Salespeople like to go after the easy “mark” because they are the easy person to sell. However, while it might increase their sales:prospect ratio, they might be missing out on great opportunities because the not so easy mark might result in a much bigger sale (or possibly no sale at all).

Statistics can be very valuable however, let’s make sure we track what wasn’t done as well as what was done.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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“I was the best salesperson last year”

“We were national champions last year”

“I had the highest customer service ratings last time”

“We had record profits last year”

How many times do you hear people talk about what they did last year? While previous accomplishments are wonderful, the reality is, what you do today is what people are going to be most interested in.

If you won last year that doesn’t help you this year (unless they start changing the rules and let the defending champion start with some extra points this year).

Having been the best last year might help you in terms of confidence but at the same time, confidence and complacency are often interchangeable.

Having been the best last time might give you a psychological boost but it also puts a target on you because you are the one everyone will be aiming for and if you let up because “well we were the best last time” it’s amazing how quickly someone can overtake you.

What you did last time is great to have for your memories when you are older. What you plan to do in the future is pure conjecture and wishful thinking. What you do today is what people will be judging you by.

Start everyday with a clean slate and try to be the best for today. If you go in with that attitude, yesterday will be taken care of and tomorrow will only get better.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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Let’s imagine you are building a small rectangular house. It’s a simple structure, just four exterior walls, and a couple of interior walls. As you are about to finish, you realize you want one of the interior walls moved 2 feet to make one of the rooms larger. You will have to knock the wall down, fix whatever damage was done to the exterior walls and floor, and then make sure the new location of the wall can handle the stress etc.

The alternative is to create very detailed architectural drawings and plan things out properly from the start. By doing this, when you realize you want a one of the rooms to be larger, you simply erase the original line, make sure everything will work and then redo the drawing with the larger room.

The second option will require more time in the planning phase but will ultimately take less time (and less money) then the unplanned option.

Spend the time planning and long term, things will be cheaper, quicker and better.

The one caution here is to not get caught in “paralysis by analysis”. Don’t let your planning stop you from ever starting. Things will never be perfect so do proper planning but also be willing to move on.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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