Lawrence Fine

A few years ago, I was in Philadelphia for a convention and ended up taking a bus tour of the city. At one point the guide pointed out where the first ice cream was made in the US. He asked people to guess what the flavor was and people guessed vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. He then explained that the first flavor of ice cream was TOMATO!

As soon as he said tomato you could see people changing their expression to indicate that tomato ice cream didn’t sound particularly appealing. He laughed and explained it was just like a persons first real kiss. They didn’t know how good, or how bad, the kiss was until their SECOND kiss and they realized how much better it could be. A person doesn’t know tomato ice cream isn’t good until they have experienced chocolate ice cream (or whatever flavor you might prefer).

Think about how many things you haven’t experienced because you aren’t willing to experiment. People think their way is the best way simply because they haven’t ventured out and seen other ways. Many successful family businesses will require their family members to work somewhere else for a few years before they can join the family business. By doing this, it forces these family members to be exposed to new ideas, new procedures etc. If they didn’t do this, they would simply do the same thing that has always been done and miss out on some great opportunities.

People who live in a small town are most definitely at risk of this. They might live a very comfortable life and feel they are doing everything they can and should. The reason they feel this way is there might be very limited competition locally so it’s working so why try to fix it. It’s only when they go elsewhere and see how others are doing things that they will really grow (this doesn’t mean one has to do things the exact same way as everyone else, but rather, if you are exposed to new ideas, you can pick and choose those that will work best and incorporate them into your current strengths and continue to grow).

I love living in Charleston West Virginia and I will always remember a friend telling me, before I decided to stay here, that Charleston is a great place to live PROVIDED you can go elsewhere. It’s a safe, comfortable environment but if you never leave the area, you don’t get to see the way things are being done elsewhere. When I travel, I get exposed to new ideas, new concepts and usually come back completely re-energized. I always look forward to returning home, but am glad I was able to leave as well.

Get exposed to as many new things as possible. Open your mind, experience new things as grow as a person.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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Recently I was staying in a hotel for a few days. I checked in and a few hours later went down to the front desk to mention that the heater in the room didn’t seem to be working properly. According to the thermostat, it was 61 degrees in the room. I made sure the heater was on, raised the temperature setting etc and still it was cold.

When I mentioned this to the person at the front desk, they said they would send someone up to take a look. I went out for a few hours and came back to a room that was still cold. I went back downstairs, mentioned this again and they told me that the boiler hadn’t been working properly but it was now but would take a few hours to really start working properly.

The next morning, it was still cold. As I was leaving for a bit, I went back to the front desk and mentioned it again. They said they would send someone up to take a look.

That evening, when I returned, it was still cold. At this point, I was getting frustrated (and cold) and went downstairs yet again. This time they told me that the two rooms on the east end of each floor weren’t heating properly, they had known this for a few days and were hoping to get this fixed but weren’t sure when. I asked if I could switch rooms and they said they were at 100% occupancy and had no rooms I could switch into. They offered me a complimentary breakfast and while I wasn’t mad, I did explain that this breakfast doesn’t fix the issue of a cold room. Next they offered a complimentary room to be used anytime I wanted in the next 6 months.

If they had told me from the beginning what was wrong, I could have found an alternative, accepted the issue or done something. However, telling me “we will look at it” or “it has been fixed, just give it some time” when they knew that wasn’t the case, changes everything.

My guess is, in their minds, if they had told me the truth when I checked in, I would have gone somewhere else and never returned. The truth is, I might have gone somewhere else but most likely would have returned on my next visit because of their honesty.

Now, the next time I come to this city, I will most likely use the complimentary room night, then move to another hotel because I would rather not pay an establishment any more money when they haven’t been upfront with me,

In other words, while they were worried about losing me short term, the reality is, they have lost me long term. My guess is, I’m not the only one.

Be upfront with issues you are experiencing and people will be much more willing to give you another chance

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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In order to heat your house, you need to start with an energy source. It might be electricity (and even there, the electricity probably comes from coal) or it might be gas or it could be from the fireplace. Regardless of how you choose to heat your house, it starts with an energy source.

To drive a car, your engine creates energy but it requires an energy source to operate it. It will need gas or electricity or some other source of energy, in order to get the engine to run.

Basically, anything that needs energy to operate also needs an energy source behind it.

The same is true with people. If you want your team or organization to be excited and energized, you must be excited and energized. They will draw from your energy. If you are down and dejected, they will be as well. If you are upbeat and excited, so will they be.

If you want your organization to be excited, it should start with you!

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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People who complain a lot tend to get ignored. The belief is they have no credibility because they complained before, they are complaining now and they will complain again later.

However, the risk in ignoring the squeaky wheel is that frequently, there is something to their complaints. It’s easy to ignore the complaints and, as a result, miss something important.

Remember, if everything worked perfectly, the wheel wouldn’t be squeaking

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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When you meet someone and they ask what you do, how do you answer?

For some, it’s an easy answer:

“I’m an attorney at blank firm”
“I’m a soccer coach at blank university”
“I’m a consultant”

However, if you’re intention is to get that persons attention and have them remember you, you might want to give a bit of thought to your introduction.

Instead of “I’m an attorney at blank firm” you might change it to “I protect the innocent”. Trust me, the conversation will NOT stop their.

Instead of “I’m a soccer coach” you might change it to “I influence today’s youth to make a better tomorrow”. They WILL want details.

Instead of “I’m a consultant” you might change it to “I make good better and better the best”

There are times when you want to discontinue a conversation as quickly as possible. Those are the times to stick with “just the facts”

The other times, when you want to network, or enhance yourself in some way, consider being a bit more creative in how you present yourself.

So, what do you do?

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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Every once in a while I come across someone who can’t read. When this happens it makes me wonder how difficult it must be for them on a daily basis.

Then it dawned on me, the only thing worse than not being able to read is being able to read and not doing so.

The opportunities at your fingertips are mind boggling. The amount of knowledge one can learn, the amount of entertainment one can experience, the amount of information one can acquire. The only thing that will stop you from expanding your mind, is the inability, or unwillingness to read.

If someone can’t read, it’s unfortunate.

If you wont read, it’s truly sad.

Do something…pick up a book and read!

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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Some people think of education as only taking place in places like school and other formal settings (seminars, conferences etc). Because of this, if a person hasn’t gone through the formal type of education, they are thought, by some, as uneducated.

However, there are many other types of education. A person can be self taught. They can learn from informal means such as discussions with others. They can learn from general observation.

There are many ways for people to learn outside of the generally accepted formal education processes. To assume that only those who have gone through the formal education system are educated is to underestimate the other educational methods.

Medical school isn’t intended to teach everything there is to know about medicine, rather, it’s intended to provide a good background on the medical side and to show know how to find the rest, in a reasonable time period. This might mean knowing who to refer a patient to or knowing what resource to consult.

Law school doesn’t teach everything about the law but rather it teaches where to find the applicable law and then knowing how to apply the law.

While we tend to be impressed by the educated person who knows a great deal of random trivia, the real educated person (whether through formal education or otherwise) doesn’t necessarily know everything but does know how to find what he doesn’t know.

In no way am I trying to downplay the importance of formal education, but it’s also important to not downplay other means as well.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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As many of you know, I have been involved in the sport of soccer for many years. While there is much about sports that seem more related to fantasy than reality (professional salaries, steroids etc) the truth of the matter is, a lot can be carried over from the athletic arena to the business arena as well as to life in general.

Many people would consider the best professional soccer club in the world, right now, to be Manchester United (there are some other contenders but I don’t believe anyone would dispute that Manchester United is in the top group). It’s interesting to watch them play because they have players from three different age groups playing together.

They have their veterans such as Edwin Van Der Sar, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes who are all 34 years old or older (some would consider them ancient in a sport such as soccer but they all play at an incredibly high level). They don’t play every minute of every game like they did when they were younger but they bring a maturity to the field that carries over to the rest of the squad.

Next you have the prime players. These are players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney and Nemanja Vidic. They are in their mid 20′s to early 30′s. These are the players in the prime of their careers, they need less rest than some of the older players but also have a great deal of experience.

Next you have the youngsters. These are players such as Rafael and Fabio da Silva, Jonny Evans and Anderson They are 18 to 21 years old and have great talent and enthusiasm but not much experience.

If they only played with the older veterans, they would struggle with speed and being able to stay at a high level all season long.

If they only played the youngsters, they would have great speed and enthusiasm but would make too many mistakes due to a lack of experience.

Instead, Manchester United mixes their squad up regularly (especially in less crucial matches) so that the youngsters are playing next to the more experienced players. The more experienced players can let the younger players do some of the running for them while the youngsters can learn playing next to players who have “been there and done that”.

By having a good mixture of the three groups on the field, they get the best of all worlds. Plus, when something happens (injuries, suspensions etc) and a less experienced player is needed in a big game, they already have the experience and knowledge from having played with the more experienced players.

The other issue with having this mixture of youth and experience is what happens too often in sports. A team is successful, plays together for a long time, wins some championships and then all of a sudden, they are old. The problem is, while they were winning their championships, they weren’t developing their young players. By having a good mix of players, this can be avoided.

Now lets look at how this carries over to business. A company might decide they can get rid of their more experienced employees and rely upon the younger ones (they will find an excuse because it would be illegal to discriminate based on age but it’s done all the time). The younger employees are probably getting paid less and might have more energy and enthusiasm but without the experience, they might struggle.

Other companies will rely upon the “good old boy network” to the point where they have no new ideas (inexperienced people frequently have new ideas…some good…some bad but they have ideas).

The smart companies have a good mix of employees and utilize their strengths while letting others do the things that are their weaknesses.

I’m amazed at how often people aren’t willing to cross over generations and lose wonderful opportunities because they think “he doesn’t know anything, he is too old” or “he doesn’t know anything, he is too young”

Making sure there is a good mixture will allow growth from all directions

Have a great day!

Lawrence
Mi

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If someone invites you to dinner, the response of “thanks, but I’m not available” is all that is needed. There is no need to explain that you are busy, or that you aren’t interested or anything else. There certainly isn’t a need to make up an excuse. At some point in our society, people started to think they owed people an explanation for everything.

If you are offered a job and decide not to take it, you should thank the person who offered you the position and then simply say “thanks but no thanks” (hopefully worded nicer than that) but you don’t owe them an explanation for why you aren’t accepting the position. The same applies if you decide the person who has applied for the position isn’t the right person for you. Thank them for applying explain that it’s not going to work out and move on.

People tend to get more offended by the explanation than they do by the answer. In many cases, not only don’t you owe them an explanation, the reality is, they don’t want one either.

To paraphrase Sgt Friday “Just the facts”. The more you elaborate, the more difficulties you create

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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We all compete at some point in our lives. Some compete on an athletic field, some compete in the board room, some compete for affection, some compete just to compete but everyone competes at some time.

Typically, we have one of three types of competitions

Those we are expected to win
Those we might win or might lose
Those we are expected to lose

Most people don’t want to admit it but there are opponents that they are not expected to beat. Whether it’s the coach whose team is vastly outmatched or the attorney trying a case where the evidence is against his client. In many cases, these are the competitions many people spend a great deal of time preparing for. The thought is, if they can win this competition, they have really accomplished something significant.

The problem is, when these people are focusing so much of their attention on wining the unexpected, they lose focus on the ones they are expected to win.

Getting the occasional unexpected win is nice but the question is, whether it’s worth the unexpected losses?

While we do want to continue to work toward the unexpected wins, we must stay focused on the other two categories as well.

The top performers always (at least almost always) win the competitions they are expected to win, they win more than they lose the ones that are 50/50 and they win the occasional unexpected.

Keep your focus and good things will happen

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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