Lawrence Fine

I have received two emails in the past couple of days from my phone service provider (it’s a VOIP service that runs through the Internet) apologizing for the brief phone outage a few days ago and explaining what happened and what they are doing to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Interestingly, since I have been out of town, I had no idea my phones weren’t working.

How many companies would elect to say nothing, hide behind voice mail and email, pretend it wasn’t a problem etc as opposed to what this company did which was to admit a problem, address the issue and keep people informed.

I realize when something goes wrong people like to complain and it’s unusual to rave about a company at that time but considering I have been with them for 6 years and this is the first time there was a problem and they now show their true character by addressing things upfront, I’m even now more impressed.

In case anyone is interested, the company is Packet8 (www.packet8.net)

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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When you are working on a project with a group, or doing anything with a group and your part is done, do you stop working or do you ask others “can I help with that?”

Do you see the situation as “I did my job, the rest is up to you” or do you see things as a team project where you are willing to help out with whatever needs to be done?

Five people working independently can achieve the work of five (but usually only do the work of four). Five people working together can do the work of ten (and have more fun doing it). Next time you don’t have something to do, ask someone else “can I help with that?”

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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If you were king of the world, what would you do?

Would you try to cure all hunger?

Would you try to create world peace?

Would you try to improve the environment?

Whatever you would choose to do, is there really something stopping you from starting today? There are many wonderful organizations doing things for each of these causes. None will solve all the problems but each are making a difference.

Are you making a difference or do you really feel you need to wait till you are named King?

Start small, do something and make a difference

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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So many of us are in such a rush that we don’t realize it’s sometimes faster to go slower.

I’m writing this from a hotel room and this hotel obviously in limiting everyone’s access to the Internet. While everyone has access, downloads and uploads are somewhat limited which would make the uploading or downloading of video painfully slow. However, regular usage is more than adequate.

If the hotel allowed unlimited uploads and downloads, you might think everyone would be able to do things quicker. The reality, however, is quite the opposite. Too many people would be downloading movies and while they might say “unlimited” the truth is there are always limits based on overall bandwidth. Many people trying to download videos would cause their downloading to slow down significantly but also regular usage as well. So by slowing down the internet access, it allows most people to go faster than if they allowed everyone “unlimited” downloading. If you have ever been in a hotel with painfully slow Internet, it’s most likely because they aren’t slowing down their users and they are being affected by peer to peer transfers etc.

The same thing is true on a highway. Without a speed limit, everyone could drive much faster but that would only be true until the accidents start happening. Once there is an accident, the unlimited speed limit becomes insignificant and the traffic will be going much slower due to the accident. Most would find that if everyone drives a bit slower, on average, people would get there faster.

People rush through projects to get them done as soon as possible but in doing so, they don’t have time to do them the right way. It’s faster to go a bit slower and get it done correctly than to go full speed and have to redo a big part due to errors.

Slow down, you might find you get done quicker

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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When we win, life seems perfect. When we lose life SUCKS.

Too many of us live a life with many highs and many lows and we are on an emotional roller coaster.

The thing to remember is that we have the options of always takings the middle path. We can realize that when we win, there are still things we can do better and when we lose there are still things we did well.

Pursuing the middle path allows us to be more objective, more realistic and overall happier than living on that roller coaster of emotions.

Pursue the middle path and be overall a happy person

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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There are so many relatively new things these days in business.

Should we Tweet on Twitter?

How many friends do we need on Facebook?

Do we have enough contacts on Linkedin?

Is our website pretty enough?

Are we using all the latest technologies?

With today’s global economy, do we have a large enough reach?

Are we anticipating where the stock market is going and reacting accordingly?

There are so many questions and concepts to consider that sometimes we need to remember that today, just like yesterday and last year and last decade, sound basic fundamentals will continue to prevail in business.

If we plan properly, prepare properly, have a good product or service, have GREAT customer service and are priced fairly, we can be successful.

It’s easy to forget the basics because they aren’t flashy, they aren’t exciting and they aren’t what is being written about in books or on blogs but the reality is, if we do the basics really well, good things will happen.

If you want to try something really different in your business, try living by the Golden Rule. Treat others as you want to be treated and the rest will work out.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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We have an idea.

We create the strategy.

We design the processes.

We start the process.

Something goes wrong (and let’s not kid ourselves, something will always go wrong)

Do you have a Plan B?

What if that fails? Is there a Plan C and D?

It takes a lot more time to have multiple plans and be prepared for multiple contingencies. While it takes longer in the preparing stage, it makes things work in the long run. I would rather have plans that I end up not having to use then to need another plan and not have it available.

Have multiple plans, multiple contingencies and be prepared for as much as possible. Even with all of that planning, something will happen you are not prepared for. However, with multiple options to choose from, you are more likely to come up with a solution than having nothing planned at all.

However, be careful not to allow planning to prevent you from ever getting started. It’s a fine line to know when more planning is needed and when it’s time to take action. Those who know where that line is are more likely to be successful.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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How often have you heard that someone was lucky because they were in the right place at the right time?

We hear stories about famous actresses who were discovered as teenagers by directors while sitting in a diner. We hear stories about software developers who created something for themselves and some friends and someone discovered it and bought it for millions. We hear stories about great athletes who were discovered by a college coach who went to watch a game to recruit someone else and suddenly they were discovered.

While pure luck might occasionally come into play, the reality is most of these people made their luck. The “nobody” actress who was suddenly discovered while sitting in a diner or playing in a small play in front of 10 people probably had made some great sacrifices to be in that situation. Frequently, they left their families, left their friends and moved to an unknown area and then spent hundreds /thousands of hours to make sure they could be “suddenly discovered”

The software programmer whose program was suddenly discovered spent countless hours developing the software and probably spent countless more hours developing other software no one ever wanted.

The unknown athlete might have been discovered while the coaches were looking at someone else, but if he hadn’t put in the time needed to develop his skills, he would have been seen and then ignored (like the other players on the field who weren’t recruited).

There are some occasions when a person gets “discovered” by pure luck but more often than not, the sudden discovery worked very hard to be in a position to be the “overnight” sensation.

Most of the people who have been suddenly discovered spend many years preparing for that situation, Some might call it luck, I call it being prepared.

If you want to be in the right place at the right time, simply work harder and smarter and you will be amazed how suddenly you too might be an “overnight success”.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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There are so many things going on in everyones life that we tend to multi task as much as possible.

We start on Project A while on a conference call regarding Project B and are doing planning for Project C. We get a lot of work done, are very productive yet there is one minor problem…nothing gets finished!

Might it make more sense to occasionally focus on just one thing and get it done and then move on to the next thing?

It’s a tough question because while focusing on the one thing, the other areas get neglected but there does come a time when being able to say “it’s finished” means a great deal.

There isn’t a right or wrong answer when it comes to the decision of whether to multi task or get one thing done but make sure whichever decision you do make, there is a good reason behind it because otherwise, you might be going in the wrong direction quickly.

Sadly, this is something I know I need to do a better job on (making the decision of multi tasking vs getting something finished) and I’m guessing, many others do too.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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Do you want to improve your business, organization or life? If so, do you have one hour to spare?

We miss so many opportunities do to lack of creativity, lack of risk taking, lack of thought and lack of ideas. We have some ideas but are afraid to share them due to the risk of them not being good ideas, the risk of ridicule, the risk of failure and many other risks.

If you want to come up with some new, good ideas for your organization, gather 3-5 people and do a true brainstorming session. Have one person write down the ideas on a whiteboard.

The basic rules for brainstorming are the follows:

The more the merrier. Go for quantity over quality. In a one hour period, try for 50 or more new ideas.
Go for the absurd. Don’t worry if you think the idea is doable or not. The more creative the better.
No judging. It doesn’t matter if you like an idea or don’t, all ideas are good ideas. Go in with an open mind
Build upon ideas. Each idea doesn’t have to be independent of other ideas. Build upon other ideas (without passing judgment upon them)

After you write down the ideas (a good hour or so of non stop brainstorming), leave them for 24 hours. Then go back and start reviewing. Determine which you can use, which need to put off till later and which need to be discarded. The same 3-5 people should go through this process. The thing to remember is the ideas are being judged and not the people who proposed them. While open discussion is needed during this process, arguing over ownership and having individuals attacked doesn’t serve any purpose.

While it’s helpful to be objective and for at least one person to take on the role of ‘devils advocate’ you aren’t looking to establish a list of things you can’t do. Make sure at least one person is taking the role of ‘angels advocate” and looking for ways to make things happen.

While many organizations do brainstorming sessions, they stop at this point. They might take one idea and try to run with it and if they are fortunate, something good will come from that idea. The mistake is there might be many other good ideas on that list. Some might not be done at first because something else might seem to be better. Others might not be done because it wasn’t the right time. Others might not be done due to lack of resources. The thing to remember is times change, resources become available and what might not have been the best idea initially might turn into the true game changer.

I don’t believe there is any business, any organization or any individual who would not benefit from regular brainstorming sessions.

Most organizations are lacking good ideas and it’s sad because they are only one hour away!

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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