Lawrence Fine

Every once in a while you hear about a company or organization that is ‘too big to fail’. The thought is they are too powerful, too wealthy, too historical to be allowed to fail.

My guess is many people felt the Mongolian Empire was too big to fail (at one point more than 25% of the worlds known population was part of the Mongolian Empire).

My guess is many people felt the Roman Empire was too big to fail (at one point more than 35% of the worlds known population was part of the Roman Empire).

My guess is many people felt the Qing Empire was too big to fail (at one point more than 36% of the worlds known population was part of the Qing Empire).

No group or organization is too big to fail. Some might be temporarily prolonged for various reasons but if a group doesn’t have a purpose or value, they will be replaced at some point.

The next time you hear someone is ‘too big to fail’ they are probably already on their way down.

Just something to think about

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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It’s fun to prepare for the best. You can figure out how much you might make, what you might buy and all the other perks that you think come with success. The problem with this is so often, you end up disappointed when things don’t work exactly as you hope.

On the other hand, if you prepare for the worst, any surprises will be good ones.

It’s easier to figure out what to do with a surplus of revenue than it is to figure out how to deal with a deficit.

Plan for the worst and be grateful for any pleasant surprises

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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Some things we can change

Other things, we have no control over.

It’s important to be able to determine which we can change and which we can’t and concentrate on those things we can change. Otherwise, we spend a great deal of time trying to influence things we can’t influence.

Once you realize you are wasting time trying to change things you can’t change you will find it’s much easier to only deal with the things you can change.

Just something to think about

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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When we first learned to walk we took small baby steps, one step at a time.

Why is it in business people think they can start at a full sprint?

People want the big rewards without taking the time or effort to make the sacrifices necessary to be successful.

Starting with baby steps is not beneath you, or me, be willing to start small in order to get big

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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When negotiating with another group (or even just looking to make an offer) try to figure out what the other group would want as opposed to simply what you think they might accept.

You might be surprised with how different an approach this might result in

Just something to think about

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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Find the customer first

Too often people create a new product or service and then try to find a customer to sell to. The problem with this is frequently the potential customers either don’t have an interest in the product or are already using a competitors product. If this is the case, a person then has to go out and create demand or change demand.

The alternative is to find the customer first and then create what they want.

An example of an industry that does use both methods is the home construction industry. Some builders build homes for specific buyers. They are hired to build a house for a client and are paid accordingly. Other builders build spec houses so they build a house and then try to find a customer to buy the house. Both methods can work but it’s surpassing to me that more industries don’t use the “find the customer first” technique.

So often, we are so interested in finding the next customer that we ignore the current customer who is frequently ready to give us more money if we would only listen to them.

An example might be the public speaker who speaks in front of a big audience and gets a great response so then tries to find the next audience to speak to. Might it not make more sense to instead find out what this other topics this first audience would like to hear about? It’s easier to sell to satisfied clients a second time than it is to sell to a new person the first time.

If you have satisfied customers find out what else they would like to buy from you rather than doing what so many others do and ignore the current customers in search of the next customer.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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It’s easy to want to create something really cool.

It’s easy to want to create something you think people will buy.

It’s easy to want to create the next “big thing”.

The challenge is to create something useful.

If you can create something useful, you are much more likely to be successful.

Think about what you and your friends would find useful, create that and good things will most likely happen

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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Do you do things well enough that people are satisfied and no one complains?

Or, do you do things at such a high level that you have mastered them?

Most people are happy if others around them are satisfied (“if I don’t get yelled at, that is good enough for me”). The greats are always trying to master their skills.

Do you strive for being good enough or do you strive for mastery? One is easy and is adequate. One is extremely difficult but much more satisfying. Which do you go for?

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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Sometimes we become so loyal to old ideas that we lose sight of the fact the ideas are no longer relevant

It’s truly a fine line because many are so quick to ignore the past that great ideas get left behind but the alternative of sticking with an old concept simply because it’s the way it’s always been done is just as bad.

It’s important to regularly review ideas to determine whether they are still relevant Don’t disregard them simply for the “next great idea” that might have no merit but also, don’t stick with something that no longer works.

This constant reevaluating of ideas is what frequently separates organizations that keep growing from those who become stagnant or move backwards.

Just something to think about.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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This post might seem contradictory from my post the other day (http://lawrencefineblogs.com/2011/05/if-you-want-a-reply-to-an-email-be-brief/ ) when I wrote “If you want a reply to an email, be brief” but there does come a point where you need to supply adequate information in order to avoid wasting everyone’s time.

As an example, if a person emails asking to set up a meeting the exchange might go as follows:

“are you available for a meeting next week?”
“sure”
“when would be good for you?”
“how about Tuesday at 2PM?”
“Tuesday isn’t good for me, how about Wed at 9AM?”
“I have a call at that time, how about Wed at 11AM?
“Sure that is good”

An alternative would be:

“Are you available for a meeting next week? If so, how about either Wed at 11AM or Thursday at 8AM work best for me, just let me know and I can meet you at your office”
“Wed at 11AM is perfect thanks”
“See you then”

Simply by providing some options can result in a much shorter exchange, less stress for all and more efficiencies.

Provide enough information to allow for proper decisions but don’t waste anyone’s time with excess information.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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