Lawrence Fine

Shouldn’t everyone be able to see the positives?

No matter how bad things might seem the possibility always exist that things could be worse.

It’s a yucky, rainy day. Things could be worse, there could be a tornado.

Your boss yells at you. Things could be worse, you have a job.

Your sick. Things could be worse, you are alive!

Outside of the person on death row or the person on their death bed, things can always be worse. Look for the positive and you might be surprised to see what else you see

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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You have a great idea.

You have the ability to implement

You know there is a market.

You have access to the market.

It’s something you are passionate about.

Everything seems great until, after a lot of research, you find someone is doing something very similar.

Do you stop and think “man, that could have been great” or do you think “it’s a big market and it took me a long time to find the competitor so it might still be worth pursuing”.

As big as Coca Cola is as a company, there is plenty of room for Pepsi and many others. As big as McDonalds is, there is plenty of room for Wendy’s and many others.

There certainly are issues to consider including, patents, copyrights, etc but just because you aren’t first to market doesn’t mean you can’t be best in the market.

Just something to think about.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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Many people look at a journey and see all of the obstacles.

How much easier would it be to overcome obstacles if we focus on the rewards instead of the challenges?

If you are trying to climb a mountain, start by thinking of how great the view might be from the top. This will make it easier to figure out how to overcome the obstacles as you go.

Think of the destination as the reward. Constantly remind yourself of the potential reward as a motivator to help you along the way.

It’s a small thing but helps a great deal

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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When people consider taking on partners it frequently comes down to percentages. Unfortunately many think the option comes down to “do I want 100% or have an equal partner and have 50%?” Smart people realize that 50% of something significant can be a lot more than 100% of something small.

There is yet another way to think of this. If you take on partners you can trust and rely upon and only do the things you do best, you can take on more and more projects because the areas many of us spend too much time on are the things we know the least about. If we can partner with people who know more than us in our weaknesses, we can do the things we do know best and usually can work much faster which allows us to take on more projects, more partners and more opportunities.

So, rather than think of 100% of something vs 50% of something that could potentially be bigger, think about 50% (or whatever percentage it works out to) in multiple projects in which you do what you do best and let others do what they do best. Instead of 100% of something or 50% of something potentially bigger, why not go for 4 projects of 50% and now you potentially have diversified, increased the possibilities of success and get to concentrate on what you do best.

Just something to think about.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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Most people know that the adage “if you build it they will come” doesn’t apply to the real world. The reality is, if people don’t know about it and want to come, you can build the best thing in the world and no one will care.

Think in terms of building a great infrastructure. With a great infrastructure, you can adapt your approach to suit peoples needs and wants.

I remember seeing a documentary on Las Vegas construction. It showed that they built some of the casino’s with the exterior walls being the only weight bearing walls in the building so that they could adapt the interior later on.

With software development, you can frequently use some core modules (open source or not) as your infrastructure and then modify as needed.

A strong infrastructure can be made “pretty” very easily. A poor infrastructure made to look “pretty” is still just a poor infrastructure.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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There is a book available on Amazon called End Malaria. Here is the book description from Amazon

“End Malaria is more than a book, it’s a great cause.

At least $20 from each copy sold by us goes directly to Malaria No More to send a mosquito net to a family in need and to support life-saving work in the fight against malaria. Malaria No More, an international advocacy organization, is on a mission to end malaria related deaths by 2015.

In addition to saving lives, buying this book means you can enjoy essays by 62 of American’s favorite business authors, including Tom Peters, Nicholas Carr, Pam Slim, and Sir Ken Robinson. Organized into three main sections—Focus, Courage, Resilience—and eight subsections—Tap Your Strengths, Create Freedom, Love & Be Kind, Disrupt Normal, Take Small Steps, Embrace Systems, Get Physical, Collaborate—all essays in End Malaria share a desire to inspire readers to look within themselves for solutions to their everyday dilemmas and for motivation to realize their desires.

Editor Michael Bungay Stanier envisioned End Malaria as a book that would marry the best writers of the business world to a deserving cause. Michael assembled and edited this collection with a goal to leverage that breadth of expertise these writers represent for an issue of global importance.

At its core, End Malaria is about doing great work including the hard work to save lives. All of the writers in this collection and all of the partners involved have waived fees in order to raise the maximum amount of money.”

People buy books all the time. I can’t think of a better one to buy than this one

You can buy it at http://www.amazon.com/End-Malaria-Michael-Bungay-Stanier/dp/1936719282/

I have no connection to this other than having bought a copy

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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Democrat
Republican
Liberal
Entrepreneur
Conservative

What exactly is gained by labeling people? Are all “conservatives” the same? Do all “republicans” think alike? Do “entrepreneurs” all think alike?

While some people might think it’s advantageous to label someone so others can understand what that person might be like, since no two people are the same, aren’t we just generalizing in a way that does more harm than good?

I’m sure there are labels some might place on me but since I consider myself a unique individual (as is everyone else) in some ways the labels might be accurate but in others they are just as misleading as anything else.

Rather than look at someone based on their label, why not get to know them and see what the individual is really like?

Just something to think about.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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Some people like to be thought of a certain way. They might want to be perceived as a tough person or as an artsy person. They might act a certain way, or dress a certain way or talk a certain way.

The thing to remember is this doesn’t always mean it’s the way they really are.

A tough acting person might do a great deal behind the scenes which are the acts of a truly sensitive and caring person.

A person who acts disorganized and gives the impression of doing things in a way that most people would assume is uncaring might have spent a great deal of time getting organized and caring about what they are doing.

While in some parts of our lives perceptions are reality it’s important to look beyond the initial appearances and see what the person is really like. You might be surprised

Just something to think about.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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Whether it’s in a formal classroom, an organizations training facility or other location much of our training is done in 45 minute sessions or longer.

The question we must ask is why?

Why that long? Is it really in our best interests to go that long in our sessions? Would it make sense to teach in short bursts (3-10 minutes) by breaking things down to shorter, simpler sessions? Would we learn better if we had five 10 minute sessions instead?

Next time you are in a one hour training session take a look around at the 30 minute mark and see how many people are paying attention vs how many are are drifting away.

Short simple bursts of teaching can make a world of difference. Give it a try

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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We can get grants for part of the funding. We can get tax credits to help sustain the business. We can get interns to provide inexpensive labor. We can spend a great deal of time and effort arranging all of this funding.

An alternative is to focus on doing your business. Work as many hours as necessary to keep costs down so you don’t have to pay others. Reduce expenses and quickly find a way to generate revenue so you can operate at a profit and cover your expenses. It’s not as glamorous as spending your days with people who have money hoping to get funding but deep down, if you spend more of your time figuring out how to be profitable and less of your time figuring out how to get funding, you will be successful long term.

Just something to think about.

Have a great day!

Lawrence

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