Sanders Says

A Five Point Plan For Changing the World With An Idea

Do you think you can be the next great innovator?  Are you gunning to be an inventor like James Dyson or Thomas Edison? Do you want to disrupt entire industries like Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos or You Tube's Steve Chen, Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim?  

It's entirely possible for you to become a great innovator that changes the world with your creativity, passion and grit determination.  But behind these innovations is a simple process that must be followed, otherwise you can end up frustrated and broke.  

1.  Identify a Big Opportunity - Many innovators created a solution to a problem they've encountered that is common place.  Dyson couldn't find a vacuum cleaner that sustained decent suction over time. He did his research, realizing he was not alone.  Jeff Bezos discovered that book stores couldn't stock enough books to offer consumers (and himself) the selection they needed.  In every case, there's a problem and a big opportunity for whoever solves it.  This is key to raising any type of funding too. It's critical that you also have connections, experience or proprietary data to assist you in solving it, otherwise you are at a competitive disadvantage over time.

2. Brainstorm a Solution - Leveraging your experience, data or network, identify novel solutions that completely solve the problem at hand.  At this point, be clear on your assumptions (problem, market, requirements, solutions, market reactions to it, etc.).  The best solution will likely be simple, yet hard to execute.  

3. Prototype the Best Idea - Tom Peters once told me that prototypes are important, because if you have one, someone can point at it and say, "that's not the right solution!" Without it, all you are doing is talking in generalities.  Your prototype might be a working product, a minimally viable service or even a visualization (diagram) of the solution.   Southwest Airline's Herb Kelleher often talks about the importance of his napkin diagram of regional flight routes as the key to recruiting talent and money to his business concept. 

4. Test Your Assumptions and Be Willing To Pivot - Many of your initial assumptions about the solution (design, rules, go-to-market strategy) will be off, because you don't know what you don't know as an innovator.  You are looking for a product market fit, not the best looking or sounding solution.  Put the product on sale, give demos to prospects and collect feedback.  In Nail It Then Scale It, author Nathan Furr suggests that if your idea is has product-market fit, then 50% of your cold calls will be returned.  If your early feedback suggests you are on the wrong track, be willing to dump the solution and return to step two.  Eric Paley puts it best: "Don't love your business idea. Love the problem you want to solve." 

5. Execute On a Validated Idea - By execute I mean finish what you start, obsess over the details and never stop testing your assumptions.  Great innovators are first and foremost, exceptional finishers. A few years ago, I made a Skillsoft video explaining my perspective about the innovator's chief requirement: Execute!

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The Kind Of Positive Feedback That Works

We all know that giving attaboys or attgirls to our team is a good thing, right?  Not so fast, or should I say, not so general.  Research from Bersin indicates that certain types of accolades or recognition works better than others - especially when it comes to Gen Y employees.  

What works?  Highly specific feedback that identifies exactly what your employee did, the difference it made and how you feel about it.  What fails? Vague feedback that doesn't isolate your employee's thoughtful action and its output. 

When you tell someone, "you are doing a great job" that is a case of vague feedback.  When you say, "I appreciate the detail you put into that client report, especially the metrics you included on opt out.  It's one of the the top reasons they've renewed the campaign, and I'm proud of your thoughtfulness" you are being highly specific.  

This is important to Gen Y employees that play work like a videogame, seeking to master it and not just suck-up-to-the-suits.  General feedback gives them the idea that it's not personal to them or thoughtful on your part, by the way.  A recent article in Harvard Business Review pointed out that most companies ranked giving feedback as dead last in competencies, but a top priority to Gen Y employees.  So think before you give praise, even if it means you give it less often.  

The other reason specific positive feedback works best is because it perpetuates the specific behavior that you want to see happen more often.  A generalized, "good job last quarter" doesn't signal to your employee what they should be repeating, other than "doing a good job."  

Recently, I gave feedback to my event coordinator at my speaking manager group that was highly specific.  She added power point format to an event report (telling me that the event manager wanted me to know that she was using the 16X9 format instead of the default 4X3).  That's really important to a speaker that doesn't want to have to reformat a presentation at the last minute...and I use a lot of screen captures that would look stretched otherwise.  When I told my event manager that including that type of information was helpful and saved me time and stress, she noted it and told others they should start to include such logistics reporting for all speakers and all events.  That's how specific feedback can improve the entire system!

 

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How To Deal With An Epic Fail At Work

If you work long enough, you'll be part of an epic failure that petrifies you.  You won't know how to deal with it, and likely, you'll respond by trying to hide it or deflect the blame to someone else. 

That will not make you stronger, happier or healthier.  

Many positive thinkers might tell you to ignore bad news, not think about it, and just assume the best. But the worst-case scenario tends to grow in its enormity when you haven’t faced it. In How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, Dale Carnegie shares a foolproof technique that Willis H. Carrier (founder of air-conditioning giant Carrier) used to conquer worry thoughts.

Early in Carrier’s career, he was put in charge of installing a device at a factory that his employer owned. After Carrier had spent twenty thousand dollars on the installation, the device failed. Initially, he was petrified with worry, but after a few days he realized that worry wouldn’t get him anywhere.

The first thing he did was to clearly define the worst-case scenario: He’d lose his job. The second thing he did was to accept that idea and declare that life would go on—there would be other job opportunities. The final thing he did was resolve to do better than the worst-case scenario.

With a sense of calm he fessed up to his boss about the situation and asked for additional funds to fix the botched installation. In the end, he kept his job, and the device was soon in working order. He beat the worst, and from that day forward, he dealt with all his worries the same way.

The next time you are filled with worry, try Carrier’s strategy:

1. Define the worst case. Ask yourself honestly, What’s the worst thing that can happen? Once you do that, you’ll find that your imagination is getting the best of you. The reality is usually not that bad, once you clearly define it. It has the most power when it remains a mystery.

2. Accept it as survivable. Act as if the situation were a foregone conclusion, and let it go as a lesson to be learned. At the very least, admit that there will be some negative repercussions, regardless of your best efforts.

3. Make a goal out of beating the worst-case scenario. Develop a set of responses that can help you trim your losses and mitigate damages. 

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Our first book: Finding the Next Steve Jobs (by Net Minds)

Less than a year ago, I met Nolan Bushnell at a METal breakfast, where I gave a talk on "the Future of Publishing."  He told me he had a few books he was working on, and was interested in talking to me about publishing them via Net Minds. 

We met the following week (see above) and cooked up a third idea: Finding the Next Steve Jobs: How to Find, Hire, Retain and Nurture Creative Talent.  I had just read Steve Jobs (by Walter Isaacson), and was aware of Nolan's history with Jobs, and how he created a creative-friendly workplace culture at Atari.  I knew that many companies today need a creative genius to reinvent their products, or perhaps their industry. 

Nolan talked to me about all the changes he made, and how so many of today's companies are getting it wrong.  They filter out the creatives, then let the naysayers discourage the few that get in. We both realized that this was the book he needed to write, so he joined Net Minds and we started the project.  

Using the Net Minds network, we put together a team around Nolan's book that included editorial, design, marketing and media relations team members.  On March 26, it was the first publication by our young company, and it was covered widely: AP, NYT, AllThingsD, Mashable, Fox and Friends and In the Loop on Bloomberg TV.  

We got this book to market in less than 1/2 the time it would have taken through traditional means. We've already cut deals to license the book in Russia and Taiwan, with several foreign publishers on deck.  Many of you have supported us by buying a copy of the book.  It's a great read, and will help managers and leaders of all types attract, hire and retain creative talent. 

The book is comprised of short chapters (Pongs, read on here) that give YRMV advice on how to change your culture, environment and process to be more creative-friendly.  Here's what Walter Isaacson said about the book when he read it (on an iPad): "An absolutely invaluable book by the founder of Atari and the man who launched Steve Jobs' career." 

We have a special offer for companies or organizations.  If you'll buy a minimum of 100 copies, we can setup a Skype or webinar with Nolan as a priceless bonus (based on mutual availability).  If you are interested, email me! 

For those that are eBook friendly (maybe everyone has an iPad?), we have a special way of helping you buy them in bulk for your whole company.  Here's what our partner BookShout did for one of Nolan's speaking clients.

Sweet, huh?  Again, if you are interested in this, drop me a note. 

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Rock Stars Of Business Multiply the Value of Others

This is a sign that Jeffrey put up in his cubicle at ADP a few years ago to remind himself what his business goals should be - and what he can accomplish through promoting the growth of others. 

From sales to leadership to operations, the rock stars of business multiply the value of everyone they come in contact with.  They share intangibles with them to improve their resume, and in return, are rewarded with loyalty and appreciation.  Simply putting in hard work and "adding value" is no longer enough, not in the constant change we are all living through. 

There are three ways we can grow others' potential at work, be they co-workers, customers or even prospects or industry colleagues: 

1. Share Knowledge - You should always have a mentee, someone that you are counseling with either your experience or specialized knowledge you've invested time to acquire.  You should share knowledge with a sense of boldness, and at the same time, the humble nature of the greatest teacher you ever had in school.  You'll realize that you'll never get dumber by making someone else smarter. 

2. Share Your Network - I believe your network of relationships is your ultimate asset, and too often we hoard it for a rainy day.  Every week, you should connect three people that "should meet."  Often, people in your life simply need the right introductions to gain traction or solve their most pressing business problems.  From now on, when someone gives you their business card, talk to them until you can write down someone he or she should meet on the back of the card.  Then quickly act on it with an email, phone or in-person introduction. 

3. Give Encouragement - If you are a manager, catch people doing something right, then talk about them behind their back.  When it comes full circle, you'll give them confidence and improve their self-image.  This grows their potential.  As you encounter people in your industry that are struggling, help them focus on their minor victories, herculean efforts and never let them forget about their greatest assets.  This will help clear their mind of worry, and focus on tasks at hand. 

Do all three of these in every business relationship you have, and soon you'll realize that business isn't hard anymore.  It's fun.  It's meaninful.  And later, when you retire, you'll look back on all you did and "enjoy it a second time." 

From my recent keynote address for the wonderful leaders at Acosta. 

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A Solution For Office Politics

Are you tired of the political discussion?  Now that the election is over, there's nothing left but celebrations and grousing.  Most of us had our fill of it a month ago, but it drags on.  We react by covering our ears, unfriending people and pushing back.  Then we go to work, and a different kind of politics emerges, with no election-day-end-point in sight. 

Depending on your corporate culture, office politics can rule the conversation or be a rare occurance (annoyance) in your life.  Exactly what are office politics?  My favorite non-governmental definition is: Any activity concerned with the acquisition of power or gaining one's own ends.  That's it on the nose. Selfish organizational behavior.  

This is why it's bad for you to employ or get sucked up into office politics.  In the end, any good company will expunge those who aren't adding value - and the corporate politico is always thrown out, along with his cronies.  I've witnessed this countless times, especially at my last employer, Yahoo!  Politics lead to turf battles, the building of silos and a decline in the company's brand.  

While it seems impossible for a non-leader to avoid conscription, I've found a way to sidestep most political movements at work.  Here are my recommendations for you: 

1.  Focus on the Customer.  Always ask, "what's in it for the end user or customer?"  When you are pushed to participate outside those boundaries, bring the conversation back to this subject. Your most senior leadership is likely aligned with this, so consider yourself covered at the top.

2. Refuse to keep secrets.  In fact, leak them if you must.  Secrets are only good for the politicos' interests, not the Customer's or the company.  It's pretty easy to 'accidently' include people outside the circle-of-trust in email threads, exposing the politico's selfish agenda.  

3. Stay out of the conversation.  In some cases, options #1 and #2 may not work, due to your lack of power of authority in the organization.  If you don't do what you are told, you might get canned before the politico is brought to organization justice.  I understand this fear, and personally believe it's usually in your mind and not reality.  The last thing the politico wants to do is have a dissident with their own agenda, talking to HR or the media about their situation.  But still, if you have this fear, the easiest thing to do is the minimum: Turn in the report, show up for the meeting, etc.  To paraphrase Viktor Frankl, 'you can lose your liberty, but you can never lose your final freedom - your response to a situation'.  You can choose to be silent on the political issues, patiently waiting for the politico to create his or her own downfall.  

The key, then, is not to be fuel for the political fire at work.  Once you get involved beyond your job description, you are a foot soldier, not a team player.  You might be thinking, "yeah, but the politico at my company is currently ruling the division with impunity!  She got a raise last year, and looks like she's gaining power, not losing it." Let me assure you that this is just the middle of her movie.  If you study the history of organizations, you'll find that they always correct politics in the end.  The concluding scene of her movie won't be pretty.  That's the way any good story goes.  

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The Secret To Moving On Up At Your Organization

I've been thinking lately about how one really moves up inside an organization. 

Many might think it's about performance or schmoozing.  The former is hard, because not everyone gets an opportunity to produce measureable results.  The latter isn't really true, except for those rare situations where the leadership cares more about being popular than organizational success. 

Recently, I discovered for myself the best three steps.  They account for my rise at broadcast.com, then later again at Yahoo.  Recently, a good friend of mine (in his 20's) was leaving for his first corporate conference.  He was excited about the trip, the food, the chance to socialize and all the parties likely to happen.  Why not? 

I gave him this advice: Leverage the conference to move up in your organization.  Many will have your POV, and goof off publicly there or worse.  Let them eat cake and guzzle beer while you move up.  He asked me, "what then should I do?"  The advice I gave him is the same advice I'd give anyone, whether you are just starting out at a company or participating in a training program/conference. 

1. Learn - Open your ears and eyes to take in all the data, stories and advice you can. Attend everything you can, take notes like an A student, and ask questions until you 'get it'.  Do your homework and then do some extra credit work on your break.  

2. Demonstrate Learning - For many leaders, this is how they spot real team players.  It's one thing to know-it-all, it's another to put it into practice.  Find ways to apply your learning in real-world situations, and don't be afraid to take your mentor with you on your journey or report the results to them later.  

3. Lead Others To Learn - As you succeed with your new found learning, leverage your success to convince others to become students and not just workers.  Challenge them from your position of strength to give more of their mind to grow.  Offer to mentor those who are struggling and reward their attention with praise (and more time).  Offer to teach a class or gather students for one. Nothing encourages your leadership more than this behavior, as it's the way to creating organizational bench strength. 

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Is Your Company Culture All In?

Recognition experts Adrain Gostick & Chester Elton have pivoted from recognition to culture with their new book, All In: How The Best Managers Create A Culture Of Belief and Drive Big Results. And well they should, as today, culture is more important to your company than ever. 

Why? Transparency, the cloud and a new generation that needs a dollup of purpose with their paycheck.  Bad cultures are now a matter of JobVent record.  With the cloud, startups spring up like weeds, requiring less capital than ever.  The Millenials will bail on a bad boss, a negative group or a company they-just-don't-get. 

Think of your company culture as the operating system of the entire group.  It focuses human energy towards specific programs, gives and enforces commands and makes necessary connections or deletions.  In Gostick and Elton's view there are effective cultures and disfunctional ones.  The effective ones satisfy the customer, the talent and usually the owners.  The bad ones cause the company to sputter or shutter through ineptitude, inconsistency and negative behavior.

They decided to write the book after repeated requests by their clients to address it in their consulting work.  In working with several companies, they quickly realized that culture was one of the most important areas a CEO needed to focus on.  Bad culture = inconsistent results for everyone involved. 

So, they commissioned a massive study (300k people) with Towers Perin and validated some assumptions and uncovered 7 areas of excellence that every manager or leader could learn from. The first idea: Define Your Burning Platform is a winner in my view.  Too many managers forget about this.  Why are we doing this?

Get the why right and the group comes together organically.  Humans rally around a shared vision of value.  You can connect with what the company is doing for the world (Delivering Happiness or Mission Zero).  You can connect with what you are doing to respond to your competition (Steve Jobs loved this one).  You can even connect with what your group is doing to respond to a company edict or challenge (eg., the Don Ostler story from my 3rd book.) 

The point of this chapter is that the foundation of widespread belief is a sense of purpose.  Making money isn't enough, you must trigger a Maslovian need: Pride, Survival, Actualization.  

Pick up the book, spend a few hours learning about how to innovate your culture at work.  This is an important topic and I hope it takes market share away from the Leadership Category (which I find oversubscribed these days...a subject of next week's post here.)

 

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How To Make Someone's Life At Work

A touching thing happened on the way to my last keynote speaking gig. 

The night before, I attended the company's dinner function, which started with a retirement sendoff for Marc.  He was a long time manager and employee of the company.  As we were served food, a stream of co-workers presented their account of the difference Marc made, including funny slides and inside jokes.

Over and over again, presenters stressed how much Marc had influenced them and made a difference in their life.  At the end of the half hour ceremony, a slide collage played while "In My Life" by the Beatles played over the sound system.  Everyone, especially Marc and his wife, choked up during this touching moment.  I did too, and I don't even know him.  It was all the attention to detail, the thoughtfulness of the troupe of co-workers that organized the ceremony.  It was love.

The next day, before my talk, I congratulated him.  He replied, "I feel like my life was made last night." From a psychological standpoint, his reaction makes sense.  Abraham Maslow would call this a moment of self-actualization, the highest need we have as humans.  Marc was publicly and personally made in that his contributions were acknolwedged sincerely by people he cared about and respected. 

"You just don't see that enough these days," was a common phrase I heard at breakfast that morning.  It's been a few years since I've seen such a staged recognition event (I've attended a few heart-tuggers that Career Builder put on for their top performers - including flying in family and creating custom videos.)  Most companies likely are too busy to stop, kiss the roses, and put on the thank-you for their best.  Maybe leaders fear creating jealousy?

The value of public recognition goes beyond how it makes the recipient feel.  It shapes the culture too, teaching others that their contributions are appreciated and will be recognized.  In all these ceremonies I've attended, no one was thanked because he killed his numbers.  He was thanked because he helped and cared about his people.  

Culture is a conversation about the way things are done around here.  How's yours?  Do you regularly stage recognition events to promote gratitude and giving ?  Next time you have an event or meeting, find a reason to say thank you to a contributor and don't forget the details, the pictures and special guests to make it memorable.  Who knows, you might make someone's life. 

 

Four Things I Learned From Eric Ries of the Lean Startup Movement

Last year, I was blown away by The Lean Startup by Eric Ries. 

It was the top read of the year for me, and the most impactful book on my business life since Good To Great.  Why? Because the Lean Methadology changes the game, whether you are a startup or a big-old-company.  

When you are Lean, you interact with customers from the get go, pivot until you find that nuts-crazy-busy product/market fit.  Then you learn how to cycle through the process faster and faster over time.  This way, you build products and processes people really want, and eliminate most of all waste from the system.  Whew.  That's the kernel of the book, basically.  

This Monday, Eric was in LA for a fireside chat at a LeanLA/StartupUCLA event.  He talked for an hour about the book, took some questions and I had a chance to meet him as well.  Here's what I learned: 

1. Failure Is A Chance To Learn - He believes that successful companies have many little failures that add up to verified learning and market intelligence.  The reason you need to have the courage to launch your 'minimum viable' product, is so you can prove your assumptions wrong (or just maybe, right!).  The longer you stay stealth, whiteboarding out the future, the longer it takes you to LEARN.

2. Conduct Scheduled Pivot-Or-Persevere Meetings - He suggested every 8 weeks for startups.  In this meeting, you analyze what is working or failing and consider making radical changes to the business.  Sounds scary, but here's his twist: If they are regular, then the employees don't freak out when you have one of these meetings! This way, between meetings, everyone is measuring what matters, in anticpation of the next Pivot-Or-Persevere summit. 

3. Culture Springs Up From Your Processes - This is a new spin of what I've always thought (culture is a conversation about how things are done around here).  His point is that we create explicit and tacit processes at work, and through repition, they create our opearting system down to the individual leader.  How we react. You can't 'create a good culture' he says, you design and manage processes with your values in mind. A strong culture ensues.

4. First, Do The Standard Work - Eric is deeply influenced by the Japanese Lean movement for manufacturing and specically by The Toyota Production system, an obsure book by Taiichi Ohno. One of the most profound points of the book is that we must understand the standard work first, before we can customize it.  Standardization is only bad when we are locked into processes in the face of adversity (pivot!).  

I could see the people in the crowd react to this viscerally.  We live in a world where no one wants to master the fundamentals, instead, they want to innovate from day one.  But what Eric points out is that the innovators of history from Miles Davis to Steve Jobs first and foremost, understood and practiced the Standard, so as to have a real foundation to build upon. 

If you haven't already, read The Lean Startup. 

Read the transcript of Eric Ries talking about Taiichi Ohno.