Just when you thought you had it all figured out...

So there I was, minding my own business, traveling down the highway, when I noticed that all the cars taking my exit were slowing down pretty drastically.  Naturally I slowed down too and, being the defensive driver that I am, I also checked my rear view mirror to make sure the driver behind me was following suit.  Strangely enough, he wasn’t.

I did my best to get out of his way, but there simply wasn’t enough time.  By the time he realized what was happening and hit his brakes, it was too late.  SMACK!  Bumper met bumper, a lot of glass and plastic was shattered, and two days immediately changed direction.  Just like that: no warning, no preparation, no planning, just change.

Life is full of little surprises like that, some good, some not so good, and each contains a lesson…if you look for it.  I know it will come as a surprise to everyone reading this, but I’ve decided to look for the lesson in my little melodrama.

Risk Is A Part of Life, Especially Business Life

First, let’s talk about risk.  Every time I climb behind the wheel of my 5,000 pound vehicle, I know there’s a degree of risk involved.  I do my best to minimize the risk: I always wear my seat belt, always drive defensively, always pay attention to the cars around me, that sort of thing, but I can never eliminate the risk entirely.  No matter what I do, there are other people on the road and I have no control over their actions.

The same is true of your business.  No matter what plans you make or how many precautions you take, there’s risk: risk of financial loss, risk of looking foolish, risk of failure.  If you want to avoid risk, don’t go into business for yourself.  Of course, working in someone else’s business comes with its own set of risks.  Risk is unavoidable; it’s an integral part of human existence.

The good news is that where there’s risk, there’s also reward, and often (but not always) the greater the risk, the greater the reward.  So what’s holding you back from taking a few risks?

When It Comes to Reactions, the Choice Is Yours

I’ve been in accidents before.  They suck, no doubt about it.  This one was a little different, though; instead of freaking out and getting upset, I was totally relaxed.  The other driver was obviously embarrassed and very sorry, and it just seemed to me that pitching a fit would be counter-productive.  So I chose to stay cool, calm, relaxed.  In the grand scheme, what happened was no big deal.  Yes, I’m sore and will probably have to spend some time recovering, but no one died.  The car’s can be repaired or, worst case scenario, replaced.

The lesson?  Always remember that we choose our reactions to our circumstances; whether we make the choice consciously or not is up to us, but either way, our reaction is our domain.  Not life’s, not God’s, not the other guy’s: ours.  Owning that choice is the difference between living life or letting life live you.

So the next time something you weren’t prepared for happens in your business, stop for a moment and decide how you’re going to react to the situation.  It could be one of the most important decisions of your life.

When Things Go To Hell, Keep Your Wits About You

My wife has been drilling into me for years the importance of getting as much information as you can out of the other driver including, if at all possible, a written statement.  The reason, she says, is that the moments immediately after an accident are when you are most likely to get a truthful answer, before the other driver has a chance to start crafting a different version of what happened.  You’d be surprised how many contrite accident-causers cry foul after chatting with their friends.

Partly because of those reminders and partly, I believe, because I chose to stay calm, I remembered to ask for the written statement.  The other driver was so shaken, he actually wrote a full confession, even writing that he had been distracted by a passing truck-full of cucumbers and hadn’t had time to react to me stopping.  Amazing!

This is a great endorsement for two of the most important words in your business: Don’t Panic!  Panic is distracting and it leads to making bad decisions.  If you panic, you’re not thinking clearly.  Instead of panicking, stop for a moment, take a few deep breaths, and think about your next step.  Chances are pretty good that you know what to do; you just need to quiet your mind down enough to be able to hear the answer.

So there you have it: three business lessons from a fender-bender.  What lessons do you see in it?  Leave a comment to let me know!

Wow…what an incredible day.  I’m still in Nashville attending the Robin Robins IT Marketing Bootcamp, and I have to say that today was a game changer for me.  Mostly, the presenters just made a lot of sense: everything they said was stuff I know and talk about, but it really sunk in on a deeper level for me.

Me and Dave Crenshaw, author of The Myth of Multitasking

The day kicked off with Dave Crenshaw, author of “The Myth of Multitasking”.  Dave talked about the negative impact the myth of multitasking has had on our society, a familiar subject to regular readers of this blog (see the blog post “The M-Myth” and the podcast “The Myth of Multitasking”).  Dave’s insights into the workings of the human brain were fascinating, and it was great to learn that there is hope even for a mess like me.

Dave divides people into three categories: the Zen Master (you know the ones: always on time and organized to a sickening degree), the Prodigal (those who were organized at one time but have fallen into a pattern of disorder) and the Pig-Pens (people like me and Dave who are inherently chaotic and disorganized).  Each deals with the chaos of life in their own way, but all of us have the same problem: only 24 hours in the day.

The biggest take-away from Dave’s talk was the costs associated with multitasking (which Dave calls “switch-tasking”): an increase in the amount of time it takes to perform tasks, a decrease in the quality of the completed task, an increase in the amount of stress on the part of the person attempting to multi-task, and a negative effect on our relationships with others.  Considering the heavy cost, maybe we should all take a second look at whether multitasking is an effective strategy in our businesses.

Me and Alex Rogers, founder of Chartec and creator of TaaS

The next highlight of the day was a breakout session with Chartec CEO and founder Alex Rogers.  Not only is Alex a blast to watch (he’s got the intensity of Gary V. and the wit of Mark Twain), he’s one savvy IT dude.

Alex focused on the importance of being different, which seems to be a recurring theme throughout this seminar.  He said that trying to get by with offering competitive pricing and great service is lame; every one of your competitors is doing the same thing.  Alex challenged the audience to start thinking about what they can offer that is radically different from the pack.  Then and only then will you be able to dominate your market.

My favorite line out of Alex’s talk is one I’ve said on many occasions in the past: if you can find out what your customers really want to buy, you’ll never have to sell to them again.  Forget all the lame “closing” techniques you learned in that “How To Be a Douchebag Salesman” class; they don’t work anymore.  Instead, learn how to become a trusted partner to your clients.  You’ll be surprised at how much easier your life gets.

Me and Robin and Mr. T

Lastly, Robin Robins herself graced the stage and shared her “& Secrets to Become a 7 Figure Consultant”.  The information was amazing, and Robin’s story hit me hard.  She shared how she was able to break out of her past programming to become an incredibly successful marketing guru.  The message really hit home for me as I’ve been working through  some very similar issues.  Her transparency and honesty was very moving.

Robin was true to her talk’s title; she shared all her secrets for creating a wildly profitable information marketing business.  More importantly, though, she helped us to appreciate the need to put the customer first in everything we do.  Whether it’s creating a new product or launching a new marketing campaign, build it for your best customers and they’ll love you for it.

I’m really not doing justice to Robin’s presentation here, but it’s almost 2 AM local time and pushing midnight according to my internal clock, so you’ll forgive me.  Suffice it to say that Robin is a marketing genius, and I’m a changed man.

More from Nashville tomorrow, but I’ll leave you with this final thought: if you can find the intersection between what you’re good at and what you really love to do, you’ll never be anything less than happy and your life will be filled with abundance beyond your dreams.  Keep looking for that crossroads and when you find it, stake your claim and make your fortune!

Me with Patrick Thean at Robin's Big Seminar

Today was like the Star Wars (or any good) trilogy: it had an optimistic start, got a little dark and depressing in the middle, then finished with a triumphant bang! I’ll get to the picture in a minute, (that’s part of the triumphant bang), but first a story.

I’m in Nashville for Robin Robins’ Big Seminar, a marketing boot camp for IT professionals. As I left Sacramento this morning, I was looking forward to an info-packed 3-1/2 days of solid training…Robin doesn’t call it her “boot camp” for nothing!

The flight from Sacramento to Nashville (with a short stop in Denver to change planes) was uneventful, exactly the way a flight should be. Or at least the way I prefer them. When we landed in Nashville, I was ready to learn.

And then United told me that my luggage was still in Denver and they had no idea when it would arrive, but that when it did, they’d deliver it to my hotel. To make matters worse, I’d let them talk me into checking my carry-on bag at the gate, so I literally only had the clothes on my back, my phone, and my laptop. And, just because that wasn’t crazy enough, the clothes on my back were a little on the casual side for me; thus, the shirt I’m wearing in the picture. As it turned out, I blended right in…I had no idea what laid-back dressers most IT people are.

Then it happened. The kick-off event was 3 hours of Patrick Thean, serial entrepreneur and author of Execution Without the Drama. Simply put, Patrick was amazing! He spent a lot of time talking about BHAGs and the importance of having your strategy aligned with your execution. He shared three questions that really test whether your strategy is linked to execution, and the questions really got me thinking. The three questions are:

1. Is your BHAG a poster? In other words, do you have a flowery, beautifully worded goal that hangs on every wall in your office but that nobody on your team knows or, more importantly, is committed to? Patrick shared a test that he performs when he’s visiting a new client for the first time. If the reception area has a poster that states the company’s mission or core values hanging in it, he asks the recepionist what the mission of the company is. He said he’s surprised by how many don’t know when it’s hanging on the wall right behind them! If your BHAG is just a poster, your strategy is not linked to execution.

2. Are you different? I really want to spend more time on this one, and will likely dedicate an entire post to it soon. Esentially, Patrick encourages companies to quit worrying about being better and start paying attention to being different. He made an excellent point: seeking to be better is what causes price wars, whereas being different creates a new market that you can dominate. Like I said, I need to flesh out the idea a little, but it’s a great point.

3. Do you know when to say no? This one is so hard for most entrepreneurs, myself included. Patrick acknowledged that it’s very difficult to not jump on every opportunity that come to your attention; that instinct is what makes a person entrepreneurial. What makes them successful, though, is the recognition that saying yes to one opportunity means saying no to something else. The question really comes down to whether you’re saying yes to the right things, a situation made more difficult by the fact that most of us face, not a fork in the road, but a “spaghetti junction” of opportunities.

Patrick’s presentation was an incredible launch to what I’m sure is going to be a phenomenal event. I’m looking forward to the next three days, and I promise to share as much of it as I possibly can. In the meantime, you should grab a copy of Patrick’s book…I’m going to for sure.

And in case you were wondering what I’m going to do for clothes the next few days, worry not: United came through and my bags were waiting at the hotel when I got back. Even with its low points, today was a great day!