Friday 29 July 2011

Not all the best things in life are free

The explosion that is social media has led to many believing in the old adage, the best things in life are free. I don’t buy it for a second, if you will pardon my pun!

People will always pay for what they perceive is valuable.

Most things that are free on the internet are a marketing strategy to get us to buy something, eventually. Nothing wrong with this. I think it is a good thing to have to demonstrate value before expecting people to pay.

The challenge is, many folk expect everything for free.

Sure some great things in life are free. Most things of value however require an investment of time, energy, or money, and often all three.

The next time you take advantage of something for free on the internet give some thought to how much it cost the providers.

I am finding myself downloading less and less stuff because firstly I don’t really need it, and secondly I am wanting to do my bit to support people who are providing their hard earned, valuable stuff for free, and so I generally only take free if I think I can spread the word for folk, or I think that at some time in the future I will pay for future value.

I think the whole world of free has a rude awakening coming. I am not saying free doesn’t have its place, it does. I am saying that many of the good things in life require an investment of some kind to be made.

I would be very interested in your thoughts. Please email me at ian@changingwhatsnormal.com

If what you sell in your business is a commodity someone will eventually sell it at a cheaper price. I’d suggest changing your business. The next time you purchase something from a supermarket, give some thought to the people in the supply chain getting screwed to provide what they do for almost free. This will eventually happen to you.

The future of business has much to do with providing what people in a niche market want and that they are prepared to pay for.

What niche market/s are you serving? You may have to provide something for free to people in your niche/s to attract them. Don’t fall for the trap of giving away too much, rather give what you need to do to demonstrate value.

Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community

Author of Changing What’s Normal

Partner of passionate and enlightened leaders in several countries since 1991, to change what’s normal for the good of people, our planet, and for profit.

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Tuesday 26 July 2011

Is there a difference between responsibility and accountability?

My friend and colleague Kwai Yu, the founder and CEO of Leaders Cafe, asked an interesting question in the Leaders Cafe group on LinkedIn recently: "I am not responsible for 53,000 employees" - so says Rupert Murdoch. What would you have said in his position?

You can read the very interesting Yeses, No’s and Maybe’s here.

Here is what I added to the discussion:

I imagine that Murdoch is far removed from the day to day actions of his people (53000 employees). There are probably 1000s he hasn’t even met. Is there a failure of management in the company. Absolutely in my view.

I suspect there are policies, procedures practices, systems etc, the stuff of management, that if followed mean what happened shouldn’t have, and obviously somewhere along the line several people broke the rules which means several people have failed as managers and probably as leaders as well.

The GFC, BP are more examples of poor management. It is ironic that the poorest managers on the planet, politicians, are finger pointing and yet not doing management which is to change what's normal with policies, procedures and practices etc.

As to the big question circulating the globe, is Murdoch responsible? I don't think so. He is only responsible if he knew what was going on and did nothing about it. This we will probably never know.

As another one of my colleagues Terry Paulson said in the discussion "I do not think he knew. If he did, he should be held accountable."

There is a big, big difference between responsibility and accountability. In the end of this Murdoch will be accountable. An interesting question is: Will he be held to account by others or will he hold himself and the people who failed their responsibility to account?

What say you. Is there a difference between responsibility and accountability and if so what are the differences?

Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community

Author of Changing What’s Normal

Partner of passionate and enlightened leaders in several countries since 1991, to change what’s normal for the good of people, our planet, and for profit.

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Thursday 21 July 2011

Writing and sharing what we write is great for business

Changing what’s normal is my fourth book. It is the one I always wanted to write. It was also the most difficult to write. I don’t find writing easy. I do find it a very valuable and rewarding experience nonetheless.

Do you write your feelings and thoughts down and share them with others?

I would highly recommend that you do so frequently.

Writing is a valuable action for leaders for five key reasons. Writing can lead us to clarity, content, communication, community, and creativity:

Clarity

Getting really clear about our intentions, feelings and thoughts means our actions are more considered, conscious, and deliberate. Being really clear is a key to investing in time wisely. You have 168 hours each week like everyone else. You will use the time you have much better by being really clear. Being really clear also helps others to know exactly where they stand with us. Writing and sharing what you write increases clarity.

Content

In the digital world content is king. The more content you make available in all forms of social media, the more you will attract the kind of people you need and want in your business. Having great content online as well as in print makes it easy for other people to spread our messages. Word of mouth marketing is and always will be the best form of marketing. The more you write and share what you write, the greater your content will be in terms of quantity and quality.

Communication

Clarity and content pave the way for better communication.

Lack of clarity and content by leaders has a massive negative effect on productivity. I estimate poor communication to be one of the single biggest reasons for low productivity and low people engagement.

The more you write and share what you write the better communicator you will become.

Community

Clarity, content, and good communication are all prerequisites for creating community with all your stakeholders. Robert Frost once remarked that home is that place that when you go there, they have to let you in. This is what I mean by community, a place we can belong to and be who we are.

There is no greater place to belong to than community.

Writing and sharing what we write also creates community itself for it attracts people to us who have a shared view with us about the things the really matter to us.

Write and share what you write and you will increase your sense of belonging in the places that are important to you as well as attract other people to those places.

Creativity

Writing for me is a daily discipline. I have been in the habit of writing daily since I began blogging in May 2007. I don’t publish everything however the discipline has helped me to be more disciplined in many other areas of my life.

Daily writing has forced to me to have daily thinking time and this has done wonders for my creativity.

How often do you write?

When and where to you share what you write?

My strong suggestion is that writing and sharing what you write frequently are a key to the successful future of your business, no matter what your product/s or service/s.

What do you think?

Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community

Author of Changing What’s Normal

Partner of passionate and enlightened leaders in several countries since 1991, to change what’s normal for the good of people, our planet, and for profit.

Subscribe to me on YouTube



Monday 18 July 2011

Leadership is useless without management

I define leadership as the art of inspiring people to bring everything remarkable that they are, that one-of-a-kind each of us is, to everything they do.

Leadership usually fails without management. Management is the practice of making it simple for people to bring everything remarkable that they are to everything they do.

I caution, simple rarely means easy!

Across all walks of life I see leadership failing because very few people are managing.

How about you? Could you achieve better harmony between your leadership and your management? We all lead and manage. It is a matter mostly of getting the harmony between the two right for us.

Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community

Author of Changing What’s Normal

Partner of passionate and enlightened leaders in several countries since 1991, to change what’s normal for the good of people, our planet, and for profit.

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Friday 15 July 2011

Sustainability is an outcome of intention, heart and mind set, and action

On the 5th of August 2008 I was privileged along with several other international speakers and their life partners to take a private tour of the United Nations headquarters in New York. I was not a fan of this organisation prior, believing that they were a toothless tiger.

As I sat in the Great Hall where world leaders gather and heard and read the stories in other places of the United Nations work, I changed my mind. I came away feeling and thinking they make a difference and without them we may not even be here!

Realising sustainability was our greatest challenge almost a quarter of a century ago, The United Nations commissioned Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland to define sustainability. In the 1987 World Commission of Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission) Report, sustainability was defined as
Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Forum for the Futureʼs Jonathon Porritt improved on the definition of sustainability in my view.
Sustainable development is a dynamic process which enables people to realise their potential and to improve their quality of life in ways which simultaneously protect and enhance the earthʼs life-support systems.

Both Brundtland and Porritt are talking about a process, whereas for me sustainability is both process and outcome.

All outcomes are preceded by process of course. A key process for any outcome is intention, feeling, thinking, and action.

Members of The Australian Government are currently on the road vigoursly selling a new carbon tax. With the support of Independents and The Greens Party the tax will soon be law. The lead up has caused quite a stir in my country with most polls showing the majority of people are against the tax.

I think the proposed tax is better than doing nothing. I believe the government is having trouble selling it because most people doubt their intention. As a general rule we simply do not trust politicians, and with good reason. Our Prime Minister promised the people there would be no carbon tax during the last election campaign. She changed her mind, or maybe it was always her intention. Whatever the reason, I am glad she is doing what she is.

The President of The World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Bjorn Stigson says, Business cannot survive in societies that fail.

What are you doing in your business to ensure society’s survival?

All action is preceded by intentions, feelings, and thoughts.

I believe that sustainability is an outcome of intention, heart and mind set, and then action.

What are your intentions, feelings, and thoughts about sustainability?
Whatever they are, they precede and determine what you are doing.


Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community

Author of Changing What’s Normal

Partner of passionate and enlightened leaders in several countries since 1991, to change what’s normal for the good of people, our planet, and for profit.

Subscribe to me on YouTube



Wednesday 13 July 2011

Community precedes culture change

The cultural change talk inside organisations is again alive and well. I have observed this happens in tough times and leaders are searching for ways to gain competitive advantage or strategic positioning.

Most of the talk never leads anywhere. When good times return it mostly disappears from the boardrooms and corridors of most organisations.

If you are or want to be on the leading edge, change must always be top of mind, regardless of situation or circumstance. Change is both evolution and revolution and usually at the same time.

In addition to all change being personal first, followed by change in relationships, there are three critical factors we must embrace to ensure that we thrive on the challenges of change. These are community, culture, and creativity.

Community leads to culture and culture to creativity, and creativity to change. What kind of community are you creating at your workplace?

In thriving communities or tribes to use the vernacular, there are 9 foundations I observe that are essential for success:

1) Leadership is everyone’s business
Leadership is not about title or position. Leadership is about who we are and what we do that inspires other people to be the one-of-a-kind that each of us is

2) There is a shared view about:
Where we are, Where we’re going, Why we’re going there, How we will get where we’re going, and Who will do What and When.

3) People are appreciated when they do well

4) People hold themselves to account when performance is less than agreed it will be

5) Values are virtues
This means our values are demonstrated by our behaviours.

6) People genuinely care for one another

7) There is a deep underlying cause or purpose for our existence as a community/tribe

8) People compete with themselves and not with other people

9) There are high levels of collaboration

Culture, meaning, the way we do this around here, emerges from community. We then avoid the domination by what a colleague of mine, Steve Simpson, calls UGRs® (undwritten ground rules).

Creativity emerges from culture.


If there is insufficient innovation in your business or at your workplace I suggest that is primarily because there is a lack of community or a less than possible sense of belonging in your tribe.

The good news is you can change everything beginning right now by changing yourself, your relationships, and then building a community and culture where creativity is a natural consequence.

Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community

Author of Changing What’s Normal

Partner of passionate and enlightened leaders in several countries since 1991, to change what’s normal for the good of people, our planet, and for profit.

Subscribe to me on YouTube



Monday 11 July 2011

Is the imagination genie out of the bottle at your place?

Sir Ken Robinson is one of the world’s leading educators. He is the author of The Element - how finding your passion changes everything, a must read book in my view.

In many of his speeches Robinson (he is a must see and hear speaker) says we don’t just have a natural resources crisis, we also have a human resources crisis. He also says imagination is the most distinctive feature of human nature.

One of the reasons we do indeed have a human resources crisis is that our workplaces are often not the kind of places where imagination is allowed to thrive. We seem to have a focus on knowledge and have ignored Einstein’s famous edict: Imagination is more important than knowledge.

When imagination is allowed to flourish, inspiration follows, as does insight and then ideas. An idea successfully implemented is innovation, particularly if the implementation changes what’s normal.

If you aren’t really innovating in your business, and you must if you want to thrive, it is likely that imagination is not being allowed to flourish.

How we solve problems and meet our challenges is a great way to ensure imagination is alive and well.

A typical scenario is this: We recognise a problem, and solve it. What has happened 9 times out of 10 is that what we have done is reinstated the status quo and haven’t really removed the cause of the problem in the first place!

Every problem and challenge we have is a gift, for it is an opportunity for innovation, to change what’s normal.

Please look at all your problems and challenges with new eyes. See them as opportunities to let your imagination run wild.

Let your imagination loose.
Encourage everyone around you to do the same.

You will have opened the door to inspiration, insight and ideas, the essentials that precede authentic innovation.

Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community

Author of Changing What’s Normal

Partner of passionate and enlightened leaders in several countries since 1991, to change what’s normal for the good of people, our planet, and for profit.

Subscribe to me on YouTube



Friday 8 July 2011

My best work so far says Gihan Perera

I was thrilled to see this short video review of my Changing What's Normal book by Gihan Perera.



I am really excited by the response to my book. It is fair to say it has taken me my life to write it! The response since its release 2 weeks ago has been awesome and I am very grateful to people like Gihan who are spreading the word. My exhaustion from finally get my book out there has turned to delight.

Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community

Author of Changing What’s Normal

Partner of passionate and enlightened leaders in several countries since 1991, to change what’s normal for the good of people, our planet, and for profit.

Subscribe to me on YouTube



Monday 4 July 2011

When people need your help is your process simple, quick, and easy?

It is common sense to me, due to the power of technology, that when people need our help, the process of getting help from us should be simple, let alone quick and easy.

In the past week I have been upgrading/changing many things to coincide with the launch of my changing what's normal book. I have had many technological challenges and have had to call for help from many service providers.

I have been very disappointed overall with the lack of help I have received. One exception has been my internet strategist Gihan Perera and his team at First Step.

My conclusion: Most online providers make it very difficult for us to find out how we can get help from them in the first place! And, their service, once we do find out, leaves a lot to be desired.

I am a big fan of LinkedIn. I have tried for 3 days to change my photo on my LinkedIn profile and keep encountering an unknown error. After searching for 20 minutes I found out how to contact LinkedIn for help and sent an email. I got an automatic response saying we will get back to you soon. I am still waiting and as I write my profile still has no photo.

I am a big fan of Apple, typing this on my Mac, and trying to call them on my iphone. I am finding it very difficult to get any help.

How simple, quick and easy is it for people to contact you when they need your help?

My experience of most online providers, including all the big names, is that their service is pathetic, in fact most make it hard for us to get help when we need it.

Great service is a given today. It is normal. What most of us expect is more. As I write in Changing What's Normal, we expect to be wooed and wowed. Most online providers in my experience woo and fail miserably to wow.

How much are you wooing and wowing?

Be the difference you want to see in the world
Ian
Founder Differencemakers Community

Author of Changing What’s Normal

Partner of passionate and enlightened leaders in several countries since 1991, to change what’s normal for the good of people, our planet, and for profit.

Subscribe to me on YouTube



Friday 1 July 2011

Half the year has gone. Are you glad, sad, or mad?

This is the first article from my new Changing What's Normal monthly newsletter. You can subscribe to receive future articles here.

As soon as you sign-up you will receive a welcome message that will enable you to download my ebook, Differencemakers - how doing good is great for business, and a special report about my year of changing what's normal program.

Also in the welcome message is a link to previous gifts. You will receive more gifts each month.

2011 is half over, gone, finished.

For some of us this means our financial year has ended too, and we know how well we have gone in that aspect of our business. Perhaps I should rephrase that for some. You won't know your actual financial result for some time yet!

How are you feeling?

Excited because you exceeded your expectations? If so, you are probably glad!

Satisfied because you achieved what you set out to? If so, you are probably sad. You actually expected to do better, right?

Annoyed because you didn't achieve what you wanted? And you are mad at yourself.

There are 9 critical factors, I am willing to bet, that have been key to your goal achievement or non achievement this year:

1) Your intention
2) Whether or not you actually had real goals in the first place
3) How you've been feeling and thinking most of the year
4) Your strategy
5) Your execution plan and how disciplined you have been in carrying it out
6) The decisions you have made and those you haven't
7) The company you keep
8) The success or otherwise of your collaborations
9) How much you have appreciated yourself, been appreciated by others, and how much you have held yourself to account

Intention

Quite simply, success depends on where your intention or your purpose is. Why did you decide on the goals you did? The great lesson of philosophy, to paraphrase Friedrich Nietzsche, "When we understand the WHY the HOW is easy!"

Now I wouldn't say easy myself. I would say simple. If you are not finding achieving/exceeding your goals simple, which usually doesn't mean easy, most likely you haven't yet discovered your deep reason, the why you do what you do, or the why you want to achieve what you do.

Inside the vault, that is a companion to my changing what's normal book, there is a link to a great 18 minute talk by Simon Sinek, author of a very powerful book Start With Why. You can take a peek here. Look under Sparkenation 38.

Real Goals

Denis Waitley once observed: "The reason most people fail to achieve their goals, is that they never really had any in the first place."

I meet lots of people who tell me their goal is to lose weight. I don't think so. Losing weight is one of the tasks necessary to look good, feel well etc., etc.

Many folk confuse action to achieve goals with the goals themselves. Do you?

Feeling and thinking

Getting intention right for you and ensuring you have real goals are only the beginning to goal achievement. You then need to align your emotions and your thinking with your intention and your goals.

If you can't really feel your goals in your bones and are not passionate, you've got no chance of achieving what you want and your thinking will stop you from doing what you need to do. If you don't feel really excited about your why and your goals, your thoughts are telling you that you are not serious, and therefore you're gone, because doing follows thinking as thinking follows feeling and feeling follows intention.

Strategy

I define strategy as "the reference points from which we make all the key decisions about exchanging value." Exchanging value is what a business is all about. You demand, desire, and feel you deserve something from me and you are prepared to give me something in exchange for it.

What are your reference points? If you can't get clear on this give me a call some time and I will help you.

Execution plans

Strategic planning is an oxymoron. Never confuse strategy with your plan to achieve it, as millions of business people do. I strongly recommend that you never think about strategy and execution at the same time.

Strategy is how. Execution is who, what, and when. Please don't confuse these.
And remember it will all be academic if you are not clear on why (your intention) and where (your goals).

Decision making

Please download here a little slideshare I put together about decision-making for you to reflect on and then change what's normal for you where you need to. This is my gift to you this month.

The company you keep

Do you hang out with happy people?
Are you surrounded by happy people?
Decide today to only belong where there are happy people.
Remember this: happiness is not so much a result of what we do, it is more a decision we make to be happy. Happiness then is an intent, and then we feel, think, and do accordingly.

Collaboration

Only collaborate with people when you have achieved a shared view with them about the following:

Where you are going together.
Why you're going there.

If you can't agree on these two, collaboration is not possible.

When you can agree, the steps then are: reaching a shared view on who will do what, and when, and how progress who will be measured.

Appreciation and accountability

We probably have no greater need that our wanting to be appreciated. The journey begins with appreciating ourselves for the one-of-a-kind each of us is. We then lead my example by showing genuine appreciation to others when they do their work in a such ways that exceed the norm and inspire others. Start really appreciating yourself and others today and you will change what's normal in your life for the better.

Appreciation and accountability are two sides of the same coin and one will fail without the other. Be accountable. Keep your promises and help other people keep theirs by asking great questions like the ones outlined in the Double A technique you can read here. Please put ceo in the password box at this link. The Double A Technique is also in the Changing What's Normal vault.

Summary

Intention, real goals in the first place, and aligning feeling and thinking with these, are the place to start to get on track to ensure that on the 31st December 2011, when you look back, you will be glad and not sad or mad.

Make sure of your success by being really clear about your strategy, not confusing your execution plan with your strategy, and making the right decisions at the right time.

To be doubly sure of your success, only hang out with happy people and only collaborate with people with whom you have achieved a shared view about where you are going together, and why you're going there.

Finally, nail it by appreciating yourself, appreciating others, holding yourself to account, and making it simple for others to hold themselves to account.

Special events on this month

I am presenting book launch seminars as follows:

Sydney next week, the 6th, with the one and only Allan Parker. You would need to register today to grab the few remaining places.

Adelaide on July 20th on with the funny and feisty Colin Pearce. Registrations close on the 13th.

Melbourne on July 28th with The Ideas Architect Geoff McDonald and The Get More Guy Warwick Merry. Registrations close 14th.

These seminars are just $40 per person and you get your copy of my Changing What's Normal book.

I will be conducting these seminars in Brisbane, Dubai, London, Oxford, Manchester, and Auckland in September and October. Details soon.

In this little black page-turner-of-a-book, Ian got my attention from line one - and kept me to the end. His short, sharp, compelling words of wisdom resonated at every point. He had me drooling as I scribbled copious notes and wonderful reference points that have already proven their worth. Changing What's Normal - as we shift, and we are shifting, every home, office and handbag should have one!
Susan Furness, CEO of UAE-based Strategic Solutions, a global Edgewalker and guide for Conscious Communications.

Be the difference you want to see in the world.
Ian

PS Don't forget I conduct free mentoring sessions on most Monday mornings. Details are here.

PSS To receive articles every month please subscribe to my Changing What's Normal monthly newsletter here.

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