Category Archives: Thinking Aloud

April 11, 2016 · 10:58 am

Are You A Mechanic?

Unless you are a very knowledgeable gearhead, you’ve probably had the experience of something going wrong with your vehicle and heading to a mechanic.  Hopefully, I’m not the only one who is immediately paranoid about the diagnosis offered.  I’m always concerned that what I’m being told is causing a rattle is a broken motor mount that requires expensive repairs when it’s just a loose hose that could be fixed with a zip tie.  By the way, if you think I’m exaggerating, read this article. 

The mechanic situation is an example of someone with more knowledge and, therefore, more power taking advantage of you.  You might be reading this while shaking your head and saying I would never behave that way.  I’m sure on the surface that’s true.  Let’s think, however, about another situation in which you might just be behaving just as badly and taking advantage of someone.

An employee leaves and you ask someone else to cover that work as well as their own.  Given that most jobs take at least a month (and generally more) to fill, what are you doing to compensate that person for assuming the extra workload?  Is it possible either to have several people cover or maybe some things just go undone while you go through the hiring process?

Another example.  No one ever really leaves the office anymore.  Email is never off and most people carry email access on their persons at all times.  That said, we’ve all heard of situations where someone sends an email at night and when it isn’t answered in a few minutes, follow up with either a second note or a phone call.  Unless it’s a major crisis, why can’t that wait until work hours resume?  It’s one thing to make these demands of salaried management; it’s quite another to ask hourly employees to keep working outside of work since they’re not getting paid for the time.

Finally, when was the last time you said “thank you” to every member of your team?  Sure, a paycheck is a nice “thanks” but you’ll be surprised how far a few kind words can go.  It makes the folks with whom you work confident that you’re not the evil mechanic who is taking advantage of their situation.  Willing to try?

Leave a comment

Filed under Reality checks, Thinking Aloud

Tagged as , , , ,

April 6, 2016 · 10:44 am

The Long Run

I see that the Rolling Stones have plans to release a new studio album this year. They last released new material 11 years ago. Then again, since they’ve been making records for almost 55 years, it’s not as if there isn’t a lot of their music to which you can listen while you wait. I saw the Stones last year. It was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen them play, and I’ve seen them regularly since the 1970’s. They’re the epitome of what every business should be doing: focusing on today but doing so in the context of the long run.

English: Keith Richards, live in Hannover

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Yes, I’m familiar with the famous Keynes quote that “in the long run, we are all dead.”  Some people – economists and others – take it to mean that we should enjoy today and not worry too much about the future.  In fact, he was arguing exactly the opposite (which is often what happens when quotes are taken out of context – another screed for another time).  Clearly, one can look at Keith Richards‘ lifestyle and not see a great deal of concern about the long run.  Don’t let the lifestyle confuse you.  Keith and the other Stones began as a band the took older music – blues, mostly – and placed it into a new context, thereby carrying it forward (some might say stealing!).  Their musical styles have always adjusted to the tastes of the time – they did disco (“Miss You“), they did country (“Wild Horses“, “Sweet Virginia“), they did many other types of music.  All of it was designed to stay relevant and to keep the band – and the business – healthy for the long term.  Think about how many bands had incredibly short life spans.  Sometimes it was due to internal disagreement, but usually it was that the band wasn’t thinking long-term, refusing to change (and no band leaders fought more than Mick and Keith!).

So how about your business?  I see quite a few founders who are thinking about ramping up and making a quick exit.  The “long run” is next year.  I’d rather be there for the long run like The Stones.  You?

Leave a comment

Filed under Music, Thinking Aloud

Tagged as , ,

April 5, 2016 · 11:41 am

Hanging On

We’re selling our home. The kids are grown and living on their own.  We don’t need all the space and the property is too large and expensive to maintain. In other words, we’re doing the downsizing (or rightsizing!) that many folks in our situation do. Obviously, a lot of “stuff” has aggregated over the 30+ years we’ve been in the house and we spent many hours over the last few weeks decluttering. 

This past weekend was spent scanning old tax returns and putting the supporting documents into a “shred” box. Why were we hanging on to receipts from anything beyond the 3 years the IRS recommends? Who knows. We also found (and put in the shred box) cancelled checks from every decade beginning in the late 1970’s. That was long before banks did everything electronically and held scanned copies for you. I guess we got in the habit of filing them away.

In addition to the financial documents, we tossed (or donated) things that had sat in the basement or the attic for many years without anyone missing them. It’s nice, for example, that nearly every sporting event I attending during my years in sports TV gave out a duffel bag of some sort but having 20 bags in the attic gathering dust when someone somewhere needs one is silly, right?

So here is the question for you. When was the last time you took a look at the “stuff” hanging around your business? I don’t mean extra duffel bags or cancelled checks. All the detritus we collect over the years is due in part to a process we have in place.  When was the last time you examined the things, processes, etc. – to which you’re hanging on and why?  It’s not just a matter of freeing up space.  It also means you question each thing you touch and its relevance to your business moving forward.

It’s not just a matter of freeing up space.  It also means you question each thing you touch and its relevance to your business moving forward. I found a number of things (an automatic pasta maker, a countertop deep fryer) that I won’t ever use again but were hanging around the basement.  I rarely eat pasta anymore and it takes less time to make it by hand then it does to clean the machine after a use.  Why was I hanging on to it?

Old habits die hard, especially in business.  We need to stop hanging on and get our proverbial business houses cleaned up.  It makes wherever we decide to go next a much easier move.  You with me?

Leave a comment

Filed under Helpful Hints, Thinking Aloud

Tagged as , , , ,