Tag Archives: life

May 8, 2013 · 8:58 am

Reading Yesterday’s Papers

As I’ve mentioned before here on the screed, I’m an old-school newspaper reader. Yep – ink on my hands and everything.
From time to time, I get tied up in other activities – work, sports viewing, family activities, whatever – and I can’t get to a particular day’s papers until a day or two later.  Last week was one of those weeks and I spent last night catching up on four days’ reading. As I was doing so, I noticed something that spurred a business thought I’d like to share.

Many of the articles I read were predictive in nature.  Something had happened, the reporter gathered the facts, and based on that looked forward.  Many of the pieces contained quotes from analysts of one sort or another – professionals or just the average person talking about what was going to happen next.  What I noticed, with the benefit of hindsight, was how often they were wrong.  Generally, that wasn’t because they made incorrect assumptions but something else had happened in the interim that changed the circumstances and, therefore, the predictions or suggestions for courses of action were off target.

Given the “right now” demands of media, most which come from the immediate nature of digital reporting, I wasn’t surprised   How often recently have we seen big headlines splashed across the Web that are totally wrong an hour later?  Even the delay built into the print medium (it takes time to get that ink on paper) isn’t quite long enough to improve the analysis dramatically.  Which is the business thought.

Business has been mirroring digital.  Every enterprise seems to have a “do it fast and fix it later” mandate.  Maybe what’s needed is to wait to react to  the reporting – the data we get on a minute by minute basis – until a more clear picture emerges?   Go follow the print editions of a story across a week and see how things change (most print publications make that possible on their sites).  You’ll be surprised   Now imagine if that story was about your business.  What would change each day that would change the actions taken the day before?

I realize we don’t all have the benefit of reading yesterday’s business with that kind of hindsight.  Maybe we ought to work on a way to bring that perspective more front and center?  After all, deciding not to decide is a decision, right?  Many of the deadlines we impose are self-directed.  In my book, a little more perspective with which to frame what we know (or think we know) can’t hurt.  What do you think?

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April 9, 2013 · 9:45 am

The View From The Bench

Great game played by Michigan and Louisville last night in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.  It was everything a championship game should be for the most part: great action, close scoring, and some interesting story lines.  I wish that two things had been different   the officiating had been better (both teams got screwed on a number of incorrect calls) and that the Wolverines had won.  However, besides an excellent evening’s entertainment, I got something else out of the game I’d like to share.

Stretching before the 2006 NCAA Men's Division...

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Two players – Luke Hancock and Spike Albrecht – were the stories of the game in many ways.  When Michigan’s star guard got into early foul trouble, Albrecht came off the bench and scored 17 points before halftime.  For a kid who averaged under 2 points a game, that’s quite a performance.  Hancock went him one better with a performance off the bench that was so good he became the first non-starter to be named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.  Both players made an excellent business point which is today’s thought.

There are a dozen players on a basketball team and yet only five play at once.  Generally the rotation of players, barring foul trouble or injury, isn’t more than seven.  Still, every person on the bench needs to stay ready.  Every sport has a crew of backup players – those who, for one reason or another, don’t play as much on game day but are integral parts of the team.

It’s the same in business.  Every person on the team needs to understand the game plan and keep their skills sharp even if the plan isn’t for them to be the main players that day.  I wanted “bench” players on my business team who understood that their job went beyond the time when they were front and center.  When you’re out of a game for a spell, your job isn’t to rest.  You have a wider perspective – you can see the entire floor or field.  Help your team with your observations.  For business, this means, for example, reading drafts of presentations carefully and offering suggestions  not sitting around pouting because you’re not the one giving the show.  Who knows – like Albrecht and Hancock, you might get a chance when you least expect it.   Be ready – the chance may not come a second time.

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April 8, 2013 · 11:06 am

Important Isn’t Always First

Suppose you wanted to build a business.  It would be important to have an excellent business plan and hire great people to execute that plan.  Finding great candidates and getting them on board would, therefore, be important too.  But suppose you wrote up your plan and hired those people.  Where would they work?  How would people communicate with them under the auspices of your business?  How would you collect and distribute money?  Before you hired, you’d want to set up the legal entity that is your business, establish a domain name, and set up an email system.  Important isn’t always first.

Business Sign X

(Photo credits: http://www.roadtrafficsigns.com)

Let me give you another example.  Suppose you come up with a great idea – a music player that can hold thousands of songs and can fit in your pocket.  In 1998, the first MP3 players came out, but it wasn’t until 2001 – when the first iPod came out – that they took off as consumer must-haves.  Why was that?  Because the iPod got it right – they married the player up to excellent software and fabulous aesthetics.  In this case, getting it right was more important than being first.  I’d argue, however, that the first thing one should do when designing a new product or service IS to make it great – I’m not a huge fan of the “get something out then pivot” school.  Fast is important to investors in a lot of cases.  First, create something excellent.

Many people fail to recognize that distinction in the heat of battle.  We all have a tendency to prioritize based on what seems important without  thinking as much about what needs to be first.  It is a frustrating process when what seems important is delayed by what needs to come first but that’s how we produce greatness right out of the box.

A final example.  If you were trying to write a book, you’d have to think about things like tone, tense, and even where to start.  Those things come before what’s important – the writing, the plot, the character development, and maybe even the ending.  The mechanical details of a lot of what we try to do might seem boring, but without them there is no foundation for what really is important both in business and in life.

Does that make sense?

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