Hitting the Wall

Every change process hist the wall sometime. People seem disgruntled, out of sorts, unhappy with the process. Psychologically, this is due to the instinct side of the mind realizing the acceptance of the fact that all was not as it should have been, and begrudgingly, perhaps the change process is worthwhile after all. No one likes to admit that they knowingly allowed a bad situation to exist, and just worked around it, not having the interest, position, or energy to try and fix it.
And our SME hit this wall yesterday.
We counselled the management, as we always do, and they quietly went around speaking to peole, asking exactly what the issues were.
And today we are working out the next step in the process, armed with a new level of contribution from the staff, and a whole bunch of intelligence on how to succeed.
Stay tuned!!!

Changing your Mojo

The SME we are working with for the one week Change Management Program has undergone a remarkable reformation. To use the words of it's President (CEO/MD), "We rediscovered the power of our people".
The organization was struggling to survive in the current economic environment, and wanted a strategy to manage their business without sacrificing their people, many of whom have been with the company for many years. After a series of discussions, and some internal research, we suggested that they conduct a "soft" series of discussions, person by person, to see if there were any immediate activities that could be identified that might become "game changers".
This process took two days, and resulted in over seventy suggestions.
It took another day for a Self Managed Team to align these suggestions with the current business plan, and prioritize them against a resource map.
Then three of the activities were implemented on the fourth day.
With immediate results.
The organization now believes that they have clawed back 10c in the dollar in just one week. An outstanding result for a "virtual" program.
Stay turned for what happens next!
Or start your own process by contacting us at nobarriers88@gmail.com

Finding the light Day 1

After lengthy Q&A's via the net, and getting key staff to complete a series of simple cogitative surveys, we suggested that the company consider reviewing three of its key systems and processes used to identify and manage the selling process.
They did.
Invested a few hours, looked hard at the work flow, and changed several steps overnight. They eliminated some uplication, and managed to get key information lower down the communication chain.
Now they are looking at the next step.
They marked the process 8 out of 10, pending a week or so of working the new system to see how it delivers.
But already they believe they are recovering some cents they were previously unaware of, hidden as it was in legacy systemsand old thinking
Stay tuned - you too can find the light, and you too can gain positive outcomes very quickly. As this Client said in an email, "We didn't know what we didn't know, and stupidly, we didn't even know where to look for the answers."
You do - nobarriers88@gmail.com

What makes a new day?

I had an email last night from a company President in NY, asking us how he could change his company dynamics without sacrificing his people. We quickly ran him through our preliminary research filters and we discovered that while his company was in jeopardy, his people might be the solution.
Research carried out around the world for the last 24 years clearly shows that the average small business (Annual Revenue < $20m) has a productivity factor of 74%.
This means that 26% of every dollar spent deriving revenue is either wasted or non-productive.
Systems , processes, and people are chewing up 26c in every dollar spent.
We suggested three simple strategies that the company will implement over the weekend, with a promise to report back daily all next week.
We will share this feedback with you.
What makes a new day?
A new attitude.
Find the light, and you find the way to success and a stress free environment.
If you would like a probono over-the-web assessment of your potential, please email us at nobarriers88@gmail.com

Tourism Industry in the pits

With the WHO on the verge of declaring Swine Flu a "pandemic", is it any wonder why business confidence is low to invisible?
Take the Great Barrier Reef Islands and Resorts - the heart of Queensland's Tourist Industry.
When they are not leaving their guests out on the reef by accident, they have to face down Cyclones, Oil spills, financial meltdowns, and now a massive travel scare.
When you talk to Owners, Employers, and Employees, they are all full of the joy and pleasure of working in one of the great holiday destinations in the world.
When you talk to any of the very few visitors that are enjoying the sunshine and hospitality they all say the same thing - fantastic, best place on earth to verge out and enjoy yourself.
But when you read the Trade Press or newspapers, it's all doom, gloom, and despair.
Visitor numbers are down, businesses are closing, Island Resorts are going bankrupt.
The interesting fact is that every time the world economy slows down somewhere all of these business issues hit the limelight.
Sometimes even in good times.
Business goes in cycles. Good times, not so good times, and sometimes even really bad times.
But if the Industry just looked up at the blue sky that covers the Islands 345 days of the year, things could change.
People tend to gravitate towards positive vibes, leadership, places where happiness and fun are in abundance.
No one wants to pay for grey.
Look up. Find the light. Let the positive attitudes that created the Great Barrier Reef Resorts and Holiday destinations fuel a recovery centered around people having fun, enjoying themselves, and taking advantage of the great value for money these times encourage.
One look at a photo of a sun drenched beach should do it - why wait?

Creativity is the opposite of the obvious

Last evening, working with a group of prospective advertising students, I was reminded of the cheerfulness that flourishes around people who don't think about the wrong things.
All of the students want jobs in the advertising arena, all have different skills, and different desires.
But all have one thing in common - they are determined to succeed, and they are going hell-for-leather to develop the skills that they will need to make a difference.
We ran through an exercise in Creative Thinking using the Swine Flu outbreak as our barrier, and a Travel Booking Agency as our "client".
The task, how to sell 10,000 tickets in two days given the world-wide possibility of a pandemic.
After working through the structure of the brief - who are we talking to, where are we in their minds, what are we trying to achieve, what is our promise, etc., we all decided that the best way to "face down" the potential threat was to look it squarely in the eye with a line like "The Swine Flu is coming, fly away now to (destination)", or "Beat the Swine Flu in Bali".
The point is, they were not scared to confront the issue, and try to work out a communication message that might get traction to satisfy their client.
They were not in the dark with a negative attitude, they were in the light of positive, creative energy, looking for solutions rather than wallowing in despair.
Find the light - find things to be positive about, focus on doing good things with plenty of energy, and infect all those around you with the "positive attitude flu"!!!!

Attitude down, performance down

As I woke up this morning I realized that you always have a "down" day if you are in a dark mood. You've probably had friends or relatives tell you how you "darken" the room when you enter in a bad mood.
Companies behave the same way.
Often, someone in management, or a leadership role, assumed or delegated, will set the emotional and attitudinal mood for the organization without even realizing it - just by containing a negative attitude.
Today's headlines potentially could create a few thousand negative attitudes in organizations around the world as GM formally announced tens of thousands of retrenchments, and the death of the Pontiac brand.
The way into the light is simple.
Keep your people focused on the here-and-now. What is happening in your immediate local area. Find some news that is positive, warming, and comforting, and make sure it gets around.
Negative attitudes can only be countered by positive reinforcement.
You wouldn't let an oil spill pollute your water supply, so don't let a negative attitude pollute your performance supply - shine the light on those bad attitudes and convert them to a positive driving force.
You might wake up in a bad mood, but go to bed tonight in a good one!

Remembering what works

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to talk to a group of really interesting people. One was a retired gentleman, who wanted to put a solar hot water system in his house; one was a senior executive in a Utilities company; and the other was a young gun with a well know sports company.
What got my attention was the Utilities gent talking about "voluntary redundancy" - which he was seeking from his company.
And the whole concept of "loyalty" flashed through my mind, prompting me to think about why people today in the workforce seem to lack the same ideas that I was brought up on.
In cyberspace, where you can click around anonymously, on and off sites at will, go where you please in the virtual world, what creates loyalty?
In business where companies are going broke and defaulting on staff payments, why would you be loyal?
Many years ago, people planned a career in a company, or maybe sometimes within an industry.
Now it seems people plan a career within their own minds, using companies and industries as the stepping stones to their success.
One international airline publicly stated over the weekend that from now on their would only have two types of staff - project managers, and content providers. You wither managed a specific activity or you did the work for the person that did.
Will this generate loyalty? Pride in their work? Create a sense of contribution and self-worth?
Maybe, maybe not.
The web age seems to have created an environment where the "people product" is demeaned by the distance from the computer screen real work takes place.
Who wants to be loyal to a computer?
The best work - be it thinking, analyzing, creating, or communicating is still done by people, not machines.
Loyalty used to be the glue that made a working environment more productive, generating pride in what you did.
Perhaps finding the light requires us to look back at what made us great in the first place, and do more of it?

There is always light at the end of the tunnel

Getting around Town lately, knocking on doors, trying to set up meetings, and generally be "around" and "seen", it became obvious that a very big component of the current crisis of confidence is all the silly stuff people pass on to one another in idle chat.

What starts out as a short headline on CNN "GM may file for Chapter 11" after several conversations turns into "GM's gone broke, the Dealers are owed billions, and no one is going to support their cars and trucks".

Experience tells us that what is reported in near-real time via the Web is often inaccurate, unverified, and started by insider leaks.

The damage of this process is that a huge swell of negative opinion forms around the lack of detail, often making finding a solution even more difficult, because now the already stretched resources of the target Company are diverted trying to stop or slow the rumour mill.

What is being attacked is people's confidence.

The reality is GM, like may other companies, is in trouble.

The best outcome for the Industry is for GM to find a viable solution that allows its Dealers to regain their pride in their product, and the GM Owners of the world to maintain or regain their pride in owning a GM vehicle.

All GM needs to do is turn on the light - find out what has worked really well in the past, and do more of it.

Ask existing GM owners to talk up their GM experience, not live in fear of something Bad happening.

It's always about attitude.

As a well known football coach said, "give me a team that can play, but has a lack of belief in themselves, and I'll give you a champion team."

Change your attitude and you change your potential.

Believe.

Last week one of my Communication Students gave me a essay by a Marketing guru - the essence of which was the
"Say, Do, Confirm" triangle.

That's it in a nut shell.

Say you will be positive - be positive - and check frequently that you are being positive.

In the case of GM, if you own one of their fine cars, then the next time you hear someone bagging the company, tell them about the good times you have had in your car.

Reinforce the positive aspects, negate the smelly bad idle chat stuff.

And find the light.

We are still running free workshops for small to medium businesses every week, to help them sort out a positive go-forward strategy in these difficult times, and so far of the 234 that we have completed, 231 are starting to work their way out of the gloom.

3 of them have made bold moves and are now trading as if the "R" word was a myth!

If we can help you find the light, drop us an email.

We can only be successful if you become successful.

nobarriers88@gmail.com

Save your Company

Nothing is for free - but we will talk you through a strategy to save your company probono if you contact us. We specialize in company transformational processes, working with people, systems, technology, competitive situations, profiling, and anything to do with making organizations function profitably.
Over to you - there is light at the end of the tunnel, and this time it won't cost you anything.

Passion and profit go hand in hand

My daughter, aged 13 years, taught me this lesson.
If you are passionate about what you do, you will always profit from the effort.
Profit is many things, but underlining profit is learning, experience, satisfaction, self-actualization.
She plays the cello and the piano.
Better than I could ever imagine.
She just toured the world in 17 days, playing in Shanghai, Tallinn, Spain, and then debuting in Carnegie Hall.
I was concerned that she didn't have the technique to play at that level.
She probably doesn't.
But everywhere she went, the orchestra she plays with got standing ovations.
You see, they play with heart - with passion - they risk all, and gain everything.
Passion makes profit - think about this as you find the light.
If you would like to further this conversation please contact me at
nobarriers88@gmail.com

FREE BUSINESS WORKSHOPS

If your business is feeling the squeeze, you or your staff are stressed, or you just need someone to talk to about how to manage in these tough times, email us at
nobarriers88@gmail.com
we will run an online workshop for you at no cost
Experienced business builders, performance specialist, and change managers will work with you to help you "Find the Light in Dark Times"

Doom and Gloom doesn't necessarily mean Despair!

The Secrets of Excellence in Management and Leadership

Management and Leadership are the two most critical aspects of performance in any organization, especially one dedicated to delivering Service.
Leadership is essentially easy – it’s simply taking people where they don’t know they can go.
Management is a little harder – you have to understand the full range of dynamics that affect your inputs and your outputs, and the metrics by which you have to Measure, Manage, Change, and Profit.
Research shows clearly that today, many Organizations are poorly served in terms of “People” management.
To understand the power you have at your fingertips, you only have to understand the ten tenants of successful Leadership, as they apply to Change Management.

The Ten Commandments of Leadership

To maximize your Leadership ability, you must change.

True Leadership requires great love, of yourself and of all others.

In losing respect for others, you lose a measure of self-respect, and diminish your Leadership ability.

No one can, or wants to, develop your Leadership ability for you.

You can replenish your Leadership ability by doing new and different things, and by avoiding repetitious habits.

You can always quit and run away, but you can never run away from yourself.

The process of quitting quickly diminishes your Leadership ability.

Where there's a will, there's a way. Just by deciding to do something (be a Leader) you empower your intellect, and your Leadership ability swells and builds like an infectious disease.

Your true Leadership ability comes from within, and is directly proportional to the purity of your soul, and the honesty of your intent. It fuelled by positive, right actions, and is destroyed by negative, wrong actions.

Demonstrating Leadership, on every possible occasion reduces Stress, and prolongs Life! Yours, and all those who depend on you.

Developing your true Leadership ability is like awakening a sleeping giant, or surviving a one thousand-bomber raid on your mind. It is a "shocking" experience, because it tends to set your imagination and your intuitive abilities on fire, which Motivates you to great heights. There is simply nothing you can't do if you develop your Leadership ability to its fullest potential.
Nothing.
So what is your real Leadership ability?
It is your personal (individual, private, your own, secret, and special) power (force, control, influence, authority, direction, and mastery), and it is the sum total of all your experience, of all your learning, and of all your abilities. It is available to all, but accepted by few. It is something that can and does make a real difference, to you and to everyone who comes in with you.
It's what makes the difference between being rich (affluent, wealthy, prosperous, and comfortable), having true prosperity (fame, prestige, status, and happiness), and being ultimately successful (efficient, prosperous, triumphant, victorious, distinguished, outstanding, and a star). Not to mention the long, rich Life you will live as a consequence.
Management is a philosophy, an attitude, and a way of approaching the way you do things. It encompasses everything that is transacted in any environment, and demands that an Honest, Open, and Transparent process be at the very heart of every profit exchange.
As someone much wiser than us said, “If you positively perform for your People,
Your people will profitably perform for you”.
If you are Leader, you are always looking for the good things in People, never their faults. You are always on the lookout for improvement and a way to do things better. You are comfortable being “you”, and helping others to be themselves.
Becoming a Leader is easier than you think.
All you have to do is understand what it is that is working against you, and discover how to deal with it.
You need to appreciate how simple, yet complex, being human can be!