Galt Blog

New Galt Blog

2009-11-23T07:33:00.000-06:00

There is a new GALT BLOG located on my website at www.galtconsulting.com. I will continue to post new articles on the new blog site.

New "Passion is Productive" Series in Springfield

2009-11-12T07:23:00.002-06:00

by Don Harkey

Whether you have always dreamed about what it would be like to own a business or manage an organization or whether you already have a business that you are ready to sell, the most productive actions taken by leaders are done with PASSION!

This is the theme of a series of seminars I am setting up for next year. These seminars will be designed to provide you with the information, skills, and maybe even a little inspiration as you make decisions in your life. The seminars will be held in a variety of formats from 1 hour presentations to 3-4 hour repeated small group sessions for a more intense experience. I already have some of the best local speakers and subject matter experts on board with me. The skill sets we will present will be staggering and unprecedented. What makes this series so different?

First of all, the sessions will be designed to be "ACTIONABLE". While some theory will be presented to give background information, the focus will be on finding ways for you to make good decisions and really improve your business / organization. Attendees can expect to get involved and truly be challenged to utilize the information presented.

Next, the sessions will be "ENTERTAINING". Expertise in a field and public speaking are two different skills. Our sessions will be designed to utilize people with talents in both present the information in an effective way. We might even have some fun along the way...

Finally, the sessions will be "INSPIRING". All of the speakers / presenters involved are passionate about what they do. It shows and it is contagious! Don't expect to find people who wait for things to happen to them... expect to find high quality, high value leaders with excellent character and the passion for sharing their knowledge and experiences.

If you are simply looking for a course to "check the box" in your personal development plan, there are lots of resources you can use. But if you are looking for a real experience that gives you ACTIONABLE information in an ENTERTAINING and INSPIRATIONAL way, the Passion is Productive Series is for you!

Send an email to info@galtconsulting.com if you would like to be included in our email list of courses. It's going to be a New Year with New Possibilities! Enter this year with a plan and with PASSION!

The Debate

2009-11-09T07:11:00.002-06:00

by Don Harkey

A portion of our population believes that the American Health Care system is fundamentally flawed to the point that it requires major reconstruction. A portion of our population believes that government-option Health Care Reform will be a major step toward the socialization of America and will lead to a reduction in the basic Liberties we enjoy as Americans.

It is a debate that is not unlike one person arguing that the Colts are the best NFL team and another person arguing that football is stupid. They can debate well into the night, but they won't reach a resolution because they aren't arguing over the same thing.

I was lamenting the Health Care reform passed by the House yesterday with a good friend of mine. I brought up the impact of such a reform on businesses and used WalMart as an example. According to one website, WalMart employees 1.4MM employees in the US, about half of which get health insurance. The legislation passed by the house will require WalMart to provide insurance for those 700,000 employees. If they can get a plan for $400 per month (average) per employee (which would be a great deal), they will end up paying over $3 Billion per year extra. WalMart profits are around $13 Billion per year.

Suffice it to say that WalMart will have some thinking to do... let's see... how do we compensate for this huge new load on our business... Raise prices? Open fewer stores? Close down existing stores? Layoff employees?

Now here is one of the many "debates" we can have as country. Is WalMart "evil"? My friend would probably say "yes", although he might soften the language. They regularly hire people below the poverty line, fail to provide health insurance for 1/2 of their workers and they push the envelope in getting people to work as much as possible without qualifying for benefits.

On the other hand, WalMart has improved the efficiency of the distribution system throughout the country to the point that it's prices are very low. WalMart provides great value to its customers, which is reflected in the fact that 80% of the U.S. population will enter a WalMart at least once this year. WalMart is largest corporate employer in the world (McDonald's is 2nd in the US with about 1/4 as many employees). Roughly 1% of the U.S. workforce works for WalMart.

Conclusion #1: First and foremost, WalMart is not a person, it is an organization. Just like any large organization, it operates within its system and pays little attention to individual people or their needs. This is the nature of large organizations. It is successful because it provides great value and lots of people work their because they are willing to hire people. Personifying a company is naive. It does what it does, and if Health Care Reform passes, we should wonder what it will do...

Conclusion #2: The U.S. Government is finally standing up to big business and the big insurance companies, right? Remember that WalMart employs about 1.4MM people. The U.S. government (local, state, and federal) employs 20MM people

...and it is about to employ even more.

The point here is simple... the WalMart's of the world must operate under the principle of economics. If they stop providing good value then they will shrink in size as has happened countless times in the past (1950 - 2 largest companies were General Motors and A&P). If employees can find better opportunities, they will go elsewhere which will lead to an overall decline in their quality, which will lead to their decline. It happens.

The U.S. Government (or any government) does not follow the rules of the market. As people vote themselves more and more programs and benefits, they are increasingly unlikely to release these benefits as they become more and more dependent. The problem is that the government must perform within the economy and they find that they must consume more and more resources until they can no longer provide the benefits they have promised. This has also happened countless times in the past (Soviet Union, England).

Don't forget who the "big guys" really are!

Fumble!

2009-10-26T07:19:00.002-05:00

by Don Harkey

I love college football, so when I get to use college football in an example, I get excited... even when it is a painful example.

This weekend, my alma mater, the University of Nebraska played the Iowa State Cyclones in Lincoln. Iowa State had lost their previous 15 Big 12 away games and hadn't beaten Nebraska in Lincoln since 1977. Their starting QB and starting RB were both out with injuries sustained during the week. Nebraska came in after a painful home loss to Texas Tech the week before, but still feeling optimistic about the season.

Only 16 seconds into the game, Nebraska fumbled the ball and Iowa State recovered. The Blackshirts held, but Iowa State kicked a field goal (after gaining 4 yards on the drive... yes, that's 4 yards and 3 points). The day only got worse as Nebraska managed to move the ball for the most part, but kept turning the ball over. Iowa State played gutsy football scoring their only touchdown after a fake punt and a bomb to the endzone.

The final stats were some of the most unusual I have ever seen in football (at any level). At the end of the game, Nebraska had 8 turnovers and Iowa State had none. The final score was Iowa State 9, Nebraska 7 (remarkable in itself that it was that close). Perhaps even more remarkable was that Nebraska had 4 turnovers inside the "red zone" (less than 20 yards from the endzone) and 3 turnovers less than 5 yards from the endzone! Nebraska has a great field goal kicker, so if they had the opportunity to kick those field goals, they would have won 19 to 9.

What causes this "outlier"? The NCAA record for turnovers is 13 by Georgia in 1951. 8 is a new school record for Nebraska and the -8 turnover margin is unbelievable. Only 23 teams (out of 119) in 2008 had a worse turnover margin for the entire season!

If I could explain this outlier, I would fly to Lincoln and help Coach Pelini make the proper adjustments (or comfort him with the information that the planets were just aligned wrong on Saturday). The point I want to make here is that we can often learn a lot from these types of strange situations as they often point to something significant. It is tempting to chalk this one up to bad luck, but the number is so staggeringly "off" that it is probably not a wise decision.

When something really strange happens, your process might be trying to tell you something...

Game on

2009-10-23T07:41:00.005-05:00

by Don Harkey

This week, I attended my weekly Rotary meeting (I am a proud new member of the Rotary Club of Springfield - Southeast) and watched Dr. David Mitchell (Assistant Professor of Economics at Missouri State University) give a presentation on the economy. The news was bleak to say the least.

I won't give you all of the details, but the message was that the current recession is bad, and Missouri's economic growth has been slower than than the nation's growth since well before the recession started. He talked about how the U.S. is losing manufacturing jobs and how he doesn't expect them to return. If the unemployment is currently at its peak, he predicts that it will be May of 2014 before we return to pre-recession unemployment numbers. The percentage of people who have been unemployed for more than 6 months is at a historic high. We've been hurt as a country and it will take us a long time to recover. Worse even is that there appears to be something fundamentally wrong with the economy in Missouri (the 3rd slowest growing economy in the U.S. behind Michigan and Indiana).

Dr. Mitchell was concise and clear in his presentation. He presented the data and backed up his conclusions. He wasn't presenting a "doomsday" scenario... it was more like a scientific evaluation of where we are. When he was done, he asked if there were any questions. The room, full of business leaders, responded with nervous laughter.

If you are a business leader, you must think optimistically while also confronting the brutal facts. The year is 2009 and unemployment is high (yet businesses still complain about not being able to find "good, qualified people"). The reality is that businesses that do not provide good value will not survive. The good news is that the demand for value is as high as ever. There are still plenty of people out there who are finding ways to provide that value, and they are the ones who will emerge from these difficult times stronger than ever.

It hasn't been easy, but that only makes us better. The indicators show that the problem is real, but history shows us that American's find a way to make things better. These times purge waste and redefine our economy. Its painful, but healthy. Know what you are good at, find the value you can provide, and find better ways to provide that value.

Game on.

Stealth Servant

2009-10-20T10:20:00.003-05:00

This morning in Springfield, a person sleepily pulls through the drive-thru at a local fast food restaurant to purchase a cup of coffee. As she goes to pay, the person at the window informs her that her coffee has already been paid for by an anonymous person.

So begins the "Stealth Servant" movement in Springfield (note: I did not start this...). Check out the Stealth Servant blog at http://www.stealthservant.blogspot.com/ and find ways to make someone's day!

We ALL Cheat

2009-10-19T07:15:00.002-05:00

by Don Harkey

We ALL cheat!

This is not an excuse or even an endorsement, but it might be the first step to recovery. Have you even been able to admit this to yourself?

I believe that everyone has cheated at some point. I can remember a take home test that a teacher gave. The test was VERY difficult and would take a single person a VERY long time to work on. The teacher clearly knew that students would work on it together and therefore compensated by making the test more difficult. The effect is that it made it difficult NOT to cheat on the test... and cheat we did. Cheat I did.

That's hard to say, isn't it? "I cheated". We tend to follow up that rare statement with the word "but" pointing to a justification that might be very legitimate. Often times we cheat because it is the easier of 2 paths. Either the way we are supposed to do it is so hard that we find another way, or the shortcut is very short. We have ALL been through this.

The point I want to make is that it is still wrong. I am not passing judgment on those who take the short cut, but I am encouraging you to allow yourself to realize what you have done. I would also point out the "short-cut" is easier to take every time you choose to take it.

I don't always make the right decisions, but I try to be aware of those moments and ask myself "what type of person do I want to be?". If I am driving home from the store and realize that they forgot to ring up the bottle of soda, I try to catch myself in the moment. It is very easy to bypass it quickly saying, "well, they screwed up". After all, the football game is already in the 3rd quarter and if I turn around, I will likely miss the whole game. The store was crazy busy and the employees won't care if you pay for that stupid soda. They probably would give it to you anyway.

When I find myself in the midst of that type of logic, I try to ask myself the question, "what type of person do I want to be?". Do I want to know myself as the type of person who turns around, returns to the store, waits in line, deals with an unhappy employee who clearly thinks I should have just taken the soda, misses the game, and gets home late for dinner all because the checkout person made a mistake?

When I am truly self-aware in those moments, the answer is "yes". Remember to take advantage of the times in your life that make you extraordinary.

Strategic plans are useless!

2009-10-01T08:49:00.002-05:00

by Don Harkey

Strategic plans are useless… if they are not utilized. Too many times, strategic plans are carefully developed, cataloged, and filed, only to become obsolete at the first unexpected event that was not discussed in the creation of the plan. The reason this occurs is due to a common misunderstanding about the purpose of a strategic plan. Organizations start by developing a “desired future” and then try to plan a path to get from where they are to where they want to be. This works only as long as barriers don’t appear on the path. Great strategic plans don’t focus on providing the path, they focus on providing the criteria for making good decisions on the journey.

A military strategist typically has no idea what an enemy army is going to do. So in order to be successful, they must establish “rules of engagement” based on a master “vision” of what they are trying to accomplish. The most successful leaders successfully communicate that “vision” to all of their commanders and soldiers in the field. This way when (not if) they encounter an obstacle or a decision that needs to be made, they have a foundation from which to make the decision. If that foundation is based on something that the soldiers can rally around (be passionate about), then they will make more good decisions. The entire army is aligned, moving in the same direction rallied around a common goal.

Organizational leaders have come to rely too much on metrics and scorecards derived from strategic plans developed in the boardroom. These metrics are hard to rally around and seldom provide a truly clear path to success. Instead leaders need to spend time taking a hard and realistic look at their organization to determine its strengths and weaknesses and most importantly, its passion. This provides the foundation for making decisions with great clarity at all levels of the organization. It frees up the leaders and supervisors to innovate and create value toward that common purpose. It gives the “soldiers” a flag they can rally around.

The Journey

2009-08-28T06:49:00.003-05:00

by Don Harkey

A company has a long time performance appraisal system that is considered to be a benchmark for the industry. The appraisal system allows the employee to chart their own course and puts gives the employee the responsibility to design their own development plan. Employees are then measured on the success against their own plan and given raises accordingly.

One employee in particular truly struggled with this approach. While it is certainly appealing to set your own expectations and spend company time on self-discovery, there was something about this system that went against the core of this employee. As the employee developed his own development plan, he became more and more frustrated until finally he sent a note to his HR director asking for help.

The HR director and the employee met and the HR director carefully laid out the benefits of the appraisal system. The HR director encouraged the employee to develop a 1-year, 10-year, and 30-year career plan. "Where is it you want to go? What do you want to accomplish with your career?", asked the HR director.

A light went on inside the head of the employee. The clouds lifted and suddenly he understood why he had been struggling. "I have just 2 questions for you. Here is the first one. What if I don't meet my career objective?"

The HR director apparently took pity on the question and offered encouragement. "Oh, come now. That is the beauty of this system. If you lay out a clear path for yourself and work hard, you are almost assured of reaching your objective. You are a smart guy! You'll get there!".

"Well, thank you", replied the employee, "but I have one more question and this one is harder to answer."

"Go ahead. That's why I'm here.", answered the HR director confidently.

"What is I do meet my career objective?", asked the employee softly.

The HR director paused for a moment. "Then you have reached your objective. You have succeeded. I'm not sure what you mean."

"My point is this", replied the employee. "If I set an objective for myself and I never reach it, I will be disappointed that I have essentially failed in my career. If I set an objective for myself and I reach it, I will wonder if I should have aimed higher and will wonder what to do next. Neither alternative is very attractive."

The HR director was silent, so the employee continued. "This is what truly bothered me because this philosophy indicates that I will not have a rewarding career regardless of what I do. I knew this couldn't be true because I have already derived enjoyment from my work. It wasn't until we started talking that I realized the inherent flaw in the performance appraisal process. It focuses on results when life is really about the journey."

The HR director was stunned. After a few seconds of silence, the HR director spoke for 30 minutes admitting that her career objective had been met and that she had made so many sacrifices along the way to meet the objective and now found herself in a job she didn't particularly enjoy working within a system that her education told her should be great, but simply wasn't. She wasn't happy.

My point here is simple. Setting goals and objectives is not a bad practice, but the real joys in life happen on the road. It's not about getting the promotion, it's about making decisions, working toward a common vision, and using your strengths to succeed and to fail brilliantly. The true measure of the output of our lives is in the ways we utilize all of the moments we are given. This is true at work as well as at home or at play.

Day of Caring 2009

2009-08-25T06:52:00.002-05:00

by Don Harkey

Last week, employees from ESC, 3M, Missouri State, and Galt Consulting came together to work on a 2009 United Way Day of Caring project at Messiah Lutheran Church. The project involved the construction of several elements of a new playground that will be used by the church, the neighborhood, and most importantly by the new preschool/daycare ministry starting at Messiah called the Messiah Lighthouse Child and Family Development Center. For more information on this innovative program, visit www.lighthousecfdc.org.

The team worked hard building 2 playhouses, a swing set and a bridge as well as assembling furniture for the classrooms. The rain during the week presented some challenges in the form of mud and a large lake in the middle of the playground (the water drainage for the site hadn't been completed yet). The team worked through the challenges and built with great speed. We even managed to have some fun along the way!

I want to give a special thanks to Papa Murphy's, Quizno's (on Independence), and Amigo's (on Campbell) for donating food for the volunteers. I also want to thank all of the volunteers, many of whom were not paid for the day, for their time and efforts on this project!

Key Ingredient to Business Success

2009-08-18T06:51:00.004-05:00

by Don Harkey

I had lunch with the owner of a business brokerage firm yesterday. For those of you who don't know, a business broker helps people buy and sell businesses. This puts them in a unique front-row position to watch businesses undergo leadership change. Good brokers spend a lot of time analyzing the business they are helping to sell, so they have a lot of information on the current state of the business as well as information on the old and new leadership.

This particular brokerage recognized their unique perspective and conducted a study of businesses they had sold going back 5 years. They were looking at the ones that were successful and the ones that had failed and tried to find the factors that lead to success. They expected to learn that cash flow or maybe location had a strong influence on the future success of a business. They simply failed to find any significant correlation.

Refusing to believe that business success was random, they decided to go through their list of companies and gather the general impressions of the brokers that worked with the new owners. This was a much less scientific approach, but the results were interesting. The general impression was that the successful business owners were more passionate about what they do.

Consider the implications of this... a business located in the right place with strong cash flow with an owner who is less than engaged is more likely to fail than a business in the wrong place with poor cash flow and an owner who is on fire about making the business succeed.

Passion truly is productive!!

Strategic Planning: It's the Journey

2009-08-17T07:06:00.002-05:00

by Don Harkey

I have heard a lot about Strategic Planning lately. Organizations who have struggled in the recent economy are realizing that they could have been better prepared. Unfortunately, many companies who thought they had a plan, found out that the plan didn't apply to rapidly changing conditions. I recently reviewed a plan from a professional firm that had been filed away shortly after it was created. The owner of the plan simply said that the situation had changed from when they created the plan. When would this not be true? Does this mean strategic plans are worthless? No...

When you want to develop a strategic plan, the steps are pretty universal. You look where you are, where you want to be, and then decide how you will get there. If you stop here, this is where your plan will become out of date before it is even completed. The most important step of strategic planning is to develop an understanding of who you are.

Last week, I took a Guerrilla Marketing seminar from Brett Curry (Curry Marketing). Brett talked about marketing strategy and the first thing he said was to develop a marketing message. You need to know who you are before you can go forward.

Imagine that you are standing in the forest with a trail in front of you. You are trying to get back to your camp. You develop a plan to get there. As you go on your journey, you find that your original path is overgrown with thickets. Are you going to cut through the thickets, find another path, or go back to the beginning and start over. Your decision might be based on the distance to be traveled, how much food and water you have, the temperature outside, how much energy you have... You need to have a clear understanding of the situation in order to make a good decision. If it is getting close to dark and you don't have a flashlight, it might be a good idea to punch through the thickets and accept the scratches that come with it. If you have lots of time, you might backtrack a little and find a new path.

The point here is that strategic planning is not about planning the path from where you are to where you want to be. It is about establishing the knowledge you need to make decisions while on your journey. There is no way that you can know what the future will hold, but you certainly can gain some clarity into who you are and what your values hold so that you can make decisions based on your strengths and abilities rather than on the heat of the moment.

Good strategic planning should apply to any situation, because it is a statement of your values rather than a concrete plan. It takes the foreseeable future and tests your values against it. It honestly evaluates your position and gives you insight into what you need to do to prepare for an uncertain future. It gives you clarity!

Clarity over Dollars?

2009-07-27T06:52:00.004-05:00

by Don Harkey

A business owner is given a choice: Do you want to save 10% of your costs per year or do you want clarity on your organization's purpose and direction?

Most owners would probably pick the cost savings.

However, my experience is that most owners are much more satisfied with having clarity. I have done projects where I have saved companies thousands of dollars per month (or more!) and the owners tend to be satisified, but not as much as you would think. The response tends to be, "that's all it took?". It's almost strange... many of them actually seem to feel uncomfortable.

When I work with a client in assessing their organization and they begin to understand the core purpose of what they are doing, they undergo a transformation. They become energized and excited. They "get it".

My clients prefer clarity over dollars! This seems crazy at first, but it only highlights the fact that we really aren't supposed to be in it for the money. Besides, it's not like we are abandoning the money. Clarity is profitable. Companies whose employees know the core purpose of the company are 29% more profitable than other companies according to one study. They start to make improvements without management (NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!). Owners feel like they are no longer alone in what they do. Plus they can apply their new found clarity to new problems.

What is clarity worth to you?

Where is Galt?

2009-07-17T08:17:00.002-05:00

by Don Harkey

I know I haven't posted in awhile and I am very sorry for that! My schedule has changed and I no longer spend my time in the mornings getting new articles online. Don't fret! I plan to continue this blog and have some plans to make it better than ever by adding some services to supplement the articles online. I'll soon by announcing a "Leadership Book of the Month Club" complete with a new book each month and a newsletter summarizing and discussing the book by me and my good friend Randy Mayes of the Success Coach Network.

Also, I am setting up a speaking platform and will be announcing some dates where you can come and see me talk on various topics (similar to the blog, only louder!). The first date is August 7th at noon at Deer Lake Golf Course at the 19th Hole Networking Event. Watch for more information on how to register. The event is FREE and includes networking, golf instruction, lunch and yes, me (WOW! Free Golf Instruction!!!).

Hang in there my friends! I thank you for following me and for your comments!!!

Marketing for Dummies

2009-07-07T07:03:00.004-05:00

by Don Harkey

I recently asked a business owner for their marketing plan. The reply was, "well, we thought about hanging fliers on campus". The business was not close to the college and probably wouldn't have a strong student base if they were. I can't really criticize as I knew less than nothing about marketing entering into my business. This is compounded by the fact that my father taught marketing in high school for many years! Not a lot of marketing taught in engineering school!

I've learned a couple of things that have helped me grow my business that I wanted to share with you.

Networking
is the most effective and important activity that I have engaged in. Business simply doesn't walk in the door while you are sitting in your office, on the shop floor, or in your place of business... at least not enough business. Even successful restaurant owners I know spend some time getting their message out. How do you get started? How you get started doesn't matter as much as getting started.

There are LOTS of networking opportunities out there. If you are just getting your feet wet, I would recommend joining your local chamber of commerce. The Springfield Area Chamber holds 3 major networking events per month (Good Morning Springfield, Business-2-Business, Business After Hours). Each is a different format. Try all of them. If you prefer a different approach, try joining a local BNI chapter (www.bni.com). BNI chapters have representatives from multiple industries who do not compete against each other. The members get to know each other in order to pass referrals for each other. This is another great tool for businesses. There are also multiple community groups and activities that present networking opportunities.

While networking, there are 2 key points that will help you. First of all, look for quality, not quantity. Don't be "that guy" who pushes their business card in front of everyone in the room. "Working the Room" is more for parties where you are already known, not for networking events. Your goal is should be to meet one or more high quality individuals whom you would like to meet with again. Find that person or persons and schedule a meeting to get to know them.

The second key point is what BNI calls the "Giver's Gain" philosophy. Do not approach the networking event as a source of business. Approach it looking to meet and connect other people with valuable resources. Ask a lot of questions and offer to connect people who might find each other valuable. Don't look for customers. This sounds counterintuitive, but believe me that this is the best approach. It will help you enjoy the event more, and it will get your more business. As you become the "go-to" person for multiple people, your credibility skyrockets and it becomes much easier for you to get work. People will go out of there way to find work for you.

One last thing... make sure you bring lots of business cards with current information on them. I can't tell how many times I have met new business owners without business cards or with cards with their old phone numbers on them. This is not a fatal mistake, but you only have a couple of minutes to make an impression.

Web Presence
A companies web presence is a hot topic in marketing and it is tempting to follow the story of the business that boomed from a viral internet marketing campaign. This does happen from time to time, but remember that corporations spend millions trying to make this happen and are not successful more often than they are. Viral is hard.

A better approach is to think of the internet as another networking opportunity. You need to have a professional looking website that properly conveys the image of your company. This is a basic need. Unless your business is on the internet, you don't need an extensive website. Also, don't use a Flash website (like mine!). It looks cool, but it is harder for search engines to find and they don't work on many smart phones.

There are other web options that might be worth spending a little time on (and I mean "a little" time). More and more people are reading blogs for information on a variety of topics. Establishing a blog with a regular readership can provide you with an excellent opportunity to target your market and get your message out. If you don't know anything about blogging and don't particularly like to write, you can check out other options like www.blarkets.com. Are blogs worth it? My blog (this one) gets 4 to 5 times more traffic than my website.

Another web option is the use of social media such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube... there are LOTS of them. Creative use of these tools can help you build awareness of you and your company. As a general rule, don't direct sell on social media. No one likes to deliberately follow a commercial. You should post useful and interesting content and use these tools in collaboration with each other.

Media
More and more businesses are looking for alternatives to marketing outside of traditional radio and television. However, this means that you have an opportunity to have a louder voice than before. My friends in the industry tell me that the most effective campaigns deliver a clear and consistent message repetitively. Running a single radio ad or TV commercial one time is not effective. Finding a good marketing consultant to help guide you is very valuable (http://www.brickad.com/).

Print media is also considered to be a declining industry, but again, it only makes your voice louder than before. Consider the publications that your clients will be reading and try to get into those publications. You can purchase advertising (again, you need repetition), or you can contribute to the publication as an expert. Contributing can establish you as an industry expert (again, you can't sell directly). In Springfield, I recommend the Springfield Business Journal as a great publication with extensive readership and great quality (www.sbj.net).

You
I think one of the temptations of marketing is that you can do x, y, and z, and get business. The truth is that the most important marketing tool you have is you. You need to take care of your clients. You need to present yourself as quality and high value, which means you actually have to be quality and have high value. You have to have a great product. One of the best advertising campaigns in history was Saturn in the 1980's. It was a "different kind of car company" and the brand struck American's very effectively. It worked until GM's quality (or lack thereof) leaked into the Saturn brand and the car's reputation outpaced their advertising. It turns out they really weren't that different.

When your business matures, you may be able to work entirely off client referrals. This is a nice place to be, but be cautious even when you get to this point. Market downturns can cause these revenue streams to dry up (as many of you are finding out!). Always be on the look for new markets and always maintain a marketing presence. Think of it this way... imagine being able to select only the best clients to work with. Nice!

Enough of this... get out from behind the counter or from behind your desk and make some noise! Meet some people, add some value, and get your message out there. Want a good resource? Read "Guerrilla Marketing" by Jay Conrad Levinson. Contact me at donharkey@galtconsulting.com if you are interesting in attending a seminar on August 12th in Springfield on marketing given by my friend Brett Curry. I can get you a special price!

People Mirror their Leadership

2009-07-01T13:28:00.004-05:00

by Don Harkey

I was involved in an interesting discussion with a client recently. We were talking about important traits of a leader and the trait of character was brought up. While everyone in the room believed that character was an important trait, the question arose as to whether it was important in terms of leadership of an organization. Is high ethics and character really important to a business or is it just a trait that we like people to have? In other words, all other things being equal, does a person of high character make a better leader than a person of lesser character?

Have you ever heard that pets often reflect their owners? If you see a burly looking gruff guy walking down the street with a pit bull, I don't think I would pet the dog. While this isn't always true, the truth is that it is sometimes true. A dog owner who is rough and doesn't treat their dog nicely will often get a dog who is rough and doesn't treat anyone else nicely.

The same is true for management. Workers often reflect their managers. A McDonald's or other fast food place has very tight controls on how the restaurant is to be run. They hire the same people with the same food and the same procedures. However, you might hear someone say, "oh... that's a good McDonald's" or "that McDonald's isn't very good". What is the difference? Simple. It's management.

Have you ever complained about poor service at a business only to discover that the person you are complaining to is even worse? I got incredibly bad serve at a fast food place (there was nearly a riot in the place) and called the manager out who said, "what do you expect me to do?". That's funny... that is exactly the attitude the upset customers were seeing!

One of the largest myths in business is that hiring is search for "good people". The fact is that while people have widely varying strengths and weaknesses, they typically want to do a good job. A "bad person" is probably just someone who lived under bad management. A "good person" is probably just someone who lived under good management. Yes, it takes awhile to get someone to assimilate to a culture, but it is possible and very worth it. The thing is that the "culture" doesn't come from a procedures manual, slogan, or mission statement, it comes from the day to day reality of the organization. It comes from the walk, not from the talk.

This is why character is important in business and why people of high character are so much more valuable. A manager might really like their employees and truly care about what they do. If the manager lies to a client in order to protect the company, this might be considered a "tough decision", but justified. The problem is that employees see this and absorb the culture. They protect each other by not sharing information on mistakes. They hide negative feedback from clients. Pretty soon, leadership is not getting real information from the client that is needed to make good decisions.

Good guys really do win in the end. Hitler was a very strong leader with a clear (and horrifying) vision. In the end, his constant deceptions caught up with him as his people held back information. As the Allies landed on D-Day, Hitler was asleep. None of his people would wake him and none of them would give an order. This was critical in the course of the war.

If your organization has a lot of corruption, look at your leadership. If you have trouble finding the right type of person, first look for the right type of leader.

Choosing to Be Happy

2009-06-28T21:20:00.003-05:00

by Don Harkey

I was talking with Chris Watkins last week, a Springfield Wellness Coach, and she was presenting her "unified theory" of organizations, which is a work in progress. One of the factors she had was "Awareness". This is a great point that many people don't realize (aren't "aware" of!).

I used to have a problem with road rage. I didn't yell at anyone, but I would just get angry when someone cut me off or drove badly near me. My blood pressure would rise and I would tense up. Then one day, someone said something that hit home. "You realize that most of the time the other person has no idea that you are mad at them." From that day forward, I was cured. I don't get mad anymore. I simply decided to stop. It was really THAT simple.

I think the concept of "Awareness" is that we all have the ability to control our reactions to things. As another saying goes, "you can't be offended without first giving your permission". If someone calls you a name, you can get upset or you can decide not to get upset. Seriously.

Andy Andrews, author of "Traveler's Gift" talks about choosing to be happy. We all have problems and we all have challenges in our lives. It is NOT fair. Yet, how we deal with these challenges is our choice. Our society sometimes teaches us that this is not true. We teach ourselves to act PC and be cautious not to offend, and to some extent, being considerate of others is a good thing.

Within an organization, this can go too far.

When a friend of mine recently made a mistake, I approached the friend and told them how I felt. It was painful, but she appreciated it. I recently had a client tell me how he felt I could have improved on one aspect of my service. Ouch! Ego is what makes it hurt, but when we are "aware", we can overcome this and process the information. The suggestion will only make me a better consultant and will only make him a more trusted source of information.

So, be aware that you have control. If it seems hard, it is only because you are making it that way. Simply choose to react differently. Simply choose not to get upset. Simply choose to have control. Get a grip! Keep your wits about you! It will make a big difference in your life!

Power of the Paradigm

2009-06-26T21:04:00.003-05:00

by Don Harkey

I was driving home the other night when I witnessed an accident. The van 2 cars in front of me turned left on a green arrow. Suddenly, the front of the van exploded and another car sped through the intersection narrowly missing the lightpost and costing about 100 yards on the median of the road. Amazingly, everyone walked away from the accident. In the van was a mother and her young son (maybe 8 years old). In the car was 3 people. The first person got out of the car and ran away. The other two stood by the car because one of them was cut up with abrasions all over his body.

As witnesses came together, the story began to become clear. The van was simply heading home. The car had been chasing another car and had been driving on the shoulder of the road passing vehicles at speeds well above the 50 MPH speed limit. It was amazing that no one was killed. Now the man stood by his car, bloody and in pain, watching people gather around trying to comfort the young boy and his mother. A woman who apparently knew the man stopped her car and asked what happened. "That woman pulled in front of me.", he said.

It is one of those moments that from my perspective seemed absurd. I don't know who the guy was chasing, but here he was surrounded by witnesses watching a family stand by their totaled minivan and all he could think about was why the lady had the gaul to turn her car on a green arrow and not watch for vehicles running red lights from the shoulder. She was obviously out of line!

This really shows the power of the paradigm. In my world, I feel bad when I don't see someone in time to let them pull onto a busy road from a parking lot. I'm not a saint (at least the road thing doesn't qualify me), but that is my paradigm. This guy was so far away from that paradigm, we would have difficulty understanding each other.

Within an organization, a paradigm quickly forms and it is extremely hard to break. It is hard not only because change is difficult, but because it is hard to see outside of the paradigm.

Paradigms are not always bad. In a company that breeds character and service, employees do not even dream of cheating. However, in a company that needs to change, they often do not even dream of changing. Changing requires learning which means stepping outside of your comfort zone. It is important to keep on learning so that you can take opportunities to step outside of your paradigm and identify when change is needed and when it is not.

Socialism 101

2009-06-18T07:42:00.003-05:00

by Don Harkey

OK... the word has been buzzing around for many many years and it has lost its sting. The word is "socialism". For my parent's generation, the word "socialism" implies evil. If they call someone a socialist, they are not being nice.

Interestingly enough, in the days of our founding fathers, the word "democrat" was considered an insult (not linked to the Democratic party) by most Americans, especially those who studied and understood government.

There is a cycle that can occur when words take on an overture of being "bad" without concentrating on the reason we think it is bad. The idea is brought up. It is widely proven to be bad. For a generation, the teaching is "socialism is very bad... enough discussion". The next generation then asks more boldly, "why is it bad?". Maybe it is good after all.

The question is very healthy and when a question is not answered for a generation, past knowledge and experience is lost. For many Americans, naming a policy as "socialistic" means that the policy is bad. For a growing number of Americans, however, they no longer see it that way. They want "change" and that may include embracing the concept once again that history has shown to be fatally flawed. I have several good, smart, ethical friends who are now openly in favor of socialism.

Let's walk through my evolution in understanding of government because as Winston Churchill said (I paraphrase) "If you are young and conservative, you lack heart. If you are old and liberal, you lack brains.". Like many people, I started off with liberal views.

Let me quote Karl Marx:

"From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs."

In my younger days, I saw this type of thinking as progressive. It is idealistic to think that all people are equal and deserve equal "stuff", but socialism is an attempt at making that a reality. It is an attempt at Utopia or a perfect government. We all will do what we can so that we can all get what we need. It really sounds great. "What's wrong with that?" I hear people say both in person and in the media.

As I grew older and studied more history and government and began to understand more about how people are hardwired, I understood more about why these attempts at a perfect government ALWAYS fail miserably and lead to oppression. It is well proven that people are MUCH more motivated internally than externally. If I am paid to do something, I will do it only until the pay is stopped. If I feel that what I am doing is important and aligns with everything that I am, I will do it even if I am not paid (and sometimes I will pay to do it).

Motivation is a funny thing. You can take a given task and make someone feel less motivated by trying to give them an external reason to do it. I might volunteer for the Kitchen willingly and be excited to do it. If I am suddenly paid to do it, or forced to do it by an employer, then I feel controlled and considerably less motivated. Think about this in terms of children. When children feel controlled, they resist. When they feel like they have choices, they act freely. At a young age, I could get my son to drink his milk using this principle. "Jeffrey, drink your milk." was met with resistance. "Jeffrey, what color cup do you want for your milk." was met with enthusiasm. Autonomy is critical to motivation.

That's a major problem with socialism. When we all work for "the state" (which is a socialistic term for "the government" meant to distract the fact that "the state" has no unified voice, our autonomy is taken away. If I am a doctor and my fees are set by the state, I lose my autonomy and my motivation is greatly decreased. The impact of this is HUGE, and it isn't a theory. How many great inventions or innovations have come out of the Soviet Union, Cuba, China, or any other communist or socialistic country. Even Great Britain and many other European nations struggle with socialistic policies with the result being high unemployment, weak economies, and rampant corruption.

Even the smallest experiments in socialism with small towns of people all who believe strongly in the principles have failed and failed badly (including in America). Countries with socialized medicine allow "the state" (the government) to make health care decisions for its citizens including who will live and who will die. The best advancements in medicine come from countries with health care systems closer to the free market model (note: the United States does NOT currently have a free market health care system, but it is not fully socialized either). The best innovations and highest standard of living come from countries that utilize a free market model.

The other side of my argument for socialism as a youth was the problem of greed in a free market system. Why should one person be "worth" more than another person? This question has a fatal flaw. We often quote the Declaration of Independence saying that "All Men were Created Equal". This single statement is classically misunderstood. We are not all created equal in terms of our abilities or opportunities. A healthy child born to a middle class highly educated family has a much better chance to succeed than a special needs child born to a single parent low income family. This is a truth of life and it was the way our Creator chose to make it. Yet we as a society tend to look at God's act of creating us different as an act of injustice. This leads to the common parental response... "life is not fair".

No matter what system of government we put into place, we will be unable to cancel out God's "mistake" in making us different and putting us in different climates with varying opportunity. I worded that last sentence to make my point... God doesn't make mistakes.

Our mistake is how we measure "success". All men are created equal in that each has an opportunity to find great fulfillment and joy in life, even if it is not in the form of treasure and opportunity. A parent of a special needs child recently told me how much of a blessing the child was to them. This child will grow up with the same chance of being happy and fulfilled as any other child.

So where does the government come in to all of this? The answer is that it really shouldn't. George Washington often said that "government is a necessary evil" meaning that if we could find a way to exist peacefully without it, we would. However, we do the best we can. Our Founding Fathers devised a system of government that allowed people to have autonomy in how they live their lives. They can choose to learn, create, and give and be fulfilled. They can also choose to sloth, stagnate, and take and be miserable. This is the choice that our Creator bestowed upon us. This is what government should never take away.

Socialism, Facism, and other systems of government that aim for a "perfect society" do not work and lead to corruption and oppression of people. Our government is not perfect and was not designed to be perfect. It was only designed to be "more perfect" than other system devised in the past. Our Founding Fathers were pretty sharp and they conducted the worlds most aggressive strategic plan when they drafted our government.

President Obama does not hate America. He just doesn't understand it. To his credit, once he has been in office, he has appeared to be willing to listen and learn. He is getting a crash course in history and the way government works. He is backing off of policies he trumpeted on the campaign trail. I only hope that his continuing "on the job" education outpaces Congress and their ability to change our system in a way that history has shown to lead to certain failure.

Quit your Whining!

2009-06-16T07:12:00.003-05:00

by Don Harkey

As our President once again predicts the doom of America pending a another new action by the government (this time health care), hundreds of thousands of people risk their lives to be heard in Iran. The contrast is deafening.

At some point, we have all forgotten our history, both from our past and the history in the making. The average person in America leads a very comfortable life. If you get hurt, you can walk into a hospital and get world class health care regardless of your ability to pay for it. American's lap the rest of the world in charitable giving. While Walmart is not the ideal place to work, it employs hundreds of thousands of Americans and provides us with the most efficient food distribution system ever created on the planet (without government intervention).

We have developed into a culture of whiners that evolved from "give us a chance to survive" to "we have a right to health insurance and chicken nuggets". We have suddenly taken a joke from a talk show host as being intolerable and we stand in flood waters waiting for the government to help us. We whine about the lack of leadership in America and ask for "change", although we don't know what "change" means. We blame others for mistakes and take credit for successes.

I don't know about you, but I am going to focus on the next steps. I am going to start by thanking God for what I have. Then I am going to find a way to continue to create and sell real value to others so that I can lead a fulfilling and, yes, fruitful life. I am going to continue to work with people who are humble enough to blame failure on themselves while giving credit to others for success.

It's time for a dose of reality. The country we live in is the best system of government ever devised. If you aren't sure about that, start studying. Learn about the theories bounced around by our Founding Fathers. Learn about why our government was not designed as a true democracy. Learn about how every attempt at socialism fails miserably and why. Get some perspective.

If you are an Iranian protesting the "election" of a ruthless and evil man, you are not worried about the cost of health care. You are worried about whether your picture is being taken at the rally. You are worried about whether you or your family will get shot. You are worried that your religious views might not match those of the "supreme leader" and the consequences of this. This is quite a hole to dig out of... they probably wish they worried about who got voted off the island.

Get a grip America and let's get back to work!

Springfield Church Builds for Mission

2009-06-15T07:37:00.004-05:00

by Don Harkey

Six years ago, a Springfield community church asked the question, "why are we here?". Messiah Lutheran Church, located on Seminole street just west of St. John's Hospital, was a 44 year old congregation with a history of being a steady family church. The church was strong, but its members new it could be stronger.

Over the next several years, the congregation spent thousands of hours using hundreds of members to answer this simple question. The answer came out in the form of a mission statement that most members of the church can recite from memory. "Guided by the Gospel we: Welcome All to Worship, Make Disciples, Hunger for Ministry, Nurture Youth, Gather Resources for Growing Ministries, and Offer Healing and Care to All in Need. These are just words... right?

When the process was begun, the church saw an annual income of around $400,000 and attendance right around 80% of its seating capacity. Members knew that the capacity was keeping the church from growing, so they had been talking for many years about expanding the church or moving to a new site. Once the church's mission had been defined, the newly focused congregation began to plan to grow on its existing site.

The subsequent capital funds campaign raised a whopping $1,000,000 over the next 3 years and collected almost every penny of what was pledged (despite the downturn in the economy). With these pledges, the congregation launched a $2.7MM building project that is nearly completed.

This Sunday, barring any significant construction issues, the congregation will worship in its new sanctuary for the first time, within a few months of its 50th Anniversary.

Yes, the congregation is in debt now, but this past Spring, the congregation launched a 2nd capital funds campaign that has already received almost $675,000 in pledges over the next 3 years, which will easily make payments on the loan and pay down principle.

In the past month, the congregation is talking more and more about its vision for what Sunday morning will look like in the newly expanded church. Visitors in the fall should expect to enter Mission Hall and be greeted with opportunities to worship, learn, or just hang out and eat breakfast or drink coffee. Messiah is truly an exciting place!

The point of this story is to show how any organization can transform itself by becoming focused on its core purpose. Messiah was a strong congregation before, but becoming more focused has only made it stronger and more energized. The building project is only the beginning. This fall, the church will host the Lighthouse Daycare Ministry.

Is your organization energized? Do you know why you exist?

Random Thoughts for Friday

2009-06-12T13:22:00.003-05:00

by Don Harkey

I thought I'd share a few random thoughts for the day...

- Sween is pretty funny on Twitter (and inspired this article)

- The thunder that just sounded off lasted over a minute. How does that work? (credit to my good friend, "Pinto")

- I know that either Coke or Pepsi causes me to have more phlegm, but I can't remember which... that would be a kinda gross version of the Pepsi Challenge...

- I have noticed that my clients seem more satisfied when they get clarity on a situation than when they save thousands of dollars on a project. Yet potential clients like the 2nd story better than the 1st one.

- With all of the networking and social media available, I am still astounded when I say "No" to the question "Do you know anyone who...". That's called market potential.

- 104.1FM today had 2 broadcasts playing over each other on my way back to work this morning. That station also is known (to me) for having large silence gaps or times where we listen to a computer count down from 30 seconds. How does that happen?

- My daughter loves to imagine that we are monkeys. I am not sure why, but I love it too. Maybe that one isn't THAT hard to figure out.

- My son thinks he beat me in mini-golf last weekend because he scored a 91 and I scored a 52, yet he acknowledges that I won 16 of 18 holes.

Have a great weekend!!!

Comfort

2009-06-10T21:08:00.004-05:00

by Don Harkey

I have been thinking a lot about something I heard at the Success Seminar this past Friday. It came from Rebecca Austin, a Corporate Trainer who owns Strive4Savvy. We all have a comfort zone and while in that zone, learning is impossible.

Wow... think about that. When we live within our comfort zone, we don't learn anything new. This means that we only learn when we are uncomfortable. We only learn when we push into new ground. This is significant.

I think about some of the most difficult things I have ever done like going to college, starting a business, or even being a good husband or father. These are also the things that have taught me the most important lessons of my life.

This is true in organizations as well. When we work with a team of people, we work toward being comfortable. We avoid conflict. We avoid controversy. However, it is this very source of discomfort that puts us in positions where we learn and learning leads to true satisfaction.

I recently facilitated a meeting of leaders in an organization that had worked together and met together many times before. However, for the first time in a long time, they didn't avoid conflict. Instead, they made each other uncomfortable. They talked about their problems and they shared their insight. They hurt each other's feelings and made each other squirm. At the end of the meeting, one of the attendees told me that it was the best meeting she had attended in 14 years.

I encourage you to leave your comfort zone from time to time so that you can learn and feel true satisfaction!

The Paradigm Paradigm

2009-06-09T07:39:00.004-05:00

by Don Harkey

I recently read an article (reference: RIP My Dear Saturn) by Mike Micklewright, a former engineer for Saturn in the mid-1980's. Mr. Micklewright was involved with Saturn from its early days as an attempt to split from the GE culture and learn from the likes of Edwards Deming and Toyota.

One of my favorite stories from the article (actually, there are 2 articles) concerns the design of the "repair lot" for the new Saturn facility in Tennessee. GE had laid off some of its employees and forced Saturn to hire them on. This mixed new culture with old and the impact was a paradigm shift back toward "old school". GE facilities had a repair lot that was used when cars came off the line needing repairs. The lots were (and probably still are) huge.

GE Engineers wanted to build a lot that would be plenty big to hold all of the cars that needed to be repaired. After all, why would you want to run out of space, right? Seems like it makes sense.

Saturn Engineers followed the Toyota model and didn't want to build a repair lot at all. The repair lot represented a failure in the process that needed to be immediately investigated and repaired.

The "compromise" was that they built a repair lot 1/2 the size of a normal GE facility. As the author pointed out, this was an absurd "lose/lose" compromise since the lot would not be big enough for the GE model and since the existence of the lot would all but kill the Saturn (Toyota) model.

The point of this story is simple. Paradigms are very real. I have heard people say that they had the word "paradigm". This is largely thanks to some past management movements where managers tell employees to "shift their paradigm". Organizational paradigms are often set at the top of the organization and most fiercely followed by management.

You cannot "shift" out of a paradigm. Everyone lives in a paradigm and every organization has one. Thinking outside of it is difficult, but it is critical for long term survival.

Failed to Doom

2009-06-07T20:46:00.004-05:00

by Don Harkey

During a break at last week's Success Seminar (which was a great event in Springfield!), a participant lamented all of the examples of bad management within his firm and other organizations. The question he had was "how are we going to overcome all of this bad management?". My answer was simple.

"Failure."

Bad management within a free market will eventually lead to failure. Bad management is like a disease. Bad management creates a system that breeds more bad managers. When an organization is completely overtaken, it will fail over time either under its own inept weight or when it gets outmaneuvered by a better managed organization.

Such occurred with GM and Chrysler... or at least it was supposed to occur.

As organizations such as Toyota and Honda created some of the best management seen on the planet (stemmed from ideas of an American named Edwards Deming), organizations who had grown with almost unlimited resources and a strong cultural backing became more than lame. They became incompetent. We should have forecasted the doom of these companies when their strategy focused on purchasing their products because of where their corporate offices are located versus the true value of their product.

Even in 1986 when my mother from Detroit purchased her "Born in America" Plymouth Voyager and learned that it was actually built in Canada with a Mitsubishi engine, we should have known. Meanwhile, my 1983 Honda Accord (built in Illinois) ran reliably until the bottom nearly rusted out almost 17 years later.

Believe me, I don't blame GM or Chrysler; I believe the American consumer who decided that "Born in America" was good enough is now paying for it again. In a free economy, we get the best products when we buy the best products built by the best companies that utilize the best management and the best people. Reward good business with your dollar and it will succeed.

The cure for bad business in a free market is failure. Government intervention or purchasing products based on anything other than good service or good producs is... well... bad management!

Housekeeping... Would you like a Towel?

2009-06-02T07:10:00.004-05:00

by Don Harkey

Got another good comment from "Church" (the blog reader, not the place) yesterday. She wrote:

This is interesting...
http://stephenslighthouse.sirsidynix.com/archives/2009/06/encouraging_pos.html

What does this say about motivation? What are the motivating factors in these types of statements? Social belonging? It's more than just doing the "right" thing or the statements at the beginning would hold more weight.

The link takes us to a study that was posted in the Wall Street Journal recently. The study showed the results to various approaches used by hotels to get guests to reuse their towels during longer stays. Here are the results of various signs posted in the bathrooms...

1. "Help the hotel save energy" results in 16% towel reuse.
2. "Partner with us to help the environment" results in 31% towel reuse.
3. "Almost 75% of guests reuse towels" results in 44% towel reuse.
4. "75% of the guests who stayed in this room reuse towels" results in 49% towel reuse.

As "Church" says, what does this mean about motivation?

Actually, this gives some great insight into how people are motivated. From past articles, motivation is generated from 3 conditions or needs that are met; competence, autonomy, and relatedness.

"Help the hotel save energy" is too vague and doesn't build on any of the 3 needs. What can I do to help the hotel save energy? Why do I care? This statement doesn't invoke a feeling that I have control. It is almost an instruction robbing me of making a choice to help out.

"Partner with us to help the environment" is considerably better and is almost twice as effective. It helps to explain why I would care about reusing a towel and it builds on my sense of autonomy with the use of the word "partner". I have a role in this one. However, this does nothing to build relatedness. I am only one person and I probably won't have that big of an impact on the environment.

"Almost 75% of guests reuse towels" is even more effective. It builds on my sense of relatedness. If other people are doing this, it must be important. Since it doesn't give an instruction (although it is implied), I still have my sense of autonomy. It still makes you ask yourself "why", but the truth is that most people probably understand why it is important.

"75% of the guests who stayed in this room reuse towels" was the most effective statement, beating out the last statement by a hair. This is similar to the last statement except that it further builds on my sense of relatedness because it refers to people in the same situation I am currently in (staying in this room using a towel).

So, this study makes sense when we apply competence, autonomy, and relatedness as key motivators. A couple of comments on this. First of all, the last 2 statements are lies and therefore should not have been used (sure its a small lie to save a lot of money, but how much is integrity worth?). Second, if you wanted to improve on the above statements (ignoring my first point), you might say, "75% of guests who stayed in this room partnered together to help the environment by reusing towels". (Again, I wouldn't use it unless it was true, but this type of statement really hits all 3 needs).

Motivation is a tricky thing. We often mistake "importance" as a key factor. The truth is that our sense of being a part of something bigger (relatedness) is a much larger component to motivation.

Thanks, Church for the comment and link!

Double my Salary!

2009-06-01T07:27:00.004-05:00

by Don Harkey

Pay is a poor motivator. That needs to be the start of any discussion on how to set compensation for employees. If you pay someone more to do something, they will not do it better, at least not for a sustained period of time. While it is true that most people work "for a living", when a person focuses on external motivational factors (like salary), they tend to feel less motivated.

So how do you set salary or compensation for your employees? This is very tricky and I do not claim any special expertise in this area. However, we can take a step back and think about some things to think about when setting up a pay structure. Note that I am not address legal requirements here... the government has made that far too complex for me!

1) How much should you pay someone?

I see 2 major factors involved in pay; market conditions and fairness. Labor lives in a free market. Compensation varies significantly based on supply and demand. Teachers make relatively low salaries because of the vast supply of teachers. Alchemists can barely make a living because of low demand (although I suppose a good alchemist can be self-employed). The more skills and experience a person has, the more they are worth on the open market. Jay Leno or LeBron James can negotiate high salaries because there aren't many people who can do what they do as well as they do it. This means that when paying someone, you should pay them enough that they can't easily find a better position on the open market.

Fairness factors in depending on the business. If my business is doing incredibly well and it is largely because of a person working for me, I might decide to share the success with that person. On the same spectrum, if my business is doing poorly, I may decide that I need to cut the pay for that person. By "fairness", I am not addressing the fact that fire fighters and teachers do very important jobs for relatively low salaries. The brutal fact is that supply and demand set the "value" for these positions.

2) Should salaries be secret or transparent?

A good friend of mine believes in publishing the salaries of all employees. I like transparency and really haven't thought enough about this to form a strong opinion. I will point out that anything that draws attention to salary is demotivational over the long-term. When an employee gets a raise, they feel valued by their employer and tend to feel more motivated. However, over time, they start to look for the next raise and forget the internal factors that drive and sustain real motivation. I am not saying that you should not give raises. I am saying that drawing attention to salary causes a negative impact on motivation. Transparency would seem to multiply that affect.

3) Should salary be tied to performance?

Yes and no. Yes, salary should be tied to performance in terms of the free market. Managers are easy to find. Great managers are a little harder to find. There is also an internal market factor that ties performance to pay. If a person becomes critical to YOUR organization, then the supply of people that can effectively do their job is very low driving up the employee's value to you.

No, salary should not be directly tied to performance. There have been numerous attempts out there to develop performance evaluations that can be plugged into a formula for determining salary raises. The problem is that when pay is tied to metrics, the metrics become manipulated regardless of who the person is or how complex the metrics are. If I am a project manager and my pay is tied to staying under budget, I will find a way to stay under budget (either at the expense of quality, or by "cooking the books" by shifting project money around or sandbagging). If you want to inspire innovation, set up a performance metric and tie pay to it. You will see some great innovation to drive the metrics!

Those are just a few issues regarding pay. Its a tricky issue because you have to pay people, but as I have said, it really isn't the core of why you want people to want to work (did that make sense?). Ideally, you want people to feel competent, autonomous, and related to the organization as a whole. This is where you see people voluntarily giving up their pay for the good of the organization. This is a higher level of motivation that will stick around through good times and bad!

The Pipeline

2009-05-30T13:18:00.003-05:00

by Don Harkey

First, I want to apologize to my readers for the gaps between posts lately! Its been an extraordinarily busy couple of weeks and my normal posting time has been compromised.

As you may or may not know, I grew up in Nebraska and attended college in Lincoln. I have always been a rabid Cornhusker fan. Until the past 8 or 9 years, Nebraska has been one of the dominant forces in college football. A key to this success was their running game and a key to the running game was the offensive line. The offensive line program at Nebraska became known as "the Pipeline" because they always managed to find and develop great talent at the position.

The key was finding kids who not only had some talent, but more importantly were willing to work hard and develop under Nebraska's system. Nebraska has always been a leader in athelete development using the concept of the "training table" long before most teams. The "training table" is a carefully controlled diet for the athletes designed provide them with the right fuel to supplement their training program and weight lifting.

The result on the field was impressive. Under Coach Osborne, Nebraska never won fewer than 9 games in a season and won 3 National Titles in the last 4 years of Osborne's tenure. A few of those teams manaaged to average 400+ yards of rushing per game. Early in Osborne's tenure, many people took note of Osborne's "simple" offense which consisted of 8 to 10 basic plays. A reporter once asked Switzer how easy it was to cover an offense that was so "predictable". His answer was (and I'm paraphrasing) "sure we know what they are going to do and how to cover it... its stopping it that is the real challenge". In other words, Nebraska depended on execution over surprise. They depended on winning the one to one matchups. As one Florida Linebacker said after their 62-24 loss in the 1996 National Championship Game (again, I'm paraphrasing), "We saw that a lot of defenses were in the right positions against them and just weren't making the plays. Darn it if that didn't also happen to us!".

Organizations should always establish "pipelines" of employees who are being trained as "starters" for the organization. When a new employee comes into the organization, what strengths do they bring? What development do they need to better use those strengths? Does the organization have the right strengths to lead it into the future? This question is overlooked by many organizations, especially during times of economic stress where cutbacks and layoffs overshadow development and training.

Identify your pipelines within your organization and make sure it is always full. Identify the skills needed to operate your organization and match them up with people who are ready to execute and who will be ready to execute in the future. Your organization will be much healthier and can win more of the "1 on 1" battles everyday that will add up to success!

Memorial Day

2009-05-26T06:52:00.002-05:00

by Don Harkey

Growing up in the 1980's in America was an interesting time. As a youth, I was sure that I would be drafted once I reached the military age. After all, my father enlisted after getting an extremely low draft number, I could only expect the same, right? Every war or military engagement looked to be the start of "our" conflict. Iran. Grenada. Panama. Then Desert Storm.

I think that growing up expecting to serve gives you a different view of the military. My Dad (who served his tour in Colorado largely because of his ability to type) talked about how many people scoffed at soldiers returning from war. They were treated badly. Very badly.

I think my generation decided that that would not happen again. After all, we might be next, right?

When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, I was in high school. It is hard to remember what America thought was coming before the first Gulf War. We expected a long conflict, much like Vietnam or Korea. So the homefront rallied. There were songs (remember "Voices that Care"?), gift packs, and pledges that we would always support our men and women in uniform.

In the past 30 years, I think America has learned a valuable lesson. Even as we fight our second war in Iraq with a majority of American's opposing the war, we still remember as a country the sacrifice made by our people and especially by their families. As a people, we don't take war lightly, and we try to remember the sacrifices.

We try. Life has too much noise in it to remember the daily struggles of the families of service men and women and the constant challenges of our armed forces. We forget the World War II veterans who fought in the 2nd "war to end all wars". We forget the soldiers from Korea and Vietnam who came when called. We forget the Mothers of Children whose Father's spend their days in a far off land. We forget those who will never come back and those whose lives have been forever changed.

Right now, in this moment, I will take a few precious minutes to remember and to pray for our own. May the children hear their sacrifice for generations to come!

Navigating in a Fog

2009-05-22T07:30:00.006-05:00

by Don Harkey

I have been working on a project this week where I couldn't see the end or how to get to the end. Has that ever happened to you where you know you need to do something, but you aren't sure how to do it or even what steps to take to find out? It is like walking in a thick fog. You slow down and get that strange, uncomfortable feeling...

As a strategic thinker, I love to know "where I am going". When I don't see a clear path forward, I get that "foggy" feeling. The temptation is to slow down and wait until the fog lifts. However, the right thing to do is probably to keep walking within your limited vision to try to find a clearing.

This week, I managed to force myself to keep walking. I always tell young project managers, if you are going to mess up a project, make sure you go down kicking and screaming, not whimpering on the floor in a fetal position. I took my own advice, despite my discomfort. I worked hard and looked around. When the fog didn't clear, I tried something else. Then I did it again and again and again, until finally, the fog lifted and I could see where I was going.

It is a horrible feeling (especially for a strategist!), but it is worth fighting through. I got some critical help from coworker and in the end, the client acknowledged that they couldn't see a clear path forward either and applauded our initiative in finally seeing the way to the end.

It reminds of me a true story. My family used to go to Minnesota every summer for vacations. My Dad loved to fish. One morning, he went out on the lake to fish, and a thick fog settled down on the lake. He could barely see the end of the boat. Suddenly, he wasn't sure how to get back to the dock.

He drove the boat slowly through the water talking to himself to notify the other fisherman that he was close. It was futile. He couldn't see anything. Finally, he stopped, thought a bit, and stood up in the boat. To his great surprise, the fog was only sitting about 3 feet on the lake. Above the fog, it was as clear as could be. The site was remarkable. The lake was covered by this thick cloud, but he could now see the shore. He could also see the heads of a few other fisherman who also figured out to stand up (or who had bigger boats!). The fishermen began to yell out to everyone in a boat to stand up to see over the fog. Within a few minutes, everyone located each other and the shore, and everyone found their way home safely.

If you find yourself in a fog at work or anytime in your life, it is important not to panic or go into hiding. Think, communicate, and ask for help. Try to do things that might clear up your view a bit. Try standing up!

100th Post!!!

2009-05-19T07:42:00.002-05:00

by Don Harkey

Wow!!! This is the 100th post for the Galt Blog!

I just want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for following, commenting, challenging, thinking, and supporting the blog. Most of all, I want to thank all of you out there who see a better way to lead and have a vision for how a great organization can run.

Ultimately, I guess I am a kind of dreamer. When I think of all of the different types of organizations out there, all I see is great potential. Organizations do just about everything from making MP3 players to feeding the hungry. They all have passionate people who have their own strengths and dreams. My goal is to provide some tools to help organizations allow their people to do what they love and love what they do.

As we continue into the next articles, I want to continue to challenge all of you leaders out there to stop accepting conventional wisdom. There is more than a place for passion at work... passion is productive!!!

Thanks for reading!!!

Shallow Management

2009-05-17T20:11:00.004-05:00

by Don Harkey

I'm going to start the week of with one of my rants... I feel OK doing this, since many of you have told me that my rants yield some of your favorite articles.

I am not one of those people who believe that "greed" is what got us into the economic situation we are in today, although it has played a role. I do not believe that corporations are evil or good (they just are) nor do I believe that rich people are bad or good (they just have money). I am a big fan of personal responsibility not only because it encourages people to get less dependent on others, but also because it makes people enjoy their lives more.

However, I am sick and tired of what has prevailed as the corporate, MBA (I am NOT knocking MBA's, but I do criticize the things many MBA schools teach) mentality that seems to infest larger corporations. The management style I am referring to is something I have called "shallow-end of the pool" management or SEP Management.

SEP Management is a style where management from executives all the way down to some front-line supervisors refuse to engage in the work being done by their company. They consider themselves above the work going on around them and say that they need to maintain a high level, professional view of the organization in order to function. They are ready to make the "tough" decisions, although amazingly, the tough decisions tend to be tough only for other people.

Ethics are often thrown out of the window with these types of managers, although not in the way that we are taught in Ethics 101 courses. Let me give you an example...

I recently approached a major author within a major company with a majorly good idea. The idea is really good, and I was ready to execute the idea, but I needed the permission of the author and the company to do so. I managed to find an inside contact with the author (a former teacher of his) and get his direct email. I sent a vague description of the idea after an introduction from my connector. His assistant wrote back that I might be able to get 5 minutes of his time in 3-4 months. She went on... perhaps I should send more information on the idea.

Knowing that I couldn't procede without them, I wrote a quick synopsis of the idea along with how I could execute the idea and promote their company and book with just a simple approval. The assistant wrote back within a few minutes of receiving the email saying that this she would "put it in front" of the author "immediately". A few weeks later, I got an email response from the company. They were "already pursuing" the idea and thanked me for my time and wished me and my company luck.

I have no way of knowing whether or not they were pursuing the idea already or not, although I suspect they were not. I also have no way of knowing what happened inside the walls of the company. Having worked in a corporate environment, I have imagined a fictious meeting in my head between the author and some executives...

Author - "I got this idea from this guy in Springfield forwarded by a former teacher of mine. I really think he might be on to something."

Executive #1 - "That is a good idea."

Executive #2 - "Does this guy have any legal right to the idea? We own the book and its material. The application is open source. Does he have any legal grounds? Do we HAVE to use him if we executed this?"

Executive #1 - "No. He has no legal right to this. We can easily pursue it on our own."

Author - "What should I tell him?"

Executive #1 - "Tell him thanks, but don't give him too much info. He may not have a legal basis, but we don't need to upset him either. We probably would have come up with this concept sooner or later anyway..."

(END SCENE)

I don't know if that is what happened or not, but I have heard about too many similar meetings occuring in meeting rooms (and sat in more than a few of them). The technique is one of dismissal and separation. The question is quickly turned from one of ethics to one of legalities. No one even dares to discuss the "right thing to do" because it has "nothing to do" with business.

This is SEP thinking.

There is good news, however. SEP thinking is not only wrong, it is also ineffective. Managers who treat people the right way do better than those who don't. Companies who reward these types of managers and shun SEP managers do better than those who don't. The free market really does work, but credit for good ideas get squashed from time to time!

Penny from Heaven

2009-05-15T07:50:00.004-05:00

by Don Harkey

A good friend sent me an email awhile back concerning the reason he was taught to pick up a penny. The reason is a little different from the cumulative monetary impact theory (of which my Dad was a big fan)... this reason was simpler. It's a message from God that we all need to hear from time to time...

IN GOD WE TRUST

As a business owner, I spend a lot of time attempting to predict and manipulate the future, and that is OK. If you don't know where you are trying to go, life has a way of happening to you. As a lyric from a Colin Hays song goes, "The World, it won't wait for you... its got its own things to do!". I think this is very true.

However, often times in my rush for control, I forget that God is truly in control. He gives us things we need rather than things we want. He gives us His purpose over our own and we forget to that the right way to live is truly the right way to live. In other words, if we are doing the right things, we will ultimately be successful.

Does your business plan incorporate God's plan for you (or at least your current view of God's plan for you?).

I found a penny on Wednesday while filling up for gas and then again yesterday during a road trip pit stop. I picked them both up and took the message to heart. When things feel out of control, its probably because they are. Keep learning and planning, but remember that we are in very Good Hands!

Social Media ThinkTank (#SGFSMT) - Viral in a Good Way

2009-05-12T06:56:00.002-05:00

by Don Harkey

We had our 3rd Social Media ThinkTank meeting at the Brentwood Library yesterday and it was awesome! We had 14 people present plus 4 or 5 people watch through a live webinar (we'll get better at managing the webinar for future meetings!).

The attendees had a variety of experiences from a variety of organizations including the media, small business, larger businesses, and non-profits. We had people who are professional web designers and we had people who don't have a Twitter account (yet). Here are some of the key points coming out of the meeting.

- Establish your online persona and be somewhat predictable ("variety with a theme"). Don't start off online by being very social and then suddenly start hard selling goods. Be genuine. People tend to follow you and read your links as they begin to trust your content. Don't abuse that trust.

- Many people in the group have more than one Twitter account. We are complex, but our online identity is a little more like a brand. Several people have one account for business and one for personal.

- For larger companies, customer service is a real opportunity. If your clients/customers are talking about your online, you should probably be in the room and quick to make right past wrongs.

- Don't "overpost" online. Regardless of the tool, too much activity that washes out others is not a good thing.

- Facebook has some new fan page and friend functionality that many of us (including me) will need to checkout. Some of these modifications may make Facebook more applicable for business.

- When marketing online, make it "passive". There is a big difference between sending out an email or direct message and just passively posting content or providing links to information. Many social media users are sensitive to selling.

- Social media still needs to lead to actual relationships. You can think of it as another networking group. Meeting people in person multiplies your credibility.

- Everyone has examples of something becoming "viral" online and that has many businesses excited. How does this happen? The group didn't have an easy answer, but did observe that corporations often spend LOTS of money trying to make something viral that doesn't catch on.

The next steps for the SMT (Social Media ThinkTank) is the discussion of several subtopics (for our "subtanks"). The topics identified Monday (with their moderator):

1) Challenges of Using Social Media in Large Businesses / Organizations (Betsy)
2) Social Media for Small Business (Don)
3) Social Media for Non-Profits (Sarah)

We will have several online and perhaps in-person small group discussions on these topics and bring the information back together for our next meeting (to be determined). Long term, our goal is to have a presentation to business/organizational leaders on how to best use Social Media.

It's an exciting group and I thank everyone who participated (both in person and for those who tried to online)!

Ways to Screw up Your Organization - Rank Employees

2009-05-08T06:52:00.003-05:00

by Don Harkey

On our continuing series on how to really screw up an organization, we will now discuss the practice of ranking employees. Again, I want to stress to the reader, this is another way to MESS UP your organization.

Jack Welsh is considered by many to be a legendary CEO. Having lead GE for many years, Jack's philosophy earned him the nickname "Neutron Jack". By the turn of the century, he was considered by many to be one of the greatest CEO's of all time. (Jack's stock has dropped considerably since)

One of Jack's philosophies is to be #1 or #2 in your market or get out of the market. He applied this base philosophy to employees. Jack new that some of his employees were more effective than others. He thought about how to rank those employees. Sure, it is hard to distinguish between employee #20,568 and #20,569, but you sure can put employees into broad classifications. So GE set out to identify the top 10% of employees and the bottom 10% of employees. The top 10% earned promotions or bonuses. The bottom 10% were put on corrective action and often fired.

The idea is that if you clean out the "bottom feeders" every year, you improve the organization for everyone. As an employee, have you ever worked with that one person who doesn't carry their own weight? Frustrating, isn't it. Well, Neutron Jack had the answer and many companies jumped on it.

So how does one accomplish identifying the top and bottom 10% of employees within an organization. If your company is small, it is relatively easy. If you have 10 employees, promote one of them and fire another! Easy! The other 9 employees will thank you (although they will be watching with great interest as you hire a replacement for ole' #10 to see if they might be better then they are, lest they end up in the bottom spot the next year). It really keeps your employees on their toes.

If you are in a bigger organization, you will have to use the bell curve. Each supervisor will need to pick their top and bottom people. The supervisors will then need to get together and share stories about how great or terrible their people are. The larger the company, the longer this process will take, but it is worth it. If you are stuck in a stalemate in the meeting, make sure to barter with each other. "If you put Marsha on the top list, I will put Pete on the bottom". It is a common phenomena in these meetings that supervisors will want to promote all of their people and not fire any of them. Don't let them get away with that!

You might be thinking about the accuracy of the employee ranking system. How do you know you are truly getting rid of the "worst" employees and rewarding the "best" employees? The best advice I can give is to not worry about it. If a person ends up in the bottom 10% who should have been ranked in the bottom 30%, is it really such a terrible loss?

What about variation in employees between supervisors? Could their be bad managers whose employee's are less motivated than others? Nope. People are completely self motivated. A "go-getter" would fight through bad management and rise to the top (and "fighting through" management would surely make a good impression on their supervisor during the ranking process!).

I know what you're thinking... doesn't this discourage teamwork amongst your employees. I point you to the show Survivor. Those people compete with each other every day and it surely brings out the best in them! Right?!?

The lessons learned here are simple. Cut out your weakest employees regularly. Instill fear to the masses and ignore management's impact on their employees. Convert your entire HR system in a series of meetings with backroom bargaining and people trading. All of these things will come together to ensure bad management, employee competition, and most of all, fear within the organization. Oh... and your supervisors will HATE it! What a great way to destroy an organization from within!

THANKS JACK!

Ways to Screw up your Organization - the Cycle of Metrics

2009-05-07T07:11:00.003-05:00

by Don Harkey

Are you trying to build a culture of corruption within your business? Here's a great way to do it! (note: IF you are trying to build a culture of corruption, which I do NOT recommend... just wanted to be clear)

Make sure you measure everything and hold your employees to those measurements. Do not accept excuses. The message should be "hit your numbers... or else!". How does this build corruption?

Let's say I have a delivery driver. I want to set some metrics for the driver. First of all, the delivery needs to be "on time". Next, the load needs to get to the client in good condition. Finally, the drive needs to be safe. Good news (for those seeking corruption)... I can measure all 3 of these conditions. Furthermore, I can hold the employees accountable to these metrics!

I will set a target for 95% on time delivery, zero customer complaints, no speeding tickets, and no accidents. Brilliant!

Driver #1 is an ethical, hard working individual. She delivers her loads quickly and efficiently, but always follows the speed limit and is careful to avoid accidents. She records her times accurately and reports all damaged loads and complaints from customers.

Driver #2 is a go-getter. He works hard, but also sees how he will be judged. He speeds when he can get away with it and "settled" with a person he accidentally rear ended by giving the old lady a $100 bill to "fix her bumper". He fudges on his time reports (he is on time most of time anyway, so what's the big deal?) and has been known to even repackage a load to hide damage from the customer. When customers complain to him, he sympathizes with them and tells them that he would get into trouble if they call the office, but that he would be "glad to report the complaint" (he never does).

At the end of the year, which driver will LOOK better to management? Driver #2! Who will management promote for the new supervisor position? Driver #2! BLAMMO! We now have a corrupt supervisor who will continue to manipulate the system promoting more like him (to help make him look good) and getting more promotions himself.

Measure. Rinse. Repeat.

10 Ways to Screw up an Organization

2009-05-05T06:42:00.004-05:00

by Don Harkey

I spend a lot of time talking about ways to make an organization better. I talk about leadership, tapping into the talents of your people, and even talk about using social media for business networking. Today I want to try a new approach... I am going to talk about ways to really screw up an organization. Some of these may surprise you! Consider this a preview of my talk coming up at the June 5th Success Seminar in Springfield (REGISTER HERE).

10 WAYS TO SCREW UP AN ORGANIZATION

1) Measure Everything - Make sure you quantify everything you can. Post charts around the office showing staple usage per month for the entire year. Send out a report every day showing company profit to everyone in the company. If morale becomes a problem, measure it, post it, and train people until it improves.

2) Define your Success by Metrics - Since you are already measuring everything, now make sure that you define your success by the metrics. If your expenses are rising, make sure everyone knows they are doing a poor job. If you profits rise, celebrate for doing all the right things.

3) Quantify Employee Performance - Rank your employees from lowest to highest and get rid of the bottom 10% every year. Pay employees according to their ranking. Make sure to tell your bottom performers that a bottom position in your organization is like a top position in many organizations because of how great your organization is. That will help them to adjust to their new low ranking.

4) Encourage Internal Competition - Hold regular contests pitting employees and departments against each other. Make sure to let your people know that only the strong will prosper.

5) Discourage Individuality - People are essentially the same, so treat them as such. Give no preferential treatment or extra help to any single employee without giving the same aid to the other employees. Avoid talking about their personal lives and personal aspirations. After all, the organization is more important than any individual. On issues like emergency or medical leave, stick to the HR manual.

6) Specialize Employee Tasks - Break up your organization into specific tasks and train your employees to focus only on their given task. Does a brake pad need to know where the car is going?

7) Keep Management Elite - Keep all management sessions behind closed doors. Employees do not need to know the direction of the company. It only distracts them from their work. Besides, they may not be able to handle it.

8) Stick to the Plan - Establish a 5-year plan and stick to the plan no matter what happens in the market or the organization. Flexibility is for the weak.

9) Implement a Policy of "Shut up and Listen" - Let employees know that the organization has been around longer than any employee and that the organization knows best. Employee suggestions should center around vending machine contents and not on process improvement.

10) Maintain Fear - Make sure to use threats regularly so that every employee knows the consequences of a mistake. A fearful employee is an obedient employee (at least while you are there).

So there you have it! By following these simple guidelines, you can take any organization from best to worse in no time flat!

19th Hole Network - Springfield

2009-05-04T07:00:00.004-05:00

by Don Harkey

This last Friday, I attended the first "19th Hole Network" event organized by Sean Saunders, Kurt Theobald, and Brian Praschan (3 married men who like to hug... and that's "OK"). Sean is a golf pro at Swing Right Golf. Kurt is an entrepreneur at Classy Llama web design. Brian is a Financial Planner at Waddell and Reed. The event was held at Swing-Right Golf located on South National (waaaaaaay south after it turns to the west and just before it runs into Campbell).

The event was very well attended (I didn't count, maybe 40?) and there was a lot of energy in the room. Participants chatted with each other and hit a few golf balls (it appeared to be the first time for hitting for some... and that's "OK"). I met some great people at the event and Sean even spent some time with me correcting my drive. Reconstructing it might be a better term as I have never had a golf lesson.

I got to chat with Nancy Rose, a former microbiologist turned painter (and future golf pro). I chatted with Timothy vonBecker, a marketing strategist with Extend Interactive who has a bad back. I met a new sports medicine person (who's business card company failed her and who's name I can't recall) who just moved to the area from St. Louis and who got the world's fastest referral from me (I introduced her to Timothy).

I even got a chance to hit on the simulator, which is a cool experience by the way. I discovered that my ball velocity is 20-30 MPH slower than Sean's and that my drive swing is not only too fast, but very comical to watch (thanks for telling me all you past golfing buddies!). He fixed me right up and I look forward to breaking in my new drive on Rivercut this Saturday at the project HOPE golf tournament. (Yes, I'm breaking in a new drive at a tournament... and that's OK).

Michael DeFontes, from DFG Insurance, sponsored the event and spoke to the group about networking and building a business. His general message was to deliver quality to your customers and establish strong relationships.

All in all, it was a terrific event! I had a great time and met some high energy people. I can't wait until next month's 19th Hole Networking Event!

Success Coach

2009-05-01T08:17:00.003-05:00

by Don Harkey

Short article today, but I am very excited this week. I have known Randy Mayes for more than 2 years now. I have attended his course, seen him speak, and sent numerous people to him for Executive Coaching, all with rave reviews. I'm not sure why it took me 2 years to pull the trigger, but I finally did, and yesterday, Randy and I had our first coaching session.

Randy is known as the "Success Coach". He comes from a perspective of a successful business owner (he used to own Springfield Janitorial Supply) and also as a disciple of Christ. A couple of years ago, he formally began his coaching business and has quickly become well known in the Springfield area. He has no shortage of success stories. So what is Executive Coaching like with Randy?

Randy helps give focus. It's just that simple. He begins the session with "what do you want to focus on today" and won't let you get away with something that is too broad. Then he gets right to it asking questions and drilling down to get more detailed answers. Everything leads to action and every action must align with the individual. I must say, he has a real talent for it!

In my first session, we focused on my business. We talked about my short term strategy versus my long term strategy. What he does is different from "strategic planning" in that he applies it to your life rather than to your business. Even though we talked about my business, everything was in the perspective of the needs for my life. I left the meeting with specific action items and another appointment for our next coaching session. Oh yeah... I also left the meeting pumped up and very excited!

I give a lot of referrals. I rate my referrals "A", "B", or "C" (I don't give out "D" or "F" referrals!). A "C" referral is someone who makes a good impression, but I don't know much about. A "B" referral is someone either I trust or someone I know well trusts, but I haven't used their service enough. An "A" referral is someone I know will do a great job. Randy is one of my rare "A" referrals! Need some focus in your life? Check him out!

http://www.thesuccesscoachnetwork.com

Social Media Think Tank Takes Off in Springfield

2009-04-30T07:16:00.004-05:00

by Don Harkey

About a month ago, I was chatting with Kurt Theobald, an entrepreneur and fellow business consultant in Springfield about the use of Social Media in business. We both were on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn and had played with a few other services. If you play with these services, you will quickly discover that there are multiple uses for each and that they all can take up a tremendous amount of time (especially Facebook). Are these things business owners / leaders should get involved with or are they simply a waste of time? How can these "tools" be applied effectively to a variety of business processes? That's when Kurt said, "let's pull together a think tank to talk about it".

Our first meeting was almost a month ago and only 4 people showed up, but our discussion was very good. It quickly became apparent that we needed to focus on the processes rather than on the tools. We also quickly discovered that the greatest potential comes from utilizing tools in combination with each other. We published a few of our findings on Twitter along with an open invitation to our next meeting.

Last week we met again and had 8 people come in, many of whom had heard of the team primarily on Facebook. I want to tell you we had QUALITY people at that meeting. We had a recruiter who used social media to connect with potential recruits. We had an entrepreneur who is working on the next social media application focused on the creative arts. We had a communications expert who works as an adviser for politicians. We had a business owner who had been using social media from its inception. We had a web developer who's knowledge of web tools is impressive. We had a representative from the Springfield Business Journal who works on a team exploring the implications of social media and the web on print media. The bottom line is that we have a great team and the discussion showed it... and the discussion is occurring right here in Springfield, Missouri!

After the meeting, the participants immediately began publishing some of the discussions and the enthusiasm for the project spread even more. We have since had to change our venue from the backroom at Hebrew's Coffee to the Brentwood Library to hold all of the people we expect to attend the next session. One of our goals is to develop some "best practices" for social media in business and then work to "get the word out" into the Springfield area.

If you are in the Springfield, Missouri area and would like to participate in our Social Media Think Tank, you can attend our next session at:

Brentwood Library
May 11th @12:30PM

RSVP on Twitter by sending a tweet using #sgfsmtRSVP.

Follow Social Media Think Tank tweets by searching #sgfsmt, by following the RSS Feed (http://tinyurl.com/czt9xn) or by following donharkey and kurttheobald on Twitter.

I think we are on to something very exciting! Let's get some focus on applying these tools and then let's get the word out!

Competition Drives Costs UP

2009-04-28T07:08:00.005-05:00

by Don Harkey

Every American knows that nothing drives down costs like competition. The more players in a particular market, the lower the costs will be for the consumer because of the different players will need to drive down costs to compete with the other players in the market. Pretty simple, right? Wrong.

Competition does not always drive costs down for the consumer. Think about an airport that utilizes 4 different airlines. Let's say that each airline operates its own ticket counter, manages its own security check in, its own crews, its own airplane maintenance crew and even its own arrival/departure boards.

First of all, as a consumer, you will see a quality issue in terms of service. If your United flight is canceled, it is unlikely that they will put you on the Northwest flight leaving in a half hour. Imagine running 4 different security lines (all unbalanced because you have to go to the security gate of YOUR airline. Imagine the confusion on switching flights. You have to find your departure board and only people from your airline can help you. What about the costs? The operational costs of these 4 airlines are sky high (pun intended). Instead of one maintenance crew capable of handling the entire airport, they must maintain 4 crews. This means more parts inventory, more people, and sacrificed efficiency.

The point here is competition does not always drive costs down. In fact, the opposite is frequently true. Most of today's most successful companies are constantly looking to their competition for opportunities to collaborate and share resources. As long as price fixing doesn't occur, the value of these collaborations are passed to the customers.

This is also true for people. Competition can inspire people to do great things, but in the end, it is team work that truly makes people more effective and more efficient. Inspiriting competition within your organization in a way that discourages collaboration will lead to increased costs, decreased morale, and inefficiency!

Accounting - Is it Holding Us Back?

2009-04-27T07:23:00.005-05:00

by Don Harkey

When I meet with a company who is considering launching a new quality program or implementing a training program, one of the first things I ask is "what are you trying to accomplish?". The most common answer is "we want to reduce our expenses and save some money". They want to improve their "bottom line". That is when I push back.

Here is an interesting hypothesis for you... I am beginning to believe that one of the most dangerous and hindering factors in American business today is Accounting. WHAT?!?

As a profession, accounting seems like a fairly non-controversial entity. Current accounting rules are seldom questioned and are taught like a hard science in many business schools. It is simply the way it is done... and it often leads to doing things wrong.

Companies often make decisions in order to drive their balance sheets. This is understandable as corporations are often judged by their balance sheets. Let me give an example.

A corporation allows its employees to keep a "vacation balance". In other words, employees are allowed to carry over unused vacation days to the next year. During the recession, the company decides to help their balance sheets by telling employees to drive down their vacation balance to nothing by the end of the year. What is the impact on the company? This is a major benefit for the balance sheet. The vacation balances show up as a liability owed to its employees. For example, an employee who makes $20/hour and has 80 hours (2 weeks) of saved vacation is a $1600 liability to the company (the company would "owe" the employee that money if they left). If this represented the average balance for an employee within a company of 10,000 people, cutting the vacation balances would "save" the company $16,000,000! That's a nice sum of money to talk about for the person who made that decision at evaluation time!

Take a second now and think about what the company just did. First of all, during a particularly challenging time in the company history, this response for the company is to send its people home. Rather than innovating, creating, and finding new value for its customers, the employees of this company are spending extra vacation time. This doesn't seem like a good idea.

Secondly, consider the actual impact of this move. The company needs a certain number of hours to make the product or service and run the company. In this example, we cut 800,000 hours of work out of the year. If the company has a decreased demand that requires 800,000 fewer manhours, then everything is balanced. This is seldom the case. If the company requires only 200,000 less hours than normal, then the company must make up the other 600,000 hours in production. The only way to accomplish this is to either hire more people or work overtime. At time and a half, this equates to $18,000,000 in overtime. Whoops!

OK. Yes, if the company had looked at the accounting closely, they would have balanced this out. However, the reality is actually more complex than the example above. Productivity is not linear (production/hour becomes less efficient as it slows down). Yet many companies prefer to oversimplify and send their people home on extra vacation.

The bottom line is that anytime a company focuses on running by the metrics, they make bad decisions. The metrics can be used to help make decisions, but the final decisions must be made strategically with the companies total future in mind.

Town Hall for Hope

2009-04-24T09:21:00.003-05:00

by Don Harkey

“Hope doesn’t come from Washington; real hope comes from the nail-scarred hands.”

—Dave Ramsey

Last night, I helped to facilitate a webcast of the "Town Hall for Hope" by Dave Ramsey. Over 6000 locations around the country participated in the webcast last night and the count is still coming in on the number of participants.

Dave's message was simple and a few key points have stuck with me. The main point I think was that WE are responsible for our future. That means I am responsible for my future and YOU are responsible for your future. A couple of Dave's better quotes included (paraphrasing now) "if a bird falls out of its nest, it better start flapping its wings" and "fear pushes us to excellence because it chases us".

Looking at the economy like a car accident is an interesting analogy that Dave used last night. Some of us have walked away unscathed, some of us are a little sore, some of us broke a bone and others of us are in a coma. Regardless of where you stand, the only thing you can control is the actions that YOU take. If you have lost your job, my prayers are with you. Now is the time to get yourself back on your feet and go out there and find something else. It's not easy. It's not supposed to be because the final results of our actions are not what life is about. Life is about our actions.

Dave suggests 3 Courses of action (outlined at www.townhallforhope.com):

1) Get Up and Take Action - Don't huddle up and wait til the storm passes. Innovate, educate, and inspire yourself and others to action. Many of the greatest opportunities have grown out of difficult times.

2) Stop Listen to Loser Talk - Turn off the news. Stop hanging around with doomsday people. Hang around and listen to people who are innovating and working hard for their future. There are many, many, many of them out there!

3) Start Giving - Give your time, treasure, and talents. If you don't have money right now, donate your time. Help others around you. We will have more impact on each other than the government is capable of doing.

Regardless of your political views, the point here should be universal. God placed us on this planet with a unique set of gifts. We have all been given the gift to choose how to act and therefore determine our outlook on life. There will be challenges along the way, but we have the power to live our lives or have our lives happen to us.

I choose to not participate in the recession! If you agree - please comment below.

Blogging is Just Beginning

2009-04-23T07:19:00.003-05:00

by Don Harkey

We are at a crossroads in history. Three factors are converging together in a once in a lifetime collision of innovation and imagination.

1) Increasing availability of "fast" internet (especially "on the go")
2) Increase in the usage and variety of social media (ex: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter)
3) Increase in the popularity of blogs

Much like when electricity was first harnessed or when TV began to broadcast, we are entering a new world that no one has yet defined. Business is changing. Society is changing. People interact differently. What is the impact of having access to that exchange student from France who stayed with your family 25 years ago? What is the impact of being able to see what your employment applicant did last Saturday night? What is the impact of being able to "show" the world what value you can bring to societies table?

For businesses and organizations, there are really only 2 choices: blog now or blog later. If it makes you feel a little more professional, you don't have to call it a blog. Call it an information page, or an online resource or a product forum.

Let me put it this way... we are only beginning to define the implications of social media on businesses. There is a "Social Media Think Tank" meeting in Springfield, MO to discuss this very topic (email me if you want more info). We are only starting to figure it out. Where do you want your organization to be? You can wait until everyone else has tested it out and everyone jumps onboard or you can be one of the pioneers.

Writing about blogs within a blog trying to convince businesses that they need to thinking about blogging is kinda like showing an engineer or an accountant the value of a calculator. What is interesting as a current blog reader will be to see the evolution occur. Spread the word!

Blog Transparency

2009-04-22T11:22:00.002-05:00

by Don Harkey

There was an interesting article in the Life of Jason blog a few days ago on media ethics. I'll let you go to his site (after your done here) and read about the tea party event sponsored by KSGF. The article made me think about blogs and the purpose behind the blogs.

With the transformation that is occurring in the media, there are some concerns that sources of news will have less accountability to their readers/viewers. Many people claim to get their news from sources such as "the Daily Show" on Comedy Central or from a variety of blogs. The question that arises is whether or not these sources of information are impartial or even accurate.

Impartiality and even accuracy aren't as important as they used to be. Let me explain.

First of all, impartiality is NOT a requirement of the media (whether professional or independent). I once heard a media ethicist on the radio say that the media does not need to be impartial, they just need to be transparent. In other words, it is OK if Dan Rather REALLY wants Al Gore to win an election, it is just important that he is straightforward about it. KSGF's slogan is "Doing What is Right". Gee... I think they are aiming at delivering a conservative right-wing agenda.

The second part is accuracy. When media outlets begin reporting more on opinion, they tend to focus less on confirming facts. This is a natural transition, but it is easily countered by a simple fact. Information is readily available and people should simply not believe everything they read. When the major source of news was limited to a newspaper and 3 TV broadcasts, accuracy is tricky because the average media consumer can't check on the information easily. Today, it doesn't take much to at least put a question in your mind about a given fact. Snopes.com alone has gone a long way in convincing me that I will not be shot in Springfield if I flash my lights at a gang member and that tiny poisonous spiders do not live under my toilet seat. (Yes... I do feel relieved thank you very much!)

My message for people who follow blogs is to keep a heads up. Who is writing the blog? Why are they writing the blog? Is their information accurate? Take all of this into account and filter out the true value in the writing, whether it is opinion or entertainment or true expertise on a given topic. Its OK if the blogger has an agenda as long as the blogger is up front about it.

This is the true power of reading blogs. You can get a wider view of what is going on. You can collect more opinions on current events. You can begin to question the "conventional wisdom" that is out there and use the amount of information to form your own opinions. You can pull multiple accounts of an event and then gather your own view of what probably really happened.

I think that while newspapers and TV media pride themselves in accuracy, gathering news and information from multiple sources (including blogs) only improves the overall information accuracy and gives you a wider perspective!

Blogs - Not Just for Coffee Shops Anymore

2009-04-21T07:45:00.002-05:00

by Don Harkey

The term "blog" carries a certain connotation. When I ask people if they follow any blogs, they typically chuckle. Blogging has a kind of "coffee shop" internet cafe image that keeps a lot of people away. Its a similar phenomena to people who stay away from Facebook because of foo-foo features like "poke" and the more earnest "super-poke". Some people just start with a misconception about what a blog is.

Part of the problem is that a "blog" is not very defined. When you purchase a newspaper, you pretty much know what you are going to get. You expect professional writers who follow some standard. You expect a somewhat familiar format (you can open the "InsertCityHere Times" and expect to be able to flip to the Sports section). Blogs aren't like this.

In Springfield Missouri alone, there are likely over a hundred blogs (for a list of Springfield Blogs, go to http://www.sgfblogs.com). Many of them are kinda like personal diaries with people simply reporting on their life. Others are more like independent media sites with coverage of local events and opinion pages. Still others are targeted toward a specific demographic or interest group. Most are written by a single author while others use multiple writers or guest writers.

The mistake that people make is that they form an idea of what a blog is simply by what they have heard or from an experience on a specific blog. Some of the most popular blogs aren't even called blogs. I follow www.huskerpedia.com to get links to stories about my beloved Huskers. I have never seen the site call itself a blog, but it essentially is.

My point today is simple. If you follow blogs (you're reading one now, so I think we've already broken the ice!), tell your friends about the good ones. Share stories that you've seen and like. As the media transforms itself, blogs will become more and more of a great source of information.

And go ahead and try a cappuccino if you haven't already!

The End of Broadcasting

2009-04-20T07:16:00.003-05:00

by Don Harkey

Broadcast television and radio will be obsolete within the next 20 years. This is my prediction. While this may seem unthinkable to many people, I believe it is inevitable. Here is my case...

I'm listening to the radio right now, but its not one of local stations. I am listening to Pandora (www.Pandora.com) on which I have customized a couple of different stations to play the types of music that I enjoy. All I had to do was plug in sample artists that I like and the station "learns" what type of music I like. Do I get less variety? Actually, I get a lot more. The site finds similar music by other artists and plays songs that are similar to those played by my favorite artists. Within any one station, it handles very well the fact that I like Billy Joel and the Red Hot Chili Peppers and covers both tastes well. I can tell the site when it plays a song I really like (or don't like) and it will continue to customize my station. I can even skip songs I don't like (up to 5 skips per hour).

It was only a few years ago when many people I knew partially scheduled their week around their favorite TV shows. I had friends who really wanted to get home on Thursday nights to watch "Friends" or Sunday night to watch "the Simpsons". Today, I never hear of people rushing home to watch their favorite program. Part of the change has come with the advent of the DVR, which can record your favorite programs without much input from you. For example, I like the old Twilight Zone shows. My DVR on my PC has picked up almost 100 different episodes on various channels over the last couple of months. I can watch them any time I want and it only takes me 20 minutes per half-hour episode because I can easily skip commercials.

What if I don't record that program that I like? No problem. When "the Office" was washed out by severe weather coverage a few weeks ago, I simply went to Hulu (www.hulu.com) and watched the episode from the internet.

There are 2 technology advances that will help push us over the threshold from broadcast to broadband. The first will be the advancement of technology to bring the internet to your TV's and radios throughout your house. This technology already exists (for example I can surf the internet on my TV using my Wii). In the near future, your home will be completely networked and connected. You'll have access to your songs and movies from programs such as iTunes and you can listen to customized stations and watch just about any TV show you want at any time.

The second big advancement will be when the speed of your internet connection approaches the processing speed of your computer. As processing speeds continue to increase, internet connection speeds are increasing faster. The internet connection on my iPhone is now faster than my home internet connection was only a few years ago.

While I'm not ready to predict the total demise of print newspapers, I do believe the industry has already been impacted by the internet and will continue to be impacted. Other than the Springfield Business Journal (www.sbj.net), I get all of my news information from the internet. Critics say that the information on the internet is often inaccurate. However, most of today's news surfers are smart enough to know that network and newspaper news sources are also slanted and often inaccurate. I have quick access to a variety of news sources and can judge for myself the value and accuracy of the information presented.

Blogs will continue to increase in popularity as people crave new sources of information. The most popular blogs will likely be those that provide specific and useful information to the readers. Those people who currently don't read blogs will likely be reading them within the next 5 years, simply because they will start to see the value.

This was a long introduction to get the spin for this week's theme. Where will companies advertise? If TV, radio, and newspapers are on the decline, how will companies get the word out to their customers? It is easy to say that they will go to the internet, but will it look the same?

As a marketing friend of mind told me recently, social media fans are fickle. If they sense someone trying to sell to them, they shut down immediately. If an internet TV site has too many commercials, another TV site will take over in popularity. If a popular blog utilizes too many pop-up adds, its popularity will suffer.

This week we will talk about blogging specifically and how companies and organizations can use the blogs to sell without using them to sell.

When Facebook is a Waste of Time

2009-04-17T07:00:00.004-05:00

by Don Harkey

Have you ever heard the phrase, 'when you get a new hammer, the whole world looks like a nail'? The current phenomena around social media might just be the newest hammer. First MySpace, then Facebook, and now Twitter... these free online applications compete with each other like celebrities on a 'reality' game show. Pundits say that social media apps will be critical for business. Are they really worth it?

Let's look at some other "hammers" of the past. The personal computer was going to revolutionize business and eliminate paper. Has it done that? The PC has certainly changed the way we do things, but not necessarily in the ways we expected 30 years ago. Some of the things we imagined (no more filing cabinets) did not come true while some things we never dreamed of (the internet) became our reality.

Another "hammer" is Six-Sigma methodology. Popularized by Motorola, GE, and then 3M, Six-Sigma's process improvement methodology became all the rage in the 1990's and even well into this decade. Did it accomplish what it set out to do? Has product quality for Six-Sigma organizations improved dramatically? One thing that has happened is an increased awareness and interest in the nature of a process. It has become "cool" to have a quality program.

The issue with any new hammer is that it is new and therefore you can't really see how you are going to use it until you try it out. You might hammer a few nails and think to yourself, "man, this is slick!". You might use it to remove a few nails and be even more impressed. Then you might use it to open a can of beans or to knock on your neighbors front door, and you might begin to see that it is not a universal tool.

The same is true for Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and other social media applications. As a business, each is a potential tool that is pretty good and specific tasks. If I am trying to reach out to new clients for my business, Facebook is probably a poor application since the only people that "see" me are already "friends". However, LinkedIn is not a bad tool for networking because you can get "introductions" from other contacts on your list. Twitter can connect you to people who are just interested in your content.

Before you get rid of your Facebook accounts, consider other applications. What if you are trying to get to know somebody and you have a client who is a "friend" on Facebook. You get to see pictures of their kids, watch their status updates, and even find out the results of their "which type of salty snack food are you?" quiz. LinkedIn has status updates, but you won't see as much movement in it.

To keep up the hammer analogy, if a hammer is useful, how useful is a whole toolkit full of tools? If you were going to build a house, you wouldn't select either a hammer or a saw, you would grab both along with many other tools. Using social media for your business is the same concept.

Think about what you are trying to accomplish and use the tools appropriately. Post a video commercial of your company on YouTube and then link to it on Twitter. Get introduced to a key contact via LinkedIn and send them a useful article from a blog (preferably that you wrote). The point is to creatively use these tools together with a purpose. Play with each tool and think about what types of things each is best at. It's not a choice between Facebook and MySpace or Twitter and LinkedIn, its more of a choice between which tools you need to make your business better.

Personality Conflicts

2009-04-15T07:02:00.004-05:00

by Don Harkey

Have you ever heard the story of the eagle and the snake? I'm going to butcher it, but the story as I remember it is simple. A snake asks an eagle for a ride across a wide canyon. The eagle hesitates knowing that the snake is poisonous and refuses. The snake pleads his case promising not to bite the eagle until finally the eagle agrees. Half way across the canyon, the snake bites the eagle. As the two fall into the canyon, the eagle asks "why?". The snake replies, "because I'm a snake and you knew I was snake when you picked me up".

I don't know why, but that story sticks with me as I work with people. I don't think many people are snakes (although some are!), but I do believe that people have a certain hardwired personality. Sure people can make choices on what they do and how they carry themselves, but underlying every decision is a "personal current". This personal current is often both a strength and a weakness. Let me give you an example of someone I know pretty well... me.

I am what is known as a strategic thinker. I look at a situation and immediately work to put it into context. I then formulate a series of next steps in my head that will lead to the desired outcome. Seriously, that's what is happening in my brain hundreds of times a day.

When I am working with a client, this is a strength. I am constantly taking in information and converting it to a comprehensive action plan that will help get the client to where they want (or need) to go. I can facilitate a staff or board meeting and help the team look at things a different way that will lead them to action. I can see the "big picture" when looking at a process. I can move all of the pieces in my head before we act and judge the best course of action.

Sometimes, this is a weakness. In my interaction with some people, I often play out their responses to situations that haven't yet occurred and sometimes I am disappointed in what I think their response will be. That's a little crazy, right? I have walked into meetings with people angry before we even get started because I anticipate their reaction to the meeting. This also makes me very impatient when I can see a clear course of action and I have to spend my time convincing others to move. A great (and too common) issue I run into is when my wife tells me of a problem and I immediately lay out 10 part solution (hint to guys out there... she was not looking for a solution).

The good news is I know these things about myself (thanks in part to personality profiling like Myers-Briggs and Strengthsfinder) and can use my strength to control my actions and responses. If I feel myself getting angry at an anticipated response, I tell myself to calm down or imagine the negative reaction I will get if I come in with my "guns blazing". I am successful some of the time (more as I get older), but I still mess up from time to time.

You can see what I mean, right? Everyone has this internal, hardwired way of approaching and processing inputs and yielding outputs. Or to put it a slightly less nerdy way, different strokes for different folks!

The mistake that often occurs within an organization is that people latch on to each others flaws and expect them to change. It is OK to expect people to try to control themselves, but it is not reasonable to expect people to "rewire" themselves. If someone on your team likes to talk too much, they will always like to talk too much. You won't change that, but you can help them to control it. That means that they can control themselves in certain situations, but that also means that YOU can't become sensitive to every time the person opens their mouth.

Approach personality issues with understanding and know that it is a hardwired issue. I have used the term "hardwired" enough that I need to draw the distinction of what I mean. The "hard wiring" of an electric device is the physical wires and components. You can reprogram the computer over and over, but changing its fundamental operation is much more difficult. For people, brains are making hardwired connections at an incredible pace from a few months in the womb to about age 5 or 6. After that, the hard connections are still occurring, but they are MUCH slower than before. This means that you pretty much have to work with what you've got.

This also means that you pretty much have to work with what your co-workers and employees have. An employee who is quick to anger will likely always be quick to anger. A boss who snaps at employees when he feels threatened will likely always have that desire to snap. The opportunity for improvement lies in understanding (from others) and control (of themselves). This can built through awareness using tools like Strengthsfinder (see the book on Amazon).

My main point here is that you can work with a snake, just don't put him in a position where if he bites, you end up falling into the canyon. Be realistic about what people can do and control and most of all, be patient (something I work on every day!).

Not MY People

2009-04-14T07:26:00.004-05:00

by Don Harkey

A couple of friends of mine are both business owners and they also happened to be husband and wife. The husband owns a service oriented technology company. The wife owns a research company specializing in motivation. The three of us were talking recently about applying motivational principles to an organization. The service company owner complained that while he understood the principles of the motivation theory and agreed with them, he had difficulty applying them. He went on to admit that despite numerous offers, he had not utilized his wife's consulting services for his own business. "I just struggle to see how it applies to MY people.", he said.

This is a constant barrier to consultants in my line of work. As a consultant, I have to be very knowledgeable in a the areas in which I consult. I spend a lot of my time reading books and articles on organizations, people, management and anything else that offers some insight. The way I look at it, I am building on my foundation of knowledge by examining different theories.

Through the years, I have read enough books that I can assess and evaluate the material to determine its value based my collective knowledge. Its as if I have a "grand unified" theory of management in my head and every book presents a new hypothesis that can either add, take away from, or be discarded from the theory. This may be giving too much insight into my brain, but that is how I am trained to think. What do I use to determine if I buy into a new theory or reject it?

First, I use experience. Does the new theory "feel" right? When "Freakonomics" came out with the theory that the crime rate drop is largely caused by the legalization of abortion, I think to myself, do they make a compelling argument. They do (read it for yourself!). My next question is how can this knew information be applied to my general knowledge. The result from this example is that it doesn't apply directly, but the analysis is an interesting example of thinking outside of the box. Thus, a small building block in Don's Great Unified Theory has been placed onto the wall.

I especially like when I get the same information from two different approaches. Deming talks about a "pride of workmanship" in his books "Out of the Crises" and "The New Economics" and how people are not well motivated by "stuff", I can apply my experience to conclude that he is probably right. When I read research driven articles on "self-determination theory" that supports this same information, I get really excited and I put a little more mortar on the wall of knowledge (nice imagery, eh?).

However, having a wall of knowledge just to have a wall is not very useful to a consultant. The bottom line is that all knowledge is useless it can be applied. What is the point of knowing how people are motivated unless you can apply it to companies who have trouble with unmotivated employees? Guess what... that's where the consultant comes in!

The devil, as my service company owner says, is in the detail. Theory is often general and difficult to apply in itself. That is why management often dismisses some of the "touchy-feely" theories in favor of hard theories that use metrics or scorecards. Math has a right answer where philosophy struggles to even find the right question! Management is about answers!

This is where a good consultant earns their money. Applying theory to specific circumstances with baggage and ugliness and cloudiness and uncertainty is challenging, but possible. I have worked in the shops where the workers all hate each other and their supervisor. I have seen them spit on their product and collect their low wages while on this latest stop in their career bouncing from one company to another as a human commodity. I have seen these same people realize that they can make a positive impact at work and suddenly find joy in what they do. I have seen their supervisors show them grace, direction, and some trust and begin to heal the wounds of years of mistrust. It is possible!

I have seen the professional staff who have damaged their relationships with each other beyond repair begin to come together under a common purpose and begin to release their baggage and plan for the future.

All of these improvements come from theory, but more importantly, they come from the ability to apply the theory. I often spend time with companies teaching the theory, but this is only the first step. The next step, applying the theory, is where the real benefits arise. Not sure how? I can help with that. It my be YOUR people, but its MY job!

Touchy-Feely Stuff

2009-04-13T07:30:00.005-05:00

by Don Harkey

When people ask me what I do, I tell them that I own a consulting company. When people ask me what I consult, I tell them "process improvement, strategic planning, vision and mission generation... that kind of thing". I usually tell them that I am an engineer at that point, and then they really seem puzzled. What does the "touchy-feely" stuff like vision and mission have to do with process improvement?

Last week, I met with a trainer/coach and we were talking about how different "consultants" always do very different things. A good analogy might be in the field of marketing. A marketing consultant might really be a graphic designer, a product placement expert, a marketing strategist, an advertisement consultant, or maybe a marketing specialist in a specific area like technology. The point is that each field is complex, but rather then try to explain all of that, consultants often over simplify. Almost every consultant "specializes" in something.

My "specialty" is process improvement. I can work with any company to find significant improvements on any process. What is a "process"? Everything is a process, whether it is defined or not. You have followed several processes already today from getting dressed this morning to turning on your computer. Organizations have multiple processes interacting everyday, some deliberate and some undefined. By focusing on key processes, an organization can become more efficient and provide better quality to their customers. What are the key processes? Perhaps even more importantly, how do we make the process improvements not only "stick", but continue to improve?

The goal is to get organizations to understand their key processes and continuously improve them. One of my goals for my clients is for them is to get them where they no longer need me. How do we accomplish this? This is where the "touchy-feely" stuff comes into play.

The first step for any organization is to understand its core purpose. What is truly important? What is it they are trying to accomplish? Without knowing this, process improvement efforts can actually hurt and even cripple an organization.

Imagine a company who applies process improvement to their customer service process. They decide that their goal is to cut down the average call time and the total cost of customer service. They outsource the calls to India and provide them with a strict script designed to keep the call length at a minimum. They figure out that the average customer will wait 10 minutes without getting too upset, so they design their capacity around an average wait of 10 minutes. Now take a step back. As a customer, does this sound like a company you want to buy a computer from?

Zappos was recently in the news for their unusual practice of NOT using average call time as a success metric in customer service calls. They instead looked at whether they successfully resolved the customer's problems. This is substantially harder to measure and doesn't analyze as cleanly, but Zappos has a different goal than the first unnamed company. Zappos has a clear vision of who they are. They know what their purpose is. They remain very connected with their customers (you can even follow the Zappos CEO on Twitter at http://twitter.com/zappos).

When I work with a new organization for the first time, I have to make a quick judgment of whether they understand their own organizational purpose. Some do, some don't. Few have it clearly outlined. Before we embark on significant process improvement efforts, the organization MUST understand what "improvement" means. Does it mean reduced costs? Does it mean improved quality? Does it mean growth?

Once an organization knows where it wants to go, the next step is for them to understand how they will get there. This is where the strategic planning comes in. While the "how" is important, perhaps an even better question is "who". This is the key to "continuously" improving a process. Real and continuous improvement is only accomplished when EVERYONE in the organization becomes involved. Management must understand their role and must utilize the talents (both realized and hidden) of all the people within their organization.

One we have a core purpose, I like to work with front line supervisors and managers to help them see what their people can actually do. I have worked with organizations who have treated their bottom level employees as commodities for many years suddenly discover hidden talents and passions from unexpected places. One hourly floor worker who disliked his job discovered a way to save the company $50,000 per year in waste. This employee was suddenly energized to find more improvements and has gone from an "underperformer" to getting promoted to supervisor. This is when REAL change begins to occur.

Too often, management does not like to focus on the "touchy-feely" aspects of organizational improvement. That is probably because they have never applied it with the nuts and bolts of process improvement. Once an organization knows who they are and acknowledges the talent of their people, I can teach them a plethora of tools they can use to understand and improve their processes. These are the "hard" skills that management loves to jump to, often before they are ready.

This week, we are going to talk more about these "touchy-feely" business principles and how important they are to any organization.

The Hand Song

2009-04-10T07:42:00.003-05:00

by Don Harkey

God put a message into my heart this morning. I was listening to the "Hand Song" by Nickel Creek. The song is a story about a little boy who decides to give his mother a gift. He finds his mother's roses outside and picks them for her. Of course, he tears up his hands on the thorns as he picks the roses and then brings them to his mother. The song goes on, "and she knew it was love. It was one she could understand. He was showing his love and that's how he hurt his hands."

The next verse tells about the boy later sitting on his mother's lap reading the bible. When he sees a picture of Jesus, he yells out, "Mother, he's got scares just like me!". The chorus repeats, "and he knew it was love. It was one he could understand. He was showing his love and that's how he hurt his hands."

The last verse tells about the boy who had grown up to a young man when he was called into the service. We quickly find out that he dies in combat helping his brothers on the battlefield. Then we hear the chorus for the last time. "And he knew it was love. It was one he could understand. He was showing his love and that's how he hurt his hands."

I love the song and have heard it many times before, but today it is worthy of more of our attention. I was thinking about the role I play of Daddy to my two young kids. Last night, I was playing with my little girl on our bed and she looked at me and said, "Daddy, you are a best friend!". My son, who is a little older, sat next to me on the couch while the storms went through. It was clear that he felt safe sitting there right next to me.

When you think about that kind of love, you can begin to understand the love that Jesus had for us... and we put him on the cross to die for us. With all of the power of Earth and Heaven, he could have denied us the sacrifice. He was human. He felt pain and emotions like you and I do. He looked at the people he was trying to save as they spit at him and called for his unimaginable death and he did it anyway. He died on the cross for us, not because we deserve it, but because we don't.

I pray that every day I will remember that sacrifice. I pray that as I conduct business, plan, and worry about the future, I still keep one eye on the cross. May I honor him with my life and how I choose to live it, knowing that both life and choice are the greatest gifts ever given.

8 Tips for "Plugging In" to Online Social Networking

2009-04-09T07:39:00.005-05:00

by Don Harkey

Are you ready to try this thing out yet? Are you already trying it out? Here are 8 seemingly random tips from my limited experiences.

1) Try it, but decide WHY you want to try it first. Maybe you want to stay in touch with current friends and find some old friends in the process. OK. Join Facebook and go to town. Maybe you want to get the "word out" on your business. Think about how you will do it (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter). If you want to use the online networking for multiple purposes, consider creating multiple accounts or using one tool for one purpose and another for another purpose.

2) Be careful what you are posting - Part I. Assume everything you put online can be read or seen by anyone, regardless of your privacy settings. My Facebook setting is private, but my mother (who is far from a computer hacker) was able to find my profile picture (fortunately, its not provocative or anything).

3) Be careful what you are posting - Part II. What used to be somewhat "underground" is now very mainstream. If I am considering hiring you, what information can I get about you online. Some NFL teams have even used fake names to become friends with potential draft picks so they can see their profile and see if they are the "party" type or if they are focused on getting ready for football. People have been fired from companies for posting stuff online. Always assume that EVERYTHING you right at your computer can be seen by EVERYONE.

4) Post frequently, but creatively. Maintaining a constant and interesting presence in social networking is probably a great strategy, regardless of how you are using it. A "post" is an update on your status, a link, a picture, or a video. Don't be the next generation equivalent of the guy who forwards every joke to his entire address book. Think about who will read it and whether they will be mildly interested in it.

5) Remember that networking is more about "listening" than "talking" (or "reading" rather than "writing"). If you are trying to connect to others, make sure you are reading what they are writing. Follow their posts. Comment on the ones you like. Offer assistance when asked for it. The best online friends are those who are resources. If you are on Twitter, recommend your favorite follows to others (generally done on "follow friday's").

6) Don't rapid fire post. It is sometimes tempting to get onto Facebook or Twitter and get your thoughts out. You'll like this link, this picture, this joke, this thought of the day, and this status update. Too many updates in a short period of time tends to wash out the feeds that people use to track other people. This is especially true in Twitter.

7) Stay high level. Don't get too personal on anything online. Don't criticize or complain about people online. Don't post even generic complaints. Don't whine.

8) Don't get sucked in to the time warp. Keep in mind what you are trying to accomplish as you dive into more advanced features. Time flies when you are online. Try to keep control over your time and stay focused on what you are trying to accomplish. Facebook can be a notorious time-sucker! If you are trying to stay in touch with your friends but spend all of your time taking "what flavor of ice cream are you?" quizzes, are you accomplishing what you set out to do? I'm mint chip by the way.

I hope these help you in exploring the new technologies available online!

Networking Gravity

2009-04-08T07:22:00.003-05:00

by Don Harkey

Knock knock...

"Hello! My name is Don Harkey and I represent the Acme Vacuum Cleaner Company of Walla Walla, Washington. I notice that your floors are incredibly dirty and..."

SLAM!

Ouch...

Whether you sell stuff for a living or not, successful people know that you are always selling something. How do you sell your "stuff" (or YOU) without getting the door slammed in your face? Does Facebook, Twitter, and other online resources offer opportunities?

Anyone who runs a business or sells "stuff" for a living knows that this door to door salesman technique for getting clients doesn't typically work. It is a little funny that some companies think that it does. The one advantage that we all have in the field of sales and marketing is that we are all consumers. The challenge is that we often don't consciously think about why we buy the things we buy. Ever been walking in an amusement park (like Silver Dollar City) and smell all the great food cooking and just get so hungry that you HAVE to pay $5 for a hot dog. Have you ever considered that the whole place is designed that way?

How many of you own an iPod, iTouch, or an iPhone? How many of the rest of you want one? Do you know why you want one so bad? If you talk to an iPhone owner, they really love the applications that are available. Many of the best applications are free. Are Apple and its developers giving away free software or do is this a way to get you to buy more of their stuff?

Think about yourself as a consumer. My sister-in-law recently told me about her experience buying a car. She went to one dealer who pretty much had her sold. She told him that she was visiting the local Ford dealer before making a decision. "Oh, you don't want to buy a Ford!", he said. She bought the Ford before setting foot in the Ford dealership.

Consumers don't like to feel like they are being sold. 50 years ago, that door to door salesman might be your sole source of information on vacuum cleaners. You would have had to make a decision based on how credible the information presented sounded. Where else would you go?

Today, information is not something that is difficult to come by. If you type "vacuum cleaners" into Google (I don't remember paying Google for their search engine... hmmm....), you will get 7.4 million matches. In the top page, you will see websites of vacuum manufacturers with all of the information of their products. You will also see consumer sights giving ratings. You can even find vacuum cleaner forums where consumers share stories of their experiences. You could probably build your own vacuum cleaner with some more searching if you wanted.

The consumer has been greatly empowered, and this is a good thing for all of us as consumers. As a seller, you have to realize the impact of this empowerment. Where is the consumer going to purchase their product? What are they looking for? The answer is that they are looking for information that is readily available and useful and they will be much more likely to purchase from the person providing that information (or from the person recommended within the information). This is "passive" selling. You aren't selling vacuum cleaners, you are providing the consumers information so THEY can make the decision.

Alan Weiss, author of several great books on consulting, calls this concept a "marketing gravity". This is a powerful concept whether you are selling a product or marketing yourself to potential clients or even within your own organization or to a potential employer. Nobody likes "look how great I am!" or "you need to buy MY stuff!". Much more effective is "let me help you" or "here are the factors you need to consider".

A challenge is how to get in front of people in a "passive" way. Traditionally, the best way is through commercials on TV or in newspapers. However, this is often more of a shotgun approach that targets a large market with the hopes of hitting a few people within the market. Mass mailings used to be considered "passive", but the shear volume of them has changed that. The same is becoming true for mass (unsolicited) emails. What are some "passive" options?

The oldest form of "passive" marketing is simple networking. You get yourself out there and meet people. Most people who do this at the beginning jump to the end of the process and immediately try selling themselves. Imagine going into an interview and trying to immediately tell the interviewer how great you are. It doesn't work. Successful networking is about trying to help others and making high quality relationships. It's a little like dating (I think... it's been so long and I was never really good at that). If you are talking about having kids together on the first date, you might scare her away! Really, the best thing is to listen and then provide resources to the other person you meet.

Online applications give us an opportunity to provide "passive" marketing in the same way. Take a recent example from Twitter. I like to post "thoughts of the day" from time to time. I posted, "Strengthsfinder is a great book that helps you find your top strengths. Send me your Top 5 strengths!". I received a response from a teacher in California who send me her strengths and a short description of how she is using it for her classroom. I returned a quick link to an article on this blog about using strengths to motivate students in the classroom.

I didn't "sell" anything. All I did was helped out this teacher in California. In the meantime, several others on Twitter saw this conversation. I began to establish myself as an expert in this field and a potential resource. If I were to repeat that in their eyes, they would start to think of me when problems arose and it might just turn into work. I am creating a "gravity" slowly pulling potential clients in. In the meantime, it is very satisfying to help people out on a regular basis with miscellaneous issues that arise! (This is called a "Win-Win"!)

This is a longer article than normal, but it is the crux of beginning to understand the potential of these online social networks. Business is all about relationships. Maybe... just maybe... Facebook or Twitter has more potential than telling the world that you are about to water your lawn!

Try it out! Take a moment to set up a free account on Twitter (www.twitter.com) and follow me and see if I provide anything useful for you (twitter.com/donharkey).

Surfing to Productivity

2009-04-07T07:06:00.003-05:00

by Don Harkey

I want to thank "Church" for the comment and link on yesterday's article (she's always a valued contributor!). The linked article references a study that found that people who were allowed to "surf the internet" up to 20% (up to 1.6 hours of an 8 hour day) of their time at work were 9% more productive. What's going on here?

This makes sense within a framework. Remember the 3 factors that lead to motivation? Competence, Autonomy, and Relatedness. A bit part of relatedness is feeling like you are part of something bigger than yourself. Handling emails, chatting with a friend, reading blogs, watching videos of others, scanning through Facebook status updates, Tweeting... these are all ways to build relatedness in people. The issue I see is "what are you becoming related to?".

I have had friends with addictions to the internet. One in particular that I know used to spent 10 hours or more every day playing an online role playing game. He certainly felt competent, autonomous and related to playing the game. The online interaction gives us something that computers used to lack... the ability to relate to others while sitting alone.

A good question for businesses and organizations is how to do use this tool to build relatedness to the tasks at hand (ex: doing your job). The answer is challenging because of the sea of information available. Looking up information online is often very helpful, but more recent applications give us the opportunity to do more than that.

Imagine that I am given a new task at my job. I'm told to organize a fundraising event for a local charity. I've never done that before. I am feeling less than competent and, if there is no one else in the organization who has organized a fundraiser, I am also feeling a lack of relatedness. So I go to the internet.

Let's say I Google "fundraising". I quickly find links to companies who sell fundraising supplies as well as links to sites that give fundraising ideas galore. The information is overwhelming, but potentially valuable. I spend several hours reading articles, building up my competence.

The next step is I go to my Twitter account and post (a post in Twitter is called a "Tweet", discouraging thousands of serious business people from using this powerful tool) a simple message, "I need to plan a fundraising event and I don't know what I'm doing. Help!". Within a few hours, local resources for fundraising have contacted me with advice and words of encouragement. Even a few friends offer their 2 cents. I just discovered that I am not alone and am interacting with others who have done the same thing I am about to do. I am starting to feel able to relate to the task!

To sum up, social online networking is more than interacting with information, its about interacting with people. With some focus on tasks at hand, it can be powerful and motivating tool for your people!

Social Networking... What?

2009-04-06T08:58:00.003-05:00

by Don Harkey

I'm not that old, but the age of online social networking is counted in dog years. In other words, online applications developed only 3 years ago are really 24 years old in networking age. I am defining an "online social network" as an internet tool designed to bring people together. Let's review a brief history...

When I was college in the mid 1990's, access to the internet was not yet universal, but it was possible. I had access through my work (relatively fast access for the time). The social network of choice at that time was the "chat room". There were countless chat rooms around all sorts of topics. Anyone could post anything either anonymously or not. The problem with it is finding people who know what they are talking about (this is an ongoing problem). Also, there were LOTS and LOTS of rooms and getting to relevant information was very challenging. Early chat room sites included Geocities (1994) and Tripod (1995).

An early paradigm shift occurred with the launch of Classmates.com (1995). Classmates focused on connecting "real" people with past classmates. You can register (for free) with Classmates.com and connect with others from your high school. Basically, you end up with a longer Christmas card list and maybe an interesting email or two.

In 2003, MySpace was launched borrowing heavily from features of other social networking sites. MySpace allowed users to create their own "profile" pages detailing all kinds of personal information and sharing them with friends. MySpace was popular mostly in U.S. amongst college students.

In the same year, LinkedIn was launched targeting business clients. With a more "professional" flavor to it, it allows users to recommend and "introduce" connections with each other. Several other business networking sites have followed Linked including Xing and others.

In 2006, Facebook was launched with to larger target market (the world) and with the option of using some applications (typically games or quizzes) developed by people not associated directly with Facebook. It quickly became the largest site in the world.

Perhaps the fastest growing application is Twitter (2006). Twitter has a few simple and unique features. First, it is much simpler than Facebook, MySpace or Twitter. Users enter what could be considered a "micro-blog" (called "tweets") which are 140 characters or less (ex: "Got up this morning and my coffee maker was broken" or "Just gave a seminar on leadership and continuous improvement"). The real innovation from Twitter is that it is public and its information is readily accessible from other applications. This means it is searchable. For example, I might be visiting Branson, Missouri and post "I'm in Branson looking for golf partners". Others searching "Branson" and "golf" might see your post and respond to you setting up a group to play.

Of course, I haven't even talked about Blogging as a form of social networking. A Blog is basically a website that is updated frequently with articles. The articles might be random or centered on a specific topic. There are all types of blogs (including this one!). By the way, for Springfield, Missouri blogs, you can visit www.SGFblogs.com.

OK... that is a general history (and I left a LOT out). Here is the question of this week for organization leaders. What is the implications of all of these online applications? Can these be used by businesses and business leaders or are they just "time suckers"? Which applications have great business potential and which ones are wastes of time?

If you fall in the "waste of time" category, you should consider a few things. Facebook, the largest networking site, currently has 175 million users, many of whom check their accounts daily. It is widely known that newspapers are struggling worldwide as many people get their "news" from blogs and other online resources. The fact is that people go to the internet for their information which gives companies an opportunity to position themselves as an "expert". Applications like Twitter allow for focused searches allowing people to target a local market (my iPhone can show Twitter users with a radius of my current location).

Another key thing to consider... few people understand what the next steps are. Technology and internet availability have finally collided giving a new opportunity that has yet to be understood. Is it and opportunity worth exploring?

At least for the rest of this week it is! Stay tuned!

We the People

2009-04-03T07:02:00.003-05:00

by Don Harkey

The feedback from the articles this week has been tremendous! I have gotten a few questions about why I chose this topic on a blog that is written for leaders. The quick answer is that our country needs some great leadership right now. The other answer is that its a topic that I (and many others) feel pretty passionate about right now.

When it comes down to it, I think the thing that really urks me is how little faith our government has in "we the people". Both parties spent a lot of time talking about "combating greed" in all of its forms while discussing policies centered on "saving" the American people. I hear it everyday. "We must make sure that we have an American auto industry." "We must make sure that Americans have jobs."

That is very, very wrong.

The spirit of America is not only alive and well, it continues to thrive. I talked to a coffee shop owner ("The Buzz" in Springfield, MO) yesterday who started her shop in December of last year, in the middle of the economic crises. My friend asked her if she was nervous starting up a shop in the middle of a recession. She responded, "at least I have control of my destiny". She then told us about the homemade baked goods and other foods. The carrot cake was incredible!

Also this week, a friend of mine forwarded a link with information on a new electric car that is being made by the American auto industry. Who is it? Ford? GM? Chrysler? Nope. Tesla Motors.

Today, I'm visiting with the owners of a recently started and growing cabinet company called "Cabinet Concepts by Design". Isn't the housing market down? They are focused on innovative custom designs presented in a way that every homeowner can see (in a 3D computer model).

A couple of weeks ago, I attended the ribbon cutting at "Swing Right Golf". Sean Saunders has been working on his PGA license while building his business, all in the middle of this poor economy. Read more about Sean on the "Move Blog".

Last month, I met James Olson who owns "Oaxcafe Coffee Company" who roasts coffee in Springfield for many of the local coffee shops. In these tough economic times, is James holding onto his profits to ensure his survival? No. Instead he regularly goes on mission trips to Mexico and India.

Yesterday, I talked with Kent who directs "Therapeutic Riding of the Ozarks", an agency that gives special needs children the chance to ride horses. The therapeutic effect on the kids is dramatic. He further reaches out to children by using at risk teenagers to work with the kids changing the lives of everyone involved. He works 18 hours a day keeping his operation going which is funded by grants and donations.

It is time that the government stop treating the American People like victims. It is time that we remember that these people are the ones who will lead us out of these economic times. While it is true that stupid decisions by a few overpaid executives and government officials can lead us into a recession, it is also true that our system of government allows the people to pull us out of it.

The United States leads the world economically, not because of government policies, but because of the freedom enjoyed by the entrepreneurs and "do-ers" of this country. These people innovate, create value for society, and are rewarded for doing so. In fact, we are all rewarded by these people.

My suggestion is this... turn off the news, donate to your favorite charity or church, go get a cup of coffee and think about all of the opportunities that living in this country offers you. Think about what others have done with that opportunity and then imagine what YOU will do with it. Don't surrender your destiny!

When is Big "Too Big"

2009-04-02T06:58:00.003-05:00

by Don Harkey

We've had some really great articles this week. Rob and Ray are very articulate and did a great job outlining the free market philosophy. I want to take this opportunity to "drill down" a bit into some of the current issues. Let's try to apply some of the philosophy.

I mentioned earlier in the week that George Washington despised government, but he saw that it was necessary for certain things. He called it a "necessary evil". Any service provided by the government could be considered against free market principles, although not many free market advocates are anarchists. The central issue then is "what is the role of government?". Where is the line?

Let me give you some "thought examples". I think most people agree that providing for the common defense is a good role of the government. The national military has proven much more effective than the scattered militias that were common in our early years as a country. What about police and fire fighting? Most Americans are content with leaving these services to the government, and this approach has seemed to work.

Moving on to health care. Should we have socialized medicine? Do we currently have "free market" medicine? Imagine a man who makes $10,000,000 per year and refuses to pay for insurance. He throws his money around like crazy and has nothing to show for it. He has a heart attack and goes to the hospital. He has no insurance and does not intend to pay his bill. Do you let him die?

Take the example of a family who loses their jobs and has their house foreclosed. They have no source of income, no local family, and have no place to go. Do you let them be homeless?

The answers to these questions do not yield the answer to the choice between socialism and a free market. A socialist might believe that a "free market" answer might be "yes, let them die, let them be homeless". A free market person might believe the "socialist" answer is "heal them, house them, clothe them, and give them expanded basic cable". These are the debates we are having in the media and its not healthy or productive. This is where conservatives become "cold-hearted" and where liberals become "tree-huggers". For the majority of people, neither is true.

Let's assume that most people would not let the greedy man die on the hospital floor. We would help the man. The real question is "HOW?". Most people would want to help the homeless family. How?

Do we establish a government health care system to save the lives of anyone regardless of their financial means? Do we carry out Lyndon Johnson's "war on poverty" as a nation?

Do we allow people to keep more of their money to donate (voluntarily) to organizations like Crosslines or The Kitchen. Do we call out FEMA to the next natural disaster or do we find homes for over 200 families in a nearby city simply by calling on local churches to help (as was done in Springfield after Hurricane Katrina)?

Let's talk about some of the largest corporations and organizations in the United States. What would have happened if the government had allowed Bear Stearns to fail? AIG? Chrysler? GM? Both President Bush and President Obama believed that the country could not withstand the failures of these companies. As a good friend of mine says, the answer to this scenario is "above my pay grade".

However, if the answer is that our economy would, then we are faced with the next question. If a single organization can make some bad decisions and cause the potential collapse of the United States or even the World economy, then how do prevent this from happening again? The answer from President Obama is clear... regulation and government intervention.

Should we prevent companies from growing that large in the first place? It wasn't long ago when banks were not allowed to cross state lines. This is not without significant implications. Where is the line? Is it possible that the "people" would determine that a company is not acting in the best interest of the "whole" and act accordingly? Should we intercede and "tweak" WalMart's health care policies? Should we prevent WalMart from entering towns of less than 10,000 people?

Maybe the whole thing is blown out of proportion. Maybe if Bear Stearns, AIG, Citibank, GM, and Chrysler all failed, maybe the economy would be hurt, but maybe the country and the world would come out more healthy. Maybe the banks SHOULDN'T be lending out more money to people. Maybe this is NOT a good time to take out a car loan. Maybe mortgage companies SHOULD demand 20% down on a house.

At the heart of the question... should we be more concerned about big corporations or big government?

Biblical Property

2009-04-01T07:03:00.004-05:00

by Ray Smith

“The general principles upon which the Fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity…I will avow that I believed and now believe that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and the attributes of God.” John Adams (June 28, 1813; Letter to Thomas Jefferson)

We have forgotten some of the basic foundational beliefs that drove our founding fathers to create our government in the manner they did.

All the earth is owned by God – He is the Creator. (Genesis 1:1, Psalm 50:10-12)

God has given man dominion over His earth and all that is on it. This makes every person personally responsible to God for what he does with everything he possesses. (Genesis 1:28-30, Genesis 9:1-7)

God ordained this responsibility which we call private property which is clearly evidenced by the fact that two of the Ten Commandments – the 8th and 10th respectively – deal with stealing and envy or coveting. (Exodus 20:15,17). As a matter of fact, in the explanation of the civil laws against stealing God instructed that restitution of up to 5 times the original value of what was stolen should be made and that force – even lethal force – could be used in the defense of one’s property. (Exodus 22:1-14).

The responsibility people have to work and invest of their resources and to add value as they do so is biblical.

Consider what Jesus taught on this subject in the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30. He said that people are directly accountable to God for all that He has given them, that they are obligated to add value by wisely investing all they have been given and that this increase pleases God.

The founding fathers understood this so well, that they designed a system of government that protected the rights of individuals, private property and making a profit.

But Americans have apparently forgotten these truths. Too many people are happy to let the government do everything for them. By adopting this attitude, people have rejected their responsibility to be good stewards of God’s resources. We have become a nation of wimps who are unwilling to compete in a free market and accept that there are risks in any life that is worth living.

Our current leaders want to regulate the rights of individuals supposedly for their own good – even the amount of water your toilet flushes! They are ignoring the protections of private property through contracts and increasing government seizures which they prefer to call take-overs. They are favoring certain businesses over others by using public funds to profit only selected companies within any given industry. They call these favors bailouts. They are punishing those who are successful at making a profit through outrageous taxation and are even willing to use the IRS to punish anyone they think is getting too much. And finally, instead of living within the confines of a balanced budget, they are willing to pass massive debts on to future generations which is nothing more than taxation without representation for our children and grandchildren.

Whatever the government officials deem necessary they are planning to do with or without the consent of the governed. We are, unfortunately, heading toward tyranny.

You cannot read the founding fathers, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, or the Bible and find justification for where we are today! This is a dangerous time for America.

Free Men, Free Markets

2009-03-31T06:37:00.003-05:00

by Rob Catlett
Springfield, MO

“I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody." Barack Obama, October 16, 2008

"I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents." James Madison, Father of the US Constitution, 1794

The two quotes are from statesmen at diametrically opposite ends of American history and political philosophy. The core issue here is the role of government to provide for the common good. Should government redistribute resources to reduce inequalities in wealth distribution, or should free markets be the arbiter of value? When one looks at the history of the world, what economic and political system has best moved man from grinding poverty to improved health care, medicine, security, and leisure activities?

I say unequivocally that the existence of free markets has led to the greatest explosion of wealth the world has ever seen. Free markets are characterized by several key factors: voluntary win-win exchanges, personal property rights, and equal protection under the rule of law. Looking at countries around the world, there is a direct relationship between these factors and the prosperity of the country. Venezuela, Zimbabwe, and Russia all confiscate personal property on a whim, control free speech, plan their economies, and as a result their standard of living suffers. Ireland and New Zealand are at the other end of the spectrum and benefit from their open societies.

Think of all of the parts that make up your computer, certainly there are thousands. Consider all of the companies involved, the various countries, diverse religions and ethnicities of the workers, and yet somehow a shiny computer sits on your desk, performing the tasks that you need. No government dictated that the computer be built, designed a chip, or did market research. It was an incredible amount of voluntary, win-win exchanges among thousands that brought this computer to your desk. An outcome of those many transactions was the creation of personal wealth by those who exchanged their time and energy for money. Their profits are then used at their discretion to purchase food, health care, savings, iPhones, or whatever suits them best. For these voluntary exchanges to take place, one must have control of private property.

Let us contrast win-win exchanges against the government sponsored programs for the common good. The corn farmer and ethanol producer are content to receive their subsidy; however that confers an obligation upon all other citizens to pay extra for their food and gasoline. This is a win-lose exchange for the citizens. Individually, the subsidy may not be onerous, but the list of obligations subjected upon citizens by our government is almost never ending. The taking of private property and giving it to others is a trait minimized in flourishing nations, and promoted in areas that continue to struggle.

Historically, wealth was amassed by invading, plundering, stealing and enslaving. Over the past two centuries, we have witnessed the explosion and broadening of wealth with governments having a critical role. The critical role however is to protect private property, and making clear the rule of law that protects all, and to minimize wealth transfers. Capitalism, with all of its warts and imperfections, still provides the best way to provide for the common good. To surrender free speech and property rights to the government for bureaucrats to decide how best to serve the common good goes against the lessons of history, and certainly does not align with the vision James Madison had for our country.

Free Markets or Greed

2009-03-30T07:25:00.003-05:00

by Don Harkey

Wall Street is out of control! Greed has overtaken our country and caused a split in our society between the "haves" and the "have nots". Now we are paying for the bad decisions made on Wall Street while those who made the decisions are living like fat cats. It's time for the government to step in.

Did I do a good job of summing up what we are hearing on the news? Is it really this simple? Can a free market really work or is heavy regulation and control needed? When a company becomes large enough to have a dramatic impact on our nation's economy, should it be left alone, heavily regulated, or prevented from getting that large in the first place?

This week, we will be talking about free markets. Regardless of your political leanings, the government is certainly leaning toward more regulation as a whole. Republican Orrin Hatch (Utah) is presenting a bill to call the college football BCS system an "antitrust violation" while a Democratic Senator Benjamin Cardin (Maryland) is working on a bill to allow newspapers to gain a "non-profit" status. Taxes are being applied backwards to bonuses collected by executives within "bailout" companies. There is serious discussion of limiting the compensation of all corporate executives as well as professional athletes and actors. Are these good ideas?

What type of government do we have in the United States? I would hazard that a majority of citizens today would answer "a Democracy". It would surprise many that the term "democrat" (not related to the current political party) was considered an insult in the days of our Founding Fathers. Do you know the history?

Early America in the late 18th century was a unique time. Government was a favorite topic of many of the best minds in the America and the men who became our Founding Fathers spent hours debating and discussing various forms of government looking for a form of government that would really work. The quick answer at the time would have been to form a democracy where people vote for everything. However, they quickly realized that this type of system is impractical and not prudent. People will vote themselves more and more specific benefits and react too strongly to current events. A democracy is not sustainable.

Of course, a monarchy was not desirable either. Many Americans didn't despise the monarchy as we think of it today, but they saw where the system failed. The system is only as good as its leader and how much information the leader gets. So what were we to do?

Our Founding Fathers realized that they were not out to set up a "perfect" government. They saw the government as a potentially dangerous, "but necessary" entity (or "evil" as Washington called it). So they set out to create a "more perfect" government. They designed a Republic (again, no reference to the current political party). The system is designed to have representatives of the people to serve as a buffer between the currents of public opinion and to ensure that the "best" people were making decisions. The system is designed to allow the government to sometimes make decisions against the will of the people.

The Colonists were also huge believers in a Free Market. They were participating in one of the biggest "free market" experiments in the history of the world. They had come together from multiple countries, often under different (or multiple) flags and set to work making out their own living. The early colonists didn't have a "national" government designed to organize and develop a complex system of trading. It just happened based on supply and demand.

Fast forward to 2009. Can this system still work today? That's the topic of this week!

Missouri vs Memphis Overturned!

2009-03-27T07:08:00.005-05:00

by Don Harkey

In a surprise move today, the NCAA has announced that it is going to intercede and overturn the results of the Memphis vs. Missouri basketball game last night. Missouri beat Memphis 102-91 in Sweet 16 action last night ending Memphis' 27-game winning streak.

"These are clearly unusual times which call for unusual measures.", quoted one NCAA Official. "First of all, Memphis has won the last 27-games in a row. This type of long history of success cannot be ignored when determining a National Champion."

The unprecedented move by the NCAA represents the first time in any major sporting association that a game outcome was overturned to protect a team generally believed to be superior. "Memphis is simply too good a team to allow them to slip out of the tournament. An NCAA tournament without Memphis is simply unacceptable. If a team that wins 27 games in a row isn't qualified to win the National Championship, who is? The credibility of our whole system is at stake."

When asked how the remaining tournament would be structured, another NCAA Official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, admitted that their would be some hurdles to overcome. "We don't want to penalize Missouri for playing Memphis, so we now have 9 teams playing for one spot and that presents us with some obvious challenges. We are exploring all options on the table including looking at some other teams that have lost to inferior teams as well as looking at teams that were unfairly excluded from the tournament in the first place."

"These actions are absolutely necessary to preserve the future of the sport of basketball and really all sports in this country", commented the head of the NCAA. "When a team's future is decided by a few shots, we all lose. Starting today, we are going to examine extensive policy changes in the NCAA regarding all sports. We are going to develop a comprehensive solution to this problem to ensure that all sporting events are fair and that no team falls pray to a random loss."

Members of Congress have been quick to applaud the actions of the NCAA. "I think the actions taken by the NCAA are very appropriate!", commented one Congressman from Tennessee. "Memphis deserves better and the American people deserve better. We are actually watching the NCAA plan with great interest as a possible model for restructuring future congressional elections."

Missouri officials were not reached for comment.

The above story is true, although the names and faces have been changed to protect the... well... to protect the author.

Old Dogs and New Tricks

2009-03-26T07:32:00.004-05:00

by Don Harkey

I want to start today by first apologizing for not writing yesterday and then to apologize for today's title. I don't mean to call anyone a dog and I don't mean to call anyone old. That's my disclaimer for the day!

When I was little, my parents got me our first video game system, one of the old Atari systems. I immediately went to work playing games like Space Invaders, Combat, and Canyon Bomber. My Dad was certainly the best at these games when we first started playing but over time (about an hour), I quickly lapped him in my video game ability and never looked back.

Fast forward almost 15 years... I'm in college living in a rental house with 2 roommates. The Mario 64 games is on and we're having great fun with the first person 3D gaming experience generations beyond the days of Combat. I thought I was getting pretty good at the game until my roommates cousin, who was roughly 8 years old, came by and showed us how to really play. He didn't have to pause and think before jumping from cloud to cloud (or whatever we jumped on).

Today, if I have a question the computer, I will go to the youngest person I can find (I can still outdo my 6-year old, but he is gaining on me fast). I think I stay up on computer and internet technology fairly well, but it is amazing how my abilities pale to those who grew up using the internet.

These observations lead to a lot of the discussion on the differences between generations. When we are young, are brains are actively making new connections. As we get older, we have more existing knowledge from which to draw, but our new connections are much more difficult to put together.

I once read about a study of NFL quarterbacks and how they have to "hardwire" their brains to do their jobs. Think about it. "Hike". You now have just a few seconds to drop back, look at receiver #1, look at receiver #2, look at receiver #3, and throw, all while watching the blitzing linebacker and acknowledging the defensive end who dropped back into coverage. Studies show that for a normal person, this process is simply too fast. The only way it can be done well is to do it so many times that the brain becomes literally hardwired to assess the situation quickly and make the decision. The greatest quarterbacks in the game are successful because of practice. I'm not talking about having a great summer training camp... I'm talking about having a career where you get to play A LOT of football. The best current example is Peyton Manning, who started 4 years at Tennessee and was immediately the starter with the Colts who put up with a few horrible years (and lots of Interceptions) before enjoying their more recent success.

Within an organization, leaders must work hard to create an environment where their people can be successful. This means learning and practicing new skills as well as utilizing skills that have already been "hardwired".

For example, when I am giving a seminar, I am constantly reading the room. I know who is engaged in the discussion and who is getting lost. I know who is skeptical about the information presented and I know who is really absorbing the information. I can tell when the room is energized and I can tell when the room really needs a break. I adjust the tone, content and style of my presentation accordingly. I can do all of this without consciously thinking about it. It is hardwired into my brain from years of experience in performing and speaking in front of people.

Now take someone who has never spoken in front of a group before. I could coach them and tell them to watch individuals and body language and adjust material accordingly, but they will struggle with that. They might be focusing on some more basic speaking principles like talking loudly enough, using good inflection, and remembering what material is coming next.

As a leader, you must identify the strengths of different people. Generational influences are often times just issues of what type of experience people have. Generational differences is a hot topic today because of the acceleration of technology. I am perfectly comfortable communicating with text messages, "tweets", and emails. Others are less comfortable. Some are more comfortable.

Consider the experiences of your people and put them in positions to be successful. Remember what skills require "hardwiring". Give the "old dogs" opportunities to use some of their "old tricks"!

Leave it to Beaver

2009-03-24T06:57:00.003-05:00

by Don Harkey

Are you imaging the opening theme of "Leave it to Beaver"? I am more than imagining it right now. What a different time! Even though it was just a TV show, it does highlight a different view people had on the life of an American family. Compare that to a relatively modern view of family presented in the show "7th Heaven". Now imagine a workplace where you must work with both Reverend Camden and Ward Cleaver.

A couple of years ago, I saw a speech by Dr. Cal LeMon, of Executive Enrichment Inc, entitled "Ending the Generation Wars at Work". The presentation focused on the differences between the generations and how each should be managed. In short, this is what he said...

Baby Boomers believe in growth/expansion, enjoy being 'on stage', are optimistic, have a developed social conscience, practice teamwork on the job, pursue their own gratification, are too political, and are workaholics. According to Dr. LeMon, the shrine to the average Baby Boomer is a Country Club. How do you "motivate" boomers? Listen to their stories, give them public recognition, provide perks, remind them of the power of their name recognition, and involve them in decision making. (Remember from past articles that motivation is driven by a person who feels competent, autonomous, and related to a given task)

Generation X people are what Dr. LeMon calls the "Xterra Generation" (after the SUV). They want to balance their career and family, don't want to "pay their dues", are materialistic, are cynical, are impatient, interested in lots of things, and are not committed to their jobs. How do you "motivate" a Generation X person? Give them constructive criticism, allow them to have fun at work, use technology, utilize mentoring and give them lots of things to do (they can multitask).

Generation "Next" or "Nexters" are called the "Best Generation in 100 Years". They have a rare combination of being technically savvy and have great verbal skills. They spend lots of time reading (video games actually replaced TV time, not reading time according to studies), are optimistic, passionately ethical, goal oriented, and work well in teams. They are "motivated" by being given plenty of orientation, ignoring typical gender roles, working in strong teams, good training programs, and mentoring.

Perhaps just as telling as the above information are the photos Dr. LeMon chose for each generation when summing up the presentation. The Baby Boomer shows a well dressed professional woman sitting in a nice symmetrical office at a nice desk with her hands crossed neatly on the desk. The Generation X person stands with a scowl on his face, arms crossed in defiance, starring intently at the camera. The Nexter is smiling and listening to an MP3 player while looking off camera as if looking to the future.

I think there is some interesting information and insight in this analysis, but overall, I think it is a Baby Boomer view of the generations. Imagine the domesticated hippy evaluating the life of the grunge fan who grew up watching Ronald Reagan. If you look at the "motivating" factors for each generation, you will see a pattern. Competence, Autonomy and Relatedness. Of course the issue is "what is a generation competent at?" and "what does a generation relate to?".

A good friend of mine who happens to be a Baby Boomer, recently left me a message on my phone. In my voicemail greeting, I ask the caller to leave their name and a brief message and offer the option of sending a text message for a potentially faster response. He joked on his message, "I'm surprised you ask people to 'Tweet' their response to you" (using Twitter, an online social networking application). This isn't really a generational thing, its more of a competence thing.

I grew up with computers. In grade school, our classroom had an Apple IIE and by junior high, we were taught to program in Basic. By college, I had my own computer and began using email. Today, not only do I blog, I also use Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter (follow me at http://twitter.com/donharkey) as well as the full suite of Google products. I own an iPhone and text message regularly. I do these things as tools for my work and as a way to balance my life.

As we grow older, we tend to stick with the things that have always worked for us and learn new technologies a little slower. I don't think Baby Boomers are anti-technology, I think they just haven't been submersed in it. In fact, I know a few Baby Boomers who use Facebook and Twitter... they see the value in it.

The point here is that generations do have differences based on the world they grew up in. They have different experiences that give them a variety of competencies. However, they are motivated by the same things... competence, autonomy, and relatedness... just in different ways!

...and just for the record... I think Generation X gets a bad rap!

Generations at Work

2009-03-23T07:09:00.004-05:00

by Don Harkey

You hear a lot about Baby Boomers, Generation Jones, Generation X, Millenials, and the current "yet to be named" generation. How does society impact the social and work habits of each generation? As a professional, how do you deal differently with each generation?

What about the apparent existence of "micro-generations"? Its a fact that many of the most influential computer pioneers were born within a year of each other (Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, James Gosling, and Bill Joy were all born within 11 months of each other). Its also a fact that of the 75 riches people to have ever lived, 14 of them were born within 9 years of each other in the United States (in the 1830's). Both of these examples come from Malcolm Gladwell's book "Outliers: The Story of Success".

What about the book "The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy" by William Strauss and Neil Howe that suggests that there is a pattern to history that cycles with various generations?

In the workplace in 2009, there are workers who keep calendars on their walls and still send out handwritten letters to people. There are also workers who communicate through Twitter, text messaging, instant messaging, email, and Google calendars. Technology certainly highlights generational issues.

What about the end goal of each generation? Does the view of the "perfect life" vary between generations? Is it true that the younger generations demand a more balanced life? Is our society getting lazier?

All of these issues will have a huge impact on the world as the largest generation ever to walk the planet nears retirement age and the younger generations begin to take the reigns. What differences will be seen in this transition?

This is the subject of this week's articles. Again, my goal is to apply the universal principles of organizations to the concept of generations and see what applies and what doesn't apply. Are different generations motivated differently? Should different generations be managed differently? Stay tuned!

The Economic Engine of a Church

2009-03-20T07:22:00.003-05:00

by Don Harkey

I want to use my "Free For All Friday" to talk about a few important concepts we have learned in our Vision and Mission journey at Messiah Lutheran Church. We began our journey almost 6 years ago and are continuing today (its a continuous process!).

This week, we talked about what drives an organization. Is it profit or passion? The real answer is both. Great organizations know their passion and understand what drives profits. However, profits is not really the right word here. The right word is resources. Great organizations know their passion and understand what drives resources to their organization. This is true for profit companies and for non-profits.

So what drives resources to a church? The old model is that members of a church will give "X". To get more money, you need to get more members. If you ask for money for something new, you'll need to take away from something old. When money runs low, you ask the congregation for more. If you can keep pressure on the responsibility of being a good congregant, your members will keep giving.

The new model is that members will give when they see a need. To get more money, you show the members the need and get them to buy into it (or not). If you ask for money for something new, you will get extra money as long as the congregation agrees and sees the need. When money runs low, you show the congregation all of needs being filled by the budget or collect enlist most of their involvement in determining the needs to be filled and how to fill them. If you maintain a focus on the mission of the church, your members will keep giving.

This is a subtle, but extremely important difference. If your congregation is spending its time talking about internal power struggles or trivial issues, the church isn't communicating the need for funds and resources will be driven away. If your church spends its time talking about its mission and how it will fulfill its mission, the church will get the resources it needs.

The best example I can give is at Messiah Lutheran Church. 6 Years ago, the annual budget for the congregation was just under $400,000 per year. The church had paid off its mortgage and had just started its mission process. The church was full and knew it needed to expand to grow, but the congregational leadership wasn't sure how to do it. How do you get the resources to grow with a $400K budget already stretched tight?

Once the Vision and Mission of Messiah was defined, the path became clearer. Growing the church was necessary not only to serve our existing congregation, but to serve others and support all of the existing and new ministry opportunities. The congregation charted a course toward growing the church at its existing site, not just to grow, but to fulfill its mission. More than 80% of the congregation voted in favor of the project.

A capital funds campaign was launched to collect 3 year pledges. The congregation, with an annual budget of just over $400K per year at the time, collected almost $1,000,000 in pledges. Over the next 3 years, the church would collect almost every dime. The construction on the $2.7MM expansion was begun and is scheduled to be completed by early summer. The discussion in the church continues to be about fulfilling our mission using these gifts. What happened to our church budget (giving)? It swelled to over $500K per year! The congregation gave more to the project AND more to the operations budget!

While the economy is down, our giving increase slowed a bit, but the congregation continues to stay focused on its mission. The congregational leadership took several steps to control the budget to show good stewardship, but in the midst of what could have been a crises, the congregation continues to stay focused on its mission. This lead the church to the Lighthouse Ministry (read the blog from 3/18/09 for info). This is a $250K ministry that the church is taking on... and the church continues to find the resources to fulfill the mission!

The "economic engine" of the church is when its members have a common mission or purpose. A friend once asked me during our first campaign (we are currently launching a 2nd campaign to pay our debt from the project) how we ask members for money. I told him that we don't ask for money, we ask for mission.

There is a lot to be learned from this experience and I pray that other churches take this to heart. I also pray that businesses look at the lessons learned here. Passion is truly productive!

Scooby Snacks

2009-03-19T06:58:00.004-05:00

by Don Harkey

Its 3:20PM and I am running home. I want to get home in time to grab a cupcake for a snack and catch Scooby Doo at 3:30PM. By the way, I'm in the 3rd Grade... or at least I was.

I used to really love Scooby Doo. I would try to guess who the villain was before he or she was unmasked at the end by those "meddling kids". Hanna-Barbera certainly had a formula and within that formula was always a scene where "the gang" needed Scooby to do something dangerous or scary. Scooby would always refuse until someone whipped out the conveniently branded "Scooby Snacks". "Would you do it for a Scooby Snack?" "Would you do it for two Scooby Snacks?" Eventually, Scooby (and sometime Shaggy) would find their price point and decide to take on the task in exchange for the Scooby Snacks.

Many people believe that in business, the "worker" works for their own form of Scooby Snacks. A management professor told me once that his students thought that the only two ways of getting a worker to do something was to "reward them or punish them". No one wants to be the bad guy, so management prefers the reward. If you can hit your targets, I'll give you a bonus.

Many people also believe that profit is what drives a company. It's time to launch that new product line. Would you do it for a Scooby Snack? Would you do it for $140,000 in revenue? So companies and people have a lot in common with Scooby Doo. They trip through life looking just looking for a snack. (Hint: I am being sarcastic here!)

What about non-profits?

The very existence of non-profit organizations challenges our "Scooby Doo View" of people and organizations. Yes, some people get paid to work for a non-profit, but often times the pay is significantly less than they could get doing similar work for a "for profit" company. Churches do most of their work using volunteer labor working for nothing more than a cup of coffee on Sunday morning. What's going on here?

The fact is that while people can be motivated by money, money is a poor motivator. While this may seem counterintuitive within our TV society, it is actually very intuitive if you apply it to your life. What is truly most important to you? If you could do anything right now, what would it be? Are you saying this because of the money you would make?

Consider a person who is paid $50,000 to change diapers, clean up puke, and wait hand and foot on another human being who cannot take care of themselves. Now consider a parent who does the job for nothing (actually at a significant financial cost). What is the difference?

The difference is that people want to have a purpose. The 3 needs that drive motivation are competence, autonomy, and relatedness. The first two are common for people in their jobs. You were probably hired because somebody thought you were capable. Hopefully, you know that you have a choice to go to work or not. However, how do you relate what you do with the others around you and with your core purpose?

"For-Profit" business can learn a lot by looking at Non-Profits. Many of these organizations have low budgets and struggle continuously for resources. However, these same organizations have a clear vision (like Erica at Lighthouse or the great folks at Messiah Lutheran Church) and do amazing things. People are willing to bend over backward when they feel "called" to do so.

The challenge for businesses is to find this purpose. What is higher mission (higher than profits) that makes them special. The story of Pixar is a great example. The people at Pixar have a great passion for making great movies out of great stories. They have a remarkable track record of success. The reason is that they are focused on great stories rather than target markets and projected profits.

Find your purpose and your profits will come!

Same Goal, Same Passions

2009-03-18T06:12:00.002-05:00

by Erica Harris
Lighthouse Child and Development Center
Springfield, MO

According to the most recent Community Report Card for Springfield, MO, more than 11% of the general population and at least 20% of Springfield children are living in poverty in our community. No one wants to think that young children are going without food, clothing, and shelter – but they are. In this tough economic time, more families will be moving into uncharted territory, struggling to make ends meet. Who wouldn’t want to change these statistics?

At Lighthouse Child & Family Development Center, we are changing this statistic. We’re working with a passion to increase self-sufficiency in the Springfield community. We are accomplishing this through holistic programming that includes intensive family case management, parent and child education, quality and affordable childcare, along with significant volunteerism. Lighthouse is changing lives.

When it comes down to the nitty-gritty, we run this non-profit like a successful business – the real difference: our desired outcomes. Most for-profit businesses are focused on a monetary profit; Lighthouse is passionate about profiting the community we serve. If we reach our goals, our community will reap the benefits. Like any business with a true vision, we are group of people that are working together toward a common purpose.

Lighthouse staff, board, families/clients, volunteers, and community supporters like those at Messiah Lutheran Church all understand that we are striving to enrich lives, and we’re in this together. Messiah will soon host their own Lighthouse program to educate and support 34 additional children and families in a journey toward self-sufficiency. When two organizations with a similar vision can join forces, the impact is exponentially greater.

We succeed and fail together. We celebrate and lament together. We are a Lighthouse family, and we believe we will reach our goals together. It’s amazing what a group of committed and motivated people can do when they are focused on the same goal. That’s true to for- or not-for-profit organizations.

Vision and Mission

2009-03-16T19:33:00.004-05:00

by Don Harkey

It is estimated that there are over 300,000 churches in the United States. This makes churches the most common non-profit organization in this country, and probably in the world. Most people have been to a church at some point in their lives, but have you ever thought of a church as an organization or even as a business?

About 6 years ago, Messiah Lutheran Church in Springfield, Missouri hired a consultant. The consultant interviewed many members of the congregation to assess the overall health of the organization. The results were presented in a report. The report did not contain any earth shattering news. The congregation was healthy, but stagnant. There were no major rifts in the church... no issues that threatened its existance... only a steady attendance record over its 45 year history.

The report contained one critical piece of advice; develop a Vision and Mission. Where are you going? What is your purpose? Why are we here? These were the question posed before the congregants of Messiah Lutheran Church only 6 years ago.

6 years later, the congregation is transformed. It is still the healthy congregation with a strong culture of family that existed during the study. However, today, the church is alive with excitement about the future. This summer, the church will complete a $2.7 million building project at its existing site in Springfield, for which its congregation raised almost $1 million over the previous 3 years.

Almost 100 members of the church spent almost 2 years working on the answers to those original questions and the resulting answers lead to the new energy. The congregation learned a lot about itself in its Mission Statement.

"Guided by the Gospel we: Welcome All to Worship, Make Disciples, Hunger for Ministry, Nurture Youth, Gather Resources for Growing Ministries, and Offer Healing and Care to All in Need"

This simple Mission statement is said after every worship service and is repeated in congregational meetings, team meetings, and anywhere where a little vision is needed. The organization is focused on utilizing its people to find its mission. It knows that its "economic engine" is members of the church who see that the church is fulfilling a need.

Would this type of process work for a "for profit" business? Would it be benefitial for leaders within a business to sit down and discuss the answers to questions like "why are we here" and "what is our purpose"?

The answer is "absolutely"!

As Jim Collins pointed out in "Good to Great", a company that knows what it is passionate about is more successful than companies who focus too much on their dashboards. This is intuitive to anyone who has ever worked with people. People are much more creative and energetic when they are working together toward a common purpose. Remember that "relatedness" is a major factor in personal motivation. Within an organization, profit or not, understanding the passion and common purpose is critical.

Still... non-profits are very different entities. There can't be too much more in common... can there?

Want to learn more about Messiah Lutheran Church? Visit www.messiahmo.org.

Non-Profits vs Profits

2009-03-16T08:50:00.003-05:00

by Don Harkey

Most of us are involved with a non-profit organization somewhere in our lives. Whether it's a church or a charity organization, non-profits are everywhere. Yet in the world of organization behavior, non-profits are often considered to be "second-class" organizations. Do the same principles of organization apply to non-profits like they apply to profits? What about principles of motivation and management?

Jim Collins felt compelled to address this issue after publishing his groundbreaking book, Good to Great. Good to Great outlines the common traits of organizations who make a jump from being very good at what they do to being great at what they do. The natural question for leaders of non-profits is, "does this apply to us?". One of the principles of the book, for example, is the "hedgehog concept". It says that great companies know the answers to 3 questions.

1) What are we the "best in the World" at?
2) What are we passionate about?
3) What is our economic engine?

Organizations of all types have great difficulty answering these questions. The buzz from the non-profit leaders came from the 3rd question. What is the economic engine of a non-profit? The "economic engine" of a profit organization is a good understand of what drives profits to the company. For example, Walgreens discovered that the key to its profits comes from the number of times a customer visits their stores. Kimberly-Clark learned that its profit comes from the number of consumer brands they carry.

What is the "economic engine" for a church? What is the "economic engine" for the United Way? This spurred a quick spin off monograph from Jim Collins called "Good to Great and the Social Sectors". The booklet changes "economic engine" to "resource drivers" and contains the statement "why business thinking is not the answer". Do the rules really change from non-profits to profits?

This is the question we will be exploring this week. We'll talk about specific non-profit entities and see how they are similar and different from profit organizations. This knowledge will help us better understand profits and non-profit organizations! Enjoy!

Tweet Tweet

2009-03-13T10:00:00.003-05:00

by Don Harkey

Fear is a pretty "heavy" topic, so I thought I'd end the week with something a little on the light side.

Have you used Twitter? If you are reading this blog, you obviously have enough internet "chops" to find and follow a blog. If you are using Twitter, skip to the next paragraph. Twitter is basically a "microblog". People post short updates regularly and publicly. Some post information on what they are doing. Others post jokes. Others put links to useful (or not) websites. You can search the posts (called "tweets") for content or you can choose to follow specific people whose posts you find interesting. It's pretty simple, but the implications are amazing.

Twitter delivers a different and "more pure" level of social networking. Rather than limiting you to a set of "friends" like Facebook, Twitter allows you to interact within a community of people simply looking for information. I've only been on for a week now, and I have already found (or been found by) users who have connected me with video on how to string a guitar (from Rainn Wilson - "Dwight" from "The Office"), lots of information on writing blogs (from bloggers_guide - very useful and helpful), and connected with new resources from the Springfield Business Journal (from deedee_jacobs).

The best part is that it doesn't take a lot of time. Twitter allows you to "tweet" from your phone through a simple text message and the information is easy to access. There isn't all of the bells and whistles associated with Facebook. Sure bells and whistles can be fun, but they can also make that clock move incredibly fast!

I think the most exciting part of Twitter is that I am still finding applications for this new (to me) tool. This is truly a new way for our society to function. It carries lots of benefits and some potential dangers, but it is an extremely powerful tool for anyone who wants to find 3 people to play golf with on a Friday morning or for someone who just needs some advice on how to write a better blog.

Whether you are new or old to Twitter, you can visit my profile and follow me on http://twitter.com/donharkey. Enjoy your weekend! Next week's topic, Nonprofits!

Hope?

2009-03-12T07:22:00.002-05:00

by Don Harkey

"The middle class needs a rescue package."
- Barack Obama, October 7, 2008

The book "Outliers", by Malcolm Gladwell, outlines a study that shows a single difference in parenting styles that will greatly improve or reduce a child's chances of becoming successful later in life. The study showed that parents who teach their children not to question authority and accept their place in society tend to have kids who grow up to be passive and struggle through life. In contrast, parents who teach their children to question authority and take personal responsibility for their successes (and failures) have children who grow up to enjoy life.

There are really only 2 responses to a challenging climate. A person can wait it out and "hope" that it goes away or a person can "do" what they can to navigate through the challenges. Unfortunately, the current administration is trying to teach the American people to "hope" that the government will act in their best interest to "save" them. Whether or not you believe that the economic policy of the United States will help or hurt the current economic situation, everyone should believe that the ultimate solutions will lie with the actions and innovation of the people of our great country.

Those who have come to believe that our choice lies with either fear or hope have forgotten the true value of the gifts God has bestowed upon humanity. Every day I meet people who are creating, searching for ways to add value, working together in a free market, and who are looking toward to the future. These are times of great opportunity.

In the long term, it doesn't matter what the government does as long we remain free. We will continue to rise up to the challenges ahead of us and ask our Creator to enlighten us with our true Purpose in this world. There is a lot of good news out there, but none better than the fact that there are still many of us who carry great passions and enthusiasm for this gift of life. It's not about fear and it's not about hope. It's not about tax policies, bailouts, or government. It's about you and I and our Creator.

I know many of us are struggling today. I know that many have lost their jobs, their investments and seemingly their future. It is natural to feel fear in these times. During these times we must scratch and claw and struggle our way back. We must get smarter, more disciplined, more passionate, and more focused. While the struggle will be difficult, we will come out much stronger as a result... and it won't be because of a donkey or an elephant! We must accept the blame and we will be able enjoy the great glories that life brings!

"It is time for us to realize that we're too great a nation to limit ourselves to small dreams. We're not, as some would have us believe, doomed to an inevitable decline. I do not believe in a fate that will fall on us no matter what we do. I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing. So, with all the creative energy at our command, let us begin an era of national renewal. Let us renew our determination, our courage, and our strength. And let us renew our faith and our hope. We have every right to dream heroic dreams. Those who say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look."
- Ronald Reagan, 1981

The Big Picture - Innovation vs Fear

2009-03-11T06:45:00.003-05:00

by Gene O'Dell
Financial Advisor
gene.odell@wachoviasec.com

Since the beginning of our time here on earth, our society continually becomes more intellectually sophisticated than the prior year, or years, before. This sophistication creates innovation and this innovation breeds even more ideas and real world items that are far more sophisticated than the ones that came before them. Some cultures take longer than others, but I am sure you understand where I am going with this.

While our economy is down and we all feel beaten up, I do not think we are down for the count. Frame it this way, do you believe that, in five years, there will be a new cell phone available for sale (which will have more features than most of us will ever use)? What about cars with sophisticated navigation systems (regardless of brand)? Will the medical field continue to be safer, faster, and better than it was five years prior?

In my mind, one of two things will happen in the next five years: We will continue to be an innovative planet and we will get out of this mess in a surprising fashion or some of us, hopefully all, will be in a much better place where money won’t matter. I’m prepared for the worst-case scenario and am staying the course with my investments. If you are confused about what I mean about being in a better place, call me and I’ll explain. Now, I believe in our society, our culture, and our ability to continue our intellectual growth process that is inherent in all of us.

We will continue to innovate and as with investing, be part owners in the businesses that grow. The old saying is, “it’s better to be an owner than a loaner.”

It is important to understand that in economics, the market is a forward looking indicator. As I’ve discussed before, it looks out in advance, in hopes of pricing in the future. With that said, I still feel, and so do the market prognosticators, that the stock market will show signs of recovery in 3rd and 4th quarter. That’s certainly where we are today, even though it may not feel like it.

Economic news, however, will likely continue to sound worse and, as a natural result, we will likely feel worse about the economy. Unemployment will likely get worse over this next year, but consider this; unemployment is a lagging economic indicator. You don’t terminate someone’s employment until after business has slowed, not before. Generally in bear markets, the news gets worse and the market gets better all at the same time. Sounds crazy, but keep the right frame of mind about how this whole market works.

I hope you find this to be informative and I hope you and your family are well. As always, if I may be of service to you, please call me directly or email me. I know times are tough and I also know that perseverance pays off. I am here if you need me, and if you know someone who needs to see this, please pass it on.

What is Going Right?

2009-03-10T06:39:00.002-05:00

by Michael Vaughn, Certified Financial Planner
The Mutual Fund Store

With all of the negative press over the past year regarding the economy, I’m sure you may be thinking, “will things ever get better?”

It can be a depressing time to watch the news and read the headlines. Up to this point, I think it is important for all of us to step back and see the entire picture.

Is there any good news? Here is some that you probably haven’t seen.

AT&T to bring back 4,000 outsourced support center jobs from overseas.

KIA, the auto company, is hiring 600 workers for their plant in Lagrange, GA.

Microsoft Corp announced plans to open its own chain of branded stores as it looks to catch up with rival Apple Inc's successful move into retailing.

Intel Corp plans to invest $7 billion over the next two years to build advanced manufacturing facilities in the United States that make faster, smaller chips that consume less energy. The announcement comes less than a month after the world's largest maker of microprocessors used in personal computers said it would close
plants in Southeast Asia and scale back U.S. operations under a restructuring
that affects as many as 6,000 employees.

Panera Bread Co., the chain of 1,250 bakery-cafes, plans to take advantage of its debt-free balance sheet and the U.S. real estate slump to open as many as two locations a week in 2009, said Chief Executive Ronald Shaich.

Allegiant Airlines has announced 25 new routes since August and plans to increase its capacity 21% in the second quarter, not including the buildup of service to Los Angeles International Airport from a dozen communities it already serves. The airline carried 3.9 million scheduled passengers last year, up 29% from 2007, and flies its planes about 90% full.

The U.S. by far remains the world's leading manufacturer by value of goods produced. It hit a record $1.6 trillion in 2007... nearly double the $811 billion in 1987. For every $1 of value produced in China's factories, America generates $2.50. - article by Stephen Manning, Associated Press

America makes things that other countries can't. Today, "Made in USA" is more likely to be stamped on heavy equipment or the on circuits that go inside other products than the TVs, toys, clothes and other items found on store shelves. U.S. companies have shifted toward high-end manufacturing as the production of low-value goods moves overseas. This has resulted in lower prices for shoppers and higher profits for companies.

When demand slumps, all types of manufacturing jobs are lost. Some higher-end jobs -- but not all -- return with good times. Workers who make goods more cheaply produced overseas suffer.

Once this recession runs its course, surviving manufacturers will emerge more efficient and profitable, economists say. More valuable products will be made using fewer people. Products will be made where labor and other costs are cheaper. And manufacturers will focus on the most lucrative products.

The Only Thing We Have to Fear...

2009-03-08T21:37:00.003-05:00

by Don Harkey

I must admit that I have been watching the news from time to time, despite my frequent advice to others not to. It is depressing. It makes my neck tense up. It sounds dire. There is certainly no shortage of fear.

What is fear? What is its impact? How does it impact our outlook, our decisions, our ability to choose or look to the future?

I have invited 2 financial advisors to write for the blog this week. Michael Vaughn is a Certified Financial Planner with the Mutual Fund Store. Gene O'Dell is a financial advisor in Springfield, Missouri. Both are good honest professionals who live everyday watching the markets and see the fear first hand.

Are we doomed? Should we dig a hole and hunker down?

Let's discuss!

Accountability Principles for Teachers

2009-03-06T07:15:00.004-06:00

by Don Harkey

I am a geek. There I said it. I'm a geek and that is OK. I am a big fan of the scientific method. You establish a hypothesis and try to prove it wrong. If you can prove it wrong, you need a new hypothesis. A lot of knowledge can be pulled from this method. If the laws of gravity don't work the same in Las Vegas (because what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas), there is something about gravity that we don't quite understand yet. Studying gravity in Vegas would be very beneficial.

The same is true for behavioral theory. If a principle applies in one place but not in another, it is very beneficial to study the exception to the rule to find out why it is so.

There has been some interest in applying some of the motivational theory we have been discussing to the classroom. Its an interesting exercise! Let's see if it fits.

The basics of the theory is that motivation is driven from the fulfillment of 3 basic needs; Competence, Autonomy, and Relatedness (use the acronym CAR to think of "driving" motivation). The theory also states that there are different levels of motivation. It could be said that a person is either motivated or not motivated based on whether they do something or don't do something. However, we all know that we sometimes do things for which we are barely motivated and sometimes we do things where we are very motivated. This means that we can be demotivated by something and still do it (although begrudgingly).

The "levels" of motivation can be easily understood by thinking about ways to get someone to do something. Here are some of the levels...

- Amotivation - A person does not feel like they can do something, they feel like it is outside of their control, or they feel like they don't relate to the task. Consequently, they don't do it.

- Reward/Punish - If I were to hold a gun to your head and ask for your wallet, you would likely be motivated to give me the wallet. However, would you feel good about it? What happens when I go away? The same is true if I offered you a piece of candy to wash my car. You might do it, but once the candy is gone, would you still do it? This is the lowest form of motivation because it not driven by the task itself, but by some "extrinsic" form that might be taken away. By the way, compensation (salary) falls into this category.

- Pride/Shame - A clever person can "guilt" or "pride" someone into doing something. I might ask for your help on a project because you are the "only one who can do this right" (pride). I might ask you to help me move because "I don't have any other friends who will do it and I don't know where else to go" (guilt).

- Identification - What if I can convince you that what you are doing is important? I might ask you to help volunteer for a church program after showing you all of the great things the program does for the community. You might see the value in the task and be motivated to help out.

- Integration - Sometimes you don't need anyone else to motivate you to do something. If you hear music in your head all day long, it is completely natural for you to want to learn how to play an instrument. If you feel like a task is part of your Core Purpose, you will do naturally do it.

The pattern that you might see in these increasingly effective forms of motivation is that motivation is best when it is driven internally rather than externally. This is really important because there might be multiple reasons to do something and you want people to focus on the reason that is more motivating. What do I mean?

I once lost my wallet and a neighbor found it. The neighbor called me to return the wallet and when we met, he was clearly proud that he was doing the right thing. He has a true look of satisfaction on his face until I went to hand him a $20 bill. He was completely deflated. What had happened?

The man had decided to return the wallet because it fit with a value system which he saw as important. When I tried to give him a reward, his motivation shifted from internal to external. I robbed him of his internal motivation. This happens frequently at work where you are payed to show up. When you start working for bonuses or pay increases, you will find that you won't enjoy your job nearly as much. If you were paid double, would you really do your job differently? (I know, let's try it and find out!)

Apply this to students in a classroom. The "best" students are the ones who truly see value in what they are learning. The next "best" students are the ones who see school as a means to an end. Further down the motivation line are the students who feel embarrassed or feel great pride in their grades. Still further down in the motivation spectrum are students who are threatened if they get bad grades and are rewarded if they get good grades. Finally, there are students who simply don't see the purpose of school at all and don't put any effort down.

Students in kindergarten probably don't have a lot of "vision" for the future. They might enjoy some of the things they are learning, but they often won't understand the value of everything they need to learn. They probably aren't thinking about their "permanent record" or getting into a good college. Kindergarten students are often motivated by pride/shame or by reward/punishment. Is this OK?

I think that this is OK for awhile. If we think about education as a long term process, one of the goals of educators should be to help students see the value in learning. I think any teacher would agree with this. The reason this is important is that kids who see the value in learning become adults who see the value in learning (whether it is learning a craft or learning theory). These are the adults who ask questions, get answers, and push the envelope. These are the professionals in our society who innovate and create great value.

Since many kids (and many adults) are not in the highest phases of motivation, it is OK to use the lower phases in the short term. I certainly punish my kids when they do something wrong. However, it is important for the long term to teach "why". It is also important, once a child (or adult) starts to operate in the upper levels of motivation, not to distract them with rewards or threats or pride or shame. Recognition for a developing student (or adult) is very important in that it confirms their vision of what is important. If the recognition itself becomes the driver, it becomes less motivational.

I would say that this motivational theory applies very well to students and teachers whether they are adults or children. It is important to remember that children have less feelings of competence (which can be broken up into strengths, confidence, and experience). Small victories go a long way in gaining momentum up the motivational ladder.

I hope this helps my teacher friends out there! I like to think of management and teaching as cousin professions. They both work to develop people and they both have a huge impact on people's lives!

(NEXT WEEK'S TOPIC - FEAR)

Creative Accountability

2009-03-05T07:11:00.003-06:00

by Don Harkey

"But you haven't had to work with MY people!"

We have talked about how holding someone else accountable to do something uses a lower form of motivation. Getting people to hold themselves accountable by allowing them to relate to the task utilizes a much higher form of motivation. The problem that arises is how you can get someone to hold themselves accountable.

Anyone with children knows the challenge of trying to "guide" the behavior of another human being. If my 2 year old sticks her finger in a light socket, my reaction is probably not going to be working to create an environment where she feels related, competent, and autonomous. I would probably use my "alpha male" voice to command her to stop.

Any person who has worked in an environment that ran strictly off command and control will likely struggle in an environment full of autonomy. This is especially true in jobs where people are traditionally treated like a commodity. Its a viscous cycle. The person who works in an environment where they aren't trusted to do the right things eventually gets to the point where they truly can't be trusted to do the right things. Saying that you are going "hold the person accountable" is hardly effective.

So what do you do? This is never an easy situation to deal with and there is no cookie cutter way of bringing a person from being motivated by fear and threats to being internally motivated. All you can do as a leader is focus on the 3 needs that drive motivation: competence, autonomy, and relatedness.

Start small. Give the person a little bit of control in a small task that they understand. Allow them to feel small successes and build off that. Show them how their small successes contribute to the whole. Show them a little trust in that area. Don't look over their shoulder constantly. Find a mentor for that person who can show them that doing the right things is really the right thing to do.

The most important factor that will keep your people moving in the right direction is a clear vision. I was told recently of a study in hospitals that looked at medical errors. The study determined that the right procedures are usually in place to prevent these errors, but the procedures aren't being followed. The problem is the person who is following the procedure doesn't understand the important of each step.

If I were to write a procedure for an operator to work on a machine, I would instruct them to first shut off and lock down the power to the machine (making it extremely difficult for someone else to energize the equipment while they were working on it). Some people have no idea how many people get hurt in equipment that was supposed to be "off" while they were working on it, but the equipment suddenly turned on. I could train on the procedure over and over again and still have people who don't follow it. However, if I show the operator some statistics on how many people get hurt not following the procedure, or if I can share real case studies, or if I can even show some gory pictures of someone who had a hand smashed in equipment, the message will stick.

Understanding the importance of our work is a key to motivation. Communicate a common vision. Allow your people to feel success. This is why the "thank you" mug can truly be effective. As a reward, a mug isn't something that drives most people. However, understanding that your work is part of a greater good is very motivating. As Dr. Levesque says, the external "reward" drove internal motivation. Its when the reward becomes the driver that we decrease motivation (ex: replace the mug with a check for $1000). Its nice to receive a great reward, but we lose our focus on why we truly do what we do.

My final advice is to keep at it. Keep working with your people. Most people want to do the right things. Once you have your people working with you and not for you, you will discover a whole new resource... the talents and passions of your people!

Accountability - Choosing Autonomy

2009-03-04T06:31:00.003-06:00

by Don Harkey

We've talked about how traditional management sets expectations and holds people accountable to those expectations. Then Dr. Levesque talked about how accountability is often tied to a reward, but how people aren't well motivated by rewards. A friend of mine who is teaches management classes at a University recently told me that his students think there 2 ways to get someone to do something... pay them for it or threaten them. What does all of this mean?

It is true (and fairly noncontroversial) that people are best motivated internally. If you feel that doing something is really a part of who you are, you are very motivated to do it. Is that being selfish? Maybe, but that's OK. Even when we help out others, we get a very good feeling of internal satisfaction, which helps us to be highly motivated to help out even more people.

As Dr. Levesque also stated, a key component to being motivated to do something is autonomy. If a person can choose whether or not to act and how to act, the person will have a greater sense of internal satisfaction, even if the task itself is unpleasant. This means that if we are ordered to do something our motivation decreases. This also means that if we are given a reward (or punishment) for doing something (or not doing something), our potential for being internally motivated is decreased.

This is where the word "accountability" causes so much confusion. In management circles, the word is often used as something applied by management to workers. A manager will hold an employee accountable for their performance. As my friend above says, the manager who thinks this way will either reward or threaten the employee as a method for holding them accountable.

An alternative way to think about "accountability" is to think of it as an internal process. An employee holds himself accountable just as a manager holds herself accountable. This is the core message of author Andy Andrews. A successful person "chooses" to be responsible for their own life. They hold themselves accountable to their own actions. This type of accountability looks at internal rewards and leads to greater motivation.

So that leads to the 20 million dollar question... How do you get people to hold themselves accountable? How do you get someone to choose to do something rather than order them to do it? What role does the "thank you mug", as one reader submitted, play in this process?

Stay tuned!

The Human (other) Side of Accountability

2009-03-03T07:13:00.003-06:00

by Dr. Chantal Levesque
Research Strategies, Inc

What does accountability mean to you? In today’s business world, accountability means to meet a certain standard of performance, to produce a product of high quality, or to perform a required task in a certain way. It could also mean to be responsible; that is to arrive at work on time, not waste time on the job, and be efficient. In sum, accountability is to comply with expected behaviors. As generally understood today, for managers in charge of employees, accountability is a process that involves setting standards, monitoring the relevant results, and then providing direction and feedback to employees. Using this framework, problems with task performance and the ability to meet standards come from a failure to define what constitutes adequate performance.

Typically, accountability comes with some form of reward. If you meet a certain standard of performance, you will customarily obtain a reward for that performance. This could be a paycheck, a bonus, a raise, or even a company trip. Furthermore, the common notion of accountability makes it a public affair. People are accountable to others. How does it feel to do something the way it should have been done? Think about it! It probably feels like you did what you were supposed to do. You reached the goal and you accomplished the task. Although this type of accountability is prevalent in the workplace, it is not the optimal way to foster peak performances or employee’s motivation. Doing something because you have to, because you should, or in order to obtain a reward is an extrinsic form of motivation. Of course, if as a manager, I impose a strong enough control on your behavior, you will do what I want you to do for fear of losing your job or in order to obtain the promised reward for good performance. But will that ensure that you like your job? Will that translate into job satisfaction for employees? Absolutely not!

By imposing unnecessarily strict standards and controls, managers are obstructing their employees’ ability to realize the highest level of motivation; intrinsic motivation. By controlling, demanding, imposing, and holding people accountable to an external and often arbitrary standard, managers are not fostering people’s intrinsic motivation which would inherently make them want to do their best work.

Here is the key point for managers; by actually imposing strict controls and standards, they are affecting their company’s bottom line. Employees begin to work only for the rewards, not to help the company grow and prosper. It costs a lot of money to maintain this kind of accountability system! The first chance that a controlled employee has, they will leave the organization to go work for another. At the very least, they will be resentful while they comply with demands and onerous standards.

Why not provide choice and options to employees? In the context of the prevalent accountability model, providing choice to employees means that the employee can choose whether or not to meet the criteria of performance. Essentially, they choose to keep their job or not keep their job.

What about doing something good when nobody else is watching? Doing something right even when there are no external standards? Are people accountable to someone then? Imagine doing your best just because it’s important for you or because producing high quality work defines who you are. Take a moment to think about that! How does that feel? How does it feel to produce your best work because this is what you want to do? You do your best work and you try your best because doing any less than that would not be acceptable… to you.

A different understanding of accountability is one where the human side of accountability is emphasized. This would mean to be accountable to yourself as a person. It would mean to do something because you are built to do it. Because it is your passion. Because it is your calling! If you are not living up to your potential then you are not accountable. It’s a different kind of accountability. It is internal accountability. Imagine someone doing a really good job as a computer technician, earning a good living, doing what is required on the job, rarely if ever missing work, never being late, always putting in the required number of hours, and ultimately being accountable to his employer. This person might still not be accountable to himself if he does not feel like he is meeting his full potential!

As human beings, we are built to self-actualize. We are engineered to achieve our highest potential! This is what, as humans, we strive to accomplish and what Maslow’s hierarchy of needs illustrates. Now consider this: If we were all doing what we were built to do, if each of us were functioning from our true sense of self and accessing our passions on a daily level, why would we need a reward for doing it? Rewards would be unnecessary. Therefore, the bigger the reward you give to someone for doing a task at a certain level of performance, the more you are sending the message to others that this task is not worth doing yourself! If it a task worth doing, people would want to do it voluntarily. Is this not the concept of the Olympics? How much are Olympians paid to participate in the games? Nothing! Yet, most people would dream of being an Olympic athlete! When do teams choke under pressure? They often fail when they begin to focus more exclusively on winning the game instead of playing it well. The reasons for performing well begin to shift from an internal focus of accountability to an external focus of accountability.

Rewards are demotivating!

On fundamental level, externally imposed standards, controls, monitoring, supervision, and rewards are demotivating. These external incentives are most of the time perceived as a way to control behavior. People are inherently resistant to control. Put in place by managers, these external incentives clearly send the message to employees that they are not motivated enough to do a good job on their own. They need to be motivated! Most managers believe that employees would not perform well if the external standards were not present. But what if the majority of employees wanted to perform well just because they like to do their best? Just because it’s part of who they are to produce quality work? If this is the case, strict external standards, control, and rewards, will contribute to reduced motivation.

So, if one can’t be extrinsically motivated to perform their best, how do we motivate people in general to strive for their own level of perfection? We simply create an environment that will activate individuals’ internal accountability. The recipe for internal accountability is as follow:

COMPETENCE = Mastery of Skills
AUTONOMY = Choice, Volition
RELATEDNESS = Connectedness

How do you activate the highest level of motivation in employees? How do you create internal accountability? Simply create an environment where all employees have access to the necessary training to perform their respective jobs effectively. Just show them the ropes! Imagine yourself as a manager. If you did your homework and hired the best employee who applied for the job, should you have to teach them any more than this? No! Providing the specific training related to your organization so they can do their job competently is not only appropriate but sufficient!

Next, create an environment in which employees are provided with choice and options. Again, if you hired the best employee who applied for the job, you probably thought this person was smart enough to make good decisions on their own. If an employee prefers to come in at 6 am, leave at 2 pm, and the work still gets done, why not let her? Ask employees for their opinions on how best to approach a problem. You will be surprised with the solutions they come up with. Create an environment where employees understand why they are doing the things they are doing. Let employees take ownership of their behaviors and own performance. Let them have autonomy.

Finally, create an environment in which employees can have meaningful relationships with their co-workers and a respectful and trusting relationship with their employer. If employers create environments where employees can feel competent and autonomous, they will also feel more loyal to the organization they work for and their employer.

Concept of the Week - Accountability

2009-03-02T07:18:00.002-06:00

by Don Harkey

Accountability. A common description of effective management is to "set clear and measurable objectives for your people, them hold them accountable to those objectives". For many workers, the word "accountability" has dark implications. For many managers, it allows them shift the responsibility of action to their people. Our parents told us to "be accountable for your actions!". The word is used around leadership and management circles constantly. What does it really mean?

A small-business owner I worked with once told me how he managed his people. He told me that he couldn't trust his people to do anything. He needed to do everything for them. He needed to follow every step they took and guide them down every path. During our short conversation, he took 3 calls from his people. He looked absolutely worn out.

I might have told him that he needs to hold his people accountable for making good decisions, but I didn't. What would have been the result? Imagine parents who shelters and coddle their children through life, making every decision for them. Then they suddenly release them to the world under the veil of "you are now accountable for your life!". The results are predictable. The kids are going to struggle. This would happen with employees as well.

Personal responsibility is certainly not a bad thing. The best workers are the ones who take real pride in their work and know that the "buck stops here". Even when faced with situations not within their control, they keep their wits and respond with everything they have. Is this accountability?

This week, the concept for discussion is "accountability". What DOES it really mean? When you hear the word, what thoughts come to mind? How does a manager hold an employee accountable? How does a person hold his or herself accountable? Is accountability a form of responsibility or a form of liability (or both)?

We'll hear soon from an expert in the field of Motivation. I encourage you to submit your thoughts on the topic... I'm holding you accountable!

Perspective

2009-02-27T06:50:00.001-06:00

by Don Harkey

I am a strategic thinker. I can take a situation and break it down, analyze it, rearrange it, innovate, and learn from it. In meetings, I can sometimes see the conversation as a chart and I often draw it on the board offering everyone in the meeting a visual from which to work from. I often talk about my continuous search for "clarity" on an issue, which is simply my ability to break down a problem into 1's and 0's (its simplest components).

I strive for control. I crave it. Not necessarily my own control, but the perception that something is moving forward deliberately. I love when I see someone anticipating a situation and acting to "head it off at the pass". When I work with companies or organizations, I try to get the leadership of the company to keep their eyes up a little on the road ahead. I want people to be prepared for any situation that can occur so that "control" can be maintained.

On Tuesday, my little girl went into the hospital.

I don't like feeling helpless. I hate roller coasters because of the feeling of being out of control. I know that life is not controllable, but that goes against my strengths. I want to analyze the problem and take action immediately.

This week, the problem was that my daughter contracted RSV, a common virus that can become serious in small children. The virus acts much like a cold and the primary issue is that it can decrease respiratory function. The hospital is filled with these cases this time of year, mostly babies or toddlers. There is no real "cure" since it is caused by a virus. The only thing they can do is give breathing treatments and provide oxygen when needed. The virus typically takes 4-5 days to peak.

This week, my wife and I sat by my daughter's hospital bed watching her oxygen monitor. While she was very sick, she was never really in danger, but we felt so helpless. Our friends and family were quick to respond with offers of aid and prayer. The prayers helped tremendously. It gave us all the strength to get through the week.

It all goes back to something that we all know, but we all like to forget. God is in control. These situations show us what is truly important in our lives. During those times of helplessness, it was comforting to quietly pray and just release the burden to God's willing Hands.

My daughter got to come home last night and enjoyed a great nights sleep. My wife and I also got a good nights sleep and feel like the worst is behind us, but of course, that is not really within our control.

I still like control. I am hardwired that way. It occurs to me that God hardwired me to be that way. God wants us to dream, innovate, and plan for our future, but he also wants us to keep a proper perspective on what is important. We are truly like children.

As you go about your day today, think about all of the things you are doing and how it makes a difference in the things that are truly important. Write down you biggest worries and then write down the most important things in your life and see if the lists match up. The noise of life distracts us and takes away our perspective. The news gives us more and more bad news everyday, but how important is the current value of our 401K plan? Yes, things are scary out there. The democrats are NOT in control. Neither are the republicans or the government or wall street or the president. God is in control.

Call me for strategic planning. Call God for Perspective. Praise God for bringing my daughter home!!

Galt Blog Submittals

2009-02-25T13:29:00.000-06:00

by Don Harkey

Do you have an interesting article you would like to tell the world (or at least the readers of the Galt Blog)? Do you see a "Concept of the Week" coming up that you would like to write about? Great!

I am currently soliciting articles from experts in various fields, but I am sure I am likely to miss someone who has something great to say.

If you would like to submit an article, please submit it to info@galtconsulting.com for consideration. Include your name, email, and company website / information. I will use the information in the article, even including a link to your website if you desire.

Thanks for reading! Galt Blog's following is growing fast! As always, feel free to send any ideas for improvements, topics, or just send me your unfiltered compliments!

Networking 101: Lend a Hand

2009-02-24T07:13:00.004-06:00

by Don Harkey

I have a secret. I'm not an expert at marketing. I know you are probably shocked, but its true! Even though my Dad taught marketing in high school for many years, I have never taken a single marketing class in my life. This proved to be somewhat of a handicap when I started my business, but I have sure learned a lot over the past few years.

One of the most effective forms of marketing is through networking. To put it simply, networking is establishing a network of relationships that hopefully point toward your business and lead you to new key contacts. While this sounds simple, it is actually a very unusual world for those who haven't really done it before.

Before I go on, I understand that most people think they know how to network. I did. Everyone knows people who know other people. This is basic networking, but the type of networking I am talking about here is deliberate networking. I am talking about walking into a room with 50 strangers and establishing meaningful and long lasting contacts.

The first question you might ask is "where do you network?". It turns out that there are a lot of people out there who want to network, so finding a place to network is not hard. Your local Chamber of Commerce likely sponsors several events per month designed for networking. Professional or service organizations are also great places for networking. Really, anywhere you can meet people is an opportunity to network. Once it gets in your blood, you are always networking.

That brings us to the heart of this article; "How do you network?". The first thing is that you have to drop the shyness. Keep in mind that others at a networking event came to network, so don't be self-conscience about sticking out your hand and saying, "Hi, my name is Don Harkey!" (only you should use your name instead). Networking events can seem chaotic and full of pressure. There are usually lots of people buzzing about flocking from person to person. I have even had people who view themselves as competitors of mine who shadow me and interrupt my conversations! No worries! If you just keep a simple networking objective in mind, you'll be OK.

Don't worry about generating business at the event. Just worry about making high quality relationships. The best way to make a high quality relationship is to listen and find a way to help the other person.

Sure there will be people frantically swarming around the room forcing business cards into people's hands along with mugs, T-Shirts, pamphlets, cookies, and whatever other type of marketing material they can carry. This is fine, but all it really does for the "mass networker" is fill up the trashcan outside the meeting area with their materials. You can't build a high quality relationship with 50 people in 15 minutes!

The best thing about the "high quality" approach is that it is much more fun and more natural. If you meet someone nice, reach out to them. Find out about their businesses and the challenges they face. Who is their ideal client? Can you connect them a resource or with another contact who can help them? Once again, the right thing to do is the right thing to do! In other words, helping people works!

OK. Your ultimate goal is to generate some work. I understand that. Think back to the work you already have or key opportunities you have had and how they came about. Very seldom does Person "A" walk up to Person "B" and successfully ask to be hired. Usually opportunities come from a complex and seemingly random series of events. I gave some good advice to Person "A" at an event who gives me an email for Person "B" who sets up a meeting with Person "C" who also knows Person "A" and Person "D" (whom you met last month) and wants to hire you.

Networking can be fun if you approach it the right way. Don't think about generating business, even though it is your ultimate goal. Think about genuinely helping out the people you meet. Listen to them. Don't be too anxious to get your pitch in. Often times, especially when talking to a small group, I won't even through out my business card or any materials. I just have the conversation and invariably, someone will approach me later and ask for my contact info (this is MUCH better than forcing it on someone). Have fun with it, listen, and lend a hand!!!

Where are You Going?

2009-02-23T10:23:00.004-06:00

by Don Harkey

For many leaders, this is a difficult question to answer. As uncertainty surrounds us, especially in challenging economic times, this question becomes even more difficult to answer.

In concept, the strategic planning process I like to use is simple. Where are you now? Where do you want to be? How do you get there? This is a simple approach to a difficult problem.

First of all, the question of "where are you now?" is very challenging in itself. One method of determining this is to brainstorm a list of values that you feel that your organization has within a cross-functional, cross-level team. The next step is to discuss these values with the understanding that a true value is one that is truly (and currently) part of your DNA. If product quality is listed, for example, ask yourself whether or not quality is really part of your culture. If it is not, this is difficult to admit, but it is extremely important. If it is a core value, it doesn't mean that you are perfect... it just means that your organization naturally and universally works toward that value.

This process will naturally lead you to the next step. What about the values that didn't make "the cut"? Are these values that you would like to see your company have? This is the beginning of the "where you would like to be" discussion. If product quality is not a core value, but you think it should be, what can you do to get it there? What is missing? This leads to the next step.

What do you need to do to get from where you are to where you want to be? This should be a list of actionable things that you can do. If you discovered that you could do better with quality, what kinds of things do you need to do to start to build quality into your DNA? (Hint: DO NOT HANG UP A "QUALITY IS IMPORTANT!" POSTER)

Strategic planning is actually a continuous process. Where are you? Where do you want to be? How do you get there? This is a moving target within a changing environment, so you can't allow yourself to be stalled by uncertainty. I am surprised by how many companies I hear talking about waiting for to see what is going to happen next in the economy or with the next government stimulus package. While these external factors will no doubt have a significant impact on many organizations, there is undoubtedly internal actions that would better prepare your organization for ANY external outcomes.

These rough times are actually an opportunity. Your competitors are likely flying in a holding pattern and waiting. You could be doing some low cost, high benefit activities like understanding and developing the people within your organization. You could be forming the basis for making your organization more nimble and quick to respond to outside factors in the market.

Knowledge of the future is an illusion. We never really know what is going to happen next. All we can (and should) do is prepare ourselves to handle change deliberately by gaining a true understanding of your organizations strengths and vision. This type of knowledge is never wasted!

Galt Blog - New Format??

2009-02-20T07:39:00.002-06:00

by Don Harkey

First of all, I want to thank all of you for reading my blog and especially for contributing comments! I have been able to track hits and we now have readers from 10 different countries and 51 different cities! The blog loyalty continues to grow showing many people checking in several times a week!

In an effort to continue to improve the quality of the blog, I want to bounce an idea for a new format off of you. My goal is to provide readers with entertaining, inspiring, and useful articles on the general subjects of leadership, management, and passion. Starting in a week or so, I would like to start bringing in guest writers to write on the "Concept of the Week". This will bring a little variety to the blog while organizing the articles a little. I will keep Friday as a "free for all" and us it to write about topics that simply strike my fancy.

If you are interested in contributing to the blog, please shoot me an email at info@galtconsulting.com. I will post a schedule of the weekly topics (probably shown in the side bar).

Thanks again for reading! If you have any thoughts on the new format, let me know!

Atlas Shrugged... and the Earth Moved

2009-02-19T06:56:00.002-06:00

by Don Harkey

Who is John Galt?

This is the opening line of book "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand. This book is often called one of the most influential books in history. It outlines the story of Dagny Taggert, a railroad executive trying to keep her railroad, and the world, from falling apart. I don't want to give more info on the plot, but I would like to provide you with a few quotes from the book.

The choice--the dedication to one's highest potential--is made by accepting the fact that the noblest act you have ever performed is the act of your mind in the process of grasping that two and two make four.

I swear by my life, and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.

The evil of the world is made possible by nothing but the sanction you give it.

An inventor is a man who asks 'Why?' of the universe and lets nothing stand between the answer and his mind.

Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one's values.

In case you were wondering, this book did heavily influence me and, yes, my company is named after the character in the book. I'll leave you with one final quotation in the hopes you will try to answer the questions...

Why ask useless questions? How deep is the ocean? How high is the sky? Who is John Galt?