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Are you open to feedback?

Yes?

Now, are you REALLY open for feedback?

Most people who say they are open to feedback or really not open to feedback. They like feedback that validates what they already know and believe in. If they get feedback that is not in line with what they already believe in they will typically “shoot the messenger” and move on.

Now, are you REALLY open for feedback?

This was the quote that our Vistage chair Sterling Lanier put up for us in today’s meeting. Can’t disagree with it. Of course, I think we can always add to the list and extend it.

“Great leaders know that everyone needs four things:

1. something to do

2. someone to love

3. something to hope for

4. something to believe in”

- Lou Holtz, Legendary Coach

Have a great evening there!

Dreams don’t have any taxes. So feel free to dream big. If you don’t do anything though, you can only realize your dreams in your dreams

“It takes a person wide awake to make his dreams come true”

- Roger Babson
Investment Banker, Author and Educator

Wish you the very best with your dreams.

I couldn’t stop laughing after watching this video. It is to the point and hilarious. Have fun!

Note: For other 34 posts in the same series, please visit my Squidoo Lens on the same topic. Here is the link:
Squidoo Lens: Smile Please

“If Only We Knew What We Know” is one of the best books on Knowledge Management that I have read. I am re-visiting that book because the concepts there fits nicely with what we are offering with Rawsugar.

One of the chapters talks about the research findings of Gabriel Szulanski (from Wharton) on what are the barriers to knowledge transfer. Here are four reasons:

1. Ignorance: Those who have the “knowledge” don’t realize that others may find it useful. At the same time, those who could benefit from that “knowledge” have not idea someone in the company has it.

2. No absorptive capacity: Even when employees were not ignorant of the knowledge or best practice, they lacked the money, time, and management resources to pursue and study it in enough detail to make it useful.

3. The lack of pre-existing relationships: People absorb knowledge and practice from other people they know, respect, and - often - like. If two managers have no personal bond, no tie or link which pre-establishes trust, they’re less likely to incorporate each other’s experiences into their own work.

4. Lack of motivation: People may not perceive a clear business reason for pursuing the transfer of knowledge and best practices.

Now

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If you are interested in having a conversation about how you can benefit from Rawsugar, please reach out to me

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Regular programming continues…

Last week I was at the EO San Francisco event. Ken Blanchard was the keynote speaker. In his engaging speech, Ken talked about one topic that resonated with many in the crowd. It is the concept of “ducks” and “eagles”.

Ken said it’s easy to notice ducks. They are always quacking. Examples

“The computer says that quack quack”
“It’s in the rule book quack quack”
“I don’t know quack quack”
“quack quack quack quack…”

We had a good laugh and remembered our own experiences with ducks in the past.

Actually, we didn’t have to go back to our past.

Next day Paul and I were in Los Angeles to meet with our potential partners and customers for Rawsugar and we got to see ducks in action. Paul had booked a rental car with Avis but unfortunately had forgotten to get his Avis Membership Card. We wanted to get down at the Preferred Member counter but the shuttle car driver wouldn’t stop the bus. When Paul requested him to stop, his response was

“I don’t work for you. I work for Avis. I am told to follow the rules”

Really, fresh from Ken’s talk, I heard it as:

“I don’t work for you quack quack. I work for Avis quack quack. I am told to follow the rules quack quack”

Paul and I ignored it and moved on to our meeting. The same evening we returned the car and for the next fifteen minutes there was no sign of a shuttle car to take us back to the terminals. One person was getting anxious (probably because she was getting late for her flight) and asked one of the Avis employees about the shuttle car. The response, as you can guess

“I don’t know”

and I could hear

“I don’t know quack quack”

I had read about the positioning genius of Avis “We try harder” and now it all makes sense to me. With shuttle car drivers and employees like this, they HAVE to try harder

Always insightful Dan Pink (no his name is not Dan Think) makes us think again by asking us to come up with a six-word memoir.

I took a shot at my six-word memoir. Here it is:

Improvising accidental discoveries and loving it!

What is yours?

I don’t use twitter but if you do are planning to do so, you will enjoy WebGuild’s Beginner’s Guide to Twitter.

Here is the link:

WebGuild: Beginner’s Guide to Twitter

Also, in the comments section (over there) you will end a few more links for twitter fans.

Enjoy!

We would all be geniuses if we were just graded by the brilliant ideas we come up with. It’s just that we don’t know how to execute on all these brilliant ideas.

The Entrepreneur 

It was the third time in four years. His idea was already implemented even before he could start working on it. Someone was stealing his ideas. A question from a long-time friend nailed it – “Do you know how many OTHER people had the same idea and didn’t execute?”

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Note1: A mini saga is a story in exactly 50 words.

Note 2: For the other 24 mini-sagas in the series, please visit
my collection of mini sagas

 Simple and profound. How are you preparing today for the “wins” that you badly want in your life?

“Most people have the will to win, few have the will to prepare to win”

- Bobby Knight