I got a message from a dear friend who, like me, often takes on some pretty big projects and would like to make the World a much better place. He asked “What do we do if we’ve done all this work and no one cares? Yes, we could reach millions of people, but if we already haven’t maybe what we are doing isn’t good enough?” Ever feel like that? I think from time to time, we all do.

Whether what we are doing is good enough I take off the slate immediately – we are doing the best we can with what we have to work with or I wouldn’t be involved with this person on a close level. From a fiscal perspective, yes – if the market isn’t interested in what you are offering, you need to rethink, regroup and withdraw if the cost is too high. From a “change the World” perspective though, there are other factors.

One factor is scale – if you change the World even in a small way for a person, it means a lot to them if the moment is right. I would rather have an impact that is powerful, positive  and lasting even if it is restricted in scale just to my own family than be some kind of flavor of the month celebrity that has nothing lasting and meaningful – just a great body and pretty face.

One factor is timing – how many messages aren’t received because they are ahead of their time? Or released during some shattering event that consumes the consciousness of the people who could move it forward. What movies opened the weekend of 9/11/2001? Even if they were the best film in history, the vortex of attention never touched them that week.

Control and Perspective

This morning, I was enjoying David Allen’s audiobook “Making It All Work”. You may be familiar with his “Getting Things Done” book and strategies. He was discussing (I listen to audiobooks) that we are constantly shifting Control and Perspective.

I immediately thought of my friend and also another project I am working with called Return To Honor that assists released inmates and people in rehab programs to find community resources and shares a message of hope and accountability. When people are in a prison – they have pretty much zero control over their circumstances but they can shift their perspective.

I was reminded of a story that Tony Robbins tells about meeting Nelson Mandela. “How did you endure 27 years of suffering when you were imprisoned?” (or something like that…this is a blog and my living room is filled with 8 post slumber party boys playing Twister) Nelson Mandela responded that “He wasn’t suffering, he was preparing”.

Getting more control requires preparation – having a clearer perspective also requires preparation.

My friend and many other people I know have been facing a substantial shift in resources, mainly money for the last several years. What he and the best of those I know have done has been to make a choice to focus on what is in their control, to have a long term perspective and not judge success by immediate cash flow and public embrace and to continue steadily preparing, preparing and preparing. It isn’t a direct comparison to someone in prison, but it certainly restricts certain options to a pretty spare list.

Times change, the economy will change and our opportunities and challenges will continue to be a flow of the unexpected.

I’m really proud of my friends and colleagues who have chosen to take this time to prepare – when resources come to promote what they have created – I am confident that the light inside them will shine bright and clear.

Tweet This Post  Plurk This Post  Buzz This Post  Delicious This Post  Digg This Post  Ping This Post  Reddit This Post  Stumble This Post 

2. Launch of two new websites – We Did the Math and Big Business Zoo
We Did the Math features Social Network Architect, Scott Degraffenreid’s work and Big Business Zoo will create a format for marketing his material as well as consulting services and some other authors and projects.

3. Supercharged Referrals by Scott Degraffenreid and Kathryn Booth will follow release of the Millennials book by a couple weeks. Consulting services and eCourses on creating hyper-growth strategies and best places to work company cultures will be offered as well.

Tweet This Post  Plurk This Post  Buzz This Post  Delicious This Post  Digg This Post  Ping This Post  Reddit This Post  Stumble This Post 

Questions are raised: “How could this happen, how could he have a healing focused ministry and die like this, how could he die leaving so much undone, children not grown, a beloved wife who is so dear”?

And others…“Did he do something wrong, did he not do something, could people have prayed harder, better vitamins, and so on”? These are buzzing in people’s minds, their talk and their internet postings.

What is unsaid is my concern – for my family, for so many others…“Could this happen to me, to my family, could my life and work be cut short before I ‘finish’, what if I’m not doing/saying/praying enough, what if I am doing/saying/praying the ‘wrong’ things, if this could happen to someone so strong and so beloved”?
This is destructive, pointless and removes the focus from what he displayed in his everyday life, his ministry and his teaching: God’s love, God’s grace and healing – Knowing that every breath we take, every day we are on this Earth and every new chance we have to make a difference in the world – to live, to love, to laugh – are an unmerited gift, don’t come with a guaranteed timeline and are to be treasured and enjoyed.

My heart aches and my prayers are with Sharon, the children and all his church family and beloved friends.

My determination is to replace fear with love and compassion, to douse judgment and criticism with words of life and peace, to annihilate despair, doubt and discouragement and misplaced anger that his work was cut short with a better perspective and action.

He lived his life with honor – as a husband, as a father, as a pastor, as a friend and mentor.
He worked to spread the good news of Jesus Christ and God’s great love for all of us.

So while there is work yet to be done – we choose to step up and into what part we each have the opportunity and ability to impact.

We will shine a light of grace and love on every shadow of loss, pain and death.

And we will reach out to his family – now and in the days to come – with love and service and words of kindness.
If you don’t know what to say…”I’m sorry. I love you.” is ALWAYS better than waiting until you have something better or for a better time.

Love early, love often – laugh early, laugh often and living well is the best way to combat what we don’t need to understand or have a reason to explain.

Tweet This Post  Plurk This Post  Buzz This Post  Delicious This Post  Digg This Post  Ping This Post  Reddit This Post  Stumble This Post 

Don't Crowd the Mushrooms or They Won't Brown

I spent 2.5 hours listening to an online seminar last night – Session 1 of the League of Extraordinary Minds. It was promoted by Jay Abraham, Rich Schefren and Tony Robbins and promised to be packed with a lot of valuable information.

There were seven panelists: Jack Trout, Kevin Hogan, Russell Granger, Joseph Jaffe, Michael Bosworth, Bert Decker and Stephen MR Covey. Each panelist addressed various aspects of “Getting Customers to Choose YOU Over Everyone Else: Leveraging Credibility, Believability, and Trust in Everything You Do” This is a free seminar series and seemed like it would have a lot of good information, so I wrapped up most of what goes on at my house in an evening and settled in at 8 p.m. to give a listen. Sign Up for This Free Series Click Here

Earlier that evening I had decided to try something different for dinner and it led me back to a metaphor for life from Julia Child – “Don’t crowd the mushrooms or they won’t get brown.” Now I’m a pretty good cook and I like sauteed mushrooms, but I’m also a busy, single mom with 6 kids and a number of other things – so to be completely honest…this was the first time I really took the time to do right by mushrooms. I’ve had all the same elements before – and they were tasty…but doing what I’m going to describe to you took them to another level and ended up giving me some things to think about.

How does this relate to the League of Extraordinary Minds?

This seminar was pitched in advance that it would be full of outstanding, business building information…so much information that you would want to sign up for an mp3 recording, notes page and transcript…and then sign up for an ongoing coaching, mentoring service. Did it deliver? Oh yes!

But this is the biggest and most difficult shift in our current, global, information rich economy…you can get hours and hours and pages and pages of information from top consultants and experts – for free or for a comparatively low price. How to implement it all, when to implement it and choosing who to listen to gets to be an overwhelming, confusing, and poorly implemented series of decisions.

All the elements can be there…but the results aren’t going to be what they could be.

So lets break it down and see what Julia was talking about -

The Mushrooms - (these are all the things you are learning about and planning to implement – not your product or service)

You can use any fresh mushrooms, but even the white field mushrooms will be great – I used a very large package 16 oz. because I am having a mushroom omelette for breakfast and making the ultimate beef stew later on.

Slice the mushrooms as seen in picture – unless you are a good multitasker and know your stove, get all the slicing done first.

The Pan  - (this is the structure of your business – it needs to be sturdy)

Use a large, flat bottomed skillet on medium to medium high heat – not a “non-stick pan” if you can get by with funny business and nothing will ever stick…when you get over some high heat, toxic fumes and teflon breakdown contaminate your food and your kitchen. Watching the heat is important – too low and you will not get good browning and it will take too long, too high and you’ll scorch the mushrooms and the other ingredients.

The Oil – (this is the lubrication and character of you and your business – sincerity, honesty, patience, trust and respect)

Add about a tablespoon of olive oil and about a teaspoon of salted butter and swirl them across the bottom of the pan. Do not fool around with fake lubricants…use real butter. Combining the olive oil and butter keeps the butter from browning too fast.

The Technique – (this is your implementation)

Add one group of the mushroom slices – they will be shrinking, but put them in so they aren’t touching each other. This will allow enough heat to collect in each slice to caramelize the natural sugars, seal in some of the moisture and creates a much richer appearance and flavor.

If you rush this step…all the mushrooms going in the pan at once – they don’t brown, they shrink more and they turn a gray color instead of a lovely brown.

Turn the mushrooms one by one with a pair of tongues – you are going for a rich, golden brown and reduction in size of about half…don’t cook them into oblivion! (as you are implementing ideas, you should be measuring, have a clear idea of what “brown” looks like and don’t overwork them)

Remove the first batch, add more oil and butter and repeat until all the mushrooms are browned.

The Accent Ingredients - (these are people on your team and tools that assist you in implementing new ideas)

Garlic - (the bold, strong, assertive input that will keep things exciting and powerful)

Put all the mushrooms back in the pan and add about a tablespoon of minced or crushed fresh garlic. Don’t let this scorch…heat it until there is just a hint of brown on the garlic and them mushrooms are all hot again.

Thyme - (this is not a direct metaphor for time…to me it represents elegance – subtle and expert implementation of ideas)

Fresh is best, but dried is fine too – about a tablespoon of fresh thyme – just the leaves, or a teaspoon of dried.

A terrific book I just listened to on the subject of Elegance is In Pursuit of Elegance by Matthew E May.

Wine - (this would be “not taking yourself or ideas” too seriously)

This will be gauged by how many mushrooms – I’d say just a good splash, maybe half a cup at most of decent red wine or white – whatever is at hand. Pursuing excellence is important, but if you can’t laugh and you don’t enjoy what you are doing… LIGHTEN UP!

Salt & Pepper - (looking for contrast and balance)

Salt and Pepper are always added “to taste” in a recipe like this and add depth of flavor and a little kick.

A Grand Finish?

You could hit this with a dibby dab of more butter, but once the wine reduces – this is done! Sooo yummy and worth the extra time and effort.

These mushrooms are a great side dish, steak or burger topper, omelette filling and whatever is left of this batch will be going into some amazing beef stew (that’s where we’ll talk about products, service and team)

Do I recommend The League of Extraordinary Minds? Yes. Sign Up for This Free Series Click Here

You can sign up for free with this link…but keep in mind when you get their material or any big batch of information that you need to take the time to process and implement things:

In sequence

In peace and paced

With a team who can help you choose what 20% will create the biggest impact

With Elegance, Humor and REAL BUTTER!!

Tweet This Post  Plurk This Post  Buzz This Post  Delicious This Post  Digg This Post  Ping This Post  Reddit This Post  Stumble This Post 

Tweet This Post  Plurk This Post  Buzz This Post  Delicious This Post  Digg This Post  Ping This Post  Reddit This Post  Stumble This Post 

After getting it looked at by someone who knows (Tony) I sent it in for them to flash the BIOS with the correct code. When they got the unit, I was contacted and told that my CD/DVD drive was bad and causing the problem and it would take $350 to put in a new one.

This made me a little grumpy, so I told them that NO, their update had corrupted the BIOS, flash the BIOS and send it back. Which they did and it worked fine – until it crashed due to faulty system issues that instigated a recall (which was what they were attempting to correct with the BIOS update)

They didn’t tell me there were overheating problems at the first juncture and the laptop died in early 2008. It was a backup system, and I lost some data, but not too much so I decided to drop in a new hard drive and set it up for my daughter last month.

When I went on the site to check on hard drive info I discovered the recall – too late of course – so I called tech support and they offered to take it back in for $275 to put in a new hard drive and reinstall the systems OR I could put in my own hard drive and purchase a restore disc…for $25.  I’m good with the tech stuff so I decided that I could do the install myself. So ordered the disc and the hd.

Hard drive went in ok and I got the install disc running and windows going, but driver issues like the letter t not working on the keyboard and ports not working and no IP address getting recognized kept me still locked down. Searching the disc they sent I discovered the drivers I needed and disc layout were not correct for my model and sure enough when I checked the disc in the clamshell it had a different number than the part number bar code on the case. Simple issue RIGHT?

Not so much. I called tech support again and after over an hour got to a supervisor who told me that the labeling didn’t matter, this was the only disc they had and if I had them send another one it would be the same…wrong drivers for my machine…OR I could send in my machine and for $345 they would install the correct drivers. No way they would do it for free. No way they would send me the correct disc – they “don’t have it” and selling me a “restore disc” that is not the correct one for my machine is OK because it is the only one they have.

I admit that I raised my voice to the lady out there somewhere just trying to do her job. It didn’t help and I felt awful. I asked her to give me the number of HP/Compaq headquarters, but she said that they weren’t given that information and weren’t allowed to give it out.

This made me really sad – how would it feel to have to deal with customers calling in and having to deal with them being angry and only having an alternative that is completely stupid ($345 to fix a 3 yr old laptop) and knowing that other people are sending the wrong discs to people who are purchasing them to solve the problem caused by a faulty product?

People are more valuable to me than this – both customers and my employees or contractors.

I decided to end the call by apologizing for myself – getting angry and raising my voice made her job worse and didn’t help her understand me any better and I also told her that I was truly sorry she had to work for a company that would put her in this position day after day.

Note to HP/Compaq…file under Corporate Values or Corporate Conscience

“Selling a restore disc that doesn’t have the correct drivers for the machine it was purchased for is stealing. A restore disc has the programming needed to make the system work like it did when it started out. Shame on you. And shame on you for treating your tech support that way – they shouldn’t have to justify your attempt to make a buck off people who don’t know how to fix simple issues.”

And this is another reason “once you go Mac you never go back” – I’ve had issues with i-Pods and the employees had the ability to fix it or replace it. I’ve had a big Mac desktop running Windows for 18 months and love it, love it, love it.

Tweet This Post  Plurk This Post  Buzz This Post  Delicious This Post  Digg This Post  Ping This Post  Reddit This Post  Stumble This Post 

Maybe the same thing that happened to most of them when they were mid-level managers…the world moved on.

I’ve created tons of valuable material, done outstanding work for several companies, all of whom want to keep me on board…but getting new clients in the last 2 years has been like getting gum out of a two year old’s hair! It needs to happen, but the help is not wanted.

A lot of this is due to a sliding economy where it doesn’t matter a whole lot what you are doing in most manager’s minds – just cut costs, cut jobs and pray the company gets and keeps enough business to survive without capital injections.

I could tell you about a whole list of effective, efficient and not overpriced consultants who are cleaning houses, doing the barista thing or getting back to basics like they did in the 1930’s. Frugality rules!

Another big part of this scenario is the fact that you can do a couple internet searches, subscribe to three or four newsletter lists and have more information about what to do and how to do it than you ever have time to absorb as a business owner or manager.

So what role  can consultants (like myself) play?

1. Are you on course?

You may be busy – but that doesn’t mean you are growing your client base or profits – getting an external assist on looking for ways to be more profitable and productive pays for itself very quickly.

2. Do you have a course?

Without a strategic plan (action based project plan that measures pace and results) you may be going and going and end up definitely not where you intended. Setting up time and attention to create very clear performance and growth targets and action plans for you and your team to make it so is powerful and also, doesn’t have to take a long time and be super expensive.

I hired a consultant a decade ago (before I got my very own shiny MBA from Oklahoma State University) and paid him nicely for 18 months. My company reached the desired results, but what I learned how to do from him and how to create new action plans and priorities when the first ones are almost completed…well, three weeks would have covered it and should have covered it.

Personally, I have a very deep and broad attention span and I’d rather work with 15 companies and teach the key team members how to stay on track and plan ahead themselves, get the results and get new clients from referrals.  I have 6 kids and don’t need to be anyone else’s mother – and sure don’t want to be taken for granted and paid like a mother. Oh my no.

What I do is set up a brief consultation and ask a lot of questions, listen and then briefly discuss a few immediate action steps that will make a big difference or get you an alliance with other experts I know.

That part is fun and free. Then I take some time, go over things like your online prescence, reputation, industry trends, etc. and get back to you with 1) a proposal for how we could work together (if I think that is a good idea) 2) how much that would cost and how long it should take and 3) a list of more ideas of what you can do right now or in the immediate future (usually free resources) to move forward.

Then we talk money – I get a modest retainer and then get paid as we accomplish goals and get results.

kb@justbrilliantservices.com

360-543-7900

WAIT! I did forget something else! Before I set up the free consultation, you have to go to my website http://justbrilliantservices.com and fill out the pre-strategic planning questionnaire. That worksheet in itself will help you a lot and I absolutely need to know these things to help you get where you want to go.

Tweet This Post  Plurk This Post  Buzz This Post  Delicious This Post  Digg This Post  Ping This Post  Reddit This Post  Stumble This Post 

At first I was skeptical of the value added spending time on Social Media networking, but it’s like a business networking group – people join for different reasons. Some join to learn and build their skills, get information and work on specific business alliances, some to make friends and socialize, others are taking scalps and not paying much attention to the aftermath, a few in each group are observers and don’t interact much.

To meet my life and business goals I’ve selected a handful of active networks that are used by the …tbc

Update 2.19.2010 – it never got continued…I’m neck deep in Social Media overload!!

Tweet This Post  Plurk This Post  Buzz This Post  Delicious This Post  Digg This Post  Ping This Post  Reddit This Post  Stumble This Post