Archive for May, 2008

What is blocking you from more creativity?

Published May 31, 2008 business , communication , creativity , humility , innovation Leave a Comment
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“We’ve already done that.”

How many times have you heard that at supposed “brainstorming” sessions for your organization? Perhaps, you have even been responsible for starting these meetings.

These often involve post-it notes, a guy with gelled hair and leather patches on his sport coat, fired-up talk of “creativity,” and dishes of candy. The meeting becomes a veritable business term BINGO game.

Let’s see…”paradigm shift”…”synergy”…BINGO!

This has to do with a skewed perspective on what creativity is. Creative thinking is not something bestowed upon a certain group. It can be learned.

To do so, you have to begin to understand a few simple things:

1. You don’t know everything. This has to do with things that we assume to be true. So often, we get wrapped into our ideas. Creativity has to do with the idea that you don’t have all the ideas. There is no end to how deep you can take this idea. Even the way that you think about creativity has to be changed.

2. The “been there, done that” model has no place. What you have done is your experience. You have had it for a reason. Be willing to look at the past in a new light. Just because one marketing tactic did not generate much in the way of results does not mean that it never will. Use experience as an opportunity to see what was behind those decisions. What motivated you to make the decisions that you have in the past? How commited were you to those ideas? This will allow you to see a different truth about the same circumstances…that is, after all, what we are after since…(see #3).

3. Creativity is an ability to see more of the truth. Some people that I have worked with in the past have tossed work on my desk. “Jeremy, we need some creative eyes on this thing. Can you take a look at this and give us some of your creative notions.” Well, no. Not really. Creativity is not a magic wand that I can hover over a set of numbers, ad campaign or article. It is just a truth that underlies a set of ideas. Often it takes more than one set of eyes to do that. Thus the reason for things like Pixar Studios‘s collaborative approach…or the way that most national chemical labs work. The truth requires more eyes than just two to see.

Creativity is an energy or a willingness to toss aside what is commonly understood to pursue a deeper truth. It is not a virtuous or noble pursuit, and engaging in creative thinking does not make you a superior human. However, it is necessary to grow a business, organization, project or a happy life.

A recent article that Adam sent me from Copyblogger does an awesome job of outlining the major blocks to creative thinking. I think that I have been the perpetrator of all of these at some point or another.

HOMEWORK

Read through the copyblogger article and find new ways to discover the truth about your organization or your team. Ask yourself which ways you are blocking creativity on your team, and find ways to stop or work around them.

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Jeremy Nulik, Creative Energy Officer, St. Louis Small Business Monthly

Millennials don’t really exist

Published May 23, 2008 authenticity , communication , creativity , followership , leadership 7 Comments
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There is a great amount of creativity and effort that goes into finding ways to sell books. Most of the time the effort is to try, through articles, media or blogs, to create some kind of pain.

Business books are notorious for this. They create more pain in an effort to make a need for their solution. Just run to the bookstore. You will never feel more inadequate in your life…you can’t sell, talk, think, write or manage correctly.

Emerging from the pop-business media dust cloud is a hot, new source of pain for business leaders – the Millennial.

There are organizations devoted to understanding millennials, managing millennials, politics for millenials, conferences devoted to millennials and ideas about how this group is going to rock the political structure of the United States.

My Gawd! It appears they will soon take over the world. Somebody alert Homeland Security.

So, what the H-E-(double hockey sticks) is a Millennial?

According to my trusty “Internet,” a Millennial is someone born between the years 1980 to 2000. Others have ’82 to ’97. Basically, it is anybody right now from the ages of 8 to 28.

I’m sure that if we got all those folks in a room that they would have the same views on politics, religious tolerance and work ethic. Yeah, right. I have a 9-year-old. When all of his friends of the same age get together, they can’t even decide on what movie to watch.

Here are some of the things that were so eloquently (do you speak sarcasm?) outlined about this generation on a recent 60 minutes spot:

  • Tech-savvy. They like their iPods and Facebook. At times, this is associated with a lack of emotional intelligence or face-to-face human interaction. Really? Hasn’t this been true of every generation? Isn’t the next set of whippersnappers a bit irritating because they adopt and use technology? Try this one, though. Go to your local mall or airport. Everybody is on a cell phone, Crackberry or something…most of them are in their 30′s and older – not millennials.
  • Lazy. They want to set their own work schedule and have a family/work balance. They may be pushy in asking for this. They won’t be in the office at 5:30 or looking at emails at 8pm. Really? Good for them. Somebody had to do it. Would we rather them encourage companies that want blind, open-ended allegiance? I thought we were past that. Just because they may not work 60-plus hours a week does not qualify a person as lazy. Have we forgotten about the “slackers?” Didn’t depression-era adults view their kids as lazy? I see a pattern here.
  • Narcissitic or praise-hounds. Blame Mr. Rogers. He told them that they were special. Now, they think everything should be handed to them. They need constant praise and attention. Really? What is more narcissistic than pointing out narcissism in younger people? Young people need immediate feedback, praise and attention. That is the name of the game. If you are not prepared for that, then you should not be in the business of raising children or managing employees. They want to learn the ropes and they need good mentors who understand.
  • Environmentally conscious and religiously tolerant. These folks care as much about how a company or a group does business as much as what it does. The how is important. People need to be authentic and welcoming to all people. Really? This is partially due to the fact that the world has not beaten it out of them yet. Don’t worry. They will lose hope soon if we keep on telling them that they fit into some manufactured generational bucket.

Here’s the problem: They may want your advice on business or life questions, or they may disdain your advice. They may IM their parents in the middle of a meeting, or they may not even know who their parents really are. NEITHER of these situations makes them of a certain generation. All of them make them human and in a Western culture.

Generation Y.2.0 or Millennials or People-Who-Lives-on-the-Interwebs are not unique…not any more so than anybody else in your organization. For the time being, they are one thing – young. People of a certain age have certain concerns in their effort to create happy and productive lives.

Much of my cynicism at the whole division into generations has to do with the fact that every generation in my family falls into some kind of gulf. I was born in ’78. My father was born in ’54. Where is our category? We have nothing with great or boom or x in the title. Maybe I just feel a little cheated. Can I make one for myself?

Here is the best analysis that I have seen of the generations.

Really want to know how to relate to the younger people on your team? Ask yourself these questions:

  • Do you remember what it was like to be young and unsure of things? Who did you turn to?
  • Do you remember when your friends and parents were important? How did that feel?
  • Do you remember the wonder that used to surround your life?
  • Can you understand an individual on an individual basis?

As soon as we look for the ways that we are similar and not how we can separate, I think that we will come to a better place as humans.

HOMEWORK

As I said, there is a great amount of creativity that goes into creating ways to sell books, conferences and other materials. What if you took that same amount of creativity and found ways to understand people on your team as people? They have fears, values, joys, etc. As a leader, your role is to grow in understanding of people, and, not to buy into half-baked ideas on how to neatly categorize them.

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Jeremy Nulik, Creative Energy Officer (CEO), St. Louis Small Business Monthly

Why your organization needs a wienie

Published May 20, 2008 authenticity , business , creativity , customer service , followership , innovation , leadership Leave a Comment
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I was in an airport recently and trying to get some quick lunch before getting onto a connecting flight.

For those who have not flown in the past decade, let me translate that sentence:

I was in an out outer ring of hell with thousands of other disconnected souls, and I decided to get indigestible chunks of preservative-laden, fried stuff on a stick to grant me some release from my misery.

Airports suck, and airport food sucks even more.

I know that there are folks out there that always look for the positive…well, I would encourage you to spend sometime in these way-stations. Travelers are away from their families, in a hurry, and angry about all the security. On top of that, I was nearly unable to get my fatty sustenance because the person at the taco-themed counter hated being there too.

In the midst of this suffering, here is what came to mind:

Airports are an awesome opportunity for a breakthrough approach to doing business. Imagine if you had a fresh idea to offer the most vibrant service. Your only mission would be to make people smile while in something called a terminal…using nearly whatever (reasonable) means possible. Plus, you could charge a fortune and business-class travelers could expense it.

All around me, though, I see managers taking the opposite approach. Instead of empowering employees to think differently and to make their business more approachable, managers punish their employees for exhibiting behavior that is welcoming and magnetic…or just plain human.

Airports desperately need a wienie.

Seth Godin recently posted about Mark Ramsey’s take on the necessity of a wienie.

Mark retells a story about old man Disney working on a draft plan for the 1964 World’s Fair “Carousel of Progress.” The GE executives loved the preview of the show, but Walt wasn’t quite satisfied – “It doesn’t have a wienie. Come back in a few weeks, and I’ll show you,” he said. Upon their return, the executives noticed that Walt added an animatronic dog with a wagging tail.

Here is Mark’s take on the wienie:

It was the “wienie.” The “finishing touch.” The delightful, magnetic bonus. Wienies are extra. Wienies are what you give the audience after they think they’re already satisfied. Wienies are what you add when what you have is good – but not good enough.”

Airport vendors have the awesome opportunity to offer something beyond expectation because really expectations are quite low. There is plenty of room for a wienie.

Your organization needs a wienie.

In the midst of an economy where people are slashing budgets, leaders can make their company stand out by offering that something extra that helps people understand more about you and how you do business. Plus, a wienie helps your customers to understand that you don’t take yourself so seriously.

HOMEWORK:

  • What’s your wienie?
  • What are you doing that no one else can touch in your industry?
  • How are you adding a magnetic bonus?

WARNING:

This is not about wearing an obligatory 15 pieces of flare. This is about a genuine way to engage your customers beyond their expectations in a way that they may not even notice…a subtlety that is authentic to you and your business. Be proud to be a wienie.

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Jeremy Nulik, Creative Energy Officer (CEO), St. Louis Small Business Monthly

 

Your worst nightmare

Published May 19, 2008 humility , leadership , sustainability 1 Comment
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What is the one thing that’s holding you back from making more sales or taking your business to the next level?

Take your time to answer this. Get out a sheet of paper and write it down. Got one?

I have good news and bad news. The good news is you can take that piece of paper, roll it up really tight and…recycle it. Your biggest problem or obstacle that is holding back your business was not on that sheet.

Here comes the bad news. Find a reflective surface. Look closely, and you will get an image of the bad news. The bad news is: you. You are the problem.

You are not a victim of a bad market. You do not desperately need more capital. You do not lack the knowledge and skill to run your business. Your biggest problem is not your problem. It is only the budding flower of what lies at the root of the issue…beneath the surface.

While it can take on many forms, this root mass can be summed up in one word: fear. 

So, if the real problem lies beneath the surface, how are we to examine it? And what good does this do my business?

The first step is to fetch that sheet of paper back out of the recycle bin. This time, instead of seeing it as an obstacle, look at it as an opportunity to find out something new about you and your business. 

What is behind this supposed roadblock is an entire inventory that most people never fully count. If a business hopes to succeed, it must know every piece of its inventory. This includes the stuff that you can’t see in your storage room.

As a person who was part of a start-up-gone-down, the only way that I have found this inventory can be fully accomplished is by making my business life an open book with at least one other person—preferably someone who has what I want in life and business. 

All of this would be hopeless and academic if I had not gone through this process myself with one of my business mentors. He was able to take an objective look at how I was running my professional life and find more fears than I ever thought I had in stock. 

My fear of rejection paralyzes me from setting up appointments. My fear of what clients may think of me forces me to create unrealistic expectations on my behavior and causes me to overreact to the simplest of errors. There are more. Many more.

Sharing these fears with another trusted business adviser does not make them go away forever, but I begin to gain a new perspective on them. I become less attached to the fear and am able to relate to others in a more meaningful way since I know who I am more fully.

With this footing, it has been my experience that entrepreneurs can meet those same daunting problems outlined on that first sheet of paper and see them as challenges or opportunities for growth. They also point to strengths that I have as Dave Rendall so clearly points out in his manifesto.

The market will continue to be volatile…or not. Life and business will continue to ebb and flow. Sales will continue to slump from time to time. But, none of those things need to be seen as threats to your business. They are new challenges that can now be met with a better understanding of who you are, who you are not and why you are in business.

HOMEWORK

Take out that sheet of paper, but this time ask yourself:

  • When am I quick to blame others for my perceived lack of success?
  • How much power do I give outside circumstances in running my business?
  • When do I limit myself from having the success that I know I can have?

If you get this all figured out, shoot me an email.  I could use your advice.

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Jeremy Nulik, Creative Energy Officer (CEO), St. Louis Small Business Monthly

A framework for innovation

Published May 16, 2008 business , creativity , entrepreneurship , innovation , leadership , sustainability Leave a Comment
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As a species, it is in our nature to adapt. That, along with the whole opposable thumb thing, has lead to incredible creation and innovation.

However, there are people like me stuck in today’s world of rapid innovations that constantly find themselves saying, “I don’t get it.” If my brain has any “elasticity,” then I am feeling it stretched to the brink.

This pain point is an awesome opportunity for entrepreneurs to design ways to interpret this constant innovation.

I ran across an article in Seed magazine that discusses the importance of elasticity and design as it relates to creativity in today’s culture (I know it’s a bit long, but, dammit, it’s worth it):

Adaptability is an ancestral distinction of human intelligence, but today’s instant variations in rhythm call for something stronger: elasticity. The by-product of adaptability and acceleration, elasticity means being able to negotiate change and innovation without letting them interfere excessively with one’s own rhythms and goals. It means being able to embrace progress, understanding how to make it our own. One of design’s most fundamental tasks is to help people deal with change. Designers have the ability to grasp momentous changes in technology, science, and social mores and to convert them into objects and ideas that people can understand and use. Without designers, instead of a virtual city of home pages with windows, doors, buttons, and links, the internet would still be a series of obscure strings of code, and appliances would be reduced to standardized skeletons of functions.”

What does this mean for leaders of businesses and organizations?

To thrive in today’s marketplace of ideas – entrepreneurs, leaders and professionals need to understand the importance that design language plays in relation to innovation and creativity. The sheer amount of innovation is too much. If you can offer people a framework through which they can view, categorize and better understand it, then you will thrive.

I don’t think that this means that we need to run out tomorrow and become “designers.” What this means is that the framework is actually equally important to the content of innovation. Teach someone how to interpret all this data in a different way that helps them solve problems or achieve greater success, and you are bound to succeed far better yourself.

Great companies that I talk with have an interesting view of change. They understand its importance in sustainability, however, even more importantly, they had a purpose – a clear design – that allowed for change to be interpreted. The struggle is in making the design clear and understandable – making it sticky enough so it can be applied.

HOMEWORK

If you want to see someone who is really shaking things up with visual thinking, then check out XPLANE CEO David Gray’s blog. Through visual thinking, people are given a framework to interpret change. My friend, Matt Homann works there are well and doesn’t do such a bad job at blogging either.

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Jeremy Nulik, Creative Energy Officer (CEO), St. Louis Small Business Monthly

It really is all “about you”

Published May 14, 2008 business , creativity , customer service , humility , leadership , marketing 1 Comment
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So, they (whoever they are) say that you should give credit for using someone else’s words or ideas the first couple of times you use them and then, after that, those ideas are yours.

One idea that is not quite mine yet is the About You page. I shamelessly stole this idea from my friend Adam. He writes about my theivery here. I got the idea from a story that he wrote for the Small Business Monthly.

Here is what creating an About You page did for me and what it can do for you or your company’s literature:

  • Took my eyes off me. So many times, when I am asked to talk about myself, it tends to make me uncomfortable. Rather than put myself or my company through the interview process or discuss features and benefits of Jeremy, Inc., I would rather think about you. It puts me at ease.
  • Made me think about who you really are. This exercise forced me to think in some detail about who in world would find value in something like this blog. The “about you” exercise has given me a framework for what to leave out of the blog as much as it has informed what to include.
  • Gave me the perfect forum to talk about me since I’m talking about you. The things that I say about you actually tell you more about me than if I just tried to write about myself (if you followed all of that, then you may need some psychiatric help…don’t worry, I know someone). You get to know me better by my description of you and the things I value about you.

This simple exercise has broad applications for companies and organizations. At the outset of a project, website, new product or service, ask yourself what information would be on the “about you” page. Who is this serving? Who would find value in this?

Stephen Covey says to “Begin with the end-goal in mind” and the “about you” execise does just that. It forces you, your team or organization to look outward to what effect you hope to achieve by first figuring out who it is for.

Having the humility to take the eyes off yourself and think about your target audience – their fears, desires and needs – can do nothing but make your next idea or project more successful.

Thanks, Adam. Keep the good ideas coming. There are plenty of theives like me willing to harvest.

HOMEWORK

The next time you feel the urge to start a new project, whip out a blank piece of paper and a No. 2 pencil. Begin to write the About You page for that particular idea. The real strength of the “about you” exercise comes from the process of doing it. Your customers, readers or team members will thank you.

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Jeremy Nulik, Creative Energy Officer (CEO), St. Louis Small Business Monthly

Are you the boss that sucks?

Published May 12, 2008 business , followership , leadership Leave a Comment
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People like me (who tend to be unemployable) usually have a nice potpourri of work experience.

Over my illustrious career life, I have cut grass, tutored students, shoveled pig manure, written advertising copy, installed flooring, bartended (what literature major hasn’t?), delivered pizza, taught high school classes, sold shoes, gone door-to-door selling restaurant coupons, etc.

As diverse as this “training” has been, one thing has always been true: I hated it. Almost every single minute of every job. It sucked.

Here’s the good news: I was in the majority.

Some studies rank job dissatisfaction as high as 75%, and Gallup estimates the cost of this unhappy workforce at more than $350 billion in lost productivity.

Outside of the lost productivity, these people go home to children, spouses, partners, brothers, friends, fellow freeway drivers and the whole community with a downtrodden outlook.

These costs are quite alarming.

Business leaders bear a great deal of responsibility for this current state of job satisfaction. In fact, most people say that it is their direct manager that has the most influence over their feelings about work. Their manager’s attitude, opinion, outlook and feedback trump pay, health benefits, job perks, etc.

So what makes a job great, and how can we create a sense of satisfaction for our respective teams?

Patrick Lencioni, president of The Table Group (consulting firm), starts by taking the opposite tack. Instead of focusing on good or bad jobs, he looks at what makes jobs “miserable.”

“A miserable job is not the same as a bad one. A bad job lies in the eye of the beholder,” says Lencioni. “One person’s dream job might be another person’s nightmare. But a miserable job is universal.”

Here is a brief synopsis of Lencioni’s 3 signs of a universally miserable job:

  • Anonymity -People are people regardless of their position or authority. They should be treated as equals, and leaders need to learn about and appreciate their team on the level of personhood. They need to know that you genuinely care.
  • Irrelevance -Why does my job matter? Everyone wants to know that. If they don’t know what effect their contribution has, then they can’t love their job.
  • Immeasurement – Everyone on your team needs to be able to gauge their progress outside of your subjective, “atta-boy” comments. What ways can your team objectively analyze their progress?

Why should leaders care?

Because a miserable job is costly for everybody. Fulfilling employment gives people hope and purpose. This leads the way into better communities. So, really, it is nothing outside of our civic duty to provide places of nonmiserable employment.

HOMEWORK

Which signs is your team exhibiting? Since most people are unsatisfied with their work, make certain that the largest hurdle to their personal satisfaction is not you. Find ways to get to know your team. Help them understand that what they do matters and allow them to measure their own progress and improvement.

EXTRA CREDIT

The first time I read this list, I thought, “Well, duh. Of course people need to feel like they matter, their job matters, and they need to know how to measure their progress.” But, 75% of employed folks aren’t happy. So my question for you is: Why aren’t most employers and managers making sure their team is nonmiserable?

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Jeremy Nulik, Creative Energy Officer (CEO), St. Louis Small Business Monthly

Comfortably Uncomfortable or The Way to Innovative Thinking

Published May 11, 2008 business , competition , creativity , innovation , sustainability 2 Comments
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According to most business books and business geeks out there, the only sure-fire way to create a new sustainable business is by changing the game. Instead of competing with business-as-usual, you must create a new playing field.

Easier said than done. Many of us would love to be the craigslist of our respective businesses, but there is something that holds us back. What is it?

Out of my experience and conversations with business leaders, it appears the real battleground for innovation occurs inside our own minds. We are only as limited as they allow. So, how creative are we really? How can we break through the bondage of our own thinking?

My friend, Adam, sent me a link to a NY Times article on how the physical human brain works. Some of the findings speak volumes as to why it is that innovation is difficult and why it is that (even at our most “creative” of times) we have a hard time truly thinking differently. According to the article:

The first thing needed for innovation is a fascination with wonder,” says Dawna Markova, author of “The Open Mind” and an executive change consultant for Professional Thinking Partners. “But we are taught instead to ‘decide,’ just as our president calls himself ‘the Decider.’ ” She adds, however, that “to decide is to kill off all possibilities but one. A good innovational thinker is always exploring the many other possibilities.”

The article goes on to explain that once a certain way of thinking is established in the mind, there is no way to dispose of it. The best that we can do is to try to create a bypass around this old habit with new ones. The benefits are endless.

What if Google saw itself as a search engine? What if ING Direct saw itself as another online bank?

They could have tried to play by the established rules and created yet another separate-but-equal option for consumers.

Instead, these companies chose to create a new habit. New playing fields. New categories. They did so by being willing to be unsure or uncomfortable for a period of time. Putting fears aside and being true innovators or explorers created their enormous success.

Our training tells us to be a decider. To appear sure and self-confident. However, how would it look for us to constantly question, pick apart and seek out new ways of exploring our world?

We must be comfortably uncomfortable to unlock the mind’s potential and create sustainable ideas with execution.

You cannot have innovation,” [Markova] adds, “unless you are willing and able to move through the unknown and go from curiosity to wonder.”

HOMEWORK

What assumptions are you making about yourself or your business? Next time you run into a challenge or problem, say this to yourself: “I will see (insert problem) in new ways.” This is but a beginning, but I can guarantee that if you practice this in your daily life, you will begin to see prodiguous results. Write to me and tell me some of them.

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Jeremy Nulik, Creative Energy Officer (CEO), St. Louis Small Business Monthly

Humbly move forward…

Published May 8, 2008 authenticity , business , followership , humility , leadership Leave a Comment
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The press, organizations, sports teams and even faith communities tend to give many accolades to the individual. For some reason, we have confused respect for individual talents and gifts with the idea that we need to hold up individuals as more important than an organization or movement.

While leaders are important and accomplishments should be recognized, I think that this has lead to an ego-feeding sickness. Look no farther than the Kobe Bryant’s or Terrell Owen’s of professional sports.

Leaders and top performers are no more important than any one else in the organization or team.

Here are (failed) attempts at humility on the part of business leaders that I have talked to:

  • “Our receptionist is the most important person in the organization.” No. Simply untrue. An attempt to hold her in high regard is really your way of saying that she actually needs that approval. She is no more or less important than anyone else.
  • “I have an open door policy. I mean, we are all about team here.” If you have to say it, then it is, most likely, not the case. I walk around with this same owner and his employees glare at him with the disdain of a mother-in-law. If you have to do a lot of “team building” rah-rah seminars, then you are probably not working as a team. The major block to that happening could be weak leadership.
  • We care about our employees by giving them birthday cards and throwing holiday parties. These are good things, but they are empty and frothy if a true investment in others is not there. If this is your example of caring and creating a team environment, then such an environment does not exist.

The costs associated with not building leadership are incredible. All of the time and investment required to find new people is not worth it. The tools are there. It takes a leader to recognize strengths and build on them in a way that highlights team success.

Here is a quote from an admired business owner that I think draws the best line between humility and ambition within the context of building team leadership:

You really are working and living for something greater than yourself, for whom selfishness has no place and hope requires strategic action. Behave accordingly. Humbly move forward knowing it is not about you but your impact upon others. Make your impact a positive one wherever possible. Give more than you receive, expecting nothing in return, because others will have to account for their actions or lack thereof. ‘Doing right’ often will not have support from others, but do it anyway. Have vision, share it and move decisively towards it by doing the right things for the right reasons, knowing that every decision has consequences. Seek decisions that result in positive consequences for the long haul.”

—Brenda Newberry, president, The Newberry Group

There are no excuses for not executing vision and doing things right. However, doing things right does not mean forsaking others. By duplicating yourself, you create a group of people ready to be leaders in their own right.

The Newberry Group recently took this to another level when Brenda and Maurice Newberry decided to turn the company over to the employees. Brenda’s wisdom is evident in her decisions and not so much in what she says. She created enough leadership within her organization to trust her creation to the hands of her employees. She knows that it is not about her but her impact upon others that makes her successful.

HOMEWORK

Ask yourself, in what ways am I faking humility to gain favor of others or to manipulate employees? If you can find some, then welcome to the human race. Once it is recognized, understand that you will never be as successful as you hope to be until you can create success for others.

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Jeremy Nulik, Creative Energy Officer (CEO), St. Louis Small Business Monthly

The strength of weaknesses

Published May 6, 2008 business , humility , leadership , sustainability Leave a Comment
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Failure has a hard time of it in our world. Generally, people are not quick to regard some of their experiences as failures even when it is clear that none of the original objectives were met and people suffered. It is called loss.

I know that when I have failed that I tend to look at what personal liabilities or weaknesses led to that conclusion. This practice, in itself, is a good step, but most folks (like me) stop there. If we do continue, we tend to look for ways to cover up or rid ourselves of this liability. (Oh, gully. We lost out on that account because I was unorganized. I need to work on my organization and next time, we’ll get better.)

This thinking is totally inane, unproductive and wrong…according to Dave Rendall, author, professor and speaker, in his Freak Factor Blog. Instead, Rendall proposes that professionals and business leaders should be using their list of weaknesses as clues to what will make me stronger and more successful.

Some of the most compelling points of Dave’s ideas:

  • Your flaws are clues to your real strengths.
  • There is nothing wrong with you. Everyone has weaknesses.
  • You cannot do both: strength building and weakness elimination.
  • Being “well-rounded” makes you mediocre.
  • Seek out the situations or opportunities that will build you up on your strengths.
  • As a manager…DON’T try to change people. They are freaks, too. Find the situations and opportunities for them to build on strengths.

This counterintuitive approach makes sense from application in my life. I think that I have beat my head against the wall on many issues. Really, when it comes down to it, I have seen some of my biggest flaws generate success. It allows me to be real and share a story.

Here is the link to Dave Rendall’s Manifesto. It is worth the few minutes it will take to read it.

HOMEWORK

Find what stengths you have that offset your supposed weakness.

EXTRA CREDIT

How can you inspire those that you lead to do the same?

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Jeremy Nulik, Creative Energy Officer (CEO), St. Louis Small Business Monthly

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Alltop, all the cool kids (and me)

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