Posts Tagged ‘Action’

If we examine our life, we have some areas which are not the way we want them to be. For example, we want to move ahead in our career but we are stuck at the same position, Things don’t happen the way we want them to happen. Why?, It is because we have not genuinely accepted this as a problem and have not taken full responsibility for it. We may think we took responsibility but we don’t. The good news is it is very easy to find out if we are genuinely taking responsibility and the test is rooted in action. The test is simply to notice if we are acting or reacting. The former resides in the land of ‘taking responsibility’ and the latter does not.

In reading about countless successful people, I have noticed that they move things forward to produce the situations they want.

In other words they become a “cause in the matter” i.e they cause things to happen. Once we know that we are the “cause in the matter”… opportunities that we were blind to before will start to appear, they appear because , now we are looking for them. For example, when you drive today, decide to enjoy the roads, the scenery along the way.. and for this trip stop thinking about anything. I bet even if you have been driving for a few years, in this trip you will “notice” new things that you never saw before… even though the driving route is the same, the car is the same, the destination is the same and even the components of the scenery are the same (they have always been there!)

Go ahead, Be a causer and drifting will never happen.

P.S. Thanks to landmark Education for the distinction “Cause in the matter”.

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Tagged as: Action, active garage, cause, cause in the matter, distinction, landmark education, life, notice, reaction, vijay peduru

Are you feeling helpless?

by Vijay Peduru, Feb 15, 2010

Going through the same situation repeatedly, unable to control it, and accepting to suffer through it is called Learned Helplessness. Once you understand this important distinction, you can recognize the situation and take action to unlearn it. Vijay illustrates this with an example of an experiment conducted on dogs by Martin Seligson, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of several books including “Learned Optimism”. more…

Change Management #4 – People: Building a team with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

by Gary Monti, Feb 16, 2010

Implementing change in an organization will bring out the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personas of the team members. This is part of human nature and if you do not plan for this, you will face serious problems reaching your goals. Your leadership is what will help keep the project on track. Gary provides several tips to help you understand the risk and navigate the terrain. more…

Commitments Change Over Time

by Guy Ralfe, Feb 17, 2010

One of the fundamental requirements for increasing our power and value in the marketplace is our ability to make and keep promises and commitments. A promise or commitment is between two parties. And each of them is locked into their stories viewed through their eyes. Between the time a promise is made and it is fulfilled, situations will change for both parties. It is essential to maintain the story for both parties through time or commitments will fail. more…

Selecting a Business Valuation expert

by Steve Popell, Feb 18, 2010

There are myriad reasons why the owner of a privately held company may want or need to have the company valued. Regardless of the reason, finding the right expert will pay off in the quality and utility of the opinion. In this article, Steve offers the criteria for assessment and gives some tips on how to ground your assessments. more…

Author’s Journey #9 – Cultivating the habits of writing success

by Roger Parker, Feb 19, 2010

Essential habits for writing success are Targeting, Positioning and Efficiency. In this article Roger describes how he put this theory to practice when writing his next book #Book Title Tweet: 140 Bite-Sized Ideas for Article, Book, and Event Titles. more…

Tagged as: Action, active garage, business, Business Strategy, Business Valuation, gary monti, Guy Ralfe, Project Management, roger parker, steve popell, vijay peduru, writing, Writing for Business, www.activegarage.com

Making and fulfilling commitments is the only way by which we can accumulate power and produce an identity in the marketplace which to a large part determines our value in the marketplace. Commitments (promises) are such a cornerstone to our lives yet we often pay little attention to how we manage them.

Business is about people making promises and accepting commitments, through conversations of action in their lives. Yes there are loads of conversations that take place around the water cooler, but until they turn into something you care about, those conversations will not be contributing to building your identity and power, most of these are just expressive.

Managing and keeping our commitments is fundamental to our personal business success, first we start by trying to memorize our commitments. But the more complex our requests become we need to seek out tools to help us manage such as calendars, notebooks, software. With even more complexity and number we outgrow our tools and hire PA’s /Assistants to help us. When this is not enough we hire more people to make more commitments on our behalf which then becomes the enterprise organization – the business, our power.

Thankfully the map of a conversation for action was mapped out by Terry Winograd and Fernando Flores back in 1986 in their book Understanding Computers and Cognition.

There are only a set number of possibilities at each stage of a conversation, which would lead you to believe this would be easy. However for a conversation to have been successful it needs to have been fulfilled and produced an assessment of satisfaction for the requester after completion.

This is where I witness the challenge coming into business. Time as always is the culprit, and we as humans living in a world of our own stories, see the world as a reflection of our moods and circumstances at any point in time. No matter how well a request is made and accepted between a requester and supplier, over time both will be in different situations from which to assess the commitment and this can lead to many breakdowns.

It is a bit like taking my child to the toy store and asking him which toy would he chose if he could have one choice. In the aisle that we are in he will find the best toy he can see based on his current criteria and space. With the toy locked under his arm we then move off and walk into the next isle, suddenly the toy will be dropped and a new one snapped up – as his circumstances change.

The point here is that just because you have made a request and received a promise or commitment to fulfill, you have to maintain the story for both parties or commitments will fail. Another point to watch out is that we talk of conversations for ACTION – Actions is what produces satisfactory outcomes, lookout for inconsistencies in actions. Such an example would be a client requesting a tightly managed project however they will not commit to signing a scope document…

Tagged as: Action, active garage, Commitments, Communication, conditions of satisfaction, execution, Guy Ralfe, Identity, promises, www.activegarage.com

Your journey through change can have a great deal in common with the experiences of Dr. Jekyll’s friend, Mr. Utterson from Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Mysterious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Like Utterson, you see strange behaviors emanate from areas managed by people whom you’ve come to know and trust. At first there is a wondering if some outside force is affecting the person. A concern, a desire to check in and offer help sets in. Eventually the awareness develops that the strange behavior is coming from the trusted person himself.

Your plate was already full with external challenges. Now the human terrain in your organization is changing as well! (For more on terrain changes see the Leadership blog ). Let’s briefly explore this human terrain and examine Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde, their dilemma, and possible solutions.

Dr. Jekyll

Normally, we all want to do well and fit in socially. We are wired that way at birth. An interesting twist to that wiring is it varies from person to person. We each are whole and have free will but we have a neurological bias towards how we see the world and process information. This means some tasks we take to naturally and others are more challenging.

For example, one person may be great with big ideas while another person excels at running things on a day-to-day basis. If we are lucky the parts of our psyche where we excel are consistent with what our parents, teachers, etc., consider good and get emphasized. That is Dr. Jekyll. He feels complete.

We launch our career and settle down to a particular life style through which we move as Dr. Jekyll. But what about those other parts? Do they just lie around? Hmmm…let’s explore.

Mr. Hyde

While Dr. Jekyll is developing, the undesirable or more challenging parts get pushed into the shadows as if they never existed. That is the Mr. Hyde. The longer Mr. Hyde is pushed down the greater the fear associated with using those traits.  Remember, Dr. Jekyll feels complete and in control. To compound things, the developing Mr. Hyde takes extra effort since traits are weak from under-development. The stage is set for the dilemma.

The Dilemma

People tend to migrate to positions emphasizing their Dr. Jekyll. It can be very upsetting when the business demands complex changes requiring Mr. Hyde to be invited to join the team.

Take the Dr. Jekyll examples from before. A team member may simply want to know what the rules are and his eyes glaze over at the thought of a strategy meeting. A manager excellent at strategizing gets bored with details.  Neither cares much for how the other operates. This aggravates you because with complex terrain changes you need associates to understand and work with each other – to at least see things through the other person’s eyes.

The Solution

The solution lies in your leadership. You may recall the executive map, compass and navigation method from the previously-mentioned Leadership blog. Navigating changing business terrains require everyone’s eyes and ears to build a credible map and plan. There is no telling what will be the source of valuable information. Blind spots are the kiss of death. Cross-training will help immensely.

Using the magnetic north of your executive compass, values and beliefs, can help. If associates have the same magnetic north then tap the bond present. Use the positive stress of what they can achieve to encourage them to overcome the negative stress of bringing Mr. Hyde out of the shadows.

Timing is important. Decisions must be made. Similar to the samurai in Morphing Organizations post your best decisions flow from a detached, empathetic awareness of the overall picture.

Determine the limits of what you can risk. With limited resources the solution will probably comprise some combination of:

• Supporting individuals in bringing more of the positive aspects of Mr. Hyde’s skills to the table;
• Adjusting the timetable for achieving goals to match the rate of change people can sustain;
• Bringing in outside resources to replace or augment current team members;
• Deciding to cancel or delay achieving some goals because the terrain is shifting too fast or the opportunity will disappear by the time the team is ready to work;
• What could be most harrowing and exciting, jumping to a new business terrain.

There are threats and opportunities associated with all these strategies. By sticking with your values and beliefs a plan will show itself.

In the next blog tips will be presented for creating a successful project.

I find this topic fascinating. If you do too and would care to comment or would like more information send me an e-mail at gwmonti@mac.com or go to www.ctrchg.com.

Tagged as: Action, active garage, business, Business Management, business planning, Business Strategy, Dr. Jekyll, leaders, Leadership, management, Mr. Hyde, possibilities, Strategy

I have been riding the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Commuter rail service for 5 years and the service has not changed much in this time, but year on year the cost of a ticket rises, often more than inflation. In addition the daily parking rates received a 100% increase a year ago supposedly to help cover MBTA staff costs and yet the only way you can pay at most stations is by stuffing one dollar bills through a slot – no monthly contracts, pay by credit card etc that are commonly available in many municipal parking lots across the country.

I am moaning but I am trying to make a point here too – on February 1, 2010 a new rule has been put in place where commuters must only board where there is a conductor present. In effect about a 30% reduction in the number of places to board a train that already only has an entrance at each end of the carriage. I doubt in the history of rail service, its  origins date back to 1889, has this situation ever been the case and it is sad that our modern day educated commuter cannot let themselves on or off a train unescorted.

Most commuter systems around the world are being redesigned to eliminate the human element and to abstract the ticket management to before the actual commute, which is the prime purpose of the conductors on the MBTA. Even the T, the metro system in Boston, running alongside this same service operates with just a driver.

What I observe happening is that people with power today are making decisions because they operate in the vacuum of state/municipal organization, thinking they are immune to the consequences of the value their organization produces. At the end of the day the leaders of the MBTA are exposed to the same market pressures as any other free market business.  When the marginal utility or value does not exist passengers will consider alternative means of transport – it has happened before. When the cost of operation exceeds the value paid by customers and from the state taxes, it will draw significant attention by both disgruntled commuters and non-commuters who will see it as a waste of their tax dollars. It will not be perceived as a necessity but a problem.

Where there are problems there are opportunities… successful businesses thrive on the vulnerability of these sorts of problems. When opportunistic businesses, observe organizations entwined by their own history, they quickly swoop in with fresh ideas not constrained by the existing historical standards and cultures. Today’s impossibilities will become tomorrow’s opportunities. These options will sound welcoming and fresh to a disgruntled commuter and tax base. Although things generally move slowly in state/municipal processes once a movement starts it is hard to stop the momentum of the masses.

When this shift takes place it will become quickly apparent that even the state/municipal organizations are competing in a global marketplace irrespective of if the infrastructure is immovable such as in a train infrastructure. People and organizational practices can always be changed – it depends who holds the most compelling and valuable story at the time, which is what business is essentially. There are many transport service companies all over the globe that given the opportunity, and having no sentiment for existing established policies or traditions, will gladly start anew – possibly without a conductor or possibly one to keep all the doors open for their valued customers.

No customers  = no service, the value has to be there, and if you are not producing value with existing assets and opportunities there are a lot of companies out there determined to make better use of established assets like a rail network. Of late has been the acquisition by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway investment company of Burlington Northern Santa Fe, the nation’s second-largest railroad for $34 Billion, their biggest acquisition yet.

Surprisingly this lesson has not been learned by the MBTA where this situation has already transpired in Boston’s Transportation History to quote

“The West End Street Railway had a virtual monopoly on all streetcar lines in greater Boston, but high profits, poor service, high fares and a general lack of concern for the public had resulted in alienation of the West End’s management from its customers. On December 9, 1897, under the supervision of the Transit Commission, a lease was entered into with the West End Street Railway by which the property of that company was leased to the Boston Elevated Railway Company”

Remember I told you so!

Tagged as: Action, active garage, business opportunity, Business Strategy, competition, competitors, Customer Service, execution, Guy Ralfe, services, takeover, value

As we enter this jobless recovery in 2010, it won’t be big business that will pick up the economy.  Once again, it will be the small business entrepreneurs.  News agencies and financial firms follow what the CEO’s of major firms foresee for 2010 to see when the light at the end of the tunnel will become visible.  What many people don’t realize is that small businesses employ over half of all private sector employees and generated 64 percent of net new jobs over the past 15 years.  It is small businesses and entrepreneurs who will bring us out of this slump.

While the days of working for one employer during your professional career are long over, big business continues to squeeze more perks out of their employees to cut expenses. Almost a third of Fortune 1000 companies have now frozen their pension plans in an effort to control expenses. US wages and salaries rose at record lows according to the Labor Department in 2009.  Over the past 12 months, wages and salaries only rose 1.5 percent making it the lowest increase since the figures started to be collected in 1982.

Wages for non-managerial workers have fallen by 1.4 percent so far this year, according to an article in USA Today, and are on track for even further declines. The official unemployment rate has reached 9.8 percent, and when one takes into account discouraged workers and people who are underemployed, it is at 17 percent, possibly higher.  And for 2010, while more employers state that they will be hiring more employees, it’s nothing to write home about as it’s not much higher than 2009.

With the marketplace now changing faster than ever and forcing businesses to adapt more quickly, more employers will have to rethink their hiring efforts as they look to their employees to be more flexible as well.  This request from big business employers to employees for flexibility will be: increasing and decreasing work hours depending on demand; the continued request to do-more-for-less; continue to learn new skills.  How do you think employees are reacting to this?  According to a survey of 2900 companies done by Careerbuilder.com revealed that nearly a quarter of them rate their organization’s morale as low.  So what can you do during these tough economic times?  You can be thankful that you have a job and suck it up or you can make a change.

Recently a good friend of mine told me that he was considering quitting his corporate job in the northeast and moving to the mid-west to help a family member of his grow his small business and take it to the next level.  While he would initially be taking a pay cut, the opportunity for growth and exceeding his income today is enormous, but he worries about leaving his “comfortable” corporate job.  He called me to ask me for my opinion.  I told him that there are risks in working for a small business, or for that matter, helping to start one, but in today’s uncertain economy, there aren’t any more uncertainties working for big business as there are working for a small company.  The difference, I told him, is that there will be nothing more fulfilling than creating something that is his and being in control of his financial destiny.  I asked him what he’s waiting for and when he’s leaving to start his new journey.  I hope it’s soon.

So ask yourself, “Am I happy?” or, “Is my career/job fulfilling?” If not, then what are you waiting for to change it?

Tagged as: Action, active garage, business, Business Strategy, Communication, destiny, entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, execution, http://activegarage.com, Leadership, management, possibilities, purpose, Robert Driscoll, Strategy, www.activegarage.com

For many it is performance appraisal time of year, a time of reflection and setting of goals for the coming year. It is a frantic time as everyone digs deep to recall the goings on of the past 12 months. The net result is that employees are really only as good as the most recent performances their manager can recall at the time of the interview.

At the same time bonus packages are being calculated and targets adjusted for the coming year. This measure is usually computed month over month and so it does amass the individuals performance over the period. The trouble though, is that employees only appear to be conscious of this metric for the last 6 weeks of any bonus period as it is usually in this time frame they then can comprehend the chances of achieving their targets and gaining the benefit of a financial bonus.

For all the effort placed into the Appraisal and Bonus process it yields a relatively low return.

I read a quote made by Jacqueline Novogratz in her contribution on Dignity in the ebook What matters Now released here on Active Garage.

Motivating individuals and aligning an organization is a difficult task at best, but if we think about it in the context of Jacqueline’s quote, making the goals and performance metrics to support building an individual’s dignity we could better produce the longer term objectives the appraisal process sets out to achieve for the organization and the individual. Today’s process supports the survival approach to objectives, not the fostering, growing and building produced through teaching someone how to do something.

Here are a few thoughts I had to create such a situation:

1. Shorter time frames – measure and reward on a quarterly basis. Building dignity repeatedly will enforce the behavior.
2. Center goals around the employee – focus on the employees ambitions and align the organizational metrics to that. When you are hungry you look for food, associate the corporate goals with the food and you will get a person working to take care of themselves and as a result the organization at the same time.
3. Formulate don’t deliver/direct – mandating a goal is the same as being given something and not knowing how to fend for it again. Formulate a plan in a way that you educate how to attain the goal without directing to the goal. This produces stimulation, thought and learning which will go a long way to help individuals fend for themselves and the organization in the future.
4. Social Dignity – we are all social by nature and need our networks to survive. Produce situations of dignity for the individual in their social network, at work or at play, will increase their stature as a result of attaining their goals.

Being human is to take care of ourselves first, look to that to produce better results from your employees and your organization.

Tagged as: Action, active garage, appraisal, Business Management, Guy Ralfe, Innovation, motivation, organization, performance, purpose, resource management

Portfolio management is a critical activity for any business leader, be it a General Manager or a Venture Capitalist.  This article offers a case study on portfolio management with a focus on value-net¹ and the economic value of portfolio companies. The intent is to provide an analysis of the portfolio that can serve as the basis for growth strategy.

The Value-Net¹:

The success of any business initiative depends on the value delivered to its customers. While immediate customers are important for near-term growth, the long-term viability of a company hinges on the value delivered to eventual customers, i.e. customer’s customer.  Hence a view of how you serve your eventual customers is important in portfolio management. Several business entities, called value-net¹ partners, are involved in the process of delivering value to end customers.

The Portfolio:

Rajesh Setty is a successful CEO and now a venture capitalist with a growing portfolio of companies.

Following is a brief description of 3 of his portfolio companies:

• ContentKing²:

An innovative approach to solving the content marketing challenges. Content such as white paper and ebooks are better managed to ensure that it is efficiently delivered to the target audience. Since the company is still in a stealth mode, a fictitious name, ContentKing, is used.

• Jiffle³ :

Jiffle brings efficiency and intelligence to event marketing activities.  It offers a simple and intuitive web portal for event managers to schedule and manage client engagements at events.  In addition, customers can generate various reports on the efficacy of their participation at various events by product line, region, etc.

• iCharts⁴ :

iCharts business service allows one to easily build sophisticated, searchable online charts. iCharts makes it easy for customers, journalists and others to find, reuse and republish your data — helping proliferation of your data across the web.

Analysis of the above portfolio companies highlighted a common theme in their value proposition. There were opportunities for collaboration among portfolio companies and also opportunities to expand the value range of services.

A common theme among the 3 portfolio companies is that their immediate customers are demand generation teams.  Hence these 3 portfolio companies influence the adoption of product/service by the eventual customers. However they are at different stages of the AIDA – Marketing model⁵.

AIDA – Model ⁵:

There are 4 stages in the AIDA model – Awareness, Interest, Desire and Action.  A customer first has to be aware of the existence of the product then be interested in learning more about the product, then have the desire/need to buy the product and eventually be convinced that it is the right product in order to buy it. Support is added as the last stage by some marketing professionals. Different tools, tactics and activities are required to be effective at each of the stages.

The dynamics of each of the stages in the AIDA model are different. As you progress from Awareness to Action, the number leads decreases while the cost per lead increases. The following is an illustration of this dynamics. The numbers in figure 1 and 2 illustrate the relative scales. The actual value varies by product and industry.

Figure 1

Mapping the Portfolio on the AIDA Model:

The 3 portfolio companies are mapped on the AIDA model in figure 2. The immediate target customers are listed below the portfolio company. Finally, the Assets/Capabilities of the VC, Rajesh Setty, is also mapped to highlight the investor’s affinity to their domain expertise.

iCharts⁴ is at the cusp between Awareness and Interest. The interactive charts not only build awareness to a company’s offering but also generate interest in the offering by providing interactive charts that offer more details. ContentKing² deals with whitepapers and eBooks, hence heavily in the interest phase. Jiffle³ is placed in the Decision stage but can play well into the action phase. The meetings at conferences and tradeshows influence the decision and at time deals are closed at these meetings.

Figure 2

The Conclusion:

The mapping in Figure 2 provides a bird’s eye view of the strategic position of the portfolio companies in the AIDA model. This can serve as the foundation to develop strategic growth initiatives for the individual companies as well as help VCs manage their portfolio companies.

Considering the price per lead at each stage of the AIDA model, one can get a sense of the valuation as well as revenue potential of the portfolio companies. The portfolio manger can evaluate collaboration opportunities among the portfolio companies and also opportunities to invest in new companies.

The individual portfolio companies can brainstorm whether it makes strategic sense to expand along the AIDA model. It also forces the portfolio companies to think beyond their immediate customers by engaging in initiatives and partnerships to help product/services companies in their pursuit to close sales.

Note:

1. Value Net:
   • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_network
   • Brandenburger, A. M. and B. J. Nalebuff. “The Right Game: Use Game Theory to Shape Strategy,” Harvard Business Review, July – August 1995
2. ContentKing: http://www.rajeshsetty.com (watch the URL for announcements)
3. Jiffle: http://www.jifflenow.com
4. iCharts: http://www.ichartsbusiness.com
5. AIDA Model:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIDA_(marketing)

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Tagged as: Action, active garage, ADIA Model, AIDA, awareness, case study, content king, cost, customers, Desire, ibm, icharts, industry, Interest, jiffle, mapping, portfolio management, product, product adoption cycle, Rajesh Setty, sanjai marimadaiah, value proposition, value-net

This post is inspired by Tom Peters. In fact I have taken the topic of this post from Tom’s write-up on “Excellence” straight from the free e-book “What Matters Now” that Seth Godin recently released on his blog and a number of other sites (including Active Garage).

I fell in love with this quote as soon as I saw it and was deeply moved by all that it could mean. Here are a few that got triggered in my thinking:

1. It challenges mediocrity at all levels… because mediocrity deals with accepting what is, as-is. Being in status-quo. Adjusting. Compromising. Coping.  Mediocrity does not produce stellar results. It always produces the same, common result and thus gets priced in the marketplace. That’d explain the gap between the movers and shakers, and the common people.
2. Call for Action: It is a beautifully constructed statement that clearly Calls for Action. Nothing happens without action… Nothing that you intended, actually.
3. It is Purposeful: It is Purposeful, in that, it is a step that needs to be taken in order to do something new.
4. It is a Precursor to Creating: Without creating a space where something new can be brought about, no creation is possible. In other words, until the old takes up the space, the new cannot get in!
5. It is Risky! – Yes, it is… because it will take us to the unknown. But, the unknown is not always undesirable. Just ask Christopher Columbus OR Albert Einstein OR Yourself (when you last stepped into the unknown)

I invite you to reflect on this for a while with work, your entrepreneurial venture, and your life and contribute to this incomplete list of what all this could mean… perhaps this could even make it into your New Year’s resolution list!

Happy New Year!

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Tagged as: Action, active garage, challenge, creating, himanshu jhamb, mediocrity, Purposeful, risky, seth godin, tom peters, what matters now

My article this week is about timing. There is an old saying “Experience is what you get, right after you needed it”.

There are things that you can time, the coffee maker, the bus schedule and so forth. There are many more things that you cannot time and attempting to time them is a mistake.

For Example: timing the stock market, similar to gambling in Las Vegas, where everyone knows the game is rigged and plays anyway. Attempting to time the stock market will eventually get you if you are playing alone. That’s why successful stock brokers get paid no matter the outcome of your transaction with them.

Timing certain types of projects is also a mistake. I work in the large scale software industry and if a project is an addition to an existing product, timing makes sense and indeed is necessary. If, on the other hand, we are building something completely new to the world, we cannot time it, and we are almost never able to resist the urge.

For things that are new to the world, much must be learned, therefor the time required is the time needed to acquire the knowledge to complete the project; be that brain surgery or a new software product. The knowledge and the skill must be acquired over time, a practice must be developed that retains that skill and then the project can be timed. Usually at that point you have completed at least the first pass and are ready to move on. Only after you have the experience can you time the next iteration, and even then, if you are doing something that is new to you, your team or the world, you need to take the time to learn.

I’ve said is almost all of my articles, you will not get where you are going alone, you need help. Help can come in many forms: parents, friends, acquaintances, government structures, business structures, etc. The number one thing that, as business people, we can find to help us are teachers. Find someone better at what you do than you are and learn from them. Learn everything you can, from everyone you can. Be discriminating in your teachers though, find the best, if you find someone better, switch. Move fast and learn to learn fast.

With learning comes obligation. As I said before, you need to learn from great teachers, you must have something to offer them in return like money, time, etc. In return you must spend some of your human capital to learn: time, lost opportunity, money etc. Education comes with a price, you must pay it. When you stop learning you are finished.

Another point about the obligation of learning; you must teach. There is a Buddhist maxim “To know and to not do is to not know”. Teaching cements your knowledge, it is a mechanism of our minds that when we teach we learn as well, the subject we are teaching. So to learn, you must teach, find a student, and be a student.

Go find something new to learn! Stretch your mind and teach someone else something new! Do it for yourself.

Tagged as: Action, Branding, Communication, execution, Intellectual Property, leaders, Leadership, possibilities, purpose, Return on Investment