“If the KAP fits…”

I have taken to asking people to imagine it’s 2012 and they are addressing an audience on how they became super-successful in their field. The response is very revealing...

As well as the obvious elements of setting goals, believing in yourself, and so on, most people talk about the key principles they will adopt to get to the top.
They seem to think the foundation for professional success is based around the three fundamentals; Knowledge, Skills, Activity.

Not so long ago, I would have agreed. Ok, maybe 20 years ago. But even 12 years ago, even as I began to have doubts on this, I still might have wanted to agree… to wish it were true.

And many people still do, because it seems fair that way. In fact, it makes things rather neat, and fits our world paradigm, so we accept such ideas, until…

But the world has changed (to coin another truism), and whereas these three ingredients were once a recipe for achievement (to which people searched to add an “x” factor), no longer is it enough to simply work hard, know more, and have all the techniques and skills at your fingertips.

Myth: “Knowledge is Power”. There are hundreds of people all around who rise to the top, with less knowledge than those who look up at them from below. It’s not knowledge, but Know-How, Know-Who, and Know-Why that is Power.

The Wainwright Factor

Occasionally a TV programme grips me. And one such occurrence was last year when I discovered a documentary about Alfred Wainwright, famed for his guidebooks to walking the Fells of the Lake District. Many of you will have seen it I’m sure.

What was it that struck me?

Well, at first it was the complete obsession this chap had with his walking, and with documenting these walks through his sketches, maps and writings.

But the most astounding element was the way he went about it.

He set out a 13- year plan to cover all 214 walks. Yep. Thirteen years. Now that’s a long-term commitment to any goal!

Having set out the plan, his Focus, his energy, his resilience in carrying it out never came into question. So simple was the action required: walk every weekend, and write up the journals of the walk during the evenings each week (he was doing this part time, whilst working as a town hall clerk during the day).

Simple action. Not easy, but simple.

His obsession meant that this seemingly vast task was brought down to its most simple component actions. Actions that he could then focus on, day by day, knowing that in doing so week by week, month by month, year by year he was building to the achievement of his goal.

In fact his passion for the mission was such that he didn’t feel as if he had to focus on it at all. It felt completely natural to be doing it.

I bet there were tough times. I bet there were occasions when walking in the Lake District was not very comfortable, when the weather was not conducive, when he was not feeling so well, or when there were a thousand reasons not to do it.

 But that wouldn’t faze him. His goal was clear.

And did he achieve it? Yes. In one week short of 13 years. First of all, that’s quite a plan… so very accurate. And second, isn’t it quite amazing to remain committed to the goal, to stick to the plan, for a whole 13 years.

And so often we can observe this unswerving obsession in the successes of people in all fields of activity.

Can you apply that to your own success? What is it that you will commit to over the long term, come rain or shine, sure in the belief, and safe in the knowledge, that you will get there?

Spring Cleaning your Business

Friday morning I had a long drive ahead. But I had plenty of time to take the scenic route, and think, and enjoy the journey. The sun was shining, the daffodils were out, I had music on, and was feeling relaxed. Spring is definitely here.

Chewing the “Could”

Show me a Winner!

The saying “Show me a good loser, and I’ll show you a loser” has been attributed to Bill Shankly, the legendary manager of Liverpool Football Club, and I was very much reminded of it recently in a different context.

Friday 13th … TPR again! Fine?

Yippee… another TPR day (see previous entry for 13th February)

Greeted on the phone by yet another “Fine” in answer to my question “how are you” when calling a business last week, I decided to ask, why “Fine” and not “Great”?

When I suggested that, when you consider the alternative, “every day above ground is a great day”, the panic at the other end of the line was palpable… and coupled with a large dose of indignation that I would even question the “status quo” of finery/ alrightness/ ok’ism/ not baddery that life at work had descended into.

Makes the term “killing fields of the spirit” which Michael Gerber uses to describe the average business pretty well spot on!

And yet, some businesses do it so much better. There’s a reason for this.

We can, of course, never be totally sure whether the tail is wagging the dog (ie the attitude leads to the results, or the results create the attitude), but there’s a definite connection between the fortunes of a business just now and it’s zest, passion, belief, and this is no more visible than in the words and actions, the attitude and energy, of every person in the team.

Please, business owners, note:
 just in case it’s the zest and energy that create the good fortune (rather than the other way round|), why not put it at the top of your action list for the week ahead.

Is 2009 Different?

What’s your Business Foreground?

When speaking at business luncheons it’s so interesting to observe the networking that goes on when I’m getting set to “do my stuff”.

Whenever I meet business people, or observe the goings on at such network meetings, I hear a lot of talk about what has happened, what’s in the past. Many people are so focused on their business background, so hung up on it, so desperate to find a point of commonality in the past, that they miss the business foreground.

In fact, the best networking is always about what is in the foreground… So instead of asking about people’s business background, I always make a point of asking people about their business foreground - what issues, challenges, and opportunities they are focused on right now. That way it’s easy to see where the synergy is.

Business foreground is always where the action is! Next time you are networking be more interested in the foreground than the background.

Generative Thinking

A business leader recently told me, “All of our Brainstorming and Strategic meetings generate lots of discussion, but we seldom really create any concrete action. We use some brainstorming techniques and minutes are often written, but we don’t get full value for the time taken out of the business by our highest paid people!”

A common enough complaint. It may sound strikingly familiar to you, and it seems that regardless of the size of an organisation, converting thinking into action is one of the most difficult challenges.

The secret lies in the four cornerstones of what I call Generative Thinking.
And this is not just for those one-off group brainstorming sessions. No, this is to create a culture of “generative thinking”, of ideas, of opportunities, and of ways to put them into action.

And the four cornerstones are…

1) Time –allocate specific generative thinking time in your diary. George Bernard Shaw once said: “ I made an international reputation by thinking twice each week”.
2) Space – don’t sit at your normal desk, with your “bureaucrat/ managerial hat on”.
3) Topic – Deal with specific items; have a theme to explore- a challenge or opportunity to address. This prevents “thinking time” degenerating into a meandering consideration of all the problems one faces, heading off at tangents, ending in overload, and with no decisive action resulting..
4) Tools – have a means of exploring the theme…eg via mindmap or other thinking strategy. Always think with a pen in your hand!

Of course, the most important step is right at the end: the call to action, and decisions on first actions, and even taking the first action…

Disillusioned Posters?

Yes, a real hoot.  Whilst amusing, initially, it is amazing how such things can, over time, contribute to the overall abject mindset of a work environment.