Incorrect assumptions lead to bad decisions

To set things right you have to see things right.

To make a good decision, you need to question your assumptions.

When I look back at the big mistakes I have made and had to fix later, I can see that I made assumptions I should not have.  

Sometimes you say “This situation worked, so the next one with a different person will too.”  But people are different.

“This worked in this business, so it will work in another business too.”  But businesses are different.

You might assume that people will perform to your optimistic expectations.  

Any projection on a spreadsheet is full of assumptions.  

Sure, sometimes you have to have faith and try it and learn and make corrections as you go.

But still, the less you assume, the better.  

April Fool’s Day Sucka!

If you fell for my final farewell yesterday, well, good for me – I fooled you on April Fool’s Day!

I have no intention of discontinuing Think Daily right now.  April represents the 17th anniversary of Think Daily!  250 messages a year, and 250 for Think Daily for Businesspeople – that’s a lot of thinking!  8500 messages!

Think Daily is free.  I have never shared anyone’s email address.  I have never tried to sell anyone anything.  I am just trying to be of service.

After being in business for 44 years, and growing, challenging, crashing, conquering, struggling, witnessing, learning, observing, giving, receiving, loving, trying, building, and experiencing so much, I feel I can share and save someone else some time, pain, and effort in their own life.

I have been the recipient of the wisdom of others through their books and recordings.  It has made it easier to recognize what works and to see patterns over the ages.  Think Daily is my version of keeping wisdom moving forward.  I hope you can find a way as well.  It doesn’t have to be as grand or as often, but maybe you can help one person deeply.

No desire – no accomplishment

The starting point of all success is a deep desire. 

Without desire, nobody can help you succeed.

Nobody can want something for you badly enough to make up for the fact that you don’t want it.

This includes success, health, adventure, happiness, or anything else.

You won’t get very far chasing someone else’s dream either.  

The first thing you have to ask yourself is “What do I REALLY want?”

95% of salespeople wing it

Most salespeople meet a prospect and say the first thing that falls out of their mouth.  Then the second, and the third, and so on.

The way your company is depicted, and the service and experience your company gives to people before they make a buying decision varies widely.

Is that what you want?

What training do you have to see that it is a quality interaction, with continuity from prospect to prospect?

How will you know when it is accomplished?

People take you at face value

You can tell a lot about a person by how they present themselves to the world.

Who dressed you this morning?  Who grooms you?  

We all look at someone and make assessments.  

Who are we to argue with how someone presents themselves?  They know themselves best.  If they wanted to be someone different they would present themselves that way.

How are you presenting yourself to the world?  

How do you feel about yourself?

People can sense how we feel about ourselves.  This is important for everyone.  If we don’t feel good about what we are doing, how our life is going, about our own behavior and what we do when no one is looking, then we will project that outwardly in a host of tiny ways.  

Since the world is our mirror, it leads to life in an ugly unhappy world.

As leaders, managers and salespeople, we are trying to influence others.  But if they know we are not even happy with ourselves, then they will resist our influence.  

Work on yourself before you try to work on others.  If you spend lots of time on it, it’s a valuable and worthwhile investment.

Make you proud of you.  

Then go out and help others.

The half-life of the information you consume

Most people are drowning in information, but starving for wisdom. 

“Half-life” means the time it takes for a quantity of a substance to reduce to half of it’s initial value.  In other words, the amount of time for half of it to be gone.

What do you read, listen to and watch?

What is the half-life of that information?  Low-value information is that which is not important tomorrow.  Some people listen to and watch things that have zero value (or even negative value) tomorrow.  The half-life is hours.

High-value information lasts much longer.  Successful people pay attention to things that will matter tomorrow, and next week, and next year.  They learn things that other things (learning, understanding) can be built on.

If I learn something that is timeless to be a better leader or have a better business, that is a great use of my time.  

On Think Daily, I try to write about things that have enduring value.

What is the half-life of what you pay attention to each day?

Employee Turnover Rate

If good people keep leaving, you will never grow to your potential.

If a high percentage of your people are always new, you can’t build a company of trained, experienced professionals.  You are always recruiting and training, and paying for people’s mistakes.

If no one leaves, you may be a stale company with stale energy.  You may be accepting mediocrity in some areas.  

Find the Goldilocks turnover rate.  Usually, it’s not too much, and of that, it’s you correcting your hiring mistakes much of the time.

Hired the wrong person for a particular job?

Now that you have hired someone and put them in a job, you can see if you selected the right person for that job.

The job of a manager is to match the right person with the right job.

You must consider the person, and you must consider the job.

Author Keith Cunningham talks about  “appointing the unfit to do the unnecessary….”

Design the job so it has the maximum positive impact on customers and the organization.

Then get the right person in the job.  When you do that, it seems effortless for that person to get great results.

When all your positions are filled with the right people for the right job, it’s magical.

How well have you done that so far?

Removing constraints

Sometimes it’s not what you need to add to make progress, but what you need to take away.

What limits the speed at which your group makes progress?

What or who is keeping you from excellence?

Removing a constraint is like taking your foot off the brake in your business.

Often, removing something is faster and easier than adding.

What or who needs to be removed to do better?

Get on it!