Morning Motivator – Learn from Your Computer

"I hate my computer.  It is so slow!"
- Any office worker in the past week

I love when something we use everyday gives us a chance to learn a GOOD business lesson.  Today's example – your computer.  Mac or PC?  Does not really matter in this case.  The lesson comes from how the computer WORKS.

Your computer, similar to your mind, is a tool that continually is using resources to ANALYZE and ACT accordingly to priority of needs.  If you are working in Excel, your computer will seek to provide the majority of its resources to that application, although, it does continually look for additional "open" applications.  When it does not see any, it continues to drive the majority of resources to Excel. However…

When there are multiple applications or windows open, the computer becomes OVERWHELMED and begins to delegate resources across all the open applications.  What happens as a RESULT?  PERFORMANCE slows and FRUSTRATION increases. The system, TAXED by too many open tasks, eventually shuts down…  :(

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
If your computer could tell you, or if you had my wife to remind you, it would say, "FOCUS on one thing and knock it out… then work on the next thing!"

By LIMITING the number of open tasks on your computer, it is able to FOCUS its resources into the open application and run very efficiently.  By LIMITING the number of open tasks you FOCUS on at work, you are also able to dedicate the majority of brainpower and physical resources to execution.

Whoever invented "MULTI-TASKING" was a fool!  Rather than EXECUTE one task at a time with high efficiency and great effectiveness, they SUGGEST you should work on ten tasks in a half-assed manner and somehow that "gets more done." 

Learn from your computer – FOCUS on one task and DEDICATE your resources or be subject to a slow down, maybe even a TOTAL SYSTEM CRASH!

Cheers!
Zach (the now vented version)

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator – Uh Hello?! Here is My Money!

"Hello.  Am I standing here waiting you to give you my money?"
- Zach Barker, the pissed off version

When you walk into a business, what do you EXPECT to happen?  At a minimum, I EXPECT to be acknowledged as being in the building.  A simple "Hey!  Be right with ya!" will suffice.  Even better may be a "How are you?  Give me just one second and I will get you taken care of."  Yesterday, I had an "experience" that reminded me good businesses can have TERRIBLE customer service.

After walking into a business to give them near $1,000.00 for products they made for me, I stood plainly in the center of the counter space, looking at three (3), yes THREE employees all too busy doing whatever does NOT include taking my money, all of whom NEVER even said "hello."  They just Saturday there typing away on their computers, being much more IMPORTANT than I am (obviously) and far too busy to be disrupted by a "hello" or "be right with you sir."

I guess they were lucky they already finished my order… as I contemplated RUNNING THE OTHER WAY from such terrible service.

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
Do you know what MOST PEOPLE want in life?  This is not a big, complicated answer.  It is NOT money, flashy cars, big houses, or even powerful companies.  They WANT to be RECOGNIZED… REPEAT... THEY WANT TO BE RECOGNIZED!!

Is it any wonder people cut out newspaper clippings of themselves?  That they TiVo the news anytime they are on it?  Or passionately pursue any and all awards in their industry?  HELL NO!!

People want to be recognized, respected and treated as though they are the MOST IMPORTANT or MOST VALUABLE person around.  HOLY CRAP IS IT THAT HARD TO SAY "HI"?

If you are seeking ways to BETTER your customer service, try with simple things like saying "hello" and introducing yourself as soon as someone walks in (even if you are "with someone" already).  Use their NAME, or at least call them "sir" or "ma'am."  In addition, for God sake, please say THANK YOU when they purchase anything.  I know your momma taught you to be polite… it goes in business too!

"Thank you each, personally, for supporting the Morning Motivator and continuing to develop yourselves as professionals and leaders!  I appreciate your time and attention."  Now how hard was that?! 

Cheers!
Zach (the now vented version)

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator – Managing Disappointment

"That sucks."
- Common phrase

What happens when things DO NOT work your way?  You feel that sick empty feeling of dissatisfaction.  Unlike children that participate in league sports these days, many of us DO know what it feels like to FAIL or LOSE.  We know that we do not want to feel that and so we do as much as ABLE to prevent it.

No person wants to feels pain – physical, emotional, psychological or other (if there is an "other").  This is why we go to work, pay our bills, hit the gym, etc.  Yet, we can only CONTROL so much.

What happens when we do get DISAPPOINTED?  What happens when we disappoint OTHERS?  What are the best ways in dealing with these situations..?

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
The best way to MANAGE disappointment – internal and external – is to LEARN from it and then OWN it.  What does that mean?

First, taking the opportunity to LEARN from the shortcoming of a situation is the most EFFECTIVE way to prevent it from occurring again.  If you ANALYZE the components of the failure, understand your role, the roles of others and gauge the points at which alternative decisions could have been made, then you will be ARMED with the knowledge to OVERCOME when the situation is to arise again (and it will).

Additionally, understand, CLEARLY, that you have played SOME role in the situation, thus DO NOT blame others.  Sh*t happens, right?  Sure.  So own your portion of it and learn from the other part.  If you discover that other people aid in the failure, analyze if they should be replaced or are even needed!

Lastly, do not be afraid to VENT.  Hey, you are upset – that is cool.  Let it out.  You will feel better afterwards.  (Be mindful if you let it out on someone, you might hurt that relationship).

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator – Finally Someone Shares My “Work” Beliefs

"Most managers want to see their people in the office early, meet as often as possible and love it when they stay late.  Is it any wonder why most employees hate their managers?"
- Zach Barker, Employee Autonomy Advocate

I wanted to share this DELIGHTFUL except from Jason Fried, the co-owner of 37singnals.com.  His INSIGHTS into managing employees are refreshing and logical.  For those who struggle with managing the YOUNGER GENERATIONS (X, Y and later), take note!  This is worth a 90 implementation.

"Why Work Doesn't Work" is a CBC interview with Jason Fried. He discusses the workplace, sane work hours, and meetings vs. communicating with passive communication tools (i.e. ones that don't require interruptions).

Communication doesn't always have to be in real time. It can be in what we call "slow time." You can post something and three hours later someone can get back to you and then four hours later someone else can get back to you. And everything will work out just fine.

Slow time is "Maybe it takes two or three days to have this conversation. And we do it over periods of 15 minutes here, two minutes there, four minutes there." And that's fine. It doesn't need to happen all at once. Unless it's really, incredibly, truly urgent. (Which most things aren't. They're made out to be that way, but they really aren't that important.)

Meetings basically make things happen all at once. And that means you're pulling a bunch of people off their work to have this "right now" conversation. It's very disruptive for a bunch of people. So if they can communicate over a long period of time instead, it's much better.

I think companies would benefit from giving employees a lot more autonomy and alone time to do their work. And then when they do need to come together, it can be more special and more meaningful. It's like seeing an old friend you haven't seen for a long time – it's kind of a special moment for a couple hours and then you go break up and go back to your own lives and that's fine. And that's how we like to treat our work here.

We also try to have sane working hours. And four day workweeks during the summer. What we've found is that when people have fewer hours to work, they put more time into the work. It's like anything. If you have less of it, you conserve it a bit more. You use it better. If you have fewer dollars left, you're probably not going to go out and buy a big screen TV if you don't need one. You're going to put those dollars to work in a more efficient manner. It's the same way with time. If you only have 32 hours this week to get something done, you're not going to waste time.

Do you ever WONDER why companies have so many "emergencies"?  Maybe the managers are not effectively managing after all... 

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator – Is Poverty a Choice?

"I was born into a poor family.  So how can you say poverty is a choice?"
- Anonymous

One of my favorite phrases I ever heard was a child explaining how he was "rich" only to have the parent retort, "No, I am rich.  You are broke!"  WOW!  What an INTERESTING comment.  If that were in fact TRUE, then logic would agree that someone born to an IMPOVERISHED family does not share the same fate as their parents.

Last night, I made a comment, a political comment no mind you, relating to the ENTITLEMENT programs offered by our Government.  My comment surfaced around the idea that providing money to individuals that continually make POOR DECISIONS was pointless.  I said "POVERTY IS A CHOICE" and I stand by it…

Love it or hate it – YOU CONTROL YOUR FUTURE.  If you are poor, you do not have to be.  If you are rich, you can lose it very quickly.  YOU, not your environment, not your parents, not your teachers, CONTROL your success.

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
By choosing to invest your time, energy and resources into non-valuable or non-productive activities, you are CHOOSING poor actions resulting in poor returns.  From a financial perspective, this results in POVERTY.

If you choose to sacrifice a nice car today, in order to invest your money, you will GAIN… albeit later.  If you choose to spend money on flashy clothes or meaningless toys, which offer little value of than intrinsically, you will find the "investments" frivolous and thus a personal DECISION towards poverty.

We all have the OPPORTUNITY to learn, self educate, struggle without persecution from our government, as well as offered education, as we advance, many offered scholarships (which I never received) based on our backgrounds, economic conditions, specific interests, etc, without discussion of those offered to students that excel in their studies (by working hard not intelligence per se).  With so much OPPORTUNITY and the responsibility of success on us as individuals, how can we not agree, logically, that we CHOOSE our situations… either to stay where we are or get out by whatever means necessary.

We may not choose where we start, but we do choose where we "settle" – WHAT ARE YOU CHOOSING?

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.