Your job fulfills one of two things:
1. Building the product.
2. Building the business.
A Senior executive builds the company by hiring the right people, financing the right departments and making crucial strategic decisions. A production line worker builds the product by fulfilling her/his designated job. A good analogy I once heard was this. The person who builds the Mach 3 Razor has a different role than the person building the business that delivers the Mach 3 Razor. In some businesses the distinction is not easily recognizable, but it is crucial.
In transitioning to a different position in your company it is important to assess which of the two roles you will fulfill. Small business owners and entrepreneurs often get stuck in the trap of trying to build their product when they should be building their business.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Monday, June 18, 2007
Failure....
Failure has been on my mind a lot lately. The division I am with is closing down or at least stripping down to its barest bones. Its discouraging on two counts. 1) I was the one who did the due diligence when the parent company bought this division. 2) I have spent 10 months here and made, as far as I can see, no noticeable difference.
Its discouraging...or faith building...hmm..maybe both.
The due diligence I did in the beginning was rushed. It was not a full due diligence process and I certainly lacked experience. Are these excuses? or reasons? I am not sure...my reflection on this is that I will certainly be more cynical and cautious of any deals in the future, an invaluable lesson if you ask me.
The second part of this is that I have made no difference. While I have done my job for the most part, messed up a couple times, had a few small successes, nothing fundamentally changed. My reflection on this is that I wasn't pro-active enough, I didn't take enough risks. I was so scared of grabbing the controls of the plane and knocking it off course that I let the plane crash.
Experience is the best teacher for knowing what to do in what situations. Part of my post yesterday suggested seeking out new experiences. Every new experience gives you a better reference point for the next new one.
Maybe failure is bad word to use. Correlation and causation are tough things to separate, in this case, I will attribute a little to both and move on. My next role I will be successful. If I don't believe this then I certainly wont be.
Its discouraging...or faith building...hmm..maybe both.
The due diligence I did in the beginning was rushed. It was not a full due diligence process and I certainly lacked experience. Are these excuses? or reasons? I am not sure...my reflection on this is that I will certainly be more cynical and cautious of any deals in the future, an invaluable lesson if you ask me.
The second part of this is that I have made no difference. While I have done my job for the most part, messed up a couple times, had a few small successes, nothing fundamentally changed. My reflection on this is that I wasn't pro-active enough, I didn't take enough risks. I was so scared of grabbing the controls of the plane and knocking it off course that I let the plane crash.
Experience is the best teacher for knowing what to do in what situations. Part of my post yesterday suggested seeking out new experiences. Every new experience gives you a better reference point for the next new one.
Maybe failure is bad word to use. Correlation and causation are tough things to separate, in this case, I will attribute a little to both and move on. My next role I will be successful. If I don't believe this then I certainly wont be.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Boredom and Loneliness
Reading Seth Godin's blog today he points out that everyone is lonely. I would like to add that I think everyone is kinda bored too. We lack adventure in our lives. My buddy said it best last night when he said that every week he wants to do something that scares the shit out of him. I couldn't agree more.
Do something every week that scares you...
Check out Seth Godin's blog:
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/2123/19356822
Do something every week that scares you...
Check out Seth Godin's blog:
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/2123/19356822
Irony
Signing into my blog I noticed the Google ad beside my post (see below) advertising a Chinese Herbal medicine that will help you lose 20lbs in 3 weeks. Haha...go figure!!
Friday, June 15, 2007
Side Effects Include: Leakage!
During a discussion with a co-worker today we drifted onto the topic of diet pills. She was telling me of a radio ad flogging a bottle of fat loss pills. Beyond the likely generic tag line that they all promote 'lose weight fast and easy', the thing that stood out to her was the side effects: diarrhea, headache...and...LEAKAGE!
Sorry, did you say leakage? Yup.
It should be a rule of life better stressed before Economics 100. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Or...better read as...nothing in life is free; everything has a price. Everything does. Losing weight, building a business, spending time watching TV or even sleeping, you pay for all in one way or another. If you are starting a new habit (read: diet pills) think of the costs. Think of the radio ad...think of leakage!!!
And just for kicks, here are some other common side effects of diet pills:
- nervousness
- headaches and nausea
- diarrhea
- bulging eyes
- racing heartbeat
- elevated blood pressure
- heart failure
Sorry, did you say leakage? Yup.
It should be a rule of life better stressed before Economics 100. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Or...better read as...nothing in life is free; everything has a price. Everything does. Losing weight, building a business, spending time watching TV or even sleeping, you pay for all in one way or another. If you are starting a new habit (read: diet pills) think of the costs. Think of the radio ad...think of leakage!!!
And just for kicks, here are some other common side effects of diet pills:
- nervousness
- headaches and nausea
- diarrhea
- bulging eyes
- racing heartbeat
- elevated blood pressure
- heart failure
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Opportunities = more but less obvious
Flipping through Profit Magazine's list of top 100 fastest growing companies is - to me at least - an incredible experience. To see companies that have grown between 12,000% to 33,000% in six years in absolutely incredible. This indicates a lot. It shows that there are still amazing opportunities.
Like a previous post, where I talked about how easy it is to focus on the bad in the world. Its parallel in the business world is to focus on how few opportunities there are. But as that list shows, there are HUGE opportunities. If that many companies can grow that fast, think of all the possibilities that are out there.
As the world becomes more complicated, opportunities become equally more complicated. What lies in this complication is a combination of focus - on a specific market - and searching beyond the obvious. Opportunities are less obvious than they once were, but certainly more abundant.
Like a previous post, where I talked about how easy it is to focus on the bad in the world. Its parallel in the business world is to focus on how few opportunities there are. But as that list shows, there are HUGE opportunities. If that many companies can grow that fast, think of all the possibilities that are out there.
As the world becomes more complicated, opportunities become equally more complicated. What lies in this complication is a combination of focus - on a specific market - and searching beyond the obvious. Opportunities are less obvious than they once were, but certainly more abundant.
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