God is in the details

I went into a Made In Japan restuarant yesterday. Great place - calming music, the right temperature, excellent lighting and very friendly staff. However, in chatting with the manager, he pointed out that contrary to my review the place wasnt doing well. Seemed strange to me until I sat down and ate my food. I noticed two things:

1. The front door was extremely hard to open. I saw two seperate incidences where someone tried to open the door, couldn't, got embarassed and left.

2. The menu sign behind the counter was very difficult to read, big pictures but small writing. It looked as if there were these little squiggly lines between beautiful pictures. Again, two seperate incidences where someone waiting in line, couldnt see, turned and left.

Now, I was there for 20 minutes. Extrapolate those 4 lost customers and you are looking at almost 12/hour or 96 per day. Yes, it probably isnt that high, but it certainly is a significant number. Whose fault is this?

Well, I would say that its both the managers and the franchise manager. As a manager, he should spot these things quickly (its right in front of him). As a franchise manager, there should be a checklist for all the details of a business.

1. Easy for customers to get in? Check.
2. Easy for customers to order? Check.
3. Learn lessons from one store to apply to another? Check.

Lose The Diversification

In life, as opposed to the markets, diversification doesn't always mean less risk. The old saying of "don't put all your eggs in one basket", is wrong (most of the time). Think of a swimmer who rather than choosing to be solely good at sprinting, chose also to be good at synchro, long distance, butterfly and diving. Diversified yes, riskier, of course.

Focus is the opposing force to diversification. The world is competitive. Very. To remain so, you must focus on a being great at only a few things - parent, tight-rope walker, (glorified) secretary - whatever.

Choose less, but better, goals. A personal, business and health goal are usually the best three.

Focus and thrive.

Grin and Bear it

"Grin and bear it!"

That was the advice given to me today about a situation that is not entirely pleasant. Not surprisingly we sometimes find ourselves in situations that we don't like. We either leave them right away or get through it. The first one isn't always an option, in that case, grin and bear it.

Sometimes the only way out, is through.

A Subtle Distinction

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.

Johnny's story

My friend Allen sent me this link, incredibly moving:

http://go.care2.com/e/R0Ym/ITNm/XfYi

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.

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