Waiting, preparing.

Would you work for 20 years to develop the technology to create your vision?
Consider the case of Pixar.
http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=3299

Breaching the Comfort Zone

Have you ever given much consideration as to why you read the books you read, or why you watch the movies you choose to watch? Perhaps the cover grabs your attention? Maybe it is because the book is from a specific author that you like or it is just sitting in the section that you normally buy books from. Most likely it is because someone you trusted told you about it. That someone could be a best sellers list, it could be Amazon’s personalised recommendations for you, it could be that a friend told you about it. It is highly unlikely that you regularly walk into a bookstore and go ‘Wow today I am going to buy a totally random book in a genre I have never read by an author I do not know.’ While the random book idea can be a rather liberating experience it is one we tend to shy away from. We prefer the trusted and tried.

The books you read, films you watch, places you go on holiday (if you go at all), people you interact with are all largely based on your past experience, or the past experience of someone else whose opinion you value. Humans, most of the time, seek out that which is inherently familiar to us. It is, perhaps, a psychological safety mechanism that keeps you risk free and secure. Trying a new author has risk; you are spending precious money on a book that you may not enjoy. So we mitigate that risk by seeing if others have read it first. Movie producers pay high end actors a fortune to be in their films, not just because they may be good at their craft, but because they create a sense of familiarity in the fans who will go watch the movie. Trying something new can be an emotional experience if you have to break out of your comfort zone to do so. Stepping out of it means that you are moving away from trusted ground and onto something less stable.

I make an effort to do something new and different each year. It may be trying a new author, learning a new skill, travelling to a new location, having a new experience. Last year I took up karate, the year before that I started on a book manuscript, before that I went to Disneyland, before that I started this column. Do something new. It may scare you a little. It may throw your system out of sync for a while as you persuade yourself you are not crazy. At the end of the day the biggest comfort zone you are breaking is the fear of trying new things. Plan a holiday this year with the family rather than just sitting at home during your leave days. Try somewhere new locally, try going outside the country, and try a new method of travel. Take up a new sport or hobby. Go skydiving, go swim with sharks, do the gorge swing at Victoria Falls. Read a book a month. Just do something that challenges you.

Businesses have comfort zones. We do work the same way because it is the way it has always been done. Starting a new product that has never been done involves breaking out of the familiar. Stepping up from local to regional to international hammers on the walls of comfortable. Trying a new management style or bringing a new structure to a company means stretching the boundaries we have in our minds. Start by breaking out of your own personal zones and you will be better able to handle the bigger changes that you have to make in your organisation. Have fun with it.

The Cost

Sometimes it is not the cost of doing something that we should be worried about but rather the cost of NOT doing something.
What greatness are you holding back from the world?

Lies and Culture

Here is a question. How many of you are doing business with someone that won't return your calls and they owe you money? Someone is always chasing someone down for blood. It affects new relationships as well; after having had two or three people default on promised payments it becomes harder to trust the next person’s word. It's hard to blame the person that's always been burnt for being shy of the fire.

Lies breed distrust, distrust means things take longer to navigate or innovate. It takes longer to discuss an idea with someone because they may steal it. It takes longer to open a bank account because they need to verify that we are who we say we are. It takes longer to source funding because people have been scammed before. When things take longer to innovate we get left behind. Then when we get left behind we start to look elsewhere at perceived better opportunities, to where the grass appears greener on the other side. So lies breed distrust, distrust slows us down, and we start to look at where we think things are really happening. Many in Africa think they are in training. “I’m training for my real job in Europe or America, training for the real world.” Why? They do not see anything happening for them here.

Lies promote a bad culture. There's nothing worse than a bad culture; a bad business culture where suits and ties are more important than truth and quality. The sort of culture where promises are broken without regard for the consequences is destructive. I was dealing with a bank with liquidity issues, daily I got promised “we will have cash for you tomorrow”. They never did. Why not just be honest and tell me the truth, let me know exactly where you stand so that I can make better decisions and plan better in my own life and business.

When love and passion for people takes a back seat and instead status and pictures in the newspaper are regarded as symbols of validity we fall short. When we expect the best service or product in the world from local SME's or start-ups, but we want to rip them off and pay cheaply we contribute to a culture that festers. Every time we lie, or cover up the truth, or lead people on we add to the culture of deception and make it harder for others to trust.

Here are some things to remember when trying to build a better culture. More things happen when no one cares about who gets the credit. Innovation explodes when the landscape is easier to navigate. Good culture triumphs over good strategy (the best crafted strategy documents will fail if there is no integrity to underscore it). Truth and honesty breeds brothers and sisters, not patrons and clients.

The grass has got to be greener inside of our world. Let us not head out for international pastures before we address the bad culture and lies that cripple the genius we have.

(See http://emergingideas.com/lies-culture-grass for the source article for this post)

Seth's Book

I am a bit miffed with author and entrepreneur Seth Godin. Regular readers of this column will know that I am a great fan of his work and writing, so what possibly could he have done that has irritated me. To put it simply, he published a new book. The problem is that it is not available in electronic format...and not likely to be in the near future. It is a full colour book only available in hard copy.  This means that I cannot get it instantly at the click of a button but will have to order it and wait patiently for it to arrive. Not only that, it is expensive-thirty-four dollars for a book before almost doubling the cost by shipping it out here to Zimbabwe! Despite all this I have never wanted a book so badly.

 

Why? Why would I want a book that at first glance seems overpriced (it is not really) and could take up to a month to ship to me? Simply put, because it is Godin, because it is different, because Seth Godin developed my buy-in long before he even thought of writing the book. Godin is a ‘practice what you preach’ kind of guy. He is foremost a marketer, and the pioneer of what he calls permission marketing. Not only does he teach on the idea, but he tests his theories on his followers. He is a living example that what he teaches really works. I know because he has used it on me.

I first came across Seth in an email. Someone forwarded me one of his blog posts that they thought I would enjoy. I did and the experience attuned me to his name. When I saw that another mate of mine had a book by him I asked to borrow it. I was hooked-there was something that resonated with my desire to challenge the status quo. Soon I was buying books of my own, following his blog and sharing his ideas with others. To use one of his own phrases-I became part of his tribe. To Godin, a tribe is a group of followers you develop who ‘give’ you permission to market to because you already have their interest. He has devoted much of his time and effort to developing his tribe.

The book he has just published is testimony to the ground work he has done. He presold 30 000 before publication, exceeding his own estimates by 40%. In a world that has more books than ever that is huge traction. Here is the great thing about it; he is not trying to sell to people who do not want it. He has a steady market that he has developed, so when he brings out a crazy new idea they are already willing to buy in. Too often we are looking for the big catch now without any of the groundwork. Godin’s book may look like an overnight success, but it is the result of many years of hard work and effort.

There are two lessons I would like you to take home from this story. The first one I have already mentioned-do not be afraid of the groundwork. Put the effort into your clients to build a relationship with them. Create deals, communicate, learn who they are, build your own tribe of supporters. Be creative in how you do it. Stop looking for the instant numbers and instant success; rather look for the long term followers who will stick with you. These are the customers who will buy the equivalent of ‘your book’ when you bring it out.

The second lesson is stop trying to please everyone. You can’t. Pick your target audience and make them into your tribe. Realise that a few loyal fans are worth far more than a fickle crowd who will betray you for the next big deal. Do not mistake volume of clients for success. Scaling clearly allows for bigger returns if your margins are small. Remember that some expensive products lend themselves to their inability to scale; rare artwork for example. Rare artwork is brought by a select few, a tribe who value such an investment and that tribe may not be interested in your attempts to sell mass produced prints. Godin is not trying to sell you his book; he is trying to sell it to me and others that are part of the subculture he has created. I’m telling you about it as a story to help me make a point rather than an attempt to get you to buy it (notice that I have not even mentioned the title in this article).

Zimbabwe’s economy has been largely transaction based over the last few years. We have shopped where it is cheaper when resources have been scare, been forced to buy from whoever has a product we need. There has been little development of relationships. As the economy grows it will be relationships that bring you clients that stick with you. As competition increases it will be relationships that bring you business when you can no longer bring your margins any lower to compete on price. Spend 2015 building your ‘tribe’ of clients and watch the rewards.

Trade :The Medium of Life

You stare at the menu at the coffee bar in the airport knowing that you only have three dollars in your pocket. The rest of your hard earned cash has been exhausted on goods residing in your suitcase and on that sneaky overweight fee you had to pay at departure. Blurry eyed and jetlagged you try make the decision between a latte that will give you some energy via a jolting caffeine boost and the tempting pastry that will stave off the hunger pains until the bland airline snack arrives in six hours’ time. You can only afford one, somewhere in the decision making process you have to make a trade off.

I was reminded this week of the concept of trade. Not as it just applies to the exchange of goods and services but as the medium through which we conduct our lives. So roll with me a little as we explore the idea. At a basic level of understanding trade is an exchange; we trade our time of money, our money for goods and services. You buy that cup of coffee at the airport and you have traded a steaming pot of java for a few dollars that represent value. But if you look deeper at the story you have also made a trade between the coffee and the croissant. You will have traded thirst for hunger. Our choices between items and activities are themselves often a trade.

Each of us starts the day with a finite amount of time. How you leverage that time to get things done determines what you trade your time for. You can spend overtime at work or you can spend time with your family. You are trading one for the other. The impact and value of that trade depends entirely on your circumstance and the possible outcome of your choices in the future. You can be a successful (on the surface anyway) businessman who misses their son’s rugby game and then wonders why he would rather spend time smoking with his mates that talking to his dad. Now there is a time and a season for everything and it takes a little discernment to work out what the best exchange of your time may be.

The way you trade your time reflects your inner values. The way you exchange your money (as for many of us money represents our time) will show where your ‘heart’ lies. Here is a great question to ask yourself; what would I exchange 24 hours of my life for? The reverse of the question is ‘How much of my life would I be willing to exchange for this item?’ For example would you be willing to swop a year of your life for perfect physical looks, to live one year shorter but be a demigod in the eyes of the opposite sex for what you have left? What about that car you want, or a million dollars, for dinner with Jennifer Aniston, for reconciliation with your daughter, for a happier work environment, for a better marriage. Chances are you are already living out the answer to the question.

Moral trade occurs when we exchange our integrity and our conscience. Every time you engage in a crooked deal or pay a bribe you are trading part of your soul for a quick fix. Sooner or later it will catch up with you; sure no one may see your inner loathing of yourself but give away enough of your conscience and you will be an empty shell of a man with a pile of regret. You get to choose the level you trade at.

Relationships are built and broken on trade; trade of words, of ideas, of memories shared, of time spend sowing into each other’s lives. The term ‘to exchange words’ is an apt term for an angry trade. Words once spoken are hard to trade back, erasing the memory of such a negative emotional transaction can take years of counsel and walking through healing.

My challenge to you this week is that for an entire week you ask yourself each time you are faced with a choice ‘What am I really trading?’ For every activity that you do ask ‘What am I exchanging this for...financially, morally, in terms of relationships, in terms of other areas I could be investing my time?’ And finally, ask ‘What may be the long term returns, positive or negative, on this trade?’ It is a sobering exercise, but a revealing one. Have fun with it.

 

Quo Vadis

I heard a story this week where a puppy was found in a rubbish bin. This was not some poor little stray that had fallen into the trash looking for food, this was a puppy whose owners had bundled it into a bag and dumped it alive into the bin so it would be taken away with the rest of their junk. Fortunately it was found before it succumbed to suffocation, starvation or any other of a myriad ways to die in a dustbin. How disgusting! Even if you cannot afford to have your dog put down properly by a vet I can think of a dozen better, more humane, ways to dispose of a puppy than by discarding in the refuse alive. That story should in some way resonate with abhorrence inside you, if not then perhaps you should check your conscience in the area of animal welfare.

We live in a nation that has become calloused in various areas of moral conduct. You just have to look at our driving to see that we no longer care about a legal framework of conduct on the roads. Given the chance most people will go through a red traffic light rather than wait for it to go green. It is a small slip compared to bigger crimes, but it says something about the way we are as humans, about the way we are carrying on as a nation.

Often we justify our actions by comparing them to the crimes of others. ‘The small slip’ mentality enables us mentally to shove off the concept that we have broken a law or code of conduct. Oscar Pistorius’ trial was popular; nearly everyone I know had an opinion on it or followed it to a degree. I would postulate that our infatuation with the trial was not because we cared about whether or not he was guilty but because watching it made us feel better about ourselves. We watched to reassure ourselves that our sick lives were not as bad as his, that our moral failings do not equate to taking a life, and that we are okay thank-you-very-much. We watch television shows like ‘Breaking Bad’ which show the degradation of the morals of the main character, Walter White, who starts making drugs to provide for his family when he is diagnosed with cancer. Part of us, deep inside, will feel better knowing that while we may skimp here and there on good behaviour we have not fallen as far from the light as Walter White. We numb ourselves to and justify behaviour and character flaws that morally fall on the side of evil.

Character will sustain you where talent may get you. It is one thing to have a revolutionary idea, or a skill that catapults you into success. It is quite another to have the character to stick it out in the long term. Flaws in your character will bring you down, open you to exploitation, and shorten a career that could bear much fruit.

You can try fake character. In the short term this can get you past the initial deal if you talk fast enough. Long term though it will crack you apart like an egg dropped on a concrete floor. The mess will be incredible and often irreparable. You cannot have one character in business and another at home or socially; that sort of acting is called hypocrisy.

Character is something that has to be worked on. Not just to improve on any flaws but to sustain the level we have attained. The human will is subject to entropy, just like anything else on the planet. It tends to degrade if no extra energy is expended to maintain the status quo. In the words of Albert Schweitzer some people “harm their souls... without being exposed to great temptations. They simply let their souls wither; not realising that thoughts which meant a great deal to them in their youth have turned into meaningless sounds."

Think of this situation, your beautiful daughter has a choice between two men. One of her suitors, Jake, has an impeccable character, he is polite, has your daughter’s best interests at heart, run’s his own business above board, makes enough to live comfortably,  but does not make quite as much money as the second choice Bill. Bill is loaded, he pays for everything, but you know that his business dealings are dodgy at best. He pays bribes to get contracts, and often boasts of getting one up on someone else in business. His life is littered with broken friendships that he has burnt through bad deals. Who would you rather your daughter marry?

Why all this talk about character today? Well, I believe that we stand at a crossroads as a people at this time. A pivotal moment where we can make a choice as individuals to choose a path that leads to either greater or less morality in our nation. Surrounded by elements of corruption, overpricing, shady business deals we have the choice to capitulate and make it a way of life or to stand up and refuse to simply ‘go with the flow’. It will take a hard look at our own lives and energy expended to fix it. It may take a standing up to those who would like to bring us down to their level, an effort to bring transparency to our business deals and way of life. There is a price to be paid to be a person of good character, in the long run, though, it will be worth it.