Author: Don McMinn

The story is told of the town drunk who left the tavern late at night and decided to take a shortcut home, even though it meant walking through the graveyard.

There were no moon or stars to light the ground, and with his cautiousness hampered by inebriation, he tripped and fell into an open grave prepared for the next day’s funeral. He was immediately stone sober. He frantically tried to get out of the grave but it was too deep; when he tried to scale the side walls the dirt just crumbled in his hands. After several unsuccessful attempts, he decided to wait until dawn—someone would arrive and help him out. So he sat in the corner and began to doze off.

But soon, another town drunk, also hoping to shorten his walk home, stumbled into the same grave. The newcomer had the same first reaction as his predecessor; he started jumping toward the top, clawing at the dirt, trying to escape.

Realizing the man’s attempts would be futile, and wanting to spare him the trouble, the first drunk said, “Friend, you’ll never get out of here.”

But he did.

It’s amazing what you can do — when you have to. It’s sad what you won’t do — if you don’t have to.

Years ago I worked for an organization that was so small (only seven employees) that we didn’t have a marketing or sales department. During a staff meeting, the boss asked if one of us would take on the marketing responsibilities. I replied, “I’ve never done that before and wouldn’t know how or where to start.” I punted.

Several years later, I started my own business and for the first year I was the only employee. I produced some products that needed to be marketed, but I didn’t have the money to hire someone, so guess who became the chief marketing officer. I did.

I crafted and pursued a self-directed crash course in marketing and advertising: I read four books on the subject, interviewed professionals, did a lot of research, and learned through trial and error. I became quite good at it.

It’s amazing what you can do — when you have to.

Why do we often wait until we are compelled to do something before we do it? Are we lazy, fearful, complacent? If so, are these inhibitors affecting all areas of our lives?

An unemployed friend of mine was very casual about finding a job, perhaps because his wife made good money and was supporting the family. But she left him and suddenly he was on his own. He immediately found a job. Interesting…

One day while driving around suburban Detroit, Iacocca passed someone in an old Mustang convertible. “That’s what Chrysler needs,” Iacocca thought. “A convertible.”

As soon as he got back to his office, he called the head of engineering. “Well,” said the department head, “the normal production cycle is five years. I suppose if we really pushed, we can have a convertible coming off the line in three years.”

Continue reading “Get ‘er done”

 

 

Vilfredo Pareto, a mathematician, sociologist, and economist of the 1800s, laid the groundwork for what has become the 80/20 rule. Pareto theorized that in any given group there are relatively few “significant” items, and attention must be placed on these if maximum results are to be expected. Stated another way, 80 percent of the results will come from 20 percent of the events. It’s important to differentiate between the vital few and the useful many.

For instance:

• An insurance company discovered that 80 percent of its income came from 20 percent of its clients.
• A manufacturing firm realized that 80 percent of its sales were coming from 20 percent of its product line.
• In most non-profit organizations, 20 percent of the contributors provide 80 percent of the income.

This rule compels us to identify and focus on priorities. What are the load-bearing factors that exert an inordinate amount of influence on your life and organization? Are your resources allocated accordingly?

When I teach the Lead Well workshop, I use an object lesson to underscore the importance of focusing on a few important tasks. Every delegate receives three golf balls, a small plastic sleeve that’s made to hold the balls, and a small sack of sand. I ask delegates to simply place the golf balls and the sand in the sleeve and put the lid on.

The only way to make it work is to put the golf balls in first, then pour the sand in and allow it to fill in the space around the golf balls. If you insert the sand first, the balls won’t fit and the sleeve won’t close.

Continue reading “Prioritize and focus”

Time is a precious commodity. If traded on the commodities market, its value would be incalculable. But alas, time cannot be bought or sold. And while the length of our lives varies and is unpredictable, the number of hours we have in each day is fixed.

Many books have been written on how to maximize your time. Read them and learn. You are the steward of your own time.

This essay focuses on the negative influence that people can have on other people’s time. In other words, if you want to waste your own time, that’s up to you, but don’t waste my time. Likewise, I don’t want to waste your time.

So let’s agree…

Be punctual.
If you have an appointment with someone at 1:00 p.m. and you arrive at 1:05, you have squandered five minutes of her time. To be on time you must be early; it’s nearly impossible to be precisely on time – time is moving too fast. For instance, if a meeting starts at 1:00 you can’t walk in 1:00 – that occurs in a milli-second and then becomes the past. You must arrive before 1:00.

Be organized.
When you are responsible for a project that involves other people, you must be organized or you’ll waste their time. You must predetermine what needs to be accomplished and know the quickest way to do it.

Plan ahead.
Plans exist in the future. The past is history, the present is reality. Always have a plan for what the future can look like.

Be decisive.
Often, it is wise to postpone a decision until it must be made – careful contemplation and monitoring changing variables are good reasons to delay a decision. But when a decision needs to be made, do so.

Be quick, not slow.
By and large, slow is not good. Jack Welch, former CEO of GE would ask his protégés, “Who wants to be slow?” It was a rhetorical question; I hope no one raised his or her hand.
While it’s good to be thorough, careful, wise, circumspect, cautious, and deliberate – don’t be slow.

Continue reading “Don’t waste people’s time”

An Eastern monarch asked his wise men to invent a phrase that would apply to all times and in all situations. After careful deliberation, they offered this statement: “And this too shall pass away.”

When Abraham Lincoln heard the story, he mused: “How much it expresses. How chastening in the hour of pride; how consoling in the depths of affliction.”

In my early forties I had several career leaps that catapulted me up near the top of my profession. The rails were greased and the momentum strong. But the high times were soon tempered by the challenges of life. Good times don’t last forever.

In my late forties I became clinically depressed. I thought my life as I knew it was coming to an end. If you’ve never been depressed, it’s hard to understand the feelings of hopelessness and confusion that torment the mind. I told my wife that we needed to liquidate our belongings and go live with her mother out in the country. But that season of my life passed. With the help of medications, I climbed out of the dark abyss and resumed normal life.

When you’re going through tough times, don’t be overly discouraged because “this too shall pass away.” And when you’re going through times of prosperity, don’t be smug and proud because “this too shall pass away.” Events are seldom as catastrophic or fortunate as we think. This truth, if embraced, will give us ballast and stabilize our emotions.

Winston Churchill touched on this thought when he said, “Success is not final…failure is not fatal…it’s the courage to continue that counts.”

Summary

What? – Life is usually a series of ups and downs, but the peaks and the valleys seldom last.
So what? – Don’t be too discouraged by the low points in life nor too emboldened by the high points in life.
Now what? – Remind yourself and others of the transitory nature of life. Try to achieve a balanced perspective on life.

Leaders – When your organization is prospering, be grateful but not smug or arrogant. When your organization is faltering, don’t panic but take guided steps to stabilize it.