“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
As in other technological evolutions…
9: RELATIONSHIP TECH
As in other technological evolutions…
…relationship tech will begin its innovation in the avant garde, then work back to the familiar.
R-tech first appears in the world of the web, but will gradually infiltrate the world of canned goods and sports equipment, as well as TV shows and vacation spots. Eventually it reaches the final stage in the progression of customer relations:
To change what a customer wants. The ongoing tango between customer and provider draws them together until their identities disappear at times. This is especially true in frontier arenas, where expertise is usually in short supply. At first there is no authority on what customers want or what providers should deliver–as in these early days of the web and e-commerce. Expertise has to be developed jointly, coevolved. Customers must be trained and educated by the company to teach them what they need, and then the company is trained and educated by the customers. We saw precisely this equation in the pioneer days of online conferencing about a decade ago. When email and chat began, no one knew the difference between great email and okay email, between fabulous chat areas and average chat areas. The best online companies learned all they knew from their first customers. But the customers, too, had little expertise of what to expect and so relied on the visions and vaporware suggested by the companies. Customer and company educated each other on what was possible.
Discover the key element that’s missing from 99% of businesses!
Last week, I wrote one of the most popular posts ever on this blog. It was about the difference between doing normal work, and doing work that matters. I recommend you read it, before continuing with this post.
One of the many emails I received following that post, was from Giles Payne in Canada. Giles asks an excellent question, which echoed what the majority of you asked me. Here’s the question along with my answer:
I know it’s impossible to tell each reader what we, individually, should do in order to switch to the work that matters model, but can you help us with some ideas on where to start, Jim?
Your craft
The best general advice I can give, regarding where you should start, is with your craft.
- Your craft is the element of your work, which is uniquely you.
- Your craft is the creativity you inject into what you do.
- Your craft is about creating something fresh, which then touches the lives of other people.
If you give 100 people a pencil and paper and ask them to draw a bridge, you will get 100 unique drawings. Each of these drawings shows how that person sees and depicts a bridge. No one is right. No one is wrong. Everyone is unique.
In business, those who successfully apply their craft, accept the fact that they are unique and allow their uniqueness to touch everything they do. Commercially, the magic begins when your craft produces something, which others see unique value in. Doing work that matters is what I call the development and delivery of your craft.
The majority of business owners struggle, because they focus on being like their competitors, but just a little, cheaper, faster or better. By being to similar to their competitors, they render themselves almost invisible. They get into the numbers game. They find themselves selling on price, not value.
How doing work that matters can be a game changer
Imagine you are looking to buy a tablet device today. For most people, they are faced with the following question: Do I buy an iPad or one of the other devices? In reality, that is not the correct question. There are dozens of choices and some are very good indeed. The thing is, Steve Jobs’ approach to doing work that matters, means Apple produced a game-changing device that has so far, eclipsed everything else.
It’s worth remembering that Apple were not first to market with a tablet by a LONG way! Toshiba and others were producing tablet devices many years before Apple; yet they failed to produce anything that excited the marketplace. They simply produced what were essentially laptops, with a touch screen. They failed to use their craft to develop something fresh and compelling.
Sharing your craft
It takes courage to share your craft with the marketplace, rather than do work that’s expected. That’s because the more unique you are, the more visible you become. If there are 10,000 people standing in a stadium, wearing white shirts, and you are standing in the middle, wearing a red shirt, you will draw more attention than any of them. That’s because people’s attention is drawn to that, which is different.
Here on this blog, I share my craft with you very publicly. I try to write useful material for you, based on my unique experience and my particular approach to marketing and business development. Everything I do here is visible. Every idea I share is open to debate. However, as a direct result of sharing my craft, every day a subset of my readers contact me, to see how I can help them develop their business.
Whilst I’m sharing my craft here, there are marketing providers all over the world, attending networking groups, pestering people for business leads. Many of those marketing providers are talented. However, they need to ask people for referrals, because they focus on doing what’s expected, rather than applying their craft to doing work that matters. I have helped dozens of fellow marketing professionals to overcome this challenge and the first step always, is to focus on your craft. That is my suggestion to you too, regardless of your industry or profession.
That’s a pretty long answer to that initial question, but the subject is way too important to dismiss with anything less.
I hope you found this post useful!
How to Share Bad News
I’ll echo the many leaders who have praised the grace under pressure Bill Hybels showed at The Global Leadership Summit at Willow Creek. As many of you know, Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks canceled his speaking appearance due to an online petition from the homosexual community threatening to boycott Starbucks should Shultz speak at the supposedly “anti-gay” church. Schultz decided to cancel, and the Summit let him out of his contract.
What was remarkable, then, is how well Bill handled the situation. I noticed a few things about his announcement that I’ll keep in my file the next time I’m forced to share bad news:
1. He explained the situation accurately, and without judgment for either Mr Schultz or the homosexual community.
2. He corrected the misunderstanding that led to the protest, while also acknowledging a difficult truth that led to the misunderstanding.
3. He showed Mr. Schultz grace and understood his position, even asking the audience for empathy for Mr. Shultz.
4. He invited the audience to “take action” by showing kindness to Starbucks and Mr. Schultz as a way of further dispelling the misunderstanding that led to the protest.
I thought he did a terrific job in a difficult situation. Here’s the clip:
Bill Hybels Addresses Speaker Change at The Global Leadership Summit
How to Share Bad News is a post from: Donald Miller’s Blog
via donmilleris.com
Spotify – How it Will Help Your Music Career
Spoify, a music service with instant access to over 13,000,000 songs, launched in the United States last month to huge buzz. Users have three options to access it. There is a free service, with limited access and commercials, a “computer” based sevice with unlimited access for $4.99/month, and a “mobile” service, also with unlimited access, but with higher quality streaming for both computers and mobile devices for $9.99.
It’s a great service. More or less, you type the artist you want to listen to, click on the song you want, and it starts playing.
And I think it’s good for the music business. At the height of the business, when people were both new CDs as well as back catalog, to replace worn out vinyl and cassette albums, the average consumer was spending about $3/month, which was split between retailers, distributors, labels, publishers, songwriters, producers, and artists.
If we can get 2-3x that money, without worrying about the “middlemen” and costs of physical distribution, we’ll be in good shape as far as revenue.
Plus, a service like Spotify allows consumers to explore music. You can find an artist that you like and, instead of focusing on one album or a single you’ve heard, you can dig deeper, going into back catalog and more obscure recordings, of which Spotify has many.
This gets people more interested in and involved with the acts they like. Knowing one song is great, but knowing entire albums worth of material creates a relationship.
Imagine having fans who knew everything that you’ve ever done, thanks to a service that paid you every time your music was played? That’s Spotify.
Spotify, and services like it, will help you to develop the type of fans you’re looking for. People who have access to music like this are more likely to come to a live show, more likely to buy a t-shirt or other mechandise, and more likely to support you in future endeavors.
If your music is not available on Spotify, you can make that happen now via CD Baby or Ditto Music.
It’s that time again…
Next month I will undergo my 8th CT scan and my next battery of lab work and other tests. I started down this road almost 5 years ago. On November 17th 2006, I found out I had a tumor the size of a cantaloupe in my colon. Well, it didn’t stay contained in the colon. It had attached itself to the abdominal wall, small intestine, another section of the large intestine, and the bladder. December 4th, 2006 I had surgery to attempt to remove this beast. The surgeon was successful in removing the tumor along with a bladder resection and colon and small intestine resections. On December 7th, 2006 the pathology report showed that there was no cancer to be found in my system. Nothing in the margins, and 22 out of 22 lymph nodes completely clean. Since then, I had six months of intensive chemo. My oncologist termed that preventative. I have been since visiting my oncologist every three months. I was scheduled to do that for 5 years. I have been informed if my results come back like all of my previous results that I will be declared “cancer free” by the oncologist and released as a patient.
My last CT result still showed a small spot on my liver . However, I have been informed by my oncologist that it is nothing and I should not be concerned. While yes, they found a spot, ALL other labs, blood work and markers are “perfect”. AMAZING! This journey has never been about me. It has always been about God and His glory.
So what’s the next step? We keep moving. We keep living a healthy lifestyle for both my physical being as well as my spiritual.
Stay tuned…because I know God is not finished, with me or this journey. Exciting things are coming out of this journey. More on that later.
For now thanks for the prayers and support. See you next time.
Leaders
1. Leaders relentlessly upgrade their team, using every encounter as an opportunity to evaluate, coach, and build self confidence. Take every opportunity to inject self-confidence into those who have earned it. Use ample praise, the more specific the better.
2. Leaders makes sure people not only see the vision, they live and breathe it. There were times I talked about the company’s direction so much in one day that I was completely sick of hearing it myself.
3. Leaders get into everyone’s skin, exuding positive energy and optimism. Unhappy tribes have a tough time winning.
4. Leaders establish trust with candor, transparency, and credit. Leaders never score off their own people by stealing an idea and claiming it as their own.
5. Leaders have the courage to make unpopular decisions and gut calls. Don’t run for office. You’re already elected.
6. Leaders probe and push with a curiosity that borders on skepticism, making sure their questions are answered with action. “We’ll look into it,” says Welch, is the all-too-common business head fake.
7. Leaders inspire risk taking and learning by setting the example. There is no edict in the world that will make people take risks or spend their time learning.
8. Leaders celebrate. Celebrating makes people feel like winners.
–Jack Welch
Stand Up and Wear Blue for Colon Cancer Awareness
Stand Up and Wear Blue for Colon Cancer Awareness
Posted on March 3, 2011 10:09 AM
This Friday, March 4, friends and families across America are making plans to wear blue in an effort to help raise awareness of colon cancer and the importance of having your colon checked.
Dress in Blue Day began in March of 2006 as a local event in Seattle in an effort to raise awareness of colon cancer, and the importance of screening. However, today it is a nationwide event on the first Friday of every March to raise awareness around the disease itself and the best ways to prevent it.
As the second leading cause of cancer death it the United States over 80 percent of all cases can be prevented when detected early with recommended screening, so it’s important to spread the word. Not sure what recommended screening entails? The Colon Cancer Alliance recommends having your colon checked regularly if you are 50 years of age or older, unless you are at higher risk because you:
- are African American, American Indian, Alaskan Native, or Jews of Ashkenazi descent;
- have a personal or family history of colon cancer, polyps or inflammatory bowel disease;
- have a personal or family history of other types of cancer;
- have poor diet and exercise habits, type 2 diabetes, or smoke or drink heavily.
By waiting or avoiding having their colons checked, many people are greatly increase their risk.. Seven out of 10 people with colon cancer have no symptoms at all, which means that getting screened before symptoms develop is crucial. A simple test may save a life.
To celebrate Dress In Blue Day, SU2C is joining this important effort by urging the public to proudly wear blue on March 4 and continue to spread colon cancer awareness, not only in the month of March, but all year long. By standing together we can spread the word in the hopes that one day colon cancer, and all cancer, will be a thing of the past.
To learn more about what you can do to prevent colon cancer, visit the Colon Cancer Alliance website at www.ccalliance.org.
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Early Detection Can Save Lives #cancersucks
Live Every Moment as Christ Would Live It
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. –Philippians 1:21
What does it mean to be totally alive? How would you describe “living large“? Paul said in Philippians that the purpose and passion of life should be to live every moment as Christ would live it to magnify Jesus Christ.
This passion is a strong, unyielding commitment to live life in such a way that we glorify God in everything we do. The love of Christ should be our motivation and we should get excited about the same things that Christ gets excited about.
What I find is that too many believers aren’t happy because they are waiting to live; they are waiting for something great to happen or for that next big step. The only problem with waiting is that it doesn’t fit with Christ’s call to serve Him every day right where we are.
Many of us hope for that day when we “arrive,” but Christ wants us to experience fulfillment on the journey today right now in whatever place or circumstance that He has placed us. His desire is that we live every moment walking with Him and for Him.
What makes you excited? What motivates you to get up in the morning? I hope it’s the things of Christliving for and walking with Him. Don’t just endure life hoping you’ll arrive at some great place some day. Live large starting today by living every moment as Christ would live itseeking to bring glory to Him in every way!
LIVE EVERY MOMENT AS CHRIST WOULD LIVE IT.