Be Different or be dead

March 11, 2019

Why deleting old stuff is better than creating new stuff

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Why deleting old stuff is better than creating new stuff.

Innovation is always associated with coming up with new solutions to existing problems; the definition of the word confirms it: innovation is described as ‘the introduction of something new; a new idea, method, or device’.

If you are successful creating and introducing newness, you are a respected member of the creativity crowd, and the rewards follow your achievements.
Adding stuff and consuming additional resources gets the attention, and enhancing value is defined by introducing new products and services and adding new technical functionality.
And in fact many organizations reinforce this bias by having entire teams dedicated to new product and service development.

The flip side of the coin, however, ‘gets no respect’. This is the side of the coin that seeks to removes stuff — takes stuff away, cuts, and deletes. The flip side of the coin has DNA based on the need to subtract not add.

We should start to recognize the importance of deleting the no-longer-relevant by changing the old school definition of innovation.

New school innovation

New school innovation definition: ”The introduction of something new or the elimination of something deemed no longer relevant; a new or obsolete idea, method, or device.”

This new definition of innovation is based on the principle of creating additional value in whatever fashion is appropriate at the time.

And deleting the no-longer-relevant adds HUGE value and yet it’s not on a par with its add-the-new cousin.

Take a look at your own personal life. How much junk do you have in your closet? How much stuff do you have that you never use but can’t part with? And how good do you feel — and how much more effective are you at using the space you have available — when you have a purge day and open up all that room that you can use for today’s prized possessions?

Managers of irrelevance

In organizations, procedures, practices, systems, products and services all fall victim sooner or later to irrelevance. Markets change, customer needs change and priorities change, leaving irrelevance in their wake.

The problem is no one pays attention to this lack of usefulness because the people who perform the irrelevant tasks never pony up.

They are the LAST people who will admit that what they are doing should be axed.

And leadership doesn’t spot irrelevance easily because they have more lofty strategic goals to pursue. It’s no wonder that a small group of employees maintaining a system that has lost its usefulness is missed while leadership is paying attention to guiding the actions necessary to complete a strategic partnership transaction or enter a new market.

If only organizations could delete the stuff they no longer need and observe the added value they could produce.

In government, absolutely zero resources are assigned to mining out the no-longer-needed. When’s the last time you remember a social program of any sort being phased out? Talk about health care — budgets go up and feed a system that needs deletion and resurrection.

We no longer have the luxury to treat the new as an add-on. We can’t afford it. The new must ride on the back of the delete function.
Delete something and then add something new. We need the capability to create space for the new to enter; without deletion it can’t happen.

#CutTheCRAP

We need to start a Cut the CRAP movement — #CutTheCRAP — to seek out and cut things no longer relevant to our personal lives, organizations and governments.

The environment will benefit because the crap that no longer serves a useful purpose is identified and recycled; customers benefit because their service providers are more efficient and able to offer new services and potentially lower prices; and citizens benefit because governments are able to deliver new services more efficiently and hold taxes down as much as possible.

#DeleteIT

The point is, we need a relentless focus on hitting the delete button in our world of limited resources. Consumption must be linked with (and in many cases dependant on) deletion — delete something if you want to earn the right to consume something else.

But as long as sexy and success is associated with #AddIT it won’t happen.

In organizations we need to make hitting the delete button a top priority and assign a new role — Chief CRAP Officer (CCO) — to expunge the stuff throughout the organization that sucks resources and detracts from doing the new progressive initiatives dictated by their strategic game plan.

The CCO’s performance plan should be based on the value created from the savings realized by removing no-longer-relevant activities and hence the capability created to take on new initiatives without adding resources to do so.

In addition to a focus on new product development, the CCO should be held accountable for the old product deletion role.
How many sku’s do organizations offer with minimal sales? These are obvious candidates for #DeleteIT.

Innovation and creativity should no longer only be associated with #AddIT activities in a world that is relentlessly and inexorably moving towards a lack of resources.

‘Give up to get’ must find a way into our teachings if we are to avoid the consequences of too much output and too little capacity.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 3.11.19 at 04:02 am by Roy Osing
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March 8, 2019

5 simple ways to impress your future employer with your online presence

It is no secret that employers regularly investigate the social media presence of many potential hires before any offers are made. This has given rise to many people being terrified of posting anything even mildly controversial or making any mention of their personal lives.

While it’s understandable that hateful remarks will get you fired, not posting anything will also do harm.
Not only are you depriving your family and friends of opportunities to share in your successes and support you in your challenges, but you are denying potential employers an opportunity to get to know the kind of person they will be hiring.

When used well, social media can be a better way to land a job than traditional job searching. Having the courage to show potential employers (and everyone else) who you really are can help you stand out from the crowd.

Here are 5 simple things you can do today to impress future employers with your online presence.

1. Protest Thoughtfully

There may be some companies that are legitimately looking for someone that will never express a strong opinion about anything, but chances are good you probably wouldn’t want to work for them anyway.

The truth is, most businesses are looking for people who are passionate, because passionate people generally make concerned, dedicated employees.
What they are also looking for, however, are intelligent employees who don’t just jump on the latest bandwagon and parrot whatever talking head they agree with the most. There is nothing wrong with making thoughtful commentary on causes you are passionate about.

Doing so shows future employers you are capable of engaging in “hot button” discussions with thoughtfulness, tact, and diplomacy. And who doesn’t want that in an employee?

2. Browse Through Your Social Media Content And Ask If You Would Hire You Based On What You See

Remember that recruiters and potential employers are not the only ones looking at your social media accounts, and they likely have very little access anyway.
Who is looking at your full profiles are dozens of friends and acquaintances that might already be working at a company you are interested in working for.

Not everyone you are connected with on social media knows you personally. In some cases, all they know about you is what they see on social media. If the impression they get is of someone who lives a full life, they might be inclined to pass on your resume to hiring managers and recruiters.

Browse through your profiles and ask yourself what kind of impression you might form of you if you only knew you through social media.

3. Be Real

Some people become so concerned with how potential employers might view their social media content that their profiles become flat, boring and lifeless - they follow all those guides on how to have the perfect social media profile that would make you employable.

You know what’s wrong with all of those guides? They aren’t you. They are general guides that just make an army of clones. 

The truth is, human beings are complex and everyone is quirky in their own way.

Jennifer Lawrence is just as famous for constantly tripping on the red carpet as she is for her fierce work ethic. Being a hard worker is great, but it’s also important to be likable.

Your coworkers and even bosses may have to spend long hours working with you, so they might be just as drawn to someone who looks fun to be around as someone who just has all the right skills.

4. Highlight What Makes You Right For The Job You Want

Think of your social media profiles as a fuller, richer version of your resume. If you want to be a travel writer, but have no photos of yourself traveling anywhere, you’re probably not going to get hired just to receive on-the-job training.

That doesn’t mean you can’t get a job in an area where you have no experience, but you want your profiles to at least communicate why you would be a good fit for the job you are looking for.

The motto “dress for the job you want, not the job you have” can also be applied to social media profiles. For instance, working in a telecommuting position is a great opportunity to share your insights on how it truly is to work from home.
Post a photo of your home office and showcase your dedicated workspace - it shows your future employers that you are disciplined, a self-starter, and know how to organize your daily tasks.

5. Share Both Your Work Challenges And Victories

Everyone’s job is going to offer challenges that need to be overcome in order to succeed. In the above telecommuting example, that would mean you should share and teach others that working from home has good and bad sides - and how to overcome the bad ones.

Many people are afraid to share these challenges on social media because they are afraid they will come across as weak or negative. The truth is, however, most employers would love to see how you deal with and overcome challenges.

Letting others know may also give them inspiration to better deal with their own. If you are having difficulties at work, such as feeling bullied by a coworker, you can use your social media outlets to maturely discuss what this person is doing, how it makes you feel and the steps you are taking to deal with the situation.

The likelihood is, if you address the situation calmly, rationally and maturely, you will most likely see a positive outcome at some point.
If you share about that too, you show potential employers (and even friends and acquaintances that may have the ability to put your name in front of potential employers) that you know how to handle workplace challenges well.
That quality may be far more attractive to an employer than your ability to create a comprehensive spreadsheet from scratch.

Bottom line is that your social media presence is becoming more and more important to building a career.

While you don’t necessarily have to have an active social media presence to get a job, having a great one can give you a competitive edge in a wide range of fields.

— Ashley Wilson is a digital nomad and freelance writer from San Diego, California. When she is not busy baking cupcakes, Ashley loves writing about business, digital marketing, and finance. Connect with Ashley via Twitter

• Posted 3.8.19 at 04:28 am by Roy Osing
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March 4, 2019

5 reasons why the most popular things are wrong

Source: Unsplash

Popular ideas, popular gadgets and popular people have always been the objects of our affection; thriving industries have been built around attracting people to popularity niches — the tabloids are obvious examples of businesses targeted at people who “worship” celebrities from all walks of life and who are prepared to pay to read about their exploits regardless of their truth.

Everyone looks for what’s trendy; trendiness is cool and if you jump on the “What’s Trending” bandwagon, you get identified with the trend — YOU are cool.

But there is a dark side to popularism that rarely is talked about; popularity results in behaviour that is inconsistent with developing creative and innovative individuals and organizations — and taken to the extreme, society as a whole.

Popularity is bordering on being toxic notion; here are 5 reasons why:

Popularity fashions crowd formation

Anything popular builds a crowd. Whatever’s trending sucks people in and it’s value is measured by how many views the video gets or how many Retweets and Likes the post gets.

What individual value is created by being in a crowd? Other than sporting a Rolling Stones T-Shirt that a million other people have, what exactly does the crowd inspire in me to exercise my personal identity — the unique characteristics that make me “special”?

When you are in a crowd there is no motivation to be yourself; the “rub-off factor” from what is popular is a stimulant to share a view held by the many rather than express your own personal perspective.

Popularity grows the crowd of common thinking; it espouses the same ideas and the result is a larger herd whose members all think the same.
We don’t need more crowds formed by popularism; we desperately need stimuli that encourages individualism.

Popularity feeds sameness

Under the guise of being cool, popularity encourages people to adopt the behaviour and views of others whether it be a rock star, celebrity model or fringe ideology group.
This adoption breeds a culture of people who seek likeness; who feel more comfortable sharing someone else’s DNA rather than living their own.

A successful product idea captures the imagination of other marketers; an amazing wardrobe ensemble smites the collective adulation of young people and an innovative operating system model is a magnet for engineers regardless of the business they’re in.

Crowd members are captured by a force they must capitulate to rather than seek their own way.

Cultivating sameness has no long term value; it breeds a population of lookalikes who operate within boundaries established by others. Value for ourselves and for people around us is delivered by spirits who are different and who shine by being special.

Popularity prevents risk taking

When a person imitates what’s popular they tend to feel that their risk exposure is minimized; in fact many populist followers think they have no risk at all.
They believe any personal risk they do incur is spread out among everyone else who shares the same idea, so their share is minimal.
And even if the populist notion is a bust they can always take comfort in the fact that many others have gone down with them.

Populist conformity not only mitigates personal risk, it has an even darker downside — it mutes innovation and creativity. Amazing thinks happen when people assume risk; conversely, mediocrity results when risk is avoided.

Ergo, behaviour which bows down to popularity and subordinates individual thought and expression results in nothing interesting at all and that’s a HUGE risk to it only the individual but also to society.

Popularity kills originality

Following a popular anything removes any incentive to look, say or do anything different from the trend. In fact while in the popular herd, stepping out and doing anything that is not a aligned with the trend isn’t even a thought — there is zero motivation to do so when you are caught up in the energy of the movement.

Crowd members fall easily into the copycat mentality and they copy everything that is associated with their popular infatuation. And they think they’re being original; doing or thinking things that people outside the popular circle don’t.

Copying is the enemy of innovation and creativity; it serves no purpose other than to #metoo someone else.

We don’t need copycats in today’s world of intense competition for everything; we need people who hate the notion and find it repugnant because it’s an easy way out of the tough job of doing something truly original.

Popularity steals your future

The opportunity costs associated with following what is popular are higher than anyone can imagine.
While you are coveting what is popular, you are losing the precious energy and time you need to do something special; something that will define your unique signature in the world.

If you are devoted to chasing what is “in” at the moment, you need to be comfortable with the prospects of an unexciting future; one that is defined by finding someone else’s way rather than your own.

And the irony is you don’t even know the people behind the popular movement that controls you — crazy!
Successful individuals devote themselves to exploring the art of the impossible.

It’s ok to dabble in popularity; trends have a habit of embracing us, capturing our imagination and imprinting our opinions and behaviour.

But at the end of the day, popular things should be treated as a temporal aberration — a fling that doesn’t detract you from your ultimate goal of creating your own personal and unique value for the world.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 3.4.19 at 03:16 am by Roy Osing
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February 25, 2019

5 courageous demands to make of your leader right now

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5 courageous demands to make of your leader right now.

To move beyond your current role requires a personal development plan; it’s not likely that serendipity will play a significant role in advancing our careers.
It’s all about positioning yourself to take advantage of either an opportunity that comes up or one that you create because of proactive moves you make.

Step up and demand

Either way, there are a few key things you should discuss with your leader to enable you to capitalize on your potential and prepare you for further career success.
After all, they are supposed to be there to help you get both your performance and developmental needs met, so be courageous and tell them what they are even if they don’t ask.

Most leaders don’t ask “How can I help?”, they just expect you to do the job without their intervention.
But don’t play that game. It’s your career and life and you have every right to tell your boss what you need to improve your performance and to prepare you to make even greater contributions to the organization.

Ask your leader:

To give you more work

To delegate more tasks to do within your current role.
Tell them that you have the capacity to take on more (even if you are not sure you have) and are prepared to do so.

I’m sure there is a project on the shelf not being actioned that interests you or a deliverable you think should be worked on that would help the organization; show initiative ask if you can take it on even if you put yourself at risk in the process.

My personal style was always to define the job I was in by expanding the scope of deliverables I produced. I rarely accepted the boundaries of the role I was given because I considered them too restrictive.
Most people need defined boundaries for them to do their job; I never did.

In a marketing product manager role, for example, I asked to assume the task of defining and implementing the customer service support requirements necessary to sustain a product in the field. In the process, I not only was able to deliver a high performing product that met its sales targets, I also learned a great deal about the service world which prepared me for a career path in operations.

To define your line of sight

Effective execution of the strategic game plan of the organization requires that each function and individual know exactly what their role is; the game plan must be translated in very granulated form down to what each person needs to do in their job to ensure the plan is implemented the way it was intended.

For example, if the game plan was to beat the competition by outperforming them on serving customers, everyone needs to understand what they need to do to help the organization deliver miraculous service moments.

When line of sight is foggy and people don’t know their role, they invent what they think it should be and dysfunction sets in. There is no consistency in what people do and results are all over the map.

So, ask your boss to sit down with you and map what the game plan of the organization specifically means to you. What do you need to do differently? Agreement on this is critical to ensure performance expectations are the same between boss and employee and to move the game plan forward.

To make introductions for you

Career success depends heavily on the network of people you know; not just the number of them but their quality in terms of their relevance to your chosen career path.

It’s cool to be introduced to a VP Finance but it would be even more cool if you were headed to a marketing role to meet a few VPs of Marketing.

In addition, see if you can get introduced to people who you have something in common with. Do your homework and ask for introductions to specific people.
But don’t expect your leader to commit to you and provide you with quality referrals immediately. They need to get to know you and trust your capabilities. This takes time so be prepared to make the investment and that you deliver beyond their expectations.

What new stuff you should learn

Career growth requires constant learning and leaders are an excellent source of advice on how to fill your knowledge gaps.

They see your performance and should be the best people to offer suggestions to help you improve. In addition, they have experience that you don’t and can refer you to learning sources based on what worked for them.

Their involvement in the organization’s strategic game plan also enables them to have an accurate perspective on what skills and competencies are needed to add the value that spells success in the marketplace. Take your lead from the new knowledge what they suggest you acquire.

To help prepare you for a lateral move

Success isn’t just about moving up. Rarely do people look back on their journey with a record of only promotions.
In my experience the most valuable moves I made involved accepting a lateral position to a different department. This gave me a broader perspective on what the organization needed to succeed and was a brilliant source of learning.

When promotions did present themselves, I received more serious consideration because of the more diversified experience.
So ask your boss to find a niche lateral move that would complement your long term career goals and pester her until you get it.

Don’t expect your leader to do the right thing for your career. If you don’t put YOU in front of them they will likely have other priorities.

You must take ownership of your own fate; tell them what you need.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 2.25.19 at 02:15 am by Roy Osing
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