Be Different or be dead

November 20, 2023

How Do CoNTRaRIAN Entrepreneurs Become Insanely Successful?

How Do CoNTRaRIAN Entrepreneurs Become Insanely Successful?

What’s a CoNTRaRIAN Entrepreneur?

Check this iconic quote is from Apple’s 1997 advertising campaign that encapsulates the essence of contrarian entrepreneurship…
“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels…because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

There are many faces to a CoNTRaRIAN…

CoNTRaRIANs…
- Look for ways to DISRUPT current business models.
- Are driven to CREATE something new.
- BUCK trends and common conventions.
- Don’t ‘pivot’, they BREAK AWAY from what the herd is doing.
- JUMP not stagger away from the ‘norm’.
- Have DISTAIN for the status quo .
- Offend some; amaze others.
- Make people nervous.
- Apply their mindset to every challenge regardless of how big or how small.

Being CoNTRaRIAN is an effective business strategy…

- It works because it’s unique. Few do it.
- Most businesses do the same thing, which results in all having similar strategies.
- “Undifferentiation” is happening. Too much copying going on.
- Businesses refer to the same books and case studies.
- COPYING, CLAPTRAP, ASPIRATIONS, NARCISSISM are overused; words like “Better”, “Best”, “#1”, “Save the World” pervade, stultifying creativity and innovation.

We need an intervention to get off this track.

Success today requires businesses to stand out and be different from their competition in a way people CARE about.

A CoNTRaRIAN mindset is an excellent tactic to look for ways to be THE ONLY ONE that does what you do.

Most businesses go with the flow…

- They follow common methods prescribed by textbooks.
- They copy what their competitors are doing.
- Benchmarking seems to be an acceptable tool to feed strategy.
- CoNTRaRIANism is perceived to be a high risk approach even though there’s nothing more risky than being the same as everyone else.
- The heavy inertia of past methodologies prevents business from reframing their strategy to be the ONLY ones that do what they do.

Examples of businesses that have practiced CoNTRaRIANism…

The Grateful Dead — build stands to allow their fans to record and share their music. Gave special deals to their existing fans rather than using special offers to attract NEW fans.

The Heart Attack Grill — Las Vegas, where obesity and unhealthy eating is the theme.
✔️Famous for their Bypass Burgers from a Single to a $24 Octuple Bypass at 20,000 calories.
✔️Offered Flatliner Fries, which are deep-fried in pure lard. 
✔️Wine is served in an IV drip bag.
✔️Guests are referred to as “patients”.
✔️Diners wear hospital gowns when entering.
✔️Servers dressed as nurses and doctors.
✔️Anyone over 350 Ibs. eats free.
✔️Rated ⅘ by Tripadvisor, and ranked #155 out of 1,170 restaurants in Vegas.

Uber — Disrupted the traditional taxi model and ventured into the untrodden realm of ride-sharing.

Netflix — Rather than conforming to the rental store model, they introduced a subscription-based streaming service.

How does a business leader cultivate a CoNTRARIAN culture?

The end game is to have a culture that encourages CREATIVITY not COPYING; INNOVATION not IMITATION.

Some specific behaviors than need to be developed and rewarded:

1. Question the status quo and established norms.
2. Try. Try. Try.
3. Create, don’t imitate the crowd.
4. Think independently.
5. Ask yourself “How can I do this differently?”
6. Empower people to take risks and innovate.
7. Use customer complaints as a way to disrupt how the organization does business.
8. Connect and engage with other disruptors.
9. Celebrate incremental CoNTRaRY successes.
10. Look for long term sustainability in CoNTRaRY ideas.
11. Emphasize value creation over competition. Make it about being unique in delivering value that people CARE about as opposed to battling with competitors.
12. Ask “How can we take at least a right angle turn away from the traditional approach?”.
13. Establish ‘The Office of the Contrarian’ in your organization - leaders can take on the role of CCO

3 CoNTRARIAN Moves I made taking a startup internet company to A BILLION IN ANNUAL SALES…

The startup was in its early stages, so I had to look for innovative ways to stimulate performance and growth.

1. Business Planning - My Strategic Game Plan process emphasizes EXECUTION over precise direction-setting and disrupts the traditional planning approach.

2. Differentiation - My ONLY Statement process revolutionizes the standard Unique Value Proposition approaches that rely on meaningless CLAPTRAP & ASPIRATIONS to create competitive differentiation.

3. Customer Loyalty - Building and executing a Recovery Strategy to turn a service OOPS! into a WOW! is instrumental in building strong customer loyalty with retention rates at astronomical levels.
Recovery strategies are virtually nonexistent in organizations today!
The addition of a Recovery Strategy to ‘Do it Right the First Time” successfully exploits the power of ’FIX & SURPRISE’.

CoNTRARIANism isn’t a ‘bad word’. It’s the new way to get the creative juices flowing in an organization to stand out from the competition and deliver benefits that people CARE about.

Cheers,
Roy
My 75+ Podcast Shows that will change your life.

My Podcast Show Audacious Moves to A BILLION.

My BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series.

‘Audacious’ is my latest.

• Posted 11.20.23 at 05:21 am by Roy Osing
• Permalink

August 28, 2023

Why unbelievable career success depends on ‘Do it Now!’

Source: Unsplash

Why unbelievable career success depends on ‘Do it Now!’

There seems to be an overly cautious mentality in some organizations that is biased to study and reflect instead of taking action and learning as you go.

This phenomenon is due to a combination of people being risk averse, paralysis by analysis—I can’t take any course of action until I have more information—or working in an organization that doesn’t encourage the just do it ethic, and punishes people who make mistakes.

Results come from getting’ it DONE, not from pondering and over-analyzing.

If organization culture demands that people follow the rules, stay inside the box and punish those who dare dip their toe in outside waters there will not likely be an abundance of employees who try new things, learn from their mistakes and effectively contribute to taking their organization to new levels.

If you find yourself in such an organization, you may have to either wait for more enlightened leadership or leave.

A pervasive bias for inaction in an organization that discourages independent thought and action is an opportunity for people who want to BE DiFFERENT.
While most people contemplate the issues and study them from every angle, the Stand-Out breed do the appropriate (to the risks involved) amount of study and move to execution FAST.

Successful people focus on getting their plan just about right and executing it flawlessly as opposed to trying to create a perfect strategy (which doesn’t exist anyways).

Winners translate thought into action, FAST. A decision taken to address a critical business matter is quickly followed with a detailed implementation plan to realize the desired results.”

The focus isn’t on determining the most pristine and elegant way of arriving at the destination.
On the contrary, it is on taking the most practical achievable course to get the expected results. It might be messy and inelegant but who cares?

Taking the hill is all that matters. Achieving superlative results is the game to be played.

Plan on the Run = plan (get it ‘just about right’) – execute – learn – adjust – execute ….. forever.

I’m not suggesting that you should do an incomplete analysis of a situation.
However, ensure the depth of analysis is consistent with the decision you have to make. A $10,000 decision doesn’t require the same amount of rigor as a $100,000 one.

In addition, you never will have a complete information file on any matter you are dealing with. You will always have incomplete information. You will always get biased input.

The picture will never be perfectly clear.

Get 80% of the information you need, make the decision to take a certain course and get on with it.
Accept the fact that intended results rarely occur without mid-course corrections as it is impossible to predict all factors that influence success.

Issues will arise that you never considered and you will have to deal with them. The important thing is to make progress while having contingencies in place to mitigate the negative consequences from unforeseen events.

Cheers,
Roy
My 50+ Podcast Shows that will change your life.

Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

‘Audacious’ is my latest…

• Posted 8.28.23 at 05:04 am by Roy Osing
• Permalink

August 7, 2023

5 simple things you can do to become an audacious achiever

Source: Unsplash

5 simple things I did to become an audacious achiever.

The Achievers Mantra:  “Doing it is 10 times better than talking about it!”

These 5 Moves enabled me, as a leader, to achieve superlative performance as our organization marched to A BILLION IN SALES.

#1. Be DiFFERENT. — it’s really difficult to make a positive impression on the career decision makers when you’re indistinguishable in the crowd.

Being part of a larger entity with no unique characteristics makes you invisible and that’s a problem for someone who has greater aspirations for themselves.

My simple process to gain recognition and the chance at personal growth:

▪️Identify the things your organization declares are vital to its success. What does it care about in terms of achieving superior levels of performance? What are the key strategic imperatives in its plan?

▪️Determine how you can contribute to these strategic requirements in a different way that no one else does. Be the ONLY one that does what you do in the way you do it.

Key point: achievers aren’t different for the sake of being different. They’re different in a way that the organization CARES about.

Here are ten of my favourite ‘un’ words that describe the behavior of someone who is on the BE DiFFERENT journey:

              ✔️unforgettable
              ✔️undaunted
              ✔️ uncompromisable
              ✔️ unbelievable
              ✔️ unrelenting
              ✔️ unbeatable
              ✔️ uncommon
              ✔️ unusual
              ✔️ unfazed
              ✔️ unbeaten

#2. Accept imbalance. — Accept an imbalance in your life.

Achievers are usually ‘all in’ to the challenge of standing out and separating themselves from those around them and delivering a consistent high level of performance in terms of meeting and exceeding the organization’s objectives.

And yes, that usually means that their personal life takes a back seat and balance becomes an elusive goal to attain.

#3. Serve people. — The Achieving Leader leads by serving around the workplace, asking “How can I help?”.

Awesome strategy execution depends on employees performing their roles with superb precision and ease, which means the bureaucracy and ‘grunge’ that typically gets in the way must be removed.

Look at the time management plan of any Achiever and you’ll discover that they spend a disproportionate amount of their time with teams who are critical to the execution of the organization’s strategy looking for ways to make their jobs easier.

People notice.

You earn the ‘Achiever’ tag.

#4. Tolerate pain. — The common expression “You’re on the bleeding edge of change.” accurately describes this Achiever prerequisite.

Achievers have learned to absorb and tolerate high levels of pain as they push their envelope of change in the face of opposing forces.

Defenders of the status quo cannot be vanquished with logic and intellectual prowess. They can only be conquered through relentless tenacity and denial of pain.

Without an indifference to pain, a leader becomes an ‘ordinary manager’ who simply cannot move the yardsticks forward enough to achieve extraordinary gains.

#5. Be undeniable. — Achievers won’t be put off their goal.

They move inexorably towards the intended finish line and there’s nothing anyone or anything can do to prevent them from achieving its intended purpose.

Achievers have the ‘undeniability factor’ working for them. When they put their mind to doing something, they simply cannot be denied their intended outcome.

These are the attributes of undeniability ‘masters’:

▪️They are tenacious goal setters with a substantial number of them in the audacious category.
Their goal setting infatuation makes them the antithesis of most people who thrive on activity and business and achieve terribly little.

▪️When they set their sights on a goal, they’re all in. They’re not ‘slightly interested’ in achieving their goal; it’s a drive in their gut that makes them move on relentlessly.

▪️They are brave: they are fearless in pursuit of their end game.
Trepeditiousness knows no part of them.
They understand the risks but nevertheless drive forward often right into the face of adversaries.
Walking into a buzz saw isn’t a pleasant experience for them, but they’re ok with doing it if it’s a requisite to achieving their purpose.

▪️They have a stable of like minded (but different) mentors to draw on for advice and guidance consistent with each unique journey they pursue.
Undeniables hunt for the ‘been there done it’ mentor and they accept nothing less.

These 5 Moves were instrumental in my success in achieving breakthrough results.

They will work for you too!

Cheers,
Roy
My 50+ Podcast Shows that will change your life.

Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

‘Audacious’ is my latest…

• Posted 8.7.23 at 04:53 am by Roy Osing
• Permalink

June 23, 2023

“Welcome to the Roy Osing Story” Podcast

Standing Out, Defining the Fox, & Being “The Only One”

EPISODE OVERVIEW:

“Have you heard the one about that guy who built a billion dollar company? You know, the one that talks about becoming “the only one”.

Watch or listen now to learn how you can differentiate yourself in business personally, and as an organization. And according to this man, that’s how you experience billion dollar success.

He’s going to walk us through his life story, explain the key elements of success that you and I can learn from and apply, and then he’s going to share with us the practical steps of how to take the next step in our own journey.

Today’s guest is a gentleman, an entrepreneur, and an expert at growing organizations. He helps people recognize their worth, and is a catalyst for growth in their lives.

He’s written seven books, led multiple organizations, and even though we don’t mention this in the show, he’s balanced it all and been married now for over 56 years!

Ladies & Gentlemen, welcome to the Roy Osing story!”

— David Pasqualone, Host, The Remarkable People Podcast

• Posted 6.23.23 at 06:54 am by Roy Osing
• Permalink