Be Different or be dead

April 17, 2021

12 signs of digital hoarding + tips to quit

Source: Pexels

In today’s hyper-competitive business landscape having an online presence and — breakthrough technologies to maintain that presence — isn’t an option. Oftentimes, it’s mandatory to keep up.

Still, getting ahead of technologies meant to improve our decision-making and streamline our businesses can feel like an entirely new job. (Hence why many businesses have IT departments.)

After all, as this blog has written before, “In business, digital technology is the heart of products and services, internal control processes and customer contact systems.”

But how often do we really take a step back and evaluate all the technologies and data we’re buying into? How often do we consider the digital clutter we keep?

Crazy as it may sound, there’s a term for holding onto too much digital data, old programs, and even unused devices— digital hoarding.

And for businesses, digital hoarding can have many repercussions, including:

▪️Slower devices
▪️Increased employee stress
▪️Lowered productivity
▪️Heightened cybersecurity risks
▪️Negative impacts on the environment

All this to say, the time is now to take inventory of what technology and data your business can toss and keep. You may even want to make this a part of a business-wide spring cleaning routine.

To put your company on the right track, consider more ways in which we amass digital clutter, how to identify digital hoarding habits, and also how to break them in the infographic below, courtesy of Norton.

— Sarah Pfledderer has over a decade of writing and editing experience in magazine journalism and blogging. She specializes in lifestyle topics and occasionally dabbles in tech. By day, she is a content marketing specialist at Siege Media.

• Posted 4.17.21 at 04:35 am by Roy Osing
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April 12, 2021

5 easy ways to adapt to and survive cataclysmic events

Source: Pexels

We’re not talking about a ‘minor inconvenience’ to an organization such as having a bad month when costs outrun your plan or when you lose a significant client.
No, we’re referring to a major event that can and will kill your business unless you do something about it NOW.

COVID-19 is a good example where public health restrictions had a devastating impact on, among others, the hospitality and travel sectors of the economy. Restaurants shut down and planes stopped flying. Existing business models were destroyed in an instant.

What is the appropriate response when a business is hit by a catastrophic event? It’s one thing to say they need to adapt, but the decoration is hollow unless it is followed up with how to do it.

Intent, without action to transform it into results, is not helpful at all.

But let’s recognize that there’s no prescription that will fit every type of business exactly; each one is unique in its own way, be it in the type of leader they have or in its risk profile. So a universal solution is not just impractical, it’s downright dangerous to suggest.

That said, however, there are a number of ‘possibilities’ that should be considered by leadership because there’s no such thing as a bad idea, it’s just that some are better than others.

So in no particular order, here is a list of possibilities that you may wish to consider if your world gets rocked.

1. Define your special sauce

Everyone’s an entrepreneur, you just need to find the spirit in you and unleash it. Your success up to this point hasn’t been serendipitous; it’s resulted because you have something special going on.

It’s possible that you’ve never thought about it up to now because your business has been doing ok and you’ve never met surprises of the cataclysmic variety.
Well, now the time to really think about what’s worked for you in the past and what your ‘special sauce’ is that customers love about you and that your competitors don’t have.

It’s critical that your special sauce forms the platform of how you adapt to the body blow you’re absorbing. Without understanding it, you don’t have any context to determine the possible entrepreneurial actions you can take.

2. Chunk your business

Rather than look at your business holistically, break it down into its component parts and explore each piece for nuggets that can be exploited in these devastating times.

A helpful method to do this might be to construct a process flow chart that isolates in detail how you deliver your product or service to a customer. This simple process defines everything from what the customer engagement moment(s) look like to how their request is satisfied.

Look for ‘chunks’ that you believe contain your special sauce and that could be leveraged as new sources of income. You may discover, for example, that how you fulfill customer orders is effective because of the unique way you do it, and that other businesses might be interested in it as a solution.

You might decide that your marketing or manufacturing capabilities are special and can be deployed into new markets. Or, you might decide to go into the order delivery business until the storm passes.

The point is to look at every element of your business as a stand alone opportunity to generate sales.

3. Make the call

Now is the time to ‘rub shoulders’ with the people who have shown you loyalty and have contributed to your success (I trust you know who they are and that you have been connecting with them regularly).

It could be a ‘digital Zoom rub’ required in a pandemic or a physical face-to-face rub in normal times, it really doesn’t matter the method used.
The important thing is that you reach out and ask your loyalists how you can help them and whether they have any suggestions for you to improve your business, and use the input you receive as fodder for your response.

Adaptation in a crisis needs a healthy dose of reality which customers can candidly provide.

Also involve your current suppliers or other business partners in your ‘rub’ deliberations. Ideas for your possibilities funnel lie everywhere so spread your web and spread it fast.

4. Put everyone on the frontline

When you think about your new business form, think about it as a frontline organization where the role of every employee is to deliver services to customers.

You don’t have the luxury of support or supervisory staff; you need everyone, everyday out taking care of customers and earning new sales.
As the leader, you need to assume the entire back end of your organization; a one-person show who does nothing but keep the lights on and support your customer facing team.

Source: Pexels

5. Think @home

The good news (always look for the pony that created the CRAP) is that there is much that can be done with technology to enable organizations to function in different ways.

We’ve witnessed ‘virtual everything’ during the pandemic and it foreshadows well the type of pivots that will work going forward.
In fact the predominant view seems to be that we will never return to the pre-pandemic office model; working from home will be the new normal.

And the @home model will extend more deeply in other life activities such as entertainment, shopping and where necessary family engagement.

To the budding entrepreneur this is extremely promising: changing customer behaviour around @home enabled by technology that will only get better.

So think about what you can do in the @home environment in cataclysmic times. Explore how you can exploit one of your ‘chunk’ opportunities by assuming your customer will want to do it from their home. “How can I deliver my service flawlessly if my customer wants to get from @home?” should be the relevant question you pose yourself.
And brush up on your technology expertise because you are going to need it.

Final word

As leaders, I believe we need to be vigilant in the face of random events that impose their will upon us.
We need to take the position that the unexpected force will be catastrophic and take the desired response rather than assume the unwanted intruder will inflict only minor pain on us and react therefore incrementally.

You’re much better off to plan for the worst and have a more modest plan as your backup if the assumed disaster doesn’t occur. Assuming the best is a risky and deadly position to take.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead book series

• Posted 4.12.21 at 05:02 am by Roy Osing
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April 3, 2021

Why great people often do things that surprise everyone

Source: Unsplash

Why great people often do things that surprise everyone.

You’ve heard these types of comments before as descriptors of an individual who attracts a positive rating from leadership and is viewed as someone with potential to go further in the organization.

“He can be counted on to deliver consistent results; he’s dependable.”

“She’s predictable; you get few surprises from her work.”

Predictability can be a negative

Predictability is often, if not always, looked upon as a strength; an attribute that leaders find “comfortable” and desirable.

Over my career, I noticed many predictable employees found their way up the career ladder, but these people didn’t add the greatest value to the organization.

In fact, I believe the easy and comfortable employee robs an organization of long term value because of their restrictive and conservative ways.

Here’s my thinking.

Unwelcome bedfellows

A high comfort level implies that predictable employees follow the approach expected by the organization’s “establishment”; they follow the rules that govern acceptable behaviour.

Meeting leadership expectations can sometimes be unwelcome bedfellows to breakaway thinking and achieving glorious results. The best result can sometimes be achieved by NOT following the prescribed direction exactly, but by following your gut — but it requires risk taking and the conviction of your ideas.

Predictable behaviour prohibits breakaway results.

Boredom

In many ways, being relatively certain of an outcome is uninteresting; the “amaze factor” is absent.
The capacity to discover something unexpected is stripped away, denying a result that presents a new opportunity that emphatically changes the direction of the organization.

While you are busy doing the expected, you’re not on the outlook for creating a surprise that vaults your performance to another level.

Learning from what is achieved WHILE it is being achieved and then taking whatever action is implied by what is learned is severely restricted.
Predictable behaviour is boring.

Equations

Acting involuntarily to a prescribed set of rules and behaviour means predictable folks’ actions can be formularized to a certain extent.
An equation — or some other tool that creates a relationship between inputs and output — can be used to determine the outcome of their actions with a high degree of precision.

It begs the question “If an algorithm can be constructed that use a person’s action(s) to predict an outcome, why use a human in the process?” You don’t need human value-add; use software to create it.

Predictable behaviour limits the human factor.

Originality

Predictability suggests compliance and risk minimization which stultifies innovation and creativity.

People look for rules and governing policies to guide their behaviour and approach to problem solving rather than finding the appropriate method to solve the problem at hand.

Original thought is missing in action in favour of dutifully following the rules and practices of the organization.

Predictable behaviour quashes originality.

Contingencies

Individuals who operate mechanically have difficulty creating a new approach to a challenge or problem if the accepted method doesn’t work.

A Plan B mentality escapes the predictable one; inefficiency and frustration are produced by continually attempting to reapply the same approach in hopes of achieving a different result.

Predictable behaviour misses the need to recover when Plan A doesn’t work out.

Predictability does help some individuals be successful in a controlled environment, but there are long term opportunity costs to the organization that are always ignored.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead book series

• Posted 4.3.21 at 06:24 am by Roy Osing
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March 29, 2021

6 easy ways to know when to quit and walk away

Source: Pexels

6 easy ways to know when to quit and walk away.

We are all, at some point, faced with the decision: do I stay or do I go?
It could be in a relationship or it could be in a particular job role and generally results from reaching a tipping point of some sort. Something has happened to you and it triggered the question.

So, how do you decide whether walking away is the right thing for you to do?

Here are 6 filters that in total should help you decide if adios is the right call.

Check your energy reservoir

How much energy is it taking to continue doing what you’re doing? Are you constantly having to call on your energy reserves to push ahead?

Everyone has an energy reservoir which represents a backup level of energy to draw on when required. And the issue is whether or not it is as full as it once was, or has its level been reduced.

If your reserves are down, there are 3 implications:
— there’s less to draw on when you need it for future challenges;
— it will take longer to replenish when expended, thus requiring a longer recovery episodes when needed;
— you may want to reconsider how you use your scarce reserves and decide that your current activities have a lower priority than they once had. Your incremental payback from tapping your reservoir is diminishing every time you draw from it.

If you conclude that you’re not receiving a large enough return on your energy investment, a “go” answer is the highly likely response to the question.

Check the people around you

Do you still enjoy their company? Are they as interesting as they once were or are they getting too predictable for you? Do you like being with them or do you find yourself not looking forward to being with them?

If you are staring at a negative reply to this question, you’re leaning for a “go” answer.

Check your support symmetry

Sometimes having strong symmetric support for your efforts is worth the investment in time and energy you have at your disposal.
But ask yourself these questions:
— do you support others and they don’t support you back?
— do you find others return the support you offer them unconditionally?
— are their specific individuals in your bubble that speak of support for you, but act in an unsupportive manner?
If you conclude that asymmetric support for you exists in too many of your colleagues, then a “go” light is your most probable outcome.

Check for toxicity

Is the working environment toxic? Are there a needless number of contrarians trying to force their own self-serving narrative and agenda?

Divergents can be positive if their modus operandi is to seek out-of-the-box solutions to common problems.
But if their purpose is to be disruptive, the negative energy and emotion they create warrants a “go” conclusion.

Check your emotion barometer

Do your emotions run high when you are among your colleagues? Do you find yourself anxious and short tempered while engaging with them?
Conversations that send you to emotional extremes — anger, over reaction, shouting — are personally taxing and are often unproductive from the team’s perspective.

If you feel you’re on an emotional tightrope constantly with your immediate circle of contacts (958) then the “go” door is probably slightly ajar.

Check your appreciation meter

Do you feel that your teammates appreciate your efforts or does it look like they expect that you’ll just keep barrelling along doing more than what is expected?

Often, “Nice work” or “Good job” from those who witness your work go a long way to making the effort you put in feel worthwhile. And when you never hear the words, there’s an emptiness you feel which gradually results in a ‘to hell with it’ attitude.
If your hard work is falling ‘on deaf ears’ maybe you’re closer to a “go” than you realize.

Wrap up

It’s rarely a single factor that decides anything. Usually it’s a combination of a number of seemingly small things that make you decide to either stay in a relationship or role or leave it.

If you’ve given yourself a “go” on most of the above filters then perhaps a “gå” is in order.

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

• Posted 3.29.21 at 03:29 am by Roy Osing
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