Be Different or be dead

January 30, 2017

10 simple ways to successfully stand out from the boring crowd

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10 simple ways to successfully stand out from the boring crowd.

People always ask me how they can stand out from the crowd.

These 10 ways worked for me: 

1. Ask yourself the question “How can I do this differently?” Just having the subject top of mind will lead you in the right direction. Ask yourself this question everyday!

2. Purge every aspect of copying from your being. This is tough because it’s almost second nature to benchmark best in class and apply best practices.
We have been conditioned to believe that we are better off when we follow the best in the herd. Nonsense. All we have done is temporarily change our position in it.

3. Look at what everyone else is doing then do the opposite. Amazing results are achieved by contrarian acts.

4. Learn to focus on the few critical things you need to be successful. It’s so tempting to chase the possibilities that are out there but the problem is that you are busy but ineffective in delivering quality results. Different people are mindlessly focused on a few critical things that are not on anyone else’s radar.

5. Shed the CRAP that gets in the way of your ability to focus on your key priorities. Holding on to “comfy food” may satisfy your appetite but it won’t enable your quest to stand-out from the herd.

6. Hook up with weird people. If you’re going to seek stimulation from others, lean in to people who don’t follow the rules and have off the wall views.

7. Be the first to take on new projects. Covet opportunities to offer standard solutions to radical problems that have not been addressed before. Your solution to a new problem will carry the different tag.

8. Loosen up on planning; tighten up on execution. Most people think the value is in the plan; don’t go with them. Jump in to the messy inelegant world of implementation where results get delivered. Different people get stuff done; they don’t sit around pondering possibilities.

9. Be imperfect (a lot). While others are seeking the impossible dream of perfection, different people are achieving results. Get as much stuff as you can just about right and hit the ground running.

10. Recover when you make a mistake (and you will, that’s what execution artists do). Fix your mistake (because that’s what people expect) and surprise them with something they DON’T expect. You will be remembered for your risk taking and brilliance of recovery. Your mistake will quickly be forgotten.

There is no scientific formula to get you out of the herd of commonality but these 10 steps will do the job.

I know. They worked for me.

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

• Posted 1.30.17 at 05:02 am by Roy Osing
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January 16, 2017

7 easy ways to finally complete your To Do list

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7 easy ways to finally complete your To Do list.

Too much energy is consumed on making the list.

There is something gratifying about jotting down all the things you need to do. It quenches one’s thirst for being organized and for wanting some control over one’s life generally complicated by too many things to do with insufficient time and financial resources to do them.

When we complete the list we feel that we have accomplished something.

The longer the list, the more pleased we feel as the long list represents mastering the translation of our complicated and ever changing personal world into concrete terms.

We spend considerable time making the list and managing the list when changes are required.

Frequently we lose the list.

Occasionally we are unable the decipher items on the list due to the abbreviated language we use to save time making it.

And list making teaches a bad habit, namely that if you write an action plan down it will happen.

We all know this is delusional thinking. The list is never completed the way it was originally conceived yet we continue to pour our energy into making the list knowing (hopefully) that it is a draft at best.

It’s time to change the list dynamic from making the list to doIng the list.

I know it’s called a To Do list, but it’s realły a statement of intent: “(I intend)To Do” is the common interpretation of what the list means however the ‘Do’ action piece normalły gets short shrift.

It’s time to rid ourselves of good intentions; cut back on the time spent on creating the list and increase the time spent DOING it.

The list is an imperfect ‘creature’ anyway; it will never be 100% complete. Tomorrow something will come up that will render the list or a portion of it irrelevant. And the list will have to be revised.

Here are some quick-hit suggestions to do the list.

▪️Think short term. What absolutely must get done in the next 7 days? If you think beyond the next week you allow intentions to guide the list, you waste time and DO nothing.

▪️Limit the list to not more than 3 things. You can’t DO more and if you think you can, you are falling victim to intentions.

▪️Allocate the 3 DO items to the 7 days you have available. Space them out; don’t cram them in to one or two days where time constraints could impair your ability to execute.

▪️Don’t allocate the full 7 days to your DO items. Leave some spare time to deal with temporary unexpected events (which will always happen) that distract you from your list.

▪️Stay focused and avoid multitasking. ‘Get-one-done; move-on-to-the-next’ is the formula for DO. Some argue that sequential action is unimaginative; perhaps, but it gets things done.

▪️When an item on the list is done, strike it off but don’t replace it with anything. This could jeopardize the remaining item(s). You are on a 7-day DO cycle; new items will be listed at the start of the next cycle.

▪️Develop the next list at the end of the 6th day. Carry over incomplete tasks if they are still a high priority. Incorporate what you have learned from DOING in the current cycle.

Apply this template to your career and job where success is measured by what you DO, not by your intentions.

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

• Posted 1.16.17 at 04:16 am by Roy Osing
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November 21, 2016

30 valuable business lessons I learned in the heat of battle

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30 valuable business lessons I learned in the heat of battle.

My math studies taught me the theory of differential equations, linear algebra and micro economics, but for the most part the educational content sat on my cognitive shelf ageing as my career progressed.

In retrospect, my years of academic toiling netted out to learning how to solve problems created when intentions and results don’t match.
But I needed more. My education should have prepared me to better provide the value my organization required to succeed in a complicated and intensely competitive environment.

I had to learn many practical things in the heat of the moment.

School is proficient at teaching us to conform to accepted academic dogma.

If you master book wisdom, you are rewarded with a first class mark and the expectation you will land a plum job and a rewarding career.

Well, it doesn’t guarantee anything.

Business success is not necessarily about how well you master the content of your chosen degree

It’s not about how effectively you memorize course material.

It’s not about mastering case studies and learning how organizations were successful in the past. Case studies have their limits in terms of usefulness.

I was never exposed to these 30 principles in school, yet they have stood the test of time as being critical to organization success and survival.

- There is no right answer in business, just degrees of wrongness;
- What works for one organization or person doesn’t necessarily work for another;
- The perfect business plan is a myth;
- Fast imperfection is a competitive advantage;
- Plan ‘A’ never works; Plan ‘B’ might;
- Leadership is more about listening than directing;
- Success = (doing) (lots of) (imperfect) (stuff) (fast);
- Goosebumps are the best indicator of who you should hire;
- Be good at anticipating but great at responding;
- Effective selling is the result of serving;

                            ▪️▪️▪️▪️

- Execution, not the plan, determines who wins and who looses;
- Mass markets don’t exist;
- Let’s head west is a valid strategy;
- Competitive advantage comes from being the ONLY ones that you do;
- If you have to talk about price, you have no value to offer;
- Benchmarking best in class adds no strategic value;
- Corollary: The fast follower achieves no value faster;
- The more mistakes you make, the more successes you have;
- People can’t do more than 3 things well at the same time;

                            ▪️▪️▪️▪️

- Internal policies belong in the warehouse, never exposed to customers;
- People can’t be trained to provide caring service. You can train them to smile but that’s all;
- Corollary: don’t trust anyone who grins you;
- ‘All things remaining equal’ is Keynesian crap;
- Linear regression is a trend line to nowhere;
- Standout leaders encourage imperfection;
- Without the HOW, the WHAT is a dream;
- Great communication has a fog factor of ‘0’; KISS!
- Loosen up on planning; tighten up on execution;
- BE DiFFERENT or be dead.

It’s about time our graduates arrived on the steps of business with practical skills; treat this as your ‘learn on the run’ list of practices to guide you.

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

• Posted 11.21.16 at 05:41 am by Roy Osing
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November 5, 2016

4 breakthrough ways to get people to work together

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Unfortunately team dysfunction is a plague that affects many - in fact I would say most - organizations

And much has been written on how to build effective teams. But it’s much more than simply getting people to work well together.

After three decades of leadership, here’s my take on how to build remarkably productive teams.

1. Appoint a team leader who is emotionally invested — in the challenge the team is addressing. There may be a temptation to assign the role to an individual who is deemed internally (by HR in particular) to possess “expert” leadership skills, but don’t do it!

Results are produced when a crazy amount of emotional energy expended on solving the problem at hand not when sophisticated leadership skills are present.

Find someone to lead the team who is first and foremost the internal champion of the cause, and second, who has demonstrated experience in leading teams successfully in their past.

2. Provide the strategic framework for the team to work within — the team needs to know what is “within limits” and what is not. This is not an issue of containing creativity, rather it is a guidance mechanism to point creativity in the strategic direction of the organization. Unclear and vague strategic focus for the team’s work generally results in unusable output; an interesting answer to the wrong problem.

Test the team’s understanding of their terms of reference. Keep the conversation going until they have demonstrated an intimate understanding of what they are being asked to do and how their expected results relate to the strategic game plan of the organization.

3. Have the team present an update on their progress — to the team executive sponsor at least monthly. This will ensure the team stays on track and gives an opportunity to recognize team members on the points of their progress.

4. Build the team objectives into performance plan of each team member — regardless of whether the team is full time or part time, shared accountability for results must be assigned.

If members are not personally liable, the pressure is off and you can expected casual rather than focused attention on the team’s activity and results.

Develop functional teams by concentrating your efforts on making them effective - achieving strategic goals - rather than efficient - achieving internal harmony and busyness.

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

• Posted 11.5.16 at 09:56 am by Roy Osing
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