Week of October 6, 2008

Hey everyone, here we go. . . . . . 

IN OUR WORLD 

Back from San Francisco and thanks to a rescheduling of a project, I had the entire week in town.  This gave me a chance to get caught up and get a jump on a few things. 

San Francisco is my favorite town and Laura and I got to attend the famous LOVE PARADE right down the middle of

Market St

.  We knew it would be a different parade when a group of buck naked men and women kicked off the show! 

Ideas are all about impact and the Repeatable Successful Acts platform continues to gain momentum and traction.  In the most difficult financial times of my life, I continue to have an opportunity to work with financial institutions on improving their Advisors skill sets.  Why?  The RSA platform is something, that when implemented has IMMEDIATE impact on their sales skills and practices.  This is true, not only in the financial services arena, but with ANY sales force. 

After completing my RSA introduction workshop I had emails in my mailbox before I could get back to me room and then started getting HAND WRITTEN notes!  Heavy IMPACT. 

Next week it’s off to Chicago to continue the expansion of the RSA platform! 

 

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW 

 

 

I spend a great deal of time working on systems.  Sales systems, management systems, communication systems, systems!  Interconnected processes, pieces of parts that seem to come together to make things happen.  Systems are sets of parts that come together to accomplish a set of goals. 

Now I am not a huge fan of systems.  We tend to develop a systems addiction, creating and applying them to issues that often time really only need a solution. 

Systems often are synonymous with problems, so I thought I would share a few systems principles with you: 

• Where did the problem go?  Whey a system is set up a new entity comes into being, the system.  Where there was only a problem there is now a system and it immediately starts to exhibit systems behavior.  A new universe of issues start gathering around the system and soon you are spending all your time on the system and the original problem is lost in the morass of the system.

 

• The blob that ate the system:  The bigger the system (and they all grow) the greater the odds the system will be in failure mode most of the time.  This is often referred to as Le Chateliers Principle; the system tends to oppose its own proper function.  Le Chateliers Principle increases in likelihood as the system increases in size.  Big systems baffle us.  The macro aspect of the economy, politics, services (utilities) are subject to their own opposition.  You would think it would be easy to patch a pothole in the road, but just watch the system at work and be amazed.

 

• It’s getting bigger:  Systems like babies, once you have one, you have it.  They don’t go away – EVER.  They not only hang around, they GROW.  As they grow they encroach on other systems and soon their operating parameters are blurred. 

 

Now I am not preaching opposition to systems and believe it or not these are just a couple of the principles of developed by systemic genius John Gall over 30 years ago!  I know the necessity of a system approach to problem solving, BUT I am aware of the dangers and carefully approach the idea properly armed! 

 

 

 

 

ENTERTAINMENT 

 

MOVIES:  Body of Lies:   I can’t wait to see this one.  I need to figure in some time between the TX / OU game (go Horns) and the Cowboy game on Sunday. 

NetFlix Fans:  The Visitor –   A wonderful little film that escaped most movie goers. 

TV:    Well, it looks like a sports filled weekend.  The TX/OU game is a huge event in the house of a Longhorn grad and the Cowboys game Sunday will fill out the schedule.  Since I have been on the road for a while, my loving bride had a DVR full of shows that I got caught up on.  Boston Legal (minus the intense left wing views) is still high quality viewing and the new season of House is the best!The new shows, The Mentalist, Fringe and The 11^th Hour are fun. 

BOOKS:  Divide or Conquer: How Great Teams Turn Conflict Into Strength– by Smith.  This is not an easy read since this is the result of 30 years of research, but the content is strong. 

MUSIC:   I have been listening almost non-stop to the new Vance Gilbert CD – Up On Rockfield.  There is not one bad cut on the entire CD!  I was lucky to stumble on this live version of Goodbye Pluto. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiKc2SCElvc  

 

WEB SITES:   Do you think you could write a song?  It may be easier than you think! 

 

http://www.easy-song-writing.com/  

 

SOUTH OF NORMALThis past weekend Best Buy opened a new store in Aurora, Colo., that was designed with women in mind. Specifically, the company asked 40 local female customers and its own Women’s Leadership Forum—or WoLF pack—to participate in the design of the new store. Among its findings over the nine-month effort were that female customers wanted more help seeing how products could work together and fit into their lives, for example; also that the term “home theater” suggested technologies suitable only for the very wealthy, according to the Associated Press. Accordingly, the new store features electronics products working together in homelike settings, and “home theater” has been renamed “family room.” Gone are the chain’s typical warehouse-style blue interiors and metal shelving, replaced instead by wood paneling, carpets featuring earth tones and skylights for natural lighting. Family-friendly restrooms and race car-shaped shopping carts are also among the additions to the store, which is reportedly putting a new emphasis on making eye contact with customers as well, following its female advisors’ recommendations. The cost of building the women-friendly store was higher than usual for the company, but Best Buy says it expects customer loyalty will make it worthwhile, the AP reported!www.bestbuy.com 

The preachers on the corner shout the truth.The passersby can’t understand their worth.Stephen Harvill“Carry It On” 

Drop me a note with your comments at steve@creativeventures.com 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by and until next time, Adios and Aloha.