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Week of October 5, 2010

Home / Blog / Week of October 5, 2010

October 7, 2010 By Stephen Harvill Leave a Comment

Hey everyone, here we go. . . . . .

IN OUR WORLD

Coming to you live from Minneapolis, where winters breathe is already blowing.  Minneapolis is a great city, with a wonderful combination of new and old.

This week had me bouncing all over the country with the week starting out in NY.  Both of these trips were centered on the continued growth of the Repeatable Successful Acts (RSA) platform.

As the economy continues to shift (more in the positive direction lately) companies are looking to get back in the game and adding to their sales skills is a primary focus.  The best part about the RSA platform is its versatility.  I offer it in all three of my primary delivery models:

  • Presentation:  This is the introduction of the idea and shows the model that created these power patterns of elite producers.
  • Education:  This is the beginning of the RSA platform’s impact.  We teach the principles to sales leaders and their sales force.
  • Application:  This is the inside game for RSA.  I work with sales management to install the RSA’s into an existing sales platform or create a new platform with the RSA’s as the center piece of expected sales behaviors.
  • The Menu Idea:  There are 21 core RSA’s, 21 separate Repeatable Successful Acts.  Clients can take a “choose this or choose that” strategy of the RSA’s that best fit their goals.

Due to the versatility of this platform, the RSA’s have kept my pipeline full into the second quarter of 2011.

Though the RSA’s have kept me busy, my newest program, The Curious Clarity of Teams, my unique look at successful team dynamics has picked up a ton of momentum since its initial debut two weeks ago.

Busy and loving it!

HEY, YOU CAN FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER –CREATIVEVENTURE

AND ON FACEBOOK – STEPHEN HARVILL!

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

Organizations are often judged by the way they manage “moments in time.”  These are decisions that are every day, some big, some small, but all carry a level of importance that can send waves of impact through the entire company.  Some are made in the blink of an eye, while others are made with time and effort.

I read, with great disappointment the recent “moment in time” decisions made by Johnson & Johnson with regard to the Motrin tablets problem (made by their McNeil division).  In 2008 some of the pills were not dissolving properly possibly impacting their potency.  Not really a big problem.  J&J had a history of handling these types of issues; in fact they are the case study of responsible corporate behavior.

In 1982 seven people died from taking poisoned Tylenol tablets.  J&J set the foundation for responsible response, setting up a 24 hour hotline, recalled ALL Tylenol, created tamper proof packaging.  The entire time the filter of each decision was consumer safety.

I guess 29 years is a long time to ride on that wave of responsibility as their response to the simple Motrin problems was to hire a contractor, posing as customers, to buy up thousands of Motrin bottles.  Internal emails supported the idea (don’t send emails with stuff you don’t want in USA Today!); “This was a major win for us as it limits the press that will be seen.”

I guess they can fall back on the fact no one was harmed.

Here is the deal, you need to PAY ATTENTION (one of the foundations of the Clarity of Teams) to the decisions you make everyday.  The best tool for this is the development of a simple filter.  Create a filter of no more than three core questions that you pass decisions through.  Decision making processes need two of these simple filters.  One for the specific responsibilities of the division and one for the macro values of the company.

At Southwest Airlines the always run decisions through the filter – “does this action support our position as the low cost airline?”

Find your filters and protect your moments in time.

ENTERTAINMENT

MOVIES: RED: Finally a fall movie with a little fun.  Based on one of my favorite writers, Warren Ellis and his graphic novel this will be a good movie time!

NetFlix Fans: True Grit:  Check out the original John Wayne movie as the fabulous Cohen Brothers have a SPECTACULAR remake hitting the screens in November.

TV: I am about to give up keeping up with all the shows I am trying to follow as my DVR is bursting at the seams.  I will ALWAYS make time for House and shows like The Mentalist, but all the other new shows that I want to check out are relegated to the “when ever I have time slot”.  I do like the new Hawaii 5-0, I’m intrigued by The Event and really dig the new show Terriers.

BOOKS:  The Art of Choosing  – Iyengar:  Decision making is a key management and leadership skill set.  This is an interesting take on methods in decision making.

MUSIC: If you don’t know who Jake Shimabukuro is, PLEASE take a few moments to watch this video.  Jake is the master of the ukulele and has taken the instrument to a level unheard of, even on the Islands.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snPQ1z5FoqQ

WEB SITES: Great little news summary site.

www.newser.com

SOUTH OF NORMAL

Wired Magazine is one of my favorite monthly publications and I read with distinct interest the recent article about www.ThinkGeek.com .  A truly South of Normal web site that caters to the geek in all of us.  Take a few minutes to cruise all the totally cool t-shirts and other stuff they have to offer.  One of my favorites is the USS Enterprise Pizza Cutter! Believe it or not this is a multi- million dollar success and continues to draw a huge following most of who buy something.  When you are hanging around the South of Normal neighborhood it’s always interesting to look for what aspect of the idea connected.  This is the perfect web site to thoughtfully pursue.

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

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

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