I’VE MOVED – New FSA Inc. Blog Site

I’ve Moved!

You can find my updated blog at www.fsainc.ca

 

 

Hurry, hard!

The expression in my title is an oft used expression that you hear at a curling rink.

I’ve recently gone back to the game of curling after a very long absence.  I know that it’s been a long absence because all of the muscles in my chest wall and arms are telling me so.  That said, I think that curling holds some useful metaphors for those of us who are interested in business success.

As you might know, curling is played on a sheet of ice. At each end of the ice surface, there is a target (called the house) painted onto the ice.  Two teams, of four players each, takes turns sliding (called throwing) a curling stone (rock) towards the house, at one end of the ice, and points are scored for the team with the rock(s) closest to the centre of the house.

In a business sense, the house represents the goal(s) that a business establishes for itself. The rocks that are thrown represent the efforts expended to reach the goals. However, the opposing team (ie the competition) is also trying to achieve their goals at the expense of you attaining yours.  The rocks that they throw become obstacles that you must overcome.

You can attempt to remove the obstacles that are in your way by hitting those with one or more of your rocks.  Or, you can attempt to go around the obstacle.  In either situation, you are intentionally dealing with situations that are hindering the attainment of your goal.  With each throw taken, the situation on the playing surface will change.

You could say that curling mimics our business life.

The important thing to remember is that we must attempt to overcome our obstacles if we are serious about achieving our goals.  Of course, we might not be successful.  However, in my mind, the only failure comes from not trying.

BIZBUZZ: Robert Michel: Strategy Pure & Simple

Hi, I’m Gary Brown a FocalPoint business coach.

Welcome to episode 15 of BIZBUZZ.

I stimulate conversations in order to challenge business owners to Be Different and to Act Boldly.

The following video highlights some content from Strategy Pure & Simple, written by Robert Michel.  This is a book that is  about strategy development.

I’ve chosen to comment on Strategy Pure & Simple, a book written by Robert Michel that deals with strategy development.

I am going to comment on three ideas that are developed by Michel.

The first is that profit is the outcome of strategy, not its objective. I think that this bears repeating. Profit is not the objective of strategy but rather the outcome. This is interesting to me because I think that most of us assume that profit is the brass ring that we all chase.

Secondly, Michel refers to ten strategic areas that need to be considered. They are:

1. Product/service concept

2. User/customer class

3. Market type/category

4. Production capacity/capability

5. Technology/know-how

6. Sales/marketing method

7. Distribution method

8. Natural resources

9. Size/growth

10. Return/profit

He contends that generally one of these ten strategic areas will be the one that propels a company towards it future success.

My third choice is humourous but nevertheless salient. That is that the ability of people to execute a CEO’s strategy is inversely proportionate to the length of the strategic statement. This is clearly a case of less is more.

Well, that’s it for Strategy Pure & Simple.

Thanks for watching.

Your comments are always welcome.

Stay tuned for more BIZ BUZZ.

Rising To The Challenge

 

 

A lesson learned …

My wife and I, with a group of friends, were recently in Provence, France on a cycling holiday. On one of the days, we had the opportunity to ride to the summit of Mont Ventoux. This is one of the climbs that is frequently included in the Tour de France cycling race. Now, to be absolutely clear about this, we were not racing. We weren’t even in a hurry! Our objective was simply to reach the summit.

This is a mountain that is geologically part of the Alps. The top 500 metres are devoid of trees and the name Windy Mountain is well deserved. We had read that wind speeds of over 300 km/hr have been recorded and that the wind blows at 90 km/hr 240 days out of the year. Furthermore, at 1900 metres elevation, the temperature can be downright frigid.

With the above as our understanding, we were nervously anticipating the day of our ascent. Had we packed sufficient clothing to stay warm? Could we do it?

Fortunately for us, the day of our ascent was one of the 120 non-windy days!

It turned out that the ride to the summit wasn’t as difficult as we had conditioned ourselves to expect. But, it is interesting to me to reflect upon the thinking that preceded the actual ride. It wasn’t too hard to think that a number of plausible excuses for not going would avail themselves on the day of the ride.

And, that causes me to wonder “how often do we let ourselves get overwhelmed by the possibility of an obstacle”?   How often do we pull up short without having taken the time to consider how we might overcome that particular obstacle?  How often does our fear of failure prevent us from even trying?

I like to think that obstacles are meant to challenge us and without a challenge, how can we know the satisfaction of accomplishment?

I can tell you that it was very satisfying to know that I’d succeeded in riding to the top of Mont Ventoux and it was also very satisfying to reap the reward of the accomplishment.

The view was spectacular!

BIZBUZZ: Gary Hamel: Leading The Revolution

Hi, I’m Gary Brown a FocalPoint business coach.

Welcome to episode 14 of BIZBUZZ.

I stimulate conversations in order to challenge business owners to Be Different and to Act Boldly.

The following video highlights some content from Leading The Revolution, written by Gary Hamel.  This is a book that is essentially about leadership.

I am going to comment on three suggestions that grabbed my attention.

The first one is Hamel’s statement that sense of purpose, sense of accomplishment and sense of making a difference is what we are all about.  Is our leadership style supportive of these needs?

Secondly, Hamel suggests that imagination not investment drives innovation. One of the questions by which he would judge new ideas is to ask to what extent does the idea deviate from industry norms?  That causes me to ask: Are we ready to do some dreaming?  Are we bold enough to try being different?

My third choice is Hamel’s suggestion that business concept innovation is a way of going around competitors.  It’s based on avoidance not attack.  He further stresses that if the concept is not different then it is not strategic. Period.

Well, that’s it for Leading The Revolution.

Thanks for watching.

Your comments are always welcome.

Stay tuned for more BIZ BUZZ.

Here’s Something You Should Try at Home !!

Say what?

I have just finished the accreditation process for Navigational Conversations from Leadscape Learning.  This is a workshop that introduces strategic coaching skills for leaders who want to take a coach-approach when working with others.

Not surprisingly, listening is the key element of the Navigational Conversations program.  For a long time, I’ve felt that listening is the one skill that most of us should improve.

Have you ever been in a conversation with someone who is distracted by something else that is going on and doesn’t seem to be really paying attention to you?  I know, probably not.  But, it could happen!

The folks at Leadscape Learning speak about three stages of listening that exist on a continuum of listening skills.  At the low end of the continuum is what they refer to as tracking.  In this stage of listening, we are engaged in a primary activity that supersedes listening.  This is the listening that includes responses such as ‘uh-huh, yup, okay, whatever, …”.  Again, maybe you’re not familiar with this situation, in which case I apologize for enticing you into this blog via the title.

However, for those who understand that the power in a conversation comes from the listening, read on.

In the middle of the continuum is a stage of listening where we are now focused on the conversation at hand.  However, while we are listening, we are thinking about what is being said to us.  We might be thinking of the next question that we want to ask, or we might be forming our response.  We might even interrupt the other person by not waiting until he/she has finished speaking, so we can speak.  In this listening mode, we run the risk that we won’t pick up on all of the nuances in the conversation.

So, if you are bold enough to try something at home, here it is.  Move to the far end of the listening continuum and practice being present.  In this listening mode, we are listening with a quiet mind.  We are intentionally not thinking up our next response.  We are listening and observing.  We are able to discern meaning from body language.  We can pick up the essence of the conversation.  We are simply being present.

Being present is a difficult listening mode to achieve and it is also difficult to remain in this mode.  But it is a very rewarding skill to achieve.  The person that is speaking to you will feel very connected and you will realize the power of listening.

Why not try it?