Moving On

Starting last year I started posting my blog entries on LinkedIn along with here on Blogger.  Starting today I'm only posting on LinkedIn.  So if you've followed me here please, if you haven't, connect with me on LinkedIn.

Thanks

Greg

Mistakes aren't fatal

"Any man can make mistakes, but only an idiot persists in his error."  Marcus Tullius Cicero

Mistakes Aren't Fatal.  That was the headline of an article I read the other day.  My first thought was tell that to one of The Flying Wallenda's.

We've all tried to subscribe to the "let's learn from our mistakes" philosophy.  And it's important we do because mistakes will happen and understanding what happened, why it happened and what could have prevented it is critical for moving forward.  There's a great story from my ADP days where one of the computer room operators kept putting good data packs on a defective drive thus destroying every one of them over the course of the night shift.  Uh, yeah.

It seems a trait of Human Nature that we always seem to be able to find the time to do things a second (or third) time but adverse to taking the time to do it right the first time.  However, there are situations and professions where that doesn't hold true.  Wallenda walking a tightrope over Niagara Falls, the first test flight of a new jet,  a stuntman falling off a 10 story building as examples only get one chance.  Forget having time for a second try, how about never having the opportunity.

With some exceptions making mistakes, like almost everything else, requires some balance.  When life and death isn't involved you must at some point in time weigh the cost of waiting versus the cost of jumping.  Tom Peters in his classic "In Search of Excellence" talks about "Try it, Fix it, Try it".  The point being that you can over-design, over-engineer, over-think things to the point you miss the market opportunity.  Plus you can't figure everything out in the lab.  At some point you need to put it out in front of the buying public and get real feedback.

Some of the best products I've been associated with over the years originated with some individual sitting at a job and thinking that a mundane task they have to continually repeat could be easier so they designed and built something that would do that.  It then got into the hands of a company that could properly market it plus give it a road map for expansion and improvement and it became a valued and valuable product.

So, do your research and due diligence, try to identify the "D-OH" mistakes, make sure no one's going to die in case of a mistake and step out onto the tightrope.

Don't know everything

“Those who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do." Isaac Asimov

I had one of those déjà vu moments last week where I found myself in a constantly recurring set of conversations with the same theme. These tend to happen a lot (to me anyway) where I no sooner get off the phone with one person and another calls with the same issue.

In this one I had been chatting with a buddy who started a new job last year and is loving life. The company is doing well and he is happily a part of that success. He happens to be a talented sales exec who in his previous job had been through the classic start up dilemma where the founder just could not, no matter how much he tried and promised, ever turn sales over to the talented sales exec he had recruited to come help him. After two years of frustration when he got the call from a company offering him a new life he took it.

The next call a few hours later was from another friend, also a talented sales exec, who is suffering the same founders control dilemma. After being hired to kick the company up a notch my friend cannot make any headway due to the founder’s meddling, tinkering, procrastination, directional changes, criticism and about-faces. Coincidentally, my friend has just been contacted by an ex-colleague who now runs a company and is looking for a top-notch sales exec.

Hmmm….wonder how this will play out?

Few things slow down momentum more than constantly changing things without real merit or purpose. It’s called “rearranging the deck chairs”. Additionally, not allowing the expert people that you purposely go out and get to do what they know how to do (and you probably don’t) is wasting everyone’s time.

Most times this happens because a “leader” can’t stand for things to not be done exactly to their vision, style, font and color. They’re OK with change as long it was their idea.

If you’ve gone to the trouble to hire smart, experienced, diverse professionals to help make your company rock why would you constantly slow them down because they say “tow-MAY-toe” and you say “tow-MAH-toe”. It’s one of the toughest things entrepreneurs wrestle with since no one is ultimately as smart as they are.

Well Columbo, let me tell you something. Yes they are. In fact, in their area of expertise they’re smarter. Be careful or you’ll find yourself the monkey at the top of the tree looking down at all the smiling faces. Just remember what the monkeys below you see when they look up.

The books are full of failed companies who couldn’t grow past the founder’s reach. If it’s your company, you’d better pay attention. If you’re in one….you’d better pay attention.

True Grit

 "You can't take men by watching them run away!"  Ranger La Boeuf

How do you measure grit?  This was the conversation I had with my nephew the other day.  He's a senior level executive with a large retail chain and I was picking his brain on talent assessment and how he (and his company) determines if a new hire has what it takes to be a productive employee.

His response was, "if we could ever figure out how to measure 'grit' it would solve most of our hiring problems.".  Interesting choice of a word.  "Grit".  You don't hear it used much anymore.

So how do you measure grit without seeing the person in action first? 

Once you work with someone you get a sense for how they act and react.  Their dependability, honesty, follow-through.  How they react to pressure, criticism, change, uncertainty.  And over time you can determine if they have grit.  Do they dig in harder when the road gets rough?  Do they make more calls when the pipe is running low?  Do they rise above when others decide to back off?  Are they an "Andrew" in Whiplash?

But how can you determine all that from the interview process, even using talent assessment tools?

Once upon a time you could get a sense from reference checks.  In the less protective days of a generation ago you could quiz past employers as to the details around the person.  Ask point-blank, specific questions and get answers to them.  These days everyone is protected and other than Name, Rank and Serial Number you can't get much..

With entry-level people you could somewhat depend of part-time job history.  Did they work through High School and College?

The Millennials as a group have made the whole hiring process more difficult.  I am not going to go down the figuring out Millennials rabbit hole.  Too complex a subject, but they are either the laziest, most self-absorbed generation every or the most creative and misunderstood. (Wait, I just described my generation of the 60's and 70's).

The biggest problem for people like my nephew is Millennials will up and quit with the smallest provocation.  Thus his "Grit" comment.

So, I'm out to try to figure out how to assess if someone has grit or not.  If you think you've figured it out then bottle it 'cause there are people willing to pay good money for it.

The World According to Joe

“Imagining something is better than remembering something.”   John Irving

My friend Joe and I meet up every few months just to catch up.  Joe's successfully retired now but used to own his own mortgage brokerage.  Over the course of writing and rewriting loans we became good friends.

Joe's a fascinating guy.  Very cerebral, mild-mannered, topical and funny.  Not big on getting on his soap box about things but always has a thoughtful opinion.

Most all of our ka-tet's are about catching up on family, life, times, current events, et al.  No agendas or debate, just a nice couple of hours talking.

However, every now and again he'll take me completely off guard. Like the time he casually mentioned that he was writing a book.  A religious book.  About what it takes to get into Heaven.  Now Joe certainly never struck me as an Atheist, but neither did he strike me as being Religious. But as he described his beliefs that led to wanting to write a book I realized that he's not just a Believer , but a deeply devout and religious Believer.

Then there was the time that he, once again casually, mentioned that he and his wife was going to move away.  "Where", I asked, assuming Florida or Arizona.  "Costa Rica or Panama.  Probably Panama."  he offered.  Then went ahead to explain how he feels America has lost it's way and is off the tracks to the point that getting it back on is probably not possible.  No wild-eyed, arm waving, everyone must listen, we're all doomed theatrics.  Just a calm, this is my plan, I don't expect anyone else to follow or even notice approach.

So many people, inside and outside of business, feel that if you don't speak loudly and repeatedly that you won't get anyone's attention.  Joe proves otherwise.  Joe's approach is that IF and WHEN the opportunity to speak comes you must be prepared with thoughtful, intellectual material that you can articulate and defend. 

When taking a non-traditional approach - a roadmap for getting into Heaven being a prime example - you realize some things.  One, a lot of people aren't going to buy in.  Two, you probably cannot offer up any empirical proof.  Three, the louder your proclamation and the higher your soapbox is in direct disproportion to how much people will listen and at least try to understand.

So, maybe the more obvious and provable the point - 1 + 1 = 2 - the more you can get away with higher decibel arguments.  But the more esoteric and nebulous the point the more calm and measured the argument must be.

This, of course, does not apply to lawyers and politicians....

By the numbers

“There are lies, damn lies and statistics” Mark Twain

One of the biggest obstacles people new to the C-level face is understanding the numbers. Even with your MBA and managerial experience understanding financials can be daunting (unless you came from the CFO position). And using them properly can be the ultimate exercise in frustration.

CFO’s love to create elaborate spreadsheets with thousands of row and columns and dozens of links to other enormous spreadsheets; You just want to know how to answer the questions your investors are going to ask you at the next board meeting.

Finance people can be a lot like programmers in that they want to tell you in excruciating detail where all the numbers came from, how each one links into other pages and each ones importance. In essence they want you to love their spreadsheet as much as they do – just like developers want you to love their code.

What to do? Well, here’s what you don’t do. Don’t fake it hoping you’ll “catch up along the way”.

Here are some options:

• Along with your CFO sit down with a representative of your investor(s) and have them detail to both of you what they want to see and how they want to see it. The sooner the better. If phrases and acronyms that you don’t understand are thrown around suck it up and ask for an explanation. Better now than getting caught later.

• Use your network. You didn’t get to this point without establishing friendships along the way. Some of those people are or have been CEOs. Call them, visit them, buy them dinner. Allow them to become your confident. Believe me, you’ll find it useful for more than just financial jargon.

 

I once worked with a guy who had a sign in his office that stated: “When someone tells you it’s not about the money it’s about the principle…it’s about the money”.

If you’re in a C-level position no matter what people may say otherwise…it’s about the numbers.

Appreciate different

“Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for love of it.” Henry David Thoreau
We all want to work with people we like. We normally like people who share the same interests, backgrounds, personality or drives as us. How many of us, when pounding away at some faceless, soulless company, hasn’t said “If I ever have my own business I’m going to staff it with people just like me”.

Great! Noble! Stupid! Yes, stupid. A startup needs, no demands, different. Different skill sets, different experiences, different cultures, different tastes. Thus, to put together the BEST small team it’s improbable you’ll only hire your buddies. In fact the best way to make sure they’re not buddies a year from now is to surround yourself with a bunch of them.

Now, that’s not to say you should stay away from people you already know, just make sure that you’re working with them because of their skills and not because you like hanging out with them.

Find the people who share a passion for success and possess the skills, mentality and attitude to handle the crazy, topsy-turvy, no-holds barred life of a startup. If you develop friendships out of it consider it a bonus.

Busy. Busy. Busy.

"In every death, a busy world comes to an end"  Mason Cooley

I've said before that I don't have many pet peeves, but I'm beginning to think that may not be true.  Some day I'll have to put a list together.

Yet another common one - and this is no surprise - is people.  As I wrote in a previous blog Drive By Shootings the self-absorbed, monomaniac individuals who you have trouble ignoring for various business or personal reasons are the worst.

What I'm experiencing at an increased rate right now is the "I'M SO BUSY" monomaniac.

"Well Greg, I know I was supposed to get back to you two weeks ago with that proposal but I'M SO BUSY."

"Yes Greg, I know you're waiting on that appraisal but I'M SO BUSY."

"Y'know Greg, I really meant to get you that estimate on fixing the air conditioner but I'M SO BUSY."

"Sorry Greg, I know you're waiting on my bid but I'M SO BUSY."

On and on and on.

But where they say "I'm so busy" what I hear each and every time is "You see Greg, me and my time we're really important and valuable and you and your time is not, so why don't you just piss off."

So here's what I'm doing.  Each time I hear I'M SO BUSY the very next thing I do before anything else is to call as many other people as I can to get another option.  And, if I can get an option that is within at least 10% of the current deal I take it.

And you know what?  Out of respect I don't even call the person to tell them I've taken another offer or chosen another option.  Because after all, they're busy.

So be careful.  If you (and thus your company) projects the image of being "too busy" you won't come off as being important or essential.  You'll just come off as being too hard to do business with.

Dancin' with Joe

“Almost nobody dances sober, unless they happen to be insane.” H.P. Lovecraft

I was reminiscing with an old friend the other day about the time we both worked for a guy who took the fun out of dysfunctional. Often times working around people who chase every new shiny object can be highly entertaining and as a bonus if you’re not in a particularly motivated mood you can get out of doing anything tangible by doing the “LOOK, OVER THERE” routine which flitters them off in a new direction for days, weeks, hell sometimes forever.

This guy though was clinical. Goofing off has it’s moments but most of us actually do want to be contributors to success. But when you’re stuck with or (worse) under one of these people it becomes the Dance of the Macabre personified.

So, while reminiscing with my friend, who knows me too well, he asked me what my mental image was of that past situation. You see, I’m a highly visual person who relates almost everything to something else. So the first thing that popped in my mind was trying to dance with Joe Cocker. Youngsters are right now asking “Who’s Joe Cocker?”. think Michael Stipe of R.E.M.  Ok, now youngsters are asking "Who's Michael Stipe?", so think of most of the people on American Idol.  Got it?

The point is I love listening to Joe sing, I hated watching him sing. It’s like watching someone with a horrible golf swing just before you tee off, it’ll mess you up for weeks.

This ex-boss was like that in that he could throw you off your game. You could never get a rhythm or a stride due to the fact that he would change course before you could get the sails set.

So, how does one deal when trying to dance with Joe? Well, as difficult as it can be you have to stay on task while doing the shuffle. Think of it as guiding your dance partner across the crowded floor to end up by the punch bowl. It takes practice to do it smoothly but once accomplished you have a happy dance partner a cool drink and a sense of accomplishment.

To FB or not to FB

“I can believe anything provided that it is quite incredible.”  Oscar Wilde

So I’m been amusing myself with all the Facebook postings that start “Better safe than sorry. As of September blah, blah , 2015 at blah, blah a.m. or p.m. blah, blah standard time, I do not give Facebook or any entities associated with Facebook permission to use my pictures, information, or posts, both past and future.  Blah, blah, blah…”

It took me about 30 seconds to ascertain that this is just one more in a series of internet hoaxes that are designed to….well…uh…I guess I don’t know what they’re designed to do.

I wrote in a previous post Yer Outta Here that I continue to debate as to what to do about Facebook as part of cleaning up a lot of useless junk in my life.

I originally got on Facebook because it was the easiest method of keeping up with my family and close friends.  And it remains my primary reason for using it.

Like many over time I’ve accumulated more and more “friends”.  All in all it’s been good because I’ve been able to reconnect with people.  Having lived in many parts of the country this has been a nice benefit. 

But more and more people are using Facebook as their personal pulpit.  Political rants, social rants, economic rants, pro-this, anti-that, it just wears me out.  And with yet another presidential campaign season upon us I’m not sure I can take what’s coming.

It’s why I have gravitated more and more to LinkedIn since most everyone treats it as a professional networking site not a “you can't believe what happens next” sponsored site that sucks the life out of your machine.

Then there the whole privacy issue with using Facebook.  To some degree I’m comfortable with the entire Big Brother thing.  These days everyone can pretty much know anything and everything about you anyway.  But, my life is so boring that I pity the fool who spends any time watching me.

Now, the logical reaction is to say “So Greg, just unfriend those that annoy you”.  That’s easy for some and I have in fact started doing that.  The problem is with those that for the most part post events and pictures that genuinely interest me but occasionally go off on a hate binge about something.  Do you banish someone for an occasional rant?

And finally there’s the whole business side of it.  I believe that social marketing is essential.  I also believe that the power of social media can really get the attention of businesses more than phone calls and letters/emails ever can.  I’ve had this work for me when I had a beef with a company (insert airline name here) and I’ve had it work against me.  Either way I think it can be very effective.  Here’s my tip, if your company uses Facebook for business you’d better be monitoring it every day and have a consistent plan for how to properly handle negative posts.

So, no decision yet but if FB really does implement policies that I object with I'll permanently log off knowing I didn't put anything out there that I didn't want to share in the first place.

Oh, and the last post just before I hit the kill switch is going to be a ranting, raving socio-political post of a madman.  And I will enjoy knowing that I will never see any of the responses…..

Operator, can you help me make this call?

“If the phone doesn’t ring, it’s me” Jimmy Buffett

Got an email today from a guy I used to work with. I guess I’d call him a work friend in that I know him and like him but don’t socialize with him. We live in the same town so I run across him now and again. So, the email says, “hey, how you doing? Call me sometime”. OK, but if he wants to chat why didn’t he call me? If he had time to email me he had time to dial my number. Why is the responsibility now on me to call him?

Then I realized this happens a lot where someone tells you to call them. I guess it’s like that “One Minute Monkey” thing from the book. But in this case they give you the phone monkey. Now if the two of you don’t talk in the next several months it’s because you didn’t call. It’s your fault, not theirs.

Further I’ve paged back through my memory banks trying to remember if I’ve said “hey, call me” to someone and although I can’t pinpoint exact people and places I know I have and when I did it was because I really didn’t want to talk to that person and I hedged my bet that they would never call me.

Years ago I called an old buddy of mine and while talking to him apologized for it being so long since I’d called. He said, “no problem pal, the phone lines run both ways”.

Yes they do.

They run both ways in business too. Constantly having to be the one to call a prospect once you’ve had an opportunity to pitch your product or service is a clear warning sign of something being amiss. Either, the prospect doesn’t have the need or the money (thus poorly qualified), you did a poor job of representing your value (you need to train and practice your value proposition), or your product/service has a poor value ratio (it doesn’t hit the mark or isn’t worth the price tag).

The hard – but extremely important – part is determining which reason (or combination of reasons) it is that’s causing the silence. Fixing it will be a separate blog for each one.

So, my newest resolution is I’m not going to use the “call me” line. If I want to talk to someone I’m going to call them, and if I don’t want to talk to them I’ll email them and say “write me sometime”…..

Ignore the rear view mirror

“Don’t look back….something might be gaining on you” Satchel Page

Woulda’, Coulda’, Shoulda’. Yes, those who ignore the lessons from history are destined to repeat them. You can also spend so much time looking back that you miss the ice cream stand you were looking for, or worse crash into a tree when you miss the turn.

When mistakes happen – and they will - it’s imperative you:

• Realize a mistake happened


• Quickly and thoughtfully deal with the mess


• Just as quickly and thoughtfully dissect the cause


• Adjust/train/coach accordingly to prevent another occurrence


• Get back to going forward

So much time and energy tends to be spent on anguishing about a mistake having been made. We grind through the cause, hunt down the culprit, punish the innocent and promote the guilty. It often becomes an exercise that resembles using a shotgun on a house fly.

I once worked for a great guy - Glen Chatfield - who always said, “unless someone has done some illegal, immoral, unethical or with intent to harm we have too much to do to spend time punishing”.

Good words from a good man.

Forget how to tell time

“Lack of money is no obstacle. Lack of an idea is an obstacle” Ken Hakuta

I once worked for this serial entrepreneur who was notorious for never being on time, and not by minutes but hours, days and yes, even weeks. Drove everyone nuts. Those who learned to cope either were already good at or got good at always having work to do so productivity wasn’t totally lost waiting on him to show up for a meeting. You also got agile at carrying on with clients or prospects without him.

Those who didn’t cope well got overly wrought about him “not respecting others”, “being self-centered”, etc.

But the man is a creative genius. He sees things outside of boxes where others (myself included) don’t even see the box.

One day I’m riding back from an important meeting in the neighboring city with a colleague who has known our genius boss since they were kids. We decide to call him to see if we can catch up with him to tell him about our meeting. So my colleague calls, gets him and tells him we’ll meet up with him in 10 minutes. All’s good except we’re still over an hour away. When I mention this small detail to my colleague he shrugs and says “that’s ok, he can’t tell time anyway”. I laugh. He looks at me and says “No, I’m serious, he’s never been able to tell time. Clocks just get in his way”.

I pondered that statement for a long time and started watching this guy with a different eye. You know, clocks really do get in the way, especially when you’re first starting a company. You’re so much better off when traditional rules of time are ignored. Where’s it written that the work day is 9 -5, or conversations have to happen Monday – Friday? Those are factory rules not startup rules.

Now, there’s obviously a flip side to this that I’ll cover in another blog, but for now that’ll just get in the way of a good story.

TRUST

“I don’t really trust a sane person” Lyle Alzado

Trust is a funny thing. Everyone wants to get it but no one wants to give it up.

To not be trusted is one of the most inglorious states one can live in. There are two times that not being trusted is the most maddening – when it’s not deserved…and when it is.

Conversely, being the trustor can be a scary proposition.

You get so busy running your piece of the business that being on top of every single thing gets to be overwhelming. So when someone says “yeah, I took care of that” you want (need) to believe them. The problem is, when “it” wasn’t taken care of properly you’re still the one on the hook. This causes the “it’s just easier to do it myself” syndrome which is just as career-limiting as being surrounded by untrustworthy people.

Experience will teach you which of the people you deal with will always give it to you straight, which will hedge their answer, and which will flat out lie to you.

There’s an old adage that goes “people do what you Inspect, not what you Expect”. In lieu of knowing who you can totally depend on revert back to the most dreaded words from high school algebra “show your work”.

Implement a standard, consistent and equal process of written (email) or verbal (voicemail) confirmation of all completed tasks each and every time.

If done consistently and without indictment, everyone you deal with will quickly adjust to verified proof  as just Standard Operating Procedure when dealing with you.

Oh, and as a tip, the ones who bellow the loudest about having to follow the process? Well, I trust you to figure it out.

Yer Outta Here

"There are many things we would throw away if we were not afraid that others might pick them up."  Oscar Wilde

Like many I've been accumulating over the years.  Accumulating junk in my office, accumulating junk in my garage, accumulating "friends" on Facebook, accumulating junk emails.  Accumulating.  It's a human behavior where you're afraid of getting rid of stuff.  Afraid the minute you throw it out you'll discover you need it for some reason.

We intuitively know this isn't true.  Most times you end up eventually getting rid of the stuff anyway.

With junk email it's more laziness.  It's a pain to go hunting at the bottom of the email and find the unsubscribe button.  It's easier to mindlessly hit delete every day and clear them all out.  The problem is they accumulate at a dizzying pace.  Every time you order something online you get put on a mailing list.  Yes, even when you check (or uncheck) the "would you like to receive future notification" boxes.  Hell, anymore it seems if you even think about a product you get on a mailing list.  So it doesn't take long to have dozens of junk emails on a daily basis.

So, I've started to unsubscribe.  As I get one I take the extra minute or so to unsubscribe.  Then I took an hour and went through all the current ones and did the unsubscribe dance.  This has been a fascinating exercise.  Most, to be fair, are fairly straight-forward.  There's a clearly marked "unsubscribe" button.  You hit it and get a "thank you, you will no longer receive any emails from us" message and you don't see any more from that company.  Others?  Not so much.  From masking the unsubscribe button so it's difficult to locate to getting a laundry list of options to decide from to getting a "may take up to 10 days to take effect" message.  My favorite was the sports tickets site that made me watch a 30 second advertising video before I was allowed to unsubscribe.

What it's done is make me think about who I will and will not do business with in the future.  Yes it bothers me that none of them comply with the "don't put me on your mailing list" request I make sure I check/uncheck when completing my purchase.  But if they easily and simply allow me to unsubscribe afterwards then I'll buy from them again.  The others I'll just stay away from altogether.

It all falls under the Easy To Do Business With category.  Being consumer friendly is not just making it easy to buy.  It's your return policy.  It's your customer support.  And it's your "leave me alone" policy.

So when you're creating your customer atmosphere policies don't stop at your checkout.  Make sure you thoroughly examine the entire start-to-end process so your customers don't end up with a Hotel California experience.

So, now out to the garage where while I'm throwing out unneeded junk I need to think about what to do with Facebook.  I'll save that for a follow up post.

You can't fix stupid

"You can't fix stupid. There's not a pill you can take; there's not a class you can go to. Stupid is forever. Ron White

It seems like I've spent a large portion of my so-called career trying to fix stupid. Stupid products, stupid situations, stupid clients, stupid vendors, and yes, stupid people. The comedian Ron White uses the "you can't fix stupid" line in one of his routines when talking about finding the right person to marry with the point being that these days you can fix almost any physical issue with your mate, but "you can't fix stupid".

A few years ago I was in a situation where I had spent the better part of two years trying to fix stupid and it finally came to me that I was the leader of the pack. The only thing worse than spending more than a minute and a half trying to fix someone who is hell-bent on being stupid is realizing that you've just wasted months of your life trying to do the impossible.

I was talking to a buddy a while back who was struggling with a non-performer, a sales guy who hasn't sold anything in nearly a year. So, I'm wailing on my buddy about what part of "nothing" and "nearly a year" he's not latching on to. All of a sudden I realize that I did not have the high ground in this conversation because I've spent twice that time on a more hopeless situation.

So, here's my resolution and a modification of the "you can't fix stupid" rule. I solemnly resolve to never again make more than a cursory swipe at fixing stupid people. I'll take on stupid situations, stupid circumstances and maybe even stupid products but not stupid people. Life's too short.

The modification: You CAN fix stupid if it's yourself.

Juice

It's a mistake to think that moving fast is the same as actually going somewhere.” Steve Goodier 

I was chatting with a friend the other day who I had been in a start-up with once upon a time who was wanting to pick my brain (obviously a desperate man).  He most recently had been the CFO at a company that had been sold to an outside group.  A deal he had helped to orchestrate.

After taking the summer off and doing some traveling with his wife he was in the process of “getting back into it”. 

So he had fired up his network, quickly got some encouraging hits, had a few interviews and run directly into the “Juice” question.

What’s the “Juice” question, you ask?

Juice as in energy, gas left in the tank, hunger, ambition, willingness to engage, ability to work hard, desire to show up every day, etc.

It’s the question you get when you get of a certain age, where the number of years left to work are way less than the ones you already have.  It’s when you’re on the back nine of your professional career.

You see, employers get concerned that you’re all used up.  Even if your tires are good and engine is solid your odometer shows a lot of miles.  The old, “it’s not the age, it’s the miles” analogy.

It’s when you’ve had a long and somewhat illustrious career but you really, really want to keep working.  Not from need as much as ambition.  You've raised your kids and just don't have the "off field" drama you had in your 30's and 40's.  Frankly you have lots of free time and quite frankly like working.

My friend's problem is if he looks at CFO positions the company gets concerned with how many more years he’ll want to work.  If he looks a lower position’s (that he would be very happy doing) the company gets concerned that he’ll be unhappy and will only stay there until he scores a better position in another company.  But mainly it’s “do you have any Juice left?”

It’s a sticky one because the only way to prove it is to do it.  But you can’t do it if they won’t bring you in and see.  Essentially it comes down to the fact that they just don’t believe you when you tell them you have plenty left and want to use it for their benefit.

The other truth is, people like him DON’T have to work as hard to do the job.  With their vast experience they know how to get things done quicker and easier than some 30 year old.  They also don’t carry around the personal baggage of someone younger.  Work/life balance, blind ambition that can be destructive, learning how to navigate company politics, knowing what being a good employee means.

In fact, there’s a lot of gold in a many of these golden oldies.

If you need key talent it might be worth your time to test drive one of these higher-mileage beauties.  Bring them in on a consulting basis, see how much Juice they have left.  You may be pleasantly surprised.

I Can See Clearly Now

“The question is not what you look at, but what you see.” Henry David Thoreau

I had cataracts surgery a while back. Yet another sign that I am, in fact, an old geezer-head as the young son of a friend of mine once proclaimed (almost 20 years ago).

It was an interesting process. I had Lasik on both eyes fifteen years ago and it’s been great. I’ve enjoyed 20/20 vision and with the exception of the dreaded reading glasses have had no vision complaints – until recently. I was noticing that my vision wasn’t as clear as I was used to and most annoying my reading glasses didn’t seem to be helping on the close up stuff. So I bit the bullet and visited a local optometrist friend who after a thorough exam and way too many “Hmmmm” and “That’s Interesting” comments proclaimed that the good news was I didn’t need glasses. The bad news, however, was I needed cataracts surgery…in both eyes.

Great.

I was surprised about the “both eyes” part. Whereas my right eye had become very foggy (imagine having Vaseline smeared on your eyeball) I had started relying on my left “good” eye for any clear vision and frankly thought it was still at or near 20/20. I was even more surprised to learn that the cataracts were actually worse in my left “good” eye because in the right eye all I could read on the eye test chart was the “E”.

The fact that I was going to get my vision fixed was met with great exaltation from my golfing buddies who had for too long endured the countless rounds answering the never-ending barrage of “did you see my ball?” queries. The fact they didn’t bash me with a seven iron is a true testament to their friendship.

So, I had the right eye done – a pretty quick and simple procedure by the way – and after a night of wanting to claw my eye out because of the endless flood of tears from the, hardly exaggerating, nine thousand drops of medications they put in before the procedure I awoke to WOW, I CAN SEE. Not crystal, but a billion times better than before. And the bonus was in the next day followup the doc announced that my right eye was at 20/40 and there was still some swelling so it would still improve.

The funny part was now doing the right eye vs. left eye comparison I realized how bad my left “good” eye was. It was scheduled and performed two weeks later and I was once again invited by my buds to golf again.

So as is typical this whole ordeal got me thinking about life in the business world.

You know, a lot of times we fall into the “good” eye trap. Things look so bad from one perspective that by comparison other things look OK when in fact they’re not. In a way it corresponds to one of Jack Welsh’s management rules to rank your people strongest to weakest and always work on improving or replacing the bottom 10% no matter how good you feel the team has become, because everything is good or bad by perspective.

It’s hard to fix everything at once, after all they only fixed one eye at a time on me, so fixing the worst problem first is usually the right thing but don’t lose sight (no pun intended) of the fact that other things may only be good by comparison.

Now, where’s my golf bag? I want to actually see my ball going OB.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

“The key to being a good manager is keeping those who hate me away from those that are still undecided” Casey Stengel

I was listening to a new podcast that my friend Barry Doctor recommended.  It's called Product Life and this is their inaugural broadcast.  Their first guest was Kim Phelan.  A Product Management VP at Clear Fit.  She was very knowledgeable and well-spoken.  One thing she said of interest (to me) was talking about where Product Manager's come from.  She said that seldom do they come from just out of school, that they need to experience other customer-facing jobs first.

I understand and agree with that but still find it sad.  And, I’ll tell you why.

It means we don’t have apprentices anymore.

It used to be that you’d start a new job and you’d be assigned to someone (a senior, supervisor, etc.) who knew the job and would take you by the hand and teach you the job. Then as positions opened by expansion or void or sometimes….sometimes….wait on it….by retirement supervisors would become managers, seniors would become supervisors and you’d become a senior. Thus, you worked for people that actually knew what you did because they had done the job themselves.

To be fair, that didn’t make them good managers, but it did make them good trainers. And once they got trained at being good managers it got passed along.

Today that entire system is out the window (and has been for a long time in the tech field) as people hop madly around for the next upward step in position and salary. So what we’re left with are administrative placeholders looking for their next hop. They’re new to the company as is their VP and probably CEO all wanting to quickly make their mark so they can swim on to the next island.

What has all this caused?

There are tons of lists from places like Glassdoor who research the lowest rated companies when it comes to employee satisfaction. This comes on top of an Art Petty blog on Evil Leadership and another of my favorite bloggers – Michael Hopkins – and his Customer Service experience from his Lead on Purpose site.

Wow, a new record. Six links in a single blog. This should keep you busy enough that I don't need to finish the post.

But, I will anyway.

I guess it should bother me that I have worked for companies on the "worst" list, but it really doesn’t mainly because it gave me so much material for this site. What does bother me is I’ve worked for companies that would have easily made this list had they been big enough to be noticed.

Big or small they each suffered from the same basic deficiencies in management, leadership and regard for their customers. It does, and has always, come from the top.

If you’re in a position of power take the time and steps to make sure your people know who they work for and what they do. If you can’t do it then assign them to a “master tradesman” who can.
Let’s get back to knowing what we do, why we do it, and who we do it for.

(And yes, Mrs. Gilbert, I know I ended that sentence with a preposition).

Dancin' with the Devil

“You might as well fall flat on your face as lean over too far backward.” James Thurber

One of the challenges of being in a key position of a start up that is funded by outside investors is establishing a working relationship with those whose money you’re playing. Investors take many forms, from benevolent angels to ruthless venture professionals.

The old joke goes that everyone wants an investor who "gets it” until they have one. I once said to an angel investor when launching a Series “A” round, “let’s try to find some smart money”. He said, “Son, all money is dumb”. Thus the never-ending search to find investors who are smart, knowledgeable, friendly, supportive, patient, involved but not too involved. Most of all, you want your investor’s pockets to be deeper than their intellect.

The fact is, any time you’re using other people’s money they are going to have more than just a casual passing interest in what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, when you’re doing it, and how you’re doing it.

I’ve had two interesting conversations over the past couple of weeks. One was with a friend who took investor money last year and one with a friend who’s debating taking some. Fortunately they happened in that order so I was able to quote to the one debating taking investment things I had just heard from the one who just took investment.

Highlights included:

“I field ‘how’s it going?’ phone calls for three solid weeks then go to the board meeting where I answer the same questions again”

“Most of the questions revolve around ‘is there a market for the product?’. It’s like the due diligence they did 6 months ago has been totally forgotten”

“Their solution for all revenue shortfalls is ‘we need to drastically cut expenses’.

“They constantly bring up other companies they deem to be successful, most of which are in different markets, have been operating years longer and have ten times the capital to work with.”

The net of all of this is the management team gets little chance to run the business. The distraction of constant inquisition means a business flow is never achieved. It now appears that my second friend is going to continue to run his self-funded company at a slower pace without outside investment. I think he’ll end up healthier, wealthier and wiser.

However, if you choose to take the money, or if you’re in a company that already has, here are some universal truths:

• The longest line is between an investors "yes" and their signature on a check
• The only thing faster than the speed of light is bad news
• Good news will be treated with skepticism
• No, they don’t have to understand
• Yes, it is their money
• Anything you say can and will be used against you in board meetings
• Anything your people say can and will be used against you in board meetings
• No, someone didn’t switch those nice people you met before you got the check
• No, they probably don’t remember all those conversations about how the money would be used

If you’re considering taking outside money then please understand these universal truths and plan accordingly. That is, plan on not having time to execute your roadmap, develop your product, develop your sales force, plan a marketing campaign or talk to your customers. You can, however, go ahead and get started raising the next round of funding that you’ll all too quickly find out you need.