True Business 'Focus'

I have been enjoying recent studies regarding ‘quality’. I have also been engaged in conversation as late as today regarding this general concept.

I enjoy these conversations about quality. I find myself coming back to the same point of view each time I discuss any aspect of business. This point can be referred to in the form of the question, “What does the customer expect?” I hear many heated discussions in business on a variety of topics. One thing that always seems to amaze me is the lack of input from the ‘customer’s point of view’. Decisions are made each day. Quality control programs are put into place. Teams of people are assembled. Money is spent but all too often the customer’s input is excluded from the scope of our ‘quality endeavors’.

So what……… if we make a gadget that is designed to withstand a nuclear blast. The question should be, “Does the customer expect a gadget that can withstand a nuclear blast? Innovation does not have to come from within every time. We should solicit our customers for feedback. Every once in a while in life the ‘build it and they will come’ philosophy will work. (if you are Steve Jobs) However, more often than not, we could simply ask the customer what they prefer in terms of future projects and skip a lot of the ‘wasted motion’ that occurs in between. Too often we view the customer as the ‘sucker on the receiving end of a transaction’ and not as a true business partner. Successful customers create successful suppliers. In this age of web-based highly enlightened people……..the end user has again become King. Quite frankly, it is nice to see the priorities aligned as they should be once again.

kml

2009

Freeing the Mind

I have to believe that the human body is designed to ‘work’ hard but also to ‘rest’ hard. I have found that exercise and guitar playing are the things that best remove my mind from work. Don’t get me wrong, I love to work but I also love to play. I believe it is important for everyone to fit an exercise routine into their schedules. So many other small things seem to fit into place in life if a person exercises and removes the impurities from their bodies.

I’m not saying that music is for everybody but I do think it is important that everybody find something outside the scope of their work to remove their minds to a place of relaxation. Some folks like fishing, some like reading and the list goes on. The important thing is to keep the mind active but also to let it rest and focus on more than one task in life.

I find myself ready for the work week when I have had mental rest and physical exercise.

What do you do to free your mind?

kml

2009

Your Business…..Do You Love It?

You know I have been finding myself waking up at night just having dreamed of another process change or business idea. Up until a couple of months ago, I really thought I had some kind of ‘issue’ or ‘mental hang-up’. (Seriously) However, about a month ago I became part of a company contest called Innovations for a Better World in which people from our company (around the globe) could offer business inventions or innovations. After a serious culling process from a pool of 7,000 people and 250 submitted inventions / ideas, 12 actual ideas were chosen to move through the process and compete with each other. All 12 teams were together for the first time last month in Switzerland. For the first time in my life I sat within a group of people who had the same ‘issues’ that I had. Each of these people told me stories of waking up in the middle of the night with ideas. Many of the folks told personal stories of not being able to sleep at night and not being able to rid their minds of dreams of a more unified world.

I was humbled by the determination seen in the eyes of some of the folks on teams from South Africa, India and China. I realized immediately in the company of these people that we as Americans have become gluttons and ‘spend drunk’. We collectively feel that we are ‘owed’ a good paycheck. We feel that we are ‘entitled’ to certain benefits. Many of the folks there spoke at least 2 languages……..some spoke 3 or more languages. I saw folks from what America considers to be 3^rd World Countries with more national pride than I have seen in many years. I saw people with sincere hope. I saw people not only hoping and wishing for a better world but also people who were willing to work however many hours it takes to create a better world.

I am thankful and humbled by this experience. I am learning that loving what you do is a blessing. I am learning that dreams are not for the weak of mind but for pioneers. For without dreams, many nations of the world today would not exist in the manner in which they exist today.

Your business, do you really love it?

kml

2009

Listening to the Customer

***I should first say that my thoughts and prayers go to the soldiers killed on American soil at Fort Hood this afternoon. 11-5-2009***

You know, the more I understand modern business the more I see why some companies fail…….and fail miserably. I love this internet age. I know of no other time in history in which the general populace had such access to information. A Health Bill is being debated in the USA (Nov. 2009) and for one of the first times in history the ‘common man’ can simply download the Bill and draw his own conclusions and even engage in the debate at various levels online.

As related to business, we have the means to engage the customer. All we have to do is go where the customer is online and become a part of the conversation. The customer is more than willing to tell us their opinions, we simply have to listen. Sadly, many companies refuse to accept the fact that end users will go online and will state their opinions. We (the business owners) can either ignore the fact that the conversations are occurring or we can create our own conversations as well as take part in existing conversations.

I am amazed that during this age of knowledge and information ………we use this advantage so little. I maintain the stance, “If you want to know how someone feels, simply ask them.”

kml

2009

The Transit Strike in Philly

I was reminded today (as I sat in traffic on I95 in Philly) why I hate 'unionization'. How, in America, can a bunch of clowns ruin transit in a major city? So the subway and bus folks are on strike, therefore I95 out of Philly to the airport becomes a giant parking lot.

Can someone 'in the know' tell me if the conditions are so horrid to merit a strike that messes up life for the average person attempting to do the daily commute?

I mean, please.........they waited until the World Series went back to NY.........guess a city has to have their priorities, right?

Maybe after I 'sleep on it' a night I will not be so grumpy about it.

kml
2009

Being Corporately Lean – Adding Value

When the economy tanks and everyone is desperate to keep their jobs and all the folks you thought were your friends are attempting to ‘knife’ you to keep their jobs…….how do you react? …….or do you react?

I have watched many people over the last two years flutter and fumble around more concerned about ‘keeping’ their job than they have been with ‘doing’ their job. I have developed a pretty simple formula for folks that work for me. ‘Do’ your job and the chances are higher that you will ‘retain’ your job. This is the first part of my equation. The second is much like the first. Secondly, if you want to know if your job is secure, ask this question of it (the job) or of yourself, “Do I add value to the customer?” If you can not answer ‘yes’ to this question, then you should get real nervous. The days of floating along in a large corporation ‘under the radar’ are over. If you can not say for sure that you add value to your customer, you should start figuring out a way in which you can add value.

I think human nature is to ‘over react’ to every little tidbit of news we hear each day. We rush through our work to ‘keep our job’. We major on the minor. At the end of the day, every single person in an organization should be able to list at least one way in which they add direct value to their customer. If we all did this, the world would be a better place………and if we all ‘did’ our job for the customer instead of focusing on ‘keeping’ our job within the corporation, the world would also be a better place to live.

Serious times require serious people. Quality wins……..no matter the economy.

kml

2009

Uh Oh….the not so good about Windows 7

Well, I am now on week 2 with Windows 7 Ultimate. I have finally started finding the bugs that remind me of Windows software that I am accustomed to. Don’t get me wrong, there are still lots of things to ‘like’ but there are also those nagging Windows issues for me. I should add that I opted for a clean install on a new PC.

1.)    I am having the same ‘pain in the butt’ problems when dealing with desktop icons. When trying to copy pictures or files from a location on the hard drive to a folder on the desktop, Windows Explorer will freeze. All other programs will work but the desktop folder refuses to manipulate. It takes a reboot to solve the problem.

2.)    Windows ‘hangs’ after clicking the ‘shutdown’ button. The computer will go into shutdown mode but never power off. This is a known Windows issue in my opinion. I have had this same issue randomly since Windows 95 and it makes me mad enough to scream. It requires manually forcing the computer to shutdown. I always feel like I am going to interrupt some background process by doing this.

These are 2 issues that I feel like Microsoft should have mastered by now. These are two of the same issues I have had over the years on different pieces of hardware and different versions of Windows. I find myself stuck with Windows at times because my company (and most companies) use Windows in the corporate environment. If I want to stay ahead of the curve, I usually buy the latest version of Windows to use at home. Sometimes I feel like a part of that Apple commercial in which the guy says “this version fixed the bugs”. Two years later I find myself buying the hype again, “this version fixed the bugs”.  

We’ll have to see what bug fixes Microsoft offers. Anyone else experiencing the same 2 problems with Windows 7?

kml

2009