Bob Poole's Water Cooler Hangout

Coloring Outside the Lines - Again

I’m not sure what’s causing it but I’m witnessing an outbreak of creativity. Rob is a CEO of a successful small business. He’s been trying his hand at drawing and recently finished the first chapter of an outlined novel.

Nancy is a very busy head of a private school. Yet, she has found the time to take up the cello. She hopes to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with her grade school band at the spring concert.

Megan tells me how creativity is easy, valuable and enjoyable and learning for her happens in games, colors, building blocks, words, puppets, pictures and notes of music. As a result, her world is always evolving and work is never work.

A Fortune 500 C-Level executive has taken up photography – of birds. An entrepreneur with at least 10 start-ups in his resume is writing a history of his home town. And, two successful sales and marketing people I know have decided to learn Adobe Photoshop and InDesign so they can “play” with their own photos and websites.

What’s going on? A curmudgeon might say that the economy is so bad they have a lot of free time. But, that isn’t what is happening. All of these people I mention are very busy – just like you. But, they have decided to make time to use their creativity. And, their businesses are doing better than most.

Why is it when we read about great singers or musicians like Tony Bennett or Michael Cartellone who also become fine painters we tell ourselves it must be great to be so creative - and we never give ourselves credit for also being creative? Why do so many of us resist letting go and coloring outside the lines like we did as kids? Creativity lives in all of us. Quit keeping yours locked up.

Start with these books to learn how and why you should unlock the door. A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future by Daniel Pink. Or, Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative by Ken Robinson. Buy Hugh MacLeod’s new book Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity. It won’t be out until June but you can preorder it now.

What Will Be the Rest of the Story?

Somewhere at this very moment there is someone working on building the next Google or Microsoft. Somewhere else people are creating a new green car that will do for the automobile industry what Ford did 100 years ago. And, right down the road I bet there are people creating a new type of media - one that will replace newspapers and broadcast journalism.

The dying off of many businesses has opened the doors for entrepreneurs like you. Investors are looking for you - if you need them. But, think bootstrapping first. Think lean. Above all else - think about being so remarkable people will spread you story over and over again.

One of the greatest story tellers in our nation's history died a month ago. I first started listening to Paul Harvey as a young boy because my father loved his radio broadcasts. I always loved waiting to hear "the rest of the story."

Harvey Mackay of Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive fame wrote a column last month about Paul Harvey and some memories. This is my favorite.

"You put up the money to start the business that creates jobs for the rest of us. You gather the raw materials, importing some of them, devise salable products, advertise them and sell them. You pay all the operating expenses. You pay your employees 90 percent of the dollars that are left. You assume all the risk and invest most of your profit in additional equipment, additional facilities and new research.

"You pay out in taxes three times what you pay yourself. You businessmen and businesswomen create work, goods and services. You give more generously than anybody to churches, schools, foundations and charities of all sizes.

"By any reasonable rationale, you should be the focus of a grateful nation's primary appreciation. As a public servant and provider, you should be on the cover of Time or Newsweek. You should be heralded on CBS, NBC and ABC. You should be esteemed by your government, by the media and by your fellow man.

"You seldom are. For my part in a nonproducing profession that ridicules or ignores you, I apologize. I wish I could promise it's going to be different, I can't."

Paul would have loved to have been able to tell the stories of this next generation of entrepreneurs.

There are going to be some real doozies!

When Work Doesn't Feel Like Work

At least a dozen times a week I get asked my opinion on an idea for a new product or service. Almost all of them are fine ideas. I always tell people the same thing.

Your product or service must be perceived as being extraordinary. You have competitors and they are already established. Why should anyone spend their money with you? Being like all the others won't work.

You have to do more and you have to do it better.

And, that is a lot of work. But, if you're passionate about your idea and you're ready to be extraordinary - then it's a wonderful life.

And, it won't feel like work anymore.

It Can't Last

Economy Shows Positive Signs - But It May Not Last

This is a headline out of the Associated Press yesterday. I laughed when I read it. Then my head started hurting.

What if we wrote the copy for our businesses this way? We'd have headlines like:

For a chemical company -
Finding Balance Between Man and the Elements - Like Between a Rock and a Hard Spot

For any upscale business gadget -
Promote Yourself to CEO - Because Nobody Else Ever Will

For the latest pharmaceutical
With the Help of Biofydip My Problems Are Solved - Except For the Side-Effects

For a fish finder for sport fishermen
Designed With No Limits and Engineering That Hasn't Been Proven

For a fishing lodge
Catch More and Bigger Fish - If Only You'd Have Been Here Last Month

For a automobile company promoting fleet leasing
It Will Make You the Corporate Hero - Until The Stockholders Get Wind

For a golfing device
See Your Target. Touch Your Target. You Still Can't Break 100.

I read the article about the economy. Here are the reasons for the positive signs:

• Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods rose unexpectedly in February
• New home sales rose unexpectedly 
• Durable goods rose after six straight declines and posted the strongest one-month gain in 14 months.
• Demand for machinery, computers and fabricated metal products also rose.

Why then the "but it may not last" part of the headline? Because an economist wrote a note to his clients saying "It cannot possibly last." The AP economist who wrote this article quoted him.

I guess it must be true.

It can't possibly last.

Laugh More - Love More

Too many of us take our health for granted - until (if we're one of the lucky ones) life smacks us in the back of our head and says, "Wake up!"

I came down with the flu this past weekend. The real stuff and not what everyone calls the flu when they have a stomach bug. This one makes you hurt all over. In fact, my hair is aching and if you take a good look at my photo, you'll notice hair should not be something I think about.

So, I've had to slow down this week. And, I've been grousing about it and forcing myself to try and work. That is until today when I really got the slap to the head.

I got a call from a friend who told me that a business colleague who I haven't seen in a couple of years died last month. He was a "tough guy" who would never go to doctors. He had a family history of colon cancer but would not get a colonoscopy or even a screening. He was only 58 years old and ultimately he succumbed to colon cancer.

However, that's not what killed him. Stubbornness, selfishness, and stupidity killed him.

(Getting on top of soapbox now.)

Today's posting is a reminder to all of you who read this blog that sales, marketing and leadership really don't matter much if your health is poor. It's also a reminder to myself. If you've put off that checkup or screening, pick up the phone right now and make the appointment. Talk to your husband or wife about that physical they keep "forgetting." Change your eating habits. Start walking more.

And finally, laugh more and love more. It's the best preventative medicine.

Leaders like you are rare. We need you to guide us for as long as possible.

(Back down off the box. Thanks for listening.)

Walk Away

You have to be able to walk away.

It can be temping in difficult times to take on any project – to accept everything. If you listen to the media and their negative doomsday stories; your brain will start programming itself to do stupid things.

And, you won’t walk away.

You’ll be setting yourself (and your customer) up for failure.

If it’s not win-win then walk away.

Or, work with the customer to make it so.

Is Education Conformity Killing Our Kids?

I get to work with extraordinary people. I’ve always tried to surround myself with people who are smarter than me, more educated, the best in their fields, thinkers, doers and leaders. 

However, because of this I sometimes lose sight of reality. I recently spent some time with a few recruiters for both the non-profit and commercial sectors. They are looking for the best and brightest coming out of our colleges and universities. I asked them how their jobs were going assuming they would have a lot more candidates than jobs.

I was correct in that assumption. But, then I was told the real story.

It appears that many of our schools of higher learning have continued the trend of “just graduating numbers” and not educated men and women who have been taught how to think.

“Just look at Facebook,” one of the women recruiters told me. They routinely search the social networks for the digital trails left behind by candidates. What they find are twenty-something year olds with degrees who can’t write or communicate a coherent thought. And, if you believe their public postings, focus their lives on sex, alcohol, drugs and parties. And, the worst part is they feel no qualms about leaving a digital trail for the world to follow. They seem proud of it.

You can’t have been taught how to think if this is how you live your life. And, I’m not talking the digital trail which is just plain stupid.

I’m talking about having your entire life be about how drunk you were last weekend or every day last week. Or, who’s hooking up with whom.

I’ve seen one young woman after another having babies just to have babies. Most end up without fathers. And, these are college educated women.

Maybe, I’m out of touch with reality. In fact, I’m going to made this a dual post and ask a friend (and one of those extraordinary people I surround myself with) to give her thoughts on the education system.

Her name is Megan Elizabeth Morris and she’s less than half my age.

She’s one of those twenty-somethings.

"Oh boy," Megan says with a particular look in her eye-- which I can't actually see because, well, this is email. "Have I got a rant for you!

"My limited (but vehement) understanding is this," she continues.

"Kids don't fit into boxes. Kids need to be kid-shaped, and every single one is different--with different strengths, talents, brilliance, personalities. Trying to put that kid into a predetermined box is a great way to mess up the kid and make him unhappy. The really lucky ones get along with the boxes and find out they're naturally great at math and science and left-brain thinking and succeeding in institutionalized systems. The really unlucky ones end up in bad, confused cycles that are difficult to escape.

"If you teach someone that conformity is their most important goal, you're taking away their desire (and maybe their ability) to make creative decisions for themselves-- one amazing asset that industrial age schools are destroying. If you put that same person into a situation where they are in pain-- for instance, if they don't fit your box, and they're miserable-- they'll look for painkillers."

Painkillers will become just as important as conformity.

"So of course the best way for those kids to kill pain and achieve conformity, the two most important things in their lives, is to engage in radical sameness with other kids who have discovered effective painkillers. I'm not just talking about drugs; this is about risky engagements with drugs, alcohol, uneducated sexuality and all kinds of other things that create temporary pleasure.

"The educational system we have stuffs kids into boxes and impresses upon them that they're not good enough--just because they don't fit the box.

"What happens if we start paying attention to Do Schools Kill Creativity Sir Ken's tremendous clarity on childhood education and find ways for our children to be happy? To learn the way children do naturally? To build their own boxes as they grow and change and absorb information and enjoy what they do? To use the creativity they already possess to make whatever they're meant to make? Because each one of them is extraordinary, and we teach them not to know it.

"Don't you think that's a shame? I hope you're horrified. I am."

I am too, Megan. I am too.

You Can't Get In

Scarcity can be an extremely effective marketing tactic. So can creating a members-only community. I heard about a local restaurant from a friend last night that had me wanting to visit as soon as possible. Why? The first reason is because I can't get in the door. In fact, I couldn't find the door even if I could get in. I need a key. There is no sign marking the entrance. Why pay for signage when only key holders can open the door.

The key isn't expensive. It only costs $10 a year. But, there's a waiting list for months to get the key. Meanwhile, you can't get in unless you have a friend who happens to have a key.

The second reason is I want to meet the owner. Let's call him Phil.  Phil only serves breakfast. Seven days a week you can use your key to gain entrance and buy breakfast. I don't know if the food is any good because in describing Phil's my friend never once mentioned the quality or quantity of the breakfast.

Instead she talked about the sense of community. She has made friends, connected with some, shared experiences, and kept up with local developments in the community. She has joined a tribe.

People are willing to wait for months to buy a key that allows them to join a tribe - a community. They feel like they are part of something and they begin to connect with each other. My friend loves the experience of being part of a tribe and breakfast is secondary.

How can you use scarcity in your business? Can you create a members-only tribe? Can you have hours of operation that are so scarce people talk about them? Doing less is a tactic. Creating a tribe is another tactic. Phil does both by only serving breakfast and only to members.

By the way, you don't have to buy breakfast to go into Phil's. Coffee is on-the-house and you're welcome to just stop in and connect with your fellow tribe members. If you have a key.

Phil has one rule for membership. No grumpy people. You're either happy when you're in Phil's place or you're out of the club.

Doing Not Dreaming

Some of these names are probably familiar to you.

• Allura Designs
• Arbonne International
• Avon
• Cutco
• Juvio
• Lia Sophia
• Mary Kay Cosmetics
• Pampered Chef
• Shure Pets
• Taste of Gourmet
• Young Living Essential Oils

And, of course, Tupperware.

These are all examples of Direct Sales Companies. Many of them use a form of network marketing. Many use home party plans as a method of demonstrating, selling products and recruiting new salespeople. Most of these types of companies have products that range from very good to outstanding. They need to because their pricing model demands top prices in order to pay enough commission to attract new salespeople.

I know people who have excellent incomes as a result of direct sales. I also know a lot more who have invested a good bit of time and money to come away disappointed. If you haven't sold anything before today - the experience can be valuable. Or, it can convince you that you never want to hear the word sales again.

However -

• If you commit yourself to it as a business and not a hobby.
• If you're passionate, persistent, and work like crazy.
• If you immerse yourself in learning about the business, sales and marketing. 
• If you build relationships and give your customers extraordinary service.
• If you find a good mentor who knows when to hold your hand and when to kick you in the seat of your pants.
• If you don't let the dream killers stop you.
• If you Listen First and Sell Later.

If you do all these things you can be successful in direct sales.

If you do all these things you can be successful at anything.

Even that business of your own.

Because you're the type of person who makes dreams come true by doing - not just dreaming.

Changing the World - Really!

Persistence. Patience. Listening.

I've discussed those qualities here many times. In the last three days I've been privileged to read a true story about a young woman who possesses all of these in a greater quantity than most of us can imagine.

The woman is Jacqueline Novogratz and her book is called The Blue Sweater - Bridging The Gap Between Rich and Poor In An Interconnected World.

You know the line, "You had me at hello." Well, Jacqueline had me by page 31. This is a story about the adventure of a young woman who decided to change the world. And, it is a story about how she actually did (and is still doing it). It has action, murder, intrigue, politics, villains and heroes. It will also make you cry.

Most importantly it tells a story about how all of us can learn to listen like her. And, when that takes place, you'll never feel the same way again about yourself or the world you live in.

It is also a book about sales and marketing. Business and markets. Social entrepreneurs.

But, for me, it is mostly a love story about a woman who knows that all people are created equal and will thrive and prosper with love, discipline, education, support and tools. Kind of like a family.

Jacqueline Novogratz is the founder of the Acumen Fund.