1,365 words. Abstract: When you face a potentially life-changing decision, what’s your plan? Using the health care reform topic as an example, we’ll explore methods for managing our ignorance and making better decisions.

I’m betting you have an opinion about the U.S. health care reform legislation. It’s one of those big issues that can polarize the nation. I’m curious how you came by your opinion, how you decided which side to take. And I’m betting you decided wrong.

I challenge you to think about how you think. Your thinking leads you to decisions throughout your life. Some decisions are small, and some are large, like where you live, where you work, and who you marry. How you come to these larger decisions can have a serious affect on your future success and happiness. I fear your decision system is causing you to miss great opportunities because you don’t have a method for sorting past the confusion.

I could approach this topic from the seller’s side as I often do. Understanding human nature and how to deal with it can make us more effective sales people. However, this article will more directly benefit you if we look at from the buyer’s side. Specifically, how you buy into ideas that are presented to you. Once you are clear on how to help yourself, you’ll be in a better position to help those to whom you sell.

Mistaken Beliefs
Let me assume you believe that the 2010 U.S. health-care reform package is either good, or bad. Let me also assume you have not fully read (and understood!) the legislation. Therefore, you have come to your beliefs and taken your position based on information from other sources. Do you think that might be a problem? I confess… I have the same problem.

Everyday you and I make decisions that will affect our futures. Many of these decisions may be based on mistaken beliefs, and these beliefs can sabotage your success. Let’s take a few minutes to question where these beliefs come from so we can gain a clear vision of our future. By doing so, we can eliminate the paralysis (when we make no decision), the lost opportunities, the bad decisions, and the expensive mistakes that are keeping us from the progress and improved quality of life we seek.

Thoughtless Thinking

The Homestead Act of 1862. Click for a larger image.

Thinking today has its challenges. Life has grown more complex over time. The U.S. Census once mandated a simple headcount; now some lucky recipients get to answer a 14-page questionnaire. The health care reform package is well over a thousand pages. In contrast, the Homestead Act of 1862, which gave away 430 million acres of U.S. land to its citizens, fit on two handwritten pages. Then there’s the tangle called the U.S. Tax Code and the IRS 1040 form. Today we’re faced with many challenging decisions, some of them time consuming. Getting comprehensive information about the topic isn’t always the solution. We need something else.

We need to plan how we think, as it seems we don’t actually do this very often. It’s easier to default to a familiar decision system regardless of the potential impact of the decision. Instead, we need to stretch our critical thinking skills. We need to make time to decide how we’re going to decide.

Truthful Consequences
Begin by considering the consequences and the rewards associated with the decision and let that influence how you will think about it and how much time you’ll take to think about it. For instance, before committing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy a home with a mortgage, should you take time to read the paperwork before you sign it? I believe the potential consequences merit that level of attention. What about terms for a new credit card? What about the list of ingredients on packages of processed food?

Many of us choose to ignore the ingredients list, because the worst that can happen for most of us is we ingest a few extra calories and a little too much salt. However, if you’re allergic to peanuts, the consequences of eating blindly can make you sick.

Conjoined Questions
To determine how you want to think about a decision and how much time you want to devote to that thinking, ask yourself these three questions:

• What is the potential impact on me?
• How much can I affect the decision?
• What else at this priority level is competing for my time?

You must consider your answers to those three questions holistically, and then choose. Using U.S. health care reform as our example (let’s imagine there’s still a choice to be made), the impact on you will likely be significant and long-lasting. Those are good reasons to invest time in understanding it. However, your ability to affect that decision (should it become law or not) is somewhat limited, as we are depending on the representatives we elected to vote for us. Therefore, our ultimate decision would be to determine if we want to attempt to affect their decision. Whether you do that not will largely depend on your answer to the third question regarding competing priorities. Issues at home or at work may be consuming you to the point where you can’t justify diverting time and energy to persuading your Senate and Congressional representatives.

Ignorance Management
I suspect most Americans opted not to get deeply involved in affecting the health care reform process, but instead chose to figuratively shout from the sidelines. We often come to the beliefs that affect our decisions using four common methods:

• Become An Expert. Actually, this isn’t terribly common because of the time starvation we face and the competing priorities we juggle. But in some areas of your life you are indeed an expert and can take confidence in your beliefs and the decisions that result.

• Let Others Think For Me. This method falls at the other end of the involvement scale. In theory, this is what our elected government representatives are supposed to do for us. They’re supposed to be experts who will make good decisions for us (if we trust them to do that). As another example, I haven’t filled out a tax return in decades. I chose a CPA to help me decide how to best file my tax return. I give him some input, and he thinks for me.

• Use A Litmus Test. You latch onto one issue for your deciding factor and ignore all else. For instance, when confused about voting for political candidates, it’s easy to pick one issue that you care about, such as abortion, gun-control, or immigration, then base your decision on that and ignore all else. Sellers often force buyers to resort to a litmus test. If the seller confuses the buyer with their sales approach, the buyer will frequently resort to the litmus test of lowest price, if they make a purchase at all; a confused mind says, “No!”

• Validate Key Drivers. I recommend identifying the key drivers that will likely be associated with a successful decision outcome, and then testing the validity of those drivers.

For example, when choosing a mortgage the key drivers to investigate might include:
- the interest rate calculation method
- the terms should you default
- early repayment options and penalties

If these three key drivers meet with your approval and don’t raise any red flags, you may feel comfortable deciding to go ahead without studying the entire agreement.

If you sell, help your buyers work through this ignorance management process. It will allow them to make better decisions faster, and that can lead to a healthier wallet for you.

Decision Satisfaction
Ultimately, you want to plan how you’re going to decide important issues. You want to like your answer to, “Why do I BELIEVE the way I do?”

We know we’re starved for time, that we can’t be expert on everything. Not every decision can be about information and logic. Yet we can get clear on why we believe what we believe. Decisions based on untested beliefs are prone to failure. Make time for critical thinking. Consider the consequences and rewards. Decide how much you’re willing to invest in the decision, and then choose a decision process that will enable you to believe in your decision. Make time to learn, make time to think, and you’ll enjoy more opportunities for success.

© 2010 Paul Johnson. All rights reserved.

About The Author:
Paul Johnson is vice president at ConsultativeSelling. He works with great sales organizations like ADP, Nortel Networks and AutoNation. Discover the definition, application, and resources of Consultative Selling at http://consultativeselling.com/.

Note: This article is available for reprint at no charge. We only ask that you include our copyright notice in your reprint, along with the About the Author information we provide at the end of the article.

A Question for your Comments: How did you make a great decision when you didn’t have all the information?

For instance, it might be a trap for me to write on this topic myself. Why? Because somebody else has already written about it so well. Allow me to introduce you to Garold Markle, who is an expert at performance improvement in the workplace. We’ve been friends for a long time, and I am glad to see his book, Catalytic Coaching: The End of the Performance Review, continue to do so well. As you’ll see, one of his strengths is writing. Now I turn the “pen” over to him, so he can share with you…

THE WEAKNESS TRAP

By Garold L. Markle

What is the best thing to do with a weakness? According to the Gallup Poll data, the most successful managers don’t normally try to fix an employee’s weakness. Instead, they work around it. Ignore it, if possible. While this sounds counter intuitive to some, it actually agrees with what most of us have noticed in life. Consider coaching.

What would a football coach do with a short but fast player who has quick hands? Try to fatten him up and make him stronger? Of course not. The coach would place him in the defensive backfield where speed and agility are key. He would charge the small, fast guy with getting faster. Meanwhile, he’d take his biggest, strongest player and challenge him to become bigger and stronger.

“Markle! Don’t put the ball on the floor!!” That’s what my basketball coach used to scream at me. 40 years later, the words still echo in my ears. At six foot seven inches tall, I was not a very adept dribbler. When I tried to dribble, the ball would hit one of my feet almost as often as it hit the floor. On the other hand, I could rebound with the best of them. So what did the coach do with me? He asked me to stand under the basket and retrieve missed shots. Did he ask me to work on my dribbling? Are you kidding? He actually forbade me from doing it. I got benched if I dribbled the ball, even if I did it successfully. The coach made it clear that my playing time would be determined by my ability to rebound. If I wanted to maximize my contribution to the team, I would not attempt to become some kind of well rounded version of Michael Jordan. I would emulate Dennis Rodman – the ultimate rebounding specialist.

In Catalytic Coaching we ask managers to select four “Areas for Improvement” that they want a direct report to focus on for the upcoming year. Since we compel them to do this immediately after discussing “Strengths” it‘s quite natural that people draw the wrong conclusions. Their mind thinks in parallel structure. They select four things that form the person’s competitive advantage and call those Strengths. They assume then that the next section is where they “write him up” for his shortcomings. If they follow this instinctual path, however, they will greatly reduce the effectiveness of the coaching process. They’ll fall quickly into The Weakness Trap spending good energy on a bad idea.

For a fully functioning employee, Areas for Improvement are more productively focused on Strengths that a coach would like to see more of. I can recall several years ago praising an executive assistant for her “Organization Skills” under the Strengths section only to request that she use these abilities more aggressively as an Area for Improvement. Rather than smile with bemusement at how I muddled my complicated travel plans, I challenged her to take them on as one of her responsibilities. Was she deficient in travel planning? Absolutely not. She had never been asked to do it. It was, however, a wonderful way for her to enhance her contribution.

No matter what I say to managers and supervisors in coaching training sessions, people seem to miss this point. When I work with them one on one (in a ritual we call “In-Flight Training”) it is often their biggest revelation. “I didn’t know we could ask her to do more of what she’s good at,” they’ll say, despite the fact that I made this point several times in class. Once they have this experience, however, the light comes on and they advance to a different level of coaching effectiveness.

When people tell me that coaching becomes redundant over the years, often the reason is that they’ve fallen into a rut of treating Areas for Improvement like Weaknesses. Here’s what someone told me recently. “I’ve written Thomas up as needing to work on his Analytical Skills for the last three years. I can do it again, but I don’t really think he’s going to improve.” When I asked if Thomas was worth keeping, the answer was both quick and unequivocal. “Absolutely! He produces a high volume of work.” The only thing needed here was for the coach to refocus his employee’s improvement efforts on things that were more realistic and valuable. Challenge Thomas to do more heavy lifting, just don’t assign him tasks that require heavy analysis.

The same ideas apply at home. When a child walks through the door with a report card showing five As, two Bs and one D, what do we always talk to her about? The low grade, of course. We tell her how the subpar subject matter is critical to proper growth and development and force her to spend more time focused on areas in which she’s potentially ill equipped to excel. Instead of lecturing our mathematically-inclined daughter on the merits of mastering English and Geography, if that’s where she’s behind, perhaps we’d be better served to encourage her to focus the bulk of her attention on Physics and Calculus, where she sits at the head of her class. After all, who cares whether the nuclear physicist that designs the first truly viable electric car can write creatively or explain haiku? And her computer or secretary can clean up her misspelled words.

So how do we avoid The Weakness Trap? Consider taking the following actions:

1. Design Around Weaknesses. Whenever possible shift roles and responsibilities to give those who work for you a chance to focus on what they’re good at and what they enjoy. Fit the job to the people and the people to the job. Not all accountants have to have identical responsibilities. The same goes for supervisors, managers and executive assistants. Few of us are universally talented. It is more important to create a team that wins through working together than to mandate that all jobs with similar titles are carbon copies.
2. Shorten Improvement Cycles. If you’ve got a direct report that has a weakness that you can’t build out of her position (for example, a manager who can’t delegate), give her a limited amount of focused attention to make the improvement. In general, if she can’t start making demonstrable progress in a one to three month period, she is not worth spending additional time on. Great sports coaches move quickly when they determine that a player’s aptitude is insufficient for a given role. Remember that “Catalytic” means speeding the pace of significant change. In business, time is money. Repurposing or replacing usually beat rewiring.
3. Focus on Strengths. Do your homework to determine what people are good at. Things they have a competitive advantage at. Identify activities that give them energy. Knowing someone’s weaknesses is valuable information for selection and placement decisions. If they’re not tall enough, fast enough, agile enough (in other words, a poor match for the position), consider making a change. If you’re going to coach them where they’re at, however, the key is to take what they’re good at and make it better. Do that and someday the Gallup Poll researchers will be writing stories about you.

About the Author of The Weakness Trap:
Garold Markle is author of Catalytic Coaching: The End of the Performance Review and No More Performance Evaluations! Gary is also founder and CEO of Energage, Inc. For more of his teachings go to www.energage.com.

This article was first published in Catalytic Connection in August of 2009. Copyright 2009 by Energage, Inc. Reprinted with permission of Garold L. Markle, glmarkle@energage.com.

598 words. Abstract: Work-life balance is elusive. Maybe you could benefit from going back to something as basic as your definition of success. Do you have one?

It’s the time of year to celebrate, and our culture celebrates success. What successes of the past year do you have to celebrate? What did you DO with your life this year?

Sometimes it can seem that one year looks just like any other. You spend five days of every week at your job, and then jam chores, family, and friends into the weekends. You mix in a few holidays and take a vacation or two (yet one-third of Americans don’t take all their vacation days, forfeiting 4 of them). If this seems too familiar, I’m betting you’ve accepted someone else’s definition of success instead of creating your own. Perhaps it’s time to challenge the idea of what success looks like for you, and then make going for it your business in 2010.

Need ideas? Here are some ways others have defined success.

• Success is a journey, not a destination.
• Success is the achievement of something planned, desired or attempted.
• Success is… making a difference, loving your work, financial freedom, independence, contentment (pick one).

When England was facing its darkest days during World War II, Winston Churchill redefined success so he and the British people could keep their spirits up and press on to victory. His definition: “Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.”

And then there’s this one: “He who dies with the most toys wins.”

The late Earl Nightingale notes this: “Everything that’s free to us we place little value on. Everything we have to pay for we value. The paradox is that the exact opposite is true. Everything that’s really worthwhile in life came to us free. Our minds, our souls, our bodies, our hopes, our dreams, our ambitions, our intelligence, our love of family, children, and friends, our country – all these priceless possessions are free. But the things that cost us money are actually very cheap and can be replaced at any time. A good man can be completely wiped out and make another fortune. He can do that several times. Even if a home burns down, we can rebuild it, but the things we get for nothing we can never replace.”

Do we really need a bigger house, a newer car, a higher-status title on our business card? Or would we prefer to know that we have helped another, that we have been kind to our planet Earth, that we gave reasons to be remembered after we’re gone?

Maybe we make success too complicated and expensive. My son spent several weeks in Kenya living among people whose homes were made of dung, who found it futile to shoo flies away from their eyes and lips because their homes have no windows, and whose monthly income for the family was much less than $100. Yet my son remarked that these people were the happiest, most carefree people he’d ever met. It’s hard to imagine that a family living in a dung hut might have succeeded in being happier than you or I.

Perhaps success isn’t a measure of how much we have, but of how little we need.

Take an active approach in defining what success means for you, and then work toward that in the coming year. Stop letting others define success for you. Who cares if the Jones’ DO live next door? The business of living is your own business. A year from now I’d like you to be able to look back on 2010 knowing that you succeeded in taking care of some really important business: your life.

© 2009 Paul Johnson. All rights reserved.

About The Author:
Paul Johnson is the keynote speaker who gives teams the courage, motivation, and insight to overcome obstacles and create breakthrough growth opportunities at http://TroubleBreaker.com. Learn about business growth topics at http://Paul-Johnson.com.

Note: This article is available for reprint at no charge. We only ask that you include our copyright notice in your reprint, along with the About the Author information we provide at the end of the article.

A Question for your Comments: What have you gotten for free that you now regard as priceless?

1,289 words. Abstract: The A-players in business don’t appear out of thin air. A lot goes into their development as winners. And parents have a lot to do with where the core of their development comes from.

You and I both probably had painful childhood experiences that involved winning and losing. I was always picked last when choosing teams for pick-up basketball games. Perhaps you had YOUR heart set on making a team or winning a contest, and it just didn’t happen. You can still remember the hurt to this day.

Today I’m concerned for our children. Both as a parent and as a member of society, I’m interested in the raising of psychologically healthy and strong children who will one day (sooner than we might like to think) be contributing to society, running our businesses and leading our country. I’m concerned that parents are letting the pain from their past corrupt the children of the present.

Who’s a Loser?
I was listening to a radio talk show this morning when the on-their personalities tossed this controversy into the air: should children be labeled winners and losers? They cited several news stories to fan the flames.

• One was about children’s sporting events where no score was kept; because no team could be defeated, there could be no losers.

• Another was about a trend at children’s birthday parties, where everyone got a prize. Playing games like Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Donkey would be done for entertainment, but no specific price would be awarded because it would be wrong to declare a winner, thus making all the other children losers.

• Finally, mention was made of the grading scale used in schools, which stratifies students into categories of winners and losers.

As you might imagine, many called into the radio station. A sustained debate ensued about whether children should be allowed to compete when the outcome apparently risks labeling many as losers.

Unfortunately, there was no clear winner. I’d like to change that.

Worth the Debate
I applaud all parents who care enough to have an opinion on this topic, because it’s important. We want to avoid sending ill-equipped offspring into careers where they will fail to reach optimum levels of satisfaction and reward. Parents seem happiest when their children are productive, happy, satisfied, and eventually living purposeful lives as adults. Yet this ongoing debate about whether children should compete seems to leave parents unhappy if not angered.

I happen to agree with both sides of the argument. The points I’ll offer shortly should clarify that apparent contradiction. Now for the disclaimer; I am not a psychologist. I only have two qualifications that qualify me to address this issue: I was once a child (duh), and I also am fortunate to be the parent of several children who are now adults. Hopefully my insights will serve you.

Put the Ending First
I am opposed to labeling anyone, young or old, losers. I’m not really in favor of labeling people at all, but if there must be labels, let them be positive ones like the term “winner.” So how could there be winners but no losers? Because there’s a big difference between winners and losers, and winning and losing.

Losing a game does not automatically earn anyone the label of loser. The term “losing” is simply the reflection of the score of a particular event that took place at a specific instance in time. In other words, winning and losing have nothing to do with being a winner or loser. Sometimes we win, and sometimes we lose. Except in basketball; I always lose. But that doesn’t make me a loser. I can win, and do win at lots of other things. And so do our children. It’s the -ING, not the -ER, that we should be concerned with and should be the focus in our use of language.

Winning Requires Luck
We tend to associate the terms winning and losing with all games. However, I contend there is a better word than winning to use in some instances.

Games generally require some combination of luck and skill. Some games are almost pure luck, others almost pure skill. Choosing the winning number on a roulette wheel is almost pure luck. Winning at Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Donkey is also a rather lucky endeavor. However, where sports are concerned, the emphasis shifts to skill. Players in these games can most certainly influence the outcome of the game based on how skillfully they execute the requirements of the game. Where skill is not only encouraged but required, it’s an insult to the players to conclude that one team “won” the game. While we might be able to point to a few exceptions, the reality is that players usually earn the victory.

I made this distinction some years back when I heard my wife talking to one of her friends. I was in sales at the time, and had just qualified for our annual President’s Club incentive trip. She was explaining to her friend how I had won a trip to Hawaii. After she hung up the phone, I explained that I didn’t win anything. After working like a dog and skillfully applying the expertise I had developed over the years, I earned that trip as a reward. Clearly I was winning in my job, and I felt like a winner, but make no mistake about it; it was clear to me and my bosses that I had earned that reward.

Make sure your children can tell the difference between winning and earning. No one can afford to live their lives dependent on luck. If we want our children to develop their skills and learning, we should separate winning from earning.

Born to Earn
It’s obvious that winning is more fun than losing. Success is better than failure. Ideally, we would like to win at everything. But we can’t. We’re each born with a different set of gifts, a different set of strengths. We can develop these into useful and productive skills that will help us earn opportunities to win.

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Dr. Howard Gardner explains in his 1983 book titled Frames of Mind that there are at least seven different forms of human intelligence. In this initial book, he labeled them:

• Linguistic (spoken and written language)
• Logical-Mathematical
• Musical
• Bodily-Kinesthetic
• Spatial (patterns of space)
• Intrapersonal
• Interpersonal

This means that some will be more inclined to win at music while others are inclined to win at math. Or running. Or writing. Or shearing sheep.

I like to see people playing games that they CAN win, even though sometimes they won’t. I get excited when I see young people figure out that they’re really good at something they also really like to do. That is usually the kernel for a productive and satisfying career.

The Business of Growing Winners
So what can parents do to raise happy, healthy children who will become satisfied, productive contributors to the world? First of all, forget about saving your child from pain. They’re going to fall down. They’re going to be disappointed. There will be many unhappy moments. Get over it, because they will. Let your child try stuff. Give them opportunities to discover their strengths and to sample the things that they might be good at.

Even more important, let them figure out how THEY have fun. Not everyone enjoys spelling bees, but some people do. Not everyone enjoys practicing music, but some people do. Not everyone enjoys standing in the outfield when there are no dandelions to pick, but some people do.

Let’s give our children opportunities to try winning and losing; that will make them winners. Let’s help them understand that some games are won, and some victories are earned. Let’s help children explore their gifts and discover their strengths so they will confidently know how they can win in this game of life. One day they may be working in the next office over from you.

© 2009 Paul Johnson. All rights reserved.

About The Author:
Paul Johnson is the keynote speaker who gives teams the courage, motivation, and insight to overcome obstacles and create breakthrough growth opportunities at http://TroubleBreaker.com. Learn about business growth topics at http://Paul-Johnson.com.

Note: This article is available for reprint at no charge. We only ask that you include our copyright notice in your reprint, along with the About the Author information we provide at the end of the article.

A Question for your Comments: What game did you win that was really earned?

By using MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) the doctors hope to discover why some golfers have the yips and others don’t.

Having been in sales and management for decades, I suspect I know the answer already; lack of confidence. And often lack of confidence stems from lack of preparation and lack of practice.

Fluid performance in most sports comes from developing muscle memory. That comes from swinging the tennis racket or golf club so many times you don’t have to think when you play; your muscles remember what do to. If fact, the more you think, the worse you play.

When we invest in employee training, we may show them what to do and even make sure they know how to do it. However, if we don’t give them a chance to anchor that behavior so that it’s second nature, they will choke under pressure. Give your employees a chance to develop muscle memory so that desired behavior change becomes permanent.

I don’t know if Mr. Fisher’s office and the State of Ohio were treated fairly or not. I wasn’t invited to participate in the negotiation process. However, I do know it would have been easier for Nuti to decide to stay in Ohio from the standpoint of PR flack (as is happening), the costs of moving operations and all those people, and the inertia of 125 years of status quo.

Instead Bill Nuti saw a chance to break past the obstacles holding NCR back, and demonstrated Trouble Breaker^® courage by accepting the responsibility for acting in spite of those perceived risks so that NCR — and its shareholders — may one day be rewarded.

I don’t know if his bold move will pay off (if I could predict the future, I’d be at the racetrack right now), but it does give NCR a chance for opportunities it didn’t have before. As Yogi Berra said, “Eighty percent of short putts don’t go in.” Bill Nuti has taken a good, hard shot; let’s hope his aim is good, too.

621 words. Abstract: When employees don’t follow the rules, what can you do? Considering their color can give you the answer.

Policies and procedures, processes and standards. Every company has rules to be followed to ensure that expectations are met and disappointment is avoided. But when is it OK for employees to deviate from these rules, if ever?

After we were married, I learned that my wife has rules.

• Toothpaste tubes are squeezed from the end only.
• Clothes go on hangers facing the left.
• When the toilet is not in use, the seat must be DOWN.

While these rules seemed somewhat arbitrary, I was eager to adopt these new standards of behavior because I didn’t want to disappoint her. She had expectations for me, and I am willing to follow these rules to keep her happy — still.

She soon discovered I had a few rules of my own. These, of course, were much more logical and well thought-out, or so they seemed to me.

• Turn your wheels when you park on a hill.
• Get a copy of anything you sign.
• Never discard my beer bottles that aren’t COMPLETELY empty.

Decades later, we still get along fine.

Confusion Rules
In business, rules help us avoid costly mistakes. They enable us to fulfill the expectations of our customers and co-workers. Rules allow us to replace confusion and disappointment with consistency, stability and satisfaction. If rules are so wonderful, why would we ever want to deviate from the norm and break a rule?

We can observe that rules are logical, plainly needed and completely obvious to the person who makes them, but not necessarily to everybody else. All rules have an underlying reason — and sometimes many reasons — for their existence. Sometimes these reasons are simple and other times they are complex and even arcane. Problems occur when all rules are treated as black-and-white. Performance at your company will improve when leadership makes it clear which rules are made to be broken.

Red Looks Black-and-White
Steve Cohn, a customer experience expert at People to People Learning, points out the difference between Red Rules and Blue Rules. “Red Rules are those that cannot be broken under any circumstances ever. They usually have to do with safety, health and legal. Blue Rules are everything else. You can bend them if it means making the customer happy and it doesn’t cost the company an enormous amount of money.”

The Red Rules are those black-and-white rules where deviation can’t be tolerated. Blue Rules reflect preferred standards that should be strived for. But if Blue Rules are meant to be broken on occasion, it’s critical that these rules come with additional information; specifically, the intent behind the rule.

• What greater good is the rule intended to achieve?
• What expectations does the rule attempt to ensure?
• What will disappointment cost us as a company?

Once employees are clear on the proper ways to interpret and apply Blue Rules, they are then qualified to deviate from the letter of the rule when conditions warrant.

Rule Intent
Rules are important to the success of both business and personal relationships, but don’t get sucked into believing that, “A rule is a rule.” Some rules should be held firm, and others need to bend. Make it clear which are the Red Rules, the rules that must be adhered to with no exceptions. After all, when you hear your wife splashing around in the dark, it’s too late to put the seat down. The rest of the rules then become bendable rules, the Blue Rules that carry implied flexibility.  Make sure everyone who must apply a Blue Rule understands the intent behind the rule. When that happens, employees feel empowered to always do the right thing, and deviant behavior won’t be so unwelcome after all.

© 2009 Paul Johnson. All rights reserved.

Paul Johnson is the keynote speaker who describes his approach to transformational leadership at http://TroubleBreaker.com. His company, Shortcuts to Results LLC, collects business shortcuts and shows clients how to find and apply them for performance improvement at http://ShortcutsToResults.com.

Note: This article is available for reprint at no charge. We only ask that you include our copyright notice in your reprint, along with the About the Author information we provide at the end of the article.

A Question for your Comments: What rule do you routinely bend, and why?

1,074 words. Abstract: Leadership can find ways to “do more with less” in a recession if they learn to work within certain limits the way a good bikini does. Discover how to fashion a beautiful business when resources are scarce.

The “do more with less” maxim is nothing new, but it takes on new importance during a recession when resources are woefully scarce. When revenue shortfalls at your company are causing leadership to consider painful cuts of personnel, products and projects, perhaps it’s time to consider these new constraints as a blessing instead of a burden. Perhaps it’s time to consider the advantages of a Bikini Budget.

Since the marvelous invention of the two-piece “swim suit” known as the bikini, women have had to actively manage the perils of “doing more with less.” Have men ever complained? No! Now it’s time for men to stop complaining about scarcity and shortfalls and learn from the women who have had to shop for clothing not measured in square feet of fabric, but in square inches. With a similar perspective and attitude, your company’s leadership can refashion your business into something fresh, beautiful and becoming.

Wasting Away
Our consumption economy creates huge amounts of waste; The Environmental Protection Agency reports that each American generated over 1,650 pounds of solid waste in 2007. Because we’re so used to having more than we need, we see constraints imposed by external conditions — such as recession, regulations and tariffs — to be stifling to our business. In some cases, these onerous conditions initiate a downward spiral that creates mounting pain and, if left unchecked, puts some companies out of business.

Perhaps the recession “problem” is really masking an opportunity for your company. Now that there is no excess to waste, now that the very “fabric” of your company is stretched thin, perhaps it’s time for a makeover that will transform your company into something fresh and exciting again. You’ll gain clarity of purpose, renewed vigor, an improved outlook and more profits when leadership looks at business like a bikini.

A Cup Half Full
I’ve never actually bought a bikini, but I’ve been brought along as a technical adviser on many occasions by my wife Patti. I never would have imagined how many decisions are involved in selecting such a small article of clothing. For example:

• Halter?
• Thin or thick straps?
• Underwire?
• Ties, clips or clasps?
• High- or low-cut waist?
• Leg cut?
• To thong or not to thong?
• Probability of “wardrobe malfunction” during water sports activities?

Next, throw in an infinite variety of colors and patterns from which to choose.

And then the BIG question: “Is it flattering?” (Translation for men: “Does it make my butt look good?”)

Despite the mind-boggling minutiae, I’m happy to participate. After all, this isn’t about shoes or a coat, this is about a bikini. Patti is already hot despite being a grandmother, and the proper selection of this particular garment will only make her more beautiful.

We could complain that the constraints that define a bikini are “not fair”, but that would be a “cup half empty” viewpoint. Instead, we have to view the constraints that we operate under as a “cup half full” opportunity.

Constraints enable us to be more creative, not less. Constraints actually allow us to do better work. Given a choice in our youth, we would always grab the biggest box of crayons because it would give us the most choices to succeed. As our leadership matures, we realize we can still create a masterpiece when our choices are restricted. The Mona Lisa was created using only one color.

Bottom-Up Success
Leadership on a bikini budget means viewing constraints as a way to get clear about success.

First, use the downturn in the economy as an opportunity to make more thoughtful decisions. We could all use more practice with critical thinking skills. Today the results really matter, because careless decisions can kill our business. Make time to ask yourself lots of questions, and then get clear on the answers. For example:

• Why do we do what we do?
• Who really cares?
• What is NOT absolutely critical to what we do?
• What do we assume still works like it did last year?
• What business are we really in?

Your list of questions should be much longer.

Next, remember the advice of Curly from the movie City Slickers; it’s about finding The One Thing. A bikini is required to do only One Thing; keep its wearer from getting arrested for indecent exposure. But The One Thing could be about anything of importance. Here’s a warm-up exercise: if you could only keep one coat, which one would it be? If you could only keep one pair of shoes, which would you choose? Likewise, what is the best thing about your business, the most important thing, the thing that is most likely to keep you in business? Get clear on that and focus your limited resources there. If your cup seems half full today, get a smaller cup.

Third, let go. Let go of activities that used to work. Let go of products that don’t represent your best work anymore. Let go of customers that don’t believe in you today. Get rid of clutter. Clear space in the “closets” of your business, your head and your heart so there is room to hang new successes. Make a place for your future to dwell with you. You’ll likely discover a cleaner, simpler business that is the joy you’ve been looking for.

Enough is Enough
The beauty in a bikini is that it is just enough. It doesn’t need buttons or flaps. Pockets won’t work. Paisley or herringbone won’t improve the yellow polkadot bikini. A careful decision process lets go of everything that isn’t essential to the one thing that the perfect bikini does: enhance the natural beauty of the woman who wears it.

When times are plentiful it’s easy to take on too much (I admit, I’ve eaten a few too many Twinkies). It’s easy to be tricked into believing that we are inadequate and that, to succeed, we need still more than we already have. The reality is that you are enough right now. You have everything you need to succeed today.

The only thing holding you back is the confusion of the clutter you’ve let surround you and your business. Get rid of all but what is necessary, and all that is left is exactly what success requires from you. Stop straddling. Pick a lane. Embrace the bikini budget and let leadership begin with you. The results will be beautiful.

© 2009 Paul Johnson. All rights reserved.

About The Author:
Paul Johnson is the keynote speaker who describes his approach to transformational leadership at http://TroubleBreaker.com. His company, Shortcuts to Results LLC, collects business shortcuts and shows clients how to find and apply them for performance improvement at http://ShortcutsToResults.com.

Note: This article is available for reprint at no charge. We only ask that you include our copyright notice in your reprint, along with the About the Author information we provide at the end of the article.

A Question for your Comments: What used to work for your company that doesn’t anymore?

658 words. Abstract:  Could a game show like Fox's "Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?" have any redeeming social value? It might when contestants like Kathy Cox, Georgia Superintendent of Schools, choose to participate. Learn how to claim your million without ever being on the show.

Kathy Cox appeared on the Fox TV show, "Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?" and failed to prove that she is smarter than a fifth grader, despite being the first contestant to take home the one million dollar top prize.

Technically, she only proved that she is as smart as a fifth grader, since she answered no questions above that grade level. But we know she's smarter, because she had a plan and a message, and the courage to carry it through that her political detractors in Georgia don't have the imagination to conceive or the guts to carry out.

Kathy Cox is the Superintendent of Schools for the State of Georgia. When word got out she would be on the show, she was publicly criticized; how foolish it would be to risk her own professional reputation and that of the state school system. After all, she would be representing by association 140,000 Georgia teachers. Georgia State Representative Rob Teilhet (D – Smyrna) even ran advertising DURING THE SHOW criticizing Cox for appearing on TV while problems persisted in classrooms.

Critics are so worried about never being wrong, about showing vulnerability and appearing perfect they can't conceive their own purpose in humanity. Kathy can. Kathy Cox is a truly a Trouble Breaker, someone who goes for it and breaks past trouble because she knows she can. She understood exactly what she could control on the show, what she could and couldn't do, and used that to inspire students (and more than a few adults).

We heard Kathy say more than a few times, "I'm doing the best I can." Isn't that a great message for students? For us all? And Kathy Cox taught millions of people that it's OK to be wrong. She accepted that she might miss a question and go home empty-handed. She wasn't afraid to try and keep trying.

With $500,000 "in the bank" she earned the right to deliver the Million Dollar Lesson. She was faced with a decision other contestants had faced before, but they lacked the vision and conviction of a Kathy Cox. Cox was there for the kids; she had committed to donate her earnings (it's demeaning to say to say she "won" the money) to three Georgia schools. A lesser person would have settled for the $500,000 and missed the chance to deliver a much more valuable prize.

With the eyes of millions of young people on her, she proclaimed with force and conviction, "DON'T DROP OUT OF SCHOOL." The short-term gains associated with dropping out pale in comparison to the huge lifetime rewards of staying in school. Kathy Cox effectively paid $475,000 to say that — the difference between the $500,000 "in the bank" and the guaranteed $25,000 she'd keep if she missed the question.

I'm convinced she came into the show with a Million Dollar Lesson Plan to teach us:

• Always do the best you can. That's all anyone can ask, and that's always enough.
• Go for it. The worst that can happen is you might be wrong. So what?
• Finish what you start. That includes STAY IN SCHOOL.

That plan works even without the million dollar question. All through the show, we saw Kathy Cox go for it and do the very best she could. Yet if she ever met a question she knew she couldn't answer, she would prefer to knowingly fail and go home sans money than drop out of school.

Lucky for us all she made it to the top so more people would listen to her message.

Some Georgia politicians don't know now lucky the Peach State is to have Kathy Cox as Superintendent of Schools. In just one hour, she taught us all a lesson that is worth far more than a million dollars to the future of this country. From coast to coast and in every state, we're all richer today from her Million Dollar Lesson Plan.

© 2008 Paul Johnson. All rights reserved.

About The Author:

Paul Johnson the Trouble Breaker is a keynote speaker who works with organizations to convert trouble into double and triple digit performance breakthroughs. Discover breakthrough concepts at http://www.ShortcutsToResults.com. Visit http://TroubleBreaker.com for presentations on leadership.

Note: This article is available for reprint at no charge. We only ask that you include our copyright notice in your reprint, along with the About the Author information we provide at the end of the article.

A Question for your Comments: How has a teacher taught YOU a million-dollar lesson?

1,139 words. Abstract: Leadership is sorely needed today, including
right in our own lives. Learn about personal leadership, including tips
that will enable trust to flourish in all your relationships.

The probability that he will go to jail for what he did is almost zero. His lack of personal leadership resulted in thousands of people feeling violated, cheated and betrayed. If his patrons trusted him before, his impersonal approach to leadership shredded that trust in a matter of milliseconds. We won’t give our support to leaders we don’t trust.

2008 is an election year in the U.S., with selection of our next President taking the main stage. We want someone we can trust to lead us for the next four years. We’re willing to give our enthusiastic support to those we trust so that we can achieve significant results together. When trust is lost, disillusionment and disappointment set in, and the result is no results at all.

Blanked After 12 Years
On May 31st, 2008, the Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC) newspaper published School chief makes a name shredding Clayton diplomas. John Thompson started as the new Clayton County Superintendent on April 28th, replacing Gloria Duncan. The AJC reports that on May 29th he ordered the shredding of 3,000 high school diplomas because his name was not printed on them. The very next day, graduates attending their graduation ceremony were surprised to discover their diploma was missing. They would have to wait for them to be reprinted, to arrive in the mail weeks later.

John Thompson shredded the diplomas because he could. The powers associated with his position enabled him to do that, despite the fact that he didn’t know at the time how much the replacement diplomas would cost the county taxpayers. He made an executive decision, and his motives have been called into question.

Upward Turns Outward
We can’t deny it is human nature to be selfish. Abraham Maslow’s pyramid illustrating the hierarchy of human needs acknowledges that we are driven at a primal level to satisfy our needs for food and shelter. We must selfishly take care of ourselves and what we need to survive before we can think about others’ needs. Unfortunately, some never choose to think of others even after they are far above survival level. Until we put aside our selfishness and develop an outward view that considers others’ personal needs before we consider our own, we can’t be trusted with a leadership role.

Selfish people can never develop trust with others. They take actions that serve themselves and then find ways to rationalize them. They offer explanations that often sound hollow to everyone but them.

• "We either give them two diplomas or get the right one mailed. We decided to have them wait for the right one."
• "I took the initiative and I did it."
• "It’s no harm. It’s just a sense of pride, and they will have it soon."

These don’t sound like explanations, but excuses. If you are ever tempted to offer an excuse, it’s probably time to offer a sincere apology instead.

It’s Your Life to Lead
Personal leadership is all about how you lead yourself in your own life. It’s about the decisions you make and the actions you take, whether people are watching or not. It’s about learning to trust your own actions so that others can learn to trust you. It’s about developing the habit of doing the right thing all the time, even when it causes you inconvenience, expense or embarrassment. Here are three tips to help you develop your own personal leadership.

1. Serve Others before Yourself
While your self-interest and self-preservation are important, get in the habit of first considering how a situation or decision will impact others involved. Look for ways to give before you find ways to receive.

When Davidson College made it to the Elite Eight in the NCAA basketball tournament this past spring, the trustees of the College offered to give any student who wanted to travel to Detroit to see Davidson play Wisconsin a ticket to the game, bus transportation and 2 nights lodging. The trustees knew that this opportunity may not come again to the College for a long time, and they wanted their students to have powerful memories of the experience. They gave to the students without expectation of receiving anything in return, because that’s what they want their students to learn. Should you ever meet a Davidson grad (from any year) ask them what they think of their school experience. "Trustee" — what an appropriate title. Nearly 300 students took them up on their offer.

2. A Deal is a Deal
Follow-through on agreements you’ve made, even if they seem trivial or insignificant. If your voicemail greeting says you will call back anyone who leaves a message, either call everyone back or change your voicemail greeting. Inconsistency is the enemy of trust.

Often we are paid to deliver a service. Many of us make a deal to receive a paycheck in return for performing a job. Make sure you’re living up to your end of the bargain by delivering good service to your employer.

Some employees (like school superintendents) are expected to deliver service across multiple key groups: in this example, to students, to parents, and to taxpayers. Serving multiple groups before serving yourself requires a high degree of personal leadership. Thinking selfishly for even a moment can rapidly extinguish trust with one or more of your key groups. Keep your deals, and do well the jobs you are paid to do.

3. Better Kind than Right
Often we find ourselves in situations that offer us two paths. One path will give us an opportunity to say something like, "I’m right, you’re wrong, and I can prove it." The other path gives us an opportunity to decide that proving ourselves right in this situation isn’t worth causing another person pain or embarrassment. Dr. Wayne W. Dyer suggests that often it is better to be kind than right.

Debates can be healthy, and sometimes it is necessary to clearly establish right from wrong. Other times, who is right really doesn’t matter. For example, a friend recently remarked about how overpaid CEOs are. While I was prepared to debate it from the other side, I chose not to because the outcome would be neither productive nor supportive of our relationship. While I didn’t agree with him, I chose to be kind when I could have been right.

Take Trust Personally
Trust is central to all our important relationships. Some try to dodge trust issues by insisting on written contracts. Personal leadership puts its trust in personal behavior, not a piece of paper.

It takes time to learn to trust others, whether we’re hiring them, electing them, or marrying them. Trust is earned over time, yet it is lost in a moment of irrational behavior. Always strive to do the right thing by considering others before yourself. Then others will consider you a leader worth following.

© 2008 Paul Johnson. All rights reserved.

About The Author:
Paul Johnson the Trouble Breaker is a keynote speaker who works with organizations to convert trouble into double and triple digit performance breakthroughs. Discover breakthrough concepts at http://www.paul-johnson.com. Visit http://TroubleBreaker.com for presentations on leadership.

Note: This article is available for reprint at no charge. We only ask that you include our copyright notice in your reprint, along with the About the Author information we provide at the end of the article.

If you’d like to see how John Thompson is being tried in the court of public opinion, follow these links:

School chief makes a name shredding Clayton diplomas   
Clayton County schools chief criticized for diploma order
Diploma swap leads to ethics complaint   
All in the name of ego
Hope for Clayton sinks