The Kiss Business too (2)

Trackback: Why are you in business?

(Typepad seems to have a problem with track-backs, but since we're on the verge of automagic 'link-love', I'll have to do things manual still, with pleasure though. Thanks Adam.
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"Why are you in business"
(Monk at Work)

My youngest daughter turned two in November, and I think she’s starting to hit her stride.

Every other word she utters is, "Why?"
Every answer to her, “Why?” is followed up with another, “Why?”

And so I started thinking: That’s a great question.

Why do you do what you do?
Why is your work, your work?
Why do you stay at it?  Why do you love it?  Why? More....

(Personal side-note: this is Kiss2 post number 100 ! ! ! !)

Busy, busy, busy

At the moment I am looking at three little lists (I always carry a little notebook with me to write down ideas, things to do, thoughts, quotes etc immediately - getting a bit older so fear I might forget one!)

One list has to be ticked-off completely today, the other is already a preparation for a meeting I have tomorrow (lunch included!) and the third, well, that's the reason I'm ignoring both other lists at the moment. It reads: Dawud's post about meaning connect with Lee Fowler Newsletter, plus link to focus post of Kent. Does that make sense to you? (If I don't write this post today it wouldn't also to me any more ;-))

On Good Friday Dawud Miracle @ dmiracle.com started a post that attracted lots of conversations: Does Your Business Make Meaning? (I still hope ours does to our customers and lately we see more and more the results of that is does - to some). The conversation at Dawud's became very eh lively and at one point I copied a quote I found this Tuesday on Lee Fowler's weekly newsletter:

"A business absolutely devoted to service will have only one worry about profits. They will be embarrassingly large."

(Henry Ford)

(One can only hope ;-))

Anyway (phone call from an architect 'got in the way' just now and I'd almost lost the thread of my own thoughts), Lee's newsletter contained the following article of Jim Rohn, which in my humble opinion fits right in with the conversation about 'making meaning'

Leave a legacy
There are literally thousands of men and women who lived in a way that affects our lives today.

You see, a legacy can be anywhere on the continuum, from very bad to very good. It all depends on how we live our lives.

Why is leaving a legacy important? Here are a few reasons:

The legacy we leave is part of the ongoing foundations of life. Those who came before leave us the world we live in. Those who will come after will have only what we leave them. We are stewards of this world, and we have a calling on our lives to leave it better than how we found it, even if it seems like such a small part.

Legacies have raw power for good and for bad. There are people who have changed the world for good, people who have opened up new worlds for millions of others, people who have spurred others on to new heights. And there are people who have caused massive destruction for countless millions, people who left a wake of pain behind them wherever they went.

There are parents who have blessed their children with greatness and other parents who have ruined their children's fragile minds and hearts. What we do affects others. Our lives have the power to create good or purvey evil. It is important that we choose to do good.

It is an act of responsibility to leave a legacy. Because of the power of our lives and the legacies we leave, it is a great responsibility to choose to leave a positive legacy. All good men and women must take responsibility to create legacies that will take the next generation to a level we could only imagine. I truly believe that part of what makes us good and honourable people is to have a foundational part of our lives based on the goal of leaving a legacy.

Purposefully leaving a legacy for others breaks the downward pull of selfishness that can be inherent in us. When we strive to leave a legacy, we are acting with a selflessness that can only be good for us. Yes, I suppose someone could work hard to earn money so that when he or she dies, a building is named after them, but that is not the kind of legacy we are talking about. We are talking about legacies that make life better for those who come after us, not about our own fame or recognition, but about helping others. After all, we won't be around to watch our legacy. To build that which will last beyond us is selfless, and living with that in mind breaks the power of selfishness that tries so desperately to engrain itself in our lives.

It also keeps us focused on the big picture. Legacy building is "big picture." It keeps us focused on the long term and gives us values that we can judge our actions by. When we are acting based on selfishness, personal expediency and the like, we are "small picture"--whatever is pragmatic right now. When we are building a life that will give for many years, we are "big picture." Ask yourself: How does this action affect my overall goals? How will this affect people in the years to come?

Yes, your legacy is very important.
(Jim Rohn)

Are you still here? Good, sorry it is turning into a long post, can't really be helped at this moment I'm afraid.
My favourite sentence in this article must be "We are talking about legacies that make life better for those who come after us, not about our own fame or recognition, but about helping others."
If you translate that into a business vision, statement, hedge-hog concept it is that same part where 'making meaning' comes in.

And where does the link to Kent Blumberg's blog come into then? "How to Focus Your Work"
lists four steps on focusing, focus on priorities even. Step 1 is the link (IMHO) to 'making meaning' and 'leaving a legacy':

1. Get clear on why you and your team exist.  What is your core mission? Why does your organization pay for your team?  Boil this down until you can state that mission in a single sentence.  Write it down and share it widely.

It's step 4 (step 4.3 to be precise) that has me neglecting my priorities towards our core mission, making meaning and legacy. Too many items on too many lists, so from now on (no, make that tomorrow lunch meeting with my mentor, will work it out together with him - and get a better list result) I will follow Kent's step 2: focus on the five key objectives (and stay on course to make meaning).

To be really honest we've already started focusing on some key objectives this month already (thanks for providing the list of other focusing questions Kent, big help it turns out to be). And yesterday our new renewed focus on our ADDS (Architects, Designers, Developers and Self-builders) won me the weekly BNI-Ashford best 60 seconds presentation trophy, how about that!

(Now, where did I leave my have to be finished today's list again?)

Space - Time - Continium

The Prime Time (goal) post this week attracted a peculiar comment from Lisa Gates:

"Time is probably the biggest non-problem problem my writer clients live with."

Eh? Time, a non-problem problem? Now, that made me very curious of course and Lisa was kind enough to send me the link to her post "How to stop saying: I Don't Have Time"

"Over time (it’s everywhere isn’t it?) I began to hear “space” when clients talked about the lack of time. In fact, the illusory concept tends to vanish completely when set against the backdrop of space. Once we find space, we find what’s real; we find the right now present, and life shifts. Things move.

Lisa has written down a conversation she had with one of her clients and it's not only an interesting 'interview', it makes the space time continuum relation clear, not just for finding time - space for writing that book that has been sitting in your mind for perhaps years now, but also for every day busy business  tasks.
Since we have time to write lists of tasks to do, surely we have space to complete them.

Thanks Lisa, learned something again.

Further on the subject of time, we had a busy, filled week and I haven't found space to dive into removing the no-follow from this type-pad blog (link love to those conversationalist who took time to comment here).

We've been talking about link love at Dawud Miracle @ dmiracle.com and Dennis Stevens suggested the following:

Here is what some thoughtful bloggers on Typepad do to address the nofollow issue. They post a weekly summary of people who have made substantial comments on their blog. Not only does this provide the link back, it also acknowledges the contribution made in a very personal way.

What a simple and straightforward alternative (and I do like simple things), so here goes:

Kent Blumberg has kindly found time to create a free E-book of all his post on "12 Elements of Great management", including all comments made, links to related posts and of course the book itself.

Stuart Baker continued his thoughtful discussion on building trust with your prospects and customer by being 'comfortable' in your skin and in your knowledge: How Important Is Trust?

And my friend Marcus Goodyear wrote two extraordinary post about faith, hope, believe and doubt.
"A Christian Comments on God's Blog"
followed with
"A Christian Responds on Comments on His Own Blog"

On the Successful and Outstanding Blog(gers) the 'Sense of Urgency' post from Liz Strauss brought some jewels of sentences to the forefront I like to share here (and if urgency isn't time related I wouldn't know what is!):

“When your tired of working harder than you start to work smarter” John Feeney

"the distinction between reacting and responding" Valeria Maltoni 

And I can totally relate to what GP in Montana feels: "but sometimes when I’m not feeling that sense of urgency… i’m thinking ahead, thinking… “what’s wrong”?

Then, over in South Africa my friends at Ideate had own and related results in the 2007 SA Blog Awards
P.S: Fred, Mike: I am jealous of your new boardroom!

Happy Easter to all and of course also to Pete Aldin and Sylvia C.

(Time to get some more items ticked off of my to-do-this-week-list, how's your list doing?)

Prime Time (goals)

Lee Fowler's Weekly Newsletter (visit his page to subscribe to his newsletter) brought another Denis Waitley article today:

Start living in prime time

Prime time is that period between 6 and 10 p.m. during which most of the general public watches television. Commercials in prime time are the most expensive, approaching a million dollars per minute. Your real success in life will take a quantum leap when you stop watching other people making money in their professions performing in prime time, and start living your own dreams and goals in prime time. Time is the ultimate equal opportunity employer. Time never stops to rest, never hesitates, and never looks forward or backward. Life's raw material spends itself in the now, this moment, which is why how you spend your time is far more important than all the material possessions you may own or positions you may obtain. Positions change, possessions come and go, you can earn more money. You can renew your supply of many things, but like good health, that other most precious resource, time spent, is gone forever.

Each yesterday, and all of them together, are beyond your control. Literally all the money in the world can't undo or redo a single act you performed. You cannot erase a single word you said. You can't add an "I love you," "I'm sorry", or "I forgive you", not even a "thank you" you forgot to say. Each human being in every hemisphere and time zone has precisely 168 hours a week to spend. And some of the most precious hours occur in prime time.

Consider this: most of your daytime hours are spent helping other people solve their problems. The little time you have in the evenings and on weekends is all you have to spend on yourself, on your own dreams and goals, and personal development. Some thoughts to ponder:

• Have supper with your loved ones at least two to three times per week. It's the best time for casual conversation to listen to what those close to you feel is important in their lives. Mealtime is a time to dialogue.

• A television set is an appliance. It should be used, at most, for two hours at a time. It should be off, unless specific programs of interest are selected. It should not be used as a one-eyed baby sitter. For the most part, TV exposes us to negative role models.

• Instead of watching television why not read a good fiction or non-fiction book, write a letter, engage in a hobby or craft, call a friend or someone in need of encouragement on the phone, network on your computer, go out to an ethnic restaurant, a home show, an entrepreneurial show, a musical recital, a play, a fitness class, or cultural event. Take an art or photography class. Use prime time to live the kind of life others put on layaway.

Action Idea: If you and your family/friends watch TV, try not turning it on for one week. When you do watch TV, reduce by 50% the amount of time you spend watching it. Concentrate your evenings and free time engaged in hands on, real life experiences, you can touch, feel, smell and engage all your senses in. Instead of virtual reality, insist on the real thing.

(Denis Waitley)

Especially the part about 'yesterday is beyond your controle' brings my Gotta Get Goal point 5 to the forefront.