Thank Goodness It's Monday #421

SO? … SEW BUTTONS?

 

The New York Fashion District

("Garment Center" in my day) information kiosk

on the NE corner of 39^th St. and 7^th Avenue

with Needle-Threading-Button sculpture

in the background and

a sculpture of a tailor in the foreground.

The stainless steel needle is

31-feet long  with a 2-foot eye

threaded through a 14-foot button.

I can sew fairly well – which may be surprising to some.

And iron.

In fact you might say I’m a regular domestic wonder. (And others will disagree heartily.)

 

Those skills come about in part because, in my early post-high-school education, I earned a degree in Merchandising at the venerable Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan.

There the core curriculum required courses in textile and fashion design; courses that had a hands-on element as well as “book learnin’.”

So?

 

I became particularly good at making box pleats. But that’s not the point today.

This is: It was in those FIT classes I also learned a lesson that has informed my thinking for decades since. And it has to do with –

 

Sewing buttons. Every stitch that attaches a button uses a bit more thread, obviously.

• Use too little, and you’ve got a garment that risks coming apart before its time.
• But use more than necessary to securely fasten the button to the material and …

No, it’s not a “stitch in time” takeaway – as much as I like Ben Franklin’s homespun (intentional textile pun here) wisdom.

 

The TGIM Takeaway for today is –

 

There’s a cost associated with unnecessary “extra” thread. You probably don’t think much of it (as I did not) when you repair that dangling button using the hotel giveaway sewing kit. But in the world of manufacturing such goods, the little extras can add up.

 

Broadly speaking, that hotel hand-sewn button will consume about a foot – 12 inches – of thread.

Certainly industrial machine sewing would be more economical. However there are also thread-consuming issues of how many stitches … two- or four-hole buttons … a shank around the sewn button …. Don’t get me started. 

Point is: At the point of purchase it’s hard for the consumer to eyeball the extra holding power of more robustly sewn buttons.  So all that added thread comes at a cost in time and materials that ultimately add to the cost of manufacture and thereby may make a garment’s price point at least appear less desirable and competitive in the market.

The corollary to passing the cost along is, of course, to deliver a better made garment and hold the line on price. But then you may sacrifice profitability which doesn’t bode well for your enterprise in the long run.

 

TGIM CHALLENGE: Look again at the many elements that go into what you do and how you do it with an eye to opportunities where small savings can add big.

 

It’s not simply a “sew-sew” idea:

TGIM CHALLENGE IN ACTION: United Airlines, the top carrier out of my neighborhood’s Newark Liberty Airport, expects to save $200,000 a year by serving split cashews instead of whole ones in its hot nut cocktails for First Class passengers.

 

“Customers don’t care if it’s a whole nut or split in half,” CEO Jess Smisek told the Wall Street Journal earlier this summer.

 

“Well,” you may be thinking at this point, “while $200,000 is a big dollar figure, those nutty cashew savings seem like – uh – peanuts compared to the overall billions expended running an airline. And the same goes for the button-sewing.

 

“I question if the value of ‘small’ savings is really worth all the effort that must be put into discovering, then implementing, such cost-cutting efforts.”

 

TGIM ACTION IDEA: Go figure. To get a better feeling for how “small” savings can really pay off, consider the simple math of cold, hard dollars and cents.

 

Here’s a chart that dramatically points out what cost savings represent in terms of sales.

Sales Values of Cost Savings 

If profit margin on               Then savings of $100

sales before taxes              net as much as sales

is:                                        of:                

                                      10% ……………………….   $1,000

                                        9% ………………………..    1,111

                                        8% ………………………..    1,250

                                        7% ………………………..    1,429

                                        6% ………………………..    1,667

                                        5% ………………………..    2,000

                                        4% ………………………..    2,500

                                        3% ………………………..    3,333

                                        2% ………………………..    5,000

                                        1% ………………………..  10,000

Get it? If your enterprise earns 10% on sales, every operational dollar saved is worth $10 in sales. And if your profit margin is 5%, every dollar saved is worth twenty dollars in added sales.

TGIM Takeaway: Holding the line on costs is vital – especially with costs today beginning to swing upward with economic recovery. 

In our observations centered on self-improvement, time management and the like, TGIM and I often cite One Big Universal Law of Living that works like gangbusters in many aspects of life. And in doing so we regularly comment that, while it sounds too simple to be profound, to dismiss it would be short-sighted.

That One Big Universal Law of Living has its dollars-and-cents parallel in the thread and nuts examples and the chart above. 

Just to remind you, here it is one more time. Remember it as –

 The Law of Slight Edge

Small changes,

Over time,

Make a big difference.

So that’s what. Hope the “small” ideas in this TGIM make a big difference to you and your bottom line.

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373
tgimguy@gmail.com

P.S. “Spare no expense to make everything as economical as possible.” That somewhat contradictory demand is alleged to have been made by Samuel Goldwyn (1884–1974). As well as his movie making acumen, the film producer/Hollywood legend was so well known for malapropisms, paradoxes, and other speech errors that they were called “Goldwynisms”. (However, a number of them were reportedly written for him by the likes of Charlie Chaplin.) 

And speaking of sewing, Goldwyn got his immigrant start at the turn of the 20^th Century in the bustling garment business in Gloversville, New York. Soon his innate marketing skills made him a very successful salesman at the Elite Glove Company. 

According to legend, at a heated story conference at the height of his Hollywood power, Goldwyn scolded someone -- in most accounts famed wise-cracking and witty writer Dorothy Parker -- who recalled he had once been a glove maker and retorted: "Don't you point that finger at me. I knew it when it had a thimble on it!"

Thank Goodness It's Monday #420

HOW TO MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICES

MORE OFTEN

You’re responsible for your decisions. It’s a significant part of why you’re paid for doing your job or are highly respected in your community at large.

The more responsibility you take on, and the more right decisions you make, the more you’re worth to any enterprise you’re actively involved in.

 

So, by now, an effective decision-making process has probably become second nature for you.

 

But how about the decision-making skills of the less-experienced folks around you?

In both the work-a-day world and in the bigger framework of life aren’t there promising individuals you would like to see learn and earn more responsibility and move up their ladders of success?

TGIM CHALLENGE: Step up and mentor them. Show them how to build their skills and make the right decisions more easily and more often.

It’s a fact: One reason “subordinates” can be reluctant to tackle a decision-making challenge is that they haven’t learned the often-invisible “best practice” techniques that you automatically apply.

Think about it: Making difficult choices is not something that necessarily comes up in the everyday routine. And when the need for quick and informed decision-making does arise, and others turn to you for your valued input, often there’s not the opportunity to patiently dissect and explain the process on the go.

 

So, if there’s a bit of a Dog Days of August slowdown in your circle of influence, maybe now is a good time to help others build skills.

As you reflect on your choice-weighing process and prepare to guide your future better decision makers -- and in doing so make them less reluctant and actually more helpful to you in your quest to progress – consider sharing these --

 

TGIM ACTION IDEAS: They’re four broadly described but proven-on-the-job strategies that improve the odds of making the right decision more often.

See how they align with your personal practices for sorting out which path to chose. Then, assuming they’re compatible with your way of getting to the right decision, mix in your own personal examples to make the correct course of action crystal clear.

Tell your future great decision makers:

 

#1: Use past errors. Treat past setbacks as the valuable learning experiences they are. Recall what led up to a faulty decision. Look for a pattern in the way you evaluate these situations. This way you’ll size things up better and learn how to prevent similar foul-ups in the future.

 

#2: Approach as an outsider. No doubt there are certain routine job duties you can do with your eyes closed. When it comes to decision making in an area where your comfort level is less, it pays to look at the situation without preconceived notions.

How to do it: For the moment, forget everything you know. View the problem as a detached observer, not as a business insider. What conclusions would you draw from the facts alone – without knowing the setup of the deal or the organization or the personalities involved? Decide on this basis and you’ll have a better chance of accurately judging what you’re up against.

#3: Get others involved. Others may see the challenge in a different light. To be sure you’re being objective ask them how they would handle things. Assuming it’s not a breach of confidentiality, ask the opinion of coworkers you respect. Ask family members or friends outside the circle of those with first-hand involvement.

What do they know? It may not matter. Even if it seems too “industry specific” or “inside baseball” for the uninitiated to understand, try it anyway. Trying to simplify your explanation for them may simplify your view and analysis of the problem.

 

#4: Trust your instincts. When all is said and done, go with your gut feeling about different choices that seem to have equal validity. As they used to say about multiple choice  tests, when you’re not sure of the correct answer and when the penalty for a wrong answers is equal to no answer, your informed first choice has the best chance of being right.

Finally: Still feeling reluctant?

Don’t! You’re getting to be the decision maker because someone believed that you were best qualified to make the call. So make it!

***

Good luck with your mentoring.

 

Hope you’re glad you chose to read this far. I appreciate it and I’m deciding to call this TGIM complete -- for now.

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373
tgimguy@gmail.com

 

P.S. “To live is to choose. But to choose well, you must know who you are and what you stand for, where you want to go and why you want to get there.” Nobel Peace Prize winner (2001) Kofi Annan shared that insight.

Thank Goodness It's Monday #419

HERE’S A BETTER WAY

TO GENERATE AND SHARE IDEAS

FOR DOING THINGS

A BETTER WAY

No one knows your job better than you do, right?

Right! So even if you don’t like your job and/or your company – and especially if you do -- it’s only natural to have an occasional there’s-got-to-be-a-better-way thought or two.

 

 

TGIM Challenge: Why don’t you share them? Creative thinking isn’t confined to an exclusive club of executive suite top brass or an entrepreneurial I-sign-the-paychecks boss.

DIY: If nobody knows your job better than you do, you may have positive ideas that can advance the cause and result in significant savings. Such as ways to –

• Improve operations
• Streamline procedures
• Smooth customer service
• Enhance the company image
• Eliminate waste
• Save money

Big companies, small companies. When it comes to ideas, company size hardly matters.

Often the best ideas involving a Better Way for getting the job done come from the people who are in there “doing” the tasks every day.

 

TGIM ACTION IDEA: Share. If you don’t currently have Better Way ideas, get some, and share. If you already have some Better Way ideas, double check your Better Idea creation process and then share.

How to go about it: To get “the boss” (you know who that is for the challenge as you understand it) to pay attention to your idea, never present a problem without recommending a solution. To do that –

 

First: Identify the predicament and tell, as objectively as possible, what the precise problem is.

Second: Describe your better idea or solution and why it will work.

Where to start? One by one examine the repetitive elements of what you do in your “job.”

Think of your current work procedures … the equipment it requires … the way the work flows … the sticking points that develop … the conflicts that arise … the recurring detours and deviations from the expected outcome … etc.

Then, to find a solution to the problems that this self-examination uncovers –

 

Make a list. Ask yourself –

1. Why do you do a particular task? Does it need doing at all?
2. Who else does the same or similar job or task? Do they do it the same way?
3. When do you do it? When is the better/best time – hour of the day, day, week, month, quarter – to do it?

Armed with these questions, to generate, evaluate and develop strategies with Better Way potential, consider –

► Combining. Can one person do the same/similar “routine” job for a number of people who would then be better able to dedicate more of their more specialized skills to their presumably more valuable specialty?

Case in point: If each member of a high-commission sales team delegated preparation of “overnight package” chores to an admin, and then committed the time gained to just one more daily sales call, think there might be an improvement in closed sales?

► Substituting. Can one method of doing things be replaced by another newer, more efficient and effective method of accomplishing the same thing?

 

Case in point: If, instead of summarizing and submitting 20^th Century  paperwork forms and documents, each member of a high-commission sales team was tech-enabled in a 21^st Century way that straight-lined the recording and submission of “Travel & Entertainment” data, and then committed the time gained to one more daily sales call …

 

► Eliminating. What would happen if you stopped a procedure? Who would miss it? Is there no other substitute? If it can’t be eliminated entirely, can it be reduced significantly?

 

Case in point: How valuable or important is it for everyone above the Sales Manager level to receive and comment on the let’s-say-weekly individual activity summary report of each member of a high-commission sales team? How many people are actually reading, relating to, relying on, and managing based on it? Dump it and what happens? Change the frequency and what happens? Limit distribution and what happens? Must it be written? Let sellers sell, managers manage directly, and the E-level should coordinate with mid-level managers first.

 

Got the spirit? Once you get started down this path to Better Ways many ideas may very well come to you almost automatically. Still --

 

Be discriminating in how pursue the advancement of each Better Way idea you generate.

Too much in one lump may be too much. Make your case and press hardest for Better Ways you value based on contribution to the bottom line, ease of implementation, management’s “sacred cows,” and the like. Unless there’s a urgent need for triage intervention, dole your brilliant ideas out in homeopathic doses, a bit at a time. It makes each one far easier for others to swallow.

 

And watch this: Better Ways and Better Ideas DO NOT automatically include telling folks in the upper levels of a business or outside your particular established expertise –

 

How to run things differently. So, at least until you have a track record of significant successes suggesting and implementing Better Ways in your discipline, steer away from areas that involve management considerations of which you may not be aware, such as personnel policies, benefit plans, cafeteria food, and so forth.

 

Of course if you are invited to comment on matters in such areas, and you’re sure you can make a valued contribution, you may share constructive thoughts.

 

Like here. If you thought this TGIM outline was constructive, thanks. If you’ve got some additional constructive Better Way input, we’re receptive.

Thanks in advance.

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373
tgimguy@gmail.com

 

P.S. “Change is vital, improvement the logical form of change.” Entrepreneurial businessman James Cash Penney (1875-1971) advocated that Better Way mindset and built his namesake chain store and retail empire accordingly.

Thank Goodness It's Monday #418

12 STEPS TO IRRESISTIBLE SALES POWER

 

Wow! Last week’s TGIM (#417) really clicked with you guys. The feedback has been rewarding. 

 

And I thank you for it. It’s made me think that perhaps further review of some “classic” sales strategies might be mutually beneficial.

So I’m going to try again -- inspired by you all and especially the recent outreach from an old publishing acquaintance who recalled a memo we both received in – gulp! -- 1971.

Richard Prentice Ettinger
 

The memo writer’s name may be familiar to you. Or at least part of it.

Richard Prentice Ettinger.

From time to time I have alluded to RPE (as he was known) and his protégé and my early boss Richard Neill (and, yup, he was tagged RN and I was GS) here.

RPE built Prentice-Hall, Inc. from a struggling two-person outfit in 1913 into a publishing giant with annual sales in excess of $120 million when he died in ‘71. (By some calculations that’s equivalent to roughly $2 Billion today).

 

Clearly --

 

He knew something useful about selling. And those of us who were fortunate enough to have worked for him/with him would regularly receive some resurrected and re-released memos he had penned across the decades to guide our thinking and behavior.

 

 I’d like to share one with you. As I said, my version is from 1971. Its origins could go back as far as, perhaps, 1913.

 

It’s classic RPE. But by 21^st Century standards the language – bosses assumed to be “him” … receptionists assumed to be “her” … sales “man” -- may be distracting. 

 

Don’t be diverted or misled. I think RPE was simply profit-focused and didn’t think that he was being sexist, just generic. In 1971 a good, well-respected part of the Prentice-Hall sales force and upper level staff were women.

This is powerful stuff. In its day this memo was distributed by managers throughout the organization to employees at all levels – editors, design and production personnel, the operational folks, maintenance crews, printers, financial types, cafeteria staff -- not just to “salesmen.”

The instruction to the management level was:

“See that your people keep the basic rules always in sight.”

 

I guess it was effective. When I was reminded of it, I was able to dig back and find my 40⁺ -year-old copy which I will share with you – word for word – now:

 

***

12 Steps To Irresistible Sales Power

No matter how long a man’s been selling, or what sales tricks he can call on during his presentation, his success boils down to the use of basics.

 

1. Don’t let the receptionist turn you away. You’ve got to get past her if you expect to make the sale. Convince her that what you have to offer could mean a big cost-saving for her company.
2. Know how to sell an appointment. You must sell that before you can sell a product. The harder a man is to see, the better a customer he is likely to become.
3. Get the facts. Before you attempt to sell a prospect anything, find out what he wants or what he needs. Then find a way to fill that need.
4. Sell time and/or money and/or avoidance of trouble. Show the prospect how he can save time. Show him how he can increase his profits by using your products.
5. Be brief, confident, positive. Don’t stoop to knocking the competition. Sell your product on what it CAN do, not what the other product allegedly can’t.
6. Present information honestly. Avoid tricks, exaggeration. Or false claims. Be ready to back up your claims. There is nothing more convincing than the truth.
7. Answer questions. Get the prospect involved. By answering your questions, the customer helps to sell himself.
8. Field any objections cheerfully. Chart the answers in advance. The prospect who voices objections is “ventilating” in preparation to buying.
9. Be a name dropper. If big and successful companies have enough confidence in your product to use it, their confidence can inspire others to buy.
10. Know how to spot a buying signal. Be alert when the customer asks to take another look at the product or when he asks about delivery. He’s really saying, “I’ll take it – ask me.”
11. Don’t wait for the order. Ask for it. Then when you get it, escalate it. Many a salesman walks away without an order simply because he didn’t ask for it.
12. Don’t be discouraged by a call that ends up without a sale. Failure’s not a signal to give up; it’s a signal to work harder. Use the events of the meeting to cement your relationship so you can prepare for the next call.

IMPORTANT: Don’t blame the prospect when you lose a sale. Consider what you did wrong – or what you failed to do.

And profit by your experience.

***

Wow! (again). That’s a real blast from the past for me. A true golden oldie, full of significance and emotion -- if a little light on precisely how-to-do-it.

 

But, of course, Prentice-Hall and its subsidiaries published many now legendary books and seminal authors with sales and self-improvement substance. Norman Vincent Peale … Frank Bettger … Elmer Wheeler … Charles Roth … Maxwell Maltz … W. Clement Stone.

Woe betide any sales-minded, would-be career employee who didn’t become familiar with the substantial content set down by these luminaries in their classic guides.

 

TGIM ACTION IDEA: Always be learning. Always be building your skills and your library. Get wisdom. And get understanding.  Put what you acquire into practice.

Finally: Share your successes as we try to do via this TGIM. 

 

Hope you “profited by this experience.”  I’m looking forward to sharing more next Monday – if not sooner.

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373
tgimguy@gmail.com

P.S. “I still work hard to know my business. I'm continuously looking for ways to improve all my companies, and I'm always selling. Always.” Celebrity “shark” and businessman, investor, and philanthropist Mark Cuban said that.

Thank Goodness It's Monday #417

HOW TO USE THE

“BEN FRANKLIN CLOSE”

IN THE 21^ST CENTURY

American Commissioners at the Treaty of Paris Conference  by Benjamin West

 

Sealing the deal are, from the left, John Jay, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Laurens, and Franklin's nephew and secretary.

The right side of the painting is unfinished because the British commissioners to the conference refused to sit for their portraits.

Perhaps if Franklin had used his vaunted "closing" technique we could have had a completed painting.

We came away with a new nation instead. 

Someone actually unloaded the legendary Benjamin Franklin Close on me recently.

You know what that is, don’t you?

Of course you do. It’s a classic espoused by many legendary sales trainers and personal development folks -- Dale Carnegie, Zig Ziglar, Tom Hopkins and other less-known folks. There are abundant explanations and demonstrations only a mouse click away. 

But don’t leave here. Because even if you don’t know the technique –

 

I’m about to sum it up for you. With commentary. 

The Benjamin Franklin Close is also known as “The Balance Sheet Close” or “The T-Bar Close” and, from the seller’s point of view, it goes something like this:

You’ve made your usual masterful presentation. But the prospect appears to be unable to make up his or her mind. You feel as if you’ve tried just about everything in your sales kit but still can’t get them to commit. So, as the seller in my recent experience did, you say something like:

“We all know how smart old Benjamin Franklin was. He was a very thrifty fellow and like you concerned for getting the most value for every dollar spent, wouldn’t you agree Mr. Steck?” 

(Award one-half point for seeking agreement. Deduct one-half point for heavy-handed use of my name. Deduct 2 more points for not noticing all the books about Ben in my office.)

“Back in the day, whenever he was faced with a decision – and he had some pretty big ones – he would take piece of paper, draw a vertical line down the middle and head one column with a ‘plus’ (+) and the other with a ‘minus’ (-).” 

(No points here either way, but there should be deductions in the name of historic accuracy as we will see momentarily. And the lazy-brain phrase “back in the day” grates on my ears, but …)

“In his genius he discovered that by listing all the positive attributes on the plus side and all the negative aspects on the minus side, the decision would become obvious. Pretty sound concept, agreed?” 

(Lose 2 points for working the “get agreement” strategy too often. Add back one-half for NOT using my name again.)

“Let me show you how it works. Since you seem to be having a tough time deciding, let’s list the plusses – some of the reasons you may want to do business with us. Then we’ll list the minuses. Fair enough?” 

(This getting-agreement thing is getting a little irritating although it might have been OK here IF it hadn’t been overworked earlier.)

Now, if you’re like the guy pitching me, you get out a clean sheet of company letterhead and your company-logo giveaway pen and begin to list everything good about the offer, product, service, whatever. In your best leading-the-witness style, you get the prospect to say most of them. You take your time to develop a comprehensive list.

Then you say –

“OK, let’s list the minuses.” And you hand the pen to the prospect … and push the list toward him … and you say nothing more. 

Bing-o/Bang-o! Usually the prospect can only think of objections couched in terms of price or affordability. And you’ve got the answers to those down cold, don’t you?

Start calculating your commission!

Or not. If I’ve done my writing job right, you should be thinking, “But Geoff … do we detect in your tone and presentation that you have a problem with the Benjamin Franklin Close?”

Kee –rect! It’s Old World selling that is –

 

Destined to fail. In fact, as an Old World kinda guy myself AND a Ben Franklin fan, while I was almost entertained by having it trotted out, I was mostly and ultimately annoyed.

 

The reality of 21^st Century selling is: In this computer-info-powered age, any real customer …

… seriously intending to buy

… who has done their prep before you call

… and who has allowed you in but isn’t responsive after you’ve presented

…has pretty much made up his or her mind. 

 

You’ve just not been told the decision.

And I maintain this Death-of-a-Salesman-era closing ploy is unlikely to swing things in your favor.

 

So do you just forget about the Benjamin Franklin Close and never use it?

No! No! NO! I wouldn’t waste your time reviewing it if I didn’t think there was some more-than-cautionary –

TGIM ACTION IDEA: Be like Ben. Do what Ben really would have done. Use the Ben Franklin PRINCIPLE to prepare to get the sale to “Yes!” before you even walk in the door.

No mystery, it’s in the history: In a letter to Joseph Priestly (the English scientist who discovered oxygen), Franklin commented about a perplexing decision that Priestly was wrestling with.

Franklin wrote to his chemist friend that the problem of deciding inexplicable situations is that "all Reasons pro and con are not present to the mind at the same time...." As a result, our minds are like a pendulum swinging back and forth, swayed by whichever aspect of the decision seems to be primary at the time without being able to arrive at a solution.

 

To help solve the dilemma at hand, Franklin informed Priestly that he (Franklin) would divide a sheet of paper into two columns, listing one Pro and the other column Con.

Then in the course of three or four days he would write in each appropriate column brief hints about the motives that at different times occurred to him for or against the decision. If, after careful evaluation, the Pro column contained more positive features, he would make his decision accordingly. The same evaluation process applied to the Con column.

 

Franklin admitted that his decision-making method was purely procedural, and that it could not advise him what to do, but only how. He did inform Priestly that "when each (Pro and Con reason) is thus considered separately and comparatively, and the whole lies before me, I think I judge better and less likely to make a rash step...."

TGIM IDEA IN ACTION: Use the Pro-and-Con Column mindset as a sales preparation tool. Use it as a strategizing device. Use it to get yourself ready to make the big sale. Create those columns on a piece of paper or your digital device, and then start listing …

►   … the prospect’s needs

►   … the decision makers

►   … the questions you want to ask

►   … personal “things in common” to discuss

►   … the benefits and main points you want to cover

►   … why you believe they will buy

►   … the reasons this particular prospect may not buy – and your responses 

Thus prepared with Ben’s help, you are now ready to make the call and the sale without resorting to a default gambit.

And, if on the call you see a bunch of Ben Franklin books in the prospect’s office and you want to bond with him (or her), relate your knowledge of the real Ben Franklin PRINCIPLE and lock up the deal.

One more point in, well, closing: 

Is it stating the obvious? The decision tool aspect of the Ben Franklin PRINCIPLE is not limited to business choices. It can be helpful in most areas of daily living. It works to keep you rational. Taking the time to deploy it correctly also discourages rash “I want it now” acts.

If you would not be forgotten

As soon as you are dead and rotten,

Either write things worth reading,

Or do things worth the writing.

Ben said that (in his Poor Richard persona). And did both.

Hope this TGIM helps us do the same.

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373
tgimguy@gmail.com 

P.S.  About those column headings: As Ben says, they should be Pro and Con, not Plus (+) or Minus (–) although –

Ben the Scientist did make the choice of which type of electricity is called "positive" and which "negative" around 1750. In the end further discoveries established that he misunderstood just how electricity flows, but he was ballpark right for his day. We should all be that clever.

Thank Goodness It's Monday #416

THE EYES HAVE IT

 

Too often we narrow our vision in the effort to solve problems and end up with just one way of looking at things.

 

This one-person-only limited view cheats us out of the innate potential we have for finding solutions.

TGIM ACTION IDEA: To discover paths of thinking that lead to new ideas, insights and opportunities, look at things a new way so you see things differently.

If we keep our eyes peeled – and then, when we need to, see through the eyes of others – we’ll more readily spot the creative answers that lie just beyond our limited line of sight.

 

So, for example, to get a new viewpoint on an old situation perhaps we should try to take a look – 

►Through the eyes of a Child. Sometimes kids have perspective and answers that adults overlook. It doesn’t take much to appreciate how creative un-jaded youngsters can be. There are surely times when we wish for the imagination of a six-year-old. So why not try a --

 

Kidhood refresher course. Arrange to spend some time around children. If you don’t have right-aged kids in your immediate circle, just take a lunch break near a playground. Don’t be a butt-in adult. Just lay back and watch how they reason and solve problems. Bring that free-spirited enthusiasm into your adult world.

 

►Through the eyes of a Fool. We explored this somewhat back on April 1. To add to that discussion, here’s a thought on –

How to play the part of the fool: Take the strictest notion of what you are trying to accomplish and how you go about it and and turn it upside down.

Example: Why must it be “business before pleasure”? If we have fun before getting down to business, won’t we all be more relaxed? If you have fun first, you won’t be so anxious about finishing your work and going on to “better” things. Besides, stress clouds creative thinking.

►Through the eyes of Failure. It’s the classic Thomas Edison strategy/mindset. We’ve all heard a version of, “Before he succeeded Thomas Edison learned 1,000 ways NOT to make a light bulb.” No matter the accuracy of the number, the inspirational part of the anecdotal wisdom is, well, a bright idea.

Use mistakes and ideas that don’t work. Failure is seldom fatal and, if you’re not faltering and failing along the way, perhaps you’re not trying anything innovative enough. So look for and attempt more of the wackier notions. See them as stepping stones to the next idea … and the next idea … and the next idea … until you hit on the first winner. Then build on that.

 

►Through the eyes of your Heroes. Everyone has heroes. And they don’t even have to be real. They can be comic book Super Heroes, sports heroes, thought leaders, public successes, family members – you pick ‘em. In fact –

Pick Six: Investigate their biographies. Assemble quotes from their lives or insights shed by expert investigators into their views on life. Then, when you’re stumped for an idea, “consult” your group of a half-dozen heroic personal advisors.

Look at your challenge through your understanding of how they might handle the situation. The odds of coming up with a payoff in your favor are surely more likely than a lottery ticket.

 

►Through the eyes of a Master. This may come as a surprise (he said, tongue firmly planted in cheek) but you are likely not the first person to experience your problem or be stymied in a particular situation. So why not turn to “experts” who have proven their mastery over similar difficulties.

 

Not the same as heroes, mind you. Masters and other recognized experts have reputations and skill sets in particular disciplines, presumably ones you are not as strong in. But, even before you conclude you must engage them to apply their expertise, read about what they did (or do) and what made them do that and you may see how you can do the same.

 

BTW: Turnabout’s fair play. Even in certain trades today, apprentices clock time with accepted Masters before they gain distinction themselves. You, no doubt, have expertise others lack. Share it liberally. Even if it does not lead to a compensated engagement, it surely will build your reputation and value.

And if deploying all these “through the eyes of Others” strategies still brings you up short of a viable solution –

Close your eyes and try to “see” your challenges –

►Through your Closed Eyes. That’s figuratively, of course. But certainly we all have had the experience of taking a problem that seemed insoluble and having “slept on it.” Let that “Mind’s Eye” help you sort things out.

It’s amazing what the unconscious mind sees. So, trying not to dwell on it or obsess, briefly review some pesky challenge before you go to sleep. Then let your mind drift. You may awake with new insights and perhaps a solution. (You might keep a pad and pencil at your bedside so you can write them down immediately. Answers that come at such times tend to be fleeting.)

 

See what I’m talking about? Personally, I’m seeing things a bit more clearly now.

 

Hope I’ve convinced you somewhat to see things that way as well.

 

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373
tgimguy@gmail.com 

 

P.S.  “My own eyes are not enough for me; I will see through those of others.  Reality, even seen through the eyes of many, is not enough. I will see what others have invented.  Even the eyes of all humanity are not enough…. in reading literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself.  Like the night sky in the Greek poem, I see with myriad eyes, but it is still I who see.  Author C. S Lewis (1898 – 1963) shared that view.

Thank Goodness It's Monday #415

THE TINTINNABULATION* OF

BELLS, BELLS, BELLS

 

In the early 1700s the bell was the primary instrument used to call people together

 

… gathering children for school

…assembling the congregation

…alerting citizens to danger

…announcing important news

…celebrating events

 

TGIM INDEPENDENCE DAY ACTION IDEA: In this first-Monday-of-July-2013 TGIM I’m suggesting that this coming Thursday we join the national effort to revive the tradition of –

Ringing bells on the Fourth of July. 

Normally I encourage you to take some time in the course of your July 4 celebration to join me and actually read – perhaps even aloud, with some kids – and discuss the words and some specifics of the Declaration of Independence.

 

And I still do. You’ll find an easy-on-the-eyes copy to print out here. And in that National Archives online neighborhood you’ll also find authoritative background material and an add-your-signature document that gives me a bit of a thrill when I make my annual re-discovery of it.

But this year I’m also suggesting that –

We make the holiday a bell ringer. 

As you may know, the Liberty Bell of Philadelphia fame is engraved with the words –

“Proclaim LIBERTY

throughout all the Land

unto all the inhabitants thereof.”

 

This idea is central to an initiative spearheaded by No Greater Love, an American humanitarian, non-profit organization founded in 1971. Other supporters range across a wide spectrum including baseball teams, fire fighters, the National Cartoonists Society, and Iron Workers and Sheet Metal Workers Unions along with other AFL-CIO Affiliates.

Their stated purpose: “To resurrect the American tradition of citizens celebrating our freedom and marking of our freedom the 237th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

“Fifty years ago,” they point out, “President John F. Kennedy called for the ringing of bells every year on Independence Day, July 4th. We forgot to keep this tradition going. Let's start it again!”

 

Sounds good to me. Like the Fourth of July activities we’ve suggested in the past, bell-ringing connects us to our forefathers by using the same instrument of freedom they used to celebrate the founding of our nation to call our citizens together in celebration of our freedom.

So here’s --

 

How to Participate: Ring a bell. Hand bells, cowbells, sleigh bells, school bells, church bells, carillons, fire sirens, ship bells. If you don’t have a bell, shake your keys or tap something on a glass to make it ring. It doesn’t cost any money to participate.

When: July 4th at 2:00 p.m.

Where: Wherever you happen to be -- picnics, parades, boating, sporting events, beach, shopping – as we said, wherever.



Want to ring the actual Liberty Bell?

Well, you can’t. It’s about that crack, among other issues. 

We're guessing Mort Walker worked his
National Cartoonists Society connections so
Beetle Bailey could do what we can't.

But in the spirit of celebrating the Spirit of ’76, the National Parks Service, the current caretaker of the Liberty Bell of legend, has the next best thing.

• You can “ring” a replica mp3 recording of the un-cracked bell here.
• And of the cracked bell here.

Proclaim LIBERTY.

Claim each of your unalienable rights. 

 

As Dr. King reminded us in his “I have a dream” speech so many years ago, “Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy.” Now is always the time for “even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.”

“… from every mountainside
let freedom ring."

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373
tgimguy@gmail.com 



First two pages of Poe's
handwritten manuscript
for "The Bells", 1848

P.S.  Does this ring a bell? *“Tintinnabulation” is the specific, lingering sound that occurs after the bell has been struck. The word was invented by Edgar Allan Poe and used in the first stanza of what has been characterized as his “last” poem: The Bells. The bells of which he wrote are thought to be those he heard from Fordham University's bell tower, since Poe resided in the same Bronx neighborhood as that university. He also frequently strolled about Fordham's campus.