4 Failure Lessons You Should Learn from Google

Today's guest blogger is Tim Eyre. He's a loyal reader of the blog and when he teed up a topic for me to write about, I turned the tables and asked him to write about the topic himself! You can read more about Tim at the end of the post.

Google must be the world's failure leader.

But how can that be, when Google is widely known as the world's most successful search engine? How can that be, when Google has become such a powerful corporation that some people worry about the privacy implications of letting Google handle their email, keep their credit card information in an online shopping profile, monitor and forward their newsfeed subscriptions, and keep tabs on all their searches?

Google's power has become so notorious that The Onion regularly targets the search giant for its parodies. "We would like to extend our deepest apologies to each and every one of you," announced CEO Eric Schmidt, teased a recent Onion front page story, "Clearly there have been some privacy concerns as of late, and judging by some of the search terms we've seen, along with the tens of thousands of personal e-mail exchanges and Google Chat conversations we've carefully examined, it looks as though it might be a while before we regain your trust." Is that the Google I want to crown as the king of failure?

Yes, yes, and yes. You too can (and should) learn to fail like Google.

Just how did Google get to the top of the heap? By embracing the mantra that has been heard so often lately around the business world: "Fail fast."

By now, quite a few business experts have weighed in on the idea of failing fast. Most agree that the key to making fast failure a successful business strategy is to nurture a corporate culture that values failure and, hence, rewards risk-taking. In fact, the "fail fast" mantra could be replaced with a more accurate one that would read something like "Don't look too long before you leap!"

Several companies have become poster children for the idea of embracing failure in order to learn from it. Domino's Pizza started a new advertising campaign based on the idea. India's Tata Group offers a prize to its employees for the best failed idea. And software giant Intuit and pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly both host regular "failure parties."

But Google really puts its money where its mouth is, launching new products at light speed and then monitoring to see if those products sink or swim in the marketplace. Frankly, far more of Google's products sink than swim. Remember Google Wave? Google Notebook? Google Catalogs? You can go, right now, to Google's Lab page and try to predict which of the new beta experiments is going to sink and which is going to swim. Google Scribe? Google Body? Art Project powered by Google? Fast Flip (super fast overviews of headline news)? Google Goggles (searches powered by images from camera phones)? Google Listen (an application that sets up a personal news audio magazine for the listener)? Google Labs has, literally, at the time of this writing, eight pages of new projects that have been cast upon the waters to sink or swim.

And to me, that is what makes Google the model for anyone trying to apply this approach to business success. Google's approach captures the basic rules of the "fail fast" philosophy - the aspects of "failing fast" that need to be present in order for it to work:

Fail Small

Put the new product or service out on the market for a small group. You can even minimize the aura of possible failure, as Google and many tech companies do, by calling this phase "beta testing." The truth is, "beta testing" is just PR spin for taking a risk, throwing something out, and being prepared to fail fast.

Fail Cheap

Don't put a lot of money into a new product or service. Make the minimum possible investment in it until you see whether it is going to fail fast or take off.

Fail Productively

Fail as part of the process of finding your way toward the new product or service that will eventually succeed. The term "beta testing" is not just p.r. It has an element of truth to it - the point of tossing something out to see how it does is to learn from it and build upon whatever can be learned from the experience.

Don't Fail for the Sake of Failure

Fail accidentally, as part of a corporate that values failure not for its own sake, but for the sake of encouraging employees to value risk. Because appreciating failure is not truly about appreciating failure. It's about recognizing that playing it safe won't earn you skyrocketing returns over the long run - playing it safe WILL keep you safe in the short run, but in the long run, the only way a business can survive and expand is to take risks and evolve, perhaps even making radical changes to adapt to a changing marketplace.

What's the true lesson we should learn from the Google story? It's not so much "fail fast." It's "risk little, but risk often."

- Tim Eyre works in the self storage industry, regularly traveling to see locations like Trenton self storage. In locations like Chicago self storage Tim helps midwesterners store seasonal equipment when it’s not being used for outdoor activities or construction projects.

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How to Innovate Like Captain Jack Sparrow

Is your organization struggling to be more "innovative" and create new ideas? There's an "Innovation Agenda" but all that's on it are status meetings to review the "idea pipeline" which is nothing more than a stale list of ideas that make the business incrementally better?

Yeah. That.

If you really want to innovate and shake things up, you can learn a thing or two from Captain Jack Sparrow. Aside from being some of the coolest movies ever made based on a lame amusement park ride that now kicks butt, the Pirates of the Caribbean's star anti-hero can teach you a few things.

Sure - it seems everything Captain Jack does works out. All his crazy ideas end up looking brilliant even though at inception they're a bit hare-brained. It's a movie folks. Realize not all your ideas will work out well. You will have failures. That said, if you're truly serious about being innovative, you have to accept some risk if you want the rewards that go with it.

Here's what I think you can learn from Captain Jack Sparrow:

Forget the rules

For Captain Jack, there are no rules. Everything is in play. Heck, even the sacred Pirate Code is "more of a set of guidelines." Captain Jack operates outside the rules. In doing so he creates new degrees of freedom that enable him to act in ways that someone encumbered by rules cannot. In that space outside the rules are some pretty interesting solutions.

Sure, you risk getting in trouble for breaking the rules and some rules should never be broken. However, don't be afraid to at least intellectually explore the space outside your current "rules" and see if any creative ideas are lurking out there. When you find them you have a compelling case you can make for breaking the rules.

And if you simply decide to act like Captain Jack and break a rule because in that moment you saw an opportunity, you'll find people are much more forgiving of a rule transgression when you demonstrate the value you captured by ignoring the rule in the first place.

Don't Overlook the Simple Solutions

With all the data and information we have at our disposal we like making ideas all complexified because we think the more difficult they are to understand the better they might be.

Wrong.

Look at some of the great solutions Captain Jack and his crew come up with in their journeys. Most of the great ideas are born from simple items directly at hand. The key is in seeing that simple solution in the first place.

Don't overlook the obvious. Simple solutions can succeed more frequently than complex ones because the team can actually understand and execute the simple solution.

Experiment

When Captain Jack fights Barbossa over Cortez's gold, he gives being cursed a try. He steals a piece of gold to see if it too will make him an immortal skeleton pirate zombie (which is awesome). Had he been wrong and the curse didn't work, he would have been dead when Barbossa ran him through with his cutlass.

Instead, he became immortal and was able to compete with a competitor who was initially much better positioned to win.

It was a risk. He experimented. Something cool happened. When was the last time you experimented? Try something new just to see what will happen. Many times our hypotheses and the conventional wisdom are wrong.

Be Bold

No one in their right mind would accuse Captain Jack of not being bold. When he decides to take a risk he does so with gusto. He throws his entire being into it and absolutely commits all his energy to making whatever crazy idea he's pursuing work.

Chasing an idea half-heartedly will doom you to failure. If you don't commit and you aren't bold, it will show through to your team. Your trepidation will manifest itself in counterproductive ways that undermine your chances of success. If you're truly committed to innovation, pursue it boldly. The force of will is a force to be reckoned with.

You too can innovate like Captain Jack Sparrow. Forget the rules. Pursue simple ideas. Experiment. Be bold. I refer to him as "Captain" throughout this post because he always corrects people who leave it off as he sees that as a sign of disrespect. I respect the man's audacity and innovation. You should too.

An administrative heads-up

Pretty soon we'll be moving this blog to a new address. This site is (finally) being combined with our main thoughtLEADERS site as well as the site for my upcoming book One Piece of Paper. Just keep an eye out for our moving announcement. I think you'll love the new look and layout. More soon...

- Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC
- Get the latest updates on my upcoming book One Piece of Paper - CLICK HERE

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Yoda's Three Steps to Achieving Your Goals

Life goals. Bucket lists. "One day I'll..."

We all have dreams and goals. The biggest difference between people who achieve them and people who don't is the act of actually DOING. Do you have goals and things you want to achieve? Professional aspirations? Personal bucket list items?

Let me ask this - what's stopping you from starting on them?

I don't tend to get motivational on this blog (every time someone asks me if I'm a motivational speaker I can't help but think of that Saturday Night Live Chris Farley skit). But today I'm serving up a little motivation, Yoda style.

Luke whined "All right. I'll give it a try."

Yoda gave Luke an attitude adjustment "No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."

What would Yoda say to you if you talked to him about your goals and your progress toward them? That's what I thought.

I'm here to be your Yoda. I'll share some experiences related to my goal of getting my book One Piece of Paper published (CLICK HERE to learn more about the book). Hopefully my story can help you on your way toward achieving your goals. Here are some great first steps you can take right now to help you move toward achieving your goals.

"Ready are you?" - Yoda

You can't get "there" if you don't know where "there" is. Sit down and actually articulate what it is you're trying to achieve. Define success.

Some people say I'm lucky (I actually think I am) but there's more to it than luck. I'm sure you've heard the phrase "luck is where preparation meets opportunity." I tend to make sure I'm prepared to achieve my goals.

For example, I've always wanted to write a book. It was a nebulous goal. I didn't have a specific subject in mind (but had several options I had thought of). I didn't pursue the goal actively because it was lower on my priority list than other current businesses but the goal existed - to see my face on a dust jacket in a bookstore.

Out of the blue (and because of this blog) a literary agent reached out to me. "Hey, I've read your blog. Good stuff. Ever thought of writing a book?" In that instant I was able to offer up several topics I had rattling around in my head because I had previously defined this as a personal goal. I was prepared for when "luck" knocked.

Had I not defined this goal and prepared, I might have stammered and had nothing to offer him. Instead, my book One Piece of Paper: The Simple Approach to Powerful and Personal Leadership is becoming a reality (CLICK HERE to become a fan on Facebook and get additional leadership tips as it moves toward publication). On October 3, 2011 I'll get to see that dust jacket.

Have you defined your goal? Are you ready to seize the opportunity when it knocks? No? Then go write your goal down. Now. I'm not kidding. Write it down.

Believe

Luke: "I don't believe it!"

Yoda: "That is why you fail."

Do you believe in yourself? Do you believe you have the ability to achieve the goal or build the skills that will enable you to achieve it? If not, just quit. Give up. Now. Go watch Jerry Springer.

You have to believe in yourself. You must be relentless in pursuing those goals. The minute you lose confidence in yourself, you're done. That lack of confidence will show through in all you do and a vicious circle of failure will begin.

When I launched thoughtLEADERS full time it was a scary leap. A family to support. A mortgage. College. Wow.

But I believed I could do it. I had successfully taught some of our courses to some great clients. I knew how to execute a business plan. I believed I could sell and deliver our services.

Yes, there were dark and scary moments when there was only $3,000 of revenue booked for the coming QUARTER. But I believed. I kept pushing. And the revenue followed.

Do you believe in yourself? Do you believe you can achieve the goal? Do you have reminders around you that help you remember you can achieve and succeed? Find those reminders. Start believing in yourself. It's a good bet to make.

"There is no try. Do." - Yoda

I could spew forth a ton of quotes about taking that first step on your journey blah blah blah. I won't. I'll just say if you have big goals, they can be daunting. But you have to start somewhere.

It's intimidating to look down the barrel of a 65,000 word clause in a book contract and realize you haven't written the first word yet. That said, I started writing One Piece of Paper and ended up with this first draft.

Then the edits came back. It was a river of blood and it looked like this. Daunting. But I started with the first red mark. I finished yesterday - 17 days later (and do you know how much I love you guys that I'm writing a blog post this morning after several nonstop weeks of editing and writing? But Yoda told me "Do." so I do this blog post).

Every interim step on the path to the broader goal of One Piece of Paper's publication is a small goal in and of itself. I tackle every one with a mindset of "do." Do not procrastinate. Do not be overwhelmed. Break your goal up and "do."

I know of another website that was but an idea for a funny airport people watching site and iPhone app. Nothing was coming of it until someone pushed the idea guy to "Just build the thing. I'll do it with you."

They built it in five weeks. It's hysterical. It's going viral (and if you need a laugh you should CLICK HERE to check it out and grab the app too by CLICKING HERE - it's good for boring hours waiting for a delayed flight). Yoda told them "Do" so they did.

Look - I know you have goals. The question is whether you're actively pursuing them and ready to achieve them. Heed Yoda's advice:

- "Ready are you?"
- Believe
- "Do"

- Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC
- Get the latest updates on my upcoming book One Piece of Paper - CLICK HERE

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New Business Idea? What's Your Problem?

If you have a new business idea, I'm excited for you. If you ever want to get it off the ground however, be sure you have a problem. A REAL problem. I know that sounds cryptic. Allow me to explain.

I love entrepreneurial ventures. I don't just run thoughtLEADERS - I'm also a principal at weBuild which is a web and mobile startup accelerator. I'm also the CEO of one of weBuild's portfolio companies called TiXiT. TiXiT offers discounts for tickets to events like theatre, jazz, concerts, sports, and family shows (and if you're not a member yet, go join here - it's free). I'm also a member of the Ohio TechAngel fund where we regularly evaluate new startup investments. Many folks in my network know my passion for launching companies so I regularly get pitched new ideas.

Why all this context setting? Because I want you to understand the lens I look at new ventures through.

When I hear a new pitch, the first question I ask is "what's the problem?"

You would be surprised how many times the response to that question is a look like a dog looking at a ceiling fan (dazed and confused). If you want to be successful as a new startup, you MUST have a problem. If you cannot articulate what problem you solve for the world, there is a low likelihood you will sell anything. "Pull" selling is exponentially more powerful than "Push" selling. When the world has a problem, they will pull your solution. No problem? You're pushing your solution on the world.

Allow me to offer some examples then some guidance on how to think about this issue.

Some example problems:

thoughtLEADERS: We solve skill gap problems. For one of our courses, the problem we address is communication-focused. There is an absence of training on how to go from an idea to a fact based, data driven, 10 page or less compelling presentation that drives action. The training that does exist in this space is not very practical or applicable outside the classroom. We solve this problem by offering a class targeted at teaching these skills in a manner that participants can apply those methods outside the classroom (you can learn about that class by clicking here). Problem solved.

weBuild: We solve the problem of entrepreneurs in the web/mobile space not knowing how to launch a business. The problem is there is a lack of resources focused on taking an idea from a napkin to a full-fledged functioning business. We solve this problem by providing startups direct guidance on business model, financing, strategy, technology, business development, and even playing interim management team roles. We help them turn their idea into a real business with a platform, customers, revenue, and funding. Problem solved.

TiXiT: We solve the problem of empty seats. Venues (sports, theatre, concerts, etc.) have unsold seats and limited marketing resources. TiXiT works with venues to intelligently discount and market those empty seats to a larger marketing universe in an intelligent and segmented way. We sell seats that would have gone unsold and we sell them to people the venue doesn't know (and again, to become one of those people getting discounts, click here to sign up). Problem solved.

If you cannot articulate the problem you solve, your chances of success are slim. First of all, market adoption will be slow and sales will be hard to come by. Secondly, investors know that without a problem, you will have a hard time selling and growing therefore they are not very likely to fund your venture. If you're not funded, you're not growing.

Stop and articulate the problem. It should not be contrived. It should be a REAL problem that immediately resonates in the eyes of your potential customer. If they don't have an immediate reaction of "OHMYGOSH PLEASE COME SOLVE THAT PROBLEM FOR ME!" then you need to rethink your business.

To define your problem, ask "Why is this customer interested in talking to me?" Put yourself in their shoes. What is their pain point? What opportunity do they want to capture? Cost reduction? Growth? Complexity reduction? Profitability challenges? Information clarity? What are they looking to buy?

Second, ask how your solution makes that problem go away. Be able to articulate a simple "Here's the issue... Here's our solution... Here's how your (customer) life is different after you use our stuff." Yes, this is marketing 101. The problem is many people skip this step. Heck, even this blog post focuses on solving a problem:

- Your problem is you haven't defined your business problem well and customers will not buy your solution so your business will not grow.
- The solution is to read this post and incorporate the ideas on how to define and sell the problem and solution.
- Your life will be different after using this solution because you will have a clearly articulated problem statement that resonates with customers which will lead to sales and growth for your company.

See? Not too complex. Not too hard. Just a little investment of time and intellectual horsepower.

Now what's YOUR problem?

What business ideas have you seen successfully define a problem? Which business ideas have you seen flop because they were not solving a clear problem? Share your ideas please!

- Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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Your Thoughts on 2011 - Signs of Optimism

As many of you know, I write the weekly analysis of the SmartPulse poll for SmartBrief on Leadership. If you're not reading SmartBrief, you HAVE TO (www.smartbrief.com). Great articles. Great abstracts. Anyway, we just conducted the end-of-year poll and I want to share the results with you here.

The end of year polls covered three major questions.  The theme of all three is what do you think the new year has in store for all of us:

- What strategy will be central to your effort to enhance profits in the new year?

- Which of the following is of most concern as you look forward to the coming year?

- What of the following best describes your top personal goal as a leader for 2011?

The poll results are both interesting and encouraging. From the looks of your replies, 2011 should be trending in the right direction. I know it's still scary out there but there are signs of hope. Check out the poll results and my analysis on each of them...

A eye on innovation



It's encouraging to see many of you focused on innovation and new growth, rather than cutting costs. New products and services are where you'll see the greatest return long term. Those of you not planning to make any changes to your business run the risk of being left behind. Your business is going to change. Either you can change it or the market will change it for you.

Big-picture worries



Unemployment is top of mind for many of you, which makes sense: When consumers aren't buying, your business is not expanding. There is a silver lining -- with unemployment so high you can afford to be more selective in your hiring. If your business is on stable ground, you should be out there searching for talent.

The personal side



Improving your time management skills barely beat out improving your physical health. The two are likely linked. If we don't have the time to get all our work done, how can we possibly find the time for fitness? I suggest defining a reasonable, achievable new routine and schedule that includes time for exercise. Stick to it for at least a month. Do your best to permit no exceptions to getting out of your routine. By the time you've ingrained this new schedule into your routine, both goals should be well within reach.

Bolstering skills and learning about new parts of your business are critical to your development and often fall by the wayside. Build them into your professional goals for the year. Have your boss or a respected peer hold you accountable to that goal and enlist their assistance in achieving it. Trying to go it alone is a recipe for failure.

So there are your replies (and the replies of thousands of other SmartBrief on Leadership readers) and there's my take on what the numbers mean. Do you agree? Disagree? Do you have anything to add? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

- Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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The Best of thoughtLEADERS 2010: The Greatest Posts You've Ever Seen

2010 is almost over so as usual it's time for the year in review list of the BEST posts we've published in 2010.

We're now making this an annual event therefore the award needs a name. I proudly introduce you to The Figgies! A tip of my hat to all my McKinsey buddies who used to call me that. Winning a Figgie is indeed prestigious. Here's how it goes: this list is comprised of our most viewed, most forwarded, quirkiest, most provocative work as judged by you the readers (with a little of our discretion thrown in). We've also included a few hidden gems we think deserve another shot in the spotlight. There's also a kicker bonus post on the list just for good measure (it's a "wayback" - and speaking of wayback, check out the photo on the trophy... yes... that's me '80's style baby!).

Enjoy. Share. We've loved writing them. We hope you've enjoyed reading them. I don't ask a lot of you folks so here's my one request for a holiday gift - invite all your coworkers, friends, and family to come check out the blog and become readers. The only way we get better is by raising everyone's game. Simply CLICK HERE to invite them to come read our stuff. I'm not asking a lot here. If you found this blog helpful at all this year, here's your chance to return the favor for all our hard work.

Thanks for your incredible support in '10 and best wishes for '11! We hope to be a part of your future success! A little foreshadowing for 2011 - I've signed a book deal with Jossey-Bass and my book on leadership will be hitting stores next fall. This is a REAL book (not one of those self-published vanity press jobbies). I hope you'll sock away a few bucks and save up to buy a copy. More to come on that soon.

Enough sentimentality. Here's the best stuff we've written all year:

Most Viewed/Forwarded: Critical Tips Every Traveler Must Know. This thing whipped around the web at the speed of light. I guess many of you are just as frustrated as I am with the stupidity that occurs on planes, trains, and automobiles. You might want to read it to make sure you're not enraging other passengers around you.

Most Controversial: 4 Ways Leaders Can Overcome the Fear of Conflict. I go telling people to grow up, take off the kid gloves, and deliver tough messages. Some readers rallied to the cry while other readers just cried. Was I too tough or spot on? You make the call!

Best Attack: Hate Presenting? That's Okay - They Hate Listening to You. This one is an attack on all horrible presenters. Are you one of them? Take a read and find out if you cut the mustard.


Best Employee Empowerment Advice: Leadership 101 - Leading Yourself. Before you can lead others you had better know where you're going. This is step one of articulating your own leadership philosophy. It's also a small taste of the first section of my upcoming book.

Best Social Media Bashing: It's Okay to be a Social Networking Clown. As the Joker would say - "Why so serious?" Social media can be fun and professional. And professional does not mean stodgy. This post demystifies whether or not you should tell fart jokes on the internet.

Best Guest Post: 5 Changes Go-To People Must Make to Keep Going. Scott Eblin nailed it in this post on how to continue being the go-to person while still advancing your career. Great advice on ditching old behaviors and picking up new ones.


Best Career Enhancing Advice: The Big Jump - Go From Having Answers to Asking Questions. This one really resonated with folks looking to take on higher level roles and advance their career. You need to move from being the answer provider to being the question asker.

Most Practical Business Growth Advice: Entrepreneurs Need to Bootstrap to WIN. Whether you're an entrepreneur or work at a global company the tips and mindsets discussed in this post can help you appreciate how to grow your business effectively.

Funniest Picture: If You Want to Close the Deal, Go Naked. No, I'm not spoiling the fun by posting the pic here. Click over to see it and read some great perspectives on how to ditch the PowerPoint and have a real conversation.

Best Use of a Jedi to Make a Point: If You Don't Read This, You're Going to Die. This category changed it has because monkeys in the future jedis are not. Yoda makes some great points about how important it is to never stop learning.


Best Get Ready for 2011 Guidance: 1 Simple Way to Boost Productivity by 50%. I know I want to be more productive in 2011. Don't you? Here are some simple thoughts on how changing your meeting behavior can do exactly that.

Wayback Winner: 10 Reasons Your Team Hates You (They Just Won't Say It To Your Face). This is the greatest post I've ever written. It has it all: it's a list, it feeds on fear, insecurity, and drama. Read it. I promise you'll love it.

That's all of 'em folks - our favorites from this past year. I hope you enjoy them. Again - thanks for all your support this year. I'm really looking forward to getting even edgier in 2011!

- Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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The Big Jump: Go From Having Answers to Asking Questions

Do you know the difference between a "worker bee" and a senior executive? Have you ever wondered what it takes to move up in the world to those loftier roles? It's pretty simple. You need to move from a world where you provide all the answers to a world where you ask all the questions.

I know there's a cheeky clueless executive joke in there somewhere but I'm actually not joking around (today is my 40th birthday and I've decided I'm going to be completely serious and professional this decade and if you believe that last part, you're obviously a new reader to the blog).

As we enter organizations and rise through the ranks, we're expected (and trained) to have the answers. We, after all, are the front line. We do the work. When someone more senior asks us for information, our job description is to provide it. And provide it we do. We become experts in our field. We know all the answers. We become that "go to" person Scott Eblin describes in this recent post.

And every day we kick butt. We know everything that's asked of us. Heck, we get to a point where we've created everything around us. But one day we wake up wondering why we're not getting promoted. We can't figure out why we, the expert of all experts, isn't rising to the executive ranks. After all, those guys are clueless. All they ever do is ask questions that we have to provide the answers to.

And that my friends is the key to the paradox of advancing to senior management. Questions.

Why Questions are Important

Along with an opposable thumb, we share one other trait with our hairy primate cousins - curiosity. We have an innate desire to understand "what happens if..." that begins in childhood. As we grow into adults, that natural curiosity dissipates and we're expected to have those answers (school, anyone?).

Unfortunately, answers are all about what has already happened. By definition, arriving at an answer means we've understood some aspect of an inquiry. And yes, we now have new knowledge to share, act on, and impart to others.

But rooted in that new knowledge is that original question that led us to insight. Sure, sometimes it's a dumb question that led to interesting answers but more often than not, the person asking the question has taken a step back from the day to day answers. They've tried to make connections, see trends, or predict the future and that's what their question is about. They've looked in crannies others have ignored and they've shone the light of knowledge upon dark and overlooked recesses. That's how they're finding those new insights.

Now think about the smartest senior executives you work with. Ask yourself the balance between the number of questions they ask versus the answers they have. I'll bet you'll find the smarter ones ask really good questions. The weaker executives tend toward offering all the answers. The latter dynamic in its extreme can make them seem like autocratic dictatorial micromanaging know-it-alls who don't let their team have any space to grow (a dynamic I've berated before in this post - I suggest you read it so you don't become a detail-oriented control freak yourself).

What's so cool about working with inquisitive execs like this is they open our eyes to new connections and possibilities. Even better is they're not pompous asses - they're not afraid to admit they don't know the answers. In that admission is an incredible statement of confidence in their abilities. They view not knowing something (but knowing what they don't know) as an asset versus the massive insecurity other execs demonstrate by thinking they have to know everything.

Hmmm... seems like the better execs and leaders out there tend to ask more insightful questions, have more comfort in not knowing things, and are willing to step back and let their teams kick butt in the pursuit of the answer. I'll bet you're thinking "Gee... maybe I want to be like them..."

How to Ask the Right Questions

Now look at your ratio of question to answers. If you spend 100% of your time providing answers, clearly you're not stepping back and asking questions. But not every question is a good one. I hate the phrase "there are no stupid questions" because, actually, there are a LOT of stupid questions - we just don't want to make the stupid people feel stupid for asking them.

You have to ask GOOD questions. So how do you do that? Step away from the need to answer it yourself. Step back from the knowledge you have and look across domains to find connections. Ask what things will look like in a year. 5 years. 10 years. Ask what happens if something new or unthinkable happens. What will the result be? And if that's the result, what will happen next? Look deliberately for connections, trends, or predictions. Shameless plug for my business: if you're interested in building your question-asking toolkit and you too want to be more insightful, I encourage you to learn about our course called thoughtLEADERSHIP: Thinking Beyond Business as Usual. It's fun and awesome.  Even better, it will help you become a much better question-asker.

Try floating these questions in a safe environment (a team meeting, with a peer, etc. - not with the Board of Directors, the CEO, etc.). Preface the question with "I don't know the answer to this but I think this is something important we should look into." By doing so, you're signaling you're not the answer person on this one. You're inviting others to provide input. The more often you do this, the more folks will expect this behavior from you.

Now to pull this off successfully, you can't then run off and come up with the answer yourself. Have others help you (or better yet, have them come back to you with answers). By moving out of the answer guy realm and into the question guy realm, you're freeing up even more time to generate insightful questions, look at macro trends, and make future predictions. Before you know it, you'll be the person asking all the great questions that your team will be eager to run off and answer.

Your task: go ask one really good question today. Resist the urge to answer it yourself. See what happens.

- Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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3 Simple Steps for Achieving Global Domination

So you want to take over the world, huh? Not quite sure how to get started, you say? Then I have a treat for you

Building on our last post about how to think about capturing the huge global opportunities that are out there to improve your business, today I'll offer some practical advice on how to get started.

Going global is intimidating. For some, anything beyond buying toys with a "Made in China" stamp on them can freak them out. But with a focused and measured approach, you too can start down the path of making your organization global.

In the last post, we covered some notions around evaluating opportunities on the revenue side and the cost side of the ledger. To capture them, you have to think about market entry, product/service delivery, and communications. Without those three, your efforts are dead on arrival. Are there other considerations? Sure. These are simply the first three I recommend considering as part of your global conquest plan.

Market Entry

The scariest part about going global is not knowing where to begin. Who are the possible customers? Who are potential suppliers? What are the applicable laws? What are the cultural norms I need to account for? Those are some daunting questions.

The good news is other people have likely already answered them. I highly suggest finding yourself a current domestic customer or potential partner to speed your market entry efforts along. For our thoughtLEADERS courses, we have a large domestic client who happens to have offices all over the world. Our focus on entering those markets started with working with that existing client to serve their overseas business units.

As we build our global experience and reputation, our ability to land new clients or begin serving other domestic clients with overseas offices will increase. We've received our initial boost into those markets via a client we know and trust.

Review your existing client/customer portfolio as well as your current supplier list. Who on those lists have offices overseas? Do any of them have a presence in countries that are attractive targets for your goods/services? If so, simply open that conversation through your existing relationship and express your desire to serve them/work with them on a more global basis. It's much faster than trying to develop new relationships in foreign countries from scratch.

You can do things from scratch - it just takes longer. For example, this blog has been reposted in Norway (here), Bahrain, at an international bank on their intranet, and several other countries. That said, they're not (yet) banging down the door with invites to go teach there. If you are going to enter a market from scratch, be realistic about how long that will take and how many resources you'll need to throw at it to make it work. That's why I suggest the partner/customer approach above.

Product/Service Delivery

Now that you have some international introductions, you have to deliver the goods (or your suppliers have to deliver them to you). In cases where you're the buyer and your supplier is international, I recommend choosing partners with a domestic presence. It will make managing your supply chain much easier and more reliable.

If you're the one shipping product or delivering services internationally, build a relationship with a local liaison in the target country. Creating that stable relationship will help you sort out logistics, cultural challenges, and will provide a general level of stability to the relationship.

For example, when we teach thoughtLEADERS courses internationally, we work with a single point of contact at the target location. That contact helps coordinate travel, meeting planning, course materials, and anything else that's hard to coordinate from thousands of miles away. And be sure to treat that liaison well. They can be the difference between a great international experience or a terrible one. They'll save you countless hours of work and improve the quality of your relationship exponentially.

This liaison will also help you understand and navigate cultural differences. My liaisons have reviewed our course content and made suggestions on sections that would require special emphasis or that might need to be changed. The translation for your business is that the liaison can help you take your core offering/product and help you target it to the local market much better than you can do so yourself. Take advantage of their knowledge. You'll be more successful if you do.

Communication

The last section begins teeing this point up. You MUST have close communications with your international counterparty. In some cases, this will be someone domestically interfacing with the international team or it will be you working with the international team directly.

Regardless of how it works, you'll need a solid communication plan as well as some flexibility on your schedule. When I was in Vietnam teaching, we had an 11 hour time difference. Conference calls with my clients back here required me to stay up late or get up very early. Get over it - it's a sacrifice you must make if you want to capture the opportunities.

Fortunately, electronic communications can make this a breeze. Better yet, you can send out some "to do's" at the end of your day and when you wake up, the team across the world has put in a full work day on the deliverables. This was a great experience to have with some development outsourcing we did at TiXiT. Granted, it wasn't a 12 hour time difference between us and our developers but it did lengthen our company's work day substantially (without any of us individually putting in more work time).

Overcommunicating in these scenarios can prevent lost details, confusion, and excessive costs. The time you spend communicating is certainly an investment but if you're serious about going global, it's a very worthwhile one to make.

I hope these last two posts have demystified globalization a bit. It's not as intimidating as it sounds. It definitely has its benefits (like drinking Guinness beer *in* Dublin, Ireland).

What other simple things should other readers be thinking about as they try going global? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

- Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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How Your Business Can Achieve Global Domination

I'm going to take over the world!

It's really fun to say that. It's even more fun to take action toward that goal.

Our world has gotten smaller. Way smaller. Globalization is an unstoppable trend. But as they say, the trend is your friend so why not take advantage of it? I don't care how big or small your business is - there are huge opportunities out there for you beyond the shores of your country (assuming yours has shores).

The real trick is understanding what globalization can do for your business then figuring out how to exploit those opportunities. Today I'll cover some simple notions around what the global opportunities are and in the next post I'll more importantly discuss a few key ways to capture them.

Going global is intimidating. It sounds huge. You need a passport and visas (and we know what a joy those processes can be). You need to understand new languages and cultures. And heaven forbid you have to take a coach class 14 hour flight across the ocean (trust me, it's painful). Okay. So get over it and dive in.

To illustrate today's points, I'll use examples from two businesses I'm running: thoughtLEADERS (leadership training) and TiXiT (discounted event tickets). Sure, they're simple businesses but they're microcosms that will help get the following points across.

Think about it simply - opportunities exist in terms of revenues and costs. It's not that hard. As far as how to capture the opportunities, it boils down to market entry, product/service delivery, and communication. So let's go global! Here we go:

Understanding the Opportunities

From the revenue side, if you have a good product or service here, there's likely a market for it in markets outside your borders. You just need to think through how it might need to be positioned differently.

For thoughtLEADERS, we have to first realize American-style leadership doesn't translate to all cultures. Nonetheless, our frameworks and approaches are absolutely relevant in many markets around the world. Selling those services just requires us to articulate what the core of our service is and then understand how a particular culture might best receive said benefits.

I've recently been lucky enough to teach our Structured Thought and Communications course and Leadership Maxims course in Hungary, Ireland, and Vietnam. Soon I'll be teaching our thoughtLEADERSHIP course in Colombia and our Building Resilience course in Singapore (and if you'd like us to come teach at your organization just drop us an email and we're happy to discuss).

Yes, we've made modifications to the examples and exercises we conduct in class depending on the culture but the core of the service has remained the same. Teaching executive communications in Chicago is different than teaching it to an audience from China, Japan, India, Vietnam, Singapore, and Australia (all in the same classroom!) but nonetheless, with some slight modifications to our service based on the local culture, the programs have been successful.

As you think about the revenue side of the equation, you must think big. Once you understand the core of your offering and how you might have to modify it for different cultures, you must look at the entire revenue pool before cutting it down and determining a specific focus for your business.

An example: at TiXiT, we help venues sell unsold event tickets. We've assessed the opportunity to be huge in the U.S. alone. There are over $1B worth of unsold tickets to major sporting events and theatre shows every year in the U.S. TiXiT works directly with the venue to sell those unsold tickets at a discount (by the way, if you're not a TiXiT member yet, you should be - we're about to add a whole host of events for this fall - just sign up here).

Anyway, as we ran some valuation scenarios to understand our exit opportunity (yes entrepreneurs - from day one of running a start-up you MUST think about how you're going to exit and for how much) we arrived at some big numbers. Then we asked "how can those numbers be bigger? Like ten times bigger?"

Then it hit us - go global. They sell tickets globally, right? There are unsold tickets to events in other countries too. The core of our service will definitely apply in other countries (with some tweaking to how we sell and market). Sure, that global expansion is our third growth horizon because we're staying focused on our market entry strategy. Nonetheless, we know about and more importantly will pursue that revenue outside our borders when the time comes.

The bottom line on the revenue side is to define your core offering, identify the markets where it would be the most compelling, and seek that revenue out. Start building that focused list of markets you'd like to penetrate (we'll get to how to penetrate them in our next post).

 The Cost Side of the Equation

As far as costs go, this isn't new news. You can get lower factor costs in a host of other countries. From call center outsourcing in India to product manufacturing in China to web development in Eastern Europe. The talent is out there. You just have to be savvy enough to find it and use it.

First, take a hard look at all the costs your business incurs (or better yet, the things you want to do but they're "too expensive"). Now ask yourself "If I could reduce the cost of that item by 20%, would it be worth the effort to do it overseas?" This is the sniff test to see if you'll get enough return for the additional complexity of doing something outside your borders.

For TiXiT, our biggest cost is technology development. Writing code isn't cheap and for a web start-up that's bootstrapping (like all good start-ups should and as we explain HERE) going overseas for development can be a huge cash saver. We did exactly that.

With the help of a partner (Big Kitty Labs) who has existing overseas relationships we got the best of both worlds - a domestic team to manage our relationship and business requirements/technical requirements coupled with overseas low cost development. The results were great. Check out their work here at www.tixitbox.com and I think you'll agree.

Risk is also a huge factor on the cost side. You need to be judicious with either how much you send overseas or what categories you source globally. You might want to start with "non-core" elements of your business that can easily be switched back to domestic suppliers (e.g., call center services, non-core raw materials, etc.). There's nothing worse than civil unrest disrupting the core of your supply chain during your busy season.

The bottom line on costs is make sure whatever you're taking overseas is big enough in terms of financial impact and low enough on risk that it makes sense to add that complexity to your business. I'll talk more about how to capture global cost opportunities in the next post.

Hopefully this gives you some motivation to think about growing your business globally. The opportunities both in terms of revenues and costs are fantastic. I know it can be intimidating but given how much smaller our world gets every day due to technology, you can't afford not to evaluate the opportunity.

In the next post I'll offer some thoughts on market entry, product/service delivery, and communication. While you're waiting for that post, why not leave us some comments below on your thoughts and experiences with globalization. Tell us what has worked for you (and what hasn't). Help out your fellow readers.

- Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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Leadership 102: Leading the Thinking

Continuing on our theme of articulating your leadership philosophy on one piece of paper (your leadership maxims), we now need to move on to leading the thinking. This concept is the second major section of my upcoming book One Piece of Paper - go learn about it by CLICKING HERE

Once you've taken care of defining how you'll lead yourself (learn how to do so in this post), you need to create some maxims that get you leaning forward and taking your organization to new places. The status quo is never good enough.

I can't think of a single leader I've ever met whose strategy was "Don't change a thing! Everything is perfect!"

In fact, the best leaders I've worked with continuously challenged the thinking, blew up business models, and constantly questioned how they could get their organization to a better place. This is what leading the thinking is all about. This approach is all about thought leadership (and lucky for you we not only cover the topic on this blog but we also teach a course on thoughtLEADERSHIP as well - click here to learn more about bringing the program into your organization).

Obviously the benefits of leading the thinking are that you'll see new trends and opportunities (or risks) before your competitors. You'll shape the market rather than the market shaping you. You'll uncover those huge new breakthrough opportunities that get your team excited and energized about their work.

To do all these great things, you need to establish some maxims that force you to think about new opportunities and set a vision for where you're headed. On top of that, I highly suggest you set aside some "think time" every month (at least 1/2 day) to take a step back and evaluate how you're thinking about the business.

Now let's dive into making leading the thinking practical and pragmatic.

Articulating a vision

I don't care what level you're at in the organization - you need to articulate a vision of a future state for your team. Usually we leave this high falootin' work up to the C-suite but doing it at any team level can be powerful.

Out of all your leadership maxims, this one will change the most frequently. It will change every time you take on a new role or move to a new organization.

To create the maxim, simply look out 5 years and ask what your organization should look like. What new skills will it have? How big will it be? How will the way you work with other groups change? Be sure to push this vision out far enough beyond where things are clear but not so far that your vision won't be realizable in a reasonable time period.

For my organization, the vision is "Provide distinctive leadership training taught by unique executives to world-class customers around the globe." Aspirational? Absolutely. Possible? We're already making it happen. What's your future vision for your team?

Setting the course

As in leading yourself, you also need to provide some guard rails for your team. They can be focused on how you treat customers or how you uphold team standards. These guard rails ideally point your team to the aforementioned vision but don't have to do so directly.

Ask yourself "How do I want my team behaving when I'm not there to give guidance? What are my expectations of how they perform?"

A couple of maxims I've used over the years on this point are "Is this right for the customer?" and "In God we trust. All others bring data." Obviously both were focused on how I wanted my team to behave.

Generating breakthrough ideas

Business can be boring when it's business as usual. But I know you - you're not usual. You want to change the world. You want to make your organization as great as it can be. The trick is, how do you break through the "that's the way we've always done it" dynamic and create something brand new?

For me, I'm not satisfied with the "way we've always done it" so I ask "why?" five times (that's the maxim: "Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?"). By the time I get to the fifth why, I usually have found an insight or an opportunity to improve something.

Once I've found that insight, a second innovation maxim kicks in. It's called "The Seven 'So What's?'." Basically take that insight you just found from the five whys and ask "so what?" seven times. You're asking yourself to define the implications of that insight and the next and the next and so on. By the time you get to the fifth or sixth "so what?" you've likely identified a new idea to pursue. Between the whys and the so whats I've found more than my share of innovative ideas.

How will you remind yourself to think beyond the status quo and challenge the way you do things? How will you articulate this belief to your team? That's your maxim.

That wraps up some thoughts on leading the thinking. Coming up in our next post is leading your people.

- Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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Entrepreneurs Need to Bootstrap to WIN

Today's guest post is by Brian Link who is a partner of mine in weBuild, thoughtLEADERS, and TiXiT among the many other things he does (yes, both of us have many entrepreneurial interests). This perspective on bootstrapping a new venture is so spot-on it almost hurts. This article is prompted by today's launch of TiXiT where Brian is the CTO and I'm CEO. Enough context. Here's Brian:

I've seen my share of Internet startups and each entrepreneur, if you asked them, would tell you that getting started is the hardest part. Many people think they have a great idea. Some have even have written it down and dreamed of turning it into something big. But taking those first few steps of talking to other people, committing your own money, finding a team to help build it and figuring out how to tell the world about it is where you need great strategy (and some luck).

One strategy, if you’re lucky enough, is to borrow a million bucks from your rich uncle. You might also find an angel investor or venture capitalist and beat the one in a million odds and get funded before you have a product or revenue. The much more likely scenario and the smartest strategy is much more difficult, if you can pull it off. It’s called bootstrapping.

The term comes from a saying that started in the 1800s: “to pull yourself up by your bootstraps” which implies an impossible task. As a metaphor, it means to better oneself by one’s own unaided efforts. And today it often refers to starting a business that is self-sustaining and created with little or no external help. While bootstrapping is incredibly hard, there are huge rewards.

Bootstrapping is hard. You need to stick your neck out; quit your job; have some money to spend; have a great network to lean on; and have a lot of confidence and guts. It’s certainly not for everyone. But for the brave who have a great idea, the reward can be huge. The best practices for bootstrapping can fill volumes of books, but here’s a quick summary of some ideas and strategies:

1. Equity. By bootstrapping, you can control your own stake and your partners’ equity percentages better. Equity is your most powerful tool to attract big talent. But be careful, there’s great need for balance here. Don’t dole out too much too soon and conversely don’t hesitate to share your equity for the right reasons. Many entrepreneurs fall into the stingy founder’s trap – they refuse to give up equity and because of that, they never get the help they need to launch the company. In that scenario, they have 100% of a company that’s worth nothing. Instead, offer equity to those who can dramatically move your business forward, but get advice about what percent makes sense at your current stage of growth. Equity, they say, is the most expensive compensation you can dole out (1% of your company when it becomes a $100MM company will be worth a million dollars!).

2. Partners. Choose your partners and co-founders wisely. They should complement your skills and pass both the beer and elevator tests. Is this person someone you’d want to hang out and have beers with? If you were stuck in an elevator with this person for 24 hours, would you murder them? You’ll be spending more time with your co-founders than you might with your family, so best to have a great relationship and high level of trust and respect.

3. Business Plans. Don’t dwell so much on the format and length of your plan, but rather on the concepts of the business, the product or service and your competitive advantage. You should know exactly what your customer looks like, what alternatives they have, what the value is of what you’re offering and where you’re going to find those customers. And if you don’t have all those answers, get yourself some partners or team members who can. An executive summary of 1-2 pages is best. It should explain the big picture as concisely as possible. Don’t drag anyone through the details of your product until you’ve completely nailed it at a high level. Also prepare a Kawasaki 10/20/30 presentation and the two sentence and three paragraph versions. You’ll need those for marketing and email conversations to get people interested in having conversations with you.

4. Investors. You’re going to need investors at some point. Hopefully later instead of sooner. But as CEO of your company, your role is chief fundraiser, so start building great relationships. Find a trusted few to be part of your inner circle to give you honest and direct feedback. It’s never too early to plant seeds and start conversations. But be sure your message is polished enough before you request the face to face meeting. It’s not as hard as you think to get meetings with investors. But it’s very hard to build a compelling enough story to make them part with their money. Practice your pitch a dozen times on friends and friendly investors before you start talking to your big target investors. Also, do not assume that the big VC is your only option. Angel investors and chunks of $10-20K are extremely viable. It's a lot easier to find a dozen people or more with $20K than it is to ask for large fractions of a million dollars from any investor.

At weBuild (http://webuildstartups.com), the Internet company accelerator where I’m a Principal, we are seeing more ideas and hearing about great things getting started in Columbus. One such idea came to us from an entrepreneur named Dave Cherry, previously of Limited Brands. His idea was simple: help sports teams and events sell more tickets. How? By offering deep discounts for seats that would normally go unsold. We brainstormed with his idea and helped Dave narrow his focus into something commercializable. TiXiT is now one of our portfolio companies and is launching today at http://www.tixitbox.com. Go check it out, sign up, and take a spin - it's a perfect example of what you can do when you bootstrap a company well.

I wish you the best of luck getting your own startup going. weBuild would like to hear about your best ideas. Submit them here at http://webuildstartups.com/apply.

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Did You Blink? 4 Leadership Trends You Can’t Afford to Miss

It’s been a crazy year. Bank implosions, wars, Adam Lambert not winning American Idol... craziness I tell you! It has also been a crazy year for leaders. Leading organizations through a turbulent economy has been a Herculean effort.

Fortunately for me, I sit in a position where I can watch leadership trends unfold across the many industries and companies we work with here at thoughtLEADERS. We’re blessed to have the opportunity to train some of the brightest client organizations out there.

This year, we’ve seen four major trends take center stage. If you’ve missed them, you’re missing huge opportunities to improve your organization. As a leader, you need every edge you can get so I encourage you to explore these trends and figure out how you can take advantage of them. So in no particular order, here are trends you can't miss as a leader:

Trend #1: Social Media and Expanded Use of teh Interwebz

Yes, I’m pandering by writing about this. Just saying the words “social media” guarantees your article will be forwarded and retweeted across the blogosphere. Try it – click the little “tweet” button at the top of this post ;). It’s nauseating to see how explosive this space has been and the plethora of “experts” it has produced. Many of those so-called-experts are charlatans and you need to tread cautiously in this space.

That said, social media’s explosivity is a major trend leaders must appreciate. Your teams are using these tools (Toobla, twitter, facebook, blogs – if you haven’t heard of these you need to check them out). They read blogs like this one (unless your IT organization is SO paranoid that it blocks any form of streaming media including blogs – and yes, I know several that do). Your competitors are using it too (some better than others).

Figure it out. Understand the medium. Know how to play and how to manage it. You need policies on it. The best policy I’ve heard so far was a one liner: “Don’t do anything stupid.” You can’t regulate this stuff to death. Embrace it.

Use social media for recruiting, business development, and market research. My firm has benefited greatly from embracing it (new customers, partners, and insights). If you’re not fully aboard the social media train, buy a ticket. And yes, I deliberately misspelled “teh Interwebz” above – if you spent more time online you’d know it’s a web-funny that all the hip kids are saying these days.

Trend #2: Innovation Caused by the “More With Less” Dynamic

I sat in a meeting the other day where a very senior leader was lamenting his charter to do more with less. Two sentences later he said the current challenging times were requiring him to innovate more but he didn’t have the money to innovate. Wow. I was speechless. Hello! McFly! Ever heard the phrase “necessity is the mother of invention?” PLATO said that back around 340 BC!

Technology and connectedness afford us unbelievable opportunities to innovate at ever-decreasing costs. Example: a colleague of mine has created a very cool learning platform called Emerging Leadership Circle. It makes accessing great leadership training incredibly affordable for organizations (head on over to ELC for a look-see). The innovative part is he’s leveraging great content providers from other companies and delivering the service in the format of video lessons for a fraction of what other training costs. Innovative.

Great organizations regularly find ways to innovate by looking at how they can do things better, faster, and cheaper. Look at what Intel and AMD have done for computing based on Moore’s law. They’ve generated incredible innovations stemming from a drive to make things cheaper and better.

Ask yourself how your organization can be more innovative. How can you blow up your business to simultaneously eliminate waste and create new opportunities?

Trend #3: People Are Our Most Valuable Resource (cough, cough)

This is one of the emptiest statements I regularly hear organizations espouse. When someone says this, I ask one penetrating question: can you show me the actions that back up that statement? Befuddled faces follow.

Saying people are valuable and showing they’re valuable are two very different things. The statement looks great on a recruiting brochure but if you’re not backing it up with action, your associates will quickly figure that out and head for greener pastures.

Before you say something stupid like “Unemployment is 10% so they’re not going to leave if I don’t invest in them” I’m going to ask another penetrating question: what are they going to do when the job market recovers? They’re going to bail on you. Your choice is to train them now or lose them later.

I run a leadership development training company. Folks regularly ask me “How’s business?” My response is always “Fantastic!” They’re confused by this because many organizations cut training budgets as soon as things get tough. Fortunately we serve clients who invest in their people regardless of the economic environment. These companies understand investing now gives them an edge later.

Are you really investing in your people and backing up the “most valuable resource” statement? Because your competitors are…

Trend #4: Letting Your People Do Their Jobs

Okay, you got me – this isn’t only a trend from this past year. It has been a trend forever (at least for leaders who “get it”). The trendy thing about it is that many organizations AREN’T doing it so the ones that are have an edge in the marketplace.

You hire people and spend gobs of money paying them. You may as well get some return on that investment. The only way you can get that return, however, is to make them do their jobs. Here’s the rub – the great leaders in the audience who read that last sentence winced at the way it was worded. Great leaders don’t “make” people do their jobs. Great leaders create environments where people are excited to do their jobs. They’re excited to go above and beyond to perform outstanding work.

I constantly see examples of leaders who do this well. I don’t care what industry you’re in – EVERY leader can create an environment where their people can shine. I’ve seen it happen in retail stores. I’ve seen it happen at beer distributors. I’ve seen it happen in the military. Unfortunately I’ve also seen my share of “leaders” who are really detail oriented control freaks masquerading as leaders.

Is empowerment REALLY happening in your organization? Why not? Go change that. Now. If you don’t, there might be another reason for your team to hate you on top of the 10 reasons they already hate you.

The Trend is Your Friend

Stock market investors are familiar with the phrase “the trend is your friend.” Hopefully you, as a leader, are at the forefront of the aforementioned four trends. If you’re not, there’s still time to jump on them and do what you do best: lead your organizations to a better place.

- Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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How Blowing Up Your Business Can Drive Innovation

Last week I pounded on folks for being wimps and not making decisions. Out of fairness, many of you want to move your organizations forward but might not have all the tools or resources to do so, Given that, I'd like to provide you some explosives.

These are the good kind of explosives. The kind that enable you to blow up your business model and find innovative new ways of doing things. Too many times we get trapped by our routines. Have you ever tried to change your personal routine? Uncomfortable and difficult, right? Now multiply that by the number of people in your organization and you have a sense for why nothing ever changes.

Sometimes the only way to change things is to (mentally) throw away everything you're doing and declare a "do over." In doing so, new opportunities might pop out and innovative ways of doing things can emerge.

Far too often, we wave our arms at innovation. We spew consultospeak like "think outside the box, push the envelope, and break the paradigm" with absolutely no clue what those words mean or how to do pursue those tasks. For those of you who know thoughtLEADERS well, we see it as our charge to provide you practical tools for taking action (shameless plug: we teach classes on this stuff too).

Enough blathering - here's how you can (constructively) blow up your business and find potentially innovative new ideas:

When we talk about blowing up the business, we look at three kinds of explosives: blowing up the business model, blowing up your revenues, and blowing up your costs. The methodology requires you to simply ask yourself some expansive yet difficult questions. The rules of good brainstorming apply (no judging, no holding back ideas, and make the brainstorm time-bound or you'll never stop generating ideas).

At first blush, these questions will look ludicrous. It's deliberate. They're expansive. They're designed to knock you out of the land of incrementalism and into a broader, more innovative space. Here are a few thought starters you can use:

Blow Up the Business Model
- If you had a “do over,” what would you build differently? Why?
- If you moved this business to India or China (both customers and operations), how would you restructure to be more profitable?
- How would you double profits within 2 years?

Blow Up Your Revenues
- Who could create more value with our customer base than we can? Why?
- How would you triple revenues within 5 years?
- What are the 10 products we aren’t offering our customers that we should be?

Blow Up Your Costs
- How would you run this business with 2/3 fewer people?
- How could you eliminate your job?
- What is the most wasteful thing we do and why haven’t we stopped doing it?

We've identified many other questions along this vein. This is only a start. As you answer these questions, new ideas should emerge. Challenges to the status quo should spring forth from these conversations. Those ideas are the heart of innovation.

These questions should make you feel uncomfortable. If you're doing it right, they should feel like crazy talk. The bottom line is, until you start challenging your everyday routines and pushing hard to change them, you'll NEVER make the huge strides you're looking for in innovation.

Every organization needs an occasional hard shove to break out of its comfort zone. Sometimes the market gives you that shove (which is always unpleasant). Sometimes that shove comes from within. Consider this post a good, hard, constructive shove.

What questions have you found useful to ask to drive change in your organization? How do you generate innovative solutions?

- Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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