Websters defines Prosperity as this: To succeed in an enterprise or activity; to become strong and flourishing; to thrive in your environment. The root word from the Greek language means: Success in reaching a goal or to have a profitable journey. In the old Hebrew language the word has this meaning: To rush forward; To break-out; To go over the top; To be great; to become profitable; to CAUSE great effects.
Now I don't know about you but I really like that Hebrew definition of Prosperity!
The problem arises with thinking about defining prosperity in the business world we have today. It seems as all the rules have totally changed - or have they? Remember back in "The Good Old Days" when you needed folks to learn about us or our products from just plain "word of mouth?" We used to say that we needed "X" number of people to try us, know about us, then LIKE us. We then asked each of them to EACH tell 6 - 10 of their friends, who then tried us, liked what we did, then they told 6 - 10 of their friends and slowly we experienced prosperity. Much as a rock thrown into a pond, the larger your ring grows the stronger you felt prosperity.
Are the times today really any different? I will agree that the audience is much larger and easily reached by many more competitors, but I believe the same simple formula for prosperity still is valid. I see a period of time - call it a "seed time" and then a period that we can call a "Harvest time." Farmers used to always say that the harvest will SURELY come if we plant the right seeds and nurture them properly. It seems to be widely accepted that if you plant CORN seeds you will get a harvest crop of CORN and not beans. I believe the Bible refers to this as Reap what you Sow! Another TRUTH!
So where am I headed with this and why? I see many people and companies trying to move directly to "Harvest" without planting the proper "Seeds" and expecting something different than what they planted. If you want your customers to care about and for you and your business you must first care about them. Examine what THEY want and desire, then design a better method or product to fill the need and I suggest you will STILL TODAY Harvest PROSPERITY!
These are my thoughts, what are yours? Let me know, I promise to reply.
Steve
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Build a Better Anything in 4 easy steps.
First allow me to apologize for being offline several weeks, we've had vacation and moved our USG Atlanta offices so I just didn't force myself to post. My bad! Sorry!
On to today's topic: I took a class not too long ago and this post came from much of what I learned in that class. I was thinking and considering what all we discussed during that class with a specific goal in mind and found that the same basic 4 steps will work for almost any situation that you want to accomplish anything.
Here are the 4 steps with a brief explanation for each step.
1. ANALYZE - First look at the situation, decide if you are working with FACTS or EMOTIONS. Then challenge ABSOLUTES, are they really absolute? Confront STUPIDITY, others or my own! Ask: "What am I missing?" "What energizes me?" "What de-energizes me?"
2. SIMPLIFY - Most of us need far less than we think/believe. Examine complicated or complex situations and see how you can change them. What eats up your time? Can you simplify that? What can you back away from without hurting your mission? Learn to say "NO" to many requests.
3. DIVERSIFY - Now write down 3 to 5 SPECIFIC and MEASURABLE, REALISTIC goals or results that you want. Do you have the steps or tools available to accomplish this task? IF not, who or where will you go to get what you need?
4. ACTION - Reduce your strategic plan now into writing. Make it specific. Have someone else read your plan to make sure it is easy to understand and implement. Establish a "PROCESS" that is able to take care of itself without you investing so much time "DOING" the plan, your job is to monitor and track the plan. Establish a system of checks and balances so that when the wheels start to come off the track it is quickly and easily discovered and corrected. This will also include a regular review and evaluation so that if you discover a problem you can easily start back at step one and get it handled.
Now this may or may not sound simple to you, but to me it is, and it quickly clarifies my thinking on almost any situation. These 4 easy steps lead me to discover answers fairly quickly, but most importantly they help me accomplish one major item.
TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR THINGS AND HOLDING MYSELF ACCOUNTABLE. If I can finish the second half of 2011 doing this well I will feel that this year is a success.
These are my thoughts on problem solving, what works for you?
Steve
On to today's topic: I took a class not too long ago and this post came from much of what I learned in that class. I was thinking and considering what all we discussed during that class with a specific goal in mind and found that the same basic 4 steps will work for almost any situation that you want to accomplish anything.
Here are the 4 steps with a brief explanation for each step.
1. ANALYZE - First look at the situation, decide if you are working with FACTS or EMOTIONS. Then challenge ABSOLUTES, are they really absolute? Confront STUPIDITY, others or my own! Ask: "What am I missing?" "What energizes me?" "What de-energizes me?"
2. SIMPLIFY - Most of us need far less than we think/believe. Examine complicated or complex situations and see how you can change them. What eats up your time? Can you simplify that? What can you back away from without hurting your mission? Learn to say "NO" to many requests.
3. DIVERSIFY - Now write down 3 to 5 SPECIFIC and MEASURABLE, REALISTIC goals or results that you want. Do you have the steps or tools available to accomplish this task? IF not, who or where will you go to get what you need?
4. ACTION - Reduce your strategic plan now into writing. Make it specific. Have someone else read your plan to make sure it is easy to understand and implement. Establish a "PROCESS" that is able to take care of itself without you investing so much time "DOING" the plan, your job is to monitor and track the plan. Establish a system of checks and balances so that when the wheels start to come off the track it is quickly and easily discovered and corrected. This will also include a regular review and evaluation so that if you discover a problem you can easily start back at step one and get it handled.
Now this may or may not sound simple to you, but to me it is, and it quickly clarifies my thinking on almost any situation. These 4 easy steps lead me to discover answers fairly quickly, but most importantly they help me accomplish one major item.
TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR THINGS AND HOLDING MYSELF ACCOUNTABLE. If I can finish the second half of 2011 doing this well I will feel that this year is a success.
These are my thoughts on problem solving, what works for you?
Steve
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