Make It Happen

Well, I finally broke down and decided to start a blog. This is the very first entry - a test to make sure that the technology is actually working...

Last night, I met a delightful individual, Tracy Slotin, who works on the road delivering seminars for financial types (How to be a great controller, etc). I was going over my own business plan, and she suggested a different type of planning.

Where do you want your business to be in a 100 years? Write it down. Where do you want it to be in 50 years? Write it down. In 25? 10? 5? 2? next year? in 6 months? 3 months? 1 month, etc. Then next to the result, briefly write one or two things that you must do to achieve that result. If you follow this religiously, you will know exactly what needs to happen this week and next. The beauty of this system is that when you hit each of these milestones, you'll be able to compare the actual with the plan, and assess your progress against a specific milestone.

We can use this same approach when it comes to our career. I am pretty sure where my career will be 100 years from now: 6 feet under. It will work if you start with a number closer to 30 or 40.

Earlier today, I was at Report on Business Television, taping a few segments for some upcoming shows. In between, I spent time chatting with the host, Anne Gaviola. I made an off-hand remark that she must meet a number of fascinating guests; her reply impressed me.

She said that indeed that she did meet many interesting people, and she always makes a point of learning something new from each of them. I could just imagine all that she has picked up, and it reminded me of the need to make an effort to do the same with each new person I met during the day.

(For the record, she had asked me how I "fit it all in". I answered that those who spend time thinking about their time, often find they have more of it. And the same is true about money, relationships, and pretty much everything else in life.)

One of the greatest benefits of an open plan office is that people share information without the need to have meetings. Overhearing telephone conversations and impromptu discussions are great examples of "constructive eavesdropping" that can help the organization move forward.

On the other hand, an open plan office deprives you of any sort of privacy - and can be very distracting.

This morning's Globe and Mail has a great article about the new face of work environments. I provide a number of concrete suggestions on how to get the benefits - and mitigate the negatives. The article is also available on Workopolis.

I'm just about half way through a fascinating book, called "Linked", by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi. In it, he explores how networks grow: whether they be social networks, biological networks, the internet, or web sites.

One of his most fascinating points is that the study of an individual node - whether it be a cancer cell, an atom, a web site, or a person - is less important than understanding the connections between them. No matter how perfect the microscope (or how big the search engine), it is the interrelationships between the individual items that often determine behavior.

From a business or career perspective, we know this intuitively: it is our relationships with others that determine our success. This is true whether we are dealing with clients or suppliers (a relationship of trust will often close the deal) or with a prospective employer (who is referred through our network.)

Recently, I have started to use a web-based social-networking site, called LinkedIn. Not sure exactly where the ultimate benefit will come from, but strengthening my own connections (and using nifty software like this) can't be all that bad an investment.

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During the summer I spent an intensive 18 days in China. I was struck by so many things: the friendliness of the people I met, their incredible work ethic, and the vibrancy of the many Chinese cultures that I found.

And as many other world travelers know, China is a wonderful place to buy just about anything, really cheaply. In fact, I purchased three sets of ingenious roller blades that snap on to the back of your sneakers - for less than $2 each.

Fast forward to today: I am writing this entry from a hotel room in Washington DC, having just returned from the local mall. Walking around, I saw a boutique selling - you guessed it - the very same roller blades I purchased in China. The only difference, beyond the language of the packaging, was the price: $50 each.

Another example: I picked up a bag of potato chips for a snack the week before, this time in Toronto. The chips were made and packaged... in China. But the brand name was the local one I had been buying for years.

What's the insight, beyond the obvious issue that things are "cheaper" in China?

It isn't just information, or financial markets, or call centers that have no borders (and can be outsourced), but it is manufacturing and distribution as well. Both of these companies - the roller blades and the potato chip maker - fundamentally changed their supply chain linkages to remain competitive. And they had to retool - or change - their people to work in this new "flat" world.

Remember the poor quality (and very inexpensive) Japanese products of the early-mid 1970's? Now think about Toyota's impressive movement into the ranks of the biggest (and best) carmakers. Tsunami is a Japanese word, but it applies equally today to China: just wait.

Randall Craig
www.RandallCraig.com