Monday Mornings with Madison
February 27, 2012

Keeping All the Plates Spinning

Issue #221

There is circus act in which a person starts a plate spinning on a stick.  Then next to it, he starts another plate spinning.  And then another and another until the person has dozens of plates all spinning on sticks at the same time.  Every so often, the person has to go back to the original plate and spin it some more as it loses momentum and starts to wobble before crashing to the ground.  In order to keep all the plates spinning, the person must race back and forth amongst the plates, adding some velocity as each plate, in its turn, begins to slow down.  The Guinness World Record for plate spinning was achieved in 1996 with 108 plates spinning simultaneously.  Anyone who has ever watched plate spinning feels the anxiety build as plates on the opposite ends look like they are about to teeter off their sticks, but the plate spinner races back and forth just in time to give each another spin. Continue reading →

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February 20, 2012

Impatience

Issue #220

They say patience is a virtue. Yet, in today’s fast-paced world, impatience may also be a virtue. Impatience has led to many innovations. Once upon a time, the U.S. Postal System was considered one of the most efficient in the world. First class mail could be sent across the country in just 2-3 days. But impatience led people to develop and adopt email as a much faster form of written communication. First class mail, now dubbed snail mail, was relegated to greeting cards and hard copies of official documents. This impatience to work faster has also led to other innovations such as the fax machine, document scanner and software that allow documents to be uploaded FTP sites. The entire industry of overnight package delivery is another child of impatience. And, with each step business takes to do things faster, society’s patience grows shorter and actually encourages even more impatience. Continue reading →

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February 13, 2012

Inflexibility

Issue #219

When Apple went shopping for chip makers years ago for their iPhones, Apple didn’t select Intel chips.  Why?  One of the primary reasons given by Jobs was that the Intel Corporation was “just really slow. They’re like a steamship, not very flexible.”  What he meant is that the company was slow to change and adapt according to its customers’ needs.  The comment reflects the importance, in today’s rapid-paced world, of being flexible and nimble.  In business, inflexibility is viewed as the ultimate Achilles heel. Continue reading →

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February 6, 2012

“No” Problem

Issue #218

Most overworked, overloaded and highly stressed people all share one fundamental characteristic (let’s just call it what it is… a flaw).  They don’t know how to say “No.”   They might be able to muster the chutzpah to say an unassertive “no” once in a while, but they either don’t stand their ground afterward, or they just don’t say “no” often enough.   While a “Can Do” attitude or a “Never say No” disposition is generally considered by managers to be a desirable quality in staff, the truth is that those “always say yes” people often take on more than they can chew and that can be a problem both for the employee and the manager. Continue reading →

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January 30, 2012

The Power of Procrastination

Issue #217

Procrastination has been defined as the act of replacing high-priority or important actions with tasks of lower priority, and putting off important tasks to a later time.  Some industrial psychologists consider it procrastination if the action is counterproductive, needless, and delaying.  Others consider it procrastination if a course of action is voluntarily delayed despite expecting to be worse off for the delay.

Regardless of the definition, procrastination and procrastinators are generally viewed in a purely negative light.  However, the truth is that every person procrastinates sometimes.  But, according to Psychology Today, only about 20 percent of people are true procrastinators… those who consistently avoid difficult tasks and deliberately look for distractions.  How do you know if you or one of your employees is part of the 20% that are true procrastinators?  And, if so, is procrastination always a bad thing?

Continue reading →

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January 23, 2012

Be Unreasonable!!

Issue #216

In business negotiations and political discussions, people are often urged to ‘be reasonable’ if they stake out a position that seems untenable or challenging.  Being reasonable is billed in polite society as a virtue.  Indeed, most people would consider it an insult, or at least an affront, to be accused of being ‘unreasonable.’   Reasonableness is seen as the quintessential characteristic of a civilized and educated person.  We always want to be reasonable and seem reasonable to others.

The only problem is that being ‘reasonable’ will only get you so far in life.  If you want to go further and take your business or career — or some other equally important aspect of your life — to a whole new level (not just the next incremental level), you need to go far beyond being reasonable.  To achieve a great breakthrough or make a quantum leap forward, you need delve into the realm of the unreasonable. Continue reading →

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January 16, 2012

Competition: The Best Medicine

Issue #215
Ask most any business owner or manager about their competition and they are likely to spout off a litany of criticism and complaints about ‘those other companies’ and probably rant about one rival in particular. Entrepreneurs who take the high road and conduct themselves with dignity may not tell customers what they really think of their competition, but you can bet that privately they can list every shortcoming of their fiercest competitor.  In fact, in certain industries – where the fight for market share or even survival is most fierce — C-O-M-P-E-T-I-T-I-O-N is the longest four-letter word in the English language.  Just ask anyone who works at Apple about IBM.  Lays Potato Chips vs. Doritos.  Harvard vs. Yale.  Coke vs. Pepsi.  They don’t call it “the cola wars” for nothing.

Most organizations think of competition as the unavoidable and most unfortunate evil of doing business.  There probably isn’t a business leader alive who hasn’t thought, at least once, ‘If only my product or service was the only game in town.’  The thought is that doing business would be paradise were it not for competition… or a particular competitor.  After all, while competition may be great for customers – offering choice and driving down price — it is really nothing but a pain for business owners.  Right?  Wrong. Continue reading →

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January 9, 2012

Something Old; Something New; Something Borrowed… and Now Something True Blue

Issue #214

Part 3 – Ten Tried and Tested Business Fundamentals for Success

For the last two weeks, we took an old English rhyme “Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, And A Sixpence in your Shoe.” and applied it business.  We started by examining the old – but valuable – marketing strategy of PR to promote brand continuity and investigated a new, related marketing trend called Brand Journalism that is helping customers connect to businesses in a new way.   Then we borrowed the strategy of Corporate Giving as a way to help businesses connect with and engage consumers. 

However, sometimes the smartest thing a business can do is go back to the basics.  Despite the many changes in technology, communications, and marketing over the last 25 years, the fundamentals of running a sound business remain unchanged.  This week, we’ll look at some ‘true blue’ business practices essential to any organization.  These ten strategies are a must for long-term business success.  Continue reading →

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January 2, 2012

After Something Old and Something New…. Something Borrowed

Issue #213

Part 2 – Borrowing the Successful Business Strategy of Corporate Giving

The old English rhyme “Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, And A Sixpence in your Shoe.” was told to brides on their wedding day.  With a look toward 2012, we tried to apply this wedding lore to a bright business future.  We started last week by examining an old – but valuable – marketing strategy to promote brand continuity and investigated a new, related marketing trend that is helping customers connect to the business brand in a new way.

This week, we’ll look at ‘something borrowed’, symbolic of happiness borrowed from a new family.  We’ll borrow a wise business strategy – that of corporate giving – as a way to connect with the community, engage consumers and stand apart from the competition.  It is a strategy that has proven profitable for many companies, large and small… and even for one savvy start-up.  Continue reading →

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December 26, 2011

Something Old. Something New.

Issue #212

Part 1 – Mixing Old and New Strategies To Achieve Success

There was an old English rhyme that said “Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, And A Sixpence in your Shoe.”  It was told to brides on their wedding day.  Something old represented continuity.  Something new offered optimism for the future.  Something borrowed symbolized borrowed happiness that came with becoming part of a new family.  Something blue stood for love and loyalty.  And, a sixpence in your shoe was meant as a wish for good fortune and prosperity.  The tradition was that brides who did these things on their wedding day would have a happy and successful marriage.

Most business owners and entrepreneurs surely hope for the same happiness and success in business as brides do in marriage.  For the next two weeks, we’ll apply the saying to business as we think about what has worked in the past and what new things to try in 2012.  This week, we’ll start by rethinking an old – but valuable – marketing strategy that helps promote brand continuity.  We’ll also investigate a new marketing trend that is helping customers connect to businesses in a new way, generating a new optimism about brand marketing for the future. Continue reading →

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