When you have a diverse team of people with different skills and abilities who are all accomplished in their chosen fields, they will likely see the world differently. (This is a feature, not a bug!) Imagine asking your sales leader, head of production, and controller to review your company’s financial statements. Will they agree on…
As you sit down to plan your day, you have some choices to make… You can spend your time on “sure things,” tasks you know how to do and are confident you can complete today. That feels good (I got something done), but you have no leverage on that time. You do one hour’s work;…
If your work is successful, it generates more work; as a result, the concept of “finishing your work” is a contradiction in terms so blatant and so dangerous that it can lead to nervous breakdowns—because it puts the pressure on the wrong places in your mind and habits. Kenneth Atchity, as quoted in Beyond Entrepreneurship…
I was at a holiday party last month, and it was full of agency owners. As I walked through the crowd, I must have heard this snippet of conversation a dozen times. “How are you?” “Oh, I’m so busy, just slammed. It’s really overwhelming…” Each time I heard it, I got more disturbed. Why do…
In the last three years, I’ve worked with several founders who made their businesses smaller, intentionally. Their businesses had grown in ways that became a burden. For some, it was generating the work to cover everyone’s salaries. For others, their size created a firm that was no longer a fit for the work they loved…
Most of the owners I work with are fully identified with their businesses. The business is their life, their identity. When the business is going well, they are euphoric; when it’s going poorly, they are despondent. The success of the business is their success, and any failure is their failure. Without their efforts, the business…
I don’t mean a little bit fun. Like fun when something great happens or when you have a breakthrough. I mean fun all the time. What if work wasn’t hard, or stressful, or overwhelming, or burdensome. What if it was as much fun as playing a game? What would have to happen to make that…
I was cleaning up the kitchen one night after everyone was asleep. I had made quite a mess cooking that night (as is my habit), and so by the time I was drying the last pot, I was a little bleary-eyed. So when smoke rose out of one of the pots I was drying, it…
“It’s about getting the best people, retaining them, nurturing a creative environment and helping to find a way to innovate” – Marissa Mayer You want your agency to grow. You also want it to be a great place to work, where smart, creative people thrive and do great work. You might also be one of…
Frank McClung responded to my email from last week titled “Your piano teacher was right!” and it was such a terrific insight I wanted to share it with you all: Love this, Brad. I’ve actually been thinking about this topic after watching this film on the Air Force SPECOPS qualifications…730 days of training if you…