Coloring Outside the Lines. Jeff Tobe
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Название: Coloring Outside the Lines
Автор: Jeff Tobe
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Маркетинг, PR, реклама
isbn: 9781613392959
isbn:
Someone yelled “GO!” I stepped on the rock with my right foot. I pulled myself up with my right hand. I reached out for that naked twig and couldn’t reach it. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t reach it. At that point, my new partner yelled at me, “Grab the stupid branch”. Straining, I replied, “Joe, I can’t…….I’m going to die!”
Please understand that I was only two and one half feet off the ground. I had one foot still on the ground. But, I was going to die!
As I was reaching for that branch, I found a rock sticking out at about ten feet that was easier to seize. As I tested it, I found that it would hold my weight, so I pulled myself up. As I did, Joe yelled at me again. “No. No. No. That’s not right.” Through clenched teeth, I retorted, “It’s right for me, Joe”.
He yelled at me the entire way up the face of that rock. Did I make it to the top? Absolutely! Did I win? Absolutely not! I am still bitter about that.
What does this experience have to do with creativity-in-business? Everything!
I learned a very valuable lesson while clinging to that rock and being harangued by Joe. As long as I had the knowledge I needed, as long as I used the tools he gave me (ie. the belays—the ropes), and as long as the goal (getting to the top of the rock) didn’t change, WHO CARES HOW I GET THERE?
So many companies with whom I have worked, feel it necessary to micro manage every project. If they would simply educate their team, give them a clear understanding of the goals and present them with the right tools, WHO CARES HOW THEY GET THERE?
I encourage you to listen to your environment for whispers of opportunity. Your clients, internal and external, are telling you the second right answer to reaching your goals, if you would just listen!
THE OPPORTUNITY
Reframing Your Professional Problems
I remember calling my office one day while I was traveling. At the time, we had seven or eight account representatives and I recall speaking with all of them on the telephone. After the niceties were out of the way, they all started with the exact same four words: “I have a problem.”
“Jeff, I have a problem with an order.”
“Jeff, I am having a problem with a client.”
“I have a problem with the receptionist”
“I have a problem with the computer.”
“I have a problem with the toilet.”
I got very sick of the word ‘problem”. Think about it. If you have a problem, you automatically have an obstacle to get over. So, in all of my wisdom, I went to our regular Monday morning meeting the following week and challenged everyone to come up with another word to replace the word “problem.”
They did it. They decided on the word “Situation”. That week when I called in, I heard things like,
“Jeff, I have a situation with the receptionist”
“Jeff, I have a situation with the toilet.”
I felt more like the commander of a naval ship than the owner of my own business. Back to the drawing board.
The following week they came up with a word that has literally changed the way we do business. The word? Challenge!
I know you know the word, but why is it that we won’t use it? I have a theory. I think human beings love to have problems. I am not trying to be facetious. I think we rely on it as a great excuse. You see, if the problem is big enough, the obstacle is big enough. And, if the obstacle is big enough, the excuse is justified. I’ve heard it again and again.
“Sorry boss. Too big an obstacle. I tried but I just couldn’t get it done.”
Instead, why not change it to the word “challenge”? From every problem comes an obstacle. From every challenge comes an opportunity. So, if we can discover the challenges we face—personally or professionally—we can discover the opportunity it presents to us.
THE HARVEYPRINCIPLE
How to See Invisible Opportunities
Peter Drucker, management guru, said “THE ONLY WAY TO PREDICT THE FUTURE IS TO CREATE IT”.
In these times of turbulent change, you have a unique challenge and a unique opportunity in front of you because you have the capacity to literally create your own future from scratch---literally re-invent it so to speak. You have to do this with your business or your responsibilities…re-invent what you do. In whatever industry or profession you find yourself, the need to shatter old models of doing business, is crucial.
The main principle of creating a more positive, productive and profitable
future is something probably fewer than one percent of you--at this point in your career—really understand. I certainly do not mean to be condescending in any way, but I assume that most of you have probably not taken the time to even consider this. This is a principle that, once you understand it, goes far beyond positive thinking, far beyond goal setting, far beyond any of the traditional rules of success. If you understand and apply this principle, you will never be afraid of the future. You will always know that no matter what happens, you can come out of it profitably and productively.
The number one principle in creating a profitable, productive and positive outcome is what I refer to as the HARVEY PRINCIPLE! How many of you remember the imaginary six-foot tall white rabbit, Harvey, from that wonderful, 1950 Jimmy Stewart movie of the same name? It suggested that perhaps the one with the imagination, the innovative one, was not the crazy one after all.
We have to learn how to see the invisible; to see the invisible opportunities where other people see only visible limitations. To see the invisible potential of the people with whom we work—to see the invisible ideas that change the world. The building in which you work, started as an invisible, intangible, idea in the mind of a single person. That person’s ability to see the invisible---what was not apparent in physical form---ultimately produced a structure. Every great invention starts in the mind—in the invisible. Every great entrepreneur sees invisible possibilities---untapped needs--- in a marketplace that needs to be served. The most important skill you can learn in creating your own future, is learning the HARVEY PRINCIPLE (like Elwood P. Dowd) and seeing what others can not.
Fortunately, many of your competitors are suffering from what may be an incurable and deadly disease. This disease is a mental disease not a physical one and no one has been known to die from it physically….only financially! It’s been known to be hazardous to the financial wealth of many individuals and corporations alike. Never fear! I have been able to diagnose this disease. Maybe you can arrest the symptoms—recognize them within yourself or your organization so you won’t have to pay thousands to see a specialist after it’s too late for you or your company.
It’s caused by a virus with the initials B.P.I.D.S.—BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS’ INNOVATION DEFICIENCY СКАЧАТЬ