"Rifle or Shotgun?"

Rifle or Shotgun?

 

Mark Zuckerburg said (I'm paraphrasing) to a "would be purchaser" of Facebook.com who had just offered him and insane amount of money, "I might not ever have an idea this good again, so I better keep working on this one."

Mark is dealing with a rifle. It's his one "Big Idea" and man is it a good one. In a social-media-defining sweep, Mark created not a web site that provides you what you need, but a platform for you to decide what you need, what you want, who you want to know, and more.

 

Rifling ideas creates focus. Focus is powerful because, as I proposed in my theory of "Magnetic Goals", focus aligns particles, people, resources, luck, probability, and effort to bring about your objectives. We've all operated without focus, often we go enitre days or weeks, listlessly working on tasks, but always feeling we're missing the point.

 

Goal-setting, planning, and strategic meetings sharpen your focus. Task lists, priorities, delegations, follow-up, and measurements enhance your focus. Rifling your ideas is key to executing the vision you choose. This is when  you make it real.

 

I, however, am a shotgun. I should clarify, by saying I am most productive and valuable as a shotgun. Where rifling is for execution of implementation, shotguns are best for the creation process. i had a friend recently ask me, after we received the final payment for selling the wireless Internet service provider we built from 2001 to 2008, "Wasn't that one of the best things you've ever done?"

 

His question sent me on a reminisent trip through the memories of all the things, products, attractions, programs, marketing plans, sports, performances, systems, emails, business ventures, and relationships I'd ever "done". (This is a worthwhile journey down memory lane for an hour or two of a plane ride, long drive, or hike. I thoroughly recommend it to you.)

 

In the face of all "I'd ever done", I realized that I am a shotgun. We have tried so many ideas out there I was flabergasted. I was also amazed at our failure rate. We have failed every way you can possibly imagine, but all the failures were on our raod to success.

 

Thomas Edison was famously asked about how demoralizing it must have been to fail over 1,000 times before inventing the carbon fliament lightbulb. He replied, "Fail?! I now know over 1,000 ways that don't work!" I can identify with Tom. I know at least a thousand things that don't work, but we've got thousand more to try.

 

Choose your weapon. It's OK to be a shotgun and it's OK to be a rifle. Every organization needs both and every individual needs to be both, often within the same day. The only source of conflict is when you choose the wrong weapon.

 

Choose your rifle when:

You just need to get real work done.

You are working on a repetitive task.

You already have the plan formulated.

You are giving instructions to employees.

 

Choose your shotgun when:

You need some new ideas.

You are testing alternatives.

You need to improve a function.

You are brainstorming.

 

Weaponize your employees. Don't you love it when your employees innovate for you? It is truly awesome when a frontline staffer comes up with a sales idea, procedure, merchandising arrangement, or efficient system that I never would have imagined. Wholeheartedly encourage them to do so everyday and implement their ideas, as appropriate, to give them ownership in the workplace. I know Mark at Saunders Farm brings employees together specifically to collect their ideas and bring them into the creative process.

 

There are also times for the boys to "just do it the way I told them to do it", because it's the best way. Explain the difference to your employees so they know they aren't being penalized for creativity, but that this is just a task that requires a "rifle".  

 

Rifle or shotgun? As you get out there this season, choose your weapon wisely. There is a time for each and true wisdom is knowing what time it is:-)

 

Have a great week.

Hugh

Have a great week. - Hugh

PS If you missed the "Goal without a plan is a wish" live event, we recorded it for you to view anytime!

Reach us at: www.mazecatalog.com

Northeast Adventure Tour

Hugh, The Maze Master

Hugh's Reviews

Each week Hugh reviews something, anything really, that has provoked a thoughtful insight.

Northeast Adventure 2010. I love meeting new clients and seeing old friends and that's what I did last Sunday through Wednesday.

I drove 1,400 miles, saw 7 clients, 2 college friends, and listened to some great podcasts and audiobooks in 3.5 days.

The clients. My insurance man called me on my way out of town and asked if eventually I'd have someone to do all this running around for me. I told him NO WAY!

Meeting innovative people face-to-face to "nerd out" on entertainment farming I will never delegate. I only hope they learn as much from me as I learn from the farmers and friends with whom I visited.

Here are some of the nuggets:
Peter (farmer): Scrappy Irish Catholic with the deck stacked against him growing up owns two garden centers and just bought his third farm.

What I learned from him: Never give up no matter what people say! Most barriers and doubts are completely fabricated by unimaginative people who don't have the guts to really go for it.

Dave: Friend, pastor in Princeton, NJ.

What I learned from him: Small, community churches are struggling to meet the new spiritual needs of busy people. Many  beautiful, old historic churches are closing, but innovative groups of cross-denominational pastors are looking at ways to revitalize congregations.

Charles: Young lad who's accepted a ton of responsibility in his family operation.

What I learned from him: They run a tour package for shoppers out of New York City in which the motorcoach of guests arrives, they pick a bag of apples, hop back on the bus and go to the outlet stores. 50 bags of apples per bus!

Rich: Runs a beautiful garden center in Rhode Island.

What I learned from him: Create a landmark. He is the only place in the world with 4,000lb hanging baskets! He hangs them out by his busy road and is known as "the place with those giant hanging baskets."

More next week!

Hugh

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hughmc@mazecatalog.com

"Enough is enough."

You are a driven person. As independent business owners, we have to be. "There's no such thing as spontaneous combustion. You have to light yourself on fire." "Early bird gets the worm." "If it is to be, it is up to me."

We have to self-motivate because we don't report to anyone else. If we don't make it happen every single day, it won't happen at all. Generally, we like it that way.
Goals are our masters. It's great to be a hard worker, but you have to know what your working for to be successful. We don't report to people, but we do report to our goals.

Self motivation is the gas in the car, goals are the road map to the destination. We need to see where we're going, so we don't simply spin our wheels; expending energy without making progress.
Open-ended goals. Goal-setting and self-motivation are both indispensable tools for success, but there is an often overlooked trap set for us on the path to success: Open-ended goals.

When we get caught up in doing the work, we often set aside a strict goal-setting framework in exchange for open-ended goals. An open-ended goal is "We need to make more sales." or "We to get more tasks done." or "We need to improve our farm park."

The nebulous nature of these open-ended goals drives us to do "just one more task before I can leave for the day" or "You may have had a big Saturday sales day, but today sure is slow." or "Sure we sold a bunch today, but back in 1997 we had a bigger day." or "It's nice that you got a lot done today, but it's not nearly enough."

Enough is enough. As you set you goals for the season, for the year, or for the week, it is important to set a point at which enough is enough. You need to have realistic expectations for you and your crew.

Ex. The corn planter, using "perfect math", is 30ft wide, drives 4.5 miles per hour, can therefore cover 18 acres per hour or 216 acres per 12 hour day. So, naturally, you set your crew's goal of planting 1,000 acres in 5 days. (Shoot, you even gave them an extra half day to play with!)

Right. (You should probably berate yourself and the employees if that doesn't happen, too.) Crazy? Yes! Ridiculous expectations? You bet! And I can tell you, we do this to ourselves all the time!

Setting "enough". We're ambitious people by nature or we wouldn't be in business for ourselves. Yes, we want more, more more, but as you set you goals, you have to set "enough" as part of the process.

There is a huge push in business media around the concept of "work-life balance", or managing to live a little between your hours at work. Many lament over the "Blackberry/Crackberry Syndrome" of people staying attached to work 24/7. These are people who have not set "enough" as they set their goals.

Set all your goals. Still, easier 'blogged' than done. I am a goal setter, chronic over-estimator of what can be done in a day, and I really struggle with "I can get one more thing done before I leave."

The only cure I've found is to set ALL of your goals. By that, I mean set non-work goals as you set work goals.

Examples:

• I set a goal to workout everyday and it ended up that that meant getting up at 5:30AM to do it (though get very few interruptions at that time.)
• I set a goal to be with my family for as many meals as possible. That means that even if I leave work for lunch (almost) everyday at 12(-ish), I'm still achieving a goal!
• I set a goal to treat my employees fairly and with appropriate expectations. This means being realistic about tasks, abilities, time-tables, and coaching through mistakes.
  

Contentment. Contentment has gone out of fashion. The self-development world, from Jesus to Oprah, spends an inordinate amount of time on the concept because it is the defining feature of finding "enough" in your life.

The world preaches loudly "more, more, more" and quite frankly, I want it! As humans, we are assured that our desire for more will never go away. I don't think it should, but it cannot be the ruling force in your life.

This week, say "Enough is enough." Set good, solid goals, then set "Enough" purposely for those goals for the morning, day, week, month, and season.

Enjoy "Enough". Look around and be happy, be content even if it's just for a few minutes at the end of the day. If you did your best, got stuff done, then trust me; it's enough.
Have a great week. - Hugh

PS If you missed the "Goal without a plan is a wish" live event, we recorded it for you to view anytime!

Reach us at: www.mazecatalog.com