I'm a great believer in lifelong learning, and recommend that professionals devote 30% of their learning time outside their field of experience. The reason is simple: Developing expertise in seemingly unrelated areas gives you a unique skill mix and competitive edge.
In that regard, I'm pleased to invite you to join me for three fabulous learning events.
COMPLIMENTARY INVITATION TO THE CHICAGO RESOURCE PLANNING SUMMIT
In times when resources are scarce, every professional can benefit from understanding the art and science of resource planning. I'll be among a dozen thought leaders on a variety of timely topics being presented at the Resource Planning Summit in Chicago, June 29-30 (www.ResourcePlanningSummit.com). I'm doing both a pre-conference management session and speaking on EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN ACTION as well as a closing session.
The registration fee is $995; but I still have a couple of complimentary tickets (you would cover travel arrangements). Check out the URL and if interested, Just drop me a note, tell me why you'd like to be there, and you may be one of my guests!
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PROJECT MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE IN MONTREAL
If you are in IT, you'll want to be in Montreal June 9th-10th for Project Management Institute (PMI's) Information Systems Interest Group Conference. I'll be doing two half day sessions featuring my book Strategic Project Management Made Simple: Practical Tools for Leaders and Teams (Wiley, 2009).
To my surprise and delight, this book has been called a "top ten must read book" by a credible industry source (baselinemag.com).
"IT'S TIME" IN SEATTLE
On June 8th, I'll be delivering a fast-paced session on Turn Strategy Into Action at the Puget Sound PMI Chapter's Annual Conference. If you ask, you'll get a free book just because you read it here. If you live in the Pacific Northwest, consider attending (see www.PSPMI.org).
Jim McKinlay is a colleague in the Haines Centre for Strategic Management and the principal in our Vancouver office. He is one of Canada's top strategic thinkers, and his guest article pinpoints an approach to handling the difficult times we all face.
Recovery Planning - 2009- A Unique Approach In A Tough Economy
by James McKinlay
It's a Tough Business Environment Out There...
Today's economic picture has been turned inside out, upside down and backwards. None of the pundits seem to be able to agree on:
- whether or not we have hit the bottom,
- if not, when we might reach the bottom,
- how long it will take for the recovery to start to kick in,
- how long it will take for things to get back to normal once again, and
- is there such a thing as "normal" anymore?
For many years, prior to this latest downturn, organizations could plot their future direction, their future course of action and their future plans for success through the focused application of the principles and practices of sound Strategic Management. As we have explained for some time now, the discipline of Strategic Management included the process of creating an achievable Strategic Plan that focused on the next 1-5 years, coupled with the application of tested Change Management practices to engage staff and encourage them to collaborate in bringing about the changes needed to achieve the successful future.
Today we are facing a whole new set of serious challenges. We now have:
- markets that look and feel like a rollercoaster ride at the midway that shakes all of the money out of your pockets,
- financial institutions being overly cautious about financing expansion and growth plans,
- potential investors protecting their cash, sitting on the sidelines and waiting for things to clear up before jumping back into the investment cycle
- virtually every business leader looking for ways to consolidate and pull back a bit on his or her earlier aspirations, and
- everyone feeling like they are under siege from all sides .
In this type of scenario, when people feel that they are under attack, the natural responses of "flight or fight" kick in.
For those who choose the flight response, the options of extreme cutbacks and layoffs, closing down secondary operations, or even contemplating the closure of business or declaring bankruptcy and walking away consume all of their thinking time.
For those who choose the fight response, the search for alternative options and strategies to maintain viability is initiated. They look for ways to trim unnecessary expenses, to streamline operating processes and decision-making procedures to gain improved economic and improved time management benefits. They also look for ways to adapt and modify their service provision options fro valued clients and customers - in order to help them to cope too, while also keeping revenue streams active and alive.
Tough times call for tough measures. It's not "business as usual" any longer. This means we need to look at ways of doing things in unusual ways, to weather the storm that's blowing. However, even in the wildest storm, a good sailor needs to maintain a sense of direction, even as the crew is busy jury-rigging a temporary solution to patch up leaks in the boat, or to provide a temporary substitute for the broken rudder or mast that may have been damaged.
This same approach is needed in today's business environment. It's time to shift from "strategic planning" to "survival planning" - to ensure that you can weather this economic storm and come out the other side as a survivor, ready to start rolling again.
The Recovery Planning Process...
We have found that our basic Systems Thinking Approach to Planning can be adapted to create your Recovery Plan. The principles are very similar, only the length of your planning horizon changes and you have to be more constantly alert and aware of what's happening around you from week to week.
So, what changes in this Recovery Planning Process? It appears that you will need to:
- engage a smaller group of key people to develop this plan than you would normally have for a full strategic planning project,
- include all of the members of your Executive Team on your planning Team along with a few other key directors or managers who can provide sound input about specific technical aspects of your business,
- conduct the planning process in a shorter time-frame that you would normally require - probably a maximum of two or three working sessions with the Planning Team over a six - eight week period,
- use the simplified A-B-C-D-E Systems Planning Process, as opposed to the more detailed 10-step Reinvented Strategic Planning Process, as outlined on the next page,
- adjust the time horizon from the typical "vision horizon" of 5 -10 years out to one that covers the next two years; you don't give up on your longer term vision horizon, you just re-focus on a point closer to to-day, to overcome the rocky road that must be traversed, to get back on the main highway once again,
- enhance your communication and feedback processes with staff to retain their engagement and support; during trying times, communication become paramount,
- include managers, supervisors and staff to look for ways to achieve real, long-term savings in as many ways as possible by eliminating redundancies and finding ways to deliver quality services in the most economical way possible, and
- consider using programs such as our "Blow Out Bureaucracy and Costs" Workshop, modeled after the GE Workout Program championed by Jack Welch at General Electric; you will be amazed at the volume of savings potential that are lying dormant and unnoticed in your own organization.
Jim can be reached at CSMMTNVU@teleplanet.net
This month's project comes courtesy of an Asian engineering university with an ambitious strategy to become a regional leader and develop graduates who can be global players as well as entrepreneurs. In a recent consulting project in Thailand, I assisted The King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT) with a strategic planning effort. They chose the Logical Framework approach to flesh out various aspects of their strategy.
The LogFrame attached (one of 7 different LogFrames) summarizes their strategy for developing graduates who can be global players.
Managing the Magic Morning Minutes
I believe the most potent time segment during your day is the first five minutes after you wake up. Like awakening to fresh snow, the day is still perfect and untrampled.
We all have choice over what thoughts to bring into consciousness as we awaken. For most of us, our monkey minds take over as we begin thinking about the day and the thoughts are usually down beat, dreading some of the meetings coming up, worrying about this and that.
There is a better way to start-a way that puts you into prime emotional and mental state even before you roll out of bed. I learned this technique from Tony Robbins, and it helps puts me in an incredible state.
You can manage the "magic morning minutes" by consciously asking, and answering, questions like the following:
- What am I most happy about? Why? How does that make me feel?
- What am I most proud of? Why? How does that make me feel?
- What am I most committed to? Why? How does that make me feel?
- What am I most grateful for? Why? How does that make me feel?
- What am I most excited about? Why? How does that make me feel?
- Who do I love? Who loves me?
As you answer these, allow yourself to feel fully associated….. let yourself feel extremely happy as you answer the happy question, feel the attitude of gratitude as you reflect on that question, and so forth.
I guarantee that if you conscientiously do this for 21 days, you will notice a major transformation in the quality of your life. The reason is simple: By programming yourself to be happy, proud, committed, grateful, excited, and loving, you have create a cocktail of emotional power to propel your entire day. Isn't this a better, more magical way to start the day?
Secrets of The Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth
by T Harv Eker
If you are looking for a get-rich-quick book or investment advice, this one is not for you. But if you are open to exploring how invisible belief systems installed early in our lives affect our finances, you'll enjoy T Harv Eker's book Secrets of The Millionaire's Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth. It's been out several years, but I just recently discovered it and recommend it highly.
The core premise of this book is that you have a financial blueprint that you've been following since childhood. If your financial blueprint isn't set for success - nothing you know or do will make much of a difference.
Eker awakens us to the temperature of our financial thermostats that are set early on in our childhood lives, which continue to play out like a broken record (or broken checking account, rather) on a subconscious level through the direct and indirect verbal programming through language, modeling (or lack thereof), and specific incidents surrounding money. Until we become aware of these influences, it becomes a financial blueprint that subconsciously resets to the "comfort zone" financial number we are accustomed to based on past experiences.
The book is divided into Part One: Your Money Blueprint; and Part Two: The Wealth Files - Seventeen Ways Rich People Think and Act Differently from Poor and Middle-Class People.
In Part One, he introduces numerous Wealth Principles using examples and stories to ground the principles in reality. Here are just a few:
- If you want to change the fruits, you will first have to change the roots. If you want to change the visible, you must first change the invisible.
- Money is a result, wealth is a result, health is a result, illness is a result, and your weight is a result. We live in a world of cause and effect.
- Thoughts lead to feelings. Feelings lead to actions. Actions lead to results.
- The Law of Income: You will be paid in direct proportion to the value you deliver according to the marketplace.
- Until you show you can handle what you've got, you won't get any more!
He helps you explore the money messages that begin in childhood. We all have those lingering lessons, often derived from parents. In my case, it took conscious effort to replace the message my well-meaning parents gave that "those things are only for rich people" and "we'll never be rich we can be happy." Only later did I find you can be both rich and happy.
In Part Two, Eker contrasts how rich and poor people think. Here are just a few
- Rich people believe "I create my life."
Poor people believe "Life happens to me." - Rich people play the money game to win.
Poor people play the money game to not lose. - Rich people focus on opportunities.
Poor people focus on obstacles. - Rich people admire other rich and successful people.
Poor people resent rich and successful people. - Rich people are willing to promote themselves and their value.
Poor people think negatively about selling and promotion. - Rich people constantly learn and grow.
Poor people think they already know.
This book will especially resonate with those who believe in the law of attraction and who are comfortable with prayer and affirmations as strategies overcome negative or counterproductive programming or conditioning surrounding money.
Secrets of the Millionaire Mind can get you motivated and moving if you truly desire to change. The book is more motivational than educational. If you're looking for a nuts and bolts book on finance, don't open this one. But if you need an inspirational picker-upper and are willing to change your mind-set and internal programming toward greater wealth, this book is a great start to creating your own millionaire mind.
This month, let's play Baloney Bingo, which captures the use of corporate jargon. I've modified this from an online source (called B****sh*t Bingo).
- Before (or during) your next meeting, seminar, or conference call, prepare yourself by drawing a square. (I find that 5" x 5" is a good size.)
- Divide the card into columns - five across and five down. That will give you 25 one-inch blocks.
- Write one of the following words/phrases in each block:
* synergy
* strategic fit
* core competencies
* best practice
* bottom line
* revisit
* expeditious
* to tell you the truth (or "the truth is")
* 24/7
* out of the loop
* benchmark
* value-added
* pro-active
* win-win
* think outside the box
* fast track
* result-driven
* empower (or empowerment)
* knowledge base
* at the end of the day
* touch base
* mind-set
* client-focus(ed)
* paradigm
* game plan
* leverage - Check off the appropriate block when you hear one of those words/phrases.
- When you get five blocks horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, stand up and shout, "Baloney!"
Testimonials from satisfied "Baloney Bingo" players:
- "I had been in the meeting for only ten minutes when I won."- Sam, Seattle
- "My attention span at meetings has improved dramatically."- Joe, Chicago
- "The atmosphere was tense in the last process meeting as 14 of us waited for the fifth box." - Mary, New York
- "The speaker was stunned as eight of us screamed 'Baloney!' for the third time in two hours." - Linda, Cleveland
- "When I won and yelled "Baloney!" the woman sleeping next to me slid off her chair!" - Jim, Vancouver