Accounting for Profits

06/20/2020

“That’s a good idea”

“And then what happens?”

Repeat the second question 100 times. Because after every good idea, there are at least 100 steps of iteration, learning, adjustment, innovation and effort.

Starting with the wrong idea is a waste of energy and time.

But not committing to the 100 steps is a waste of a good idea.

We put a lot of pressure on the idea to be perfect because it distracts us from the reality that the hundred steps after the idea are going to make all the difference. Nearly every organization you can point to is built around an idea that wasn’t original or perfect.

The effort and investment and evolution made the difference.

“And then what happens?” Repeat the second question 100 times. Because after every good idea, there are at least 100 steps of iteration, learning, adjustment, innovation and effort. Sta…

05/31/2020

Meeting spec (doing the minimum)
Two ways of saying the same thing.

If the bridge needs to hold 20,000 pound vehicles, the client isn’t interested in paying extra for you to build it to hold 30,000 pound vehicles. The spec is clear–15,000 is unacceptable, and 30,000 isn’t worth a penny extra in steel, concrete or pilings.

But when we’re bringing our human skills to the work, the spec for a job might state that we need to sit at the customer service counter from 9 to 5, but because “be really nice to people,” is hard to quantify it can feel like an extra if we’re seeking to do as little as possible.

Why do extra? After all, the industrial system has squeezed everything it can out of front-line workers. It has taken without offering much in return, stripping people of dignity and respect and treating them like cogs.

But acting like a cog in return is hardly a useful form of revenge.

Showing up with more than the minimum might turn the job into more than a job. When we show up because we can, when we’re extending ourselves as a matter of choice, we create space. The space to own the work, to personalize it, and to turn it into more than getting by.

The current crisis is a vivid reminder of how empty a job focused on getting by really is. Because getting by is a lousy way to spend our days. Playwrights, painters and committed professionals don’t ask, “how little can I get away with?” They view the work as a chance to make a difference instead.

Doing work we’re proud of is a fine alternative to being seen as less than human. And spending our days doing as much human work as we can is far more appealing than hoping to do as little as possible.

Two ways of saying the same thing. If the bridge needs to hold 20,000 pound vehicles, the client isn’t interested in paying extra for you to build it to hold 30,000 pound vehicles. The spec i…

03/16/2019

Another truism of life, both business and personal. Let's all be faucets today!

Some people, every time they engage with others, are an energy drain. They take persuading, cajoling and enthusiasm to get going, and require ever more of it to keep going. And some people are a fa…

02/26/2019

Time! It's one of those things we can't make more of no matter how hard we try. We must use mindfully the time we have been given, because when it is gone, it is gone.

For something as dominant as the four digits that we use to tell time, it’s disappointing that there’s no manual, and not surprising that we do it wrong so often. I’m not talking …

02/11/2019

Who do you choose to believe?

“My doctors told me I would never walk again. My mother told me I would. I believed my mother.” Wilma Rudolph. Wilma Rudolph had three strikes against her when she was four – double-pneumonia…

01/30/2019

This makes so much sense as do many of Seth's thoughts. And yet how many of us continue to struggle with boundaries instead of focusing on problems?

All problems have solutions. That’s what makes them problems. The solution might involve trade-offs or expenses that you don’t want to incur. You might choose not to solve the problem. …

01/06/2019

I love Seth's thoughts. His are an example of just a few words, far less than a 1,000, painting a clear picture.

In our office, the kitchen exhaust fan blows the smoke from the cooktop–back into the kitchen. It’s a closed loop, a palliative, a noisy device that doesn’t do much except make yo…

12/29/2018

While it might be fun (or appear expedient, or brave, or heroic) to try to scale a cliff with no tools, it turns out that ladders are a more effective way to level up. When it’s time to drive…

04/06/2018

Okay, these folks are trying to sell their time tracking software, which is by the way a very good product. However, this is also an excellent piece about how you can make sure you stay on top of your business and its profitability in this ever changing business environment we live in today.

With no one but yourself to answer to, it can be surprisingly easy to fall into bad habits that, if left unchecked, can destroy your business.

03/17/2018

Read and think on this a bit! It is great advice. Our world is so full of dwelling on negatives instead of meditating on our blessings. Give this a try and see how your world changes.

Communication is a feedback loop. It is an exchange. It is essential to living a vibrant life, a life pulsating with energy, on a mission and in service to the needs of the world.