Monday, November 30, 2015

Finish Strong, Start Well

At this time of year organizations who are good planners will ideally have a pretty good idea of how they will wrap up the year and the focus areas for next year will be very well defined.

In a meeting with a client last week, a particularly creative client named John, he used the term, "Finish Strong."  Have to admit I loved it as a way to focus in bringing the energy of your team to the last few important things which need to be done by year end.

Need to add a few new prospects to your funnel?  Get the requests out now before we slip into next year.

Almost done with that key project due at year end?  Review the final few action items and send them out to the team to confirm you will be complete.

Financial review due to plan your final tax status prior to year end?  Schedule a time with your advisor to confirm any action steps to collect or allocate funds to be on plan.

Big steps intended for next year which require some research or preparation?  Put the actions required on your calendar and follow through.

Certainly these are just a few examples of actions to move in the direction of Finishing Strong.    They are also important in being ready to Start Well.  The last example in particular, is vital in being ready to gain a quick start in January, on new goals.

Of course this presumes you have set your goals and are ready to run.  If not, call us and we will help you define your 2016 priorities prior to year end.

Finish Strong and Start Well!  Thanks for the thought John!



Saturday, October 24, 2015

Long Range Thinking at TEDx Detroit

For the first time  I attended a TEDx event, the one held in Detroit and hosted by Charlie Wohlborg.  Well done Charlie!

It was my partner’s idea to go.  Gary Gabel had called me about it a couple months ahead of time.  Gary is great at these types of things.  Actually, I knew he had presented at TEDx Detroit previously.  What I did not know was that he was their very first presenter.  Way to go Gary!

This is a site and a blog about long range, strategic thinking.  There were some incredible examples at the TEDx conference in Detroit on October 8 this year.  If you have not attended one of these, the way it works is a presenter on some fresh topic will come out on stage and tell you about a product, an idea, a concept; through a story, a video, a display or some other way to get their point across.  So over the course of a day you have a chance to see a couple dozen cool ideas.

Among many great presentations and artists, here are the ones that particularly struck me during the day:
  • ·      Paul Elio showed the Elio car, which will carry two people and get 84 miles to a gallon, at a purchase cost of $6,800.  It was rolled out onto the stage!
  • ·      Derek Sivers challenged our assumptions in a presentation on how we are locked into our version of the world.  An example of his demonstration is how Japanese addresses are based on block numbers and the order of construction of houses, not streets and sequential address numbers.  Doctors in Japan are paid when their patients are healthy, not when they are sick.  When you are sick, they have failed at their job.
  • ·      A great talk by Amer Zahr, about life as an Arab American, the bias Arab Americans encounter, how he loves America, but many times America does not love Arab Americans.
  • ·      Cathy Olkin talking about the NASA mission to Pluto and showing Pluto’s heart.
  • ·      Karen Buscemi presenting how Detroit is competing to become a fashion center.
  • ·      Mallory Brown, who I personally know and who is making a difference around the world, made a powerful presentation on how a personal connection to social causes gives donors meaning and how she is doing this around the world.
  • ·      The quickly growing hazard of antibiotic resistant bacteria presented by Dr. Charles Shanley.

And a couple quotes which were funny, true or important for us all:
  • ·      The ass most need of kicking is the one you are sitting on.  Charlie Wohlborg
  • ·      If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your app, you launched too slate.  Reed Hoffman
  • ·      Live with your future self in mind.  Rita Fields
  • ·      Infuse your creations with emotion.  Javeek Badve



The meeting was recorded and well worth watching.  Here is a link:  http://www.tedxdetroit.com