Thot: I’m not necessarily against business plans, just how solopreneurs use them. If you feel you must write a biz plan, then give yourself a week to do it, then toss it. The value of the biz plan is in the thinking process, not the paper. Don’t use it as a 22-week-long crutch to avoid the real work of selling. 

“There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don’t know we don’t know.”
-Donald Rumsfeld

I am slogging through Nassim Nicholas Taleb‘s “The Black Swan: The Impact Of The Highly Improbable“. I say “slogging” because it is a huge book, in volume and also in depth. Every page makes me stop and reflect how “Black Swan” events have changed the course of history, and also how they have impacted my business and my life.

A “Black Swan” event is something that happens, outside of your assumptions or forecasts, that has a major impact on your plans. The event comes as a major surprise to you, however in hindsight, the event is logical and even inevitable.

Most plans assume that current trends will continue into the future, or at least if there are changes, they will happen gradually. In reality, what happens more often is that unforeseen events make a “discontinuous” impact, placing you in a situation where the next step is not evident (or foreseeable). Whether it is events far away like turmoil in Egypt, or economic shocks like the price of gas, or technology or competitive events, it is the “unknown unknowns” that usually come to bite you in the ass.

From Mediocristan To Extremistan

A Black Swan event:

1. is a surprise to the observer at the time it happens,
2. has a major impact that forces a reaction or a response,
3. in hindsight, the event was foreseeable, usually disproving a key assumption on which the plan or the system is based.

Black Swan events are directly related to the quality of the assumptions underlying the plan. Every plan is based on conscious or unconscious assumptions: that there is a certain stability to the economic and political situation, technology and market trends, demographics, etc. Many assumptions have as underlying model that the world follows a Normal (Bell-curve) distribution – that what we see around us is an average situation. The bell curve is neat, easily visualized, and mathematically predictable. It is also a dangerous assumption. Taleb calls this mindset “Mediocristan”, because the predictability of the bell curve lulls the planner into a sense of false security.

In the real world, it is the extreme events that have real impact. Taleb calls this “Extremistan”, and instead of using the Bell-curve to represent reality, he proposes that we see trends as more fractal than normal. While the bell-curve “Mediocristan” view looks at surprise events as outliers whose effects fade in time as things return to normal, a fractal “Extremistan” view of the world incorporates Black Swan events as starting points for a new evolutionary path.

Planning For The Black Swan Event

What does this mean for the project planner? The biggest weakness of project plans lies in the assumptions underlying the plan. This is why I like the Rumsfeld quote at the beginning of this post, encapsulating where the planning for the war in Iraq went wrong: the “unknown unknowns”.

We want our environment to be in static balance. There are so many variable just within the project to foresee and to control, that when you add all of the external factors, the problem quickly becomes too big to conceive. But the real world is chaotic.

This is why it is very important to be aware of the assumptions underlying your plans and your goals. Research them. Test them. What if situations changed? It could be at a macro level, such as a sudden spike in fuel prices or currency devaluation, or at a micro level, what happens if your home burns down or a car accident puts you in the hospital? How can you make your planning more resilient to the “unknown unknowns”?

Making The Black Swan Your Friend

“The strategy for the discoverers and entrepreneurs is to rely less on top-down planning and focus on maximum tinkering and recognizing opportunities when they present themselves. So I disagree with the followers of Marx and those of Adam Smith: the reason free markets work is because they allow people to be lucky, thanks to aggressive trial and error, not by giving rewards or “incentives” for skill. The strategy is, then, to tinker as much as possible and try to collect as many Black Swan opportunities as you can.”

My personal conclusion from reading “The Black Swan” confirms my belief that high-velocity entrepreneurs such as solos and ventures, must set aside the straightjacket of formal business plans, and adopt instead a rapid prototyping strategy of “Fail. Forward. Fast”. By accelerating the evolutionary cycle, you can take advantage of unforeseen opportunities and respond to negative events in a positive way very quickly. Try things, learn, adapt and relaunch.

By acknowledging the weaknesses of your assumptions from the start, and recognizing that what will shape the success of your project are the “unknown unknowns”, you can make the Black Swan a friend that opens doors for you to succeed while others flail.

For more information

“The Black Swan” on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Black-Swan-Impact-Highly-Improbable/dp/1400063515

My Kindle Notes page about this book: https://kindle.amazon.com/work/black-swan-improbable-robustness-ebook/B000Q2CLQS/B00139XTG4

Nassim Nicholas Taleb Web Site: http://www.fooledbyrandomness.com/

N.N.T. on “What is a Black Swan” (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDbuJtAiABA

Related articles:

The Way To Succeed Is To Celebrate Failure
http://blog.davender.com/2010/09/the-way-to-success-is-to-celebrate-failure/

Resilience: Live A No-Limits Life In Chaotic Times
http://ezinearticles.com/?Resilience—Live-a-No-Limits-Life-in-Chaotic-Times&id=1662578

In today’s world, too many entrepreneurs promise but fail to deliver. Being able to consistently ship is an asset that will set you apart from the average and help you get more and better clients.

This competitive advantage is something I call “Leadership Capital”: the wealth embedded in your ability to effectively translate ideas into real-world results.

This webinar will introduce you to the concept of Leadership Capital, and how you can build this valuable asset.

Direct link on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzPXISva_XY

Do you have a result you really want to create in your business, but you can’t get around to making any progress on it? Then, the “Power Circle Productivity Experience” might be for you! This webinar will explain how this innovative learning+coaching experience can help you to be more focused, productive and happier with your business results.

For more information

Direct link on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzs9M-zmAqs

Link to the “Power Circle Productivity Experience” mini-site:
http://www.fromdreamtodone.com

If you’re like most passion-driven solopreneurs, you probably started the New Year with lots of ideas to be more productive and make more money, but you haven’t yet found the time to work on them because you’re so busy keeping up with your clients and the immediate demands of your business.

Maybe you want to…

- develop or launch a new product or service?
- plan a new marketing or growth strategy?
- put in place better management and organization systems?
- expand your client base or open new markets?
- increase your effectiveness, your revenue and your profits?

How would your business results be different if you were able to take just one of those ideas and make it a reality?

If you want to be more successful, and more profitable, you need to find the time, energy and resources to work “ON” your business just as much as you work “IN” your business!

I’m a big believer in the Power of Projects to move an idea from Dream to Done.

This is why I’ve developed the “Power Circle” Productivity Experience: a results-focused learning and action system to help you find the time and develop the energy to move from “dreaming” about it to “doing” it. You will discover how to transform your idea into a project, and then how to execute your project to power your everyday results to a new level of effectiveness.

I’m looking for a handful of courageous solopreneurs who want to define and execute a Big, Hairy, Audacious “Signature Project”, one whose results will make 2011 a positive turning point in your business history.

If this speaks to you, for a very limited time I’m offering a huge discount of up to $1000 off (or 66% off) the complete Productivity Experience, but only if you take action before Friday February 4.

Check out my special offer to you here:

http://www.fromdreamtodone.com

(look for the big yellow box on the right side of the page)

What’s different about The “Power Circle” Productivity Experience? It’s more than a course: while you are learning, you are also applying your new skills by completing a project that propels you forward. You learn, you do, you succeed!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me directly at coach@davender.com or by phone at 418-948-1553 or my new Google Voice number 213-325-1223

I look forward to accompanying you during your BHAP (Big Hairy Audacious Project), a project whose results will make 2011 your best year yet!

For more information

Video: SoloSuccess – Your Projects Define You. What’s Your Taj Mahal?
http://blog.davender.com/2011/01/video-solosuccess-your-projects-define-you-whats-your-taj-mahal/

Some projects come and go, while others create results that stand for centuries. The projects you choose to which you devote your time and energies will determine the results you create this year. Will you empty your resources chasing after lots of little projects, or will you dedicate some of your energies for a Signature Project which will take you to a whole new level of performance?

This SoloSuccess webinar will show you how to outline a Signature Project that will define your success this year:

This Webinar is a lead-in to the NEW “Power Circle Productivity Bootcamp”. For more information about the Productivity Bootcamp, see

http://www.fromdreamtodone.com/

Recorded January 25 2011

For more information

Direct link on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgaqYQw1U0s

My YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/coachdavender

Is it a good idea to multitask? Studies of the impact of cell phone use on our ability to focus on complex tasks such as driving, operating machinery or walking, show that the brain does not multitask well at all – even if the inputs are being processed in different areas of the brain.

Juggling tasks that require cognitive, creative or problem-solving skills only aggravates the negative impacts of multitasking: reduced productivity and increased stress. If your work requires mental effort, and almost all modern jobs do, then it is essential to break the multitasking habit. Here are some ideas to help you reduce your multitasking, so you can be more focused and get more done:

1. Organize your day

Organize your day into focused blocks of ninety minutes to three hours of work, no less or no more. Choose a theme for each block: business development, problem-solving, administration, marketing, production, design, planning, etc. Group your tasks to execute on those relating to the theme during the allotted time block. If other ideas come up, have a little notebook handy to jot them down (the “idea parking lot”), then go back to what you were doing. You will find as time goes on you will experience fewer thought interruptions. Grouping your tasks into themes enables you to focus at peak efficiency.

2. Minimize context switching

We call it multitasking, but in reality it is time-slicing: focusing on one task for a moment then putting it on pause to switch to the other task. If the tasks are too dissimilar, it takes time for your brain to switch from one task to another. The context switching time can take anywhere from one minute to sixty minutes, depending on how focused, creative or analytical you need to be to carry out the task. This is why multitasking is not efficient. By grouping similar tasks together in themes, and executing each task in a serial order (one after the other), the context switching time between tasks is minimized and productivity soars.

3. Control external interruptions

Responding to external interruptions such as phone calls, e-mail or colleagues breaks your focus and triggers the context switching delay. Suppose your context switching time is five minutes for each interruption – this time quickly adds up! Let your voice mail answer your calls. Close your office door or put a “Do Not Disturb” sign. Discipline yourself to check and respond to e-mail and voice mail at most two or three times a day, outside of your focused working periods. This should be sufficient for even those who expect instantaneous responses to messages. You may need to reset the expectations of your co-workers or clients by letting them know at what times you are available to respond to calls, but they will appreciate your professionalism.

4. Create a space to focus

Space is an important element of focus. Create a physical work area distinct from your living area, so that when you go to your work area, it is a cue to your brain that you are now in work mode. Arrange your work area to minimize external distractions. I recommend wearing a pair of good quality noise-cancelling headphones, with or without appropriate music. Dressing up for your work periods, even when at home, is another powerful cue. I also have different places for different themes: client work is done in my home office, and creative work is done at a local coffee shop (where I wear my noise-cancelling headphones).

As you learn to break your multitasking tendencies and maximize your focus, you will minimize distractions, reduce context switching time, and get more done with less stress.

For more information

I originally posted this article on EzineArticles: http://ezinearticles.com/?id=4375260

An interesting article on multitasking in the journal of the American Psychological Association:
http://www.apa.org/monitor/oct01/multitask.aspx

And from ArsTechnica.com:
http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2007/03/study-says-leave-the-multitasking-to-your-computer.ars

And why you shouldn’t text and walk (NYTimes.com):
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/business/25multi.html

Image credit: Ryan Ritchie on Flickr
Direct image link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryantron/4453018910/
Used under Creative Commons 2.0 licence

Much is made of the statistic that the half-life of a small business startup is 24 to 36 months. But I’m not sure that we’re doing the right thing by measuring the success of an entrepreneur by the longevity of the business. I think we need to encourage more failures.

Having gone through two short-term businesses (36 months and 18 months) that eventually triggered a personal bankruptcy, I can confidently say that I’ve learned more about entrepreneurship in my failures than with any course or coaching experience.

A very interesting article in a Russian blog about startups, Russia 2.0, examined the role of failure in Silicon Valley startups: “If one looks at actual time spent by entrepreneurs, as distinctively different class of people then salaried employees of successful startups that became big, they spend the most of their time and effort creating, enduring and recovering from failure rather then creating success.”

So what I propose is not necessarily to encourage is not more success, which limits innovation, creativity and resilience, but rather to encourage more churn. You need to do what Tom Peters calls “Fail. Forward. Fast“. Each time you fail, you gain valuable knowledge that will improve your chances of success.

You need to be continuously prototyping, testing, innovating, trying. Try things that are outside of your current area of expertise, take on a client you would not normally take on. But be ready to kill the project or jettison the client if things get out of control. Each time, do an “after-action” analysis of what you learned and what you can change.

The danger of aiming for success is that you will achieve the zombie-zone of mediocre success: just good enough so that you keep your head above water, but not enough so that you can declare victory.

So by assuming from the start that your best-made plans will go awry, you can learn to adjust your aim as you learn from your mistakes, and build something that eventually works in a big way.

The real-world measure of how good you are as an entrepreneur is not how long you have been in business, but how many times you’ve failed and got back up to try again. Long-term success is built on a solid foundation of failures.

For more information

Article in Russia 2.0 “The Epic Fail“: http://startup-russia.com/en/archives/135

From Dharmesh Shah‘s blog OnStartups.com: “Six Interesting Stats About Startup Success” http://onstartups.com/tabid/3339/bid/79/Six-Interesting-Stats-About-Startup-Success.aspx

Dharmesh links to an interesting paper:  ”Skill vs. Luck in Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital: Evidence from Serial Entrepreneurs“: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=933932 (Free PDF download) Note: I haven’t had time to completely read it yet but I wanted to share it with you because it looks very interesting.

Image: Photo by Dagny Scott (Fireflythegreat) on Flickr
Direct link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fireflythegreat/2845637227/
Used under Creative Commons 2.0 licence

Consider two teams, both playing the same game of baseball. With one team, when the ball is hit, some players run towards the ball and others stand around and watch, sometimes not even thinking about the game.

Now look at the other team: when the ball is hit, every player reacts in a disciplined manner and his teammates know what the other is going to do. Depending on the situation, the pitcher may cover home plate, infielders set up for a double play, and outfielders prepare to back up their teammates.

Which team is going to deliver the most wins?

In any kind of business, what keeps you in business is whether or not you deliver the goods to your clients. You need to deliver quality results in a consistent manner. The good news is that to deliver quality results, you do not need tons of people or the most expensive tools: it’s all about the quality of your systems.

What is a “system”? It is a set of activities, methods, practices, tools and transformations that you use to create a specific deliverable result. An effective set of systems brings together people, tools and methods into an integrated whole. The quality of your end result is determined by the quality of the systems used to produce it. Systems provide a measurable way to improve your ability to execute.

As an engineer and project manager back in the 1990s, I had a lot of personal experience with project teams that had good systems and others that had poor ones, and it had nothing to do with how much money the team had to work with.

In the late 1990s, the Software Engineering Institute (SEI), located at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, studied hundreds of software companies and development teams of various sizes to understand what kinds of activities, processes and systems are needed to create good software. They grouped the teams into a Capability Maturity Model (CMM) with five levels of “maturity”, or how the systems are defined, managed, measured, controlled and effective:

· Level 1 – The Initial Level. Systems are characterized as ad-hoc, and occasionally even chaotic. Few processes are defined, and success depends on individual effort and heroics.

· Level 2 – The Repeatable Level. Basic processes are established to track cost, schedule and functionality. The necessary discipline is in place to repeat earlier successes on projects with similar parameters.

· Level 3 – The Defined Level. Systems are documented, standardized, and integrated across the organization. Everyone accepts and uses the approved systems.

· Level 4 – The Managed Level. Detailed metrics are collected, measuring the effectiveness of internal systems and quality of the deliverables. Everything that is done is quantitatively understood and controlled.

· Level 5 – The Optimizing Level. Continuous process improvement is enabled by quantitative feedback from the process and from piloting innovative ideas and technologies.

There are very few Level 5 software development organizations, and these tend write code for the Space Shuttle, nuclear power plants and other high-reliability applications (one defect per million lines of code, and they know precisely what and where it is). Most companies are somewhere between level 1 and 2. When a company reaches between levels 2 and 3, it usually has the procedures in place to successfully apply for ISO 9000 certification.

Although this framework was initially developed for software teams, I find the CMM is a very effective way to measure and improve a team’s ability to execute.

Any systems that you put in place should address four main aspects:

· Tasks: What you do. Tasks should be described at a “macro” level, with enough detail to determine what is the deliverable for the task, but with enough flexibility to give whoever is doing the task the autonomy necessary to get it done. A good rule of thumb is that a task should take at least one day and not more than four days (so that it can be accomplished in a normal work-week). If a task takes less or more than these guidelines, it is either too detailed or can be broken down further.

· People: Who does what. Responsibilities and authorities must be clearly defined and published, so that everyone has a clear stake in the success of the project. Everyone should “own” an aspect of the project, to create a sense of “craftsman’s pride”. If something goes wrong, the responsibility to rectify the problem is clear, and if something goes right, the reward and recognition can be clearly determined.

· Technology/Tools: How you do it. The tools and technology used must be scaled to the task and the resources at hand. Manual methods can be just as effective as fancy online tools. The main requirement is to not let the tools get in the way of the job, in other words the KISS principle applies.

· Measurement: How you track what you do. As the old saying goes: “if you can’t measure it, it wasn’t done”. Clear and simple measurement tools help you distinguish between fantasy (how you think you’re doing) versus reality (how you are really doing).

Your business also has to deliver dependable, consistent results. The maturity of your execution and management systems will determine to a large degree whether you can deliver these results. When the systems in your business are well defined and well implemented, people know what needs to be done and the right things get done.

If you want to play in the Majors, you must develop the maturity of your processes and systems. When you have a finely-tuned machine that is humming along, you get more done, have less stress, gain happier clients, and you make much more profit in the end.

For more information

The “Little League/Major League” analogy at the beginning of this article is from Watts Humphrey, a leader in the field of software development and founder of the Capability Maturity Model project, from his book “Managing The Software Process”
http://www.amazon.com/Managing-Software-Process-Watts-Humphrey/dp/0201180952
Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watts_Humphrey

The Wikipedia entry for “Capability Maturity Model” gives a good overview of the process as applied to software development: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capability_maturity_model

ISO9000 sometimes is synonymous with excessive paperwork. But the principles of ISO9000 quality management can be applied to any kind of manufacturing, retail or service business. The Wikipedia entry for “ISO9000″ gives a good overview
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iso_9000

Image credit: Ed Yourdon via Flickr
Direct link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/yourdon/3583164483/
Used under a Creative Commons 2.0 Licence

What does the word “tactical” mean to you? It might conjure up images of heavily armed soldiers storming a building, a swarm of tanks overrunning enemy defenses, a squadron of aircraft dueling it out over the English channel. Tactics rhymes with execution, punch, getting things done.

Are you thinking tactically enough to win?

Most entrepreneurs have a big-picture idea of what they want, recorded in a business plan or vision document or a simple list of goals. But then the document stays in a drawer or on the hard drive as they stumble into reactive mode, day after day, and not accomplishing what they initially said they wanted.

Planning requires two levels of thinking: strategic and tactical. Strategic planning is vision-focused, the “who am I”, “what do I want to create” and “why is this important to me”.  Strategic is longer term, one, three, five, ten years out. Strategic planning is important, because it gives a context and a purpose for action.

Tactical planning is goal-focused, the “how“, the detailed actions needed to move the yardstick forward toward the big vision.

Where the strategic plan can be done in the abstract, because it deals with possibilities and assumptions, the tactical plan is how we dance with reality, respond to the actual situation on the ground, execute to create results. Tactical plans are meant to be short term: created quickly, executed boldly, then superseded by the next tactical plan based on the new situation. Rapid execution of a succession of tactical plans moves you step by step towards realizing the overall strategic plan.

For the entrepreneur, thinking tactically means creating a daily, execution-focused, tactical plan.

When I attended the Canadian Forces Staff School course in the early ’90s as a junior Air Force captain, I learned how to prepare a tactical mission plan, using an acronym I still remember today: SMEACS. Applied to your daily tactical plan, this means:

• S = Situation: What is my current status with respect to today’s operation? (the starting point)
• M = Mission: What is the Specific/Measurable/Audacious/Real/Time-lined (SMART) goal I must achieve today? (the result)
• E = Execution: What are the tasks and steps that need to be completed to get it done? When will I do this (put in today’s calendar)
• A = Administration/Logistics: What resources (tools, supplies) do I need to get it done? Where do I get these resources? How much money/time will I need to get them?
• C = Command: Who do I need to connect with to get it done?  (collaboration, authorization, support, accountability)
• S = Signal: Who do I need to communicate with to get it done?  (E-mails, telephone calls, letters)

To think tactical, focus on one primary project where you want to create a measurable result in the next 24 hours. Draw up a simple tactical plan in point form using the SMEACS format, so it is easy to keep in your head or on a single piece of paper.

For example, let’s say that my Strategic focus at the moment is to write my book. Today’s Tactical plan would be:

• S = Situation: I’m now at Chapter Two of my Ten-Chapter manuscript.
• M = Mission: Today’s mission is to create a rough draft in point form of Chapter Two in the next 24 hours.
• E = Execution: 1. Make a list of two dozen sub-points I want to include in the chapter; 2. reorganize into eight major points; 3. complete each major point by breaking it down into ten to twelve sub-points; 4. post it on the wiki; 5. dedicated writing times today: 9am to 10:30am (eight major points) and 8pm to 10pm (expanded sub-points)
• A = Administration/Logistics: 1. Make sure laptop is charged up and backed up before starting; 2. morning session at Starbucks after spin class, evening session at home (wash dishes first).
• C = Command: 1. coordinate with Thomas for a brainstorming call (suggest 9am).
• S = Signal: 1. confirm with Annie for feedback from Chapter 1 (e-mail); 2. send note to Mastermind group after morning and evening sessions informing that the wiki is updated.

As you execute your tactical plan, you will find that instead of feeling that you are running around in circles reacting to your environment, you will now be in control, act more deliberately, and get much more done. Being tactical puts you in charge of the momentum.

Strategy points you in the right direction. Tactics ensures you do the right things right now, so you can win at creating the future you really want.

For more information

This post was inspired by  ”Rip Up Your Five-Year Plan” by Ian Sanders, BNET Insight http://blogs.bnet.com/smb/?p=145

Image Credit: Tactical Bacon is a real product! Image from http://www.thinkgeek.com/caffeine/wacky-edibles/c399/

I’ve just attended the Gamechangers Roundtable call today on “Creating a Game-Changing Culture” with Jonathan Fields, Chris Guillebeau, Pam Slim and Reese Spykerman, moderated by Elizabeth Marshall.

The core of the discussion was about Branding, what it means and how to create a brand that expresses your own personality and quirkiness… because that is what will attract the right people to you.

To give you a sense of what was discussed, here are the notes I tweeted during the call (bottom of the list = start of the call):

• RT @startupcoach: The #gamechangers calls are really great. If you have an hour to spare, don’t miss them. Better yet, make the time ;-)
• Thank you for this brilliant #gamechangers call on Branding: @lizmarshall @pamslim @reese @sarahrobinson @chrisguillebeau @jonathanfields
• Branding: Stop trying to build a following and start meaningful conversations with people! #gamechangers @chrisguillebeau @jonathanfields
• RT @ACCompanyC: Liz Marshall is SO good at this! Great choice! #gamechangers [DITTO!]
• Branding: Figure out what your unique energy is and bring it to what you do. Much more powerful than fluff or flash @reese #gamechangers
• [Funny-on another tweetdk column I see "how to get over 100000 subscribers" just as we're talking about quantity vs quality] #gamechangers
• Be yourself instead of gaming the system may cost you in traffic – but the quality will be much higher @chrisguillebeau #gamechangers
• [Personal comment: I agree - most ppl try to sell "why you need me". I love & hire ppl who share life! ] #gamechangers
• People feel a level of desperation with what they’re doing.Brand yourself: do what feeds your passion&share your adventures! #gamechangers
• RT @LizMarshall “my game changed when I stopped lookng at the competition.stop looking around you&start looking within” @reese #gamechangers
• RT @GoodInkInc: So help me, @pamslim just used a Cat’s in the Cradle analogy. Yes, the song. [This was a great example !] #gamechangers
• Branding Design: Don’t let your visual signature be just a “decoration”. Make it mean something – personal – quirky @reese #gamechangers
• Brands that might mean a lot for you probably don’t resonate with them. Use language that resonates with them #gamechangers @pamslim
• “Why Do I Do This Every Single Day?” [Great question to continually ask ourselves to keep on track...] #gamechangers @jonathanfields
• Branding: What do I care about? Who do I want to serve? Dig deep to find the remarkable stuff #gamechangers
• Branding is not always strategic – it is a trial-and-error process #gamechangers @chrisguillebeau
• RT @kymleeisawesome: Noticing a #gamechangers theme: making strong/personal/emotional connections [agree!]
• Your brand is shaped by the kinds of clients you work with #gamechangers
• Branding is NOT something you can go out and “dictate” to the world – it’s a living 2-way street #gamechangers
• Livetweeting the #gamechangers call with @pamslim @lizmarshall @reese @chrisguillebeau @jonathanfields @sarahrobinson
• Remarkable brand: More than a great name – it has to be a message that goes straight for the gut #gamechangers
• Remarkable brand = speaking in your own voice #gamechangers with @pamslim
• Remarkable brand = being “astonishingly better” than what’s out there. #gamechangers
• For the next hour I’m live-tweeting the #Gamechangers call on Creating a Game-Changing Brand. Join us now! http://bit.ly/bMJqEj

I highly recommend these calls to all solopreneurs and entrepreneurs. There are still four more calls to go, and you can purchase the recordings of the first three calls.

For more information

Website with information, free sign-up link, and order the mp3 recordings:

http://www.gamechangersroundtable.com

Check out what others Tweeted during the call (and on the other Gamechanger calls) at
http://search.twitter.com and search on the hash-tag #gamechangers

Why is it so tempting to procrastinate when faced with an otherwise simple task? Even if you have the skills, knowledge, experience, resources and even a great motivation to accomplish the task, there is something that can sabotage your best intentions, and before you know it, there goes another blown promise or missed deadline…

The culprit lies within the deepest recesses of our brain, in a primitive organ – the amygdala. This “lizard brain” is the centre of our basic emotions: fear, anger and sexual desire.

If fear exists is because it the amygdala senses a threat to our survival. Since the beginning of evolution, our natural fear reflex helped us to either avoid or react to the often fatal dangers we faced.  But does this visceral reaction still serve us well in our modern environment?

Consider the to-do list of the solopreneur. Instead of sabre-toothed tigers, what do we avoid out of fear? Tax returns, sending invoices or making payments, calling a client, going to a networking event … Objectively, none of these situations is potentially lethal, but something triggers the lizard brain, flooding the conscious brain with its fear response.

Afraid of what, exactly? The lizard brain does not like the unknown. Taking risks is anathema to the amygdala, because it seeks security in the known, the comfortable, the familiar. So, whenever there is uncertainty, the lizard brain triggers the flight reaction.

For me, I notice that my lizard brain is in full control of me when all of a sudden I’m sleepy in the middle of the day. Another symptom is a tension in my legs, as if I had to flee quickly. And the third element of evidence for me is a sudden desire to eat, especially something sweet.

The fatigue, the desire to flee and sugar are avoidance behaviors that tell me that my “lizard brain” is dominating my thinking. I can be totally aware this is happening, but I’m powerless to do anything about about it, because I’ve let myself become a spectator to my primitive self…

But is it true that I’m powerless? What can I do to dominate the fear response and regain control, so I can overcome the block and create the results I want?

A simple approach is to ensure to reduce or avoid the unknown or the uncertainties. Remove the risk, and the lizard brain goes back to sleep. Here is a simple strategy to do it:

1. Take the time to create a blueprint to guide you through the task. This blueprint should break the big task into smaller pieces, doable in 15 to 30 minutes each. Reducing the size of the actions reduces the uncertainty, because it is easier to see to the other side of the task.  In addition, a detailed plan provides allows the emotional brain to “rehearse success” – quelling the fear response and giving room to the logical mind so it can take control, even briefly.

2. Do one small action at a time, according to a precise schedule. Each action should be scheduled in the calendar, and rigidly controlled in time: do not take more that 15 to 30 minutes for the mini-task. When the action is done, move on to something else that is not as “difficult” to do.

3. Celebrate progress. Whenever you have done the action step, give you a small reward – something you love. But make sure your rewards do not become a distraction!

For example, if the “impossible” task is writing a blog entry, my plan is:

a. do a brainstorming of topics and write them in a list, without prioritizing. No ideas what to write? Surf on over to your favorite blogs and write down the subjects of the last four or five posts without necessarily reading the whole text. Don’t worry, this is allowed and even encouraged, as long as you refer back to the post that inspires you.
b. choose two or three of these subjects and break each one down four or five points for each subject – whatever comes to mind. If nothing comes to mind, move to the next subject.
c. choose one of these expanded topics, and for each point, write two or three sub-points
d. you now have a good outline for your post. Link the sub-points together and it’s done!

Allocate 15 to 30 minutes for each action, and the space them out by one to two hours during the day – this is how I wrote this note starting in the morning from a blank screen.

Whatever task you’re trying to avoid out of fear, remember: it doesn’t need to be perfect – it just needs to be done.

And the more you get used to producing, the more comfortable it gets for your lizard brain. Your task moves from the unknown into your comfort zone.

Remember that your lizard brain thrives on fear. Learn to side-step it and you will become a better producer – and you will be better able to create the future you really want!

For more information

Inspired by a note from Seth Godin
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/01/quieting-the-lizard-brain.html

This idea appears to be part of Seth Godin’s new book “Linchpin: Are You Indispensible?” http://www.amazon.com/Linchpin-Are-Indispensable-Seth-Godin/dp/1591843162 (no affiliate)

Photo credit: Image by lostartist on Flickr . Use permitted by Creative Commons CC BY-ND 2.0

Is your business project running off the rails, or turning into a “Death March”: a daily slog with no hope of any outcome?

If your project or your business is heading towards disaster, what can you do to get it back on track? In this discussion, Coach Davender Gupta will show you a simple process to take control of the situation and steer it back onto the path to progress.

Join Sharon Sayler as she interviews me about a simple five-step process to get you back on track, during her BlogTalkRadio podcast “Beyond Lip Service” this Tuesday at 1pm East / 10 am Pacific at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/BeyondLipService

Air Date: Tuesday Feb 2 2010, 1pm East/10am Pacific
Direct Link: http://bit.ly/9TzGvt

For more information:

Ustream.tv recording: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/4398483

Do you have a task that you’ve been procrastinating on, one that gets bigger every day even though you’re trying to ignore it? I usually have a couple of those on my list. These are tasks that I’m dreading for one reason or another: tediousness, refusal to face the truth, fear, shame…

The more I try to push these tasks to the future, the bigger they get, to the point that just resisting them is sapping my energy and blocking my ability to spot and respond to other opportunities.

So it’s time to do something about it.  

Mark Twain, that great philosopher-sage, said “If you eat a frog first thing in the morning, the rest of your day will be wonderful.”  This is the premise behind a delightful little book by Brian Tracy, called “Eat That Frog“. This book, which I highly recommend (even if you are not procrastinating on anything at the moment), provides a simple process to blast through procrastination: imagine the yukky task as an ugly frog that you must first eat before you can enjoy doing other things.

I’ve taken to call the tasks I’m procrastinating on my “Ugly Frogs” (UF).  UFs are things that only I can do (what’s left after the delegating and dumping), but I am loathe to get started on for any real or imagined reason. And it’s usually the latter. By identifying the UF, I can then go through a process to help me break it down into bite-sized pieces so that I swallow the whole darn thing…and therefore get it off my plate.

I’m currently implementing this idea in my weekly planning by asking myself the following questions:

1. What is an important task that I’m procrastinating on which is draining my energy and stopping me from moving forward? (This task must be on a critical path for my most important priority at the moment)

2. How can I break this task down into three to five sub-tasks that take between 30 minutes to no more than two hours each to complete? (An ugly frog is easier to swallow if I first cut it up into smaller pieces)

3. On what days this week will I accomplish each one of those tasks? (Schedule the day, and if possible, the time)

4. With whom shall I share this commitment to help me be accountable? (I find an accountability buddy to be invaluable in making sure I finish my plate)

Sometimes you might not get through the whole UF in one week, but can get far enough that there may be one or two sub-tasks left. If so, try to schedule them at the beginning of the following week so that the whole task is done, or if this is not possible, make sure you schedule them now so that you complete them as soon as possible.  Or maybe my UF is too big, like two frogs stuck together. Then the idea is to separate the tasks to make them more manageable. With practice you will learn what are reasonable task sizes and timelines for you, depending on your workload.

Even with this preparation, the actual eating of the Ugly Frog can still be distasteful, stressful, even nauseating.  I’ve had tasks that needed to be done that would take someone else maybe 20 minutes or so, but take me two hours because it feels like I’m moving through cold molasses. Hang in there, gut it out. You know that it will be over in at most two hours. This is where the accountability buddy is so valuable, for encouragement or simply someone to whine to…but make sure that your buddy won’t let you off the hook!

Brian Tracy explains more thoroughly this process of breaking through procrastination. Don’t delay, get it now, read it now and do it now.

Don’t stare too long at that Ugly Frog. Just pick up your knife and your fork and get at it, so you can move on to the dessert!

For more information

Read: “Eat That Frog” by Brian Tracy  Amazon.com link (no affiliate): http://www.amazon.com/Eat-That-Frog-Great-Procrastinating/dp/1576754227

Photo credit: Photo by wahoowins on Flickr. Used under Creative Commons licence CC BY-ND 2.0

Are you overwhelmed by everything that screams for your attention?

Join me and my guest, office productivity coach Athenee Mastrangelo, as we discuss how some simple steps can organize your workspace, get you out of the “Crazy-Busy” mindset, and help you get more done.

This is the inaugural episode of “From Passion To Profit Radio”!

Show time: Monday, January 11, 2010, 6PM-6:30PM (Eastern)
Location: Listen live or download the podcast at
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/frompassiontoprofit

“From Passion To Profit Radio” presents people with interesting stories, ideas, tools and techniques to help you power your Vision from Passion to Profit. Each episode is hosted by Coach Davender Gupta.

For more information about Athenee, visit her website at
http://www.actionchaos.com

For more information about Coach Davender, check out his blog at http://www.frompassiontoprofit.com and his main site
http://www.coachdavender.com

To access this and other episodes of “From Passion To Profit Radio”, visit
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/frompassiontoprofit

So it’s a New Year, but how are you going to make this different then the old one? Here are three ideas to help you make this year your best ever!

For more information:

Link to this video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBAMjY2vHto

My YouTube channel (includes my videos and other “favorites”):
http://www.youtube.com/coachdavender

Lately I’ve been accused of being a pessimist. In project meetings and with clients, I’m becoming the “what if” guy, pointing out obstacles and difficulties, bringing up the need for all kinds of expenses, pouring cold water on dreams of how big the profits will be and expectations of how potential customers will respond to the offer. Which doesn’t always make me the most popular guy in the discussion.

Entrepreneurs are necessarily optimistic. We need to be, it allows us to see the possibilities around us and act on them.

But the trap appears when we “fall in love” with the idea. Optimism then gives way to an emotional attachment to the idea, a state of “irrational exuberance” which can blind you to dangers that are otherwise obvious to someone who is not as emotionally invested in the project.

This is why I like Edward DeBono‘s Six Thinking Hats approach to thinking. The six hats are a creativity tool to help look at a situation from different perspectives. When you wear a specific colour hat, it gives you permission to think in a certain style:

• White Hat: Analytical – What does the data say? Look at the available data both quantitative and qualitative. What are past trends? What can you extrapolate? Where is the evidence to support your assumptions? Where do you need more data?
• Red Hat: Emotional – How do you feel about this? Access your intuition, gut reaction, emotion. Talk about your feelings about the situation, where you feel good and not as good. How would others feel about this?
• Black Hat: Pessimist – What could go wrong? Think cautiously, defensively, why it might not work. Poke holes in the idea, look for the weak spots, all with the intention to identify what needs to be addressed in order to overcome any problems.
• Yellow Hat: Optimist - What if all goes right? Think optimistically, positively. Imagine all the opportunities, the benefits, the advantages. Reach for the stars!
• Green Hat: Creative – How can we make this better? Use your creative juices to think “out of the box”. Explore weird tangents, unexpected synergies, make it into a “purple cow” (something remarkable that stands out from the crowd).
• Blue Hat: Process – What do we need to do now? Direct the process of creativity so you don’t get stuck. When in “Blue Hat” mode, step back from the problem and consider if you are giving all of the other hats equal time.

Entrepreneurs seem to do quite well with the Yellow, Red and Green Hat approaches to thinking about an idea. There is more resistance to the White Hat (analytical) and definitely a big block around Black Hat thinking. Could this be because the Analytical and Pessimist are associated with external control?

There is nothing to fear from the Black Hat – actually it can be your friend. Wearing the Black Hat gets me out of cheerleader mode and forces me to examine my assumptions up close. Everytime I’ve had a project backfire on me (and yes, I’ve had a few) it could be traced back to an assumption that was not properly tested.

Black Hat thinking is what gives your project real traction, by foreseeing the difficulties and encouraging defensive planning. This makes the project more resilient and improves the probability of success.

As you explore your idea, put on the Blue Hat (Process) from time to time to see if you are considering all the perspectives of your project. And don’t be afraid to wear the Black Hat – you may find that underneath that gruff exterior there is a heart…that wants you to succeed.

It’s great fun to dream big, to reach for the stars. But if you want to make any progress, you need to keep your feet on the ground. This is what gives you the traction to power your Vision forward.

For more information

I recommend Edward DeBono’s book  ”The Six Thinking Hats” (Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Six-Thinking-Hats-Edward-Bono/dp/0316178314 – not an affiliate link). It’s a slim volume packed with practical examples.

My New Year’s Eve was quiet, as usual (I don’t like big celebrations). I ended up flipping through YouTube and randomly found the movie “Groundhog Day” starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell. I’ve seen this flick several times before, but there was something that made me watch it with another perspective.

If you’re not familiar with the movie, it’s about the obnoxious Pittsburgh TV weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray) who is assigned to cover the Groundhog Day festivities in small-town Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. He grudgingly does his on-air spot and sets off on the return trip to Pittsburgh but has to turn back because of a snowstorm. Forced to stay in the small town for another night, he wakes up the next morning realizing to his horror that he has to relive Groundhog Day again, and again the next day and the day after that. Stuck in this time loop, he realizes that he is powerless to change the situation and sinks into a depression until something clicks and he decides to start living positively. Even that doesn’t break the time loop, until…well, you’ll have to see the movie to find out how it ends.

There was one point in the movie where I was sure that once Phil Connors “got the girl” then he would snap out of the time loop, but I realized it was only half-way through the movie. Then it came to me: this movie was calling me to snap out of my own “Groundhog Year”.

2009 was a good year, in that I’m grateful for all the new experiences, the new contacts, and the new skills that I gained. But, to be honest, despite all of the big plans I had back in January 2009, I did not achieve the quantum leap forward in my business that I’ve been wanting for the last couple of years. My business project is stuck in a Groundhog Loop.

Once the movie finished, I sat there staring at the screen for a while, thinking about what are the lessons I could apply to ensure that 2010 is not another Groundhog Year?

- Do one thing different today: Phil Connors came to believe that whatever he did had no consequences. After sinking into a depressive state and trying to kill himself by different means, he still woke up with the 6:00 AM radio alarm with nothing changed. It was when he started to realize that by doing one thing different that day, in a positive way, he could make the experience of being in the time loop more pleasant for him, even if the environment around him did not change and nobody remembered. So for me, I must identify – and do – one thing different today so that I can make my day more pleasant and productive.

- Be patient: Even by making positive changes in his actions and his attitude, Phil Connors was still in the time loop for a long, long time. It’s the same with New Year’s Resolutions. The actions I take now will probably not make a difference for many days, weeks or months. But if I really want to be in a different situation one year from today, I must start now.

- Change for the right reasons: At first Phil Connors focused all his efforts on trying to “get the girl”, thinking that might be the way to create his “perfect day”. But it was only when he started to change for the “right reasons” that he created the movement that eventually broke through the time loop. Are my goals for the New Year focused on the right results that will get me out of my own Groundhog Loop?

Waking up this January 1 2010, nothing outside of me has changed significantly. I have the same surroundings, the same people, the same bank account, the same to-do list as on December 31, 2009. But I have the power to break the Groundhog Loop by the positive steps I choose to make, starting today, to make this my Best Year Ever.

What matters most to me in 2010 is one word: Execution.

I love Peter Senge’s definition of Leadership from his famous book “The Fifth Discipline”: leadership is the ability to get things done.  Getting things done means turning ideas into results.

For the past ten years I have been working on this vision of mine. When things work well, it is because I focus on making things happen. When things don’t work so well, it’s because I get too wrapped up in dreams, hopes and wishes…

Yes, positive thinking is important. The Law of Attraction (Ask-Believe-Receive) sounds nice, neat and tidy. But all the Big Dreams in the world amount to nothing until someone is willing to roll up their sleeves and get sweaty all over.

Here is what Execution means to me, right now.

• Execution means clarity – keeping the main thing the main thing
• Execution means discipline – taking purposeful action regardless of how I feel (about it or about me)
• Execution means accountability – measuring and reporting my tangible and intangible results so I tell myself the truth about my current situation
• Execution means systems – having processes and structure to free my mind from sweating the small stuff, so I can focus on what’s important
• Execution means efficiency – doing things right to maximize the return on my investment of time, money and effort
• Execution means effectiveness – doing the right things that move me forward towards my goal
• Execution means progress – making sure I move forward each day
• Execution means commitment – doing what I say is most important to me
• Execution means collaboration – assembling and building a team that actively supports the vision and the mission
• Execution means communication – communicating my intentions constantly and clearly so that everyone who is involved and impacted by what I do knows what is happening and where I’m going
• Execution means purposeful courage – expanding my comfort zone by keeping one foot in and one foot just beyond, giving me a fulcrum from which to propel myself forward into the unknown
• Execution means planning – thinking things through before I act, to optimize my efforts and my results
• Execution means standards – establishing performance levels that I require of my self in all my actions
• Execution means results-focused leadership – ensuring that I stay out of the “strategy trap” where all I do is conjecture and plan, and that I move into action mode
• Execution means celebration – recognizing and celebrating progress so that I can enhance it
• Execution means acceleration – from first learning to crawl then to walk then to run, what is in common is that it’s all about putting one foot in front of the other
• Execution means boundaries – being clear about what I tolerate from others, and being grounded enough to say no (or no more) when it does not serve my purpose
• Execution means imagination – keeping the big vision alive in my mind’s eye
• Execution means relentless focus – being obsessive about creating results in alignment with what I say is most important to me
• Execution means responsibility – adopting the attitude that “the buck stops here”: if it is not working, first look at myself to see what I can change within me, if it is working, then recognizing the contributions of others that make it possible
• Execution means excellence – making a positive difference in the world that fully expresses Who I Really Am.

Dreamers open up the possibility of change, but it’s the doers that make revolutions happen. In 2010 I will be the revolution-maker.

What value matters most to you as you move into 2010?

For more information

Read my original post here: http://blog.davender.com/2009/12/what-matters-most-whats-your-one-word-theme-for-2010

Get Seth Godin’s thought-provoking e-book here: http://www.squidoo.com/Whatmattersnowfreeebook