Business Record - Iowa Biz

Interpersonal communication in a digital age

In his Jan. 26 post, fellow blogger Cory Garrison wrote about his recent experience of receiving a personalized note.

“E-mail, though convenient, is absolutely no substitute for a personalized handwritten note,” Garrison wrote.

Does the digital age in which we live, allowing human beings to communicate with so many people, so readily, actually help or hinder the development of relationships?

Though there has been much discourse on the subject during the last several years, I’ve yet to form a solid opinion on the subject, and can empathize with both schools of thought.

And though I’m not ready to fully weigh in on the matter, here are a few things I’ve been considering.

• For those of us old enough to remember a time before the Internet, how does the way we form and build relationships differ from the past?
• Has the advent of the World Wide Web and mobile connectivity, which gives us more opportunities to connect with others on many different levels, bolstered interpersonal communication or somehow cheapened it?
• Have we grown too dependent on cellular phones and e-mail to communicate with others? And do these devices discourage people from taking the time to really think through what they may want to say or write? (I once heard that whenever Abraham Lincoln wrote a letter, he would set it on his desk at night and sleep before deciding whether to mail it off in the morning).
• Do we become dismayed when we don’t receive an immediate response to an e-mail, a text message or a voicemail? In other words, do these instruments lend themselves to a desire to be instantly gratified, hampering the virtue of patience?
• How do social media applications such as Facebook and Twitter lend themselves to the phenomenon? Does our ability to continually view the tweets and status updates of our “followers” and “friends” everyday somehow make us feel justified or less inclined to contact them through traditional means?

Like many people, I don’t have a home phone anymore. Instead, I rely on my cell and can’t imagine going a day without it. I also send and receive countless e-mails everyday.

I was well into my twenties before ever having either instrument.

I also enjoy using my Facebook page as it allows me to interact and keep up to speed with what’s going on in the lives of friends and associates who I don’t get to spend as much time with as I would like.

I have no doubt about the usefulness and necessity of these means of communication. In fact, as the online editor of a publishing company, I use them constantly in the course of my work, which, by the way, brings a great deal of fulfillment into my life.

And I’m certain they are here to stay.

“It’s unfortunate, but as technology grows so does the distance between us as professionals. Between email, cell phones, text messaging and social media we seem to have forgotten the art of writing,” Garrison wrote.

And before reading his post last week, I penned a letter on stationary for the first time in many months, with the exception of a handful of greeting cards, and hand delivered it.

And it felt great.

As society’s dependence on these tools continues to grow and evolve, where do you fit into the spectrum?

-Todd Razor

Is your headline catching anything?

Print advertising has been a staple of most marketing efforts for years. And for good reason – they work when done well.

There are many elements of a successful ad, print or otherwise.  But none is more important than the headline. 

The headline is the lure.  It's out there, snaking through the water -- trying to entice someone to take a nibble.  If they don't hit on your headline, you've lost them.  The headline's job is not to sell anything.  It's simply to get the person to actually read the ad.

So how do you make sure that your headline hooks their attention? 

~ Use the headline to flag your prospect: Good news for people who toss and turn all night!

~ Offer a benefit in the headline: Whiter teeth. Fresher Breath. And the attention of that new guy in class.

~ Also, don’t be afraid of long headlines. Toro did some research on their print ads and found that headlines with 20+ words sold 20 percent better than their shorter counterparts. If you need the extra words to make your point – use them.  But...make sure you need them.

~ Don't try to sell in the headline.  You want to pique their interest enough that they're keep reading:  Do you know why French men are renowned as lovers?

Naturally, the headline is just part of what makes a good ad. But, if it doesn't do its job…odds are the rest of your ad isn’t going to get read at all.

So, choose your words carefully!

Do You Need a Patent?

Ask a patent attorney whether you need a patent and he or she will likely stare at you like you just asked them if they need a new Jet Ski. Despite possessing a wealth of knowledge about what patents are and what they do, most patent attorneys simply do not have enough information to determine if a patent is right for you. A patent that may be of great value to you, may be of little or no value to someone else. How do you tell?

Self-described "Recovering Patent Lawyer," Jackie Hutter, has just posted an insightful SlideShare presentation addressing exactly this question  In addition to providing insightful tips on traits to look for in a good patent attorney, Jackie guides you through the "To patent or not to patent" decision-making process.

When should you pursue a patent? Jackie suggests looking for these three factors:

1) Your invention has significant business value;
2) Competitors will likely copy it; and
3) You have the resources to obtain and defend your patent.

When should you hold off on a patent? Look for these factors:

1) Your idea is not associated with an existing business model;
2) You do not understand the market application of your idea; and
3) You cannot invest the resources necessary to obtain and protect the patent.

Even if the foregoing three factors are present, that is not to say you should never pursue a patent on your invention. You may just want to consider regrouping until you have addressed these issues.

The bottom line is that while patents can be a valuable part of nearly any business plan, they are no pot of gold. Patents do not make money on their own; it is always the businesses developed around the patented invention that makes the money. Trying to profit from a naked idea, or even a naked patent is a fools errand. Unless you have a business model attached to your invention, it is very unlikely that your patent will ever generate enough revenue to pay for itself.

Brett Trout

Streaming Videos @ Work: Is it a Generational Issue?

Last Wednesday I had a conversation with a number of friends over the previous day's
Inauguration festivities. The conversation focused on the historic nature of it, akin to one of those "where were you when..." moments. A few of my friends were livid because they were not allowed to watch it on their computers at work.

I posted on my Twitter & Facebook status, a question on the fairness of this policy and the response comments starting flowing. It was interesting to see the range of comments that I received especially considering the political range of friends I have spanning from long time conservative financial brokers to union organizers.  Though the conversation turned into an employer expectation/productivity vs. employee rights/flexibility, and then later a conservative vs. liberal ideology, I could not help but wonder if it was more of a generational issue?

Then, as if someone was thinking the same thing, I came across this article related to IT issues in the workplace. Essentially many Millennials are ignoring IT usage policies and CIOs and other managers are having to lay the smack down. In one report 90 percent of Gen Y workers have suffered consequences for bypassing the IT policies. (and this was in Canada!)

Another close friend of mind had secretly learned that her company had the technology and capability to allow people to work from home, but the management team decided against it, opining "it is counterproductive in building relationships with co-workers." I'm not sure I agree. (This place has also cut back on the number of interoffice social & charitable events they do as well.)

I had a followup conversation with a Millennial IT security guy (who has a side Web development business) at large company in town (who recently laid off a bunch of folks) to discuss this issue further. His take: "It is just too cost prohibitive for everyone to use the technology that's available", and his company was "concerned about the lost of proprietary info." I get that, but it also left me with a number of questions:

1. What good is having the technology if it can't be used?

2. If the technology can't be used, should an alternative be provided?

3. Even without the growth of social media, hasn't proprietary info been at risk?

4. Are Millennials being consulted when these decisions are being discuss. Should they?

An Old School Tool

I wasn’t really sure what to do with it. Something I barely recognized arrived in the mailbox at my office last Friday. I don’t mean my “inbox.” I’m talking the mailbox. An envelope delivered by a United States Postal employee. It was addressed to me and hand written in ink.

A few days before this I had a meeting with Scott Jarvis, Vice President of Retail Banking at West Bank, Inc. After our meeting Scott thought enough of our time together that he took the time to write a hand written note expressing his gratitude to me for taking the time to meet.

I meet with people constantly. It’s what I do. I’m either interviewing a candidate to fill a position for my client, meeting with clients, or speaking to people at networking events. I always try to write a handwritten note to follow up. I love to receive a personalized note myself.

E-mail, though convenient, is absolutely no substitute for a personalized handwritten note. It’s unfortunate but as technology grows, so does the distance between us as professionals. Between email, cell phones, text messaging and social media we seem to have forgotten the art of writing.

It’s hard to argue that personalized notes are not as common as they used to be. Because of this they stand out and touch the reader in a way no other form of communication does. It’s tangible and personal. It doesn’t interrupt the reader at an inopportune time.

Take a gander at what Lydia Ramsey, a business etiquette expert, lists her keys to writing effective handwritten business notes.

What do you do to follow up with your associates and clients after significant meetings?

More on Twitter and the Workplace

Several months ago Iowa Patent and Cyber law guru Brett Trout (Twitter:  @BrettTrout) introduced me to Twitter. Twitter is a social media site where people write "Tweets" in 140 characters or less. It is also known as micro-blogging. I actually don't think its creators initially envisioned Twitter as a business application but it is certainly has evolved into a very effective business tool.  Several of the authors of IowaBiz have their own Twitter pages.

I'll admit, my gravitation toward Twitter has been very slow. While I immediately saw the benefits with my own blog, it took me much more time to see the benefits of Twitter for the business person. Until recently there were many occasions when I thought of ditching the exercise. At times the "noise" on Twitter can be a bit overwhelming and it is tough for me to stay connected with it during the work day. But some things occurred over the past several months that demonstrate great promise for my continued use of Twitter:

1. There is a very active Twitter community in Des Moines. (See dmtweetup.org).  I have met several interesting and motivated individuals through this very diverse group. Some are interested in business while others are not, but I have learned about people and our community from all. Members of this group have met for roundtable discussions and also have planned business seminars and other events. Heck, even a dmtweetup with @ChuckGrassley has been scheduled.
2. A site called LexTweet popped up for lawyers and has made it much easier to identify and follow lawyers from around the country. This is important not only for networking purposes but also from an educational standpoint. Many of these lawyers post on important topics that keep me on the forefront of what is happening with cases throughout the country. Perhaps there is a similar site in your industry. If not, start one.
3. I had the opportunity to meet and talk with one of the real leaders in the legal social media network, @MattHomann. Without Twitter it is highly unlikely I would have learned Matt was in town for a project and I would have missed out on the opportunity to meet with him. The ability to connect with people through Twitter is downright amazing! 
4. Added bonus:  @LanceArmstrong started on Twitter. He's actually pretty fun to follow as he returns from retirement. 

In my blog post, The Workplace is All a Twitter, I discussed the fact that someone from YOUR company is probably already on Twitter and/or other social networking sites regularly.  I also warned that if you don't define how your employees use Twitter, they will define it for you.  It's better to get on board before it's too late. 

I strongly suggest that employers meet with employees to discuss potential issues regarding Twitter use. Remind employees how their Tweets could impact your business, both positively and negatively. This past week a story of an employee who Tweeted about the town of Memphis, home of his company's major client FedEx, touched off a firestorm of controversy. One can debate whether it deserved the amount of attention it received but it is tough to deny the incident reflected poorly on the employee and his employer. After all, the client's representatives took umbrage with the Tweet.  You don't want to be THAT company.

And if you are an employee, I would think twice about publishing negative Tweets about your employer. I think you will find that more and more employers will monitor Twitter and other social networking sites. You don't want to be THE employee whose career ends in one Tweet. Remember, be professional. It may be social networking and at times you will be off the clock. But people are watching you all the time.

    

P.S. You can follow me on Twitter @RushNigut

 

'Smart Power' is Smart, and Powerful

If you have power, you can always use it.

It's human nature to want to resort to power sometimes...we saw that model a lot as kids. Parents use power because they're bigger, and they can. In the workplace, we're used to seeing managers resort to discipline way too early sometimes. We're even tempted ourselves to quickly bring down the power of the law on a neighbor who lets their dog use our yard to do its business.

Whether it's at home, work, our neighborhoods, nationally or internationally -- the secret is:  don't start with power.

At her confirmation hearing on Jan. 13, Sen. Clinton declared: “We must use what has been called 'smart power', the full range of tools at our disposal—diplomatic, economic, military, political, legal and cultural—picking the right tool, or combination of tools, for each situation”.

David Crane of Syracuse University College of Law talks about Hillary Clinton's use of that term and the message it sends about the Obama administration's return to diplomacy. He credits Theodore Roosevelt with first using that phrase -- smart power -- taken from a West African proverb -- in one of his turn of the century speeches.

Clinton's use of that term seems to be saying, "We are a powerful nation. We can always use power. But we aren't going to start with power. We're going to consider all the tools in our toolbox when we run into a difficult or crisis situation. We're not going to automatically pull out the sledge hammer and start swinging."

That same kind of "smart power" mindset is critical if a manager to going to be successful in the workplace. Helping someone see the natural consequences of their behavior, performance, or results is much more likely to get them back on track and sustain their long-term commitment than threatening to dock their pay. Imposed consequences, like docking someone's pay:

• damage trust and respect for the leader
• motivate resistance
• aren't sustainable, and
• make the leader look mean-spirited and desperate

Can you relate to using "dumb power" in the heat of the moment and later saying to yourself, "What was I thinking? There must have been something I could have tried first, before resorting to that!"

Now, let's not be naive. Sometimes managers have to impose serious consequences when nothing else seems to work...and sometimes nations have to take military action.

Remember, there's a big difference between compliance and commitment. Smart power is about getting commitment; using force and punishment is about getting compliance.

What manager would not want his team's commitment rather than their obedience? It's just smart.

Teaching Employees the Business

Now is the time to teach all of your employees the business.  They need to understand the numbers and how they relate to sales, profits, cash and share value.  With the dire economic conditions you need everyone focused on the business, not just the management team.   If your employees understand the business, then they are better prepared to face tough decisions and not be surprised by them.

There have been and there will continue to be, hundreds of thousands of employee that will be laid off completely surprised and with little or no explanation of why, other then business is bad.  How would you like to be one these lucky people?

If your employees do not understand the business, then you are ignoring the knowledge capital that exists within your employees.  I promise you that if employees understand the business, you will see a huge influx of new and innovative ways to improve your business.  If you were dying, would you rather have 100 doctors working on your diagnosis or just three or four? 

I personally lead a company where the employees were taught the business.  Once that happened, the business saw significant growth in sales, profits, and share value.  Tough decisions were still made, but the employees were not freaked out because they understood the business.  During one tough decision, people volunteered on their own to be laid off to preserve other' employees jobs and help the business!

Jack Stack the CEO of SRC Holdings in Springfield, MO has written a book that relates to teaching employees the business -  "The Great Game of Business".  Here are the facts.  If you invested $10,000 in 1983 when SRC was founded during tough economic times, it would be worth $23,400,000 today.  SRC taught employees the business from day one, and they continue to do so today - 26 years of it.

If this post seems ridiculous, if you do not believe me, then at least take the time to read Jack Stack's book.  Learn the lessons from a real life business stor

    

Enterprise Architecture: another component to an agile and flexible enterprise

I've been speaking a lot lately about the importance of IT governance.  Although IT governance is critical to the success of having a flexible and agile enterprise, having an overarching enterprise architecture to show how all the components of the enterprise are related and to guide the decisions that affect IT is just as important.

Now I'm sure that most of you have an enterprise architecture in place, but for those of you who don't, I'll give you my two cents.  The essence of an enterprise architecture is that it lays out how information and IT enable the realization of the enterprise strategy, and it provides a framework for supporting and automating business processes using IT capabilities.  Together with the IT strategic planning process, an enterprise architecture helps align IT initiatives more effectively with your strategic business imperatives.  It identifies both the current state of the enterprise and the future desired state, and it enables business and IT managers, including the governance team, to see how the enterprise can transform itself in stages from the current state to the envisioned future state.

I've seen some clients approach enterprise architecture as something that is done and 'set and forget'...big mistake.  An enterprise architecture is not simply a static document.  It is a dynamic, disciplined, ongoing process.  Its central focus is on evolving the key operational processes of the enterprise (the enterprise business architecture) and the information systems that support them (the enterprise IT architecture).

By describing the essential, overall design of these architectures as a holistic "system of systems" and by providing the context, guidance and discipline  for the development of the more detailed, system- and service-specific architectures, an enterprise architecture provides a way to translate between business needs and IT capabilities.  It shows how the business needs are to be met by the enterprise's information systems and the information services they provide, thereby creating a bridge that ensures alignment of business and IT.

Taking a holistic architectural view of the enterprise helps strike an effective balance across all business and IT imperatives, with a particular emphasis on agility. It helps planners see how the enterprise currently works, and how it could and should work in the future.

• The strategy provides the overall direction (vision, goals/objectives, and measures) for the enterprise and the IT capability, while the architecture describes the operational and information systems as they are, and as they should be to realize the strategy.
• The IT investment planning aspect of strategic planning (often referred to as project-portfolio management) uses the architecture to identify initiatives with high strategic value and acceptable risk and adds them to a committed plan of record.
• Your program management office then drives execution of the initiatives in the plan of record, with reviews against the architecture at appropriate points in the initiatives’ life cycles.

As long as I can remember, enterprise architecture has long been promoted as a key tool in bridging the gap between business and IT. But even within the last few years, the practice of enterprise architecture had failed to deliver on a lot of the hype, causing many to lose interest. Several factors have combined to once again bring enterprise architecture to the forefront again:

• The discipline of enterprise architecture has matured, learning from past mistakes of over-reaching, not paying enough attention to benefits vs. costs, and focusing too much on IT considerations.
• The costs to operate and maintain information systems have continued to grow, providing a large payback for architecture-led efforts to rationalize processes and consolidate systems.
• Architecture methods and tools have advanced significantly, including improvements in modeling of business strategies, processes and metrics, and relating them to IT capabilities.
• Many partial models and other architectural elements are widely available, greatly lowering costs and significantly improving the ability to provide automated, flexible, real-time linkages between enterprises.

So, to wrap up this up, when properly envisioned and implemented, an enterprise architecture is a fundamental tool that anticipates future needs and enables you to implement change rapidly in response to changing business priorities.

It enables your IT organization to respond rapidly to changes in business strategy, processes and environment. It enables your business units to realize their critical business goals and strategies by providing a framework that supports all the processes, information, and IT systems that those goals and strategies require.

What do you and Warren Buffett have in common?

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Your calendar and your clock.

That's right. 

Warren's calendar and clock are exactly the same as yours.

Even with billions... Warren can't buy more months in a year or more hours in a day.

Yup... Time is the world's even playing field.

And although we all get the same amount, everyone seems to want more.

But since we can't get more... the key is to spend it more effectively.

Now, in today's world, there are some options to help with this.

As some of us think about becoming more effective with our time... we dream of hiring help... maybe a real or virtual assistant (ala Tim Ferris's 4-hour Work Week).  Some of us want to automate.  You know... go high tech with a new electronic gadget or new freaky cool scheduling software.

All of that is fine, but I suggest starting this process with a taking a "snap shot."

That's right. 

Start by figuring out where your time is currently going.  That will enable you to figure out how to improve.

Get started by downloading this simple time tracking grid that I use with some of my coaching clients. Download Kick Coaching - Time Tracking Sheet

Now... I can imagine that some of you are saying... "Hold on.  I have my planner.  I know where I am spending my time."

Yes, you do.  However, if you are like most people, your daily calendar shows you where you were supposed to spend your time, or where you wanted to spend your time, but it won't give you the full picture. 

This grid allows you to go deeper.

It allows you to figure out EXACTLY where you are spending your time... minute by minute.

It will help you to track the scheduled meetings as well as the impromptu chats interruptions and Internet surfs.

Yup, this grid will give you a more accurate snap shot of how you spend each day.

I know... I know... this is a scary thought for some... but this is the only way for you to come up with a more effective plan to move towards the D.D.A.E. of more effective time management!  (That's figuring out what you can DO, DELEGATE, AUTOMATE or ELIMINATE!)

Give it a try. 

And as you do, don't filter.  Don't try to pretty it up.  If you lose track of time and spend 15 minutes talking to a friend... write it down.  If you wind up doing something off task... track it. 

(NOTE: You'll need to come up with abbreviations for things.  There's not a lot of space to write and that's intentional.  Just develop a key that will allow you to jot things down and record them, without feeling like you need to write a novel each time!)

Then, in my next post, I'll offer some solutions that will help you spend that time more effectively by figuring out your "D.D.A.E. Equation!"

Okay... start tracking that time... and then... next time... we'll figure out how to do more of what you want and need to do... and less of the rest!

By the way, it probably took you about three minutes to read this... and I'm hoping you thought it was time well spent!

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