Saturday, 17 September 2011 6:17 PM
As an avid agnostic political follower, I am somewhat concerned at the lacks in our politicians at the moment. Granted it is an unusual political environment and an unusual time both domestically and internationally however you do get the feeling that both sides of politics are struggling with exception to a few pollies that seem to have convictions and the fortitude to put them out there.
Politics is the art of compromise. That is granted and I have to say I would absolutely struggle in politics because lets face it, to get anywhere you really have to be attached to the major political parties one way or the other and then you are guarenteed to be compromised on many issues. That is not to say that other walks in life are not full of compromise, its just about getting the right balance. In business, for example, there are plenty of times that you have to put forward a compromised or commercial position in order to achieve a mutually acceptable result.
With this in mind I thought I would share my top 3 business lessons for our ailing politicians....
1. You can't sell what you don't believe in! Whether you are the head of a business or a run of the mill sales person you simply can't sell what you don't believe in. This was an early lesson I learnt from selling cutlery door to door and pushing people for demonstrations. How can you be passionate about a product if you feel the product is not right for the client or is lets say simply inferior.
Politicians - take note. If you don't believe in the core reasons behind policies you will simply not sell it to the people. Does anyone else think that is why Julia Gillard is struggling to convince people on off shore processing, the carbon tax and a range of other policies? I also think people are very clear on Tony Abbott's position regarding climate change and the carbon tax.
Now if you are in a position of having to sell something you dont believe in; it's a pretty simple. Stop selling it or upgrade/change it to something you love and are passionate about. Now if that means you lose power or lose position perhaps you can win in it back by selling the right product that people can clearly see you are passionate about!
2. No Money, No Business. Someone said it right? "It's the economy stupid." Well in business it is simple, if your money in doesnt meet your money out you are simply out of business. This is no different in politics. If the country is bleeding revenue, jobs and opportunities there is simply no room for anything else than focusing on getting back in the black. I agree you must provide services to the community and build a better Australia however quite frankly the basics are getting the economy in good shape.
Right now there are a number of issues that are burning our politicians time, energy and willpower that are simply right out of whack with getting our economy in good shape. Why we have to hear about Craig Thompson, gay marriage and with all due respect a trickle of "illegal immigrants" is beyond me. Surely the livelihood of Australian industry, that provides jobs, which provides money and so forth is a critical issue to address. Surely evolving Australia's economy is a bigger issue than some of the hoo haa we have to carry on about. (Media listen up I am onto you next!)
3. Fear campaigns have a short fuse. We've all been exposed to fear campaigns before right? You know the whole "buy this or your head will explode in 30 seconds!" I can name a few industries that do the fear sell and there are plenty of cowboys in the I.T market doing the fear sell. However as logic would have it the market wises up and the doomsayers largely get discarded.
So pollies if you think you can get ahead pitching on the fear campaign; be aware that people will wise up very soon! This is highlighted with a few gents (no names mentioned) who are able to spout rhetoric, that Cicero would be proud of, but when pushed there is little substance to it...
There are plenty more business and life lessons for our politicians but what are your suggestions?
Author: Geoff Olds | Filed Under: Miscellaneous Stuff, Business, Announcements, Solutions | 1 Comments
Monday, 8 August 2011 2:52 PM
The digital age is brilliant however one of the things that does your head in when you are trying to concentrate and get things done is the constant barrage of emails, texts, calls, status updates, notifications and so on. It’s a great way to leave the office at the end of the day with a headache fully realising that very little was accomplished despite constantly working away all day even sometimes up to 10 hours a day with little breaks.
Imagine in the "old school" environment of no computers, a job where 90% of it was to write, send and receive letters to your colleagues, suppliers and clients.
An excellent economist article (http://www.economist.com/node/21525350?frsc=dg|a) recently spoke about innovation and ideas often being stimulated when people were away or on leave. It’s simply a case of having the mental space and time to go deep on a subject. I recently read someone liken it to REM sleep. That is; being able to go into a deep sleep to get excellent sleep and waken feeling rested. So in other words being able to have the time to concentrate on a topic or task and being able to go deep into so that the best results are produced. I believe the excellent company 37 Signals (http://37signals.com/) speaks about this subject very well after implementing a lot of rules to keep their developers and designers with minimal interruptions.
One of my favourite tricks in getting work done is to "go offline". It sounds a bit rogue doesn't it but actually it is just simply blocking out all the chatter that is going on so that you can focus at work. I actually have to be a lot better at this as I certainly don't do it enough and often end up spending Saturday going through work just to catch on things.
Here are some of the practical things I do to "go offline";
Outlook - I use 2010 so under the send and receive buttons I click the Work Offline button. This means that you can still access your emails and work away merrily without the constant distraction of new emails popping in. (And you know you just want to check each one right?) Another good one for Outlook is to turn off the message alert popup, the notification and the sounds each time something comes in.
Phone -The silent option on most phones is a good quick option however going into flight mode is a great way to stop vibrating alerts and pings that happen as data comes through to your handset.
Messenger/Skype/Browsers - Go Offline. Pretty straight forward right? :)
So that’s just a few ways of coping in these days of "digital barrage" particularly if you are like me and have to get out tender responses, development business and so on!
Comment if you have suggestions, ideas or want any other tips
Author: Geoff Olds | Filed Under: Miscellaneous Stuff, Business | 1 Comments
Saturday, 30 July 2011 8:40 AM
I often get asked about what motivates me and drives me in business. Its not one thing but many things really however I can often point to my Dad as a great source of inspiration and motivation. It wasnt always this way and certainly as a teenager I butted heads with Dad more than anything else however it is great to get to a place where you can really enjoy your father's company and get some pearls of wisdom. Like the joke goes (and I am para-phrasing here) "When I was a teenager my old man knew nothing, but when I turned 21 he had learned an awful lot."
Perhaps this piece is a little early for father's day or the like however I wanted to share three things my Dad taught me through advice and example which drives me on.
"Do you want to be a spectator or a participator." I don't think Dad ever repeated this to me ever but it was such a great call to action. Yes it is easy to sit around and talk and especially easy to critique what others are doing BUT what about having a shot yourself. I guess this is a bit mantra for me and certainly there are critics out there but at the end of the day they arent going to judge you on success or failure ultimately. (Unless perhaps you're in the arts :P)
"No regrets" Dad didnt say this in as many words but he did often talk about the things he would have liked to have a crack at when he was much younger if the times and circumstances had permitted. I suppose in the nicest possible way I didnt want to end up having too many regrets although I'm sure my Dad will tell you things for him turned out fantastic. :)
"If they are right; change. If not keep at it." This points back at the critics in lesson 1. Criticism can be hard to take especially when you are trying your hardest. But what I often try and remind myself is working hard is not the measure of success, it is simply only part of the recipe and so it is extremely important to listen to the feedback. So I've learnt to listen to every piece of feedback (criticism/hard words/abuse etc) and try to apply this rule over it. Are they right? If so change your ways. If not keep going. (the art of diplomacy helps greatly with the last part)
Dad has a wonderful trove of advice and opinions which I have appreciated over the years. Having a mentor who genuinely cares and wants to help is invaluable!
Author: Geoff Olds | Filed Under: Miscellaneous Stuff, Business | 0 Comments
Sunday, 25 July 2010 5:51 PM
Ok who really likes targets? The poor chaps from Catch 22 certainly didnt.... Are targets really only for those playing Robin Hood on a warm winters afternoon? Or for midrange Australia wanting to buy at a department stores?
Targets are for Guns! You know those people that are referred as "Guns" or sometimes "Young Guns". Its the 20 goal a year striker, its the cold caller determined to make something happen, its the programmer wanting to establish their work into something productive and useful, its the elite athlete wanting to get to the top (think Cadel Evans sans the broken elbow) and its most certainly every entrepreneur wanting to build a business or organisation.
I must profess I consider myself a "gun". Partially because I am really driven and most definitely because I love targets. Yes they create pressure and stress. Yes they put you under the spotlight. Yes they can be unfair and subjective. But they also create achievement, standards of excellence, best practice, benchmarks and a real reason to get out of bed. I certainly have a love/hate relationship with targets as they keep going up and the nagging voice of the "negative (evil) geoff" keeps telling me its not possible, or its too hard or it cant be done. BUT the love part always outweighs the balance and I find myself pushing forward at a great rate of knots.
So are targets for everyone? Absolutely! Everyone could and should be a gun. Whether it be a gun salesman, a gun attorney, a gun housewife, a gun receptionist, a gun cabbie, a gun admin, a gun techo and the list goes on. Embrace targets. Set them up as a guide to success. Everything is achievable when you have a list of milestones and targets to reach. Yes things get harder and further but then you get better and stronger. Imagine a computer game where things don't get more challenging and harder to accomplish. Boring right?
So set targets. Make them realistic and achievable within correct time frames. Better yourself. Go on! Be all that you can be! Pull the trigger and be that gun _________ that you could and should be.....
Author: Geoff Olds | Filed Under: Miscellaneous Stuff | 0 Comments