Yes, But
May 29, 2010 by Ed McLaughlin
How many times have you heard someone say “yes, but”?
“Yes, I’d like to ship that for you, but you can’t use that box.”
“That’s a good idea. I’d like to say yes, but this isn’t the time to try something different.”
Somewhere along the line, people were conditioned to say no. What would happen if everyone in the company had to look for a reason to say yes?
Yesterday, Tomorrow, & Today
May 21, 2010 by Ed McLaughlin
The secret of business success comes down to one thing:
Time.
Sound too simple? I’d probably agree – if not for the fact that using time well is incredibly difficult.
Perhaps this story will help you to change your perspective on time. Imagine that your bank credits you with $86,400 every morning. You don’t have to pay this money back, but there’s a catch – every night, the bank deletes any balance remaining in the account. So if you fail to use any portion of the money during the day, you lose it forever. In this scenario, would you be certain to withdraw every cent? Sure you would.
Every day, we receive a similar credit – 86,400 seconds of time. As with the imaginary bank, failure to use any portion of the daily deposit is your loss. So the question is this: how much value do you place on the time you have remaining today?
Every second of time is valuable. If that seems like an overstatement, you should talk with a person who just avoided a car accident. It’s quite possible that the difference between life and death came down to a single second (or less).
Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is unknown.
Today is a gift.
Don’t waste it.
Leaders Don’t Cry
January 6, 2010 by Ed McLaughlin
When a kitten is confused or in danger, it will do nothing but cry for help. Sooner or later, it’s mother or owner will carry it to safety.
Too many in business have the same attitude.
That’s a problem. It’s a problem because although it looks like we’re starting to emerge from the recession, we’re not out of the woods yet. So the stop-loss efforts made by many (job cuts, salary reductions, training program elimination) have accomplished little more than buy time. Yet time is running out, and there are still fundamental business challenges that need to be addressed.
Crying for help – as many are doing – isn’t going to solve anything.
You can improve your business a number of different ways. But before you do anything else, make sure you have the right attitude. Because no one is going to carry you to safety.
Perspective…
October 7, 2009 by Ed McLaughlin
…is one of the most important elements of success. Yet it is rarely talked about.
Consider the following fable:
There was once a farmer who had a strong, hard-working horse. This horse could plough fields all day and carry heavy loads. The farmer’s neighbors, who did not have such a prized animal, often said to him, “You’re so lucky to have that horse.”
The farmer, going about his work, simply replied, “Maybe, maybe not.”
One day, his horse ran away. The farmer’s neighbors said to him, “This is such bad news. You’re so unlucky that your horse ran away.” The man just said, “Maybe, maybe not.”
Not long afterwards, the farmer’s horse came back with ten mares, all strong, fit and healthy. The farmer’s neighbors gasped and said, “You’re so lucky to now have 11 strong horses to work on your farm!”
The farmer simply replied, “Maybe, maybe not.”
Unexpectedly, one of the horses kicked the man’s only son, breaking both his legs.
When the farmer’s neighbors heard this, they said, “This is such bad news! You are so unlucky.” The farmer just said, “Maybe, maybe not.”
The country went to war, and every able-bodied young man was drafted to fight. The war was terrible and killed every young man, but the farmer’s son was spared, since his broken legs prevented him from being drafted.
The farmer’s neighbors, whose sons had all been drafted into the terrible war, cried out to the farmer, “Oh, you are so lucky that your son did not have to go to war!”
The farmer, while hugging his son, simply replied, “Maybe, maybe not.”
Why do so many people tend to think that when a particular event occurs, there should a universal reaction to that event?
Change in life and business is constant. Some people get this; many do not. From my perspective, the path to winning starts with how you frame the problems thrown your way.
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