There is a new reality. Today anyone can be in business. Tools that used to be out of reach are now easily accessible. Technology that cost thousands is now just a few bucks or even free. One person can do the job of two or three, or in some cases, and entire department. Stuff that was impossible just a few years ago is simple today.
From “Rework” by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson
Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay
The best way to get around the devil and all his advocates is to crank up confidence stage by stage.
It was pioneered by oil entrepreneurs who lacked certainty about which wells would produce black gold and which would fizzle. It was further developed a favorite venture capitalist to lacked certainty about how ideas, markets, and business models would combine to produce profits.
From “The Designful Company” by Marty Neumeier
Image by Jörg Prieser from Pixabay
Business has a much broader positive impact on the world when it is based on a higher purpose that goes beyond only generating profits and creating shareholder value. Purpose is the reason the company exists. A compelling sense of higher purpose creates an extraordinary degree of engagement among all stakeholders and catalyzes creativity, innovation, and organizational commitment.
From “Bourgeois Dignity” by McCloskey as referenced in “Conscious Capitalism” by John McKay CEO of Whole Foods Market
Photo by Nathan Lemon on Unsplash
I’ve worked with exceptionally successful people in the entertainment and business world. Each of them has taught me something about the minds of exceptional people.
They have confirmed my belief that the ideas people choose to have about themselves largely determine the quality of lives they lead. We can choose to believe in ourselves, and thus to strive, to risk, to persevere, and to achieve. Or we can choose to cling to security and mediocrity. We can choose to set no limits on ourselves, to set high goals and dream big dreams. We can use those dreams to fuel our spirits with passion. Or we can become philosophers of the worst kind, inventing ways to rationalize our failures, inventing excuses for mediocrity.
From “How Champions Think” by Dr. Bob Rotella
Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay
My blog has taken an abrupt turn. It started as a repository of random, pithy wisdoms that I gathered throughout my time in the corporate world that I had planned to compile into a book. (Now it’s that plus some original, stream-of-consciousness babble-de-gook.)
As I researched to expound on my content I find there is a lot of content “out there” and it’s confusing.
Ten years ago my wife got a Blackberry through her company. I had no interest and no idea what it did. It didn’t affect my life in my cubicle.
Five years ago she upgraded her personal flip phone to a “smart phone”. I had no interest. I thought of that stupid little “smart car.”
Some years before that, an acquaintance talked about WIFI. I asked, what is WIFI? He said, “WIFI.” His answer wasn’t helpful. He’s a man of the world. I’m a man of a cubicle. I operated on a need to know basis.
Some years later we had WIFI at the house. My wife (hereinafter known as PJ) used it with her iPad. (Can you make telephone calls on an iPad?)
Then last year she got an Amazon Fire Stick. Then I discovered streaming. Then I cancelled cable. And now I can’t imagine life without WIFI or my smart phone.
(Yes, Cornflower, can you believe it? I got an iPhone!)
Photo by Cristian Newman on Unsplash
Jack Ma of Alibaba thinks almost anyone can be successful if they really try hard.
Here are three of Ma’s keys to success in business that don’t require any special knowledge, money or connections.
Thinking differently is your power. “If everybody agrees, then there is no opportunity,” Ma said in Paris. When everybody else believe it you have no chance. When only few people believe it, you believe it, you prove it, that’s your chance,” Ma said in Paris.
Be like Forrest Gump: Never give up. Ma is inspired by Forrest Gump in that respect: “I love Forrest Gump,” Ma said. “Simple — never give up.”
Use what skills you have. “I know nothing about technology, I know nothing about marketing, I know nothing about [the legal] stuff,” Ma said in Paris. “I only know about people.” So Ma used that. He had learned how to inspire and empower people in his first job, when he was an English teacher, and he translated that into inspiring and encouraging his team.
From “Alibaba billionaire Jack Ma: Almost ‘everybody can be successful if you really try hard’” by Catherine Clifford
Photo by Hassan OUAJBIR on Unsplash
Founded in 1969, the the Project Management Institute (PMI) sets standards for the project management profession. It has 454,000 members in 180 countries.
According to the PMI there are five process groups:
Photo by Clark Tibbs on Unsplash
There is a new reality. Today anyone can be in business. Tools that used to be out of reach are now easily accessible. Technology that cost thousands is now just a few bucks or even free. One person can do the job of two or three, or in some cases, and entire department. Stuff that was impossible just a few years ago is simple today.
You don’t have to work miserable 60-80-100 hour weeks to make it work. 10 – 40 hours a week is plenty. You don’t have to deplete your life savings or take on a boatload of risk. Starting a business on the side while you keep your day job can provide all the cash flow you need. You don’t even need an office. Today you can work from home or collaborate with people you’ve never met who live thousands of miles away. It’s time to rework work. Let’s get started.
From “Rework” by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson
Photo by Dane Deaner on Unsplash
“A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it.” – Albert Einstein
Problem: How to handle copyrighted images for this blog.
Avoidance: Use free images from Unsplash.com
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
The greatest companies in lousy industries share certain characteristics. They are low-cost operators and penny-pinchers in the executive suite. They avoid going into debt. They reject the corporate caste system… Their workers are well paid and have a stake in the companies’ future. They find niches, part of the market that bigger companies have overlooked. They grow fast – faster than many companies in fashionable fast-growth industries…
Pompous boardrooms, overblown executive salaries, demoralized rank & file, excessive indebtedness, and mediocre performance go hand in hand. This also works in reverse. Modest boardrooms, reasonable executive salaries, a motivated rank and file, and small debts equal superior performance most of the time.
– Peter Lynch, “Beating the Street”
