R.O.I. (Return-On-Investment) is the perpetual vigilance of today’s business leader, and rightly so.  Returns on investments of all kinds are measured by values and percentages.  ‘What did you get?’ and ‘What did you pay for it?’ are the questions through which most transactions are filtered.  It’s standard-issue business thinking.  But some companies can become so immersed in the process of making money that the purpose for an organization’s existence - the overall R.O.I. - can be set aside or completely forgotten.  Read the rest of this entry »

“An unbending tree is easily snapped.” - Lao Tzu

As business owners, we often hear about the wearing of several occupational hats.  Filling different job functions is all fine and good, but what about the wearing of opposite hats?  Is it o.k. to toggle between leader and follower?  Lion and lamb?  Simplicity and complexity?  Aggressive and passive?  Hard sell and soft sell?

How do we adhere to any stated business philosophy when many times we feel like chameleons? 

The problem is that the feeling of inconsistency can hammer you.  We grasp for simplicity but we find it just isn’t that bloody simple.  Apart from every philosophy, method, or technique, we find that every truth seems to have a complement.  What’s behind all of this? 

Let us consider Both/And thinking. 

Apart from the obvious need for the Either/Or - as in, “We either make a profit or we go out of business” - the Both/And also has a significant value for today’s business owner.  Most notably, Both/And thinking can do two things:  (a) it can alleviate much of the common angst in managing your most valuable asset: people (self included), and (b) enable confident decision making - and peace - amid a tsunami of possibilities. Read the rest of this entry »

Tactical Work:  1=1. 
Example:  1 hour of office cleaning = 1 clean office

Strategic Work: 1=100
Example: 15 hours renovating new sales plan = 15% sales increase

We must all do strategic & tactical work. If you are the leader of your business, your admixture should probably be in the neighborhood of 80% strategic and 20% tactical.  As you go down the org chart, these percentages will obviously sway more toward the tactical; for example: an administrative assistant will likely be 80% tactical and 20% strategic. 

When we feel like our days are reactive, stressful, or unproductive, it’s likely we’re not doing enough strategic work to determine how the tactical work is accomplished. Tactical work, at least for leaders, sometimes feels like the most menial; working ‘IN’ the business.  In the long run, strategic work is where the leverage is; where we work ‘ON’ the business. Ultimately, leaders must know how to engage a sustainable, strategic workflow and do what we call Authorized Work. 

For more on Authorized Work and other strategies, visit http://www.totalintegrationprogram.com/

 By Hank Pierce

It’s no secret.  Small business owners don’t generally like the human resources part of running their business.  They think of it as drudgery, as overwhelming; an endless stream of paperwork; an administrative scourge.  Filling out forms for withholding taxes, workman’s compensation, health  and life insurance, payroll, work schedules.  And then there’s filling in when employees are absent, hiring new people, firing the ones that don’t work out, dealing with unsavory issues like theft, making sure everybody understands OSHA laws.  And on and on it goes.  No fun at all; just a drain on time and money.

And yet, every small business owner has heard that you’re no better than your people; that every business succeeds or fails on the basis of its people.  Everybody knows this, but it’s tough putting the maxim into practice when you’re dealing with that “admin scourge”.   One thing you have to do, according to Jeff Timpanaro, is to take yourself, as the business owner, out of the day-to-day battle and look at the situation from the nearest hillside.  From there you get a view of the strategic issues that may be holding your business back.  Read the rest of this entry »

I remember one day back in the 7th grade I was finishing up my after-school chores. The final task on my list was to water the garden. I remember it was exceedingly hot and humid, as are many days in Houston. So I spent roughly 30 seconds wetting our “domestic crops” and headed straight inside for the air conditioning.

My dad met me at the door. “Did you water the garden?” “Yes,” I replied, hoping he would notice the wetness of the garden through the window. “How long?” he asked. “A few minutes, I guess.” His next response was not only a terrific analogy, but also a life lesson I would never forget. He said, “You know, that’s like going up to a person who’s dying of thirst, and splashing water in his face.” Read the rest of this entry »

I was compelled recently by an explanation of two different Greek words for time. The first is kronos, which refers to linear time – one event occurring after another – the way we measure history and daily events (this is where we get the word chronology). The other Greek word for time is kairos, which refers to a specific point in time, a moment after which nothing will be the same.

“So what?” you ask.

I remember the precise moment when I was told that to-do lists were a horrible idea. A mentor of mine duly informed me that a to-do list causes chaos, stress, and is a helter-skelter approach to getting things done. “That’s the only way things get done!” I retorted. That is, until I was trained on the finer points of modern calendaring technology and the required leverage to sustain it. And what a difference it has made. Ever since that moment, my perspective on time has completely changed. I’m not chasing time anymore. Time is working for me. Read the rest of this entry »

Eliminating Time Debt Training Event, March 20, 2007, in Kingwood offers overburdened business owners and executives a radical strategic approach to taking control of their working lives.

KINGWOOD, TX March 9, 2007 — With all the demands of modern-day business, leaders increasingly face the challenge of having too much to do, and not enough time to get it all done. Add in personal pressures, such as juggling time for family and other relationships, and you have a recipe for disaster.

“The overwhelming feeling that you are always getting further and further behind is not unlike dealing with financial debt,” said Jeff Timpanaro, CEO of Oberata Consulting. “You feel like you’re always making ‘payments’ but never getting ahead, no matter how hard you work.” Read the rest of this entry »