A few podcasts ago – on another show I produce – I commented that I felt like I needed to hold my brain upside down, like an Etch A Sketch®. After you’ve created something on an Etch A Sketch® you may want to create something completely different. Easy. Just turn it upside down with the screen facing the floor and shake it. The Magic Screen is now wiped clean giving you a “canvas” to create whatever you want.

Six years ago I started diving more deeply into my own head. I know, dangerous stuff, right?

Since I was a teen I’d read books about self-image, inner conflict, cognitive dissonance and other things that might help me better understand human behavior. Mainly my own.

Most recently my investigation was sparked by all the linearity I saw online. People acting and saying how they structured their lives, their ambitions. Dream achievement is very large topic online. It seemed like lots of people had figured out something that I was rather certain couldn’t be figured out.

Being the contrarian that I am, my objective was to prove that we’re subject to buying into lies (at worst), misconceptions (in the middle ground) or delusional ignorance (at best). And it’s all mostly about US. These are our lies, our misconceptions and our delusional ignorance.

Back in the late 70’s I remembering reading about how we create our story in our mind. Instantly it resonated with me, but it made me wonder. Is that right? Is that true?

When I was in junior high I was given a school project. Go interview some adult doing for a living what you want to do. I wanted to be a cartoonist. I wasn’t in Los Angeles or New York City. I didn’t know any cartoonists who lived in my town. There wasn’t any Internet so we had to find a local person doing what we wanted to do. Turns out the local newspaper had an on staff cartoonist who mostly did political cartoons and some advertising illustrations. I called him up, asked if I could come interview him and he graciously agreed. My mom took me to see him. He was very gracious and told me stories of going to art school, claiming he had gone to art school with Charles Schultz, creator of Peanuts. “He wasn’t the best artist, but he understood people,” he told me.

I went home and laid in bed that night thinking, “I really don’t know anybody doing what I want to do.” Here I had just talked with somebody doing cartooning professionally, but I didn’t want to draw advertising illustrations or political stuff. My reality – in my head – was that I didn’t live where one had to live to succeed at cartooning. Or writing (another youthful goal). Perspective in my head trashed me. And I knew as a junior high student how powerful it was – and how damaging it could be – to craft some story in your head that may not be true. Turns out it wasn’t a true story, but it was the story I was telling myself. And I bought it. Because I wrote it. It was my story. I’ve never forgotten it.

Fast forward a number of decades. Over the years I’ve learned that “our story” is mostly like the movie Matrix – perception. Our perception.

Enter the Age Of The Data Freak

Metrics. KPIs. Analytics. Measurements.

Hard evidence means truthful evidence. Not fake evidence. Lying with stats is an ancient art. People pay attention to the wrong things. And sometimes connect dots that aren’t connected. And I’m a dot connector so I see it.

We’re relying more and more on data and less and less on common sense. Stupidity is ruling our lives because we’re not thinking clearly. We need to turn our mind upside down and shake it. Clear it all out.

Reboot.

Sometimes data is useless because people aren’t computers. They don’t always behave predictably.

I refer to this video in today’s show. It’s an important lesson.

Week 2 went about as planned. Here are the highlights:

• I’m using Linkedin to reach prospect either by requesting connection, with an explanation of why (I’m not using bait ‘n switch – I’m completely candid with them about why I’m trying to connect), or I’m using Linkedin to reach out to existing connections

• I’m using email some (I plan on increasing this in week 3).

• My goal is to have phone conversations with 10% of the people I contact or connect with. So if I can reach 20 or 30 people electronically, I want to have at least 2 or 3 phone conversations.

• I’m not selling. At all. At any point. People are going to want in, or they’re not. Either way is fine.

Stay tuned for week 3.

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Interview 10 business owners and you may get 10 different answers. Or 8. Maybe 5. You won’t get one.

Owners talk of cash flow, sales slumps, competitive pressures, shortages in finding qualified employees, price pressures, government regulations, industry disruptions, profit margin erosion and more. Dive a bit deeper and every owner will likely tell you that their answer will change. Today’s answer to, “What’s your biggest problem?” won’t necessarily be tomorrow’s answer. “It depends.”

Business leaders are rarely in unison on their biggest problem. Most are thinking more micro than macro. Trees versus forest stuff.

It’s understandable. Business owners are deep in their business every day. Eating, drinking and sleeping (or losing sleep) with their company’s issues. It’s natural to think about our biggest problems in specifics.

Business is really much simpler, at least when we distill what it really consists of. It’s not easy to pull it off.

Getting new customers, serving customers better and not going crazy in the process. Those are the 3 aspects of successful business building.

The actions that make those possible are also rather simple to distill: make the best decision possible in the moment, execute that decision accurately and be quick about it. Another 3-some. But roll it all into one big thing and you’ve got what is your biggest problem to be solved.

If your business doesn’t grow and start making better decisions, prompting more accurate execution of those decisions (with speed), then you’ll continue to experience all those other issues. They’ll parade through your office from now on until and unless you solve this major problem in your company.

At the heart of it is building an organization, something not every business owner understands (or knows how to do). Too many small business owners are as Michael Gerber pointed out years ago…they’re technicians, able to do the work. Hiring, training and delegating others to perform the work at a high level is often daunting for small business owners.

Add to it the “it’s-my-baby” factor and it can be a tall order for any owner to let go of the reins a bit. But growth demands it. Growth demands a learning organization be assembled and empowered to act with speed.

Focus on the problem that is likely the cause of the other problems. Stop concentrating on the trees when the forest is under attack. Think bigger. Pull back and gain some perspective on what ails you.

Making The Best Decision Possible In The Moment

Owners will often say they know exactly what they need to do and how to do it, but they just can’t make meaningful progress to get it done. It’s a recipe for extreme frustration. To think you know, but to be unable to get it done.

As businesses grow it’s more difficult to communicate effectively throughout the company. Those messages you could quickly communicate with your small team when you started…they’re much harder to properly convey now that you’ve got 100 employees. Or 20. The result is that many employees have no idea where you’re going, or what their direct contribution should be. Nobody is measuring the things that let everybody know if they’re on track or not.

That’s why owners often use phrases like “chasing our tail” or “putting out fires.” Our views change over time. If you’re 25 you have a very different view of things than if you’re 45. Your perspective is different. So are your priorities. And your goals. Problems look different depending on your viewpoint. That’s why I continually focus clients on first things first – making the best decision in real-time. That’s where it starts, but it’s just the beginning.

In 2004 my wife and I went to visit an elderly gentleman friend in the hospital. He had suffered ill health for a few years and once again found himself in the hospital. His wife had served him well, battling the healthcare system of the Veterans Administration. Her health was beginning to show the signs of wear.

After our visit we walked down to the parking lot to our car. As we got in the car I had an epiphany. I looked at her and said, “I don’t think I can do that to you.” It was an awful indictment of our friend, but I didn’t mean it like that. Fact was, his health issues mostly had nothing to do with abuse or neglect. He wasn’t responsible so much for his poor health. My comment wasn’t meant to reflect poorly on his character…but more on my realization that IF I could better manage my health, then I felt I owed that to my wife. At the time we had been married 26 years. I suppose mortality was beginning to be more and more on my radar.

It had been years since I had taken my fitness seriously. But the wellness revolution was in full swing. Evidence of it was everywhere. Back in 1977 is had hit American society in a big way with Jim Fixx’s book, The Complete Book of Running. Ten years before publishing that book Fixx had been very overweight and smoked…a lot. But he took up running, took his health more seriously and created – almost singlehandedly – an exercise revolution. These were the days before you’d see lots of people out jogging, or cycling, or even walking. Sadly, Jim Fixx died at 52 of a heart attack. Proof I suppose that the gene pool is largely responsible for our health outcomes. But American society would see a major shift. A revolution.

Today, fitness chains are everywhere. Here in the DFW area we’ve got all the usual suspects like L.A. Fitness, Gold’s Gym, 24 Hour Fitness and more. Even in the foulest weather you’ll spot runners, walkers and cyclists. Then, the food revolution hit. Enter Whole Foods and other grocery stores specializing in healthier food choices. Today gluten-free, fat-free, sugar-free and every form of free has invaded the grocery aisle.

This is all positive. Mostly. I mean how can you argue with focus – or a renewed focus – on our physical health?

About a week after I told my wife that I didn’t think I could do that to her I joined 24 Hour Fitness. And I’ve mostly gone 5 times weekly ever since. It may not look like it, but deep down I feel very fit.

A common thought is that our scope of knowledge, experience and wisdom is commonplace. We can easily discount our assets, especially as we grow older.

According to a Government Accountability Office report, “Older Workers: Demographic Trends Post Challenges for Employers and Workers” –

The term baby boomer describes people born between 1946 and 1964. The baby boomers were part of the post-World War II spike in birth rates. In 1900, thirteen percent of the population was age 50 and over. In 2002, it was over twenty-seven percent. By 2020, it will be over thirty-five percent. The size of the 50 plus population will more than double in the next 35 years. Our nation faces a demographic revolution as 78 million boomers enter their retirement years. A baby boomer turns 60 every 7.5 seconds. This demographic shift will result in tremendous changes in the workplace, civic organization and healthcare.

“According to Census Bureau estimates, in 2019, when the last of the baby boomers (those born between 1949 and 1964) have reached age 55, nearly twenty-nine percent of the total United States population will be age 55 and older, compared with twenty-one percent today.”

Because the Internet is so pervasive older Americans can sometimes feel left behind both technologically and socially. And that has ramifications in business. Specifically, more mature people – people over 50 – can feel trapped and stuck.

Today’s Q&A is among the more common things I hear among more experienced business people. And the shift seems to be going down to lower ages, too. Recently, I was talking with a business leader who was 46 and beginning to feel that it was too late for him to shift or transition into a different opportunity. Forty-six and over the hill! It’s a real feeling. Even a belief for some.

When I’m asked if somebody is too old to start something new it’s in reference to business. Whether it’s a career move – finding another job – or starting a new enterprise, the fear is real. It can be hard, sometimes impossible, to convince a person with over 30 years of solid professional experience that they have tremendous value that can be leveraged. If they don’t believe it, it doesn’t much matter how strong my faith is.

I’m not addressing a person’s ability to start learning something new. I’m confident that people who have sufficient physical and mental health can learn something new until they die. And the Internet affords people an opportunity to consider small scale or larger home-based enterprises that can generate some income. But I’m biased. I don’t believe in retirement. I don’t plan on ever wanting, or being able (emotionally or mentally) to ever retire. So with that bit of background let’s talk about this question, “Am I too old to start something new?”

NO. You aren’t. Unless you think you are!

The Henry Ford quote has already leapt to your mind by now…

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t–you’re right.”

But let’s put that aside for the moment and talk about the practical realities of today’s post-50 year old who fears their business life is over. Here are the common things I hear so I want to address each of them in hopes it’ll hit you where you live if you’re finding yourself fearing these things.

“The technology has passed me by.”

That’s a self-inflicted wound. I’m tired of hearing people, even folks in their 40’s lament that web-based technology in particular has them baffled. “I don’t understand all this social media stuff,” is among the most common things I hear. It’s largely why I’m recording this episode. Because I’m tired of hearing it and tired of trying to talk peopl...

When you develop an idea it’s worth nothing until you take some action. That’s the primary thing that separates achievers from the rest of the population. It’s why NDA’s are mostly useless. The odds of anybody stealing your idea are remote. Most people aren’t acting on their own ideas…much less yours.

Doing is the key. Not thinking. Not planning. Not preparing. It doesn’t mean those things aren’t important, but too many people approach them as singular activities happening in a silo. They don’t work like that in real life. Not if we’re going to move forward. They’re more like so many other things in our lives – things like work/life balance, or operating our businesses. Things happen simultaneously. In parallel.

Too often we feel like we have to do things in some special sequence and in isolation. No. That’s what kills us. I’ve let it kill me in the past. Don’t let it keep happening to you.

Knowing Enough

We just have to know enough to know what to do next. Here’s what looks like for this Bula Network group.

One, I know I don’t want to assemble a big group. I want to keep it more intimate and close knit. Seven is a lucky number. And it’s odd, not even. It feels right and who cares if it’s 100% correct or not. It’s enough to provide the diversity I’m looking for. And it’s small enough to form the depth that really matters to me…making the group powerful for every member.

Two, I know I want to get this group together virtually because I don’t want to limit it geographically. There are some practical reasons for that. I don’t want to limit myself to people in my area, even though I live in a major metro area. I don’t want to hassle with scheduling time to get to some location, setting up a room and making sure the logistics are in place for a face-to-face meeting. I don’t want people who are experiencing the identical economy. So this point has both a utility benefit and a value benefit.

Three, I know I want to get this group together in meetings that last no more than 2 hours. For a group this size I know a lot can be accomplished in 2 hours if the preparation is done. And I’m going to be prepared. Additionally, I know with a virtual online group preparation can happen via email, messaging and other tools so we can avoid wasting time when we’re online together. Too much time gets wasted in face-to-face meetings with kicking the ball around, housekeeping details and other nonsense. I’m not going to foster or allow any of that.

Four, I know I want to get this group together at least every 3 weeks. Ideally, I’d like to do it every other week, but I’m flexible depending on what the members want. I know I want a minimum of 16 or 17 meetings each year and a maximum of 24. By the time we get to this detail I’m happy to adjust based on the feedback I get.

Five, I know I want small business owners who operate companies in any space except “sin” industries like porn, nightclubs, tobacco, alcohol or pot. This is a personal choice. I’m not willing to devote myself to helping every business grow. I’m targeting prospective members who own businesses generating $5 to $30 million annually. I prefer to have business owners who are within a more narrow range of revenue because I know the problems of a $5M business are very different from the one doing $30M. I’m purposefully starting out with that broad of a range to see how things go. Again, I’ll adjust as I go. If I find myself connecting with more owners of $10M than $5 or $30, then I’ll concentrate on a more narrow range like $8 to $12M. You get the idea.

Six, I’m only concentrating on owners. The #1. Every seat at the virtual table will be occupied by somebody who can make THE decision.

Over 15 years ago I distilled business building into three basic activities that I’ve since labeled “the trifecta of business building” –

* Getting new customers

* Serving existing customers better

* Not going crazy in the process

During the past 4 years or so I’ve increasingly shoved more focus on that last one because the need is so large (and the opportunity is equally large). Not because the first two are less important, but because they’re so important. Business owners and CEOs are driven crazy largely because of the importance of the first two. Pile onto that the personnel and personal issues confronting leaders and some form of crazy is almost always in play for us.

Getting Back To What Matters Most (and has always mattered…to me)

Part of avoiding going crazy is having help when we most need it. In an age where there’s an app for just about everything – including therapy (have you not seen TalkSpace, the online therapy service?) – we’re often lonely, sad, worried and anxious. Sometimes it all morphs into despair.

Passion is popular and highly over-rated. Especially in the business world. I don’t see the world in terms of passion and happiness. Instead, I focus on energy and dread, which drains energy. And instead of learning more, I concentrate on closing the gap between what we already know and fail to do (a shout out to the 1999 book that gave language to what I was feeling, The Knowing-Doing Gap by Pfeffer and Sutton).

It’s not a slam against passion or knowledge. We need a degree of both, but neither will get the job done. Doing gets it done. Figuring it out while you’re doing it gets it done. And it won’t happen fast. It’ll be a slog, which is why dread can’t be part of it. Dread drains energy…energy you need to get the job done!

I’m so inclined in helping people that many years ago I snagged a domain, TalkingYouOffTheLedge and another one, TwoFriendsTalking. I didn’t keep either one because I never did anything with either of them. I just use them to illustrate how I’m wired. People will tell you to pay close attention to what people look to you for…and there you have it with me. I spent a lot of time talking people off the proverbial ledge. Not people who are despondent, but people who are vexed. Not people on the verge of suicide, but people with real struggles that could possibly take them down a path of real despair. The ledge is unsafe. Dangerous. We don’t make our best decisions there.

I’m going back to the core things that I believe in most. The things I’m most blessed to do to help others.

Empathy. Asking questions. Listening carefully to answers. Emotional intelligence.

Through the years I’ve had many occasions where I’d call a business owner or CEO. Somebody I’d never talked with before. People I’d never met before. Within minutes I’m asking them about their biggest challenge and then I shut up. Twenty minutes later they come up for air and it’s evident…they’re not used to having anybody ask them. Instead, their lives are full of people pitching them, selling them and claiming to have “just what you need.” Stranger like me enter their lives daily armed with the solution to problems they don’t even know exist because they never took the time to ask. Been there. I know exactly how these women and men feel because I’ve sat in that same spot. That helps me serve better.

Longevity matters because patience is a lost art. Growth takes time. Improvement can happen incrementally, but it takes patience to reach mastery. For over 7 years my work has happened 6 to 12 months at a time, then ended. In some instances, clients have remain engaged for 2 years or more, but not usually.

Content marketing isn’t magic. Or quick. For too many, it’s not even effective.

That’s because too many small business owners struggle to view themselves as a media company. CEO’s and business owners will happily recite what they’ve repeatedly heard, “Act like a media company.” But they don’t know what that truly means. They think it means cranking out content. Any kind of content.

“I don’t have time to blog three times a week,” is a common refrain. Well, the three times weekly may not be the most common number. Mostly, I hear them say they can’t do it once a week!

I usually feel like a fishing instructor standing in front of people who just want to buy fish. “Can’t I just pay somebody?” Sure, but when you’re the owner of a $4 million dollar remodeling company, or a one man financial advisory business…you’re the expert. That magic you’re looking for in content marketing is in your head. You just have to start thinking and more importantly, acting like a successful media company.

My first exposure to TV Guide, other than seeing it in the check out line at the grocery store, was at my grandparents house. A copy could always be found on the side table next to my grandfather’s chair. At the time, there was nothing like it. The closest thing was the daily tv schedule in the daily newspaper, but in small town America that wasn’t often an option.

Scattered in each issue would be stories of your favorite TV stars like Lucille Ball. In fact, when the guide first went national in 1953 the birth of her son, Desi Arnaz, Jr. made the cover. Even these stories were unique at the time. This was long before People and other celebrity gossip magazines. There was always plenty of yellow journalism – those sensationalistic rags – but TV Guide had a legitimacy about it. A trust. And they approached stories of these stars with more of a true journalistic quality.

These were the days before technology afforded us the ability to time shift watching our favorite shows. No recorders. Everything in real time. If you missed your favorite show, you missed it. Your best hope was that during the summer they might run it again as a re-run. That made a guide even more important to people.

In retrospect you may think “that’s no so special.” You’d be wrong. It was a one-of-a-kind. Unique. Something only the TV Guide could do. Something only the TV Guide did. And in most cities and towns in America there was only 3 networks – ABC, CBS and NBC. Small towns would often switch between two networks on a single channel, bringing people the most popular shows of each one. Big cities had a separate channel for each network, plus they had a PBS station giving you a whopping four channels to watch.

Unlike the newspaper, TV Guide published in a digest format – slightly larger than pocket size. Super convenient. It was 15 cents. During the 1960’s it was the most widely read and circulated periodical in America. It’s value soared, surpassing the estimated value of ABC, CBS and NBC combined. An aggregator had grown to be worth more than the content creators it was compiling.

What’s the lesson for you?

Don’t just crank out content to crank out content. I know people tell you to blog, podcast, post articles at Linkedin, create videos for YouTube and a thousand other pieces of advice for morphing your enterprise into a media outlet. But they’re overlooking a bigger issue. A more important component, uniqueness.

Dive into any space you’d like. Pick one. Some space where you notice people are blogging or creating content. I don’t care what platform they’re using. YouTube, Linkedin, Medium, Tumblr, their own website…anywhere you’d like to look.

Years ago when I founded Bula Network it was a very informal side project that I felt warranted a name, even though it wasn’t really a business. It was a service enterprise spawned by the CEO’s, founders and business owners who reached out to me to get my perspective on a variety of issues they were facing. Sometimes the work went deep, diving into specific numbers. At other times it was more high level, talking somebody off that ledge that we call find ourselves on every now and again. That’s why I found myself using the moniker – “network” – because of the scope of things. Because I podcast people began to assume it was a network because of that, but that’s not how it began.

When I left the c-suite, the work and the enterprise became more formalized. What had begun mostly as a passion project to help out friends and acquaintances was now something I needed to market so I could create a sustainable business. It was about 8 years ago when it began. To say it’s been difficult is an understatement. And I can’t overstate the learning that has taking place.

Any business experiences missteps and I’ve certainly made plenty. Even with a lifetime of experience the market – and life – teach us how little we really know. And how much more we need to understand.

When Bula Network was a side project it was mostly directed toward retail, sparking one of my first podcasts, REMARKABLE RETAIL. Years of running luxury retailing companies meant that my biggest circle consisted of people involved (at some level) in that arena. Very quickly it widened to other areas where high touch service was the mandate. I soon left remarkable retail behind, mostly because I was bored with it having spent my life there. I was also seeing major shifts in the retailing landscape, which drove me away emotionally and mentally. However, the skills required of operating at high levels in retailing translate to just about any enterprise, organization or industry you can name. Especially so in luxury retailing, where customer experience is supremely important.

People.

It’s always been, and will always be about PEOPLE. Some people are into a variety of aspects of business building. My life’s focus has been on the people who make it happen. My ability is implementing workflows, processes and systems that are congruent with helping people perform at consistently high, predictable levels. I’m not your guy if you’re wanting to take your business from launch to where it can escape the gravity of risks that often cause businesses or organizations to crash and burn. I am your guy if you’ve escaped gravity, which happens at various times for each organization, and you need to find a higher altitude. Some business builders are great in stage 1 where you need liftoff. I’m not a stage 1 builder. I’m a stage 2 through whatever builder. Never satisfied with the existing success.

Sometimes an enterprise is struggling even though they long ago escaped gravity’s pull. Other times they’re doing well, but stuck. I can encounter businesses stuck in success just as easily as those stuck in failure. Success has its own demons that owners and leaders find particularly challenging. Some refuse to contend with them because success feels so comfortable. Until it doesn’t.

When I was a young man I was taught the magic of marketing summed up in a single phrase, “Be an aspirin, not a vitamin.” Whenever we have an ache or pain we quickly reach for a pain reliever. Pain makes us reach. Vitamins might be preventative, but because they don’t likely impact our lives in the short term, we don’t think much about them.

I admit there have been times when I neglected to follow that advice. Or when I thought I was being an aspirin, but my target market wasn’t willing to remedy their pai...

Today’s show is a quick 9 minute answer to a question I get fairly often. It’s quite a few questions rolled up into one.

How do I know when to quit something?

How do I know when I should do something different?

How do I know if what I’m doing is working?

And there are others, but you get the drift. It’s not complicated, but it can often be very difficult. That’s why increasingly I urge people to surround themselves with better people who can serve them. Your crowd – the people you choose to surround yourself with – can become your best decision-making tool. I so firmly believe it in I’m producing a podcast for Leo Bottary at LeoBottary.com – Year of the Peer podcast. Leo is fond of saying, “Who you surround yourself with matters.” Check out the podcast. It’s an interview-style podcast with some exceptional guests including Rich Karlgaard, the publisher of Forbes.

Now, go figure out what you can do better to grow a great business (and a great career).

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