The 8020Info Water Cooler

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The 8020Info Water Cooler
Issue #87 - Vol. 6 No. 7
15 May, 2006

1. Choosing Between Fixer and Grower Mindsets

Are you a fixer or a grower -- or both? A fixer mindset, according to consultant Robert Tomasko, is concerned exclusively with what needs to be done to maintain and preserve the business as it is within the logic of its current dominating idea. The grower mindset, on the other hand, is focused solely on what is needed to move beyond what is currently needed.

"Fixers know how to maintain and improve existing operations. They are the keepers of today's business model. Fixers keep the trains running on time," he writes in his book Bigger Isn't Always Better. "The fixer's idea of the future sometimes looks like the past, only without all the imperfections."

For growers the future is not fixed or predetermined. They believe that small changes in established patterns -- discontinuities -- can change entire industries. "They relish discovering, or creating, these discontinuities," he notes.

Fixers react and respond while growers create something new. The fixer mindset is often one of fear and anger, while the grower's mindset is of hope and optimism. Fixers keep up with best practices while growers leap ahead with the next practices. Fixers predict the future; growers create the future.

Organizations need both mindsets. Ideally, both mindsets are within you, and can be applied as the situation requires. "The ability to shift mindsets means that we must discern which one is governing our actions, stand back from it, and critically assess its appropriateness for our aims," he says.

2. Making The Transition From Founder To CEO Top

Many corporate founders face some difficult challenges as their company grows from small to big and they must transform into CEO of a larger enterprise. On his Time Leadership blog, Jim Estill, CEO of Synnex, lists the following changes he has faced:

You need to think bigger. It takes a larger sale or a larger credit line to get things moving.

You need to refine your time systems to handle increased volume.

You need to get other people to make decisions. "Organizations fail if every decision needs to be done by one person. This involves the discipline to not make some decisions that I know others should and can make even if I could do so easily," he says.

You need to seriously consider where you can add the greatest value and leave areas where the value you can add is low.

You need to understand the new culture that evolves.

You need to build good processes that can repeated, so your business can grow in scale, but that can be rough on the entrepreneurial spirit, which prefers things loose.

3. Monitoring Your Alternative Home Pages Top

Your home page is the front door to your web site, where you are all prepared to greet visitors, in your spiffiest attire. But many people are coming in through various back doors, as they follow links to other pages through media releases, newsletters or mentions of products and services by other sites. Julie Rosefsky, a site optimization specialist at Red Door Interactive, calls those the home pages you don't know about.

On MarketingProfs.com, she says it's vital to check your web statistics and learn where these alternate home pages are. Then study each, to figure out why people are arriving there, and to ensure they get the proper information to follow their line of inquiry and also be enticed to visit other key areas of your web site. That includes making the company contact information available on all pages of the web site -- not just the home page -- she stresses.

4. Watch Your Mouth Top

As a kid, it's likely that your mother or father warned you at some point to "watch your mouth" after you said something offensive. The same applies at work, advises consultant Chris Widener on The CEO Refresher. Watch out for:

Gossip, in which you tell other people someone else's business.

Rumour, which is even worse than gossip because you don't know if it's even true.

Lying, which severs the trust others have in you.

Put-downs or backhanded gossip that degrades others, which scares people from dealing with you.

Poormouthing, in which you tell others how poor you are and how you can't afford anything, which just leads to disrespect.

Bragging, which leads others to want to cut you down to size or avoid you.

Cussing, which prompts others to question your judgment.

He urges you to take some time to think about how often you might fall into any of these unfortunate forms of speech and in future watch your mouth.

5. Zingers Top

Commercial computers in February were nearly a third their cost of five years ago -- 37.8 on an index of 100 for 2001. Personal computers were at 20.5, monitor prices at 63, and printers at 52.5.
(Source: Statistics Canada's The Daily)

Before making a sales pitch, ask for permission: "Based on what you have told me, I have some thoughts. Would you like to hear a couple of options that I think might fit you?" Once the other person agrees, Calgary consultant Jeff Mowatt says, they'll feel less like they are being forced and more like they are being helped.
(Source: Influence with Ease newsletter)

In future, Sun Microsystems President Jonathan Schwartz says, blogging will be no more of a choice for an executive than using e-mail -- you'll need it to connect to important communities for your business. He adds: "Don't treat blogging like advertising -- it's not. Use humour. Link to those who interest and influence you."
(Source: Harvard Business Review)

Some starting points for scenario planning: What decisions do you think will make or break your organization in the next few years? When you try to imagine the world several years from now, which trends do you most want to know about? Which potential developments excite you the most?
(Source: Harvard Management Update)

Turning your computer off at night will save electricity and clear up items in your computer's memory giving you a fresh start in the morning.
(Source: The New York Times)

6. Q & A with 8020Info    Top

Question: How can we manage our web site better?

8020Info Consultant Harvey Schachter responds:

Organizations allow themselves to look dumb through some of the slipshod practices they tolerate on web sites. The first is out-of-date information in a prominent spot -- items in a What's New or Upcoming Events section that happened three weeks ago, or three months ago. And it's actually surprisingly easy to avoid such (all too common) embarrassments.

The rule is: When you put something on your web site -- anything -- figure out when it will become stale and need to be taken off or reviewed, and put that in your calendar. Back that up by ensuring everyone in your organization knows who should be advised when anything they see needs a change -- and that they will be greeted with enthusiasm when they do. In addition, take some time every six months to read your site over.

Also highly frustrating for site visitors is not having contact information on your home page or, as suggested earlier in this newsletter, on all your web pages. They wonder how organized you are if they can't even find out how to contact you. Broken links also make you look clumsy. Set a schedule for checking that links work: test links off your home page once every month or two, and off other pages semi-annually.

Lastly, spelling and grammar. Was your page properly proofread when you put it up, and has everything added subsequently been checked? If not, get somebody in your organization who has proofreading skills to check -- or better yet, hire a professional.

In creating a web site, too often we focus solely on the big strategic issues. And those are important: Your web site should be fulfilling some strategic purpose. But it's the glitches that make your organization look ham-handed, and that require persistence to eliminate.

7. News From Our Water Cooler:
Public Consultation    Top

Increasing numbers of public sector organizations have been asking about how they can open an active dialogue with their clients and/or the community generally. Town hall meetings just don't seem to work anymore.

Our experience suggests that, despite how busy people are today, they are more than willing to give you the benefit of their input -- provided that you meet at least three requirements: Reach out to them at convenient times and places within their own comfort zone, connect with them in their own language and communications style, and make clear why giving input is worth their time. It also must be a genuine process. If an organization wants to consult the public, it must be prepared to respond to the input it receives.

If you have questions about effective public consultation, we welcome your enquiries at (613) 542-8020, or by email at contactus@8020info.com.

8. Closing Thought    Top

"Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson