What kind of things can we do to communicate more effectively? How can you apply this to your home life or work life? Whether it’s picking out the right furniture with your wife, or just closing the big deal with that tough client, there are some things you can do to help you along the way.
One practice to work on is very simple. You won’t have to read a long book or take a training course to get this underway. You can practice as soon as you’re done reading this post. The simple act of paraphrasing will take you to another level as a communicator. Paraphrasing will help you in a couple of ways.
First and foremost, it shows that you are actually listening to the individual whom you’re speaking with. Secondly, you allow yourself to check and see if what you heard was specifically what you interpreted. Eliminate the guess work. Having worked as a sales manager in the automotive industry, I constantly noticed times where our sales staff would not have all the information I would ask of them in order to coach them in a situation. There was countless times where I would hear things like, “I figured they would like this because…” or “I assumed they would be fine with this since…” Instances like this are classic examples of where communication is unclear and could be more effective.
Try it out. Next time you are having a discussion, look for places where you naturally allow yourself to “fill in the blanks” without clarifying a request or comment. When you paraphrase to confirm your understanding, you’ll begin to notice a few changes. You may land that big client or even pick out the 3 piece leather furniture set with the big screen TV that your wife wasn’t too keen on.
Scott Wain
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
The Power of Collaboration
I was thinking of how many people have a voice these days? It’s pretty amazing when anyone who is anyone can have their voice heard across the world using the internet. Have any of you heard of Web 2.0? I imagine that some of you have. I have been reading up on it these days and its pretty cool stuff. However, for the most part it is beyond me. That is exactly why I’m trying to read up on it as much as I can.
For those of you who aren’t up to speed on the web 2.0, I’ll give my interpretation of what it’s all about. From what I can see the new web will be all about collaboration. A classic example of where the web is going is Wikipedia. I’m pretty sure anyone who is reading this is aware of what Wikipedia is. Can you imagine all the poor encyclopedia sales people without jobs now? Who in their right mind would buy a collection of encyclopedias in this day in age? Wikipedia is available in many different languages and is updated real time. No need for anything else really.
Massive collaboration spawns infinite creativity. The internet allows individuals who may not normally speak out, to have their voices heard. By eliminating the conventional boundaries of most enterprises in the corporate world and allowing the “voice” of the people to be heard, amazing things can happen.
An example of this is Goldcorp Inc. Former CEO Rob McEwen was facing some tough times with dwindling gold deposits and falling share prices. Instead of hiring more highly priced “experts” to help him find more gold, he went against all conventional wisdom. He published all of the company’s secret geographic data online in hopes to find more gold. With a prize pool of $570,000 he received over 100 submissions. 80% of which were accurate. He turned Goldcorp Inc. from a 100 million company into a 10 billion dollar company virtually overnight.
That’s the power of collaboration! With the tools we have available to us now, if there was a time where anyone can make a difference, I think it's now!
Scott Wain
For those of you who aren’t up to speed on the web 2.0, I’ll give my interpretation of what it’s all about. From what I can see the new web will be all about collaboration. A classic example of where the web is going is Wikipedia. I’m pretty sure anyone who is reading this is aware of what Wikipedia is. Can you imagine all the poor encyclopedia sales people without jobs now? Who in their right mind would buy a collection of encyclopedias in this day in age? Wikipedia is available in many different languages and is updated real time. No need for anything else really.
Massive collaboration spawns infinite creativity. The internet allows individuals who may not normally speak out, to have their voices heard. By eliminating the conventional boundaries of most enterprises in the corporate world and allowing the “voice” of the people to be heard, amazing things can happen.
An example of this is Goldcorp Inc. Former CEO Rob McEwen was facing some tough times with dwindling gold deposits and falling share prices. Instead of hiring more highly priced “experts” to help him find more gold, he went against all conventional wisdom. He published all of the company’s secret geographic data online in hopes to find more gold. With a prize pool of $570,000 he received over 100 submissions. 80% of which were accurate. He turned Goldcorp Inc. from a 100 million company into a 10 billion dollar company virtually overnight.
That’s the power of collaboration! With the tools we have available to us now, if there was a time where anyone can make a difference, I think it's now!
Scott Wain
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Anything is Possible
I want to talk a little bit about goals today. One of the main reasons is that, I have made a goal for myself to immediately adopt a healthier lifestyle. It isn’t a New Year’s resolution, because I’ve only just started going gym. We could call it a longer life resolution, if you like.
How many of you have goals? I’m sure most of you. Now of the individuals who have goals, how many of you have them written down? Of the few who have them written down, how many of you have your main goal broken down into small manageable tasks? Now, of the fewer, which of you truly review them regularly? By monitoring our progress we can allow for adjustments. Certain things may come up overtime that can interfere with the achievement of one of our goals. Don’t stress! We make a minor adjustment and away we go!
The importance of recording your goals is of the utmost. Taking the time to sit down and review your goals is critical. The significance of evaluating the progress of your goals is to measure where you are and how close you are to achieving them. If you don’t break them down into small manageable tasks, the goal can seem daunting. In this case you can easily convince yourself it was an outrageous goal in the first place. We will justify in our minds why we didn’t accomplish something if we don’t protect against it. Think of each task as a small goal on its own. It’s like a check list. Slowly but surely you check them off as you go. When you’ve reach a milestone, reward yourself with something you love. This will give you something tangible to reach for. You see, once you are underway and you are slugging through the hustle and bustle, you may slowly veer off course. This is the time where you look back and ask yourself “what happened?” Or you tell yourself “it wasn’t possible anyway.”
I am guilty of this many times over. Looking back it’s mainly because A) I didn’t actually record a goal. B) If I did record it, I didn’t review it frequently. Or C) I didn’t assign a timeline to it. It is extremely important that you assign a deal line for completion of the goal. If you want to like me, adopt a healthier lifestyle, you have to assign specifics of how you want to adopt it. For example: Attend the gym regularly, plan my meals for the week, not eating after 8pm, drink lots of water, get on the ice for some shinny at least once a week, etc… The mind is easily distracted these days. We have so many things being thrown at us from all angles. Don’t leave it up to your intuition to figure this out all on its own. Be specific, assign a time line and post it where you’ll constantly be reminded of it.
So let’s take a moment to recap our steps in completing and achieving a goal.
- Write your goal down.
- Break your goal down in to small manageable tasks.
- Assign a timeline for achieving your goal.
- Check the tasks off your list as you complete them.
- Reward yourself for reaching certain milestones.
- Review your progress and adjust for changes.
- Tell everyone you are going to accomplish your goal. This one is powerful.
You are on your way to chasing your dreams. I encourage you to put these practices to the test. Please feel free to share any milestones you have met. I love success stories.
The last point in the recap is about intrinsic pressure. A great topic for another day!
Remember, anything is possible!
Scott Wain
How many of you have goals? I’m sure most of you. Now of the individuals who have goals, how many of you have them written down? Of the few who have them written down, how many of you have your main goal broken down into small manageable tasks? Now, of the fewer, which of you truly review them regularly? By monitoring our progress we can allow for adjustments. Certain things may come up overtime that can interfere with the achievement of one of our goals. Don’t stress! We make a minor adjustment and away we go!
The importance of recording your goals is of the utmost. Taking the time to sit down and review your goals is critical. The significance of evaluating the progress of your goals is to measure where you are and how close you are to achieving them. If you don’t break them down into small manageable tasks, the goal can seem daunting. In this case you can easily convince yourself it was an outrageous goal in the first place. We will justify in our minds why we didn’t accomplish something if we don’t protect against it. Think of each task as a small goal on its own. It’s like a check list. Slowly but surely you check them off as you go. When you’ve reach a milestone, reward yourself with something you love. This will give you something tangible to reach for. You see, once you are underway and you are slugging through the hustle and bustle, you may slowly veer off course. This is the time where you look back and ask yourself “what happened?” Or you tell yourself “it wasn’t possible anyway.”
I am guilty of this many times over. Looking back it’s mainly because A) I didn’t actually record a goal. B) If I did record it, I didn’t review it frequently. Or C) I didn’t assign a timeline to it. It is extremely important that you assign a deal line for completion of the goal. If you want to like me, adopt a healthier lifestyle, you have to assign specifics of how you want to adopt it. For example: Attend the gym regularly, plan my meals for the week, not eating after 8pm, drink lots of water, get on the ice for some shinny at least once a week, etc… The mind is easily distracted these days. We have so many things being thrown at us from all angles. Don’t leave it up to your intuition to figure this out all on its own. Be specific, assign a time line and post it where you’ll constantly be reminded of it.
So let’s take a moment to recap our steps in completing and achieving a goal.
- Write your goal down.
- Break your goal down in to small manageable tasks.
- Assign a timeline for achieving your goal.
- Check the tasks off your list as you complete them.
- Reward yourself for reaching certain milestones.
- Review your progress and adjust for changes.
- Tell everyone you are going to accomplish your goal. This one is powerful.
You are on your way to chasing your dreams. I encourage you to put these practices to the test. Please feel free to share any milestones you have met. I love success stories.
The last point in the recap is about intrinsic pressure. A great topic for another day!
Remember, anything is possible!
Scott Wain
Monday, January 28, 2008
Chasing your Dreams
I wanted to thank everyone for their emails and comments on the first few posts I've written. I'm happy to see the positive responses. I've been thinking about these comments and it reminded me of expectations and opinions and again how important the quality of our thoughts truly are.
Here is a great quote from an inspiration of mine and probably anyone who has read any of Robin Sharma’s “The Monk Who Sold his Ferrari” books. I owe this reminder to Joe.
“The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your thoughts”
Keep this in mind as you read this post, actually, write this quote down and put it on the fridge or microwave for a frequent reminder.
It's fair to say that in life we have so many expectations. These are expectations we place on ourselves, and from others. Now, where do you draw the line on what expectations are reasonable and which opinions are of value? An unfortunate practice for most of us is we often place more importance on the expectations and opinions of others.
Over the weekend my wife and I visited some friends of ours and their six month old baby. She is so cute by the way. One of the frustrations our friends have noticed over the last six months is how everyone has their own opinions on how to look after their new baby. Now, all are of good will and mean no harm, however, it’s important not only as parents but as human beings to be able to turn on our internal filter. Are you allowing external pressures from friends and family to influence decisions that don’t line up with your goals or values?
As human beings we long for love and acceptance. Throughout our life this yearning sneaks up on us and places us in positions where we question our goals and values.
Keep in mind, following the crowd can work for you and against you. Which crowd do you wish to follow? The company in which you surround yourself with will often determine the path you are on.
If you wish to have a financial freedom, it’s a good idea to find a way to surround yourself with individuals who are like minded and or have already achieved the status. If you choose to raise a great family, spend time with friends who have raised great kids.
Now, I’m not suggesting that you drop any of your friends who aren’t loaded, I’m merely pointing out that your thoughts will begin to change. When you are accompanied by people on the same wave length and who have achieved what it is you are chasing, amazing things will begin to happen. The quality of your thoughts will change!
I’ve ended my first few posts with a personal quote, “The only things we truly have control over are our thoughts!” I’d like to add to that today. Any goals you may have, regardless of how far or “crazy” they may be, don’t let anyone discourage you. Most people can’t see the big picture, the natural progression, is for them to tell you you’re “crazy”.
Can you picture Thomas Edison back in the day telling his peers he’s going to create a light bulb? I’m sure there were a few naysayers! He failed 10,000 times before he perfected the incandescent light bulb!
Remember, any great discovery or achievement began with a single thought! Tomorrow we'll discuss goals and how to chase them.
Scott Wain
Here is a great quote from an inspiration of mine and probably anyone who has read any of Robin Sharma’s “The Monk Who Sold his Ferrari” books. I owe this reminder to Joe.
“The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your thoughts”
Keep this in mind as you read this post, actually, write this quote down and put it on the fridge or microwave for a frequent reminder.
It's fair to say that in life we have so many expectations. These are expectations we place on ourselves, and from others. Now, where do you draw the line on what expectations are reasonable and which opinions are of value? An unfortunate practice for most of us is we often place more importance on the expectations and opinions of others.
Over the weekend my wife and I visited some friends of ours and their six month old baby. She is so cute by the way. One of the frustrations our friends have noticed over the last six months is how everyone has their own opinions on how to look after their new baby. Now, all are of good will and mean no harm, however, it’s important not only as parents but as human beings to be able to turn on our internal filter. Are you allowing external pressures from friends and family to influence decisions that don’t line up with your goals or values?
As human beings we long for love and acceptance. Throughout our life this yearning sneaks up on us and places us in positions where we question our goals and values.
Keep in mind, following the crowd can work for you and against you. Which crowd do you wish to follow? The company in which you surround yourself with will often determine the path you are on.
If you wish to have a financial freedom, it’s a good idea to find a way to surround yourself with individuals who are like minded and or have already achieved the status. If you choose to raise a great family, spend time with friends who have raised great kids.
Now, I’m not suggesting that you drop any of your friends who aren’t loaded, I’m merely pointing out that your thoughts will begin to change. When you are accompanied by people on the same wave length and who have achieved what it is you are chasing, amazing things will begin to happen. The quality of your thoughts will change!
I’ve ended my first few posts with a personal quote, “The only things we truly have control over are our thoughts!” I’d like to add to that today. Any goals you may have, regardless of how far or “crazy” they may be, don’t let anyone discourage you. Most people can’t see the big picture, the natural progression, is for them to tell you you’re “crazy”.
Can you picture Thomas Edison back in the day telling his peers he’s going to create a light bulb? I’m sure there were a few naysayers! He failed 10,000 times before he perfected the incandescent light bulb!
Remember, any great discovery or achievement began with a single thought! Tomorrow we'll discuss goals and how to chase them.
Scott Wain
Friday, January 25, 2008
Mind over Matter
Do you ever think of how we allow people to change how we feel? You may notice that if we are in a bad mood, it's very hard for us to actually become happy. To change from a negative state of mind to a positive state of mind, just isn't easy. However, you could be having the best day ever and some jerk comes along and says something to you and in an instant you went from having a great day, to having the worst day. It's weird when you think of it like that isn't it.
Are you adding to someone’s day or taking away from it? You don't want to be that jerk that puts someone in a bad mood, do you? It doesn't take much. It doesn't even have to be an exchange of words. Maybe a car horn or someone just flipping you the bird!
Unfortunately, we are all programmed the same way to a certain extent. Growing up over time, we have developed a thought process by each of the millions of interactions we have had throughout our lives. Our self-talk or our conscious if you will, is always working. When you're driving your car or just walking down the street, you're having a conversation with your self.
The way in which you talk to your self can have a profound affect on how you react in any one situation. Good or bad. We can all remember a time where we looked back on a situation and we tell our self "You idiot, why did you say that?" At that very moment you have literally beat your self up inside your own mind. Thoughts that jump into your mind where you’re calling your self an idiot aren't very positive at all. These natural tendencies are some of the reasons why we have such a hard time being positive. Our self-talk is the culprit.
The choice is yours. If you choose to limit your happy times and allow our natural negativity control your days, it's all on you.
Be nice, and remember, the only things we truly have control over are our thoughts!
Scott Wain
Are you adding to someone’s day or taking away from it? You don't want to be that jerk that puts someone in a bad mood, do you? It doesn't take much. It doesn't even have to be an exchange of words. Maybe a car horn or someone just flipping you the bird!
Unfortunately, we are all programmed the same way to a certain extent. Growing up over time, we have developed a thought process by each of the millions of interactions we have had throughout our lives. Our self-talk or our conscious if you will, is always working. When you're driving your car or just walking down the street, you're having a conversation with your self.
The way in which you talk to your self can have a profound affect on how you react in any one situation. Good or bad. We can all remember a time where we looked back on a situation and we tell our self "You idiot, why did you say that?" At that very moment you have literally beat your self up inside your own mind. Thoughts that jump into your mind where you’re calling your self an idiot aren't very positive at all. These natural tendencies are some of the reasons why we have such a hard time being positive. Our self-talk is the culprit.
The choice is yours. If you choose to limit your happy times and allow our natural negativity control your days, it's all on you.
Be nice, and remember, the only things we truly have control over are our thoughts!
Scott Wain
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Understanding Your Market
Today is my first attempt at blogging. I can't believe that I haven't had one sooner.
I picked up a new book yesterday called "Crossing the Chasm" by Geoffrey A. Moore. I have only read a few chapters so far. What a great book. I plan on having it finished for the weekend so I can pass it on to one of my partners so we can get a little brainstorming going. I love think tank sessions. It is amazing what new ideas and thoughts can come out of an open forum type meeting. You just have to make sure you don't get too carried away. That's happened before. I'm guilty of this myself.
It looks as though "Crossing the Chasm" will become a great marketing tool for many years to come. In one way or another it will probably become a text book of some sort for constant reference.
Right off the hop, it breaks down consumers into psychographics. This is a term that I was not completely familiar with. The thought is very intriguing though.
Each and everyone of us has characteristics that make us unique. How each of us perceive new products or services will determine whether or not we find it of any value. By understanding your target audience and each of their uniquenesses and paying close attention to which psychographic they belong to you can identify when, where and how to position your product or service in the marketplace.
The concept of the book so far focuses on the transitions stages of your product throughout it's Adoption Life Cycle. You must prepare and plan for these transitions stages depending the psychographic's of your market segment.
Sounds easy enough right? Unfortunately, what I have found is most enterprises have thick boundaries or walls of communication between many departments.
When the engineers aren't talking to the designers and the marketing team is left in the dark, each team is less likely to make each others job easier. In fact, each teams productivity can be tremendously affected by lack of communication between each of the respective teams.
Do you notice any of these boundaries in your company or organization?
In what ways have you been able to overcome any communication obstacles?
Often your work environment may limit your opportunity for communication. You can be sure that an open and candid relationship with your co-workers and management will allow you to have an effect of positive change. However, it may not be that easy.
This is another topic I'll cover on another post.
The only things we truly have control over are our thoughts!
Scott Wain
I picked up a new book yesterday called "Crossing the Chasm" by Geoffrey A. Moore. I have only read a few chapters so far. What a great book. I plan on having it finished for the weekend so I can pass it on to one of my partners so we can get a little brainstorming going. I love think tank sessions. It is amazing what new ideas and thoughts can come out of an open forum type meeting. You just have to make sure you don't get too carried away. That's happened before. I'm guilty of this myself.
It looks as though "Crossing the Chasm" will become a great marketing tool for many years to come. In one way or another it will probably become a text book of some sort for constant reference.
Right off the hop, it breaks down consumers into psychographics. This is a term that I was not completely familiar with. The thought is very intriguing though.
Each and everyone of us has characteristics that make us unique. How each of us perceive new products or services will determine whether or not we find it of any value. By understanding your target audience and each of their uniquenesses and paying close attention to which psychographic they belong to you can identify when, where and how to position your product or service in the marketplace.
The concept of the book so far focuses on the transitions stages of your product throughout it's Adoption Life Cycle. You must prepare and plan for these transitions stages depending the psychographic's of your market segment.
Sounds easy enough right? Unfortunately, what I have found is most enterprises have thick boundaries or walls of communication between many departments.
When the engineers aren't talking to the designers and the marketing team is left in the dark, each team is less likely to make each others job easier. In fact, each teams productivity can be tremendously affected by lack of communication between each of the respective teams.
Do you notice any of these boundaries in your company or organization?
In what ways have you been able to overcome any communication obstacles?
Often your work environment may limit your opportunity for communication. You can be sure that an open and candid relationship with your co-workers and management will allow you to have an effect of positive change. However, it may not be that easy.
This is another topic I'll cover on another post.
The only things we truly have control over are our thoughts!
Scott Wain
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