Make quick decisions - Seth Godin

Great angle from Seth Godin:

First rule of decision making: More time does not create better decisions.

In fact, it usually decreases the quality of the decision.

More information may help. More time without more information just creates anxiety, not insight.

Deciding now
frees up your most valuable asset, time, so you can go work on
something else. What happens if, starting today, you make every
decision as soon as you have a reasonable amount of data?

Eliminate Excuses - Chris Brogan

I can?t say this enough: language matters. Count the number of times
you use negative sentences in a day. ?We don?t have this. She?s not
doing it the way we want. I can?t do that because they?re not letting
me.?

I worked long and hard at turning all my language around to the
positive. I?d say, ?It would be great to find a way to get this. I?m
hoping we can help her execute more the way we?re thinking. I?m working
on removing some roadblocks.?

If you talk yourself out of things, it will always work.

From a great blog post by Chris Brogan, here.

Managing your time - Michael Masterson

The 25-50-25 rule says that you must divide your time as follows:

• No more than 25 percent of your time studying - i.e., reading books,
  attending workshops, listening to instructional CDs in your car.

• No more than 25 percent of your time observing - watching what successful people are already doing.

• At least 50 percent of your time actually DOING the thing you are studying and observing.

You can read Michael's entire article here.

Frame it bigger - Chris Brogan

What would you say some of the biggest communication challenges your
organization faces? How would solving or improving any of these better
your business (or organization)? What does your customer (even if
that?s a b2b customer or an internal customer) need the most from you,
and what does your organization need from your customer? How can you
improve your customer?s life (in any way)? What would simplify any of
your customer?s challenges?

And from these bigger questions, can you find a smaller action? Can
you find the miniaturized first step that would bring you in any of
those directions?

From Chris's blog.

Quality vs. Efficiency ? Jonathon Tisch

When quality and ease of operation conflict, pick quality every time.  Quality takes a commitment of time, energy, and resources that makes it a tough differentiating attribute for rivals to copy, and the heart of a simple yet highly effective competitive strategy. 

From Chocolates on the Pillow Aren't Enough: Reinventing The Customer Experience.

Employee performance - Bruce Tulgan

• Tune in to the individual you are coaching.
• Focus on specific instances of individual performance.
• Describe the employee's performance honestly and vividly.
• Develop concrete next steps.

From It's Okay to Be the Boss: The Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming the Manager Your Employees Need.

Taking risks - Chris Brogan

"…most times, people are a bit more comfortable taking risks they know
others have taken and accomplished. It?s those ?jumping when no one has
ever done it? risks that raise the bar. The thing is, that?s where the
biggest reward comes from."

From Chris Brogan.

Don’t control your costs - Keith McFarland

Early-stage and small companies often approach the subject of costs much too simplistically.  Costs are bad, they say, and we need to reduce them whenever possible.  As companies grow, however, they need to develop a more sophisticated approach to thinking about costs.  They should begin to evolve their thinking from focusing on cost control to focusing on cost optimization. 

They need to focus constantly on optimizing their value-added costs while minimizing nonvalue-added costs wherever and whenever possible. 

From The Breakthrough Company.

Do the unexpected - Brian Tracy

One really helpful military principle that can be
applied to business is the Principle of Surprise. The principle of surprise
says, "do the unexpected!" In sales and marketing, this means to be continually
seeking ways to out-flank or upset your competition.

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Adversity - Harvey Mackay

Adversity
is the grindstone of life. Intended to polish you up, adversity also
has the ability to grind you down. The impact and ultimate result
depend on what you do with the difficulties that come your way.
Consider the phenomenal achievements of these people who experienced
extreme cases of adversity:

• Beethoven composed his greatest works after becoming deaf.
• Thomas Edison had an IQ of less than 100, almost died of scarlet fever and was
  nearly deaf, yet he became one of the greatest inventors in history.
• Abraham
  Lincoln became one of our greatest U.S. presidents, despite dropping
  out of grade school, going broke, having a son die at a young age and
  running for political office and losing four times.
• Glen
  Cunningham was seven years old when he was so badly burned in a
  schoolhouse fire that his doctor said, "I doubt if he'll be able to
  walk again." Yet he went on to become the outstanding miler of his time.

I don't like adversity any more than the next guy,
but I welcome it. It has made me stronger, more fearless, and
ultimately, more successful. Stare down adversity and watch it blink.

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