A lot of people have good ideas and work hard to make their ideas successful.
You’ve heard of some of them, others you haven’t. You’ve probably heard of Bill Gates’ idea. It’s a pretty safe bet that you’ve heard of Sam Walton’s idea too.
But what about all those other good ideas you’ve never heard of? What about the other guy who created a new computer operating system or thought about opening some discount stores in rural communities? It’s not like Gates and Walton were the only ones (or even the first) to create this stuff.
Were those “other guys” just not smart enough? Were their ideas just not good enough? Did they have to repeatedly say to themselves, “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it people like me?” The answer finally dawned on me during a response my wife gave to Andy Crouch’s book, Culture Making.
Here’s the thing: WE CAN’T CONTROL OUR OWN CREATIONS.
What!?! You’ve got to be kidding me Mr. Crouch! Of course you can. I have an MBA, I know how to write an award winning business plan, I know how to craft a good strategic plan and bring a product to market successfully. The idea that we can’t control our own creations bothered the heck out of me when I first heard it. I wanted to believe that we are masters of our own fate. That if we work hard enough and have brilliant enough ideas, we can do big remarkable things. But when I think about those who have done big remarkable things, and how being the in the right place at the right time was a major factor in their success, I find myself thinking “what’s the point?” What if I have a great idea and work really hard, but I’m not in the right place at the right time?
Then I think about Nikola Tesla. Even though you may not know that name, his inventions impact every single part of your daily life. In the late 1800’s, Thomas Edison hired this brilliant young scientist and promised Tesla a $50,000 bonus if he patented a new electric motor. Tesla invented and patented a design that is still the industry standard today. But Edison didn’t fulfill his promise. So Tesla quit. He went on to invent AC power, and became the father of modern electricity. He sold the patent to Westinghouse for a hefty chunk of stock, and when AC power became the world standard, Tesla became an incredible wealthy man.
The moral of the story here is that Tesla had some great ideas. Yet, for some of them, like the electric motor, Tesla was in the wrong place at the wrong time to enjoy the benefits of his creation. He had no control over it. But he kept on creating. He kept pushing. Eventually he created something that changed the world. Something you and I are still benefiting from today.
Part of the equation is being in the right place at the right time, but it’s the willingness to continue creating that really matters.
Don’t worry about changing the world. Just keep creating. It’s the most important thing you can do.
I love this quote from Warren Bennis. Bennis is considered a pioneer in the contemporary field of Leadership Studies.
“Looking back, I realize that inglorious factors drove my career: an aching desire to make something of myself; the peculiar blessing of a tendency to doubt my worth; simple hard work; those proverbial 10,000 hours of practice; and my own share of good fortune, which I would not cast to the wind.”
Videos like this are the reason I like YouTube so much. Here’s Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, the worlds largest retailer, sharing what he’s learned over the years. He talks about the early days of Amazon, how they started in his living room, how an early bug in the website allowed customers to purchase a negative quantity and automatically put money on their credit card! It’s reassuring to know that making mistakes is part of every journey.
Three things he’s learned:
1. Obsess over customers
2. Invent
3. Think long term
Okay, I don’t really know any secrets about Zappos.com. Sorry if you’re disappointed.
Even though I don’t know any of their secrets, I am reading a fantastic book about the company. It’s called Delivering Happiness and it’s written by Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com. It’s a fascinating first-hand account of Tony’s journey with this amazing company. The following is an excerpt where Tony explains how Zappos.com reached their goal of $1 billion in sales in 2008 – two years ahead of their original goal of 2010:
Looking back, a big reason we hit our goal early was that we decided to invest our time, money, and resources into three key areas: customer service (which would build our brand and drive word of mouth), culture (which would lead to the formation of our core values), and employee training and development (which would eventually lead to the creation of our Pipeline Team).
Even today, our belief is that our Brand, our Culture, and our Pipeline (which we internally refer to as “BCP”) are the only competitive advantages that we will have in the long run.
Everything else can and will eventually be copied.
Tony has a cubicle just like every other Zappos employee. Photo credit: Business Week
It’s fascinating how clear and simple he makes it. There is an important lesson to be learned here.
As Tony said, Zappos.com’s business model can be (and has been) copied. They don’t have some magical secret formula hidden behind lock and key. Tony comes right out and tells the world what their competitive advantages are. They don’t try to be the best at everything. They focused, relentlessly focused, on just three things.
The reason others can’t (or haven’t) copied Zappos.com is because it would be too simple. Yes, you heard me right. It’s too simple.
Most companies start out with a simple product, a simple structure, and a simple plan to rule the world (or at least their industry). But they become cumbersome as they grow. Mind numbing processes replace figuring things out on the fly, departmental lines replace camaraderie, hierarchies turn decision making into a tangled mess. It gets harder and harder to narrow in on what’s really important. Zappos.com makes it very clear that their Brand, Culture, and Pipeline are to be THE priorities for the company and they make hard decisions based on those priorities. Other companies might argue that they too have have clarity on their strategic priorities. But when decision time comes, they squirm and let things slide (especially when it involves difficult decisions like firing people or axing a product).
Zappos also has a very strong set of core values that I’ll talk about in another post.
As for the book, I’ve found it difficult to put down.
I’ll try not to pull anymore bait and switch shenanigans on the blog titles.
Everyone has their own definition of strategy. The word strategy is so overused that it’s all but lost its meaning.
Strategy can be a very powerful thing when it’s crafted and executed correctly.
I’ve been fortune to learn about strategic planning from a retired executive of a Fortune 100 company.
He said two things that make so much sense to me:
1. Strategies are the choices you force.
2. If it’s not simple, it won’t work
After he said that second line, he proceeded to hold up a single sheet of paper partially filled with some blocks of text. He said, “this is the strategic plan for a multi-billion dollar business.”
One page.
Multi-billion dollar business.
I’ve seen 100-page strategic plans for businesses not even a fraction that size. You know what? Those plans get thrown in a drawer and never looked at again.
Simplicity is a beautiful thing. Constantly ask yourself, “how can this be simpler.” It will serve you well.
Here is an interesting article about how Apple became the largest company in the tech universe. Many of Apple’s success factors seem to defy what most would consider rational “business” strategy.
One of the stories I like is about a guy who was hired to create a DVD-burning program that Apple planned to release on high-end Macs — an app that would later become iDVD. He worked on the pitch for weeks. He had page after page of prototype screen shots showing the new program’s various windows and menu options, along with paragraphs of documentation describing how the app would work. Then Steve came in. He picks up a marker and goes over to the whiteboard. He draws a rectangle. ‘Here’s the new application,’ he says. ‘It’s got one window. You drag your video into the window. Then you click the button that says BURN. That’s it. That’s what we’re going to make.’ ”
Lately I’m having a lot of challenging conversations about the tools of social media.
Some folks don’t understand things like Twitter, Facebook, and blogs. They don’t understand why at any given moment you would want to know what your friends or colleagues are doing or saying. And vice versa, why would you want hundreds of virtual acquaintences to know what you were doing? Something just doesn’t compute.
Their response: “I just don’t get it.” Truth be told, they don’t want to get it.
People want to question the morality of social media. Is it “good” or “bad.” But that’s not worth arguing about. It just “is.” Our world has changed. Notice I said has changed, not is changing. We live in a world of sharing. Every minute, 20 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube and 55,000 tweets are posted on Twitter. Facebook has over 400 million users, that’s 93 million more than the U.S. population.
In a talk I did last week, I said the conversations we’re having now about social media will seem completely idiotic when we look back in 3 years. It will be like the whole Y2K thing (only much less climactic than waiting for midnight on 1/1/00, only to realize that the entire world wasn’t returning to the stone age).
The point is, we need to accept the reality that we live in a world of sharing. Sharing is a good thing, but it requires people who get it. We need you to share your ideas, share your talent, and share your unique perspective.
In the wise words of Seth Godin, “We need you to lead us.”
This is an amazing piece written by my wife for one of her doctoral classes at the University of Arkansas. It’s a diary entry from her great-great-great grandmother about what it was like to live during an era when women were not permitted to study or receive a college education. The diary entry itself was entirely written by Mandy, but all of the people mentioned are her actual family members, the biographical information is accurate, and the historical events are real. I was especially moved towards the end when she references her “Great-great granddaughter’s granddaughter, “Amanda” (that would be Mandy) and “Perhaps someday, a daughter connected to one of my 14 miracles will be like an Alice Freeman Palmer telling young students or their parents why a college education is so valuable.” (Mandy does this a lot in her job as a university professor).The story moved me, and I hope it moves you as well.
Dear Diary: A Diary Entry Written by My Great-Great-Great Grandmother, Lydia McCune
Lydia McCune from Hancock, Illinois (1856-1917)
By Mandy Moore, MBA
University of Arkansas
May 3, 1893
Dear Diary:
I married when I was 15 years old. I understand that for many women, in circumstances like mine, marriage at that age is all one can hope to obtain. However, now that I am the mother of six daughters and eight sons, I cannot help but wonder if this is the only path for women. As I hear my daughters giggle and ask questions about the world, how do I tell them I want more for them? How do I prepare them to be second-class citizens who cannot vote? How do I tell them society has defined who they will be no matter how badly I want it to be different? When Flora Amanda asks why Edwin is allowed to study, what am I supposed to say? He is better because he is a man. Why does society think man is superior when I am the one who gave my 14 children life, milk, warmth, and affection? Man could not do that. My body gave life. No husband is the source of happiness for a wife, but a mother is a source of love and life for her children, and a mother is a woman. This means that I, as a mere woman, performed 14 miracles. Why then could I not go to college? Ask any mother, and she will tell you there is a silent desperation for something more than what women have been able to achieve. As I hear my son Edwin complain that he does not want to go to college, I want to scream and tell him how Flora Amanda, Lydia Irene, Joene, Nellie Mae, Mary Ellen, and Janie will likely never have the opportunity to choose their destiny because God made them women. Is it a curse to bring a daughter into this world? I want my daughters to dream bigger dreams than I could. We deserve more. What about the “American dream” for my daughters?
Recently, I have heard of a flamboyant man, Dr. William Raney Harper. He is starting a university where boys and girls can study together (Thelin, 2004). After just returning from The Colombian Exposition, I have even more of a burning desire for my daughters to see the world. I saw billboards for this new idea, the University of Chicago, while my husband and I were there. When I smiled at the billboards, Stephen only shook his head. I have even heard from my dear friends that Dr. Harper hired a woman who was the first female President of a college (Wellesley, 2010). This woman, Alice Freeman Palmer, gave words to my silent desperation. She will be the Dean of Women at the University of Chicago.
Alice Freeman Palmer
Months ago, my dear friends and I heard of this Alice Freeman Palmer, and we went to hear her speak about why girls should go to college. I did not tell my husband, Stephen, where I was going. He is worried about my ideas because he heard some people speak about Dr. Edward Clark’s opinion that college would “deteriorate” women (as cited by Studer-Ellis, 1995, p. 1054). Now did Stephen actually read Dr. Edward Clark’s book Sex in Education and make up his own mind? No, but I did! It is ludicrous. If childbirth does not “deteriorate” the body, why would an education? If I can recover from 14 children, reading books and writing papers will not cause harm to women. Yes, the library and books are so dangerous! No, women with knowledge are powerful.
When Alice Freeman Palmer spoke, it was as if someone gave words to a mother’s silent desperation for her daughter. She is educated, articulate, and calm. Her Christian faith helps me see that my idea for my daughters is not unchristian (Wein, 1974). Furthermore, she was just a commoner like me, but she pleaded with her parents for a college education. She represents a new kind of student – not only female, but also one who was not elite. She knows what this struggle is like. She saw that no man could be the source of happiness when her father left her and her mother to raise her (Whittier, 2010). A man is not the answer, but an education is. I will not put my hope in man for my daughters; instead, I put my hope in education. I will pray my daughters marry a loving and dedicated man of course, but I will earnestly beg God to educate my daughters at college.
I became frustrated at the event where Alice Freeman Palmer spoke. Several of the women had good intentions, but they kept asking her to share her opinion of women and voting. It has been fifteen years since the Susan B. Anthony amendment was submitted to Congress (Sorenson, 2007). The amendment embodies so much hope in only 28 words, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex” (as cited by Sorenson, 2007, para. 27). So much opportunity is denied because of sex. Women’s right to vote is important, but I am here to learn about why my daughters, their daughters, and their daughters should go to college. Is becoming educated not a right? If not, what about the chance to be something better? When Alice Freeman Palmer was asked about voting, I sensed she was as frustrated as I. Let us not couple these! Both are important, but if more women are educated, I know that someday they will vote and even run for the Presidency of our country. I sense this is the future. Look at Alice Freeman Palmer! Her education was the foundation of her becoming the first female college President.
Alice Freeman Palmer (1897) encouraged women to be good at what they do and not to abandon the idea of becoming a mother. She said, however, that being college educated would help women be better mothers and wives (Wein, 1974). I cannot help but be jealous of the confidence a college-educated woman must feel when she can answer her daughter’s question about why the sky explodes into a million beautiful colors at sunrise or sunset. Alice Freeman Palmer said a college education only makes everything more beautiful. I can only dream it does. Childbirth was a miracle that made the entire world look different than it did before. I imagine education is much like this. Even when I read about blades of grass in a book, the next time my bare feet touch those blades, the book and the grass become sweeter to me.
I recognize I will never be able to provide a college education for my daughters, but I hope that perhaps their daughters will be the group to change our destiny. I cannot imagine the nerves they will feel the day they walk onto that large college campus with Coliseum-like stadiums and libraries with more books than one could read in a life. Someday, I hope a professor will tell my great-great granddaughter’s granddaughter, “Amanda, you have something important to say, and I cannot wait to read it in your paper or hear it in your debate!” Could you ever imagine if someday, a professor might tell my granddaughter that she is a professor’s dream student? Ha! What a dream realized that would be for me. When she writes those papers, when she shares her thoughts, my prayer is she will recognize that I am part of her words, her thoughts, and her past and in doing so; she will become empowered by the strength and confidence that comes from all of the women before her. With each word on the paper, she shapes the future for our daughters, she represents our dreams, and she shows her daughters that to be a woman means that she gets two miracles – children and education. Men can never experience both of those!
As I listened to Alice Freeman Palmer, a professor and a dean, I cannot help but hope for the future of women in higher education. Perhaps someday, a daughter connected to one of my 14 miracles will be like an Alice Freeman Palmer telling young students or their parents why a college education is so valuable. Perhaps someday, when a young female wants to quit, she will tell them college will make her a stronger woman and a better mother. She will remind them that a husband can die or leave, and a college education will give her a way to provide. To become that educated, to reach that level seems like it would take a miracle. However, I have 14 miracles that remind me miracles happen. I hope for the woman who is a part of me and who graduates from college, that she will realize all of the opportunities she has. My fear is that she will become like Edwin complaining that she does not want to go. Go! Run! Study! Dream! Knock or bang on the doors of a college! Read the books! Hang on to every word your professors say! I know that someday, a part of me will walk onto a college campus and leave there an educated and strong woman. May she have it all, and be able to describe to her children why the sky erupts into a million colors when the sun rises or sets. May she see the world as a more beautiful place than I could as an uneducated woman who could only hope.
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