Sunday 23 March 2014

What was my rant from five years back and what is yours today? And what does that mean for your business?

My birthday week is always a time for reflection - as I am sure so is yours. So it was with interest that I found this - next to my old five year goals - written... some five years ago. 

All about what my 'rant' was...

It would seem in the five years since that I lost my rant a little - so I put it here to remind myself. I have not changed the format or the way I wrote it - it is literally copy and paste from 5 years back.


What’s my rant – that business is the only way forward – commerce will make Britain (or any other country for that matter Great once again) – that monopolistic capitalism (big boys keep the toys) doesn’t work as it has no responsibility – commercial concerned consumerism is the only way forward for capitalism – that shares are folly and gambling and you should look to create your own wealth not exploit the needs of a wrong system – that the planet is better in the hands and minds of small business rather than big – big business like all big organisations gives human beings the ability to act without humanity – that organisational automation and inefficiency is recreating a series of socially automated emotionally inefficient people – that the way you think and the way you talk to yourself changes who you are – that everyone is great at something – that life is about finding what you are great at. 

My question from all the above is - "Where did that guy go....?"
Anyhoo... my question for you is "What's your rant?" Not just what are you great at?

Which is something which nicely ties into Seth's newest blog (completely by accident) which is all about being the best at something. As he puts it... in Compromise, design and the literal edges

"Let's say you wanted to improve the katana, the legendary fighting sword.

You could ask your team to come up with a sword that's lighter, sharper and more durable.

Built into that charge is the requirement to compromise. And just about everyone who has come before you has tried to come up with the same sort of compromise, and your chances of a breakthrough are slim indeed.

Compromise gives us an out, because, with multiple goals, it's easy to play it safe.

But what if you picked just one?

What if you sought to make the sharpest katana ever? Or merely the most durable one? By optimizing for just one attribute, you've eliminated most of the compromise from the design discussion. As a result, you're far more likely to encounter something extraordinary. It might not be practical, but there's plenty of time to compromise later.

It's almost always easier to roll something back a little than it is to push it forward."

Something we want to think about at JusTaxi - Manchester's taxi fare comparison app - as perhaps we haven't looked at being the best in the market AT a certain something - we perhaps just wanted to be there and better than our competition in a general way.

With brands and apps like Minicabster and the giant Uber coming to Manchester from this week - March 24th - we might have to look again at where we stand in the market place.

As Zig Ziglar would say, we MUST become a “meaningful specific” rather than a “wandering generality.” And perhaps this is same for me, Dan Sodergren five years on, as well. 

And maybe for you too?
 

Tuesday 18 March 2014

A lovely set of 30 mantras from someone much wiser and successful than I.

A lovely set of 30 mantras from someone much wiser and successful than I.

Here they are:

1) Why be normal?

2) Get out of your comfort zone.

3) Know that you have a purpose.

4) Every pencil holds a promise.

5) Do the small things that make others feel big.

6) Tourists see, but travelers seek.

7) Asking for permission is asking for denial.

8) Embrace the lightning moments.

9) Big dreams start with small, unreasonable acts.

10) Practice humility over hubris.

11) Speak the language of the person you want to become.

12) Walk with a purpose.

13) Happiness is found in celebrating others.

14) Find the impossible ones.

15) Focus on one person in every room.

16) Read the signs along the path.

17) Create separation to build connection.

18) Never take no from someone who can't say yes.

19) Stay guided by your values, not your necessities.

20) You can't fake authenticity.

21) There is only one chance at a first impression.

22) Fess up to your failures.

23) Learn to close the loop.

24) Change your words to change your worth.

25) A goal realized is a goal defined.

26) Surround yourself with those who make you better.

27) Vulnerability is vital.

28) Listen to your echoes.

29) If your dreams don't scare you, they're not big enough.

30) Make your life a story worth telling.

Friday 14 March 2014

Some wonderful quotes from a wonderful man... Tony Benn - RIP March 14th 2014 on my birthday :(

It's my birthday today but today also something bigger happened.

Tony Benn died. 

It is simple as that. I will not get too much into the politics but the below quotes sum up a human being who was truly a great man.

He was very much misunderstood and had a great sense of humour - in some respects he reminds me of me or perhaps it is his words that shaped me without me realising.

His BEST quote I believe (if not the funniest) IS the Five Questions: 

 "If one meets a powerful person - Rupert Murdoch, perhaps, or Joe Stalin or Hitler -  one can ask five questions:

What power do you have;

Where did you get it;

In whose interests do you exercise it;

To whom are you accountable; and,

How can we get rid of you?

Anyone who cannot answer the last of those questions does not live in a democratic system."

Other great quotes: 

"It is wholly wrong to blame Marx for what was done in his name, as it is to blame Jesus for what was done in his."

"A faith is something you die for; a doctrine is something you kill for; there is all the difference in the world" - 1989.

"When you get to No 10, you've climbed there on a little ladder called 'the status quo'. And when you are there, the status quo looks very good" - House of Commons, 1995.

"Love thy neighbour as thyself - that's an aspect of Christianity that hasn't reached the White House."

“We are not just here to manage capitalism but to change society and to define its finer values.”

“The Labour party has never been a socialist party, although there have always been socialists in it – a bit like Christians in the Church of England.”

If we can find the money to kill people, we can find the money to help people.

It’s the same each time with progress. First they ignore you, then they say you’re mad, then dangerous, then there’s a pause and then you can’t find anyone who disagrees with you.

------------------

Progress is everywhere - and last night we were called mad by a few people as we unveiled our newest idea for JusTaxi - a brand ambassador programme where you can get free taxis in Manchester for a month.

I think Tony might have been proud of that - as long as the free taxis - go to the right people. In his honour I think they might.  Perhaps he might not like the idea at all. Who knows. I guess I will never know now.

Truly a sad day. RIP Tony Benn. A legend in my mind, and some said in his own as well.

Thursday 13 March 2014

What people really want is for you to hear them and to do the right thing.

On the dawn of one of the most important focus group's of my life with my client JusTaxi - Manchester's taxi fare comparison app. 

And my birthday being tomorrow as well, Seth Godin's blog below is a wonderful piece to reflect upon.

"Most of the time, people don't want a refund or a bonus. What they really want is for you to hear them and to do the right thing. What if every manager and every customer contact in your organization bought into that?
Here are some things you can do that don't cost any money (but they certainly require effort):
Treat your employees with care and respect
Be consistent in your actions
Keep your promises
Grant others their dignity
Give credit
Take responsibility
When wrong, offer a heartfelt apology
Don't be a jerk
Take the time to actually listen to people
Volunteer to handle the issue
Care"
We do a lot of these at Justaxi - Manchester taxi fare comparison app - but perhaps at Great Marketing Works - Dan Sodergren - doesn't do enough of them. 

Thursday 6 March 2014

Tonight I will do this - a simple action list.

Taken from a blog of someone who has a book coming out which I think I will buy if on Kindle. 
Distinguishing the “trivial many” from the “vital few” can be applied to every kind of human endeavor and has been done so persuasively by Richard Koch, author of several books on how to apply the Pareto Principle to everyday life. Indeed, the examples are everywhere.
Think of Sir Isaac Pitman, the inventor of shorthand, who discovered that just 700 words make up two-thirds of our language (further validated by Zipf's Law).
Think of Warren Buffett’s philosophy, quoted by Mary Buffett and David Clark in The Tao of Warren Buffett, “You only have to do a few things right in your life, so long as you don’t do too many things wrong.” 
The authors continue, “Warren decided early in his career it would be impossible for him to make hundreds of right investment decisions, so he decided that he would invest only in the business that he was absolutely sure of, and then bet heavily on them. He owes 90% of his wealth to just ten investments. Sometimes what you don’t do is just as important as what you do.”
Now that IS a book I have read. And took to heart. 
The advice in there is similar to what can happen with software and mobile apps - two things I love - as often you can have an app that tries to do too many things and therefore does nothing well. The same can be said for software and even computer games. Often simple is best. 
Which is something we are finding out at JusTaxi - Manchester's taxi fare comparison app - as under my (and others) thinking we removed half of the screens and at least two features / functions. This resulted in a 200% increase in numbers of people booking the best taxi prices in Manchester on our app.  
On a different but similar vein, about not being overwhelmed, Greg McKeown who wrote this article says - he recommends a simple action list.
1. Before you leave the office today, write down your top six priorities for tomorrow on a Post-it note.
2. Cross off the bottom five.
3. Write down your priority on a Post-it note and put it on your computer.
4. Schedule a 90-minute window to work on your top priority — preferably the first thing of the day.
5. Every time you are about to check email, Facebook, Twitter etc., write down what you are about to do.
Let's see how this goes.