My Unexpected Journey: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
Allow me to share with you the story of my exhilarating trip to reach my first assigned command in the middle of the Thanksgiving festivities. This isn't just an ordinary narrative - it's a riveting account of how important it is to have a plan, and the adrenaline rush you feel when that plan changes unexpectedly. It's also about how the relationships we form today might unexpectedly come to our rescue in the future.
After graduating from high school, I immediately joined the Navy. This new chapter of my life began with three months of intense boot camp, followed by the Navy's specialized "A School" where I trained as a machinist. Both of these were on separate military bases in Great Lakes, Illinois.
From Paint Drying to Progress: Reviving a Town with the Power of Business Growth
From Paint Drying to Progress: Reviving a Town with the Power of Business Growth.
ORM, I spilled coffee on my shirt!
I was driving to a client meeting with my favorite blend of coffee in hand. It was an early morning, but I had been looking forward to this meeting all week as I knew it could be integral for our company's success. My mind was focused on all the details I needed to cover as I took another sip.
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Everything Everywhere All at Once is a movie released a year ago in March 2022 and recently got a lot of publicity for winning Best Picture at the Academy Awards. It has some great lessons for business, but trying to be everything everywhere all at once isn't one of them!
Stuck in the Middle
Do you not know why your business is here tonight? Do you have the feeling that something ain't right? Does the competition have you scared and falling out of your chair?
You Can't Scale Busy - A tale of Wearing Too Many Hats
In the beginning stages of helping our clients, we find that many people in the business are wearing multiple hats. That's fine for an entrepreneurial company in its early years -- it's likely that it's even necessary. The owner is juggling sales and marketing, accounting and tax preparation, answering phones, AND delivery of the product or service. It's run them ragged, but they wear it as a badge of honor. It's a well-deserved badge. Running a small business is hard work!
Drilling Down on Process
Over the holiday break my wife, I mean, I, decided to do a little organization in my closet. I have several hats that have been sitting on a shelf and I thought that I could save some room by hanging them on the wall. I found a set of 12 hat hangers online and decided to mount these to the wall in my closet and in my wife's closet. Although these rounded plastic hangers had sticky tape already mounted to the back, I decided that I would not rely on that tape and utilize a single screw to hold it to the wall as well.
Climbing up that Hill
My wife and I camp and hike often. Our goal is to visit every state park in Texas. About once a month, we overnight camp at one of the 89 state parks. We tackle a trail or two and visit some of the surrounding towns. It's a great opportunity to reflect and re-energize, but it also offers opportunities to learn about business.
Your Business, A Tomato Plant?
Recently, I realized that I had not been tending to the tomato plant as much as I should have. It's taking up most of the small room that my hydroponic tower sits in. It's wrapping around the lights, cutting off light to the rest of the plant, and reaching into the fan above. It's completely out of control! Why did I let this happen?!
Risky Business
As the CEO of a company, you are tasked with making decisions on issues that will determine the fate of the business. Some of these decisions will be easy, but others will be much more difficult. How do you prioritize which issues to act on?
One thing that all of these issues have in common is Risk. Risk is something that you have to consider for every decision that you make. It is determined by two things: Likelihood and Impact.
Don't Be a Workaholic: It's Not a Good Thing
We live in a society that glorifies the workaholic. We see it all the time in the media—the successful businessperson who never seems to take a break, the celebrity who is always hustling, the politician who is always on the campaign trail. And while there's no denying that hard work is important, there's such a thing as working too hard. In fact, being a workaholic can actually be detrimental to your health and your business. Here's why you should avoid being a workaholic.
What does documenting your Processes and Procedures get you? Pt. 5
One day something will happen in your business that will stop everything in its tracks. Maybe it's a fire, maybe a pipe breaks and floods the office, maybe there's a worldwide pandemic of some sort.
What does documenting your Processes and Procedures get you? Pt. 4
What do HIPAA, PCI, and SOX have in common?
What does documenting your Processes and Procedures get you? Pt. 2
Your employees want to do a good job. They want to know what to do in certain situations without having to involve management. They work better when they know what boundaries they have to work in.
What does documenting your Processes and Procedures get you? Pt. 3
Are your employees being as productive as they should be? Do they have the tools they need to be efficient? Are gaps in your processes allowing you to drop the ball on getting quotes out or supporting your customers?
What does documenting your Processes and Procedures get you? Pt. 1
How much time do you spend: Answering the same questions your employees ask over and over? Double-checking work Trying to remember how something was done last time? Training a new employee by shadowing someone else? Spend time to make time!
What’s the difference between Processes, Procedures, and Instructions?
Processes are an overview of the big picture. This might describe the customer's journey from sales to delivery and any support activities, such as billing.