by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Collaboration, Creativity, Growth, Habits, Leadership, Mindset, Miniseries, Opportunity, Planning, Resources, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 50 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Write a great last chapter-Part 2
— From Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business by Danny Meyer
Yesterday we learned Danny Meyer’s approach to mistakes: writing a great last chapter. “The worst mistake,” he says, “is not to figure out some way to end up in a better place after having made a mistake.”
Today, Meyer expands on his philosophy for handling/addressing mistakes and why it’s important to learn from them.
In his restaurant business, “when something goes wrong, it is essential for the manager on whose watch the mistake occurred to make every effort to connect with the guest within 24 hours.” Depending on your business, the time frame for connecting may be different, but it is indeed essential to connect with the affected party.
The author says, “No matter how much you try to erase what has happened, you cannot.” And he adds, “Why wait for a second or third letter from somebody who has now cc’d his report of your fallibility and culpability to the Chamber of Commerce, the restaurant critic of The New York Times, and the Zagat Survey? Instead, take initiative.”
The initiative that Meyer suggests—and takes—is as follows:
1. Respond graciously, and do so at once. “You know you’re going to resolve the mistake eventually. It’s always a lot less costly to resolve the matter at the outset.”
2. Err on the side of generosity. “Apologize and make sure the value of the redemption is worth more than the cost of the initial mistake.”
3. Always write a great last chapter. “People love to share stories of adversity. Use this powerful force to your advantage by writing the closing statement the way you want it told. Use all your imagination and creativity in thinking about your response.”
4. Learn from the mistake. “Use every new mistake as a teaching tool with your employees [or colleagues]. Unless the mistake involved a lack of integrity, the person who made it has actually helped your team by providing you with new opportunities to improve.”
5. Make new mistakes every day. “Don’t waste time repeating the old ones.”
These last two points showcase one of the reasons why Meyer has been so successful. He is not afraid of him or his staff making mistakes, he knows it’s a natural part of life and business, and he welcomes the lessons and improvements that each mistake brings.
If you want to learn more about Meyer’s story and his philosophy about hospitality, my friend Don Crawford kindly pointed me to this recent podcast. Thanks, Don, it’s awesome! If you have a resource that goes well with a particular post and you’d like me to share it, please let me know, I’ll be happy to do so. 🙂
ACTION
TODAY: Hindsight is always 20/20, but in this case it can definitely help: think of a mistake you’ve done in the past. How could you have solved it in a more timely way and written a great last chapter? Do this exercise a few times, focusing on a different mistake each time. By imagining how the process and the ending could be different, you’ll be getting ideas as to how to handle future mistakes applying Meyer’s philosophy.
FUTURE: Make it a habit of incorporating Meyer’s five initiative points above to your life and business. You and your team will be able to handle and learn from mistakes in a much better way!
Know someone who would like this approach to mistakes? Please share this post: Email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Collaboration, Creativity, Growth, Habits, Leadership, Mindset, Miniseries, Opportunity, Resources, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 12 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Write a great last chapter-Part 1
— From Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business by Danny Meyer
Danny Meyer, restaurateur and hospitality guru says, “The road to success is paved with mistakes well handled.”
I love his take on this!
He and his team refer to their strategy for handling mistakes as “writing a great last chapter.” While Meyer’s examples come from the restaurant world, the approach can be adapted to any business. The author explains:
Whatever mistake happened, happened. And the person on the receiving end will naturally want to tell anyone who’s interested at all about it. That’s to be expected. While we can’t erase what happened, we do have the power to write one last episode so that at least the story ends the way we want. If we write a great one, we will earn a comeback victory with the guest. Also, the guest will have no choice but to focus on how well we responded to the mistake when telling anyone we made it. We can, then, turn a mistake into something positive. To be effective, the last chapter must be written imaginatively, graciously, generously, and sincerely. And sometimes we even write a great last chapter when it was the guest, not us, who made the mistake.
Meyer recalls an occasion when Senator Bob Kerrey—whom he knew well—was having a dinner party at one of his restaurants. One of Kerrey’s guests found a beetle in his salad. Kerrey ran into Meyer the next day and told him. Meyer, rightly so, apologized and asked if his staff had handled it well, to which the Senator replied that, indeed, the staff had handled it incredibly well.
After the conversation with Senator Kerrey, who was then having lunch at another of Meyer’s restaurants, Meyer spoke to the General Manager and told him:
“There was a mistake last night at Gramercy Tavern. We’ve got to figure out how to write a great last chapter here,” and explained what had happened. Further, Meyer added, “Whether or not Senator Kerrey or his guest orders a salad during his lunch, I want you to deliver a beautiful salad and garnish it with a small piece of paper. On that piece of paper, I want to you write the word RINGO, and when you deliver it, you can tell them ‘Danny wanted to make sure you knew that Gramercy Tavern wasn’t the only one of his restaurants that’s willing to garnish your salad with a beatle.”
Meyer points out: “It was now impossible for Senator Kerrey to tell anyone the story about the beetle in the salad without also mentioning the ‘last chapter’ we wrote the following day.”
Most mistakes in Meyer’s business, according to him, are like this one and small enough to fix. But whether it’s something like this or a complaint of any other kind, the author focuses on a twofold mission. “First, to learn from the mistake and to profit from what we’ve learned; and second, to write a great last chapter that allows us to end up in a better place with the guest than if we had never made the mistake in the first place.”
I think Meyer’s approach to mistakes and hospitality is fantastic. Please come back tomorrow to continue learning from him on how to handle mistakes.
Do you have any stories of mistakes well handled? I’d love to hear them! Please let me know in the comments here.
ACTION
TODAY: Whether you make a mistake or someone else does, big or small, you can write a great last chapter. What will you write?
FUTURE: Make it a habit of incorporating the mindset of writing a great last chapter in your life and business. You and your team will be able to handle and learn from mistakes in a much better way!
Know someone who would like this approach to mistakes? Please share this post! Email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!
by Helena Escalante | Creativity, Goals, Growth, Mindset, Opportunity, Planning, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 25 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Build your future supported by the past
— From: Habit Changers: 81 Game-Changing Mantras to Mindfully Realize Your Goals by M. J. Ryan
M.J. Ryan, leading expert and coach on change and human fulfillment, as well as author of Habit Changers, says that a lot of people go to her when they are at a crossroads in their career. “They’ve gotten into a rut and want support in breaking out of it.”
She helps them out by taking them through a process outlined in the book I Will Not Die an Unlived Life: Reclaiming Purpose and Passion by Dawna Markova. “It’s an examination [of] strengths, passions and values, as well as the environments that bring out [people’s] best.”
Once that process is done, Ryan’s clients achieve the clarity they seek. However, she points out, “the problem is that getting from here to there can feel like standing on one side of the Grand Canyon and trying to figure out how to get to the other side. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and stuck.”
So, if you’ve ever been there, on the proverbial one side of the Grand Canyon, looking at building a better future on the other side, but have no clue how to get there or where to start, Ryan suggests looking at your past:
“Build a bridge to the future on the pillars of the past.”
Ryan says, “It’s about remembering to leverage what you’ve already done to create the new. […] Nothing you’ve done in the past is a waste. It’s all grist for your future. Reminding yourself of this will help you figure out how to get from here to there.”
The author explains how she leveraged her book publishing experience when she was branding herself as an executive coach to attract her first clients: they were publishers and writers whom she knew.
Similarly, whether it’s a project that you want to start or a life change that you are about to undertake, think of your past experiences and contacts and build on them to propel you forward.
ACTION
TODAY: What project or change are you about to undergo where you don’t necessarily have step-by-step directions? Think of something similar that you’ve done in the past and draw from there. Or innovate by taking bits and pieces from your past to build something new.
FUTURE: Stay in touch, every so often, with people from your past. Not only is it truly enjoyable to continue to nurture those friendships and acquaintances, but also it is helpful in case you need them to open doors for you or provide assistance or support. I know I am always happy to hear from people with whom I’ve worked or friends that I’ve made in the past, and I’m delighted to help in any way I can. I’m sure your friends and acquaintances will be happy to help as well!
Know someone who is trying to cross over the Grand Canyon? Please share this post with them! Email, Facebook or Twitter.
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Goals, Growth, Mindset, Planning, Time, Tools
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes, 4 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Setting goals with PICS
— From The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business by Josh Kaufman
As we near the end of the year, the mad rush to achieve our goals begins. We have to meet Q4 goals and quotas, we want to accomplish those things that we said we would do back in January but put off until now, etc.
What happened?
Very likely, what happened is that we set vague goals.
Josh Kaufman, business guru and author of The Personal MBA, says “Well-formed goals accomplish two things: they help you visualize what you want, and make you excited about achieving it.”
Fuzzy goals like: “I want to climb a mountain” aren’t very helpful, because they don’t give your brain anything to work with. Which mountain? Where? When? Why? Without answers to these questions, you probably won’t do anything at all.
Well-formed goals pass the “Everest Test.” Useful goals look like this: “I want to climb to the summit of Mt. Everest before my fortieth birthday, and take a panoramic picture to frame on my wall as a trophy.”
In this example, this goal would be easy for your brain to envision: Arranging travel to Nepal, improving your climbing skills, searching for a guide, purchasing gear and equipment, buying a panoramic camera, and so on.
Kaufman goes on to say, “Once you make a conscious choice to achieve the goal, your mind automatically starts finding ways to get it done.”
So, what do we need to set well-formed goals that we can achieve?
Kaufman suggests framing the goals in a Positive, Immediate, Concrete, Specific (PICS) format:
Positive: “Refers to Motivation: your goal should be something you move toward, not away from.” If you have a goal like “I don’t want to be fat anymore,” the author says, “You’re reinforcing the negative instead of [changing] your mind’s prediction to get excited about improving.”
Immediate: “Refers to time-scale: your goals should be things that you decide to make progress on now, not ‘someday’ or ‘eventually.’ If you don’t want to commit to working on a particular goal now, put it on your someday/maybe list and focus on something else.”
Concrete: “Means you’re able to see the results in the real world. Goals are achievements—you should know when you’ve accomplished what you set out to achieve. Setting goals like ‘I want to be happy’ don’t work because they’re not concrete—how would you know when you’re done? When you reach the top of Mt. Everest, you’ve achieved something concrete.”
Specific: “Means you’re able to define exactly what, when, and where you’re going to achieve your goal. Climbing Mt. Everest on a certain date in the near future is specific, which makes it easy for your mind to plan exactly how you’ll go about accomplishing it.”
While all of this is very important to set goals, the part that I find even more important is when the author explains, “For best effect, your goals should be under your control. Goals like ‘Losing twenty pounds’ are soul-crushing because they’re not directly under your control—losing weight is a result, not an effort. If your weight randomly moves up a few pounds on a given day, it’s easy to feel defeated, even though you had no choice in the matter… make your goals actions that are within your [control], like thirty minutes of exercise every day and controlling the number of calories you consume.”
Keep track of your goals using whatever system works for you, whether manually or electronically. There are myriad ways to do this: the simpler, the better.
Lastly, Kaufman also reminds us that “it’s perfectly okay to change your goals. Sometimes we think we want something, only to find out later that we don’t want it so much anymore. Don’t feel bad about that—it’s called learning. If you find yourself working toward a goal you no longer feel good about, work on something else.”
And now, I will let you go work on framing your goals for the rest of the year. What are you planning to do? Let me know in the comments here, I’d love to hear what you’re up to.
ACTION
TODAY: What are you looking to achieve during the last two months of this year? November is almost here. Take some time to reframe your goals using PICS to ensure you can achieve them. If your goals are too big, break them down into subgoals that you can indeed achieve in 60 days.
FUTURE: Kaufman asks, “If you haven’t, can you set an arbitrary end state for now, leaving yourself open to course-correction as you progress?” As we move along on our goals, we learn and we course-correct all the time. Be disciplined with your actions to make your goal happen; but be flexible as time goes by and you course-correct (based on your experience of working on your goal), that way you can reach your destination sooner, faster, better, etc.
Know someone who is going trying to achieve a goal in the last 2 months of the year? Please share this post with them! Email, Facebook or Twitter.
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Goals, Growth, Habits, Mindset, Productivity, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 3 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Akrasia
— From The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business by Josh Kaufman
Have you ever had the experience of knowing or feeling that you should do something that is in your best interest, but you just can’t bring yourself to do it?
That is not procrastination. There is a different term for that: Akrasia. (Pronunciation)
“Akrasia is one of the most widespread and persistent barriers to getting things done.”
In The Personal MBA, business guru Josh Kaufman helps us understand the difference:
Procrastination occurs when you’ve decided to complete a task, but you keep putting it off until later without consciously deciding to do it later. If you have “answer e-mail” on your to-do list, but you browse the Internet for hours without answering any e-mail, that’s procrastination.
Akrasia is a deeper issue: it’s a general feeling that you “should” do something, without necessarily deciding to do it. The “should” feeling doesn’t lead to decision or action, even if the action seems to be in your best interest. Most people experience Akrasia when considering changing habits they no longer want (“I should quit smoking”), taking a new action (“I should donate to that nonprofit”), or contemplating an uncomfortable topic (“I should look into life insurance and talk to a lawyer to write a will”). The “should” feeling sticks around, but never leads to action, generating intense frustration.
Kaufman goes on to say, “Akratic situations can take many forms: eating a cookie vs. ‘becoming healthier’ by sticking to a diet. Browsing the web vs. exercising. Staying in a bad relationship vs. moving on. Dreaming about a new business idea vs. testing it. Whenever you ‘should’ do something, but resist doing it, you’re experiencing Akrasia.”
Akrasia is a Greek term, and this problem was already being discussed in ancient Greece by Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. And even though philosophers have discussed this for centuries, there is no cure. “Akrasia is a slippery problem,” says the author, “and there’s no easy, universal solution.”
But not all is lost: Kaufman points to many strategies and techniques that are useful in preventing and resolving akratic situations. “In order to spend your time making progress vs. fighting both sides of a battle of will, it’s useful to have a strategy for recognizing and combatting Akrasia when you recognize it.”
The most important thing, I believe, is to be aware of it. Now that we know it exists, we can point to it, recognize when we’re feeling Akrasia, and move forward to do what we should do.
You can read extensively about the strategies to recognize and combat Akrasia in Kaufman’s book online. (Kaufman has one full chapter—54 pages—devoted to “Working With Yourself” to combat Akrasia, procrastination and other maladies that impede our own progress as well as become superfocused and productive). Or if you don’t have the time now, you can take a quick look at these posts (each takes less than 5 min to read) that will help you shake Akrasia and move forward towards your goals:
Happy un-Akrasing!
ACTION
TODAY: Take some time to see where in your life you’re experiencing Akrasia. We all do, and it behooves us to tackle it to move forward on our goals. Now that we know that Akrasia exists, it’s easier to be aware of it and start taking action.
FUTURE: Keep in mind that we’re all human and we all experience Akrasia. The best way to find out why you’re having Akrasia about something is to ask yourself why 5 times. Once you get to the bottom of it, you’ll be able to move forward.
Know someone who is going through Akrasia about something? Please share this post with them! Email, Facebook or Twitter.
by Helena Escalante | Creativity, Goals, Growth, Leadership, Mindset, Opportunity, Planning, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 43 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: The New Niche
— From LINGO: Discover Your Ideal Customer’s Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible by Jeffrey Shaw
In today’s world, where we often hear that we must “niche down,” because “the riches are in the niches,” Jeffrey Shaw, entrepreneur, coach, podcaster, and author of Lingo, says, “Ditch the niche and diversify!”
Whaaaaaat??!
He explains: “It’s not that niche marketing is inherently bad; it just needs to be redefined.”
He goes on to say that most of us, as the creative thinkers that we are (creative here defined very broadly), “need freedom from the shackles of a tightly narrowed offering and market. We’re multipassionate warriors and we don’t want to be stuck doing one thing.”
So, what should we do about this?
In Jeff’s podcast and community of Creative Warriors, he refers to following all our passions as chasing squirrels. I own a dog who has tried to climb trees to chase squirrels (!) so I know how crazy this can get… Further, as an entrepreneur myself and a mentor for startups and small businesses, I know that our business minds tend to chase many squirrels too: the (in)famous shiny-object syndrome or SOS that tends to distract and derail us if kept unchecked.
Shaw says, “I’m not saying chasing squirrels is productive. But I am saying the creative thinker is going to do it anyway. Rather than make them feel ‘sinful’ for something inherent in being creative, why not figure out how it can be productive? We can make it productive by using the connections between them to unite the squirrels into a herd and then setting that herd off in a productive direction. We can cultivate a new niche.”
And here’s the key to the New Niche: “The New Niche is not the one thing you do or the one segment of a market you serve. The New Niche is the space you own, or, you could say, the area of expertise for which you are known.”
Note here that Shaw said “area,” because your expertise includes many things, so it’s not just constrained to the one thing you do.
“Space is expansive, even limitless as far as we know and so are the possibilities and creative freedom you have when you become known for the space you own. When you or your business are recognized for the space you own, you gain creative freedom. With clarity about the space you own, you can diversify your business and create multiple streams of income.”
Shaw goes on to explain the idea of the New Niche and the meaning of owning a space: “The space you own—as a solo creative entrepreneur or as a company—is what you are known for. It answers this all-important, fundamental question: Of what will your ideal customers say you are the expert?”
Further, Shaw urges us to imagine overhearing the tail end of a conversation on the street in which a person asks another one for a referral, “Oh, [your name or name of business] is the go-to expert for ___________.”
Fill in that blank. “If you don’t know almost immediately how to fill in that blank, then you don’t own a space yet.”
In his podcast, Creative Warriors, Shaw interviewed Christopher Lochhead, co-author of the book Play Bigger: How Pirates, Dreamers, and Innovators Create and Dominate Markets. Lochhead refers to owning your space as being a Category King and emphasizes “the importance of not only being the ‘king’ of a category but also being the first in that category.”
To this, Shaw says, “Being the Category King can certainly give you an advantage. However, for many entrepreneurs, it’s less important to be first. It’s more important to create a unique category for which you can be recognized and stand out.”
So, what is your New Niche? Let me know in the comments here.
ACTION
TODAY: Answer this question about yourself or your business: “Oh, [your name or name of business] is the go-to expert for ___________.” What is the space you own? What is that New Niche of yours? If the answer comes easily, congrats! If not, no worries, give yourself time to think and to come up with the best answer for you.
FUTURE: Claim that space as yours… it is indeed! Make sure you are passionate about it, and that it is marketable, and you’ll be golden. Here are some additional posts on this subject: How to apply the Law of the Category to your benefit and Own a word in the prospect’s mind.
Know someone who chases squirrels? Please share this post with them! Email, Facebook or Twitter.
