Roscoe and the KISS Principle

You've probably heard of the KISS (Keep It Simple, Surely) principle.  This, at least, is the politically correct version.  This doesn't mean dumbing down your message or insulting the intelligence of your audience. But, you should organize your thoughts into a clear and concise product.  And, I'm sure by now your wondering who or what is Roscoe and what does he/she/it have to do with KISS.  Well, Roscoe is a sock puppet.

A sock puppet, you say? Yes, a sock puppet who lives in a trash bucket.  Kind of like Oscar but without the attitude.  I volunteered to give the children's message at my church and introduced Roscoe to the kids a few Sundays ago.  I consulted with the Pastor to see what his sermon topic was going to be and then 'boiled it down' to a simple, clear statement for the my younger audience.  Roscoe's antics illustrated and reinforced this message; the kids listened and laughed.  Oddly, so did the rest of the congregation.

Since then as many adults as children have come up to me and said they liked Roscoe and asked when he would be back.  This response has reminded me of several key things that are important when presenting to any audience. 

• Make sure you can state you topic in one clear, concise, declarative, and complete sentence.
• Use illustrations that reinforce (but do not detract) from your thesis statement.
• Humor and play can be just as effective for adults as for children.
• And, when all else fails, hand out candy

OK, I'm kidding about the candy.  But, anticipating a prize or big finish can keep your audience engaged.  If you promise something you need to deliver or you'll affect your credibility in future interactions.  By the way, Roscoe is available for your next sales presentation.  He is, however, getting a little full of himself.

Posting, Time Mangement, and the Wisconsin Badgers

The length of time between my posts is increasing, I know.  Did I mention I recently had a baby daughter?  She's doing fine, by the way, and I'm not laying the blame on her.  Although, it would be easy to do and maybe even partially true.

The Wisconsin Badgers (I'm from Wisconsin) beat up on the Nebraska Corn Huskers Saturday night and I didn't learn of the score until this morning.  We don't have cable at home and, when the wind is right, we only get two TV stations-CBS and NBC.  The game was on ABC.

Why, you ask is such technically savvy guy like me, living without cable or satellite TV?  First, off all I'm not all that tech savvy.  Second,  I waste a lot less time surfing two channels of mostly crap than I would 200 channels of mostly crap. I need to be more precise when I say I'm not tech savvy.   The things I know about computers and databases I know well.  Hardware and social media are largely beyond my ken.  By choice.

Doctors for a while now have stopped being all things to all people-they specialize. The amount of knowledge is so vast and is changing and increasing so quickly it is impossible to manage it in too broad a field.  Advances in technology have forced some people (well, at least me) to specialize.  While Paul (Biblical reference) could be all things to all people but he didn't have to master social media and cloud computing.

With limited time available setting priorities becomes important.  It's often harder to decide what to leave off my schedule than what to include on it.  Having a list gives me ease of mind from knowing what I need to do next.  At least until the baby pukes all over my clean shirt.  I'm not blaming her. I'm just saying....

Momentum: Sailing with no wind

I recently went sailing on Lake Oahe in Central South Dakota but there was no wind.  Strange because it's always windy in South Dakota, always.  A sailboat is designed to operate when there is a stiff breeze and let me tell you;  sailing is a whole lot more fun than drifting.  However, although piloting a boat in a strong wind is very exhilarating it takes a lot more effort and can be more risky.  If your are not careful you can quickly get off course or find your boat heeling (that's leaning over to one side for all you land lubbers) and not working as efficiently as possible.

Now, you're probably way ahead of me with the possible business analogies that can be drawn from sailing.  My focus here is on creativity and innovation.  New ideas, solutions, products, or processes usually don't come to us complete and perfectly formed.  Often we have to take a germ of an idea or a gut feeling and just go with it.  This can be a messy and chaotic.  We may get off course and, at least for a while, take a few steps back.  Ultimately the results will be worth it.

The other option is to play it safe and go slow or even drift. Going slow is no fun and drifting can be just as challenging as sailing close hauled in a gale (some more sailing lingo).  There is nothing wrong with taking it easy once in a while but hour after hour of getting rocked by the wake from the motor boats zipping around you can make you sleepy, seasick, or both.

But what do you do when you're in a sailboat and there is no wind?  Well, you can get off the water or you can find other ways to move the boat.  My small boat also has a outboard motor.  You say, "That isn't sailing!" I agree. But at least I was getting somewhere.

Desktop Database Applications

I developed database applications for the federal government and it surprised me how little even experienced IT folks know about database technology.  The one thing the government did have was a true understanding of how beneficial a database-even a desktop one-could be to a project. Your business can, and should have a database to track and report data essential for your business success. 

A database should at least allow you to enter data simply, store the data securely, and allow you to retrieve data quickly.  But, a properly designed database can automate processes, monitor tasks and tell you when it is time to act, and report relationships between data to identify trends you may have never considered?

Database technology is available to you no matter what size of business you operate.  Some are provided at no cost and some are less than $150.00.  A few do not require the writing of complex code. While you may lose some advanced functionality not having to write and debug code will save you development time.

Databases: Not Just for the Big Guys

The word database can conjure up images of huge and expensive main-frame servers storing huge amounts of data that can only be accessed by writing cryptic code.  This may be true for large companies especially if they are using older, legacy technology.  Today, even very small business can employ database technology for very little cost.  And, with the right application, the end-user does not have to be a techno-geek (my apologies to techno-geeks of the world).  The federal government with some of their monster databases will use smaller desktop applications for special projects.

A database is a powerful tool that can improve your business in many ways.  The standard use is store customer information and then create mail merges.  Ah, but that is just scratching the surface.  If you incorporate a database into your everyday business processes a whole new level of efficiency and functionality becomes available.  A properly set up database requires you to enter information only one time.  That information can used to populate all your business forms.  Routine procedures can be automated and scheduled.  Just by doing your business you can be collecting valuable data (see "Gold Mine" post below) that can be queried and loaded into reports with the click of a mouse.

What does this mean?  It can mean more time growing your business and less time dealing with the paperwork.  Standardized and automated processes can make it easier to train new employees and reduce the number of errors.  Mailings, inventory, statistics, business trends, productivity, customer preferences can be made available with a push of a button.

If you are writing things by hand, recording data more than once, or otherwise spending too much time with administrative tasks it's time to embrace the database (sorry about the rhyming thing).

Employee Engagement: No ring necessary

Recruiting talented and qualified employees is a challenge even with the current high unemployment rates.  We all want a good fit: it helps us relax and focus on moving the business forward.  When a good associate leaves it creates a whole that demands our time, energy, and money.  Once we find the right person it can still take up to six months to get that person up to full speed.

Resources spent to retain a veteran employee is always less than recruiting and training a new staffer.  There are things we can do to keep the quality people we already working for us.  Wages, however, are not at the top of the list.  Salary and benefits are usually factors in determining if a person applies for and accepts a position.  Once a person is on board other factors figure into longevity.  Employee engagement, a concept now being used, is the degree to which an employee is intellectually and emotionally vested in a companies performance (and, by extension, their own).  To a great degree they are internally motivated to succeed. Folks that are highly engaged tend to stay with an organization longer.  Again, assuming the baseline salary and benefit needs are met.

What can we do to engage our employees?  Not a bottle of wine, fancy dinner, and a diamond ring.  Non-financial rewards seem to be they way to go.  We've heard for years that communication is key and it still is.  A genuine effort to keep employees informed and soliciting their feedback still goes along way.  Including staffers at all levels in decision making is a powerful way to engage them-and maybe get ideas you never thought of (pardon may ending preposition).

Investing in an employee's own professional development and helping each employee fulfill their potential is essential.  You can go back and read Deming (1982) see the value of every emplyee that is satisfied with the work they are doing.

Recognition is important but the awards do not have to be financial.  And, being recognized by peers can be just as significant as recognition from a supervisor.

In most regions we currently have more people looking for jobs than there are openings.  As baby-boomers retire the expectation is that there will be too few people to fill future openings.  Recruiting for a good fit is just part of the equation.  We will need to hang on to those that already are in the door.  It costs more to replace a current customer with a new one.  The same is true for employees.  BTW-even though I'm married a bottle of wine and a good meal is always appreciated AND I won't make you get down on one knee.

Empathy: I know how you feel

The subtitle of this post hints at the definition of empathy-putting yourself in another persons emotional, intellectual, or social space.  In other words, adopting another's frame of mind.  Empathy in a non-technical or therapeutic setting can often end up with "touchy-feely" connotations but I use it to describe what should be the goal of our communication events.

Empathy is a creative process.  We have to imagine what it is going on in another person's head. We need to create their world view in our own minds even if they are radically different than our own.  In order to do this we get to a point where we recognize our own world views and attempt, as much as possible, to set them aside.

Empathy is not sympathy.  We can feel a person's pain without feeling sorry for them.  We don't even have to agree with the person.  In understanding and acknowledging a person's point-of-view we do not have to condone or approve-we should, however, suspend judgment.

Empathy is a tool.  Understanding the potential audience and "putting yourself in their place(s)" can help us craft messages to ensure maximum understanding and impact.  We can anticipate resistance or objections to our content.  In a business setting, it can help us better understand our customer or our competitors.

Empathy ain't easy.  Communication scholars refer to three 'selves' we all have. 
1. How we view our self.     2. How other people view us.   3. How we think other people view us.
True empathy can open us to criticism of our own world views and cause us re-evaluate how we view our self, and how we think other people view us. This type of dissonance can be monumental.  We may ignore the conflicting information and choose not to grow as a person or a business.

Creativity and communication involve stepping outside of ourselves (not easy when there are 3 of them).  Through empathy we can understand better another person and ultimately understand ourselves better.  Take the first step (btw-you do not have six legs).