Author: blogginggazelle

“Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.” —Peter Drucker

Everybody’s got an answer and most are willing to tell you about it. But few are willing to do something about it. Every time I hear, “I wish somebody would…,” I think “well why don’t you?”

Leading is hard. You can’t do everything right because there are too many conflicting circumstances. Not everyone is going to be happy. If you try to please everyone, you will miss the full benefit of your original goal; which is the only way to focus — on the original goal.

Impediments and obstacles can involve technology, situations and people. If you hit a wall, find another path or break through it. Consensus is good until it impedes the mission. Great results will settle the noise and put all the opinions in the right place.

Blogging Gazelle is Published Daily by Shawn Carson

The Manifesto of making stuff: – Austin Kleon

“Draw the art you want to see, start the business you want to run, play the music you want to hear, write the books you want to read, build the products you want to use— do the work you want to see done.”

What other reasons or permissions are you looking for?

Read “Steal Like an Artist” by Austin Kleon

Blogging Gazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson

“Customers don’t want their money back. They want a product that works properly.” – Dan Burton

Yes, we preach about not delivering the perfect product, but the product that is good enough.

This is not a question of quality but one of feature selection. Your product has to solve a problem for the customer in a reliable way and it really helps if the customer enjoys the experience. Simple design and singularity of purpose are the goal here. If you nail your value proposition through a diligent customer discovery process, you will learn what features and functions are most important and you can concentrate on delivering those with quality and elegance.

“In order to get out of the funk, you have to surround yourself with people who aren’t funky.” – Peggy Grant

Entrepreneurship is hard enough on it’s own and you will have your down days. You will hear disparaging things from all sorts of people who don’t have your best interest at heart; your competitors, certain customers, bankers and VC’s to name a few. In the non-profit world, there are community stakeholders who have competing agendas. It’s the way it is.

You should develop you inner circle. That’s a small group of people you trust and who understand what you are trying to do. Meet with them regularly, either as a group or just one at a time for coffee. Consider them the Board of Directors of You, Inc. These people will encourage you, hold you accountable and keep you centered on your path.

Those spreading the negative waves will find you with no problem but you have to seek out your inner circle. They are there but they must be asked. They are the kind of people who will share with you their profound experience but they would never force it.

Never waste their time. Have specific questions ready to ask them and followup on what they tell you to do. They won’t invest in whining but they will help you conquer challenges.

Forget about age, gender and cultural difference. There are many smart people I rely on who are younger than me. Wisdom is about experience, not age or race.

Form your inner circle long before you need them. Desperation is never attractive and shows a lack of planning.

Show your gratitude by being successful and passing on your experience with the next person who asks.

Blogging Gazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson

“Leadership is evolution, not revolution” – Colin Powell

Leadership is a principle and a discipline; a mindset. It is not a method and therefore, it cannot be reduced to a checklist.

It’s essence is in understanding a clear goal or end state, communicating that vision to the people who must do the work and then staying focused. A little bit every day. Regular reviews with tangible measures. And the flexibility to adjust as the pathway reveals itself.

Occasional glances in the rearview mirror are fine to measure progress but the priority is on the way forward.

Change takes time and it’s hard. It’s easy for the popular hero to swoop in, create chaos in the name of positive change and then exit with the bonus leaving all the rubble to the rest of us.

Revolution results from bad leadership and it’s usually bloody…

The true leader leaves a legacy of success that does not depend on her presence or personality. What remains is the vision.

Blogging Gazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson

“Never trust a computer you can’t throw out a window” – Steve Wozniak

This is a great quote where you get to decide what it means. It came from Guy Kawasaki’s book “Reality Check” and I think it’s the “anti-technology” technology manifesto…

For me it’s about making sure the technology serves a purpose other than itself. In other words, people buy technology to solve problems and to achieve their goals. Your product development should take this into account, making sure you consider how the customer will “live with it” after the sale.

We’re talking about more than a spreadsheet exercise here. This gets into the “delight” zone of customer value.

Know this, if your app or your device does not solve a problem with minimal effort and a sweet experience, it’s always possible it gets thrown out a window…

Blogging Gazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson

Look for agnostics, ignore atheists” – Guy Kawasaki

In customer discovery, and in marketing your product, you will encounter people who are passionate about their existing solution. That’s ok. Loyalties develop and it’s really hard to break that relationship. It will lead you to competition bashing and when you sling mud, everybody gets muddy.

You are better off seeking those who are still searching for a solution. Maybe the existing solution is too expensive or maybe it is too loaded down with useless features. Maybe it’s a different audience all together.

Southwest Airlines went to smaller cities and offered scaled down services for a specific type of traveler. They flew one type of aircraft and made you pick your seat when you sat down. They balanced with with a superior customer experience. Then they changed air travel all together.

Read “Reality Check” by Guy Kawasaki

Blogging Gazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson

“The industrial age brought compliance and compliance brought fear and fear brought us mediocrity.” – Seth Godin

Great quote today from Seth Godin’s blog: http://sethgodin.typepad.com

We were taught from an early age that we are to behave in certain ways and believe certain things and dress in certain clothes. This was all in preparation for a world that promised lifetime employment and being part of something bigger than oneself.

Loyalty was rewarded with promotions and annual bonuses. Conformity was valued over creativity. And if our children had trouble with this, there were medications available that helped them keep quiet and walk in a straight line.

If the rewards didn’t entice you to stay inside the box, then the fear of what would happen if you did was terrifying. Loss of income and benefits, status and lifestyle were all threatened. I remember buying my first home. I told my supervisor and he said “That’s great. The more in-debt you are, the more you love working for (insert your favorite corporation)”. Thus the interstate highway to mediocrity was paved.

Now the truth is on the table. We all have risk. Sixteen years of dedicated employment is a negative on the income statement. Traditional employment is going away.

HOWEVER! We are all free now! Free to think for ourselves. Free to come up with great ideas and see if others would benefit from them. Free to pursue wealth from our efforts – for ourselves.

And freedom from mediocrity.

Blogging Gazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson

“Do good work and share it with people” – Austin Kleon

Entrepreneurs and artists can learn a lot from from each other. One lesson is the art of sharing.

Whether you write songs or write code, it’s only a hobby until you share it. In that moment it becomes art because that’s when people interact with your innovation and get to decide if they like it, want it and are willing to exchange their resources (money, time) to acquire it.

In any event, they will let you know what they think. What you do with that information is up to you. You can only hope that they will love it or hate it. Either way they will remember you. If they are indifferent, you become beige wall paper, but even that is information you can use.

Create something every day. Share it as soon as you can.

Read “Steal Like An Artist” by Austin Kleon

Blogging Gazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson

“You need to allocate 60 days effort before you start building your product and 10% of your budget to get the Market Validation work done.” – Rob Adams

This is bold advice from “If You Build It Will They Come?” and it flows in parallel with the customer discovery process. Rob Adams just put some numbers on it.

Understanding your value proposition and market is important. So important that Adams recommends two full months of effort to nail it down. Allocating budget means get out of the office and talk to people. You can’t Google your way through customer discovery. Go to trade shows. Talk to industry experts and leaders in your market segments. You may consider buying a market research study from one of the leading research firms. They aren’t cheap.

Doing this before you develop the product helps reduce the risk that you make something no one wants to buy.

It’s cheap insurance.

Read “If You Build It, Will They Come?” by Rob Adams

Blogging Gazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson