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You're not born smart!" The quote is
from my father and as I was growing up, I heard many variations
of it.
Organizations constantly need to "get smarter."
Getting smarter is one of the best tools available for transforming
tomorrow into the future these organizations want. If a business
does not have an educational program for its people, often the work
environment is in chaos and that business is struggling. One company
president told me, "We decided not to train our people because
we found that when we did, they just went to our competition."
(Now there's a mission statement!) That company is now out of business.
Continuing to learn is something we all struggle
with as we amass piles of magazines, newsletters, and other information-packed
items that beacon us with cutting-edge information. For me, most
of this "stuff" is on my floor, which all you get then
is a smarter floor!
Thankfully, continuing education takes many different
forms. One of the most exciting ways to "get smart" is
through learning from others. Cavett Robert,
a professional speaker and founder of the National Speakers Association,
calls this OPE (Other People's Experience). Many people read books
in search of OPE. I listen and observe to find OPE. By watching
what everyone else does, I then choose what to do or not to do.
For years I've been telling people how they can
attend a mini-seminar every day. How? By watching what happens when
they try to spend their money at other businesses.
How many of you have felt like the enemy when you
entered a place of business? Perhaps you walked in and the employees
were hiding around the corner somewhere. And you know what they
were thinking: "Oh no, here comes a customer! Just when we
ordered a pizza too, doggone it." (And the place you walked
into was a pizza parlor!)
Go into a business five minutes before closing
time and watch the employees' reactions. By watching, you'll know
very quickly how they feel about customers. Now check your business.
How are your employees treating the day's last-minute callers? Is
it how you would want to be treated?
You can learn a lot about how to run your business
by watching the signs displayed in other businesses. "NO! We
do not have ice cream!"-painted in angry red-taught me some
very valuable lessons. I was with Nancy, my wife, and I begged,
"Oh Nancy, can I go in and ask? Can I? Can I?" She retorted,
"No, they'll have a gun and will probably shoot you."
(Lesson learned: Don't be angry with people who want to spend their
money at your place of business.)
Nancy and I walked around a four-block area and
there was no ice cream anywhere! Now the sign "NO! We do not
have ice cream!" was on the front door of a candy store, the
only "sweet shop" we'd seen. (Second lesson learned: If
enough people come in and ask for ice cream, maybe we should sell
ice cream! It's what we call market research.)
You can learn a lot about how to name your business
by watching how others name theirs. A company I know used to be
called "BM Service." As if that wasn't questionable enough,
they started selling gas and must have had a marketing meeting.
The new sign? "BM Gas & Service." I avoid them even
more now!
I also find it valuable to watch how people come
to work in other businesses. Some places, the employees are pretty
good in the parking lot. But as they get closer to the front door,
things start to sl...o......w down. Throughout most of the day,
you see them watching their watches. When they leave, it looks like
the start of the Indy 500. (So, how do your employees look coming
and going?)
I have watched how grocery store checkout clerks
often won't talk with you, but they will talk to other employees
while they take your money. Jay Leno once quipped, "When I
chided a clerk for failing to say thank you, she snapped, 'It's
printed on your receipt!'" (Are your people visiting with customers
and thanking them?)
In my programs for companies and associations,
I use examples like these to teach what I've learned in business.
Other "lessons" include:
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Hire the right (i.e., best) people.
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Enforce high standards of appearance and
professionalism.
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Recognize employees and provide meaningful
feedback.
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Develop a team-oriented work environment.
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Live your "mission"; keep your
"promises."
Education also comes from solving
problems. I've explained to people for years, "Your
job depends on problems." Isn't it true? We're hired to take
care of customer service problems, or personnel problems, or computer
problems. When we're out of problems, we're out of jobs! Our real
jobs are to provide solutions. The more solutions we figure out,
the smarter we become.
Making mistakes is another
form of education. The first time I realized this is when a friend
of mine, Rhoda Olsen, confessed, "If I didn't make so many
mistakes, I wouldn't be so smart." She's a top executive in
a franchise haircare company and they actually teach that mistakes
are good…if we learn from them.
Learning about oneself can
also be an education. Ask yourself, "How can I become better?
How can I positively affect others?" and then listen to your
answers. We also need to ask, "What new skill am I going to
learn?" Old skills will often help us to learn new skills.
Finally, unlearning is an
essential part of education. Anytime I accept the challenge of learning
something new, I sort through my old learning and see what has become
obsolete. Living with constant change and mentally choosing to adjust
are perhaps our biggest teachers.
All this boils down to gaining personal experience.
Experience is what you get when things don't turn out the way you
expected. Experience is gaining confidence and learning to trust
yourself. We all are hired for our experience. By each of us marketing
those experiences and continuing to learn, we provide the foundation
for organizations to "get smarter."
When you watch other businesses, you realize the process of doing
business can be quite simple. A friend of mine says, "Take
care of your people, take care of your customers, count your money."
Most of us simply want a quality product or service at a fair price
sold by someone who is honest, dependable, and appreciative.
If you take my advice to observe other businesses,
you will undoubtedly find ways to change your own business. But
there is a downside. One audience member explained, "I can't
go in and just shop anymore. I'm always looking for ways I can learn
how to run my business." For me, it makes spending money lots
more fun!
Michael McKinley, CSP, CPAE, is a professional
speaker who builds and delivers customized presentations on business
topics for corporations and professional associations. He owns McKinley
Companies, Inc., of Eau Claire, WI. Alive! Alive! Associates markets
his speaking and consulting services. He can be reached at 1-800-225-4769
or Mike@RealMikeMcKinley.com.
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