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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! |
