Tell Me What You Think…
It is the start of a new year, and many of us are making new resolutions and beginning our goal setting exercises. I am no different.
I have been running this blog for almost a year in the hopes of accomplishing one main goal - to open a platform for discussion and thought leadership.
Thanks to you, my valued readers and community members, I have learned a lot. This year I have grown more because of the simple reflection my writing, and the writing of contributing authors, has allowed me; I have grown most through your comments and interactions on this, and other sites.
I have seen a true need for upbeat and common sense dialogue regarding business, technology, and life in general.
You have shared with me, rewarded me, and most off all challenged me. So I ask you for your guidance in shaping the outlook of ChangeForge.
What would you like to hear more about?
Let me know and take an active roll in what types of content you enjoy reading most.
To all of you, I wish you well in this new year. The best is yet to come!
Loading ...Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. To learn more about Ken, visit his about page. You may also find Ken on FriendFeed, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
I Get Paid To Know What I’m Not… What Do You Get Paid For?
What do you get paid for? To know a lot about a little or a little about a lot?
The age-old question of whether to be a master of a few skills or diversify your knowledge at the sacrifice of deep understanding has rattled around in this steel trap of a brain of mine for as long as I can remember. I have often wondered if a preference relates to personality or environment – or maybe even both.
I recently asked this question on FriendFeed, where I spend a good bit of time lately. I received some wonderful responses, and it surprised me the angle with which some replied. Perhaps one of the most profound statements I think I saw was from Ramkarthik:
A little about a lot is always better. You can start a conversation with almost everyone if you know a little about a lot and you can learn from them. When you know a lot about little, you can only start conversation with few people.
These thoughts had always echoed my own personal feelings, but to hear someone else actually openly verbalize them really seemed to strike a chord – almost like a memory that was suddenly snapped into focus.
Show Me The Money…
… as the saying goes. What do you get paid for?
As I started my career in the late 90’s, I was very focused on learning a specific skill set – computers. What did that mean? What does that mean, today?
As time went on, I refined my goals to information technologies – but just what is that? IT has become a catch all that means everything and nothing.
In my previous position I handled or touched just about everything that had electrons flowing through it. I managed the teams that took care of the internal technology assets, external customer calls, worked on our EDM strategy, operationalized MPS tools, managed website launches and marketing initiatives to include SEO strategy, provisioned VoIP phone systems and mobile phones, rolled out business programs, and supported sales initiatives and managed projects in a customer facing capacity.
But I got paid to be a thought-leader… I made my mark by positioning myself as a bridge, between upper management and those who were the subject matter experts. I got paid to know how to talk with customers and explain the details to every one on our company teams. I got paid to know a little about a lot.
Am I marketable? Just as much as anyone else – DEPENDING upon the environment I might work in. I would be a horrible programmer, and a mediocre sales person at best. But I work really well at orchestrating complex projects, assembling teams, gathering buy-in, and have to still work on my follow-up skills.
In a nutshell, I know what I’m not!
I get paid to know a little about a lot – and to know what I don’t know. This doesn’t mean I run away from learning new things… but I constantly refine and check what I’m doing to make sure I didn’t run down some rabbit hole – to make sure I’m not spending the time for which I’m being paid doing something for which someone else is better suited.
I get paid now to make decisions – to not bother my boss unless he needs to be bothered. I get paid to not bother my team unless they need to be bothered. I get paid to knock down walls and hold up shields to protect the people that make me look good day-in-and-day-out.
… and I will keep getting paid as long as I:
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Keep learning about what’s relevant
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Keep focused on what’s important
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Keep serving others – humbly
Those are the 3 simple rules I try to live by…
What about you? What do you get paid for?
image courtesy of booleansplit
Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. To learn more about Ken, visit his about page. You may also find Ken on FriendFeed, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Thank You For The Life You Gave Us
Tonight rings in a new year, and many are out enjoying their nights with family and friends – looking to ring in the new year with smiles and laughter. Me, my wife and daughter, and our next door neighbors opted to go our and have an early dinner – sort of a small tradition for the past few years.
We shared stories of our holidays and laughed about things to come over good food. Well before midnight, we concluded our evening and are planning on ringing in this new year in a very low key way.
Sadly though, each new year’s eve a different type of anniversary is remembered for me. It is on this day 10 years ago that my mother passed away during what was supposed to be a routine surgery.
I remember I had just returned, with my wife, to California, where I was stationed in San Diego. That evening I received the call from my father informing me of my mother’s passing. A million questions raced through my mind – wondering why I had taken my father and mother at their words that she would be OK.
You see, I had flown home for 2 weeks on emergency leave during a time when my mother had become very ill. I arrived to my hometown, and my wife and I went to the hospital to find a woman who looked to be a shadow of my former mother.
We celebrated Christmas in her hospital room, muted and trying to keep high spirits. She had undergone one surgery already – to remove one of her legs where an infection had setup in one of her bones, poisoning her blood. But, because she was paralyzed from the waste down, no anesthesia was necessary.
We were assured she was recovering, but one last operation had to be performed before she could go on to a full recovery. The doctors warned us that her previous heart issues would make surgery risky, but they had no other choice.
I was told it was going to be routine, and urged to return to California – over 3000 miles away – by both mother and father… and how I wished I had been stubborn that one last time. How I wished I could be there and not so very far away.
You see my mother was a special woman. Oh we fought during my teenage years, but it was only as I became an adult that I truly saw her for what she was – no less than amazing.
Struck by a delivery truck at the age of 3, my mother was told she would not live past the age of 25, never go on to college, never get married, never have children; she was told to accept her meager life and try and endure until the end by the very people charged with her care.
She was defiant and believed in living life! She lived a full life of 50 years, 1 credit shy of a college degree. She married for 25 years, delivered and raised 2 children, ran her own small business with my father, was a gourmet cake chef, was elected to our local school board, and worked for many non-profits. She believed in travelling, even winning a trip to the Grammy’s where she met Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam – among others. Nothing would hold her back.
She knew she lived on time that God had given her, and always selflessly gave that time to those around her. Even as an ungrateful teenager, who battled with his mother, she saw me through and helped me become the man I am today. While she was not perfect, she touched so many hearts so perfectly.
Mom, I wish you could have seen our daughter born, and I wish I could share all those things in my life you helped me see so many years after you left. Tonight as we count down to another year of life I want to say thank you for the life you gave to us.
Image of blue iris courtesy of: zteamie
Image of shadows courtesy of: Adam
Thank you, mom.
To Confirm or Not Confirm: That Is The Question?
“Hey Max, regarding appointments, do you confirm them or not?”, was asked by a new salesperson.
The answer is no more obvious than the question, “Hey Max, regarding Angelina Jolie, is she male or female?”
Over the years I have heard many rationalizations a few of the best are:
If I confirm they might cancel.
Do you honestly think that if the prospect, no matter what the reason, does not want to be in the meeting they are even going to listen to a word you say? Never mind actually agree to buy?
They just told me to stop by anytime.
Then you never had an appointment in the first place, its referred to as a cold call.
I just show-up and if they don’t meet with me I can guilt them into buying.
People buy more many reasons but I can’t remember the last time someone bought out of guilt. If that’s all you got working in your favor YOU are the one that should feel guilty because you are a disgrace to the profession of selling.
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Confirming an appointment provides many benefits including:
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Demonstrates professionalism.
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Qualifies the prospects level of interest.
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Maintains equal business stature.
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Prevents wasting time.
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Provides competitive distinction.
Lastly, if you find that prospects are consistently canceling the appointment upon you calling to confirm, the actual problem is hiding somewhere else and NOT because of this professional gesture.
As the rules of business change, thinking must change as well. For us sales professionals, I believe antiquated thinking will only lead to frustration, unhappy clients and a dwarfed income. The purpose of my blogs is to provoke a deeper level of thought about achievement in business and to challenge the comfort zone in order to provide a new level of selling and lifestyle. Max always welcomes questions and comments. Visit Max on LinkedIn.com
8 Ways to Start a Conversation: Social Media Style! (an excerpt from LouisGray.com)
The purpose of social media is to be social of course, right? It helps social butterflies among us stretch across continents with the strokes of a few keys and allows the geeky introvert to have a voice. Starting a conversation has never been easier, has it?
A friend of mine, Ken Allan, and I were having a conversation across blogs over the last few weeks. Both of us started our blogs for varying reasons, but primarily it is to reach others and extend the conversation. But how do you extend the conversation if no one on the other end reciprocates.
Blogging, Twitter, FriendFeed, and Facebook all share one thing: You have to have followers to talk to in order to even have a chance of starting a conversation. This is often hard work, but to some it comes naturally – some few names have risen to the top as conversation starters. Whether by wit or will, these individuals stand out in my mind – exemplifying how you start a conversation, and even keep it going:
Read More at LouisGray.com.
If you liked this post, find more of Ken’s posts on LouisGray.com:
Is Simplicity the Silver Lining?
The World. The Web. Just That Much Smaller.
Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. To learn more about Ken, visit his about page. You may also find Ken on FriendFeed, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
The Customer Is NOT Always Right!
There – I said it. Saying something like that in these economic times might just get you a bullet in the head from any steely-eyed executive. Saying anything except, “The customer is always right,” is almost like declaring you are a terrorist in the U.S. these days.
Not every customer is good for you though.
I’ve been through many different phases in a business: from my father’s startup (which grew from 3 to 9 people in 1 year), joining the military, hiring onto a publicly traded, global company, opting to work for a privately held organization, and living through an acquisition; I’ve seen my share of culture in my few short years in business.
In a small company, you had to have your customer because you needed to eat. There were very few jobs you could walk away from. Sucking it up was sometimes gutsy and sometimes just plain ignorant. Ask my dad how many stubbed toes we had!
In the military, it was all about the mission, and oddly enough there wasn’t much difference in working for a foodservice manufacturer. It was very odd being so far-removed from the customer. In fact, I often wondered if, like the military, my customer was on my kill list.
Coming of Age:
There comes a time, however, when a company reaches a point where it understands who it is and what it offers. It realizes it cannot be everything to everyone or it will simply become the next watered-down knockoff.
Look at the struggles that K-Mart has had. No one can argue with Wal-Mart’s success, and Target, well, targeted a much different audience. Target, for instance, would not sell firearms, and does not. This is neither good nor bad, it simply is a decision made by their management team. K-Mart seemed to try and emulate both and ended up not being able to compete with either.
However, those companies that understand who and what they are, can make crisp decisions that quickly move the company from one point to another desired stop in the trip to their final destination.
Fire a Customer?
A recent acquaintance of mine, Doug Johnson of Red Sage Consulting, mentioned that he felt a company had reach a new level of maturation when it could “fire customers”. What an interesting idea… The most successful people I have met have said this very thing to me.
Do what?
When customers don’t line up with who and what your company stands for, people often scramble and try to mold their companies into what the customer thinks they want (notice I did not say “wants”, but “thinks they want”). In this case, it is not wrong to inform a customer that there is not a good fit.
To be in business, you need to be an expert or the best at what you do. Why else would someone by from you? Because you are the cheapest? Sure, Wal-Mart runs that game, and does an excellent job at giving their shoppers the lowest price around; they are the best at it!
You, what are you good at?
If you are so good, then why would you compromise what you do for someone who doesn’t understand what you offer?
Grab the pitchforks!
But before you stoke the fires and get out the pitchforks, you have to understand who and what you are as a company. You can’t risk a mistake in this area. Be sure you are grounded and true to what made you the best, and be passionate about that.
If you show that you are passionate about what you do, are laser-focused on who you are, and act with an attitude of service to your clients… then you will see that the “customer” is NOT always right – and not always right for you!
Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. To learn more about Ken, visit his about page. You may also find Ken on FriendFeed, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
The Best Present of All
It was at this time a year ago my wife and I took turns watching over our very sick daughter. Those parents reading this can most certainly relate to that especially helpless feeling you have as you care for a sick child.
Small and helpless, we took shifts watching our 4 year old daughter throughout the night, hoping that on Christmas day we would see a little spark of life return to her eyes as we slid a present onto her tiny lap. The bright wrapping paper and shiny bows had no effect on her. She was literally a shell of her former self - the life seemingly gone from her.
After watching her quickly decline over a short few days, we called our pediatrician’s nurse on duty to seek counsel. We quickly received a call and explained her symptoms. To our shock, we were told to take her to the emergency room. Even though we were told it was just to be safe, we were nonetheless a little concerned.
After arriving at the emergency room, we were shortly ushered in, and a staff of very caring nurses and doctors went to work on our little girl. Breathing treatments were administered, readings were taken to measure heart rate and oxygen saturation, and all the while she just lay there barely reacting to all of the goings-on - so unlike her.
After almost eight hours of observation and treatment, the staff solemnly entered our room, and informed us they would be transferring her to another hospital with a pediatric intensive care unit.
Stunned:
We were stunned - breathless - as we tried to grasp what was happening to our daughter, what was going to happen to her. It was Christmas day after all, a time when families were laughing and enjoying their gifts, right?
As tears raced to our eyes, every question came to our mind: What is going to happen? What did we do wrong to put our daughter in harm’s way? Would she be OK?
Authoritatively and sincerely the head nurse explained why, explained how, and answered our questions. Our daughter wasn’t breathing correctly and in a child so young, she needed to be very closely monitored.
The emergency transport came, and gathered her. My wife rode with her and I followed behind. We were ushered into her new room, as many nurses swarmed around making our new home as comfortable as possible for her.
There were many sick children and families living their Christmas holiday out of an intensive care room. Under the cover of dimmed hallway lights and in whispered breaths, family members moved about the hallways. As our eyes met, I could sense they too felt as if they were in some purgatory - between life and death.
It was a hollow and timeless feeling, waiting on any word from nurse or doctor - learning to read the many monitors surrounding our daughter’s bed and attempting to translate the varied beeps. There were no gifts to be given in our small room, and very few visitors. It did not seem like a true Christmas.
Solace:
In such dire times, it seems that the human mind seeks solace in small things… and so it was with our family. The staff at the hospital kindly offered us to partake in their small holiday feast and the doctors kindly brought small gifts to each of the children on the floor - a small doll for our baby girl.
But it was not even these things that seemed to matter. Yes, they did demonstrated that generosity during these times does indeed live. But more importantly me, my wife, and my daughter spend three entire days together in a small room.
We did not have many visitors, aside from the hospital staff and some close family. All of our Christmas gifts laid unopened on the floor at our house. We did not think about a world outside of that room for those days.
It was in each other that we found Christmas, in seeing our daughter once again smile and laugh. It was in those moments, when the rest of the world was busy living their lives and ours had stopped, that we once again discovered a gift in each other; worth more than anything you can buy or hold, our small family found peace and happiness, not wrapped and hidden under a tree, but in a small hospital room that served as the box for the best present of all.
Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. To learn more about Ken, visit his about page. You may also find Ken on FriendFeed, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Is the Sun Setting On WatchGuard
In a bad situation, bad customer service and unresponsive technical support simply makes things worse. In a recent article, What’s In a Checkbox: Part 2?, I expressed my frustration with how a simple checkbox corrected an issue many very intelligent people could not figure out.
As an update to that article, 2 days later the issue returned. While this was extremely frustrating, this was not nearly as irritating as the lack of responsiveness by our current firewall vendor, WatchGuard.
Several months ago, I wrote a wonderful review about how responsive and caring WatchGuard’s technical support was, and how much it had improved. Sadly, this is no longer the case.
When the incident was first opened, many of us did not understand the issue and all of us were scrambling to understand the issue. In this phase, the WatchGuard technical staff worked very hard to help us, but could not effectively resolve the issue.
As time progressed, they became much more distance and checked in less often. After requesting escalation to their higher level technical support, follow-up became almost non-existent. It wasn’t like the individuals were rude - not by any means. They were just unavailable and distant - and certainly did not offer any resolution.
After some time, we finally cut them out of the loop altogether and installed a Cisco router, established a BOVPN tunnel, and adjusted some small DNS settings. This instantly solved the issue - and none of which could be accomplished with the WatchGuard appliance - for unknown reasons.
This had to be done, and it was a sad statement of things to know that after 4 weeks of hard work, many people could not solve the issue directly, instead sidestepping it with an alternate solution.
However, what was most sad was that I strongly encouraged WatchGuard to replicate this setting in their laboratory, and they simply closed the case. That simply tells me that they are done trying to learn, grow, and improve; that tells me that it is time to move on to another company that cares.
In this present business climate, customer service is surely one thing that can help you survive. But customer service isn’t just defined as service with a smile - it has to be defined as continuously seeking improvement for the benefit of yourself and your customers to deliver the best experience for the most competitive price.
I encourage anyone to take note of this experience, and also welcome any and all comments. I will gladly post any rebuttals or refutations.
Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. To learn more about Ken, visit his about page. You may also find Ken on FriendFeed, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Twitter: The Answer To a Call For Help!
By all accounts, Twitter has hit the big time. For those who are still unsure of this social media superstar, Twitter is what is referred to as a micro-blogging platform. More specifically, it is a conduit for you to relay what’s going on in your life in bite-sized chunks (140 words or less).
You are able to follow others, just as they are able to follow you. With this “following” feature, you are then able to reply directly to them or send private messages. The more followers you have, the wider you are able to cast your thoughts and opinions.
Twitter has become a very useful way to not only broadcast what you are doing, but a way in which friends and followers can interact, and more importantly ask questions or seek advice on just about any topic.
A Little History:
My team and I have been working through a recent acquisition of our company, which requires a fair bit of realignment of our infrastructure. Those who have gone through this in the past know this is no small feat.
Things were progressing well until we began to change over our e-mail systems, which by all accounts should’ve been a fairly simple task – requiring just a few man hours to complete our objective.
As we began to ramp up our efforts, our firewall decided it evidently was going to play along, and choked our efforts to move quickly and efficiently (for those that want to read more about this adventure, please read What’s in a Checkbox: Part 2?).
Twitter To The Rescue:
After 2 weeks of battling the issue with no luck, I sent out a call for help via Twitter. My friend, Tsudonimh (KnowTheNetwork.com) answered. He offered a phone number to call him, and we were off.
I called in and he listened as I rattled off the details. While we weren’t able to solve the issue together, he was able to confirm that everything was configured properly and that I was not, in fact, insane!
There was indeed an issue, and my logical conclusion of probable cause was well-founded.
The Community Wins:
Social media is often touted as technology that connects people. There are many different formats and facets to the recent explosion of social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, and FriendFeed – but none so real as the community these outlets foster through their high-tech hallways where passers-by happen to become friends who otherwise would not have had occasion to know one another.
This was a grand moment for me! A call for help answered by a friend I would not have met had I not begun my blog and joined Twitter.
Please share your Twitter success stories here! I would love to hear of examples of how Twitter came through for you.
Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. To learn more about Ken, visit his about page. You may also find Ken on FriendFeed, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Freedom Is Not Free At All
President Franklin D. Roosevelt famously delivered his address to Congress and asked for a formal declaration of war:
Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan… As commander in chief of the Army and Navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense. But always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us…
To all of the brave men and women who sacrificed their lives in defense of our country – our freedom, thank you for all you have done, and continue to do. Sadly, it is in times such as this the mettle of America is tested. However, it serves as reminder to never forget freedom is not free at all, but comes at the highest of costs.
Image Credit: Corbis-Bettmann
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ChangeForge... a catalyst to affect the paradigm by Ken Stewart is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.changeforge.com. -
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