Harvey MacKay's Blog, page 9

Sow seeds of hope

The most important product that America has managed to produce is not the automobile, television or computer.  It is hope – hope not only for ourselves but for the world.  In these times of so much tension and divisive rhetoric, hope is what will sustain us.

America is, after all, a country founded on hope.

Wikipedia defines hope as “an optimistic attitude of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes related to events and circumstances in one’s life or the world at large.”

We recently celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and few represented hope more than the civil rights leader.  He said, “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”

Consider also the words of another inspirational pastor, Robert H. Schuller, who said, “Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future.”

So it is with a lot of important tasks in life, don’t look back – focus on the future.  Our eyes are in front of our head because it is more important to look ahead than to look back.

The future is what we have to work with.  Time travel notwithstanding, we can’t change history.  But we can sure learn from it. 

Businesses thrive on hope.  Hope is manifested in long range plans. Hope is apparent in building projects and expansion plans.  Hope is what brings new products to the market, and what makes salespeople tick. 

Hope is the reason most of us find a way to keep on keeping on.  Hope is what helps us get past the bumps in the road and find a better path.  Hope is believing that the best is yet to come.

Few people in the history of college sports have had a greater impact than my close friend Lou Holtz.  He’s the only coach ever to lead six different schools to bowl games – all within his first two years as head coach at each school.  How did he do it?  Well, according to coach, there’s really only one way.

“I think everybody has to have four things in their life to be complete,” he told me.  “First, everybody needs something to do – something you have a passion for regardless of age. Second, everybody needs someone to love.  Third thing, everybody needs something to hope for – something that you’re really striving to accomplish.  And finally, everybody needs something to believe in.”

In my mind, one of the best examples of hope is the backyard gardener.  A gardener is someone who believes that what goes down must come up.  Planting tiny seeds, hoping the ground is fertile, hoping for enough rain to nourish the seeds but not so much that they will drown, hoping for sunshine and warm temperatures, hoping for a bountiful crop or beautiful flowers. 

There are no guarantees when the spade turns the earth in the spring.  No way of predicting whether the elements will cooperate.  No assurance that the rabbits will stay away from the tempting sprouts.  And yet, they hope for a successful growing season when so little is in their control.

When you plant seeds of hope in your garden, or business, or life, there are no promises.  But there is a driving force that makes you persevere because you have hope that you will succeed.  You have something to believe in. 

During a sermon he delivered in 1890, Bishop Wright was expounding on the notion that the second coming of Christ was near.  He said that everything that God had sent man to earth to do was done.  A member of the congregation jumped to his feet and said that someday, man would fly.

The bishop responded with the predictable line, “If God had intended man to fly, he would have given him wings.”

Yet thirteen years later, in 1903, Bishop Wright’s two sons, Orville and Wilbur, made the first powered flight by man at Kitty Hawk. 

I wonder what Bishop Wright would say about the space program – another amazing example of hope.

Hope is a gift that we give ourselves.  Hope is a gift we can share with others.  Hope is free, yet losing hope comes at a great cost.  Hope is within all of us.  We just need to let it guide us to a better future.

Just remember the words of Albert Einstein:  “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.”

Mackay’s Moral:   When the world says, “Give up,” hope whispers, “Try again.”

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Never give up

Awards season has started in Hollywood, and it serves as a perfect metaphor for following your dreams.  While few of us dream of becoming big stars, or getting national recognition for doing excellent work, we all want to know the satisfaction of a job we love.

Emma Stone won the Best Actress Award in a Musical/Comedy at the Golden Globe Awards for “La La Land” and gave a terrific acceptance speech that has applied to everyone at one time in their lives. 

She said:  “This is a film for dreamers.  I think that hope and creativity are two of the most important things in the world.  To any creative person who has had a door slammed in their face, either metaphorically or physically … or anybody anywhere really that feels like giving up sometimes and finds it in themselves to get up and keep moving, I share this with you.”

In the movie, Stone plays an aspiring actress, opposite Ryan Gosling, who plays the role of a dedicated jazz musician who wants to open his own jazz night club.  Both characters struggle to make ends meet while pursuing their dreams.

It’s really a story for much of America.  We all struggle at one time or another.

One of my lessons when I speak to corporate America is believe in yourself even when no one else does.  Life is not a parabolic curve.  It doesn’t go straight up.  There are a lot of lumps, a lot of bumps. 

I have never yet met a successful person that hasn’t had to overcome either a little or a lot of adversity in his or her life.  It seems like if we want to triple our success ratio, we might have to triple our failure rate. 

So, who says that you can’t accomplish your goals?  Who says that you’re not tougher and better and smarter and harder working and more able than your competition?  It doesn’t matter if they say you can’t do it.  The only thing that matters is if you say it.  So, we all know, if we believe in ourselves, there’s hardly anything that we can’t accomplish.

Why do some of us have what it takes to pick ourselves up off the canvas when everyone else is ready to throw in the towel?  I don’t know the answer, but I do know this:  it isn’t all that rare.  The human species comes equipped with built-in mental toughness.  Some of us just don’t know it’s there.

Maybe you’ve always wanted to be a firefighter, an astronaut, a rock star or an entrepreneur – but instead you find yourself marking time in a job you hate.  Should you give up on your dream job?

Don’t be too quick to write off your goals, but don’t be stupid about it either.  Some important considerations could help you decide what path to take.

Be realistic.  If the bulk of your musical experience is playing Guitar Hero in the basement, chances are you’re not going to sell out a major concert venue anytime soon.  That doesn’t mean you can’t take lessons, meet other musicians, start a band and achieve some success. 


Keep your day job.  Having a job pays the bills, but it also gives structure to your time.  You’ll find it easier to set priorities and recognize what’s really important when you have to balance your dreams with the necessities of living.  Remember that you are not your job. 


Adapt to change.  The Internet has changed the way many of us work.  Whatever your dream job may be, stay flexible and look for opportunities that didn’t exist until recently.


Create your own job.  You don’t have to wait for some big company to give you a job title.  Build your ideal job on your own – by freelancing part-time, for example, or volunteering your underused skills to a good cause.


Be prepared for sacrifice.  If you’re really committed to your dream job, you may have to give up on some other goals.  You probably won’t start with a big salary or lots of vacation.  Ditch your sense of entitlement, and be ready to pay your dues.


Re-evaluate your goals.  Many people reach the corner office only to realize they don’t really enjoy being the CEO.  Spend some time thinking about how you’ve changed and deciding whether your dream is what you want to devote your life to.

Mackay’s Moral:   The hardest sale you’ll ever make is to yourself.  But once you’re convinced you can do it, you can.

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Find happiness in your New Year

For many, the New Year is a chance for a new beginning, perhaps best represented by the baby and the old man, symbols of the new and old years since the time of the ancient Greeks.

The fresh-faced cherub connotes so much promise.  But so often, a few weeks into the new calendar, the good intentions and hopeful resolutions start to fade.  Change is hard and old habits are stubborn.  The future starts to look much more like the old man.

Could this year be different?

Yes.  But only if you resolve to make the effort.

Consider the case of Gary Boone.  As a young engineer at Texas Instruments in 1972, Boone came up with the idea for a full computer on a chip, later to be called a microprocessor.  He patented his invention, and eventually made enough noise to get a meeting with the top computer guru at TI.  He explained his idea, only to be met with this response:  “Young man, don’t you realize that computers are getting bigger, not smaller?”

Resistance to change like that can destroy companies.  Gary Boone’s big dream changed the world.      

Or how about the tale of two Steves:  Jobs and Wozniak, that is.  They tried to sell the idea of personal computers to their bosses at Atari and Hewlett-Packard.  But their bosses weren’t interested.  So they started Apple Computer.

Whether it’s a new job, a new business, a new whatever, you have to be committed to making changes that will bring about your desired outcome.  And I will caution, sometimes big changes take a lot more than one year. 

But if you don’t want this year to look like last year, the time to start is right now.

Start by taking charge of your life.  Not easy, but necessary if you want to make the new year your best year.  You don’t have to do what you’ve always done or what everyone else expects from you.  Think about what you really want to achieve and why.  Then determine how you can make that happen. 

Maybe it’s learning some new skills that translate to a new job.  Maybe it’s formulating a business plan so you can finally be your own boss.  Maybe it’s working with a mentor to get inspiration or practical advice.  Maybe it’s just giving yourself permission to take a risk.

Motivate yourself by identifying the benefits of change.  Money is always a motivator, but there are other factors that are equally important:  job satisfaction, personal growth, marketability, pride of ownership, peace of mind. 

Once you decide what you want to do and why, the next logical step is to get started.  Focus on one area at a time.  Allow enough time to make real, sustainable progress.  Change will not happen overnight.  But as the pieces start to fit together, and you see actual progress, staying motivated will be much easier.

I mentioned working with a mentor, and I cannot emphasize how important that relationship is.  Find industry organizations that match your goals and seek advice.  Identify people in your network that can help you connect with their contacts.  Share your dreams with people who will not only support you, but also challenge you and encourage you to keep working toward your heart’s desire.

Big changes often mean big risks.  What if what you thought you wanted doesn’t work out the way you thought it would?  What if it works out even better?  No risk, no reward.     Open yourself up to the possibilities. You might discover that you weren’t dreaming big enough.

Keep track of your progress.  Note every little accomplishment and take stock of how far you’ve come.  If a journal or chart would make it more tangible, go for it.  As the saying goes, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Do one thing every day that will get you closer to your goal.  Even if it’s just reading an article or signing up for a class, be persistent.  Developing habits like this are central to making changes that stick.  It keeps you focused on the prize.  It also sets you up to succeed beyond your goals, because you know what is required for the next big thing.    

January 1 may have come and gone, but don’t wait another year to get going on your dream.  A happy new year can start today!

Mackay’s Moral:  You don’t have to uproot the whole tree to turn over a new leaf.

The post Find happiness in your New Year appeared first on Harvey Mackay.

Find happiness in your New Year

For many, the New Year is a chance for a new beginning, perhaps best represented by the baby and the old man, symbols of the new and old years since the time of the ancient Greeks.

The fresh-faced cherub connotes so much promise.  But so often, a few weeks into the new calendar, the good intentions and hopeful resolutions start to fade.  Change is hard and old habits are stubborn.  The future starts to look much more like the old man.

Could this year be different?

Yes.  But only if you resolve to make the effort.

Consider the case of Gary Boone.  As a young engineer at Texas Instruments in 1972, Boone came up with the idea for a full computer on a chip, later to be called a microprocessor.  He patented his invention, and eventually made enough noise to get a meeting with the top computer guru at TI.  He explained his idea, only to be met with this response:  “Young man, don’t you realize that computers are getting bigger, not smaller?”

Resistance to change like that can destroy companies.  Gary Boone’s big dream changed the world.      

Or how about the tale of two Steves:  Jobs and Wozniak, that is.  They tried to sell the idea of personal computers to their bosses at Atari and Hewlett-Packard.  But their bosses weren’t interested.  So they started Apple Computer.

Whether it’s a new job, a new business, a new whatever, you have to be committed to making changes that will bring about your desired outcome.  And I will caution, sometimes big changes take a lot more than one year. 

But if you don’t want this year to look like last year, the time to start is right now.

Start by taking charge of your life.  Not easy, but necessary if you want to make the new year your best year.  You don’t have to do what you’ve always done or what everyone else expects from you.  Think about what you really want to achieve and why.  Then determine how you can make that happen. 

Maybe it’s learning some new skills that translate to a new job.  Maybe it’s formulating a business plan so you can finally be your own boss.  Maybe it’s working with a mentor to get inspiration or practical advice.  Maybe it’s just giving yourself permission to take a risk.

Motivate yourself by identifying the benefits of change.  Money is always a motivator, but there are other factors that are equally important:  job satisfaction, personal growth, marketability, pride of ownership, peace of mind. 

Once you decide what you want to do and why, the next logical step is to get started.  Focus on one area at a time.  Allow enough time to make real, sustainable progress.  Change will not happen overnight.  But as the pieces start to fit together, and you see actual progress, staying motivated will be much easier.

I mentioned working with a mentor, and I cannot emphasize how important that relationship is.  Find industry organizations that match your goals and seek advice.  Identify people in your network that can help you connect with their contacts.  Share your dreams with people who will not only support you, but also challenge you and encourage you to keep working toward your heart’s desire.

Big changes often mean big risks.  What if what you thought you wanted doesn’t work out the way you thought it would?  What if it works out even better?  No risk, no reward. Open yourself up to the possibilities. You might discover that you weren’t dreaming big enough.

Keep track of your progress.  Note every little accomplishment and take stock of how far you’ve come.  If a journal or chart would make it more tangible, go for it.  As the saying goes, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Do one thing every day that will get you closer to your goal.  Even if it’s just reading an article or signing up for a class, be persistent.  Developing habits like this are central to making changes that stick.  It keeps you focused on the prize.  It also sets you up to succeed beyond your goals, because you know what is required for the next big thing.    

January 1 may have come and gone, but don’t wait another year to get going on your dream.  A happy new year can start today!

Mackay’s Moral:  You don’t have to uproot the whole tree to turn over a new leaf.

The post Find happiness in your New Year appeared first on Harvey Mackay.

Change your perspective, change your life

Perspective has many definitions, such as the ability to understand what is important and what isn’t.  And the capacity to view things in their true relations or relative importance.

Consider this excellent example of how differently people view the same subject in this ancient fable. 

Four blind men were asked to examine an elephant and to describe its appearance.

The first blind man felt the elephant’s leg and declared that the creature was like a tree.

The second blind man felt the elephant’s enormous side and said that it was like a wall.

The third man felt the tail and was positive that the elephant was like a rope.

The fourth felt the tusk and likened it to a spear.

Each man’s notion of reality was limited by the number and kind of attributes he had been able to perceive.  Four different perspectives, four different conclusions.  None of them had enough information to arrive at a reasonable answer.  Acting on limited information is one of the biggest mistakes we can make.   

Take, for example, the golf ball.  For years, golf balls were smooth little orbs that were used by all the serious golfers.  But in one foursome, a young golfer who couldn’t afford to replace the golf balls when they got a little beat up kept playing with them long after his companions would have discarded them.

The others noticed that even though his skills were no match for theirs, his drives always flew further and more accurately.  From their perspectives, that should not have happened given their superior experience.  Their only explanation could be the nicks and dings on the golf balls. 

You won’t find a smooth golf ball in any pro shop now.  In fact, modern golf balls have as many as 450 dimples.  The rough spots enhance the ball’s accuracy and distance.

I encourage you to take advantage of the rough spots you encounter, for they can indeed sharpen your perspective as well as your performance. 

Those rough spots often force us to look at other options, to see things from another perspective.  They upset the status quo.  They challenge our tunnel vision and open new doors and windows.  In many ways, they are a blessing in disguise.

As hard as that may be to believe, trust me.  I’ve had to revise my perspective many times over my lifetime.  It got easier every time as I realized that what I was doing wasn’t working, and maybe I needed to adjust my approach.  When I widened my perspective, solutions seemed to fall into place.

Professional development coach Rich Gee offers two exercises to get started on the next step in your life or career.  What I like about his advice is that it encourages you to get a fresh perspective on your situation.

First, he says, explain where you are right now compared to where you were five years ago.  Tell your past self what to expect, both good and bad.  He says this will help you gain insight into what you could have done differently that may help you influence your future decisions.  Looking back, you will realize that you can survive just about anything that comes your way.

Next, look to your future.  Imagine that you are talking to a version of yourself five years from now.  Think about where you want to be and what advice you might give yourself.  This exercise will help you form a positive vision to work toward your personal and professional goals from a new perspective.  

George Bernard Shaw, the famous Irish-born playwright and critic, was a popular worldwide seer in the early 20th century.  Here are some of his views of the necessity for a man to have perspective on his life:

“If a man sees with only one eye, the world appears flat to him, objects and people become mere two-dimensional images.  And he cannot discern any meaning in life beyond the crassness of superficial existence.

“If he uses both eyes, he gains perspective and can perceive a third dimension of depth, ideas and activities assume relative importance and value, and he understands that there is no more than one way of living.

“How deep his understanding and how acute his perception, then, if he sees through four or six or seven different eyes, each distinct and yet each focused on the same situation and the same conflict.”

Mackay’s Moral:  When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at often change.

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How to set your voice free

When I was embarking on my “second career,” public speaking, I had a little experience under my belt – member of a Toastmasters group, graduate of Dale Carnegie and a long list of speeches I’d made to community groups, plus various causes like getting a stadium built.

Sometimes I would speak several times in a day, trying to reach as many groups as possible.  My message was often only as good as my voice.

So I did what I always do when I know I can do better:  I went out and hired a public speaking coach.  As it turns out, the fellow I have been working with is more than a coach.  He is just a few ticks shy of a miracle worker.

I’m talking about Roger Love, who has coached speakers, singers, internet marketers and plenty of folks who understand the power of voice and the impact it has on their careers.  His updated version of “Set Your Voice Free,” first published in 1999, presents material that helps readers “showcase the best of yourself – your talents, your passion, your originality, your authenticity.”

I was quite fascinated by the anatomy lessons that form the basis of Roger’s research and teaching.  When you know how your voice works from the inside out, and how to best take care of it, your attitude will change.  As Roger says, “The human voice is set up to speak or sing twenty-four hours a day without getting hoarse or strained or creating any physical problems.”

That information was especially helpful to me because my voice is my living.  Whether I am delivering a speech, making a sales call, making contacts for charitable or community causes, or mentoring future entrepreneurs, my voice needs to be strong and convincing.

He helped Reese Witherspoon and Jeff Bridges find their singing voices when they were preparing for movie roles that required them to stretch their limits.  He worked with John Mayer and Gwen Stefani to expand their ranges and keep their voices in top shape despite demanding performance schedules.

Roger’s techniques are clearly explained in his book, which makes it simple to practice on your own.  He says, “If you know how to control the pitch, pace, tone, volume, and melody of your voice, you can consciously use them to guide the emotions of your listeners and magnify the impact of every communication you have.”

He acknowledges that great speaking and singing are not about being the best, it’s about being unique.  “It’s about expressing who you are and what’s particularly special about you,” he says.  “If you learn to use your own instrument with confidence, people will open their ears to you and recognize what sets you apart from everyone else.”

This updated edition includes techniques he has developed to help people with speech disorders such as stuttering and spasmodic dysphonia.

“True artistry in speaking comes from creating a convincing blend of three elements:  what you say, the way you say it, and who you are,” Roger says.

The real take-home for me is that how I use my voice is nearly as important as my message.  We learn how to talk at a very young age, and I suppose we figure out soon after which cute little voices will help us get our way.  But through years of school and career, are we really using our voices to generate the best effects?

Roger discusses four key emotions you need to evoke in your audiences to make them like and believe you:  happy, grateful, passionate and confident.  But his explanations take readers beyond typical descriptions of these emotions.  Learning how to project these key emotions will have marked effects on how your message is received.

The impetus for updating his masterwork now is the result of an interesting observation:  the advent of television singing competitions and videos that go viral have “changed the landscape for singers, offering them new opportunities . . . and opening the public’s imagination to the possibilities of where our voices can be.”

Coincidentally, he credits the revolution to “The Voice,” the television competition that asked its judges to do blind auditions, facing away from the contestants while they sang.  The voice alone did the selling, he said.  “All of us realized that no matter what you look like, no matter what your age or background, if you can create the right sounds, people will see beauty, kindness, intelligence, and uniqueness in you.”

Mackay’s Moral:  How you use your voice speaks volumes about you.

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Game plan for success

My definition of success is having a predetermined plan, successfully carrying it out over a long period of time and having a good time doing it.

That’s what John Calipari does as the men’s basketball coach at the University of Kentucky.  Coach Cal is able to recruit the country’s top high-school talent with this simple message:  “Commit to each other, be about each other without sacrificing your goals and by doing this you can achieve all your dreams and more.”

Because many of his players are one and done – meaning they leave for the pros after their freshman season – Coach Cal views each new team like a start-up business due to a constant flow of new players, meaning new relationships and new challenges.  His job is to mold them into championship material when the season comes to an end in the spring.

I read Coach Cal’s new book, “Success Is the Only Option:  The Art of Coaching Extreme Talent” and discovered that it contains lessons for CEOs, business owners, coaches, teachers and leaders of all kinds.

First you have to assemble the talent, as Coach Cal writes:  “Talent matters.  There’s no way around it.  But the gold standard is to get your talented team to play with desperation.”  He says that he looks for players that have a purpose.

“I always ask my players:  What’s your why?  Why do you want to have success?  Is it just for fame and fortune, and if you attained that, who would it be for?  … What’s driving them forward is a cause bigger than their own self-interest.”

When I was building my envelope manufacturing company, I looked for employees who embraced TGIM – Thank God It’s Monday.  I wanted people who were excited to come to work.

Similarly, Coach Cal writes:  “When I’m recruiting, I’m looking for a kid who’s alive.  He’s got a bounce in his step.  A smile on his face.  Love for his teammates.”  He mentions a former player who “came into the gym every day like it was Christmas morning.”

Passion and persistence are common themes, at the top of the list of the skills you need to excel whether you’re in sales, playing basketball or any other profession.  There simply is no substitute.  If you don’t have an intense, burning desire for what you are doing, there’s no way you’ll be able to work the long, hard hours it takes to become successful.

Calipari looks for an athlete’s spirit and appetite for work.  He wants players who have a pure love of the game and a fierce will to get better, plus the right physical attributes.

“You have to learn to love the grind,” Calipari writes.  “Loving the grind and feeling fulfilled at the end of a hard day should be part of the culture that extreme talent embraces.”

Another important business principle that Coach Cal touches on is trust.  He writes, “For a coach, there is nothing more unsettling than having a point guard you can’t trust.”

To me, trust is the most important word in business.  Trust is central to doing business with anyone.  Without it, you have another word that begins with T:  Trouble.

Coach Cal also touches on self-confidence, which I believe is extremely important in almost every aspect of our lives.  Confidence enables you to perform to the best of your abilities, without the fear of failure holding you back.

Calipari writes:  “I want boldness and what I call swagger – a strong self-confidence that edges up to but does not cross the line into arrogance.”

He talks about “red flags,” starting with respect.  When he is recruiting someone, he takes note of how the player treats family members.  If he shows any disrespect, he moves on.

I’ve found that treating people with respect begins at the top of an organization.  Senior managers set the stage by treating each other and their subordinates with respect.  Be respectful or be regretful.

Another red flag is playing the blame game.  We live in a rampant culture of blaming others for our problems.  “Truly owning up to our mistakes is a learned behavior, a part of growing up,” writes Calipari.

Finally, Coach Cal talks about creating joy.  “From the moment my players arrive, we talk about the concept of how we create joy in our lives.  True joy, I tell them, comes from being a giver.  On the court, among their teammates, when they are off the court and out in the world, I want every one of them to be a person who lifts up others.”

I have found that people who help others on a regular basis have a healthier outlook on life.  They are inclined to be go-getters and consistently report being happier and more contented.

Mackay’s Moral:   Success is not just the only option, it’s the best option.

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Innovation is the path to growth

The Hewlett-Packard Company was famously founded in a one-car garage by William Hewlett and Dave Packard. It has become one of the world’s most innovative and successful technology companies, but it’s never lost sight of its founders’ original vision.

According to legend, these rules on innovation were posted in the garage:

Believe you can change the world.
Work quickly, keep the tools unlocked, work whenever.
Know when to work alone and when to work together.
Share tools, ideas. Trust your colleagues.
No politics. No bureaucracy.
The customer defines a job well done.
Radical ideas are not bad ideas.
Invent different ways of working.
Make a contribution every day. If it doesn’t contribute, it doesn’t leave the garage.
Believe that together we can do anything.
Invent.

That about sums up any doubts they had about what they were capable of doing! About the only rule that seems to be missing is “reinvent the wheel.”

Innovation seems to move at the speed of light in business and education. New products and methods pop up almost every day. Your phone/computer/television is outdated as soon as you take it out of the box because of new systems constantly being developed. Your car can essentially drive itself. Your house can tell you whether the lights are on when you are across the ocean. Innovation affects every phase of our lives.

I’m way beyond wondering why I didn’t think of that myself – I’m just grateful that someone had the courage to tackle a seemingly impossible idea that made my life much easier.

Innovation is central to every organization’s growth. As a manager, it’s important to develop an environment where it will flourish. If you are working on your own, give yourself the gift of time to let your plans simmer.

Not all innovations have to be technical or expensive. Let me share a couple of innovations that we now take for granted.

When automobiles first came into common use, there were few roads and none of them were striped to denote lanes. When Dr. June Carroll, who lived in the California desert, made house calls, she couldn’t tell what side of the desert road she was on, especially at night. She bought a brush and a can of white paint, and painted a line down the center of the road as a guide to other travelers. The California Highway Commission adopted her innovation for all the roads in California.

A Florida citrus grower lost 85 percent of his trees in a tropical hurricane. Instead of being discouraged, he formulated a plan. Before the storm, his trees had been planted far apart because land was cheap and he had plenty of space. But when he replanted after the storm, he put them close together, almost like a hedge, to protect each other. His yield was twice what it was before the storm destroyed most of his trees.

Where do you find inspiration for innovative ideas? Some days, ideas pop into your head without any effort at all. Other days you probably feel like you’re digging for them at the bottom of the ocean. Don’t get frustrated. When you are looking to develop a new concept, there are some steps that will make it easier.

Gather information. Do some research into whatever you’re trying to develop. Don’t worry about solutions right now; just immerse yourself in the subject.       Put your concept into simple language that won’t limit your scope.
Mix everything together. Look for underlying assumptions, common concepts and roads not taken. Don’t force any ideas, but take notes on anything that stands out.
Brainstorm. Invest some time in generating more ideas from the information you’ve processed. Let ideas flow freely, because sometimes parts of ideas can blend together to lead to an even better result.
Take risks. New ideas usually involve failure. There’s no guarantee that everything you try will succeed, but sometimes you have to see what doesn’t work in order to see what will be successful.
Share your idea. Run it past someone you trust for feedback. An outside perspective can help you shape and mold your idea into something you can put into action.
Expect some frustration. Remember the adage: “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” You will stub your toe, maybe even fall flat on your face, a time or two before you are satisfied with your results. Innovation isn’t instant – it can take years.

 

Mackay’s Moral: Bright ideas light the way.

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Creativity can be a life-saver

We take many everyday items for granted, but when these items were introduced to the market, they were anything but ordinary. Have you ever wondered how you got along without a specific product, a must-have invention … or the latest version of your smartphone?

Somewhere between necessity being the mother of invention and pure creative genius, all kinds of useful products have come into our lives. Were their creators inspired by a burning desire to get rich? Did they have years of schooling or technical training? Were they part of huge corporations with unlimited research and development budgets?

No.

They just let their creativity take over. And we benefit from their inventive ways to overcome life’s little challenges. Consider these items, born of necessity, 100 years ago.

Mrs. Earl Dickson, an inexperienced cook, often burned and cut herself back at the turn of the 20th century. Mr. Dickson, a Johnson and Johnson employee, got plenty of practice in hand bandaging. Out of concern for his wife’s safety, he began to prepare bandages ahead of time so that his wife could apply them by herself. By combining a piece of surgical tape and a piece of gauze, he fashioned the first crude adhesive strip bandage.

At 13 years old, Chester Greenwood’s head was cold one December day in 1873. To protect his ears while ice skating, he found a piece of wire, and with his grandmother’s help, padded the ends. In the beginning, his friends laughed at him. However, when they realized that he was able to stay outside skating long after they had gone inside freezing, they stopped laughing. Instead, they began to ask Chester to make ear covers for them, too.  In my home state of Minnesota, earmuffs are standard winter equipment.

During the hot summer of 1913, Clarence Crane, a chocolate candy manufacturer, found himself facing a dilemma. When he tried to ship his chocolates to candy shops in other cities they melted into gooey blobs. His customers didn’t want to deal with the mess and deferred their orders until cooler weather. Mr. Crane needed to find a substitute for the melted chocolates if he wanted to keep his customers. He experimented with hard candy which wouldn’t melt during shipment. Using a machine designed for making medicinal pills, Crane produced small, circular candies with a hole in the middle.   And that is how Life-Savers were born.

 

The term Frisbee did not always refer to the flying plastic disks that have spawned a variety of games. More than 100 years ago, in Bridgeport, Conn., William Russell Frisbie owned the Frisbie Pie Company and delivered his pies locally. All of his pies were baked in the same type of 10″ round tin with a raised edge, wide brim, six small holes in the bottom, and “Frisbie Pies” on the bottom. Playing catch with the tins soon became a popular local sport. However, the tins were slightly dangerous when a toss was missed. It became the Yale University custom to yell “Frisbie” when throwing a pie tin. In the ’40s when plastic emerged, the pie-tin game was recognized as a manufacturable and marketable product. Now FRISBEE ® is a registered trademark of Wham-O Mfg. Co.

All those inventions started innocently enough, without great expectations. That kind of creativity will continue, with or without corporate backing and deadlines to bring a product to market.

But there are constant demands in companies to come up with newer, better, shinier, more in-demand products. As companies try to stay afloat in a choppy economy, employees are being pushed for new ideas. Managers would be wise to consider the studies conducted by Teresa Amabile, professor at Harvard Business School and head of its Entrepreneurial Management Unit. She has explored creativity for nearly 30 years and her comprehensive research has uncovered some myth-defying facts:

Money and rewards don’t necessarily inspire creativity.
Tight deadlines and pressure to produce don’t foster innovation.
Competition doesn’t induce creativity.
Neither sadness nor fear fuel creative breakthroughs.

In order for creativity to blossom, workers need to feel deeply engaged in their projects, skilled enough to accomplish them, and free of negative influences – unnecessary distractions, politics, resource roadblocks and unwarranted critical feedback.

I might add that management needs to be open to ideas from all sources – not just the so-called “creative” departments. We all have a streak of creativity in us. Remember that the next time you need a Band-Aid or enjoy a Life-Saver!

 

Mackay’s Moral: A little spark can lead to a blazing success.

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Create a ‘trust fund’ with your team

I am convinced that T-R-U-S-T is the most important five-letter word in business – not sales or money or any other replaceable commodities.  Trust can be fragile, especially in the workplace.  Once it’s broken, few companies, managers or employees ever win it back.

At every level of every organization, workers need to understand the importance of keeping their word and living up to the organization’s values.  Customers and co-workers want to know they can depend on management.  Trust between managers and employees is crucial to the long-term enthusiasm, loyalty, and productivity of the company.

If you have ever been on the receiving end of a broken promise or a warranty that doesn’t cover whatever is wrong with your item, you understand all too well why trust is central to a working relationship.

“Trust is a calculated risk made with one’s eyes open to the possibilities of failure, but it is extended with the expectation of success,” said Robert Levering, former Ohio congressman.

And although I preach this message constantly, I’m always surprised at the people and companies that just don’t get it – they think the rules don’t apply to them.  Believe me, they do.

The late Peter Drucker, American management consultant and author, said of trust:  “In the ethics of interdependence there are only obligations, and all obligations are mutual obligations.  Harmony and trust – that is, interdependence, require that each side be obligated to provide what the other side needs to achieve its goals and to fulfill itself.”

Your “trust fund” grows in many large and small ways.  To develop a healthy balance of trust in your work relationships, make these “deposits” every day:

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Tell the truth.  Never assume that certain people “can’t handle the truth.”  Be as honest with your employees as you expect them to be with you.  If you get caught in a lie, your employees won’t trust you.  You may get a second chance, but don’t count on it.


Share information.  By demonstrating that you are willing to keep employees informed, you help them make good decisions on their own.  And it builds their confidence while increasing their willingness to actively participate in the growth of the organization.


Speak one-on-one with employees.  There’s no better way to build a relationship of trust than through personal, face-to-face contact.


Resolve conflicts quickly.  Whether a dispute is between two employees or two departments, promptly resolving the situation will prevent its escalation and minimize disruption of productivity.  Better yet, allow the disputing parties to find a solution.  Doing that shows you trust them to use their best judgment.


Avoid showing favoritism.  Equal treatment must be practiced to promote trust, teamwork and respect.


Don’t guess when you don’t know an answer.  When you make a mistake, admit it so you can move on and start fixing it.  Honesty is the best way to show people you’re dependable.  Be straightforward.  Admit that you don’t have a ready answer rather than waffling or throwing out a haphazard reply that lacks credibility.


Show flexibility in your decision making.  Make exceptions to the rules when common sense dictates it.  And consider unusual alternatives for problems that can’t be resolved by typical methods.


Put other people’s interests before yours.  Focus on what’s best for your organization and people, not just about what will benefit you and your career.  When employees see your good intentions, they’ll often make heroic efforts on your part.


Keep your promises.  Don’t commit to a promise you can’t deliver.  Think about what’s realistic, and do your best to live up to your word.  Your employees will notice.


Behave ethically.  Do the right thing in all your dealings with others.  Stand up for your employees, and at the same time, refuse to accept anything but the best from them – and from yourself.

A remarkable example of trust exists in the deep blue sea, an arrangement between the shark and the pilot fish.  Sharks, as we know, will eat almost any ocean dweller – except for the pilot fish.  In fact, they invite pilot fish to join them for – not as – lunch.  The smaller fish act as an automatic toothpick and eat the leftover food between the sharks’ mighty teeth.

In this unlikely partnership, the shark gets clean teeth and the pilot fish get nourished.  Both swim away satisfied.  And trusting that the next encounter will be just as successful.

Mackay’s Moral:  For any successful working relationship, trust is a must.

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