Are you Ferrari or Toyota?

I am currently the CEO of an Internet banking corporation called JSA Technologies. In some ways the company is seeing unprecedented growth and in other ways it seems to be dying. The question is: which is it? Is it dying or growing? Is it doing well or poorly? A series of animosity seems to have developed among some people. To make matters more complicated, the equity holders are diverse and include friends, ex-roommates, and my ex-wife. How do you make decisions in an environment like this and be successful?

One of the biggest mistakes I see people making in business or any organization for that matter is not being clear who they are who they want to be. Without a clear identity how do you know whether you are succeeding and failing? How do you make decisions?

Many people have the ideal of “we just want to be successful!” But what does that mean? People would probably say that both Toyota and Ferrari are successful but they are completely different. Do you want to be the biggest company in the world with the most customers? Or do you want to be a more niche company highly profitable with high quality standards and a limited market?

Minimize Power Struggles

If you have an identity, decision making is easier. Team disputes are minimized because you can talk about whether it consistent with the identity rather than who is right and who is wrong. It is much like raising kids. With family rules or a routine, when you have a problem you can simply point to the rules you all agreed upon.

Increase Efficiency and Speed

When you are faced with so many decisions you can reduce your financial costs by increase your efficiency and speed. You will spend less time debating what is right and wrong and more on how to achieve success.

Improve Employee Morale

People work for more than money. This is a big mistake managers often forget to remember. People work because as Stephen Collins author of Good to Great says, because there is a higher purpose. A clear identity is that higher purpose. At first the idea of making money appeals to most people, because in the beginning it seems easy and it's easy to forget about all the work involved, but after awhile this ship runs out of steam because it's a hard path and we desires something greater. We desire a path which invigorates us and keeps us going on the long haul. Something that when our life is over we can be proud of.

Festering Petulance

Without a clear identity, people can become restless and you foster an environment that seems cold and inhuman where people work countless hours without a clear reason in mind. They get grumpy and negative. They back talk. They lose focus. They fall short.

Create an Identity

To move forward we are creating an identity. I an excited about the identity we are developing and hope to share some of it here. Your identity doesn't need to be a cold mission statement. It does probably have to start with a clear understanding of your own identity. What do you want to see in the world? Be bold! As Stephen Covey said "Begin With The End in Mind". Life is short, have fun. Not everyone is going to get behind it. That's okay. If you can't agree on an identity as a team, then maybe you need to find ways to go in different ways. It's frustrating, but better to face reality now than avoid real problems which will only get bigger with time. Life is short...very very very short.

Ironing: Save Time, Save Money, Be Organized, and Reduce Waste

Ironing has always been a problem for and I've found a good solution that is easy and respects the environment: the Singer Iron Press.

The Problem

For years I've worn button down shirts and had to iron them. I used to go to the dry cleaner, but I didn't like the extra errand. I didn't like the extra driving. I didn't like getting the shirts home. I didn't like removing the plastic and making more trash. I didn't like the cheap hangers, that seemed to multiply. I didn't like having to remember to bring the clothes to the cleaners. On top of it, I had to pay for it. In some ways this reminded me of salad bars. You pay to do the work yourself and it's not even that great at the end. Then there is the time to take out all that trash and organize my closet at some point from all the extra hangers.

In theory the concept of going to the dry cleaner is supposed to be easier. Overall I found for my 5 weekly shirts that it took me about 15-20 minutes of time per week, and I paid about $20.00.

Steam Closet

I thought about the solutions quite a bit. I considered first, a steam closet. A steam closet is an appliance like a washer or dryer in which you can hang your clothes, it steams them as they hang, and the wrinkles theoretically come out. Unfortunately the reviews were not that great, and they seemed to only mildly remove the wrinkles. If you really want to get the wrinkles out, you need to press them.

Traditional Iron

I considered ironing clothes myself, but it just takes too long and is too much work. I have to have and store an ironing board. It takes a long time...about 11 minutes per shirt. I wear about 5 shirts a week, so that's an hour of ironing. No thanks.

Iron Press

Then I found the Singer Iron Press (available at Amazon). It's a smaller version of the type of press a professional dry cleaner would use. It's great! I can iron a shirt within a few minutes. I can iron my five shirts within 20 minutes. Furthermore I find I iron lots of other stuff too, like pants, napkins, and the kids clothes.

Here's why it's very cool. First, the iron and ironing board are one piece, and it's smaller than a traditional ironing board. This makes it easier to store and use. It just closes up and I put it in the closet. It's portable.

Second, it applies 100 pounds of pressure to shirt, which makes the wrinkles come out more easily. This also saves your arm. The leveraging power of the clamshell design does the work for you, no pushing an iron around.

Third, it has a large surface. You can iron large portions quickly, because it's like a mini ironing board.

Fourth, it has built in steam jets, so as you close it, you press the button on the handle and the steam jets quickly steam the entire surface.

When I finish ironing I hang my shirts on wooden hangers that I bought from Ikea, although there are plenty of places to buy them online. As a result my closet is always organized to the point that it seems like I have OCD, but the hangers don't build up and the wooden hangers are more attractive. In fact I've spent less effort, less money, and done less damage to the environment.

Corporate Culture: Talking Behind Someones Back Hurts Everyone

One of the things that I believe is detrimental to the positive energy that helps a company succeed is talking about others behind their back. One of the organizations I am involved with is facing this problem on a grand scale. This is a problem for each and every employee regardless of where you sit, as the talker, the one being talked about, or the one listening.

Usually this starts with one person having a problem. They don't know how to resolve the problem so they start blaming someone else. For example George has a problem with Betty because Betty doesn't seem to know what she is talking about. George might say "Betty is really bad. Don't get me wrong, I like Betty as a person and she's wonderful, but when she is in on customer meetings she says stupid things and makes herself look horrible. She hurts the company. She really shouldn't be in this position."

There are many problems with this type of thing. On the surface it might seem that George is very interested in helping the company and does value Betty. First, when we do not speak constructively and positively, the fundamental problems don't get addressed and solved. In this case, "Are we succeeding with customers and if not, how we deal with that?"

Second, George feels bad. Having a problem with someone else doesn't feel good to the person having the problem. George would benefit in his own happiness from learning more constructive approaches to communicating.

Third, the listener leaves the conversation thinking..."What is this person saying about me behind my back?" Even if George seems somewhat justified, the listener ends up feeling bad as well. The listener now feels worried.

When we talk about someone behind their back, as in this example, many people feel bad and the problem doesn't get solved. George feels bad about Betty. Betty will inevitably find out, and so she will feel bad in many ways. She will feel bad both because someone thinks negative of her and because the other person publicly humiliated her. The listener will feel bad about George because they will think he has no tact even if they are not consciously aware of it. The listener will feel bad about George as well. At the end of the day, everyone feels bad and the problem doesn't get resolved. Not only that, but often the problem will get worse, because now there is negative morale.

In this case, I think we need to start with the basic rules.

First, don't talk about people behind their back, ever.

If you're listening side of things, this is like bullying in school. If you hear it or see it, you need to stop it. Take a stand. Tell the person to talk directly to that person, and if they can't tell them to find someone who can help them with their problem.

Second, start by talking to the person directly. If you have a problem with someone talk to them directly. Use non-violent communication. There are some amazing books on this subject, but in lieu of that try to follow these simple steps:

1. Describe the problem objectively and own your opinion about it -- use specific examples "Betty when you talk to a customer and you say things like 'wifi routers make great stoves' I believe that you make us sound unprofessional and that hurt's us."

2. Describe a positive solution "I believe we would be more productive if you would learn more about technology."

If you struggle with the person and you end up in a fight, suggest that you find a third party to help. The issue is important to you and they are obviously frustrated and so are you, and you want to succeed.

Third, if you do not see how to talk to the person constructively, then ask for help from someone else, but do so in a way that takes ownership of the problem and does not blame. For example, "David, I am having a problem with Betty. I don't know how to deal with it. Can you help me?" Even if you fail at everything else, this is a good place to start. You are taking ownership of the problem, and admitting you're failing at it.

Some of this comes back to some basic ideas about our ownership of problems. Steven Covey of the 7 Habits of Effective People suggests that we are most successful when we focus on the things we can control, and we can't control others. He calls this our circle of influence. We have control over our behaviors not others. If George has a problem with Betty at the end of the day this is George's problem. George is the one who feels bad and is getting upset.

I discussed the ideas I just presented here with someone else, and they thought this method deterred employees being open about problems they are having and that are real problems to the organization. They felt it was okay to talk about someone else behind their back as long as it was not "trash talk." I believe it is all trash talk if the speaker is not taking responsibility for the problem. When would any of us feel comfortable about someone talking about us behind our backs under just about any circumstance that was not positive or glowing? We would want to be involved. This is even the basics of the justice system. We have a right to face our accuser.

Suppose that Betty is actually horrible at talking to customers. If you are her boss it's your responsibility to work with her and if you don't believe it's a good fit, then you need to take responsibility for that. There is still no need to talk with anyone else, unless you want advice on how you can solve the problem. If it's not about finding a solution that helps you deal with Betty, it's best not talk about it. If you really need to talk and vent, talk to your significant other or therapist.

If you are working with Betty and she is your peer, then again, talk to her directly. If you do believe she is really not helping or is hurting the company, and you don't believe talking to her is helping, talk to your boss or her superior and own the problem, and don't blame Betty. Your boss or her superior can make their own decisions about what is best, that's not your place and you will make yourself look bad to everyone by suggesting solutions that were not asked for.