Iranian Persian Mythology-2nd Coming-End of the World Demons

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Small Business Six Hats Solution*

Business man as the old Pezo**

Perspectives in Small Business Decision Making

Adopted by 

Ferey Kian 

This concept is NOT my invention. It's been around for a while in other fields such as management and mindmapping.  I thought small business owners will benefit from this concept too. So here is what small business owner can use. Please see below for more sources. 

           By now you are familiar with the small business mad hatter dilemma when an entrepreneur tries to do everything without anyone’s help. The business often survives until an emergency arises and then  nobody knows what to do because there was nobody else in the loop. This blog is not about those small businesses.  To work ON your business, you need to see different perspectives.  I like to introduce Edward de Bone’s*  Six Hats Method for the business environment to  help you choose your next move easily.  If you just follow the process, it will be so easy to make decisions all by yourself.

To apply the six hats method, a small business owner reaches beyond his or her expertise and looks at an issue from a series of perspectives, one at a time.  The better you can separate the perspectives in this way, the more complete and balanced view is achieved.

Each represents a frame of mind or a perspective:

1.       White Hat - Neutral and objective; facts; figures; missing information

2.      Red Hat – Emotional; gut feeling

3.      Black Hat – Caution; points out the weaknesses

4.      Yellow Hat – Optimism; hope and positive thinking

5.      Green Hat – Creativity and new ideas

6.      Blue Hat – Control; organizing the thinking process and how to use the other hats

     Blue Hat – Organizing your business needs

When you wear the blue hat, your task is to define the situation you are in, set the parameters, decide how you should proceed with the other hats (which ones to wear, and in which order), and otherwise control the process until a satisfactory resolution is reached. Thus, the small business owner uses the blue the first and the last.

2-     White Hat – Objective Facts and Figures

white hat helps you stay away from biases

When you wear the white hat, you take an objective perspective. List facts that are known, and identify facts which are not (but could be helpful). Try not to use this hat to further define your objectives so as to avoid gray areas.

        Red Hat – Emotions

We all buy with our heart not wallets

The same way that your customers buy with their hearts and not with their wallet, you too may sometimes let your heart do it for you. When you wear the red hat, you explore your feelings and intuition, whether they are “positive”, “negative”, or (most often) somewhere in the middle.

       Black Hat – Caution and Pessimism

sometime you need to be more cautious

You need this hat but try not to use it as a reason for inaction. Watch out for other people with their black hat too. They may influence you with undue caution that stops the flow of creativity juice.   When you wear the black hat, you are cautious and careful, and looking for reasons to retreat. You are seeking weaknesses in the available options, and thus have a bias toward inaction.

     Yellow Hat – Optimism, Hope, and Positive Thinking

Noticed how George solves every problem
with positive attitude?

When you wear the yellow hat, you can find the silver lining in any situation. Your glass is half full! You can see all the positive benefits which might be realized by action, and you are optimistic of a successful result.  Keep this hat any time you want to innovate.  Green hat makes a good complement to this yellow hat but don’t let any of those other hats make fashion statement.

   Green Hat – Creativity                                                         

Instead of hat I thought visor will give
you more room to create.

When you wear the green hat, your challenge is to seek out creative ideas that you have not thought of before, regardless of whether these ideas are feasible in the end. To borrow a tired cliché, this hat helps you think outside the box. Let everyone in your business to wear a green hat for a few hours a week and then let them present their ideas to everyone.  Ask everyone to have the yellow hat on watching the presentation.

The Six Hat Perspective can be worn in different sequence., but be aware of which you have on, because chances are, just like out favorite shoes, we may be using 20% of our hats, 80% of the time.  So rearrange your closet once in a while and you may find the right hat any day.

*To see the concept introduced by Edward De Bone used in this blog in more details;

http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/methods_bono_six_thinking_hats.html

and http://www.12manage.com/methods_bono_six_thinking_hats.html

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/main/newMN_TED.htm

If you like to see how Pezo sold hats, take a 10 minutes break some time: Just for fun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INptSCKqdfg
 

SMART Goals Will not Happen Without the Office Efficiency

Paper tiger can be tamed too

An Hour Saved is an Hour Earned!

A few years ago, I found myself, just  like so many small businesses,       looking for files! 

Now I have captured that tiger and want to show you how to tame it!






Many of friends and clients have told me how this was so great for them and I hope you agree.

A: Files: 

Break down your filing system as follows and then Alphabetize in there.

1-    Admin: Associates, Business Plan, IRS and Subiz Docs,

2-    Marketing: Emails, Newsletters, Marketing Plan, measure the results

3-    Finance: Accounts payable, receivable, bank activities

4-    Clients: Government, Individuals, Companies, Pro Tax

B: Calendar: 

avoid calendars that distract you

Make a decision to have ONLY ONE Calendar. Paper or Electronics, and don't get the ones that are so cute that you just adore it instead of using it.

C: Emails: Separate Financials form Personal Emails.

1-      Organize Emails to folders in the inbox.

2-      Clients, Projects, Marketing, etc

3-      Purge the inbox for what you have not organized—Toss.

D: Organize from inside out:

1. Keep the list of sources, discard the paper. Keep the list in excel or paper file. 

2. Discard old magazines or books or articles. (you can clip articles if you like but if you haven’t used it for 12 months, you don’t need it).

Minimize it

3. Minimize: Don’t keep many copies of the same thing (I have seen this on computer too. Keep maximum of two, and delete the rest)Final Version. Delete all the older version (even on your PC) and keep only the last one. You had decided not to use it, so delete it.

4. Use a JIT system (Just in Time--as needed, like amazon. When they need they order):  Clear desk and shelves: have only a small supply for ink, paper, etc. 

5. FAT Organization: File, Act or Toss (although Toss is at the end, but do it at the first checking of the mail. If you keep them, you procrastinate to throw away later while it will be bothering you all along.)

E. Manage your time ruthlessly.  Your time is the commodity you are selling. That's why they refer to it as time management, like resource management.  Whether on computer, meetings, calendar, book or anything else, an hour saved, an hour earned. Think of it in a long run, hours make our lives!

F. Work Habits! Develop a routine.  You can't imagine how this simplifies your life. Make SMART goals and reward yourself when you are done with them.  
You know how to go about it, don't you?  Make it: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely.  Read your SMART goals every day!

Remember, just reading it wouldn’t do.  (If you read all the diet foods, you cannot lose weight) Organize the office environment to manage time and resources.

In your Small Business, Innovation is everyone’s job: 360 degree.

To Think Business Strategy, Think Creativity and Innovation!
In a Small Business Enterprise, Innovation is Everyone’s job--Not just the Business Owner's

A Small business advantage: Develop Lions before you are trampled by your own herd of sheep.

Ferey Kian
http://www.fkianfa.com/

Graft Innovation and creativity as the principles of your small business strategies because as you grow, it will be much harder to change what you have established as an organization's culture.  

Just as individuals need support to come up with new ideas, organizations need fertile ground to support creativity and innovation--whether you are in a service or product business.

I like to share with you some of the most useful topics I have learned from various experts, my clients, students, and 20 years of  experience on innovation, creativity and design.  You will find more sources (and ideas) through the references below.

Your business strategy should call for every single person in the organization to innovate--daily. Creativity and innovation need to be a fabric of your organization, as the example of Innovation in business strategy at Whirlpool can show. Please check it out, at some point.

How is your organization set up?

To set the stage to unleash creativity in your business, look at its foundation:

1.   Has your organization structured its strategies to permit innovation and creativity to flourish?

2.   Do you have creative and innovative team?

3.   Do you encourage people to think creatively or your expect them to follow the rules. 

Walt Disney created an organization that everyone who ever worked there, think of himself/or herself as Walt Disney. Don't you want to duplicate yourself?

You want your clients "come back and bring their friends" to your business, as Disney suggested, don't you?  So you need your team to be so charged with inspiration that cannot wait to tell their friends about how THEIR ideas contributed to innovations in your business.

  

An excellent example of an organization that embedded creativity in its core strategy is the Disney Organization.  Although Walt himself did not support his staff to venture outside his ideas, he created an organization that everyone who works there, think of himself/or herself as Walt Disney. He found a way to duplicate himself; you need to do this too.

To see if an idea can be implemented, it’s best to set up processes, procedures and structures

See more on these in my Business Strategy video.

Steps to take to make things happen:

Naturally, to generate new ideas is the first step, but "application" has to come next; think of this as the right foot and the left foot; once your right foot stepped forward, the left has to move, and now you are going places! Once you came up with an idea, you need to find ways to set things in motion, and see how practical it is, therefore, Implementation is putting ideas into practice. So, among a dozen ideas you have lying around:

1.   Select a new idea or approach to solve a problem or create new opportunities.

2.   Develop it to bite size, or to show signposts and benchmarks to measure result.

3.   See if the idea can be duplicated and commercialized, and then…

4.   Commit to it and take action despite naysayers.

To see if an idea can be implemented, it’s best to set up schedules, processes, procedures and structures; A to Z, that allow the timely and effective execution of projects

Release the power of your imagination:

The best way to unleash your creativity is to actually DO this exercise.  Be sure to type answers as completely as you can:

1.   What are the areas you organization can venture in that has so far been  overlooked? What is it that prevents you from seeing the opportunities?
 

2.   What is it that limits your imagination? 

3.   Is it that people may not grasp it and welcome it? 

4.   Are you aware of your own mental barriers? What are they?

5.   Why you have not taken action?

6.   Fear of failure? What are at risks?

7.   How will you feel if you succeed?

8.   What prevents your team to innovate in products or services you already offer, or create a new line of opportunity?

9.   Are you an inspirational leader who leverages the collective wisdom or you like to micromanage your staff?  

Maybe your staff is throwing party when you are out,... and then, when you need them, they  hide behind their works. Is this the culture you have implanted?   

The one with the nose on the grindstone does not innovate!

Some people think that to be creative problem solver, one has to have experience on the field.  Not true.  There was no personal computer for Steve Jobs to come up with the Apple.  Neither, there was a plane around before the Wright Brothers took off; nor was there electricity before Tom Edison--if Tesla wouldn't mind. (See my blog on how they raised from ashes below) On the other hand some people take innovation to be their only objective in life, as some people think money is their main goal.  You and I know that ideas, innovations, and money are only tools to achieve your goals, and, hopefully, they are not mistaken for goals.

Having said that, once you did come up with an idea, now you need some time to develop it, and work on it, until it's proven to be commercialized; and to weed out all the unnecessary steps to develop a short path to the goal.

Just as you can develop leadership, creativity is nurtured by motivation, positive feedback and inspirations.  Creativity and Innovations don’t magically happen. They need to be soaked, and carefully imbedded in the vision, mission, and strategy of the organization.  It has to be the heir apparent in all your services and products.

Despite common belief, creativity is not intrinsic, intuitive, and genetic, although these are inarguably a plus for those who may have inherited such qualities, but even Mozart couldn’t be the genius we have come to appreciate without inspiration, encouragement, and…. practice. 

If a job can capture one’s mind and soul, there’s no meaning to TGIF.

To watch the act, set the stage!

I have had many experiences with people who told me creativity or innovation is not their little thing. I know a cashier who worked for over 20 years at the cash register, who told me creativity is the boss’s job.  One of my old set up crew at the Miami Arena told me that the reason Bono fell off from the stage during a rehearsal (on the long stage set up going through the Arena), could be fixed (as he did it) with a minimum cost, saving us millions in damages, lawsuits and embarrassments.   You CAN get your staff step outside the red circle.  In short, innovation has to be all around us just like the atmosphere around the earth--even within the 6 feet radius of anyone's desk. Creativity and innovation is everyone’s job, because if the job can engage one’s mind and soul, there’s no meaning to TGIF. People look forward to speak about their passion 24-7.

Having said that innovation and creativity can be honed and nurtured, I am not holding my breath to see if everyone is on the wagon. All I'm saying is this: You need to have the door open. Innovation will enter when the time is ripe.

Complacency is such a lovely Dungeon-Master.

Although it takes leaders to inspire creativity, it needs managers to implement it efficiently.  We need both: One to untie your wings, the other to show you the nest, and help you lay those golden eggs.   
One of the persisting old school practices in most American enterprises is the over-dependency on how things were done in the past, and how to increase the quantity to beat the past performances.  The ingenuity of American however, as Mark Twain once observed, and Jim Rohn rephrased is how to succeed doing the opposite: to do things that has never been done; to pull things out of the thin air; to envision what wasn’t there, to be perceptive amidst confusion. This is the American way.

Exactly as our kids can relate to aliens better than they can relate to cows, oaks, or pelicans all around us, if we can visualize your ideas, we will relate to them. Little kids 'don't have cow' about what their burgers are made of, but they have a good image of a spaceships. This is the secret of Hollywood: imagination can be more real than the real thing (For that matter we are all in a different matrix). We can relate to fibs of Hollywood better than facts of Washington.  {as a side note, that's perhaps why we need politicians to look and act like celebrities, and fib about problems that don't mean anything, instead of addressing the real issues.} 
Let your staff and your clients see how your innovation can help them in the way they can visualize your ideas. This needs your major work.  Do you have a plan that can help us visualize your work before you tell us about it?

To summarize: Your business strategy needs to focus on everyone’s imagination, creativity, and innovation.  Don't try to shoehorn your creative staff back into their cubicles!

       

Next …Aliens R us,

I will be exploring the Diversity Management as one of the biggest issues that present new challenges and opportunities for tomorrow’s leaders. 

Whether you want to do business nationally or globally, understanding our different ways we think can help you develop an organization that can go beyond color, race, gender, age and hairdo. 

   

Some of the sources used in this article and more reading material:
Creative Intelligence, 1/e (A. Rowe)
No additional online materials are available for this textbook. 
>>Click here to access the Rowe website
Managing Innovation, Design and Creativity , 1/e (B. Stamm)
No additional online materials are available for this textbook. 
>>Click here to access the Stamm website
The Power of Impossible Thinking, 1/e (Wind and Crook)
No additional online materials are available for this textbook. 
>>Click here to access the Wind/Crook website

Master Key to Business Plans, by Ferey Kian

3 Prongs to a Successful Business Plan

 Ferey Kian

A Business plan should be focused on clear action steps rather than just talking points.  People who want to invest in your business need to know specifics.  Here are the two aspects in business plan that you need to consider: First you prepare a business plan for investors, banks, business associates, vendors to show your business is not stagnant and it's  is going places.  Secondly, perhaps more importantly, you need a business plan for YOURSELF, more than for your investors.  I've seen many  small businesses go stagnant after a while and then they start wondering why they haven’t ventured any further after a few years.  A few months ago, one of my new clients was telling me that her parents didn’t have a vacation for 22 years running their own business, and now they wanted to retire and transfer the business to her.  She said, "I can’t go like that for the next 22 years. "

So, let me show you a simple way to start your business engine with a master key that fits any business model.  This master key is for you, not for outsiders (YOU have to buy into your own business plan, otherwise nobody else would). To visualize this, let’s imagine your business plan is one of those classic old fashion keys with three prongs to it.

The First prong of your Business Plan is called Vision.  Do you remember your vision when you started this business?   Is that still on the horizon?  Unfortunately, most small business owners have forgotten this, and do can you guess why? Because of two main challenges: They are short in cash, and they don’t have enough help. 

So what do they do?  Often times, they have to deal with day to day chores, juggling the rent, payroll, insurance, and other expenses.  Let me go back, there’s nothing wrong with this, because that’s part of small business thing. You have to be involved in every step of the process!  But you need to look at your time and say, do I need to spend 5 hours to do the payroll when someone else can do it properly in one hour for less than $50?  Can I spend that 5 hours doing what I’m good at or work at minimum wage to save my business. You get the picture?  Most small businesses get tangled up with those threads that tied down Gulliver in the island of small businesses. Break loose and don’t be afraid of the little needles that may appear as spears.  

To be consumed in small business affairs can blur your vision.  When you are looking at your feet you can’t run as fast.   Your Vision has to be always at the horizon—the farthest you can see; this is where you can keep your eyes on.   

Vision is what you want your company to BE sometime in the future. So, say it out loud. What is it?  The Best construction firm in Ft. Lauderdale? The biggest film and entertainment industry in Miami?  The Heavenliest care clinic in South Florida?  The Best hotel or restaurant in Miami Beach? What?

 Okay, let’s summarize this:  Vision is what you want your organization to BE sometimes in the future.  In short, set a clear Vision for yourself, or settle for what you’ve got. You see where I’m going with this don’t you? 

 The next prong in your Business plan is Mission. 

If vision shows what you are going to be, Mission shows what you need to do to get there. In other words, if your vision is to BE, your mission is to do things to get you there.  To do, to be! In a way, if a kid wants to become a doctor, he or she needs to study hard, have a lot of interest in biology, and get into a good medical school.  By studying hard, and some support, he or she will realize that dream or vision. In short, Mission is what you need to DO to BE what you wanted to BE.  Remember Frank Sinatra’s Stranger in the Night, Do be do be do? To be is to do-- and vice versa.

Yes, Mission is about what you should do to get to where you are going.  Yet, most entrepreneurs get so mixed with the mechanics of the business, such as bookkeeping, marketing, operating and so forth, that they don’t DO what they are supposed to be doing.  Some go through a struggle to do their taxes just because they got some good tax software.  Let me confess to you something, I got a great guitar a few years ago, and I love music, but I’m not going to start a band anytime soon! I wouldn’t even play at a party for free.  I have to invest time or I have to hire a guitar player.   Look at it this way.  You will pay a plumber $200 for an hour work before you get under the sink and mess up the whole house, don’t you?

The third prong to your successful Business Plan is the process, because, busywork is one of the worst enemies of entrepreneurs. Busywork is like running on a treadmill; if you have intention to go 10 miles from point A to point B, that wouldn’t help you there.   

Figure up a good procedure to take you a step by step in your mission to take you toward your goal. Procedures tell you the order of things.  You can set some short term goals to show where you are going:  If you need $120,000 extra in a year, set a goal of $10,000 a month and see if you can do it. Then set these benchmarks, and let your employees enjoy seeing what they have achieved.

Yes, I added a new thing to the mix (staff).  You can’t do everything by yourself; you definitely want to have your staff connected to the vision, and know what they need to DO, they will care more about their work. 

Let me paraphrase what General Patton once said:  All you need to do is tell them what they need to do and by when, not how to do it.  Let them surprise you. 

Here’s the thing: You are the entrepreneur and hopefully you did not start the business only to be a boss, or a Godfather in there.   You saw a need and you came up with a new device or a new way do things, you know how to generate income, to build a better future, and do all the good deeds you wanted to do.  Let everyone around the assembly belt do what they know how to do and let the Quality Control check every step. Try to focus on the market needs in a big way.

We can help you chart your path by asking you several questions that guides you to make your best move.  Call me, Ferey Kian or email me at info@fkianfa.com.  Your business will be set out to go places in a matter of a couple of months.