Just Said It

Seven score and seven years ago today, President Abraham Lincoln delivered a two minute speech in the farmlands of Pennsylvania which is considered to be one of the most important dedications in our country's history. In these times of civil disagreement, a corrupt political establishment, and government sponsored social change, it is much easier to see the parallels of history that led to that day.

How can you improve on these great words . . . .

The Gettysburg Address
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Project Manager's, Sales People, and Engineers all need to be personally accountable. But what does personal accountability mean in today's team based environment where even the simple projects require multiple people with specialized skill sets? How do you separate items of personal accountability when everything is so inter dependent? For the manager today it can be a real challenge to manage the goals and objectives of each team member, but its even more difficult to attach singular accountability.

This is made even more difficult when you have to ask 10 follow up questions to get to the point of a simple answer.  Many of us today seem to be adept at answering around a question?   Perhaps this is a trait spurred by watching 24 hour news where politicians and media personnel seem to never be able to answer directly.

Here is an illustrative video to make my point . . . .

I believe we are at an Inflection Point in how we will utilize computing technology in the next few years. An inflection point is that point in which there is a significant change in direction. The speed of this change is still in question and the precise direction it will take is also somewhat unclear. But the fact that a change is looming close cannot be disputed. The change I am referring to is the emergence of Cloud Computing to take over the enterprise computing applications which drive every business and the proof of this prediction is in cloud computing's quiet ability to begin taking away market share from the dominant Microsoft office applications of Word, Excel and Outlook.

Could this be possible? In 1985, I remember the so called dumb terminals where we completed word processing on a remote mainframe computer with an orange lettered screen as the only interface. The emergence of the IBM PC and the client server revolution was the inflection point at that time which freed us from that old main frame computer.

Can it be that 25 years later we are close to giving up the desktop applications and moving back to that dumb terminal strategy? Where does this leave the Dell PC and software vendors such as Microsoft?

You may not agree, but I think this change is real. Stay tuned for more dialog on this issue and please feel free to disagree and comment below.

It's harder and harder these days to get a face-to-face meeting with a decision maker. They're all so darned busy, busy, busy. If they won't take the time to learn, how can they possibly solve their problems and implement key initiatives?

Hold on a minute here. If someone earned the rank of decision-maker and has the wherewithal to keep that role, by definition, that person IS learning enough to solve problems and implement key initiatives. In other words, it's you that has the learning problem, not the decision-maker. You haven't learned that tactics for getting in the door have radically, dramatically and forever changed.

You need to establish your credibility before you ask for a meeting. You need to get the decision-maker to realize that he or she needs more perspective and context about some issue, has three or four questions to ask, and that you are uniquely qualified to provide the perspective, context and answers. And you need to do all that without ever having any direct contact. In fact, you really need to avoid asking for a meeting at all - to avoid pushing yourself into the decision process. You need to get the customer to pull you in.

Impossible? Only if you think cold calls, schmoozing the assistant and clever mailings are your core techniques. They may well still be necessary, but you need some additional weapons in your arsenal. You need to be where the decision makers are already hanging out. When they reach out for info, you need to already be there - directly in the path of that reach. You need to create an electronic extension of yourself!

How tough is it to create and continually enhance an electronic extension of yourself? Actually, not much tougher than what you're already doing. It's just two extra steps:

· Build an "E-Rep Infrastructure"
· Embed everything relevant you know and learn in that E-Rep

DO NOT succumb to techno-phobia!!! If the technology overwhelms you, either get over it or find a geek to help. Frankly, if you put your mind to it, you can learn all the tech you need over a single weekend. For your E-Rep Infrastructure, get a blog, some simple audio recording/editing software for your PC and a video camera. (There are loads of choices out there. I use WordPress for my blog, NCH Software for audio/video editing, iTunes, a Flip Cam and YouTube.)

DO NOT succumb to I-don't-know-what-to-write-or-talk-about syndrome. Are you kidding me? You make your living talking for crying out loud. Every time you learn something, write it down and/or record it. When you have a new flash of insight, write it down and/or record it. Think through all the potential problems, issues, concerns, projects, solutions, initiatives, etc. that your products and services can address, then write them down and/or record them. When you read something interesting, attach it to your E-Rep self.

Neither of these two new tasks presents much of a challenge. Do them, along with whatever of the traditional techniques work for you. Can you really afford not to? Don't you need an E-Rep version of yourself to be available 24 X 7? What if it's 2:00 AM on Saturday and the hottest prospect in the universe is looking for a sales rep that can help?

By Todd Youngblood
The YPS Group, Inc.

www.ypsgroup.com

Republished by Permission

As an Eagle Scout I often try to follow what goes on as these young boys work hard to realize this dream.  If I told you that the labor unions had found a way to persecute a boy who organized something for the good of the community could you even consider that someone would be against it.

You can't make this stuff up . . .

Union troubled by Eagle Scout project in Allentown
In pursuit of an Eagle Scout badge, Kevin Anderson, 17, has toiled for more than 200 hours hours over several weeks to clear a walking path in an east Allentown park.
Little did the do-gooder know that his altruistic act would put him in the cross hairs of the city's largest municipal union.
Nick Balzano, president of the local Service Employees International Union, told Allentown City Council Tuesday that the union is considering filing a grievance against the city for allowing Anderson to clear a 1,000-foot walking and biking path at Kimmets Lock Park.
"We'll be looking into the Cub Scout or Boy Scout who did the trails," Balzano told the council.

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