January 2007

Giving a big “thumbs-down” to the Canadian delegation

The thought process that makes people believe that the start of each new year is the perfect opportunity to get their lives in order is ironically the same one that makes them jump off bridges.

With that happy thought before us, I welcome you to 2007 and invite you to consider what experts feel are the points of inspiration that will propel people in business to a level of production and satisfaction far beyond what could ever be imagined. At least for the first few weeks of January.

The “expert” in today’s journey into this maze of motivation is Susan Ward, a partner in Cypress Technologies, who according to her biography trains small businesses in Canada to operate more effectively. Since I don’t have even a remote idea as to whether Canadian small businesses are becoming renowned for their effectiveness, I can’t speak to Susan’s abilities. For all I know, she may be the next Dale Carnegie.

I found Susan after an exhaustive search that took nearly fourteen seconds, thanks to Google, and I was impressed that she was first on the list under, “New Years Resolutions/Business.” I was even more impressed that she was also second and third. She obviously takes this subject very seriously.

Susan’s “Top Ten New Year’s Resolutions for Business Success” was prefaced with a question asking, “Do you want increased success in 2007 or the chance to enjoy the success you’ve achieved more?” My immediate reaction to that question was a question of my own.

Do some Canadians answer that question no?”

I have to admit that Susan’s top ten list didn’t make any light bulbs go off over my head. It didn’t stir any excessive passion or even make me anxious to create any life-changing moments simply because the calendar had flipped back to the beginning.

Truth be told, I’m not sure what it accomplished beyond making me wonder what more enlightened columnists were writing about this month. Yet there were some things about the list that caught my attention.

Like most people over the age of fifty, when someone hands me a list I invariably read it from top to bottom. If anything is likely to kill me I’m determined that it’s not going to be suspense. So Susan’s number one pearl of advice was this:

“Learn to delegate and do more of it.”

Paraphrased, that means that the very best thing that a person in business can resolve to do if they have a burning desire to be successful is to pass their work off to a subordinate. Since Susan’s primary audience is small business, I’m wondering how much confusion that created for sole proprietors. Maybe the “delegation” suggestion should have come somewhere after the “hire more people” suggestion. Except there wasn’t one of those.

Number two was to “promote your business regularly and consistently.” Or, reverting back to number one, have some lackey do that for you.

Next was to “make business planning a weekly event.” I don’t know about you but weekly seemed a little narrow in terms of business planning. It would also drive the finance people crazy. And that’s not always a stable group to begin with.

I have to admit, in the list of ten, I stopped at four. That resolution was to “learn something new.” It might just as well have been “breathe.” If there is one thing that business specializes-in, like it or not, it’s the education of those who even remotely come in contact with it. It’s unavoidable and non-discriminatory. Even the motivationally challenged assimilate something.

So I’ve abandoned the hope that New Years is about anything more substantial than pork and sauerkraut, endless football games and the beginning of a new tax cycle. Maybe learning something new will take a little more effort than I thought. If that’s the case, I still have a sound alternative.

I can always delegate it.

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