Work the System: the Simple Mechanics of Making More and Working Less by Sam Carpenter landed in my lap at a very fortuitous time. I was already knee-deep in one of those “what am I doing with my life” phases, trying to discern the difference between accomplishing something and accomplishing nothing (but staying very busy). I am always amazed at how fine the line is.

If you’ve never heard the phrase “fire killing” (I hadn’t), be advised before reading that it refers to attacking urgent problems (like an angry client on the phone) instead of focusing on what may actually be more important (like creating a corporate culture that creates fewer angry clients). It is one Carpenter’s favorites, and it illustrates perfectly the difference between “accomplishment” and “staying busy.” The phrase immediately reminded me of Stephen R. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – another book that stresses the “important” over the “urgent” as a key to leading a better life.

My mention of Covey’s 7 Habits is by no means unintentional, because I rank Work the System right up there with the two books that I think anyone who wants to actually do anything should read. One of them is 7 Habits, obviously. The other is Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, which is an invaluable guide for navigating the intricate pathways of human emotion and interaction.

That I am mentioning Work the System in the same company as 7 Habits and Emotional Intelligence is an enormous compliment, because those two books have long been the rocks upon which I based much of my world-view. I think, armed with the knowledge contained in these three books, one could make a very good run at leading a happy life and a successful business. In other words: Work the System is staying on my shelf, right where 7 Habits and E.I. would be (if I hadn’t given away my copies to people that I felt needed them more than I did).

Carpenter spends the first third of his book guiding the reader towards the same realization that he experienced 12-odd years ago. He calls this process “getting it,” and he will be writing a guest post or two about it in his guest series, which starts on Monday. Look forward to this, because life is not the same once you “get it.” Even if you already sort of “got it” before picking up the book (Carpenter does mention that there are, of course, people out there who “got it” long before he did – and many of them built very successful careers for themselves because of this), it will reenergize you.

An example: Mid-way through reading this book, I wrote up a budget for my household and began tracking our spending so that we wouldn’t end up going into debt this year for the day-to-day stuff like gas, groceries, and entertainment. And I reorganized my weekly schedule to free up some extra time in the evenings for my side-projects by wasting less time watching TV.

The greater changes are still to come, however. Carpenter’s book lays the foundation for a simple yet powerful shift in your life. Before reading it (if you’re not one of the rare few who already “get it”), it’s very likely that you’re spending a lot of time running on a treadmill without even realizing it. After reading it, you’re ready to take your run outside.

About the author: John J. Walters is a social media marketer with Wasabi Ventures, director of marketing with TestSoup, and a research associate with The Maryland Public Policy Institute.

But inertia has its uses, especially here in Silicon Valley. While it trivializes that condition, the statement that everyone (especially young entrepreneurs and VCs) has ADD is distressingly accurate. People swing wildly from “That will never work,” to “I told you it would work!” (And that’s just between board meetings!)

Eric Ries made a valiant attempt to address this with his Lean Startup methodology, which calls for startups to pivot (changing the business, but keeping crucial elements the same). Unfortunately, startups now seem to use “pivot” synonymously with “change everything about the business except the founders involved.”

Whenever someone proposes a change, I always ask, “Is this clearly better than what we’re already doing? Because as I recall, you thought you had some pretty good reasons when you made that initial decision.”

Change is shiny and new and exciting, but change also has a price (and we as eternal optimists always seem to underestimate that price, and overestimate the benefits). Try to be agile AND grounded.

About the author: Chris Yeh is a managing partner with Wasabi Ventures.  Follow him on Twitter or read his blog.

One of my favorite bloggers, Jonathan Fields, wrote a post about just that recently entitled Make More Bad Stuff.  He interviewed an accomplished guitar maker and confided that he had long thought about making his own guitar, but was deterred by the difficulty of the task.  The guitar maker’s advice?  Go make a really bad guitar.  Learn from it.  And then make one that’s less bad.  You’ll be making great guitars sooner or later.

The key part here that many neglect is the learning component.  You can’t just go out there and make mistakes all willy-nilly.  As a rule, be very careful about what you do “willy-nilly.”

The best way to make sure that you learn the right lessons from your mistakes is by conducting a project post-mortem.  These don’t have to be huge and formal (although they certainly can be, especially if it was a big project that involved a lot of people), but they do have to get done, and you do have to take them seriously.

I’ve been devoting a lot of thought to my most recent project, the Back to School Giveaway, which I organized for TestSoup along with five other co-sponsors.  We pulled together $150,000 worth of educational technology services and set up a raffle to give them away to 20 eligible schools.  The contest had over 250 entrants in the three weeks for which it ran.

Was it smashing success? No, definitely not.  But we got some promising leads for potential partnerships and made some decent connections with other companies in the edtech business.  We also scored TestSoup some extra exposure and gave away a bunch of product that will help educate kids, which always feels great.

But what did I learn?  Here are the highlights.

1) Don’t rely on other people.  Assume that everyone else involved in a project is just as busy (or busier) as you are.  Unless people specifically say that they will do something, don’t expect it.  So if your plan hinges on the active involvement of others, recruit those others carefully.

2) Spread the word in as many ways a possible every single day that you can.  If you are working on something that relies on sign-ups or participation from the public, you need to devote a massive amount of time and energy to getting the word out.  You cannot slack on this one, sorry.

3) Apply the “three times as much” standard.  This is a rule that my friends and I came up with for when we work on our cars.  Take as much time you think a new project will require and multiply that by three.  That’s how long you should actually budget for it.  Same goes for workload.  New stuff takes three times as long.  That’s because you need to figure out how to do it, do it once badly, and then do it again properly.

Granted, those are all just general business lessons that I learned from organizing the BTSG.  It’s not a true post-mortem (I do those privately, and mostly in my own head during contemplative walks), but there’s still some valuable information in there.  These are lessons that I would not have learned if I hadn’t put in the effort to run the contest and then to think critically about how it fared.

It may not be fun — or good for your ego — but conducting a post-mortem after each new project is an important step towards becoming a great entrepreneur.

About the author: John J. Walters is a freelancer with WasabiVentures, director of marketing with TestSoup, and a research associate with The Maryland Public Policy Institute.

In some cases their indecision is driven by the fact that they so love what they do that they would choose to one day die while doing it.

As a commitment to your craft, that takes some beating.

For the others, their lack of clarity about The Last Day comes from an over-emphasis on what’s happening in their lives today supported by three false assumptions.

1. That because a business makes them a lot of money today it will make them a lot of money for as long as they need it to.

2. That because a business makes them a lot of money it will make someone else a lot of money.

3. That selling a successful business is negotiated largely on their terms and results in their freedom.

If your company provides a service there are only two ways you can create a retirement from it:

• Make so much money while it it is successful that you don’t need the income once it’s not.
• Make yourself irrelevant to the success of your business.

If you do neither, you will one day reach a point when getting out is a lot more attractive than staying in. And your options for doing so will be slim and none.

Because any business built to be dependent on you dies when you die, which is disappointing for both your family and the employees that you leave behind.

And a considerable disincentive to prospective buyers.

Buyers buy businesses because of what they will do in the future. Not what they have done in the past.

And if the success of your company is dependent on your personal involvement, the only way you can sell it is by selling yourself along with it.

Which means that for three to five years you’ll be taking orders from someone else, doing it their way, and hoping their way doesn’t screw it up so badly that there’s actually money left to pay you when all is said and done. Not to mention the impact on your hard-earned legacy and reputation.

If your business depends on you and you want to retire in five years, start shopping for a buyer now. And then hope you can convince someone you’re not as good at running this business as they will be. And that you’re dying to work for them.

Or avoid all this by building a business to last. Regardless of who owns it.

This comes with a number of benefits. Including but not limited to: lifelong income; potential wealth; employee security; reward for loyalty; negotiation leverage; personal legacy; reputation; family security; quality of life; inner peace.

Actually the last one is less certain. We are complex beings, after all. The others are guaranteed.

It takes as much effort to build a business to last as one built only for today.

Doing so provides for that eventuality that overcomes all strategies: Death.

And will make your employees grateful for at least one thing when you’re gone: They get the use of your desk back.

About the author: Charles Day is a co-founder of The Lookinglass Consultancy.

To  a great extent, that depends on the development of a Business Plan.  Yes, I hear collective moans and groans emanating through cyber space at this very moment; but folks, numbers don’t lie.

Statistically, 11% of small businesses develop and execute from a written Business Plan while 89% of small businesses fail within the first 5 years — pretty simple math.

That said, let me debunk the myth that Business Plan development will require months and months of time, extended research, acquisition of comparable data and a several reams of paper.  It may evolve to that, but start small — develop a plan that will act as a benchmark for decisions about your business direction and focus.  Otherwise, (trust me) your focus will be all over the map, pursuing every new idea and nuance that may float by your peripheral vision.

Here’s a place to begin: The One Page Business Plan Company, a resource  I happened upon recently.  Curious to learn a bit more, I linked from their website and connected with them via email.  A response to my question came within hours… very impressive.  The next day a follow-up email came from the company President Jim Horan; even more impressive.  Why?  Because in this day and age, to receive a response, let alone a timely response to any email inquiry is unusual, and in this case, I received a personalized response and additional follow-up.

My bet is their professional response to my simple email inquiry is indicative of their organization as a whole, and of their product. Although I have not yet ordered the product, I very well may do so as my Business Plan is quite frankly archaic and could benefit from developing a fresh perspective.

Let me interject a disclaimer here.  If you are developing a small business in which you will be making applications for funding either from a bank or investor, your Business Plan will need to be developed to greater detail.  The One Page Business Plan looks to offer resources in that direction, or, your local community college can likely provide you with assistance as would SCORE.

About the author: Tracy Campbell is CEO of Simplicated, LLC, Productivity Consultant, trainer and speaker.

I was just as guilty of this when I started my first company which has now grown to over 100 employees.  I set the budget and determined the key strategies without any input from my employees.  So…. it should be no surprise we didn’t meet our goals.  It has taken me several years and endless hours of communicating with my staff to realize they truly didn’t make the connection between the strategy and how they personally had an impact on a day-to-day basis.

For example, turnover is costly for any company.  Therefore one of our strategy initiatives was to reduce turnover.  Everyone accepted this initiative and went about their business.  When we didn’t meet the target for the quarter, I started asking questions.  I quickly realized while they had accepted the target, they truly didn’t know HOW to make an impact.  By investing my time engaging and coaching my employees from a day-to-day perspective I have not only created loyal employees but have taught them how their actions (or non-actions) impacted turnover.  We also came to understand that accountability and reporting mechanisms were crucial to staying on track.   Needless to say, we have made great strides in reaching and exceeding our targets.

So what’s the takeaway?  Don’t ignore all the hype you’re hearing about engaging your employees to collaborate and communicate at all levels of your business.  Your employees want to make a difference in your business but may not know how.  It’s worth the investment by your management (and you) to engage their team through education and collaboration.   Besides, isn’t the main responsibility of a manager to grow future managers for your business?

About the author:  Denise Magill, founded Virtual RoundTable to help businesses incorporate wikis to capture their innovation as well as improve communication and collaboration amongst employees.  She also owns three franchises of Comfort Keepers.

People dream about opening businesses every day — some more often than others.  Many of us will try it out at some point, and almost as many of us will fail within the first few years.  Failure is a part of life, but it is even more a part of entrepreneurship.  Mistakes are inevitable, but with each challenge is an opportunity to learn, grow, and succeed.

Yet even the right attitude can be battered down from time to time.  This is when having a partner is crucial, for often just the support of someone else who believes in what you are doing as much as you do is enough to rekindle the fires.  They say persistence pays off, and in many cases they are right.  Most millionaires didn’t inherit their fortunes or make money in the sports of entertainment industries — they just kept plugging away at their small businesses until they could cash out.

How do you make sure that you’re partnering with someone that won’t let you down — someone that will help you see mistakes and problems as opportunities rather than devastating situations?  I’ll admit: this is a difficult question, and one that I would have absolutely no way of answering on my own.

Fortunately, the internet gives us access to many, many people that have far more experience than we do, regardless of the subject.  There are services out there that allow us to tap into their limitless potential with relative ease, and when you use them properly you sometimes come up with real gems.  Such was the case when I posed the question on IdeaOffer: “How does one go about choosing the right business partner?”

The best response was from Barbara Hemphill, someone who we hear from on this blog just about every month.  She adapted her advice from the work of two women who focus on leadership issues faced by female business-owners, although for the life of me I can’t see how this wouldn’t apply to men as well.  So without further ado, I bring you her list of ten points to ponder before you begin your next (or your first) business partnership.  If you can’t agree on these, then chances are you won’t make a very good team in the business world, even if you click on a personal level.

1. Values and Principles — What are the values and principles that we share and that we stand for?
2. Goals, priorities and accountabilities — Who is responsible for what and by when?
3. Vision and mission — What is the greater purpose for the existence of our partnership?
4. Healthy communications — What are our agreements around written, verbal, nonverbal communications with each other?
5. Conflict resolution — How will we resolve conflicts between us and what will we do if we cannot resolve them ourselves?
6. Financial — What are our financial arrangements with each other and with others?
7. Endings — How will we complete the partnership with integrity and an intact relationship?
8. Decision-making and authority — How are decisions made inside the partnership?
9. Intellectual Property — What, if any, of our partnership’s unique content do we each own or do we own together?
10. Personal Leadership — How will we empower each other’s unique strengths and qualities of leadership?

Now get out there and start looking for the right person to help you start that business you’ve been mulling over!

John J. Walters is a freelance associate with WasabiVentures

I spent last week in southern California visiting family for the holidays.  To get myself in the spirit I decided to read the corporate history of In-N-Out Burger, the legendary hamburger chain that has become a veritable emblem of Los Angeles culture.  There’s Hollywood, and then there’s In-N-Out.

An entrepreneur can learn a lot from this family-owned business, which has been slowly growing to its iconic status since 1948.  Here are the three biggest lessons I took from the book:

1) Do one thing; do it right. When Harry and Esther Snyder started In-N-Out they weren’t reinventing the wheel (although they did invent the drive-thru) — they simply decided to do what a lot of other people were doing, but better.  Their business model was simple: provide the best possible burgers at reasonable prices.  True, they happened to get into the fast-food game at a time and in a place of enormous growth, but if they hadn’t had this commitment to quality they would have been swallowed up by one of the larger chains like so many of their competitors.

2) Keep your focus. Keeping their focus on something they felt passionate about allowed the Snyders to stay successful through the tumultuous explosion of the fast-food industry.  In-N-Out was started as place that served the best burgers and so it stayed throughout its history.  While other chains were finding ways to expand as rapidly as possible (and sacrificing quality and service to do it), they kept their rollout slow and steady while maintaining a close watch over the standards that had made them a cult sensation.

3) No marketing department, no problem. While a lot of companies (especially startups) look to get noticed as quickly as possible, the Snyders recognized that the best publicity is word-of-mouth from satisfied customers.  It was a long time before In-N-Out started advertising, even modestly.  The fact that customers didn’t feel hustled by the business meant that they trusted the company more, and consequently felt more loyalty towards it.  This allowed In-N-Out to attract enormous crowds to new store openings, despite the fact that they almost never advertised them.  Grassroots marketing at its finest.

The “slow and steady” business model adopted by In-N-Out might not suit your business, but it’s hard to argue with the estimated $300 million in sales the company was generating in 2004 (when the corporate history ends).  Not bad for a family business that began life as two-person operation 56 years before in a small California suburb.

I am having a great bit of trouble with my boss.

I manage a team of 8 sales people in a high-tech industry.  My team consistently is one of the leading sales groups in our global company and it is a tight group that works well together.

What is the best approach for handling the situation and doing what is best for my own career and the company as a whole.

The answer from the crowd-sourced crew was from Natilady:

Looks like you can play this a few different ways.

Refuse to do as she says:
You could fight your boss on the issue tooth and nail…. and make an enemy in the process. You could refuse to do what she says and set yourself up for a charge of insubordination and a jobless future. If neither of these sounds reasonable, think about it in another way.

As long as the written trail of responsibility leads to her, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

The next time you find yourself in a moral tussle with your boss, these approaches may help.