Outliers: The Story of Success
December 9, 2008 | Tom Suddes
Malcolm Gladwell, of TIPPING POINT and BLINK fame, writes an interesting book (Outliers: The Storry of Success) on what separates the ‘highly successful’ from everyone else.
Here are his five steps to SUCCESS:
- Find MEANING and INSPIRATION in your work. (That’s easy if you’re working at a For Impact Organization!)
- Work hard. (That seems to be a given in the 3rd Sector.)
- Discover the relationship between EFFORT and REWARD. (This is where we need some work. 97% of funding comes from 3% of our people. Lions, Mice & Antelopes. The Triple Ask.)
- Seek out complex work to avoid boredom and repetition. (I’m all about avoiding boredom and repetition. I’m not sure about the “complex” work. Think Big. Build Simple. Act Now. You won’t be bored.)
- Be autonomous and control your own destiny as much as possible. (For Impact Leaders, Social Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurs in General, Intrapreneurs, etc.)
Special Note: This may be the major reason I enjoyed this book. Gladwell writes that talent and IQ don’t matter as much as we think they do (vis-à-vis success). That means I’ve still got a chance.
Pick up this book. Gladwell’s style is easy to read, and full of insights.
May 8, 2006 | Tom Suddes
Nick had me pick up a Sports Illustrated over the weekend. Lance Armstrong is on the cover. LANCE NOW.
If you are in the FOR IMPACT WORLD , it’s impossible to read this article and not be motivated by some of the ‘nuggets’!
Here’s a quick sample:
- THE LOOK. Represents determination, persistence, I’m going to do this … whatever it takes. “Can this persistence be annoying? Absolutely. But it is useful in someone who intends nothing less than to CHANGE THE WORLD . ” (My caps.)
- THE BIG GOAL. Dr. Andrew von Eeschenbach, Director of the National Cancer Institute, set the goal of “ELIMINATING CANCER AS A CAUSE OF SUFFERING AND DEATH BY THE YEAR 2015.” He went on to say that “without the spur of a deadline , big goals are MEANINGLESS.” He took a lot of heat. Still is. But, laying out the VISION and the GOAL … with a TIMETABLE is critical.
- BONO. Bono says about Armstrong, “Most people don’t believe that the world can be CHANGED. Lance is different. He understands that hills can be climbed, and he isn’t even depressed when, upon reaching the summit of one, he sees a larger one (ahead). He’s used to that. That’s what Lance Armstrong stands for.”
- OPTIONS. I love this. On February 17 the, Lance Armstrong Foundation brought together some of the brightest minds in the fight against cancer. (Think Leadership Consensus Building/Vision Day!) The panelists were instructed to put all OPTIONS on the table and SUSPEND DISBELIEF. “Don’t think about what can’t happen because of current realities. Think about what NEEDS to happen in your field.”
Every one of us in the For Impact world needs to ‘PUT ALL THE OPTIONS ON THE TABLE’ and ‘SUSPEND DISBELIEF’ if we want to CHANGE THE WORLD! - MORE THAN A SPECIAL EVENT. LAF GALAS are one of the few ’special events’ that actually raise a lot of money. (NET. NET. NET.) One week last fall, LAF ‘fundraisers’ in Austin and New York took in $12 Million. But, unless you’re LANCE ARMSTRONG, with his legion of contacts, network and followers, stay focused on MAJOR GIFTS! Even Lance understands that! He goes on to say, “While it is great to raise a million or a hundred million or two hundred million, what we really need is the B word and that’s BILLIONS!”
- THINK BIG. That’s right, BILLIONS! In fact, when Armstrong was with President Bush at the ranch in Texas, he was asked by Bush what he needed in the fight against the disease. Armstrong replied, “A BILLION DOLLARS.” *To grab people’s attention, I used to suggest to ask everyone you meet for a MILLION DOLLARS. As always, Lance raises the stakes. Maybe we should be asking people for a BILLION DOLLARS!
- NO MAGIC BULLET. von Eeschenbach says, “A lot of people in cancer are still looking for the magic bullet. Lance has demonstrated that it’s not magic. It’s personal commitment, bringing all the pieces together. There’s no simple solution, BUT THE IMPOSSIBLE CAN BE POSSIBLE.” Pretty clear.
- KAIZEN & TWEAK. “Lance is not about INCREMENTAL progress. He wants to do something DISRUPTIVE in this fight. Meaning, very BIG.” Dave Lyon, the LAF Marketing Director. (THINK BIG!)
- EVEYRTHING’S AN OPTION. Armstrong is talking about his new house. Points out a massive oak tree that appears to have been in that spot for a least a century. “That tree right there? Used to be over there.” (He points to a lot 200 yards away.) “I can’t believe that was an option,” says a visitor. Armstrong responds in a tone suggesting the visitor has not been paying attention: “C’MON, MAN. EVERYTHING’S AN OPTION.”
New Sources of Ideas and Inspiration
February 27, 2006 | Tom Suddes
One of the things I learned a long, long time ago (from really smart, creative and innovative people) was that you need to READ and SEE “OUTSIDE” your SECTOR/ SUBJECT AREA.
If you only read things within your “industry” (nonprofit world) or specialty (finance, social service, education or development), you will just be reviewing a lot of STATIC, STAGNANT THINKING.
Here are some recommendations:
- 3 MANDATORY Reads: Magazines
- FAST COMPANY (Great ’stuff’ to spur creativity and innovation!)
- INC. (Valuable, relevant ideas to help your run your FIO.)
- Any magazine you can find at Barnes & Noble on DESIGN.
- 3 MANDATORY READS: Newspapers
- USA Today (A very ‘fast’ read with a much broader perspective, with some terrific, positive articles.)
- A SUNDAY PAPER from OUTSIDE your city.
- Your Local ‘Business’ Paper. Great articles. Great leads.
- 3 ‘VISITS’ with your TEAM
- A DESIGN Place (IKEA, Crate & Barrel, A Museum)
- An ‘EXPERIENCE’. Take the team to Cirque du Soleil, the next Pixar movie (Cars), whatever. (If they can come up with this imaginative fun movie about CARS … think what you can do!) Or, even go into Starbucks and view the ‘EXPERIENCE’ together.
- The OUTDOORS. Nothing beats the mountains, the desert or a beach to get your creative juices flowing.
P.S. When you TRAVEL, you should always try:
- A walk/run to explore the city … looking for ads, signs, marketing ideas, new billboards, innovative delivery and service practices, etc.
- Always check out a museum or some other DESIGN space … for ideas.
- Restaurant/Food … but instead of going there just to “eat”, try going there for the “experience” and see how they treat customers, present the menu and the food, follow-up, “sell”, etc.
February 9, 2006 | Nick Fellers
I picked up a new book by business turnaround expert Gary Sutton called Corporate Canaries: Avoid Business Disasters with a Coal Minder’s Secret’s. It’s one of those brutal, simple truth reads where the author points out simple logic in a profound way.
Sutton says this book is all about avoiding disasters but I think it’s more about identifying the factors that can have the most dramatic effect on an organization’s finances.
First chapter: ‘You can’t outgrow losses’. To me, this is saying DO THE MATH (and address that issue FIRST). If you’re losing money on sales then more sales is not the answer. So, the For Impact corollary would be that if you’re losing money on fundraising activities - then more of them is not the answer. Seems simple … right?
“Fix profits first. Then add business … And going for more volume with bad margins only makes you die faster.”
More special events … more direct mail … more grant proposals is not the answer. (See … No More)
Fix profits (cost of fundraising) first: SALES (project-related gifts from individuals/corporations/foundations - major gifts). ABANDON special events, direct mail, phonathons, etc. THEN grow your sales operation …. First step to a major TURNAROUND.
This book is a quick and worthy read to help you AVOID disasters (watch the canary warning system) or make a quick TURNAROUND.
I also love chapter four: ‘Any Decision Beats No Decision’ … but that’s another nugget.
The Power Of Opposite Thinking
January 26, 2006 | Tom Suddes
As always, I read my Inc. magazine cover to cover as soon as it came.
Adam Hanft (Grist at Inc.com) always has some “good stuff” on the last page of Inc. magazine every month.
THE POWER OF OPPOSITE THINKING is producing “whiplash inducing reversals (that) seem to be occurring on a near daily basis” . Long held positions are being reconsidered with game-changing agility. “That’s a healthy trend for business and the culture at large.”
Hanft gives a number of powerful examples including Microsoft making software compatible with Linux, major television networks subverting their own business model and selling program through the web and on iPods, and IBM selling its computer business to the Chinese company, Lenovo.
A terrific part of his column begins with this question: “When was the last time you considered the impossible?”
Then, this line that every For Impact leader and social entrepreneur needs to hear.
“Think about the ONE and probably HEART STOPPING STRATEGIC TURN you can make in your business (organization) …”
He has a different ending. I would simply say: MAKE IT/TAKE IT … (THE HEART STOPPING STRATEGIC TURN).
December 21, 2005 | Nick Fellers
I’ve had Jim Collins’ ‘monograph’ in my bag for two weeks and finally had time to read and digest on a plane yesterday. It will only take you twenty minutes to read but the words deserve much more time to digest - great stuff.
We need to write more extensively about Collins’ add-on to Good to Great but I wanted to post one tiny little line that’s been stuck in my head for the past day.
Collins writes that one of outputs of a great organization is that it makes a distinct impact. More specifically,
So … digest that one for a while. That’s really BIG THINKING and I love it.
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