Business needs its five a day

In yet another autobiography ( I think he writes one a year), The Fry Chronicles, Penguin Group 2010; the ubiquitous comedian Stephen Fry explains ‘If you are hungry for food you are prepared to hunt high and low for it.  If you are hungry for information it is the same.  Information is all around us, now more than ever before in human history.  You barely have to stir or incommode yourself to find things out.’  He then expounds frustrations of people’s failure to understand this.  ‘Incuriosity is the oddest and most foolish failing there is’.  I suspect if you asked a seasoned homicide detective, a veteran paramedic or serving infantry soldier in a troubled war zone, they may have a different view of what really is the most foolish failing of mankind; but let’s debate that another time.

Back to the Fry theory; is all information really out there?  Yes it is and guess what?  It is free!  We just need to enlist the help of our electronic cousins; Bing, Google, Mozilla, Yahoo, Explorer or my mate Dave Gibbs (if you ever enter a pub quiz or need phone a friend choose Dave above the others).

Some examples:

What is the highest peak of engineering capacity output in the UK this year?  BING, Free

What is the % demand for cruise holidays within the over 50’s age group in Europe?  Yahoo Free

Which car has the most environmentally efficient engine output in China?  Google, Free

Where are the projected data centre market trends for EMEA?  Mozilla, Free

What is the capital of Bolivia?  Dave, Free

FREE, FREE, FREE.

But that is not it; using the Fry comparison, if food was free then you would still need your internal complex bodily functions to convert it to fuel and the ability to grow, see, feel, hear, breath, run, fight and not just survive but compete.  These complex functions; your heart, lungs, liver, intestines, muscle groups, digestive tract.

Business information is free and you still, and will always, need your internal complex business functions to convert it to energy and the ability to grow, operate, sell, market, lead, integrate, change, and be highly competitive.  These complex functions; your people.

In case of impending litigation (my lawyers have asked me to state) I must qualify that not all information is free; Dave generally works for a pint of lager and a packet of twiglets.

Oh, and a final question I randomly placed into any of the virus free accredited search engines; How can I improve absolutely any part of my business beyond the dreams of Araby?  The unswerving response every time as below.

http://www.zestbusinesscoaching.co.uk/index.php

Try it out, it is an amazing solution.

Christmas is not just for Christmas

Who is your favourite member of the Royal family?  Well I can tell you who mine isn’t; Prince Albert of Sax-Coburg (Queen Victoria's husband).  History attributes him for the introduction of the Christmas tree to the UK.  This Pagan tradition was already known to the Royals in Germany and Victoria was already aware of this before she met Albert so she has some part in the blame!  The, sorry, my, Christmas tree is unlike many other modern ‘bolt ons’ to the original Christian celebrations;  a red robed red faced Santa introduced as a marketing campaign by Coca Cola in the 1930’s, stuffing socks full of gifts replicated from a Dutch philanthropist in 1200, Christmas cards first seen in 1843 after Sir Henry Cole created the idea to help young boys practice their writing skills.  Even the ancient Celts believed mistletoe to have magical healing powers and it is said that among Romans, enemies who met under mistletoe would lay down their weapons and embrace.  None of these symbols of our year end marker of personal meaning have the destructive influence of the tree!

Every year I engage my dexterity, influence, assertiveness, patience and emotional intelligence in a ritualistic contest against an artificial Christmas tree.  The tournament usually commences in mid-December with an eye to berry across the loft encounter followed by a flurry of activity down the step ladder chased by cardboard boxes, stems, branches, colour coded inserts, plastic decorations and exploding dust bombs of synthetic snow; this does not of course include the wondrous fairy lights which baffle the art of electric circuitry.  Hours later I emerge triumphant, tree intact, house empty; note from family explaining they will be back when I’m in a better mood.

This is however a pattern.  By the sheer consistency of my toil every year( for the past eight years), I have the forecast; let’s face facts, I can be be assured when Christmas is coming.  I know the data set, I know the logistics, I know the challenges, I can predict the problems and I can identify the root cause (no pun).  And if I am perfectly mapped and planned, in January I could adjust my projections and problem solve it.

We all run patterns in our lives, some helpful some not so; equally your business will run patterns with the same equality of balance and yes of course there are some chaotic theories and capricious intervals, but these will be matched by equivalent predictable events.  Ask yourself, what you know about your business in twelve months’ time that you already know now?  When is your busiest period? When is the lowest resource time?  When is the quietest?  Where are your critical calendar times?  Throw yourself twelve months into the future and tackle it from there.  Future solutions focused business coaching is here and available.

http://www.zestbusinesscoaching.co.uk/team_business_coaching.php

What is your business Christmas tree?

I mentioned earlier the test of my emotional intelligence.  Here at Zest we are deeply involved with many organisations in Emotional Quotient profiling for senior leaders and therefore increasing performance capability.

http://www.zestbusinesscoaching.co.uk/emotional_intelligence_profiling.php

The profiling asks you a series of questions based on your emotional reaction against certain circumstances.  Having completed one such EQi 2 profile myself, I am very proud to say that I have a higher than the norm score.  The reason for this, I now suspect, is that the new process has omitted a key question-  ‘How do you feel after construction of an artificial Christmas Tree?’

Tune in next year for ‘How to put a tree back in a box’.