Old school, new school

Last week I highlighted a trap many entrepreneurs fall into; the need to innovate everything. Another trap is the need to make everything ‘new school’.

Jumping on the latest thing isn’t always smart, in fact sometimes it can be downright stupid. When assessing change you need to consider if this is a trend or a fad.

Most are fads.

Jumping from fad to fad is a great way to kill a business.

‘Old school’ has its place. Some things have stood the test of time for a reason. Some values are the foundation of good practice regardless of what time we are at in history.

In this TED talk by the late UCLA Bruins coach, John Wooden, he shares what I believe are the foundations of success in any arena. John Wooden is someone I admire and respect and this is well worth a watch.

Old school?

New school?

Innovation’s good, right?

A trap entrepreneurs fall into is feeling the need to innovate everything. The problem with this approach is that not everything needs innovation. You only need to innovate that which needs changing, that which will differentiate you in the marketplace.

The problem with innovating everything is that nothing gets finished, and you reinvent the wheel over and over.

In many areas of your business, standard practice is probably better that you already have, so use it.

But equally, don’t fall into the trap of using standard practice in the things that really matter, the things that need chancing, the things that will differentiate you.

Be selective with what you innovate and do the best you can.

Culture = performance

Culture = performance Culture is critical to a business, and so is performance.

You can’t have a good culture with poor or average performance, they go hand in hand.

Sometimes the best way to address a poor culture is to address the performance, because as that improves you get a chance to also improve the culture.

Culture is like the cake, performance is like the icing. If your cake it iced in dog shit then address the dog shit first because no matter how tasty the cake is, no one’s going to eat it.

Sam Hazledine, author Unfair Fight

We all want to be different. Right?

We all want to be different. Right? Almost all business owners are always focusing on being different.

Some are focusing on being better.

Even fewer are focusing on both.

Sam Hazledine, author Unfair Fight

Make today your masterpiece

Make today your masterpiece I was driving to our Gold Coast office this morning, and because I’d left my life planner at home and was not able to write out the values I choose to live by which I do every morning, I decided to say them out loud.

So this morning I expressed out loud my choice as to how I was going to live today. Then I made a decision to live that way. Then I gave gratitude for this gift that today is and resolved to make it a masterpiece. I did this over and over with total certainty and fully emotionally engaged.

It was powerful. I connected with who I am at my best, and I felt grateful for that person.

I got pretty carried away, I’m sure people next to me at the traffic lights thought I was mad, but I’ll never see them again and I don’t care what others think of me, I do care about how I show up today and what I think of myself though.

Today is a gift, and what you do with it is your choice.

Make it your masterpiece.

Sam Hazledine, author Unfair Fight