Boredom: A Route To Creativity

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We live our lives, these days, with continuous stimulation – on-demand access to movies, articles, friends, books, games and music. With all possible, all the time, how can we hear ourselves think long enough for new and creative ideas to emerge?

I don’t know about you, but my mental commotion from a week of stress causes interminable noise coming from where my ideas should be. And given I’m a thinker, hearing myself think is fundamental. I tried freeing up an hour or two during a week to sit quietly in hopes of hearing my creative voice, but that wasn’t sufficient. I needed a broader time span free of the stimulations involved with daily living. And given my schedule, the only time I had available was weekends. Hence, weekends of boredom.

I now spend at least two weekends a month alone and off-line – off-line, as in no phone, no (on-line) social activity, and no email. A friend said “I would be bored out of my mind!” Precisely.

Do I like being bored? Not particularly. It’s not necessarily fun: sometimes I’m jumping out of my skin and must force myself to not call a friend. But if I can wait it out, I’m on my way to something unimaginable.

How I Create Boredom and Listen to Myself

Here’s my Idea Generating Action Plan for a weekend: I stimulate my mental component with gobs of fresh ideas (reading voraciously, listening to interviews of interesting people and interesting programs on NPR, watching documentaries); I walk 6 miles around the lake to stimulate my physical side; I listen to music and meditate to recruit my spiritual side. And by Sunday afternoon I’m ready to do nothing. To sit quietly and be bored. I sit. And sit. And then, just before I am ready to exterminate myself, the magic happens. The ideas begin to flow.

New ideas. Surprising ideas. Interesting ideas. Stupid ideas. I don’t judge. I just write them all down. This past weekend I began sketching out an Advanced Coaching program (based on my new book What?) to offer meta tools so coaches and leaders could hear clients without bias, assumptions, or triggers, and then know how to make the best interventions. First thing Monday I connected with two coaching schools who may have interest in collaborating. I’m not always this successful. But sometimes I am.

Boredom as a route to creativity is not for everyone. But I think many of us need something extreme to have the space to listen to ourselves, to have a block of time to clear our brain and silence our Internal Dialogue to enable our unique ideas. Some folks do this by going for a long run, or swim a mile or two. New ideas do emerge for me at the gym, but the inspirational ones – the hidden ones – come only after space and silence appear.

How do you listen to yourself? What are you listening for when you listen? Do you allow the time and space for an opening that enables emerging ideas? Ask yourself these questions, then ask the big one: What would you need to consider to be willing to take the time to hear yourself without barriers and literally brainstorm with yourself?

I now have many volumes of Idea Binders. Only about 20% of those ideas made it to completion although I do seek ways for each of them to develop. But if I hadn’t come up with them all, I would not have invented Buying Facilitation®, or invented a new form of question, or coded how we can hear each other without misinterpretation, or written 9 books or 1300 articles, or started up companies.

Try it. At least once – at least when an important meeting is coming up and you want to shine. Spend a weekend alone somewhere in the countryside, with no texting, no email, no telephone, no TV, no people. Nothin’. Then allow yourself to go a bit crazy. The silence of the first day might be a relief. By day two, when you’re jumping out of your skin, you might end up hearing a very creative voice inside. Maybe not. Maybe you will have wasted a weekend and will email me to tell me I’m nuts. But just maybe, you’ll hear yourself come up with the new, new thing. If you do, you can give me an attribution.

If you’re interested in listening without bias or assumptions, download my free book (no sign up required) on www.didihearyou.com. The book, What? Did you really say what I think I heard? is filled with original thinking on how we misinterpret, bias, misunderstand others, and how to close the gap between what’s said and what’s heard. It’s fun, practical, and (I’m told) is a game changer. Enjoy.

About the Author

Sharon Drew Morgen is founder of Morgen Facilitations, Inc. (www.newsalesparadigm.com). She is the visionary behind Buying Facilitation®, the decision facilitation model that enables people to change with integrity. A pioneer who has spoken about, written about, and taught the skills to help buyers buy, she is the author of the acclaimed New York Times Business Bestseller Selling with Integrity and Dirty Little Secrets: Why buyers can’t buy and sellers can’t sell and what you can do about it.

To contact Sharon Drew at sharondrew@sharondrewmorgen.com or go to www.didihearyou.com to choose your favorite digital site to download your free book.

The Big Picture of Business – Business Moving Forward From the Dirty Side of the Recession

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The economy and business climate are now on the dirty side of the recession. Recognizing the damages done results in healthier run companies for the future.

This is comparable to what is called the ‘dirty side’ of a storm, hurricane or other weather created disaster. During those clean-up periods, the infrastructure rebuilds and optimistically moves forward by correcting certain damages done by the storms.

Signs are that our economy has somewhat recovered from the second worst recession in history. Many companies kept their heads in the sand during the economic downturn, fully intending to return to business as usual.

What happened in the recession was that many businesses went under. In my professional opinion, 25% of those that faded away probably should have. A great many frail companies were not on firm foundations and had abdicated their abilities to improve and serve customer bases.

As fallout from the recession, many people were thrown into the workforce. Many fell into jobs for which they were not suited. Many downsized and out-of-work people were forced to reinvent themselves.

Many became ‘consultants’ of one sort or another. Many fell victim to frauds and scams. Services and websites sprung up to capitalize upon the avalanche of new entrepreneurs. Some sites offered the platform to become a consultant with a national firm by paying them subscription fees. The already inflated world of ‘reputation management’ websites lured people into buying advertising in order to create the facade of being a ‘consultant.’

Distinctions must be drawn into three consulting categories (and percentages of their occurrence in the marketplace):

  1. Vendors selling products which were produced by others. Those who sell their own produced works are designated as subcontractors. (82.99%)
  2. Consultants conduct programs designed by their companies, in repetitive motion. Their work is off-the-shelf, conforms to an established mode of operation, contains original thought and draws precedents from experience. (17%)
  3. High level strategists create all knowledge in their consulting. It is original, customized to the client and contains creativity and insight not available elsewhere. (0.01%)
      4. As one distinguishes past vendors and subcontractors, there are six types within the 18% which constitute consultants (with their percentages in the marketplace):

      1. Those who still lead in an industry and have specific niche expertise. (13.5%)
      2. Those who were downsized, out-placed or decided not to stay in the corporate fold and evolved into consulting. (28%)
      3. Out of work people who hang out consulting shingles in between jobs. (32%)
      4. Freelancers and moonlighters, whose consultancy may or may not relate to their day jobs. (16%)
      5. Veteran consultants who were trained for and have a track record in actual consulting. That’s what they have done for most of their careers. (2%)
      6. Sadly, there is another category: opportunists who masquerade as consultants, entrepreneurs who disguise their selling as consulting, people who routinely change niches as the dollars go. (8.5%)

      Clients are confused and under-educated, not able to discern the ‘real deal’ consultants from the hype. That is why those of us who are veterans write these articles, speak and advise on best practices. Enlightened clients hire real consultants and get great value, as opposed to companies who fall prey to under-prepared resources.

      There are five generations in workforce, more than any time in our history. Each generation has different working styles and must be considered according to their attributes. Age discrimination for workers over 40 is rampant and cruel.

      Workplace illiteracy is higher than ever before. 50% of employees in the business world are considered functionally illiterate.

      Society must not be lulled into a false sense of security right now. The recovery phase of the recession has been steady and real. Much of the damage was done and will take years to fix. This could cause the next recession.

      I believe that small business is resilient and will try its best to stay on firm grounding. Wise entrepreneurs will bring in qualified mentors, as opposed to wanna-be consultants. Cool heads will prevail, and small business will recover and prosper.

      Small business has learned many lessons from the recession. While some will still fight change and adhere to the same processes that got them into trouble, I see great opportunities for forward-focused businesses.

      Paying attention to quality can realize:

      • Lower operating costs. Research shows they can be cut in half.
      • Premium pricing for preferred goods/services.
      • Customer retention.
      • Enhanced reputation.
      • Access to global markets.
      • Faster innovation.
      • Higher sales.
      • Higher return on investments.

      The biggest source of growth and increased opportunities in today’s business climate lie in the way that individuals and companies work together.

      It is becoming increasingly rare to find an individual or organization that has not yet been required to team with others. Lone rangers and sole-source providers simply cannot succeed in competitive environments and global economies. Those who benefit from collaborations, rather than become the victim of them, will log the biggest successes in business years ahead.

      Just as empowerment, team building and other processes apply to formal organizational structures, then teamings of independents can likewise benefit from the concepts. There are rules of protocol that support and protect partnerships, having a direct relationship to those who profit most.

      Professionals who succeed the most are the products of mentoring. The mentor is a resource for business trends, societal issues and opportunities. The mentor becomes a role model, offering insights about their own life-career. This reflection shows the mentee levels of thinking and perception which were not previously available. The mentor is an advocate for progress and change. Such work empowers the mentee to hear, accept, believe and get results. The sharing of trust and ideas leads to developing business philosophies.

      About the Author

      Hank MoorePower Stars to Light the Business Flame, by Hank Moore, encompasses a full-scope business perspective, invaluable for the corporate and small business markets. It is a compendium book, containing quotes and extrapolations into business culture, arranged in 76 business categories.

      Hank’s latest book functions as a ‘PDR of business,’ a view of Big Picture strategies, methodologies and recommendations. This is a creative way of re-treading old knowledge to enable executives to master change rather than feel as they’re victims of it.

      Power Stars to Light the Business Flame is now out in all three e-book formats: iTunes, Kindle, and Nook.

The risk of 9 to 5. And the reality of BEFORE and AFTER.

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95 percent of all salespeople try to fit their sales day into a normal workday. They want their day to be from 9 to 5, maybe from 8 to 5, maybe even from 8 to 6, but very little before that or after that.

The reality is, that 9 to 5 is the riskiest time and the worst time to make sales. Especially a new sale, a sales call, or a cold call to a prospect. People are busy doing THEIR stuff from 9 to 5.

NOTE WELL: If you have a solid relationship with your customer, and are doing ongoing business, you have a good chance of making a daytime appointment. But a new sale, or a new prospect, you have virtually zero 9 to 5 chance.

And salespeople continually beat their heads against the wall, and sales managers continually demand more activity, even as foolish as cold call, in order to get their numbers up, when in fact numbers do not go up from 9 to 5, unless they are with existing customers.

From 9 to 5, people are busy working, not buying. Real salespeople make sales from 7 to 9 in the morning, and from five until seven or eight in the evening, and at breakfast and lunch.

Only about 5 percent of sales people get this. The 5 percent that make all the sales.

My financial planner, Walter Putnam says, “The best thing to know is: the best time to have meaningful conversation. And the best way to find out is to ask the prospect or customer. And get a date at the same time.” In other words, when you ask the question, make the appointment.

This self-assessment will reveal your opportunities or missed opportunities:

  • How many hours a week are you working or networking BEFORE the workday starts? Five hours a week is a great number.
  • How many hours a week are you working or networking AFTER the workday is over? Five hours a week is a great number.
  • Who are you meeting for early morning coffee? Why not have a daily coffee with a customer?
  • Who are you meeting for breakfast? Why not have 2 business breakfasts a week?
  • Who are you meeting for lunch? Have lunch with an existing customer once a week and bring a prospect for them.
  • Where are you networking before 9 and after 5? At least two events or groups per week.
  • Are you a member of a business development group like BNI? At least one group.
  • Where are your face-to-face meetings occurring in order to maximize your exposure, and your sales opportunities? Where are your sales taking place?
  • Who is NOT returning your calls? WHY?
  • Who is NOT setting an appointment? WHY?

These are challenge questions to determine the productive use of time before and after normal work hours. From 9-5 you’re busy chasing people, leaving voice mails, and being frustrated by a consistent lack of progress. More than half of your time will be wasted (you just don’t know which half).

Sales require relationship building. Not just for loyalty of existing customer base, but also to earn referrals and testimonials. Early and late sales meetings net positive outcomes. And early-late prospecting is MUCH MORE relaxed.

What can you do? Here are 7.5 things to enhance your relationships and your sales results. CAUTION: They require WORK.

1. Establish a mutually agreeable game plan with EACH existing customer. Not just how to sell, but also how you will help them.

2. Discover and document ‘best times,’ ‘best topics,’ and ‘most important.’

3. Reach and engage customers and prospects socially.

4. Meet for early morning coffee every day if you can.

5. Send a weekly value message to everyone.

6. GIVE referrals.

7. Seek leadership positions in every group you join.

7.5 Study your struggles and your successes. Identify where your last ten sales came from, because it’s likely your next ten will come from the same places.

The key point of understanding is the difference between a job in sales, and a dedicated, relationship based sales career. Which do you have?

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey GitomerJeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at salesman@gitomer.com.

How’s your networking working? Better if you follow the rules.

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I went to a networking meeting last week hosted by a formal networking organization called Business Network International.

Many of you know this group. They have meetings all over the world. This particular chapter meeting was in New York City, and is populated by sophisticated business people who are on fire.

NOTE WELL: NYC business people, in general, take no prisoners. This BNI chapter takes no amateurs. And their meetings are exceptionally well structured.

I went as a guest – without an agenda – just to meet people and provide value.

HISTORY: I began my networking career more than 25 years ago, so I consider myself a relatively sophisticated meeting attendee. This particular meeting is a pure networking group, rather than a social networking event, like a Chamber of Commerce meeting or an association meting.

The group predominantly meets to give business and get business. My interest was to meet new people, and observe how the meeting was run.

Before we get too deep into BNI and the NYC group, I’d like to review some networking imperatives in case you’re about to go to one of these meetings.

NOTE WELL: Most people take networking for granted, and think of it more as a place to meet friends and clients rather than capture an opportunity. They also fail to realize that people, whether you know them or not, are cultivating an impression of you – not just about you look like, but also based on how you act and how you dress.

Your physical presence, your physiology, and your communication prowess can determine whether the outcome is business or no business.

These are my top 9.5 rules for achieving positive and profitable networking results:
1. I shake and look. When I shake someone’s hand, it’s a firm grasp and a direct look in the eye.
2. I smile. Even in New York City. I found that by giving smile, I get a smile.
3. I ask before I tell. Whether I ask for their name, or a simple “how are you?” I want to hear the other person before they hear me.
4. I give before I get. I have always tried to make connections for others before I ask for one myself.
5. I don’t make small talk. I make big talk. I don’t want to talk about the weather. I want to talk about life and business life.
6. I want to make certain that I take a ‘next step’ if the opportunity is there. Anything from a simple exchange of business cards, to a cup of coffee, to an office meeting, to an invite to a social event, I want to make sure that my objective is achieved before I leave to talk to the next person.
7. Known or unknown? That is the question. I prefer to invest the majority of my networking time with people that I do not know. The reason is that I tend to make small talk with people that I know, and bigger talk with people that I don’t know. My personal rule has always been, small talk leads to small business or no business, and big talk leads to big business, or the opportunity for big business.
8. I like everyone and qualify no one. If you like people, it’s likely they will like you back. If you try to qualify people (by asking them questions about money or circumstance), their guard will go up.
9. Every connection need not be a sale. Make friends, build rapport, and provide value to everyone without prejudging or qualifying them. I refer to it as: “the rule of you never know.” And “you never know” has no time limit. Sometimes “you never know” happens in a week, and sometimes it happens 5 years later. That’s why it’s called “you never know.”
9.5 I am brief. Time allocation at a networking event is not an option. If there are 60 people in the room and the meeting lasts for one hour, you have 1 minute per person if you want to meet everyone. If you take 5 minutes with each person, you can only meet 12 people. The choice is yours, but be aware of time.

I’ve just given you the parameters, the guidelines, and the rules that I have personally been following for 25 years. There are other rules and you can find them in my Little Black Book of Connections, but these are the major ones that will make connections, make appointments, build relationships, and ultimately make sales.

Next week I am going to talk about why the BNI meeting was incredible, and how you can learn from it. Stay tuned.

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey GitomerJeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at salesman@gitomer.com.

Take Charge of Your Meetings!

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Meetings are essential for any business. They give everyone an opportunity to share ideas and be kept up-to-date on important information. However, all too often, poor communication can turn a meeting into a drawn-out, ineffective waste of time. There are several techniques that you can master to transform your communication skills and conduct your meetings like the effective business leader you are. Here are five tips to help you transform your meetings from a waste of time to an effective meeting of the minds:

  1. Speech skills matter! It doesn’t matter how intelligent or innovative your ideas are if no one can understand you. Many people speak more quickly when they’re excited or nervous, which decreases the clarity of their speech. Keep tabs on your rate of speech and make sure you’re not running your words together. Also, enunciate all of the letters in each word, especially the sounds at the ends of words. Missing the final sound of a word can change the meaning entirely and cause confusion.
  2. Speak up: One of the biggest issues in a group setting is miscommunication. If you don’t fully understand someone’s point or miss part of what has been said, speak up and ask questions. Even if it doesn’t seem critical at the time, misunderstandings can be a big waste of time and energy in the long run, and odds are if you are confused, so is someone else. Asking questions and requesting clarification can go a long way towards avoiding long-term misunderstandings.
  3. Remember the two ‘C’s: When speaking in a business meeting, don’t forget to be clear and concise. Remember that the main point of a meeting is communicating information, not trying to impress your colleagues with your oratory skills or large vocabulary. Before you speak, think about what you are going to say and make sure you’re making your point in the shortest, most direct way possible.
  4. Make sure no one dominates the conversation: Everyone has different communication styles and different levels of comfort about talking in a meeting environment. Unfortunately, this can often lead to one or two outspoken individuals dominating the meeting, causing an imbalance in the conversation. While you don’t want to discourage open speech, it’s important to maintain some balance for an effective flow of communication and ideas. If you feel someone has dominated a topic, politely move the conversation along by saying something like, “It sounds like you have some great ideas, and I’d love to chat about them later, but unfortunately we’re a bit short on time right now so we need to move on.”
  5. Be a good listener: Often people are so focused on how they can contribute to the conversation and sound intelligent, they spend their time internally planning what they want to say instead of listening to the person who is actually speaking. This can result in missing key information and misunderstandings. Not only is it essential to really listen, but also to visually communicate to the speaker that you’re listening. Sit up straight, look directly at the speaker, and maintain eye contact. Never fiddle with your phone or check your e-mail or messages; this is not only rude, but gives the impression you’re mentally checked out of the meeting. Now and then, nod to show that you understand. These are all ways to let the speaker know that you are really listening. Remember, you listen with your whole body, not just your ears!

About the Author

Jayne LatzJayne Latz is an expert in communication and CEO of Corporate Speech Solutions, LLC. She has worked as a speech trainer, coach, professional speaker, and has co-authored two books titled, Talking Business: A Guide to Professional Communication and Talking Business: When English is Your Second Language. She was recently featured in The Wall Street Journal and on The TODAY Show.

If you are interested in learning more ways to improve your business communication skills, contact Jayne at info@corporatespeechsolutions.com or visit www.corporatespeechsolutions.com.