My catch phrase is "Turning Opportunities into Profits". I enjoy business and business is about being profitable. Quite frankly, with no profit there is no business. Only a charity that will eventually fade away.
Business is about serving the customer so well they don't want to work with anyone else. You want to solve their problems for them.
Problem Solving is my core skill. Before I had a degree in Engineering, I could fix some of my family's and friends toy's. I fixed my and their bikes, put chains back on the sprocket, adjusted the gear changer so chains would not fall off the ends of the gears.
My father is a do it yourselfer, so I learned by watching and helping. Watching Dad change the tubes on the television (the black & white one), building and painting sheds, gardening, maintaining pool filters, building a trellis for mom, and of course maintaining the cars. It is amazing the patience he had to let us try what he could do in seconds so we would learn.
At fifteen I started working on cars. I insisted on taking Auto Shop as an school option for one semester. Dad bought a meter and a timing light to interest me in taking care of the cars, and was shocked as I taught him what it was for and how to use it. Typical teenager I was car crazy and fascinated with them today. Hybrids are cool, and I have been waiting for hydrogen cars for to come for over 25 years. Thank you BMW for answering that desire. Can't wait for a ride in one.
At sixteen I learned to use computers. I started with teletypes and punch cards. Yes I am an antique. Same time I learned about cars and computers, I also learned to swear. Not sure which one led to that :)
My engineering education and experience taught me how to solve more problems. The facinating thing to me is how little it was calculations to do things, and more about common sense and working with people. Then again my favorite professor in college only taught one formula per semester, and probably needed a calculator to balance his checkbook. So computers can only help us do our work, not think for us.
Now I enjoy growing and fixing businesses. Great products and great services only happen when a small committed team infects everyone to do it together. Someone has to decide lets do it, and the leader has to commit to make it happen. Then magic happens. Airplanes fly, cars get safer, air gets less pollution, more food gets grown, and man can walk on the moon.
So how does a business turnaround from losing money? From losing customers? From having poor quality products and services? It is the same thing. Someone commits to doing it. A leader creates a small team that decides it has no option but to succeed. People don't feel sorry for themselves, and do the hard work it takes to make the customer happy. The team grows, struggles, succeeds a little, fails some, learns and improves. The team solves a couple problems, grows some more, and tackles bringing out new products or services. Along the way, more problems get solved, customers get made happy, and pride comes in being part of a successful business.
That is how you can turnaround businesses.
Steve
PS - Look forward to more thoughts on business, life and problem solving...
April 21, 2007
April 2, 2007
How to Solve Any Problem
How to Solve Any Problem
by Steve Amos © Copyright 2007
If you do not have any problems, you can skip this article. Notice everyone is still reading... :)
Life is full of problems. We encounter them daily in business and in our personal lives. How we handle problems often dictates how others perceive us, our position, and how much we earn.
Here are the basics to successfully solve any problem:
1. Really want to resolve it. Most people are “Wouldn’t it be nice if this went away.” You have to be really ready to change. There are going to be obstacles and failures. It is going to take time and effort. It will upset some people to solve your problem. It can upset you to solve your problem.
To fix anything, someone has to change what they or you are doing. There is a natural resistance to change that does not go away easy. We have all said “That’s the way we always do it” at some point in our life.
2. Why is it a Problem? Who does it bother? Your customer, your coworker, your boss, your significant other, or is it you who are bothered? Why are they bothered? Once you have identified the problem, you can do something about it.
3. What are the causes? What causes affect your problem? Why do the sources do that? Somewhere there is a reason the task was started. The secret is to track back down to the root causes. Then break down what variables can affect your problem. Then you can try changing the variables to see if you can find a solution. This is a basic description of the “Black Box” analysis technique used daily by Engineers.
4. What Changed? The shortcut used to find the source of the problem. If something worked before, and now doesn’t work, this question will often identify the cause. However if something worked poorly, you will only go back to working poorly.
5. Ask everyone involved for their input. Whoever is closest to the problem has the best insights to what is going wrong. They can help ferret out the roots of the problem. Often the answer comes from the person least likely to know the solution. Be open-minded.
Describing a problem to someone helps define it. It's a simple, fast and effective way to analyze problems. Two heads are usually better than one.
6. Stay with it. The first attempt at anything is rarely successful. Try and try again is the only way to solve anything. Solving a problem is often done with stubbornness as much as from talent. Refuse to quit. Be bullheaded. Solutions don’t require a degree. The experience will make you a more talented problem solver.
Thomas Edison had over 900 failures before he succeeded in creating the light bulb. Problem solvers don’t give up.
7. Look for others who have a similar problem. Industry, professional, and self-help groups are often great sources of ideas how to attack a problem. American industry lost a great lead on the rest of the world by not taking others' ideas. Call it the “Not Invented Here” syndrome. Look at other industries for ideas.
8. Try different problem solving techniques. History is full of companies (and people) that found a solution for customers, blossomed, and then died as changes left them behind. Don’t be a One Trick Pony. Learn how other problem solvers succeed and try it yourself.
9. Analyze the consequences. What effects will different solutions have? Solutions need to be evaluated before they are implemented. For instance, starting a war may leave your country’s economy and military ruined. Diplomacy may be a better solution to try first.
10. Test your solution. What consequences will your solution have? Try to model the smallest piece of your problem, and see if it works. Listen carefully to any feedback. Do not take the griping personally that comes with the feedback. Just try to ferret out the facts.
If your solution fails to work, refer to #6. Experience always has value.
11. Sell your solution. Now you think there is a solution. You must start to overcome the resistance to change. Most of the resistance comes when people are told to do something without a reason. If you can explain the reason clearly, your solution is more likely to succeed. Do find the solutions are rarely accepted the first time they are explained. Generally people need three or four exposures to a new idea before they accept it.
12. Give credit to those who helped you. People will be more likely to help you in the future if you have established a track record of not hogging the glory. You will get your share of the credit.
We can see persistence and patience are necessary to solve any problem. Practice and experience will make it easier as you go along. So please don’t give up. Then find your next problem to be solved.
© Copyright Steve Amos 2007
by Steve Amos © Copyright 2007
If you do not have any problems, you can skip this article. Notice everyone is still reading... :)
Life is full of problems. We encounter them daily in business and in our personal lives. How we handle problems often dictates how others perceive us, our position, and how much we earn.
Here are the basics to successfully solve any problem:
1. Really want to resolve it. Most people are “Wouldn’t it be nice if this went away.” You have to be really ready to change. There are going to be obstacles and failures. It is going to take time and effort. It will upset some people to solve your problem. It can upset you to solve your problem.
To fix anything, someone has to change what they or you are doing. There is a natural resistance to change that does not go away easy. We have all said “That’s the way we always do it” at some point in our life.
2. Why is it a Problem? Who does it bother? Your customer, your coworker, your boss, your significant other, or is it you who are bothered? Why are they bothered? Once you have identified the problem, you can do something about it.
3. What are the causes? What causes affect your problem? Why do the sources do that? Somewhere there is a reason the task was started. The secret is to track back down to the root causes. Then break down what variables can affect your problem. Then you can try changing the variables to see if you can find a solution. This is a basic description of the “Black Box” analysis technique used daily by Engineers.
4. What Changed? The shortcut used to find the source of the problem. If something worked before, and now doesn’t work, this question will often identify the cause. However if something worked poorly, you will only go back to working poorly.
5. Ask everyone involved for their input. Whoever is closest to the problem has the best insights to what is going wrong. They can help ferret out the roots of the problem. Often the answer comes from the person least likely to know the solution. Be open-minded.
Describing a problem to someone helps define it. It's a simple, fast and effective way to analyze problems. Two heads are usually better than one.
6. Stay with it. The first attempt at anything is rarely successful. Try and try again is the only way to solve anything. Solving a problem is often done with stubbornness as much as from talent. Refuse to quit. Be bullheaded. Solutions don’t require a degree. The experience will make you a more talented problem solver.
Thomas Edison had over 900 failures before he succeeded in creating the light bulb. Problem solvers don’t give up.
7. Look for others who have a similar problem. Industry, professional, and self-help groups are often great sources of ideas how to attack a problem. American industry lost a great lead on the rest of the world by not taking others' ideas. Call it the “Not Invented Here” syndrome. Look at other industries for ideas.
8. Try different problem solving techniques. History is full of companies (and people) that found a solution for customers, blossomed, and then died as changes left them behind. Don’t be a One Trick Pony. Learn how other problem solvers succeed and try it yourself.
9. Analyze the consequences. What effects will different solutions have? Solutions need to be evaluated before they are implemented. For instance, starting a war may leave your country’s economy and military ruined. Diplomacy may be a better solution to try first.
10. Test your solution. What consequences will your solution have? Try to model the smallest piece of your problem, and see if it works. Listen carefully to any feedback. Do not take the griping personally that comes with the feedback. Just try to ferret out the facts.
If your solution fails to work, refer to #6. Experience always has value.
11. Sell your solution. Now you think there is a solution. You must start to overcome the resistance to change. Most of the resistance comes when people are told to do something without a reason. If you can explain the reason clearly, your solution is more likely to succeed. Do find the solutions are rarely accepted the first time they are explained. Generally people need three or four exposures to a new idea before they accept it.
12. Give credit to those who helped you. People will be more likely to help you in the future if you have established a track record of not hogging the glory. You will get your share of the credit.
We can see persistence and patience are necessary to solve any problem. Practice and experience will make it easier as you go along. So please don’t give up. Then find your next problem to be solved.
© Copyright Steve Amos 2007
April 1, 2007
The Success Ladder
The Success Ladder
100% I did
90% I will
80% I can
70% I think I can
60% I might
50% I think I might
40% What is it?
30% I wish I could
20% I don't know how
10% I can't
0% I won't
100% I did
90% I will
80% I can
70% I think I can
60% I might
50% I think I might
40% What is it?
30% I wish I could
20% I don't know how
10% I can't
0% I won't
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