Working Special Projects

There are good and bad risks to special projects. The project may be a major source of new income to your company. You may get recognized and promoted for your contribution.

The downside, not doing regular work (paying bills today) you become expendable. If your business slows down you can be laid off.

Recommend you take special projects in spite of the risks. Skills and leadership are developed by trying something new. Gain experience coming up with plans, solutions and overcoming issues.

Choose yourself to do something special.

Lower Overhead

Do you work in an open office? I do. 

Moved from a partial cubical row with tall walls between rows and overhead storage to a small room with low walls. More audio and visual interruptions / distractions. Less productivity per employee.

Less personal and less storage. Lets be honest, engineers love having samples in our cabinets. Lets us look at the designs we are trying to improve. Room for pictures, calendars and personal items so office felt like home. Now minimized, have 5 drawers in roll around cabinets.

Why are businesses going to open offices if not for productivity? Less floor space per employee equals less cost. 

The average office space per employee has shrunk from 225 sq. ft. in 2010 to 150 sq. ft. in 2017. Saving 75 sq. ft. times $50 annual building cost per sq. ft. times 500 employees would save $1,875,000 per year.  That is a lot of savings for any company. [Credit Erik Rood for analysis]

The easiest way to improve business results is to lower overhead costs, especially real estate costs. Cost reduction is easier than getting more customers, expanding profit margins per sale, or improving productivity. 

Our job is to be productive no matter our workspace. What works for you? Library rules, noise canceling headphones, more email / messaging, or more meetings to discuss projects. 

https://www.fastcompany.com/90220029/the-real-reason-your-company-switched-to-an-open-plan-office?utm_source=postup&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Fast%20Company%20Daily&position=3&partner=newsletter&campaign_date=08172018

Drive Fast, Take Chances

Not what we wish people. “Take Care”, “Drive Safe”, “Safe Travels”, or “Have a Safe Trip” is how we wish loved ones goodbye. 

Not Lenny Aniello. An iconoclast, beard, ponytail, Yale grad, and probably underdressed. Son of a business owner, he owned his programming business back when no one understood computers nor heard of Arpanet or AOL. 

His customers were often the insurance companies, home of preppy dress codes, standardized cubical wall heights, and formal rules. Lenny knew they wanted his skills. Those days he could make a mini computer act like a mainframe. He would show up on a motorcycle wearing leathers at business meetings. The meetings usually went well.

Lenny knew the interesting conversations weren’t boring. Errors are how you learn. Side roads are where some of your best memories are found. Technology is developed by trial and error. It is needed today, not tomorrow. Nothing is accomplished without someone taking a risk. 

Lenny wanted the best for his kids and friends. He pushed us to be better. Go be uncomfortable. Fail now and then. Laugh about it. 

Hope made Lenny proud - taking work in 7 states, owning 2 businesses, writing books, public speaking, still playing volleyball, and always learning.

The safe way is not how you get ahead. Drive Fast, Take Chances.

What is Feeding You?

Reading bad news? Scary opinion pieces? How the world is going downhill fast? Jobs will go away. Young people are not the same. Politics are horrible.

Not True.

Technology improves our lives. Health care is curing and preventing diseases. Research gets deeper understanding our world. Engineering is more accurate. Safety improves every year.

Why? Hard Work.

We feed the whole world using less land. ~1.1 billion people have moved out of extreme poverty since 1990. Extreme poverty worldwide is down from 35% (1990) to 10.7% (2017). Total giving to charitable organizations was $410.02 billion in 2017.

Problems and challenges never go away, but we improve lives daily. Join us changing the world, one task at a time.

Wisdom Does Not Always Come with Age

Vouch for that on my many faux pas. The Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences study states “wisdom seems to be rare among any age group.” 

That may be part of ‘Thinking Fast & Slow’ by Daniel Kahneman where he talks how our mind has multiple operating systems. We prefer System 1 which makes snap decisions and uses little energy. System 2 does the deep thinking requiring much more effort. We need to spend more time in system 2.

Yes, learning comes from handling data, adding context, making choices and observing results. Hopefully that builds insight and judgments we can use.

However do not see wisdom without understanding and compassion of people different than us. Other people have different experiences and options than us. Listening and understanding are the beginning of wisdom. Beyond that caring for others is where we develop our wisdom.

My faith requires me to be better than I am. Do that best I can, fail, and try again with the Lord’s help. Don’t be afraid to try caring.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/wisdom-doesnt-always-come-with-age-2018-06-08

Greatness is Not Glory

Nike’s finest ad challenges what we think the greatness is. First thing we think of is famous athletes, or superstars. After all this is Nike. Not so.

It is not the accomplishments that are the greatness. It activity, starting, trying again, the days we talk ourselves into it, those we don’t and starting again.

Greatness is not in a few. Greatness is in All of Us.

Start with greatness today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkNMulA1SEI

Layers

Life and careers are built in layers. 

Baby’s first is to lift their heads. Next they roll over. Then start reaching for things and pulling their selves forward. Next start crawling. Then pull their self upright and using support to not fall over. Take first steps holding on. Those brave first steps. Toddling. Walking. Running. Skipping.

It is not that babies don’t fail. They fall over and over. But they see everyone else walking on 2 legs, so they assume they can do it. 

Second look how important skills are. We would not trust surgery to a high school student. Doctors are developed through general studies, science classes, medical studies, learning how to research, practicing techniques, supervised practice sessions interviewing patients, learning procedures, observing surgeon’s, and preforming first procedures under supervision. Only then are they allowed to practice surgery, and even then hospitals supervise doctors.

Our skills start young how to play, do activities, repetition, study, learn languages, math, socialize, fail and recover. We learn more depth in all these topics plus sports and after school activities. Basics.

We go to college to learn how to study, to think, use research, to do research, to come to wrong conclusions, then be guided to better conclusions. More importantly we meet many more people who are different than us - hometowns, looks, wealth, beliefs, opinions and politics. They aren’t evil, but think different. We compare thoughts, debate, and learn from each other.

At work we learn to serve the customers. They too have different needs, wants and desires. To be successful we prepare business cases, estimate costs, market and sell ideas. We get promoted and learn to lead and manage people. To teach the skills that will make them successful as our legacy.

All these layers are not the same. Some are much more important than others. Some skills take longer to develop. Others have little value. Nor do they stack neatly. 

Instead a few key talents push you upward. Which are your key skills?

Like Everyone

Looking back I was miserably shy, fearful, and sure I wasn’t good enough. Once I got to know people, was good at listening and opening up with people. The best decision I made was to like everyone. My perspective became “what do I like about this person?” not “what are they after?”

Being shy was a self-centered fear of not sure what. Don’t talk to strangers? That went away liking people. 

Difficult coworkers? Figured out most of them seriously cared about the quality of their work. When you care about work as well, they become understandable and relax with you. 

Know 1% - 3% of people are dangerous/evil. But the majority are interesting nice people. They deserve our attention, care and appreciation. When people know you care, they open up and take care of you as well.

My life and work has been enriched meeting business owners, coworkers, customers, suppliers, dishwashers and janitors. My decision to like people was wonderful life/business choice have never regretted.

Graduation Speech for Rest of Us

Graduations speeches emphasis how wonderful we are, how far we will go, how we will lead the world, and be the ‘bestiest of the bestiest ever’. But we know we all can’t be no. 1 all at the same time. Who here did not graduate top of their class? 

I have accomplishments. Worked hard, solved problems, created new products, improved safety, and wrote a couple books. Graduated in the top on my class? Nope. Middle of high school class, and bottom third of engineering school. Being a C student never held me back in business. Only HR ever asked my grades, and HR was not the person choosing to hire me or not.

Why can we accomplish much in our lives? Will give you a hint, no one does it alone. Someone like you has an idea. They start researching the idea. They talk with trusted friends and improve it. They raise some seed money to test the idea. Change the idea and try again. Try again and again. 

The reason we succeed is research, collaboration, team work, learning from others mistakes, and learning from our mistakes. Don’t forget a ton of hard work. Success has lots of contributors sweating out details during development, marketing, sales and service.

The reason most people succeed is not that they are perfect. It is they are willing to try. They often fail. But failure is a chance to learn, and successful people will learn from everyone - Family, friends, strangers, people they disagree with, and people they don’t like.

We learn by small trials, testing, and learn to mitigate risks. We don’t take the wildest risk first. By mitigating risks we have ships, trains, trucks, airplanes and rockets. We send satellites throughout the solar system and are observing the universe. Being wrong is how we got here and how the future will be created. “Together, we can find a way” to create abundant energy, abundant food, and better health for all.

Customers are people who make choices, not corporations. People are people - weird, strange, eat odd foods, and make their own choices - which will not be your choices. Take good care of customers, because without sales we will be out of business in a few months. 

Since we will all be wrong at some point, or likely several times a day. Be kind to each other. Ask your parents if they knew what they were doing raising you? Of course they were figuring it out as they went. Raising good adults is one of life’s best accomplishments.

No one knows what the future will hold. Having education, business knowledge, skills, experience, resilience and options are necessary for your career. Try to learn something every day.

Some will scorn what I said. Some will like it. But someday you will go ‘That guy was right, dammit!’ Probably followed by what was his name?

Don’t be afraid to learn, live life, and share what you know. Remember, no matter what, you are loved. From me, your family, your neighbors, people you don’t know, and God with us. No matter how you struggle, how you fail and how you fail again. Love will be with you. 

World Debt Bubble

U.S. 329% debt-to-GDP. 

Eurozone 446% debt-to-GDP

China 256% debt-to-GDP (if numbers/estimates trustworthy)

Federal debt, state debt, and city debt [unfunded liabilities included] exceeds $200 trillion. China has similar issues with local & providence governments.

Not included above is corporate debt, which has been increasing. Stock buybacks and financial engineering are not good investments for corporations as the effect is temporary. Debt is better reserved for growing income.

Rising interest rates may trigger next recession. “With the Fed paring back its balance sheet and the federal government increasing its borrowing, the U.S. will have to finance by the end of the year “$400 billion a quarter — that’s a lot, that’s a huge shift from the past.” - Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan Chase

Recent debt-to-GDP data from Ned David Research (NDR):

Japan 590%
France 480%
Germany 279%
Greece 360%
S. Korea 357%
Netherlands 725%
Denmark 585%
Canada 332%
Italy 360%
Portugal 488%
Ireland 828%
Spain 397%
Sweden 467%
Switzerland 382%
UK 476%

When bubbles pop recessions happen. Stocks could fall 50% again. Bonds fall in this scenario as rising interest rates adversely affect bond values. 

No hint any economies are falling apart yet. These scenarios are early observations what may come over the next few years or decade. No one really knows what will happen. But with debt and interest rates growing, the next recession will be painful. 

My thoughts are to have diverse holdings, reduce your debt, and raise cash for the next downturn. There are opportunities in recessions. Diverse holdings could include low cost Vanguard Total World Stocks and Total World Bond ETFs. Other options include precious metals, CDs, US savings bonds, and savings accounts with online banks.

Working on my health, and planning working into my 70s or 80s. Based on family history and improving health care, could be healthy into 90s or 100s. Like to raise more savings.

Credit ‘On My Radar’ by Steve Blumenthal for information & inspiration. Suggest you read:

https://www.cmgwealth.com/ri-category/on-my-radar/