I just saw the new Christmas Carol – 3D movie starring Jim Carrey. I loved it. Incredible special effects, the characters looked so real. What I loved most about this story is the message. Sometimes we get so focused on getting things that we forget why we’re doing it in the first place. We become stingy, selfish and withdraw and push out people we love. In the story, Scrooge is focused on money, but anything can become an idol in our lives. The story is a great reminder to remain balanced. I like to use the acronym - PIES Physical, Intellectual, Emotional and Spiritual. It’s so important to remain balanced in your life. So go check out the movie and let me know if you enjoyed Read more [...]

I recently read an article in Inc magazine by Joel Spolsky called, “Slow Growth = Slow Death”. In the article, Joel was questioning his company’s growth rate. Joel states, “if you’re not taking risks, you’re pretty much guaranteed to fail. Somewhere there’s someone out there who’s taking more risks than you, and that person’s business is growing faster than yours, and that person’s business may one day dominate your industry while yours wither’s away” (BTW – this was coming from someone whose business was growing at 50% per year!). I couldn’t help but think about the countless insurance companies that remain status Read more [...]

I’ve heard it said that there are two types of people in this world, “how” people and “why” people. A “how” person is always asking, “How are we going to do that” or “How are we going to get enough money for that new marketing initiative”? “How are we going to afford the Astonish System”? A “why” person asks the deeper, more fundamental question, “Why should we invest” or "why is our customer base shrinking"? If you don’t know the answer to the “why”, the “how” doesn’t really matter. Are you letting the “how” questions drive your organization? As Read more [...]

I’m still reading “Failing Forward” by John Maxwell. In it, Maxwell gives seven characteristics of achievers that allow them to fail and not take it personally. This is GOLD. ·         Reject Rejection ·         See Failure as Temporary ·         See Failures as Isolated Incidents ·         Keep Expectations Realistic ·         Focus on Strengths ·         Vary Approaches to Achievement ·         Read more [...]

Recently I meet with our department heads to make sure each department clearly understood their mission. I wanted to make sure we’re all heading in the right direction and each employee understands their individual roles and how that role supports the overall mission of Astonish. To that end, I picked up a great book on performance metrics by Wayne Eckerson. My ultimate goal is to attach clear metrics to each employee’s performance. Once these metrics are in place, we can proactively measure the success or failure of each department. Eckerson points out 9 benefits of performance dashboards: Communicate Strategy Refine Strategy Increase Visibility Increase Coordination Increase Motivation Give Read more [...]

I’m currently reading John Maxwell’s book “Failing Forward”. If you’re like me you don’t like to fail. When you do, you enter a funk. When I saw Maxwell’s book I knew I could learn a thing or two. Maxwell talks about changing your perspective on failure. When you do it will help you put that failure behind you and fail forward. In the book, Maxwell lists the “rules for being human”. They are: You will learn lesson There are no mistakes – only lessons A lesson is repeated until it is learned If you don’t learn the easy lesson, the get harder (pain is the only way the universe gets your attention) You’ll know you’ve Read more [...]