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So which came first – the chicken or the egg?

 

It’s a brilliant question – destined to cause creased foreheads and even headaches if someone tries to figure it out.  I’ve an answer for you.  But first I want to tell you about another chicken and egg scenario.

 

China recently announced that it’s reversing its 35 year-old one child policy.  The official line is that the policy was a success – by limiting the population and growing the economy’s output the per-capita income grew.

 

But maybe it’s not so simple.  Picture the one child policy as the chicken – and the income growth as the egg.  And now ask – which came first?

 

To try and answer that we should look beyond China to what happens in other countries that do not constrain the number of children people can have.  And, guess what?  Birth rates typically decrease with increasing income!

 

So remember the chicken and egg conundrum the next time someone claims, with respect to two things happening at the same time, that one thing caused the other.  Firstly, it may actually have been the reverse!  And, not to be cynical or anything, but you might also get closer to the truth if you probe to see if the people making the claim have a vested interest in the claim being true!

 

Of course if you’re a bright spark and/or if you’ve been reading my emails for any length of time you’ll know that there’s also the possibility that neither caused the other.  This is because correlation doesn’t imply causation.  Rest assured I’ll return to that topic in the future.

 

The moral of the story?  Simple.  If you’re ever having the results of research being analysed by someone, be sceptical when that someone claims that a change in one variable caused a change in another.  Challenge them.  Is the connection they’re drawing based on valid research measures?

 

And as to the big chicken & egg question?  The answer is that it’s the egg – here’s a wonderful explanatory video – less than 4 minutes long.

 

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Is it true?

 

Do many hands make light work?  Or do too many cooks spoil the broth?

 

Maybe your answer will depend on your individual inclination.  It’s perhaps similar to how some people subscribe to “fortune favours the brave” in contrast to others who think it best to “look before you leap”.

 

But enough of the contradictory idioms.  And back to whether many hands make light work.

 

If you are making a decision on your own then no agreements are needed.  It’s just you – deciding unilaterally.  If two people are involved then 1 agreement is necessary.

 

So:

 

•     1 person – 0 agreements needed
•     2 people – 1 agreement needed

 

If you were looking for a formula, where x is the number of people and y is the number of agreements necessary, you might simply say:
y = x-1

 

But that’s wrong.  The situation is actually worse.  Imagine if 3 people are involved.  In that case the real value of y = 3.  Here’s the actual formula:

 

y = x (x-1)/2
If x is 4, y = 6.

 

If x is 5, y = 10.

 

If x is 6, y = 15.

 

See how 10 is 4 more than 6?  But 15 is 5 more than 10?  For each person you add to the mix, you add an ever increasing number of agreements being needed.

 

The lesson?

 

A large team may indeed “make light work” in terms of executing decisions – but just be extremely selective as to who you involve in making those decisions!

 

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Have you heard of Mount Juliet?

 

It’s a golf course here in Kilkenny.  And I’ve been there a number of times – never to play golf – but to enjoy the beautiful surroundings.

 

Back in August  I was on my way there to meet my accountant for a cuppa.  I thought I was taking my normal route but for some unfathomable reason I took the wrong road.

 

Mortifying for me to admit – I pride myself on my nose – but there you have it.  I messed up.  No excuses.  We all mess up.  The world is divided into 2 types of people – there are those who mess up & admit it – and there are liars!

 

The effect?  I was just over 30 minutes late.  Correspondingly, I wasted time.  And I thought I wasted my accountant’s time.  But, thankfully, I didn’t.  Let me explain.

 

He has reached a point in his business where he now needs his clients less than they need him.  So he isn’t chasing his tail for 168 hours a week saying “yes” to any price-buyer with a pulse and a bank account.  He’s judicious in selecting who he wants to work with.  And he is finding clients he wants to work with.

 

So on that sunny Monday morning, while waiting for me to arrive, he sat outside, skimmed the newspaper and then used the remaining time to make changes to his LinkedIn profile – changes intended to better position him to attract the sort of clients he wants.

 

So a question for you: what can you change about the picture you present to the world that will make you more appealing to your target market?

 

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Last year I made a mistake.

 

I left it until mid-June to plant my sweet-pea – my favourite flower.

 

That was too late. All I could do was to give them lots of water, stem-support and slug pellets – and then hope for the best. Thankfully I still got a reasonable crop.

 

But I was lucky. Hope is a crap strategy. It’s actually no strategy at all.

 

So the idea was to improve in 2015. How was I to do so? Well of course Mother Nature can confound us. So there was no guarantee as to what the outcome this year would be. All I could do was to plant earlier.

 

But I could plant earlier. I had control over that.

 

So I did – and now I’m bringing in new sweet-pea every day to perfume the house. Here’s how a day’s crop looked recently.

 

What has this got to do with your business?

 

There are no guarantees – you will accomplish nothing if you’re looking for certainty in advance of doing something.

 

You’re also at the whim of external forces over which you have no control. So ignore them.

 

Now this may sound negative So – what to do?

 

Identify the factors you can control and focus your efforts on those factors – and on those factors alone. Do that often enough and you can’t avoid improving. Now there’s a positive message eh?

 

 

Get rid of a customer and boost your profit?

 

“How the hell can that work” you’re wondering?

 

“And this is coming from Brendan who’s always harping on about focussing on customers.”

 

No – I haven’t gone crazy.

 

And no – neither am I contradicting myself.

 

Let me illustrate with numbers.

 

Imagine you have annual revenue of €1,000,000. And imagine it’s producing a profit of €40,000.  It’s a low margin – but it’s on the right side of zero!

 

But wait – let’s dig a little deeper into this scenario.

 

Imagine you have 2 customers providing you with that €1,000,000 – John spending €600,000 & Linda spending €400,000 with you. You’re making a profit on John of €50,000 and a loss on Linda of €10,000.

 

And imagine that Linda’s account is not the thin edge of a wedge you are confident of growing.  So there’s no compelling commercial argument to continue to sell to Linda.  Let’s look then at the numbers again – this time if you were to stop selling to Linda:

 

• Your total sales? €600,000.
• Your profit? €50,000.

 

You have reduced your turnover by 40% but boosted your profit by 25%!

 

So why is a non-accountant like me talking this language?

 

Well it’s simple. I want you to make more money.

 

Recently I was talking to an accountant. I asked him to estimate what percentage of businesses FAIL to break down their P&L by customers. And I specifically said I was talking about those businesses where the customers spend enough money to justify this type of analysis.

 

I was guessing a majority of businesses. He said a “large majority”.

 

Do you do such a breakdown?

 

If not – is this something worth your while looking at?

 

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One Friday morning at the end of January I was talking to a friend who’s a business owner – and who was feeling overwhelmed.

 

He was overwhelmed to such an extent that he wasn’t really looking forward to the approaching weekend.   All the work that needed to be done just felt like a huge weight – a weight that would be on his mind all weekend and awaiting him on Monday morning.

 

He wasn’t just having Sunday night blues – his blues were already in place on Friday!

 

Not good!

 

Do you ever have that feeling?  If no then that’s great – you might as well stop reading now and move on to whatever’s next on your todo list.

 

Some years ago the Harvard Business Review published a tip on the topic of overwhelm.  There’s nothing earth-shattering in it.  It’s no magic wand.  But it did resonate with me.

 

So at the time I printed it out and stuck it to the underside of my monitor where it remains to this day.

 

When I got back to the office after meeting with my friend I took a photo of it and sent it to him.  I thought that might be more concrete than simply pointing him to a URL.

 

And here it is for you:

 

I hope it helps you someday – but hopefully not for a long time!

 

Enjoy your weekend!

 

And there are dozens of URLs too to grab it from.

 

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What do you do when you face a really tough challenge in your business?

 

Give up?  Keep banging your head against the wall and expect a different result?  Get creative?

 

Maybe medical researchers can help guide us – from their work on antibiotics.  Antibiotics are fighting a war against bacterial infection.  And there is growing concern in the medical community about our ability to, long-term, win that war.

 

The problem?

 

Disease-causing bacteria are relentlessly fighting back.  Recently I was listening to a medical report that said that there are some strains of tuberculosis that have developed resistance to all known antibiotics.

 

And if we lose the war?  Imagine penicillin being useless.  Imagine infection-free surgery becoming impossible.  Imagine…

 

So what to do?

 

Give up?

 

Nope – not an option.

 

Stay ahead of things by developing new antibiotics?

 

Yep – that’s good.

 

Develop new antibiotics that bacteria don’t become resistant to?

 

That’s the mother lode – and there’s the lesson for us too in business.  When faced with a serious challenge we can’t simply give up.  We need to persevere.  But neither do we want to be insane in an Einsteinian way – doing the same thing and expecting a different result.

 

Can we skirt around the challenge?  Can we render the challenge irrelevant to what we’re doing?  Ask yourself those questions next time!

 

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“Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence.”

 

So said Calvin Coolidge – 30th President of the US.  He was in office nearly a century ago – 1923-1929 – but what he said is timeless.

 

A few weeks ago Ireland played Germany – the worthy World Cup Champions this past summer in Brazil.

 

So here’s the scene : After the regulation 90 minutes we are losing 1:0.  4 minutes of added time are announced.

 

The team is wrecked physically and mentally after 90 minutes of trying to counter a superior force.

 

“Believe” I’m shouting at the television as my son beside me thinks (once again) that his Dad is losing it.

 

The minutes tick by.  After 27 seconds of that final 4th minute of additional time Ireland pile forward and score an equalising goal of the highest quality – a superbly cushioned volleyed pass from young Jeff Hendrick to John O’Shea who, having assumed the captain’s armband, scores just his 3rd international goal on the night he earns his 100th cap.

 

The goal – and the manner of its achievement – lifted the country.  And it would probably have caused the reserved and quiet Coolidge to perhaps smile and knowingly nod his head.

 

The team’s persistence was magnificent – and proof of what is possible – even against the odds – when you put your shoulder against the wheel.  So take heart – similar persistence won’t guarantee you business success.  But with it you’re on the right road.

 

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I’m guessing that once or twice you’ve shared my irritation at being asked to answer bad questions?

 

There I was one Friday a few weeks ago – answering a phone survey on banking services for small businesses.

 

The guy was asking me to what extent I’d consider choosing particular providers.  The first provider he mentioned was my own business banking provider – Bank Of Ireland.  I said the question wasn’t applicable to me as I was already with them.  He said that unfortunately there was no “not applicable”  or “they’re already my provider” options.

 

There’s flaw 1 – not providing the reasonable options that a respondent might wish to see.

 

So I suggested we skip the question.  He said that he wasn’t allowed proceed to the next question without getting an answer.

 

There’s flaw 2 – obliging a respondent to answer a question that’s not relevant to them.

 

Can you guess what I did?

 

Yep – I ended the call amicably – with him maybe thinking I was being an awkward b****** :-).  Life is too short to waste time on crap surveys!

 

You’re one of the lucky people though.  If you’re considering carrying out a survey you know who to talk to in order to ensure it’s done right :-).  I can guarantee you that, among lots of other things, your respondents will have reasonable options to choose from and that they won’t be asked any questions that are not relevant to them!

 

They won’t be asked irritating questions!

 

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Recently I was on my way to a meeting with my accountant.  The meeting wasn’t boring at all – and included two lovely homemade coffees!

 

Anyway, on my way to the meeting I was driving around Kilkenny’s ring road – a ring road that has a footpath and cycle path alongside it.

 

A woman was jogging – and pushing a baby’s buggy as she jogged.  Now I hope the buggy was sturdy and well-oiled – otherwise she was risking dislocating her shoulder and/or bouncing her baby out of the buggy!

 

Fair play to her I thought.  She was getting her exercise.  She was getting the baby some fresh air.  She was saving on childcare costs.

 

In summary, she was leveraging her time in a highly effective way.

 

She’s a model for us.

 

There are just 168 hours in the week for you and me and the other 7 billion of us.

 

Can you leverage your time better?

 

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