Your baby's ugly -- sage advise for entrepreneurs

Steve Baker, friend of mine recently posted this article that is really good, not just for us crazy entrepreneurs, but for everyone in the world today -- the last paragraph contains great advise for us all.

It takes an incredible amount of intense drive, determination and strong ego to breathe life into a business and create products from scratch, but it's also that same ego that won't let a business owner be objective about what their business needs to succeed.

The business is up and running at light-speed and management doesn't have the time or willingness to stand back and take an honest look at what they have created. They are too close to the problems to see them. Just like a proud parent, they have spent sweat and time creating this "baby," and they refuse to believe that it might be less than perfect.

I call this the "business parent trap." It is in this trap that business owners often create and introduce products that would not test out in the marketplace. There's an attitude of "Hey, it's gotta be great because I thought of it."

I've found that there are usually two basic things wrong with a business: the product (the baby) and the management (the breath).

So how do you assess your business? Are your employees going to tell you that you're headed in the wrong direction? Not likely.

Occasionally a consultant will be brought in to review the company's performance in a given area. Unfortunately, when management does bring in a consultant, they often are really looking for affirmation - not straight-forward constructive criticism. Unfortunately, some consultants are more than willing to "affirm for a fee."

If you're going to succeed, then someone needs to tell you if your baby's ugly or you've got bad breath. So here are some blunt yet truthful thoughts for your business, and perhaps you:

• GET OVER YOURSELF: Know yourself, trust yourself, believe in your self...then Get Over Yourself. You're really not the smartest person in the world. You built the business and know it better than anyone else, but no one else really cares how much you know.
• SPECTATOR SPORT: Conversation with you should not be a spectator sport for others. Remember that there's a huge difference between listening and merely waiting for your turn to talk. You hired your employees and perhaps a consultant because you assumed they had brains, so let them use them. Ask questions and listen to answers.
• JUST ANOTHER PRODUCT: Realize that even though you think that your new product or service is the greatest thing since the flip-top beer can, the world just sees one more product and must be convinced. You created this product and you know every function of it, but customers do not buy functions, they buy only benefits. Whether your product is a high tech internet service or a left-handed widget, you must show how it is uniquely beneficial to your customer. Functionality makes your products work, benefits make them sell.
• PAPER WEIGHT: If you have the skills to create a product, chances are that you don't have the skills to market and sell it. Many business owners think that marketing and sales are the simplest part of their business, so it is almost an afterthought. There is only one reason that inferior products outsell better ones; and that is successful marketing. Think of your marketing plan as the complete story book that sells your product. If your story book is a best seller, then your product will be a best seller. Without the right story that will build sales and distribution, your wonderful product is just another paper weight that is headed for a land fill.
• STAND BACK: Your competitors are not all stupid. Guess what? They think their babies are cute too, and they may tell better stories that make them look even better than yours. So stand back and look at yourself and your baby and try to look through the eyes of a disinterested party, because believe it or not, the world is a disinterested party.

Remember, there's a strong chance that you will not be in business in 5 years. As busy as you are, and successful as you think you are, you must set your ego aside and realize that there are things beyond your control.

The secret to success does not lie in knowing everything; the secret lies in knowing what you don't know, and finding those who do. I’ve been successful because I seek out constructive criticism, asking others to tell me my baby’s ugly…but tell me why.

Cloud computing -- continued

I plugged into a cloud computing webinar recently. I thought the meeting was informative for the first 30 minutes, and then it turned into a sales pitch for a tool to help create a private cloud. The supplier was Appistry (http://www.appistry.com/products).

Here are my takeaways:

• Cloud computing is the next step along the path in creating common, shared data centers. The major steps in this evolution are: dedicated data centers, virtualization of data center components (virtualized servers and shared storage), and now cloud computing.
• Some government groups are starting to use the cloud concept, but are creating "private" clouds by using their own infrastructure on configuring it to be a cloud environment to gain capital and operational efficiencies.
• Appistry claimed remarkable capital improvement efficiencies through developing a private cloud with their applications (CloudIQ Manager, and CloudIQ Engine). They referenced a benchmark study that resulted in an 80% improvement in capital utilization. Frankly, I find that hard to believe on a sustained rate. They also claimed very good operational efficiencies, which seem logical since the infrastructure would be normalized to standard configurations, in theory requiring less staff.
  
  

My hope in attending the webinar was to get better insights into cloud applications for government applications without using owned infrastucture. This discussion didn't address this since Appistry is focused on selling tool to help create private networks. But, the benchmark data on capital and operational efficiency benchmarks (even with factoring in some realism in the claims) helps demonstrate the value of cloud computing in potentially lowering ongoing costs to manage IT systems. Once the security model is adequately addressed, this model will start to be the solution of choice for data centers and information systems.

10 qualities of mind for navigating uncertainty

1. Bring your full self to the challenge - Don't hide from the experience. Reinvent your leadership everyday. Develop a capacity for living in the moment. Let yourself experience the full emotional range. Change must begin with you.

2. Let your values by your guide - Your honesty, integrity, courage, and commitment to excellence may be the only thing certain in an uncertain world. Rely on your principles. They will prevent mistakes and help you sleep.

3. Live in a "world of not knowing" - Develop the capacity to learn in real time. Be gentle with yourself. Tolerate the ambiguity of life. Be clear about what you know and don't know. Befriend your anxiety about not knowing.

4. Clarify what you can and cannot control - In America, we see ourselves as the world's great problem solvers. But sometimes we can't control the outcomes. Learn when to take the initiative and when to be let nature take its course.

5. Live in the past, present and future - Keep perspective. "Realistic optimism" goes a long way. Stay passionate and optimistic yet honest about reality. Dreams can go a long way during tough times. Past lessons are our greatest teachers.

6. Befriend the chaos of life - Chaos is healthy - it's about life reordering itself. Face it head on. Chaos is the source of creativity and innovation and creates non-linear, business concepts that bring about our next generation of products.

7. Manage your bright and shadow sides - Expect to see both sides of your personality. Face up to your leadership shortcomings. Be aware of how stress brings forth your shadows. Get feedback from a friend, spouse, or partner.

8. Understand the diversity of people - Everyone sees change through his/her own lens. Some choose to hide; others act; still others won't stop talking. Listen deeply, tailor your response, and stay one step ahead.

9. Embrace the paradox of leadership - Uncertainty is full of contradictions and requires a multi-faceted response. Consider: tough empathy, urgent listening, reflective decisiveness, flexible firmness, and constructive impatience.

10. Build a culture of principles and performance - Focus on the higher purpose; teach people how the business works; lead by example; focus and align; obsess over customers; leverage core capabilities; be a leadership liberator; and lead brutally honest management teams.