Creativity needs contraints

Way back when I had hair and was a musician, the goal for any rock and roll songwriter was to write a hit song.

A hit song had its constraints:

It had to be approximately three minutes long
It needed a "hook" or a catchy chorus
It needed an instrumental introduction (so the radio deejay could speak over it when introducing the song)

If you didn't do the above, you weren't going to have a hit. For example, there have only been a handful of hit songs that were longer than three and a half minutes (Hey Jude, Roundabout and Bohemian Rhapsody come to mind).

You'd think that these constraints would hamper creativity. The opposite is true. Those guidelines allowed songwriters to focus in on their songs and they forced the creative ideas to conform to a structure while at the same time still retaining their originality. That's not easy, but it is inspiring when it happens.

That's what we have to do in our business lives: work within a system while still creating breakthrough ideas and concepts. Beethoven had to create symphonies that had four "movements" and Bob Dylan had to keep "Blowin' in the Wind" to three minutes long.

We have to realize the same in our businesses and not stop until we create something great.

Barry LaBov
LaBov and Beyond
www.labov.com
www.labovsaleschannel.com

Ownership, Investment, and Resentment

For a business to be great, there has to be ownership throughout the organization. The more people who take charge and make decisions as if they owned the company, the more inspired and intelligent those decisions will be.

But, how often do we feel we are alone, or almost alone, in getting things done the right way in our company or department? Many times the very best people are the ones who are overloaded with tasks and don't have time to think.

Here's a thought-jogger I hope can be of help if you run a department, a team, a store or a company.

Add up the investment you've made in the team you have--that includes salary, benefits and other things such as office space, education, perks, etc. Are you getting a fair return on that investment in terms of performance, ownership and fresh thinking?

Let's say you've estimated or your company has invested $350,000 a year in that team. Are you getting $350,000 worth of decision-making, ownership, initiative and expertise? If you were to start over from scratch with no team and decided to invest $350,000 to get things done, would you expect and demand more than you're getting today?

As leaders, we have to first realize how much we're investing, then give people the room to do their jobs and then hold them accountable. Assuming the team is filled with good people, you'll see more ownership from them. And you'll have time to do your job instead of a little bit of everybody's job.

Being a hero and doing too much of your people's jobs will not be appreciated, it will be resented by them and ultimately become the norm for them.

If you want real ownership and success, add up your investment and expect returns.


Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
LaBov Sales Channel
PB&J Newsletter

A Great Time to Get Better

There are plenty of good people looking for work. That means for dealers, manufacturers or service companies there is the opportunity to upgrade. There just may be a tremendous performer who is now ready to move.

The good news is this is a chance for the healthy companies to become stronger and for that top performer to find a home where he or she can make a big difference.

The challenge for companies is: Are you willing and open to new thinking? Because that's just what is going to happen.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
LaBov Sales Channel
PB&J Newsletter