Success beyond great ideas and good intentions
Business success has many meanings. The Guru 42 Universe uses stories and analogies inspired by first-hand experiences to illustrate the keys to success. The goal is to provoke thought and encourage actions that help you define business success for yourself.
Understanding success
In the early 1990s, I wrote a series of business lessons and lectures with the theme, "Beyond Great Ideas and Good Intentions." The inspiration for the theme was based on an argument I had with a coworker. I really admire the guy, and always thought of him as one of the best salespeople I have ever met. He had the unique ability to be very aggressive in his approach and presentations, without being annoying. People considered him very knowledgeable and respected his opinions.
The problem he had, and the reason for our argument, was his ability to stay focused. He was full of ideas. Too many ideas. He was starting too many new projects that he did not have time to follow up on tasks that were already in progress. His inability to follow up on everything he started was causing problems for the people around him who were taking the heat for his lack of follow up. I was trying to pick up the pieces of projects he did not have time to complete.
From the perspective of a friend and a colleague, I explained to him why he needed to better manage his time, and focus on completing what he has started before going off on new ones. He screamed at me in a rage, "I have a lot of ideas and a lot of good intentions." I infuriated him when I said, "that's the problem, you never get beyond the good ideas and good intentions." He became so mad at me he stormed out of a restaurant, jumped into his car, and took off squealing his tires laying rubber as he sped out of the parking lot.
My friend eventually calmed down, and we stayed friends. I pushed him to see my point because I really respected him, and I wanted him to see how much more successful he could become if he could get better organized, and stay focused. My friend also concluded that his lack of focus was a major factor in him being so stressed out.
We both had a lot of good ideas and good intentions. The incident was a significant "ah huh" moment for me as well. I reflected on many people who I knew with great ideas and good intentions that never quite learned how to be successful. Success is going beyond great ideas and good intentions.
Success is technology integration without frustration.
I created this small business and technology series to help people embrace technology without fear of frustration. For aspiring technology professionals and business managers, these series prepare you for the challenges you face. For the computer end-user, I use analogies and telling stories to create a better understanding of the challenges involved with managing a computer network.
Oliver Wendell Holmes is given credit for the thought, "Man's mind once stretched never goes back to its original dimension."
That thought is ever so true when it comes to technology. We all know technology has changed how we do things, but until we stop and think about it, do we realize just how much it has?
To better understand the challenges involved with managing a computer network, let's take a brief look at the evolution of technology into our lives.
Information Technology goes mainstream
The generation known as the "baby boomers" were born between the years 1946 and 1964. The baby boomer generation were those who saw the birth of the information age with the IBM mainframes in the 1940s and 1950s. As the baby boomers were growing up, microcomputers began working their way into business offices in the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1990s the internet went commercial and the Microsoft GUI (graphical user interface) invade our offices.
The baby boomers grew up in a generation where the term paper trail, keeping a written record of your business transactions, was replaced with the strategy of managing information flow. During the era of the paper trail, the office manager made sure you had enough paper for your typewriter and file folders to file the completed paperwork. As businesses replaced paper files with tasks done on computers and stored on a hard drive, the role of the information manager became a critical part of a typical business environment.
Computers become the primary tool
With the new millennium, the fears of a Y2K apocalypse pass without any major event, and the cool toys of the geek elite become the necessities of everyday life for Generation X. The generation born in the two decades after the baby boomers seldom use paper, they are accustomed to a world where computers are the primary tool for creating and collecting information.
Information for a job hunter looking for a job, and filling out an application, is all done on a website. An employer looking to hire applicants can be screened simply by searching the database created from online applications. Books and references from a library across town, the library of congress, or a large university library across the world, are now available to your desktop anywhere.
Even the smallest and simplest of businesses now embrace technology. The restaurant across town can update their website menu with the evening specials. You can access the menu online, and your order for tonight's meal can be scheduled for delivery later tonight.
In the post-Y2K world, anyone who sits at a desk uses the internet and email, the use of cell phones and smartphones become commonplace. When the internet went commercial in the mid-1990s, special interest groups on CompuServe were the online social network of a small number of users, primarily science and technology professionals. Twenty years later social-networking websites like Twitter and Facebook are popular with people of all ages and interests.
Success is choosing the right tool for the task
I often use the analogy of the toolbox to illustrate the keys to success. You can go to your local hardware store and buy a hammer and saw, but will that make you a carpenter? As a tool, the information on this website will only increase your odds for success if you learn how to use it, not simply read it! Using thoughts and inspiration from many of the business success stories I have studied over the years, I hope to exercise your brain.
Write down questions that come to your mind as you are reading the articles in this section. Write down personal examples of ideas and thoughts which will help you remember points you want to remember. Even if you totally disagree with a statement I make, if you think about a problem or idea in a way you never have before, I have succeeded.
When you master the ability to illustrate a point with a personal example from your life when you add your personal perspective to an idea, your missions will have true meaning, and you will begin your journey beyond ideas and intentions.
Success is finding the right people
The key to business success is finding the proper professionals to advise you, but still be your own boss. Look for the people and events which will become the positive anchors in your life. Once you have identified the positive anchors, use them!
The material in the Guru 42 Universe is not written from the perspective of a lawyer or accountant and should not be used in place of professional guidance. Do not let this website, or any other single source of information, make decisions for you.
I hope you take the time to check out our next article, In search of information and advice who do you trust?
When you are reading something online, or in print, if you are not very familiar with the author, and understand their point of view, take a minute to check a few sources and get a second opinion from someone else who knows something about the topic.
If cynical means I don't take anyone's word for anything without checking a few sources or getting a second opinion from someone I know, what's so wrong with that?
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