Steiner Sea Scrolls - Scroll I

I am very proud of my dad.  He has been the most influential role model and mentor in my life, and not just in business.  He is a self-made success and was attributed as one of the most influential leaders in the electrical wholesale industry (the industry I grew up in and where I spent most of my career).  

When he retired, other than the pink slip I gave him (kind of cool to give your dad his pink slip 😎 ), his WPO Forum presented him with the Steiner Sea Scrolls – Teachings in Success!  This was a list of the “ancient” wisdom that had guided him in his career.  For a short history lesson – the Dead Sea Scrolls from which we took the name are the largest and second oldest surviving set of writings ever found that contain works included in the modern bible.  They were written between 150 B.C. and 70 A.D.!

There are 10 success principles in the Steiner Sea Scrolls (yes, another biblical reference – the Ten Commandments).  Here is the first scroll:

                                I.            Success is Planning – You must have a plan for what you wish to accomplish – this year – this month – this day.  Planning is the heart of success for every high achiever.  Steiner Law of Planning – “Spend at least 15% of your time in planning or you will spend 60% of your time putting out fires caused by your lack of planning.”

                              II.            Success is Vision – Today’s rapid changes make plans quickly obsolete.  A clear vision of where you want to be is essential – being right or being first requires learning from mistakes and disappointments.  Assessing your goals, changing your course and establishing new paths are essential.

                            III.            Success is Action – A plan without action is wishful thinking.  Goals without action are dreams.  Success without action is luck.  Failure and disappointments are the products of poor planning and implementation.

More to come…

“Plans are nothing; planning is everything.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower

“You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Where did my cheese go?!?!

Yes, someone, somewhere is moving your cheese.

Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson, M.D. is one of my top three favorite business books – the other two being The Goal by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Make the Noise Go Away by Larry Lucas.  It is a lesson in change told as a story about characters in a maze – Sniff & Scurry (two mice) and Hem & Haw (two mice-sized humans) and how they each deal with the change created by their pile of cheese disappearing.  The mice never stop looking for cheese because they know it won’t last forever and that does not scare them.  They act instinctively, not thinking about the past or worries for the future, just focusing on the goal of finding more cheese.  Hem & Haw are too complacent and scared of the unknown that they make themselves believe their pile of cheese will last forever and don’t’ look until it’s gone and too late.  Then they spend most of their energy focused on what they lost instead of finding new cheese.

I have three takeaways from this book:

LESSON 1: Stop thinking too much about your cheese and start chasing it; or, don’t make stuff so complicated.

LESSON 2: Even the biggest cheese doesn’t last forever, so try to see change coming; or, don’t be complacent.

LESSON 3: Don’t worry, there’s always new cheese to be found; or, don’t let fear paralyze you.

At the end of the book, Sniff, Scurry and Haw are doing pretty good, and the reader is left hopeful that Hem will eventually read “the writing on the wall”.  So don’t fret, you’ll find new cheese soon!

“The secret of change is to focus all your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” – Socrates

“Only the wisest and stupidest of men never change.” – Confucius

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The Power of "Because"

Never underestimate the power of “because.”  And, I don’t mean the typical parent answer, “because I said so!”

When my daughter, Noa, was little, she used to drive me crazy asking me one question….”Why?”  Why do you need to go to work, daddy?  Why do we have eyes?  Why do you have no hair?  Why are trees green?  Why do we sleep at night?  Why?  Why?  Why?  And the most dreaded, “but why?”  Which was the question she kept asking after every answer I would give her until I started answering “just because” until one of us got tired of it and walked away (usually me).

A classic study conducted by a Harvard psychology professor revealed that people were 33% more likely to let someone use a copier before them when they gave a reason for the request.  Shockingly, the power of because held strong even when the reason was redundant: “May I use the Xerox because I have to make copies?”

The takeaway is obvious: people are far more likely to understand, empathize and agree with you when you explain the reasons behind your actions.  In fact, next to using the word “you” and answering the question “what’s in it for me?” for the other person, “because” followed by an explanation (even a lame one) is the second most persuasive word in the English language.

Giving the reasons why also help create connection.  I realized after a few years that Noa’s unending asking of why was not for the sole purpose of learning about the world (or even just to drive me crazy).  It was her way of creating a connection with me.  Just like at home, strong connections are critical in the business world.  They tilt business in our favor, create understanding and help us be civil to each other when we are under excessive stress.

Things To Do: When you are communicating with someone else, take a minute to give them a reason why.  Be brief and be honest with your reasons – the gift of context makes everyone’s day easier and less stressful.  If you’re a subordinate, explaining why is the most respectful way to decline a request or offer an alternative course of action.  If you’re a leader, explaining why reveals you’re not just a dictator, issuing commands and saying “no” arbitrarily.

“He who has a WHY, can endure any HOW.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche

 “People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe. ” 
― Simon Sinek

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