The Miracle Posting

We search the Internet because we're looking for solutions to our problems. We find an interesting blog posting, somewhat thought-provoking, that we really enjoy reading. Our day continues normally and when it's over we fall asleep, still concerned about our situation. While asleep a miracle occurs. The underlying issues creating our problems resolve themselves. The problems will begin to go away once we wake-up; but there's still one thing wrong. We're asleep and have no idea the miracle started by the blog posting has happened.


How do we find out about the miracle the next day? What could we do differently that would show us indicators? What would those indicators be and what could we do to nurture and speed them along?

 These are the questions asked by Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) practitioners, a practice commonly used to help those struggling with personal issues that has equal value in an entrepreneur's life. The Active Investor doesn't get a free pass. That investment in our own business or professional career comes with significant problems along with the freedom and financial benefits. It's our business. How do we wake-up in the morning and deal with it?

Frequently the best answers are not in the language of the problem. They are hard to see because you have to look in non-problem places to find them. That's a lot of places, so we need to narrow this down! We do that by looking in solution places instead. That is, try to imagine finding an answer that is already out there. What would that look like?

Sometimes, simply a solution-based way of looking at things brings sudden, dramatic insights. Other times, it doesn't. Now what? 

Badness comes in degrees. Some days have moments that are much better than others. What happens that allows those better moments? How can we capture more of them? The solution begins to unfold itself for us incrementally as we learn how to do this. The trick is to be looking for it.

Could each of us have a miracle bog posting somewhere? Perhaps.  Maybe for someone it's this one. Tomorrow morning, how would I know if a miracle has happened?

Photo Credit: angelofsweetbitter

A Puzzle or a Mystery?

Malcom Gladwell's What the Dog Saw is the source for this post, although anything by him can be equally inspiring. Malcom asserts there is a difference between a puzzle and a mystery. And what a difference that makes to the Active Investor!

I love Sudokus, especially when trying to relax. They are classic puzzles. As you work with them, more knowledge is developed which leads to the solution. That's how all puzzles work. You keep developing more information until the solution emerges. A mystery is the opposite. You may have all the information up front. You're unable to solve it because of the way you are looking at it. More data only further obscures the answer because there is now more being incorrectly viewed. A mystery is only solved by finding the correct way to look at the existing situation.

Our western educational systems present the world as a big puzzle and they offer the promise that if we just get enough education we would be able to solve our  problems with the data we would now be smart enough to collect. There is no doubt to the value of an education; however, it's not this simple. Life is a mystery not a puzzle.

Sherlock Holmes solved mysteries. It wasn't only that he collected more data (which he did). In the Sherlock Holmes stories, he connected all his observations to solve the mystery. These connections catch most readers by surprise because we are still collecting more data in our minds when Sherlock has been eliminating dead ends and arriving at the unseen answer. Perhaps the single Sherlock quote that best sums up all of these time-honored tales is his comment to Watson, "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

In a mystery, we quickly get to a point where more data only causes more confusion.  A solution only begins to evolve when we disregard our training to collect more information and begin to realize the problem is that we are looking at it the wrong way. When we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change.

Business is also not a puzzle and more analysis often leads to more frustration. Like life, business is a mystery. The successful business owner or professional doesn't need more information than the competition. The successful Active Investor needs insight. The key to the information age isn't more information. It's developing better ways to connect what we may already know.

As an example, we still hear of business people viewing sales and marketing as a numbers games. There is goal setting that encourages mindless activities repeating a minimum number of daily "fishing" activities. The idea is that if any number of data points get high enough, success will be forced to happen. Success can never be forced. Look at what's already going on. Eliminate the impossible and whatever remains, however improbable, must be your truth. That is, the truth of what you are about, where you need to take your enterprise. Actively invest in those things. Success evolves from those activities that are working and that you believe in.

How can you determine if you are seeing a possible solution to your mystery? One clue is if the resulting activities are in harmony with the Active Investor blog theme: growth follows activities that are repetitive, powerful, and gentle. If they are, you may have your insight.

Developing business insight is the mystery. There is no puzzle.

image credit: Egan Snow

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The Problem of Original Sin

It's easy to believe and act on the power of good intention and co-creation; yet history and personal experience painfully demonstrate that life just isn't that easy. There is a restraining force that thwarts the co-creative powers of positive intentions and its been present as long as history has been recorded.

We  find this force labeled "original sin" in Biblical doctrine. It's a favorite concept for those who wish to argue against Biblical teachings to attack; however, it does seem to explain what happens; so a second look at the mechanics of original sin is in order.

Cognitive scientists study the brain in an effort to understand the mind. Humans have this distinctive ability to be self-aware. We can observe and therefore can also encourage, love, criticize, or despise ourselves. It doesn't appear that other life forms can (or want) to do this. While all life has some form of intelligence, it just usually doesn't have the capability of self-awareness.

In the cognitive studies of the human brain, self-awareness appears to be in a special area of the human brain known as the prefrontal cortex. Unlike a mechanisms subject only to Newton's Laws, humans are not limited to a fixed reaction to an action. We use the prefrontal cortex and its capability of  self-awareness to change our response.

Wonderful as self-awareness might be, the thousands of operational details required to maintain human life would simply over-whelm it. Never fear, a subconscious mind rises elegantly and efficiently to meet the need.While the prefrontal cortex is a small part of our total brain, the rest is busy operating all our life functions in an automatic fashion with any conscious direction.

A small portion of this subconscious intelligence is instinct. Most of our automated behaviors are learned. Researchers believe this larger area of our brain takes-in all it experiences as truth from birth until about the age of 6. While this system gives each succeeding generation the opportunity to receive updated lessons in living, the subconscious dutifully records with reason or judgment, often misinterpreting childhood experiences and forming false and/or destructive beliefs. These beliefs primarily come from our parents, who received them from their parents, who received them from generations of parents going back in time until the beliefs associated with original sin were started.

Defining sin is important. It was originally a term used in archery to mean "missing the mark." Original sin is the programming we receive from our ancestry that through our subconscious mental automation causes us to miss the potential we all were given. This definition is not meant to take away the use of the word sin to refer to missing out on God's grace; rather it includes that and more.

Neurologically, 95% of the brain is dedicated to the subconscious. While the remaining 5% can choose to be different, this doesn't happen easily. Corrective beliefs, in the form of new habits, are needed to re-program the subconscious. Forming those habits take the repetitive, powerful, and gentle actions  this blog has discussed for Active Investors. Biblically, it is what the work of the Holy Spirit is all about for all of us.

Image Credit: petervanallen

Market Trust

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Many believe a marketing program is successful if it raises the public's awareness of your product or service. Coach Roland in a May 31,2009 blog posting points out that we all have become saturated with messages trying to raise our awareness. Awareness alone won't lead to sales. He asserts our messages need to communicate what we intend to do to earn the market's trust. We have to do more to really get their attention.

Mature successful firms get most of their business from repeat customers or referrals from satisfied clients. Trust has been earned in prior dealings. Here the driver of continued success is the customer service staff. They are the guardians of market trust and need to be in close contact with the marketing staff. Social networking is providing marketing with a new generation of tools to measure customer service effectiveness and satisfaction. These departments work together to preserve existing trust.

Newer and smaller firms, more likely to be run by an Active Investor, may not have this kind of staff and or large base of past customers. Trust needs to be developed. How can a business reach out to the market in such a way that both trust and awareness are developed? A system dynamics approach is to look at trust as a resource, that is a stock of something that has a level that can go up and down, and then consider what are the drivers that will increase its level. Some rather universal drivers of trust are:

- Credentials: Are there authoritative "seals of approval" we can display to verify quality or competence?
- Appearance: Is our offering presented in such a way it creates an assumption of worth, or do we look mediocre?
- Recommendations: Do we understand and develop a history with those who may not purchase but still be in a position to recommend us?
- Concern: While Active Investors are typically always concerned for their customers, is this expressed in a way they can appreciate it? Do they feel we have really listened?
- Familiarity: Can we be remembered? Familiarity breeds business.
- Integrity: Is trust built into our business and personal decision making? Nothing develops trust more surely than personally being trustworthy.
- Assurances: Is there historical data or performance guarantees to factually support any measure of trust a prospect is considering granting us?

Each business is unique with its own ways to build trust. They are to be found at decision points where there is an opportunity to do the right thing or to be expedient. When you have first convinced yourself you'll always be doing what's best for your customer, you'll know what to do to further develop market trust.

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Fruitful Decision Making

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If you're not already familiar with the Franklin or Balance Sheet close it's an old sales technique that should be out of favor with today's business decision makers. The story is when Benjamin Franklin had trouble making a decision he would make a written list of all the pros and cons. Doing this would help lead him to the best decision. The gimmick behind it us while there are usually many pros in a sales proposition, a prospect is generally only facing a couple of cons, typically risk and/or affordability. It's a manipulative scheme because it leads a prospect to consider the quantity of items on the pro and con lists as opposed to their importance. One significant risk can easily outweigh a hundred minor advantages.

Like all really great lies, it's appealing because there are truthful elements inside. Putting your thoughts on paper is a powerful method of clarifying thinking. It's use should be encouraged; but with an orientation toward what's important. I'm proposing a modification to the Franklin close we can call the Fruitful close for your personal decisions.

Create a list of what's important to you. This is the really hard part and since it may be time consuming needs to be done in advance. Personally, I started with the Roles I developed from the time management disciplines found in The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People. Later I found a much more useful list. The logic behind its use was if I made my decisions in alignment with the characteristics of the Creator, the results would be in alignment with Creation - a very desirable result. These characteristics are listed in the Bible in Galatians 5:22 as the Fruits of the Holy Spirit. They are: love, joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I've come to see the list as operating from the last item (self-control) backwards to the first as one develops into greater alignment with Creation. With a list of importance established, it's now time to create the Balance Sheet.

In Column One, Titled "Important", write down the elements of your list. Now consider all the alternatives to your decision and make a subsequent column for each with an appropriate label. Assign a weight (I use the numbers 1 to 5) that represents how each alternative might contribute toward each result. There may be no effect in many cases. Large effects should be given higher weights. In the end, one column should outweigh the others.

Test this result. Does it make sense that this alternative really is the most fruitful choice? It may not turn-out that way because something was missed during the first analysis (this is normal). Keep repeating the process. Eventually an alternative emerges that that makes sense and we know why. Now its time to become fruitful.

Properties of Value - Powerful, Gentle, and Repetitive

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The forces that create commercial value in a business have the same properties as those that create natural wonders. We find them to be Powerful, Gentle, and Repetitive. Erosion from the Colorado river is is neither loud nor threatening, yet it created the Grand Canyon.

There is no doubt that Bonnie and Clyde created cash flow with their business; however, it was cash flow without any Value for others. Contrast that to to their contemporary, Henry Ford. He neither invented the automobile nor forced the public to buy them. His genius was understanding how industrial-age forces could make them affordable. Year-by-year, model-by-model, plant-by-plant he built an organization that produced at lower and lower unit cost. It was powerful, gentle, and repetitive. Today this organization may become the last solvent US automotive manufacturer.

This is the kind of Value every Active Investor seeks in their business or profession. It starts with a sense of something that is Powerful. The Value to others (which translates as the real value of ownership) is directly related to where this sense of Power is located. Personal power produces cash, but not lasting (or salable) Value. Process or Organizational power produces both. Real power that addresses real needs doesn't require Force to permeate a market. It can be Gentle, as long as it's Repetitive.

Consider the activity of closing a sale. Is your product or service Powerful, that is does it use a proven process that will surely address a prospect's core need? If it does, getting to a close is a matter of communicating that value. This may take some repetition. It's not forceful; but its probably going to take several "messages". Here are the properties of value forming a powerful, gentle, repetitive closing process. Every really valuable business process will be similar in nature.

Our job, as Active Investors, is to be continually aligning with these powerful, gentle, and repetitive forces as they apply to our situation. The degree of our ultimate success is based on it.

The Problem of Answered Prayer

It's not hard to believe in God. Given that, it's not difficult to believe in a personal God that responds to prayer. People pray all the time. What's really hard to truly believe is that the God of your faith actually answers those prayers.

It's safe to attribute answered prayer to preparation or hard work finally paying-off, or usually just to good fortune. We don't have to carry any responsibility when we are blessed by past efforts or good luck. But if a prayer relates to something happening in your business, and God is going to answer that prayer, then there are some significant fiduciary responsibilities involved. It puts you in the position of being responsible to an all-knowing, all-powerful business partner. 

This is such a serious subject an entire Old Testament book has been devoted to it. The Book of Jonah is often seen as a story about a reluctant prophet. On a broader scale it's about God wanting to communicate to a guy named Jonah; and Jonah doesn't want to hear it. If you don't already know the story, God wins.

When I pray about a business (or any other) matter, fear is involved. I believe if I now don't act as if God will answer, I may be swallowed by a metaphorical whale. It propels me to act on the potential of God's answer coming from my actions. I do things I may not have had the inclination or courage to ever try before. I think twice before putting myself in that position.

On the other hand, when God's answer becomes apparent, I go from humility, to feeling like a light bulb when someone has just turned-on the switch.