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Preconceived notions do not just drive ludicrous lawn longings. They also drive daily business habits. Where are you trying to fill a round hole with a square peg? Where are you insisting on consistency for the sake of consistency? Where are your expectations for employees causing nothing more than frustration for them and you? Where are you striving for "green lawn" goals that aren't really very important? Where are you hoping practice will make perfect despite no progress? 

If something isn't working, stop doing it! Reexamine both the goal and your approach. If only moss will grow in your shady, sandy yard, learn to love the moss!

© 2012 Ann Latham. All Rights Reserved. 

I was inspired to watch Undercover Boss for the first time last night because of my connections and proximity to Yankee Candle. The show obviously provides fabulous publicity, though there is no way for me to know how much of that the CEO and team can control. 

My experience during more than twenty years of corporate life is that lots of rewards come to those in the right place at the right time. One of the employees alluded to this. Sometimes the motivation is indefensible - discrimination, nepotism, and more. Other times it is mostly luck - getting on a high profile project or unusually talented team. And sometimes, it seems to be a combination of human nature and unaware managers - rewarding the masterful fire fighter who saves the day while forgetting about those who quietly and consistently produce solid results.

Harlan Kent certainly reinforced that belief that it pays to be in the right place at the right time. A few employees got really lucky to be part of the show. But they aren't the only employees at Yankee Candle who work hard, take pride in their work and the company, and face personal challenges. I'd love to see them make all their other employees feel as lucky to be working for Yankee Candle. Imagine if everyone got the mentoring they needed to find a rewarding job, the acknowledgment they deserve for their effort and care, and the extra support that would help overcome personal obstacles! Imagine the loyalty, productivity, and customer care that would ensue!

Why? Because we've had a credit on our Western Massachusetts Electric Company account since April of 2010 thanks to the energy production of our photovoltaic panels and our careful efforts to minimize our energy usage. 

At least you would think everyone would win.

Truth be told, that growing credit on our bill provides no financial incentive because WMECO doesn't ever have to send us a check, no matter how big the number becomes, no matter how many foggy, wintery days worth of consumption our credit would cover, no matter how much of our neighbor's electricity we are providing while WMECO is billing. 

Pride and conscience will continue to motivate us because they always have. However, while WMECO and the rest of the industry spends lots of time and money dreaming up new energy reduction programs, it is pretty ironic that they are actually encouraging us to increase our consumption!

Employment is a two-way street. Don't abdicate responsibility to silver platters and pink slips. No one else is responsible for your career. No one else is going to make you sure you have a rewarding career.

© 2012 Ann Latham. All Rights Reserved.

If you can't serve someone well, regardless of the reason (too busy, mismatched need), try to connect them with someone who can be of real help.

The top 5 goals for small business owners for 2012 according to the March issue of Inc. magazine are:

1. Grow the business
2. Improve relationships with friends and family
3. Eat healthier
4. Work out more
5. Work less

Do these look like your goals? If so, is this the way you think about them or have you taken the critical next steps?

In what way are you going to grow your business? Do you need to find new markets, sell more to the same markets, or just find more customers? Do you need to strengthen your brand, your products, or your sales channels? Do you need to change how you talk about your products or to whom you are talking?  "Grow the business" is too broad. You need a strategy that guides your decisions and provides the focus that will allow you to succeed.

The same applies to the other four goals on this list. With whom do you want better relationships? What specifically must you do? When? How often? And what will you stop doing to create the time?

Better eating? What enables your less than desirable eating habits? Are you going to quit buying the foods you can't resist? Do you have to replace the couch in front of the TV with a treadmill? Are there places you should not go anywhere near at certain times of the day? Do you need to learn more about nutrition or get a recipe book that doesn't include a half stick of butter in every recipe? Think seriously about the habits, triggers, and obstacles to smart eating in your life and eliminate them one by one.

"Work out more" sounds like a drudge and a half. If you think of it that way, you are unlikely to do it. "Thin and trim" or "lean and mean" evoke a more compelling image for me. But again, you must understand what is preventing you from getting exercise and take action to remove those obstacles or to create new circumstances that support and motivate you. Furthermore, you must stop doing something. What will exercise replace in your limited daily hours?

"Work less" begs the ultimate what-will-you-stop-doing question. It hinges on having just a few priorities, outsourcing or delegating the things that must be done but don't have to be done by you, dropping many "I really ought to" or "it would be nice if" tasks entirely, and devoting only the necessary time and energy to each task - no perfectionism, no second guessing, no frolicking in a desirable task. Focus, discipline, and the allocation of only as much time as each task deserves.

Avoid vague goals if you really want success. You need focus and specific, concrete steps in the right direction to make progress.

The ski area benefits too by reducing staff at the ticket window and no longer paying ticket checkers at the lift lines. They can also collect great market data. They know exactly who is buying tickets, when they arrive, when they leave, how many runs they take, how fast they ski, and which lifts they ride. 

Sound great? In many ways it is, for both customers and the business. By using existing technology and applying it to a new situation, the company providing this new system created great value. 

But they missed one critical step. They can not have done a proper test drive. They didn't walk through the process either literally or in their heads. While I believe they will continue to use the system, I also suspect they have a lot of rework to do this summer. 

First, they used regular turnstiles like you would find at a subway entrance and added flimsy verticals on either side. Getting between the verticals with ski poles, ski clothes, snowboard gear, etc., is not a smooth process.

Second, each of the two turnstiles has its own line. Thus, pairs need to go through consecutively, not simultaneously, and then regroup.

Third, and worst of all, both turnstiles dump skiers down a slight slope into the same small space just short of the loading area. It's a struggle, even for good skiers and boarders to avoid shooting into others or out in front of the approaching chair. Beyond the chaos and anxiety, it is not uncommon for chairs to go empty while people pick themselves up off the ground, untangle poles, or try to figure out who goes next.

Fourth, occasionally a card can't be read properly and the poor skier, after setting off the alarm multiple times, has the awkward task of backing out of the slot, negotiating the crowd behind him, and returning to the lodge. 

Fifth, the verticals next to the turnstiles are there to hold up super cool LED screens above the heads of  the passing skiers. If these screens provide valuable data, I'll never know because my attention is always on the turnstile and the people I'm about to run into. This is just wasted money.

While the necessary changes are obvious to see, they will involve non-trivial expenses. All they have to do is move the turnstiles back from the lift, merge the lines before rather than after the turnstiles so pairs can pass through simultaneously, eliminate the slope toward the lift, and provide an escape route to accommodate those denied access. But even that plan deserves a test drive.

You wouldn't buy a car without a test drive. Make test drives a habit in other things too. Save yourself a pile of trouble and money by insisting on a walk through at least before finalizing plans and completing the implementation.