One Word

One word.

That's all it should take to sum up your training.  One word.

Because great ideas don't need complexity.  Great themes don't even need sentences.

What did we just spend an hour, 4 hours, a whole day talking about?

Leadership?  Communication?  Authenticity?  Relationships?  Trust?

One word.

If you want to produce really great training.  Training that sticks, training that transforms, training that changes people's behavior; then they should walk away from the classroom with a clear and lasting message.

Every good training starts by asking, "what do I want them to get out of this?"

Your challenge- answer that question in one word.

Chasing Second Place

I've written before about the fallacy that is a critic.  Here's another great example...

Why do critics always want the leader to chase second place?

Today, I read an article about how Apple TV needs to do more to "compete" with Google's Chromecast or the Roku.   The very same article, however, points out that the Roku has sold about 8 million units and the Chromecast is estimated around the same.

Apple TV has reported sales over 20 million units.

That means that Apple has likely sold more than it's two best competitors- combined!

So why on earth would they want to go chasing after products that are barely selling half as well as theirs?  It's the kind of thing you'd expect the author to answer.  Shocker- he didn't.  Instead, he simply points out that the Apple TV hasn't been "updated" in a while, so these products are "newer" and thus a "threat."

Disruption can happen to be sure.  And yes, being the leader doesn't make you safe from a strong, fast second place competitor.  

But what you shouldn't do as the leader is chase second place.  If you're out in front, you got there because you executed your plan- not someone elses.  And that's the key.  It's why the Inventor's Dilemma is under attack like never before.  

Look, if you're leading the pack and you start chasing second place you're either A) slowing down and letting them get ahead of you (meaning you're no longer the leader) or B) you're running backwards and in the wrong direction.  Think about it.

Bottom line- if you're the leader, don't chase second place.  Find your own way to the finish line that uses your unique strengths and talents.  Be more of yourself.  A better version of yourself.  But don't waste time trying to be someone else.  That's always a losing proposition.

Corporate Policy and Chekov's Gun

Are you familiar with Chekov's Gun?  It's a simple literary device.  The idea is that if you introduce something to the story, you better use it; otherwise it's a waste.

Too many corporate policies are just that.  Rules and guidelines hung on the wall to scare us into believing order will be enforced.  But if you're not going to ever fire the thing it's not a threat- it's just clutter.

So before you go putting a new policy in your workplace, here's a few questions you should ask...

1) How are you planning to enforce it?  Where would a violation run into your established corrective action guidelines?  If it's a termination-level offense you better say so up front.  Or if a "3 strikes" system works better, that's fine too.  But you better know or else your gun doesn't have any bullets and that's just decoration.

2) Who is going to enforce it?  Someone has to be responsible to pull the trigger.  Does this need a dispute resolution process?  Or will some manager accountability do just fine?  The point is if no one is holding the gun, once again, it's a decoration

3) Do you really need this one?  Ask any gun collector and they can tell you; sometimes you really do need a specific gun for the job.  You're probably not going bird hunting with a pistol nor would you skeet shoot with a sniper rifle.  But then again, if you're just looking for basic home protection, one good shot gun should do.  So before you go making a new policy ask yourself- "do we really need a specific one, or should we just point what we have in the right direction?"

Look, I'm all for responsible gun ownership.  But Chekov is right- don't own it if you're not going to use it.  And policies are no different.  Having a bunch of them means nothing.  But a few that you're good at using and aren't afraid to pull the trigger on are usually enough to protect you.