Moving from success to significance……a question many of us should answer

September 3, 2010

I often hear “experts” talking about separating your business from your personal life.  In some respects this makes sense, especially after you leave your business, but in others it never seems to work.

Private business owners often feel guilty when they don’t separate the two.  The problem with this is many private business owners, myself included think about their business more than eight hours a day.  It’s not something we put to bed when we walk out the door of our business.

In our connected world it’s easier for us to carry our work home with us.  Between laptop computers and distributed storage for our files it’s incredibly easy to continue working at home after the regular work day or on the weekend.  More than once I’ve meant to spend fifteen minutes on something and emerge four hours later having moved from project to project.

When we sell our business or move on to another stage in our life it’s then we have to make sure we have something to fill our time.  The phone stops ringing, people stop asking us for our advice and we become a non-person in the industry that we left.  For many, again including myself this can be or is an issue as much for our ego and feeling of self-worth as it is for how we spend our time.

If we’re not ready for the “exile” that happens when we leave our business the adjustment can be very difficult.  The what’s next question is an important one that needs to be answered.  If not, before you leave your business, then shortly afterwords as you’re trying to figure out how to spend your time.  There really is only so much golf that can be played.

There’s an organization called Halfetime that can help with many who have had successful careers, sold their business and are trying to figure out what’s next.  They help successful people move from the financial success they may have had to significance for how you spend your time.  The move to the second half of your life is one if done properly can provide a great deal of satisfaction.  I encourage you to give them a look and let me know what you think.

Josh Patrick

I encourage all comments to my blog.  I’m always interested in what readers are thinking about the topics I write about.

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Is small descrete steps better than taking giant ones?

August 29, 2010

I think I’ve finished the writing for our new web site.  Now I have to make sure that in fact, I have finished the writing, get the web designers to finish their final work and ship the product off to our compliance department and let them make their comments.  If all goes well I’ll be able to announce our new web site going live sometimes towards the end of September.

I realized this project has been going on for about four months and I’ve not written or talked much about it.  In fact, I’m just now sending out links to those I want to get comments back from about the new site and what their thoughts are.  The good news is that for the most part, the comments have been pretty good.  Although, one of my friends has let me know that it looks like a typical insurance or investment site with nothing interesting.

That comment started an interesting conversation.

My belief is that if we can help people narrow their focus and look at one or two ideas that interest them, there is a higher probability they will do something about it.  If instead, we have an adviser focused site where we talk about comprehensive planning instead of tactical planning, we’ll get people who might be interested, but are not likely to take action.

When a project or an idea has a finite level to it, people are likely to do something about the idea.  When there appears to be no end, it just feels like too much work.  The idea with our new website is to have each area have many finite roads someone can go down.  This does two things, it helps focus attention and it allows the participant to see where the end is.  My belief is that both are going to help us help our Clients take control of their situation, be the experts at what they want and as a result, their life might get better.  And, that is our goal……..helping our Clients make their life better.

Josh Patrick

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You never know unless you ask

August 27, 2010

Our local hospital and health megaplex is a teaching hospital.  In most specialties they assign a Fellow to work with you and the Fellow works with an attending to make sure they’re doing the right thing.  This means that you might have a different attending looking at the Fellow’s recommendations and not really know anything about your case.

I’ve been having problems with high blood sugar as a result of taking Prednisone (a steroid) and have been working on getting it under control for a few months now.  About six weeks ago I went to the Diabetes Clinic at the hospital and was assigned a Fellow to follow through.  I’ve been there for two appointments and had different attending physicians make the call on what I should be doing.  The problem with this is they have different ideas and came up with different treatment plans.

It’s now almost four weeks later and my blood sugar is still not under control.  The issue seems to be a little thorny and a few days ago I decided that I wanted an attending physician who understands Prednisone induced diabetes.  I wanted a doctor who can actually figure out what’s going on and come up with a reasonable treatment plan that has a chance of working.

I decided to call the clinic and ask to have the doctor patient relationship changed.  I asked if it’s possible to have an attending be the person I see and if they want to have a Fellow involved to have them shadow the doctor and not be the primary physician.  Low and behold, I was told that this was no problem and I’ve now been assigned a doctor who hopefully understands the issues I’m facing.

So, the moral of this story as with most health care stories is that you must be your own advocate.  If you can’t be your own advocate, then you better have someone who can.  Otherwise, you’ll just get twisted around and around by the system.

Josh Patrick

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Getting married at the perfect place

August 21, 2010

Tomorrow my daughter is getting married.  The event is going to be held at Mary’s Inn at Baldwin Creek.  Suzanne and I have known and patronized Doug and Linda’s restaurant for over thirty years.  For us, it’s a real pleasure doing business with them and I personally really like many things about not only how they run their restaurant, but their philosophy of eating.

Since my cancer treatment and side effects from side effects I’ve dramatically changed the way I eat and Mary’s fits right into my philosophy and practice changes that I’ve made.

The first thing about their operation that makes a lot of sense to me is using a local focus on procurement of their food.  If they don’t grow the vegetables on their property, they try to source them locally.  Most of the meat comes from local small farm growers as well as their breads.  What this means is the food they serve is locally grown and, or raised.  From both a health point of view for the body and the economy this is a good thing.

The second thing they promote is slow eating.  This movement started in Europe and is now moving to the US.  The slow eating movement is just what it sounds like.  When a restaurant promotes slow eating, it means that food will be prepared slowly and not pre-cooked.  It also means that you as a diner will need to take your time.  Your food is going to come out of the kitchen slower than you may have come to expect from many restaurants.  For me, slow eating means relaxing with my wife and or friends and having a leisurely meal where I get a chance to taste great combinations of food and wine.

Tomorrow is a big day in many people’s lives.  Alexa, our daughter starts an adventure as a married person.  Suzanne and I will be adopting a new person as our son in law.  Both of us are thrilled with Alexa’s choice.  We think Rob is a kind and thoughtful person.  One who will wear well over a long period of time.

I’m thinking that it’ll be a day I remember for a long time.

Josh Patrick

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It’s really not all about the goal…..enjoy the view along the way

August 9, 2010

I’ve been thinking about the goal oriented society that we live in.  We set goals and then put milestones in place to measure our progress.  We make lists and then cross off the activities as we go through them.

I wonder how many times we stop to either look at the milestones or appreciate the activities that we’ve done to get to our goals.

For me, much of what makes chasing goals interesting is the road that we take to get to those goals.  In othewords, the trip is often way more interesting and much more valuable than the final destination.

The problem with the final destination is that once we get there, we’re rarely satisfied.  We then go running off after a different goal without appreciating the road that we’ve taken or are in the process of taking.  I’m reading an interesting book right now.  It’s called The Four Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss.  He poses a question I thought was very thought provoking…..Would you rather have a million dollars or live the lifestyle of a millionaire?  The answer to that question can change how you look at life and appreciating different options you might want to take.

I’m thinking that the journey in many instances is not only more interesting than the goal, but more valuable as well.  There are lessons that we continually run by.  If instead, we stop and notice what we’re learning or what questions come our way during our made dash towards a particular goal we just might be happier and have a more fulfilling life.

Josh Patrick

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The new new doesn’t look very good

July 12, 2010

When I talk with others about the state of society, there seems to be a general malaise.  I believe this consistent with where we are as a society and from a demographic point of view.

We are at the point in human history where there likely are to be events or an event that will cause significant pain and suffering with many.  I would submit that we are seeing this pain and suffering already.  If we’re not in the middle of the Fourth Turning that Howe and Strauss talk about then we’re coming awfully close to it.  Life is getting disruptive and I expect that over the next eighteen months it will become even more so.

People are frustrated.  Some with very good reason and some are just in the wrong position and the wrong time.  Those who thought they had a social contract with society are finding out that those social contracts are  thin at best.  Our local governments are going to re-neg on the promises they made to long-term employees.  I believe we’ll see pension plans slashed if not completely forsaken because demographically they can’t stand on their own two feet with the funding mechanisms that had been put together years ago.

Actuarial assumptions  had been made about them and just like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, the promises won’t be able to be held.

In addition to Government Pensions falling apart the promise that if we worked hard and learned a craft, we would have a good paying job till retirement is out the window.  The world saw what the developed world had and decided it wanted part of it.  In fact, the world was willing to work for far less money than we were and with many, many more hours.  Now, we have a situation where much of basic manufacturing is done in an another country by those who will work for less, work harder and provide the same quality if not better than we can.

We’ve worked hard for the promises that we’ve been given.  Those promises are quickly being eroded.  My concern is not so much the promises are being eroded is that we as a society don’t have an answer for this.  It appears to me we don’t have the answers for how we’re going to take care of this huge group of seniors rapidly coming down the pike.  Our present business structure can’t afford it.  I don’t think we’ll see manufacturing coming back.  And, we have to find some way to fund at least part of the promises that we’ve made.

If nothing else, this should make for an interesting couple of years.  A couple of years that could be really scary.

Josh Patrick

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More on mind maps and presenting complicaed processes

June 27, 2010

I’ve been thinking about the changes we’ve made in communicating with our Clients over the past couple of years.

My buddy Nate Sachs has reminded me that our Clients don’t like complexity and they don’t like activities that take a long time.  I’ve been coming to the same conclusion over the past year and have taken what I think are good steps to deal with both issues.

I believe that our Clients are interested in the following things:

  • Staying in control of their own situation and be the team leader.
  • Not have meetings that drag on forever.
  • Have a method of seeing our suggestions that show the connections.
  • Have us ask questions more than give answers, meaning work from their point of view not ours.
  • Be allowed to choose what they want to work on.

Our solution for communicating a complicated solution is to provide our Clients with a mind map that integrates all the activities they think are important.  As we go through the mind map, we ask them to choose which activities and strategies they have the interest and or time to work on.  These choices are things the Client has indicated they have an interest in doing through our interview process.  We keep the mind map as a strategic tool and over time we start to fill in the boxes at the Clients convenience.

This often means that we aren’t doing all the things we think the Client should do, but we are moving in a direction that supports what the Client wants done.  Using a mind mapping tool to present this information allows us to use one page.  We find the visual representation of the work we do not only simplifies the process in the Clients mind, but shows them all of the things that we are doing behind the scenes.

Our Clients often forget that there is work that must be done when they’re not around.  They can give us assignments and then if we’re good they can forget about it until we’ve kicked some tires and thought about possible solutions.  When we get together with our Clients we can use a mind map to easily allow our Clients to make choices that will make their life better.  And, after all isn’t that the point?

Josh Patrick

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Integrating our firm’s name and purpose

June 20, 2010

I’ve been thinking about the integration of our firm’s name along with our mission statement.  I’ve realized that making our Clients lives better really starts as a Stage 2 and moves into a Stage 3 activity more than a Stage 1 activity.

Stage 1 is about doing the right things that allow you to move into Stage 2.  For example, Stage 1 on a personal level is about putting basic risk and savings instruments in place.  Stage 2 on a personal level is about finding the right investment options as well as taking advantage of different ways or making those investments.

On the business front, Stage 1 is about the tactical issues that will allow your business to grow and prosper.  We can think about Stage 2 issues while we’re in the start up phase of a business, but we’re not likely to be able to do very much about those strategic issues until the tactical part of our business is in good shape.  With a business owner Client Stage 2 is about value building and putting activities in place that will dramatically grow the value of the business.

Stage 2 activities are where we can help build significant value and make our Clients lives better.  Stage 1 is preparing to make our Clients lives better by having the appropriate activities in place and are being acted on.  Stage 3 is harvesting the good work that we’ve done in Stage 2 which is also about making our Clients lives better.

Just because your fifty years or older doesn’t automatically make your a Stage 2 or 3 Client.  In fact, many of the people we meet are always five years away from moving to the next stage are Stage 1 Clients.  These people need the basics put in place either for their business or for themselves.

I find it almost impossible to jump right to stage 2 or 3 without having the basics in place.  For some people the work of putting Stage 1 activities in place is just too much.  For this group of people it’ll almost be impossible for us to help make their life better.  Making our Client’s lives better really is about having the ability to take advantage of opportunities.  Until the basics are in place, taking advantage of those opportunities is often not possible.

When we integrate our firm’s name along with our firm’s purpose we have better interactions with our Clients and can provide better service for those who choose to work with us.

Josh Patrick

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Limiting choice through niche management is win for all

June 6, 2010

I’ve been doing more thinking about choice and what that means for our Customers.

I do believe that most of the time we are provided with too many choices.  There are times where we need to have professionals guide us with the choices we have to make.  This means that professionals need to have methods for understanding who we and how that would help them guide us better.  There are two things that can help with this.  The first is to have formal training on how to listen and illicit responses from their Clients, Customers or Patients.  The second is to develop niches that we serve so we can become experts around typical issues our Clients face.

We all like to think we’re unique in our problems.  The fact is most of us aren’t all that unique.  If you’re a cancer patient facing choices about your treatment, there is a body of knowledge that says under certain circumstances with certain fact patterns these are the choices you should make.  The problem is that in many instances Doctors don’t have the time or interest to find out what the individual fact patterns are.  As a result they aren’t in a position to give a good suggestion.  In this case, even though the Doctor is working in a niche they don’t have the time and or interest in finding out the specifics of their patients.

In the advice industries we need to build discovery and time for that discovery to find out what our Clients want.  In addition, if we develop niche specialties we can become experts at helping people in different industries and walks of life on appropriate things to think about.  The reason for this is because when we work within a niche we start to see patterns form.  From these patterns we can form best practices or best discovery methods to help our Clients make wise decisions about what they want to do.  When we do both, we are able to leave our Clients in charge of their situation, and using expert questions we can help them discover what’s best for them.

Becoming an expert at what we do through niche service and taking the time to understand our Clients is the secret to extraordinary service.  When we try to be all things to all people, both our Client and we get less than we should.  Taking the time to understand, communicate and only work with Clients we truly understand makes a better deal for all.

Josh Patrick

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It’s not about maximizing choice, it’s about controlling it instead

June 4, 2010

Last night I watched a very interesting TED presentation on the topic of choice.  The speaker was saying that we have too many choices and as a result we make no choices.  One of his examples was an illustration of having fewer people participate in 401(k) programs when there are more than ten investment choices.

I also believe that we are overwhelmed with the amount of choice we have in literally everything we have access to.  This is as true in a hardware or grocery store as with 401(k) programs.  The problem is that most of us don’t have a good strategy for dealing with the mind numbing choices that we have.

I think that if we think about what our outcomes are before we walk into a store it makes narrowing the choice and being happy with what we choose easier.  Unfortunately, that just gets us to easier not easy.

In our wealth management practice we’ve made a conscious effort to help our Clients limit choice.  We do this by having a definite personality of what we do.  We don’t offer our Clients hundreds of choices.  We offer a limited amount of choice based on over arching principles we have in our firm.  As we go through the choices we offer we constantly ask “will this make your life better”.  If the answer is yes, we put the idea in one pile.  If the answer is no, then that idea goes into the no pile.

We then sift through the yes answers and have the Client rate on a scale of one to ten how excited they would be about working on a particular tactic, strategy or project.  Those projects and there usually are one to three that rise to a high level are the ones we suggest we work on.  If there is nothing that rises to a high level, we thank the potential Client for their time and part ways.

The important thing about choice and Clients is making sure we don’t overwhelm the Client with all the different things they can do.  If we can make a choice a yes or no and then rate that choice on a scale of one to ten we are simplifying the complex process of deciding what part of their financial world the Client wants to work on.  I know when someone simplifies my life and does it with a high level of skill and emotional intelligence I’m a very happy Customer.

In my opinion, that’s the crux of the entire conundrum around choice.  We have to make it simple, delivered in a language the Customer understands and give them only a few options so we don’t overwhelm.

To do this well we have to realize that we aren’t going to be all things to all people.  We will fill the needs of a small percentage of the population.  When we fill the needs of a small population we can become an expert at those issues and provide higher value because of a higher level of understanding.  At the end of the day, most of us have a very few people we can serve well.  Understanding that population thoroughly will make your service better and the Client’s lives easier.

Isn’t that what we all want in the first place?

Josh Patrick

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