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Execution, Execution, Execution !

// October 3rd, 2007 // No Comments » // Business

Its not the first time I am thinking about this, it will not be the last.

Yesterday my partner told me about a new TV show format and technology that he considered a revolution in entertainment. Hearing this, I sent him an email from September 2005 sent by me to some international investors in different parts of the world, talking in detail about the technology I had developed and what kind of TV Shows could be done with it. My email was explaining in detail what my partner just told me. I was as always involved in several other ventures at that time and didn’t push it as hard as I should have done.

I am not the first nor the last person wasting a great idea. On the other hand the “Right Time, Place and Person” formula doesn’t always come friendly either.

A good Swedish friend of mine, during a party, read to us the executive summary of a business plan he made for “ring-tones” when cellular phones were a triviality even for Sweden. The plan was full of details, up to customized ring-tones for different callers and exclusive ring-tone tune production made by famous artists.

Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston may be the fathers of great ideas, slipping trough. Visicalc was the first spreadsheet software, developed when nobody knew what a spreadsheet was (Watch the Triumph of the Nerds). Everybody loved it and with no patent, Lotus came along. They empowered the “forward slash” in a webless era. Bill Gates was not impressed, Excel was born…

The truth is that what really makes an Idea reach its potential is the way its executed. This is not valid only for building huge business enterprises but simpler tasks like keeping your family together, excelling at a sport or reaching different personal goals. Here are some lessons I have learned:

1) Visualization

It all starts with that tiny spark in your head, and a distant rumble, like a huge flow of water stuck into a small canal. Pictures and sounds floating around numbers and formulas, the “perfect mess” that leads to that final Vision: its like having discovered Atlantis and looking at it from the top of a hill.

Everything is so perfect, so in place, so familiar… you are in love!
I wouldn’t exchange this feeling for anything in the world. The more you visualize, the more details you see, the more it makes sense.

Sometimes you hit a wall, bounce back and realize it was only a fling.

It’s crucial here to tell real love apart from passion and lust, as a mix-up would lead to total destruction!…

So flirt with your vision, go out on a few dates. Live together for a while before taking the big step. Its hard to see, when in love, what skeletons the vision might conceal.

Once you know each other well, its time to meet the family: look into the competition, if there isn’t any, there might be a reason! This is not a rule, but you should be more careful on uncharted land. The important thing is to gather as much info as you can and digest it well until you are certain she is the one…

2) Planning:

Once you are sure you want to pursue the final step, you start planning for the big event. It takes lots of research and opinions to complete it. Most of the wild guesses you will be forced to do during this period will generally turn wrong, be prepared for it.

Whichever Higher Force you believe in will be testing your commitment.

Some tools might come handy: Business Plan Pro is great to lay it out correctly. Aceproject is the first step to execution(and will come handy all the way to the end)

Once you have your numbers figured out and the tasks at hand, and still makes sense to move forward (this is where most ideas die before they take off) its time to find the physical resources you will need.

3) Teaming Up:

If I learned anything trough the years, is that “The Right People” is the most important aspect of anything you want to do in life. From personal to business. Not having the right people at the key positions is crucial for success, so if you can’t find them, keep looking. Don’t settle for the available, don’t settle for the affordable, every key position in the organization should feel (or actually be) partner of the organization.

Personally this has been the toughest lesson to learn trough the years but ask any successful or insightful executive in any business field in the world, they will tell you the value of having the right combination of people and what difference it makes.

I consider this the toughest of the steps into executing your dreams.

4) Persistence:

This is the time to get on the ring and start punching. Its no fair fight but as Rocky Balboa said:

“The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can GET hit and keep moving forward. How much you can TAKE and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done”

I can’t possibly add anything to that…

5) Followtrough:

This part we tend to forget, as after all the fights lost and won, no matter how many swings and hit and misses, we should keep at it. With time tough we tend to get sloppy, there is no more follow trough. I remember how annoying it was to hear that remark from my tennis teacher as a child. But Seth Godin explained that already so you better read it from him.

And if still doesn’t work, change track and keep trying. If you find out you can’t really execute just let go of that idea, release yourself from that burden, give it as a gift to the world and to who will be able to make something out of it. Be sure you’ll have many great ideas, be confident you can afford to be picky on which ones to stick to.

Sadok Kohen

Why should teachers have great marketing skills

// September 21st, 2007 // 7 Comments » // Marketing

We are surrounded with wonders. Every day various technologies come to our help in the most amazing ways. And yet we often forget to value the hard work and the immense energy that was spent in making all this available to us. Our life is a fast-food drive in, we just want to eat in the fastest and easiest way without having to understand why are we hungry in the first place.

This is directly related to how education is perceived and executed and who are our first teachers.

When we are children we are very busy growing up. It’s no easy task, we have to live up to society standards and that’s why we are very selective in our choices. Which toys we like, which friends we like, which sports we like, which people we like, its all about new data processed at very high speed and most importantly “without prejudice”. A friend can become an enemy and then become a brother. A toy is inseparable one day, we hate it the other, you get the picture.

One day this kind of open minded social network is forced to stay put in a room with an old guy as the “guardian” for a HUGE amount of time…

You have a very well targeted audience with huge buying potential, LOCKED in a room with you for an almost unlimited and mostly UNINTERRUPTED time frame! (Seth Godin rejoice!)

Does that mean you can sell anything at any price, no questions asked ? Well that must be very well what we are thinking or we are really not that interested in selling, because if you look at how we try to teach our children during their most perceptive years its obvious we are doing a horrible job. But can we really afford to ?

Boring classes lead to attention deficit which lead to boredom associated with learning and boring class after class this information is written in stone. If learning is boring, so is working which directly relates to creativity and production loss of generation after generation. This is a direct economical, sociopolitical and humanitarian loss.

Whereas interesting classes, passionate teachers, awareness of what really is at stake would lead to convert those little minds in lifelong extremely loyal customers of knowledge! Creativity, productivity, health, awareness, everything would rise as a result of this with a huge direct impact on the worlds quality of life.

I remember for example being thought about how a battery works in terms of chemistry. Lots of formulas, lots of big words and history and names. It got a little interesting when a frog was involved but it was immediately replaced with big and boring charts. I think about it now, and how interesting it is actually to “know” with the real sense of the word how energy is created and preserved. What does energy mean. How it gives life to a toy. How it can be used in other areas of my life and the power that such knowledge yields. Its the concept of “energy” that needs to be sold first, and what a product it is to sell! But no, we don’t need that. All we want to do is use “energy” to put in a formula to derive some other constant in an “equation”. Splendid pitch right ?

Today’s marketers have amazing tools at their disposal. They track everything, from attention spans to eye balls. Crowd analysis, statistical charts. Behavioral analysis, direct marketing, personalized messages and many many more. All directly applicable to the subject.

I am sure if the best marketers in the world would have the chemistry book as a client, they would restructure every lesson into a great pitch. Use high tone voices full of passion while selling it and literally pour knowledge into your soul. They would recognize the combination of a great product, value the perfect audience and do everything to make the kill !

You probably think the kids don’t have the money to pay for such good marketers time. If you calculate the potential outcome of such an investment and the ROI you’ll see they are the richest and easiest client there is…

We have the tools, we have the means, we have the knowledge, we have the power and we have the time to do it. Why don’t we ?

Pick any topic out of a school book and turn it into a marketing pitch, complete of media planning, creative, script and all, share it with me if you like. You’ll realize that if you put the same passion you put into selling, lets say, hamburgers, you are holding in your hands the next Big Mac!

Sadok Kohen