How often do you share your ‘bad decisions’ and more importantly, what you’ve learnt from them?
Life is full of events… the more you do, the more decisions you make, and the more you learn.
Quite a deep one today.
Mainly reflecting on a few things – personal, professional and one that has been hurting me for a few days. Well, since Wednesday night. Since, Nottingham Forest – who’d been in the Top 6 of the Championship since 26th December… fell to 7th place (and out of the play off places) at the 91st minute of the last game of the season.
My heart broke.
But – having reflected (and gone through the change curve) I strongly believe… that if certain things remain in place – and we improve on our weak areas, we will grow.
Growth in general – is uncomfortable. Because, if you are comfortable – are you learning and growing?
New Podcast is out TODAY!!!!
That’s right – Kat and I are back with a brand new episode…. talking about Boilers, Zoom and Flying Cars! – oh… let’s not forget about the ‘egg-man’!
You can listen to it on Apple Podcasts – search for ‘think lean get digital’… or even Spotify!
We all make life choices. There’s a lot that goes on… and we have to make choices. Sometimes they are right… sometimes, we’ll get them wrong…. BUT, we should be conscious of the choices we make. Are they right… where will that choice lead us… and more importantly, the choice you make today, will you be proud of it in the future?
There’s a lot that will effective our choices, some motivate us… some just steer us down that path.
Just remember… you have a choice.
So, I have a gentleman… who comes around to the house from the local farm. He sells… eggs, potatoes, etc… you know, all the goodies that you’re likely to purchase from a farm.
Now, he’s a little elderly, and has been coming over for a few years. We always end up buying something as it’s fresh, it’s local and he’s such a friendly guy. He often gives us recipes or just some hints and tips on what we can cook… and asks us what did we cook, did we enjoy it, etc… basically it’s a human form instead of receiving one of those online survey emails.
He came last Thursday, and whilst I purchased some goods from him… I said, hold fire… I’m not sure I’ve got enough cash (he always takes cash). To me surprise… he says, “Bal, it’s ok… I got me one of those card readers” and then pulls out an iZettle card reader!
Whilst this wouldn’t surprise many – he just totally wowed me. Because,
That last line got me. Makes the process easier.
We often forget…. the goal of any business or organisation is the customer. The more we can make it easier for them, the better it is.
Again…. it’s about the timeline, from the moment we start (making, developing, or in this case… picking the goods at the farm)… to the point we receive the cash.
Look at all those process steps and make the process as lean as possible.
It’s all about results, right? – a lot of people talk…. we can do this, we can do that… etc… but the important thing is being able to show it.
Be able to prove it… rather than promise.
Under promise – over deliver.
I remember a key thing that My friend James Caan (former Dragons Den) shared with me…. he said, ‘Bal… don’t always follow the crowd’.
It’s true. Should forge your own path. Make a difference. Do something new. Show the world a new way of working… just like how Tesla became the most valuable car maker in the world. By not following the crowd and the norm of the combustion engine.
Last night – Apple held their annual conference where they basically announce all the new things that are being released.
Now, I will share the whole video link below but I wanted to give my top 3 takeaways from the conference….
1. Dance towards your fitness goal
Now, on those Saturday nights… when I’m dancing away and doing some Bhangra… it’ll all be registered and count towards my fitness goal!
How awesome is that! And about time too…..!
2. As you may know I love my cars…. and soon will not need my car keys! That’s right…. using NFC (Near Field Communication) I can in the future unlock my new car from my phone!! In addition – I can give others access to my car also.
Once in, you place the phone in the charging bay, and then off you go in your car….. will be first available on the new BMW 5 series.
3. AirPods Pro Will now give you a cinema type of experience!
The sound will be so awesome – you’ll think you’re in a cinema when you’re on the bus! It’s designed in such a way, that you’ll hear the sounds and noises around you as and when they are meant to be.
So there you go, my top three…. now there’s much more that’s coming like scribble…
… but the best thing is you don’t have long to wait!
And here’s the link as promised…
I usually share a few ‘business’ related items on my social media… like how certain individuals didn’t give up, how some people really made good use of their entrepreneurial talent…. and how we continue to learn and evolve.
Today’s Friday Thought goes to those who have experience. Sometimes, it may not show immediately… but underneath… somewhere, there’s a plan… and it might be not evident to you – but it is to them!
I read a lot of success stories – and stories where people and organisations didn’t make it.
It’s always good to learn from those who didn’t make it. And I’ve began to list a number of common denominators to why they didn’t make it to the big time. Yes – there’s a few generic ones… like the people in charge, the direction of the organisation, etc…
But I’m not going to focus on that. I wanted to focus on something else.
So I tweeted the other day – how Tesla is the most valuable car maker in the world… and how Nikola is valued more than Ford – despite not even selling a car yet!
Crazy times!
But not really.
Investors are looking to the future.
What does the future hold. What does the future need. What do people in the future need. What will people in the future want!
We’ll save the conversation about electric vehicles for another day.
But one thing I would like to say is – I see ALL industries being disrupted (if not already being disrupted).
What does that mean Bal? How can you disrupt ALL industries? – there’ll be some that you’ll always need… like food and drink.
I even see those industries being disrupted! It’s taking time.. but it’s happening.
Case 1.
(Briefly……) Yesterday, I had a gentleman knock on my door. He was from the Modern Milkman.
Basically, they are like the old milkman, who drive around – deliver milk, eggs, juice, etc… to your doorstep – early in the morning, so it’s all ready for your breakfast. It’s all fresh from the local farm…
Why do I think they’ll do well…. maybe not take over current ways of supermarket shopping (well, you never know!), is because of 3 things. 1) They deliver to your doorstep. 2) They’ve got an app! And 3) They are using the thinking of ‘recycle, reuse, reduce’ – their not using single-use plastic….! And more importantly… milk (like Coca-Cola) tastes better out of a glass bottle…
Case 2.
Another one for the ‘drinks’ sector. We all like a beer. Most of us enjoy going to the pub on the weekend and enjoy a pint or two. What choice did you have? – we all know there were the regular choices… and maybe one or two additional ones. Nothing too exciting to write home about.
But again – it’s all changing. There’s now microbreweries. There’s craft beer! There’s more people making different types of beer than ever before. And these are very quickly appearing in pubs and bars up and down the country.
We want variety. We want choice.
Take Brewdog for example. A Craft brewery who saw an opportunity. And has made it work for them. And how are they doing financially… well, have a look at their post recently on LinkedIn…
And finally… Case 3.
Cakes and cookies… bakery goods, being disrupted by smaller independent bakers, local bakers… who sell goods online or through Facebook (where they can connect with friends and family).
Take for example, Bal’s Bakery….. (on Instagram, @balsbakery)…. they make vegan cookies, eggless cakes, etc… but more on the success of this in a future blog post 🙂