… just a different animal.
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Are you like Ford or Rolls Royce?
I like cars. From my various Insta posts and Tweets… you may have noticed, I like cars. Fortunately, I have a new BMW… one of those new electric, 5 series.
Now, I do believe in ‘Progress over Perfection’. BMW have done a wonderful job in developing this car. This hybrid car. Part battery – part petrol engine. Definitely a step in the right direction to fully electric cars… like the i3 and i8 that is in the BMW range.
So this got me thinking – are businesses working with a similar mindset?
Every business is different. Every Organisation is different. Why? – because of what their customers want and what their customers expect.
For example, let’s take Rolls Royce… they’ve taken a while to bring out their 4×4 vehicle…
As the statement says – years of development… they are almost ready to launch the first Rolls Royce SUV.
Rolls Royce customers expect something that is of extremely high quality. Something that is very reliable and something that is worth the money they are paying for.
Let’s take Ford on the other hand…. Henry Ford (remember) wanted to bring down the cost of car ownership… and it’s very much, you could say, progress over perfection – which is absolutely fine.
Above shows the great progress Ford have made with the Focus car. Admittley, the first photo is a long time ago… but look at the serious development they’ve made.
And this is fine – you could get a new model, every few years – or when a new revised model, is released.
You could also think of it in terms of Whiskey and Beer.
Beer can be produced quicker than Whiskey. But then, beer can be consumed quicker… than whiskey. Whiskey drinkers take their time, enjoy it on the rocks, mix it… etc… where as beer… is well, beer. (Indeed, there’s craft beer… but the same principles apply).
But isn’t there a middle-ground, Bal?
Yes, yes there is!
It all depends on your customers, and what they want. Also, what you’re delivering.
Take BMW… and their new BMW 8 Series. The old one went out of production some time ago… and they’ve been developing, working… on a new one. And they’ve done a great job, by building some hype around it.
Once again, the people buying the 8 series, are not the type of people necessarily buying the 3 or 5 series.
And this is the point… understand your customers expectations and deliver accordingly. If anything… exceed, if possible, expectations. But only… if you’re able to. Otherwise, you may over-promise… and under-deliver.
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
Just sometimes…
Today’s Throwback Thursday, is to a time when I met up with my good friend, Kulvinder Ghir – comedian, actor… and an all around, nice guy.
Now, for those who are thinking… I’ve seen him before somewhere… indeed you have. He was one of the four, in Goodness Gracious Me…
That’s right – the popular BBC Show, really funny show that aired a while ago. He played a number of characters – my personal favorite being ‘Bhangra Man’.
A proven comedian – who had his own live stand up shows.
A proven actor – starring in not only Goodness Gracious Me, but also the recent series of Open All Hours on BBC 1, and many more. He’s also been in a number of films also… including, Bend It Like Beckham.
He’s done some great work over the years. And continues to do so… today.
I met up with Kulvinder, a few years back, at his home in London… we had a good catch up, and there are some things he’s shared with me previously, about his journey which I wanted to share with you…
- It’s not Easy – Stating the obvious, right? – We see a lot on social media, photo’s of big cars, luxury lifestyles, etc… but many of these folk, who genuinely have built their careers or businesses, haven’t always had it easy. It takes time. Goodness Gracious Me was hugely popular. But did you know… the struggle behind it… the hours and days of writing good material… and how it first started on radio, not TV.
- Have Fun – The guy is seriously funny. In real life too. He doesn’t take many things seriously. For example, I was sat in his living room, and he said – oh I need to pop out and get some biscuits, you make the tea i’ll be back in a bit…. I was like… don’t worry about the biscuits! Let’s sit down… And this behavior transpires into the work that he does. Writing material, for a show… must be hard work, but when you’re with friends, having a laugh… and a joke, time flies by and before you know it, you’ve got some good material! Enjoy what you do. Have fun.
There’s a lot we have talked about. Sacrifices he’s made, how he moved away from home, how he’s learnt from a lot of people…. etc… but i’m not going to go into that. Because the 2 points I’ve mentioned above, are what really makes him stand out – the second one, especially!
So, whatever you do… how ever you do it… and when ever you do it… make sure you have fun!
You can find various clips of the show on YouTube, Vimeo, etc.. but I wanted to share one of my favourites…
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Mother Nature’s Son…
I had a very relaxing Easter. From my twitter feed, you’d have noticed, I spent most of the time eating, drinking… and more eating.
I also, managed to watch some TV. And on TV, there were some re-runs…. of some old sitcoms, like Keeping up Appearances, Last of the Summer Wine and Only Fools and Horses.
For those outside of the UK… and wondering, Bal… what are you talking about, the latter of these sitcoms was… and is, a classic! (Mind you, all of them are – but the latter being more popular)
It was based around 2 brothers… Del and Rodney, who’s only goal in life was to become rich. Their famous saying… “this time next year, we’ll be millionaires’.
They tried their hand to everything… and I mean everything. Every opportunity they were given, they took it and tried it… to make some money.
So, over Easter… the episode called, ‘Mother Nature’s Son’ was on.
For those who remember Only Fools and Horses… it’s the time when they hit big with ‘Peckham Springs’.
Yep – you’ll indeed be laughing… with the memories of that episode.
For those unsure, I’ll run through the story line – then I thoroughly recommend you find the episode online (YouTube, Vimeo, etc…) and watch it.
In this episode, Del Boy becomes a land owner. I say land owner, he… owns an allotment. Now, Del Boy… who’s always looking for an ‘opportunity’ has an idea.
One of Rodney’s friends, has a shop – that sells all naturally sourced products. And is very well connected. Del Boy makes friends with him, and invites him to the allotment, to give advice on what he can do with it.
Rodney’s friend does indeed come down to the allotment, and has a look around – but also notices a fresh spring… which Del, let’s him know.. has been there for ages and is called Peckham Springs.
Uncle Albert provides a sample of it to Rodney’s friend – for analysis.
Cut the long story short – the ‘spring’ was made by Del Boy. It’s not been there for years, but was an idea that Del had, when he saw people paying a lot of money for water in a bottle, he thought if he could have it endorsed by Rodney’s friend, there’ll be money to be made!
As Uncle Albert… (who didn’t ‘really’ take a sample, just poured some water into a sample kit for Rodney’s friend to test) was part of the plan – it all went quite smoothly.
Before you knew it, it’d been endorsed, orders had come in… and Del Boy was filling bottles of water… with water!
The episode was absolutely brilliant!
As my nephew and I watched it… I mentioned to him, there’s a few lessons that can be had from this episode for young entrepreneurs and business minded folk today…
1. Look for Opportunities – Del Boy, was always looking for opportunities. The allotment in this episode, was an opportunity – not to grow vegetables and have organic foods – but to see what he could do, with what he has, to make money.
2. Understand Trends – What’s the latest? What are people looking into purchasing? What can make you money? Understand the latest trends, and be quick to react and make it work for you.
3. Look at your network – It was Rodney’s friend who was able to help, I say help…, in the loosest meaning. Del knew Rodney’s friend could help him test, certify and allow the opportunity to sell water in a bottle.
Nephew, I hope you take these learnings onboard and keep watching Only Fools and Horses…
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
Integrity…
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A Leader Leads by Example…
Last week I was in lovely Stockholm. At a Leadership Meeting.
At the meeting, we had our Chief Executive share a short presentation – well, in fact, he didn’t have any slides… he just spoke.
There were a few things he said, that really resonated with me, and some phrases he shared that I wrote down.
You could be thinking – Well Bal… Leaders are meant to say things and share things that should resonate and folk write down. That’s why they are leaders.
True. But I’ve seen leaders previously… to whom, i’d listen to. But wouldn’t have the urge to write anything down.
This then got me thinking. In general. About Leaders…. Leadership behaviours, Leadership traits, etc… How should a Leader be?
There’s lots of traits a leader should have… Let’s take Mr Steve Jobs. One of the most well known leaders of recent times… what were the components of his leadership?
That last one… Effective Communication! – That’s the key one in my opinion. One of the most important ones.
I appreciate leaders have a lot going on. Emails, calls, meetings, presentations, etc… then there’s the day job! But what is important is having the ability to communicate.
But it’s not just communicate, but effectively communicate.
For example, I’ve heard one of our leaders previously say…. “that people are important in an organisation“. Yes – agreed, they’re important. He then went on to say, “how we have to value them and treat them fairly. ” Agree. We should. goes without saying, right?… he then shared, “sometimes, you have to make decisions which impact people” – that is true, maybe moving people around the organisation, changing roles, reduced hours, etc… change can happen. “and it’s when looking and making these decisions, we have to ensure, people are treated fairly“.
It’s not always about telling a story, but being clear and concise on the message. Allowing the audience to take away the key take away’s without you having to say, here’s the key take away’s!
And a good leader does this by example.
If he’s treating people fairly, the people below him will treat their people fairly, and so on… If the leaders are doing what they are saying, then the element of trust can build.
You probably know how I like to link sports to business.
In sports, and i’ll focus on football… you have some great leaders. Either on or off the pitch.
On the pitch, they can be visible. With their behaviours. Their attitude. Their style. But most importantly, with their communication.
Don’t forget, communication can be both, verbal and non-verbal.
Actions speak louder than words.
So if you are a leader, or aspiring to be a leader… firstly, take note of the above components – embed them into your day to day activities and long term goals… (you might be wondering, Bal… how do I learn how to communicate… well… there’s courses… and these days, you could probably do what I do, and jump onto YouTube and watch some of Steve Jobs presentations… or watch a video of people sharing top tips on how to communicate) – but remember, it’s also about non-verbal as well. Secondly… watch the video below of Carlos Puyol. His leadership behaviours are a great example to follow…
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Monday Motivation
Today’s motivational quote comes from Alina, who for some reason… is always making me spend my money!
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
Spend time on yourself. Make yourself bettter. Because it’s you… versus you.
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Why everyone needs a Mentor…
If you’ve read a little about me, you’ll know, I started my career at Kodak.
That’s right, Eastman Kodak, the giants of Photography…
Well, when I joined Kodak, I joined on the graduate scheme. I had a mentor, and at the time, she was ok. She gave me advice but I was fairly strong minded back then, that I listened but was insistent on doing what I had in my mind and wanted to do.
It was only when I joined a small team on the Harrow, UK site.. who were doing some lean activities. And it was within this team, I met my ‘real’ mentor.
Mark Chamberlain. He’d come from Toyota. Knew vast amounts about Lean. But the key thing was, he never taught me. He always took me with him to Gemba and various site walks. Showed me, asked me questions, but never told me the answers. I had to figure them out myself.
Yes he guided me, and taught me some of the lean principles… but it was the simple things that I learnt from him.
For example… we had a cupboard for our overalls. All the overalls were white. But they had our names on the inside. So… when you’d open the cupboard, you’d spend a minute or so, looking for your overall amongst all the others.
One day, I opened the cupboard, and there was a bright red sticker on one of the hangers. It was Mark’s. I thought, why’s he done that. Didn’t ask… just spent some time looking for my coat, found it and left.
Later that day, I was sat at my desk, and saw Mark go to the cupboard. he opened it, and immediately, got his coat and walked away.
It was at that moment, the penny dropped.
Visual controls. He opened the cupboard. Saw a red sticker. Immediately knew where his coat was, got it and went. No time wasted.
Genius.
I want to learn from this guy.
And so I did. During my time at Kodak, I kept on learning.
There were various instances, where we’d walk into a room which had boxes and some scales, and he’d ask me what I saw… and i’d tell him. He wouldn’t say anything. Which at times frustrated me. Then a few weeks later, we’d walk into that same room, and this time… I said, I see inventory… I see… and he paused me. Smiled. And we both walked away.
I’ve kept in touch with Mark. Often reach out for advice, not as often as i’d like… but I know he’s there.
And that’s my story about my mentor.
So, why do you need one?
Well… someone to guide you. Someone to show you. Someone to not give you the answers… but someone to ensure you will achieve the best you can.
Where do you find a mentor? Well… start by looking within your company, your organisation or network.
If there’s someone you look up to… ask them. You could be in the music industry, and look up to some musicians… ask them. What’s the worse that could happen? – they say no… then you either keep asking… or find someone else you look up to. Either way, if you can find someone to show you…. you’ll learn so much… and that’s only a good thing in your journey.