January 26, 2023:

Chat Artificial Intelligence

I tried chat artificial intelligence (AI) the other day. No, it did not write this post. The first thought I had after experiencing it was that Google is dead. That’s not the only thought I had, however. Numerous others rolled in as I watched the A.I.’s thinking bubbles and waited for its reply…its reply, not their reply.

People can use this technology to generate content. For instance, you might have an idea for a blog, an employee comms message, or maybe even need something for a customer. The traditional way of creating that content is to go through a creative process, write the content, and send the content. With AI, the human provides the top-level request or information, and the AI system generates the blog or write-up for you. I have not attempted or used blog-generating AI so there may be more to it. The application I used yesterday is a question/answer type of system. But I saw some AI-generated logo content the other day as well…it was pretty incredible.

I wonder how it will impact news, school papers, work product, online content, and more. Will we know if a person generated something or if it was an artificial intelligence output?

Is Google dead? No. I suspect Google is working on its own AI applications that will be better than the others already out. It’ll be like moving from DVDs to Streaming (Netflix) or gas to EVs (cars). Change with the technology of the times.

A difference between this AI system and Google, in my initial view at least, is an input/output difference. For example, some use AI to replace traditional writing and save time. They generate the idea, AI generates the content; the output. In contrast, Google is a tool as well but more for input. The writer has the idea, researches it, and then writes about it. The input is the research they get from Google. The output is the writing they do and produce. I see AI in this context as a tool for output and Google as a tool for input. By the way, if you creatively phrase your question, you can trick the AI into showing the bias of its developers.

We all have a lot more to learn about this. A person I work with texted and asked, “Are future generations going to be mindless blobs…it’s disturbing.” She isn’t alone in this line of questioning. I’ll say this, humans were made in the likeness of God. And there is no better creator. To hand off the gift of creativity and lose the essence of that could have great significance. AI is a powerful tool. If used responsibly, there could be plenty of positives. Like the Spidey comics say, with great power comes great responsibility. AI needs boundaries.

January 23, 2023:

Learning From Failure

Companies pay lip service to learning from failure but don’t follow through in practice.

Ozan Varol, Think Like a Rocket Scientist

Some companies submit proposals that fail to match the performance and capability of the company. They might be fantastic engineers, service providers, maintainers, or manufacturers but lack the interest or time to produce great proposals. Capturing operational excellence in a proposal effort is challenging. The same principles used in operations, such as quality and continuous improvement, should be applied to the proposal process.

After every proposal result, win or lose, hold an after-action review (AAR) with your team. If you lost the proposal, seek a brutally honest assessment from your team on the proposal process, the content, and delivery. Cover everything from your capture efforts to the government debrief. Challenge assumptions. Check egos at the door. The team in the AAR meeting should strip the problem down to the fundamental elements of truth. Leave the AAR with actionable steps towards continuous improvement of your proposals.

January 21, 2023:

Moments

In Chip Heath and Dan Heath’s book, The Power of Moments, they describe a defining moment “as a short experience that is memorable.” A realization of something about yourself. And often, these defining moments come from a courageous action, a bold decision, or some event where you allowed yourself to be vulnerable. The more comfortable we get, the less likely we are to add these into our lives. I also believe that most of these moments aren’t by chance. They are a result of conscious decisions we make.

My son had a defining moment the other day. Read more about this on the main page.

A Moment in a Roll

January 16, 2023:

Fitness – And Being a Business Exec

In the early 2000s, I was deployed to the Middle East a couple times. There were three primary activities for bomb techs: 1. Work. 2. Workout. 3. Eat. And we did all three well. I’m around 5’9″; 5’10”, with shoes…whatever. At one point during the deployment, I weighed in at 157 pounds. That was after a 7.5-mile run at 110 degrees, but you get the point. I was fit. I could easily fit into size 32 Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) shorts. We would run, lift, run, lift, eat occasionally, work a lot, then run, lift, run, lift, and eat again. 

The third-country nationals in the chow tent (aka, dining facility) remembered our breakfast: 8 egg whites, an egg white omelet with cheese, and a few potatoes almost daily. Once a week, we’d get excited about our French Toast day. Other than that, we stuck with the diet. We collected tubs of protein powder as we drank our weight in protein daily. I moved to an Army unit for a bit, and one of the guys grabbed me and asked, “You Navy guys only work out, huh?” I was Air Force.

I’m sure you can guess where I’m going with this. After 16 years in executive business leadership and travel, I am no longer at the same fitness level I was then. My excuses are age, a lack of routine, and stress. Like everyone else, I set New Year’s Resolutions. They don’t work. I posted on Instagram the other day that I’m not good at those. They set us up for failure because we cut out the daily commitment. This year, my one resolution is to commit to daily resolutions. Every day, achieve some level of small victories. At the end of the year, they will add up to significant achievement. So what is my goal?

At one point, I told myself that my goal was to lose x amount of weight this year. However, that’s not the right approach for me (could be for you). Here is what I’m shooting for instead:

• Body weight dead hang for 2 minutes.
• Hold an air squat for 2 minutes.
• Farmers carry my body weight for 2 minutes. 
• Reach an estimated VO2 Max of 50 by the end of the year. This is considered excellent for my age. 

If you notice, weight and strength impact each test. If I lose weight and maintain or gain strength, I can do a longer dead hang. If my body weight is lower and my grip strength higher, I will perform better on the farmer carry. To reach a 50 VO2 max, I’ll need to be lighter, run faster, and have a more controlled heart rate. All these tests are associated with longevity and are more important than an arbitrary goal of “losing x pounds.” 

January 12, 2023:

Phantom Problems and People that Solve them

Have you ever worked around people who create the illusion of a problem, “solve” the problem, then present themselves as the problem solver?

Here is another way to explain this. A bit of the insecure chicken little syndrome. A baseline issue presents itself. The problem is not that big or dramatic. A key manager or leader fields the issue and blows it up more dramatically than it needs to be. Instead of handling it at the lowest level, it elevates to an issue that “only they can solve.” It is a crafty way of making themselves appear critical by taking a low-level problem, presenting the illusion of a big problem, and then claiming hero status by solving the problem.

Be on the lookout for these types.

January 6, 2023:

A Note on Unity

In church recently, our pastor preached passionately on unity. Go to lifechurchhuntsville.com if you want to see it. His message was thought-provoking and relevant, especially when arrogance and division are the norm and humility and unity are outliers.

I’ve mostly stayed away from politics on the page. In this case, I’ll make an exception. The lack of professional behavior in the House of Representatives is appalling. They stink of arrogance, ignorance, disunity, and immaturity. And yet they have some how convinved themselves that this is the path to change. It’s not. A prerequisite to unity is humility. Our leaders in D.C. need to learn a few lessons. I can’t imagine hiring any of them, the far lefts and the far rights, in any business I run.

In business the term “playing politics” has a negative connotation. Is it hard to see why? What does the phrase mean? My definition is as follows: When one manipulates favor and standing at the expense of others. The common good, purpose, mission, and values mean less than the individual advancement of the person or persons playing politics. These people are weeds in your organization. What do you do with weeds? Pull them out. An organization will not survive disunity.

Businesses that thrive long term are built around a common understanding of purpose, mission, and values. They bring diverse talent in and respect diversity of thought. The baseline value of all this is humility. Use this fiasco in D.C. as an example of what not to allow in your business.

January 4, 2023:

Our Most Valuable Tool

Imagine that you had, or maybe you do have, the most valuable and powerful tool to use for your business. What are three things you’d make sure you did with it? 

1. Protect

2. Maintain

3. Use

If we are committed to the upkeep of our physical tools, then why not our minds? Business leadership, entrepreneurship, and management are hard. To do them well, we need every available resource in working order. And the most important one is our mind. 

Protect your mind. Don’t let people steal your joy, thoughts, or your confidence. Stay away from anything unhealthy for your mind. This includes visuals and negative thinking. The Bible says to hold your thoughts captive for a reason. Fight for the good thoughts. As a friend likes to say, “hunt for the good stuff.”

Maintain your mind. Be healthy. Eat the right foods. Exercise daily. Take vitamins. Be disciplined about sleep. Your mind, body, and spirit are connected.

Use it: Read books. Create. Challenge yourself. Take time to think. Learn analytics. Go for a walk and do nothing but think. Exercise and use your mind.

The mind a critical resource for your business and your leadership. People are quick protect and maintain their physical tools because it is costly not to. But we neglect to do the same with our minds.

January 1, 2023:

Happy New Year.

December 31, 2022:

Firm Fixed Price Contracts

In the Department of Defense, nearly 70% of contracts are Firm Fixed Price (FFP). My target audience includes aspiring government contractors and veteran-owned businesses, all of whom should get familiar with this contract type. It is the contract type with the most risk.

Typically, the DOD uses FFP contracts for service work, commercial supplies, and other areas defined in the scope of work. Read this carefully: Ensure you understand and seek clarity on the requirements upfront. Work the capture process and ask questions during Q&A to clarify the requirements. In an FFP environment, this is especially important.

The government awards a contract based upon a set price regardless of the business expense in delivering the work. In areas of work that are less defined, for example, research or prototyping, the customer often awards a contract on a cost-reimbursable basis. We’ll cover that at a later date. For now, we will stick to FFP.

A simple method of understanding FFP is in terms of risk. The risk is all on you, the contractor. Lacking knowledge of the statement of work and not knowing how to build accurate estimates increases risk. Government customers do not care. If they award the contract at that price and you find the estimates were off, you absorb the risk and lose the fee. Or worse, lose money. When proposing FFP contracts, build in a fee commensurate with the risk associated with the work. That has to be balanced with the ability to win the contract. Go too high, you lose the contract. Go too low, you lose money.

There is an upside in FFP contracts. Recall that the government pays a set price for your services. If your expenses are higher than that set number, you lose money. However, if your company operates efficiently and expenses are lower than your estimates, you get more profit. Let’s look at an example.

Johnny Buckets, LLC won an FFP contract at $100,000 and put in a 10% fee, or $10,000 profit on top of an estimated $90,000 in expenses. In execution, however, his company found efficiencies. Expenses were $70K instead of $90K; an additional $20K to the bottom line. Johnny Buckets, LLC’s 10% estimated fee turned into a 30% profit. Knowledge and expertise are powerful and immensely helpful in FFP environments. In this example, the government is paying $100K whether your expenses are $70K, $90K, or $110K.

Please get to know the major contract types in government contracting. FFP has the most risk and is the most commonly used contract type, start there. Also, explore training offered by the Small Business Administration (SBA), Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTAC), and others as you enter the competitive government contracting arena.

Are you awake, Lynn? 🙂

December 30, 2022:

Have To/Get To

What do you get to do that you might take for granted? I don’t have to work out. I’m blessed with life and health. Therefore, I get to. I don’t have to work in this position. I get to. There are thousands out there ready, interested, and hungry to do what I get to do. I don’t have to write. But I have an education many in the world don’t get. So I get to. If we are fortunate to have excess, we don’t have to give. We get to give. If you make coffee for a living, you don’t have to, you get to. Make the best coffee in the world. If you are a preacher, you don’t have to preach. You can choose not to. You get to. So preach. Preach as if your life depends on it because someone else’s life just might.

The “have to” in your life will often be seen by another as their “get to.” You and I don’t have to be in leadership. For whatever reason, God saw to it that we are…so we get to. What an honor. Let’s respect what we get to do and go all in. The second we don’t, someone else will.

December 28, 2022:

Mastery – The Porsche 911

In Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers, he presents the 10,000-hour rule for mastery. To master something, commit 10,000 hours to it. The principle is about focusing and devoting yourself to one thing and perfecting it.

Click below to read more about mastery and the Porsche 911. Having the passion and devotion to create something masterful can change lives and shape companies. Be relentless.

Mastery – The Porsche 911

December 26, 2022:

Competitive Advantage

A strategy professor at Harvard, Michael Porter, explains three generic strategies in business. They are low cost, differentiation, and focus. Focus is a derivative of the two primary strategies of cost leadership and differentiation. Companies can focus broadly on an entire industry or narrowly on a specific subset.

Let’s keep this simple. To compete in business we need to define a strategy. Will we win customers because we can deliver or produce at a lower cost (possibly price)? Or will we win customers because we are special or unique? And importantly, is your customer base willing to pay the premium for your unique position?

Resist the temptation to be everything to every customer and get caught in the middle. Business leaders should consistently ask strategic questions about their business to stay on top of their position in the market. Based on the service or product you provide, should you go high volume/low cost? Or generate high-volume revenue and get your profits via low-cost performance. Or should you consider an alternative approach of going for a lower produce/service volume and sell a unique service/product offerings that customers pay a premium? Avoid being unclear about our strategic positioning and direction and getting caught in the middle.

A potential solution exists in government contracting to compete in various environments if you attempt to diversify and stay out of the middle. (You should ensure you follow government rules on how the businesses are established and controlled.) Establish two different business lines. Create a business line that competes for Cost Plus contracts awarded on a best-value basis where the customers are not as cost-sensitive. Here the priority is quality, schedule, systems, and safety. Create another business line focused on a lower cost structure that can compete for Firm Fixed Priced contracts awarded on a Low Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) basis. Here the customers are price sensitive and care more about total funding levels.

This concept isn’t unlike what car manufacturers do. For example, Volkswagen owns Porsche. They don’t build Jettas in a 911 factory. They sell both to very different sets of customers and unique cost structures and price points. Two business lines with a unique strategy tailored to a focused market subset.

Properly aligning your business strategy to your industry sets you apart from the competition. It creates a sustainable advantage for your business that you can leverage to hit your long-term business goals.

December 25, 2022:

Merry Christmas.

December 24, 2022:

Better Than You Found It – Hall of Fame Follow-Up

If and when you leave your company, will you leave it in a better condition than when you found it? I challenge you to make this a value statement. A key mindset of your company, team, or program whether you are running a church, classroom, a team member, or working at Starbucks. You’ll feel extraordinarily fulfilled when it’s time to move on and you look back and can say that you made something better.

Read more by clicking the link below.

Better Than You Found It – Hall of Fame Follow-Up

December 23, 2022:

Are You a Hall of Famer?

I enjoy studying high-performance. Seeing people reach a level of achievement that defies logic is incredible. It leaves us wondering what traits and characteristics they have that push them to that level of greatness. What if we applied the characteristics and traits that make a high performer a Hall of Famer to our daily efforts? Will our customers view us as a Hall of Famer? Will our company leadership view us as a unique and game-changing contributor that stands out amongst the rest? Read more in the full post by clicking the link below.

Are You a Hall of Fame’r

December 22, 2022:

Process and Inefficiency

I have a theory that I am not sure I can prove. At least not in a microblog. The more you know, the more potential exists for inefficiency. Not less. As businesses grow, we learn more about systems, processes, and behaviors. For example, if something fails, we put in a redundant process or a policy to ensure we don’t encounter that failure again. The goal is repeatable processes that generate predictable outcomes. Over time, we develop an abundance of policies, processes, and procedures to create redundancy and predictability w/in our business systems. What do we end up with? Has anyone accused Northrop, Lockheed, or Boeing of being efficient? They have efficiency w/in micro-level production processes, yes. Engineers build repeatable processes into systems. However, from a corporate efficiency standpoint, the larger the business, the more inefficient and inflexible they are. We have to challenge ourselves to develop enough discipline and courage in a business to resist falling into a bureaucratic trap.

December 18, 2022:

Peer to Leader

In the military, going from a peer to a leader is normal. For example, two E-5s test for E-6, and only one makes it. The E-6 is put in charge of a section and is now no longer a work peer but a work supervisor. The E-5 works directly for their friend. This situation is not unusual in the military, but with the civilian workforce, it sometimes has a little more baggage with it.

As a business leader, you will encounter this situation after you promote a high performer. The person promoted goes from a team contributor to a team leader. I highly recommend you take a coaching role in this situation. If you are a veteran like me, we too easily assume that it is common in the civilian work environment and everyone will be ok. That might not be the case. Here are a few tips I suggest when you run into this situation.

1. Ensure they set the standards. Just because they were a peer before, or even a subordinate, doesn’t mean they should avoid setting standards with the team. They should know that you will hold them accountable and want to know that you made the right decision. No need to tap dance around the standards just because they were promoted and someone else wasn’t.
2. Avoid focusing on the promotion. Doing so leads to either going too far in “being the boss” or going too far in handling the friend/peer with kid gloves. They aren’t taking authentic and practical actions to perform. Keep it about the mission, goals, objectives, and values. In these situations, you see people turn into tyrants or take a position of weakness for fear of offense. Focusing on the job promotes a more natural leadership position.
3. Be clear early. The newly promoted person should clarify expectations and their role in the department or organization.
4. Don’t apologize. Step up and do the job.
5. Avoid the reversal. I’ve seen this happen. The newly promoted person was so concerned that the friend was going to be offended, they allow the former peer (or boss) to continue to drive all the decisions. Do…not…allow…that. Set the tone early that collaboration is great. Feedback is excellent and healthy. But when the final decision needs to be made, the leader will make it and the team will march forward.

December 16, 2022:

The Pareto Principle

In a start-up, the entrepreneurs, veteran-owned or otherwise, are the engineers, managers, marketers, comms managers, accountants, pricing experts, program managers, and janitors of their businesses. They don’t have the luxury of inefficiency. A key success factor in remaining sane is time management. In comes the Pareto Principle.

The Pareto Principle is also known as the 80-20 rule. 20% of the input/work leads to 80% of the output/results. The principle applies to the financial investing market, manufacturing, general business, time management, and even education. It could also imply that 80% of what we do (or our teams do) results in minimal output. To utilize the principle effectively is to prioritize our inputs around the 20% that makes the most difference and reduce our focus on activities that don’t yield the same beneficial outcomes.

Time management for leaders, owners, and managers is essential. Use the Pareto Principle. It is a tool that helps evaluate your inputs and outputs to prioritize activities around the 20% of work that results in 80% of your profits. Be unreasonably committed to efficiency.

December 15, 2022:

Mistakes

Business mistakes and leadership mistakes are going to happen. Recall that anything worth doing has some level of risk to it. Risk of failure. Risk of mistakes. We can’t learn something without a few mistakes. Those are not the problem. Dwelling on them is a problem. Allowing them to define you is a problem.

The danger in fearing mistakes is that fear prevents us from perfecting a skill, learning a skill, or improving our leadership. In a learning situation, the person who fears messing up is reluctant to step up and try whatever skill they are trying to learn. So they never learn it. In leadership, being afraid of mistakes could make us hesitate making critical decisions.

Mistakes are part of the process. They should not define us; they should develop us. The problem isn’t making the mistake, the problem is not learning from it. The issue isn’t screwing up, the issue is not progressing from it. Merely changing our perspective on mistakes gives us more freedom to take risks, try new things, and jump into a new level of leadership.

December 14, 2022:

David

The story is a fitting follow-on to a post about risk. David, the Shepard boy, took on the great and mighty Goliath. As we all know, it wasn’t much of a match. Naturally, we apply our view of the risk to this story. The reader sees it for what it is: David was an overmatched kid against a more prepared and equipped opponent. I’m sure David had some fear. And I’m sure he knew the risks. Yet, there were other factors David knew, and we can apply this level of thinking to manage risk in our pursuits.

1. David knew what was at stake. The benefits far exceeded the cost.
2. He had his doubters. His brothers viewed him as a Shepard who should be tending sheep and running errands for them. 1 Samuel 17:28
3. He was prepared and had experience. He had previously fought lions and bears. 1 Samuel 17:34-36
4. David was fully aware of the tools he needed and which he was an expert in using. 1 Samuel 17:39-40
5. He had faith. 1 Samuel 17:45-47
6. “David ran quickly…” 1 Samuel 17:48

Lessons for us: Know that the benefit of reaching the goal is greater than the risk, ignore the doubters, be prepared, know your strengths, have faith, and waste no time. Whatever you need to do, begin now.

December 13, 2022:

Risk it for the Biscuit

If something is worth doing and truly matters, it has some risk. For an astronaut to get to space, they have to sit in a shuttle attached to just over one million pounds of fuel generating 5.3 million pounds of thrust. The engines in the space shuttle at full power create more energy than 13 Hoover Dams. Imagine strapping yourself into a vehicle that generates 37 million horsepower. Astronauts train for this, mentally prepare, and know the mission matters. They have a must-do situation, and the mission benefits outweigh the risk.

If an astronaut wanted to live relatively risk-free, they would not be an astronaut. To avoid risk is to not complete the mission. Avoidance is different than mitigation. Avoidance prevents you from accomplishing the task, goal, or mission. Mitigating (or managing) allows you to find the safest way to accomplish the task, goal, or mission.

How or why does this apply to your business? Business is risky. I have a problem with corporations that essentially put accountants and lawyers in charge of the organization. The mindset becomes about avoidance, not management. Consider mergers and acquisitions. With more than half failing to meet expectations, there is an inherent risk in M&A. The answer is not to avoid it. The pathway to success is to start with the end in mind, know your tools, and be prepared.

A quick caveat on risk. Doing stupid things is risky, and also stupid. Jumping off a plane without a chute. That is risky and that is stupid. Investing in the stock market without any knowledge or plan risky, and then complaining that you lost is silly. Being aware of the risk and comparing it to the benefits is wise to do. Taking risks w/out calculating the costs is not proper risk management.

We can’t carry out a mission that matters without taking some risks. Risk is a way to gauge our goals and our dreams. If there is no risk associated with our goals and dreams, are we thinking or dreaming big enough? To the moon or not?

December 12, 2022:

A Note on Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A)

If a person researches M&A, they’ll find a common statistic. More than half of deals fail. What does that mean? It means they fail to meet expectations. Part of the reason, I believe, is that the deals aren’t managed well on the front side. The brokers make the deal about EBITDA multiples. The buyers make the acquisition a project exercise and a due diligence checklist. The mindset is getting to the closing. Are we looking deep enough? 

Here is a real-world story of a deal I did NOT close on the buy side. Company A had just about $40M in revenue. Approximately $32M was in one NASA contract that expired in 18 months. They had a broker/seller representative working the negotiations. The company had about $4M in EBITDA and the brokers were pushing for a deal of 8x…about $32M. Let me restate the problem. 80% of their revenue expired in 18 months. Considering the purchase might take six months to close, the buyer is looking at 12 months at that revenue level. At the end of that 12 months, the $32M purchase price is for a company generating $8M in revenue. Do you know what I offered? $6M with an earn-out potential. If we win the follow-on, the sellers get more. The advisor told us that our offer was offensive. And my response was that without us, your client is out of business in two years. Who was right? Let’s say that company is no longer in business. 

Purchasing that company at $32M would have been crazy. And a representative not understanding how to properly value a company and educate their client was a significant contributor to a deal with us (and anyone else) falling through. Deals will not meet expectations if both seller and buyer are ill-advised and ill-prepared for the deal. I don’t think brokers work hard enough to find the right fit for the seller and focus far too much on EBITDA multiples.

Deals should never be just about the EBITDA multiple. If you are a business looking to sell or buy, avoid advisors that push multiples based on anecdotal conversations and blue-sky forecasting. Deals succeed or fail based on setting the right expectations, using due diligence as an integration tool, and building long-term relationships between the people. The valuation is a piece of the equation, no doubt. If it is the only piece the deal makers worry about, the deal will likely fail to meet expectations. 

December 10, 2022:

Origin of Excellence:

When building a business or teams, there is considerable power in common purpose. Creating commonality of understanding adds depth and helps drive excellence in the organization that develops naturally and not forced. I’d much prefer excellence that is internally desired by a team member, than excellence externally required by leadership.

December 9, 2022:

Second Wind Grit

When you examine the career of Michael Jordan, it is so full of greatness that attempting to find a defining moment is nearly impossible. Is it the shot on Craig Ehlo to beat the Cavs in Game 5? How about going face to face with Xavier McDaniel in Game 7 against the Knicks? Switching hands mid-air to avoid Perkins in Jordan’s first finals appearance? The sweep of Detroit to get there? How about this one, the flu game in the finals against the Utah Jazz in 1997.

Jordan had flu-like symptoms and felt as if he couldn’t breathe. Whether it was flu or food poisoning, Jordan was sick. The Bulls were tied two games a piece with a series defining game that day. 38 points later, and being helped off the floor by Pippen, the Bulls were up 3 – 2 and went on to win the series in Game 6. 

Jordan’s grit is obvious to see. His competitive spirit is well known. Grit comes in various forms – bravery, mastery of mind, perseverance, etc. In the book The Art of Impossible by Stephen Kolter, the author introduced Josh Waitzkin. Waitzkin believes the “grit that matters most” is “learning to be your best when you’re at your worst.” Psychologist Will James, as described in the book, calls it the second wind. 

This level of grit can be trained for, learned, and developed over time. However, it takes work and a commitment to being comfortable being uncomfortable. I often describe business leadership as relentless. At times you reach a level of exhaustion that tempts you to question why you are doing the work. The need to be on never stops. We need prepare for this to keep going for our teammates and people who depend on us. It’s grit. It’s our second wind. That’s how winning is done. 

December 8, 2022:

Comfort

One of the most consistent impediments to success and growth is comfort. I believe that comfort and reaching our potential have an inverse relationship. It’s not comfortable getting up early to get a workout in. It’s not comfortable putting your photography out there for people to criticize. Hard work is hard, not comfortable. Yet, to reach our potential, the work and the process are necessary; comfort is not.

I’ve seen this over the course of my career. I’ve had the opportunity to cross paths with incredible people. I also read a lot, and one of my favorite topics is history/biographies…Roosevelt, Churchill, Lincoln, etc. One thing so many of them have in common is they persevered through hard times, and uncomfortable times. Battle-hardened if you will.

Interestingly, it doesn’t seem to matter if the discomfort and adversity they faced were by circumstance, by choice, or both. Roosevelt was born with numerous health and breathing issues (circumstance). He also pushed himself to be a warrior, rancher, enforcer, and politician (choice). Either way, Roosevelt never allowed himself to get comfortable.

Warriors that fight the hardest are the ones who die as legends.

“A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.” Seneca

“Remind yourself of what you’ve been through and what you’ve had the strength to endure.” Marcus Aurelius

December 7, 2022:

Fear is Ok

This weird dynamic exists in our thoughts about high performers, successful people, and role models. We admire their grit, determination, and mastery. We marvel at their dedication and are in awe when their talent and hard work mesh. And while we would probably acknowledge they all have some fear, we often overlook it. Our fear is different than their fear, we rationalize.

Yet, in numerous interviews with some of the most dedicated and celebrated extreme sports athletes, business leaders, and elite military, many of them reference fear. Not in a passing fashion. In a defining part of their lives fashion. Humans are wired to process and prioritize information that can impact our survival. We are more likely to process negative things quicker than positive things. Our design helps us spot risks before rewards. The point is, fear is part of us and you are not alone in it. What do we do about it?

Face it. Acknowledge it. Recognize it for what it is. Don’t ignore it. And don’t let it stop you from your accomplishing your mission. Navy SEALS put themselves into fear-inducing situations in training over and over. Be sure, the fear probably never goes away for most of them. Because of their commitment to facing their fears, their skills and talents are usable.

If you are a veteran thinking about starting your own business and fear what might happen (or fear what it’s Iike outside the military), or what people might say, it is not unusual for that fear to exist. It’s ok. What is not ok is allowing fear to rob the world of your skills, talents, and life-changing passion.

Get after it.

December 6, 2022:

Be Specific

In elementary school, my teacher had us do a “fast write.” The objective was to think of something to write off the top of your head and write for five minutes. For clarity, I asked, “Do we write anything?” She answered: “Yes.” What ensued was a garbage can full of unrelated words that came to my head. Sort of like my blogs, just a little less put together. I literally wrote every single word that came to mind. The extent of my vocabulary was better than expected and displayed all in one place.

Lesson: When people ask for clarification on the task you assign, be specific, even if it seems obvious. There’s always at least one Josh in the office.

December 5, 2022

Metaverse

When the internet came “online” (no pun), it kicked off entirely new industries and markets. It changed the way people bought and sold, communicated, worked, and spawned a variety of new business opportunities across the spectrum. We are now seeing the advancement of blockchain technology and the introduction of NFTs, crypto-currency, virtual real estate, and soon, the Metaverse.

I’m curious, and maybe you are too if the Metaverse will create its own self-contained commerce ecosystem. Or will it spill out into the daily lives of those of us that live outside it. Because of my ignorance, I prefer containment. What kind of buying and selling will be done? Virtual real estate ownership and buying and selling in the Metaverse will no doubt happen; in fact, it is already happening. What about businesses? Will we create businesses inside the metaverse and use a currency relevant to its own ecosystem to run the business and eventually sell it? Is there a future M&A market in Meta? What happens post-deal if you buy a business in the metaverse and FB/Meta collapses?

Curious about your thoughts…

December 3, 2022

Courageous Creativity

“The career of every successful creative is part of a similar practice: a pattern of small bridges, each just scary enough to dissuade most people.” Seth Godin uses bridge length as a metaphor for the process of becoming creative. Process.

“The life we live, and the unlived life within us…between the two stand Resistance.” Steven Pressfield in The War of Art.

The resistance Pressfield talks about is internal fear or hesitation, exploited by those closest who present their fear of creativity by using demeaning terms like “soft” or “mushy.” Ironically, the most courageous leaders are the creative ones who refuse the status quo and push for a moment where inspiration and talent collide in an organization.

Be unafraid. Leave no doubt.

(I’m writing to myself.)

December 2, 2022:

Non-Negotiables:

Every leader should have a list of non-negotiables. Write down five and send them to me, or someone. Why?

A. It’ll force you to sit down and think about what matters to you the most.
B. Emailing it is a single action step necessary to put your non-negotiables into action.

After this is done, I encourage you to sit down with your team and communicate the non-negotiables. This will provide clarity and boundaries necessary for them to perform more freely.

Email me at josh@leavenodoubtmindset.com with yours.

December 1, 2022

Establish It

Enneagram Type 3s are called “Successful Achievers.” Achievers are committed to success in all areas. They want successful marriages, work endeavors, relationships, and more. My primary wing on the Enneagram is, you guessed it, The Successful Achiever. We want to be admired by family, friends, and co-workers. We are driven, efficient, accomplished, motivating, and image-conscious. Essentially, we push to be great and worry about what others think about us. It’s a huge battle to live up to the pressure that successful achiever puts upon themselves.

In a high school varsity basketball game, I passed on a couple of wide-open threes choosing instead to pass it off. I was concerned about how my teammates viewed me and did not want them to view me as a ball hog. My coach yelled as I ran by, take the shot, Josh. And while I loved that coach, there was a guy in the crowd, a former coach, who yelled something from the stands that still resonates with me today. As I passed up my third wide-open three, Bill Black called out, “Joshua (he often called me by my full name): Establish it!” That’s all he had to say.

Establish the shot. Establish your presence. As leaders, we get a little trapped when we start worrying about how people view us as leaders or when we get concerned that subordinates or teammates like or dislike us. If winning requires you to take your shot at a leader, establish it. If you care about their well-being then hustle, work hard, treat them with respect, and hold them accountable fairly, you’ll be liked by those that matter. Besides, everyone liking you as a leader is not always necessary.

Take your shot. Establish it. Establish your presence as a leader.

November 30, 2022

The Centurion

In a time when being a ruler, manager, or leader had no requirement of care, consideration, civility, or charity, a leader was not compelled to take care of people. This context adds an element to the story of the Centurion in the Bible that isn’t always covered. Faced with great power to treat people well or not well with no retribution, how would we act? The Centurion made the decision to be compassionate toward a servant when he didn’t have to.

Are we leading from a position of care or a position of power?

November 29, 2022

Marketing isn’t Business Development

In government contracting, marketing isn’t business development. Admittedly, some may disagree with that statement. Govcon companies often integrate a “marketing person” into their BD team and the organization believes they have a marketing organization. They don’t. They have a graphics design person, or a proposal writer/manager, that they call marketing. Doing so is understandable. General and administrative (G&A) expenses have to be managed tightly, and small businesses can’t always afford a marketing department. So what is the solution? And do you need marketing in government contracting?

Firstly, define marketing and communications. What is it? Who does it help? We learn in college that marketing is product, place, promotion, and price…add storytelling, inspiring, cultural awareness, mission, and values to the mix and you’re getting there.

Secondly, yes, you need marketing and communications. The task can be done in the BD department but it is not BD. If you are a tiny business, then the marketing person is you. If you are mid-size, then someone in BD can be marketing. If you are larger and can afford it, then create a marketing department.

If there is one single, significant impact driver in an organization that I’ve run, is that over the last five years, we defined what marketing is, and what it is not, and created a marketing focus.

You’ll often hear me talk about aligning your body, mind, and spirit. Operations (body) is what you physically provide. Your proposal/BD group helps articulate your expertise (mind). Your marketing team captures the spirit of your organization and shares it.

November 28, 2022

Better first, bigger later

Speaking of proposals in government contracting, there’s a concept I’ve considered a lot since I heard it, get better before you get bigger. Or get better then get bigger. However you prefer to look at it, you have power. When you first read that, where does your mind go? Mine went right to operations. If yours did too, you’re not wrong. Improving your organizational capabilities (people, processes, tools, etc.) is scaleable. If you have subpar people running on subpar processes, even if you win, you lose. Not scalable. Not good.

Concepts that expand are the best and this is one of those. Our minds naturally go to operations, however, if we consider this concept a little deeper, we can get into the micro levels of the organization and apply it to subsets like proposals. Better proposals are more important than more proposals. With some companies in govcon fairly pleased with a 20% win rate, a volume-based strategy develops. Bid more, win more…right? Or could it be, bid more, lose more? The answer to that depends on your organizational commitment to getting better. Commit to higher quality and better proposals before you send out more proposals.

Here’s to hoping for crazy success for the hard-working veterans (and other of course) out there hustling for their businesses.

November 27, 2022

Solutions Differentiate

Government contracting is a good business to be in. The work has meaning. The customer pays and typically pays on time. The contracts are clear. Yes, the profit margins are lower in govcon than on the commercial side. The compliance requirements are wildly high. Not everything is perfect. Again, the work has meaning. The customer pays and pays on time.

The competitive side of govcon is a little like baseball. You’re not cut from the team if you hit .200. In fact, a 20% win rate in the business isn’t alarming in some cases, especially on the services side. Government contracting is highly competitive. And this is intentional. The government takes steps to “level the playing field” when it puts out a request for proposal (RFP). Typically things like creativity and differentiation are discouraged in a proposal, not encouraged. In marketing, people talk about differentiation and how important it is. The customers in govcon make us work for it. Differentiation in proposal responses is a huge challenge.

There are two ways to overcome this challenge to improve your win percentage in govcon.

1. Differentiate the company outside the response; before the proposal. If you are trying to find words to show how you are different in your proposal, you’re too late and too limited. Company writers start writing fluff (aka, garbage).
2. Stop focusing on winning the competition. Focus on solving a problem.

The second point is very powerful. Placing a focus on winning the response puts the attention on you. Focusing on solving the problem makes the response about the customer.

Give it a shot.