How to Predict the Future and Act with Certainty

Does it sometimes seem like very little is certain? Does that make it hard to plan – to the point where you don’t plan and just take care of what’s required immediately? I had a chance to speak with Daniel Burrus, one of the world's leading technology forecasters and business strategists and author of “Flash Foresight” a New York Times and Wall Street Journal best seller. He has an approach that helps you bring “the certain” into focus and then act on that certainty.


Here is a link to the article about Dan's approach to certainty (and the explanation for the picture of the chair.)

Where's Jeremy?

As a Golden State Warrior fan, I am watching in amazement the “Linsanity” that Jeremy Lin has created.    As most everyone is aware, Jeremy Lin has exploded onto the NBA scene.  As the Knicks ran out of options at point guard, in what might be considered a desperate move, Lin was thrust into the starting lineup.  There’s been no looking back.  His exploits on the court have been nothing short of amazing.

However, roll it back 1 year when Lin was a Warrior and he was the last guy off the bench – when he was actually on the team and not in the developmental league that is.  I was asked by an Asian-American friend about Lin then and I said that we don’t see him in the games very much, he must not have proven himself to the coaches and that he would probably be out of the NBA soon.  Well, I was right about the first 2 things, but I suspect he will be playing in the NBA for quite a while now.  At least I couched my statement with “we don’t see him in the games very much.”  Otherwise, I would be a very poor judge of talent.  And nobody could really disagree that he was probably headed out of the league then.

Circumstances intervened and now we have “Linsanity.”  What about your clients?  Do they have Jeremy Lin’s that have been suppressed and just need a chance?

I have often remarked that one of my main jobs at a client is to unearth the great ideas that are present in the staff, refine those ideas and turn them into productive action.  Often times, people don’t speak up out of fear of stepping on a superior’s toes or because they’ve otherwise been “put in their place” when they have stretched.  Sometimes they’re pegged below where they should be because it takes some people a while in their career or new job to shine. 

Organizations should support and facilitate idea development from all corners.  Leaving a client better means finding the Jeremy Lin’s in that organization and seeing to it that they get credit for their ideas and are able to improve the company condition.

Find the Jeremy Lin at your client.  What better way to improve the client condition than to give the client access to its hidden talent?

What I’m Reading: Grow Smart, Risk Less

It is easy to forget that when it comes to some of the needs of a consulting business - like small business growth, marketing, sales, speaking and client communications -  some of the best advice will come from the leaders of those domains across all industries, not just from consulting.  Taking that mentality a step further, I picked up “Grow Smart, Risk Less: A Low-Capital Path of Multiplying Your Business Through Franchising” by Shelly Sun.  While most consulting operations are not franchised by the definition of the Federal Trade Commission (are there any?), nonetheless the approach to business growth by many is through multiplying successful offices or practices into different geographic locations or practice areas.  The franchising approach is very analogous to expanding a consulting business.

This led me to “Grow Smart.”  In this book, Sun talks about how to build each practice from a “ground floor” perspective, honing them to the point where they can run without the founder involved daily.  Sun gives readiness criteria for expansion of the concept in this way.  She talks about the skills and capabilities that should be evident in those buying into a franchise and how to support them in the opening process, such as “Join-the-Team” days.  Finally Grow Smart is about how to maximize revenue from the “divide and conquer” approach of franchising.  Sun bases her advice on her experience growing her company from $1 million to $100 million in five years.

Expanding a consulting business from being an Oracle partner to a Microsoft partner or from Chicago to Seattle is obviously going to have differences from opening your first non-company owned franchise restaurant.  However, the mentality is the same.  As Sun, who has been on Undercover Boss, states, “the success of the franchisees and that of the franchisor are interdependent.”

Shirts and Prospects

I received some wonderful sports shirts last year for Christmas.  To this day, I am careful about where I wear some of them.  Exercising in them, in particular, would cause more strain than I want to put on these shirts I still perceive as nice and in good condition.  However, I also recall that last year at this time I felt the same about another batch of shirts which are now in the “anything goes” pile.  Those are shirts from Christmas 2009.  It seems once the new shirts came in, the older shirts looked a little less nice and candidates for soccer, basketball, yoga, the gym or something quick to put on for quick errands.

I notice the same thing about prospects.  Their status is often evident and we can tend to hang on too long to the hope of conversion.  The best remedy is new business.  I keep a list and recently got very liberal at removing prospects.  Why?  Incoming prospects with quick conversion and work I enjoy.  Rather than hold onto hope of conversion in vain, it behooves us all to develop new business.

Prospects are going to convert to clients regardless of the condition of the rest of our business.  However, it sure is easier to set them aside when something of higher value takes their place.

Are You in the Top 1%?

I know I'm usually helping pump up your consulting income here, but occassionally we need to look at the bigger pictures of happiness and true wealth.

With the Occupy Movement sweeping the country, a lot of attention has been given to the 99% vs. the 1%.  The movement is really about attitudes, values and policy and not income.  There are those in the 1% of money that identify with the movement and clearly many in the 99% that do not.  However, occassionally we see a media emphasis on a "top 1%" in terms of money, which in this consumptive society usually means income.  You may have heard the number $343,927 being used.  According to this article, and many others, $343,927 is the 99th percentile for adjusted gross income (AGI) on a tax return, as of 2009.

However, before you compare your AGI to this number, I suggest that AGI is not the true measure of comparative monetary wealth.  Net worth is.  After all, the word millionaire specifically refers to someone with over $1 million in net worth.  Net worth is highly misunderstood and largely uncalculated by the 99% (now using the term to mean top percentile of AGI).  The 1% know theirs and use it as the true measure of comparative wealth.

While income is obviously important in terms of growing a net worth, the spending side of a ledger is very important as well.  Books like "The Millionaire Next Door" and a recent read of mine, "Enough" by John Bogle speak to this.

So if your're comparing yourself this way, what is the threshold for top 1% net worth?  This is harder to find!  We are so geared to spending, not saving.  Below are some nuggets from the internet.  Naturally, some are in contradiction.

·         America's richest 1%, as surveyed by U.S. Trust have an individual net worth greater than $3.75 million.

·         The couple’s net worth of roughly $3.5 million places them in the top 2 percent of families in the United States

·         Mr. Kremen estimated his net worth at $10 million. That puts him firmly in the top half of 1 percent among Americans

·         Fewer than 1 percent of Americans are millionaires

·         A household with $1 million net worth, excluding primary residence, is in the top 6%

·         The number of American households with a net worth of $1 million or more… fell 27% to 6.7 million in 2008 (2007 estimate of households in the US: 111,162,259)

So, now you know some parameters of comparison.  Comparision may be fun, but it shouldn't define your happiness.  Let's drop the word "comparative" and when you just look at "wealth", know that it's personal and your primary goal is to stay above your happiness threshold.

Interview on Business Info Guide

Here is some Q&A with me about the book and consulting in general.  The rest of the interview can be found at http://businessinfoguide.com/interview-william-mcknight-author-of-90-days-to-success-in-consulting/.

What is your book about?

It’s about how to be a great consultant and have a thriving consulting business.

What inspired you to write your book?

This is a “write what you know” book. I’ve been through a complete lifecycle of consulting. I’ve taken the bumps and bruises along the way, but I’ve also won several awards and been able to leave each client better, many times salvaging business-critical situations. I enjoy consulting and I’d like to see it pursued in the right way too, which will elevate the profession. There’s also more where the book came from, and obviously every situation is different and requires some personalization and I have some value-added services for that.

How did you come to do what you’re doing today?

About 13 or so years ago, when I took a position as an IT Vice President in a large company, I inherited dozens of consultants from a big profile consulting firm. Owning the budget, I came to understand what they were making and was astounded to understand it was more, sometimes way more, than I. I also knew what their real contribution was and knew I could do better. I furthermore was looking to leverage my abilities across multiple situations and consulting seemed to be the way to do that.

Can you describe a typical day in your life?

There are multiple profiles to my days. I might be heads down with a single client or I might be working many client situations. Clients could be short-term, high-impact or they could be my primary client over multiple months for a project. I might be at client sites or at my office or both. I might be presenting live or in a webinar. I might be on the phone a lot or a little. It depends on client priorities, but I make my commitments and am always responsive. These clients I speak of could be local, domestic or international, which obviously impacts the day’s profile. Either way, I’ve been 100%+ as busy as I’ve wanted to be in all my years of consulting. I’m very time conscious and try to apply my time to productive and/or fun activities and not time wasting activities.

What do you most enjoy about what you do?

I enjoy making a big difference to clients. What I do can have tremendous impact if done well. I enjoy stepping away knowing that people and the company will be on a different and better trajectory as a result. On a personal basis, I enjoy seeing people more engaged in their daily work and their life as a result of some direction I’ve helped with.

Are there any people and/or books that have inspired you along your journey?

There are so many. I’m always trying to learn more through reading, podcasts and audiobooks. Some of my favorite authors for business and success have been Tom Peters, Barry Posner (my MBA instructor), Peter Drucker, Dennis Waitley and Steven Covey. I’ve been inspired authors out of my field as well such as Jared Diamond, Ayaan Hirsi and George Orwell and noteworthy books In Cold Blood and The Black Swan.

I read a bunch of good blogs through my reader, as well as news online, daily. It’s an efficient way to take in the daily information I need.

And I’ve had several people who have believed in me including former bosses, clients and employees. They inspire me to continue to be the person they believed in.

It Seems Like the Basics

I'm often amazed at the degree to which otherwise smart people mess up on the basics over and over again, despite that fact that it is costing them serious business.  I know that many prefer the technical aspects of their field over the running of a business, be it their consulting business or their personal "business within" the corporation they work for.  However, doing some basics well is important in making the distinctions necessary to transcend the look of a potentially-outsourced skillset to one that is a competitive advantage for the company.  The company could be the company one works for or the clients they are working for.

It's almost true that "all I really need to know I learned in Kindergarden."  Different basics I've seen that need some work lately include:

1. Not responding to email the same business day
2. Not responsing to voicemail the same business day
3. Not being courteous and understanding of the other's situation, keeping the focus on their issues
4. Parading knowledge that's irrelevant or is about self-interest
5. Looking to partners to take care of you
6. Doing easy, low-risk, last-decade activities and calling it marketing
7. Fear to actually consult or take risks versus being directed by largely misinformed guidance
8. Fear to learn new methods for achieving client success
9. Spening inordinate time in comfortable relationships with those who cannot make things happen for you
10. Treating others as antiseptic barriers to your goal instead of the people they are

It seems like the basics, at least to me.