Goal Setting and New Years Resolutions

I love New Years. Just one more excuse to work on my goals. I really treasure this time. Goals give me power. They create a focus and a motivation. Any times in my life when I have felt shiftless, it is because my goals needed clarifying.

In preparation for working on my goals, I did a bit of internet research. Most sites agree that written goals are powerful. Goals work best when they are aligned with your values. That is why I like the 40 minute goal setting exercise that I described in my Nov 28th /05 post.

Some people never end up with goals for fear of setting the wrong ones. As Lyndsay Swinton says in her free eBook on goal setting. It is better to a have a written goal that is 70% right than no goal at all.

Some tricks I use on goal setting and New Years resolutions are:

1 – write them down.
2 – track them. (see June 13th/05 post)
3 – I like having 3 goals (see Sept 3rd/05)
4 – It takes 21 days to form a habit. Success is about habits. (see Oct 1st/05)
5 – I limit the number of goals I work on at once. Some people suggest 7 maximum. I prefer 3 to 5.

As I write this, I can see I am quite goal focused. I enjoy it. I study it. I spend time on it. I like doing it. I wrote about other goal setting tricks on Nov 28th/05.

Enjoy your New Years. Good luck on your goal setting.

Forbes and blogging

“Blogging is not overhyped”. These are the words of Rich Karlgaard, publisher of Forbes Magazine in an editorial on Blogging in the Dec 26 edition. In a surprisingly balanced editorial, Karlgaard acknowledges that “Blogs really do threaten mainstream media”. This seems balanced in light of his previous cover story of “Attack of the Blogs”.

I am often surprised at mainstream media writing anything about blogging since it seems to me their very existence is being threatened by blogs. On the other hand, it is smart to acknowledge the reality of the world as it is – even if it is a threat to ones current livelihood.

The only inevitable in business is change. I try very hard to predict the future of business. Some people think I am very successful at this but my trick really is to limit my downside while still going into new business areas. This is partly what I credit my long term success to. I do not bet the whole company, I only take manageable risks.

For the first 20 years of EMJ, my brother Glen worked with me. Glen is very conservative and more likely to say no than I am. His natural pessimism balances my natural optimism and this balance made us strong. To this day, I often think in making decisions “what would Glen say” which leads me to considering the downside risks. I think:

How can I structure a deal that limits risk?
What is the worst that can happen?
How can I make the worst that can happen better?

Boxing Day 10 Mile Race

I had a great Christmas. Mostly defined by seeing lots of family and having many laughs and good food. I rarely see all the family together so it was nice.

I am sore from the 10 Mile Boxing Day race in Hamilton yesterday. I finished in 1:28:25. Top half but not a great time. Elizabeth finished first in her age at 1:10:42.

I started cold. The wind was biting through the thin long sleeve high tech shirt. I wore nylon sweat pant and light gloves. The crowd was thick for the first 2 miles. Almost no breaks. After a few miles I was no longer cold and the crowd had begun to thin a bit. The course was beautiful; winding down by the bay.

I found the miles passed slowly. I am more accustomed to running in kilometers.

At about 5 miles, the hills started. After a particularly steep and long hill, we went onto a path through the woods. For almost a kilometer, it was icy and slippery. I ran cautiously. I am sure this is why I am sore today. After the ice of the trail, we welcomed entering residential streets.

I finished strong. Too strong. I knew I had more left in me when I did my last 200 M kick. Although I am never satisfied with my times, I am glad I ran.

Today, I mostly spent with family although I did run 5K slowly as a recovery run. I also did some light weights.

Working in the warehouse

No wisdom today. Just a recap.

After work tonight, I went to the warehouse with Elizabeth and Jennifer. We worked until closing. Jennifer worked in the EMJ warehouse for summers and for almost a year before she joined the navy so she knows some of the process.

We helped get some orders out. At closing I shook everyone’s hand and wished them a good holiday. They are good people.

I learned a few things as I always do when I work in the warehouse.

Not much point in blogging right now. I follow the stats. People tend to read my blog during the week and much less on weekends and holidays.

Happy holidays to all.

Year end reflections

I got an email from a friend, Rick Spence, congratulating me for keeping up on the blog. Rick is former editor and publisher of Profit Magazine so knows how to write and the pressure of deadline stress. And since it has been a few days between posts lately, the guilt kicked in so I write again.

It is tough to come up with wisdom when all I am doing these days is running from holiday event to holiday event. Monday I went to a Leaf’s game with HP.

This time of year is a time I always reflect on what has gone on over the past year. This has been a year of high growth and learning for me. I learned many lessons this year. I know I still have a lot to learn.

I spend time trying to figure out where markets are going. What products and services are going to be hot and which ones are likely to slow. One trend for sure is Blogs. They are here to stay and will grow explosively in the coming year. Readership will increase but not as fast at content so the battle for readership will increase. Only good blogs will garner readership. Fortunately, good means different things for different people so there is space for multiple types of blogs.

I also spend a lot of time on goal setting or New years resolutions this time of year. More on that later.

Exercise and Business Similarities

Last night was the Guelph SYNNEX holiday party. The SYNNEX social committee did all the work. It was great. Those who attended enjoyed themselves.

I followed this party by Elizabeth’s (Thanks to Sam Sorbara – a very generous event) Christmas party held at the Millcroft Inn. We stayed over and had a nice hike in the snowy woods this morning. I am definitely going to hike more. I like it so why not.

I twisted my back moving my new piece of exercise equipment. How ironic is that. Still, I managed to run 6 K yesterday and 16K today so I guess I am not too injured.

I have been reading a lot about exercise and running and see parallels in exercise and business success methods:

1 – To advance in exercise, you need to rest. Rest is part of a good workout program. The same is true of business. Work hard while you work but also allow for some down time.

2 – Even if you think you are in shape, you will do some activity that makes you sore. I am convinced there is almost no workout routine that works every muscle group. The same is true in business. Regardless of how skilled you are, there will be new situations that will challenge you.

3 – Muscles adapt to the exercise routine so it not only becomes easier but you do not get as good of a workout. The same is true in business. By always taking the same challenges, you will get good at them and they will be easier. But in time, you can also become stale so mix it up a bit to grow.

4 – Exercise without proper diet does nothing. In business, the fuel is learning or information input. Some people think I am an obsessive reader. I am. This is part of my business fuel.

5 – In time everything gets worse if you do nothing. The same is true in business. Many people long for the good old days but they will never come back. Some people say “if you do what you have always done – you will get what you have always got”. My variation on this is “If you do what you have always done – you will go bankrupt”. So forget about the good old days and adapt to the new realities.

6 – Small wins build confidence and lead to bigger wins. This is very true in exercise and this same truth applies to business. So just get started. A small win is often all it takes to get things rolling. One interesting phenomenon I have seen is that wins in the area of health often spill over into business gains.

7 – Overcoming challenge, procrastination and external events happens in both exercise and business. Devise systems to get re-energized and deal with the inevitable challenges that will happen.

Business Networking

Today I spoke at the Communitech lunch to about 100 people. The talk was on “10 ways to grow a business” and was loosely based on my blog article of Dec 10. Most of the interesting discussion though came from the questions. During the question period, I covered some of my Guerilla growth tactics. As a speaker gift, they gave me one of my favourite books - a blank one.

Then tonight I had my YPO meeting. This is my personal board of directors. They are a group of other business leaders that I meet with monthly.

So today was a networking day. Networking can be a great way to solve problems more quickly. It can be a great way to confirm decisions.

So my time tip for today (and it can save time) is “nurture a network”.

True wisdom is learning from others’s success and avoiding their failures.

Time Management adds to life

The past two days have been full. Many meetings, conference calls, trying to catch up from travel last week etc. When I feel behind after 2 very full days, I like to think not of what I still have to do but also of what I have accomplished.

Time Management is often maligned. Some people think people who practice it only work. Not true. Proper time skills should be used to add to life. Why not be efficient while you work. Proper skills can add to productivity.

I believe I live more because of time management skills.

Like tonight. I arrived home around 9 after a reception at customer in downtown Toronto. Despite the finger food, I was still hungry and wanted something sweet (we can talk about lack of self control later). So I made Baklava. I like to cook and bake.

So not exactly a life of leisure but not all work. Of course now I have to go work out to burn off what I just ate but it will be worth it.

Business limits to growth

I feel blogger guilt. That’s the guilt a blogger feels when they don’t post for a while.

Needless to say I have been busy. Fiscal year end was November so I was in California last week. Flew in on the red eye Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon, went to a party at friends. Did manage to stop by the fitness store and buy a Ronman Power tower. Basically a free standing piece of fitness equipment to do chinups and dips on. I usually work out at the Y but I like to have a bit of equipment at home.

Although I was into the office today for a few hours, I am hardly caught up. I did run 10K so was not a total couch potato.

This week will be busy. Many meetings. Little travel though so I should catch up.

I have been thinking a lot about choke points in business. One thing I need to do is to polish certain area that are limiting factors to growth. As a business grow, there are always some areas that start to creak under the pressure and over time those areas change. Once sales are working well, the warehouse falls behind, and once it works well, sales need to sell more to fill the capacity etc.

I tend to spend my time on special projects revolving around those areas that are the current choke points of the business. My tip today is “identify choke points and polish them continually to grow.”

There – guilt assuaged.

The Top 10 Ways to Grow Your Small Business

Busy days preparing for a trip to California. It was our year end in November so there are executive meetings in Fremont which I attend and participate in. The following is an article I wrote for one of our reseller newsletters. I thought you might enjoy it.

The Top 10 Ways to Grow your Small Business

By Jim Estill
CEO – SYNNEX Canada.

I started my company (EMJ) from the trunk of my car (and it was a small trunk so that’s a small business). I grew EMJ to $375,000,000 in sales prior to selling it to SYNNEX. I am now CEO of a $1 billion business.

Many of our most important customers are small business people. I make a study out of what makes them successful and what pitfalls they need to avoid. From this study, I came up with the following list of the Top 10 Ways to Grow your Small Business:

1 – Know yourself. Do a SWOT analysis. What are your strengths, your weaknesses, the opportunities and the threats? Examine and understand each. In every strength there is a weakness and in every weakness there is a strength (e.g. you are small so lack financial clout, the advantage is by necessity you will be more creative). The better you know yourself the more successful you will be. By knowing yourself you not only know your areas of opportunity, you know what areas to avoid.

2 – Set goals. This sounds almost too simple but many people and businesses do not set goals. Goals can keep you focused on where you want to go and how you need to get there. Set specific measurable goals with timelines and track progress towards them. Set goals in areas that you know you can win (if you did the SWOT in 1, you will know those areas).

3 – Grow within profitability. Often I see companies who set the goals like I speak about in point 1 and grow their expenses in anticipation of sales only to find the sales do not materialize at the level they thought. Sell first then add overheads.

4 – Sell more to your existing customers. Look at what they buy from other sources that you might be able to sell them. You already have the relationship with your customers. You are already spending the time to service them so your incremental cost is quite low. For example, if you supply them with toner cartridges, it is easy to sell them some printers or other hardware or software.

5 – Sell to more customers. You obviously have something worth buying or you would have no customers. What other customers might use this service. Then market and sell to that audience – email, mail, fax, advertise, call, visit, etc. Ask your existing customers for referrals. Sell in a larger geographic area. Take the knowledge and systems you have to broader areas. Warning on this – the grass is not always greener. It costs more to sell in markets further away. You can lose your advantage.

6 – Grow your people. What I have consistently done is to look at what I do and figure out who can do it (in many cases better than I can). By learning to delegate, I have been able to not only grow myself but grow my people and my company.

7 – Create a change culture in your company. People need to be told that things change. Yes, I wish for the good old times but without change, we would not grow. There is an expression “if you do what you always have done, you will get what you have always got”. The Jim Estill variation on this is “if you do what you have always done (even if it was successful), you will go bankrupt”. Set a goal to do something new every month.

8 – As one of my heroes, Thomas Edison said, “good things come to those who hustle while they wait”. In business, speed wins. Companies and people with a high sense of urgency win. If you do not have this in your company – create it. Set deadlines. Set goals. Do it now. This can be one area that small business can beat big business.

9 – Focus on learning. People and companies that learn, win. This ties into point 7. You need to be a life-long learner. Spend part of your time on learning. Develop a habit of constant learning.

10 – And of course I am a big believer in the good use of time. If you know your goals and focus your time appropriately, you will grow. I study time and even published a CD on how to use time effectively. You can order it online at https://www.activeweb.net/JimEstill/timemanagement/Default.aspx.

Travel Light Tips

I am just back from Mexico. I was told for security reasons not to blog when I go there. I know security might be an issue in Mexico but the people I met with were all excellent, nice people. Maybe I just did not meet any of the bad guys. Our business prospects there are good and we are developing a good plan for that market.

My travel schedule is causing me to fall a bit behind on some of the maintenance things of life (like I need to get my snow tires on). On the other hand, I did run 21.1 K today (that’s a half marathon if you are wondering why the odd distance).and did some weights. So I do choose what I do with my time so have no one to blame but myself. Of course now I am sore but I blame that on the sitting at my desk for two hours getting caught up on email.

I need to figure out how to be more efficient/productive when I travel so when I get back I have less to do. My Blackberry helps and most places I stay have a method to log in but there are many things I just leave until I get back. Bad habit, I need to figure out how to solve this.

The following travel light tips come from years of canoe tripping where you pay for every extra ounce you have to carry on the portage and where space is limited. I always go carry on.

1 – I like the new high tech clothing. It hardly wrinkles, it is lighter and it rinses out easily and dries fast. I get most of my high tech clothing in running stores and also in the occasional outfitting outdoors store.

2 – I almost never bother with a coat especially if I am traveling to someplace warm. When I get back, I am not too cold for the short distance to the car (or waiting to be picked up). I also can layer if I need to. I leave a coat, hat and gloves in the car in case I need to chip ice etc when I get to the car.

3 – Get rid of packaging. Why take the cardboard outer sleeve for the gum etc. this sounds petty but spread over many things it adds up.

4 – Extra cases/containers take space. I sometimes put my gym shoes in a plastic bag but other than that – almost no extra bags which again add up.

5 – I wear my suit jacket for travel. Put it up when I am flying. I don’t think it gets any more wrinkled than packing it.

6 – take appropriate amounts. Why take a full toothpaste tube? Why take a big deodorant stick? Why take extra clothes?

7 – Often I rip only the articles I want to read out of my trade journals before I go. I read quickly so can often end up short of material unless I take lots. Much of the reading I take is disposable so I can discard stuff as I go. Paper weighs a lot.

8 – I often take reading on my notebook. I am taking my notebook anyways so this is a way to take reading without adding weight.

9 – I clean out my wallet and briefcase before travel. It is amazing the extra things I end up with that I do not need to take. Why take my PetroCanada card, why take 3 pens (I understand 2 – one as a back up), why take my receipts etc.

It is the little things that add up.

Do Smart Business and Stats

We just finished year end. Always a busy time for everyone. If you are one of the readers who work at SYNNEX - thanks the the push!

We all want to look good for month end, quarter end and year end. We tend to look at statistics at these times. Sometimes people get confused by why we are looking at the stats. The stats start to become an end in their own.

Stats are put in place because they are indictors that the business is healthy or needs work. In unhealthy situations people will manage to the stats to the detriment of the business. A good example of this might be discounting a product that you are going to sell anyways. Another example might be writing off all the AR over 90 days so the AR looks better.

I always say "I don't care if we make the sale this month or next as long as we make the sale".

This does not mean that I don't like to push at month end etc (actually one trick I use in my business and personal life is to set more deadlines so I have more times that I push hard)

I keep telling my people - "Do Smart Business". Regardless of the time of month. Does it make business sense.

7 Goal Setting Activities

Today was a Guelph day. Making sure I am on top of things for upcoming travel.

I spent some time this weekend on Goal Setting. Goal Setting is a bit of a hobby for me. I sometimes worry I spend too much time planning and not enough time doing. While doing this Goal Setting, I came up with 7 Goal Setting Activities:

1 – I like to keep a central list of goals. Everything I want to do, be, experience etc. Then all I do is to add to this list whenever something interesting comes up.

2 – Of course there is the old faithful = SMART. All goals should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timed. On the Timed, I like to add deadlines to all goals and subgoals (see 4)

3 – My favourite goal setting exercise takes 40 minutes. Take 4 blank sheets of paper. On the top of one write “values”, on one write “what do I want to do, be or experience in this lifetime”, on one write “What would I do if I have 6 months to live”. On the last one write “goals this year”. And you guessed it – spend exactly 10 minutes per page. The final sheet becomes your goals.

4 – I like to add the reasons for attaining a goal (and the reasons why not attaining it is bad). The more clear I am on the reasons, the more drive I have to complete the goals. At this point I sometimes add rewards or punishments to accentuate the results I get from goal attainment.

5 – Break down the big goals into smaller subgoals. This makes the goals less daunting, easier to start and easier to move forward on.

6 – Choose only 4-5 goals to work on at a time. I have a rule that I only leave goals on my immediate list if I am prepared to spend one hour per week on them. If I am not willing to do this, how much of a goal can they be.

7 – Review goals daily. I like to look at my goals daily since this tends to focus me on what are important things to work on today.

After all that thought on goals, I did not come to the clarity I want on my current goals. I do know I want to move strategy up my list so hence the post on gorilla vs. guerilla. I do know some minor activity area that need polish but these do not rate as goals.

RIM party

Tonight was the RIM Christmas party (I am a director). After a long week, it was a welcome break. The party was huge and took up the largest venue in the KW area (Bingeman Park). Seeing all the new staff (RIM is up to 4000 employees) and having the accomplishments read was certainly humbling. It inspires me when I read, see or hear of other people or companies that do great things. The RIM party inspired me. It made me realize that I need to get working if I am to drive SYNNEX to the level I want.

It will be challenging but also fun.

The Great War for Civilization by Robert Fisk

Tonight Elizabeth and I attended the Kerr Saltsman Lecture series at the University of Waterloo. The speaker was Robert Fisk, foreign correspondent for the Independent of London, England. He is a great speaker – more of a story teller than anything. He has covered the middle east for 30 years. He has been in many many wars – Iran/Iraq, Belfast, Kosovo, Baghdad etc. He has seen the agony of war and violence. His experience has lead him to be a pacifist. At the same time, his writing has caused him to be labeled as a traitor.

People from the audience took away different messages. Some took away that he was anti American and anti Bush. Some took that he was pro Muslim. Others took that he was just anti violent.

His latest book is “the Great War for Civilization”. He calls it depressing and undersells it as a 1000+ page depressing history of the current strife in the middle east which has no answers.

He is a historian who follows what has happened in the world for centuries. He spoke of lessons we can learn from history. I would like to study more history.

The only part I did not like is he appears to not embrace technology – rejecting both the internet and email.

I guess for someone who is not political (me), I manage to hear a lot of political speakers and read a lot of political books.

Guerilla versus Gorilla

Busy day. Board meeting. Guelph for a few hours then Ronson then Guelph again. Although I did get a work out in, it was short.

I have been thinking a lot lately about strategy and how different stratgy is at SYNNEX than at EMJ. I am thinking about what similarities and what differences there needs to be in our strategy now in order to thrive. I constantly seek strategy that allows us capitalize on our advantages and minimize our weaknesses. Sort of like what I try to do with myself.

The following is an article on strategy I wrote in 2000.

‘Guerilla’ versus ‘Gorilla’

by Jim Estill
President – EMJ Data Systems Ltd.

We make our living as guerillas – not the bad kind, but more of a freedom fighter. By using the term ‘guerilla’ I mean EMJ fights for business against big gorillas (other distributors) in the field. Our competitors are almost 100 times our size; EMJ is a Canadian-based, $165 million per year distributor. We have made an operating profit for the past 80 consecutive quarters. So even though we are up against the big gorillas as a distributor, we must be doing something right.

If you are in a business where some of the competitors are much larger, you may be able to benefit from using guerilla tactics. The principles of running a guerrilla organization differ from running a gorilla organization. As a guerrilla, we hide from our competitor; we do not try to crush them. I even go so far as to examine what they do well and let them do it. At the same time, I look for under-serviced markets and get to these markets fast.

A gorilla takes all competitors head on, trying to crush the competition. Sometimes this takes the form of a price war. Sometimes it takes major prolonged, drawn-out investment. This works as long as you are the same size, or larger than the competition. Even then, such a long battle can sap power and ultimately profits.

Companies that die often believe they were gorillas. It is certain death for a business to fight gorillas unless they can withstand the siege. Any time we hire someone with a gorilla-company background, we watch and coach that person to make sure they are indoctrinated with the appropriate tactics. We have to make sure they understand out business model.

My 8 favourite guerilla tactics are:

1 – Act fast. I use my company’s size for my advantage. I can act lightning fast. In the computer business, this is a huge asset. Things change so rapidly that moving fast and being first to market is a huge advantage. Larger companies do not react quickly. Develop a reputation for being first – it gets the attention of customers.

2 – Welcome smaller opportunities. Gorillas tend to say ‘no’ to manufacturers who don’t think they can do significant volume with. But a small opportunity rejected by a gorilla can be a very profitable opportunity for a guerilla. For EMJ, a million dollar per product line is an opportunity big enough to get the attention of my first string. In your business, look for the right-sized opportunity for you. Frequently, it is the smaller opportunity that has the best promise. The gorillas will leave you alone. There is always a right-sized opportunity for a company of any size. Knowing your rightful place in the market can help you to thrive.

3 – Get focussed. Higher focus means we know more, stock more, and sell more product of fewer manufacturers. The smaller our product listing, the more powerful we become. We know a lot about a little. That means we know the products we sell better than a gorilla, and we become a sales tool for the reseller, not just an order-taker. Could you become more focused and specialized in a business area by giving up on a part of your business?

4 – Be more flexible. We can adapt more easily to our customers and suppliers. We try not to be ruled by policy. The bigger a company gets, the more likely they are to have policy and some of it is required. As a small distributor, we can be more flexible. Are there areas that your competition is ignoring that by being more entrepreneurial, you can capitalize on?

5 – Be smarter. This sounds too simple, almost embarrassing to write. Since we are smaller, we can look at the business we do more carefully and make sure it makes good business sense. We don’t pick up another manufacturer just to increase the size of our line card. That’s just not good business sense for us. That’s the way we have to think – and so should you.

6 – Lower your overhead. For some reason, most companies seem to choose more expensive offices and furnishings as they grow. This expectation tends to increase costs in all areas of the company that distribution, at current margin levels, can ill afford. At EMJ, we buy quality used furniture. We are on the outskirts of Guelph where the cost of land and taxes is less. Our capital base is even high enough that our cost of capital is less than some of the gorillas. Are there areas that you can be lower overhead than the gorillas in your field? Costs always add up on the bottom line.

7 – Foster staff loyalty – one major advantage guerillas have over gorillas is the ability to attract, motivate, and keep good people. Primarily this is because guerillas can be more flexible, easier to work for and give people more of a sense of accomplishment because what they do contributes more directly the company’s bottom line. I have always found there to be great power by being smaller and treating my people with respect and not just as numbers. Gorillas can try to do this but it is tough for them to copy you.

8 – Just BE a gorilla. We like to enter market areas that we can dominate and specialize in. We may not be the biggest but in certain specific niches, we dominate. As long as we are the biggest in an area, we can act the part. We can under-price and over-service the competition forever. Anyone who enters our markets learns that it is expensive and often impossible to unseat us.

9 – Be personal. One thing a smaller organization can do is to be more personal. People buy from people. You can foster relationships that will help you sell. Part of the way we are personal is by showing our customers what markets and products ARE profitable. There is nothing that cements a customer relationship better than making them money, because you’ll be making money for them AND for you!

10 – Be opportunistic – to sum up guerilla strategy is simply to be opportunistic. Take advantage of opportunities that the gorillas cannot do. There are many companies that remain profitable by being opportunistic.

In summary, unless you are huge – think guerilla. Appropriate guerilla tactics for your size will win any battle.

Secrets of good Blog Posts

It has been a while since I last posted. I have been to California (Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday afternoon) and in North Carolina this weekend for a brothers’ weekend. Yes my real brothers. The 4 of us meet once or twice a year for a weekend. We play a lot a bridge, laugh a lot (my older brother Mark is a hugely funny guy), strategize, help each other, compare projects and compete on just about everything (like who uses the least fuel (we all drive either hybrids or Biodiesel vehicles or who generates the most energy (Lyle and Glen are both in the energy business – biodiesel and wind generation) etc. Generally a great weekend each time we meet.

I have had blog feedback. Many people like the article posts (my rules of time and how to write an article in 20 minutes). Some people don’t think they are personal enough and to a certain extents, blogs are about voyeurism into the lives of others. Some think I should keep it brief, others think I need to get into things deeper. So the morale probably is “mix it up a bit” – some depth, some fast (since this is about time, most will be fast), some more in depth.

This week will be a busy one with the number of calls and meetings already scheduled. Later this week is US Thanksgiving so might be a bit calmer later in the week.

8 Tricks to Write an Article in 20 Minutes

One thing I notice is I tend to work until I am tired. Unfortunately when I work at my Ronson office, I have almost a one hour drive so if I work until 9, I don't get home until 10 and then need a bit of wind down time. Off to California tomorrow but back Wednesday. It sounds glamourous but its not. 10 hours of flying in 2 days.

On writing:

It takes me only 20 minutes to write a 400-500 word article. This article (that I wrote in 20 minutes) explains some of the tricks I use to accomplish this. I started thinking seriously about this when I started blogging. Blogging gave me a deadline (almost every day) and I did not want to spend more than 20 minutes each day on blogging. Many of my blog entries are actually less than 500 words so take me less time.

1 – I start with a list of ideas and concepts I want to cover. Usually I write this list in point form. For me, I do this the old fashioned way, with a pen and paper.

2 – I often “incubate” an article for a few days (that does not count in the 20 minutes). What I do is start roughing out some topic ideas then leave it. Because I have thought about it, ideas tend to come to me that I frequently add to my points. Of course I always carry a notebook for ideas.

3 – I often need to reduce the number of ideas that I cover. Sometimes they do not fit with the angle of the article or do not flow with the other ideas. Sometimes I have to give up a point to write a good article.

4 – Never save a good idea. When I know I have many article deadlines to meet(EG blogging), it is tempting to “save” a few good ideas for later. New ideas will always come so always give your best ideas.

5 – Develop tricks to get past writers block. One way I do this is ”warm up” writing. I just sit down and write for 5 minutes. This tends to help subsequent writing to flow. Another way I do this is to go for a walk, cycle or a run (although sometimes I think I might use this to procrastinate a bit too). Another trick I use is to make a game out of the deadline – say I will do it by X. Perhaps I am simple but this motivates me.

6 – Come back to it later. My best articles are written partly, revisited a few times, then finished. I spend the same 20 minutes, though only 5-7 minutes per session. Of course if the ideas are flowing well, I do keep writing.

7 – I often write 3-4 articles at the same time. Spending 5 minutes on one, 7 on another etc. When I am really in writing flow, this works well.

8 – One trick is using bullet points or numbered points as in this article. People seem to like this technique and it helps articles flow for me.

So if I can write so quickly, why don’t I write a few articles each day? Apart from the fact that I have a very full time job, writing is the easy part; coming up with the ideas is the tough part.

Ideas anyone?

Jim Estill's 8 rules of Time

I study the use of time and how to maximize productivity and enjoyment from it. From these studies, I have come up with the following list of time rules:

1 - It is more important to have clear goals than to be efficient. It is more important to work on the right things than to work efficiently. I liken this to the person who wants to get to Sudbury so gets in their car and drives 150 Km/hour. Does he get there before the person who checks the map (direction) and drives less efficiently at say 100 KM/hour? Driving in the right direction is more important than driving fast. I call this Leadership before Management. Leadership is about direction, management is about efficiency. This is why I called my CD "Time Leadership".
2 - Energy use is more important than time use. I can get much more done if I have the right energy than if I just spend the time. Because of this, I work on things that give me energy (eg. exercise, working on things I am inspired by, avoiding things that drain my energy etc.). I also try to recognize when I am high energy and spend those time doing high productivity tasks.

3 - Know what you have to do. I am not referring to goals here, I am referring to specific tasks. Every course and book on time management talks about the "TO DO" list or some variation on it. Part of the reason for this list is to be able to prioritize (see 1). It also helps you to know your loading. One trick on a TO DO list is to put the first action to take to start on that item right on the list. Eg. If I am calling a vendor, I might need to get a briefing on the relationship as the first step.

4 - Learn to say NO - politely of course. If you know your goals and priorities (see 1), you will see what things you are being asked to do that infringes on them. Having a TO DO list helps you know if you have time (see 3).

5 - Learn tricks. For me, the best sources of tricks are from other people who are effective in their jobs. I also get them from books and audio programs. Some of the more effective tricks I use are:

- Do the worst thing first thing. I choose the one thing I am procrastinating on and spend 15 minutes on it first thing.

- I love the power of while. What can you do while you are working out or driving (of course first priority needs to me to drive safely).etc? Often the answer is audio books.

-I love the power of focus. This conflicts with the previous tip but in some circumstances this is the best way to get things done. Focus only on the task you are working on at the time.

6 - Track how you spend your time. On the tracking sheet record what things give you energy and what things take energy (see 2). Determine how you think you should spend your day and from the time sheets figure out the changes you might want to make. One concept I have worked on is "The Perfect Day". What would be the elements of your perfect day?

7 - Get rid of your TV, or at least control your use of it. TV is North America's biggest time waster. I have nothing against entertainment but I think many people use TV as a time waster and do not get great entertainment or learning from it.


8 - Study time use. I have written many articles and published a CD (and before that an audio tape) on Time Management. Even though I have read 40-50 books on the topic, over 100 articles, listened to many audio programs and attended half a dozen time management courses, I always learn something new when I read a new one.

Finally, many people think I am too efficient or time focused. I do not deny that I am somewhat. However, good time use can also lead to a fuller life. Why not spend the time you need to spend effectively so you have more time to do other things you want to do?

Blogging in the media

I notice a lot about blogging in the press lately. CRN published an article on it. Of course I had advance information that one was coming.

Many publications picked up the recent survey released by Burson-Marsteller and PRWeek, conducted by Millward Brown including emarketer. Read the original business wire release .

I see IBM encourages their staff to blog in an article in CNN Money.

I am a marketer at heart. It fascinates me to see markets develop. I love trying to figure out what things become trends. I like trying to figure out how to capitalize on them. Sometimes I even like to think I can encourage them to happen. So the question is, will blogs become mainstream? What will the impact of blogs be?

Speaking of marketing, I have a couple a articles to write including one for Dave Daniels Carnival of Computing so should get to it.

Live off Peak

I flew in today arriving at 6. 2 choices – stop by my Ronson office (very close to the airport) for a couple hours or go home. I chose to go home and struggled with traffic for an hour and a half. What a waste (although another rule I live by is always having audio books in the car).. One of my rules is to live off peak. I try to never travel during rush hour. I avoid stores, the gym and just about everything if I know it is a busy time.

Mark Cox (one of my favourite tech writers - he writes well and often has good insights) wrote an article on CEO blogs that I thought was interesting. It seems many CEO's think having a blog is a good idea but few actually do it (or plan to do it).

I was subject to office politics today. Tough to manage from a distance. Some of my people were feeling unfairly treated (or perhaps I should say not equal to other people). Fairness is a big motivator (or demotivator) for people. Hopefully it has been handled. Unnecessary source of stress and time waster though.

Tough day tomorrow. Much catch up to do and quite a few meetings and calls. Will be an early morning.

Habits, Reviews and Commitments

Today I overbooked. So I work late (I am not done yet – just taking a blogging break) to try to get caught up on what I wanted to do. Worse than overbooking is over committing. I really hate it when I commit to doing something and don’t follow through. A good part of this has to do with knowing my loading and planning accordingly.

My brother Lyle got a review of sorts published on his book. I should consider getting someone to write a review on my Time Management CD.

I was speaking to one of my friends, Rick Jamieson, tonight. He commented that I had self discipline to blog. Not true. Habits require no self discipline – they just happen. For example, do you have good self discipline to brush your teeth? No – it just happens by habit.

Life is the product of what we repeatedly do. Think about what habits would help make you a success.

The Power of Full Engagement

Good but slightly long day yesterday. Ended with a dinner with one of my mentors - Dr. Joe Martin, a U of Toronto professor and my daughter, Laura who attends U of T. Joe is a business historian who always has views on the economy, trade, politics etc. He always has great stories and wisdom.

On the weekend, I read a great book - The Power of Full Engagement by Loehr and Scwartz. I had listened to the audio version several weeks ago.

The thesis of the book (which I beleive in) is "Managing Energy, Not Time is the key to high performance". Too bad I had already published my time CD. The energy concept is a great one. Of course that does not mean the key to high performance might be to manage both time and energy.

I instinctively have always managed my energy including building systems that support increased energy. One part of my time tracking system is to track what tasks give you energy and what tasks drain energy. By recognizing both, you are in a better position to spend time on energy creating tasks.

So my time tip today is to track eneergy and manage it to optimize performance.

Blog Power - Forbes Attack of the Blogs

Deliberately down day Saturday - not as in depressed as in not actively working (just a bit of reading). Sometimes it is productive to have a down day.

Fairly productive day today although, as often, I overscheduled or underestimated how long it would take to get things done. Read 2 books (more on those later), cleaned my den and filed stuff, read 25 magazines (I was behind), moved 1/2 full cord of wood, ran 6 K (slow), did a lot of email, played with spreadsheets. One of my favourite sayings is "People tend to overestimate what they can do in a day and underestimate what they can do in a year (or a decade)."

One of the magazines I read was Nov 14th Forbes. The cover story was "attack of the Blogs." The article was generally anti blogs and told of horror stories of anonymous bloggers ruining people's reputations. All I can say is:

1 - it is not that easy to get a wide enough blog readership to have an impact. With the number of blogs coming online now, it will only get harder.

2 - How much stock do people put into anonymous bloggers (although the article did talk of impersonators also)? As media continues to proliferate, people will continue to discriminate and become even more skeptical and questioning of the source of information.

3 - Is Forbes concerned that Blogs are a new media that might challenge traditional media?

4 - as Seth Godin (0ne of my favourite authors) says of blogs "they need to have an edge to get readership." Controversy and points of view are edge.

5 - Does the conventional press not have the same power to ruin (or make) a reputation? Media comes with power and responsibility.

Somthing to think about. Are blogs becoming more mainestream?

Planting the Seed

I have written about this technique in my blog before. The following is an excerpt from an email I sent to a small group of people I am managing right now:

"I am a business philosopher. Sometimes I get philosphical.

The creativity technique I wanted to share tonight is called "Planting the seed". What I do is think about a problem (in this case, you just read about it). Spend not much more time than to read it and write it on your todo list and start a blank page in your notebook for your ideas. Then I forget about it and go about doing my daily tasks. What I find is the idea tends to incubate when I am not thinking about it I come up with ideas and solutions. This is where the notebook comes in - capture your ideas in it."

And then I assigned a challenge for them to think about and come up with ideas around. So I will see it the technique is too weird for them and what solutions they find.

Branding

Normal busy day today - meetings and calls. I am excited that I had a new Fujitsu Scansnap installed. Awesome product that can scan everything from business cards to powerpoint to spreadsheets complete with character recognition. I am looking forward to using it.

Was not all work today. Played duplicate bridge tonight and came in second out of about 15 tables. Of course now I am paying for that by having to stay up to get caught up on email.

I am thinking a lot lately about marketing and branding. One of my favourite books is "the 22 immutable laws of Branding" by one of my favourite authors Al Ries.

And my favourite quote on branding is from Jeff Bezos, founder of amazon.com:

“Branding is what people say about your company after you leave the room.”

Now I just have to figure out what I want people to say.

Halloween and self control - Not. and publishing a book from a blog

I came home early for trick or treat. I enjoy seening the neighbourhood kids. After the crowd dies down, I like to go visiting on the theory that everyone is expecting guests so won't mind if I stop by.

The problem with Halloween is left over candy that cries "eat me, eat me" and of course I oblige.

People think I have great self discipline and I suppose I do but part of it is planning not to have temptation near. Usually I never have candy at home so never eat it. So my tip tonight is "plan to avoid temptation".

I finished reading my brother Lyle's book "Biodiesel Power = The Passion, the people and the politics of the next renewable fuel". Excellent book. Well written. Easy to read. Highly recommended and I don't think I am saying this just because he is my brother.

I know bloggers often read blogs and often bloggers want to pubish a book. That is exactly what Lyle did. It contains many passages from his Energy Blog. The moral for bloggers who want to publish a book is blog well, network and you too might get your book published.

Horror Hill

Today was largely a down day (except for a bit of business reading). Up at 7. Heavy frost on the roofs and grass. Off to a 15K race at Heidelberg called Horror Hill. The name is wrong though - it should be horror hills. It is not one hill, it is tons of hills.

The morning was colder than I expected. Minus 3C (about 26 F) according to the car thermometer. By the time the race began, it was up to 0. I chose to run in my nylon sweat pants although at the time I wished I had worn gloves and a touque. After 3 K, I was sweating and discarded my throw away tshirt I wore over my long sleeve high tech running shirt.

The race started off up hill. My feet felt like lead. Mostly uphill for the first 8 K punctuated by steep downhill sections. After running boston this year, I had read a lot about hill technique (although I had practised little). I actually thought this might be the first race I ever dropped out of. It took me a full 10 K before I reached my pace and began to appreciate the beauty of the the fall tree colours. From 10 to 15K passed quickly and I still had energy to burn although the last half K was along a slippery wet grass trail so I slowed down a bit.

In the end, I finished in 1:24:11. Same pace as my half marathon 3 weeks earlier which was not bad considering the hills. Also not bad considering I had not tapered and had run 5 K each day on Thursday and Friday leading into the race and had pulled my back lifting weights on Friday. Still a dissapointing time compared to a few years ago when I was running a 15K in 1:06.

Elizabeth finished a bit over 1:06 to come in second overall for the womens.

If there is a lesson - persistance pays. Despite lead legs and major hills - just keep slogging and eventually you finish.

Travel Back Up

I am just back from California visiting head office. I lost most of my day today traveling. Usually I do the red eye which also causes a different type of time/productivity loss. So I guess I need a transporter to beam me around to be truly efficient.

I like the actual flying time (the lines and security etc. I could do without). I use it to read mostly but also to plan and think. Without flying, I doubt I would get all my trade journals read.

What I find when I am away from the office, things back up on me. Arriving in the evening like tonight helps because I can get through a lot without interruption.

Even though I am live on email and voicemail while traveling, there are some things that just don't get done. I am working on my systems to become more efficient while on the road so less things back up. So rather than offer you a tip - what tips do you have on how I might not have as many things back up on me while I am out?

How, what and who to delegate to

It was a lazy weekend for me. A couple of interviews (and no - I am not looking for work) and a bit of email clean up, budget work and numbers review but other than that, not much happened. I did run 10K today but not in a race.

Tonight I have been thinking about delegation. I know in order to grow, I need to delegate. I know the theory of "delegate anything that someone else can do significantly easier, faster or less expensively than I can". I know the theory of "include the why, not just the what needs doing".

The thinking I am doing is on what is appropriate for me to delegate? What resources I have to delegate to? I am thinking of approaches to the challenge. I am going to monitor my time use for a week or so to see what things I might be able to delegate appropriately.

Sometimes in delegation, there is a learning time for the delegatee (if that is a word). So I have to consider that in my analysis. One thing that can stop my growth is not accepting that others can often do something better than me (even though it is not neccessarily to same as I would have done it). Or more challenging is sometimes letting go of my standard and accepting something less. Perfectionism can kill growth. They key is finding the balance.

So right now, no answers, just thinking and analysing.

I often hear one of my staff say they have no one to delegate to since no one works for them. They can delegate to peers, to suppliers, to customers or to the person they work for or people in other departments or me. They key is appropriate delegation. Sometimes I can solve a problem with a quick call that might take them hours.

So my time tip tonight is to look at what you might have that you can delegate.

Sharpening the Saw

Yesterday I was on a 24 hour YPO retreat with my forum. This is a great group of CEO's and Presidents of companies. I have been a YPO member of about 8 years and the forum group has gotten quite close.

We have a structured program to discuss business and personal issues. The forum group are all inteligent, fun people to be around. We have much in common. It is sometimes said it is lonely at the top. Having a group of people with similar challenges helps me come to grips with the challenges I face.

I always find that I come away energized after spending time with my forum buddies.

One thing I have learned to do over the years is to develop a list of things which energize me. Knowing that I need to be energized, I spend time doing some of these things. Knowing this is important, I give myself permission to do these.

Steven Covey calls this sharpening the saw from the story of the wood cutter who was busy sweating cutting a tree down. A stranger passed, saw the high amount of effort and labour to cut and suggested sharpening the saw. The wood cutter redoubled his effort and replied "I have no time to sharpen the saw, I have to cut the tree down". The moral being of course that you can cut more trees if you sharpen the saw rather than just saw harder.

So my time tip today is to take some time to do things which energize you.

Today was a self development day. I was at a seminar all day. Some great speakers. Herb Cohen spoke on negotiation. Very good and very entertaining. One of my favourite authors, Seth Godin spoke. Good motivational day.

When I attend seminars, my mind tends to wander. I use this time and wandering mind to come up with ideas. The speakers tend to create the sparks that create the ideas so now I have a pad full of notes and ideas and now need to implement them.

I also tend to get stressed during seminars because I feel that I am falling behind (although I do use my BlackBerry to at least make sure there are no major fires burning). Since my stress is high, I tend to plan what I am going to do when I am back in my office.

So tonight I got home about 7 and after a quick dinner went to the office. In a short 3 hours, I accomplished a ton. Much of this I attribute to the planning I did while in the seminar.

My time tip for the day is to take the time to plan before you act. Often the time savings are greater than the time spent to plan.

I did take a break for 20 minutes and called my youngest brother Lyle. He just published a book on Biodeisel. Although I have not read it, I have read enough of his writing to know it will be good.

Bill Clinton live in London Ontario and the perfect day

Today was a rush. Too many meetings and emails before I had to leave early.

Tonight I attended a lecture with Bill Clinton live courtesy of CIBC. Interesting but since "I don't do politics", I will not comment. (Have a don't do list was one of my previous time tips).

My mother sent me an email about living in the present. She is concerned that I am a bit too driven. This got me thinking about the perfect day. I have a list of things I like to do on a perfect day. Things I like to experience, accomplish etc. This is my time tip for you. Build the "perfect day" list. I found that after I developed this list, I ended up doing more of the things on the list than had I not developed the list.

All the best with your perfect day.

My own Time Leadership CD

I have finally published my "Time Leadership" audio CD and have an easy way for people to order it online (just click on the link)

I welcome your feedback and comments in the comments section here.

Uninterrupted time is golden.

I am feeling swamped and behind but by the end of today, I will be on top of things. I know that because I am off to a good start - already at my office and have only 2 meetings today so I will get lots done. I find a few hours with no interruptions is worth as much as a full normal day.

A friend emailed me the following quote which I thought tied in well to this blog.

"Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you."

Carl Sandberg

Preparation and Results and longevity

I am back from a long Thanksgiving weekend. Visited the in-laws in Victoria. They are 88 and 89 years old. When I arrived, Charles was embarrassed by the state of his workshop since he had just bought a new bandsaw that day and had not yet properly set it up. That's what I want to be able to say when I am 88. It is awesome to see such vibrant people.

One of my goals centres around longevity. I feel I have so much to accomplish that I need the time.

Of course having no high speed internet drove me crazy.

We also ran a half marathon race (21.1 Km) in the Victoria Marathon. I was 10 minutes slower than my slowest time at 1:58:14. Still placed in the top half. Elizabeth was 1:30:18 and came in second out of 338 females in her age category. So that just proves what preparation and focus(on Elizabeth's part)can do. I am sore - Elizabeth is not. There must be a lesson there somewhere. I always want to be in good enough shape to run a half marathon but clearly I need to add a bit to my training if I am to place well.

Traffic

Yesterday after a busy day of almost constant meetings and calls, I went to a press reception downtown. I figure it never hurts to keep in touch with the press and I was in my Toronto office. My oldest daughter lives in Toronto now (taking her Masters in English) so I invited her to join me since as a proper student, she appreciates free food.

The 20 minute drive downtown took me an hour and the parking cost $20! I forgot that there was a hockey game on (yes hockey has started again). So the moral of the story and my time tip for the day is check the sports schedules before heading downtown.

Reception was good and it was good seeing Laura.

The Rule of 11

Today was an easy day in the Guelph office (although I had a lot of calls so did not accomplish all that I had hoped and almost never left my office to talk to anyone which I had intended to do). Even got in a squash game - my first in months.

My time tip today almost seems childish but it works. I don't do it all the time and have not done it in a while. I call it the rule of 11 after a bridge rule that is totally unrelated.

On a sheet of paper write a list of things you would like to do or not do. Ideas include walk a mile, walk up extra flights of stairs, call or write someone special, don't eat dessert, eat fresh vegetables, take a vitamin, don't play video games etc. Make the list things that are small and easy to do or not do. Then start the day with 11 pennies in your left pocket. Each time you do one of the things on the good list, move a penny to your right pocket. Each time you do something on your bad list move one back. The game is to move all your pennies to your right pocket each day. Success in life has to do with the little things and 11 little things(net) each day add up. Simple and childish but nothing wrong with being a bit childish sometimes.

How to win customer and keep them for life

Tonight I read 2 books. One was “Secrets of Podcasting” by Bart Farkas. I am thinking of starting some podcasting. Have to stay on the leading edge you know. I welcome feedback on how many of you would like to listen to podcasts and how many listen to them now.

I also re-read an old classic "How to Win Customers and Keep Them for Life” by Michael LeBoeuff. Awesome book. I need to figure out how to apply the lessons to a larger company. The lessons apply perfectly to a small company that sells to the public. Makes me think I should start a small business. The same principals apply to a larger company like SYNNEX. People often ask me what the secret to computer distribution is. The answer is summed up by a quote from the book :”everyone is trying to accomplish something big not realizing life is made up of the little things” (Quote by Frank Clark). Distribution is all about the little things.

Fund Raiser

Today I ran 6K then went to a garden party fundraiser for the Royal Ontario Museum. And tonight, I am just finishing off a bit at the office to prepare for tomorrow.

My time tip for the day is to spend a few minutes the night before to look at your day and week. Often, this plants the seeds for ideas and ways to solve challenges. For me, it also helps me to feel prepared for the week.

21 day habits

I was at a beautiful wedding last night. Now, my question is who books a wedding on Friday night on the last day of the month? Don't they know we have orders to ship? Still, it was nice and I wish Justin and Doreen a long and great life together.

SYNNEX had some positive press in eChanneline including positive mention of Canada.

Today, I am reflecting on habits. I am a big believer that habits make us successful. We are a product of what we repeatedly do. Once something is a habit, it is no longer difficult and requires little thought. For example, do you even think of brushing your teeth? Much of the literature I read say it takes 21 days to form a habit. I am not sure where that number comes from or even that it is accurate.

If I only work on one new habit every 21 days (and it is best not to get overloaded), I can develop 17 new habits per year! This can give me awesome power.

I have a list of habits I want to develop. Now I am figuring out which ones to choose. Most habits on my list do not take too long - less than 10 minutes/day and I know I can do anything for 10 minutes per day.

What I find is sometimes I need to work on a habit more than once. I develop it then lose it so this might take some of the 21 day slots. Still - major opportunity.

Short day today. Off to work out and then to a BBQ at a friends.

Reality TV

The first 3 days of this week were a blur. Monday was normal meetings/calls etc followed by a Rolling Stones concert with Scotiabank. I don't even follow music but enjoyed it immensely.

Tuesday was in New York for the day.

Today was a RIM board meeting in the morning and normal catchup in the afternoon and evening. Doing some financial analysis tonight.

I have been thinking about blogs and why people follow them. One reason is they are a bit like reality TV. People like to look into other peoples' lives. Not that I have watched much reality TV. As a matter of fact my time tip for the day is to get rid of your TV. It is North Amerca's biggest time waster. I do not own one.

Or perhaps my time tip should be to eliminate temptation. I do not watch TV at home because I do not own one, so I am not tempted to watch. I do travel a fair bit and all the hotels have them, and I do turn them on when I travel - so eliminate temptation.

Of course that does not mean get rid of your computer because then you could not read my blog and besides I sell them.

Stewardship and Team

Great meetings in Calgary. Met with many suppliers and customers. Dinner Friday night with customers. Breakfast Saturday after a short run in Avenue Diner which was excellent. It is owned by the wife of one of our customers.

Then, long flight home and short visit with friends last night.

Today I have spent in the office so far just catching up. I do plan to work out though and go home around 4 or 5. We have a company golf tournament today that I was going to stop in for the dinner but I think I best take tonight off to prepare for the week.

On the flight back from Calgary, I read Dark Age Ahead by Jane Jacobs. It was recommended to me by one of my environmentalist brother, Glen, as a follow on to Collapse that I commented on Sept 10th. Dark Ages is a fast, simple and thought provoking read. Sometimes a bit political. This is not my usual business reading, it is more social and environmental commentary. I study environmental issues so it was interesting to me.

I also read ">Stewardship by Peter Block. This is an excellent business book. The thesis of the book is empower people to make decisions. It also speaks about serving as a method of leadership. It talks about team interests as opposed to self interest (the belief being that a strong team is the best for self interest) I agree with much of the thesis of the book although it is somewhat counter culture to our current culture at SYNNEX (and perhaps more close to the EMJ culture). A large part of my role at SYNNEX is to help mould culture. Good culture can make a company succeed or fail. We are not quite where we want to be yet but are moving in the right direction. I know there are frustrations with where we are but I think if people really look at where we are relative to where we came from, they will appreciate that we are moving to where we need to go.

Based on the relatively aggressive recent schedule, I thought I would share my time tip for the day:

“Set a pace you can maintain forever, but sense of urgency pays.”

Too Tired to Blog

Back this morning on the red eye from Fremont. Meetings until 3. Nap, unpack and repack (I am off to Calgary tomorrow at 7 AM). Duplicate bridge tonight (yes - some people call be Mr. Balance). I wonder if sleeping a few hours at a time instead of longer has any consequences?

While in California, I was given responsibility for SYNNEX Mexico in addition to my other responsibilities. I like challenge and this will be one. My concern is that I do not feel I have Canada to where I want it and so now just one more thing. But I am a team player and do what is asked of me.

I am thinking I need to travel less to be more effective.

Scientific Advertising

Long day. Started at 2 AM on the time zone I am on now. Missed my workout since I had to be at the airport early.

I love the time I have on planes. I choose to make it solitary time. Usually on the flights out, I read 30-40 trade and business journals(this lightens my load considerably). Trade journals read quickly since I read lots of them so there is a lot of repetition and so many articles I can skip. My time tip for today is take a speed reading course and my specific speed reading tip is 95% of any magazine or newspaper article can be gained by just reading the first and last paragraph. For flights later in my travels, I read books.

On the 5 hour flight from Mexico City to San Francisco, I read 3 great books. Two marketing classics by Claude Hopkins – “My life in Advertising” and “Scientific Advertising”. They were written in 1927 and 1923 respectively so many of the vignettes were very dated but quite entertaining and almost historic. One concept that makes him a kindred spirit is his belief that work can be as fun as any play. He was also a great believer in change and adaptability. He knew that historic success does not ensure future success. They both inspired me to rethink our marketing. I loved both books tremendously and highly recommend them(I am a marketer at heart).

The other book, Board Smart - Seven Keys for unlocking the door to Boardroom Excellence by Jim Brown of Strive! I read is yet to be published. I was proof reading it and offering suggestions. Although I had a few suggestions, the book is ready for publishing. Jim has studied many boards, done many many interviews and researched boards well. He is a good writer. It is a story about what makes a good board. Good governance is increasingly important. The days of the puppet board are becoming distant past. It used a fictional board example to illustrate best practices. The story was compelling enough to keep my interest. It was an easy and fast read. Board Smart is a highly recommended read that I believe will be a success.

Then landed in SF, did the airport rental car drill and drive to Fremont. Immediately immersed in board meetings and preparing presentations on my Mexico trip. The day went quickly.

Then out to dinner with the SYNNEX board and executive team. Now bed.

Mexico

I arrived in Mexico city yesterday at about 1. Met with the SYNNEX Mexico people until the evening. We have a great office/warehouse with about 90 people here. Very high security.

Today I had meetings most of the day.

Although it is exotic to travel, the board rooms here are not much different than those in Canada. The meetings are also similar although slightly tougher to follow with the language barrier. Traffic is worse than Toronto and so travel in the city takes a lot of time.

My RIM works great here so I can keep up with email and calls. (so can we count that as a time tip?)

Up tomorrow at 4:30 to catch the ride to the airport. I go to Fremont to more meetings tomorrow.

2 minute rule and Slush Folders

I am still in the office of a while, then to work out. Thought I would take a few minute break and blog.

Today, I am digging out of email. Dealing responsively to email and handling volume is a large part of my life.

One of the tricks I use is the 2 minute rule. If I can deal with an email in 2 minutes or less I do so immediately. When I am swamped, I reduce the time to deal with email to perhaps 30 seconds and sometimes what I do is just emergency scanning – 5 seconds. I move anything that will take me longer into a “TO DO” email folder. My inbox is almost always empty – I do not use that for filing.

Another trick I have is having a slush file. I simple have a folder labeled sept05 and if I am not sure I will need an email but might, I move the email there. Then if I get a call about something that I read in July, I simply check my July05 folder (and since I looked at it, I move it to Sept05). Then I can delete the folder if I have not looked at it in the past 6 months. I do not use my deleted files as a place to store emails.

So Time tips number 7 and 8 are – Email – the 2 minute rule and Slush files.

I am off to Mexico first thing tomorrow for 1 ½ days, then to California for a board meeting.

Think of Time as quality

Long day (6-10) although I did have a break for lunch with my daughter, Laura, who is taking her masters degree at U of Toronto. Great dinner (courtesy of Elizabeth who I appreciate waiting to eat until 10:30)mostly from our garden which has been prolific this year with carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, zuchinni and even cantalope.

I am tired from the past few days and the garbage still needs taking out (yes - even CEOs take out the garbage)

This morning I was at a seminar. One concept was to think in terms of the quality of time rather than the quality of time. Think of the major accomplishments or experiences of the past year. Usually they happened in 4 or 5 days or even 4 or 5 hours. Imagine if your productivity could be at the same level all year or even 3-4 times as often - how much could you get done.

One reason this concept excites me is thinking in terms of quantity of time by definition means scarcity. Thinking in terms of quality - we have lots of room to move.

It all comes back to Time Leadership. It is more important to move in the right direction than to move quickly. Leadership (goals) is about doing the right thing. Management(efficiency) is about doing things right.


So the 6th tip is "Think in terms of quality - not quantity of time".

Quarterly Executive Meetings

I am just off the redeye back from California.

I was in executive meetings for Sunday (focusing on Canada), Monday and Tuesday. These are very detailed numbers reviews. Each time I attend one, I realize I need to get even more detailed than I am.

I always learn a lot and get ideas that we can implement. I always consider when I travel – did I pay for my trip? Actually I have to do a lot more than pay for any trip. I often think in terms of turn key costs. What does it cost to turn the key in the morning (IE daily expense). It is my responsibility to earn not only this but a small profit. In this case – absolutely I covered the overhead plus some.

But it is not all numbers. There was some good healthy debate around employee, customer and vendor satisfaction. I am gratified that the whole company is beginning to focus on excellence. Of course this is a process and nothing is instant. But like anything, continual focus will cause improvements.

The only challenge when I travel is I tend to fall behind. Especially when I miss my weekend like this past one. So best get at it.

Like the Indian proverb say "the best way to cross the river is to cross the river" or as the Nike proverb says "Just do it".

Collapse

I am in California in meetings today including a detailed review of my performance. A consultant did a 360 review. Talked to 35 people – peers, superiors (they had to stretch since Bob Huang is the only person I have ever worked for in the past 25 years so they used board chairs from some of the boards I sit on), customers and vendors. Interesting process and interesting results.

It sure highlights vividly any areas of strength or weakness.

I have a philosophy of working more and capitalizing more on my strengths. Of course I want to make sure my weaknesses are not show stoppers.

For someone like myself who takes self development very seriously, this was an interesting and worthwhile exercise. Now the work begins.

On the flight down, I read Collapse by Jared Diamond. This is an awesome must read book. It talks about why empires or cultures collapse. The author is an anthropologist/historian who obviously spent years researching the topic. He approaches the subject scientifically. It is a bit of a tough read (long and not well organized for speed reading) but it is the best book I have read in a while. I will not spill the punchline except to say that societies tend to collapse fairly quickly and that we need to care for our environment.

Challenging thoughts on Learning

My mother reads my blog. I think she is worried I am trying too hard to learn everything. She sent me the following quote.

"There are too many things to be learned, and life is too short to learn everything. Let us complete what we have begun rather than dabbling in many things."

-Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey,

Thought provoking.

Off to California today for quarterly meetings this weekend and next part of next week.

The Art of Possibility and reframing

Long day yesterday 6 until 9 and I missed my workout.

I finished a book last night - “The Art of Possibility”. Great title but not as inspiring as I had hoped. It did have one quote that I liked. A great maestro, Herbert von Karajan jumped into a taxi and shouted to the driver “Hurry, hurry”. “Very good sir – where to?” said the driver. “It does not matter”said von Karajan. “I am needed everywhere”.

That’s the way I felt yesterday. Full of people needing my time. In person, on the phone and on email.

Part of how I deal with stress is by reframing. I could say “isn’t it awful to not have enough time.”. Instead I say “isn’t it great that so many people want me”. Much of stress in life is caused by how I think of things.

Lots of preparation for my California trip on Friday night.

Off to the gym now.

Katrina and the "Don't do" list

Sore from an aggressive workout this morning. Third in duplicate bridge tonight. Who says I am not balanced.

I think we are all touched by what we see happening in the aftermath of Katrina. It is horrific to imagine the plight of those who have lost their loved ones, their homes, their jobs and the life they knew. I am thankful for the employee who approached me to have SYNNEX contribute to the relief effort – we will be contributing.

I will not comment on the politics of the situation. Why – because I don’t do politics.

This is my time tip tonight. Have a “don’t do” list. This saves me a lot of time. I don’t do politics so do not have to go to political meetings, do fund raising etc. I don’t yet play golf; again saving hours (I could likely play almost every day in the summer if I wanted to). I don’t fundraise. I give generously and support others that do but I don’t currently fundraise. The better I know myself the better I am able to construct my “don’t do list”.

One way I do it is by tracking my time and logging what I like doing (and hence am usually good at) and what I do not like doing. Taking things from my don’t like list and adding them to my don’t do list is a great time saver.

Notice the word yet or currently. I don’t YET/CURRENTLY. This gives me to option to take it up at some future date when I feel I have the time or the inclination.

Bruce Johnson’s blog with further expands this topic.

I will dream Tomatoes and the 5th Power Tip

Sunday was a lazy day. No work out. Minor household chores (but not enough). Read lots though. Elizabeth ran/cycled a Duathlon (and won 3rd in her age) on Saturday but was not as tired as me and still went on a run.

Today, Elizabeth and I helped can 10 bushels of tomatoes. We are friends with an older Italian couple who as tradition invite a group over to make tomato sauce. Fun social time and enough tomato sauce for the winter.

Ran 5 K. Still feeling sluggish from the triathlon.

Now I am spending time on my goals. This is something I do quite frequently but there are 2 special times of year – New Years and now that feel like new beginnings so I spend an extra amount of time on them. I have a book that I keep my goals in. Reviewing them tends to keep me on track. It helps me come up with action plans on what the next steps are.

For me, I only work on 4-5 goals at once. Any goal that I am not prepared to spend at least an hour per week on cannot be a real goal. I constantly drop and add goals to my list as things are accomplished or become habits.

If you want to get from Toronto to Kingston, you will get there faster if you check a map first than by just driving 150K/hour.

This is my 5th Power Time Tip. Replace your clock with a compass. It is better to know the direction you want to go than to try to move quickly. Effectiveness is more important than efficiency. It is more important to work on the right thing than to simply work quickly.

Triathlon and the Power of 3 Goals

Yesterday I did the Guelph Lake Triathlon. I did the sprint distance which was 750M swim, 19 Km cycle and 5K run. I had not trained for it but, like a half marathon, I always want to be in good enough shape to do a sprint tri. It was my first time swimming this year. Sounds like excuses. My times were poor. 1:36:42 total.

The swim was hard and seemed long. Half way through the swim I decided I was not going to do another tri today. There is an Olympic distance (twice as far as the one I did) today and I had half thought I might do that today. I rarely swim in open water. Kicked many times unintentionally by the crowd. The water was choppy.

My cycle time was slow as I realized I need to get more comfortable with speed. I braked on some of the hills and was passed by 30 riders (although I did pass 10 or so on the up hills). I also need many more hours getting good with my shoe clips and gearing.

The run was the only part that I did OK placing 120 out of 385 with a time of 23:43. Not a record time by any means – partly because of the heat which I am particularly sensitive to. I figure anything under 25 after the swim and bike is not bad.

My transitions were slow and I should practice – 2:54 and 1:22 respectively. So I could feel bad because of my poor showing but…

This brings me to the next Power Tip which I read once in a running book. The Power of 3 goals. My 3 goals were to finish, to finish in the top half and to place in my age category. I finished so I did accomplish one goal. I was not in the top half (272 out of 385) and clearly I did not place. I use this trick in many areas of my life. On sales calls – one goal might be to introduce myself to their executives and explain more about SYNNEX, the second might be to win their HP business and the third might be to win primary status on all lines that we sell.

By having 3 goals, I can come away from almost any situation with a sense of satisfaction.

The Third Time Power

The work out came early today since I went to the warehouse for a couple of hours after work last night and did not get home until almost 1. It was the end of our quarter, so an important shipping day. I am glad that I did not miss my work out.

The third time power (and I think my favourite) is "do the worst thing first thing". If you swallow a frog first thing, the rest of the day has to look better. First thing when I arrive in the office I look at my to do list and choose the toughest, worst thing on it and put in just 15 minutes on that task. If it is completed in that 15 minutes, great. If not, I give myself permission to stop doing it (although by then I often have momentum and just finish it). I have extended this habit to first thing after lunch also. Why not have 2 first things.

We are a product of our habits. This one habit has taken me further than most of my other habits combined.

Do the worst thing first thing.

Do I have Downtime?

Good workout this morning. 5K fast and abs and back work. Nice and sore tonight.

David Daniels did an inteview with me which he posted on his blog.

Today I did my “Time Leadership” seminar to staff in Guelph. Many people had done it before so the turn out was not as good as I would have liked. Not everyone is as into self development as I am I guess.

Interesting questions from the staff like “What do you do for downtime?” or “Do you have any downtime?”. The answer is of course I do. Fortunately my assistant was there and stuck up for me that I actually do have a life. Tonight, for example, I played duplicate bridge with Elizabeth – a social/competitive game (We won first out of 13 tables).

Tip 2 of the 17 Powers of Time – Be 100% in the moment. High focus and attention can yield greater results. There is a return on attention just like there can be a return on investment. The greater the focus and attention – the greater the return. This rule particularly is important when you are with other people (I speak from experience). For example, I try very hard not to do email or handle paper while I am speaking to someone (note I say try)

I always say “Work while you work”. Why put in the time and not work.

This power is an interesting contrast to the Power of While. The key with the different Powers is to use them at the right time.

The 17 Powers of Time

Easy day yesterday (except for the hayfever). I now find it easy when I stay in Guelph for the day usually.

I had feedback that I needed to mingle more so on my time sheets, I noted how many of my staff I interacted with. Interesting study. It should be easy for me to increase the number of people I interact with. I do notice the high volume of email I get and the solitary nature of much of what I do.

I thought I would use my blog to share the 17 Powers of Time.

Power 1 (and my favourite) – The Power of While. What can you do while you are doing … What can you do while you are driving. For me, I usually listen to audio books. Even with just local driving, I never cease to amaze myself with how many books I can listen to. What can I do while I am working out? I usually use this as a time of reflection and contemplation. What can I do while I am waiting for an appointment (usually I read or do email on my RIM)

So the Power is – What can you do while…

The One Thing You Need to Know

Mostly took the weekend off work (except for a bit of email and my usual reading)

Instead of workout Saturday, I split, hauled and stacked a full cord of wood for 3 hours. (I also cycled to market and back but that is another story). Thanks to my friends Trevor (who also donated the tree that got felled by the storm last week), Randy (who owns every power toy imaginable including a splitter) and Steve (AKA chainsaw). Mostly I just filled the wheelbarrow with wood and moved it a few hundred yards. I enjoyed the camaraderie and the physical labour. Sore now and hayfever is bad.

I have been thinking a lot about leadership. What people need is a definite direction and vision. The odd part of my current role is I need to get buy in from California of this direction and vision before I can impart it.

One of the books I read this weekend is “The One Thing You Need to Know… About Great managing, Great Leading and Sustained Individual Success”. It talks about using people in the areas they are most strong in – a concept I am a big advocate of. It also talks about true depth. So often I worry about shallow fixes for deeper problems. I know there is great power in simplifying things. Sometimes we simplify too much and work only on the superficial without fixing the root problems.

Part of running a great business is full utilization of resources and being lean. Sometimes we cut too deep in order to try to achieve this goal. Cutting things too lean does not allow us to do a few of the “new” things required to move us forward. We are on the border of too lean right now.

I often say “Fail often, Fail fast, Fail cheap”. We need to try a few new things in order to have a secure future. To try new things needs a bit of excess resource.

Too Tired for Wisdom

Some people have told me I am arrogant to try to post wisdom anyways. I am beat. Too many long hours and the morning will come early. So will keep this short.

Usual hectic day with mostly meeting and calls.

This afternoon we did our monthly in depth numbers review. Lots of numbers. I am trying to figure out how we can all get more value from these reviews. It is healthy to make sure everyone involved knows their business. It does also spur some ideas and cross department communication.

I always thought I was highly detailed when I did EMJ. SYNNEX taught me otherwise. SYNNEX is even more detailed on the numbers, cost accounting, margin analysis etc.

I stopped by the warehouse on my way home tonight about 9:30. The survey feedback indicated that some people were not happy with the situation there. They also said they wanted to see me more. I asked a few people what I could do to help them and did get a few ideas. We have a good crew there.

Joy at Work, Typing with your nose and breaks

I started the day being a bit late to my workout with my friend Trevor so had to cut the cardio work out down to about 20 min. Then we lifted weights. Now I can hardly move my arms and am considering typing with my nose. I am thinking I should find a new workout partner – perhaps a small woman who cannot lift much. Not sure why I always choose the power lifters to work out with.

Lots of meetings and calls today. Too much driving between offices (although I am listening to some good audio books). It is fitting that I would be listening to Joy at Work at this time of refection and action planning on the survey results. The gist of the message from the book is to allow intelligent people to use their intelligence and not make them into machines. I think our satisfaction and productivity will both improve as we begin to do this more.

I played duplicate bridge tonight with Elizabeth. We came in second. I cannot think of anything much but bridge, counting cards etc. when I play well. So my tip tonight is to sometimes give your brain a break. Do something completely different. A break can allow you to break through.

Survey Says...

Long tough day. It started with not feeling too motivated at the gym at 6 (probably because I stayed up too late last night) but I did do 45 minutes of cardio and a few weights. Then meetings, email and calls most of the day. Finally home for dinner at shortly after 9 and by the time that was done and a short cycle (trying to get used to my new bike) and a bit of reading, the evening went by too fast.

I got the results of the staff survey back today. We have our challenges. Half the staff are happy and think we are improving and half do not. This to me is a failing grade. I particularly pay attention to the comments.

What I was encouraged by is that I know how to fix most of the problems (not that it will be easy). We need stability. People fear for their jobs and income level. People are stressed by the changes. Adaptability does not come easily to people. People feel overworked and under trained.

Most importantly, we need to treat our people decently.

These are all things that I know how to do. I have challenges now that I have many bosses. If I am to be a proper CEO though, I need to figure out how to do the right things. Like I always say “Successful people do tough things”. I will fight hard to make SYNNEX a good place to work.

Summerfolk and Genius

Saturday. Ran 7K. Visited my parents. Picked up my oh so cool racing bike. I don’t yet feel comfortable with the shoes clipping in and out and the speed. Will need to take it out several times to get used to it. Then went to Summerfolk in Owen Sound. A folk festival. Elizabeth and I scooped ice cream for a friend who owns Mapleton Organic. (never hurts to have a back up career ready). Ran into one of my friends, Dave Reynolds, who also grew up in Woodstock (the Ontario town - not that folk festival)It was fun.

Today I had breakfast with my son, David who is going back to Western shortly. It was great to see him as he had been off for the summer working at a kids camp (Celtic). Then spend until now at work but not very effectively. Effectiveness is more important than efficiency. Today I was not particularly either. I spent the time but did not get the results.

One positive - I finished a great audio program today. “Discover your Genius” by Michael Gelb. He tells of the lives of a number of famous people (like Darwin, Columbus, Einstein, Ghandi etc.). I always love learning about the lives of great people and this is one way I keep myself inspired.

I think people have this idea that I am always naturally 100% and always inspired. Perhaps the reason I do so many things that I do (and talk about it so much)is that I find it a challenge and always need to push myself .

Found time

I presented my "Time Leadership" course to the Fremont management team. It went well.

I pampered myself by taking an afternoon flight back from Fremont. Usually I take the red eye. Perfect uneventful trip. Lots of audio programs listened to.

I did watch the movie - "Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe". Not sure I learned much except it sure does not match the book.

My tip for the day is there is no waiting time - just opportunities for found time. During the various waits and lines, I managed to get some good stretching in (I have been having a problem with one of my Calf muscles). Used my iPod to listen to some great audio.

Now - it is late and the morning will arrive early so to bed.

Self development day

In Fremont now after an uneventful 5 hour (plus a short ½ hour) flight.

Yesterday was a self development day. Almost a holiday. I sat through the management training session that Larry and John did. Lots of talk about flexibility, adaptability, change, leadership etc. Inspiring. I then lead my Time Leadership course.

After a few quick meetings, I was flying. Read “Disney Wars” which is interesting, long, almost a business thriller. It tells of boardroom intrigue, company politics etc. Almost more of a novel. If you choose to read it, it will take a few hours.

I also read John Maxwell’s 17 indispensable laws of Teamwork. His books are always very quick to read. He uses a lot of sports team analogies. Makes many excellent points. Worth reading.

I also listened so some Zig Ziglar and Sun Tsu’s Art of War (which is a long one). It tells of high violence and very much a win lose approach. It also occurs to me that it is easy to lead through intimidation (mostly beheading) but truly great leaders lead through inspiration.

As I take in all this information, I realize that many of my thoughts are just synthesis of many other people’s thoughts. This can be one way I add value. I process high volumes of information. Much of the study that I do simply triggers other ideas. If I need an idea, I just read or listen to anything business related and often good ideas come to me.