Contrarian Consulting » Alan’s Monday Morning Memo

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 2/6/12

Alan Weiss — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:51:52 +0000

February 6, 2012—Issue #124

This week’s focus point: Bill Russell, the great basketball player, observed that a true champion is at his best when under the most pressure. I’m writing this on SuperBowl Sunday, and you’ll know the results when you read this. There are always players who want the ball when the game is on the line, and others who become nervous and flustered. We have to be at our best when facing our key challenges: in a buyer’s office, mediating conflict, dealing with family crises, making tough decisions. Most people can do well when economies are strong and predictable. But in volatile times, those who thrive on flexibility and determination rise above the crowd. The only way to test yourself–to be a champion–is to stand tall in tough times with the confidence of your talents, to want to thrive and not merely survive. You have to call for the ball.

Monday Morning Perspective: Wit is the denial of suffering. — Sigmund Freud (Which is why most humor is rooted in pain.)

Learn RESOLVE: http://www.summitconsulting.com/resolve/

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

I remember a meeting with a boutique consulting firm that had fallen on hard times. The debate was whether or not to sell their magnificent conference table. “Where would clients sit?” asked one partner. “We have no clients,” stated the advocate of selling. You can’t cut your way to renewal or success. Top line growth is the key to bottom line achievement, for you and for your clients. Today is the time to invest in the future. Once you cut muscle, you’re powerless.

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 1/30/12

Alan Weiss — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:31:19 +0000

January 30, 2012—Issue #123

This week’s focus point: Be judicious in terms of those to whom you choose to listen and heed. Very few pundits and prognosticators are ever held accountable for their predictions, whether financial, social, political, or technological. Most who claimed they “predicted” the Great Recession were “predicting” it for 20 years. I hardly find that useful. Those who said Steve Jobs’s departure would devastate Apple are seeing record performance numbers from that company, but if it stumbles in six years they’ll claim they predicted it. Most of us are far better served by not trying to forecast the future but rather by performing well in the present, in the moment. Because I will tell you this about tomorrow, assuming the sun continues to shine and the earth continues in orbit: There will be people in search of value for which they will gladly pay a fair price. Adjust your value to the need, or create need around your value. That should take care of tomorrow rather nicely (along with purchasing Apple stock).

Monday Morning Perspective: He who doesn’t turn runs far. — Chinese proverb

Free videos on RESOLVE: http://www.summitconsulting.com/resolve/

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 1/23/12

Alan Weiss — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:44:09 +0000

January 23, 2012—Issue #122

This week’s focus point: I’ve read that Picasso’s mother told him that he would become Pope if he joined the clergy, and a general if he joined the military. But he reported that he preferred art and “I became Picasso.” The great architect Frank Lloyd Wright said, “I once had the choice between hypocritical humility and honest arrogance, chose the latter, and have never regretted it.” I’m suggesting that, short of tedious smugness, we take some time to recognize our strengths and build on them. Too much of “self-help” is about correcting weakness, as if we’re all somehow damaged. Organizations and individuals grow by building on strength. And if you don’t blow your own horn, there is no music.

Monday Morning Perspective: Without great solitude, no serious work is possible. — Picasso

Gaining RESOLVE: My free video series on RESOLVE, beyond accountability, beyond discipline: http://www.summitconsulting.com/resolve/

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 1/16/12

Alan Weiss — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:55:31 +0000

January 16, 2012—Issue #121

This week’s focus point: You can teach people the content of a business, but you can’t teach them enthusiasm. You can instruct them in the rules and regulations, but not optimism. You can delegate authority but not self-directedness. What kind of people are you (or your clients) hiring, and what type of environment is created to sustain the behaviors you most need manifest? Enthusiasm, optimism, and motivation will be extinguished or driven away by those who fear these traits and try to manage and control them. But they will lead a business forward when sought and nurtured.

Monday Morning Perspective: To write a book is to risk being shot at. — Stendhal

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 1/9/12

Alan Weiss — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 13:57:02 +0000

January 9, 2012—Issue #120

This week’s focus point: Has anyone thought about a strategy for education? In corporate strategy, we paint a picture of the future and then “work backwards” to determine how to organize to reach it (which is why “planning” is anathema, since it extrapolates from the present, and “strategic planning” is an oxymoron). Why don’t we start with a picture of future, productive work forces (knowledge-based, technical skills, globalized, working remotely, diverse stimuli, automated routine chores, etc.) and create both professional and trade education that will support it? Our current cookie-cutter concepts of curricula don’t work now and aren’t preparing students for the future. That’s one of the reasons home schooling has grown so rapidly and is so effective. Organizations don’t reach strategic goals by using techniques that led to old goals. They develop new techniques, resources, and ideas. Classic education is an example of an almost complete lack of innovation over centuries.

Monday Morning Perspective: If you can do it, it ain’t braggin’. — Former baseball pitcher Dizzy Dean

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 1/2/12

Alan Weiss — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 15:36:03 +0000

January 2, 2012—Issue #119

This week’s focus point: Start your OWN year today. Don’t worry about the North Korean succession or the price of gas. Stop listening to doom and gloom financial analysts and ignore the pundits pontificating about elections. Think about what YOU can control and act upon to improve your life, business, and relationships. Think about abundance, not poverty; of opportunity and not impediment; of control and not victimization. Welcome to YOUR year.

Monday Morning Perspective: Don’t pity the martyrs. They like the job. — Humorist George Ade

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 12/27/11

Alan Weiss — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 14:05:55 +0000

December 27, 2011—Issue #118

This week’s focus point: In the U.S., housing has bottomed out and shows small improvements. Retail sales are up four percent from last year’s holiday period, surpassing projections. The market is over 12,000 as I write this. Unemployment is marginally reduced. The Europeans seem to be figuring out how to shore up the euro and avoid national defaults. These events don’t represent radical improvement, perhaps, but they do represent progress. You’d never know from most media outlets. Beware of people paid to be cynics, promoted for skepticism, mavens of catastrophe. Unsurprisingly, they become quite good at it and incapable of seeing or reporting anything else.

Monday Morning Perspective: Justice, I think is the tolerable accommodation of the conflicting interests of society, and I don’t believe there is any royal road to attain such accommodations concretely. — Justice Learned Hand

Happy New Year!

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 12/19/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:09:08 +0000

December 19, 2011—Issue #117

This week’s focus point: I’m writing this deliberately before the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots meet in a football game later today. If Denver quarterback Tim Tebow is on the winning side, with a record of 7-1 to this point, at 8-1 people will say he’s the “real thing” since the Patriots are a strong team. If he loses, all of his detractors will say, “I told you so.” But do you know what he’ll be properly called if his team loses? He’ll be called 7-2, still pretty fine! Leadership doesn’t have to be technically perfect. Leaders from Grant at Vicksburg to Welch at GE have made errors, and plenty of them. Leaders don’t have to charm people. Steve Jobs seldom did. Leadership is seldom about hierarchical position, expertise, or the ability to reward and punish. It’s about “referent power”: I admire you, believe in you, and intend to follow you. That results in commitment and not mere compliance. And it means ignoring the detractors who can’t even play the game.

Monday Morning Perspective: A man blowing a trumpet successfully is a rousing spectacle. — Rhys Davies (Welsh writer)

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 12/12/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:15:29 +0000

December 12, 2011—Issue #116

This week’s focus point: Brevity isn’t merely the soul of wit (Hamlet). We seem obsessed with telling people everything we know rather than what they need to know (hence, all those boring undergraduate lectures). Keep two factors in mind in business: speed and brevity. The more quickly you help others, the more valuable you are. Of course, that entails the suppression of ego and a true focus on helping, and a strong self-esteem that doesn’t require that you continually prove how smart you are. Enough said.

Monday Morning Perspective: If an offense come out of the truth, better it is that the offense come than that the truth be concealed. — St. Jerome, cited by John Toland in “Captured by History”

Deadlines Approaching: December 15 deadline for 2012 discounts on Friday Wrap and Thought Leadership experiences.
http://www.summitconsulting.com/seminars/friday-wrap.php
http://www.summitconsulting.com/seminars/the-thought-leadership-symposium-2012-10.php

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 12/05/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 15:47:25 +0000

December 5, 2011—Issue #115

This week’s focus point: The lessons from American Airlines’ bankruptcy include learning for all of us: You can’t build staggering debt loads to finance yourself; there has never been a long-term example of unhappy employees and happy customers, so establish constructive labor relations; you lead from the front, not within the pack; and you don’t cut your way to growth (removing pillows and olives is beyond stupid, it’s amateurish). What practices do your clients employ? What do you, yourself, do? Grab a pillow, eat an olive, and invest in your employee and customer relations.

Monday Morning Perspective: The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. — F. Scott Fitzgerald

Special Teleconference: 5T: The Totally Tremendous 2012 http://summitconsulting.com/seminars/the-totally-tremendous-2012.php

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 11/28/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 17:03:16 +0000

November 28, 2011—Issue #114

This week’s focus point: I’m just back from Australia, and heading to Canada to make a speech. Earlier this year I was in Germany and Italy. We are living in a global economy (as the markets reflect every morning), with more similarities than dissimilarities. As an entrepreneur, how much effort are you investing in becoming a global presence? Whether in person, remotely, through alliances, or by attracting people to you, your value and your impact are not circumscribed by national borders. As kids we were sometimes afraid to “step over the line.” We’re not kids any more, and we’re not confined to our backyards.

Monday Morning Perspective: We all have strength enough to endure the misfortunes of others. — Le Duc de La Rochefoucauld

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 11/21/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 14:17:39 +0000

November 21, 2011—Issue #113

This week’s focus point: Influence is in inverse proportion to distance. It’s easiest to influence when we’re together, which is why politicians still travel the country making speeches and shaking hands. Email is one dimensional, phone two dimensional, meetings three dimensional. Yet so many in business default to email instead of personal contact. No one has ever charmed me with an email, and the last major purchase I made due to a cold phone call was in 1988. But enthusiasm is contagious when we’re face-to-face.

Monday Morning Welcome: Welcome to all the new subscribers from the UK and beyond in response to kind words from Andy Bounds!

Monday Morning Perspective: Give me only a place to stand and I can move the world. — Archimedes of Syracuse (who invented the lever and discovered leverage)

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 11/14/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 19:11:48 +0000

November 14, 2011—Issue #112

This week’s focus point: To expect ethical behavior, there must be awareness of conditions, values that determine what is and isn’t appropriate, and skills to resolve the issue. Awareness and values without skills create “can’t act.” Awareness and skills without values create “don’t care to act.” Values and skills without awareness create “don’t know anything that prompts me to act.” All three are required for organizations and individuals to act properly.

Monday Morning Perspective: It’s better to be humble than hung. — George-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 11/07/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 19:13:31 +0000

November 7, 2011—Issue #111

This week’s focus point: We’re seeing financial dynamics in the U.S., Europe, Japan and elsewhere that are only tangentially related to the recent economic turndowns. The fact is that with aging demographics, westernized countries cannot fuel the benefits that these populations promised themselves without extraordinary growth. Even pre-recession, there had been insufficient growth to build and sustain the retirement and medical support that had been put in place over the past 50 years. This was as obvious as a ham sandwich, with an insufficient number of workers to support a growing number of retirees. The problem has been the continuing reluctance and delay in making decisions about how to resolve this inexorable and obvious mathematics problem. For society and business–and much of nature–continual and robust growth is essential to success. We shouldn’t plan to “reduce our way into the future.” When times get tough, what might have been difficult decisions in the best of times become polarizing ones in the worst of times.

Monday Morning Perspective: It is much easier to recognize error than to find truth; the former lies on the surface, this is quite manageable. The latter resides in depth, and this quest is not everyone’s business. — Goethe

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 10/31/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 13:28:09 +0000

October 31, 2011—Issue #110

This week’s focus point: I’ve never seen a company or institution with unhappy employees and happy customers. Employees are assets, not expenses, yet many executives think they should be investing in equipment maintenance but not people maintenance. Among the worst offenders are banks, newspapers, and airlines. Apparently, Qantas would rather close its operation, ground its fleet, and inconvenience tens of thousands of customers than try to resolve its people issues. TWA, Eastern, and others were all driven out of business by horrible management-labor relationships. Neither unions nor management are always right or always wrong, but when you decide to take your ball and leave the playground you are a child, not an adult.

Monday Morning Perspective: He can board and carry an enemy frigate with guns roaring and drums beating in a couple of minutes; but that is no way to give a girl much pleasure. — Diane Villiers describing Jack Aubrey in “The Yellow Admiral,” one of Patrick O’Brian’s series of naval novels.

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 10/24/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 14:03:19 +0000

October 24, 2011—Issue #109

This week’s focus point: Business growth superstar David Maister was my guest at my annual Thought Leadership Workshop in Palm Beach last week. Among his gems: “How much you really want something will determine how hard you work to achieve it. Most of us know what to do, we just don’t do it.” That’s why passion is so important in our personal and working lives. Don’t try to make money and become passionate about it. Find your passions, engage and help others, and you’ll earn a wonderful living.

Monday Morning Perspective: Whatever is morally necessary must be made politically possible. — Eugene McCarthy, when running for President.

Hear me weekly or monthly in 2012:
Friday Wrap: http://www.summitconsulting.com/seminars/friday-wrap.php
Advanced Teleconferences: http://www.summitconsulting.com/teleconference/2012.php

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 10/17/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:12:18 +0000

October 17, 2011—Issue #108

This week’s focus point: Perspective is everything. Your “frame of reference” is about what picture you’re viewing. Don’t assume it’s always the same as the next person’s. I remember party lines and rotary phones. Many people with whom I deal today have never used a landline phone. I had to parallel park to obtain my driver’s license, but today it’s more like demolition derby! Teachers wore suits in my school, today they wear jeans (but that doesn’t mean they’re inferior, just dressed differently). Don’t be permanently imprinted, like a newborn duckling, thinking the first thing it sees is its mother. Eliminate “imprint bias” through travel, self-development, education, diverse friends, and experimentation. That duck may be somebody’s mother, but it’s not yours! (How many of you remember that line, for example?!)

Monday Morning Perspective: Wit is the denial of suffering. — Sigmund Freud

Increase your “hits” from Alan: You can now sign up for my 2012 Friday Wrap and/or Advanced Teleconference Series. Early bird discounts.
http://summitconsulting.com/seminars/friday-wrap.php
http://summitconsulting.com/teleconference/2012.php

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 10/10/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 10:10:24 +0000

October 10, 2011—Issue #107

This week’s focus point: “There were giants in the earth….” Sometimes we’re privileged to see the giants amongst us, and Steve Jobs was such a man. While claims about the causes of success range from luck to 10,000 repetitions, it seems to me that Jobs demonstrated a very pragmatic focus to “jump on the next big thing.” He was convinced that if you didn’t merely react but actually created need, the market would respond. He had no fear of larger competitors (and eventually they became smaller), nor of failure, nor of public opinion. He maintained his privacy and used impending death to gain perspective on life. Existentialism focuses on free will and the meaning of life. We could do a lot worse than offering Steve Jobs as a subject in every high school in the land.

Monday Morning Perspective: Example isn’t the main thing influencing others. It’s the only thing. — Albert Schweitzer (repeated here from an earlier issue deliberately)

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 10/03/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 12:50:00 +0000

October 3, 2011—Issue #106

This week’s focus point: Deal versus loyalty? That’s the big issue in the “coupon wars.” I recall a training firm which would grow desperate to meet its annual goals, and offer huge discounts in the fourth quarter. Then they would offer huge discounts in December. Two-thirds of the entire year wound up in the fourth quarter, and two-thirds of that in December, because clients knew what to wait for, thereby creating a vicious cycle. Provide value, build relationships, nurture loyalty. “Fire sales” and coupons won’t entice the most important customers IF you treat them as your most important customers all year long.

Monday Morning Perspective: Sed quis Custodiet ipsos Custodes? (Who shall guard us from the guardians?) — Juvenal

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 09/26/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:35:51 +0000

September 26, 2011—Issue #105

This week’s focus point: Here’s what we know: We live on a giant hunk of cosmic rock hurtling at 85,000 miles an hour around a constantly exploding star. Why shouldn’t we take prudent risk, have faith in ourselves, and live in the moment? I doubt that any of us will regret late in life that we didn’t spend more time at the office. Look around you and don’t merely smell the roses. Plant some. Work hard and play with gusto. Don’t throw life away by thinking you can make up for what you miss today, tomorrow.

Monday Morning Perspective: If horses and cattle did theology, horses would draw the forms of the gods like horses, and cattle like cattle. — Xenophanes, cited by Robert Wright in “The Evolution of God”

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 09/19/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 14:29:19 +0000

September 19, 2011—Issue #104

This week’s focus point: This is our two-year anniversary of Monday Morning Memo. (I’ve reprinted the original one below.) Thanks for being a part of it. I’m writing this from Amalfi, on the Gulf of Sorrento. We hear and read frightening things about the Italian economy every day, but you’d never know it during the two weeks we’ve been traveling. People are wonderful, restaurants are crowded (at all expense levels), and no one seems panicked. Of course, we’ve had limited exposure to news sources, which I think is relevant. When you pay people to talk and write about catastrophe (viz.: the recent Hurricane Irene), they talk and write about catastrophe. There are too many lows and highs perpetuated by incorrect perceptions. What is the reality of your business and your universe? Are you helping to shape it, or merely listening to those who try to shape it for you?

Original issue focus point: We’re seeing some countries rebounding economically (Germany) better than others (UK). We’re seeing some sectors of the US economy rebound better (health care) than others (new home sales). Like a stock portfolio, your customer and client base should be as diversified as possible. And bear in mind that the majority of the firms on the current Fortune 500 list were begun during recessionary times.

Monday Morning Perspective: There are some ideas so absurd that only an intellectual could believe them. — George Orwell

Original Monday Morning Perspective: We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing. — George Bernard Shaw.

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 09/12/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 14:39:50 +0000

September 12, 2011—Issue #103

This week’s focus point: We respectfully mourn the dead and extend sympathies to their loved ones and families in our prayers and thoughts about 9/11. There were those who died by surprise and abruptly, and those who died heroically doing their jobs as expected of them, and those who died in the simple human compassion of attempting to help others even though it wasn’t their job. The finest tribute, perhaps, for all those people is for the rest of us to live life boldly and unafraid, to build and to explore, to protect our freedoms and to extend our help. After all, our “day” in the U.S. is neither September 11 nor December 7, but rather July 4.

Monday Morning Perspective: The Master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his education and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence in whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he is always doing both. — Zen Buddhist Text

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 09/05/11

Alan Weiss — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 12:37:58 +0000

September 5, 2011—Issue #102

This week’s focus point: It is said–though probably apocryphal–that Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest explained his victories by his “getting there firstest with the mostest.” There is valid reasoning in getting there first. Life is about success not perfection. The first one into a market often becomes the leader, correcting imperfections later. Life-saving decisions and interventions are best done rapidly. Speed is often associated with intelligence when complex tasks are involved. You can’t be slow to pay the bets at a craps table in a casino. Try to improve your speed. Most people can identify an “i” even if it isn’t dotted. When you’re 80% ready, MOVE!

Monday Morning Perspective: You are never so near to victory as when defeated in a good cause. — Henry Ward Beecher

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 08/22/11

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 21:14:18 +0000

August 22, 2011—Issue #101

This week’s focus point: Increasing revenue is a questionable goal, unless it’s accompanied by reducing costs of acquisition and reduced labor intensity. The ideal solution is to attract buyers to you through brand recognition, word-of-mouth, strong intellectual property, and low-barrier-to-entry access. That means a home page full of value, not promotion; speaking and publishing and not cold calls; and spontaneous referral business because you are an object of interest to others. If your marketing plan isn’t creating and sustaining these traits and results, then it’s the wrong plan.

Monday Morning Perspective: The world will go on somehow, and more crises will follow. It will go on best, however, if among us there are men who have stood apart, who refused to be anxious or too much concerned, who were cool and inquiring, and had their eyes on a longer past and a longer future. — c. 1930, Walter Lippmann, syndicated columnist and twice Pulitzer Prize Winner

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 08/15/11

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 04:12:24 +0000

August 15, 2011—Issue #100

This week’s focus point: Wars, wild financial market swings, global warming, disease, totalitarian governments, budget cutbacks, rioting, health care reform, strikes, overindulged athletes, brainless entertainment shows, airport security humiliation, traffic congestion, pollution˜there’s enough to be concerned about every morning. These are important issues, but don’t allow them to overshadow and overwhelm your personal accountabilities: raising your family, earning money, maintaining your health, being of service to others, creating happiness, loving and being loved. Those constitute the “oxygen mask” you have to don before you can help significantly on the larger issues.

Monday Morning Perspective: We are as gods and might as well get good at it. — The Whole Earth Catalog

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 08/08/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 14:36:34 +0000

August 8, 2011—Issue #99

This week’s focus point: In the US as the elections in 2012 approach (and elsewhere as elections approach), voters will suddenly receive a “newsletter” from their Representative or Senator apprising them of all that’s been done for them. This demonstrates a very low respect for voters’ intelligence. Where were the newsletters during the prior few years? Why not keep in touch electronically more frequently? This same hypocrisy holds true for any organization, public or private, for-profit or non-profit. Don’t merely contact people when you want something or need them. Stay in touch, provide value, offer free help. Relationships aren’t built on contacting someone solely when you need them for your own self-interests.

Monday Morning Perspective: Few men are wise enough to prefer useful criticism to treacherous praise. — Francois, Le Duc de Rochefoucauld

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 08/01/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 12:46:04 +0000

August 1, 2011—Issue #98

This week’s focus point: As this appears, the U.S. faces defaulting on its debts and a downgrading of its credit unless legislators and the President can act collaboratively in the next 24 hours. How do affairs arrive at such dire junctures? It may just be because we have politicians, but not statesmen; celebrities, but not exemplars; athletes, but not sportsmen and women; lawyers but not jurists; pop idols but not talent; executives but not leaders. Compromise, collaboration, and consensus require (ironically) strength and empathy, not weakness and antipathy; the selfless, not the selfish. We need to be willing and able to stand out in a crowd and say, “This way!” without demanding it be only our way.

Monday Morning Perspective: Someone who redoubles his efforts when he’s forgotten his aim. — Philosopher George Santayana defining a fanatic

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 07/25/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:29:47 +0000

July 25, 2011—Issue #97

This week’s focus point: We need “white space” (the term is from text that’s easier to read because of surrounding, empty space) in our lives, breathing room to reflect, to mourn, to rejoice, to share, to plan, to meditate, to appreciate. Doctors who book “back to back” appointments all day don’t do a very good job with patient relationships, office management, billing, or diagnosing. Consultants without white space don’t do as good a job trying to grow their business, creating intellectual property, or improving quality family time. Poor fee and billing practices are the worst enemy of white space. If you’re only paid when you work for an hour, then you’re going to try to work every hour you can. Wealth is really discretionary time, meaning you need a lot of white space to be truly wealthy.

Monday Morning Perspective: They’re killing the game with this phony mystique, telling people a guy needs the abilities of a brain surgeon to play guard for the Colts. Football is a game designed to keep coal miners off the streets. — Sports writer Jimmy Breslin

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 07/18/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 19:16:36 +0000

July 18, 2011—Issue #96

This week’s focus point: One of the worst human tendencies is to overreact. Too many laws, rules, and regulations are made in overreaction to singular or unlikely transgression. I fall down laughing when I must show a photo ID to buy an alcoholic drink in a ballpark, because the law is that everyone must be carded, period. The people intent on cheating will simply get false IDs. We can never replace judgment and accountability with laws and “zero tolerance” policies. It’s silly to suspend a 7-year-old from school for using his fingers to point an imaginary gun, and it’s silly for us to run our businesses as if the world is black and white and subject to clear lines of demarcation. The world is often shades of grey, requiring judgment and, often, toleration and forgiveness.

Monday Morning Perspective: Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood. Make big plans, aim high in hope and work. — Daniel Burnham, planner.

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 07/11/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 19:12:19 +0000

July 11, 2011—Issue #95

This week’s focus point: The scandal in the UK about cell phone hacking by a major newspaper is a sign of corrupt leadership, but not the downfall of civilization. The Borgias and the de Medicis were raising immorality and illegality to an art form six centuries ago. We need to discriminate between those who are corrupt and evil and those who are merely in need of additional skills and coaching and higher competence. Few managers and leaders you meet are “damaged” or malicious. Once we have a mindset that the other person is somehow damaged or “the enemy,” we sacrifice compromise and consensus. If politicians ran companies there would be little productivity and no profit.

Monday Morning Perspective: Power does not corrupt men; fools, however, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power. — George Bernard Shaw

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 07/04/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 12:00:58 +0000

July 4, 2011—Issue #94

This week’s focus point: Stay the course. The market has just had a remarkable week in the U.S. It often fluctuates daily by the hundreds or points these days, because we’re in continually volatile times. But solid investments will most likely remain solid investments if you stay the course. Similarly, if you do the right things, they will see you through. Don’t allow a temporary dip or distraction in your business to influence you to stop doing the things that work. I’ve dealt with hundreds of professionals who simply needed the courage and reassurance that the right actions will see them through, and they’ve rebounded as strongly as the market. No one wins all the time, but you’ll tend to win less if you panic and irrationally change your best habits simply because you’ve hit an inevitable lull. Success is for those who win most of the time, because no one wins all of the time.

Monday Morning Perspective: Death comes to everyone, but it varies in its significance. — Mao Tse-Tung

July 15 Deadlines!: July 15 is the deadline for the large discount for my Australian “Mini-College” in November: http://summitconsulting.com/seminars/alan-in-sydney.php and for receiving a free copy of my book Million Dollar Referrals by registering for The Art of the Referral teleconference: http://summitconsulting.com/seminars/the-art-of-the-referral.php

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 06/27/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 13:25:00 +0000

June 27, 2011—Issue #93

This week’s focus point: “Retirement” has no real meaning any more. Most productive people, young and old, continually seek out new ways to express their talents and rejoice in life. To foresee an arbitrary age — when many are at the height of their powers — as a time to cease being creative and active is merely a form of conscious decline. Producing value and providing happiness are endeavors that should never be “completed.”

Monday Morning Perspective: What folly to dread the thought of throwing life away at once, and yet have no regard to throwing it away by parcels and piecemeal. — John Howe

Maximize Your Referral Business: Join me for The Art of the Referral teleconference to build your business exponentially and rapidly: http://summitconsulting.com/seminars/the-art-of-the-referral.php

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 06/20/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 15:52:32 +0000

June 20, 2011—Issue #92

This week’s focus point: Billy Joel recorded a great song called, “Keeping the Faith,” about rock and roll. There are traits and accomplishments about ourselves that we too readily forget. Almost all of us have coached others successfully in our past, whether we call ourselves a coach or not. We’ve taught, sold, innovated, consoled, motivated, and led. These weren’t accidents or strokes of luck. We need to review our own victories and success to understand how best to replicate them, which is why focusing on our strengths leads to much more growth than a narrow focus on correcting weaknesses. We have to keep our faith in ourselves.

Monday Morning Perspective: Faith is not a blind leap into nothing but a thoughtful walk in what light we have. –Elton Trueblood

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 06/13/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 15:39:16 +0000

June 13, 2011—Issue #91

This week’s focus point: There are no “bad seasons” or “poor economies” or “poor perceptions” in terms of the promotion of your business and its products and services. In the worst of times the US is about a $14 trillion economy. The Australian and Canadian dollars are at par or better right now. The euro is suffering. No matter. People are buying. The key isn’t lowering price or cutting expenses. You can’t cut your way to growth! The need is to demonstrate high value so that you’re needed in any economy. If you can’t do that, then you’re merely a commodity and will always suffer in price comparisons.

Monday Morning Perspective: Men do not seek truth. It is the truth that pursues men who run away and will not look around. — Lincoln Steffins

Alan’s Almost Free Workshop!: We are almost filled! About 30 seats remain of 225. I’m doing this to “pay back” the profession, $100 for a full day including lunch! http://summitconsulting.com/seminars/Almost%20Free%20Workshop.php

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 06/06/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 18:25:17 +0000

June 6, 2011—Issue #90

This week’s focus point: Having consulted and coached for over 25 years, it occurs to me that most emotionally healthy people understand what is to be done, why it is to be done, and even how to do it. If not, they can quickly gather the awareness, skills, knowledge, and experiences to be able to do it. Yet, too often, nothing is done successfully, be it weight loss, confronting poor behavior, repairing something that’s broken, or implementing a new pricing system. I’m convinced it’s because focus and discipline are weak, and there is little personal or organizational accountability. Having trouble changing, or helping someone change? Focus on the real issue, create a series of steps, and assign accountability using colleagues, rewards, and/or personal pride. It’s seldom a training issue, but rather a behavioral one.

Monday Morning Perspective: Care more for the truth than what people think. — Aristotle

Alan’s Almost Free Workshop!: A free entire day with refreshments and lunch ($100 expense offset) of high content material as part of Alan’s “payback to the profession,” normally well over $1,000: http://summitconsulting.com/seminars/Almost%20Free%20Workshop.php

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 05/30/11

Alan Weiss — Tue, 31 May 2011 14:55:31 +0000

May 30, 2011—Issue #89

On this Memorial Day in the United States, may we all pause to remember the sacrifice of those who put themselves in harm’s way to protect our freedom and serve our country.

(Photo taken at the U.S. Cemetery in Normandy, France.)

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 05/23/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 23 May 2011 13:42:19 +0000

May 23, 2011—Issue #88

This week’s focus point: Lady Gaga is one of the smartest marketers I’ve yet seen. She brands herself as a “show without an intermission”! The arbitrary compartmentalization of our lives drains us of energy and prevents synergy. I know people who won’t answer email while on vacation or take time out to play with the kids or dogs during the “work day.” We have a single life. Our house has different rooms, but our lives should simply have one “great room.” A little discipline and a lot of judgment will optimize your time, which is not a resource but actually a set of priorities. Real wealth isn’t about “to do” lists, or “bucket lists,” or even money. It’s about providing yourself with discretionary time to attend to the real priorities in your life. “Intermission” is when you sleep.

Monday Morning Perspective: We tend to use arguments like a sledgehammer with which we deal blow upon blow upon the head of the unfortunate victim of our apostolic zeal, as if we could stun him into belief and convert by concussion. — Caryll Houselander, English mystic

New Global Site: Have a question about business? Visit Alan & The Gang at http://alanandthegang.com/, where entrepreneurs learn and grow.

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 05/16/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 16 May 2011 13:03:44 +0000

May 16, 2011—Issue #87

This week’s focus point: We broke out of the clouds over O’Hare on the way home from Vegas and the United 757 had an odd angle, yawing right. We were already a quarter of the way down the runway with gear down at about 500 feet and 170 knots. Then I heard our captain on my headphones, which were tuned to the air traffic channel, “We’re going around.” With that, the throttles were pushed forward, gear retracted, and we roared up into the gloom once again. “State your reason,” said the controller once we gained altitude. “Not enough ceiling,” said the captain matter-of-factly. Twenty minutes later we were safely on the ground. No one is paying you to take excessive risk. You’re paid, as was our captain, to use judgment. All of us are often responsible for others’ lives (careers, self-esteem, decisions, and so on). Don’t try to land if you can’t see where you’re going.

Monday Morning Perspective: The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread. — Anatole France

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 05/09/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 09 May 2011 14:46:42 +0000

May 9, 2011—Issue #86

This week’s focus point: My wife and I have been flying a lot lately. In first class, the drill is consistent, no matter what carrier. There are 8 to 22 people. Yet the service varies significantly, even within the same airline. That front-line difference is all about the flight attendant’s attitude and behavior on any particular day. I do have choices when I travel. I’ve never seen happy customers when there are unhappy employees (either naturally unhappy or angry at the employer). I have seen happy employees and unhappy customers (no supervision, lazy, entitled). Always hire enthusiasm, you can teach the content. Get rid of people who always seem to be having a “bad day.” And make sure you demonstrate within the business the behavior you’d like to see bestowed on the customer.

Monday Morning Perspective: Few things damn a company and its spirit as thoroughly as to have its managers say, “You can’t get rich here but you won’t get fired.” This puts the emphasis on safe mediocrity. It breeds bureaucrats and penalizes what every business needs the most: entrepreneurs. — Peter Drucker

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 05/02/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 02 May 2011 17:23:27 +0000

May 5, 2011—Issue #85

This week’s focus point: When buyers are attracted to you, two beneficial dynamics come into play: First, your credibility isn’t an issue; and second, fees are not a major consideration. Cold calling, “feet on the street,” and “finding someone’s pain” are passé and represent a high cost of acquisition. Creating a market gravity through your intellectual property and thought leadership, and helping people to raise the standards of performance are the keys to low cost of acquisition and highly profitable work. Do prospective buyers think of you as someone who can help them and with whom they’d like to work?

Monday Morning Perspective: Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in. – Robert Frost

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 04/25/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 13:10:28 +0000

April 25, 2011—Issue #84

This week’s focus point: Yesterday, the New York Times offered me eight electronic op ed columns. Every one was negative, from politicians “ignoring reality” and high speed rail being a “folly” to critique of tax credits and even why a Pope should not be canonized. Perhaps all of this is relevant and important, but it seems to me that there is a lot of good news that’s also relevant and important. When we’re besieged with harsh and negative information, we tend to lose sight of the positive and productive. Find the optimistic people and news in your life and your profession, because the default position isn’t all that exhilarating. I look at each new day as an opportunity to thrive with my head high, not as a long, slow, cautious crawl through enemy territory holding my head down.

Monday Morning Perspective: Technology is just a way of organizing the universe so that man won’t have to experience it. — architect Max Frisch

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 04/18/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 12:41:57 +0000

April 18, 2011—Issue #83

This week’s focus point: John Naisbitt wrote about “high tech/high touch” almost 30 year ago, and I believe he was absolutely on target. Technological “mystery” has plateaued, and we no more think of being “plugged in” to the Internet as we do to the electrical grid (as technology columnist Walt Mossberg points out). What are you doing to develop breakthrough client relationships on the “high touch” side? It’s not done by mass emails, lengthy voice mail instructions, or automated reminders. It’s accomplished through personalization, direct contact, and rapid response. Products and services may shine in strong economies, but relationships garner you the benefit of the doubt in any economy.

Monday Morning Perspective: I have often reflected that the causes of the successes or failures or men depend upon their manner of suiting their conduct to the times. — Niccoi Machiavelli

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 04/11/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 14:20:08 +0000

April 11, 2011—Issue #82

This week’s focus point: I’m in Normandy, and the heroism of the men who stormed these beaches is hard to comprehend. I’m fit, and I doubt I could climb the heights at Omaha beach in less than several hours, and I don’t have 40 pounds of equipment, drenched clothing, and heavy arms firing at me. Think twice when someone says a golfer is making an heroic putt, or a politician an heroic decision. As survivors of the invasion have commented, “We’re not the heroes, the heroes are buried up there.” You don’t need heroism to find and help clients, or to try new ventures, or to recover from failure. So what’s stopping you? No one is shooting. (For photos, please visit my Facebook page.)

Monday Morning Perspective: …for free will doesn’t mean one will, but many wills conflicting in one man. — Flannery O’Conner, introduction to Wise Blood

Manage your life: Join me in Las Vegas for The Time of Your Life http://summitconsulting.com/seminars/the-time-of-your-life-practicum.php and in Australia for a special offering in November: http://summitconsulting.com/seminars/alan-in-sydney.php

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 04/04/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 14:03:21 +0000

April 4, 2011—Issue #81

This week’s focus point: In my work with corporate clients, I’ve found that weak leaders have worried too much either about being liked or about being feared by subordinates. Strong leaders earn respect by wading into tough challenges, making difficult decisions no matter how unpopular or painful, accepting blame, and sharing credit. Leaders in the public or private sector who demonstrate those traits consistently are most likely to develop strong support and reach their goals. Strong leaders surround themselves with strong people, and weak leaders with weak people (who else would work for them?). A quick first impression of any leader: How strong are the direct reports?

Monday Morning Perspective:Luck is the residue of design. — Branch Rickey (general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, who introduced Jackie Robinson to major league baseball)

Manage your life: Join me for The Time of Your Life: http://tinyurl.com/3jxt22b

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 03/28/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 15:54:27 +0000

March 28, 2011—Issue #80

This week’s focus point: In a workshop, I once asked participants what they would do with an extra million dollars of income. Many people had a hard time deciding about this. A “million” had become an empty metaphor, a superficial goal. TIAABB: There Is Always A Bigger Boat. Think about the outcomes you want to accomplish: family support, education, retirement, travel, philanthropy, and so on. Don’t worry about the input side: X clients, Y sales, Z bank account. Real wealth is discretionary time. You can work so hard merely making money that you erode your actual wealth.

Monday Morning Perspective: Neurosis is the inability to tolerate ambiguity. — Sigmund Freud.

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 03/21/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 14:23:14 +0000

March 21, 2011—Issue #79

This week’s focus point: Fifty years ago, John F. Kennedy gave one of the shortest inaugural addresses in U.S. history, yet it is one of the longest remembered. The Gettysburg Address required only a few minutes. During the height of World War II, Churchill said to the Luftwaffe, “Do your worst, we will do our best!” Memorable ideas and powerful directions are succinct, pithy, and relevant. How do you want people to think of your business and remember you?

Monday Morning Perspective: Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there. — Will Rogers

Join “The Rock Star of Consulting” in Sydney: Two intense days of a quarter-century of consulting experience, one time only, discounts for early registration: http://summitconsulting.com/seminars/alan-in-sydney.php

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 03/14/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 17:52:45 +0000

March 14, 2011—Issue #78

This week’s focus point: Non-profit board membership is a fabulous way to contribute to causes about which you’re passionate. However, don’t join if you’re doing so merely to network or gain visibility (and it’s almost always unethical to do business with an entity on whose board you serve). Most of these boards tend to micro-manage, confuse governance with fundraising, have weak leadership, and are seldom strategically focused. If you want to serve to help, then roll up your sleeves and do so. But it’s tougher work, if you’re serious about helping, than any paying client!

Monday Morning Perspective: They say that the seeds of what we will do are in all of us, but it always seemed to me that in those who make jokes in life the seeds are covered with better soil and with a higher grade of manure. — Ernest Hemingway in “A Movable Feast.”

Alan returns to Sydney: For my friends in Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Rim, I’m making my 16th visit to Sydney to conduct a special, two-day “mini-Consulting College on November 16-17, 2011. To gain advance registration discounts, write to me directly for information: Alan@summitconsulting.com. For details visit http://www.summitconsulting.com/seminars/alan-weiss-the-consultants-consultant-in-sydney.php.

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 03/07/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 16:27:01 +0000

March 7, 2011—Issue #77

This week’s focus point: On a recent tour we learned that of 12 million immigrants to the U.S. coming through Ellis Island in New York, only about 2 percent were denied entry. That’s because the steamship companies taking them across the ocean (sadly, in deplorable conditions) had to ensure people met certain criteria, and they had to pay for room and board if people were detained, and return passage if they were refused altogether. There were clear performance standards and repercussions for the shipping lines. Too often those standards are not assigned or evaluated in organizations. Ironically, the standards and accountabilities seem to attenuate as you climb the hierarchy, with front-line people held to clear standards and executives to ambiguous ones (or to simply narrow financial quotas).

Monday Morning Perspective: A society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves. — Bertrand de Jouvenal

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 02/28/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:26:20 +0000

February 28, 2011—Issue #76

This week’s focus point: General Motors may soon regain the title of the world’s largest auto company. Who would have thought that two years ago? Very few clients are so hopelessly lost or so untouchably in the lead that their positions can’t change with new leadership, new ideas, or new circumstances. Sometimes gradual change is sufficient, sometimes trauma is necessary, but never give up if you feel there is hope. And never give up on yourself no matter what you experience or are told. We are resilient creatures.

Monday Morning Perspective: The man who is neither bent upon pleasing his fellows nor afraid of offending them will enjoy great peace. — Thomas a Kempis

Alan’s Friday Wrap®: Weekly podcasts and monthly videos, and a full-day conference. Access to all archives: http://summitconsulting.com/seminars/friday%20wrap.php

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 02/21/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 20:05:28 +0000

February 21, 2011—Issue #75

This week’s focus point: We are watching popular uprisings gain traction or fail largely based on whether those in power and the military are willing to turn their guns on their own people or refrain from doing so. In organizations, the ability to change for the best is often a question of whether senior people will listen and offer avenues for communication to do so, or whether they are insulated and aloof, and those with new and bold ideas get “whacked” by the status quo. Professional firms (law, accounting, architecture, consulting, etc.) often suffer from this as well.

Monday Morning Perspective: The best is the enemy of the good. — Voltaire

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 02/14/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 15:35:30 +0000

February 14, 2011—Issue #74

This week’s focus point: “Don’t be defensive” is an overused admonition. It’s okay to be defensive about your values and beliefs when they are threatened. It’s fine to be defensive when someone is giving you unsolicited feedback who has no credentials to provide it and/or has malicious intent. It’s appropriate to be defensive when you’re slandered. Teams play offense and defense. Don’t allow the false stigma of being “defensive” to turn you into a punching bag. And, of course, bear in mind that the best defense is a strong offense.

Monday Morning Perspective: He who doesn’t turn runs far. — Chinese proverb

Million Dollar Consulting Mindset: Free monthly, electronic newsletter on consulting from all aspects: http://summitconsulting.com/million-dollar-consulting-mindset/

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 02/07/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 18:52:26 +0000

February 7, 2011—Issue #73

This week’s focus point: The most important change agent in any organization is the leader, no matter at what level. The Egyptian uprising (and other demonstrations in the region) are popularly supported but without a definitive leader. The default position belongs to the existing power base (the army). If you want to change organizations (and the amorphous “culture”) then help the leaders to demonstrate changed behavior, values, rewards, communications. People do not believe what they read or hear, at least not sufficiently to galvanize them into action. They believe what they SEE.

Monday Morning Perspective: To be nobody but myself–in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else–means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting. — e.e. cummings

Free Consulting Newseltter: http://summitconsulting.com/million-dollar-consulting-mindset/

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 01/31/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:21:14 +0000

January 31, 2011—Issue #72

This week’s focus point: Apple has gone beyond “product” and has become a framework within which it offers a variety of personal and professional technological life enhancements. It has reached a point of instant credibility and creates eager expectations. Its “sins” and errors (iPhone dropped calls) are forgiven quickly. It’s difficult to compete with Apple, now one of the most valuable companies in the world, because you’re competing with a lifestyle and business-style choice. Professional services providers can achieve the same kind of intimate and unbreachable relationship with their clients, if they eschew pitching products and services and focus on the value of the personal and professional results they create.

Monday Morning Perspective: How glorious it is — and also how painful — to be an exception. — Alfred de Musset

New Consulting Newsletter: You can subscribe for free to my new, monthly, electronic newsletter, The Million Dollar Consulting® Mindset, including the archives, here:http://summitconsulting.com/million-dollar-consulting-mindset/ There is a video explaining it further.

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 01/24/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 14:09:17 +0000

January 24, 2011—Issue #71

This week’s focus point: In the American football playoff season, it’s of no small note to realize that those of us providing professional services are seldom, if ever, the “home team.” We’re usually “on the road,” and we must learn to win on the road. That means we need to silence the crowd (the resistors), control the ball (manage the conversation), and never get rattled (possess self-confidence). Every successful team must win on the road. For us, that’s almost always the case, so we might as well get good at it.

Monday Morning Perspective: When a tree decays it is not normally from sickness and never (one assumes) from sin. It decays because it has reached its maximum growth maintaining that size and weight for the period usual with that type of tree. It cannot live forever in any case. Institutions, whether political or industrial, are not essentially different. — C. Northcote Parkinson, “In-Laws and Outlaws”

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 01/17/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 15:04:34 +0000

January 17, 2011—Issue #70

This week’s focus point: The best way to learn something is to try it. You can read all the books you like about horseback riding, or skiing, or the piano, or sales techniques, but they’re all theoretical until you try it. I’d rather work with someone who imperfectly helps me to implement a change than someone who talks endlessly about the theory of attacking it. There’s a reason schools have labs and field trips. Stop making lists and perfecting approaches. Go see buyers. They’ll tell you more than any book. And, who knows, you might just sell something.

Monday Morning Perspective: No one, to the day of my graduation, had ever taught met to look understandingly at a painting, or a tree, or the façade of a building. — George F. Kennan, “Memoirs”

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 01/10/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 20:26:03 +0000

January 10, 2011—Issue #69

This week’s focus point: Two big upsets in American football playoffs yesterday, in my view. Seahawks, with a losing record, beat the defending Superbowl champion Saints. And the Jets beat the Colts, who have one of the finest quarterbacks and pressure kickers in history, and on the Colts’ home field. On any given day, so long as you play well, you can win. Don’t walk into prospects with anything on your mind but this interaction, today, and how you can help that client tomorrow. You learn from the past, but you don’t have to suffer from it. We all can make our own futures.

Monday Morning Perspective: Like most other things not apparently useful to man, it has few friends, and the blind question, “Why was it made?” goes on and on with never a guess that first of all it might have been made for itself. — Naturalist John Muir on poison ivy

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 01/03/11

Alan Weiss — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 19:35:12 +0000

January 3, 2011—Issue #68

This week’s focus point: On this first Monday in 2011 keep in mind that the economy is rebounding, the worst and most dire predictions have not come true, and there is great need for the value that we and our businesses provide. Adopt this mental set and the appropriate self-talk: “I have tremendous value which can help people personally and professionally, and I’d be remiss not to approach as many people as I can with this opportunity.” If you don’t blow your own horn, there is no music.

Monday Morning Perspective: If you can do it, it ain’t braggin’. — Baseball pitcher Dizzy Dean

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 12/27/10

Alan Weiss — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 22:23:46 +0000

December 27, 2010—Issue #67

This week’s focus point: Season’s Best to everyone! In this “lull” before New Year’s, spend an hour a day thinking about your business and/or talking about it with a significant other or trusted colleague. Don’t think about how to fix, repair, or commit to remedial work. Instead, focus on what you’re already very good at and how to capitalize on that strength. We all grow by building on strengths, not by trying to metamorphose every weakness into idealized perfection. We’re all imperfect. Success trumps perfection. Happy New Year!

Monday Morning Perspective: In art the subject upon which you concentrate is unimportant; it is only the quality of your concentration that counts. — John Steinbeck

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 12/20/10

Alan Weiss — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 18:22:48 +0000

December 20, 2010—Issue #66

This week’s focus point: No matter what your personal beliefs, I’d like to be among the first this week to wish you the joys of this great holiday season, when families and friends unite. Accept the intent of the gifts even if somewhat imperfect; rejoice in the repeated family stories, though dusty with cobwebs; decide what you can do to help others, though they are not expecting it. There are too few moments when we gather in all our diversity to sing a song, enjoy a meal, remember the past, and look forward to the future, in the company of loved ones. New Year’s Resolutions are far less important than today’s appreciation. Health, peace, and prosperity to you all from me and my family.

Monday Morning Perspective: As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. — King Solomon

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 12/13/10

Alan Weiss — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 14:52:28 +0000

December 13, 2010—Issue #65

This week’s focus point: Demand for US exports, from autos to art, is at a height not achieved since before the financial crisis. This raises the potential for solid domestic growth, and continuing recovery. The US trade deficit has hit a nine-month low. We need to adapt an abundance mentality, not a poverty mentality, and avoid the economic pessimists. There will be growing demand for professional services, and it’s our choice whether to be overly cautious and lag behind, or to invest and be ahead of the pack.

Monday Morning Perspective: Behind every great fortune there is a great crime. — Balzac

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 12/06/10

Alan Weiss — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 14:40:33 +0000

December 6, 2010—Issue #64

This week’s focus point: The beat goes on. We acknowledge trouble in European economies, we watch legislative stalemates, we’re bombarded with the latest inanities of pseudo-celebrities. Yet retail sales are up, housing is recovering, car sales are strong, luxury goods are doing well, and more jobs are being created. The recovery is moving from “slow” to a slightly higher speed. Things aren’t great, but they are getting better. The best way to escape what I call “economic pessimism” is to refuse to be a party to it. Look for the opportunities, and orient your personal and professional endeavors around them. And if professional “victims” want to sing the blues, allow them to sing solo.

Monday Morning Perspective: The line that divides good and evil is not a line that divides good men from bad men, but a line which cuts through the middle of every human heart. — Alexander Sholzhenitsyn

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 11/29/10

Alan Weiss — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 14:06:04 +0000

November 29, 2010—Issue #63

This week’s focus point: Success always trumps perfection. The elusive search for the ideal delays, deters, and distracts. Very few airline flights, surgeries, or performances are “perfect.” But most are successful. Focus your clients on the conditions that represent success, and focus yourself the same way. Otherwise, you’ll never “succeed enough,” because your standard is impossible to achieve.

Monday Morning Perspective: I am a non-perfectionist. I don’t look back in regret or worry at what I have written. — Issac Asimov (author of over 500 books)

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 11/22/10

Alan Weiss — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 14:02:33 +0000

November 22, 2010—Issue #62

This week’s focus point: I’ve just returned from Bora Bora where tourist resorts haven’t compromised the beauty of the island, and the service everywhere is gracious and helpful. Storms drive through in 20 minutes, and the sun returns in full force. It’s hard to get to, and there is little television and slow Internet service. Yet we didn’t want to leave. We all can combine differing objectives, be patient through tough times, and be happy with less stimuli and information. The fish swam right up to us because they weren’t afraid. That’s not a bad philosophy for seeking out business, either. (For photos, visit my blog, http://www.contrarianconsulting.com.)

Monday Morning Perspective: He who lights his taper at mine receives light without darkening mine. — Thomas Jefferson writing to Isaac McPherson

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 11/15/10

Alan Weiss — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 19:06:10 +0000

November 15, 2010—Issue #61

This week’s focus point: I’m writing this from Bora Bora, a dot in the Pacific where development has somehow meshed nicely with natural beauty. We landed at 6 am in Papeete in a 777, and made it through luggage claim, immigration, customs, the ticket counter, and security to be on the commuter prop which took off at 6:28! This a an island chain of contradictions: one-time military importance (Michener’s inspiration for Bali Hai) and now luxury destination; easy going but highly efficient; frequent rain and very strong sun. We need to accept the contradictions of life and its vast diversity, not seek to homogenize it.

Monday Morning Perspective: Over a twenty-year period, Elvis Presley evolved from the avatar of American cool to the embodiment of American excess. There is no better metaphor for the old American dream. With a few exceptions, we are all Elvis now. — Kalle Lasn from “Culture Jam: The Uncooling of America”

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 11/08/10

Alan Weiss — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 19:06:00 +0000

November 8, 2010—Issue #60

This week’s focus point: I remember a meeting with a boutique consulting firm that had fallen on hard times. The debate was whether or not to sell their magnificent conference table. “Where would clients sit?” asked one partner. “We have no clients,” stated the advocate of selling. You can’t cut your way to renewal or success. Top line growth is the key to bottom line achievement, for you and for your clients. Today is the time to invest in the future. Once you cut muscle, you’re powerless.

Monday Morning Perspective: I’m $13 million in debt. What do you want me to do, smoke cheaper cigars? — Impresario, promoter, and one-time husband of Elizabeth Taylor, Mike Todd, to his dunning accountants after having suffered some business reversals.

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 11/01/10

Alan Weiss — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 16:55:50 +0000

November 1, 2010—Issue #59

This week’s focus point: Tomorrow will be a dramatic election day in the US. No matter what your party or affiliation or independence, one can only wonder why those in office aren’t constantly striving to improve the lives of their constituency so that re-election is assured. Even an anti-incumbent mood shouldn’t threaten those incumbents who have clearly represented their voters’ best interests. As consultants, we need to focus on our clients’ best interests, and not our fee, or the project, or the deliverables. Are the buyers (the voters) happy? Do we have a trusting relationship? Would they refer us to others? “What have you done for me lately?” is a dangerous question for a politician or a consultant.

Monday Morning Perspective: Claims made by scientists, in contrast to those made by movie critics or theologians, can be separated from the scientists who make them. It isn’t important to know who Issac Newton was. He discovered that force is equal to mass times acceleration. He was an antisocial, crazy person who wanted to burn down his parents’ house. But force is still equal to mass times acceleration. — Dr. Kary Mullis, winner of the Nobel Prize for chemistry.

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 10/25/10

Alan Weiss — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 13:14:16 +0000

October 25, 2010—Issue #58

This week’s focus point: Almost all organizations (public and private, large and small) have three potential interactions with customers and clients: products, services, and relationships. If you focus merely on product, you’re engaged in a price-sensitive commodity. If you focus also on service, you can differentiate and demonstrate more value. However, by including a focus on your relationships with customers you can develop loyal evangelists of your business who will always give you the benefit of the doubt in good times and bad.

Monday Morning Perspective: The dogs may bark, but the caravan moves on. — Old Arab saying

Last week to participate in Alan’s Friday Wrap at 40% discount for my readers in 2011. http://summitconsulting.com/seminars/friday%20wrap.php

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 10/18/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 13:14:15 +0000

October 18, 2010—Issue #57

This week’s focus point: The Chilean miners persevered through an ordeal because they were organized, mutually-supportive, rallied around a respected leader, and kept themselves physically and emotionally strong. That’s good advice for any challenge. However, suddenly they are media stars negotiating rights and preparing to be heroes. That will probably turn out to be more harmful in the long run than the mine collapse. The heroes were the engineers and medical people on the surface who acted with calmness, speed, and precision.

Monday Morning Perspective: Ninety-five percent of all the species that have ever existed are now extinct, so don’t look so darn smug. — Christopher Moor in his book, “Fluke.”

Last two weeks for major discount on Alan’s Friday Wrap with over three full days of programming during 2011: audio, video, live full-day conference. Find it here: http://summitconsulting.com/seminars/friday%20wrap.php

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 10/11/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 21:47:12 +0000

October 11, 2010—Issue #56

This week’s focus point: Have you left the corporate world to establish your own business and found that you have a worse boss than ever before? Success trumps perfection. If you adopt the position that the writing could always be better, the speech always stronger, the new business always larger, and the accolades always louder, then you’re trapped into being “never successful enough.” You’ll encounter defeats as we all do. But you deserve your victories, as well. Otherwise, your boss is never going to get any better.

Monday Morning Perspective: Yes, it was called the Dark Ages, and it lasted 400 years. — John Maynard Keynes when asked if there had ever been anything like the Great Depression

Join me for the Friday Wrap™: http://summitconsulting.com/seminars/friday%20wrap.php Final ten days for early discounts.

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 10/04/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 11:32:55 +0000

October 04, 2010—Issue #55

This week’s focus point: Firefighters have a tradition and discipline that call for the senior officer present to lead others into danger. The firefighters risk their lives, and the leader is not asking them for anything that the leader isn’t personally doing. Routinely, athletic coaches are fired for the non-performance of their teams. (I’ve never seen a team fired for failing to meet its coach’s expectations or promises.) Instead of “downsizing” and laying off thousands for errors in the executive suite, perhaps we should be following those who truly lead and not merely direct, and who are held personally accountable for the result.

Monday Morning Perspective: Rhetoric succeeds when there is a bond of trust between speaker and audience. That trust is more important than eloquence—or the absence of eloquence; and it has no necessary connection to it. An honest, competent person laboring to communicate his own convictions is far more persuasive than a fluent declaimer whose character the audience may have doubts about. — Aristotle

Join me for the Friday Wrap™: http://tinyurl.com/242ovpm

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 9/27/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 20:59:52 +0000

September 27, 2010—Issue #54

This week’s focus point: There are differences among work, jobs, and careers. Most basically, work is temporary and intended to complete tasks, whether for you or someone else. Jobs combine work to focus on particular projects and goals, but can be terminated by others or circumstances. Careers constitute the synergy of the talents you choose to provide, combining your abilities and knowledge in a passionate manner to meet others’ needs. Which are you helping others with? Which are you pursuing?

Monday Morning Perspective: One is apt to think of moral failure as due to weakness of character; more often it is due to an inadequate ideal. — Richard Livingstone, British educator

Join me for the Friday Wrap™: http://tinyurl.com/242ovpm

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 9/20/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 14:15:45 +0000

September 20, 2010—Issue #53

This week’s focus point: Do you feel like a welcome customer of your credit card banks, or someone they’re trying to ring every last dollar from in late charges, interest fees, foreign transaction fees, and penalties? Do you feel like a valued customer of the airline that’s charging you for checked bags, carry-on bags, slightly larger cramped seats, simple food, and even rest room use? How are they doing building brand loyalty with you? Think about that with your own customers. They are valuable assets in competitive times, not ambulatory ATM machines.

Monday Morning Perspective: Anybody can win, unless there happens to be a second entry. — Humorist Goerge Ade

Join me for the Friday Wrap™: http://tinyurl.com/242ovpm

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 9/13/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 00:31:32 +0000

September 13, 2010—Issue #52

This week’s focus point: The ongoing, incredibly inept actions of the Hewlett-Packard board are completely out of context in terms of the value system that Bill Hewlett and David Packard established for their firm. The board decisions demonstrate, however, that there are human beings in executive suites and on such boards, not gods. They are subject to the same emotionalism, politics, confusion, peer pressures, and poor interpretations as the people on the sales force, in R&D, doing the accounting, or working in call centers. They are simply playing with a lot more money. They need good consultants more than anyone.

Monday Morning Perspective: A doctor can bury his mistakes. An architect can only advise his clients to plant vines. — Frank Lloyd Wright

Join me for the Friday Wrap™: http://tinyurl.com/242ovpm

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 9/06/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:20:28 +0000

September 06, 2010—Issue #51

This week’s focus point: Small businesses are the largest generator of net new jobs, far more than large companies. In a slow recovery, they are seeking multi-talented people who can do a variety of things, focused on pragmatic, short-term results. Consultants in this market should demonstrate the same characteristics, while helping their clients find such resources. If you’re helping people find work, coach them with this in mind.

Monday Morning Perspective: Nothing is possible without individuals; nothing is lasting without institutions. — Jean Monnet

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 8/30/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 11:31:49 +0000

August 30, 2010—Issue #50

This week’s focus point: At a New York theater last week, at the conclusion of the performance, side doors were opened and the entire place emptied in three directions in about five minutes. There was no standing in the aisles for 20 minutes while people chatted and crawled out. The theater was customer-friendly. (If you think about it, airplanes should load and unload that way, but airports have been built for planes and not passengers.) What are you doing to be client/customer-friendly? Are you easy to reach, quick to respond, constantly providing value? Or do you treat your customers like inconveniences?

Monday Morning Perspective: Sed quis Custodiet ipsos Custodes? (Who shall guard us from the guardians?) — Juvenal

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 8/23/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 21:54:47 +0000

August 23, 2010—Issue #49

This week’s focus point: The new “headline” is that many college freshmen can’t write in cursive script. Whether that’s accurate or another urban myth, what is accurate is that your emerging buyers’ perspectives and frames of reference aren’t always the same as yours. We used to think that fact applied only cross-culturally, but rapid technology change makes it true cross-generationally, as well. Find the other person’s self-interest and you’ll find a customer or client.

Monday Morning Perspective: We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of one’s exploring will be to arrive where we started. And know the place for the first time. — T.S. Eliot

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 8/16/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 14:58:05 +0000

August 16, 2010—Issue #48

This week’s focus point: It’s time to provide NEW products and services to existing customers and clients. No matter how happy they may be with your past performance, they no longer feel the “same old/same old” (I call this SO/SO) is sufficient for volatile, changing times. They already trust you, so take the initiative and create some new value for them. You can’t afford to be so/so.

Monday Morning Perspective: If winning doesn’t matter, why does anyone bother to keep score? — Legendary University of Kentucky basketball coach Adolph Rupp

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 8/09/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 00:20:04 +0000

August 9, 2010—Issue #47

This week’s focus point: There is a marketing difference between instigation and investigation. You should use “outreach” alternatives such as blogs and newsletters and speeches to instigate people to think differently, react to your intellectual property, and exhibit your thought leadership. Then they may be prompted to investigate your background, your depth and breadth, and that’s what a web site is best at—displaying credibility. You don’t want an overly promotional web site or a low key blog.

Monday Morning Perspective: The supreme vice is shallowness. — Oscar Wilde

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 8/02/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 21:36:32 +0000

August 2, 2010—Issue #46

This week’s focus point: Life is more of a rheostat than an “on/off” switch. You can be in favor of some aspects of an issue, and not in favor of others (which is why generic “labels” are so odious—they brand you as “for or against,” “on or off”). Don’t place clients, friends, and colleagues in the awkward position of “take it or leave it.” Compromise is based on mutual best interests being met, which means you have to find the appropriate setting on the thermostat, or it may get very icy or awfully hot.

Monday Morning Perspective: I’ve been broke, but never poor. — impresario Mike Todd, Jr. (When his accountants told him to cut back household spending because of his debt, he famously replied, “I’m thirteen million dollars in debt. What do you want me to do, smoke cheaper cigars?!”)

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 7/26/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:37:23 +0000

July 26, 2010—Issue #45

This week’s focus point: Consulting is art and science. There are things we know which we can influence. There are things we know which we can’t influence. There are things we don’t know that we can find out, and some things we don’t know we’ll never find out. Actually, that’s not a bad approach to life, either.

Monday Morning Perspective: …to find the best in others, to give of one’s self, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived—this is to have succeeded. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 7/19/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:57:42 +0000

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo’s mission is to help readers to thrive.

July 19, 2010—Issue #44

This week’s focus point: The undertow drags you out to sea when you’re in the surf. If it’s strong enough, you can exhaust yourself trying to get back to the beach, and when you do extricate yourself, you’re usually at a different point and disoriented. Undertow in our lives includes bad advice from unqualified sources, normative pressure from peers, unrealistic expectations of clients, overextension which creates financial pressures, and managing time poorly. By all means get into the surf, but don’t let it drag you down the beach or out to sea.

Monday Morning Perspective: If we had had good kings, we all would still be monarchists. — Lincoln Steffens

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 7/12/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 15:00:56 +0000

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo’s mission is to help readers to thrive.

July 12, 2010—Issue #43

This week’s focus point: I learned recently that someone who hadn’t returned my emails over two weeks was out of the country and had let 350 pile up unanswered. Good consultants advise clients to “shop” their own businesses, but have you “shopped” your own? Can I leave a message within a minute, or is your phone system telling me about your web site and thought for the day? Do you return emails within a day? Do you return phone calls promptly? Your first impressions will tell prospects how they would be treated as clients.

Monday Morning Perspective: We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing while others judge us by what we have already done. — Longfellow

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 7/05/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 12:23:44 +0000

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo’s mission is to help readers to thrive.

July 05, 2010—Issue #42

This week’s focus point: Prepare well, show up on time, do your best, and go home. You’re neither as good nor bad as your last performance or effort. It’s your overall and long-term effectiveness that counts. There is no use worrying about things you can’t control, and some people can’t be helped on any particular day. If you love what you do and you do your very best, you’ll be fine.

Monday Morning Perspective: Please don’t shoot the piano player. He is doing his best. — Sign in an old western saloon

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 6/28/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 11:56:51 +0000

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo’s mission is to help readers to thrive.

June 28, 2010—Issue #41

This week’s focus point: In school I ran the sprints, and we were taught to “run through the tape.” You can’t let up as you approach the finish, you have to pretend the finish line is ten yards farther down the track, so that you don’t slow down when your effort counts the most. That’s what the best athletes are doing in the World Cup and Wimbledon right now. And that’s what the best leaders and manager do. They run through the tape.

Monday Morning Perspective: Hope I die before I get old. — Peter Townshend (1966)

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 6/21/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 23:31:36 +0000

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo’s mission is to help readers to thrive.

June 21, 2010—Issue #40

This week’s focus point: A little action trumps a lot of words. In sports, weeks of “trash talk” fades when the game begins. In business and politics, tangible improvement (and even mere efforts) are far stronger than speeches, documents, “initiatives,” and reports. Small victories—and small efforts in the right direction—will build the momentum and commitment to support you in the long haul. Most plans sit in binders on shelves. Constructive actions are seen in the streets and remain on people’s minds.

Monday Morning Perspective: Who you are speaks so loudly I can’t hear what you say. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 6/14/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 11:45:50 +0000

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo’s mission is to help readers to thrive.

June 14, 2010—Issue #39

This week’s focus point: Most people working with and on “teams” are actually involved with committees. In committees, various interests come together and share resources only if their own goals aren’t jeopardized. In true teams, resources are readily shared because goals can only be reached as a unit, not individually. (The UK goalkeeper in the World Cup game with the US made an error and the entire team suffered, because soccer is a team sport.) Most team building efforts fail because the effort is applied to a committee structure, which requires different interventions. For whom are you playing?

Monday Morning Perspective: The costliness of keeping friends does not lie in what one does for them, but in what one, out of consideration, refrains from doing. — Henrik Ibsen

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 6/07/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:14:54 +0000

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo’s mission is to help readers to thrive.

June 07, 2010—Issue #38

This week’s focus point: Alan’s Fifth Law of Social Dynamics: There is usually a good lesson inside a bad situation. When the recent perfect game was “stolen” from Detroit baseball pitcher Armando Galarraga because of umpire Jim Joyce’s bad call on what should have been the final out, the pitcher accepted the injustice with equanimity, and got the next batter out. Joyce, viewing a replay of his error later, when into the team’s locker room to personally apologize. The Detroit fans gave the umpire a standing ovation the next day and Galarraga brought out the lineup card at the beginning of the game and shook hands with Joyce. Therein is a great lesson in sportsmanship from players, umpires, and fans, otherwise unavailable had the game been “perfect.” Perfect is the nemesis of “good.” We all ought to stop worrying about perfection and its attendant baggage, and try to be as good as we can be at what we do and who we are. That’s more than enough.

Monday Morning Perspective: The pearl is only the oyster’s autobiography. — Fellini

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 5/31/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Mon, 31 May 2010 20:45:09 +0000

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo’s mission is to help readers to thrive.

May 31, 2010—Issue #37

This week’s focus point: This is Memorial Day here in the U.S., and once again I’d like to take the opportunity to honor all those who have served in uniform in all countries in defense of freedom and human dignity, and who have responded to their countries’ call; especially those who have been injured, and most fervently to the families of those who, as Lincoln noted, “gave their last full measure of devotion.” May we all earn and honor that sacrifice.

Monday Morning Perspective: The hottest place in hell is reserved for those who do not take sides during a period of crisis. — John F. Kenned

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 5/24/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Tue, 25 May 2010 00:26:56 +0000

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo’s mission is to help readers to thrive.

May 24, 2010—Issue #36

This week’s focus point: What we’re seeing in this disastrous gulf oil spill is that preventive action is never sufficient by itself. It may not work, it may be outdated, it may be inappropriate for a new development. What’s always necessary is contingent action, ready to be applied when preventive actions fail. The contingent actions for this emergency were neither immediately available nor totally effective. In your client dealings (and in your personal dealings) you should always have both strong preventive and contingent actions. You need a fire marshall and “no smoking signs,” but you also need sprinklers and an insurance policy.

Monday Morning Perspective: Thous hast not the power to harm me as I have to be hurt. — Shakespeare, “Othello”

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 5/17/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Mon, 17 May 2010 12:48:06 +0000

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo’s mission is to help readers to thrive.

May 17, 2010—Issue #35

This week’s focus point: Telling prospects that you’re good is likely to quickly bore the other party. But showing them you’re the right person for them will gain rapid interest. How do you show them? Through ideas, provocation, examples from others, case studies from clients, your demeanor, responsiveness, focus on results, and so forth. I can tell in 60 seconds if someone is interested in a “sale” or interested in me.

Monday Morning Perspective: I will play Stockhausen only on two conditions. One, there will be no rehearsal and two, the performance is conducted at gunpoint. — James Galway, on his contempt for avant-garde composers

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 5/10/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Wed, 12 May 2010 03:03:56 +0000

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo’s mission is to help readers to thrive.

May 10, 2010—Issue #34

This week’s focus point: Pretending to be something you’re not will always creep up on you. Admit you’re a solo practitioner, or don’t have staff, or don’t have a separate office building, or haven’t worked in a certain industry before. Then turn that into a positive: “You have my full attention,” “I’m not charging you to offset tremendous overhead,” “I can bring a fresh point of view.” You don’t have shortcomings. You have unique value. Of course, first YOU have to embrace that.

Monday Morning Perspective: Once you quit singing, the revolution is over. — Studs Terkel, in “American Dreams”

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 5/03/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Mon, 03 May 2010 13:15:03 +0000

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo’s mission is to help readers to thrive.

May 3, 2010—Issue #33

This week’s focus point: Apple generates excitement (and business) not by merely responding to what customers WANT, but rather by providing what they NEED–whether they realize it or not! Don’t be merely reactive and opportunist. Be proactive and leading edge. No one knew they “needed” a Walkman or an iPhone until they were exposed to the product. And once you use something just once that satisfied a need, it becomes a necessity. “Want” creates compliance. “Need” builds commitment.

Monday Morning Perspective: Luck is a tag given by the mediocre to account for the accomplishments of genius. — Robert Heinlein in “The Puppet Masters”

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 4/26/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 22:52:51 +0000

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo’s mission is to help readers to thrive.

April 26, 2010—Issue #32

This week’s focus point: Housing and car sales are up, unemployment is edging down, the market is up, government bail-out loans are being paid back early with interest. The recovery is here and getting stronger. Are things perfect? No. Are they improving? Yes. Interact and associate with those people who are positive and optimistic and who are comfortable with an abundance mentality. Stay away from those who would have you believe that we’re all victims. The next year can make or break your business based on YOUR decisions, not those of others.

Monday Morning Perspective: He played the king as though under momentary apprehension that someone else was about to play the ace. — Eugene Field on a performance of King Lear

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 4/19/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 23:48:46 +0000

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo’s mission is to help readers to thrive.

April 19, 2010—Issue #31

This week’s focus point: We’ve had floods in the northeastern US, a volcanic eruption in Europe, earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, and China. Despite these huge hardships, loss of life, and economic damage, life continues. Humans are resilient. How is it that your colleagues or your clients can tell you that a new idea or initiative is too traumatic to implement, or an unexpected event was too staggering to permit any thought of new projects? People tend to lose perspective. Business, like life, goes on.

Monday Morning Perspective: If a traveler were informed that such a man were the leader of the House of Commons, he might begin to comprehend how the Egyptians worshipped an insect. — Benjamin Disraeli on Lord John Russell

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 4/12/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 12:37:08 +0000

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo’s mission is to help readers to thrive.

April 12, 2010—Issue #30

This week’s focus point: Your mind requires exercise and stretch no less than your body. Are you engaged in healthy debate and challenge with strong counterparts? Are you questioning your own basic premises? Longevity does not necessarily equate with effective performance, and habit is not always synonymous with efficiency. Are you upgrading more in your life than merely your technology?

Monday Morning Perspective: And that’s the danger of the high place, and the high man. Is it God he hears, or the echo of his own mad shouting? — Morris West, “The Navigator”

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 4/05/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 12:03:58 +0000

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo’s mission is to help readers to thrive.

April 05, 2010—Issue #29

This week’s focus point: Never assume the other person is somehow damaged, unless they provide evidence to the contrary. Treat everyone as an adult, with legitimate motives and self-interests. Neither sales nor negotiations should be an adversarial, zero-sum game. All parties can emerge enriched if your attitude is to provide value, not gain the upper hand; and to form a long-term relationship, not a brief “victory.” If you assume the other person is damaged and they assume that you are damaged, all you’ll get is a pile of junk.

Monday Morning Perspective: We have no more right to consume happiness without producing it than to consume wealth without producing it. — George Bernard Shaw

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 3/29/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 12:32:39 +0000

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo’s mission is to help readers to thrive.

March 29, 2010—Issue #28

This week’s focus point: Our efficacy (skills, knowledge, experiences) will help us to use the right language at the right time to persuade and influence others. But our self-worth will determine whether we have the volition and confidence to attempt such persuasion and influence. Often, training and skills development are wasted good intentions. What we need are people who can help us believe in ourselves and jettison the accumulated baggage that impedes our actions.

Monday Morning Perspective: In the best of times our days are numbered. And so it would be a crime against nature for any generation to take the world crisis so solemnly that it put off enjoying those things for which we were assigned in the first place….the opportunity to do good work, to fall in love, to enjoy friends, to hit a ball and bounce a baby. — Alistair Cooke

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 3/22/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:44:38 +0000

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo’s mission is to help readers to thrive.

March 22, 2010—Issue #27

This week’s focus point: You can use judgment without being judgmental. Slapping labels on people (High M, RNTJ, expressive/compulsive/regressive) diminishes communication and makes the tacit assumption that they are somehow damaged and inferior because they are in a “category.” Once you start seeing “types” and stop seeing people, you’ve stopped applying your judgment and your discernment, and you’re no longer listening and learning.

Monday Morning Perspective: A narcissist is someone better looking than you are. — Gore Vidal

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 3/15/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:08:10 +0000

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo’s mission is to help readers to thrive.

March 15, 2010—Issue #26

This week’s focus point: People tend to forget, sometimes resulting in forgiveness (as with a celebrity or politician with transgressions), and sometimes in assuming they did more than they actually did themselves (as with a consultant or services provider who contributed greatly, but not lately). Keep your name, value, contributions, and brands in front of people. You needn’t do it arrogantly, but you must do it consistently, through intellectual property, thought leadership, and provocation. If you do that, you’ll be remembered when the client needs you.

Monday Morning Perspective: Only the mediocre are always at their best. — Jean Giraudoux

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo – 3/8/10

Chad Barr - Alan's Blog Implementer & Moderator — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:59:25 +0000

Alan’s Monday Morning Memo’s mission is to help readers to thrive.

March 8, 2010—Issue #25

This week’s focus point: The recovery is clearly underway in the US, somewhat more slowly in other places. There is quite a distance to go, but if the stock market has the same performance this year as last, it will surpass the pre-recession levels. Stay away from “doom and gloomers.” Here’s your key: Crisply identify what value you bring to clients (How are they improved after you leave?); establish exactly who can write a check for that value (virtually never in the training or HR areas); and determine the optimal ways for you to reach them AND them to reach you. There’s your marketing plan.

Monday Morning Perspective: Do not look back on happiness or dream of it in the future. You are only sure of today; do not let yourself be cheated out of it. — Henry Ward Beecher

You may subscribe and encourage others to subscribe by clicking HERE.

Privacy statement: Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Contact information: info@summitconsulting.com
http://www.contrarianconsulting.com
ISSN 2151-0091