How To Raise $100,000 In One Night

Jun 14, 2017/1 Comment/in Advice, Innovation, Leadership/by Jeph

You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose site of the shore.

Swinging with the stars

I met her a couple years ago, she was an outgoing student with a smile you could pick out a mile away. Kelsey Stewart is an inspiration to me, here’s why.

Kelsey works at Hope’s Home in Regina. She came to us a few (just 4) months before the big event saying, “I got this idea…”. We instantly loved it. Though a bit courageous trying to pull it all off in such a short time frame. Why not wait till next year and plan out a “proper” event? Kelsey proved you DON’T need years to plan one of these events, you just need, well, Kelsey.

We had worked on Swinging With The Stars in Saskatoon. The firm we worked with spent two years planning their event, Kelsey had four months. FOUR MONTHS!!! The folks in Saskatoon had done it before, Kelsey and the Hope’s Home team have never tried it before. After our first meeting I still remember saying to Brandon that “she’s crazy and that’s definitely not enough time to pull it off!!”. That’s exactly why we wanted to help.

Parkinson’s Law Read more

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“I Can Get It Cheaper”

Jun 12, 2017/0 Comments/in Blogging, Innovation, Leadership, Stories/by Jeph

Few phrases say more about an individual than those five words. So much is communicated when one judges a product or service based on the price alone.

The fact that you can find anything these days for a cheaper price shouldn’t come as a surprise. The surprising part is people still use price as a major factor in decision making, when they verbalize their frugal attitude it labels them.

**1. When you say the words “I can get it cheaper” you seem, well, cheap.**

We don’t look up to cheap people. Do you have a friend or family member brag about a “deal” they got at Walmart? Probably not because that’s not something to brag about. We look up to people who are generous, who don’t count the change after some one gives it to them, who tips more than they should, who doesn’t make a big deal about money ever. Those are the people I look up to.

In the creative field you can always find someone who’s willing to do what you do for a cheaper price, but that price comes with a cost.

Just because it costs less at first it may end up costing you a whole lot in the long run. I find in my old age I’d rather pay a good price for something and get a great product in return. Every now and then when cutting costs you get burned. Ever buy something just because it was cheap? Tennis balls, never buy the cheap tennis balls, I’d much rather pay more for a better quality ball.

Pizza, sure you can get cheap pizza but c’mon Sparky’s isn’t even that much more but the taste!!

As a kid it was hockey sticks. You could buy a cheap stick at Superstore but it won’t last long.

I wrote about this 7 years ago, labeled it as “Walmart Culture” cheapest prices for the cheapest products, it wasn’t sustainable. Now in 2017 it has become extremely apparent some people will always use price as their major deciding factor.

price is a calculation value is a feeling

Price is a calculation, value is a feeling.

Be careful not to confuse the two, value is a much bigger topic for another day. Read more

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Why Stratlab Doesn’t Have a CEO, President or Formal Boss

May 9, 2017/0 Comments/in Advice, Leadership, Marketing, Strategy/by Jeph

We at Stratlab are growing a “Starfish” organization, stolen from Ori Braffman’s the Starfish and the Spider, the story of leaderless organizations.

I don’t believe the future is in an organizational chart that dictates a clear divide between management and employees. The future is a leaderless organization. An organization that doesn’t need constant management, an organization where you’re free to make decisions on your own, we hope they are good ones but we know we can’t control that.

What we can control is how StratLab grows as a Starfish, by taking on bigger and better (more impossible) problems. To do this structure is a hindrance to true creative brilliance hence why at Stratlab we have as few rules a humanly possible.

The starfish and the spider

The current way to organize a business with Executives, Management and Employees dates back to the 1600’s Read more

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My Favourite Business Book of All Time

Apr 17, 2017/0 Comments/in Advice, Books, Community, Consumer Behaviour, Design, Innovation, Leadership, Stories, Strategy/by Jeph

Maverick written by Ricardo Semler in Brazil published in 1993. A transformational business book from start to finish. Completely counter what you’d come to expect from a Brazilian industrial tycoon. I think Mr. Semler is one of the most thought-provoking, honest, most humble leaders I’ve ever come across.

Semco, a heavy duty industrial manufacturer has no rules to live by. You pick your own hours, pick your own pay, pick your own vacation times, heck you even vote on your own managers regularly! Twice a year you fill out a 30 question questionnaire about your management and division you work in.

No one has a long term contact. No one is employed longer than 6 months. Everyone’s salary is openly known by anyone who cares to know.

Semco is the most democratic company I’ve ever read about, and they did it in a 1980’s Brazilian economy. Not the beacon of sought after economies you once thought, on the contrary, Brazil was avoid by many businesses because of the government, high inflation rates, and a fast growing unpredictable future. It’s astounding what Ricardo and Semco accomplished during this period in Brazil.

How did they get it so right?

Ricardo lucked out in a sense, his father build a multi-million dollar company. He became of age and realized it would never last in its current state. Plus the fact that second generation wealth is squandered 70% of the time, Ricardo had to make a gamble.

He was courageous in his decisions but the theme throughout his career and the book was that he cared (and still cares) dearly about people. It’s so refreshing to see in someone like him in a leadership role, putting people before profits.

Telling, forcing, commanding, never works. Inspiring, helping, listening, always does. Read more

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Dress Code? Nah. Why You Won’t See Any Blouses or Ties at the Stratlab Office

Apr 16, 2017/0 Comments/in Advice, Community, Consumer Behaviour, Human Resources, Leadership, Regina, Strategy/by Jeph

In Ricardo Semler’s Maverick he tells the story about the first few times he came in on a weekend. The first thing he noticed “people dress differently when they come in on the weekend, why is that?”. They did it to be more comfortable. But don’t we want everyone to be comfortable when they are working all week long?

The dress code era at Semco was ended.

The executive dealt with the obvious backlash. “What if someone doesn’t want to do business with us because of the way someone is dressed in a meeting?” Ricardo’s answer; “if someone doesn’t want to do business with us because of the way one of our employees ‘looks’ then that’s probably someone we shouldn’t be doing business with”. Wow, that’s leadership.

Isn’t that simple? Why do you try to make your staff conform? Because you’ve always done that? That’s not a good reason why. Ask your staff, what they think, you may stumble upon a smart way to make your company culture better.

The original dress code disobeyer Read more

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what are you looking for a job a career or a calling

What Are You Looking For; a Job, Career or a Calling?

Apr 12, 2017/0 Comments/in Advice, Human Resources, Leadership, Strategy/by Jeph

From John Mackey’s Conscious Capitalism he sums up what the vast majority of people are looking for when it coming to work.

A job, a career, or a calling.

a job

A Job

We’ve all had a job. We’ve all hated a job.

A job is what we first want when we’re young. Mostly for means to an ends. We want cash money. We treat the job as such, we don’t get too attached, we try to do just a good enough job not to get fired. There are many people in this world that simply work at a job. It’s not fulfilling, they don’t love the organization they work for, and when another “job” comes along that seems similar but pays better, they’re gone fast than you can say “do you want fries with that?”

a career

A Career

A career is a little different. Like a longer, well-paid boring job. Read more

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If Vacuum Cleaner Sales People No Longer Exist How The Hell Do They Sell Vacuums?

Jan 11, 2017/0 Comments/in Advertising, Advice, Consumer Behaviour, Leadership, Marketing, Motivation, Stories/by Jeph

Ask Dyson or Roomba.

You don’t sell by selling anymore, you sell by doing something different.

Different enough to get someone to talk about you. That’s it. Not different to be goofy, no, different to be top-of-mind in your market space. That spot is left to the most innovative companies in the world, and you can do it too.

Vacuum cleaner sales people no longer exist. At one time what a great profession! Think about it, you choose your own hours, you get exercise while working, you get to meet new people all the time and you choose how much money to make. Based on the amount of hours you put in, you can make a lot in a very little amount of time.

You can see why many people went into this profession, good wages, fun work, what more could you ask for. The better you could ~~manipulate~~ sell people on a vacuum, the more money you were to make. The problem is that way of thinking doesn’t work anymore.

i am the future

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the worlds great lie-achievement is greater than fulfillment

The World’s Biggest Lie: achievement is greater than fulfilment

Jan 7, 2017/1 Comment/in Advice, Leadership, Stories/by Jeph

The World’s biggest lie according to Tony Robbins, “achievement is greater than fulfilment.”

On the Tim Ferriss Podcast with Tony Robbins, Tony goes off on an amazing but very thought provoking tangent.

fulfillment is greater than achievement

Fulfillment is greater than achievement.

His theory of what’s wrong with society is that we continuously put achievement before fulfillment. We’re always looking for the next big thing, the next toy, house, car, or vacation. Nothing is ever good enough and you’re destined to die a lonely death.

Tony talks about Robin Williams and how he asks about Robin to crowds all over the world. Everywhere Tony goes he says 98% of the crowd LOVES Robin Williams, the other 2%? He makes fun of them too.

He asks crowds about Williams because he trying to make a point. Robin Williams of all people had it all, he’d won every award in his field, he was widely regarded as one of the best comedians and actors of his generation. Then Tony get’s mad. “And what did Robin after all of those achievements? He hung himself. He still wasn’t good enough in his mind.”

We have a duty in the life to help others. One major way is to focus on fulfillment and forget achievement. How can you do this? It’s hard to forget about achievement, we’re built to want ti achieve. It makes us feel good, it’s an ego boost. But the problem with achievement is that it can get addicting, you can want it at all costs, sacrificing things you never would have. Eventually simply focusing on achievement will lead you to disappointment.

The wise owls always worry about fulfillment before achievement, for achievement is but a fleeting emotion, fulfillment feeds the soul.

Fulfillment is sustainable. Fulfillment is that feeling that makes you smile when you wake up in the morning and the reason you’re happy falling asleep. It’s challenging, it’s spiritual, it’s something personal, it’s your journey. It has nothing to do with anyone else, it’s your art and only you know if you’re putting in 110% all the time. When you do, you’ll get a weird feeling of contentment.

Fulfillment is greater than achievement Read more

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want-to-annoy-people-play-devils-advocate

Want To Really Annoy People? Play the Devil’s Advocate

Dec 12, 2016/0 Comments/in Consumer Behaviour, Leadership, Social Media/by Jeph

To the devil’s advocate: STOP IT! The devil is doing fine on his own, he does not need your help.

Do you ever find argumentative people love to talk about the exception to the rule? Finding the one in a millionth chance and using it as “evidence” for what could happen. It’s a great way to stress yourself out. Also a good way to determine if one is a know-it-all. Do they like proving someone wrong by arguing the exception to the rule?

Why do we do it though? Why do we cause this undue harm on our minds always trying to determine “what’s the worst that could happen?” Sure it’s good to understand what’s the worst that can happen, but to act upon it, or be planning based on it is silly. If we’re constantly worried about what’s the worst that can happen we never look at what’s the best thing that can happen! Ever bring that up in a planning session? Probably not because optimism isn’t generally looked fondly on in the business community (until lately!)

What’s the WORST that could happen? What’s the BEST that could happen?

A part of our brains are built to do this, to protect us. But that same part of your brain telling you to run from danger in a dark alley is the same part that’s holding you back from doing something amazing. In ancient times running away from what scared us was a smart tactic but in today’s world we need to seek out what scares us and push through it. Playing devils’ advocate is a way to assess what’s the worst that could happen. They problem with this is that the “worst” rarely ever happens, but our brains love to focus on the smallest negative piece of feedback. So instead of finding a solution to the obstacle in the way we think about how bad the feedback was and we never move on.

worry-wort Read more

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How To Identify The Type of Person You Don’t Want To Work With // Eps 55 #inthelab

Oct 20, 2016/0 Comments/in Advice, Leadership, Regina, Video/by Jeph

How To Identify The Type of Person You Absolutely Don’t Want To Work With?

People that make fun of others.

In the service industry you get a chance to work with all different kinds of people. Some good, some bad, and yes some are freaking ugly (to deal with). This is to help you identify someone you absolutely don’t want to work with.

Someone who talks bad about others. More specifically your competitors or their competitors. People who say mean things about other companies have no place in the business community. When you associate with people who say bad things about others, what makes you think they don’t say bad things about you behind your back?

It’s happened to us at Strategy Lab Four distinct times now. It’s a textbook mistake, I should be smarter by now.

https://strategylab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/How-To-Identify-The-Type-of-Person-You-Dont-Want-To-Work-With.jpg 1333 2000 Jeph https://strategylab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/strat-icon-2021-white.png Jeph2016-10-20 22:11:512019-12-29 17:41:48How To Identify The Type of Person You Don’t Want To Work With // Eps 55 #inthelab

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1. When you say the words “I can get it cheaper” you seem, well, cheap.