Keeping on Track - To Be In The Right Place At The Right Time

By Dana Borowka, MA, Lighthouse Consulting Services, LLC

If you or your team members are going to be sitting down for a management meeting soon, ask yourself - who is the oddest and most unusual thinker on your team... who comes up with the most fantastic ideas? Those are the weirdos in your group. One definition of a "weirdo" is one that is odd, unusual and fantastic... even a bit magical or mystical. It's those who upset the apple cart and watch the apples roll down the street and observe the flow. Maybe it's even the person who sees how the market place is shifting and gets everyone upset. Or the individual who has an idea on how to improve the work flow that causes everyone to pause and then reply, "We can't do that!" Yet that idea might save 10 seconds of time in processing orders. This multiplies out to saving 800,000 seconds a year for a department or 13,333 hours annually, which could equate to $250,000 - 500,000 of hard earned money saved... all due to the weirdo. Now that is weirdness at its best!

Upsetting the Apple Cart
No longer do we have boxes to think outside of! Our goal is to create the next new whatever - to help those we work with to not only improve but inspire coolness in our lives. Whether your organization is a service-based financial firm or manufacturing operation - we all need to do whatever it takes to help one another in reaching our market place.

Here are some questions to consider for your team:

What does it take to keep ongoing business and grow market share?

What is the first step to take to start those proverbial apples rolling?

Are you and your team being intuitive and what the heck does that mean anyway?

What are we hearing:

From our market place?
From staff members?
From colleagues, friends, others?

How do we know if we are listening to what is being said?

The answer:
It takes creativity that will affect the approach and the execution. We want to create an environment of thinkers as opposed to organizations filled with silo individuals that respond with - "I can't do that!". The days of silo thinking are long gone. That type of thinking came about from attempting to build a machine we called "homogenizing customer service". That is one way to lose business overnight!

Having the "Can Do" Attitude
Recently, I was in contact with an organization that kept telling me they can't accept bulk orders - they could only take one order at a time. I really wanted this product so I kept calling back and finally found a true go getter - "a weirdo". This individual had the "can do" attitude. Due to the organizational structure this person worked in and against all odds, we found a work around! Later, I spoke to the supervisor and wrote a note to the organization about what had taken place. I received a wonderful note back from the CEO who shared how appreciative they were for the ideas I shared. For them to be in the right place at the right time, all they needed to do was to listen. Now they have an opportunity to approach a huge market place that they had never thought of before. Yet - if I had not been so persistent, they would never have known nor thought about how they were closing off a source of revenue. Not only the revenue but they were also missing out on sharing a product with others who would truly appreciate it. Don't miss out on sharing your services and products due to a lack of listening. You and your organization should be thriving with your heart, mind and soul in the right place - at the right time. All it takes is to listen and then to execute through the creativity that is all around you right now.

For additional ideas on this topic, you can read more in Chapter 10 in our book, Cracking the Personality Code.

Be a Trend-Setting Weirdo!
What brings a company to life is a creative approach where ideas are contributed and fulfill the vision of the organization. Creativity will guide your organization to go with the flow of an ever-changing market - it will provide ideas for bringing your service or product to the market place and to stay ahead of the 'pack'. It will produce a fun and exciting environment for the refinement of processes, services, sales, marketing, accounting, production, QC and every department in your organization. So, go ahead and be a trend-setting weirdo!

We'd love to hear from you about this topic - please email us at reception@lighthouseconsulting.com. Stay tuned for other topics on the theme of "Being In The Right Place At The Right Time" that includes ideas about hiring, retention, sales and much more!

Dana Borowka, MA, CEO of Lighthouse Consulting Services, LLC has over 25 years experience in the area of business consulting and helping organizations both nationally and internationally in raising the hiring bar through using in-depth work style assessments. Dana is a nationally recognized speaker on this topic and has built a well recognized organization that provides expert interpretation of in-depth work style assessments during the hiring process, providing a variety of workshops and assisting those with communication challenges. He is the co-author of the book, "Cracking the Personality Code". To order the book, please go to www.crackingthepersonalitycode.com.

If you would like additional information on this topic or others, please contact your Human Resources department or Lighthouse Consulting Services LLC, 3130 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 550, Santa Monica, CA 90403, (310) 453-6556, dana@lighthouseconsulting.com & our website: www.lighthouseconsulting.com.

Lighthouse Consulting Services, LLC provides a variety of services, including in-depth work style assessments for new hires & staff development, team building, interpersonal & communication training, career guidance & transition, conflict management, workshops, and executive & employee coaching.