The Crazy Ones...

The People Who Are Crazy Enough... 

During the last retreat I showed a picture and quote by Heraclitus - an Ancient Greek Philosopher. "A man (or woman) can never step in the same river twice" - which often gets simplified to make the point that "There is nothing permanent but change". The focus is on the changing times around the person in the river.

Just like that person, SiteCrafting exists in a turbulent world of change. If we think about the technology in 2003 compared to the possibilities of today, it's comical. Our worries, concerns and challenges were different than they are today and they will be different tomorrow. What endures however, are values. What do we stand for? Who do we say we are?

 As a reminder, here's our values as articulated in our Brand Book:  Communication, Learning, Dependability, Transparency 

At SiteCrafting, we are: Reliable, Creative, Confident and Authentic

We are not: Boring, Unresponsive or Satisfied with "good enough" 

The river may change, but the person/company must remain true.

In 1997, Steve Jobs returned to Apple Computer. Apple was in a state of disarray. The clip below is Steve Jobs introducing the Think Different campaign to a group. His explanation and ultimately the rolling of the clip is the beginning of the Apple we know today. I would encourage you to watch it and learn from the Crazy Ones.

The Ps Have It

When asked what kind of company we wanted to have, I would often say, "I want to run into my clients at Safeway and not have to hide behind the oranges" I wanted a partnership between SiteCrafting and the client built on mutual respect. A relationship where both sides were genuinely appreciative of the partnership. 

We have a lot of words around partnership - included are words like communication, collaboration, and respect, but I think the three P's below add up to the "Capital P" in Partnership

People

Do we have the right team on the bus? Are we a group of doers or just empty words? I also have told potential clients and existing clients that "SiteCrafting is the team you want with you during a knife fight". What does that even mean?

It means we stand by our word, our friends, and our partners. We don't run and we don't make excuses. When we are wrong, we admit it and we don't gloat in being right. 

A company is only as good as its people. 

Performance

"SiteCrafting does what it says it will do, every time." - Les Johnson North Coast Electric

The right people means that we don't take the easy way. Each of us work together to keep each other accountable and firmly pointed toward the goal. Our new brand book reminds us that we don't settle - "good enough" is never, ever good enough. 

Products

Do we have a set of solutions that will make the world, or at least the web world a better place for our clients. Absolutely. We have some of the most powerful tools, best designs, and forward thinking solutions around. Customers love the ease of use, thoughtful process, and one stop shop for hosting, development and design. 

Each of these Ps make up the legs of a stool, without one, it all falls apart. I am convinced that if we take the extra time to treat our partners in the way we'd expect to be treated by our service providers the final P - Profitability will take care of itself.  

Going Back to Cali, Cali, Cali

Just like that, I'll be on a plane back to the OC next Wednesday. Seems the power of word of mouth and referrals has me leading the jet-set life back down South. It will just be a short trip, a day trip, if you will - but it's worth it if we can add another satisfied customer.

It is our intention to make and keep big promises - if we do that we can be a fish - big or small - in any pond.

Fitness is a Personal Race

On the way to the airport today I passed a truck. On the side was the tagline "Fitness is a Personal Race". I wish I had seen the name of the company, but it was brilliant.

On the whole fitness level - isn't is all about getting better each day? Aren't you only racing against yourself?

I immediately re-focused to business. Oftentimes, I'm asked to comment on what others are doing - how are we responding to external threats and competition? I answer as authentically as I can always, and it sounds something like this...

Our focus needs to be on making ourselves better. Setting the bar higher each and every day to innovate, serve and differentiate. How can we possibly worry about what other are doing?

You see, I believe that business is a personal race - and if you push yourselves each day it really doesn't matter what others are doing - in the end, you win.

P.S. If you hold the trademark on Fitness is a Personal Race...I'd love to give you credit here...

If You Don't Call Me, I Don't Eat

Background Story

Came home from being out of town for several days - the house was about 60 degrees so I cranked up the heat a bit...about an hour later as the temp was approaching 68 we started smelling smoke. Smoke alarms blared and I headed for the garage. There was smoke coming out of our gas furnace (not a good combination). I killed the power at the breaker and grabbed the fire extinguisher. Luckily, I didn't need to use it.

The Call

I called a local guy - I've seen his van in the neighborhood. Keep in mind it is Sunday at 8 or so and there were only about 4 minutes left in the Seahawks vs. Rams NFC West "Championship" game (a blog post in and of itself, but I digress). He answered the phone and here is the exchange.

ME: Hi Mike, sorry to bother you so late on a Sunday and during the game

MIKE: Why are you sorry? If you don't call me, I don't eat.

Now, he hasn't serviced the furnace yet, but he's off to a great start. This is, in my opinion, the epitome of what it means to serve a customer. I'll let you know how it turns out.

UPDATE

Well, not only did Mike pay a visit to fix the furnace (which ended up being a capacitor) he made me his first stop of the day. I had one of two problems, a bad blower motor ($500+) to fix or a capacitor ($10.50 plus labor). It ended up being the latter. He said, if the blower ends up going within 30 days give me a call and I'll replace it and pro-rate the labor. He says he doesn't like to double dip and wants to be fair to me. I'd say he was fair.

If you need furnace or water heater work in the Olympia area, give Mike a call at Gas Works Inc. (360) 456-8845

UPDATE 2

I arrived home from work at about 5:30 tonight and I was walking through the door the phone rang. It was Mike wanting to make sure everything was working OK and we were satisfied. Thanked us again. Do you really think I will call anyone else if my furnace or water heater breaks? Here's a tip - Be Like Mike!

UPDATE 3

The blower does indeed "blow".

Well actually it stopped blowing and started smoking again. So I called Mike and guess what...it's fixed...3 hours later. CALL THIS GUY!

The Great Lie

Here is the lie I will not tell my children.

No, it's not Santa Claus or The Easter Bunny, it is the lie surrounding education and the hoops you must jump through to experience success. We've built our entire system on a factory that no longer exists...

My degree has nothing to do with what I do. My success is tied directly to my ability to fulfill my promises.

If you want a manual to success, here it is - Do what you say you will do every time and do something worthwhile - ease someone's pain better than anyone else can.

Do this in extraordinary ways and you win...always!

Excellence

I expect it and so should you. If you don't get it - look somewhere else.

Where Delivery Counts

"We rate ability in men by what they finish, not by what they attempt"

I used to play pick up basketball with a friend of mine and he was a great defensive player. He could pick your pocket for a breakaway easy as pie. When it came to making the layup at the other end, he would often choke. He'd yell out "FINISH!"

Seth Godin talks about this as "Shipping".

A client of ours has a tagline - "Where delivery counts and quality is everything." Think about that, where delivery is COUNTS.

All your work on the 99% means almost nothing, or is severely diminished, if you miss - and I'm not just talking about the final 10%, I mean even the final 1%.

If you are chopping wood you will never split it straight through if you aim for the top of the log...you must envision the axe hitting the bottom of the log - you must finish.

The same is true for hitting a golf ball, punching someone (it's true), or shipping a product. Do not aim for the front, aim for the back and drive right through. The result, you will have shipped. (Finished!)

Marketing Restart

Wouldn't it be cool if instead of spending time coming up with slick campaigns to convince potential customers how great your company is - your marketing department focused on providing tools and avenues to let your customers and employees share your message with others?

Your company would need to clean up its act a bit I bet. Each touchpoint with customers would need to improve. Each employee would need to see themselves as "thee" marketing department. Each transaction would need to be of such high integrity that your customers would have no choice but to refer you to others.

Now that's a company worth working for and buying services from.

Too bad most take the easy route and just come up with a new "message".

Partner or Frenemy - Who Cares?

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend"

It seems that with the lines blurring between specialties, business and personal life more and more frenemies are emerging. Oftentimes in order to compete some companies set aside petty differences to work together on certain jobs whilst competing to the death on others. Oftentimes employing tactics that strain relationships and partnerships. Self preservation seems to be the order of the day.

I can honestly say that we have struggled with these sorts of relationships and now look to partner only with those who are interested in providing the highest level of service and support to customers. We want to work with folks whose only motives are the success of the project and for growing the relationship so it is stronger for the next project.

Focus on doing great work, communicate honestly with partners and customers, and you'll find you have no time or need for frenemies.

Ask One More Question

It's hard sometimes for my son who is 9 to be a role model for his younger brother and sister. I mean, sometimes it's hard for me to be a good role model. I'll often ask him to help me out by being a good leader. Usually it goes something like this:

"Hey, we have a lot going on today and I need your help by not making a mess, will you help me?" His response is usually, "Sure."

This approach is not very effective at preventing messes. However, I have recently employed a new strategy that works not only at home but other places.

Ask one more opened ended question.

So, we start with the same exchange above, but following his "Sure." I ask, "Can you please tell me more about how you will help me out?"

To which he explains his idea of helping. We are then able to discuss each of our expectations and make certain we are in alignment. This process allows him to think it through and understand better how he can truly help.

Asking one more question, whether at home, work or other places takes a little more thought, but may just make a big difference

Custom vs. Off the Shelf

My company is a custom web application shop and one of the great things about custom software application development is that you can build pretty much anything you can dream up. This is also one of the biggest drawbacks for some people. Many customers don't know what they want, or they think they know what they want, but have a hard time articulating it. We have a design process where we listen to our customers, and then work to wireframe out a solution. A difficult jump for some is the fact that the wireframe is the blueprint and that is what the project as quoted includes. Aligning those expectations early (before code is written) is the key to keeping projects on budget and on time. These "limits" require the project team to prioritize new requests and table other requests for future development. Each release really begins to become more of a product once the wireframes are approved. (This is what is does and all that it does right now - not saying it can't do more, it just has to happen later.)

Other companies focus on creating products. These products can only do what they can do. If you dream up something different, you either need to find a different product or hope that your feature is included in future releases. This can be a very lucrative path for software companies, because once they have a product they can easily support the single version and only make revisions as they find they need to. This is not such a great solution for customers that don't fit nicely into compartments.

I believe there is a place for both types of development and in the coming weeks you will hear more from SiteCrafting as we expand our offerings in both areas.

What do you do here?

In the real world you really fall into one of four categories as an employee. You may change category from moment to moment, but you pretty much better fall into one of these if you are going to stay around.

1. Create billable hours or stuff your company can sell - you may be a programmer, a lawyer, or an assembly line worker, and thus you create stuff or service to sell.

2. The Rainmaker - you sell stuff. You get clients to say yes and you do this all by yourself or with minimal support. In addition you create partnerships that bring in revenue and growth.

3. You support the production or rainmaker folks with measurable outcomes.

4. You receive and track down money that is owed to your company.

If you don't fit into one of these four groups more than 7 hours a day - you're probably not going to be around long - or you should try owning the company. Even then - you get to do ALL FOUR ALL THE TIME.

How Long is a Piece of String?

So, here's what happens.

I get contacted and I have a 3 minute conversation which usually includes phrases like:

"You've done this a lot so you should know...", "It's really not that hard to do", or "Give me a ballpark, I won't hold you to it..."

Actually all of these are lies. Anyone in our industry knows this to be so.

This post is not meant to be a rant, but it may end up sounding like one.

I actually think that those that are making the statements are not doing it to take advantage, they are more just in a position of either not knowing, or not appreciating what it takes to do what we do. So I hope this post will help educate - if nothing else.

For the record, I am done giving pricing without full specs. I am done with ballpark numbers, I am done with brainstorming after those numbers have been revealed. I am done with Ad agencies dictating design without ANY idea what matters and what actually works for the web, especially after pricing has been discussed.

Imagine that you are building a house, you tell the architect you want a house with walls and a roof. How much is that? He'd be crazy to answer, yet I am expected to give an answer without hesitation.

Go into Home Depot, ask them - "How much is a piece of string?"

Answer: IT DEPENDS

Depends on length, type, features, materials, craftsmanship, etc. etc.

The same is true for our "product". IT DEPENDS.

"By events calendar do you mean, I can see when events are happening ONLY - or I can register, create a custom t-shirt, invite friends, tweet, add it to my calendar, send myself reminders, blah blah blah?"

So I am done.

This IS a rant, more at myself for letting it happen then at others for asking.

We are not laying pipe in a 100' trench - we are dealing with emotion, marketing, expectations and the only way to make those expectations clear is to fully define them.

So, it ends, at least in as much as it's been done before.

Here's what I want...

I want you happy, not let down. Conversely, you should want me happy, because it is in your best interest for me to be here and not go bankrupt eating features and costs because you wanted a price up front.

In Tomorrow's Paper?

I'm pretty sure I will never NEED to read a newspaper again. I might WANT to read one, but I definitely don't need to.

Here's why.

This morning I had coffee (you read this already) with a friend and while there I ran into another friend. This second friend is the Executive Director of an organization with some big news coming out. This friend said to me - hey there's news coming out about us (which I already knew about) in the paper tomorrow.

This afternoon I read online (twitter, facebook, etc) all about this news. Will I or anyone else be surprised tomorrow when we read it in the paper?

Did you just find out this morning the Lady Zags lost in the Sweet 16 in the paper?

I rest my case.

How will you know and what will you do?

I had coffee this morning with a good friend and like anyone who has experienced 2008 and 2009 there have been struggles. I've heard tons of talking heads discussing the economy and how bad economies weed out those who have been falsely propped up by good economies. This Darwinian approach may be the reality, but it is never easy to hear about, or discuss another's struggles.

Bottom line: all industries are struggling to a point, some have been more fortunate than others and there is no easy money unless you are a league leading left handed hitting catcher in the Big Leagues.

We have been very fortunate, we are growing, hiring, expanding, but that may not always be the case.

I kept asking myself in my mind as we were talking - how will I know that my plan is no longer working and more importantly will I recognize it without delusion, and what will I do?

I just hope I approach it differently than the horse and buggy guys, the record labels, the newspaper guys, the travel agents, etc. etc.

I have heard it said it is better to fail quickly than to die by a thousand paper cuts - I agree!

The answer I believe is in the way I hope I see the world. I see the world as a place of changing attention and priorities. Within that change I approach my response to that change focusing on unchanging principals (justing, integrity, love, shared benefit, etc) I accept that my way is not always going to win and if I want to win I need to pay attention and move to embrace the change, and not fight it.

No Frontrunners

I came back from a long run this morning to find my Zags being shellacked by The Orange. This will be the end of my bracket. Prior to yesterday's action I was in the top 99% (click on the screen shot to see) at the end of the day I will likely be OUT. (Barring a Zag miracle)

Every year I pick the Zags to win it. Sometimes against my better judgement, but if you're going to pull for a team, then go big and pull for them all the way.

I'm disappointed as a fan because I know they are capable of so much more. It's funny it's the same way I feel about my kids or our company when the A-Game gets left at home replaced by "good enough".

Bottom line: Show Up Ready to Play - in some cases you only get one shot.

Spring into Action

It's all about responsiveness.

Bottom line things go wrong, or communication gets missed. When it does there are two ways to go.

1. Call to Action
2. Deny and/or Blame

May you always acknowledge the issue, leap to action, admit when you are wrong and chart a course for correction.

Today's example comes from Smith Brother's Farm. I was under the impression my first delivery was to come this past Monday. I posted a tweet about needing help, instant response. When I got home my milk was already here and they reminded me my day was going to be Wednesday. :)

Oh, and the milk is fantastic! AND I'm blogging about them.

It matters how you respond.

Alter Ego

There's a lot to say inside my head and sometimes I struggle to figure out what is personal (thus for this blog) vs. what is SitecCrafting which is this blog. I put so much of myself and who I am into the personality of SiteCrafting it seems that everything over there is personal to me.

I will continue to try and figure out where it goes, and for the most part all hobby stuff (beer brewing, fishing) will live here, the rest over there.

Start Again

Don't look now but the blog is starting up again. My plan is to blog daily - we'll see how we do, but I wanted to get the word out regarding my intentions.

Lots going on around the house, with work etc.

I've added several ways for you to keep up with the going ons around our house as well as with SiteCrafting and me professionally. Here are some links you may want to check out.

Twitter - twitter.com/brainfroth

Flickr - flickr.com/brainfroth

YouTube - youtube.com/brainfroth

SiteCrafting Blog Posts - http://www.sitecrafting.com/blog/brian-forth/

Look for more tips and nuggets of info or just some musings in the coming days, weeks, months, years.

Your feedback is more than welcome.