What every woman wants

Well, maybe not  

But my wife was very pleased when she found this bike with a red bow under the Christmas tree. Not since before we were married, have we ridden so much together. And as I have said before, the Kaw Nomad is the perfect bagger. With the hyper charger and Vance & Hines pipes it sounds great, runs great, and we are having a blast rediscovering the fountain of middle age.



A one owner, like new, with over 56,000 miles, we got a pretty good deal. And as my favorite car salesman says, "There is always someone buying." This time, it was me!



So, if you ride, be careful out there!  
-ski

Remarkable Strategy 101

"Transform your Business by being Remarkable" —Seth Godin's Purple Cow How much extra does "remarkable" thinking cost? Consider the entrepreneur launching a new business idea. A lot of time and energy are applied toward the mission of building a better mouse trap. So far, so good. Maybe prototypes (and/or proof of concept models) are built. Friends consulted. Some money applied. Business plans are crafted. Research conducted. Now what? Does the entrepreneur understand what is required to launch a successful business? At a minimum, does she know how to increase the odds of success? Enter Seth Godin's book. Purple Cow. On page 97 (of the first edition; the one that came in the milk carton shown above) Godin offers this thought, "If a company [or I would suggest a start up] is failing... the problem is probably this: [senior management is] running a business, not a marketing company." The shortest path to profits has to march directly through the weakest link. Which is the message of my book, Purple Curve Effect. Need help working on your strategy? First, read my book I have made the PDF available for free (item PCE-112). A small gesture. Of course while supplies last, I would suggest that you also buy the trade paperback version. Maybe from Amazon dot com. Second, give me a call My desk phone number is 843.564.4754 and I am available to help. As in mentoring. It is up to you to apply the elbow grease. Third, make a decision W. Edwards Deming made the statement that success is 94% the result of your system. Poor results? Poor system. Once we determine the best strategy for your mouse trap, you must execute like crazy! But even then, if your offering is not remarkable, why bother? Not sure how to build that purple cow? You have my number. Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey P.S. Wondering why you can't discover "What's Cool"? Most likely holdup? You. Get help. ©2009 Throughput.us LLC. All rights reserved.

The Art of Blowing Smoke

What are you excited about? Me? Motorcycles for one. But lets talk about "smoke" and how to determine if someone is adding value to a given dialog, or, as we say, simply blowing smoke. My approach is very elementary. First, how do I know the speaker? Did I find them on twitter? Did everyone see Ashton Kutcher blast past 1,000,000 followers? Amazing. Or maybe on LinkedIn? I personally have over 1300 "followers" on twitter, but after a lot more years, only 300 direct "connections" on LinkedIn. Or perhaps, one of my friends brought them to my attention. It matters. Second, trust I was talking with Lean practitioner Harry Wood yesterday. We somehow jumped to Toyota's application of Lean and the fact that their secret weapon is the culture. And therefore, the trust factor that most American companies will never understand. Third, the topic Finally, the heart of the matter. The subject matter. I was reading (again) Seth Godin's Purple Cow this morning (and for the last few days), and the concept of "remarkable" was once again playing out in my mind's eye. And the realization of how little (dare I say, unremarkable?) most communiques really convey. Fourth, passion Give me someone passionate about life and their adventure, and I am all ears! My "BS detector" falls off into sleep mode, and my attention is focused like a laser. May I suggest that most of us share this approach? Guess I just did! Conclusion After the fact, I will explore the validity of any claims. Spend a few seconds (or minutes, or in the case of Lean, a life time) exploring the ramifications. Often along the lines of, "What if this person is correct?" Ever wonder why so few of us take global warming seriously? Consider poster boy Al Gore and his message

1. How do I know him?
2. Do I trust him?
3. What do I know about the topic from other sources?
4. Is he passionate?

See my problem with global warming? Only on the last item (one of out four) does Al Gore score a victory with most Americans. Hard to take a message seriously when the spokesperson is such a clown. And no, the irony of sharing this message via the very internet that Al Gore invented is not wasted on me. Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey P.S. Also, lets not forget that a lot of folks up north shoveled a lot of "global warming" this past winter! ©2009 Throughput.us LLC. All rights reserved.