Coloring Outside the Lines. Jeff Tobe

thought, Gretzky replied, “I’m not always where the puck is. I am always where the puck is going to be!”. Are you where your profession IS, or are you where your profession is going to be???

      Helen Keller once said, “The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight but has no vision”. Rather than looking at the competition that IS, why not start to create what ISN’T?

       LESSONS FROM THE PUMP

      Do people go Out of Their Way to doBusiness with You?

      On a business trip to Washington, DC, I experienced one of those days where everything went wrong from beginning to end. Not only were the day’s business dealings a complete flop, but the 250 mile drive back to Pittsburgh PA looked like it was going to be a disaster as well. As I approached the halfway point---an exchange on the Pennsylvania turnpike called ‘Breezewood’---I glanced at my gas gage and realized it read empty. I decided to treat myself and I pulled into a full-serve bay; a luxury of which I rarely partake!

      Before I could even get my car into park, a young man of about 14 years, threw open the service station door and ran to my car in the pouring rain. I repeat---HE RAN TO MY CAR! From under the brim of his oil stained and rain soaked ball cap, his eyes gleamed and he smiled as he greeted me.

      “Hiya sir! Can I help you?”

      I was in no mood to be friendly. “Just fill it up”, I said rather flatly.

      As he approached the rear of my car, he began to whistle loudly. Now, understand that it was freezing outside, this kid is getting soaked and he is whistling. I looked in my rear view mirror and panicked as I watched as he proceeded to jam my gas cap into the nozzle to make the gas empty into my car on its own accord. Why the horror? I realized that this left him free to come back up to talk to me. I didn’t want to talk to this kid—he was a little too friendly for me.

      “So, havin’ a bad day are ya?” he deduced. “What do ya do for a livin’?” I wasn’t going to get into training and consulting with a 14 year old, so I proclaimed myself a motivational speaker.

      He smiled a knowing smile and proclaimed, “SO AM I”!!!

      NOW HE HAD MY ATTENTION. I immediately asked, “How are you a motivational speaker”? He looked me straight in the eye and explained, “Well, I’m not really a speaker, but I am motivational!” He continued, “Isn’t your job to get in front of people and get them up and going?” I nodded in agreement. “My job is to stick the nozzle in and keep them going!!!”

      I would agree that his answer was a little bizarre. This young kid had taught me two very valuable lessons in life. The first is simply to look at what you do from a different perspective. The second, and most important, is that people want to do business with people who seem to enjoy what they do for a living. This kid obviously enjoyed what he did for a living and for the past few years I stop at that gas station in hopes of getting that kid to pump my gas. And the sad thing is that he doesn’t even work there anymore. He’s in college. I’m just hoping he will graduate and come back to pump gas!!

      Do people go out of their way to do business with you? Is the experience such a memorable one that they will keep coming back?

       THE ROCK

      As Long as Your Goal Doesn’t Change and They Use the Tools

      You Give Them—Who Cares How they Get There??

      In another lifetime—and I don’t mean a “Shirley MacLean” other lifetime—I was a manufacturer’s representative. One year, the powers-that-be of the company I represented, decided to get creative. Instead of bringing all of the territory managers to the factory to see the new line of goods, they decided to subject us all to an Outward Bound experience.

      For those of you unfamiliar with this, Outward Bound has numerous locations and offers a leadership/team building experience based around a certain activity depending on where in the world it is located. The Outward Bound program in which we participated, was based in Leadville, Colorado, and was centered around rock climbing.

      Please understand that, in my lifetime, I never had any ambition to climb a ladder for fun, never mind a large rock! But it was one of those things where the company said “be there” and you had better show. For the first five and one-half hours on the first day, they took us out and positioned the first four of us at the base of a sheer ninety foot rock face and proclaimed, “You are going to climb to the top”.

      This may not sound like a lot of rock to some of you, but just imagine nine stories of jagged rock rising straight above you. I needed more of an incentive than some guy just telling me to climb the rock…so I made one up!

      I turned to Craig on my left and challenged him. “I’ll bet you twenty-five dollars I can get to the top first”, I proclaimed. Craig didn’t hesitate. “You’re on”, he said confidently. I hadn’t even considered my other two colleagues on my other side, but they chimed in that they were in the race as well. Now it was nine stories of rock worth a hundred dollars! I had my incentive.

      Each one of us had an individual guide from Outward Bound. I will never forget Joe, my rock climbing mentor, because, at that point Joe whispered in my ear; “For fifty bucks, I’ll get you there first”! I guessed that this was the teambuilding that they referred to in the brochures! I shook on it.

      Joe took me aside and explained in a whispered tone, “Don’t let the others hear. Do you see that rock sticking out at about two and a half feet?” I nodded. “When you start, stick your right foot on that ledge and boost yourself up. Next, see that rock, right here at eye level? Grab that rock with your right hand and pull yourself up. The secret to winning, Jeff, is that branch without any leaves on it, at about twelve feet. Grab that branch with your left hand and pull yourself up. It will hold your weight—I’ve done this a thousand times before.” And, so went the verbal tour up the rest of the rock face.

      Someone yelled “GO!” I stepped on the rock with my right foot. I pulled myself up with my right hand. I reached out for that naked twig and couldn’t reach it. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t reach it. At that point, my new partner yelled at me, “Grab the stupid branch”. Straining, I replied, “Joe, I can’t…….I’m going to die!”

      Please understand that I was only two and one half feet off the ground. I had one foot still on the ground. But, I was going to die!

      As I was reaching for that branch, I found a rock sticking out at about ten feet that was easier to seize. As I tested it, I found that it would hold my weight, so I pulled myself up. As I did, Joe yelled at me again. “No. No. No. That’s not right.” Through clenched teeth, I retorted, “It’s right for me, Joe”.

      He yelled at me the entire way up the face of that rock. Did I make it to the top? Absolutely! Did I win? Absolutely not! I am still bitter about that.

      What does this experience have to do with creativity-in-business? Everything!

      I learned a very valuable lesson while clinging to that rock and being harangued by Joe. As long as I had the knowledge I needed, as long as I used the tools he gave me (ie. the belays—the ropes), and as long as the goal (getting to the top of the rock) didn’t change, WHO CARES HOW I GET THERE?

      So many companies with whom I have worked, feel it necessary to micro manage every project. If they would simply educate their team, give them a clear understanding of the goals and present them with the right tools, WHO CARES HOW THEY GET THERE?

      I encourage you to listen to your environment for whispers of opportunity. Your clients, internal and external, are telling you the second right answer to reaching your goals, if you would just listen!

       THE OPPORTUNITY

      Reframing