Coloring Outside the Lines. Jeff Tobe

the time, we had seven or eight account representatives and I recall speaking with all of them on the telephone. After the niceties were out of the way, they all started with the exact same four words: “I have a problem.”

       “Jeff, I have a problem with an order.”

       “Jeff, I am having a problem with a client.”

       “I have a problem with the receptionist”

       “I have a problem with the computer.”

       “I have a problem with the toilet.”

      I got very sick of the word ‘problem”. Think about it. If you have a problem, you automatically have an obstacle to get over. So, in all of my wisdom, I went to our regular Monday morning meeting the following week and challenged everyone to come up with another word to replace the word “problem.”

      They did it. They decided on the word “Situation”. That week when I called in, I heard things like,

      “Jeff, I have a situation with the receptionist”

      “Jeff, I have a situation with the toilet.”

      I felt more like the commander of a naval ship than the owner of my own business. Back to the drawing board.

      The following week they came up with a word that has literally changed the way we do business. The word? Challenge!

      I know you know the word, but why is it that we won’t use it? I have a theory. I think human beings love to have problems. I am not trying to be facetious. I think we rely on it as a great excuse. You see, if the problem is big enough, the obstacle is big enough. And, if the obstacle is big enough, the excuse is justified. I’ve heard it again and again.

      “Sorry boss. Too big an obstacle. I tried but I just couldn’t get it done.”

      Instead, why not change it to the word “challenge”? From every problem comes an obstacle. From every challenge comes an opportunity. So, if we can discover the challenges we face—personally or professionally—we can discover the opportunity it presents to us.

       THE HARVEYPRINCIPLE

      How to See Invisible Opportunities

      Peter Drucker, management guru, said “THE ONLY WAY TO PREDICT THE FUTURE IS TO CREATE IT”.

      In these times of turbulent change, you have a unique challenge and a unique opportunity in front of you because you have the capacity to literally create your own future from scratch---literally re-invent it so to speak. You have to do this with your business or your responsibilities…re-invent what you do. In whatever industry or profession you find yourself, the need to shatter old models of doing business, is crucial.

      The main principle of creating a more positive, productive and profitable

      future is something probably fewer than one percent of you--at this point in your career—really understand. I certainly do not mean to be condescending in any way, but I assume that most of you have probably not taken the time to even consider this. This is a principle that, once you understand it, goes far beyond positive thinking, far beyond goal setting, far beyond any of the traditional rules of success. If you understand and apply this principle, you will never be afraid of the future. You will always know that no matter what happens, you can come out of it profitably and productively.

      The number one principle in creating a profitable, productive and positive outcome is what I refer to as the HARVEY PRINCIPLE! How many of you remember the imaginary six-foot tall white rabbit, Harvey, from that wonderful, 1950 Jimmy Stewart movie of the same name? It suggested that perhaps the one with the imagination, the innovative one, was not the crazy one after all.

      We have to learn how to see the invisible; to see the invisible opportunities where other people see only visible limitations. To see the invisible potential of the people with whom we work—to see the invisible ideas that change the world. The building in which you work, started as an invisible, intangible, idea in the mind of a single person. That person’s ability to see the invisible---what was not apparent in physical form---ultimately produced a structure. Every great invention starts in the mind—in the invisible. Every great entrepreneur sees invisible possibilities---untapped needs--- in a marketplace that needs to be served. The most important skill you can learn in creating your own future, is learning the HARVEY PRINCIPLE (like Elwood P. Dowd) and seeing what others can not.

      Fortunately, many of your competitors are suffering from what may be an incurable and deadly disease. This disease is a mental disease not a physical one and no one has been known to die from it physically….only financially! It’s been known to be hazardous to the financial wealth of many individuals and corporations alike. Never fear! I have been able to diagnose this disease. Maybe you can arrest the symptoms—recognize them within yourself or your organization so you won’t have to pay thousands to see a specialist after it’s too late for you or your company.

      It’s caused by a virus with the initials B.P.I.D.S.—BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS’ INNOVATION DEFICIENCY SYNDROME. BPID Syndrome is a mental infliction that will erode your profits very quickly and keep you office-ridden while your competition is feeling healthy and fit.

       The Symptoms

      What are the symptoms? I’ve discovered seven. As I describe them, see if they apply to you, your organization or someone close to you because you could be responsible for curing this dreadful disease and turn out to be a hero. These are the primary reasons that people are unable to see their “Harvey.”

       #1 Internal Myopia

      Are you all familiar with myopia? What is it? Near-sightedness. What happens with Internal Myopia is that you are so focused on the internal aspects of your organization—with the business itself—that you can’t see the environment. You miss what’s happening around you by failing to see the big picture.

       #2 Ostrich Syndrome

      Ostriches bury their heads in the sand while they leave another part of themselves exposed!

      If you have the ostrich syndrome, you may not simply ignore reality, you may choose to deny it even exits. There are probably some of you who still deny the fact that information technology and the ‘cloud’ will change the way you do business. There are some people in your industry who deny the fact that their firm can no longer be everything to everyone—that you no longer can expect to gain a client for life. I’m not talking about you losing the client as much as I am about the client’s infrastructure being likely to change and leave you behind. They have ostrich syndrome.

       #3 Past-a-Plegia

      What this means is paralysis in the past.

      This is looking in your rear view mirror.

      “What was good enough for the company in 10 years ago is good enough nowadays!” I like to coin the words of a large automobile manufacturer years ago when they said “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile”. This is not the way business has been done in the past, yet I find so many organizations suffering from this syndrome. Little things hang around from the past to haunt us.

       #4 Psycho-Sclerosis

      If you have had any dealings in health care, you may recognize this symptom. It’s also known as “My way or the highway.” Today, I hear it manifest itself in organizations in the following ways:

       “We’ve never done that before!”

       “That’s never been done in this profession before!”

       “Last time we tried that it didn’t work!”

       #5 Feedback Immunity

      Do