The Value of Perspective

As you step into 2004, I suggest you focus more on broadening your perspective than on setting resolutions. With a broader perspective, you will have greater understanding and insights. There are many ways to expand your understanding of the world. I encourage you to use as many as possible. With greater understanding, you will be able to add more value to more people than ever before.

In the past 60 days, these things have expanded my perspective:

My mother's 75th Birthday was December 9th and my five siblings, a few cousins and myself all wrote down memories that we have of her. Just to give you an idea of what an influential person she has been in all of our lives my memories alone totaled eight pages. As we heard the various memories, I was struck by the blinding obvious: the value of a person's life is NOT determined by the size of their income. My mother has not worked outside of her home since she was 25 years old. That's 50 years of influence and she didn't make a dime. What memories do you want people to have about you?

A good friend of mine, Jerry Yeagley, retired after 31 years as the head coach of Indiana University's men's soccer team. In his final game, he won the NCAA Division I championship for the sixth time. He started a club team at IU back in the early 60's and ran it on a volunteer basis for ten years before they became a varsity team in 1972. He then became the all-time winningest college soccer coach both in terms of victories and winning percentage. I worked for him for ten summers from 1986 - 1995 at his IU Soccer Camp. I wrote him a letter and described the thirteen lessons I had learned from him and the enormous impact he had on my life. The biggest lesson he taught was how to deal with the rejection of a prized potential recruit. He taught me how to keep disappointment in perspective and move on to the next project. What lessons did you learn from your key mentors?

In the Wall Street Journal, the Dodge division of Chrysler was going to sponsor a football game played by women in lingerie with ram's horns on their bras to focus on Dodge's Ram trucks. The CEO of Chrysler at first said he didn't know that Dodge was doing this, but that it was too late for him to pull the sponsorship. After the ensuing outrage, Dodge finally pulled out as a sponsor. Just as I was thinking this was unbelievably stupid behavior by boorish men, I read that the executive in charge of the idea was a woman. Her rationale for doing it was that her target audience for the trucks was young males. In that one story I learned a lot about the culture of Chrysler. Decisions are made based on what is best for each department, not on what is best for the overall organization. What do the behaviors in your organization say about your culture?

Sadly, during Christmas week I called two old friends who had a great influence on my life and heard them reiterate the same complaints they had been talking about ten years ago. They are stuck in a perspective that has never been broadened. What are your hot buttons today? Are they the same things that have been bothering you for ten years? If they are, then deal with them now and move on to a broader world.

In the Wall Street Journal, I read that Time Warner finally started combining some of their iconic cartoon characters from their movie and television divisions into a smash hit, "Teen Titans." In other words, they had developed great characters from Batman to Bugs Bunny, but they had never combined them in a way that enhances their overall brand. What assets do you have in your organization that could be combined effectively to strengthen the value you offer to your customers?

Ironically, The Walt Disney Company, which is the king of combining characters to create additional revenue streams, was also featured in the Wall Street Journal as the gigantic egos of Michael Eisner and Roy Disney collided in a nasty public display of in-fighting. Are there egos in your organization that are putting more focus on internal issues than on serving the customers greater value? If so, have the guts to break up the fight before your organization goes down in flames.

On Christmas morning my two-year-old son, Ben, ran downstairs and rolled around on the ground with his brand new train set. My four-year-old daughter, Sarah, jumped up and down when she saw the doll she had whispered about in Santa's ear the week before. When was the last time you erupted with pure joy? Do something you love and don't worry that it won't make you any money or won't make a difference in the life of another person.

I'm currently reading three books by Peter Drucker, the greatest thinker and connector of organizational insights in the history of the world. One was written in 1954, one in 1984 and one in 2002. Aside from the actual ideas, he is the ultimate example of having a mind developed and broadened and refined year after year in a way that he is capable of writing with greater and more stunning insights and predictions as time moves forward. What are you doing to broaden your mind over the next decade so that your insights in 2014 will be far more powerful than they are in 2004?

I spent two days in Savannah, Georgia in the classroom of the world's leading guru on the business of independent consulting, Alan Weiss. He reminded me of dozens of important details, not the least of which is to avoid prescribing easy solutions. Who is your teacher, your guide, your coach? Who's pushing you to be better tomorrow than you were yesterday? Look around your organization, your industry, your house. Find someone that will get under your skin every once in a while and make you think.

A few days ago, more than 20,000 people died in Iran. Life is very precious. We never know when our time will end on this planet. In 2004, let's accelerate. Let's make the most of our lives everyday until our very last day.

My hope for you in 2004 is that you will broaden your perspective on a regular basis. With that expanded understanding of the world, you will be unstoppable.

Republishing Articles

Each month my e-newsletter gets republished in approximately 20 blogs, on-line publications, and internal publications for businesses, universities, and not-for-profit organizations. If you would like to republish all or part of my monthly articles, please send me an e-mail at dan@thecoughlincompany.com with "Republishing Article" in the subject heading. I will send you the article in a word document. All I ask is that you include my name as the author of the article and a short paragraph at the end of the article about me with a link to my website.

Take care and have a great month!

Dan Coughlin

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