I recently listened to a podcast by Dave Ramsey on unity.  He discussed the five enemies of unity:

1. Gossip
2. Poor Communication
3. Lack of a Shared Purpose
4. Sanctioned Incompetence
5. Unresolved Disagreements

As many business writings suggest, the first step to success is to create the right team.  It leads to better performance and happiness.  I have spent the last 20 years building the right team (with lots of hits and misses along the way) and it feels great to finally have it in place.  In order to build the team we have now, I’ve worked hard combating the five enemies listed above.

Gossip, according to Webster, is a rumor or report of an intimate nature, but it is also a complaint made to someone that can’t solve the problem.  For example, don’t go to the interpretive planner and whine about how you wish you had a new desk.  At TSI we believe in self responsibility.  If you pose a problem it is best you also present a possible solution without blaming others for your issue.

Poor communication comes in many forms.  I’m currently encouraging everyone to hit reply all more often.  Let’s keep everyone informed.  If all the recipients don’t want to read it, they can delete it.  At least the opportunity is there to be informed.

Our core values, mission and strategies bring us together around a shared purpose.  It’s hard to imagine a workplace where the employees didn’t believe in the company’s mission and vision.  What would be the purpose of their workday?

I equate sanctioned incompetence with a lack of accountability.  If someone is not meeting their goals and objectives, leaders must hold them accountable.  Of course, that means that each person must have goals and objectives in place to which they strive and their performance is measured.  Unfortunately, and painfully sometimes, holding someone accountable leads to firing.  No one said leadership is easy.

We attempt to address issues immediately so there are no unresolved disagreements.  If you go home and talk to your spouse about something that is gnawing at you at work then that issue needs to be addressed at work.  I used to put a time limit on my direct reports.  I encouraged them to have that crucial conversation within 48 hours.  People are chicken to have tough conversations.  Face the fear and address it; it’s for the best in the long run.

What is your work culture like?

As we celebrate our 20th year in business, my mind wanders back to some of the early years. What kind of start does it take to survive 20 years in business? Our start was frugal, fun, persistent and filled with a passion for what we did.

In the early years, we had a mail-order business of artifact and fossil reproductions. In order to offer our clients unique pieces, we had to be creative in financing the business start up. We bartered, we negotiated and we sold wherever we could. We once traded a very cool buffalo skull for our supplies. I miss that skull. I actually skinned the buffalo myself. It was meaningful. We negotiated royalties with other fossil collectors in order to add their pieces to our catalog.

We went to tradeshows, flea markets, reenactments or anywhere we thought people might buy our wares. For one particular show, we filled the back of the little Sonoma pick up truck with our reproductions, sleeping bags and our dog and drove to Ohio for an event. We slept in the back of the truck. A friend’s parent lived nearby and brought us sandwiches.

All in all we sold our reproductions all over the world. Part of our income was the $2.00 people sent us for the catalog. During this time we were also attempting to establish more opportunities with our museum clients. We got a job here and there, but the mail-order business supplemented our start up. The reproductions showed the museum world the quality of our work. It got our name out there. We loved teaching others about history, too.

I have a notepad with these six steps of goal setting written in it. I think it is a combination of Stephen Covey and Napoleon Hill.

1. Have a burning desire.
2. Decide what to invest in and what to give up.
3. Set a date.
4. Develop a plan.
5. Write it down.
6. Read it twice a day.

I did not follow these to a T. Yet, I still practice many of them today. I see a bunch of these steps in the early years. It works and life can be grand when you achieve your goals. Never give up.

I have this great little book called The Dog Poop Initiative.

In a fun storybook format, it tells a story about the doers, those that take action.  And the rest of the population that points, blames and whines.   It talks about the lack of willingness to take initiative, to be a leader, teamwork and service.  It talks about the responsibility to set the example as parents and community members for the next generation.  As a business owner the lack of initiative is disconcerting to say the least.  I have heard story after story of the difficulty of finding entry level employees that will show up to work on time, that will give notice when they decide to leave and other base level responsibilities.

This also proliferates in personal stories I hear about parents not holding their children accountable, enforcing rules or offering any kind of discipline.  Parents that are disrespectful to teachers when their kid gets in trouble.  I have a close associate whose child was physically abused during school hours by his own team members.  None of the teachers or coaches would step up to the plate to give the appropriate discipline.  It is a heart-breaking story.

There is much talk in the media about the crisis of character.  The GSA and Secret Service stories certainly speak to a lack of character.  Do you think we have a problem?  How do you define character?

Would you pick up the dog poop if you saw it in the middle of the soccer field?

Do you show up at the time you say you are going to arrive?

Do you follow the rules?

Do you hold people accountable?

Can we teach this in our museum exhibits?

How can we help teach our communities?

One of our strategies is: The day we stop learning and the day we stop having fun is the day we re-evaluate our purpose.  This correlates to the saying, “Follow your bliss.”  If work is fun, you never work a day in your life.  There was a time years ago when my staff was stressed from long hours.  We are driven.  We watch our time goals, set objectives and hold people accountable.  My staff reminded me of the above strategy and wondered if I forgot it.  At that time I reevaluated.  I changed things.  One of those things was to be a little more lenient and have more fun in our meetings.  Meetings were tough.  If you didn’t participate you were called out.  If you went off the agenda you were called on it.  There were some smiles, but they weren’t that fun.

In some of our current meetings we do a lot of fun things.  We talk about funny movies, we write down anything pithy that was said in the meeting, we wander about a bit and we get work done.  I am also somewhat scatter brained.  My mind wanders.  I work on focusing.  Yet, some of the wandering brings new ideas to the table.  It informs my staff on how I’m thinking about business at the moment.  We also talk about what is going on in our lives.  I enjoy my team and work is fun.  I also know my staff, especially the salaried folks, will occasionally work on their own time.  I am grateful and want to make sure that life isn’t only serious when they are on company time.

For me, as the company owner, who lives the business 24/7, I’m ok with a little wastefulness from the 8:00 – 5:00 time period.  I know I will give that back 10 fold.  Therefore, I created a lifestyle choice in my work.  I want to be around creative, fun, hard working people.  Work must be fun in order to give my life and soul to it.  I may need to be reminded this isn’t true for staff.  They want to go home at the end of the day.  So, when they are here they want to get work done.  I was recently told meetings go off track all the time and it is a little frustrating.

Now I wonder if we have swung too far in the opposite direction and need to be more serious.  Those that wander through TSI note how everyone seems happy.  Yet, are we being wasteful?  Does fun and workplace camaraderie lead to a better product for our clients?

What do you think?  Would it frustrate you if meetings went off track from time to time?

Yes, we have been at it for 20 years. I often joke that I started the business when I was five. Making sure everyone sees my youthfulness. Doing something with passion and love keeps me young at heart.

Malcolm Gladwell has coined the 10,000 hour rule. It takes 10,000 hours to be truly world class at your craft. After 20 years in business we have put in the hours to be truly expert at creating products and experiences that inspire people.

20 years = 7,300 days
20 years = 1,040 weeks
20 years = 175,200 hours

Imagine an average of 25 people working away at their craft for over 20 years. That’s over a million hours of fine tuning. Who do you want in your corner when you need to create an experience to inspire your audience?

Luis Valdez, American playwright was the keynote speaker at last week’s USITT Conference in Long Beach, CA. Luis has been in business for 47 years and is known for his play and film Zoot Suit and La Bamba. He is regarded as the father of Chicago Theater. His is a Cinderella story. He was born in a CA labor camp to migrant farm workers in 1940.

Creating a sense of theatre, story telling and place making is what we do as planners, designers and fabricators of experiences. Listening to Luis’ life lessons is inspiring. It encouraged a desire to engage audiences even more in our work. How do you engage your audience? We all want to have an impact on those we communicate with. This conference reminded often that how your audience feels is key to successful engagement.

Luis talked of a circle enveloping a square. The square is the rational side. The circle is the intuitive and feminine side. He circled back often in his life to fine deeper meaning. This circling back leads him all the way to his Mayan heritage. He mentioned the Holocaust of 500 years ago in America. He questioned how this heritage relates to modern day criminalization of Latinos and African Americans in our profit making prisons. This circling lead him to craft his plays. It gave him stories to tell. His stories are filled with passion.

A childhood teacher introduced theatre to him. Its impact on his life helped him become a better man. The passion and angst he felt about his past could be expressed anywhere there was a plank and an audience. He suggests that theatre:

• Happens in the audience.
• In a non-violent weapon.
• Is the language of the human spirit.
• Started around a campfire.
• Is a creator of community.

These are good reminders to implement with our audiences. As a life lesson he emphasizes that it is a constant negotiation of our past and present. He asked, to whom does the future belong? To those who can imagine it.

I’ve been listening to Walter Isaacson’s book on Steve Jobs. I drank the Apple koolaide decades ago. What Apple and Steve has done is mind googling.

Yet, Steve was kind of a jerk wad at times. He could be a dictator, harsh and cold. He often took credit for other people’s work. He was frequently less than truthful. His colleagues called it his reality distortion field. He had many quirks. He was imperfect. He was admired, loved and followed.

What did he have:

• Passion
• Drive
• Dedication
• Persistence
• Intelligence
• Values
• Focus on his strengths
• Perfection
• Magic
• Salesmanship
• Emotion

Let’s embrace our life and our work a bit like Steve Jobs. Now, go get some of this and implement it.

Does the natural world move you more or the man made world? What makes you stop and pause more?

Would you rather be on a horse’s back on a beach or gazing upon a horse statue?

Riding Senegal Catalonia, Spain. Horse Sculpture in front of Musee de Orsay, Paris

Would you rather gaze upon a building or a mountain?

Notre Dame, Paris. Segrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain

Gaudi used nature to inspire his architecture. What inspires you when you create in your made world?

CA, Coastline and Yellowstone

Would you rather gaze upon the African Serengeti or a painting?

South Africa and Feast of Cana, Louvre, Paris

The brilliance of nature is most often where I want to be. It moves me. It calms me. It is soothing, yet awe-inspiring. Yet, I love man-made’s beauty too. However, I can only handle a concrete world for brief intervals.

Natural History Museum or Art Museum?
Nature Center or Cultural Center?
Gothic Church or Glacier
Famous Paintings or Aurora Borealis?
Jeep or Horse?
Video game or falling star?

These are photos from my travels. Are they hard choices? I love them all. What would you prefer nature or man made? What inspires you?

Our mission is: To create products and experiences that inspire people. We do this by not just spewing out facts and details, but by telling stories and creating memorable experiences for visitors to our museums, nature centers, outdoor interpretive media, zoos, visitor centers, cultural exhibits, community artwork and more. We use an interpretative planning approach. J.B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore described in their books and articles how to stage an experience. We often refer to their research to inform our creative process. Here are the nine steps they recommend in staging an experience.

1. Create a rich portfolio of experiences – create a series of related experiences that flow one from another.
2. Use experience hubs in locations where people naturally congregate.
3. Create a flagship location – a singular place where you stage the very best, most dynamic experience.
4. Integrate physical and virtual experiences.
5. Theme the experience. The theme must drive all the design elements and staged events of the experience toward a unified story line that wholly captivates the customer.
6. Harmonize impressions with positive cues – render the experience with indelible impressions. Impressions are the “takeaways” of the experience, they fulfill the theme.
7. Eliminate negative cues. Ensure the integrity of the customer experience by eliminating anything that diminishes, contradicts, or distracts from the theme.
8. Mix in memorabilia. Certain goods have always been purchased primarily for the memories they convey, a physical reminder of the experience.
9. Engage the senses.

I look for these things when visiting places. I often note signage that gives obvious directions, e.g. turn this knob. I see that as a negative cue. It’s not the Apple way where the design is intuitive. I look for a variety of experiences: kinetic, visual and audio. I remember themes. I often use virtual experiences to enhance my visits, e.g. google maps, sending photos to friends, Facebook…. I often buy memorabilia. I have a refrigerator covered with magnets from various places.

Where have you seen these nine staging experiences?

Do you ever find yourself in a tough conversation that goes bad? Do you avoid uncomfortable conversations even if solving a problem could make your life much better? Do you wish you could have better results from those tough conversations? It seems when it matters most we often fail at achieving what we want from crucial conversations.

I often recommend the book Crucial Conversations. It is an excellent resource and tool on how to improve the results of your negotiations and tough conversations.

I’m often surprised at how conversations deteriorate quickly away from the goal. Arrows get slung, feelings get hurt and people do not achieve their original intent. I have coached and facilitated tough conversations with many people and have often witnessed that the first thing to degrade is the motive. This isn’t an excuse to not have the conversation and risk a damaged relationship or poor results. Learn the skills to have better conversations and it will improve your life.

The book lists a few unhealthy goals:

• Being right
• looking good or saving face
• keeping the peace
• winning
• punishing
• blaming
• avoiding conflict

Are you guilty of any of these? Instead the goal of dialogue could be to learn, find the truth, produce results and strengthen relationships. One tool is to learn to stay focused on what you really want out of the conversation. It’s best if you also think about what the other person wants and what is best for the relationship. Make sure everything you do and say during the conversation gets you closer to what you want. Watch your behavior and make sure you don’t get off track from that goal. Stop yourself from time to time and ask if what you are saying is getting you closer to what you want. Clarify in your mind what you want prior to having the conversation. Courage comes from clarity. Be persistent and consistent. It may take several conversations. If you don’t talk it out, you will act it out. Take responsibility for your behaviors and work on yourself first.

“One of my problems is that I internalize everything. I can’t express anger; I grow a tumor instead.” Woody Allen