Problems as Opportunity

1
Problems as Opportunity

• The Last Lecture
• December 8, 2004

2
Core Values

• People First
• People matter if you treat people like mere
  objects, what are you expecting in return?
• Try living in the wilderness on your own. Try
  making it in business on your own. It can be
  done, but why?
• You are severely limited in what you can do
  without a team. So take care of people first.
• Miss your target, miss the deadlines, come in
  over budget, lose your client and you will
  survive to see another day if you have each
  other.
• Community Service
• Businesses survive only to the extent that
  communities value them. Call it marketing, or
  whatever, what matters is what matters to the
  people you serve.
• Without service there is no business.
• Community Service begins with charity and ends
  with a better world for everyone.
• Never lose touch with your community spirit. You
  can always give of yourself, unselfishly.
• Peer Review
• Your peers are your real critics, not your
  instructor.
• The billionaire next door at least two of your
  classmates will be incredibly successful.
• Be hard on ideas, soft on people
• Coopetition
• Cooperating with your competitors to enlarge the
  pie

• Continuous Improvement
• Your clients will always be asking, What have
  you done for me lately? So get use to it.
• Never stop growing, learning, pushing yourself,
  and challenging the system
• Life-Long Learning
• You try something new and get it right the first
  time, congratulations, you are successful.
  Even if it was dumb luck, it still counts.
• You try something new and fail, dont give up.
  Use failure to your advantage, to learn and to
  improve.
• Always try again, always look back and ask what
  you could have done different. You will succeed
  if you are smart and never quit.
• The only reason people fail is because at some
  point they give up and do not bother to think
  things through.
• With the right attitude about failure, you will
  always succeed. Dont give up the fight.
• Failures are the stepping stones to success.
• Problems as Opportunity
• Do more than embrace change use it as a
  strategic asset.
• Live at the edge of chaos
• Without problems, who needs problem-solvers?

3
Agenda

• Core Values
• Problems As Opportunity
• What is success?
• Fear, Avoidance, and the Latency Principle
• Covering Up and other Smoke Screens
• Hire and fire yourself

4
Core Values

• People First
• Community Service
• Peer Review
• Coopetition

• Continuous Improvement
• Life-Long Learning
• Problems as Opportunity

5
Core Values

• People First
• People matter if you treat people like mere
  objects, what do you expect in return?
• Try living in the wilderness on your own. Try
  making it in business on your own. Both can be
  done, but why?
• You are severely limited in what you can do
  without a team. So take care of people first.
• Miss your target, miss the deadlines, come in
  over budget, lose your client and you will
  survive to see another day if you have each
  other.
• Community Service
• Peer Review
• Coopetition

• Continuous Improvement
• Life-Long Learning
• Problems as Opportunity

6
Core Values

• People First
• Community Service
• Businesses survive only to the extent that
  communities value them. Call it marketing, or
  whatever, what matters is what matters to the
  people you serve.
• Without service there is no business.
• Community Service begins with charity and ends
  with a better world for everyone.
• Never lose touch with your community spirit. You
  can always give of yourself, unselfishly.
• Peer Review
• Coopetition

• Continuous Improvement
• Life-Long Learning
• Problems as Opportunity

7
Core Values

• People First
• Community Service
• Peer Review
• Your peers are your real critics, not your
  instructor.
• The billionaire next door at least two of your
  classmates will be incredibly successful.
• Be hard on ideas, soft on people
• Coopetition

• Continuous Improvement
• Life-Long Learning
• Problems as Opportunity

8
Core Values

• People First
• Community Service
• Peer Review
• Coopetition
• Cooperating with your competitors to enlarge the
  pie
• Dont hog everything dont share everything

• Continuous Improvement
• Life-Long Learning
• Problems as opportunity

9
Core Values

• People First
• Community Service
• Peer Review
• Coopetition

• Continuous Improvement
• Your clients will always be asking, What have
  you done for me lately? So get use to it.
• Never stop growing, learning, pushing yourself,
  and challenging the system
• Life-Long Learning
• Problems as opportunity

10
Core Values

• People First
• Community Service
• Peer Review
• Coopetition

• Continuous Improvement
• Life-Long Learning
• You try something new and get it right the first
  time, congratulations, you are successful.
  Even if it was dumb luck, it still counts.
• You try something new and fail, dont give up.
  Use failure to your advantage, to learn and to
  improve.
• Always try again, always look back and ask what
  you could have done different. You will succeed
  if you are smart and never quit.
• The only reason people fail is because at some
  point they give up and do not bother to think
  things through.
• With the right attitude about failure, you will
  always succeed. Dont give up the fight.
• Failures are the stepping stones to success.
• Problems as Opportunity

11
Core Values

• People First
• Community Service
• Peer Review
• Coopetition

• Continuous Improvement
• Life-Long Learning
• Problems as Opportunity
• Do more than embrace change use it as a
  strategic asset.
• Live at the edge of chaos
• Without problems, who needs problem-solvers?

12
Problems as Opportunities

• Do more than embrace change, use it as a
  strategic asset
• Live at the edge of chaos
• Without problems, who needs problem-solvers?

• What is success?
• Fear, Avoidance, and the Latency Principle
• Covering Up and other Smoke Screens
• Hire and fire yourself

13
Core Values

• People First
• People matter if you treat people like mere
  objects, what are you expecting in return?
• Try living in the wilderness on your own. Try
  making it in business on your own. It can be
  done, but why?
• You are severely limited in what you can do
  without a team. So take care of people first.
• Miss your target, miss the deadlines, come in
  over budget, lose your client and you will
  survive to see another day if you have each
  other.
• Community Service
• Businesses survive only to the extent that
  communities value them. Call it marketing, or
  whatever, what matters is what matters to the
  people you serve.
• Without service there is no business.
• Community Service begins with charity and ends
  with a better world for everyone.
• Never lose touch with your community spirit. You
  can always give of yourself, unselfishly.
• Peer Review
• Your peers are your real critics, not your
  instructor.
• The billionaire next door at least two of your
  classmates will be incredibly successful.
• Be hard on ideas, soft on people
• Coopetition
• Cooperating with your competitors to enlarge the
  pie

• Continuous Improvement
• Your clients will always ask, What have you done
  for me lately?
• Never stop growing, learning, pushing yourself,
  and challenging the system
• Life-Long Learning
• You try something new and get it right the first
  time, congratulations, you are successful.
  Even if it was dumb luck, it still counts.
• You try something new and fail, dont give up.
  Use failure to your advantage, to learn and to
  improve.
• Always try again, always look back and ask what
  you could have done different. You will succeed
  if you are smart and never quit.
• The only reason people fail is because at some
  point they give up and do not bother to think
  things through.
• With the right attitude about failure, you will
  always succeed. Dont give up the fight.
• Failures are the stepping stones to success.
• Problems as Opportunity
• Do more than embrace change use it as a
  strategic asset.
• Live at the edge of chaos
• Without problems, who needs problem-solvers?
• Hire and fire yourself face the problems, solve
  them, walk away