I read this on the TASB (Texas Association of School Boards) website today.  http://bit.ly/bXLH3h  It talks about how teachers in the school district are going to be paid by how well they teach and how well their students progress.  They have been getting ready for this for 3 years.  The principles of the schools have to evaluate probationary teachers 8 times a semester and 4 times for non probationary teachers. The teachers then discuss the observations and get feed back from the principles.  Most of the teachers that have been involved feel this observation and feedback is helpful.   It’s cool because the district has had the teachers involved in the process the whole time.  So there is some pretty good buy in from most.  Of course there are disenters.  The article brings up a point from an art teacher, “You can’t  test on art” But the article doesn’t refute the point.  You can test on art.  There are rules to effective art and to be a truly great artist you have to know the rules.  And if you break the rules you better have a good reason.

One of the thing that came to my mind is that some people are just going to be better than other people and we need to help those those that aren’t so good.   I think we should try harder to help each other find out what we do best.  For instance, I worked with a mentally and physically challenged lady in a company.  She could do basic office work, she was not the best, but she was at work on time everyday and would do work no one else wanted to do.  She never complained, she just did her work.  She didn’t make much money.

While working at that office my wife delivered our second child.  The day I came back to work.  This lady gifted me a hand knitted afghan. It was beautiful and it was perfect.  I couldn’t believe how well it was made.  She said she had made it for us in the previous couple of days. I asked here how long it took her to make it.  She said it took 6 to 8 hours.  I thought, she should be making those for a living.   I wish I had more money to setup an campaign to market these amazing afghans for her.  I still wish I could.

One of my life’s goals is to help people find what they are best at doing and enjoying.

Back to the teachers in Colorado Springs.  I am hoping compensations plans like this will help people discover what they are best at.

I believe a desire to be good is also key.  I think compensation that rewards excellence helps motivate those that want to be better find ways to innovate and  become better.

There are those that seem to be naturally gifted.  I think about professional sports players.  Many seem to be naturally gifted.  It is true in basket ball those that are tall have an advantage.  But a closer look at people like Michael Jordan.  They just have some sort of internal motivation that overcomes there lack of natural advantages.  We see them play on TV and are amazed.  What we don’t see is the countless hours of effective practice to be able to play on TV.  Notice I said effective, effective is the key.

There is a misconception that practice makes perfect.  Effective practice makes perfect.  For instance if I take a rifle out to a shooting range and just start shooting It doesn’t necessarily make me a better marksmen.  Only when I have a target and watch where each shot scores.  Listening to a friend that has won shooting awards he said even controlling your breathing makes a better shooter.

If we are trying to motivate teachers to be better we need a way to find which teachers are the most effective and why.  Then we can share that with other teachers and help them be better.   We really should be doing this in most companies.  People should have a target to shoot for and be able to see if they are hitting the target.

I think all industries should pay this way.  Of course that would be Utopia doing what we like doing, were good at and got paid good money for doing.

We all need to demand this and the world will change.

The question we all need to be asking is; Am I willing to fight and die for freedom.

Too often we give up our freedom to get something temporary.  If I want a car I get into debt, (slavery if it’s more than I can afford),  We become indentured servants to the bank to be able to drive the car.  Think about the credit score.  What it really indicates is how available we are to give up our freedom.

There are numerous examples of how we are giving up our freedom.  Take a moment now and think….  What freedoms  are you giving up?  What are you getting in return for giving up that freedom.

You have to be careful with this excersize.   You and I must decide if what you are giving up your freedom for is better than being free.  For instance.  I am married.  I gave up  some freedom to be married.  However, I would have never know the happiness I know now if I were not married and didn’t have kids.  I gave up some freedom to get a ton of happiness.  To me well worth the sacrifice.

I give up some of my freedom to have a career, However I am extremely more motivated to get a good job and provide for my family than if I had been single.  I am also motivated to minimize the time I spend working and maximize the value I bring to clients.  Because this maximize my freedom to spend time with my family.

We all need to think this question as we make decisions; Is this going to maximize my freedom? Is this going to maximize my happiness?  We need to experiment with this?  One way too is to ask other people if they have made similar decisions and what was their outcome.

We all should be yelling freedom everyday, at work, at home and when we are anywhere else.  Freedom.. Liberty.. Agency ..Autonomy All tell us about what we need to be fighting for.

If businesses are trying to better motivate their employees they should try a little freedom.

Below is a video about how companies giving there people more freedom/autonomy can add to greater productivity.

It’s interesting I have grown up in the information age. However with the advent of Google most information is free and there are

Thanks to Nasa for this illustration

volumes, billions of volumes created everyday. I have realized over the past year that we are in a new age. Most people don’t realize we are into a new age for sometime. I am starting to find more signs of this. I did a search of innovation on the Wall Street Journal and found this article by Russell Garland ” A Golden Age for Innovation ”  Garland quotes Jeff Bussgang as the one coining the phase.

Living in the United States we grow up with the belief we can do anything, and anything is possible.  This is the essence of freedom and is at the root of innovation and inspiration.   I use the Wright Brothers as one of the best examples of innovation.  For thousands of years people believed flying was impossible, even though they constantly watched birds fly.  Even a great Scientist, Lord Kelvin, told a reporter in early 1902 that Flying “would never be a commercial success … and people should stop waisting their lives” a few people had died trying.  In December 1903 the Wright Brothers took their first flight at Kitty Hawk.

Over that pass 100 years or so if you invented something you created it, patented it, sold it and made money.   With the industrial age we learned how to make things faster and cheaper.  With the advent of the information age we find the cheapest places to have things made and manipulated.  So giant very well funded companies are winning the day.

Be warned the winds of change constantly blowing.  Sometimes these winds are hurricanes that decimate an industry.  Example the Music industry vs the MP3 Hurricane.

Just like the manufacturing jobs that have left the US over the past 30 years a fairly rapid pace.  Now information jobs are even more rapidly leaving the US.  Not so much that they are done cheaper, and they are done cheaper, but many times the resources can’t be found here in the US.  So now the information workers need to realize winds of change are blowing and I as well as you need to adapt to survive.

Here is how to adapt, and living in the United States with the most freedoms, is perfectly placed to handle the “New Age of Innovation”

Here is how I am, and hopefully  you are, going to survive this new age.

About

How to increase productivity

The first step to increasing productivity  is a business assessment. This consists of looking at your financial history to find out how productive the money you are spending on labor has been. From this in-depth assessment it can be determined how much extra profit potential there is for your company.

This takes about 1 week for every 30 employees.

The cost for this assessment is $2950 per week + travel expenses.  This cost can be absorbed into the final fee if you choose us to help create the plan and execute on plan.

With the information gathered it quantifies what the results need to be.  This plan consists of determining what vital behaviors are necessary for a business to succeed and gain the desired results.  Then a plan is provided on how to create an environment where everyone in the company focuses on these vital behaviors.   The plan also determines the best way to align everyone’s motivation. This will create an environment where the freedom to innovate will push productivity into overdrive.  Rewards are also determined for actions that bring value to the company.

The cost for “The Plan” is a percentage of the extra profit potential determined in the assessment.  This amount is also determined by the companies comfort level with the assessment.

Effective execution of the plan is critical.  It is where the real profit is made. It can be dangerous if you have not fully prepared and have discovered all the risks and rewards.   This is the step where the system is put in place and the vital behaviors are tracked.  The results are also measured and small adjustments are made to maximize the profit potential of the plan.

• Increased Productivity
• Lower Labor Costs
• Motivated Employees
• Loyal Employees
• Happy Employees
• Happy Owners

One of the common questions that gets asked as people talk is “What do you do?” I think most of us know what we do, and can explain it to people. However, after you talk to people can they tell their friends what you do. I have been trying now for six months to get it to the next level. Now I think I have it.

So when people ask me what I do I can tell them, “I am a business consultant that increases productivity and lowers labor costs.”

These seam like they would not go together. That is where the magic of innovation comes in.  The first and most critical step for innovation is “asking questions.”  Such as; “How can we do this better?” “How can we do this faster?”  ”Why am I doing it like this?” “What does the customer want?”

The next step, and the most powerful, is listening to the answers.  Without listening innovation will never live.  This is also the phase of innovation that involves creating the plan of action.

Next is ACTION,  this is where experimentation puts new innovation into play and where the results are found, tested, and improved.  This is the exciting part,  whether it’s a success or failure.  Like Thomas Edison, you must be prepared to fail.  Learning comes from failure and should be expected.   Failure should be also be painful, pain is what we learn from. I have spent more than 20 year experimenting, feeling the pain and finding what works.   Good planing and experience can avoid experimentation and pain.

Once the learning is complete this where companies pull ahead of their competition and win the day.   Increasing productivity and lowering labor cost are big parts of helping companies find the win.

With my 20 years of experience(from experimentation and pain) I can help significantly reduce

I have a friend that is that kind of situation now. I heard a guy on the radio stating that 60% of people interviewed in their job where unsatisfied, because they were board. This tells me they know they are capable of more, but they don’t have the freedom to make a difference. I believe there is going to be a major shift in America’s workforce in the next 10 years.

I believe we all want more freedom to provide for ourselves, our family, and make a difference in the world. Every company that creates that environment is going to conquer in the future.

Find out the five “Discovery Skills” innovators use on a daily basis to find new ideas.  The good thing is that these things can be learned and cultivated.  Steve Jobs and Apple have it partially right with “Think Different”  However, acting different is the essential ingredient to innovation.