For it’s through the losses…

…that we find the path to success.

My Dad was a great encourager.  I had failed miserably at an academic endeavor.  He could see my pain and the doubt I was experiencing.  That’s when he said “It’s a temporary setback.  What are you going to do now?”  It was all the encouragement I needed.  I quickly established a plan and followed it to great success.

Over the years as “failures” and disappointments challenged my resolve, his words echoed in my mind “It’s a temporary setback.  What are you going to do now?”

As I’ve studied the lives of those who have achieved exceptional success, I’ve noticed that they don’t just have a solid methodology for overcoming their temporary setbacks, they position themselves to experience those setbacks.  Why?  Because it’s through challenging themselves beyond their current capabilities that they learn how to become better at whatever it is they do.

If we don’t position ourselves to lose we cannot grow - personally or professionally.  Of course we need to be prudent in how we position ourselves for loss.  We don’t want to bet the farm when we’re positioning ourselves for that next growth spurt and the initial loss we’re likely to experience.

There is another advantage to positioning ourselves for loss.  The more frequently we experience temporary setbacks, the less likely they are to rock our world.  The more of them that we experience, the more mentally and emotionally tough we become and the easier it is for us to overcome adversity.

It’s counter-intuitive, but if you want to be incredibly successful, regularly position yourself to lose.

The 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE program is designed to help you see more effective ways of doing business – ways that dramatically improve your bottom line while making your life easier.  In today’s blog I used Step 1, Contributory Negligence, and Step 5, Contrarian Mindset, to demonstrate how our natural avoidance of “losing” limits our success.  For more information on the 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE visit www.furtwengler.com/7steps.htm.

If you’d like to receive a weekly email reminder with a link to The Invaluable Leader blog or if you’d like me to address specific topics, please send me an email at dale@furtwengler.com.  Please share your experience with our readers by posting a comment.

Productivity enhancer…

…or creativity killer?

Over the years I’ve heard conflicting advice about rituals.  People who employ them, without exception, tell me that they achieve their goals more quickly.  That’s why people who:

• build time for exercise into their schedules, enjoy good health
• devote some time each day to personal reflection, enjoy greater self-awareness
• spend as little as 15 minutes a day reading, expand their knowledge

I’ve also been told to:

• take different routes to and from work
• mix up my daily routine
• do things for the sheer enjoyment of doing them

The latter advice is purported to help me avoid boredom, enhance my powers of observation and creativity.

So which is true?  Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz in their book, The Power of Full Engagement, say that “Far from precluding spontaneity, rituals provide a level of comfort, continuity and security that frees us to improvise and to take risks.”

What Loehr and Schwartz are suggesting is that, once we’ve established a ritual, our subconscious minds take over allowing our conscious minds the freedom to deal with whatever we’re facing.  By freeing the conscious mind we are able to respond more quickly and creatively to any challenge we’re facing.

As I reflect on the wisdom of their words, I realize that rituals help us avoid wasting time and energy by limiting the number of choices we make each day.  If I’ve built time for exercise into my schedule each day and have made it a ritual, I don’t waste time or energy trying to decide whether I should be exercising, making a few more phone calls or writing next week’s blog.  The decision is already made.

It’s counter-intuitive, but rituals allow us more time and energy to devote to creative pursuits because they’ve taken the decision making out of things that should be daily routines

The 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE program I offer is designed to help you see more effective ways of doing business – ways that dramatically improve your bottom line while making your life easier.  In today’s blog I used Step 6, Eclectic Education, to gain insights into how Loehr and Schwartz help world-class athletes and performers enjoy even greater success through rituals.

I also used Step 5, Contrarian Mindset, to demonstrate that the common belief that rituals (routines) limit creativity is a myth.  For more information on the 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE visit www.furtwengler.com/7steps.htm.

If you’d like to receive a weekly email reminder with a link to The Invaluable Leader blog or if you’d like me to address specific topics, please send me an email at dale@furtwengler.com.  Please share your experience with our readers by posting a comment.

How can one individual become a World Champion in both chess and Tai Chi Chuan?

More importantly, how can his insights help you?

Josh Waitzkin, a world-renowned chessmaster and Tai Chi Chuan Push Hands champion, in his book, The Art of Learning, says:

“A key ingredient to my success in those years (his youth) was that my style on the chessboard was a direct expression of my personality.”

Later in the book Josh often references how he adjusts his approach to Push Hands competition to reflect both his personality and his physical capabilities.

What does this have to do with social networking?  Today’s latest craze has spawned a plethora of “experts” who tell us exactly what we need to do to attract opportunities using the overwhelming number of social networks available to us.  Each, of course, has enjoyed great success with his or her model.

Personally, I have wrestled with this advice.  Logically, it has merit.  Emotionally, I find myself resisting the effort.  What’s going on?  The advice I’m resisting doesn’t fit my nature!

As soon as I read Waitzkin’s words, I knew what I had to do.  I had to embrace those bits of advice that felt good to me, adapt them to my nature and run with them.  The other advice, while good, won’t help me because it drains my energy.  It doesn’t feel good so I’m not going to make a worthwhile investment to make it work.  Armed with that knowledge, I know I’ll get much better results with activities that fit my nature.

It’s counter-intuitive, but when you’re getting advice, regardless of what that advice is, if it doesn’t feel right, don’t do it - even though what you’re hearing makes perfect sense.  Instead, examine the advice you’re getting to determine:

1. What makes sense about this advice
2. Why you are resisting it - what is it that you’re not likely to do?
3. How you can adapt the approach to fit your style
4. What alternatives exist, if you can’t adapt the approach to your style

Success is a function of clear, concise and consistent effort.  You can’t achieve any of them if what you’re expected to do goes against your nature.  Be true to yourself and you’ll enjoy greater success.

For more information on Josh Waitzkin, visit www.joshwaitzkin.com

The 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE program I offer is designed to help you see more effective ways of doing business - ways that dramatically improve your bottom line while making your life easier.  

In today’s blog I used Step 6, Eclectic Education, to gather insights from a World Champion chessmaster and Tai Chi Chuan master, and combined it with Step 4, Seeing Similarities, to demonstrate how to overcome the challenges many of us face in dealing with the explosion of social networking tools available to us.  For more information on the 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE visit www.furtwengler.com/7steps.htm. 

If you’d like to receive a weekly email reminder with a link to The Invaluable Leader blog or if you’d like me to address specific topics, please send me an email at dale@furtwengler.com.  Please share your experience with our readers by posting a comment.

How a world-class musician viewed his talent…

…and what it can mean for you.

Concert pianist Artur Schnabel said “The notes I handle no better than many pianists.  But the pauses between the notes - ah, that is where the art resides!”  

It’s the pauses that give listeners a chance to savor the notes - to enjoy them leisurely rather than racing on to the next note, to reflect on them and enjoy the emotional reaction they elicit regardless of whether the emotion is joy or sadness.

In a similar vein authors Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz in their book The Power of Full Engagement, tell us how they help world-class athletes in golf, tennis, speed skating and basketball dramatically improve their performance.  How?  Not by focusing on the skills associated with the sport, but by educating them on how to use the time between shots, plays and events.  Why?  Because it’s the downtime that allows these athletes to recover from the strain of competition and intensify their focus for the next shot, play or event.

Are you building pauses into your schedule?  Are you using pauses to help you:

• Savor your success?

• Reflect on a skill you acquired and how it can be applied or enhanced?

• Recover from the strain of competing in one of the most challenging environments ever created - the world of business?

• Intensify your focus for dealing with the next growth opportunity or misstep on your way to greater success?

If you’re not, you’re positioning yourself for failure.  It’s counter-intuitive, but it’s the pauses between our activities as much as the activities themselves that help us enjoy greater success.  That’s what Artur Schnabel, Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz are all telling us.  That’s what has driven their success.

Based on the wisdom of these three gentlemen, I’ve begun building into my day, a 10 to 15 minute break for every 90 minutes I work.  What has it done for me?  Exactly what you’d expect.  I accomplish more in less time than I did previously without feeling exhausted.  

Give yourself the gift of frequent pauses.  The more that you think “I don’t have time for a break”, the more essential it is for you take one.  You’ll find that you’re enjoying greater success, less fatigue and greater joy in living your life.

The 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE program I offer is designed to help you see more effective ways of doing business - ways that dramatically improve your bottom line while making your life easier.  In today’s blog I used Step 5, Contrarian Mindset, to show you how to pauses are as essential as the activities in which we engage.  I’ve also employed Steps 4, See Similarities, and Step 6, Eclectic Education, by using the disciplines of music and sports to demonstrate how universal these concepts are. For more information on the 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE visit www.furtwengler.com/7steps.htm 

Please share your experiences and wisdom with Invaluable Leader readers by posting your comments.  If there are topics you’d like me to address, please send me an email at dale@furtwengler.com

An often overlooked advantage of specialization…

…staffing 

I recently spoke with Tim Rosenauer, Business Development Manager, with Account Resolution Corporation (ARC).  These folks provide an array of services in the field of medical collection.

When I asked Tim what distinguished his company from his competitors, he told me his practice management clients appreciate the fact that ARC specializes in medical collections.  ARC’s collectors know the idiosyncrasies of medical billing and are able to assist practice managers with billing and adjustment codes.  They also are more adept at helping delinquent customers understand the services they received and the value of those services.

This specialization allows ARC to:

1. focus on a narrower set of skills and experience when hiring staff
2. limit the amount and types of training necessary to enhance employee skills
3. create a more flexible workforce because all collectors possess similar knowledge and experience
4. monitor changing practice management needs
5. adapt more quickly to that changing environment

What about the employees?  How do they feel about ARC’s strategy?  ARC touts one of the lowest employee turnover rates in its industry.  Why?  Imagine that you’re a collector and you’re considering offers from two companies, one that specializes in one industry and the other who represents customers from a variety of industries.  On the surface, the company that serves multiple industries might seem attractive because it offers more variety in your job.  But once you’re on the job you realize that this “variety” also adds a great deal of complexity to your job.  How?

Each industry/profession has its on idiosyncrasies, its own language and its own preferred practices.  This not only makes your initial orientation more difficult, it makes keeping current on changes within each industry/profession more difficult.  This complexity typically slows collections at the same time that you’re being evaluated on your ability to collect quickly.  Is it any wonder that the better collectors migrate to firms that specialize?

While many business owners may view this kind of specialization limiting, the reality is exactly the opposite.  It’s counter-intuitive, but specializing allows your firm to:

1. gain a greater understanding of the customers you serve
2. monitor the ever-changing environment in which they work
3. provide higher levels of service to those customers
4. charge premium prices commensurate with the higher service levels
5. recruit, retain and reward staff more effectively

Take a page from ARC’s playbook and specialize.

The 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE program I offer is designed to help you see more effective ways of doing business - ways that dramatically improve your bottom line while making your life easier.  In today’s blog I used Step 5, Contrarian Mindset, to show how industry specialization can work to your advantage.  Contributory Negligence, Step 1, was used to show how we often inadvertently complicate our lives and add to the cost of doing business by trying to serve multiple markets.  For more information on the 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE visit http://www.furtwengler.com/7steps.htm

Please share your experiences and wisdom with Invaluable Leader readers by posting your comments.  If there are topics you’d like me to address, please send me an email at dale@furtwengler.com.

If not…

…how reliable is history?

Our pastor made the comment that memory is a function of history?  Is it? 

In his book, Stumbling on Happiness, Daniel Gilbert shares scientific studies of memory that show that, contrary to popular opinion, our memories aren’t full-length features stored in exacting detail.  Instead they are more like holograms where what’s stored are the key elements of the story.  The details get filled in as we recall the episode.

Professor Gilbert goes on to say that “the least likely experience” is often the “most likely memory.”  Why is that?  Because the least likely experiences trigger emotional reactions.  Indeed, it’s the emotional reactions that we have to the situations we face that determine what memories we retain.

If you doubt that think of your last trip to the grocery store.  Was it memorable?  If not, there were no surprises; nothing that triggered an emotional reaction.  Conversely, if it was memorable, it’s likely that someone allowed you to go ahead of him in the checkout line, shared a kind word with you or raced to get ahead of you in line.  Each of these actions triggers an emotional response that forms a memory.

Why is this important?  Because, as Professor Gilbert notes, this natural tendency can “wreak havoc with our ability to predict future experiences.”  If our primary recall is of unusual experiences, how accurate is our historical perspective?  How well can we predict future outcomes if we’re focused on the least likely results?

It’s counter-intuitive, but memory is not an accurate historical perspective.  That’s why, when predicting an outcome, it’s wise to recall:

1. The last relevant experience you had
2. What emotions were triggered during that experience
3. Whether this was an isolated instance among many other similar, yet less memorable, experiences

Then ask yourself, “Is this memory an accurate predictor of what I can expect?”  This simple approach will help you avoid creating unrealistic expectations and improve the historical accuracy of your memory. 

The 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE program I offer is designed to help you see more effective ways of doing business - ways that dramatically improve your bottom line while making your life easier.  In today’s blog I used Step 3, Suspend Judgment, to show you that emotions trigger memories and influence our expectations for the future. Then I used Step 1, Contributory Negligence, to demonstrate how we contribute to the outcomes we get - favorable or unfavorable - by our penchant for using “least likely experiences” to predict the future.  Finally I used Step 5, Contrarian Mindset, to show you how to overcome this natural tendency.  For more information on the 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE visit www.furtwengler.com/theinvaluableleader/

Please share your experiences and wisdom with Invaluable Leader readers by posting your comments.  If there are topics you’d like me to address, please send me an email at dale@furtwengler.com.

What can neuroscientists and athletes teach us about reality?

How to choose more effectively!

Nobel-prize winning neuroscientist, Dr. Gerald Edelman, says “we must look at all acts of perception as acts of creativity.”  In other words, we create the reality we’re facing by the way we choose to perceive what’s happening.

Neurobiologist William Calvin, in his book, The Cerebral Symphony says “We create the world we see: We surely modify it with experience, but it’s an invented world.  How we emotionally react to something may, in turn, affect how we see it in the future.” 

World-class athletes echo these themes when they say that their greatest asset is a “short memory.”  These athletes quickly forget both their successes and failures.  They realize that flawless performances and failed attempts are both merely fleeting moments in time.  Dwelling on either their successes or failures can only accomplish one thing - limiting their future success. 

How do these athletes develop a short-memory?  The answer lies in William Calvin’s quote above; it’s the word “emotionally.”  It’s not that these athletes are devoid of emotion.  Indeed, anyone who has watched a sporting event knows how high emotions run before, during and immediately after the game.  The key to these athletes’ success is that they are able to quickly set aside those emotions and focus their attention on the next shot, the next play or the next game. 

Conversely, many of us behave as if we are bipolar when it comes to dealing with our emotions.  We’re reluctant to let go of the emotional highs we experience when things go well.  We find it equally difficult to pull ourselves out of the throes of disappointment when our attempts fail.  In essence, we create realities of incredible joy or staggering disappointment.

Now imagine what your reality would be if you chose to view your successes as affirmation that you’re on the right path and your failures as guideposts directing you back onto the path.  Wouldn’t life be a lot more enjoyable if you could consistently maintain these mindsets?  Isn’t that a reality you’d choose for yourself if you simply knew how?

It’s counter-intuitive that, while we can’t avoid emotional reactions, we can limit the amount of time we spend in any given emotional state.  How?  By first recognizing that we are being emotional, then choosing to set that emotion aside so that we can focus our attention on the next thing we need to do to enjoy even greater success.  This simple two-step process helps you choose a reality that minimizes the periods of self-doubt, fear and anxiety all of us experience and replaces them with a “can do” mindset that makes life a lot more fun and exciting.  The choice is yours.

The 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE program I offer is designed to help you see more effective ways of doing business - ways that dramatically improve your bottom line while making your life easier.  In today’s blog I used Step 3, Suspend Judgment, to demonstrate how emotions form judgments which, in turn, determine the reality you experience.   I also employed Step 6, Eclectic Education, to offer insights from two different disciplines, neuroscience and sports, to support my point.  Finally, I used Step 4, Seeing Similarities, to show how two different disciplines reach the same conclusion.

You can learn more about the 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE program and how it can help you deal with the business challenges you face by clicking on http://www.furtwengler.com/7steps.htm

Please share your thoughts, whether you agree or not, by posting a comment.  If there are topics you’d like me to address, send me an email at dale@furtwengler.com.

Each of us has a natural propensity for discovering solutions to problems…

…what’s yours?

In his book, The Cerebral Symphony, William Calvin notes that in the scientific community there are experimenters and synthesizers.  Experimenters are people who exploit new techniques for looking deeper into whatever question they’re investigating. 

Conversely, synthesizers take the vast array of discoveries from a variety of disciplines to piece together a holistic view of the way things work.  Calvin goes on to say that, while both approaches contribute to scientific progress, few scientists employ both.

What does that have to do with you?  First it affords new insights into the way you prefer to work - your natural style.  Here’s a quick question to gauge your preference.  Given a choice of projects would you prefer to tear apart a process to discover ways to improve it or would you rather gather information from someone who has done that analysis and use it to establish new procedures? 

Some people enjoy the investigative intrigue problem-solving affords.  Others prefer to learn from others and use that knowledge to get ahead of the curve by establishing new policies and procedures to avoid the problem in the future.

It’s counter-intuitive, but awareness of your natural style (experimenter or synthesizer) and the style of your colleagues prefer, can help you, your boss and your team enjoy greater success.  Helping guide the delegation of tasks based on natural preferences can increase job enjoyment, reduce cycle times and dramatically improve results now and in the future.

The 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE program I offer is designed to help you see more effective ways of doing business - ways that dramatically improve your bottom line while making your life easier.  In today’s blog I used Step 6, Eclectic Education, to demonstrate how to import insights and ideas from other disciplines.  In this case I drew from the field of neurophysiology.  I also employed Step 4, Seeing Similarities, to apply those insights to business.

As you share these insights at work don’t forget Step 2, The Persuasion Myth.  Your natural tendency will be to try to convince your colleagues and boss how valuable this approach is.  The more you try to persuade them the more resistance you’ll get. 

Step 2, The Persuasion Myth, suggests that you share the concept with your colleagues, then ask them how they think this approach could be used in your organization.  You’ll find that they’re more likely to embrace the concept once they’ve had a chance to do their own evaluation of it.

You can learn more about the 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE program and how it can help you deal with the business challenges you face by clicking on http://www.furtwengler.com/7steps.htm

Please share your thoughts, whether you agree or not, by posting a comment.  If there are topics you’d like me to address, send me an email at dale@furtwengler.com.

Why the sudden interest in unionization?

Is it in America’s best interest?

This is one of the most controversial acts being considered today.  Why?  Two reasons. 

There is concern among business owners and leaders that the new rules, which eliminate the need for secret ballot votes by employees, could result in some employees being coerced by their colleagues into signing.  The second concern is the 120-day mandatory arbitration rules which could leave businesses with economically untenable contracts.

Before we get into these issues, let’s take a look at what’s spawned this interest in unionization.  For decades we’ve been seeing the erosion of the middle class.  When the middle ground is washed away you’re left with a chasm bordered by competing factions on each side of the chasm.  Part of the interest in unionization is the desire to stop the erosion of the middle class and avoid a much costlier “economic civil war” later.

This interest in rejuvenating the middle class has been heightened by the recent outrage over rising CEO pay and executive bonuses despite poor performance, something that Fortune magazine has been railing about since at least 2006. 

Whether or not it will achieve this goal the Free Choice Act is an attempt to reconstitute the middle class and avoid the inevitable civil war that’s developing.  If anyone doubts that a war is coming, review some of the recent news broadcasts highlighting threats of violence against the AIG executives who received bonuses.

With such a lofty goal, why would the business community fight unionization?  They fear loss of control.  Unfortunately, these leaders fail to realize that control is an illusion.  We can’t control anyone’s activity unless they grant us permission to do so.  Anyone who’s spent more than a few hours in a management role knows how readily employees ignore our requests, and even more so, our demands.  If they feel sufficiently threatened, they’ll “agree” to our demands and provide what we requested instead of what we wanted.  

What’s the solution?  It’s counter-intuitive, but whether you’re dealing with a CEO, individual workers or a union, the issue of compensation revolves around one question.  That question is “How are you going to produce results in excess of the compensation you’re requesting?”  You see it doesn’t really make any difference how much a person makes as long as the value of what they produce exceeds what they make.

For those who have grown up in the union environment the concept of providing more than what your being compensated may seem foreign, but in business we realize that we have to provide more value than the consumer is paying for if we want them to part with their dollars.  The same should be true of workers, after all the companies that employ them are their customers.

With those thoughts in mind, let’s assume you’re a business owner sitting at the table with the union representatives and they say they want their workers to get a 6% annual increase in pay and benefits each year for the next three years.  Your response should be “That’s fine, we’re happy to honor that request if you can tell us how you’re going to increase productivity by 6.5% per year.  What’s your plan?”

Let’s say that the union doesn’t come up with a plan, the 120 days elapse and you’re forced to go to arbitration.  The union states its demands as it did to you.  You, again, state that you’re willing to agree to those raises if the union could demonstrate how it was going to increase employee productivity by 6.5%.  After all, any fair exchange requires that each party receive comparable value.  What’s the likelihood that, if the union fails to present a plan, their demands will be granted?  Arbitrators are schooled in the art of creating equity between competing parties and they look at the reasonableness of each party’s position.  The party that seems to be doing the most to create equity, in this case you, typically gains the arbitrator’s favor. 

You can further enhance your position with the union if you use the same question in negotiating pay with non-union employees.  If your records show that pay increases in your company are always accompanied by the employees’ indication of how they can improve their performance to produce more than their increase, you go along way to building a strong case for the arbitrator and a stronger company as well.

The 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE program I offer is designed to help you see more effective ways of doing business - ways that dramatically improve your bottom line while making your life easier.  In today’s blog I used Step 3, Suspend judgment, to demonstrate how to avoid judging unionization as being either good or bad.  Judgment leads to bias which limits the number of alternative solutions you see.

Then I used Step 2, The Persuasion Myth, to show you how to craft a negotiation that makes sense for both parties.  The Persuasion Myth is equally effective in demonstrating to an arbitrator that you’re approach is fair and equitable, thereby increasing your odds of gaining an economically feasible contract.  You can learn more about how the 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE program and how it can help you deal with the business challenges you face by clicking on http://www.furtwengler.com/7steps.htm

Please share your thoughts, whether you agree or not, by posting a comment.  If there are topics you’d like me to address, send me an email at dale@furtwengler.com.

Too much government intervention?

Or too little, too late?

While these are questions that will undoubtedly be debated for decades, they are the wrong questions.  Why?  Because they don’t provide any insights into how we avoid government intervention in the future.

In my book, The Uniqueness Myth, I note that in many companies’ policy decisions are made without regard for whether or not the policy will invite regulation.  Even in the face of threatened regulation, many businesses and professions refuse to reexamine policies.  For decades Congress threatened to regulate the accounting profession.  The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants was able to deflect those threats with assurances that the profession was doing an effective job of regulating itself.  Of course that all changed when Enron’s and WorldCom’s creative accounting came to light.

These massive frauds resulted in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act which imposed major financial recordkeeping, control and reporting standards on businesses and the accountants alike.  These regulations didn’t just affect the accounting profession and those companies whose stock is traded publicly; it extended to small to mid-size businesses as well.  The cost of complying with Sarbanes-Oxley is estimated to be in the billions of dollars.  Now we’re experiencing trillions of dollars of cost as a result of the failed policies in the mortgage markets.

It’s not just the financial costs of regulation that are troublesome.  It’s the loss of freedom to decide our own destiny.  It’s counter-intuitive but if we developed policies with an eye to avoiding regulation, we’d have the freedom to craft approaches to doing business that allow us to gain a competitive advantage using significantly less costly approaches than those dictated by a regulatory agency.

How do we do a more effective job of avoiding government regulation?

1. Take policy decisions out of the hands of one or two individuals.  Everyone, including business owners, has a personal agenda that often overrides sound reasoning
2. Establish a cross-functional team that involves all the major disciplines in your organization so that the policy’s impact on customers, employees, vendors, and owners is evaluated effectively
3. Establish a checklist of questions to use in the evaluation in step 2.  Make sure the checklist includes the question “Will this policy invite regulation?”
4. Any time that you’re tempted to bypass this process, remind yourself of the costs involved in complying with regulations with which you’re already saddled.  Then ask yourself “Do I really want to risk further regulation?”
5. Get involved in your industry or professional oversight functions.  When you see practices developing that are likely to invite regulation, remind the membership of the costs they’re incurring as a result of previous regulation.  Then help them develop policies that will help them and you avoid future regulation and gain a competitive advantage in the global marketplace.

As you can see there isn’t significant time or cost investment associated with crafting policies that avoid regulation.  Even with step 5, the cost you’ll incur by being active in your industry or profession pales in comparison to the cost of regulation.  Use these simple steps to help you avoid inviting the government to become your business partner.

The 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE program I offer is designed to help you see more effective ways of doing business - ways that dramatically improve your bottom line while making your life easier.  In today’s blog I used Step 1, Contributory Negligence, to demonstrate how we contribute to every problem we face and how that knowledge can be used to craft simple, inexpensive, easy-to-implement solutions.  To learn more about the 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE program, click on http://furwengler.com/7Step/htm

Please share your thoughts, whether you agree or not, by posting a comment.  If there are topics you’d like me to address, send me an email at dale@furtwengler.com