Paul M. Boomer

Business Therapist - Grow your business faster.

Boomer It! Don't Google It!
Ethics / Blog / Contact

Warn, Weary, and Wrestling with Thoughts

Posted

I’ve known what to write for days.

My brain is full. Tired.

The fizzle-fizzle in my ears must be what’s clogging my energy.

So where do I go from here? I don’t know.

One thing I understand is if you blog for business, you shouldn’t write fluff for fluff sake.

But you know what?

While I’m writing for business reasons, I’m also writing for the sake of getting into a habit.

I know, I don’t need to publish this. But I do, really, I do, for my daughter’s sake. And for my own.

You do the things you don’t want to do to get to the places you want to go.

So, here I am. Sitting at my computer. Warn. Weary. Wrestling with thoughts.

What are you doing to go where you want to go?

How Driverless Cars Work

Posted

I’m fascinated by how things work. I’m amazed at what Tesla is doing. I’m humbled by the conflicts AI brings to the world.

The other day I was listening to NPR. They were talking about driverless cars and they kept saying “…how driverless cars work…”

I got to thinking “I wonder if any of the car manufacturers bought that domain name. It’d be smart of them. It’s going to take some education for people who are in the middle and at the end of the adaptation bell-curve to jump on board with the idea. A smart industry leader could use the site to share all sorts of information to help people feel comfortable with the idea. I mean, I’m certain that question is a common search in Google. It’d likely be easy to rank the site high and get a lot of traffic.”

I then tip-tapped-typed to GoDaddy.com.

My fingers danced out HowDriverlessCarsWork.com.

I read “Your domain name is available for $14.98”

Click. Bought.

Why? Why has no one, especially in the industry, thought about setting up a site for this question?

Head, meet desk. Desk, meet head.

There are a few things I can do with it:

  1. Nothing and see if anyone approaches me about it
  2. I setup the site for the purpose it should be used for and operate it myself with possible help from others
  3. I create a site that’s specifically targeted to the marketing people in the industry telling them why they need to take the domain name over. I’d even spend some ad dollars just to get them to visit the site. Of course, I’d sell them the domain name.

What to do? What. To. Do.

Agility and Business Communication

Posted

Entrepreneur.com published parts of an email written by Elon Musk, Tesla’s and SpaceX’s CEO. I’m sharing it with you because there are key points Mr. Musk makes in his email that has to do with communication and taking down silos within an organization.

Near the end of the email, Mr. Musk states “…ensuring that we execute ultra-fast and well. We obviously cannot compete with the big car companies in size, so we must do so with intelligence and agility.” The words intelligence and agility slapped my head.

Do you know how Amazon has made their mark? It’s because they’re human-centric. Amazon’s real growth comes from caring about people inside and out of the organization and according to the book “Be Like Amazon: Even a Lemonade Stand Can Do It” agility is one of the four pillars of Amazon’s success.

I recommend you read one of the best business books I’ve read in a long time. Yes, the three gents who wrote the book are partners and mentors of mine but I put those biases aside. After you read “Be Like” come back and you’ll see a connection between Tesla, SpaceX and Amazon.

The Second Letter of the MBTI

Posted

The first letter of the MBTI is about how people gain energy. It comprises of the E (Extrovert) and I (Introvert) characteristics. The second letter is about how someone takes in and perceives information.

According to Psychologist Carl Jung, people take in and perceive information in one of two ways:

  1. intuitively a.k.a. iNtuitive (N)
  2. concretely a.k.a. Sensing (S)

On the MBTI assessment report, this will be labeled as iNtuitive or Sensing. The capitalization in the labels signifies what letter they represent. Don’t let the “N” confuse you. You may ask why is it not an “I”. Well, the “I” was already taken by the first dichotomy.

What being an iNtuitive (S) means

Intuitive’s start with the big picture The Second Letter of the MBTI and over time tread through the details of information.

You can think of this as “right-brain” thinking.

“N’s” tend to provide insight into the possibilities of things. They tend to use their “hunch” and come to a likely conclusion of what another is saying before the conversation is even over (I can say that because I’m an “N”).

Persons who are oriented to the “N” tend to work in the abstract, imagination and are future oriented.

What having Sensing (S) in your assessment means

Sensing (S) people start with the details and work towards the big picture of things.

You can think of this as “left-brain” thinking.

Those with an “S” like to work with what exists, what’s in front of them and what’s observable by way of their senses.

Common characteristics of someone who’s an “S” include:

  • powers of acute observation
  • memory for the details of the past and present
  • a sense of realism
  • the possibilities of an idea mean little without proof from experiences

An example of the “S” and “N” in action

If you were to ask an “S” type and “N” type to describe their perception of an apple, you’ll hear two very different descriptions.

An “S” type will describe an apple as “red, crisp, and brown stemmed.” An “N” type is likely to describe an apple as “their mom’s pie, apple crisp, and an apple a day will…”

What this means to a business

If you want to have a solid plan in place for the growth of any kind in any way, you need to have a “San and “N” type in all of your meetings.

Those who perceive information from the “S” perspective are going to come in with details and facts from the past. They’re likly the ones who’ll have data to back everything up. Allow them to share that information as past performance can help you determine what’s working and not working.

The “N” needs to be in your meetings to see connections where others may not seem them. They may understand how one decision in one area of the business can affect another decision in another. They’ll be able to come up with ideas to improve areas of your business your “S” types tell you that needs help (of course, with the data they bring).

The key to having both sides in a meeting is the respect each side has for the other. Everyone needs to understand the point-of-view others bring to the table. Without respect, meetings will become wasted time and cause frustration amongst your staff.

You can be “S” and “N”

Everyone has qualities of both. The MBTI gives you a reference point for where you’re most comfortable… what your go-to modality is when you’re not stressed. What Carl Jung understood and is considered in the MBTI is how people are dynamic. People are not solid states of emotion. Stresses in one’s life affect the amount of “S” or “N” you use in any given situation. This is important to remember when you take the MBTI and see all the letters.

You’re unique. The MBTI is a fluid tool and is not meant to put you in a box. It’s a tool to allow you to understand your most natural operating system.

Improving Communication in Family Businesses

Posted

Every one of my current and past clients run family-owned businesses. I see these traits everywhere I look.

We all know how tricky family relationships can be, especially when it comes to communication. When you add a business on top of regular family issues, it just becomes a whole other level of stress. Here are some concrete steps that you can take to minimize the amount of stress you share with each other.

1. Have defined expectations.

Maintain a clearly defined work boundary that everyone has agreed upon. Once you leave the office (or the room that serves as your home office), you’ll set aside any business-related discussion. Everyone must agree not to bring up any of the stressful issues you may be dealing with as long as you’re outside of this boundary.

Of course, you might want to have a business dinner at home if there’s an important topic to discuss. Do so in a deliberate fashion. Make sure that you’ve planned the conversation in advance as opposed to just dragging the worry and frustration home and dumping it at your loved ones’ feet. The key is to set the expectation up front.

This is one of the simplest things to do, but it’s also very easily forgotten. Business owners are constantly thinking about work so it’s hard to turn that part of your brain off. You really don’t have to—if you have something to say, write it down on a piece of paper or email it to yourself the next day. That way you won’t forget what was on your mind and you can set it aside until you’re back in a work environment.

What happens if you don’t have a clearly defined boundary? You’ll end up bringing your problems home with you. That’s just going to increase your stress level, especially if it’s a husband-wife business. If a husband and wife are dwelling on a work related issue, stress is going to continue to boil. The kids or other family members will see and feel it. The business will suffer and the family will suffer. That’s why setting those limits can foster a much healthier relationship amongst your family members who also happen to be your coworkers.

2. Include your children at a young age.

Your children are a part of the business, even if they aren’t going to become successors. That’s still true if they eventually decide to work somewhere else. Include them in business conversations at a young age so they’ll know what their mom or dad does at work every day. They’ll naturally want to learn more, and it’s also a great way to reduce your stress. It might sound like this contradicts my previous suggestion, but it doesn’t. There’s a big difference between sharing important discussions with your children and bringing stressful issues home with you.

3. Learn about your personality.

One of the best ways to improve communication within a family-owned business is to understand how you view and interact with the world. I highly recommend taking the Myers Briggs Type Indicator Assessment to learn more. If you understand how you process various topics from your own point of view, you’ll be able to have better, more productive conversations.

As always, I’m here to help you improve communication within your business. You can also get in touch with me if you’d like to take the Myers Briggs Type Indicator Assessment and learn more about the operating system of your mind.