Here are a few more testimonials I’ve received from happy clients.
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performance
Cam Tran Testimonial
It’s always great to get testimonials from my clients. Here is one I received recently from Jordie Campbell of Cam Tran Co. Ltd.
Habits in 21 days? Not good ones.
You’ve heard it before. Do something for 21 days, and it will become a habit. Have you ever developed a new, good habit in 21 days? Didn’t think so. It hasn’t worked for me and I suspect I’m very much like most people in this regard. Continue reading
Data Rich.
With all the data available to us in our organizations it’s so easy to get wrapped up in measuring everything under the sun and having hundreds of cool charts and graphs posted for all to see. The data can tell us all sorts of wonderful things.
It can also distract us from the two most important things. What is our ultimate goal? And, does the data tell us if we are getting closer to that goal? If you answer the latter with a “No”, trash it and find out what does. Continue reading
Things Google Knows to be True – #3
My continuing series on Google’s “10 things we know to be true.”
“Fast is better than slow.”
“We know your time is valuable, so when you’re seeking an answer on the web you want it right away–and we aim to please. We may be the only people in the world who can say our goal is to have people leave our website as quickly as possible. By shaving excess bits and bytes from our pages and increasing the efficiency of our serving environment, we’ve broken our own speed records many times over, so that the average response time on a search result is a fraction of a second. We keep speed in mind with each new product we release, whether it’s a mobile application or Google Chrome, a browser designed to be fast enough for the modern web. And we continue to work on making it all go even faster.”
There is a definite theme to the things Google “knows to be true”. No matter how good something is, it can be better. They seem to rejoice in the challenge of improving whatever it is they are working on. Since fast is better than slow, no matter how fast they get, they want to keep getting faster. They 
measure their current performance, attempt improvements then measure again to see if things got better. It’s a formula that works in any endeavour and it’s the foundation of the work I do with my clients. Once they start tracking performance and see the improvement that results from a focused effort, the motivation to continue the improvement grows and grows.
Image Courtesy of Jscreationzs / freedigitalphotos.net
Most improvements we make come in small, incremental steps. If we don’t measure and track performance, it’s very easy to miss the improvement. If we don’t see how our efforts are benefitting us, we miss out on the motivation that results and usually give up on the initiative entirely. What do you want to improve, and how are you measuring your success at doing it?
About Mike Bonn: I offer Business Coaching Services and facilitate the unique LMI process to help individuals and organizations improve performance. If you would like to contact me to discuss any of my blogs, or to learn more about my excellent services, give me a call at 613.743.5642 or send me an email mbonn@lmicanada.ca.
Everyone Can Do Better
You can do better. It’s not a judgement. It’s a statement of fact.
Likewise, your business or organization can do better. It doesn’t mean your business is bad, it means the potential of your business is limited only by the efforts of every employee from top to bottom to improve.
It comes down to attitude. If we think we’re good enough, we stop looking for ways to do things better. If we stop finding better ways to do things, we stagnate, and since others are improving, we fall behind.
Even if you gave 100% today, if you learn more about what you do, practice it, work at it and refine it tomorrow, you will be better at it.
Next week, with the improvements you make, your 100% will amount to more than the 100% you gave today. How can you increase your 100%?
Image courtesy Renjith Krishnan / freedigitalphotos.net
About Mike Bonn: I offer Business Coaching Services and facilitate the unique LMI process to help individuals and organizations improve performance. If you would like to contact me to learn more about my excellent services, give me a call at 613.743.5642 or send me an email: mbonn@lmicanada.ca.
Google #2 Do 1 Thing Well
Blog # 2 in my series on Google’s Operating Philosophy – 10 Things We Know to Be True
#2
“It’s best to do one thing really, really well.”
“We do search. With one of the world’s largest research groups focused exclusively on solving search problems, we know what we do well, and how we could do it better. Through continued iteration on difficult problems, we’ve been able to solve complex issues and provide continuous improvements to a service that already makes finding information a fast and seamless experience for millions of people. Our dedication to improving search helps us apply what we’ve learned to new products, like Gmail and Google Maps. Our hope is to bring the power of search to previously unexplored areas, and to help people access and use even more of the ever-expanding information in their lives.” 
This is interesting because you might think that Google does more than just one thing. They do Google Earth, they have Android, Glass, Gmail and may other offerings. However, they boil it down to finding new and better ways to do search. They believe that by continuing to solve search problems and doing it better, they can apply what they learn to other products to do them better too. Google users trust that since Google search is so simple and effective that their other products will be too.
Image Courtesy of Chaiwat www.freedigitalphotos.net
Consider other very successful companies that seem to do more than one thing. Apple, for example, makes computers, phones, music players, and sells music online. Do they agree that it’s best to do one thing? I think Apple would probably say yes. Apple challenges the status quo in everything they do. They look for the simplest solution to every problem, which they will tell you, is usually the hardest one to find. By doing this, they make digital technology accessible for the end user (remember her from Item 1 of Google’s philosophy). Whether they buy phones, computers, mp3 players or online music, Apple customers trust that their products will be simple to use and elegant.
Another example I can think of is Honda. Again, they seem to do many different things. They make cars, motorcycles, generators, outboard motors and have even built a humanoid robot called Asimo. So what is Honda’s one thing. A quick look at Honda’s website will tell you that Honda is built on Dreams. Well that is nice, but what does it mean? Why are their customers so loyal to their products? Further reading explains that Honda dreams about better ways to improve human mobility. Asimo was a direct result of Honda research directed at learning how to help people with limited mobility. In my opinion, this desire to improve human mobility has led Honda to design their products in a way that allows for a robust and repeatable manufacturing process better than anyone. As a result, their products perform better and longer than those of their competition. Their customers are so loyal because they trust that their Honda product will, quite simply, work properly every time they go to use it.
What is the one thing you are really good at, and are you focused on improving it?
About Mike Bonn: I offer Business Coaching Services and facilitate the unique LMI process to help individuals and organizations improve performance. If you would like to contact me to discuss any of my blogs, or to learn more about my excellent services, give me a call at 613.743.5642 or send me an email mbonn@lmicanada.ca.
