David has been invited to deliver a workshop on ‘psychological games’ at this years Business Exchange conference to be held in Newcastle 3/4 March 2010. Psychological games are the essence of life, but when they become serious and disruptive they can wreck an otherwise profitable business. Contact David for more information.

There have been a few articles rccently talking about the benefits and potential dangers of embracing positive psychology. Most recently this was raised in the Independent.

It begs another question for me - can entrepreneurs be really happy - there is a massive claim that we can, but with such a difficult job is it possible?

We have started to use the Enterprise Catalyst as a measure of well-being and the results are interesting if we accept that people’s sense of well-being relates to their contribution to society - both causal and as a result.

Interesting thoughts?

Psychologists have always had an interest in attractiveness and its imapct upon a whole range of issues - usually career advancement. However I recently read a piece on the type of car males and female drive and their prerceived attractiveness - It got me thinking about the influence of attractiveness upon success in business. Is there anything to comment upon that would be a useful addition to debate?

What is it that we don’t want to know about? What is it that is affecting the success of our businesses, but we dont want to acknowledge it, becasue it looks a little too scary. Whatever it is, in my experience it is better to face up to some of the challenges and difficult things before they become too great and costly.

David

I was reading an ‘internet article’ today about the Recession and the Credit Crunch. The basic position was that it’s down to you to sort it out. OK these may indeed be very challenging times, but you are the only person who can really sort it out. Whilst I totally agree with this statement, the flavour of the article turned me off though. It was all happy, happy - don’t think about the recession, think positive, others may be struggling but we are the winners and we keep on going! This sounds good, but is pretty difficult to achieve. In my experience the most important thing is to continually bolster your self-belief, look after yourself and accept that these are tough times, but keep on going.

On a related topic this is an interesting article on how successful entrepreneurs manage hard times - especially when the taxman is on the march!

http://knowledge.insead.edu/ToBeASuccessfulEntrepreneur080710.cfm 

I am always interested to hear from business owners about the strategies and tactics they adopt to survive and thrive in tough times.

David

I suppose its a bit of a luxury, but I spent last week on board a cruise liner talking with various audiences about corporate entrepreneurship. I met some great people and saw one of the funniest comedians I have seen in many years.
So what is happening in the world of corporate and public sector entrepreneurship? During the 1980’s and 1990’s businesses such as 3M, Xerox and many others were accoladed for their ability to reap the benefits of ‘thinking small’. As two iconic case studies 3M and Xerox developed markedly different approaches to corporate entrepreneurship. 3M sought to promote entrepreneurship and innovation as an internal process, and those who championed entrepreneurial endevour remained as employees. Xerox, on the other hand, favoured the spin-out method, whereby those who championed entrepreneurial endevour, were offered the opportunity to spin the business out of the host organisation and establish an ‘independent’ venture, within thich they would have a shareholding. For many the Xerox approach is more akin to genuine entrepreneurship, but in terms of sustainability, 3M model contiinues to this day. The year 2007, sees the re-emergence of corporate entrepreneurship (and innovation) as a potential solution, but it is critical that those who choose to follow this path learn the lessons of history.

Having worked in the field for many years now I am aware that there are numerous ways to create structures to enable entrepreneurship to occur, but on many occasions these flounder because of the ‘corporate mindset’. Employees look at the world differently, and larger organisations support them to do so, because it has worked so far. And yet, to live the life of an entrepreneur requires a mindset that is markedly different to that of an employee. In order to make it work, we need to change mind sets as well as put effective structures in place.

• What are your experiences of corporate entrepreneurship?
• Have you tried it?
• Which path did you follow?
• Did it work?

If you want to understand what type of entrepreneur you might be go to www.21stcenturyentrepreneurs.co.uk and see what type of entrepreneur you could be and learn more about your strengths and the predictable mistakes you are liable to make but can avoid.

Are you delighted with the way you are performing, and the way you support your team and other staff to perform? Consider these critical questions:

1. Are you delivering and achieving your goals?
2. Are you delighted with your performance over the past three years?
3. Are you delighted with the performance of your business over the past three years?
4. Are you delighted with the level of service and value you add to your clients?
5. Are you confident that progress for the coming twelve months will achieve your targets and delight both you and your clients?

OK now its time for a bit of honest reflection - its better to do it here than in a years time when things aren’t quite what you would have hoped!
If your answer to all of these questions is yes, you need to read them again, think about the question and the honesty of your answer, and then discuss your responses with colleagues, clients and customers asking them if they concur with your confident response. If customers and clients confirm your positive response, then you should feel confident about the future. You are well on the way to success, if you have not already achieved it and deserve to be delighted with your own performance. However, if your answer to any of these questions was no, maybe you would like to do something about it!

My intention is to make you feel uncomfortable because this leads to change and thus success!

Keep on delivering!

Understanding the hidden influences upon your business behaviour will help you to avoid screwing up, losing customers and losing money.

This is your opportunity to tell your story and help other business owners.