Here’s the Big Lesson from the Mark Zuckerberg Apology Tour

Mark Zuckerberg is generating a lot of headlines. It’s too early yet to know if the old cliché “there’s no such thing as bad publicity” will eventually apply. But, what we definitely know is this is a company with too much going on at one time. Now, the merits of the scandal are in hot debate. On one hand, it’s a new practice but some marketers have come forward to explain this is just business-as-usual. Regardless, it’s started a conversation about privacy, advertising practices, and personal information security. However, this only touches the surface of the real problem — Facebook is too big.

The Facebook-Google Duopoly Example

Over the past few years, there’s been a lot of talk about the Google-Facebook duopoly. Now, it’s more apparent than ever these two companies are the center of the internet. Even more important is what this teaches us. Both companies are currently under heavy scrutiny — a result of their massive scales. Each company is far more than their core missions. Google is part of Alphabet, a huge conglomerate. As for Facebook, it owns Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus, and more.

Getting bigger means that you need to get more organized. Working fast and loose may have been fine for your small team of superstars, but it won’t work as well with a bigger group. As your ranks grow and positions that were filled by individuals transform into teams of people, the need to stay organized becomes amplified. —Inc.com

The point here is Google is not just a search engine. Nor is Facebook only a social media network. Both are a lot more. Now, let’s distill this down to the world of small business. It’s only natural to grow and expand into new territory. The question is, when does that compromise the company’s core? In other words, growth isn’t always a good thing.

How to Get Back to Business Basics

One critical lesson here is the fact that when a business grows, does it grow to meet the needs of its customers? Or, does it expand to other areas for the sake of chasing profit. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with adding new revenue streams. But, there is something very wrong about letting it harm core competency. Here’s a few suggestions for how to get back to business basics:

  • Listen to your customers. More customers are one sign that your business is growing. As your customer base increases, it becomes more and more difficult to stay in-touch. So, start listening in earnest again. There are several ways to do this beyond personal interaction, if necessary. Surveys, email, and more are valuable resources.
  • Give your team a real voice. Just because your business is larger doesn’t mean that you need to only rely on a few key people. Chances are excellent, there are team members under management who have valuable input. Solicit from them periodically and take their insight to heart.
  • Purge all the extra stuff. When a company grows beyond its initial offerings, it breaks its old parameters. Which means often journeying out to untested waters. Problems inevitably ensue. So, stop trying to force what’s not working and let it go.
  • Get an outside perspective. Companies can easily lose sight of their identity. If a random person can’t immediately identify what your company does, or names off a bunch of things confusingly, that’s a bad sign. Bring in an experienced business coach to give you that much-needed outside perspective.

Have you experienced a time when you needed to get back to basics? What other advice would you offer? Please share your thoughts and experiences by joining the conversation!

Interested in learning more about business? Then just visit Waters Business Consulting Group.

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Here’s Another Key Ingredient to Success — Stop Comparing Yourself to Others

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“Stop comparing yourself to others!” Chance are excellent you’ve heard this advice more than once before. It might have been a parent, coach, a teacher, or even a friend. Okay, we all know this is true. Comparing yourself to others will inevitably lead to disappointment. But, we all fall into this trap and it isn’t helpful. So, how do you resist the feeling in the first place? Let’s take a look at how you can effectively stop comparing yourself to others. If You Keep Comparing Yourself to Others, You’re Standing in the Way of Success Before we get into the logistics, we’ll take a peek into what this actually does — it prevents you from succeeding. That’s right. Think about it. If you’re always comparing yourself to others, you keep moving the goal post. Comparing yourself to others’ accomplishments is a losing battle. There is an endless supply of people to whom you could compare yourself and your accomplishments, but, inevitably, you’ll always end up on the losing side of the comparison. That’s because there will always be someone who has done something that you wished you could also accomplish. —Forbes.com And, we all know what that means. So, doing this is essentially self-defeating. You can’t reach the goal if you keep moving it further away. It’s really that simple. Yet, it’s difficult to resist the urge because we all want to accomplish more. How to Stop Comparing Yourself to Others Now, how do you stop comparing yourself to others? Sure, it sounds easy but it isn’t. Fortunately, there are ways to beat back the impulse: Practice getting over your FOMO urge. FOMO or fear of missing out. It’s a good portion of what drives the success of social media giants like Facebook. People are always measuring their own lives up against others on social media. Take a break. For instance, don’t check social media for an entire weekend. Or, make your evenings social media free. Look for commonalities, not differences. Instead of comparing yourself based on differences, try identifying commonalities. It will give you a level of reassurance, at the very least. It will also tell you that you are incumbents in some ways and boost your confidence. Take a long, mindful trip down memory lane. One of the best ways not to compare yourself to others is to compare yourself to yourself. That’s right. The you of today is likely a great improvement of the you of the past. Understand what you can and cannot change. Another way to stop comparing yourself to others is to understand and accept there are things you can change and things you cannot change. Doing so will certainly help you contextualize. What other methods would you recommend to stop comparing yourself to others? Please share your thoughts and experience by commenting! Interested in learning more about business? Then just visit Waters Business Consulting Group.

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Is Crazy Creating Chaos in Your Company?

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We all deal with crazy (read: difficult) people in life. They are rude, obnoxious, oblivious, pitiful, without fault, always victims, stir up drama, and what’s worse, don’t know so. You see, the problem with him or her is someone else besides he or she: another coworker, a family member, perhaps even you. As the head of an organization, no matter its size, you’re bound to run into crazy and what’s simply insane is the fact that you let them through the door in the first place. This is just one way business owners and managers rationalize a situation that’s spiraling out of control. “It’s a phase,” or “he or she just needs a little extra motivation.” Though these thoughts might bring a modicum of comfort, it will be short-lived. If you are faced with an employee that’s ultimately doing more harm than good, you’ve got to deal with the situation before it has time to inflict more damage.   Ways to Deal with Difficult Employees In most instances, people that behave this way aren’t at all aware of reality. While you and the rest of your team know it, the problem personality probably has a peculiar position. This is a moving or adaptable perception that assigns blame away from him or her. Of course, this makes things worse because he or she won’t be easily convinced as to what’s truly going on. Often, when an employee is difficult we stop paying attention to what’s actually going on. We’re irritated, it seems hopeless, and we’ve already decided what we think about the employee – so we just turn our attention to other things, out of a combination of avoidance and self-protection. But the best managers get very attentive when someone’s not doing well. They know their best shot at improving the situation lies in having the clearest possible understanding of the situation… —Forbes.com The very first thing you ought to do is to take stock of the dynamics. Put yourself in his or her shoes to try and gain some perspective. If that comes up short and doesn’t provide any tangible answers, you now know he or she is the real source of the problem. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to take crazy out of the company: Separate fact from friction. Yes, friction, as well as fiction. Friction between employees can easily lead to you taking sides because of your affinity for one over the other, which is where fiction comes into play. You should act on facts, not feelings, and not because of favorites. Don’t confuse performance with conduct. One rationalization for keeping problematic employees in the company is because of their so-called “redeeming qualities.” While he or she might well possess some great performance traits, it is his or her conduct that’s actually most important. What he or she might be producing individually could well be undermining his or her peers. Take time to listen and offer solutions. Should the person who brings crazy chaos into your company be a productive team member, you ought to try to invoke a turn-around. Go into a private place and ask if he or she is having any problems, then, tactfully offer solutions. If the response is knee-jerk or obtuse, it’s probably time for ultimatums. Lend a helping hand. Not your own, but someone within your organization you trust. This works best peer-to-peer, where coaching captures cooperation. Though this can work wonders, it can also become a tempting choice in the future. Don’t use it as the fallback position or you’ll simply be known for passing difficult personalities out for others to deal with. Ultimately, you are fighting to deal with a situation, not to win by wrangling control away. You want to create a solution, not to win an argument. If you do chose the latter, you are choosing to join in the craziness and even make the environment worse. Also, know when you’re at your limit, as not every situation can be resolved. There will be times when simply parting ways will be the best solution for you and your business. [shareaholic app=”follow_buttons” id=”26833294″]

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