Creativity is my favourite characteristic in a person. Think about the most creative people you know. I’m sure that you are currently thinking of musicians, artists, engineers etc… However if you really think about it creativity is a characteristic that propels businesses forward.

It’s creative people who build better processes, it’s creative people who question the status quo and look to improve structure, it’s the creative people who can often inspire the people around them. Creativity is the root of innovation. Innovation is a word that is much more synonymous with business.

If you look at all of the entrepreneurs in the world, they have created a way to deliver a product or service better than anyone else in the world. They have had self belief and enough confidence to propel their companies in to the stratosphere.

When we look at these geniuses, like the Google guys, they are not “typical” business people, but if you look at all of the most successful people, they aren’t “typical” business people. They are creative people who can create a vision and get everyone excited about it, or create the ladder and get everyone else to climb it.

So next time you are considering applying for a promotion or looking at a job that’s another rung up the ladder, think about the person who created that ladder. Is that something you can do? Remember, we can’t all be Managing Directors of big successful companies, but if that’s what we want – we sure as hell can try!

So often we talk about the price of something. I find myself asking it all the time after being shown something new. ‘How much did that set you back?’ or ‘How much does one of those cost?’ The truth of the matter is that often we will ask the price to see if we could afford one in our lives, or if we could throw it on the wish list.

When we buy something, getting a good price makes us feel like we have just outsmarted a system as old as mankind, ‘I’ve done something that no one else has ever done before.’

The psychology of this ‘need to come off on top’ will drive people to do some pretty stupid things. It may, for example, drive them to go to several locations, burning excessive fuel and time in an effort to save $10.00 – this to me is a love of the feeling more than the reality of “getting a good deal.”

We also hear a lot of negative publicity towards sales people and price. With the mass adoption of the internet it’s not easy to get ‘ripped off’ any more unless you really try. Researching a product takes five seconds and can be conducted whenever you want. So the point therein lies that if people are trying to achieve a smoking price, yet the margins are already excessively low from high competition and greater transparency, where else can a sales person take the ‘deal’ to provide the customer the feeling of ‘getting a good one.’

This is where value comes into play – the intangible assets such as customer service, relationships, care, training, etc… All of these other great elements that can make someone walk away feeling like they ‘got a good deal.’

From a customer’s point of view (and we are all customers), constantly trying to screw someone down will lead to nothing but consistently poor service. The fact of the matter is that it is impossible to provide cost price product and still be able to hire someone to provide the service. If I ask my friend to build me a computer at cost, can I really expect him to prioritize me over a client who is paying his wage? If this is the case between friends, how do you think strangers would act? I could be pushed to the end of the priority list forever. As a result I am getting a great ‘deal’ pricewise, however I am not being prioritized, no one is contacting me and I can’t for the life of me understand why???????

So put yourself in the other persons’ shoes. Consider margins when you are a customer, and consider value when you are a sales person. All we both want to do is leave the transaction feeling good about it, and feeling as though we have accomplished what we set out to do.

What drives you? Success or Money?
If we remove all other variables and just focus on these two motivators what would you choose? Success is my biggest motivator, and money is the byproduct of achievement. Self made money is created by success; however success cannot be created from just money.

Byproducts are evident everywhere you look. White Chocolate is a byproduct of brown chocolate, diesel fuel is a byproduct of unleaded fuel. The interesting thing is that the byproduct can in fact become more valued than the original. Fuel is a perfect example, Diesel is now more expensive per litre than Unleaded fuel, even though it was originally a byproduct of Unleaded.

The focus on the byproduct can easily distract people from their original goal. Similar to fuel, people that begin with a focus on success can sometimes inadvertently find that their focus shifts to the byproduct, money, thus making it the main driver. The problem with this is that money comes from success and not the other way around. Consequently your long term wealth goals can be hurt as you start to try to make a sale through poor customer service and heavy handed tactics, instead of the good customer service / relationship building gold that you used to offer.

It is important to step back every now and again and reflect. What came first, success or money? How did you get to where you currently are, or how do you intend to get to where you want to be? So many people have a goal to be successful, and sometimes you have to go backwards to go forward – a money focus may interrupt this decision and stop you from achieving real wealth because your goal is money not success.

This argument also relates to the value of self-made money vs. inherited money – people who make money, understand its value and know how they got it – through being successful! Inherited money is often used to buy success, and often it can be a bit harder to sustain. It’s the lotto winner that ends up in more debt 3 years after they won…

So next time you look at your career path, consider what’s important; consider your happiness and your drive. Focus on the feeling of winning and being successful and less on your earnings. If you focus your energy and attention on achieving success, chances are, one day you’ll look at your Maserati Quattroporte and go “Oh Shit! It actually happened…and I didn’t even realize it.”

Happy New Year and welcome to Twenty Ten!  Our second Millennia is entering into its Tweens and possibly one of its greatest learning phases through its teenage years.  As we develop into adults we often forget the frenetic pace that we had to learn things as children and adolescents.  Often it’s easier to just let life happen and not take control of it. 

When we were kids, we had to go to school to learn… Now we don’t. This is why, in our adult lives, we have to push ourselves to be better.  We must push ourselves to know more than our competitors, and be better at what we do than they are.  We also need to push ourselves to be able to have happier lives by doing things more efficiently or more effectively. We need to strive to be a positive influence on people around us and to ultimately reach our potential.

I wanted to take this opportunity to share some of the best developmental sites that I have come across on the internet and regularly refer to:

Ivan Miser Blog (Founder and Chairman of BNI) – Business Success and Networking

BNI Podcast – Business Networking and Referral

Ted Talks – Top speeches from some of the world’s most influential

Academic Earth -Top Lectures from Universities around the world

Philosophers Notes TV – A great resource about work /life harmony and life success.

There is no excuse to stop learning. If you want to, you can learn about anything and most commonly for free.  From this we can assume that the more we know the better informed our decision making process will be, and consequently the better the outcome.

So if there is anything that I can encourage you to do in Twenty Ten it is to saturate yourself in education and continually improve the person that you are both personally and professionally.  The resources available to you are free, cover almost everything and the opportunities are abundant.

Don’t wait for a promotion in Twenty Ten, strive for something that you want to do and create the opportunity.  Don’t accept mediocrity or the norm because its comfortable, consider what you really want out of life and strive for it – you’re never too old and you’re never too young!  Remember the more you know the better prepared you are for a situation…

“I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.” Winston Churchill

So go and Live it, Learn it and Love it!