The Outdoor Power Equipment Institure (OPEI) says the industry produced 779,640 snow throwers in 2009. Don’t you wish you had a few left on your floor to sell today? On the other hand, I heard that older units are being repaired “like never before.” The entire OPE industry is wearing one large smile.
Harvey MacKay says that sometimes when a problem is presented, “the best thing you can do is ask each person on your team to suggest the worst possible idea to address the problem.” He believes that these “bad ideas enable employees to see problems in a different way and can often spur very good solutions.” I’m very tempted to try this unusual method and see what results we get.
Normally at this time of year we’d be seeing some early flowers popping up. If the snow would ever go away, maybe we’d be seeing some right now! Just keep repeating “Spring is just around the corner.”
Forty seven percent of Baby Boomers report maintaining a profile on a social web site in 2009, which was up 15 percent from 2008. From 2007 to 2008, there was only a 1-percent increase in Baby Boomers maintaining a social Website profile. Of that 47 percent of Baby Boomers maintaining a social web site in 2009, 73 percent maintain a Facebook profile, while 13 percent have taken a liking to Twitter. What was surprising was that only 13 percent of Boomers identified themselves as active LinkedIn users. Given their place in the professional world, one would think that Baby Boomers would have beenmore active on this professional site.
I will admit that I do maintain personal and business Facebook page and a LinkedIn page. Facebook can be overwhelming if you let it, so don’t let it. While some users end-up wasting their time and mine, it is a good way to find out what friends you do not see on a regular basis are doing with their lives. Give it a try, even if just out of curiosity.
I do recommend LinkedIn as an excellent business resource for any business person. Go to the site and search on someone you know and admire in our industry. You’ll be surprised at what you find and can learn on this Web Site.
Marshall Goldsmith, the author of “The Best Coaching Advice You Will Ever Get,” has a friend who had the opportunity to talk with old people who were facing death and ask them what advice they would have had for themselves in their earlier life. Their answers were filled with wisdom.
“One recurring theme was to take the time to reflect on life and find happiness and meaning now. A frequent comment from old people runs along the lines of: ‘I got so wrapped up in looking at what I didn’t have that I missed what I did have. I had almost everything. I wish I had taken more time to appreciate it.’”
“A second theme from old folks was friends and family. You may work for a wonderful company and believe that your contribution is very important. But when you are 95 and you look around your death bed, very few of your fellow employees will be waving goodbye! Your friends and family will probably be the only people who care.”
“A third recurring theme was to follow your dreams. Older people who tried to achieve their dreams were happier with their lives. None of us will ever achieve all of our dreams. If we do, we will just make up new ones! If we go for it, we can at least say at the end, ‘I tried!’ instead of ‘Why didn’t I at least try?’”
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