Three Types of People to Fire Immediately

“I wanted a happy culture. So I fired all the unhappy people.”
—A very successful CEO (who asked not to be named)

We (your authors) teach our children to work hard and never, ever give up. We teach them to be grateful, to be full of wonder, to expect good things to happen, and to search for literal and figurative treasure on every beach, in every room, and in every person.

But some day, when the treasure hunt is over, we’ll also teach them to fire people. Why? After working with the most inventive people in the world for two decades, we’ve discovered the value of a certain item in the leadership toolbox: the pink slip.

Show of hands: How many of you out there in Innovationland have gotten the “what took you so long?” question from your staff when you finally said goodbye to a teammate who was seemingly always part of problems instead of solutions?

We imagine a whole bunch of hands. (Yep, ours went up, too.)

These people—and we’re going to talk about three specific types in a minute—passive-aggressively block innovation from happening and will suck the energy out of any organization.

When confronted with any of the following three people—and you have found it impossible to change their ways, say goodbye.

1. The Victims
“Can you believe what they want us to do now? And of course we have no time to do it. I don’t get paid enough for this. The boss is clueless.”

Victims are people who see problems as occasions for persecution rather than challenges to overcome. We all play the role of victim occasionally, but for some, it has turned into a way of life. These people feel persecuted by humans, processes, and inanimate objects with equal ease—they almost seem to enjoy it. They are often angry, usually annoyed, and almost always complaining. Just when you think everything is humming along perfectly, they find something, anything, to complain about. At Halloween parties, they’re Eeyore, the gloomy, pessimistic donkey from the Winnie the Pooh stories—regardless of the costume they choose.

Victims aren’t looking for opportunities; they are looking for problems. Victims can’t innovate.

So if you want an innovative team, you simply can’t include victims. Fire the victims. (Note to the HR department: Victims are also the most likely to feel the company has maliciously terminated them regardless of cause. They will often go looking for someone—anyone—who will agree that you have treated them unjustly. Lawyers are often left to play this role. So have your documentation in order before you let victims go, because chances are you will hear from their attorneys.

2. The Nonbelievers
“Why should we work so hard on this? Even if we come up with a good idea, the boss will probably kill it. If she doesn’t, the market will. I’ve seen this a hundred times before.”

We love the Henry Ford quote: “If you think you can or think you cannot, you are correct.” The difference between the winning team that makes industry-changing innovation happen and the losing one that comes up short is a lack of willpower. Said differently, the winners really believed they could do it, while the losers doubted it was possible.

In our experience, we’ve found the link between believing and succeeding incredibly powerful and real. Great leaders understand this. They find and promote believers within their organizations. They also understand the cancerous effect that nonbelievers have on a team and will cut them out of the organization quickly and without regret.

If you are a leader who says your mission is to innovate, but you have a staff that houses nonbelievers, you are either a lousy leader or in denial. Which is it? You deserve the staff you get. Terminate the nonbelievers.

3. The Know-It-Alls
“You people obviously don’t understand the business we are in. The regulations will not allow an idea like this, and our stakeholders won’t embrace it. Don’t even get me started on our IT infrastructure’s inability to support it. And then there is the problem of ….”

The best innovators are learners, not knowers. The same can be said about innovative cultures; they are learning cultures. The leaders who have built these cultures, either through intuition or experience, know that in order to discover, they must eagerly seek out things they don’t understand and jump right into the deep end of the pool. They must fail fearlessly and quickly and then learn and share their lessons with the team. When they behave this way, they empower others around them to follow suit—and presto, a culture of discovery is born and nurtured.

In school, the one who knows the most gets the best grades, goes to the best college, and gets the best salary. On the job, the person who can figure things out the quickest is often celebrated. And unfortunately, it is often this smartest, most-seasoned employee who eventually becomes expert in using his or her knowledge to explain why things are impossible rather than possible.

This employee should be challenged, retrained, and compensated for failing forward. But if this person’s habits are too deeply ingrained to change, you must let him or her go. Otherwise, this individual will unwittingly keep your team from seeing opportunity right under your noses. The folks at Blockbuster didn’t see Netflix‘s (NFLX) ascendancy. The encyclopedia companies didn’t see Google (GOOG) coming. But the problem of expert blindness existed well before the Internet.

Two of our favorites from rinkworks.com: “This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” —Western Union internal memo, 1876.

And “The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?” —David Sarnoff’s associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s.

At one point in his career, Thomas A. Edison had dozens of inventors working for him at the same time. He charged each with the task of failing forward and sharing the learning from each discovery. All of them needed to believe that they were part of something big. You want the same sort of people.

You don’t want the victims, nonbelievers, or know-it-alls. It is up to you to make sure they take their anti-innovative outlooks elsewhere.

6 Steps to Proper Investing

Introduction

Some people find investment management to be a time-consuming and overwhelming task. For other people it is an enjoyable past-time. No matter your feelings, these six steps will help you to manage your retirement savings properly and with ease.

Step One – Evaluate and understand your investor type.

It is critical to be aware of how you would like to interact with your investments. Perhaps it sounds like we’re recommending that you take a personality quiz. That’s not necessary, but you should take time to truly think about your personality and your feelings about investing. Understanding yourself in this regard will help establish the best plan for retirement investing. Most people will fall into one of three investor type groups: 1) enthusiastic investors, 2) help-me-to-help-myself investors and 3) please-just-do-it-for-me investors.

The enthusiastic investor enjoys finance and analysis. This person wants to be fully engaged in the research and decision-making for their investments. They will take time to research investment options, will understand investing terminology and will actively seek people to discuss investment strategy.

The help-me-to-help-myself investor is interested in investing but needs a push in the right direction. This investor type will have a basic investing plan and will want to discuss ideas for confirmation. A help-me-to-help-myself investor might have the drive to be an enthusiast, but he/she lacks the time to devote to the research necessary to get it done right.

Then there are people who would prefer a completely hands-off approach: the please-just-tell-me-what-to-do group. The people who fall into this group have neither the time nor interest in personally handling retirement planning. Please-just-tell-me-what-to-do types will want someone else to make decisions for them.

Step Two – Understand your tolerance for risk.

The word risk often appears in financial discussions, and it can be confusing and intimidating. Regardless of your investor type or the investments you’ve selected for your retirement savings, you are assuming a certain amount of risk.

In terms of investing, risk refers to the chance to lose your investment in exchange for the chance for gains. Generally, the greater the chance of loss, the greater the chance of higher returns.

Risk is associated with volatility. More volatile investments experience more significant swings in value during a given time frame, which places investments at higher risk. The key to risk is to understand whether you are a more conservative investor or a more aggressive investor. The more time you have until you will need to use your retirement assets, the more aggressive the investment strategy you can employ. A longer time line means you have more time to endure short-term market volatility, and, if you are comfortable doing it, you can focus on long-term growth. The higher the amount of risk you are willing to assume, the higher the potential reward/return you may experience, and vice versa as you pursue more conservative investments. More aggressive investments have historically been highlighted by periods of volatility that investors with short-term horizons (one-to-five years before needing access to retirement assets) may want to limit or avoid.

Step three – Determine the right allocation to fit your risk tolerance.

Familiarize yourself with the risks associated with different asset classes then determine whether you are conservative, moderate, aggressive – or somewhere in between. Take a look at some sample allocations for conservative and aggressive investors:

 

 

Step four – Select funds to fit within your target allocation.

After you’ve determined the right allocation mix for your risk profile, you will need to select the appropriate funds from your investment options – this will likely be the most time-consuming task you face. Using the Asset Class Categories chart from step three, select funds that fit into each category. Mutual funds available to the public (these funds will have a ticker symbol for tracking) will have a prospectus providing necessary information about fund objectives, the management team and fees. You should also review fund style. Funds unavailable to the public still have literature outlining objectives, management and fees – your retirement provider should be able to provide the information.

Research the available funds’ historical performance, management history and associated fees. Look for funds to provide consistent performance rather than a few “hot” investment return situations. Find funds with a stable management team, and avoid funds with too much turnover. Always be aware that higher fund-assessed fees will cut into your return. Weigh all of your available options carefully to choose the most appropriate funds for your allocation.

Step five – Evaluate how current holdings fit your needs.

Review any existing investments within your employer-sponsored plan to determine whether your investment choices fit with your strategy. You worked hard to research and establish your investment plan, so be sure to apply your blueprint to existing retirement investments.

Also evaluate any assets held outside of your employer-sponsored plan. How do these investments fit into your strategy? Do you have IRAs or other retirement plans through previous employment? How does your strategy fit with that of a spouse or partner?

Step six – Monitor your investments and reallocate.

Step six is often forgotten, but it is extremely important. Funds will earn returns at various levels over time, causing your allocation to become weighted differently than you intended. Also, funds are often added or removed from your plan options. Quarterly evaluation and reallocation will help keep your portfolio balanced in the appropriate asset classes and ensure you continue to have the most appropriate choices for your situation.

Monitor the historical performance of your funds, but avoid making short-term decisions. Chasing returns is one of the biggest, and most common, investor mistakes. Its costs investors millions each year. Look for funds to perform consistently and within the parameters outlined by the fund prospectus.

Additionally, personal investment needs change over time, and so must your strategy change. Re-evaluate your time-to-retirement, your lifestyle needs, your health-care expense concerns and your changing tolerance for risk. Do not hesitate to alter your asset allocations as your needs change.

In Conclusion

Retirement investing need not be a black hole of information. With time and patience, any investor can make decisions to move toward retirement goals. For individuals who cannot devote the necessary time to active portfolio management, there are cost-effective solutions. Stop guessing about your retirement and start planning your future.

Everything is getting more expensive. Except for people, they are getting cheaper.

Love can sometimes be magic. But magic can sometimes…just be an illusion.

Never apologise for saying what you feel, its like saying "sorry for being real"

lonely am i

Lonely am I Lonely are the nights Lonely are the days Lonely am I, in so many ways Lonely are the seasons Lonely are the years So lonely am I, that it brings tears. Lonely is this place Lonely is my life Lonely am I, that I reach for a knife Lonely is this court room Lonely is my sentence So lonely am I that I ask for repentance

'The brain is a wonderful organ; it starts working the moment you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get into the office' - Robert Frost