Grin and Barrett

My Biggest Blogging News Ever

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Barrett) — Wed, 2 Jan 2008 10:55:00 -0600

After making you wait for 15 days, I will finally unveil my big announcement.

August 24th, 2004 was my first post on Grin and Barrett. I was naive and unsure about where my blogging journey would take me, but when I started it was with the intention of becoming a better writer and thought what better way than to write something as often as possible to accomplish that goal.

At some point I switched from self improvement, via telling stories about my personal life, to telling people about my work, which at the time was a pastor. Then when my job switched to small business, I switched my writing to the topic business issues. I absolutely love business, it is what I do every day and I still like spending my personal time writing about it. But, unfortunately the base readership of my blog enjoys reading personal stories more than business rhetoric, so for the last 2 years I've been torn between writing about what I love and alienating my readership.

Unable to figure out the balance between readership and material, and having more than accomplished my "become a better writer" goal, over 572 posts in 3 years, 4 months and 10 days, this my 573rd post will be my last.

Throughout my journey, I've had 25,521 visits with November 2007 being my biggest month ever at 1,518 visits according to my Sitemeter statistics. I've had readers from many countries across 6 continents (I never could find a reader in Antarctica). You left me 1,164 comments, which to the dismay of my wife was a continual source of self esteem, or lack there of as the case may be.

As a result of my writing, I received email from many people. Some were close friends, some became good friends and one was the District Attorney of Arizona as a result of a story I blogged about. A quick word of caution, be careful that the people you are blogging about aren't wanted by multiple states and by federal agencies. I wasn't aware, and perhaps you aren't either, that a common way to conduct an investigation is by doing a Google search and reading blogs. My apologies to the DA's office, I quickly read, deleted and never responded to your email. Avoidance seemed to be the best prudence at that time.

A quick side note of typical Grin and Barrett humor. After more than a year of unsuccessful persuasion that I should have my own domain name for my blog, my wife did the unsuspected by visiting Go Daddy to buy me my very own domain name as a Christmas present this year. What would have been the best gift ever, quickly became what she described as "a lame gift" when I told her the week before Christmas that after about a month of deep and serious contemplation I was going to quit blogging.

Anyone want to buy a domain name cheap?
Probably not.
What might have been.

I'll still be involved in the blogosphere as the occasional commenter, and may even resurface one day as a writer. For Barrett family updates, you'll have to rely on my lovely wife, the Rocky Mountain Mom, Deann. But from me, for now, it's farewell.

Thanks for reading and an even bigger thanks for commenting.

Merry Christmas: A Video Christmas Card

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Barrett) — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 20:31:00 -0600

Last year I got this great idea to send out a Christmas video card to my friends. So after a few days of shooting and a few more of editing, here is our first Christmas Video Card.

You should already have this delivered to your inbox, but just in case I missed you, I thought I'd post it here as well.

Merry Christmas to all from the Barretts!

Hope you enjoyed it. The singing wasn't my idea, but I made way for a greater creative genius. You know me... All about the team effort.

Also, closer to the first of the year, I've got some BIG news about blogging here at Grin and Barrett. (My attempt at a teaser)

Elf Yourself

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Barrett) — Thu, 6 Dec 2007 22:51:00 -0600

Christmas is arriving soon, my posts lately haven't been very humorous, and it's almost the weekend. So, if you're looking for something funny, check out this Barrett Christmas dance routine. Brought to you by Office Max, we "Elfed Ourselves"

If you like, you can Elf Yourself too!

Walking the Halls

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Barrett) — Wed, 5 Dec 2007 12:59:00 -0600

Today was the last day of one of the classes I'm teaching. During the time where the students fill out the teacher evaluation forms, I left the room and walked the halls a little. While meandering around, I overheard this girl talking on her cell phone make the following statement.

"...that's when I changed my major to Sociology. Then my advisor said I was too smart for that and I should switch to Psychology..."

To the normal person, that might sound like typical girl talk, or even a girl explaining to her parents why she has switched majors twice this semester. However, to me I took it as a great opportunity to make myself feel better about myself.

You see, my wife, who is way smarter than I ever could be and had a much higher GPA than I ever dreamed of, majored in Sociology. I, on the other hand, majored in Psychology (business too). So, I now have definitive proof that the reason my GPA wasn't as good as my wife's wasn't because she was smarter than I was, but rather because my major was a much harder major. Ahhh - my self-esteem has risen 2% thanks to some ditsy girl in the hallway.

Kiss and Make-Up

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Barrett) — Tue, 4 Dec 2007 16:33:00 -0600

I just finished two books. Well actually one and a half. Kiss and Make-Up, the one I finished, is one of my new favorite biographical accounts. Gene Simmons of rock legends KISS , is best known for breathing fire and spitting blood on stage. But what I found fascinating were the typical stereo types of a hard rocker being a drugged, drunk ignorant fool, were quickly dispelled when I began to realize that Gene has not only never drank, smoked or done drugs, well except for the time he ate a brownie that he didn't know was a "special" brownie, but he is also a very intelligent business person. According to his account, he was one of the driving forces behind the branding (though it wasn't called branding back then) that KISS became known for. The book was a little rough in content at times, so be prepared for that. Nothing vulgar, but I wouldn't read it to my kids a bed time story either.

Though I haven't been a big fan of it for some time, I'm actually planning on tuning in to Season 7 of the Apprentice, the celebrity edition because Gene Simmons will be one of the cast members. I'm excited to watch, because I'm curious to find out if he's a good businessman in his own mind, or if he's good enough to stand up to Donald.

The half a book I read was Kingdomality. Looked interesting on the cover. The overview said something to the effect of "new way to manage your business" so I thought why not?

The reality was it was the same management dribble that consultants have been peddling since the late 90's when First Break all the Rules came out. It took the same tired concept of figuring out the personalities of your staff, determining what their strengths are and then what yours are and labeling them all so you know who should be doing what job withing your organization. Only, it would have been too close to plagiarism of about a hundred other books, so they gave everyone cute little names like White Knight, Black Knight, Minstrel, etc. Essentially what the whole Otter, Golden Retriever, Choleric, Sanguine, fad did to Meyers Briggs. Cute names, but cute names only go so far.

I admit I only made it about half way through before yawning and returning the book to the library, but I'm sure I can guess at the ending. The book told in story form, also a rip off from the "Who Moved My Cheese" format probably sounded something like, "The now much wiser king returned to his kingdom to improve things with his much better understanding of how to be a good manager of people. Blah, Blah, Blah."

My ratings:

Kiss and Make-Up - 4 stars

Kingdomality - the 1 and 1/2 stars

10 Perfectly Good Reasons to NOT Grow Your Business (Part 2)

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Barrett) — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 10:16:00 -0600

Continuing on with part two of reasons not to grow your business; reasons 6-10:

You don't want to risk going through the growth stage again - Once upon a time, when you were a younger person, you had time to make and lose a fortune. However, if you now find yourself approaching retirement or making plans that require financial security, growing your business may not be such a great idea. Though the risk is less than when you started your business, there is still a risk that you may fail, and thereby lose everything you've worked to obtain so far. Just like your investment strategy with stocks and bonds, if you don't need the money for years, then you put your money in high-growth, high-risk investments. But if you need the money sooner than later, you begin to invest in bonds, T-Bills and other less risky ventures so you can be sure your money is still there when you need it. Your business is your investment, don't get risky with it if you need your money soon.

You have personal health issues (you're not as young as you once were) - Added stress impairs the body's immune system. So, it makes perfect sense that if you are having personal health issues such as high blood pressure, cholesterol, ulcers, depression or one of hundreds of other issues, adding additional stress to your life is going to limit your body's ability to fend off additional problems. Use some common sense before adding what might be unnecessary stress to your life. Having a heart attack, sitting behind your desk while facing the pressures of growth is no way to die.

Your family needs you more - Allow me to climb on my soapbox... America today is more concerned with the balance of their bank account than they are with the balance in their life. Workaholics, in part, work so much because they feel that if they provide financially for their family, they will be viewed as a better spouse, father or mother. In reality, your kids and your spouse aren't going to stand by your hospital bed while you breathe your last few breaths and say, "Gee I'm so glad you put in all those 80 hour weeks while you were growing your business because I really value the brand name clothes you bought me more than I would have ever valued spending time with you. Look, I brought those really cool shoes you got me when you were feeling guilty about missing my third grade school play to show you I still have them." - Okay enough said.

You like status quo - If you're happy with how things are going, why mess up what's not broke? Some half-cocked business consultant may try telling you that "water that isn't flowing is stagnant and stagnant water stinks" To that I say, "Whatever!" Our culture is against status quo, and screams that there must always be a better way, a more efficient way, a bigger way of doing things. Sometimes the answer is simply, "I just like it the way it is." and that's okay.

You haven't reached optimal efficiency with your current size - If you're set and determined to grow your business and the previous nine reasons didn't fit you, then please make sure you are currently running your business at its optimal efficiency. As your business begins to grow, you will be forced to let go of the little details and delegate to someone else those responsibilities. However, if there is waste, mistakes and bumps in the road that are causing even the smallest level of problems in your business now, growth isn't going to fix this. It's going to magnify it. Your 4% inaccuracy problem now is going to grow to 6% or 8% while you grow because you are no longer there to monitor everything that happens. Before you start the growth, prepare for it and tighten things up.

Understand a few things here, I am not saying you should never try to grow your business, nor am I saying you will fail if you try. I am giving strong caution to someone who feels the need to grow your business despite qualifying for one of these reasons.

Perhaps Alice Walker sums up my final thoughts best when she said, "No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow."

10 Perfectly Good Reasons to NOT Grow Your Business (Part 1)

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Barrett) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:05:00 -0600

I continually hear people talk about how to grow your business. 7 steps to successful growth or 15 reasons why your business isn't growing. I have nothing wrong with most of what these people say, accept the assumption behind what they are saying is that everyone should want to grow their business.

The mentality behind the notion that growing your business is the only acceptable way of life is very American. We super size everything, we grow bigger cattle and corn with more ears on the stalk, and we push ourselves to do everything we do in some kind of bigger than life Americanized way. It is assumed that it is our patriotic duty to make everything bigger.

I've had several conversations with everyone from business owners to pastors of churches about growth. While I might get run out of town by my business coaching friends, I'm serious when I say "Not everyone should grow their business".

So, here is my rebuttal to those other lists. My 10 Perfectly Good Reasons to NOT Grow Your Business

You don't want to spend the time required - 12 years ago last month I ran the Omaha marathon. I trained 6 months solid for it and ran countless miles to prepare. Am I glad I did it? Absolutely! Do I ever want to do it again? Absolutely not! I don't have the time, nor am I willing to make the time to train for another one. Similarly, it took a lot of blood sweat and tears to get your business going. There's nothing wrong with saying I'd rather not go through that again. If you have priorities that are more important than growing your business, then you are wrong to neglect them and grow your business anyway. There are only so many hours in a day. Spending them foolishly, out of priority, is not the way to live.

You don't have the resources available to grow - Yes, we're the richest nation in the world and yes, our government still helps small business owners get started with some wonderful loan programs, but money really doesn't grow on trees... I just checked. If you don't have the money, people, space, etc to effectively grow your business, don't start the growth with some half hearted and half funded attempt. Underfunding is one of the main reasons that start up businesses fail. The same is true for business growth failures. Growing your business without the resources needed will guarantee your failure.

You like the size of your small staff - How many times have you heard the phrase "The next Bill Gates"? It's what every American dreams of isn't it? We are all supposed to want to be Billionaire Bill. But there is nothing wrong with admitting that you like to drive into your office and seeing the same 5 to 10 employees that you know well. You even attend their kid's soccer games on the weekends and vacation together in the summer. Maybe in the beginning, Bill Gates went to a few soccer games, but at this point I doubt he knows more than 10% of his employees by name, much less knows their kid's name. If you like your small staff, you don't have to give it up. Just don't grow your business.

You're happy with your current financial situation - I know it's hard to believe, but there might actually be someone out there that can honestly say, "I really don't need to make any more money. Actually, I'm quite happy with my current income and have the things I want." It doesn't make exciting news, so we hear more about the athlete renegotiating their contract or the CEO's massive pay raise, than we do the ones saying I don't need more money, let the rookie have it. But, somewhere out there I believe it exists.

You don't have an ego - This is what most people fall under. They want to grow their business because they have some kind of self worth wrapped up in the size of their business. "Well Johnathon at the country club has 40 employees... I want 40 employees". Unfortunately, this is by far the worst reason to grow your business, but perhaps the most common reason. If you are able to get over yourself you may find the desire to grow your business goes away. If not, they now make a little blue pill that may help with your self esteem issues.

Part 2 (reasons 6-10) will be tomorrow.

Terry's Take on Business

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Barrett) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:54:00 -0600

At my job there are a handful of "go to" people. These are the people that I can count on without fail, and know that no matter who I refer to them for assistance they will always exceed my client's expectations.

Terry Zarsky is one of these people. As the Business Reference Librarian she provides information on everything business. Okay, I admit her title isn't that flashy, but when you are as good as she is, you don't need a flashy title.

She also writes a great synopsis and review of business books. So, if you're like me and you love to stay up with the latest and greatest business book, but you don't have time to read (or like me you don't like to read), check out her blog. Terry's Take on Business.

The Greatest Website Ever

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Barrett) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 12:39:00 -0600

As part of my exploration for the perfect ring tone on my new cell phone, I came across what I think is perhaps the greatest website of all time in the history of mankind.

Think back to when you were a kid. What was your favorite television show you watched? Was it the Smurfs? Transformers? Maybe Fraggle Rock? How about Dallas or Knots Landing? Maybe you're a little older than I am and it was Bonanza, The Big Valley or Gunsmoke.

Regardless of what your favorite show was, Television Tunes has over 3000 TV theme songs for your listening enjoyment.

I got started Friday night around 10:30 and finally quit listening at around 1:30am. For some reason it brought back so many memories of being a kid and watching television on the couch with my parents, or on Saturday morning watching cartoons on the kitchen floor. It even helped me find my new ring tone.

Lessons From Verizon

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Barrett) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 12:12:00 -0600

I took advantage of some holiday / vacation time to get into Verizon and renew my cell phone contract, and want to share some points of interest about this experience.

I learned that there are Verizon owned stores and then there are Verizon authorized dealerships. As we all know, when you sign a contract with Verizon, there are the early termination fees for cancelling your contract. What I didn't know was that when you sign with an authorized dealership, not only are you signing a contract with Verizon, but also with that dealership. So, if you ever have to cancel your contract early, you will be charged the early termination fee from Verizon, but you may also be charged by the dealership as well. Double Whammy!

Another reason to go direct to the Verizon owned store is that the customer service is much better. They greeted me at the door, helped me register my arrival on their kiosk and allowed me to browse for a few minutes before my name was called to meet with someone. When we arrived at the authorized dealership, we waited for 15 minutes in the store and not once were we approached by anyone to even say "Hey we're kind of busy, but I see you and I'll help you as soon as I can."

I learned that cell phones need to have patches or upgrades installed just like computers. So if you find your cell phone not working as smoothly as it once did, check to see about getting an upgrade installed.

I rediscovered that deciding on a ring tone is one of the most stressful events in life. I now rank it above deciding on a user name and password for your email account. After hours of endless searching, browsing, listening and stressing I made my selections.

When you call me - Theme from Magnum PI

When my wife calls me - Angel by Aerosmith

Bob Newheart: Stop It

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Barrett) — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 21:17:00 -0600

If you have ever in your life tried to give someone else advice on how to improve their situation and they didn't follow your advice to the "T", then you know the frustration that goes with being a counselor. Now, if you've actually ever counselled someone professionally, be it a consultant, a pastor or even a therapist, then you absolutely know this frustration.

After spending almost 2 years consulting with small business owners, 4 years before that as a pastor, and my whole life knowing exactly what everyone else should do to fix their problems (okay, that last one might be a bit of a stretch - I wasn't that good until I was 6 years old) I have not found any one thing to better illustrate the feelings and emotions that rage within me from time to time when I deal with complete idiots who couldn't fall off a house and hit the ground to save their lives.

Enjoy...

So, what ever it is that you're dealing with that causes you problems... STOP IT!

Business Prenuptials

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Barrett) — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 13:11:00 -0600

One of the most common questions I hear from people starting a business is "Should I be a sole-proprietor, LLC, S-Corp or C-Corp and what's the difference?"

One of the most unasked questions is "Should I have a contract / operating agreement / buy sell agreement with the person I'm going into business with?"

There are many factors involved in the first question, but only one for the second. Should you have such an agreement with your business partner? Yes - Emphatically YES! I can't stress the importance of this. I don't care if you are best friends. I don't care if you are brothers - identical twins, that grew up never fighting and would die for each other. This is a must have.

While everything might seem like a marriage made in Heaven today, the chances are that there will come a time when someone will want out or need out of the business. It is at this time that the agreement gets pulled out and acts like a prenuptial between the two partners who are married through the business. Without it, chances are you will end up in the business equivalent of divorce court.

Here are the general scenarios I usually use to convince people of the importance:

One of you decides you get tired of the business
A better opportunity comes along for one of you and you need out to pursue the other opportunity
One of you decides to retire and wants the other to buy them out.
Your partner dies unexpectedly and his will gives his share of the business to his wife, who wants nothing to do with the business nor does she have the expertise to run the business.
Bottom line, the future is uncertain and you never know what tomorrow holds - both good and bad.

If they say "Gosh, I guess we should look into doing that sometime in the next year or so." I say, "Gosh, you're an idiot and should really do that this week before any of those 5 things have a chance to occur."

I've seen some (and heard more) horror stories of business partners with good intentions but no agreement get started fine, but end in "custody battles" worse than a Hollywood divorce. How much easier it would be to pull out a piece of paper that you both signed and read word for word how to handle the situation.

Yes, it will cost you a few hundred dollars to have an attorney draft up the thing. So? Even if it costs you $1000, it will be the best $1000 you've ever spent to save the friendship you enjoy today.

I know this analogy of marriage, divorce and business is a little crude, but honestly, if 50% of the marriages end in divorce and 50% of the businesses fail in the first 5 years, what do you think the chances of your business partnership lasting "till death do you part"?

Sentinels of Freedom

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Barrett) — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:33:00 -0600

Last week I heard Mike Conklin speak about his Sentinels of Freedom project. After one of his three Army Ranger sons was injured in Iraq, Mike decided he should do something to reach out to the wounded soldiers when they return back home.

His four year program helps veterans with "severe service-related injuries" by assisting them to become independent and successful members of society.

The Denver news ran a great story about Ian Newland, one individual whose life was changed as a result of Mike's efforts. [News Story Here]

Mike told stories of businesses opening up positions for these individuals to help provide a career for them and train them so they could not just receive their disability check, but actually feel a sense of pride that they are contributing something again.

What a cool program.

Haze - Movie Trailer

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Barrett) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:21:00 -0600

I usually save mention of Omega Alpha Chi, my college fraternity, until it's closer to April when I take a weekend and go back to Lincoln, Nebraska for our alumni weekend. However, I just got an email from a client of mine who said his friend had just put together a video called Haze about the fraternity drinking problem.

There were many reasons why I chose to start a new fraternity instead of joining an already existing one on campus. One of the reasons was the drinking and hazing that was growing in popularity in the early 90's just seemed stupid, but no one else realized it.

Here is the trailer - A bit long, but pretty dramatic and very effective in communicating the message.

Are You Convincing or Compelling Customers?

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Barrett) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 15:10:00 -0600

Last Thursday I attended the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce 115th Annual Dinner at the Broadmoor. It was a nice evening of typical fancy ballroom awards. My friend, and killer web designer, the "web diva" Michelle Bracewell snapped this picture and I asked her for a copy. I then pointed out the top of my head, the side of News Anchor John Karroll, who sat at my table, and the speaker, Chamber CEO Dave Csintyan (sin-tain).

Dave was making some great points while I was looking down because I forgot paper and pen and was typing as fast as I could into my memo pad on my cell phone. Here are my notes, thoughts and reactions to what Dave said.

Do you want your customers to be convinced or compelled? Think about this for a second. No one really wants to have to convince people to become their customers, instead we want people to be compelled to call us up and volunteer to become our customers.

Whether or not you are succeeding at compelling them or not can be answered by the question, "Do you have to coerce or manipulate people with gimmicks and pricing or other sales tactics to get clients, or are your existing clients people who are your evangelists that do the convincing for you?"

If you compel, then this implies:

Your quality of product and service is good
Your customer service is outstanding
Your personal relationships with customers are strong

Without these, you are left with convincing.

However, you must have all three parts of this for it to work and the most important part is the relationships with customers.

Let me give you an example. Do you like the toilet paper you currently use? Does it always come packaged conveniently with the same cardboard tube in the middle? Do they always have it on the shelf of the store when you run out? Is it soft and comfortable to use? Do you actually know the guy who delivers it?

See! You probably said "yes" to all but the last question. Without relationships with your customers, you will never develop an evangelist to do the convincing for you. As a result of this, you probably don't open up many conversations by saying, "Hi, my name is... and I love Charmin toilet paper. Let me tell you about it."

When you begin to think about attracting a potential client, give second thought to the last time you attracted an existing client.

Feeling Sick, But Not This Sick

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Barrett) — Wed, 7 Nov 2007 14:38:00 -0600

Just a quick post as I think I'm heading home sick this afternoon instead of going to the Southern Colorado Economic Cluster.

Being an entrepreneur today seems to require picking out your own social cause to support if you want to be successful. I've seen green issues (by the way is anyone else sick of green week?) 3rd world country issues and perhaps popularized by Brangenlina I've seen adoption issues.

But, I never thought I'd see this kind of adoption story. That's just sick!

What ever happened to just being an entrepreneur?

You Tube For Business

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Barrett) — Mon, 5 Nov 2007 17:31:00 -0600

When I'm teaching a class, like I'm getting ready to do now, I like to use video as an illustration for my point, or even sometimes just for the humor factor.

So recently, I've been spending some time searching the only spot to get your video illustrations - You Tube.

However, I've made several observations about what's on You Tube.

There isn't much humor on anything financial (class tonight is on accounting). Maybe that's because there isn't much funny about accounting, but I was surprised that I couldn't find anything that related to money that was funny enough to use tonight.
Business consultants make horrible You Tube videos to present their materials. If you're going to put yourself up on the web for all to see, don't use a flip chart. Even if you are Robert Kiyosaki.
There is a huge untapped market on You Tube for businesses. Similar to how businesses have begun to use blogs to promote their product and increase customer retention. I don't know how it's going to look, but somewhere out there is some 18 year old computer science major developing the idea right now.
You Tube is in essence a great place to go see slapstick humor, bizarre things and even some cute things, but I don't think it's reached its potential yet.
Maybe Oprah will help things move along faster. She now has her own You Tube channel. Oprah on YouTube - YIPPEE!!! (typed with much sarcasm)

The Truth Is Out There

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Barrett) — Thu, 1 Nov 2007 10:23:00 -0500

I just heard the best news I've heard in a long time and I believe.

My once favorite TV show, The X Files, is coming out with a movie sequel. I can't wait. I know this takes away lots of the credibility I've spent the last few years building, but geek reputation or not, I'm going to see this movie.

It's been a long time since I've thought of things like Smoking Man, the Syndicate, Krycek, Skinner, the Lone Gunmen and even my once TV hottie crush Scully . Okay, I'll admit I was young and impressionable, but come on - what was hotter than a red headed chick swinging a gun and carrying an FBI badge? (Other than my wife)

The Entrepreneurial Spirit In The Fall

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Barrett) — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 22:55:00 -0500

Part of an entrepreneurial spirit is the belief that you can do anything. Following that belief is the belief that if you can't do it today, you'll be able to teach yourself by tomorrow.

So, when I discovered that my son loves pumpkin pie I thought to myself, we need to make a pumpkin pie for him to eat. The air is crisp and smells like fall and it's perfect pumpkin pie weather. However, this couldn't be just any pumpkin pie made with canned pumpkin. Oh, no - this had to be a pumpkin pie made from a real pumpkin, fresh from the patch.

The only problem with this was I've never made a pie before in my life. So I got online and found a recipe with instructions on preparing the pumpkin and got to work.

I may not be a professional pie and pastry chef (yet) but it doesn't mean that I couldn't if I worked hard enough at it.

The end result, I have to say, was pretty amazing. But don't take my word for it. Judge by the expression on his face.

Dealing With Difficult Personalities

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Barrett) — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 11:33:00 -0500

I spoke last week to a group on dealing with difficult personalities. I'm not sure if they chose me for that topic because I'm a difficult personality or because I'm good at doing it. But in either case, I thought I'd share my notes.

Dealing with difficult personalities (DP) is an art form. There is never one consistent way it can be done. In math 2+2 always equals 4, but with personalities, sometimes 2+2=4, and sometimes 1+1+2=4, while other times it's 1+3=4.

The first thing you have to learn about DP's is an understanding of general concepts and applied knowledge. You won't be learning a formula that is always the same. You'll be learning some general concepts and then how to apply knowledge from one situation to another.

The second thing you have to learn is that a person with a DP is not someone that is broken or wrong, they simply don't fit in with the majority of opinions or personalities in your small group acting the way they presently do. This is caused primarily by 3 situations - cultural differences, personal insecurities and/or inner turmoil. Understanding what the source of the problem is will help overcome the problems caused by the DP.

The final thing to learn is a basic understanding of how individuals form small groups where these DP's become a problem. There are 4 steps to the creation of a small groups. First proposed by Bruce Tuckman, the stages are:

Forming - people get together, meet and create the group
Storming - people voice personal ideas and opinions and push the limits of the group
Norming - people set the boundaries and establish norms
Performing - the group begins to function effectively

Understanding this process will help place an importance on effectively dealing with the DP earlier instead of later. If you wait weeks to deal with a problem, the group stays in limbo between Storing and Norming and never reaches Performing, which makes for a frustrating and ineffective group. By handling the problem earlier, the group can quickly move to the Performing stage, which is the desired result.

Now with a basic understanding and some background, here are the 3 steps to dealing with difficult personalities.

Establish and understand why there is a problem:

cultural - they don't understand what is socially acceptable
insecurity - they feel insecure and it causes them to react socially unacceptable
inner turmoil - they are going through a rough time in their life which has modified their normally socially acceptable behavior.
Do this by perception and assumption or research by asking them directly.

Formulate a plan:

immediate - done to the group when something potentially harmful to the others in the group has been said or done. This brings an immediate correction to the individual. It has the potential to be harmful so it must be handled correctly and with care.
private - used for most issues - This method respects their self esteem and personal security.
public - if it has a general application that everyone in the group can benefit from if a generic correction is made. This doesn't involve singling the DP out, but addresses the entire group with a corporate issue.

Execute the plan:

Always keep their self-esteem a top priority
Always keep the performance of the group the very top priority. More important than the individual is the group. Don't let the group take second place to the individual. This empowers the individual to continue to cause problems.
Ask yourself, "How will this plan effect the individual / the group?" Think of all of the potential outcomes and prepare for the worst of them. If the worst doesn't happen, then things are better than expected.
Make notes to yourself before confronting. In confrontation, the person being confronted will often want to distract you from your original points, which causes you to be ineffective. Making notes makes your actions deliberate and keeps you on track.
Preface your comments with anticipated objections so you diffuse responses. Giving disclaimers doesn't weaken your position. Instead it provides assurance to them on the front side of things and helps lay the ground work to overcome any misunderstandings. By saying "I don't want you to think we don't like you, but here is the problem..." You have reduced the potential for the individual to become hostile because they are feeling attacked. You have just reassured them that you like them, which implies you wouldn't attack them.
Always reassure them in the end - Restate all of your prefaces again to remind them everything is going to be okay. Something like "I don't know if that came out right, but I want to assure you again that we like you we just don't want this problem anymore."

Remember these things:

If your stuck - ask for help - find someone who can independently provide insight into the problem.
Difficult personalities are the leaf, not the root of the problem. Try to get to the root.
Dealing with people is an art form. Always look for the best way to solve this problem and don't just repeat what worked last time.
You can eliminate most problems by setting the expectations for the group in the forming stage. Then when a problem arises, you can refer to the ground rules of the group.

The Greasy Spoon Review: Conway's Red Top

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Barrett) — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 16:50:00 -0500

It's been almost 2 years since I've done my Greasy Spoon Review, so I thought it was about time to clog the arteries and visit another greasy spoon in Colorado Springs. Besides, I've been working hard to lose weight and I can afford to eat a little carelessly every once in a while.

Conway's Red Top is a typical burger joint with some distinctive throw back decorations to the 1970's. The booths had that great dark wood railing that shouted "I've been watching greasy burgers be devoured here since 1974.

The sign out front features their name sake "Red Top". I must say I was a little confused about this at first, because I was expecting a red roof and not a toy top. Fortunately neither have much to do with taste and the top is kind of cute.

The menu had lots to choose from, but going for the full experience, I knew immediately upon reading the description what I was going to order - the Chili Cheese Burger. When the waitress asked me if I wanted the half or the whole, I paused only to convey the image that I am not a greasy burger eating, fat slob like her other patrons, but instead am a sophisticated connoisseur of tasty foods. Then I said, "Bring me the whole"

You can see from the picture that the whole was definitely whole. Covering the whole dinner plate and more than covered with chili and cheese, I ate and ate and ate, but couldn't eat the whole thing. Of course the order of onion rings and the chocolate malt may have contributed to that as well.

My wife and youngest son are drinking their chocolate shakes. I like it because they serve it right in the metal cup and don't even waste the energy to pour it into another glass. Plastic cups are for sissies. Real greasy spooners drink right from the frosty metal cup.

My Review:
The atmosphere, which always plays an important part in the greasy spoon experience was average. While the decor was old and worn (a plus) it didn't have specific character. Other than the original 1970's booths, there wasn't much that stood out. No gaudy art work or bowling trophy was to be seen. While you could smell and hear the sizzle of grease on the fryer in the back, you couldn't see the food being cooked, which is always a plus in my opinion.

The menu was varied with chicken, burgers, fries, rings and "frings" which is a great idea including a 1/2 order of fries and a 1/2 order of rings. There was dessert, but honestly, you're a monster if you can eat it all and then ask for dessert.

The service was great. Our waitress was friendly and knowledgeable and had a good sense of humor, which always adds to the experience.

Overall, I'd give Conway's Red Top 3 greasy spoons.

Remodeling Project Update: Did It Myself

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Barrett) — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 22:38:00 -0500

A couple of months ago, I mentioned my DIY project involving extending a wall and building some cabinets in a dead space. After two and a half months and an estimated 60 hours of man-time, I finally finished it up this past weekend.

Here are some pictures.

Before: You can see the wall above the fireplace is shorter and there is a dead space to the left that is filled with a hutch.

After: The wall above the fireplace is expanded to hold our new 42" flat screen. The dead space with the hutch was filled in with custom cabinets. The top has two niches containing art, the third contains the A/V components. In the middle is our family's fish tank on the left and a pull out DVD storage on the right. Below are 2 cabinets for storage and the lower right contains the sub woofer speaker.

The pull out DVD storage cabinet.

There is definitely something to be said for the sense of accomplishment you get for doing it yourself.

Why I'm Not A Newspaper Reporter

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Barrett) — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 12:39:00 -0500

I had a great lunch with fellow blogger and author Barry Moltz yesterday. However, I quickly came to the conclusion yesterday that perhaps I was not cut out to be a newspaper style reporter with interview questions or perhaps even one of those bloggers that gives you "10 questions with..."

So, I've decided to come up with the 5 reasons why I'm not a newspaper reporter, based on my lunch with Barry yesterday.

I get sidetracked too easily and only remembered once that I wanted to ask some questions to blog about today.
I forgot to bring pen and paper.
We spent more time talking about our families and personal lives than we did anything blog worthy.
I got wrapped up in phone calls and talk radio on the drive to lunch and I forgot to prepare a list of question to ask. (back to the sidetracked too easily issue I think)
I forgot to ask the one question I actually did come up with yesterday.

Good news is, I had a great lunch, enjoyed the conversation we did have and am very excited about the possibility of him coming back in June to speak at our luncheon.

Also, his new book, "Bounce", is on Amazon now, but not for sale yet. Can't wait.

Lunch With Barry Moltz

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Barrett) — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 10:58:00 -0500

Being the "good professor" that I am, I'm taking the time to post this blog in the middle of the mid-term exam I'm giving to my students. As stressful as a mid-term was as a student, I had no concept of how boring it would be for the faculty.

After this, I'm on my way up to the Denver airport to meet Barry Moltz for lunch. I'm a big fan of Barry's and my wife has even criticized me for going to meet with him just because I'm a fan. In reality, I'm meeting with him to discuss the possibility of coming to Colorado for our Small Business Awards Luncheon as the keynote speaker and I'm simply taking advantage of him already being in Colorado for another speaking engagement.

So, on my hour drive north I'm planning on coming up with a list of questions for Barry that I can post tomorrow. I'm thinking something like, "If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?"

Okay, maybe something more like, "Your new book, titled "Bounce" is coming out soon. How do you hope it will impact the entrepreneurial community."

The Devil Is In The Details

noreply@blogger.com (Matt Barrett) — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 15:44:00 -0500

There is truth the statement "The Devil is in the details" on many levels, but for me the truth is that Satan himself, pitchfork and all, is the mental image I get when I look at the stack of boring paperwork facing me and the drudgery of follow up that I have to do to wrap up last weeks event.

Top it all off with an accreditation review this afternoon, where for 2 hours I get asked question after question about the details of process and procedure. It's almost like being a kid again and telling your mom that you actually made your bed by neatly pulling up the sheet, then the blanket and then finally the comforter, when in reality, you just flopped the comforter on top and hope she doesn't see the lumps underneath. (unless Jim from the accreditation team is reading this, in which case I not only neatly made my bed, but I also starched the sheets as I ironed them)

I read this article for some insight as to how to survive the details. Hoping for at least some inspiration, the only thing I came away with is the thought that the author probably is one of those retentive Nazis that irons his underwear and has no concept of joy without details.

My final answer is one that we all know. You can enjoy the big picture or you can enjoy the details. If you enjoy the big picture, you can even train yourself to tolerate the details, but in the end you revert back to the big picture. Point being, I have a killer headache all because of the details and I'm now thinking about filing for workman's comp because I've injured my brain from spending so much time looking at details - no not really.

All I want to do is go home, lay on the couch, and see the big moving picture hung on my wall as I close my eyes and sleep.