For Hospitality, Tourism & MICE Professionals

Thursday Edition  •  Shift Happens!®  •  James D. Feldman, CSP

Not because your property wasn’t right for the group.

Not because your sales manager didn’t work hard.

Because the competing property knew things your team didn’t. They knew what room rates the market was running. They knew the client had been burned by a similar venue six months ago. They knew the meeting planner’s top priority was F&B flexibility, not square footage.

They walked in with intelligence. You walked in with a brochure.

That gap has a name. It’s called competitive blind spots. And it costs properties millions in lost group business every year.

Meet the Research Tool Your Competitors Aren’t Using Yet.

It’s called Perplexity. And right now, it’s the most underused competitive advantage in group sales.

Here’s the simplest way to describe it: Perplexity is what you’d get if Google and ChatGPT had a smarter, more honest child. You ask it a research question. It searches the live web in real time, reads the actual sources, synthesizes the answer — and then shows you exactly where every piece of information came from.

No hallucinations. No stale training data. No wading through twelve pages of search results hoping to find the one paragraph that matters.

Just answers. With receipts.

Why Not Just Use Google? Or ChatGPT?

Fair question. Here’s the honest answer.

Google gives you links. You still have to click, read, synthesize, and decide what matters. For a quick search, fine. For competitive research before a high-stakes RFP? You’re spending two hours you don’t have.

ChatGPT is brilliant at synthesis — but its knowledge has a cutoff date. Ask it about a competitor’s current group rates or a recently renovated ballroom and it may confidently give you information that’s a year out of date. In a market moving as fast as hospitality, that’s a liability.

Perplexity does what neither does alone. It pulls live data from the web, synthesizes it the way ChatGPT would, and cites every source so you can verify anything that matters. It’s faster than Google. It’s more current than ChatGPT. And for competitive intel, it’s in a different league than both.

Here’s What This Looks Like Before Your Next RFP Response.

Picture this: A meeting planner sends you an RFP for a 200-person corporate retreat. Three competing properties are already on the short list. You have 48 hours to respond.

The old playbook: pull your standard proposal template, fill in the dates and room counts, maybe tweak the F&B package, and hit send.

The Perplexity playbook: spend 20 minutes doing what your competitors won’t.

• Ask Perplexity what the competing properties have been promoting for group business in the last 90 days.
• Ask it what recent reviews say about their event execution — specifically from meeting planners, not leisure guests.
• Ask it what that client company’s recent events have looked like — themes, locations, headcounts, any public coverage.
• Ask it what group travel trends are dominant in that client’s industry right now.

Now you’re not just responding to an RFP. You’re responding to this client, at this moment, with real awareness of what they’ve seen before and what your competition is putting on the table.

That’s not a marginal improvement. That’s a different conversation entirely.

Your Copy-Paste Competitor Research Prompt

Go to perplexity.ai, start a new search, and paste this in. Replace the brackets with your specifics.

Run that once. Read what comes back. You’ll know more about your competitive landscape in 20 minutes than most properties learn in a month.

And because Perplexity cites its sources, if something looks off — or critically important — you can click straight through to the original article, review, or press release.

The Bigger Picture: Intelligence Is Now a Sales Skill.

The best group sales people have always been the best-prepared ones. They knew the client. They knew the competition. They walked in with context.

What’s changed is the cost of that preparation. It used to take hours. A skilled researcher, a dedicated pre-sales process, subscriptions to industry intelligence tools.

Now it takes 20 minutes and a free account at perplexity.ai.

The properties that figure this out first aren’t just going to win more RFPs. They’re going to win the ones that matter — the high-value groups, the repeat clients, the planners who remember who showed up prepared.

AI isn’t replacing your sales team. It’s making the good ones unstoppable

Want to Know Where Else Your Team Has Competitive Blind Spots?

I work with hospitality and MICE teams to identify exactly where AI tools like Perplexity can plug into your sales process, your RFP workflow, and your pre-event research — and build a plan to make it stick.

If you’re curious what a 90-day AI implementation roadmap looks like for your property, let’s talk.

➡  Reply to this email to book a consulting call with James.

jfeldman@shifthappens.com  •  www.shifthappens.com

Know a group sales manager who’s still doing comp research the old way? Forward this.

A little AI sauce enhances everything. Too much ruins it.

— James D. Feldman, CSP  |  The AI Concierge  |  ShiFt Happens!®

For decades organizations have struggled with creating a culture of sustainable productivity. How do you tie strategy, vision, mission, goals, metrics, and employees all together to create a culture that thrives?

Most organizations have put all their eggs in one of these baskets; however, the answer lies in integrating them all. Our ultimate goal should be to create something sustainable long after we leave. It has to be woven into the fabric of the organization.

It requires a “cultural shift” transformation. So, let’s talk about the RECIPE for success and how each ingredient integrates with the others to form a well-baked, highly productive, sustainable organization.

Servant Leadership

The first ingredient is usually assumed and taken for granted but is essential to a healthy organization. I call it “Servant” Leadership. Servant leadership is a leadership philosophy in which the primary goal of the leader is to serve. This is different from traditional leadership, where the leader’s primary focus is the thriving of their company or organization. Organizations that embrace servant leadership operate with the client, customer, and employees’ needs in mind. They recognize that serving their “constituents” develops loyalty and trust that ultimately creates positive vibes and an environment of success.

Vision

Every employee must have a clear understanding of where the organization is headed. Without a Vision, the people perish. Establish a clear, precise vision that is the “north star.” I often ask organizations if your 5-year idea was across the room and you walked into it, what would it look or feel like? Develop a vision without regard to any restraints. What would you like the organization to look like five years from now ultimately?

Mission

Most organizations have mission statements. However, they cover an entire page, and often most employees do not know what it is. The mission statement is the call to action. It tells the organization what it is committed to doing. For instance, “Using our portfolio of brands to differentiate our content, services, and consumer products, we seek to develop the most creative, innovative and profitable entertainment experiences and related products in the world.” – Walt Disney. The mission statement is the most critical piece of information that each employee should be given. I encourage organizations to put it on the back of their business cards, open each meeting with the mission statement, and include it in email signatures.

SWOT Analysis

The one area where many organizations fail is understanding their Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Organizations need to do an open and honest assessment of what’s working and what needs improvement. Success is when organizations leverage their strengths, address weaknesses, seize opportunities and mitigate any threats.

Strategic Priorities

Based on the assessment of the organization’s results, the vision, and the mission of the organization, strategic priorities should reflect the top areas that need to be addressed. Usually, 5 to 6 strategic priorities enable the organization to achieve its mission. These priorities provide the marching orders for all departments to collaborate and serve as a check and balance on where budget and resources should be applied.

Performance Management Scorecards

Measuring success is critical! I often tell organizations that you have to be willing to get on a scale if you want to lose weight. Organizations have to be ready to measure their performance based on data. Balanced Scorecards of Key Performance Indicators tell you if what you are doing is working. It also highlights areas of concern and allows organizations to take action quickly.

High-Performance Teams

Lastly, an essential component of any organization is its people. Many organizations take for granted the need to engage employees. Statistics show that organizations thrive when employees are engaged. Also, employees who are engaged perform better. So how do we engage employees and get them committed to the organization’s vision, mission, and strategic priorities? I recommend High-Performance Teams. The standard definition of a high-performance team is a group of people who share a shared vision, goals, and metrics and challenge and hold each other accountable to drive results. They have a clear picture of where they are headed and what they want to accomplish.

I encourage organizations to build teams that work on goals that tie to the strategic priorities. At Palm Beach County, we have created “Stat” Cross-Department and Cross-Functional teams that use data to analyze processes, review metrics, and propose solutions. Crews are using the principles of Lean Six Sigma to reduce waste, make processes lean, and drive a culture of continuous process improvement. Best practices for developing these teams include ensuring cross-discipline representation, using data to define problems and solutions, leaving titles at the door, and relentless follow-up and accountability.

So there you have the recipe: Servant Leadership, Vision, Mission, SWOT Analysis, Strategic Priorities, Performance Scorecards, and High-Performance Teams. The integration of these ingredients will drive sustainable and, lastly, productivity and a culture of continuous process improvement to ensure that Shift Happens.

Every company will face that crossroad when innovation forces a discussion about how or when to shift. I was part of many discussions from market leaders that were anxious about change management and start focusing too much on short-term financial results, think about Kodak, Fotomat, Blockbuster, Sears, K-Mart, and Polaroid.

Customer experience transformation requires engaged board oversight. If executed correctly, it will change your business model. It should! That means you redefined yourself successfully and you found innovative ways to meet changing customer needs and expectations. To meet the needs of the empowered 21st Century consumer, most companies, especially larger enterprises, need to embark on a customer experience transformation.

Imagine a car manufacturer that does not allow any vehicle customization or a retail bank with no app-based self-service. Customer experience transformation is an expensive, years-long journey. But for companies who want to serve the customers of the future, it is imperative.

While this sounds like a daunting task (and a risky business case), you cannot afford to avoid it. Especially if you are a large firm, the time is now to figure out the how-to of a customer experience transformation.

Remember Kodak? The now hardware and software company invented digital photography. However, it failed to make the difficult decision to transform, invest, and innovate. As a result, their name disappeared from the landscape of the new-age film and photography industry. I was the keynote speaker to a large group of Kodak executives during the time they made the decision to ‘ignore’ digital and continue to FOCUS on film.

That shifted the future of Kodak from which there would be no return to ‘normal.’

Introduce Your C-Suite to Customer Experience Transformation
Start with the C-Suite because difficult choices accompany transformation, you need their buy-in and support. In many cases, transformation forces your organization to stop doing things that have worked in the past. This is the most difficult step of a successful customer experience transformation. It is also the most important.

So, when you get anxious about change management and start focusing too much on short-term financial results, think about Kodak. Customer experience transformation requires engaged board oversight. If executed correctly, it will change your business model. It should! That means you redefined yourself successfully and you found innovative ways to meet changing customer needs and expectations.

Executive Owner Engagement
Customer experience transformation is exactly that – transformation. With transformation comes responsibility. And the need for a deep understanding of two essential elements: the current state of your experience, and the desired future state of your business.

A well-executed transformation retains elements of your core brand that made you successful up to the point of transformation. Then, you are able to bring those core elements into the new version of your organization, enriching your overall experience and brand ethos.

Of course, one of the more challenging pieces of the puzzle is identifying those evergreen, competitive elements of your strategy and brand identity in order to safeguard them and carry your brand into the future. Knowing you need this is not the same as being able to execute it. To do so, you need an executive-level strategic thinker with cross-industry experience to own your customer experience transformation.

Think Customer, Think Transformation
So, when is the right time for customer experience transformation? We present this question with the understanding that investment in transformation is a significant financial risk and a real disruption. So, while the answer is not simple. This advice holds: the time for customer experience transformation is when the trends of how we live reveal a new environment (a new reality) that is entirely separate from your brand experience.

However, the time for transformation can be even more obvious than that. Again, remember Kodak. When a new set of customer expectations exists for a product or service that you do or can provide, but you have not designed your business to meet those expectations, it is time to transform your experience.

Banking Experiences
Let’s imagine you are a money manager, and your client base is age forty and younger. If you lack a digital, intuitive self-service experience that enables investors to see and manage their portfolios, start your customer experience transformation.

Ten years ago, we built trust with phone calls and drinks in the clubhouse. People had personal relationships with their investors. The business of moving money was done in person. It may be hard for an old, established bank to face the shift towards the self-service digitally-enabled movement of money. But the truth is, today, we build trust with seamless, intuitive digital experience, as well as in-person interactions.

I am not suggesting you stop building personal relationships. Rather, I am saying do not miss the boat on digital experience. Digital experience can build trust because it gives your customers flexibility and independence in any situation. They can rely on you anywhere in the world to help with transactions and problems. So, no need to worry about the digital experience being impersonal. Digital is personal. It empowers you to be there for your clients wherever they are.

Travel Experiences
If you are an airline in the post-COVID world and, historically you have catered to the business traveler, it is time to start your customer experience transformation. A business traveler travels with fewer bags, works on the plane, and knows their flight attendant by name.

The post-COVID leisure traveler has more bags, more anxiety (that you can address with entertainment in flight), and asks more questions in order to feel reassured that travel is safe.

If, historically, your experience prioritized business traveler needs, now is the time time to look at your experience through the lens of a leisure traveler. Give yourself honest feedback on how well you are meeting those needs.

The New You
Remember, the New You retains the essence of your brand and the evergreen competitive features of your business.

It also has new processes, technology, and product mix. And it brings in new people. Unfortunately, customer experience transformation brings organizational restructuring and culture revitalization. In other words, you will likely lose approximately 20% of your staff. I know it is hard to read (and even harder to execute), but keep in mind that with new ways of thinking, you will contradict the old way of thinking.

There will be people who will resist the change. There will be people who will not be willing to reskill, there will be people that will resent your new culture and will not let the change you need happen especially if they are in leadership roles. Make the right leadership calls for your business, no matter how hard they are because a customer transformation for the thousands of employees is more important than the 15-20 uncomfortable conversations you will need to have with the leaders that are not coming on board.

Customer Experience Transformation is not always necessary. However, when it is, there is no substitute for it. So, embrace transformation, structure it well at the top, fund it well, and let it take care of you for the long haul. And remember, consulting firms like ours exist so that you are not alone on this exciting journey of success and growth.

Job transitions can be stressful—whether they’re due to the pandemic, layoff, a new job, or working extra hours because others workers were laid off. If you’re facing one, consider the following tips to help you to ensure that a successful shift happens.

1. Take an honest look at yourself. What are your strengths, weaknesses, skills? How did those influence—positively or negatively—your transition?

2. Step up your self-care. Major changes are physically and emotionally taxing. You need self-care now more than ever.

3. Engage your curiosity. What went wrong, or right? What could you have done better? What worked really well?

4. Focus on what you want, and less on what you don’t want. Keep your eye on the prize.

5. Find support. Since your transition affects your family as well, it may be better to seek the outside support of friends or professionals.

6. Work on your thoughts. Calm your fears and reinforce your sense of hope and happiness.

7. Reassure (or avoid) those who are threatened by, or jealous of, the change.

8. Create your own rite of passage. Ceremony and ritual help with all transitions.

9. Let go of how things were “supposed to be” and accept “how things are.” Find appreciation for what is.

10. Keep things in perspective. Or try on a new perspective. Don’t get stuck. Remember, the only constant is change.

For more suggestions or a complimentary advisory call please reach out to me. http://jfa.tips/MyBizCard http://jfa.tips/MyBooks

Assessment: “How Do I Handle Change?”

1. Choose the response that most accurately reflects your reaction to change:

Change makes me feel:

1- Lonely and unlucky.

2 – Paralyzed and afraid.

3 – Uncertain but excited about what lies ahead.

4 – Hopeful and inspired.

2. When faced with a challenging change, like losing my job or receiving bad news from the doctor, I:

1 – Cry, scream, and then hide out in bed.

2 – Eat or drink excessive amounts of comfort food or alcohol.

3 – Call a trusted friend to discuss what is happening.

4 – Try to find the positive in the situation.

3. When I think of all the changes I would like to make in my life, like getting in shape, going back to school, or improving a relationship, I:

1 – Remember how many times I’ve tried and failed before.

2 – Focus on one but never seem to get very far.

3 – Begin enthusiastically but am back to my old self soon enough.

4 – Visualize exactly what I want to happen, create an action plan and start moving forward.

4. When I decide to make a major change, like leaving an unfulfilling relationship or moving to a new city, the first thing I do is:

1 – Think about all of the reasons why things could fail.

2 – Feel overwhelmed by the work that lies ahead.

3 – Find books and websites that can help.

4 – Seek out others who have gone through similar changes.

5. When I think back to the changes that I’ve already been through, I:

1 – I wish that I had handled them differently.

2 – Feel as if others have experienced more than I have.

3 – I am impressed with all that’s happened in my life.

4 – Recognize how each one brought something positive into my life.

6. When I tell others about a difficult change that’s come into my life, I:

1 – List all of the reasons why it will never get better.

2 – Feel overwhelmed but capable of moving forward.

3 – List the many reasons why I think it has happened.

4 – Outline a clear plan for moving through any pain or suffering that I may be experiencing.

7. My friends would probably say that I:

1 – Avoid change at all costs.

2 – Become angry and depressed when faced with change.

3 – Have a generally positive attitude and try to accept change.

4 – Can handle any change that comes my way and unafraid to initiate changes in my life.

8. When I feel stuck and unsure during change, I:

1 – Distract me from activities such as watching TV or drinking alcohol.

2 – Sleep.

3 – Go for a run or take a yoga class.

4 – Write in my journal and reflect on the change while listening to soothing music.

9. When faced with change or hoping to initiate a change, I take some time to be quiet and look within:

1 – Never—who has time for this?

2 – Rarely—quiet alone time is a luxury.

3- Sometimes—I can find a few minutes for myself right when I wake up or before drifting off to sleep.

4 – Often—I take a long walk or meditate several times a week.

10. When something changes in my life, I:

1 – Long for things to be as they once were.

2 – Get angry at life for making things harder.

3 – Accept the change and work to move through it.

4 – Feel as if I’m being protected.

Total your score:

1. Assess your score:

You don’t like change. In fact, you may even say you hate it. You’re not alone. Many people find change difficult, and feel isolated, misunderstood, and generally unlucky when changes come their way. But now is the perfect time to create a different belief system about change.

The next time you’re faced with change, instead of asking, “Why me?” ask yourself if this change could be protecting you from something or helping you grow in some way. And, though it’s tempting to curl up in a ball and hide during change, it’s essential to seek out help from others—there are friends, family, colleagues, clergy members, support groups, coaches, and therapists available to guide you through.

You’re not opposed to change, but it’s not something you welcome, either. When a difficult change comes up, you tend to ignore or procrastinate what’s happening instead of accepting the change and working to move through it.

Remember that from every change, even the most challenging, something good will always come. Try these tips:

– Keep moving—take a walk, clean the house, write in your journal. Action helps dissipate the anxiety and tension that can arise during change

– Seek the help of others.

– Look for the good in the change. Explore how this change will improve your life on the other side.

– Use empowering language to describe your change.

Each one of these steps will help to make your journey through change less stressful.

Change is a familiar friend. Though you don’t always have the time to give it the attention it deserves, you accept the changes that life hands you and feel confident in your ability to initiate changes when necessary. You also understand that you never need to be alone when going through change. There are always people and resources that can help.

Change isn’t something you handle. It’s something you look forward to. You welcome change that comes into your life—even tough changes—believing that each one serves a purpose and will eventually lead to good. You don’t waste time looking back at the way things were. Instead, you accept your new circumstances and wonder what’s around the next corner.

§ When you think about your current approach to change, what from your past has influenced you in having this perspective?

§ What previous changes from your life can you identify that you at first resisted but then saw how they improved your life?

§ Knowing that change is inevitable, what is a positive perspective that you can adopt to help you more readily accept change in your life?

Need some help? Check out my latest book @ jfa.tips/Amazon

Most of them are that 60 days from January 1, they are forgotten or ignored. Instead, may I suggest an “I Owe Me.” Think of it as a promissory note to yourself. You’re not resolving because you think it’s something you’re supposed to do. You’re committing yourself because it’s something you want to do for yourself.

Outline the terms and conditions that will be met. Since it’s a promissory note, you need to think of it as the same type of promise you make to the bank. They will foreclose if you do not pay it. It would be best if you put in a meaningful penalty.

Besides, when you make a promise to the bank, they ask you many questions. Usually, they ask: Why do you want to take on this obligation? What is the realistic period in which you can repay it? What will be the benefit to you? Be sure to ask yourself the same kinds of questions before deciding on your “I Owe Me.” For me, the question is simple. “What am I going to do differently tomorrow that will get me better results than I got yesterday?

Above all else, though, make sure that your “I Owe Me” is reasonable and do-able.

In 2003 I was diagnosed with continuing high blood pressure, Type II diabetes, high cholesterol, and morbidly obesity. None of those “death” sentences had an impact. It was not until my cardiologist said, “You are a textbook candidate for amputation and blindness,” that I reacted. I heard that I would die but that I would live with a significantly diminished quality of life. Now my cardiologist has retired, and no one from his department has followed up. Just like everything else these days…it’s up to you to ensure that Shift Happens.

So, how to proceed?

In listening to others, I discovered that many of the promissory notes we create are not realistic. For instance, in the past, when I created weight-loss resolutions, I started with something like “I will lose 100 pounds.” But I could never keep that resolution because it was so daunting. Every day when I reminded myself of that resolution, I subconsciously reminded myself of how long and hard it would be to keep it. I had set myself up to fail.

So instead, I looked for something achievable in the short term. Instead of losing the “x” number of pounds, why not reduce my calorie intake by 100 calories a day? Instead of exercising 30 minutes a day, how about starting by just moving more? Park the car further away from the entrance to the grocery store. Get up and walk down the hall instead of using the intercom to talk to a colleague. Use the stairs instead of taking the elevator two flights.

Once I started moving more and eating less, I saw results. I was losing weight. Not much, perhaps at the start, but the weight was beginning to come off and, more importantly, to stay off. That encouraged me to do more, so I added that 30 minutes of daily exercise. To many, 30 minutes a day means a single, daily workout. But I learned that 10-minute chunks totaling 30 minutes in a day accomplishes the same thing, and it’s much easier to do. Eventually, I worked myself up to a 30-minute daily exercise walk, plus those extra chunks the rest of the day.

It’s the small accomplishments that help us reach larger goals. We need to test a few radical ideas. We need to create some audacious goals. But with those ideas and goals, we need to identify smaller objectives so we don’t get frustrated and instead see incremental progress and rewards that encourage us to continue towards the larger goal.

That’s what it took for me, and I lost that 100 pounds. More important, it’s staying off because now the goal is maintaining . There’s nothing more important to me, but each of us must find what matters to us, create our own “I Owe Me,” and pay off our own debts to ourselves.

Still, general health and weight control, in particular, are of interest to most of us, and many people have asked me for my “secrets” to continually improving my health. Here are the 10 things I do. Feel free to skip 1-9 if you are in perfect health, ideal weight, and not getting older or feeling less energetic.

1. I weigh myself every Monday morning and record it.
2. I measure myself every first Monday of the month and record it.
3. I walk for at least 30 minutes each day.
4. I eat small portions frequently instead of a few big meals.
5. I push most of my calories to before 6 p.m.
6. I don’t skip breakfast.
7. I have protein meal replacements bars with me.
8. I have raw nuts in a Ziploc bag on my desk.
9. I have sugar free flavors for my water.
10. I get a full blood workup every 90 days.

Besides, I made an “I Owe Me” promissory note to myself to never weigh more than seven pounds more than the previous Monday weigh-in.

Here’s how I stay out of default:

• I eat 60 grams of protein a day.
• I drink 60 ounces of water per day.
• I get 60 minutes of exercise, in some combination (walking and “chunks”), every day.
• I don’t save my “fat clothes.” I either tailor them or give them away.
• I listen to my doctors and then do my own research.

And the results are amazing. My weight has been stable for the last 10 years. For the last year, my blood profile results, including a lipid panel (cholesterol, triglycerides, etc.), are normal. AIC, which measures glucose for a 90-day period, is normal.

So here’s my “I Owe Me” to my now-retired Dr. M. Gheorghiade. He is an expert in offering advice to prevent vascular and coronary disease (you can find out more about him here and here. He has created a simple 10-step program for all of us, no matter our family or medical history. Adherence to this medically-proven program will ensure you against cardiac events.

As a reader of this column, we offer the “program overview” to you to create Better Change for yourself in 2021. Before doing anything, though, consult with your doctors and other healthcare professionals and customize this to your needs.

1. Complete cessation of smoking.
2. Control your blood pressure: 130/80 if diabetic; 140/90 if non-diabetic
3. Manage your lipid profile
4. Get moving 30 minutes a day.
5. Waist management: Men, =<40 inches; Women =<35 inches
6. Diabetes control: Your AIC should be <7
7. Take a baby aspirin every day.
8. Get a flu shot and when possible a COVID-19 vaccination
9. Take a statin (Statins are drugs that have proven to effectively reduce cholesterol and the risk of heart attack and death.)
10. If you have any history of heart or vascular conditions, take your prescribed system blockers, including ACE inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, aldosterone, and beta-blockers.

Be it for your health, relationships, business, or another area of your life, as you plan for 2021, make an “I Owe Me,” write it down, and have someone witness it. Make it specific, have a due date, and a penalty.

Commit today for Better Change.

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Don’t let your goals become the kind that never happens. Covid-19 will be over some time and those that follow these step-by-step instructions to create goals—and then implement the actions needed to realize and complete them. By following this plan, you will be more apt to succeed at meeting your goals in your business and in your life.

1. Write it down.

Many dreams are forgotten because we neglect to put them on paper. One day we’ll say, “Oh, yeah, I wanted to do that when I was younger.” When you write them down think of it as a promissory note. I OWE ME!

No one says that you have to pursue all of the goals listed on the paper, but if you do choose to work towards some of them, you’ll remember what they were in the first place.

One effective way to do this is to make your list of goals within a journal so that you have space for writing other lists that pertain to these goals as you work towards their completion.

2. Make a decision about the goals you’ve written down.

Each goal has possibilities and difficulties. Begin a list of the pros and cons of each goal you wrote down in Step 1. This will help you narrow down your choices. Those with too many cons may need to be omitted from your list or at least moved to another list for now.

3. Are these goals for me?

Now that you’ve narrowed the list of possible goals, how do you feel about each one? Take the time to list your feelings about the goals remaining on your list. Be sure to list positive thoughts, as well as any misgivings you may have. Decide which goals have priority now.

4. Create a plan for the goals.

This goes for every goal, even if it won’t be pursued right now. Five years down the road, you may want to think about a business expansion or writing a book. When it comes time to look at this goal, you will already have a plan for achieving it. Each plan can be for a long-term or short-term goal. If plans for different goals mesh together, more than one goal can be pursued at a time.

It might be difficult, especially if this is your first time seriously working with goal planning, to focus on one or two goals right now and revisit the others at a later time. It’s always better to achieve goals in sequence than never reach any of them.

5. Divide and conquer in manageable steps. Think of it as throwing darts at a target.

It’s easy to become overwhelmed when thinking about the big list of tasks required to complete a goal. Starting a business, for example, is a commitment of both finances and time. Remember, everything doesn’t have to be done all at one time. Steps or milestones allow for smaller goals to be achieved on the way to the bigger one. Outline carefully the significant points along the way to your goal.

6. Get moving.

The hardest part is over. You have taken the time to put a plan in place and pursue the dream that may have lain dormant for years. Start with Step 1 and work your way forward.

Taking action towards a goal does not have to seem overwhelming if you take the time to decide which goals are worth going after, plan the steps necessary to get to the desired result and simply get going with those steps.

Before any goal can get off the ground, it needs a direction and a plan. Once you have the direction, it’s just a matter of checking things off your list until they are complete. Take things one step at a time and you’ll reach the finish line before you know it.

If you need some additional tips and tools consider my latest book found at jfa.tips/Amazon.

All of this shows us that change does take place, everywhere. Whether an act of nature, like the increase of hurricanes and wildfires, or police brutality, they all have immense financial effects. The Season Of Change means we have no control over external change. It simply happens.

But we do control internal change, and we can become a change agent for ourselves. I consider mid-November through mid-December as the SHIFT, a time for being the change that will impact the following year. During the past few months, I have experienced thought-provoking exposure to several industries where hundreds of people work, and millions of dollars are spent to attract and keep customers but find a very conservative consumer due to Covid-19. The boundaries between work and play used to be vivid and clear. Today, they are neither. Like most of you, I experienced so many shifts that I found myself scrambling to keep up.

We, as a country, must learn to compete. We cannot just whine about imports and trying to control them through tariffs and other restrictions. Instead, we must develop better production capabilities, negotiate out of highly restrictive and costly labor agreements, and help our labor force itself to become “change agents.

Remember when Japan entered the marketplace? They produced cheap, technologically superior goods. Today, Sony, Panasonic, Seiko, Toyota, Nissan and the other familiar Japanese brands no longer are the cheapest or the best. Korea, China, and Vietnam continue to emerge as price and technology leaders. Shift Happens! Is it a Season For Change?

Almost every topic, from the platform, or in the hallways, focused on worldwide change. Wildfires impacts still linger, the recent hurricanes changed the landscape of resort areas, and everyone contemplated the effects of a few ‘bad’ cops that target innocent people.

There were funds established that will likely help some of those victims. I was moved by the acts of kindness but somehow felt that in some way they were offered as a possible insurance investment in case similar “changes” took place in their areas. In a time when businesses are vilified in the consumer press as dishonest and even cold and heartless, both the restaurant industry and the travel industry immediately sprang into action to supply the very commodity that they were criticized for amassing: money.

Every program appears to envision assistance beyond the local funds that have been set up to help local employees. It is a global unification to rebuild areas that have been the target of “change.” I am sure that no one believes that money can replace the lives and livelihoods that have been lost. It is simply human beings helping other human beings.

We all react to disasters the size and scale COVID-19, wildfires, terrorist attacks, police brutality, political disagreements, and how we are going to repay ourselves for our billions of dollars in lost income. Our first thought is sympathy for those that are directly touched by any crisis, and we try to do what we can. What happens is that we react, but then go about our daily lives. We forget once normalcy re-establishes itself. Well, the pandemic is long-lasting and the ripple effects are increasing.

We may forget that change is taking place, every day, everywhere. We turn our thoughts to more mundane topics and struggle to forget that change affects us all. This Thanksgiving be grateful. Send a strong message to those you love, you work with and those you elect to run our cities and governments. It is a Season For Change.

Our world is interconnected. There is only one planet. We can’t leave it and journey to another just yet. Let’s be thankful for what we have and do everything we can to protect it. It is a Season For Change.

This Thanksgiving make a commitment to change as we emerge from the pandemic. Change the way you deal with the problems of life. Change the way you react to your children, your employees, your supervisor, and your significant other and become a change agent for ourselves. And remember to be thankful by doing something great for someone-including yourself.

· get back on their feet financially

· send their kids back to school

· get back to their jobs

· start or rebuild their businesses

· protect or improve their health

· improve (or create) relationships affected by isolation and quarantine

· get back on track for living (and loving) life.

What does this mean for you? It means that people need you!

Now is the time to help in ALL the ways you are passionate about serving others!

NOW is the time to reach out, make connections with your clients and prospects, and help them get back to life in all the ways that are important to them.

Introduction to 3D Thinking

? Do you need to discover new solutions?

? Do you need to overcome challenges?

? Could you benefit from new, improved, innovative thinking skills?

? Would you like proven processes and systems that stimulate better ideas in less time?

? Do you need better tools to discover new opportunities (while using existing resources) and the ability to annihilate the competition, deliver new products and services, take charge of your future, all while saving time and money?

3D Thinking can help

Innovation is the quickest, most effective, and most lucrative path to success. Waiting for some other firm to introduce a product first and then playing catch-up may be fine if you’re IBM or Coca- Cola can afford to wait. But such companies are notable exceptions in the game of the competition.

For most businesses, real success comes from their efforts and from timing—their ability to be there first, instead of feeding off others’ ideas. So, how does a firm or an individual innovate and think creatively?

First, understand that creativity isn’t always about inventing products from scratch. Thousands of successful products or services are used in a radically different manner than originally intended.

The creativity is in the new application method, rather than in the unique nature of the original concept.

For example, a creative solution might take the form of redirecting your excess capacity or processes to support your most profitable products or services. Thus, innovation is an innovative solution that people can use. Design is also how you make money from the creativity.

You sell the idea and show others how to apply it to solve a variety of problems.

Think beyond the profits; think, “What if?”

Solutions might be possible, but are they profitable? Often, you don’t always know until after the fact. Sometimes beneficial solutions aren’t developed with the intent of making a profit.

For example, take the story of a little girl at her birthday party. Her father was taking photographs, and the girl wanted to see the pictures now. The father thought, “Well, why can’t she see the pictures now?” That father was Edward Land, and his solution was to invent the

Polaroid camera. Perhaps we all need to think more like a child and imagine that we can have the picture now.

Fast forward a few years. We see that Polaroid is now in bankruptcy. The company missed the digital revolution because it forgot about its innovative spirit. How could this happen? One common way is when the upper echelons of the corporation stifle creativity throughout the organization.

Centuries ago, kings and other royalty had “yes men” by their sides. But many kings also employed fools, men who had special permission to make fun of and criticize the king’s policies without fear. Present-day CEOs have “yes-men,” but they are in dire need of someone to give them an honest opinion.

They need someone who can tell those in the royal boardroom that the old ways are no longer useful and that innovation is the way to make money.

Creativity goes hand-in-hand with the courage to embrace the new and the innovative. Organizations are afraid to fail. Failure is the cousin of success. Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, Albert Einstein all faced numerous losses and obstacles before using what they learned to create substantial successes.

Innovation is about the disruption of business as usual or standard operating procedures. Innovation creates collisions.

Embrace Innovative “Collisions”
Innovation can occur where you least expect it. Imagine a scientist is trying to produce a stronger glue. He tries and tries, but the glue just doesn’t stick. His product is a complete disaster—or is it? Every office in the world now has glue that doesn’t stick. The scientist, who worked at 3M, had just invented the raw material for the Post-it. Note. And the Post-it Note is now one of the most profitable products at 3M.

Collisions can sometimes become rare opportunities, and unintended results could have a silver lining. Look for inspiration everywhere.

Think everywhere.

Think when you’re out walking, when you’re in the shower when listening to a boring speaker.

Switch off your mind and think about that problem that’s been bugging you.

You can’t always create on demand. But you can organize your mind to be continually receptive to new ideas.

For example, in 1941, a scientist went hunting with his dog. When the scientist arrived home, he found burrs were stuck to his wool jacket and trousers. The scientist decided to examine the burrs under a microscope, and he saw hundreds of little hooks engaging the loops in the material. The scientist, George de Mestral, made a machine to duplicate the hooks and loops in nylon. He called his new product, “velcro” and the rest is history. Today, thousands of uses for VELCRO. Fasteners exist, all thanks to a man hunting with his dog in the mountains.

The only problem with Thinking everywhere is you often don’t have a way to record your ideas when they come to you. Then, you forget, someone else hits on the same idea, and it’s too late.

The solution is to keep a pen and paper handy in every room of your home, especially by your bed and near the shower. Or use your smartphone. There are lots of dictations and note-taking apps. When you’re driving, you can pull over and dictate into your phone.

Plan Your Luck

Chance discoveries don’t occur by chance. Instead, an environment must be one that allows new ideas to be conceived, recognized for their potential contribution, expanded into tailor-made solutions, and then developed into products for other Customers. And the best way to arrive at innovative solutions is to use creative Thinking.

To that end, encourage your employees to ask questions, such as, Why do we do it this way? What If? Why Not? What’s Next? What’s Possible?

If management doesn’t have the right answer, consider this an invitation for fresh ideas. Nurture the new ideas and welcome the questions to open communication channels and keep the stream of possible solutions flowing.

Beware of Leaks

Because genuinely new ideas are hard to come by and difficult to patent, the shortest route to new ideas can be to get them from someone else. Consequently, be alert to the possibility that others might be listening to the original idea you’re sharing with someone. An idle sentence could provide the missing ingredient to a competitor’s research and development department. Where innovation is concerned, keep quiet and keep your ears open because you, too, might obtain problem-solving ideas from other markets or businesses.

Perhaps one key to successful innovation is skillful ego-massaging. That is, share your ideas, but use caution when choosing with whom you share them. Create, Then Innovate!

Innovation requires more than creative Thinking. Innovation is also dependent on developing ideas into products and services to keep your company on the creative edge.

In the end, your determination to succeed is the ultimate stimulus for achievement. Although many people can develop innovative concepts, only those who are determined to implement those ideas achieve success.

Once you nurture your ideas into being, charge ahead with the innovative spirit that all successful companies possess. Remember, innovation combines effort and timing, our desire to be first. Use 3D Thinking to Investigate, Innovate, and Initiate. Your business has every opportunity to achieve success with this IQ.

3D Thinking™ = Depth + Distance + Determination
Determine if you have the staying power to deliver the solution to your problem. (Please note, the word “problem” isn’t necessarily negative. Your question could be, “We need a new product for the holiday season” or “How can we effectively use our budget surplus for this year?”).

Write out your problem concisely and make sure everyone understands the situation and agrees with the way it’s worded. Putting many restrictions on your question at this time is unnecessary. What is needed, however, is the correct problem definition.

Spend most of your time defining the problem, and your solutions will be easier to reach. WHAT are you doing NOW, and WHAT is the consequence if you do not change (desirable or not!)?

Creativity is the ability of the human mind to come up with ideas and solutions to pressing problems.

The amount of time required to define a problem is approximately three times what you spend on solving the problem. Using the concept of going inside the box, determine the components of the problem. To understand a situation fully, you must break down all the elements that create it.

1. First, write down the problem.

2. Now, write down the desired solution.

3. Then, break down all the elements contained in the problem that could create it in the first place.

4. Understand how to use the components in the solution of the problem-solving process.

If you don’t define the problem correctly, you’ll find solutions to the wrong problem. Take your time. Visualize the results and see if the problem is articulated precisely.

Here are a few reminders for team leaders: Identity. Determine. Record. Recycle. Refine. Summarize.

Write down about five criteria for judging which ideas best solve your problem. Standards should start with the word “should”—for example, “it should be cost-effective,” “it should be legal,” “it should be possible to finish before August 1,” and so forth.

Give each idea a score of 0 to 5 points, depending on how well it meets each criterion. Once all the opinions are scored for each standard, add the scores.

The idea with the highest score will best solve your problem. But keep a record of all your best ideas and their scores, in case your best idea turns out to be unworkable. Exchange ideas. Suggest am “build” to the idea that makes it better. Don’t be negative. Push up, not pull down.

Let’s review the process.

D=Depth

Go “inside the box” and move the components around. Break them apart. Do the simple math of dividing them, adding, subtracting, or multiplying certain parts. Frequently, the solution is simply how you rearrange the components. Moving them around often reveals a new solution. Innovation is how we make money from the creativity.

D=Distance

Now that you are “inside the box,” take a 360º look.

Do you see a market that will pay for your innovative solution?
Are there competitors that are already doing what you suggest?
Can you do it better? Cheaper? Faster?
How far can you take the solution?
Will you make money from it or save time, materials, etc?
This is where you “monetize” your solution. Assuming you are for-profit, and even non-profits are for-profit, it is here that you start to establish the selling price or the value of the saving.

D=Determination

Do you have the determination to move this forward? Did you get enough financial resources to “launch” the solution? Did you keep enough in reserve to promote, market, train, and distribute
your solution? If you have followed the process of 3D Thinking, you will have come up with ideas, products, money-saving solutions, etc., that help you to overcome challenges, achieve goals, and solve problems.

? What does Customer WANT?

? What does the Customer NEED?

? What does Customer VALUE?

? What does the Customer EXPECT?

Summary:
1. Define the problem.

2. Gather information.

3. Create alternatives.

4. Evaluate.

5. Choose.

? Customers want better results.

? Customers want better outcomes.

? Customers want the product of your product . . . not the product itself.

? The key to innovation is to become aware of the overlooked connections between actions and consequences.

? Discover what other options the Customer is considering.

? Collaborate with the Customer to establish value.

? Listen to what the Customer says they want and deliver what they need.

? Never voluntarily offer to reduce your prices. If you’re asked to provide a price reduction, reduce value first.

? Psychologically, higher fees create higher value and naturally greater profits for you.

? Make sure they know the full range of your services.

? Customers like you best when you function as a thinker—An Independent Problem-Solver with Innovative SOLUTIONS!

? 3D Thinking means your business climate is open to innovation and creativity and willing to implement next-generation approaches.

Your challenge is to find ways to deliver it to them.

Each of us faces our adversities. And the list of potential misfortune and suffering is long – financial troubles, job loss, terrorism, natural disasters, poverty, political turmoil, not to mention our demons, and more. It’s no wonder we sometimes struggle to overcome our hardships.

But what makes one person tackle setback after setback while another person gives up in despair? Indeed, it takes intelligence to overcome misfortune. It also takes passion. It requires faith. It involves finding the strength to dig deep within and to rise above.

In a perfect world, we’d be at our prime all the time. But we live in the real world. We get tired. We get overworked. We feel overwhelmed. Sometimes it doesn’t take much to knock the wind out of our sails.

Facing adversity is demanding. Sometimes we just want to curl up in a ball and hide. There’s nothing wrong with a brief pity party, especially if there’s a potential for cake. But seriously, it’s okay to let the feeling of overwhelm, overwhelm you. The trick is in not allowing avoidance to become your default coping strategy.

Cultivating your resilience allows you to pull back the veil of suffering to reveal your inner strength. It requires hard work, discipline, and, at times, nerves of steel, but the result is worth it. Incorporating these tips will help you built your resilience muscle and prepare you for life’s inevitable trials.

There’s no question that life during COVID-19 has been challenging. For many, it can be painful. It can feel unbearable. It may push us to the limits of our endurance. While being smart, passionate, and having faith are valuable traits to help us endure tough times, the real key to surviving and thriving in the face of adversity is resilience.

So here is your challenge, should you choose to accept it. Choose one situation you’re facing in your life right now that’s challenging your resilience. Now, decide to apply your newfound strength to this situation. Even a small change can make a big difference. Take one little action. Pay attention to how it feels. Notice what impact your story has on you and the circumstance you face, no matter how tiny it may seem. Repeat. That’s all life is one experimental action after another, gradually adding up to change and growth.

No matter your age, background, experience, or your line of work, you can learn how to improve your resilience, so you’re ready for any challenge life puts in front of you. Are you willing to give it a try? If you answered ‘yes,’ then that’s all you need to get started – a willingness to try. If you’re feeling like some inspiration to get you started, take a line from the resilient Dolly Parton: “I never tried quitting, and I never quit trying.” That’s a tune we can all sing along to.

Do you have a Recession Revenue Rescue transformation roadmap?
Do you need more customers? Or rooking to retain current customers post COVID-19?
Are you presently frustrated with the ‘shifts’ needed to survive COVID-19?
Is the “New Abnormal” challenging navigate to achieve “New Levels” of success?
Is it time to look at innovative ways to blow away your customers that keeps them coming back?
Do you want to increase employee performance and loyalty?
Do you want to “get a leg up” on your competition and shore up your brand’s trust and credibility?
Are you ready to seize new opportunities that are emerging from the return to ‘normal?’
Let me know if I can help you focus on unique ways to discover new opportunities using existing resources. I want to help you launch and accelerate your business to NEW LEVELS of SUCCESS.

Each copy of my latest book includes relevant tools and tips that can catapult your business into the ‘new normal’ and help your telecommuting be more productive until you return to the workplace. jfa.tips/Amazon