The Prospect of Prospecting

Disregard this blog if you run one of those rare businesses in which you wait for the phone to ring or the website to bring the orders or the email to bring the RFQs. Disregard this blog if the market comes clamoring to you and lines up for service.  Most of us have enjoyed brief seasons of profitable market dominance only to be discovered by competitors eager to pick away at our customer base and draw us into a profit eroding game of tag.

Perhaps you innovate and stay ahead of your competition through product development and value-added service only to find that costs rise and customers still expect value regardless - and profits are squeezed. Maybe you rely on residual sales and contracts. All of these will be tested.

Sustainability requires that new clients enter the mix as old ones are allowed to be drawn away to alternatives that you chose not to chase. And so every business has to contend with the prospect of prospecting the universe of potential clients and narrowing them down to sales.

As business organizations refine and become more lean there emerges an imperative of three performance consciousness components. Cross-functional management teams must visualize, anticipate and communicate on a common frequency. If profitable revenues are the goal, then the process of customer identification and conversion to a sale is everyone’s concern and priority. And so it is important that everyone understand the process of prospecting.

Enter the humble Sales Funnel diagram to help everyone visualize that process. Do a Web search of “Sales Funnels” and you will be met with all sorts of versions. One is right for your business. The concept is simple – wide at the top and narrow at the bottom – many prospects enter, they are qualified and pursued and a few convert into customers. Every business type has a ratio model that seems to result; e.g. 100 prospects narrows to 30 qualified and ready prospects, that narrows to 5 that will participate and accept a proposal resulting in 1 that will buy.

Successful after-market customer maintenance aided by the proliferation of information sharing and communications mediums brought on by the internet and social media has transformed the traditional sales funnel into a useful converging/diverging shape that facilitates customer retention, up-selling, conversion of customers into evangelists for your company and the attraction of qualified network prospects from those same customers. Intake on one end, Uptake on the other.    

Here is a sales funnel diagram version that works for a client of mine;

Let’s apply some detail.

From the “Universe” are gathered prospects from a variety of gathering methods such as advertising, active sales prospecting solicitation, referrals and the like. Based on the proven conversion model for your type of business the number of required “Universe” prospects to be gathered will vary for the success rate goal you set. You’ve got to KNOW and DO the numbers!

Leads are “Qualified” by identifying need, determining that the prospect has the resources to make the purchase, understanding the competitive landscape you are up against, exploring buying influences particular to the customer and understanding their purchasing decision process. At this point it is necessary to involve the potential customer in the process so that they are investing in the outcome along with you. No investment in the process on their part lowers the potential for closure.

“Positioning To Win” involves a detailed validation of the need and the budget to meet the need, establishing buyer and seller roles and responsibilities in the process, establishing and adhering to a scheduled trajectory toward closure, aligning your solution to the need (and conducting field trials to prove the fit), continued building of the relationship with both parties investing in the process and rooting out pitfalls that lead to “leaky funnels” – such as; the person you’re dealing with is not really the decision maker, you’re dealing with a nice person who just can’t say no … until you ask for the order …

The “Proposal” must; be submitted when promised, be clear, stay within scope (no surprise add-ons or hidden agendas), leave nothing unanswered, be visual (use customized sketches, pictures and diagrams) to facilitate comprehension, be bottom line sensitive, be easy to execute, be clear on next steps if executed.

The “Closing” process involves; negotiating for a win/win and ensuring no buyer remorse by making a great first impression and following through with fresh energy, positive relationship building and clear point-of-contact establishment. This phase proves to the customer that their decision and the process that led to it were worth it. Customer conversion to evangelist starts here.

Post closing, attention on relationship development should ramp up and lead to eventual up-selling and qualified network referrals (inward funnel leaks are desirable). Don’t spike the ball – wrap it in a bow and gift it to the customer. Think WIN WIN !!

Happy funneling & all the best!

Bill                 

In praise of Journaling

I’m a committed “journalist” which means that I maintain a personal record in which I document “moments” of introspection and inspiration in a binding of blank sheets of paper. I wouldn’t call it a diary. This volume is focused exclusively on personal, spiritual expressions of desire, hope, anxiety, supplication, realizations, moments of clarity and epiphanies. Found there are many precious and enlightening insights particular to my struggles, triumphs, defeats, joys, disappointments and spiritual pursuits that – had I not written them down – would be forever lost in life’s halestorm of distractions.

At the beginning of my book, Fruition~Reflections on a life grafted-in, I emphasize the importance of recognizing moments of spiritual clarity and, “once discerned I further encourage that the experience be documented along the way. Such journaling can be revisited for inspiration and shared with others. Such notations serve as a source of encouragement and proof of the fruit of the true and living God in our lives. The world has a way of erasing our memory of moments of sublime spiritual consciousness and understanding. Written down over time, our personal encounters with eternity reveal the tapestry of our life that is unique and significant. Yet and in spite of its value, journaling is a habit that is hard to establish and rarely practiced among believers.”(pg. 2)

The words “Journal” and “Journey” share the same Latin root, “diurnal”, meaning; of the day. The word “Journey” refers to an act or instance of traveling from one place to another, something suggesting travel or passage from one place or condition to another. Perhaps the word originally referred to one day of travel. A “Journal” is a day-to-day record of transactions, an account of events, a record of experiences, ideas, or reflections kept regularly for private use; a deliberative record of transactions. In the exacting field of financial accounting journal maintenance is practiced down to the penny and with great diligence, pride and discipline. One has only to peruse the journal entries of any business to derive a precise account of activities and the direction in which that enterprise is headed. Should our own accounts of the back and forth relationship with the Almighty go on with any less accounting attentiveness?

So it’s safe to say that a Journal, in the context of a spiritual narrative of one’s life, is a record of the unique transactions between the one drawn and the Divine from day-to-day. Spiritual journals document the relationship. Furthermore, journal writings made in direct connection with devotional time are embellished by the Holy Spirit working through us to illuminate His personalized message of insight and encouragement to each of us.

“Journal writing is a voyage to the interior.” ~ Christina Baldwin

Why journal? Journals are compilations of contemplations – memorials to meditations. If actions speak louder than words, no act initiated by the inspiring power of the Holy Spirit ever came without first a thought or contemplation of the act. Journal writing can galvanize an individual into action. Donald S. Whitney, in his book Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (Navpress, Colorado Springs, 1991), writes about the power of journaling to instigate action with specific reference to the life of the martyred missionary Jim Elliot; “Missionary Jim Elliot used his now-famous journal to irrigate the practice of the disciplines in his life when the tide of zeal for them ran low.” Whitney draws from Elliot’s November 20, 1955 journal entry regarding Elliot’s departure from regular formal scripture reading as a part of his daily devotional. Elliot writes, “’ … Now it’s too hard to get out of bed in the morning. I have made resolutions on this score before now but not followed them up. Tomorrow it’s to be – dressed at 6:00 a.m. and study in the Epistles before breakfast. So help me, God.’” Whitney goes on to elaborate; “Apparently the desire to revitalize his devotional life had surged though Elliot’s mind and emotions many times before. Transferring that desire to paper, however, seemed to channel it like water into a turbine, so that what was once mere fluid desire began producing power.” (pp.216-217) Whitney also cites an old adage that “thoughts disentangle themselves when passed through the lips and cross the fingertips.” (pp. 213)

“While reading makes a full man, and dialogue a ready man, writing makes an exact man.” ~ Francis Bacon

The scriptures are silent on commands to journal but they are replete with references, inferences and endorsements to its value. Read First and Second Samuel and then read the Psalms of David to experience David’s private journal, of sorts, come alive with power. If the Canon of Scripture is the inspired word of God, then each authentic saint’s journal (epistle?...) contains words inspired by the indwelling Holy Spirit. The much referenced Jim Elliot quotation; “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” comes from his own hand printed notes on a piece of graph paper dated October 28 (1955?). Jim probably jotted that down after a morning devotional in the mountains of Ecuador mere months before his life was taken from him by the very Indians he was trying to reach with the Gospel. Is that quotation not the stuff of Proverbs?

And what is mediation without some record of the wisdom derived therefrom? Joshua 1:8 encourages us to meditate day and night. The Psalmist declares the blessedness of the man who delights in the law of the Lord and who meditates on it day and night (Psalm 1:1-2). Psalm 4:4 instructs us to meditate within your heart on your bed and be still. Psalm 119:15 declares “I will meditate on Your precepts and contemplate Your ways.” And who can forget Philippians 4:8, “Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, it there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things.” Such things are the fodder of journaling.

If, as Hebrews 11:1 states, “…faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.” then, I dare boldly paraphrase; journaling is the tangible substance of our meditations, the evidence of introspection and reflection.

There are many more inferences to journaling in the scriptures but let me end with this one; Psalm 90:12 “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Is not a spiritual journal a daily accounting worthy of diligence?

I can go on and on about what should find its way into a journal but let me say that a journal tells our story of progressive sanctification as we explore, discover and express our faith. Going from self-centered- anxious, restless, nervous, frenzied, being tossed to and fro, independent of God, unavailable, fearful, joyless and lost toward – all of the opposites of those – our journal records our petitions, prayers, declarations, failures, successes, pleas, thanks, heard whispers, realizations, inspirations, visions, dreams, temptations, brushes with eternal wisdom and moments of extraordinary clarity along the way.

“Journaling can bear fruit at any level of involvement, requires persistence through the dry times and must be engaged and practiced before its value can be perceived.” ~ Donald Whitney

Let me help you get started. Try a few “fill in the blank” sentences to personalize your contemplations like these;

1. The things that prevent me from having an authentic walk with God are:_________________ (e.g. temptations to which I surrender, bad habits, lack of good habits, attitude …).
2. When I _______, I sense God’s pleasure. (e.g. serve in ministry, pray earnestly, give sacrificially, compliment and build-up my children, am there for the widow next door, give of my time at the food kitchen …).
3. What bothers me about the world is _____. (world hunger, the multitudes of chronically ill people in the world due to contaminated drinking water, abandoned children, forgotten prisoners behind bars, victims of drug abuse, single Moms raising young men who have no proper father figure in their lives, homeless people …)
4. It occurs to me that ___ . (e.g. I whine a lot, I belong to a pretty good and supportive church even if some of the people in it get on my nerves at times, God has blessed me with many things that I simply take for granted, I have the resources to do more supporting worthy causes, I have a lot of spare time that I waste on worthless activities …)
5. I’m beginning to realize ______. (e.g. that I should start journaling ?? ….)

What bothers you? What occurs to you? What are you beginning to realize?

I suppose the most common question asked by believers in their private times with God is probably this, “What is Your plan for my life God? Please show me, reveal it to me! I can’t make sense of what is going on in my life and I need that peace of knowing Your plan.” For that we have Jeremiah 29:11; “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” But He doesn’t reveal all, He doesn’t tell us the plan. Rather, He reveals His plan to us day by day, situation by situation. And so we have our journals to remind us of the path we have traveled and we know that what is past is prologue.

All the best!

Bill

Thresholds & Portals

With the New Year there is closure and speculation about the future. We find ourselves at a formal portal to things different and new and an opportunity to view what is past as prologue and to live the saying, “today is the first day of the rest of your life.” All outcomes, of course, depend upon follow-through. And follow-through can be boiled down to steps taken in commitment.

Faced with the future and desiring favorable outcomes I’ve put a great deal of my trust in belief that there is a “God Plan” for my life in which I believe there is to be found purpose, joy and a paradoxical source of refreshment and energy draw from the challenges and trials I encounter versus having energy drawn from me by them. In the midst of uncertainty and change I have often asked God to show me the way – to show me a doorway to His perfect plan for me - that I might walk through it. Those doors, however, do not always materialize and I struggle to identify them.

Saying that one puts faith in a “God Plan” does not by any means imply that one's foot never hits the gas pedal or that one sits around passively waiting on God to act. God does what we cannot do but there is plenty we can and must do. We all have unique talents, abilities and things we do that make us come alive. Those are the things we are to do. Those are the things that, when done, trigger resources and energy and vigor in the doing. But you already know that.

What distinguishes between who takes what action and when, in my opinion, lies in the “initiation” factor. Although the subject of this piece is not “initiation” the concept of it bears some discussion as it is an element of activity associated with doorways, thresholds and portals. God is love and His love and character are initiating in nature. He goes first. After all, He is the initiator/creator of everything. John 1:1-4 (NKJV); “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

God leads and He leads by example. God also leads by first seeking (pursuing) us. In Romans 3:11 Paul is very clear to point out that the unconverted do not seek after God. God initiates the relationship. What follows is another matter. God pursues us as a lover pursues and He is possessively jealous of the relationships that He initiates. Initiating action is leadership action. Initiation goes first. Initiating action can be a thought, a vision, an idea, a notion, a glimpse of something that inspires or bothers us - a cause of which we become aware. In my opinion, those initiator things are “of God”. In a sense they are the things that draw our gaze toward His doorways. What follows is our action from natural ability and talent combined with energy fueled or inspired by and in response to the initiating impulse.

The Gospel of John, Chapter 10 captures the image of God’s initiating leadership and of doors and thresholds together (NKJV verses 1-4); “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.”

This concept of “doors” had me wondering what is really true about doors, portals toward new realities and new beginnings. Have I had a correct perception of doors? When I think of doors I think of something solid with hinges and a knob for opening. Maybe there’s a small peep-window, but generally the door is solid, probably of oak, and surrounded by a frame. There may be light coming from a gap under the door but, in general, the door is a barrier to what is beyond. It’s easy to get stuck in the notion that doors are barriers we must confront and open as if to penetrate a wall to get at what is on the other side. Maybe that’s not right.

Someone once said that the door of progress swings on hinges of resistance. The Bible warns us to guard our “door” for what is let into us and for what we let out. Where we interface with what surrounds us are our doorways; our eyes, our nose, our mouth, our mind. God advises us to keep a guard over the door of our lips in Psalm 141:3 and to “guard the doors of your mouth” (Micah 7:5). In Proverbs 4:23 (NIV) we are exhorted; “Above all else, guard your heart (the door to the soul – my interpretation), for everything you do flows from it.” If there are barrier doors they are our open/closed eyes, our open/closed mouths and our open/closed ears and after that our open/closed minds.

A plea for God to show me a door implies my abandonment of self-sufficiency and a receptive availability to His plan. How often has it been said that God uses and guides those who are available? When I’m preoccupied with my own agenda, my own intended outcomes, my own doors - then I'm not really available, am I? My senses, my doorways are closed and I don’t see the entrances He presents before me. The "oak" door is of my own construction. The resistant hinges are my will. God’s “doors” have no oak member, they are wide open portals!

There is a famous painting by William Henry Hunt (1851) of Jesus standing at a door. The door is overgrown with vines and appears that it has not been opened for some time. Jesus holds a lamp and appears to be knocking (Revelation 3:20). To those of the Christian Arminian bent the door signifies volition; the free will of all men to accept or reject the Christ as savior of the world and their soul. To the Calvinist the rendering is false – there is no door that can be put between God and man if God does not will it. On the other side of conversion, the door is the will against post-salvation discipleship. To me the door is figurative. Jesus might as well be standing directly in front of an individual who’s eyes are shut, hands are over his ears and head is turned away. The oak door is the hardened heart turned toward itself - the glow of His lamp calling us promisingly from beneath the door.

What really makes one portal different from another is a willingness to know that it’s there, to face it, enter it and commit with a step across its threshold. I expound a bit on commitment in my book, Fruition ~ Reflections on a life grafted-in. Once across the threshold, once that first step is taken, we enter the new reality and perspective of being in that new space. Everything hits us from a different direction, perspective shifts, opportunities present. Where there was no light there is now enlightenment. The horizon advances bringing vistas and destinations into focus that, before, were unseen and unknown.

Life is a continuum of doorways, thresholds and portals all transitioning and linked. Each step through one results in manifold outcomes and new realities. Every step is like piercing the veil of another dimension. Who can know what is next? This is exciting. We are forever at the threshold of what is next. One ounce of commitment converted into the smallest step makes the difference between the reality that is now and the next. To embrace what’s in store one must simply do the next thing whatever it is!

God show me a door? You’re at the door! Take a step in commitment!

All the best!

Bill

The "One-Lane" Road

Note that the title of this blog post is not “One-Way” road – it’s “One-Lane” road. That’s what the sign read, the sign that was washed up on the shore, face down and under a few inches of gravel and sand, about 50 yards from where a similar orange sign washed up about two years ago that read, “Road Narrows”.

That’s where I found the sign, quite by happenstance, while investigating an odd piece of flotsam that had washed ashore after an early New England winter storm. That freak item I was investigating from my kayak was a port-a-potty!
When I told a friend about this uncanny reoccurrence of a sign washing up on the shore where I regularly paddle, he said, “You’d better get pictures because no one will believe it. That stretch of shoreline, my friend, is your Mount Sinai”.

The “re-occurrence” refers to the subject of my January and February 2010 blogs and a sign that read, “Road Narrows” (photo included at that January 2010 post on this Blog).

“Road Narrows” infers that the road is about to narrow ahead. And so it did and has since that day in early 2010. The narrowing has not been as constraining as I had thought it might have been but rather a refining and an enriching experience. The “narrowing” has been; me joining a small enterprise that, with hard work, is now turning and may be beginning to flourish and (by the grace of God) I’ve published a book titled; Fruition ~ Reflections on a life grafted-in. And there have been so many other rich episodes along that narrowing road.

“Road Narrows” infers that the road will be narrowing – up ahead. It’s a warning, or rather, an advisory of things to come - a promise – something to anticipate. So this new sign had me contemplating the significance of what seemed to be a continuation of that advisory. “Road Narrows” to “One-Lane” road. For starters, this new sign suggested a present condition, the way that things are. The road has indeed “narrowed”. Had it narrowed to a “One-Lane” road?

What exactly is a “One-Lane” road?

In our town we don’t have alternate side of the street parking regulations and so we have many thoroughfares that, over time, have practically “become” one-lane roads. This does not mean that they are “one way” roads. And when cars are parked on both sides of those roads, or when it snows, those “one-lane” roads – well - narrow. But that’s not where I’m going with this. You see, on a “one-lane” road, either direction has the right of way and requires cooperation to navigate a single block. Don’t try to turn around. Once you’ve committed to a block – you stay the course to the end.

My wife and I have a favorite local restaurant. Crossing town to get there requires that we take local streets that inevitably lead us to a few of these “one-lane” roads. It is inevitable that we will find ourselves halfway down a block and confronted by an adversary coming the other way. Two cannot pass side-by-side – one must yield. And so a driveway or an open parking pace becomes a point of yielding so the other car may pass. The yielder will pull off in anticipation of the impossible close-quarters situation and so signal with a headlight flash, receiving the appreciated counter flash from the other as the “one lane” road travelers pass like ships in a restricted channel executing a proper and dignified “one whistle” passage. I enjoy that headlight flash exchange – especially when I initiate it. I don’t know the person on the other end – but we connect there for a moment in the execution of that maneuver of courtesy.

Some (many?) avoid such precious opportunities for a gentile encounter. It’s somehow tragic that one might take the easy exit of a quick right or left hand turn to avoid dealing with the encounters presented by a “one-lane” road. That option costs in the “going around the block” and the missed opportunity to dispense a little grace or to accept the grace of a stranger.

So, what is a “One-Lane” road? It is NOT a “One Way”. It is frequently narrow. It presents the opportunity for close encounters with others - strangers. It provides an opportunity to express charity and the receive it. It is wise to proceed slowly on a “One Lane” road because you never know what may enter from the right or the left, from between parked cars or from a hidden driveway. You cannot pass a slower traveler on a “One Lane” road – patience will be tested. Entering such a road one is committed to traveling in one direction. Turning around (changing one’s mind) is difficult if not impossible.

The other day my wife and I were on our way to that favorite restaurant of ours. We were traveling down one of those “One Lane” roads. We had to yield to an oncoming vehicle and pulled over into a vacant spot in front of a charming old Victorian home. Headlight flashes were exchanged. I was anxious to get going and the other vehicle was moving particularly slow. My patience was waning a little but I was committed so I forced myself to de-focus on the passing for a moment and look around. It was then when I noticed the Christmas lighting of that Victorian home. It was like an exquisite old classic Christmas card. In fact many of the other homes along that street were equally dazzling in their Christmas adornment.

The passing car was long gone when we pulled out of our choice parking spot along that “One Lane” road to proceed to … oh yes … dinner.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy New Year and - - - all the best!

Bill

Discordant But Not Discarded

I recently attended the Desiring God “Finish The Mission” Conference in Minneapolis hosted by Pastor John Piper. The kickoff message on opening night was delivered by Louie Giglio. Giglio pastors a church in Atlanta and is renowned for his contemporary Christian music, Campus Crusade for Christ activities and his astronomically oriented message titled, “Indescribable”. I recommend that you do a search for and watch any of the versions of “Indescribable” that you can find on the internet. You can watch Giglio’s message from the Desiring God Conference here (watch it to the end because the end is – well - “symphonically” wonderful):

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/conference-messages/the-global-god-who-gives-the-great-commission#/watch/full

If you watched the video you will be in-tune with the remainder of this blog. [Without ruining the surprise content of Giglio’s message, what you experience is the unedited, orchestral resonating proclamations of creatures and celestial bodies as if they were all programmed to express their creation in acknowledgement of their Creator].

My 83 year old father has been an amateur astronomer, star gazer and student of quantum physics for as long as I can remember. Knowing his passion for observing the wonders of the heavens I kept thinking … boy would he like this Louie Giglio piece. So I sent my Dad an email with the link. His response came a day later;

“CAELI ENARRANT GLORIAM DEI !!!!! (Psalm 19). How true. Right on! While the music was playing, a small fruit fly came out from somewhere and danced all over my monitor screen. My first impulse was to kill it with a finger press but it dodged successfully so I let it go. It stayed ‘til the end of the music and then disappeared. Awesome! Whales and fruit flies are in tune. Are we in tune?”
My Dad’s reaction and question stopped me. That was a pretty profound reaction. From the smallest to the largest .. and what about us – mankind?

And so after a bit of thought this is what came to mind in response;

Although created for Him but different from all other creation – created in His image - we (mankind) seem to be out of tune - discordant. Something is amiss, something went wrong, terribly wrong. We are distant and out of tune while all of the rest of creation is focused on Him. Perhaps the restlessness expressed by Saint Augustine in his familiar statement; “God, You created us for Yourself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.” is our manuifestation of the discord. All of creation in resonance - mankind (of all creation) oddly struggling out of tune.

Our Creator, who loves us - pursues us. And thank God for His indescribable gift - that through Jesus Christ - resonance, harmony, accord and relationship are restored!

My voice will be stronger and more deliberate when I next sing in worship. All the heavens do indeed proclaim His glory and all creation resonates with praise! Me too.

All the best!

Bill

Wedding Reflections

My niece got married on Labor Day weekend. The wedding quickened a memory that some time back it had occurred to me that the woman I married many years ago - when I see her - is not the person that others will see.

I met my wife when we were both 19 years old. We’ve been married now for over thirty years and if you meet my wife, the woman you will see is not at all the woman that I see.

What I see is an amalgam of my wife at 19 and every year in between. What I see is a sweetheart, a lover, a woman becoming a mother in the throes of childbirth, a playful partner with a coquettish smile and a sparkle in her eye that slays me every time, a mother bathing her children, a beautiful women - her face caressed by soft candle light - across the table from me in a romantic little Paris restaurant.

I see a strong, fearless, soaking wet woman perched on the heaving bow pulpit of our sailboat reaching out precariously for a mooring buoy as we make anchorage in the midst of a storm. I see a woman going under sedation for surgery and coming out of it on the other end. I see a woman shedding tears of grief and anguish at the loss of a loved one, or of melancholy at the end of a sentimental movie or of joy upon the realization that God has indeed moved in her life in a very personal way.

I see her blushing, laughing, frowning. I see her brow furrowed and lips pursed the way they do when I watch her so absorbed reading a book.

Oh, there is so much more that “I” see that you or anyone will never see. And I see it all together every time I see my wife.

Many years ago it struck me that the mirrors in our home have captured the reflections of our lives and the images of this woman I love along the way. Perhaps somewhere and in some dimension, those reflections still exist. For me they are recorded, embellished by sentiment, in my memory. That day I beckoned my wife to come join me in front of a mirror to look at ourselves and “reflect”. And so a little tradition started.
For close family members who are getting married I prepare a unique wedding token. It is a simple framing of a mirror beside a poem I was inspired to write titled, “Wedding Reflections”

Wedding Reflections

A bond today, commitments made and holy vows exchanged,
a young and hopeful image cast … sincere and unafraid.

This steadfast argent portal will record with object truth,
the passing days and life’s extremes … and temptor’s sly reproofs.

But through it all you won’t despair; for in your love abounds,
a certain bliss that overcomes the fallen-ness that surrounds.

With every year and trial the overcoming strengthens,
as Master molds you bonded ones whom lovingly He chastens.

What life, what pact, was ever good that was not ever tested?
So let no blemish quench you that ever is reflected.

As decades pass, life rushes on, and as you steer your courses,
the rocks and shoals will take their tolls upon your scant resources.

Be mindful that this portal sees the subtle changes shape,
that day by day you won’t perceive but will appreciate.

So come before this mirror from time to time and see,
The gentle way His guiding hand has made your marriage be.

Reflect.
All the best!

Bill

An Octopus' Garden

“A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.” ~ John Lennon ~

You know the lyrics -

“I'd like to be, under the sea
in an octopus' garden in the shade.
He'd let us in, knows where we've been
in his octupus' garden, in the shade.
We would be warm, below the storm,
in our little hideaway beneath the waves.
Resting our head, on the sea bed,
in an octopus' garden near a cave …”(Excerpted from The Beetle’s – "Octopus’ Garden")

Don’t those lyrics deliver a soothing pulse of security and symbiosis? How about this finale;

“… How it would be, until you try to flee,
his eight arms firmly grasping you to stay!”



Entanglement strategies can be very effective for enterprise success. Like the quotation above – “a dream you dream together …” can be reality to the extent that you are involved in more than arms-length transactional business with your business partners everywhere along the supply chain.

Why not embed some unique and beneficial elements of your business into the workings of your suppliers and customers that will make your relationship more securely interdependent and influential as a whole? It’s the whole concept of virtual organizations coming to life. Data-sharing, packaging and labeling standards and electronic funds transferring all facilitate seamless business transactions and lower the costs of business. They entangle while providing commercial benefit in both directions. Customers so entangled are hard pressed to jump out of a relationship on a passing quality glitch, late shipment or spot price opportunity. Rebates, pull-through marketing that effects downstream brand recognition and customer loyalty incentives are forms of marketing and financial entanglement as well. They are all investments in a relationship for sustainable growth. They also ensure a “win-win” relationship bias that mitigates the second guessing that goes on in arms length relations that distract the participants from focusing on the value- added operations that they individually contribute and do best.

I once worked for a manufacturer that had achieved ISO9000 certification. With that certification we had developed valuable expert knowledge of that process and we leveraged it as an entanglement strategy by offering free seminars on the certification process to our customers. We did the same with other systems and methods talents we had acquired in the course of improving our own infrastructure. The same could be done with just about any generally recognized business system, practice, tool or compliance protocol that you may have mastered for your own purposes.

Maybe you have a particular expertise in Lean practices or the use of social media in marketing. Package it and offer knowledge transfer to your customers as a value-added service - send your managers out as trainers. A valuable by-product of such strategies is that your managers become better administrators when they begin to train others.

But beware; entanglement is no replacement for true value.

In life every relationship gets tested for authenticity. Sometimes a relationship that looked good on the surface begins to manifest signs of a bad sort of entanglement. There are times when disentanglement is in order when unhealthy, suffocating or distracting influences divert energy away from honest, free, profitable and worthy ventures. There is practical application of a biblical principal found in the Second Book of Timothy in Chapter 2 where it is written, “No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.” So, use entanglement strategies for genuine relationship building and beware of the potential for its unscrupulous use on you.

"The biggest break in my career was getting into the Beatles in 1962. The second biggest break since then is getting out of them." ~ George Harrison ~
All the Best!
Bill