A few years back during my corporate career, I was taking one of many trips to Carroll, Iowa and this time with my boss. Now, getting to Carroll, you have a choice to fly into either Des Moines, IA or Omaha, Nebraska. By choice, I really mean that whichever you choose you still have about a two hour drive to get to Carroll and by choice, I also mean that either way you choose you would have to pass by pig farms and cow fields pretty much the entire way.

One in particular trip stands out more than others and has to this day left me with a perspective on opportunities that I am very grateful for. For those who are not familiar with pig farms and cow pastures, one thing you notice right away (usually well before seeing the actual location) is the "aroma". I still remember it was a smell to the degree that I was just about ready to lose my $15.00 airport sandwich on the side of the rental car! Half jokingly, I say to my boss, "how do you live with that smell?!?" His response was as matter of fact as if asking the color of the car you drive, "What smell? Oh, the pig farms?" I quickly responded "Yes, it smells like...(Explicative)" and just then he takes a deep breath through his nose and exhales saying "To us that's the smell of money." With my shirt over my nose and mouth, I responded saying "well, to me that's the smell of pig (explicative)" and we both got a good laugh.

I can't tell you how many times I go back to that single exchange when working with leaders today for solutions to some situations or circumstances that just plain stink. How true it is though, that opportunity does present itself even in the most seemingly appalling of circumstances. Where one man buries his head down and only senses the worst asking himself "how can anyone live with this?" another takes in a deep breath, understands what's behind it and knows that prosperity for someone is close by.

My lesson that day was that opportunity, progress and prosperity can come from...(explicative)... Sometimes we just have to shovel our pride and our lack of understanding to the side in order to see it. Thanks Dave!

The Business "fear factor"....

What is your biggest fear? Think about it as you read.

Fears are funny because they are often based on false constructs or untested assumptions…A fear of swimming has nothing to do with ability, but you don’t overcome it by “just jumping in” or asking a “good swimmer” how he or she learned, you reach out to someone who can explain the relationship between water and your body. When you do you learn that kicking has less than 4% impact to successfully keeping your body afloat. You learn it’s more about horizontal positioning, buoyancy and simple arm movements.

You see by deconstructing our fears to understandable bite-size facts we make it easier to move past them! If you want to over come a fear of flying, don’t seek someone who has flown several times before, instead buy a ticket for a pilot to sit next to you and have him explain step by step what is going on and WHY it’s being done. When we understand relationship, cause/effect and the WHY behind the things that get in the way of us accomplishing what we want in life, it’s called knowledge. When we actually put those understandings to practice, it’s called wisdom. While I have never been afraid to swim or fly (that I can remember), I know my most recent fear was starting my own business during the toughest economic time of the last 70 years! So deconstructing this fear, I decided to study the great depression and found some fascinating things about innovation and wealth creation that came out of the post depression era. Company’s like Standard Oil, Proctor and Gamble, Dupont and Sears all thrived in the circumstances that others gave up on. Other ventures were launched, including Carvel ice cream, Clairol hair coloring products and A.C. Neilsen, all of which went on to create futures often unheard of… Deconstructing my fear completely changed my perspective, attitude and expectation of what is possible.

I once heard that “worrying is like sitting in a rocking chair, it gives you something to do just doesn’t get you anywhere.” The fact is, we are more than justified to be concerned, apprehensive or fearful of the challenges and circumstances ‘hard times’ brings. But if we look close enough, hard times also offer opportunities to rethink and reinvent ourselves and the organizations we are apart of!