This is usually the last story I teach for Entrepreneurship:

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.

“Not very long,” answered the Mexican.

“But then, why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more?” asked the American.

The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.

The American asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

“I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs. I have a full life.”

The American interrupted, “I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat.”

“And after that?” asked the Mexican.

“With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge new enterprise.”

“How long would that take?” asked the Mexican.

“Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years,” replied the American.

“And after that?”

“Afterwards? Well my friend, that’s when it gets really interesting,” answered the American, laughing. “When your business gets really big, you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions!”

“Millions? Really? And after that?” asked the Mexican.

“After that you’ll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends.”

I’ve been teaching a great group of students as Rasmussen College here in Mankato.  The course is “Managing a Diverse Workforce” - and the premise of the class is that the professional, global thinking manager of the future embraces Diversity to create a more powerful, fulfilling and profitable workplace.

The class consists of 12 students - ranging in age from early 20’s to late 40’s, all Caucasian and all from this part of the world. The first class set a great tone for the rest of the year, and the class has developed a great work ethic.

My first class started with the standard 1st hour - who I am, the syllabus, the general outline of the class, and a get to know each other exercise.  We then welcomed Tory Lowe - a young black man who had been the subject of unbelievable racial harassment at a southern Minnesota meat packing plant.

The group’s reaction and compassion towards Tory was exceptional.  So moved was I by their ability to ask questions and their level of empathy that I offered to change the class structure immediately.

I challenged the class to try a “discussion leadership” format.  Student pairs would lead a round-table class discussion each week, design activities and try to draw understanding of the material from each other.

It has been a great success.  The class is now passing the “group think” conformity stage and actually arguing with each other.  A level of mutual respect has developed, and the class has begun to design more and more challenging educational opportunities for themselves.

We have decided to peer grade a diversity presentation the last two weeks of class.  The final paper has evolved into a self directed look into a real Diversity issue faced by a local company.

My own point of view: It is much harder to teach this way.  It is easier to make 45 minutes of PowerPoint slides and assign “answer the odd # questions” type activities than to guide people through a self designed, peer based discussion and case based curriculum.  However, this class has been one of the most rewarding that I have ever been a part of.

I am looking up at my marketing shelf.  All my marketing books lined up in neat little rows.  Missing are Seth Godin books.  Not because they are not worth buying, but because they are worth giving away as presents.  I’ve probably bought Purple Cow 5 times, and happily given it away each time.

I find it much easier to quote Seth than to be brilliant myself.

Today he announced a limited edition box set on his blog. I got #313 of 800, but there are only a couple of hundred left.  Pity you for reading this blog instead of his.  Always read Seth first.

Here’s a link to his blog, in case you want to hurry over.

There is a great article over on Harvard Business Blogs by Umair Haque.  I’ve made reference to Umair before - his blog is well worth reading.

He recently was discussing Apple’s rumored release of a Kindle-like/Video/Tablet/Killer device.  Whatever it will be, it is sure to be disruptive.

Innovation that is game changing tends to change the way the entire world looks at things.  The Ipod was not the first portable MP3 player, but the combination of Itunes, Ipod and Apple’s ability to put one in millions of pockets changed the world.

Here’s a quote from the Harvard website:

Thick value. Markets, networks, and communities are cool, and strategy is fun. But the real challenge of the 21st Century is thick value: authentic, sustainable value.

Whether it’s radio, TV, magazines, or newspapers, it seems often that yesterday’s mass media industry has devolved to shock, endless ads, and lowest-common-denominator schlock. Never was there — perhaps save Detroit — an industry who so quickly and decisively sacrificed quality, integrity, and utility for near-term profitability.

Opening the floodgates through an open market is innovative — radically so. But raising the bar for insanely great media of all kinds to be produced, once again — well, that’s the key not just to mere innovation, but to awesomeness.

And that’s the key question. In the Appleverse, is media still lame — or is it awesome?

Innovation can make the Appleverse industry-changing. But it is awesomeness that will determine whether the Appleverse is world-changing or not. Guess which one’s more profitable, disruptive, and sustainable?

You know by now that my personal mantra is “ask better questions.”  I look to other people for the answers.

One place I look every day is Fred Wilson’s great aVC blog.  His latest post is a fantastic slideshow with the a perfect primer about what is going on in the world right now.  Highly recommended.

Lyle Wright of the state’s SBDC office recently reminded me of the Voltaire quote: “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”

For entrepreneurs, this is a great reminder to get out and do it - don’t wait for the perfect business plan, or the perfect website, or the perfect sales pitch.

Here’s a new take on an old marketing framework that I came up with while talking with a friend.

There are basically four directions to take your business into the future:

1. Same old stuff the same old ways.  Sound familiar?  If you expect different results and are stuck doing the same things the same ways, why do you think anything will change?  Insanity is doing the same things over and over and expecting different results.
2. Innovation #1 - Process innovation:  This is selling the same items and services in a whole new way.  Think Wall Mart linking consumer buying behavior directly to manufacturers by innovating the use of bar codes for the first time.  How can you innovate your process to better your business?  Think big - think bold.  Reduce your supply chain - or turn it upside down?  Re-think your marketing strategy to a pull rather than push strategy?  Turn your payables into financing, ala Dell computer?
3. Innovation #2 - Product innovation: Selling new stuff the same old ways.  Think about your customers needs - can you fill them?  Cub Foods now has banking partnerships and Big Red Video boxes - Apple is almost bigger than Microsoft because of product innovation.  What can you do using the same ways you do business to serve your customers?
4. New Venture: This is where we do brand new things in brand new ways.  Apple launches iTunes and delivers a whole new product in a brand new way.  The local landscaper investing in a snow plow and going into a new off season venture.

Now more than ever it is time to innovate and try new things.  That’s why I love working with the Small Business Development Centers - I get to hear great ideas from great business people every day.

My sister is one heck of an entrepreneur.  Instead of creating a business to benefit herself, she created a Museum that benefits an entire state.

Anne Steuer created the Children’s Museum of Lacrosse - an epically wonderful place where families can go to learn and explore.

Please watch her short “Aha Moment” video, and give her your vote.  If she wins, the museum gets stuff - like cameras and publicity.

Here’s a comic I found on an April blog post at amix.dk a while back, and saved it:

So many entrepreneurs I deal with focus on cash flow, they never stop to think about their net worth.

Great books, like The Millionaire Next Door detail the habits of the quiet millionaires.  People in your own neighborhood that you would never suspect of being high net worth individuals.

I knew a couple that earned over $1,000,000 over the course of 13 years. (About 80k a year) - and I doubt their net worth today is positive.

Why? Their life was defined by income, and they were always in debt. They rented their home, and everything they bought was worth less in time. Fancy dinners, fancy cars on credit, and expensive toys.  And they always consumed a little more than they could afford.

Contrast that with another friend that never quite made that amount of income, but had a very nice house in an expensive suburb of Chicago.  He rarely ate out, and when he wanted a new car, he put a picture of it on his refrigerator, and saved enough money to buy it. He never purchased anything with a credit card he couldn’t pay off that month.

13 years later his net worth is well over $1,000,000. He has a few years left on his mortgage, but his $400,000 house is now worth well over a $1M, and he has no debt against any of his other assets.

Debt is great for appreciating assets - it will be the lowest cost of capital in most situations. Debt is leverage - a way for people to get behind an idea and make it happen.  I have been in debt several times in my life, and each time it scared me.  I knew, however, that I was building something that was growing faster, and generating more and more cash flow to service the debt.

A close friend is scared by her student loans - she’ll graduate with over $80,000 of low interest debt.  She invested wisely - in my opinion. She put leverage behind a great asset - herself. An appreciating asset. She will be able to start generating revenue that far exceeds the cost of money.

My recommendation, upon graduating, is to not only pay down the debt, but to start focusing on growing her net worth.  Appreciating assets that far exceed your liabilities.

Not a bad business plan for anyone.

Here’s a funny from Hugh McCloud - If you want more blog traffic, write about social media! If you want to be completely ignored, write about social media!

© 2009 Hugh MacLeod’s Gaping Void

I recently was with a large group looking for a new marketing direction.  The room buzzed with “social media” as the new thing we all need to do.  “Twitter” is important to everyone!

I took a deep breath, and tried to explain that social media is a tactic, not a strategy.  Genuine connections with your stakeholders, public sharing of conversations and developing communities within your scope of business are things great companies have been doing for years.  New technology makes it easier, to be sure.

Remember 20 years ago when the Fax machine took off?  I was an Account Executive with KSTP in Minneapolis waiting in line outside the Judges office for my turn at the only fax machine in the building.

Soon afterward it seemed everyone had a fax machine.  There were fax marketing departments, books on how to leverage your fax machine communication strategies, software designed to make custom fax cover pages and classes taught at community colleges around understanding this new technology.

Remember all the “spam” free cruise faxes that came over your machine? Remind you of anything?

We can laugh now, but at the time Fax was “The New Thing” - just like Twitter, Facebook and Instant Messaging is now.

Marketers were convinced that a shift to FAX MARKETING was the answer.  Now companies are demanding their marketers embrace the new technologies of the day.

Well, if your marekting strategy involves forcing your message on people who don’t want your message, your Social Media strategy is no better than faxing 100,000 businesses your offer for a free cruise.

Yes, knowledge of new technologies is important, as well as an understanding of how each of these can build your community and your connections.  But be genuine folks - like any marketing strategy, be true to your brand, and your stakeholders.SoSs

As you know by now, “Ask Better Questions” is a personal Mantra - a  way I approach the world.  It is a humbling realization that I do not have all the answers (unlike the 17 year old version of Mike Nolan.)

I came across this account on the Harvard Business site - the heartwarming story of how a Marine learned to ask better questions.

My experience in Kibera also taught me to ask better questions. During one particular patrol we had received a box of stuffed animals from a charity in the U.S. We stopped and some Iraqi children came up to our convoy. Marines handed them stuffed animals. I noticed an elderly man under a date tree watching this spectacle with a spiteful look. My linguist and I walked over to him.

“Sir, you appear frustrated,” I said, “is everything OK?”

The old man told me that what we were doing was insulting. We should give the toys to the fathers so that they could then provide to their children. He was right. We stopped giving kids stuffed animals, and perhaps we left that old man beneath the date tree a little more tolerant of our efforts.

Listening well and asking better questions. Those are the most important skills our service in Kibera has taught me. I tried to use those skills to minimize the damage of war on my Marines and on civilians. I believe that we who are graduating with our MBAs in the midst of the deepest recession of our lives to date must be much more effective in leading responsible companies and creating value for all of our stakeholders. We should ask more and better questions of our stakeholders. We should listen much more carefully to what our stakeholders say and how they behave in our presence. I am hopeful that we will step-up to the occasion and create more enlightened and equitable standards of business leadership. We have a duty to restore faith and confidence in American enterprise.

My thanks to Marine Rye Barcott for sharing this story.

It is a great reminder that knowledge comes from asking better questions, not just perpetuating what we believe the answers to be.