Access to Learning
Favorite learnings from 2008, from economics to innovation.

Lagniappe
John and the secret handshake

Randy Boek Founder & President ROUTE 2, Inc. 5400 Carillon Point Building 5000, 4th Floor Kirkland, Wa. 98033 425 359-8506 888 703-6076 randyb@route2results.com www.route2results.com

Too many expectations! Expectations that we strive to meet and with a bit of luck usually do. Sometimes we don't. Sometimes in spectacularly visible ways we don't. As a leader you probably have high expectations of your employees, your leadership team and yourself. Those same people who we have high expectations of also have high expectations of us. Leaders are expected to make the right decisions. From those that make money and lead to sustainable business growth to those that consistently deliver on the written and unwritten promises inherent to our products and services. Given the speed and volume of change in the world and our business environments yesterday’s base of knowledge may not meet the needs of tomorrow’s decisions.

Every business owner or C-team member I know, every division exec, GM, project manager or leader of any stripe is maxed out on demands for their time. Most are still deliberate about learning. We learn from observing others and from an array of experiences, both successes and failures. We learn from our peers, coworkers, employees. We learn from formal course work, seminars and study. Many times our learning is focused on what needs to be learned to solve the problem at hand. To stay current, the WSJ gets scanned while on the treadmill. Fast Company and an industry specific rag get read on a flight to Philly. The stack of Harvard Business Reviews on the credenza gets taller each month. Successful people learn persistently and there is always so much more to learn. Unfortunately the extra time to search out something of value just isn't available.

This late December issue is something different just for you. No pontification, no opinions, just quick access to cool stuff. I’m guessing you will find something here that you will want others in your business to see.

I wish you all the best of health, happiness and prosperity in 2009.

Randy Boek
Founder & President
Route 2, Inc.
www.route2results.com

In the January 09 issue of Boek to Business I'll talk about leading organizational and team learning in a way that gets business results. This month, however, the book on 08 is rapidly closing. In writing this issue I began thinking about some of the things that I've come across in the last year that I've learned from that I want you to know about. These are my favorites of 2008:

http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com
This site is a library of the Business Journal of McKinsey & Company. There is a wide range of articles and editorials specific to the business and economic issues of the day. You can subscribe or simply search specific to your need for information.

http://zentation.com/viewer/index.php
The Art of Innovation Video of Guy Kawasaki speaking at a Chicago convention. Pour a glass of your favorite libation, sit back, enjoy and learn from one of the masters. This is well worth the 52 minutes it takes to watch it.

http://www.ted.com
Ideas Worth Hearing
TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

This is an incredible site. You may or may not find a direct link to your business or your role as a leader but guaranteed you will learn something. Take a risk - whether you trust me or not, if you would like to learn and have your thinking challenged, this is worthwhile. Don't go to this site at work. You will be distracted for awhile.

Here are a few of my favorite inspired talks by the world's leading thinkers and doers on ted.com:

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/richard_branson
He's ballooned across the Atlantic, floated down the Thames with the Sex Pistols, and been knighted by the Queen. His megabrand, Virgin, is home to more than 250 companies, from gyms, gambling houses and bridal boutiques to fleets of planes, trains and limousines. The man even owns his own island. And now Richard Branson is moving onward and upward into space (tourism): Virgin Galactic's Philippe Starck-designed, Burt Rutan-engineered spacecraft are slated to start carrying passengers into the thermosphere in 2009, at $200,000 a ticket. 29 minutes

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jay_walker
Jay Walker is fascinated by intellectual property in all its forms. His firm, Walker Digital, created Priceline and many other businesses that reframe old problems with new IT. It's befitting that an entrepreneur and inventor so prolific and acclaimed would curate a library devoted, as he says, to the astonishing capabilities of the human imagination. TIME twice named him one of the "50 most influential business leaders in the digital age," and he holds more than 200 patents. Jay Walker's companies -- under Walker Digital -- have alone served tens of millions of people and amassed billions in value. 7 minutes

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jill_bolte_taylor
Jill Bolte-Taylor got a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: She had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions -- motion, speech, self-awareness -- shut down one by one. This is an astonishing story. 18 minutes

...and one simply for your enjoyment

From Mozart to Metallica, Green Day to Dr. Dre, Billy Ray to Beyoncé: http://www.pandora.com Incredible web based radio where you build personal music profile and system plays only music you like from the Music Genome Project, and it's free!

In Cajun cooking lagniappe is a little something special or extra that makes a big difference. I rant about the general sad state of customer service and it is time that I balance the ranting by putting my money where my mouth is.

A couple of months ago Route 2 was inducted into the Staples preferred customer club. John, our new account exec orchestrated this. I was skeptical. Why would I even have or need an office supply account exec? John and I had a good chat and I got a special preferred customer number and a commitment to learn the secret handshake. Tricia has done several supply orders over the months since we’ve been in the club and John has been consistent in calling us from Orlando to make sure all is well and that we are getting what we order and also the promised discounts. In November we ordered a new color laser printer for the office. It arrived quickly, was easy to set up, but just didn't work correctly. We called John; explained the problem; chose a different brand. In a less than 10 minute telephone chat the problem was solved. New printer arrived a few days later as did shipping label to return the bad one.

We do our best as business people to make sure our customers do not have problems with our products or services. It still happens sometimes. We cement a customer relationship or lose a customer based on how we handle it.

At John's request, December's Lagniappe award goes to the building fund of his church as their building was destroyed in hurricane Charley.

A question to ponder:

What did my business learn in 2008 and how will we apply that learning to the benefit of the business and those who depend on our business in 2009?