Posts Tagged: Strategy

Personal / Uncategorized — 3 Comments
28
Dec 09

Reviewing My 2009 Strategy

So its been exactly a year to the date of my post 2009 Strategy. To me I think its important that I revisit it as its been quite a year since I wrote that (1 year blogaversary yay! ) and it should be something I keep in mind moving forward when I set my goals and plans for 2010 … or ‘010 as I like to call it.

So  here we go…..

1. Becoming More Passionate: So I think I wrote this with a bit of an expectation that I would suddenly be hit on the head and determine that I would be completely passionate and happy go lucky about a certain job or aspect of my life. Well, it didn’t happen.If you do a quick search on the net you can find a lot of articles and postings on “Finding your Passion” but from what I’m realizing is that it isn’t a fast and immediate process. I made some progress but I would say that I’m still not close enough to choosing a passion and committing myself 100% to it.

Developing passion takes a bit of work- At Social Media Mastermind

That isn’t to say that I failed at my goal, I think as time went by I re purposed it and made it more realistic. Over the year I feel I discovered I really enjoy learning and exploring topics and that I couldn’t be passionate about something that stayed constantly the same.  I also think that as a whole it has to be people related but in a more analytical sense. Reflecting back on school my favorite topics often related to how people interacted (be it Consumer Behavior, Psychology, Communications or Market Research ). Right now in my current work I’m exploring net communications and social media which may or may not be the same in the next few years. Overall I think I’ve laid out a bit more of a path for myself but there is still more work to do going forward.

2. Spending time on the right people: I think this has been the area of biggest improvement for myself , but an area that I still need to consistently work on. I made in my opinion 2 huge achievements: Setting my own boundaries and Getting out and meeting with/interacting with new people.

On Setting Boundaries: Looking backwards on 2008, a big downfall for me was not setting my own boundaries. So this meant going along with the group and not looking  out for my goals and priorities. In 2009 while this was definitely a bumpy ride ( as some of my friends can attest to) I learned to protect my own interests and refocused on friendships that were really important to me. Overall it was a pretty significant personal endeavor.

Interacting with New People: I think this is what I’m most proud and surprised by. Over the past year I’ve met a ton of new people and really pushed myself to be more outgoing. I’ve met a lot of great people ( many of them are on this list here) and really got to learn* and explore a side of business that I sort of knew about for a while but didn’t completely understand till this year. I’ve met a few great people who’ve really pushed me to be better in getting out there and improving myself. You know who you are, I really appreciate it.

One of the rainier Patio Fridays with Katie Boland and Philip Moreria (C/O Lee Dale)

The Challenge: In the latter half of 2009 I lost momentum in this area ( job search/moving up north were to blame) I definitely don’t want to see the relationships I started with people wither .There are many people I respect and admire and having lost contact with many people in the past I don’t wish for that to happen again. So moving forward with w/e path I end up taking ,  being more deliberate with meeting people  and perhaps just booking more 1 on 1 time is going to be important.

3. Taking Care of my Health: We can’t always get things 100% right? Alright so this was a fail on my part. While in some regards I was active in that if I was able to I would walk rather than take transit or drive overall the idea of moving towards less of a 1 pack didn’t exactly pan out. Well no excuses in ‘010,  at minimum mornings will be work out time and when I’m able to I’m also looking to snag a gym membership to be even more serious. To put it out there my goal is to bring myself up to 160 in lean mass (I’m right now at around 150). As a secondary benefit I think it would help me gain a much better mental focus.

All in all I think for what the year was, I ended it pretty strong. The external environment could have been better but then who’s to say everything I’ve experienced would have occurred if it had been different. I plan on making a 2010 strategy coming up  (its in the works). It will probably be posted closer to New Years.

*I’ve discussed some  great events on this blog but for anyone looking for future reference 2 great places to learn if you’re a business person learning about the web and entrepreneurship are at SproutUps and Refresh Events( a calendar of  events can be found here also) .

Communications / Marketing — No Comments
11
Apr 09

SURPRISE!!

One of the quickest but most intense emotions we can feel, it catches hold of us and puts us completely off guard.POW Title Doing something completely out of the ordinary  is something we all know will get a reaction from people. So  its interesting that companies and organizations don’t try to SURPRISE us more often, especially in a market place where the fight for mind share is becoming more and more intense.

I just finished reading POW! Right Between The Eyes! by Andy Nulman a book I had registered to recieve for free a few months back (and it was well worth the effort!). Having the time now to sit down and read the book I have to say I’m surprised I don’t think about the power of surprise more often but also notice that “DUH!” its so obvious  some of the companies I’ve always been a fan of use surprise and IT WORKS!

As for the book itself, its not a stuffy business book presenting you with a lot of institutionalized information but its also not completely dumbed down. Andy Nulman builds a strong business case for the use of surprise tactics  in organizations drawing from his own personal experience in the many companies he’s worked with( Just for Laughs, Airborne Entertainment etc)  but also drawing from real world examples from something as small as exceptional service delivery to full marketing campaigns. Best of all he doesn’t leave it at that, he leaves the reader with thought processes and differerent tactics ( very tempted to try time bombing)  that anyone with a bit of creativity can put into practice.

Overall very enjoyable book, worth every penny I spent ( ie: $0! Go and get the book anyways!) . After spending the last 3 months with my nose in very theoretical and cut and dry textbooks  it was a great mental break that actually got my mind going and has me seeking out ideas. Thanks Mr.Nulman for sending me out a copy of your book , expect me to contact you sometime in the near future ;)

Have any Questions/Comments? Contact me at kevin.richard@ryerson.ca or send me a twitter message.

Personal — 1 Comment
28
Dec 08

2009 Strategy

Stratigic Management had to be one of my favorite classes of the past term. I really enjoyed researching and putting together strategies for a wide range of companies ( if only Pilgrims Pride had merged…they wouldn’t be here ) I also had an awesome prof that got me thinking about where I’m going and deliberately positioning myself where I want to go instead of letting things happen passively ( Dr.Steven Gedeon is nominated for TVO’s Best Lecture, check it out here! )

I’ve had a lot of thought about it and I thought it would be important to create a strategy for myself in 2009 to ensure that I have a set direction of where I want to go with things. I think in general its also something that everyone should consider moving into the new year ( 3 more days!). Here are my 3 priorities for 2009:

1. Becoming more passionate: I’ve noticed that when I have a strong interest in a task or invest a lot of myself into something I’m much more effective and feel more strongly about it. As well I’ve been noticing that being passionate at what you do is a major success factor, I’ve seen a few cases where people just ooze passion and they are definitely at the top of their game.

So What?* On my part this is going to take 2 tactics. On the one hand I’m going to have to build passion and enthusiasim into the work I do, that means changing my attitude , having more in depth planning and building stronger focus.

My second tactic is going to be building my passion. I find exploring and experiencing new things has been something that’s always energized me, and I haven’t been doing that a lot lately. My goal for the year is going to be every week to go out and spend a few hours and try something new, maybe I’ll even build some long term interests.

2. Spend time on the right people : Something that I think was a bit of a downfall for me in 2008 was that I started the bad habit of trying to keep the people around me happy and ignoring what I needed. Despite my efforts to impress, things were very often onsided. On the other side of things, there were relationships that I really valued and never made the time to invest in them.

So What? Prority #1 for this goal is going to be reconnecting and spending time with the people I care about and value. Its going to be about breaking from the regular cycle and taking the time to be present. A side goal I would like to explore is also being with new people, seeing some new perspectives on things.

3. Taking care of my health: Being a student sitting at a desk for hours on end I’ve found that while I’m not gaining any wieght, I’m not getting any more fit either. Something I also need to watch for is a recently learned family history of heart disease.

So What? For me its going to be about setting the time and getting a routine together. This past term I bought a school gym membership and used it twice! This year I’ve got to get out of my bed ( despite how comfortable it is) and drag myself to get some exercise done. Its also going to mean building a bit more incentive in as well, my plan is to become a much better squash player in the coming year !

* Its pointless to have goals without strategies to get there, something my prof often commented on in assignments is the “So What” aspect of ones work. You can write something done but in the end what does it mean!