Simple Secrets

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Often the rules for success are so simple and so obvious they aren’t even seen.

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You’ve undoubtedly heard the old saying, “Behind every great man, there’s a great woman.” 

Well, here’s a variation for you: “Behind every great success, there’s a great system.”

Though both the great woman and the great system go unnoticed, their presence makes all the difference in the world.

Success is all around you.  If want to create more success in both your professional and personal life (notice I did not say “attract more success”), you need to identify and emulate the system that’s producing it.

In Business:

They’ve had some struggles recently, but McDonald’s is one of the greatest business success stories of our time.

Since most of their employees are just starting out, they have an extremely high turnover rate.  It’s an incredible 300% annually. 

Let’s do the math on that.  For a business to have a 100% annual turnover rate, they have a totally new group of employees every year.  So a 300% rate means when you walk into your local McDonald’s, the faces you see today will be replaced with new faces four months from now.  And, in eight months, a completely different crew will have replaced those faces.

Wow.  How can McDonald’s maintain their consistency across all those thousands of locations around the world when they have to plug in new employees at such a rapid rate?  They have a system!  To be more accurate, they have a system for everything.

My first job out of college was a copywriter at a local ad agency, and our local McDonald’s franchise was a client.  I can tell you first-hand that they have systemized every aspect of their business.  We had a whole wall of bookshelves filled with 3-ring binders from McDonald’s corporate headquarters (they call it Hamburger University), and that was just for their advertising and marketing.

One of the big takeaways from Michael Gerber’s excellent book, The E-Myth Revisited, is to systematize your small business so there’s a procedure for everything.  Even if you have no plans to ever sell your business, pretend you are going to sell it and document all the step-by-step procedures for the “new owner.”

Yes, behind every great success is a great system. 

In Life:

A more informal word for “system” is “habit.”  Habits are our personal systems.  But why are the successful ones, as Mr. Stone says, often so hard to see?

Many times, we choose not to recognize the successful habits of others because doing so would lead to us having to do the one thing we dislike most: change.

I’m comfortable and familiar with my current habits.  I don’t want to abandon them because they’re actually working for me.  People only do what works for them. 

You may see a friend or family member engaging in what you think is a bad habit.  But, to them, it’s a positive.  On some level, it’s absolutely working for them, just as your current habits are absolutely working for you.

If you have a habit you’d like to change, there’s a conflict inside you.  You’re obviously getting something you perceive as positive from the habit.  However, another part of you senses a negative aspect to it.

Focus exclusively on the positive.  Be honest with yourself, and figure out the benefit you’re getting from the habit.  This may take some soul-searching, or it may come to you in a flash.

Once you’ve identified the positive, you can then try replacing the current habit with another one that delivers the same benefit, but doesn’t cause the inner conflict.

For instance, smoking may be a stress-relieving positive, but you know it’s unhealthy.  Is there something else that would give you similar stress-relief, without the downside of the health risks?

As Og Mandino said so well in his classic book, The Greatest Salesman In The World, “In truth, the only difference between those who have failed and those who have succeeded lies in the difference of their habits. Good habits are the key to all success. Bad habits are the unlocked door to failure. Thus, the first law I will obey, which precedeth all others is — I will form good habits and become their slave.”

Of course, the irony in that passage is that becoming a slave to good habits results in the ultimate freedom of success.

Change your habits; change your life.

So remember…

Often the rules for success are so simple and so obvious they aren’t even seen.

— W. Clement Stone

Maybe so; maybe not.

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This quote doesn’t mean anything unless you know the classic Zen story behind it.  I heard Dr. Dyer tell it years ago, and here’s how I remember it:

A farmer walking into town passes The Buddha and says, “Buddha, please help me.  Something terrible has happened.  My ox just died and now I have no way to plow my fields.  Isn’t that the worst thing that could have happened to me?”

The Buddha replies, “Maybe so; maybe not.”

The farmer walks away shaking his head, thinking The Buddha has obviously gone mad.  On his way home, he spots a huge, strong, wild horse and ropes him.  This horse will do even more work than the ox.

Next week, the farmer sees The Buddha and says, “You were right!  I now have a horse that can do twice the work of my old ox.  Isn’t that wonderful news?”

“Maybe so; maybe not,” says The Buddha.

Again, the farmer walks home thinking The Buddha has lost touch with reality.  When he arrives, he finds his son lying on the ground with a broken leg.  He had been thrown while riding the new horse.

On his next trip into town, the farmer spots The Buddha and says, “You were right again.  The horse broke my son’s leg.  Now he won’t be able to help me at harvest time.  Surely, Buddha, don’t you see this is the worst news imaginable?”

“Maybe so; maybe not,” the Buddha calmly replied.

That was the last straw.  The farmer walked away telling himself he had wasted enough time seeking advice from this old, senile man.

Just then, word spread throughout town that war had broken out against a bigger, stronger village.  Troops were going to every house and farm to round up all the able-bodied young men to fight.  They would be outnumbered and outmatched, and would most likely die.

The farmer rushed home.  The troops had come, but since his son had a broken leg, he was not taken and his life was spared.

And from that day forward, the farmer never doubted the wisdom of The Buddha again.

In Business:

Use this story and particularly the “maybe so; maybe not” quote to help you see business opportunities where others only see obstacles.

Remember, the greatest private fortunes in American history were made during The Great Depression, America’s worst financial crisis. 

Did Carnegie, Rockefeller, Morgan, and Vanderbilt think, “What’s the point?  We’ll wait until economic conditions are better.  No use trying to do anything now.” 

They adopted the maybe-so-maybe-not attitude, dreaming up innovations that changed the world and created limitless opportunities for themselves and others.

In Life:

“Maybe so; maybe not” is the perfect mantra to maintain perspective in your life.

It’s best not to go through life ruled by your emotions.  I’m not saying don’t have emotions; I’m saying don’t be a slave to them.  Too many people are.

So remember…

Maybe so; maybe not.

— Wayne Dyer

Always make your future bigger than your past.

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Mr. Sullivan has also said this in a similar way you may like even better: “We remain young to the degree that our ambitions are greater than our memories.”

In Business:

Having a plan for your business is a lot different than just having a business plan.

A business plan is something you implement, but an ambitious plan for your business is a destination — a beacon you can use to keep your business headed in the right direction.

It also keeps your business young and innovative because, to reach that destination, you have to stay creative.

In Life:

I remember when the movie The Bucket List came out, and everybody started making their own personal bucket lists.

The list will definitely keep you looking forward, and forward is where all ambitions reside.

You don’t have to abandon your memories, by any means.  Instead, use them to create the future you’re dreaming of.

So remember…

Always make your future bigger than your past. 

— Dan Sullivan

A mouse survives by being a mouse, and a lion survives by being a lion. If one tries to be the other, it fails.

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Some sports have you pitted against an opponent.  In others, it seems you’re really just trying to beat your “personal best.”

For most people, I think life is a personal best type of sport.

In Business:

Pick one thing, make that your core strength, and then play to that strength constantly in your marketing.  This will set you apart from all the other “pretender” businesses that dare to compete on this particular battlefield.

Let them win on other battlefields where you have no interest engaging.  Let them be the low-price leader, for example.  Let them enjoy looking over their shoulder all the time, too, waiting to be undercut.

Stake your claim in one area, and be so good that it would be foolish to try and take you on.

In Life:

There’s a difference between saying, “that’s just a fact of life,” and, “that’s just the way I am.”

Accepting a truly unchangeable attribute is a good thing.  It allows you to move forward and focus exclusively on playing to your strengths.

The second one shuts you down.  It’s another way of saying, “Leave me alone.  I give up.  Nothing’s going to change here, so forget it.”

Develop the talents and strengths you do have to become the best version of yourself.

So remember…

A mouse survives by being a mouse, and a lion survives by being a lion. If one tries to be the other, it fails.

— Unknown

You never know what people are going through.

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When I was in college, I was fortunate enough to work a semester at Walt Disney World.

It was great.  A few hundred students from around the country would come in and work for three months, while also taking classes to learn about a different aspect of the operation.

At our final orientation, the lady giving the class said, “Disney World is known as the happiest place on Earth, and you’re going to see so many people having the time of their lives.”

“But the truth is, too, that in surveys conducted in virtually every country around the world, this is the number one place that people say they would like to see before they die.”

“You will see a lot of people in wheelchairs and with obvious medical needs.  But many people want to come here while they are still well enough to enjoy the park fully.  They may not show any outward signs of illness or disability yet.”

“When you see a guest in a wheelchair or with a disability, we want you to be as helpful to them and make their experience as pleasant as you possibly can.  But we expect you to give the exact same level of treatment and care to every guest you encounter.  Because the truth is… you never know what people are going through.”

That little talk has remained with me from that day forward.  What profound advice.

In Business:

Never assume you know what your customers want.  Ask them.

Use online surveys, feedback cards, even the good old suggestion box.  Always make it easy for your customers to tell you what they want (and what they don’t want). 

Then, all you have to do is make it and sell it to them.  Everybody wins.

In Life:

Years ago, I made up this little quote based on the Disney World talk that I try to keep in mind when I encounter people who are being rude, angry or obnoxious:

“Never assume the worst in people, just assume they’re going through the worst right now.”

Easier said than done, I know, but it does work.  Give it a try next time.

So remember…

You never know what people are going through.

— Disney World Instructor