In every sport there are special numbers because of the person who wore the uniform. In baseball, the number is 42 and there is a movie about it called 42 The Jackie Robinson Story, 2013. The gentleman who wore the number besides being a terrific ballplayer helped his team win the championship was a negro. If you watch baseball today, you would ask what is the big deal? The big deal is the US has always been a land of contradictions – the founding fathers fought for liberty and equality of all. It was just never implemented in that fashion. From the founding of major league organized baseball to just after WW II, the major leagues were white only. There was a separate negro league, some say with better players. After the War, Branch Rickey the President and GM of the Brooklyn Dodgers decided to integrate the league with negro players. Jackie Robinson took the job and fortunately the team won. In all sporting leagues and many other leagues, when a team wins and then wins consistently; all teams will duplicate the winning formula. Brooklyn Dodgers won and soon all teams had negro players. Eventually the Negro league folded as the best players went into the major leagues. Now days it seems the only way – people play the game.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, when a company is consistently making money, it can lead in changing society to a better place with its model of making money. Fortunately many dividend paying stocks cater to a wide variety of people and as long as they pay their bills, the company does not matter with their skin colour. In the movie the Jackie Robinson actor asks the Branch Rickey character why are you doing this? Branch says many years ago, I was a coach and an incident happen which I could not do anything about; now I can do something about it. While you collect your dividends and help ensure the company is profitable, it is possible to help correct some of the wrongs you see in your community.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions

Although cities dominate the urban landscape, if you start asking people where they are from, you will find many have small town roots and came to a bigger city to make a living. As baby boomers retire, there might be a reversal, for when you are retired, you have a bigger ability to live anywhere; particularly, if you have equity in your home and wish to move. Living in the small town has both advantages and disadvantages, the advantages are there are fewer people and you get to know who they are faster. The disadvantage will depend on your lifestyle – you will need a car. If the town you choose has a strong economic base, then living is much easier. If the base needs help then books such as The Small Town Survival Guide by Jack McCall published by William Morrow and Company, NY, 1993 will help. Part of the reason to keep the small town alive is because you live there.  Much of what you will do is based on the glass half full  or you want to see it survive and maybe even grow. The process will involve 4 parts

1. Create an organization to make the vision come true.

2. Listen and think about the beliefs about how communities work and adjusting them to the future.

3. Review the resources in the community that can be used for economic development.

4. Creating our own personal community vision for the future.

In more depth the process are:

In a different setting, this will be similar to creating a company, but because it involves the future of the town you will need people in the town to buy in. People are your basic resource and you will quickly become aware of the many talents in the room. The hard part will be the management of the people – some will want to go ahead, some will not, some are not decided, some will think your roots are too shallow. The trick is to work with those who will; schedule monthly meetings and start doing. Always start with something easy, cleaning the alleys, fixing the park, whatever it is – begin to build pride and work on bigger items.  After you have done something, there are often grants from senior levels of government which will help make the next project easier.

2. Now that you done something, focus on the bigger picture by listening and thinking about the beliefs about how communities work. The adjustments will temper from the stories of the past. Those who live there for a number of years will remember other ideas and plans, it is good idea to read them. Many urban studies programs at Universities have thought about towns or neighbourhoods, given that people including you still live there, what is your idea of the future?

In every community there is economic development – people receive money in a wide variety of methods. Some are on a pension whether that is a private, public or a combination of both. Some work a distance and come back on their time off. There are retailers in town, service providers, the town municipal office collects taxes. It does not mean that all the money that is earned in the town is spent in the town, if it is a normal town, most of it is not. This means there are opportunities to capture more of the money. It also means people in the area live there for a reason and some businesses could be enlarged with the correct encouragements.

Economic development also means tourism which makes sense. For example, my hometown has a big band festival, but it has many musicians in the area who love that type of music. Take a look at the natural or existing assets and if they could be enhanced.  Economic development can mean general revitalization such as improving the building stock. Many years ago, a report came out of Detroit in which no building permits were issued, thankfully that has changed. How many building permits were issued in your town? If you went after government grants which encouraged home and business renovation would it help?

Fourth is programming your community for economic development – what future do you want to see or what is your vision for the future. What services are needed? What partnerships need to be formed? If there is lack of medical services – what about doctors using greater technology to help? The thoughts are form two simple headings – who needs this town? What do they need it for? Answer the questions from a survey (use the one in the book) and begin to work on the long term needs. There will be ups and downs in the economic cycle, but you live there for a reason. Try to make it better for you and everyone else.

Linking to dividend providing stocks, companies that pay dividends are in business for the long term, as long as they are profitable they can be the base of your investments. The dividends each year allows you to have choices on what to do with them. Live on it, donate some, invest some; whether you are fixing up the town or fixing up your portfolio, there is overlap in the process.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions

At this time of the year, it seems if you were involved with any group, there is a gathering to celebrate your generosity of time. For some of those events you will know many people, for some you will know only a few. The fate for you is to learn to treat each of the events the same. One such book which gives you advice on how to do this is How to Work a Room – Your Essential Guide to Savvy Socializing by Susan RoAne published by HarperCollins, NY, 1988. The method has not changed and the guide is still very useful. The first thing you want to do is have a desire to go and see other people or your attitude. If you go and want to socialize you will have more fun. If you go because you have to go or feel an obligation to go, you attitude towards the people will show. At every social event, you can learn things, and implement them in other parts of your life.

The rules for Connecting are:

1.  Be Prepared – with a good attitude, focus of why you are going, a self-introduction of yourself to other guests (how you connected to the hosts or the theme or the event itself) if appropriate business cards and a smile and handshake go along way.
2. Attend – instead of acting like the guests, act like the host and meet people.
3. At the event try some Strategies – read the name tags, talk to the wallflowers – those that are hanging at the back of the room and seemingly not talking to anyone. Approach people and be approachable, Smile, Listen and Care what people say. Depending on the event follow up with either a call, email or thank you notes.
4. Say Something – ask open ended questions to people and listen with interest to the response. Pay attention to what they are saying .
5. Mind thy Manners – acknowledge others and treat everyone nicely.
6. Avoid the Common Crutches – don’ t arrive too late, leave too early, drink too much, eat too much,
7. Remember the 3 E’s – Make an Effort, Bring your Energy and exude Enthusiasm
8. Dress Appropriately – if do not know ask the host.
9. Remember the 3 C’s – Courtesy, Charm and Chutzpah
10.  Bring your Sense of Humour – laughter is good.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, as an investor people will pass on what they think are good investments. Some of them can be, some of them are not.  A piece of advice, one my activities is belonging to a foundation, we only make decisions twice a year. The other times we take advice but not action. Taking action too soon loses money and we are only interested in the long term horizon, other words take your time with advice given, but enjoy the gatherings.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.

Every once in a while you will hear people say or read that something has gone viral on the internet, or it has a lot more supporters than normal stories receive. What if there was a formula to why things catch on or go viral? The book Contagious by Jonah Berger, Simon & Schuster, NY, 2013 says there is a formula. The formula includes the ingredients or STEPPS – Social Currency, Triggers, Emotion, Public, Practical Value and Stories. If the piece has enough ingredients it is possible to leverage the message you want to get out to go viral.

Practical Value                   Does talking about your product or idea help people help others? How can you highlight incredible value, packaging your knowledge and expertise into useful information others will want to disseminate?

People like to pass along practical, useful information. News others can use. Useful things are important. Passing along useful things also strengthens social bonds. The questions what makes something seem practical to pass along?

Saving money is good thing. According to the prospect theory – people do not evaluate things in absolute terms, they evaluate them in relative terms or a reference point.

A key factor in highlighting incredible value is people expectations. Promotional offers that seem surprising or surpass expectations are more likely to be shared. Restricting sales means we have to act. There is a rule called the Rule of 100. If the price is less than $100, it seems bigger to say a percentage discount ie 10 or 20% off. If the price is greater than $ 100 it seems bigger to say dollar amount.

Broadly relevant content could be share more, content that is obviously relevant to a narrow audience may actually be more viral.

Stories                                  What is your Trojan Horse? Is your product or idea embedded in a broader narrative that people want to share? Is the story not only viral, but also valuable?

People do not think in terms of information, they think in terms of narratives. But while people focus on the story, information comes along for the ride.

Narratives are stories. They have a beginning, middle and end. They are more engrossing than basic facts. When people hear a good story, they stay till the end. The solution to selling something is to build a carrier narrative that people will share, while talking about the product or idea along the way. This means the idea or desired benefit a key part of the narrative. Remember in story telling, some parts are critical and some parts are irrelevant to the story, the task is to ensure your product or service is embedded in the story.

Linking to dividend producing stocks, the process of STEPPS is used to drive your product or service both virally and for consumers to take action with the purchase of your product or service. If you follow the process it should help, no matter what budget you have. The budget is not the most important part, the reason why a consumer shares your information is.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.

Every once in a while you will hear people say or read that something has gone viral on the internet, or it has a lot more supporters than normal stories receive. What if there was a formula to why things catch on or go viral? The book Contagious by Jonah Berger, Simon & Schuster, NY, 2013 says there is a formula. The formula includes the ingredients or STEPPS – Social Currency, Triggers, Emotion, Public, Practical Value and Stories. If the piece has enough ingredients it is possible to leverage the message you want to get out to go viral.

Emotion                               Focus of feelings. Does talking about your product or idea generate emotion? How can you kindle the fire?

When we care, we will share information and knowledge. However we care about a lot of things, what propels us to share even more to make something go viral? One aspect the power of awe – you are amazed, humbled and feel elevated.

If the article is more positive, the more likely it will be shared. Whatever your issue, the cost is not the deciding factor, the issue is why do they care. Emotions drive people to action.

Public                                    Does your product or idea advertise itself? Can people see when others are using it? If not, how can you make the private public? Can you create behavioral residue that sticks around even after people use it?

Making something more observable makes it easier to imitate. A key factor in driving products to catch on is public visibility. If something is built to show, it is built to grow.

Many choices we make it is because others provide information. If we go into a setting where we do not normally go, we look to others for direction and follow them. One of the challenges is to make the product or service more visible. A great example is the wrist bands cancer uses – yellow bands. People can see and wear.

More in part 3

Linking to dividend paying stocks, the STEPPS process allows you as an investor to see how well a tuned your company is in reaching the public. The public reacts to many brands, how is it doing with yours. Some of the campaigns will be better than others, some will be brilliant, others in hindsight should not have started. As an passionate investor, you have a critical eye to determine if your company is doing the right things.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.

Every once in a while you will hear people say or read that something has gone viral on the internet, or it has a lot more supporters than normal stories receive. What if there was a formula to why things catch on or go viral? The book Contagious by Jonah Berger, Simon & Schuster, NY, 2013 says there is a formula. The formula includes the ingredients or STEPPS – Social Currency, Triggers, Emotion, Public, Practical Value and Stories. If the piece has enough ingredients it is possible to leverage the message you want to get out to go viral.

The six principles needed to help go viral can be refer to as STEPPS:

Social Currency                  We share things that make us look good

Triggers                               Top of the mind means tip of the tongue

Emotion                               When we care, we share

Public                                    Built to show, built to grow

Practical Value                     News you can use

Stories                                  Information travels under the guise of idle chatter

Questions to Ask about Each of the Principles –

Social Currency                 Does talking about your product or idea make people look good? Can you find the inner remarkablity? Leverage game mechanics? Make people feel like insiders?

Social currency is from the aspect people share things that make them look good to others. The idea is to give people a way to make themselves look good while promoting their products and ideas along the way. The 3 ways to do this are: find the inner remarkability; (2) leverage game mechanics; and (3) make people feel like insiders.

1.Remarkable things are defined as unusual, extraordinary, worthy of notice or attention. The most important aspect of remarkable things is they are worthy of mention. These are the items people will talk about more often. Sometimes what is remarkable is breaking a pattern people have come to expect. (improve it) Anything under the sun can be remarkable.

2. Leverage game mechanics – do you play any games or do puzzles? why? Good game mechanics keep people engaged, motivated, and always wanting more. We also enjoy achieving things and games help us achieve something. If we are better than average the games will help us look good. After all what is the advantage of status if no one else knows you have it? People talk. and share their experiences as well as vote.

3. Make people feel like insiders – using scarcity and exclusivity to make customers feel like insiders. If the products feel scarce or exclusive, then it is more desirable and people assume that it must be worth the effort to use the product or service.

Triggers                                                Consider the context. What cues make people think about your product or idea? How can you grow the habitat and make it come to mind more often?

If you think of Disney World and Cheerios, which product gets more word of mouth? The answer is Cheerios because of Triggers. Every day people talk about products, brands and organizations all the time. If you do not believe it, consciously carry a pen and paper and mark it down. Americans mention specific brands 3 billion times a day.

If you divide the word of mouth to immediate and ongoing, you will begin to see how some products are talk about more. Interesting products are entertaining but generally have a short shelf life in word of the mouth activity, There are other products and services to be talked about next week or day. What gets people talking – triggers are little environmental reminders for related concepts and ideas. More importantly triggers can lead to action. For example if you see a jar of peanut butter, you might think jelly sandwiches. A more off beat example is when NASA was going to Mars, the Mars chocolate bar had increased sales because of increased NASA coverage of Mars.

Advertisers are constantly looking for triggers and if they happen normally, linking the trigger can increase sales. An example is Kit Kat chocolate bar, it was linked to a coffee break. Sales increased. Frequency of the trigger must be balanced with the strength of  the link. The more cues, the weaker the association.

Triggers and cues lead people to talk, choose and use. Social currency gets people talking, but Triggers keep them talking. Top of mind means tip of tongue.

More in Part 2.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, by answering the questions and following the outline, it is possible for products and services to reach larger audiences than it is normally expected. Going viral and reaching more people means the organization needs to have the ability to service the expecting demand on the services. This would be the key to something going viral. The book Contagious contains many examples of companies products going viral and there is no reason why the companies you invest in are not there. The cost does not have to be large, imagination plus following the principles will get people talking and buying.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions

Millions of people go to work everyday or 5 times a week, many do not like their jobs but they could. Patrick Lencioni wrote the book The 3 Signs of a Miserable Job published by Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 2007. In the book is the story of a successful CEO who after being bought out works at a small restaurant and begins to think about how to make the people who work there like their jobs. What are the obstacles? and how to overcome them. The CEO comes up with 3 reasons why people do not like their jobs – anonymity, irrelevance, and immeasurement.

Anonymity – people are social animals, they like to be known. In many jobs, people are seen as invisible, generic or anonymous.

The easy solution is to acknowledge them and appreciate them for being their talents and why they are at the workplace.

Irrelevance – everyone needs to know that their job matters, to someone. If you do not see a connection to the work and the satisfaction level, the employee will not find lasting fulfillment.

The easy but hard solution – have the manager and employee figure who benefits from their job.

Immeasurement – employees need to be able to gauge their progress and level of contribution for themselves. They need some measurement criteria which allows them to control their own fate.

The easy solution all jobs have metrics rather than depending on the opinions or whims of another person.

The idea is that management (all levels) need coaching to ensure their direct reports are not anonymous, irrelevant, and not measured. When the three things happen, attitudes change and people work with others. A quote able line in the book – management is a everyday thing, Strategy and financial reporting are not.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, people who like their jobs are more productive and better employees. They tend to stay longer, however it is possible from different viewpoints to see if the people in the companies you invested in actually like their jobs. Once you get over the pay (it is what it is) you decided if you want the job. You can be much more than a description, a person can insert themselves into it. You can ask the HR department for general surveys, because as investors we all look at different criteria to complete the picture. Depending of how much you are investing, you want to know what you think is important besides the company makes money and pays its dividend. Is it sustainable? do they have the correct management? what is their employee satisfaction amount? how does it translate to the best companies? do the best companies have an automatic competitive advantage because they have more satisfied workers. All types of data tells you something when it comes to investing.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions

People leave any company for a variety of reasons, however according to The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave written by Leigh Branham, American Management Association, NY, 2012 many of the reasons are internal and can be worked on. If the costs of replacing employees falls it is a cost savings based on recruiting costs about 1 times salary. It would expected if people leaving was below 5%, then the human resources function would have the ability to continue to work on maintain low levels of voluntary leaving. The issue is always what is a good level and what is a terrible level of turnover?

The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave are:

5. Feeling Devalued and Unrecognized

It is really quite simple: Everyone want to feel important. It does not have to cost much to recognize people. Recognition cannot replace pay, it can only add to it. Some of recognition is done on an irregular basis, just make your reasoning consistent. The methods are many and can be as creative as possible, they just need to be done.

6. Stress from Overwork and Work-Life Imbalance

The culture of the organization often overrules these considerations. Every organization has a culture, it stems from senior management. either people fit into it or they have to determine whether they need to find work somewhere else. Are the rewards worth it? Both employer and employee have to figure out what they want or do not want and there are many methods to make it seemingly easier to achieve both.

7. Loss of Trust and Confidence in Senior Leaders

Every employee in some fashion looks to the actions of the senior management. What they do and how they do it reflects the culture and actions of the organization. The larger the organization, the more the “average” worker is disconnected from the senior management and believe the interest they have in their satisfaction and well-being. This translates to advice from Sam Walton – it takes a week or two before employees to start treating customers the same way an employer is treating an employee. The easy and hard way to deal with it is to place trust and confidence in your workforce to do the right thing.

In the book there are a number of examples of companies which had high turnover rates and reduced them. Some examples are UPS in Buffalo had a turnover rate of greater than 50% and reduced to about 5% with savings of over a $ 1 million; Mike’s Car Wash the average turnover is typically 75 – 85% has been reduced to 55%; American Home Shield had a turnover of 89% reduced to 35% and FleetBoston Financial which had turnover of 25 to 40% which was reduced to 15 to 22% with a cost savings of $50 million. Besides the cost savings, customers get better service.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, if companies you own have high turnover of staff, then there is money being wasted. There are strategies to be implemented to keep the staff longer and become more productive. If they are not being implemented, how do you trust the company to keep costs down in other areas of the company. In the service companies the most important asset is people, if people are leaving what gets done and how long do expect your dividends to be paid?

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions

People leave any company for a variety of reasons, however according to The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave written by Leigh Branham, American Management Association, NY, 2012 many of the reasons are internal and can be worked on. If the costs of replacing employees falls it is a cost savings based on recruiting costs about 1 times salary. It would expected if people leaving was below 5%, then the human resources function would have the ability to continue to work on maintaining low levels of voluntary leaving. The issue is what is a good level and what is a terrible level of turnover? and if the terrible exists what is the company doing about it?

The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave are:

1. The Job or Workplace was not as Expected.

Ideally this is the easy one to work on. This is based on expectations of both the employer and employee what the employee expects to receive and expects to give. It is also based on what the company expects to give and to receive. In many companies it can be different, however it is possible to do Realistic Job Previews (RJPs) with every job candidate. It is possible to increase hiring from temp-to-hire agencies because the person’s abilities were identified on the job (sometimes it is easy to be more objective when a person comes through on a agency basis). More possible solutions are found in the book.

2. The Mismatch between Job and Person – some people will be over their heads, some will be vastly overqualified. There is a reality that it is rare to get the perfect person. There are things the company can do to minimize it. It is possible the person to be coached or mentored to find their best match, after all the person was hired for a reason. When the position was being filled, the company fills the position and determines what other skills does the person bring. Is it possible, if the person stays, to move them to a position where their skills match better match the job. One measure is to find out what skills the person uses in their leisure time. The procedure would require a plan for employee both individually and with their management.

3. Too little Coaching and Feedback

The book offers results from their surveys:

The number one cause of performance problems in 60% of companies is poor or insufficient feedback from supervisors.

In a survey of 1,149 people at 79 different companies found the manager feedback and coaching were consistently rated as mediocre.

The above cases means this is both a management and employee problem which can be fixable. In terms of management, it should mean part of the way the manager is rewarded is from his/her coaching and feedback given to their group. This includes being trained to give the feedback and coaching as well as part of the criteria to gain a management job is being a good coach. The employee has to understand as resources are put into coaching and feedback, non getting better is reason for termination.

4. Too Few Growth and Advancement Opportunities

The reality is within every company there are a finite number of top jobs, not everyone will gain one, but you can still have an excellent career with the company. One of the hardest aspects in every company is being hired in one division and trying to move to another, particularly if senior management sees the skill set as similar. Why do we want a good person to move to the other division? There are 4 distinct career patterns linear, expert, spiral and roamer which one does the employee fit and can it be helped along.

The easiest method for the company to deal with this concern is to ensure there is a fair process for internal job postings as well as there is a bias for hiring within. Some of them will be the B-players. They are not the stars but they make up the backbone of the organization, how does the company help them?

Linking to dividend paying stocks, every company will be facing with fewer bodies as the baby boomers retire and retaining and growing their workforce will be harder and more important. It is harder to do coaching, unless the company rewards coaching in its bonus program. You get what you pay for is a well known expression – it is possible to have different types of management, but in a relatively free society, too much turnover means something and it definitely means greater costs to recruit people to serve your customers. Controlling costs means all costs and if 70% of the reasons why people leave companies are internal to the company, the methods need to be improved in order to ensure continual profitability.

more in part 3

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.