strategy – Page 5

Empowering Curiosity

Posted on July 26, 2023July 26, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

Building a company culture of curiosity in an organization takes small intentional steps.

If a team member asks a question in a group, how is that question handled?

Does the meeting organizer have an agenda and allocated time for questions?

What is the team leader’s first response to a team member’s question? Is it a straightforward answer or a thoughtful follow up question?

Does the team member feel safe and comfortable asking the question in that environment?

Who has been given the default “authority” to ask questions in that environment?

Is the meeting host intentionally seeking out questions from the participants rather than just expecting them?

Do you have a Company Alumni Network?

Posted on July 19, 2023July 19, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

Companies go through all sorts of changes in their journey.

One of the biggest and costly changes is personnel change.

When experienced employees leave the company for better opportunities, it can take some time to fill the vacancy or get someone ready internally to take that position.

The most untapped and available opportunity that companies have not considered or used is keeping in touch with the employee(s) who is about to leave or have left the company in good terms.

How about creating your Company’s Alumni Network?

The Company’s Alumni Network would consist of anyone who has left the company on good terms and wants to stay in touch with the company and its developments. Most employees have good and healthy professional relationships while working at a company and want to see their team and company succeed even if they decide to pursue other opportunities.

Similar to a college’s alumni network, the company’s alumni network will keep the previous employees engaged and updated on the company’s progress. The company can create a newsletter that is regularly circulated with the alumni network.

Imagine the short and long term benefits of a Company Alumni Network : building goodwill with previous employees, generate possible referrals for employees and new businesses, possibly bring back experienced employees who want to rejoin and much more!

That happy place

Posted on July 16, 2023July 16, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

There was a place called NotTooFarAway.

In NotTooFarAway, lived two groups of people.

One group lived in the city and the other group lived on the beach.

A group from a nearby place called, CuriousEyes looked at the above two groups and wondered:

Are the beach group more happy than the city group?

If the city group make more money than the beach group, who is more happy?

If the beach group visit and enjoy the city more than the city group who are too busy to enjoy the city, which group is happier?

If the city group who have the luxury to visit the beach at any time, would that make them happy?

If the beach group make more than the average salary in their region, are they happy?

If the city group make more than the average salary in their region, are they happy?

If the beach group enjoy their environment more than the city group, who is happier?

If both the beach group and the city group have the same income level, who is happy?

If neither of the group compared themselves to the other group, would that make both of them happy?

Perfect Life vs Authentic Life

Posted on July 8, 2023July 8, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

The Perfect Life is an illusion.

The illusion is fed with constant media coverages, social media feeds, popular culture, society and so on (mostly external factors).

That’s the shiny stuff that attracts our attention and feeds our ego, motivation, and hunger for more.

The Authentic Life is more real.

It’s real because you are living it daily and have more control (mostly internal factors).

Each day we can become more of who we truly are, our unique selves, and own our strengths as well as our faults.

From Entrepreneur to Empowerer

Posted on July 1, 2023July 1, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

How can entrepreneurs grow their startup?

The qualities that help entrepreneurs start their businesses might not be the same that will help take the startup to the next level.

There will still be challenges that entrepreneurs will face when they have hired all the “right people” for the different roles of the company. If the entrepreneurs continue to become heavily involved in decision making of the different functions even when they have put “right people” in those positions, the company will be limiting itself. The entrepreneurs’ efforts might actually be counterproductive then.

For entrepreneurs to grow their company, most times they themselves become bottlenecks to the growth. It’s time to switch from being an entrepreneur to becoming an empowerer (one who empowers others to do their best). If entrepreneurs have empowered other leaders in the best way possible, the company will experience growth in many ways.

1,000 business cards

Posted on June 10, 2023June 10, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

We were new to entrepreneurship.

My friend was starting to sell custom made jewelry.

He reached out to me to help him with business development work.

One of the first purchases we made was to put an order of 1000 business cards, each.

Well we ended up using probably 50 a piece in the next few months.

Sometimes we can get caught up doing all the fancy activities that seem important at first but not doing much to increase sales or build a business!

3 A’s to greatness

Posted on May 14, 2023May 14, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

Awareness. Action. Automatic.

Awareness is the first component of becoming great at a skill or craft.

Once awareness is established, action is needed to intentionally practice and work on the skill or craft.

After taking consistent action to get better, the skill or craft becomes automatic.

The island without sandals

Posted on May 7, 2023May 7, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

There was an island called Without Sandals.

A budding salesperson from a nearby Town A visited the island and saw that no one at this island was wearing sandals. The salesperson went back to the town and concluded that there are no opportunities to sell any sandals because no one would wear them.

Another budding salesperson from a nearby Town B visits the island and makes the same initial observation that no one in the island was wearing sandals. The salesperson goes back to town and concludes that there is an abundance of opportunity to sell sandals in this island because everyone can wear them.

There’s no failure in sports!

Posted on April 28, 2023April 28, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

Indeed.

There’s no failure in sports. Definitely not in life!

Giannis Antetokounmpo, player for The Milwaukee Bucks eloquently explained why there’s no failure in sports after his team exited the NBA playoffs. You’re always working towards a goal. Sometimes your team will succeed and other times, your team will come up short on those goals.

There are many key insights one can derive after watching the whole video.

Some insights that stood out to me were:
–To not reach your goals when you have put in the efforts/time/energy is disappointing but should not be looked at total “failure” or a “waste.”

–To be successful, you will experience some sort of setbacks but the focus should be on getting better to achieve that goal next time.

-Ownership is key. If you are leading a team or a group, you have to take responsibility for the outcomes – good or bad.

After watching the video, what were your takeaway(s)?

Delivering exceptional value to clients

Posted on April 4, 2023April 4, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

In service focused businesses, meeting and exceeding clients’ expectations is everything.

Providing excellent client service is both an art and a science.

You can learn a lot from others’ experiences, read book(s) and blogs and watch relevant content to understand what client servicing is.

Then there’s the exciting part of actually managing clients yourselves. That’s where the fun, excitement, and value comes in.

I believe if you deeply care about helping clients become successful in whatever they do, they will sincerely feel it. You can’t fake caring!

The beauty of providing exceptional value to clients is to putting your clients’ needs above yours, being empathetic, and making sure they’re successful.

The rest will take care of themselves.

Why pay for it?

Posted on March 16, 2023March 16, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

There’s a big difference of results between doing it on your own (for something you’re not so good at) compared to hiring a professional to do it.

For tasks that you could kind of do it, have an idea about it or know a little bit, it’s better to go with a professional most times. There might be some exceptions here and there.

Recently we hired some professional movers for a few hours to load our belongings in a Pod.

Could we, ourselves have moved the belongings to a Pod? Perhaps yes.

Yet the time saved for the few hours, no physical or mental tiredness from moving, having the belongings efficiently put in a Pod and a general peace of mind made hiring professional help for moving totally worth it.

You actually don’t know the overall benefits of getting professional help until you get one.

What work/tasks can you do best and what can be outsourced to someone who can do it much better than you?

The best time to do a startup is…

Posted on March 7, 2023March 7, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

NOW.

Literally now.

If you are thinking about doing a startup, want to be an entrepreneur or create something of your own, there is no better time than RIGHT NOW.

There is no uniform age, timeline, state, region, phase, moment or any other factor that guarantees the best time to do a startup.

I like to watch this Ted talk by Bill Gross from time to time to remind myself why start-ups succeed.

I used to have an illusion/perception that I need to have a decent amount of money to start a business. Yet when I did start a business, it was more than just money that I needed. I learned about the importance of having a solid business and technical team members, balancing product development and marketing, public relations and network and countless other valuable lessons that I learned only because I started the business.

I believe that if you are thinking of doing a startup or want to go into entrepreneurship, the earlier the better.

For example, let’s say you are 25 now, have an idea and want to build your own company. If you wait 5 years (at 30 years old) to start implementing that idea, the market might have changed, other companies might implement similar idea(s) and you are late to the market, you have other priorities now (family, job etc) among others. On the flip side, if you wait you might be gaining experience in a particular domain that can help build your company or have more financial resources to venture on your own.

I strongly believe that if you have an idea and want to build a company, the best move you can make is to start it. The immediate benefit of starting now will give a lot of momentum to your idea/venture, you will learn tremendously by experimenting and getting feedback from the market/customers/non customers etc. The learnings from starting a business will be exponential. If you start as early as you can, you will gain experience that will be very valuable to the success of your idea/business and also as an entrepreneur.

Doing entrepreneurship is both an art and a science.

I can’t wait to see what you create in the world. Now.

What’s on your calendar?

Posted on March 1, 2023March 1, 2023 by Nirmal Thapa

One way to identify what’s a priority for someone is to look at their calendars.

What’s there and what’s not there?

If your calendar does not have the activities/people/experiences that you value or are important to you, pretty soon it will start filling up with other people’s priorities.

Someone can tell you how much they want to be an entrepreneur and live the lifestyle they have always dreamed of. Yet when you see how that person spends their time, you will notice if they really mean it or are not focused on their personal/professional goals. If it’s not booked on your calendar (or time blocked off for it), then usually it will not happen for many reasons.

Usually the calendar is a good indicator of what’s a priority to someone.

Beyond the Comfort Zone

Posted on November 13, 2022November 13, 2022 by Nirmal Thapa

In our comfort zones, we tend to feel at ease, almost no anxiety, stress free, and safe.

In the boundaries of our comfort zones, we tend to feel some or a lot of anxiety, stress, and get defensive.

Do we all have comfort zones? If so, do we stay in those zones or go beyond them?

Of course, we all have our comfort zones in different areas of our lives and activities that we do. As humans, we operate from a place where we make decisions from what we know, feel comfortable doing, and go about our personal and professional lives.

However, if those same comfort zones are limiting our own growth or from allowing us to reach our full potential, wouldn’t we want to go beyond them?

Imagine you have been selected as a member of your varsity basketball team. Your basketball coach sees a lot of potential in you and provides regular feedback. There are parts of your game that are already good and you capitalize on them. Then there are other parts of your game that you are not mostly aware of but your coach sees where and how you can improve on them. After each varsity practice, the coach comes up to you and gives you constructive feedback on your improvement areas. You listen to the coach but you are not REALLY LISTENING to your coach. You have a feeling that you are already good in certain areas and that’s the part the coach should praise you on. Yet here you are listening to the coach just talking about where you can be in the future and keeps going on and on the improvement areas, not so much your strength areas. After a few of these feedback sessions, you finally get the urge to just tell the coach that you are doing everything you can and get defensive because you don’t feel appreciated or valued by the coach. You have excuses and don’t take any responsibility or ownership.

Now what can happen next?

As a player, you can reframe the conversation with the coach as a way to see that the feedback is for your own growth and if you have want to reach the next level, you should do the activities the coach recommends you to do. Or you can stay defensive and feel entitled to think that you have already reached your potential and the coach doesn’t see that? Or just quit the varsity basketball team?

Comfort zones are there and will continue to be an integral part of each of us. Yet, if you want to live out your AUTHENTIC GREATNESS, how often will you push yourself out of your comfort?

A recommended read related to this topic “How to Leave Your Comfort Zone and Enter Your ‘Growth Zone“

Getting through the data noise

Posted on November 9, 2022November 9, 2022 by Nirmal Thapa

An authentic brand story will help your company get through the data noise.

How much data noise is really out there?

Domo’s Data Never Sleeps 10.0 presents some numbers.

Some notes from Domo:

Over the last ten years, digital engagement through social media, streaming content, online purchasing, peer-to-peer payments and other activities has increased hundreds and even thousands of percentage points.

As of April 2022, the internet reaches 63% of the world’s population, representing roughly 5 billion.

According to Statista, the total amount of data predicted to be created, captured, copied and consumed globally in 2022 is 97 zettabytes, a number projected to grow to 181 zettabytes by 2025.

There will be more data generated in the coming days, months, and years. How will your startup or corporation get through the data noise? Will your company keep spending more money on ads, social media marketing , PR and others? Or will you invest in a long term strategy such as identifying your authentic brand story and leveraging it?

Will you have the audacity to wave ’em off?

Posted on November 2, 2022November 2, 2022 by Nirmal Thapa

Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks waved off his teammates to take the game winning shot in Toronto against the Toronto Raptors on February 14, 2012.

Why is this a big deal?

It’s a big deal because we witnessed an Asian man in the NBA have the confidence to say that I’ve got this and led his team to victory. We need to see more visible Asian role models in sports, media, colleges/universities and workplaces have the confidence to lead just like Jeremy did that night on February 14. These individuals have put in the work, earned it and now it’s time to take credit for it. It’s been long overdue.

I could think of few questions to start empowering the current and next generation of Asians to have the audacity to wave ’em off (said in positive sense) when the time comes.

Are we encouraging children to speak with confidence at home and at school?

What’s the mindset that the parents and culture are creating for their children?

Who are the kids’ current role models and why?

Are the children and youth able/given the opportunity to see more individuals that look like them in sports/media/colleges/universities and workplaces?

Are parents and mentors having meaningful conversations and discussions around documentaries such as 38 at the Garden?

I’d love to hear other thoughts and suggestions on how to empower the current and next generation of Asians.

Inspired to write this blog after reading Dave Lu’s The Audacity to Wave ‘Em Off and watching the documentary 38 at the Garden.

Sleep as your superpower

Posted on October 26, 2022October 26, 2022 by Nirmal Thapa

Matthew Walker’s Why We Sleep Unlocking the power of Sleep and Dreams packs a lot of insightful research and content in the sleep domain.

The World Health Organization and the National Sleep Foundation both stipulate an average of eight hours of sleep per night for adults.

Listed in the book’s Appendix are Twelve Tips for Healthy Sleep which I found very useful.

For an overview, they are sticking to a sleep schedule, getting good exercise, avoiding caffeine and nicotine, avoiding alcoholic drinks before bed and large meals and beverages late at night, if possible avoiding medicines that delay or disrupt sleep, avoiding naps after 3pm, relaxing before bed, taking a hot bath before bed, maintaining a dark, cool and gadget free bedroom, having the right amount of sunlight exposure, and not staying in bed awake for too long.

Appendix Twelve Tips for Healthy Sleep is from Why We Sleep Unlocking the power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker.

Transitioning from an employee to an employer

Posted on October 10, 2022October 10, 2022 by Nirmal Thapa

Entrepreneurship can be a beautiful journey.

Many individuals enter the workforce and work for several years before striking out on their own. Some individuals go straight into entrepreneurship before working for anyone else. There are several questions/scenarios that an aspiring entrepreneur(s) considers when deciding to stay in the current job (if working) to going completely in on their business opportunity/venture.

Few of the questions that can come up during this transition phase are:

Is this the right time to quit the job and focus completely on the business opportunity/venture?

Do I really need to quit my job to work on this business opportunity? Can I do both at the same time if I prioritized my time better?

What is the minimum monthly revenue I should be earning from my business before leaving my job to do the venture full-time?

How will I manage my daily/monthly/yearly expenses before the business really takes off?

When will I realistically get my first customer?

At what point will I actually make more money from doing entrepreneurship than when I was working for someone else?

There’s no exact science or art in when the best time is to launch a business. People launch businesses at all different times/seasons/economic cycles etc. Companies have started in recessions, economic growth cycles, pre-Covid era, during Covid era, post-Covid era. Here are some numbers around Small-Business Statistics. Note that 4.3 million new business applications were filed in 2020.

Is success really “self-made”?

Posted on September 18, 2022 by Nirmal Thapa

We often see the below headline in the media (blogs, magazines, articles etc.) to describe an individual or founders’ success.

They were self-made billionaires. They were self-made entrepreneurs.

Then the rest of the media coverage goes something like this…

Person A’s company is now worth a billion dollars. Having started in her garage four years ago, Person A has disrupted the industry and won every industry award.

Person B had a dream to change the industry and with another co-founder, they developed a MVP over a weekend. Now their work has become an industry standard and they are pioneers in helping to move the industry forward.

Using the word “self-made” to describe individuals running successful organizations does not provide the full picture. We have fallen so much in love with the narrative of a solo entrepreneur or visionary who did it all. From having nothing at all to now running one of the biggest so and so company in the world. However, it’s rarely one individual who does everything and becomes successful. There is always a team who is helping to run the company and making sure everything is operating as smoothly as possible. That team could be a handful of individuals or a few hundred or thousand. Yet the credit or the media coverage usually goes to the founder(s) who took the risk, “sacrificed” almost everything, and made an impact.

Maybe it’s about time we find a different word to describe this type of success than calling them “self-made.”

What’s a word that celebrates the individual’s work plus highlights the contribution of the team?

Category: strategy