My Last Lecture

I have never felt entrepreneurial. The only reason I took this class is because it’s a requirement. My ideas have changed in fourteen weeks. Even though I may not have ideas for companies, I have learned that I have an entrepreneurial mindset and view of business. Whether or not you start your own company, having that mindset is crucial to doing business in today’s ever changing world.

Here are some key principles I have learned in this course.

Jeff Sandefer, in talking about living life as an entrepreneurial hero, teaches the concept of choosing your fellow travelers well. 

I read somewhere that you are the aggregate of the five people you spend the most time with. I had to stop and think - am I spending time with people who lift me, make me better, share my goals and morals? Sandefer said that “No matter how talented the person is, life is too short to put up with jerks. And life is too long to associate with liars or cheats or gossips.”

We are like chameleons; we take our hue and the color of our moral character, from those who are around us.

                                                                                                   --John Locke

Lesson Learned: Choose carefully those with whom you associate, because you will likely become as they are.

Stepping Stones:

As Steven Covey teaches, you must start with the end in mind. How can you get where you are going, if you don’t know what the ultimate destination is? You need to determine what it is that you really want and what will remain important to you throughout your life. Create a bucket list. Make goals. Write down your dreams. Make them real. These goals become your stepping stones to your ultimate destination.

The ultimate horror is not death. The ultimate horror is to wake up at age fifty-five or sixty and realize that you have wasted your life; either that time has slipped past while your dreams waited, or that you never had any dreams at all.

-          Jeff Sandefer

Lesson Learned: Decide what your ultimate destination is and determine the stepping stones that will get you there.

What is Irrelevant:

Magdalena Yesil grew up in Turkey in the 1960’s and went on to become a respected product design engineer, businesswoman, entrepreneur, and angel investor in Silicon Valley during the 1980’s and 90’s. As a young girl she somehow developed a deep abiding belief that gender was irrelevant to accomplishment. This had a huge impact on me. I feel that you can change the word “gender” to anything that fits your situation.

 “_________ is irrelevant to accomplishment.”

I am working toward my Bachelor degree in my late 40’s. Age is irrelevant to accomplishment. I can do this even if I will be 50 when I graduate. 

What is it you think is holding you back? Determine that it is irrelevant to that accomplishment and go do it!

Lesson Learned: “_________ is irrelevant to accomplishment!”

How Will You Measure Your Life:

Professor Clayton M. Christensen’s HBR article “How Will You Measure Your Life?” made a huge impression on me. At the end of his course he asks his students to answer these three questions:

·         How can I be sure that I’ll be happy in my career?

·         How can I be sure that my relationships with my spouse and family become and enduring source of happiness?

·         How can I be sure I’ll stay out of jail?

He isn’t flippant in asking question #3. Two of his Rhodes Scholar classmates spent time in jail. Jeff Skilling of Enron was his classmate at HBS. Christensen said “these were good guys—but something in their lives sent them off in the wrong direction.” 

What do we learn about going off in the wrong direction? “Allocation choices can make your life turn out to be very different from what you intended.” If we don’t spend our time doing what we want to become, we will become what we spend our time doing.

Regarding question one Christensen says: “Doing deals doesn’t yield the deep rewards that come from building up people. I want students to leave my classroom knowing that.”

Management is the most noble of professions if it’s practiced well. No other occupation offers as many ways to help others learn and grow, take responsibility and be recognized for achievement, and contribute to the success of a team.

-          Clayton Christensen

Speaking to question 3 he states: “justification for infidelity and dishonesty in all their manifestations lies in the marginal cost economics of ‘just this once.’” He gives an example of his college basketball days when his resolve to never play on Sunday was tested. He was pressured by coaches and players alike. He remained strong and didn’t play. After that experience he learned it was one of the most important decisions of his life. Why?

My life has been one unending stream of extenuating circumstances. Had I crossed the line that one time, I would have done it over and over in the years that followed. The lesson I learned from this is that it’s easier to hold to your principles 100% of the time than it is to hold to them 98% of the time.
-- Clayton Christensen

Lessons Learned: Build up others to receive truly deep rewards and spend time doing what you want to become.

Ethical Guardrails:

While you are creating your goals, dreams, and visions, decide on your ethical guardrails. Think of these as the bumper guards children use in bowling alleys. These are things that you will either always do or will never do. Decide now so that when situations come up, similar to Christensen’s “never play on Sunday” rule, the decision will already be made. 

Ethical guardrails will help keep you from going off course and making decisions that go against who and what you want to become.

Lesson Learned: Ethical guardrails can help keep you safe.

Resources
How Will You Measure Your Life, Clayton Christensen, Harvard Business Review

Of Creativity and Priorities

Harvard Business School professor, Teresa Amabile, has an interesting take on creativity. In her research, discussed in her HBR article Recognizing and Shaping Opportunities, she has come to the conclusion that creativity is made up of three intersecting components: Expertise, Motivation, and Creative-Thinking Skills.

Expertise includes experiences, education, and knowledge.

Motivation refers to both internal passion and interests, and to external rewards.

Creative-thinking skills include the way people approach and solve problems and put existing ideas together in new combinations.

Amabile says that these three components help frame how entrepreneurs recognize opportunities.

This was exciting to me because the main reason I have felt I’m NOT an entrepreneur is that I don’t have ideas. The concept that I can use my expertise, internal passions, and problem solving abilities to recognize opportunities, is exciting. There is hope for me yet!

Something that really stood out to me this week was the case study we read of Randy Haykin, in which he discusses the difficulty of being an entrepreneur and having quality time for your family. Haykin said that mentors (plural, so more than one person) told him that “it is impossible to start a company and have a family that still loves you in the process.” That is kind of a bleak outlook. 

“I always felt that if all success means is an unhappy family or a divorce situation or kids that can’t relate to you, then what is the purpose of having gone through this? Balancing work and family has been a real challenge, but I think the most rewarding part.”

-         Randy Haykin

So it is possible, and rewarding, and extremely difficult. Knowing that at the beginning and having ethical guardrails in place can help.

I am excited to experience some of the entrepreneurial creativity spoken of and grateful to have my ethical guardrails already in place when it happens.

Resources
Recognizing and Shaping Opportunities, Teresa Amabile, Harvard Business Review

On the True Purpose of Business

There are so many reasons that people go into business for themselves. Once successful, they can be driven by the principle of profit maximization or the Law of Consecration. 

“Just because the world doesn’t factor in the power of God into business, doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter.” 
--Elder Gay

If we follow the Law of Consecration we can use of our means to succor the needy and poor in spirit and truly make a difference in the world. “Business is about service and about rescue.” (Gay)

“Instead of grumbling about how a pharmaceutical company makes filthy money by charging unreasonable prices, why don’t we create our own companies and sell good quality medicine at profit-free prices or at prices with low profits? I think social-consciousness-driven entrepreneurs can be an effective force in the marketplace.”
 – Muhammad Yunus

Virtue and integrity in business are critical as shown through what the lack of it can do to companies, people, and nations. Think Enron, think the banking crisis, and think auto company bail out. Charles Handy in his HBR article What’s a Business For?, tells us that “Proforma earnings announcements by the top 100 NASDAQ companies in the first nine months of 2001 overstated actual audited profits by $100 billion,” and that “CEO’s in America earn more than 400 times the wages of their lowest-paid workers.” (Handy)

This lack of virtue and integrity is driving companies to profit on the backs of their workers and defrauding employees, clients, and the nation out of their life-saving and trust.

Handy goes on to tell us “the real purpose of a business . . . is not to make a profit, full stop. It is to make a profit so that the business can do something more or better. That “something” becomes the real justification for the business.”

Companies like Google and Microsoft have created foundations to help fight poverty and disease. This is the “something” that business is all about.

If CEO’s were to be rewarded with a share of the profit instead of stock options, they may be more interested in the truth of their numbers. Another solution to the problem is if companies would “measure success in terms of outcomes for others as well as for ourselves” (Handy).

It is my hope that I can choose the path of the law of consecration. Use my work in business to benefit others.

References
Entrepreneurship and Consecration, Elder Gay

Microlending: Toward a Poverty-Free World, Muhammad Yunus

What’s a Business For?, Charles Handy, Harvard Business Review

Of Company Culture and Loyalty to God

Jan Newman gave a speech on Loyalty to God and Family. He discussed how you can never compromise (crunch time) your loyalty to the Lord or your family; the Lord requires a willing heart and mind and our greatest legacy will be our family and the Lord.

“Never be too busy with work to accept a calling.”

He mentioned that when he was working on his company he served as a bishop and then a stake president. He gave the advice that having integrity and honesty will make you stick out like a sore thumb. People will want you!!

In the paper So You Want to be an Entrepreneur, The Acton Foundation lists three areas of knowledge which are critical for starting a successful business:

1.      In-depth knowledge of the competitive structure of an industry and a network of contacts within that industry;

2.      The skills to run the daily operations of a small, rapidly growing company; and

3.      The ability to raise money. 

Understanding daily operations is critical for entrepreneurs because they include many different issues: ". . . from accounting, production, organizational and administrative dilemmas to general business philosophy. All of these must be woven into a consistent set of principles and procedures. A disorganized accounting system or poor physical surroundings can likewise take a heavy toll on profits"

This stuck out to me:

"If the company culture is flawed, almost any strategy is in jeopardy."

Why did it stick out? Because I work in an office where some of these things are really broken. I have been working on trying to change many of the problems that we have on a recurring basis; however, I have come to the realization that the problem is the boss and he is not going to change.

I have experienced what flawed culture can do. It decreases morale, increases turnover, decreases customer satisfaction, and ultimately does take a heavy toll on profits. Turnover is expensive. Unhappy customers don’t give referrals. But what do you do when the cause of the problem is the owner who won’t change? You either leave or deal with it the best you can.

That is something I would like to learn; how to manage up and change a boss who is stuck in behaviors that, I worry, may run him out of business.

My Personal Constitution

Values

• I am temple worthy. I never do anything to jeopardize my temple recommend. I live my life in accordance with the guidelines to be in the temple.
• I love my family and know that they are the most important thing in my life. I maintain proper balance between work, hobbies and interests, and family, with an eternal perspective.
• I am generous and charitable with all that I have and I know that all I have is because of my Father in Heaven.
• I am service oriented and compassionate because I strive to live my life as the Savior lived his.
• I am financially self-reliant. My bills are paid. I am debt free. I have ample investments and savings to fund my life, retirement, hobbies and interests, service to God, and to give to my family. I work if I want too and work for enjoyment.

Long Term Goals

• I will remain temple worthy. I pay an honest tithe and a generous fast offering. I am honest in all my dealings. I sustain the prophet and apostles and love the Gospel. I am faithful to my covenants.
• I will always remember that family is more important than work or hobbies. I will take time away from non-essential things to spend time with family. I will build strong relationships with family members. I will love, serve, and honor my family. I will live in a way that brings honor to my name and family.
• I will do more than pay an honest tithe and a generous fast offering. I will give of my time, talents, and means to help those in need. I will follow the admonition in Alma 34:28 that my “prayer [will not be] vain.”
• I will serve others and show compassion toward them. I will live my life as the Savior lived.
• I will be financially self-reliant by age 60. I will have sufficient investments and savings that I will retire early, serve a mission, serve God, travel, remain generous with all that I have, and give to my family.

Short Term Goals

• I will read my scriptures consistently. I will be honest in all I do. I will be faithful to my covenants. I will keep a prayer in my heart to remain truthful.
• I will be available to help my family when they are in need. I will give extra time to be with my grandchildren. I will be the fun grandma.
• I will give service when asked and when I notice a need. I will give financial assistance if I can’t be there physically to help. I will pray for people in need and put names in the temple. I will finish purging all the stuff that I don’t need and donate it.
• I will be service oriented in my job to be a good employee/boss. I will be compassionate to those in need or who are in distress. I will give this without compromising my own mental or physical health.
• I will put 10% automatically into my tithing account. I will pay a generous fast offering when the deacons come so they can fulfill their priesthood duties. I will put 10% in my emergency fund and the use extra to pay off debts. I will finish my degree so I can earn more money to add to my retirement funds.  I will be wise and frugal in my purchases.

Daily Task List

• I will read my scriptures when I eat breakfast. I will pray morning and night. I will serve in my temple calling with a glad heart. I will attend church each week.
• I will give love, encouragement, and appreciation for the things my family members do each day. I will put my family before hobbies and down time.
• I will pray for opportunities to give and to serve others.
• I will think about my goals and how much stuff I have before I buy anything and ask “do I really need this?”
• I will seek out a way to do exercise that my body can handle and that won’t take too much time from my already busy schedule – because nothing else matters if I am dead or too unhealthy to enjoy life.

Of Honesty and Business Ethics

This week we were discussing Honesty and Business Ethics. We read a speech given by Elder Lynn G. Robbins of the Seventy titled Making a Living and a Life. I read this in a previous class and it made a huge impact on me. Elder Robbins discusses the types of businesses we should aim for and the type of employee we should strive to be. These were rated on a scale from A to F. 

Grade	Primary Motivation	Secondary Motivation
A	Love of God and fellowmen	Income  $
B	Money  $	Love of fellowmen
C	Love of money  $	Indifferent to customers
D	Filthy Lucre   $	Harmful to customers
F	Filthy Lucre	Harmful to customers and to society, nations destroyed.

Satan uses money and wealth as a powerful way to tempt us to believe that “this world is our destiny and that anything and everything in this world is available for money.” We were sent to this earth to work and make a living, not just to survive, but thrive, and to see if we would be honest among our fellowmen.

Satan quickly recognized the work environment as a strategic setting to stir up all manner of sin, including covetousness, jealousies, self-indulgence, living beyond one’s means, anger, contention in marriages, infidelity, greed and envy, selfishness, even theft and murder.

One of his examples was the difference between George Bailey and Mr. Potter in the movie It’s a Wonderful Life. One was working for the love of his fellowmen; one was working for the love of money.

I am a loyal employee; sometimes loyal to a fault. One thing I have learned so far in this course is that it is OK to move on. There are times when you have to move on because the opportunity for growth, learning, and advancement is gone. I am at that point. I need to move on because I am stagnating where I am. My goal is to seek for Grade A company to work for where I can learn and grow and get on my way to becoming what my Father in Heaven wants me to be.

Reference:

Robbins, L. G. (2010, October 12). Brigham Young University-Idaho Devotional. Retrieved from BYUI.edu: http://www2.byui.edu/Presentations/Transcripts/Devotionals/2010_10_12_Robbins.htm