"...keeping you great"
HEADLINES:
Right-Sized Homes -- Congratulations to Simonini Builders, the 2010
National Housing Quality Award winner and cover story of the October issue of
Professional Builder. Their "Right-Sized Home" product aligns with the
end of the era of the mega-mansion. More on their success and that of Ideal
Homes and BOWA Builders below...but first:
Perils of
Overconsumption -- for many in the
U.S., tomorrow marks not a day of thanks, but a day of overconsumption -- a day
symbolic of the deeper problems facing my home country. What we need instead is
a gigantic fast -- to purge ourselves of the toxins that have ravaged our
freedom and our psyche. Little did I know that the U.S. used to celebrate a
spring fast to balance the fall feast -- and that fasting preceded and proceeded
various feasts to keep us pure (vs. the further accumulation of "stuff" on Black
Friday). Elyssa East's Tuesday NY Times Op-Ed entitled "A Movable
Fast" is a must read. And for those with children, please share this
important piece of history with them over the
holidays.
Most Companies Die of
Indigestion -- David Packard,
cofounder of HP, observed that a great company is more likely to die of
indigestion from too much opportunity than starvation from too little. Inspired
by this insight, Jim Collins' team created Packard's Law which states that "no
company can consistently grow revenues faster than its ability to get enough of
the right people to implement that growth and still become a great
company."
Remembered for What You Allocate vs.
Accumulate -- Lynne Twist,
author of The Soul of Money, shared her Law of Sufficiency at our
Growth Summit. In its most basic form "When you let go of trying to get more of
what you don't really need, it frees up tons of energy (expended in that chase)
to direct toward making a difference with what you already have." And she went
on to suggest that we'll be remembered a lot more for what and how we
allocate our money vs. how much we accumulate. Please take 2 minutes
and watch my short post-keynote interview of Lynne Twist -- scroll down the
right hand column to see the interview -- a fitting message for this week of
Thanksgiving in the U.S.
When in Financial Trouble, Give
More -- Robert Kiyosaki, author of
Rich Dad, Poor Dad, noted toward the end of his book that whenever
successful people got into financial trouble they would make a large donation
"to get money flowing again." It had to be a sincere gesture without an
expectation of return, but nevertheless it works. I've personally experienced
the same phenomenon and it aligns with Lynne Twist's notion that money is like
water -- it must flow vs. be hoarded. And money carries with it all the
intentions for which it was used so they must be honorable.
Turning One Red Paperclip Into a Home -- and for a super dose of inspiration (and ideas), take 6 minutes
and watch this story of how one young man turned a red paperclip into owning
a home -- all with no money exchanging hands. Robert Kiyosaki has been showing
people how having no money is very freeing -- and that you don't have to have
much to create a lot! Another great video to show your children as well -- it
has my sons (and me) thinking hard about what they might
barter.
Triple Crown of Home Building
Industry -- we couldn't be more
excited that three Rockefeller Habits fans have won the Triple Crown of the Home
Building Industry:
- Builder of the Year 2010 -- Ideal Homes, on the cover of the December issue of Professional Builder magazine -- and included a picture of my book and mention of their Gazelles' coach Troy Schrock.
- National Housing Quality Award Winner 2010 -- Simonini Builders, on the cover of the October issue of Professional Builder magazine -- and included mention of my book and our tools as key.
- #1 Full Service Remodeler of the Year 2010 -- BOWA Builders honored by Remodeler magazine. BOWA is one of the Gazelles 22 founding companies.
And this kind note from Bill Saint, President of
Simonini Builders "I just had to send a quick note of thanks from our entire
team. We are a luxury homebuilder in Charlotte North Carolina who has adopted
many of your principles and guidelines in your Mastering the Rockefeller
Habits book and wanted to pass along our gratitude for helping us grow and
thrive. Recently, we were recognized for the second time, with the 2010 National
Housing Quality Award, which is patterned off the Malcolm Baldrige award.
Several years ago, we were turned on to your book and while I'm sure
we've modified to fit our culture, several key items have helped make the
difference for us. The key takeaways that we adopted into our everyday business
practice include (1) Rocks -- each quarter we identify our 3-4 Rocks and then
each person writes a personal Rock plan to help accomplish these, (2) meeting
rhythm -- daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual and (3) key business drivers
-- we call it the Big 6 (I come from a Big 10 school, but we only needed 6 key
drivers!).
A great example of our Rock success is the reaction to today's
drive of our buyers. The era of the mega-mansion is over and we heard loud and
clear that our buyers wanted incredible luxury, but in the right size and price.
Our Island
Collection, introduced in only 8 months a record time for product
development, marketing and launch, was all possible due to intense focus by our
entire team -- and a constant focus on that
ROCK!"
Fasting from Owning a Home, Car,
Possessions -- speaking from personal
experience, our trip around the world with our family was a year-long fast -- we
left behind our home, possessions, cars, after school activities, and even the
closeness of family and friends -- and it was cleansing. You find out from the
experience what matters (friends) and what doesn't (stuff). It's good to fast
every once in awhile so you can enjoy the feast.