Daryl's Blog

It's been a busy few days. Yesterday I popped across to Littlehampton for Rich Hubbard's thanksgiving service. A succession of people went up to talk about Rich's life and the difference he had made to them personally. They also spoke about the many many thousands of others that he had impacted for good in his all too brief life. Gave more than a few of us pause for thought; what sort of legacy will we leave behind when we finally catch the bus? (In the later stages of his life he talked about the possibility of catching an earlier bus) I need to reflect on this, and perhaps you do as well.

On the way out I stopped to chat with Clive: an old friend. We had been through some battles together and he too was in a misty mood. We got onto the subject of our wives and suddenly he came to life. His eyes glowed as he told me just how grateful he was for her, and how much she meant to him. To him, she was an extraordinary woman. (She is too). They've been married for a score or more of years and he was more in love with her now than when they married. Well done Clive, well done Hilda. I want to be someone who lights up when he talks about his wife. I need to work on it some more and stop being quite so laid back when her name comes up. (Having said that I think everyone knows just how much I depend on Anita, my fabulous wife. So, thanks to Rich for an inspired life well lived, and Clive for modelling a husband's love. Go and be extravagent.

Taster: Next week I hope I can find some space to tell you about the importance of rule number 6 which can change your life and make you a much better person to live with.

Having dinner with family over the weekend. They were struggling to make a decision. They had a week to complete important work on their home before leaving for an extended trip abroad. At the same time they were being encouraged to attend a conference that could be significant for them. As ever I am far better at helping other people solve their problems than I am at solving my own, and I immediately jumped in with the 10/10/10 rule. Did they know about it? No they didn't, and neither do you, admit it.

So the next time you are faced with a difficult choice apply these simple questions:
- Will it matter in 10 minutes?
- Will it matter in 10 months?
- Will it matter in 10 years?
What is the likely impact of my actions on me, my family etc, within these time frames?

It can help you control your spending, your use of time, and much more. I could give you examples, but I'd have to charge you for that; you're quite capable of working it out yourself. Ok, then here are a couple of examples:

If you have children, do you spoil them and give them what they want so that in 10 minutes time you have a quiet life, or do you deny them instant gratification so that in 10 years they have developed the sort of personality that you want for them? How many times have we opted for the former without considering what they will be like 10 years hence?

How did my family members decide? (The 10 minute element didn't apply) - They were at crossroads in their lives and badly needed to know what the next step of their journey would entail, so networking was important. However there was no guarantee that the conference would be significant in helping them find the next step. It might impress some key people, but that's about it. On the other hand, getting the work done on their property would mean they could rent it out and earn an income for the 3 months they were planning to be away. Over 10 months they would have some income when they needed it. Over 10 years, their next steps would open up whether they went to the conference or not. So they missed the conference.

Thanks to Suzy Welch who I believe invented this (Did I ever come up with anything original?)
(Nick, I bet you can't come up with a YouTube for this one!)

Oh, by the way, we spoil our 10 grandchildren rotten. But we expect their longsuffering parents to take the tough line, (growing Godly tomatoes v. the naughty step so forth)

A friend recently joined the board of trustees of a local charity and he just got back from his first meeting. Not exactly a baptism of fire. The 2 hour meeting basically consisted of drinking coffee, enjoying the chocolate biscuits and arguing gently about what might have been agreed at the last meeting. Now this is not at all unusual. Well OK, perhaps it is an extreme example, but we have all been there, sitting in silent frustration at the inordinate length and utter waste of time. Here are some tips, ending with a killer suggestion that, if you are brave enough, could transform your meetings:

Remember there are only 3 reasons to have a meeting: To inform, to seek input, to ask for approval. There is a 4th and this is bonding; it has its place but don't allow every meeting to be defined by the need to bond and get everyone's approval. Use those 3 reasons as a filter to define why you are having the meeting, and be clear what is the expected outcome, ie, 'I want to bring you up to speed on these 2 things; and I would like to seek your approval for these 3 items.' This will avoid confusion. I could tell you lots of stories here, including one where I travelled 200 miles for a decision to be made, and I thought it was made (I know it was, a vote was taken) only for key people to change their minds the next day.

I could spend a whole meeting talking about dreadful meetings I have been involved in. Here's the killer suggestion: It's free; remember you got it from me, because it will transform your whole life if you have to spend any amount of time in meetings:

Have it standing up, and get rid of the chocolate biscuits (and that includes all biscuits, crisps and other snacky things). Time limit it to half an hour. That's all you need, all you want if you are standing up.

So get the meeting over fast, hand out action points on the spot, and then go and do some proper work and save the company. Oh, only have people there who need to be there. And don't forget to make sure people are there who should be there (I could tell you some stories). If you do need to bond, they are called awaydays and you have a facilitator; don't ever go on one of those unless you really like the other participants. I still carry the scars of the time I had to at length hug my worst enemy in the 'lets hug one another for a long time session'.

I've got lots more on meetings; get my notes. Better still organise a meeting for me to come and talk about how to hold a meeting. (And don't forget the chocolate biscuits, and at my age I must have a chair)

(I got the idea for this from Alex Pratt's book: Austerity Business)

Stanley Baldwin hasn't been treated kindly by many historians, but there's one story about him that we could learn from: in 1919, in response to the dangerous state of the nation's finances, he wrote an anonymous letter to The Times. Estimating the value of his private fortune at about £580,000 he undertook to donate 20% of this massive sum towards reducing the national debt. We could do with some dramatic gestures today (everyone earning upwards of say 200k to put their hands in their pockets?)

Well we all know it's going to get tougher yet before we turn any corners. Can no longer send for John Wayne (going gets tough, tough get going etc). The question is what sort of shape will we be a year from now? A lot of good people will have lost their jobs, some will have found new ones. A lot of companies will bite the dust as will a lot of charities. There will winners and losers. We will do all we can to work with our client charities to help them survive and even prosper. Some pointers:

- Make sure you have a good tight budget for next year; remember charity gift aid income will be down 11.4%, NI will increase in some cases, as will VAT.
- Give your staff a rise if you can but not at the expense of their jobs. (A nil increase for the 3rd year running is not a good statement to make to them). If you really can't afford to pay them properly you must ask some deep questions.
- Don't cut back on marketing; strengthen it. Lots can be done without chucking money around. We are strengthening our marketing.
- If you run a charity: envision your supporters to step up their giving. I know someone who only this week increased his giving £200 a month because of the downturn. A lot of people will have to reduce their giving but plenty of us are actually better off and can give more. If you lead a church make sure you are making an impact locally. Strengthen the Alpha courses, marriage courses, debt counselling training, etc etc. The community needs you today like never before.
- If you're in debt, don't remain in denial, hoping something will turn up; it won't, get help, now.
- Lose some weight; you'll feel so much better about yourself. Don't give up on this.

In a years time I want my business and my clients and my church to be stronger, leaner, and fitter than ever before so that when the upturn comes, we'll be well placed to play an even stronger part. So let's all stop grumbling and get to making the downturn work in our favour, double dip or not.

This is good news for me, but perhaps less so for the newspaper industry, for which this could be the last straw. I found myself recently on a cruise to the Arctic (more on that in my next confession). I've been on cruises before and always managed to stay pretty well in touch with the news of what's going on at home in the UK. However, this was an Italian ship and very few concessions were made to the modest group of Brits on board; so for 2 weeks I had very little news coming through, nothing in the way of TV channels even to keep me in touch. Now I am a man who has taken the Daily Telegraph for 48 years missing hardly a day.

The result of this deprivation is that I'm suddenly freed up from the compulsion of having to watch the news or read a daily paper. When I now make the morning tea, the TV doesn't get switched on for news of the latest scandal or disaster; once a week is quite sufficient. If it's important it will still be there in a week. Do I really need a daily paper? I get very few snippets for my bulletin from the papers, so I can't use that as an excuse. Who knows! I might even manage to get some Bible reading in with the time that I save.

The only problem now, is that to save money I tied myself into buying these blocks of discounted vouchers, which means I will have to work out how to stop my payments; and we all know how tricky that can be.

I wrote this 6 weeks ago. Since then I sent back my vouchers, the relief of not having to read a paper every day is palpable. I'm not missing it all. (I cheat when I'm in Costa's). Now let's get that Bible dusted off!