During the 1970s when I worked for the government in Washington DC, I shared a group house with Al Herter.  Al is a self-made millionaire and successful investor, and is called “the hippie philanthropist”.

Al mastered the art of living comfortably on a small budget. By living simply and following the Quaker philosophy, he became financially independent by doing both well and good. In these topsy-turvy financial times, his twelve steps offer practical and simple advice we can all benefit from.

Notice: These smart steps can alter your life and your future outcomes. Following them again and again will put some traction in your action.

1. Think simple living. The Quakers are the standard. Want what you have. Do what you can. Be who you are. Count your blessings.
2. For a month, keep track of every penny you spend in a small notebook (but don’t go out and buy one). Review each bill you pay or have paid. Need all those cable channels? The lattes? The smokes? The cleaners? The maid twice a week?
3. Mend clothes, darn socks, turn off lights, and re-heat leftovers. Think small, cheap, and affordable.
4. Sell anything you don’t use, want, need, or are just storing for posterity, for the children, or for a rainy day. Get onto craigslist.com and sell all that extra stuff you have and don’t use. It declutters and puts money in your pocket.
5. Look for other revenue centers that you can profit from, such as rent out a small room as an office; or rent out the garage or even the basement for storage. Explore how you can rent or exchange apartments rather than use hotels.
6. Health is number one on my list. Eat better. Eat less. Practice yoga, take walks, ride your bike.
7. Plant a veggie garden. It saves money and is better for you-and may even be something you can sell to others and/or barter with them. You do tomatoes, and the neighbors do corn/beans/squash. You share the tools, knowledge and harvest. Not only will your garden grow, but so will your neighborly community.
8. Starting to get the drift that the landscape has changed dramatically?
9. Cook and entertain at home. Invite others over for potlucks. They’re cheaper, easier nicer and more fun!
10. Walk, use public transit, use your bike, car pool, or any combination thereof (but not all at once, of course).
11. Be preventative with your health through diet, exercise and relax. When necessary, use generic drugs.
12. Breathe, relax and enjoy life! You’ve only got this very moment to live it to the fullest-and that’s one thing that is for certain!

Check out Al’s blog www.TheSmartMoney.wordpress.com.

Today tens of thousands of New Yorkers were thoroughly frightened as two Air Force jets and Air Force One flew as low as 150 feet over Lower Manhattan. Frightened calls from residents clogged the emergency lines, many office buildings were evacuated as panicked workers with memories of 9/11 scrambled downstairs.

But this was an authorized photo shoot, not a military response. The FAA had approved the plan and informed certain government authorities, but not the public. The New York City Police Department said they were asked not to disclose information about the flyover. While I don’t have all the details, it seems that making the plans public a half-hour before the event would have quelled the fears without risking security.

The broader question we all must answer in our daily, non-routine work is: “Who needs to know what? and when?” If you are contemplating an organization change, or launching a new project, what is your strategy for bringing people aboard?

Here are some guidelines in the form of questions:

• Whose cooperation will you need to execute your plan?
• Whose guidance would help enrich the quality of your thinking beforehand?
• Who is it—that if you don’t inform—will become unnecessarily stressed, angry, or block your project?
• Which human ducks would it be wise to line up?
• How can you minimize the risk of possible downsides of sharing the information?

Addressing these questions will help avoid a fly-by-night or –day approach and minimize the frenzied reactions from stakeholders that cloud your project.

In the state I live in, if I want to pay to get a haircut, I have to go to a licensed cosmetologist at a place of business who has been trained to cut hair.

In contrast, if I want to hire a strategic planner for business or personal planning, I can hire anyone—whether or not they have training or experience.

In my case, I have ample amounts of both training and experience.  However, as of yet, there is no formalized planning certification.

I’m involved with the Association of Strategic Planning (ASP), which is an organization that is currently spear-heading the development of a National Standards and Certification. Program based upon a systems thinking model of Think-Plan-Act. It’s the only organization that supports strategic project management. Check out their website at www.strategyplus.org. And get involved with ASP—the planning methods are great and so are the people!

If you’re a strategic planner with some thoughts about a certification program in the planning field, I’d love to hear from you at terry@managementpro.com. My belief is that whether or not you are grooming yourself or grooming your business, having a certifiable expert in any field can help make you shine.

When I first saw those red buttons that Staples® sells with the white letters that spells “easy,” I thought those were so “silly.” Until recently, that is.

I found myself procrastinating on a file that mounted in my head as being an enormous task. One of the hardest parts was to just get started—and once I did take the first little step and then the next, I realized how easy it was.

I looked over at my desk and noticed the red button. I couldn’t help but hit it. Hearing those words “That was easy!” reinforced that “That was easy.” Knowing that I have my red “easy” button on hand is one of the best anti-procrastination tools ever. Once I post this blog, I’ll be sure to hit it again!

These days, the customer is more empowered than at any time in history. The driving force behind this shift has been the accelerating movement towards online business. While competing for customer loyalty in today’s market is essential to survival, it seems ironic that many businesses which form strategic alliances are creating shared customer loyalty.

In a recent talk at the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce, Peter Wilson, Engineering Director of Google™ in Kirkland, Washington, described just how Google is positioned to help you and your business compete for and establish customer loyalty through Cloud Computing. Wilson explained that the shift away from the PC Era towards the Cloud Computing Era is gaining steam, as more and more companies utilize large IT companies such as Google to provide the powerful, consistent IT delivery tools that can handle not only the basics ( e-mail, calendar, spreadsheets, etc.) but also your customer sales.

Wilson further explained that because Google stores your customer’s profile, they become a shared customer between you and Google. Rather than feeling the need for you to solely own the customer, such partnerships can send customers to you at the moment they are searching for your products and/or services. To increase customer loyalty, Google has simplified the online checkout by making it one-click that completes the sale and passes the revenue on to you, the merchant.

There are lots of IT models, but what’s key is to choose one that adds significant value to both you and your customers, now and in the future. In thinking through strategic issues like these, make sure you use strong planning and implementation planning models like those described on our website( www.ManagementPro.com). That way you can make intelligent decisions and clear action plans that lead to win-win strategic relationships.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and confused while listening to the huge figures being anted up to stimulate the economy, keep people in their homes, and save multiple industries – banking and automobiles for starters.

Here’s the critical bottom-line question “What are these government stimulus investments going to cost me and my family?” Actually, it’s quite simple to put big numbers in perspective – whether we are talking millions, billions, trillions, or gazillions – when you use Schmidt’s Rule of Nine.

Here is the rationale behind the rule. In 2007, there were 111 million households in the United States. Thus, each household’s share of, say, a hundred million dollars is about 90 cents. Ten million bucks costs you 9 cents, and your slice of a measly million is only nine-tenths of a penny.

Let’s apply up the logic to bigger numbers. A billion dollars (which is ten, hundred-million dollar chunks) costs you nine bucks; ten billion costs you ninety bucks, and each hundred billion dollar expenditures costs you $900. A trillion – now we’re talking real money! – amounts of $9,000 per family. Taking a real example, the recent economic stimulus package of $790 billion requires each household (or rather, that of our children and grandchildren) to repay $7,110 plus interest.

The next time you see or hear mega-numbers being bandied about, don’t let your eyes gloss over, simply use Schmidt’s Rule of Nine to wrap your mind around it. However you think about spending these a mega-amounts of money, considering the alternatives, it may be money well invested.

I’m proud as a pup with a new collar to announce that my latest book Strategic Project Management Made Simple: Practical Tools for Leaders and Teams, published by John Wiley & Sons, hit the book market this month. It’s my best work ever and is already getting rave reviews because the ideas work!

If you’ve attended one of my seminars, you know how these “strategic project management power tools” bring benefits to any situation in any industry because they help turn good ideas into great results. Professionals of all types are finding this approach tackles the issues, opportunities, problems, and projects on their plate—whether your project is in start-up mode or re-start mode (or any phase for that matter).

Get your copy wherever books are sold. And if you think it’s great, I’d love for you to post a glowing review on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Then, drop me a note; and I’ll send you a good summary article about this dynamic, four-step process as well as a link to some special resources.

If you want a personalized copy, let me know and I’ll send you a special signed “bookplate” that pastes into the front of your book. The best way to reach me is through the website contact form at www.ManagementPro.com. (If we’ve had the pleasure of meeting, please remind me of where and when.)

Get Strategic! Get your copy now!

We all mess up at one time or another—or many times, rather. Whether the mess up was avoidable, or not, what’s important is being willing to stand up and accept responsibility when you made a mistake. That’s the mark of a confident leader.

Our new president gave a splendid example when he picked Tom Daschle for the cabinet without thoroughly vetting him. After Daschle withdrew, Obama readily admitted, “I screwed up.” By this simple statement, he cleared the air to move forward in a new direction. He also sent the message that well-meaning people are going to make mistakes along the way, but if they are committed to doing the best they can and operate in good faith, it’s going to happen and its okay.

By accepting responsibility early, he also defused his harshest critics. Note also the language. “I screwed up” carries a move powerful visceral element than. “I made a mistake”.

Whether you are President of the U.S. or President of your own life, when you do mess up, it is a chance to learn from what went wrong, readjust your strategy and take new action.

Some questions ponder…

• What are some of your most impressive recent mess ups?
• What did you learn from each? How have you (or how will you) make adjustments to “clean it up”?
• What should you say or do to acknowledge responsibility? (If it’s too far in the past the moment of opportunity is gone)

By reframing how you interpret mistakes as a natural part of the action learning cycle,— you can recognize their value in pointing out a better way to success!

Around Valentine’s Day, people experience a spectrum of emotions from tingly to depressed. Some may be in a great relationship, others want to be in a great relationship, or perhaps feel stuck in a not-so-great relationship. Whatever the case may be for you, being aware and focused on your own Self-Mastery journey is a key success factor in your own personal growth which positively impacts your relationships overall.

While we think of relationships in terms of partnerships with others, the most important relationship you can have is with yourself. When is the last time you clarified your Values? Goals? Purposes?—particularly in how they fit with those of other people in your life. Becoming aware of who you are and who you want to become first requires some soul-searching, and it needn’t occur all in one session. A strong relationship with yourself is the key success factor because your thoughts, feelings and behaviors affect how you are towards others, particularly those who are close to you.

A strong relationship with yourself also means you can be aware of and honor who you are now—your strengths, weaknesses, talents and interests—and who you want to become. Along the journey, being willing to allow yourself to go through the cycles and challenges of change with a winning attitude will help you be and stay a champion. Whatever relationship phase you are in right now, by accepting the challenges of Self-Mastery as you seek to become the most you can be—and encourage others to do the same—you attract other key success factors that can magnetize your life!

It’s tough to make a buck when you are running an airline, but when Robert Crandall was president of American Airlines, he did something we can all emulate in times when saving money is essential.

Crandall looked for every potential cost-saving by scrutinizing each expenditure and asking if there is a better way. While reviewing the budget of one of AA’s facilities, he noticed that a night watchman was on duty every night. Crandall asked “why don’t we hire a watchman for three random nights a week, potential thieves won’t know which night he is there?” They did and next year, after no thefts and money saved, he said “why don’t we replace the watchman with a vicious German Shepard?”. This they did, then reduced the dog’s duty to three nights a week. Still, no thefts. Money saved.

Then Crandall made the ultimate innovative move. They hired a professional handler – wearing protective gear — to anger and wrestle with the dog, while recording the frightening growls and barks of this savage beast. They then replaced the on-duty dog with an electronic recording that would randomly play a few angry barks loud enough to scare the most determined thief. More money saved!

What time and money consuming functions are you performing in your life and work? How innovative can you be in serving that same function in a cheaper and easier way?

Scrutinize your core processes and daily routines, and discover some creative ways to save resources with your own version of barking beasts!