| Ron Culberson | Do it Well. Make it Fun. | Funny Motivational Speaker | Author

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German Urinals Are Aiming for Success

September 13, 2012

WARNING: This is a blog with TMI (Too Much Information). Read at your own discretion.

A few days ago, I was in Duseldorf, Germany. I was there as president of the National Speakers Association visiting our German counterparts at the German Speakers Association Convention. It was a great experience and my hosts were both gracious and welcoming. But, you may be as surprised as I was that they did not serve German chocolate cake even once during my entire visit.

Anyway, at one of the breaks between sessions and after consuming way too much espresso, I ducked into the “toilet” (the European version of a restroom). That’s when I notice a flattened fly attached to the inside bowl of the urinal. While I’m not accustomed to seeing this, it could be perfectly normal as I am not familiar with the landing habits of German flies.

Please note that many of my women readers might not realize that when men are presented with any kind of debris in a urinal or toilet bowl, we are compelled by our genetic predisposition to aim at it. I’m not sure what form of Darwinian survival mechanism this might account for but having been a man most of my life (and a boy before that), I can assure you that it’s deeply embedded in our autonomic reflexes.

So, when I saw the fly, I did what I was innately led to do. I aimed at it. But it didn’t move. Feeling a bit inadequate, I looked around to make sure nobody saw that I missed and my eye caught something in the unattended urinal right next to me. There was a fly in that urinal too. Now I am both intrigued and a bit alarmed. Once the bathroom was empty I leaned over to get a closer look. Turns out, it was not a real fly but a decal. A fly decal in every one of the urinals in this German toilet. Now I’m thinking the Germans are much funnier than they let on.

The first chance I got after I left the bathroom, I asked one of my colleagues about the flies. He laughed and explained that some research project had proved that when men have something to aim at, the restrooms tend to be cleaner. Apparently, we, as a species are less disciplined when there’s nothing to aim at. I was shocked…and thoroughly delighted. It took going all the way to Dusseldorf to find what I believe might be the best example of Do it Well, Make it Fun I’ve ever seen.

Remember that the philosophy of Do it Well, Make it Fun is to seek excellence while making the process fun. With the urinal flies, the bathrooms are reportedly 60-80% cleaner. The Germans (and the Dutch, I understand) are achieving excellence through a fun, funny, and slightly bizarre technique. And if you doubt me, feel free to read a reference to the strategy in this NY Times article: Urinal Flies Work

So, as you aim for success in your life, your work, or even in your bathroom, please remember the urinal fly. Success doesn’t have to be hard. It can be easy and fun. Just remember to Do it Well, Make it Fun…and don’t make a mess.

———

Brave’s Princess Merida’s Hair is Done Very Well

June 26, 2012

There is a great article in USA Today about the success Pixar’s animators had in creating the hair for Brave’s Princess Merida. You can read the entire article here: Animation Sensation.

In order to make Merida’s hair look real, it took animators and engineers three years to create the technology and then design the animation for the intricately flowing locks.

That’s amazing!

When I think of the work that I do, I haven’t spent three years dedicated to any of it. Oh sure, I’ve spent a lot of time on projects (like my new book that’s still available on Amazon!) but I tend to get distracted by unimportant tasks and don’t really focus as I should.

I love a recent Twitter post by writer Anne Lamott. She said that some days, she only focuses on improving one piece of mediocre writing. She’s not doing a lot of different tasks. Instead, she’s focused on what needs to be done.

Imagine how good we’d be at our work, our craft, or even our hobbies if we spent as much time as Pixar’s animators did on just the hair of their lead character.

They really did it well.

Motorcycle Presence

June 23, 2012

Today was a perfect day for a motorcycle ride. Blue skies. Moderately high temperatures. And wonderful smells.

Riding is about being present both with the road and the nature around you. No one said it better than Robert Pirsig in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance:

“In a car you’re always in a compartment, and because you’re used to it you don’t realize that through that car window everything you see is just more TV. You’re a passive observer and it is all moving by you boringly in a frame. On a cycle, the frame is gone. You’re completely in contact with it all. You’re in the scene, not just watching it anymore, and the sense of presence is overwhelming.”

Doing things well means being present to that which we are doing. When we’re, everything is in alignment. And on a motorcycle, that’s a good thing.

A Shot in the Arm for Publicity

June 22, 2012

According to the associated press, Ryamond Dolin was hitchiking across the country for a book he was writing called Kindness in America when he was randomly shot by a pickup driver — so he said.

Turns out, Dolin confessed to shooting himself as a way to promote his book.

But the story gets even better. Dolin owns a photography business called One Shot Impressions. Do you see a theme here?

The photographic memoir was to focus on random acts of kindness that Dolin experienced during his journey. It is unclear why he felt a gunshot wound will improve the effort.

I am in the business of self improvement and there are a lot of people out there who will offer you formulas for quick fixes and instant fame or fortune. And while this guy Dolin certainly got instant fortune, I think he and these overnight success promoters are wrong about the recipe for success. Success comes from hard work and a commitment. It’s not about the shortcut.

You often hear celebrities talk about their 20-year overnight success. And successful athletes will relate how they have practiced their sport all the time. Success comes from hard work. Period. Or, maybe you could say it comes from Doing it Well.

So, next time you think about a shortcut, like shooting yourself in the arm, consider a different alternative. Put your head down and work. You’ll be amazed at how much less it will hurt.

As the Sell Tolls

April 23, 2012

I recently attended a weekend conference on sales offered by the National Speakers Association (NSA). As incoming president, I attend all of the events even when the topic is not something to which I am particularly drawn. Sales is not a topic to which I’m particularly drawn.

You may ask, “Ron, as an entrepreneur, why aren’t you interested in sales?”

Thank you for asking.

Well, quite honestly, I love the end of the sale. The part where someone wants to pay me for speaking at their event. I love speaking. And I love getting money for it. I just don’t like the in-between process where we have to talk about it.

Here’s an example of my first sale back in the early 1990′s:

“Ron, we’d like you to speak at our conference.”

“That’s great. I charge $750.”

“We can only pay you a dollar.”

“OK.”

Alright, it wasn’t a dollar but you get my point. As a former hospice social worker, I wasn’t used to selling myself. In fact, as a social worker, I was trained in un-self-promotion. Oh sure, we were taught the value of self disclosure as a way to get in touch with our emotions but that did not involve selling the value of what we did. And in my current business, where I’m selling me, the value gets confusing. As a result, I’m not good at selling value but I can disclose dysfunctional personal issues with anyone. It’s just not so good for sales.

So, I attended the conference in my official role as incoming president of NSA but not expecting that I would use anything I heard.

But wow, was I pleasantly surprised.

Not only were the speakers outstanding, the content was compelling. I realized that I must change my attitude about sales. Not only do I need to embrace the art of selling, I need to embrace the value of me and my services.

Suzanne Bates and Mike Staver, seasoned sales people, were the chairs of the lab. They brilliantly facilitated the event. Alan Weiss, Jill Konrath, Kendra Lee, Connie Dieken, Doug Devitre, and Mark Hunter were the faculty and they shared their expertise by showing us a variety of ways to approach sales. I am grateful to all of them for generously sharing their knowledge with us.

So, what did I learn?

Thank you for asking.

Here are my top five tips. Hopefully, they will help you as well.

Understand my expertise and then attract clients with compelling content focused on that particular expertise through blogs, articles, columns, books, etc.
Seek to understand my clients’ needs before trying to sell them my services.
When introducing myself to new prospects, don’t spew endless amounts of chatter about me and my services, but instead, show them how I can help them.
Use the best of me and my personality to connect with people. Don’t try to be something I’m not.
Build relationships instead of selling. By creating relationships, I can develop more ways to help clients.

Am I now a sales genius? No. In fact my friend and mentor Larry Winget calls me a sales weenie. But I’m learning and before long, I hope to be better, perhaps a sales burger.

Why is Hospital Food Bad?

April 16, 2012

Ever notice how certain organizations or industries have a reputation for bad services?

DMV – slow lines and bad attitudes

Telemarketing – dinnerous interruptus

Car dealerships – pushy and money-hungry

Paparazzi – obnoxious, invasive, and ruthless

And…

Hospital food – tasteless and unhealthy

Knowing that most of the world sees these poor services in a negative light, you’d think that they would work hard to change their image. Well, in fact, some have. The DMV is much less stressful than 20 years ago. And some car dealers are much less pushy. But unfortunately, hospital food is still pretty bad.

Why is that? Especially when good nutritious food is important for healthfulness. I’m a cook and it’s just not that hard to whip up healthy food that tastes good. Maybe it’s the volume of meals. But then again, high schools, universities, and sports arenas have to cook for large crowds and the food is pretty good. So, it can be done.

Recently, I read an article describing how many hospitals are moving towards healthy and better tasting meals. It’s part of a movement sponsored by the Health Care Without Harm Coalition and it’s called the Healthy Food in Health Care Pledge. I think this is wonderful concept but I’m curious why it hasn’t happened before now.

The philosophy behind Do it Well, Make it Fun focuses on seeking excellence while making the process fun. With hospital food, that simply means this: make the food healthy and good tasting. Unfortunately, just like the hospital food services, many of us fall into bad habits and patterns and we find it hard to break the bonds of tradition or mediocrity. However, if we can see that change is possible without a huge shift in thinking, we can find much more success in the work that we do.

Good hospital food is only two steps away. Cook it well. Make it tasty.

March Madness is Local Too

March 16, 2012

My son has always been a talented athlete. He’s played soccer, basketball, baseball, and lacrosse. Basketball was his favorite. However, during his first year playing high school lacrosse, he tore his ACL and never really got back to the level of skill and endurance he had prior to the injury. So, when he didn’t make the varsity basketball team during his junior year, he chose to play “house” league, the league sponsored by our local Optimist Club, instead of not playing at all. The level of talent is not the same but it is competitive and a number of his friends play in the same league.

This year, his team was good. They weren’t great but they had good kids who played well together and had enough talent to be competitive. They won some regular-season games but lost some as well. By the end of the season, we figured they were in the top half of their division but that they probably would not win the tournament – even with excellent post-game analysis from me, a has-been, recreational player who was never really as good as I thought I was. But isn’t that the job of a father?

My son’s team won their first tournament game by only a few points. It was close and very exciting. The second game was a blowout with our team (and I use “our” as if I was somehow part of the team rather than simply a proud spectator parent) beating a team, who had previously beaten us, by nearly 20 points. We were a bit surprised but now fully engaged in the big dance. Well, perhaps the little dance but no less exciting. We began to wonder if they could win it all.

We went to the semifinals and again, they faced a team that had beaten them soundly in the regular season. With about 10 seconds to go in the game, we were down by four. My wife turned to me and said, “Well, it’s over.”

I said, “You never know.”

While I may appear to be the eternal optimist, my positive attitude is often based on a fantasy where I imagine outrageous possibilities such as a three point shot, accompanied by a foul, a technical foul, and some sort of celestial intervention. Nonetheless, it appears that my glass is half full.

Sure enough, the other team fouled one of our players who made two free throws. Now, we’re down by two with two seconds left in the game. My son and one other player are the typical go-to three-point shooters so they were heavily guarded. Another player who is also a good shooter was open. The inbound pass went to him and he put up a three. The buzzer sounded just as the ball fell through the hoop.

We had won on a miracle game-winning shot. Our boys had played good solid basketball and beat a team that had equal or better talent. For a parent, it was a moment of ecstasy.

Two hours later we won the championship game by two points after my son was fouled twice and sank four consecutive free throws. This is a kid who, just like his father, can let his thinking get in the way of his playing. But that night, he had ice in his veins and came through in a clutch situation.

My son loved playing house-league basketball and it’s hard to see it come to an end as he goes to college next year.

Looking back, I realize that the high school varsity team would not have been as much fun for him. The stakes, and the pressure, were higher and the camaraderie was not as great. On the house league, however, he was playing for fun, for pride and among his friends.

I think my son just realized the power of do it well, make it fun. You can achieve great things while having fun along the way.

And by the way, when he won the championship, I stormed the court. Turns out, people don’t really storm the court in house league. So, I just went back to my seat. But in my mind, I was running around like Jim Valvano, looking for somebody to hug.

It Only Takes a Minute to Understand

February 20, 2012

I have a condition called Windshield Identification Blindness which means, for some reason, I not only can’t identify drivers through their windshields, I can’t tell if they’re motioning me to move forward or giving me the finger. This leads to awkward social situations where I wave at people I don’t know or sit in my car doing nothing while someone is waving me on.

Yesterday, I was pulling out of my driveway and a car coming up the street just stopped. Right in the middle of the road. Even though I had not even gotten to the end of my driveway. Because of my windshield blindness, I couldn’t figure out what the driver was doing and I couldn’t see if he or she (gender blindness too, apparently) was motioning me to continue out of my driveway or just busy checking text messages.

So, we both just sat there. And waited.

Finally, I decided that the driver wanted me to continue pulling out even though he or she had the right of way, according to the rules I learned in Driver’s Ed, and should have continued up the street instead of stopping for me. After I pulled out, the other car followed me. So, clearly, he or she was not checking text messages but had stopped for me to pull out of my driveway.

For the rest of my trip, I complained to my wife about “idiot drivers who don’t know the rules of the road.”

Had I remembered the lesson I learned earlier that day, I would have taken a different stance on the whole stopping-in-the-middle-of-the-road ordeal.

You see, a man in my church spoke about a situation in his life a few years ago when his son was arrested on murder charges. The trial took over two years to conclude and the charges were eventually dropped. However, it took a devastating toll on the entire family. Yet, I never knew what he was going through. And had I encountered him during this time, I would have assumed that everything was just fine.

How often do we jump to an incorrect conclusion about someone else because we have not taken the time to better understand them and their situation?

My faith teaches me to treat others with love and without judgement. And yet, stop in the middle of the street and I will judge you. Give me poor customer service and I will judge you. Critique my humor and I will definitely judge you.

We never know what’s going on in someone else’s life. But when we take the time to understand, we often see the person differently. When we see the person differently, we treat them differently. Now that I think about it, the person in my neighborhood was probably just trying to be nice. Imagine that.

It only takes a minute to understand. And a minute of understanding is much better than even a few seconds of judgement.

Brilliance in the Shower

February 10, 2012

So, what is it about the shower that brings out the best in me?I’m not suggesting that my naked body is the best in me. I’m talking about the way my mind works when I’m in the shower. There’s something magical that allows great ideas to flow as freely as the water. In fact, that’s where I got the idea for this blog. See? Both magical and brilliant.

I do know that our brains are freed to be creative when we focus on something else. For instance, when we’re driving, we focus one part of our mind on the road thus allowing another part of our mind to relax and think of other things. It’s as if we’re in a meditative state without all the clutter and self doubt that usually occupies our thoughts. I suspect the same is true when we’re in the shower since we’re focused on lathering and rinsing rather than on whether we’re lathering and rinsing correctly.

I also know that the sound of water is therapeutic. Similar to white noise, the sound of water blocks out other distracting or disturbing sounds such as traffic, whiney complainers, and loud children.

The sensation of hot water hitting our body also has a relaxing effect. I could stand for hours under a hot shower – if it wasn’t for the wrinkling.

But there is something else. Psychologically, we can’t get much more vulnerable than in the shower. Look no further than the movie Psycho to understand both the physical and psychological vulnerability of standing naked behind a shower curtain.

Perhaps it’s this combination of the soothing sound, the warm stimulation, and the metaphorical shedding of those things that hinder us that allows our mind to freely imagine the possibilities of new ideas.

This morning, while showering, I had several incredible ideas. I was so charged up, I forgot to rinse the shampoo from the traces of hair left on my head.

But then, once I got dressed and sat down at my desk to consider the implementation of my fantastic brilliance, I heard another noise and experienced a different sensation. It was the sound of my ego saying that I’m not good enough and that the implementation is too much work. It was as if someone had flushed and the water pressure in my shower disappeared. The exhilaration from a few minutes earlier was gone.

I realized that the shower may not be where we’re most vulnerable after all. It’s when we step out of the shower and then, fully dressed, we pursue our brilliant ideas and our outrageous dreams. Because when we step out, we hear that we can’t do it. We feel the steady stream of negativity. And that’s when we need block out the disturbing and distracting sounds that are all around us and step back into the warm comforting shower of encouragement.

Doing things well means not giving in to the limitations set by others. So when it comes to pursuing excellence, lather yourself with the sound of possibility instead. Then, rinse and repeat.

Holstee Has a Great Mission Statement

February 9, 2012

In the February 2012 edition of Inc. Magazine, I read an article about clothing company Holstee’s unique mission statement. Co-founder Fabian Pfortmüller said that they realized that their business was not only about the product or service they deliver but at the end of the day, it was also about the lifestyle they created. As a result, their mission statement reads more like a personal life mission than a business development plan.

I’m not a great businessman. Don’t get me wrong, I love having my own business. But for me, I value the independence and flexibility that comes with solo entrepreneurship than the prospect of building a million dollar enterprise. In fact, about one quarter of my time is spent in volunteer service because I believe in the value of service. My volunteer work does not generate revenue in dollars but it certainly generates satisfaction revenue and that’s part of the lifestyle bonus that I get by owning my own business.

Holstee’s mission statement is so congruent with my own perspective on business and life, I ordered a copy suitable for framing. It’s compelling and I recommend you not only read it, but that you seriously consider how the message applies to your own life and work.

Take a look at the video below to see Holstee’s Manifesto depicted through words, music, and images. And if you’d like to get your own copy, suitable for framing, go here: Holstee Manifesto

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