You control your calendar

One of the biggest mistakes I see people make in business is letting other people control the flow of their day. What usually happens is numerous managers, product owners, project managers, vendors, employees, and executives can unknowingly destroy someones day, and thereby the work that they intended to do.

They don't mean to of course. They just set up a meeting to discuss a few things with a few people, and very likely these are things that do indeed need to be sorted out. The problem is, if you don't control your calendar, everyone else will.

And when other people control your calendar you're very likely not going to be nearly as productive, or effective, as if you controlled it. So while it may seem difficult to decline that meeting, or tell a vendor that you're not available at a certain time, you're actually doing a huge favor to whoever is paying you (whether it's a customer or your employer) if you take special care to control your day.

Likewise, this extends beyond days and into weeks and months. If you're a sales person that travels often, are you really going to give a great presentation if you haven't seen your family for two weeks? I don't think so.

Everyone has certain periods of the day where they're likely to be very productive, and other parts of the day where they're more likely to be checking email, reading blogs, chatting with co-workers, or whatever else we do with our time. And we're all different.

The key is to identify which parts of your day shouldn't be touched by other people.

If you're really productive in the morning, or if you're not a morning person at all and you function better by sleeping until 9, then it's very important that you're not interrupted at 8am. Same holds true if you're most productive right after lunch.

Most people don't ever say no though because they're afraid that they're going to upset someone. In reality, if you tell someone you can't meet at a certain time, they'll most likely just say "okay" and reschedule, or better yet they'll just say that they'll cover for you and bring you up to speed later.

And any meeting where you can be brought up to speed later is a meeting you never needed to attend in the first place. Another key thing to realize is that people are not trying to ruin your day, or interrupt you too much, or steal too much of your time. They're simply trying to include you. Tell them you don't think you need to be included and they probably aren't going to mind.

Control your calendar, control your day, control your productivity. Lose control of your calendar and you lose control of your very self; and no one can function that way effectively.

Yes, no, or not yes?

A little while back I wrote a review about Linchpin, and I've been thinking about this book and the message it contains a bit more lately. One of the central themes is about taking initiative, not asking for permission to do things, and doing incredible and remarkable work.

I've noticed something lately that ties into this whole theme and it's around when ideas are kicked around and shared on a team. I've realized that the most common feedback you'll get sometimes is "not yes". It's not no and it's not yes. It's just "not yes".

It sounds confusing at first - but really it makes a lot of sense. Because if someone says either "yes" or "no" to you - they've just put themselves on the hook. Or more accurately, you have put them on the hook. If you fail, now it's not your fault, it's the fault of the person that gave you permission - or told you not to do something. This too is a theme in Linchpin where Seth Godin writes that very rarely do people actually say No.

It's interesting because if you start looking for this not yes "answer", you'll probably find that you get it all the time. And while at first this may frustrate you, it's actually a huge opportunity. Because what "not yes" really means is "Do whatever you want - but own it."

That's a great answer because then you can do your great creative work, make something happen, and do something amazing.

There's another opportunity here too though and it's when you're giving feedback instead of seeking it. If you think someone else has a great idea - say YES! - and own it with them. Help them make it real, help them implement it, and help them be successful. The world we live in today is amazing because just two or three people can truly accomplish awesome things. And if your motivation is not to get credit for something - but is instead to help someone implement their great idea, you'll be doing great work, and having a great time while you're doing it.

Likewise, if you think something is a terrible idea, have the courage to stand up and say NO! What if the CEO of an investment bank said NO - we're not doing Credit default swaps? What if a construction worker said NO! - we should't build another McMansion right now - and convinced the owner of the business of that reality? Think they'd be out of a job right now? I don't.

Looking back, none of this is new. People say "not yes" all the time. It's just crystalized in my brain a little more lately; maybe it's because I've been reading a lot of good books such as Linchpin, REWORK, Delivering Happiness, Drive and Flow.

So when you've got a great idea, or a new feature to implement, look for the "not yes" answer. Then, own it and go do something amazing.

Tools Matter

There's a bit of a meme going around about how tools don't matter, which, in my humble opinion, is completely and totally wrong. Or rather, it's incomplete. It should be called "tools dont matter when youre getting started."

The idea behind this "tools don't matter" philosophy is that you shouldn't use not having the right tools as an excuse for not doing something. The argument being - you want to be a photographer? - pick up whatever camera you have and start taking pictures. This, I agree with completely and think it's great advice.

There's a certain point however when tools are in fact critically important. Ask a designer to use a windows machine instead of a Mac and tell them their tool of choice doesn't matter. See how hard they laugh at you.

Could a surgeon slice you open with a steak knife more effectively than I could use a ten blade? Of course. But that doesn't mean she should be performing surgery without the right tools for the job.

Tools, and the ability to make and use them, are in fact a central component in our evolution and are what allowed humans to ultimately rise to the top of the food chain. The ability to create tools is something that only few animals possess, and those that do make more comfortable lives for themselves.

We reach a point in our work where tools not only matter, but that using the right ones has an enormous impact on our productivity which in turn, as I just read in Delivering Happiness, has a real impact on our overall happiness.

If you're the CEO of a 100 person company, and you start using tools that make everyone 10% more productive - that's the same thing as hiring ten more people. Go ahead - tell the business owner that just saved $1 Million in salaries, 401(k) contributions, healthcare expenses and taxes that tools don't matter.

One of the reasons I love working for myself is that I can usually use whatever I please to get a particular job done. I truly feel bad for people when they tell me that they want to use a certain piece of software for their work but aren't able to do so. Because it's akin to telling a chef that they can't use their favorite knives, or a baseball player that they can't use the bat of their choice, or a guitar player that they can't use their favorite strings.

Tools Matter.

So yes, get started on whatever it is that you want to do with whatever you have available to you. At some point though, you will start getting better and you should treat yourself to some new tools.

Because the right tools will definitely help take you to the next level.

Advice for recruiters

Like a lot of people, whenever I'm looking for my next project I'll often times work with recruiters to find my next gig. Some folks, especially in the tech world, tend to shy away from working with recruiters because they've had so many bad experiences with them.

I don't mind working with them by default, because if they can help me find a project to work on that I would enjoy, I'm more than happy for them to take a cut of the pay. I simply look at it as a commission that I might otherwise have to pay a sales person.

Sure, I'd rather have companies come directly to me or find these opportunities myself, but I'm only one human and there's no way I can know about all the great opportunities out there - nor can I expect everyone to know who I am.

The problem though is that a LOT of recruiters are absolutely terrible at their jobs, and only a few are really great at it. This surprises me though because there seems to be a really great opportunity for people who are genuinely interested in working in that profession.

The problem most recruiters (and recruiting agencies) have is that they haven't changed the way they're doing business. Most of them seem to think that their job is to cast a wide net, pull in a bunch of resumes, sort through them, and pick out the ones they think their client may like.

The problem with this approach is that they're simply acting as middlemen. The value they're bringing is acting as a collector and a filter. I suppose this is still working a little bit right now - but it won't for much longer.

I had two completely different experiences with recruiters recently that have had me thinking about this a lot. One recruiter brought me into their office to talk about a project with a company in Chicago. After a pretty good conversation, he brought in the "account rep", who is the person that manages the relationship with the client and she started looking at my resume.

I should point out that I never only send someone my resume. In fact, I try not to send a resume at all but sometimes I give in. When that happens, I always send a link to my bio so they can check out my blog, the apps I've made, my company, my podcast, etc. Admittedly, my resume is probably pretty terrible, and it likely reflects my belief in their value.

The first thing she said was something like: "you know Andrew, when I look at your resume I get all confused. I mean, the first thing I see on here is 'founder' and I don't know - that says entrepreneur to me and my client needs a project manager - not an entrepreneur."

Apparently, never-mind the fact that the company I started was a project management company. She went on to show me an example of a resume she worked on for what their client would want to see. IT WAS AN 8 PAGE RESUME!

So I asked them, you know that link I sent you, did you click on it? Answer: no. So you haven't seen my blog? No. You haven't looked at the companies I started? No. You haven't seen any of the applications I've made? Nope. Not the Android one? No. Not the Rails app? Nope. How about Duarlander, you know, the application testing service? Nope, not that either. Did you take 20 seconds to even Google my name? No.

So you mean to tell me that you brought me out of my office, into your office, losing an entire half day of productivity to meet with you and you didn't even take the time to get to know me at all? Yep, that's right. Keep in mind, this isn't a hiring manager with 1,000 other things on their plate. It's their job to find people for their clients.

That is a bad recruiter, they insulted me, and it's what almost everyone in the industry does.

Contrast this with another person I've been working with, and who's project I'm joining. Before even speaking with me, they talked to someone else that I've worked with, they checked out my experience, they looked at some of the applications I've made, and based on that, they thought I may be interested in, and be a good fit for, their project.

Turns out, they were right. It's a great project and I'm thrilled to be working on it and it's going to be really interesting for me.

So here's the lesson I think a lot of recruiters should take. Don't think of yourself as a recruiter; think of yourself as an agent. Can you imagine a sports agent representing a ball player without knowing their batting average, or on-base percentage, or number of home runs they've hit?

Of course not.

If all you're doing is shuffling resumes around, you are becoming more irrelevant with every minute that passes. And, by the way, you're doing a huge disservice to the company's that have hired you.

But, if you're getting to know some great people, understanding what their interests are, and matching them with opportunities that they'd be interested in that they might not otherwise know about, you'll rise to the top as the rest of your industry crumbles.

Out of order

I've been thinking lately about the steps we (often) go through when we want to learn something new. It's the way our schools educate our kids, the way we prepare for jobs, and sometimes learn new hobbies. Usually it goes something like this:

1) Decide you want to do something

2) Learn how to do it

3) Start doing it

I've realized that these steps are out of order though - at least for me, and probably for a lot of other people too. Instead, I think it's much better to flip the second and third steps. Decide you want to do something, start doing it, and you'll inevitably learn how to do it. Sure, you'll mess up a buch along the way but who cares.

Want to learn French? Do you really need to take a french class - or would it better to just start communicating with some friends that know the language and watching some French movies here and there? Want to learn how to build a website? Sure, you can get a book about HTML, or you can start building a website on Blogger and go from there. Want to be a better writer? Start a blog and get to writing.

I think a lot of us use the need to "learn" something first as an excuse to not actually do anything. So if that's the case, forget about the learning and just start doing it. You'll learn.

Four months ago, I didn't know Ruby on Rails. But now I have two Rails applications to my name. I still wouldn't say I know it, my code is a mess in many parts, and certainly don't consider myself a programmer. But I'm learning - because I started doing it.

So if there's something you want to learn, but you're finding that it's just not happening, maybe it's because you're thinking is out of order.

Decide you want to do something, and then start doing it. The learning will come from that.