The Ugly “C – Word”… revisited

             – re-posting this as written in 2015…….

 

I thoroughly enjoy all aspects of my business, LOOKIN UP.  Although a large part of our work load has been related to Project Management; overall Business Improvement is what we’ve become known for.  There is something about digging in there and making improvements to our clients’ business that I enjoy immensely.  The feeling of leaving something better than it was is really what drives me, and my passion for LOOKIN UP.

But, throughout all of this, one thing has always bothered me.  The ugly “C word”……   “Consultant”.  In my mind, it conjures up images and conveys the perception of a Snake Oil Salesperson.  The word “consultant” just does not have a trust worthy vibe to it.  My dislike for that word, term, or category is something that has been under my skin for too long now.  And in short…..  I’M CHANGING IT !!!!

In doing so, I took a hard look and thoroughly examined my business.  What are we best known for?  What is the largest segment of our work load?  What am I truly gifted at, with regards to LOOKIN UP?  In a business that offers a diverse range of services, your business needs to be proficient at each of these services.  BUT, there is always one area in which you naturally excel.

With these questions in mind, I began to create a list of words and/or terms that would replace the dreaded “Consultant” word.  Although the list became quite long; one term stood out firmly from the rest; because it best captured what we do best.  From this point forward…..  I, Dan Kenney am a Business Technician.

A “technician” is actively submersed in the task at hand; getting his or her hands dirty if you will.  A “technician” is involved in actually doing the work.

Another frame of mind is, when your vehicle is just not running right, or losing performance, not operating as efficiently as it should.  Where do you go?  You go see a good, trust worthy Automotive Technician.  A mechanic.  One who optimizes the performance of your engine.  Or, one who modifies and greatly improves the performance of your engine.  The latter could involve swapping out camshafts, increasing the compression ratio, upgrading the valve train, adding a performance intake or exhaust.  My point is….  this person fixes and/or improves your vehicle.

This is what I do in business.  And is what I truly love.  I get great joy out of seeing a business perform more efficiently, or with greater “horsepower”.  Horsepower could be developing a new product/service.  Improving an existing one.  Entering into a new marketplace.  Expansion.  The list goes on…..    THIS is what I thoroughly enjoy.  And THIS is why I am a  BUSINESS TECHNICIAN.

I’d love to help you with your business.  Small or large projects, we love them all.  Visit  http://www.lookin-up.com  now.  And let’s get your engine performing as it should.

I look forward to working with you,

Dan Kenney

info@lookin-up.com         http://www.lookin-up.com

The Question I Get Asked The Most……

This past weekend, I was asked a question that I get asked quite often actually.  So I will address it now, in this manor.

Because a lot of what I do is Product Improvement, New Product Development, or Production Efficiency Improvement…. there is one question I get asked more than any other.

“How do you learn so much about so many different things, so quickly?“ 

This gets asked because through LOOKIN UP, I work on such a wide variety of products, processes, and business sectors.  Projects I do and/or have done and lead range from Optical Development for automotive lenses, experimental work with Composites of Carbon fusion, Kevlar fusion, and natural fibres such as Flax for the canoe and kayak industry, high-end handcrafted custom guitars, air ventilation for underground mines, plastic injection molding of many different products, etc.  The list goes on.  Although some of the technology within such projects is similar to some degree.  Most are entirely different.

Without confusing you or boring you with listing more projects I’ve worked on….  let’s get back to that initial question and answer it.

  How do I learn so much about so many different things, so quickly?

The answer to this is 2 fold:

ONE

I do humbly and thankfully admit that I seem to posses a certain “gift” enabling me to observe, absorb, and learn quickly.  Over the years, I have seen and done many different things with regard to developing and/or improving product.  I can cross reference these experiences in my mind and at times re-apply concepts to different items.  Many times there is great benefit to me having the opportunity to see things “from the outside, looking in”.  I enjoy learning about new things in great depth.  Much time and hard work is spent RESEARCHING the technology, related technologies, and business sector as I begin a project that I am leading for a client.  There have been a few times where I actually have the probable solution as we are about to begin the project.  Still experimentation must be done with other possible solutions throughout the project; because surprises of unexpected possible solutions do arise.

TWO

I have a very intentional purpose when I enter into leading a project for a client.  I’ve developed a truly unique process that builds an Atmosphere of Innovation within the client’s physical building, and within their team working on the said project.  I can take some of the most negative, bored employees who feel unappreciated… and I am able to draw creativeness, drive, and confidence from them over a fairly short period of time.  Many, many times great ideas that can lead to positive solutions lie within my client’s business and their own employees.  I’ve developed a unique process to draw this from their team.  Every individual has much value within them that can be attributed to the project.  Sometimes their spirit is broken, or the feel caught in a rut, or under appreciated within the workplace.  Re-igniting that lost spark within them is what I do best!!  Effectively involve everyone on the team…..  there is “us” in “genius”

Right here I will say…. this process is proprietary.  After all, LOOKIN UP is a business, and I have developed this unique process that greatly increases my success rate for any given project that I take on.  Egotistical?  No.  Simply, factual.

Consider letting LOOKIN UP create an Atmosphere of Innovation within your business.  Contact me today, and let’s talk.

http://www.lookin-up.com

The Ugly “C – Word”…

             – re-posting this as written in 2015…….

 

I thoroughly enjoy all aspects of my business, LOOKIN UP.  Although a large part of our work load has been related to Project Management; overall Business Improvement is what we’ve become known for.  There is something about digging in there and making improvements to our clients’ business that I enjoy immensely.  The feeling of leaving something better than it was is really what drives me, and my passion for LOOKIN UP.

But, throughout all of this, one thing has always bothered me.  The ugly “C word”……   “Consultant”.  In my mind, it conjures up images and conveys the perception of a Snake Oil Salesperson.  The word “consultant” just does not have a trust worthy vibe to it.  My dislike for that word, term, or category is something that has been under my skin for too long now.  And in short…..  I’M CHANGING IT !!!!

In doing so, I took a hard look and thoroughly examined my business.  What are we best known for?  What is the largest segment of our work load?  What am I truly gifted at, with regards to LOOKIN UP?  In a business that offers a diverse range of services, your business needs to be proficient at each of these services.  BUT, there is always one area in which you naturally excel.

With these questions in mind, I began to create a list of words and/or terms that would replace the dreaded “Consultant” word.  Although the list became quite long; one term stood out firmly from the rest; because it best captured what we do best.  From this point forward…..  I, Dan Kenney am a Business Technician.

A “technician” is actively submersed in the task at hand; getting his or her hands dirty if you will.  A “technician” is involved in actually doing the work.

Another frame of mind is, when your vehicle is just not running right, or losing performance, not operating as efficiently as it should.  Where do you go?  You go see a good, trust worthy Automotive Technician.  A mechanic.  One who optimizes the performance of your engine.  Or, one who modifies and greatly improves the performance of your engine.  The latter could involve swapping out camshafts, increasing the compression ratio, upgrading the valve train, adding a performance intake or exhaust.  My point is….  this person fixes and/or improves your vehicle.

This is what I do in business.  And is what I truly love.  I get great joy out of seeing a business perform more efficiently, or with greater “horsepower”.  Horsepower could be developing a new product/service.  Improving an existing one.  Entering into a new marketplace.  Expansion.  The list goes on…..    THIS is what I thoroughly enjoy.  And THIS is why I am a  BUSINESS TECHNICIAN.

I’d love to help you with your business.  Small or large projects, we love them all.  Visit  http://www.lookin-up.com  now.  And let’s get your engine performing as it should.

I look forward to working with you,

Dan Kenney

info@lookin-up.com         http://www.lookin-up.com

Self Doubt and Fear Can Be Crippling

Do you ever wonder why we are so hard on ourselves?  Why am I my biggest critic?

This writing is of a very personal nature.  It relates to my own struggle of being a musician.  A true “creator of music”.  In my mind, this defines a musician.  And in my particular case, a guitarist.  I am not a guitar player….but a guitarist.  How I see the difference will be revealed below.

Those 2 initial questions are questions that I have been struggling with for over 20 years now.  This writing is deeply personal, and I am speaking to music.

Within myself, I examine my efforts and outcome and it’s really never good enough.  Subconsciously I have this internal bar set that I continually measure myself against.  I have never allowed myself to reach this bar level…….Why?  Trust me, after more than 20 years of being too scared to record my music; finding the answer to this question is of very great importance to me.  The answer may dwell in the fact that I have never “played guitar” – meaning strived to play songs that are on the radio. This made me different from other guitar players and I never truly fit in; or bought into the whole garage band thing.  My passion truly lies in CREATING MUSIC.  Creating from nothing, based on emotion/observation/a message that I feel needs to be told.  To me, being a “guitarist” and more so a “musician” parallels a true artist that paints images of what he/she sees or wishes to convey.

While writing this post and examining myself; I know the answer lies within.  Perhaps…. due to the way I view my music… I can not hit the bar I’ve instilled upon myself.  Because there is no bar.  The image or message I am trying to convey with my music is just that…… a painting of true expression if you will???  The practical side of me says…. How can you measure that?  I really struggle with why am I so afraid to unveil these “paintings of music”?  I still lack the confidence to do so.  But the urge and need to do this grows stronger with time and has been very overpowering within the last 2 years especially.  I have songs.  I have the ability.  I know I can sing decently and suited to the songs I’ve created.  I have a connection and agreement with a good recording studio.  I have a cousin/friend patiently willing to add his own dobro type accents to one of the songs I wish to record for my GrandMa while she is still with us.  Everything is in place…..  but why my intense fear and self doubt???  The thought of singing in front of anyone terrifies me beyond literary description.  I’ve talked with people I trust about this, read scriptures from the Bible that deal with this, prayed…..  but I can’t get past this massively indescribable FEAR.

I do not know the answers to the initial questions above.  But I do know that I must discover these answers and move forward.  My urge, desire and need to expel my music is simply growing too strong to bare much longer.  God has given me musical talents.  God has also been urging me to use these talents for a purpose that I do not yet truly understand.  And for more than 20 years…. I’ve been running, trying to ignore, burying deep inside to the point where I hardly touched my guitar from age 26-39.  My very first guitar lessons began at the age of 10.  I am 43 now; been playing/creating intensely again for 2 years now.  I am again as good or even better than I was in my early 20’s……  I know it’s time!!!

I’m not entirely sure why I felt I had to write this posting.  Truth is, I may never overcome my fear….who knows.  But maybe, in reading this someone out there can understand and overcome theirs…

Dan

The Importance of Feeling Valued

I’d like to re-iterate a very important, but often overlooked aspect of “Team Building”, “Moral Improvement”, and positive mindset within a business place, group, team, and even a family.

Yesterday I had the privilege to be involved in a day of physical experimentation with a manufacturing client of mine.  This was the first day of any actual experimentation, following a few weeks of much research, discussions within the management team, as well as true feedback from their customers regarding the product we are striving to improve.

To step back abit…. this product has been dwindling in sales because a competitors product performs better in one important aspect.  Significant sales have been lost over the last 18 months to this competing product.  Our project is to improve my client’s product so it can perform comparably, if not better than their competitors product… while keeping costing and overall sell price under control.  No easy task.  But it can and will be accomplished, one small documented step at a time.

Our experiments performed yesterday were a very large step in the right direction….. but “why”, and “how so”?

While I have been doing research over the past many weeks for this project and interacting with my client’s employees out on the shop floor, the usual and expected mindset seemed to be present.  The employees out on the shop floor thought I was crazy, management was wasting time, etc.  Really…..  How could I, could their management team know better when it comes to producing this product in question.  Guess what…. I don’t, we don’t.  BUT, we all MUST be successful in this project or sales will slip further and the people that actually manufacture this said product will be out of a job.  That was and is the harsh reality.  It’s always important to have employees like this understand the reality and purpose.  Then at that point…. INVOLVE THEM by asking for some ideas, feedback and suggestions.  This was done over the last few weeks and gradually I and the management team didn’t seem so crazy.  Our team was beginning to unite to the common goal.

Starting off these experiments yesterday had the expected and usual comments like, “this won’t work” or “how are we going to deal with this?”   Human nature causes any of us to be unsure and even fearful once our normal/standard procedure is not followed.  As the experimentation began, negative aspects were pointed out almost in a “see, I told you so” manner.

But, step forward a couple hours…. the experimentation is beginning to have some positive results.  This is the exact time where you interact, praise, congratulate and celebrate with these same employees.  Their excitement was simply un-disguisable.  We all pushed forward excitedly and positively.  Many additional “what if we try this?”, statements came from these same employees.  Why….because everyone was working together toward the common goal and we were starting to see some rewards for our efforts.

We still have many days of further research and experiments to make even greater improvements so our end product will reach the objectives slated for it.  This product must be competitive, if not better than the other product. In closing, yes…. I am very confident that the product we are all working on to improve WILL be successful.  Sales will be re-gained and hopefully even improved further.  This is the direct, tangible positive outcome of this project that my client will see.  And this will be awesome…..project will be deemed successful.

But, what is even more valuable will be the intangible/indirect “bonus result” if you will.  And that is….  the unitedness of their team, the drive to improve even further, and the probability of even inventing an entirely new product that is needed in the market place.  Everyone’s ideas need to be heard.  To have some employees, team members, family members too scared and unwilling to speak forth ideas and perspectives will be devastating to the business or group in time.  Build confidence in people around you and you will automatically be building a better business, group or family.

Personal Insight from Dan Kenney

OBSERVATION           I believe Observation is probably the strongest tool one can posses; if you truly know how to use it.  These are not words from some self help book or website…  but valuable insight I’d like to share, directly coming from me…….  because I have truly “observed” Once you train your mind to truly “observe” the data you will gather over time is priceless.  It’s important to understand that to OBSERVE is not simply to see, or to watch…. but to truly soak in every detail and be able to reference this in your mind as similar tasks, obstacles or opportunities present themselves. I’ve been strengthening my skill of Observation for almost 20 years now, even taking notes along the way.  I really didn’t know why I realized observation was so powerful.  But I always knew I was learning for a reason…. just didn’t really understand what that reason was or would be.  I do understand now Over this time I have seen many positive scenarios come up, as well as many “not so good” ones as I’ve been on different job tasks, positions and relations.  To observe is to recognize such scenarios and have the ability to also record what the outcome was, good or bad.  “How did this certain decision effect the people directly involved, the work being done, and/or the company overall?”  Remember that scenario whether the outcome is good or bad.  You will learn from either and both. Now I bring up an important point….. “hind-sight”.  This term is always used sarcastically or jokingly, such as “hind-sight is 20/20”.  It’s mocked because it seems easy to critique a certain scenario after the fact.  I find great value in “hind-sight” because I use it as a tool, a lesson.  Say for instance a scenario you’ve observed resulted in a very negative outcome.  Ask yourself, if you were the actual decision maker there…. how would you have done it differently?  It’s also very important to note, at which time throughout this scenario would the most critical decision need to be made.  Every project, good or bad has a “pivot point”.  I define this as the point in which any project can take a turn for the good or the bad.  In the beginning, almost every project worth working on has the ability somehow to come out positively.  Observation provides you with factual data to aid in decisions along the way. Again, these words are mine.  I wanted to share this because I strongly feel everyone can benefit by training their minds to truly OBSERVE.   Be a sponge, my friends.  Canadian business needs some strong leaders now more than ever.  Families and Communities need strong leaders.  You have the ability to be one !!!!! by Dan Kenney