I’ve received all kinds of questions about the Unique Genius Superhero Program… here you go!  Have any more?  Leave a comment at the bottom!

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Q: How much time is required?

A: I would recommend at least an hour a week. It’s all recorded, so you can put down the program for awhile and come back to it anytime you want.

I will include some time management and organizational practices in the program.

Q: I have an abundance of gifts, but am not sure how to combine them and clearly brand/state/market these gifts and skills to an open and appreciative target audience.  Will the program help me do this?

A: Yes, most definitely, as you might have seen a sample of in the “5 Ways To Make Money On Purpose” Unique Genius Video on increasing your value.

Q: What if I don’t know my purpose or passions?

A: That’s what this program is for!

Q: I don’t know what I want to do.

A: That’s what this program is for!

Q: What if I don’t know what I’d be good at enough to charge money for?

A: That’s what this program is for!

Q: What if I already know my purpose?

A: Awesome – then you should have a head start on making money with it!  But – keep an open mind, because everyone always learns new stuff about their purpose and passions through this work too.

Q: I’ve tried other programs like this and nothing’s worked. How do I know it’ll work for me?

A: If you have a really important door that you want to unlock and you have a ring of keys, do you stop trying to unlock it because the first few (or dozens) of keys didn’t work? Or do you keep looking for the right key, knowing it’s out there somewhere?

Q: How do I know it’ll work for me?

A: I don’t, but I can make it as simple, doable, effective as possible (and include a 90-Day Unconditional Happiness Guarantee).  And it’s worked for all kinds of other people already, as I’ve shared examples of in the Unique Genius videos.

If you’ve succeeded at anything in your life (whether in business, school, relationships, health…any area), you have the capability to succeed at this.

Q: What if I miss part of the course?  I’m going to be traveling for a few weeks during it.

A: The course is all online, and you get LIFETIME ACCESS so you can work on it at your own pace over months or event years

You won’t miss anything if you’re gone for a few weeks…except that there will be more awesome stuff posted for you when you’re ready to jump back into it.

Q: Admittedly I would love to “get rich quick” I think we all would. But over the years I have come to understand that “getting rich” is simply doing what you love. If you do what you love it is no longer work and as long as your needs are met you can hold on for the long haul and build it into the empire we desire.

A: I cheated here – yes this isn’t a question…I just thought this was an awesome comment from Sean Allen!

Q: How is the program delivered?

1. The core of it is in online training videos, similar to the “5 Ways To Make Money On Purpose” video.
2. Action guides & cheat-sheets with supplement the videos.
3. Weekly Q&A/Mentoring Calls for the first three months.

Do you have a payment plan option?

A: Yes, there is a 3-month payment plan option.

Q: Is this for new entrepreneurs only? I have been in business for several years already.

A: While the program is designed for and ideal for people who are new entrepreneurs, about 50%-75% of the program will apply to you if you already have a business and want to find more purpose & enjoyment in it – but that will be 100% of what you need to do so

I will break out in the course the topics “if you don’t have a business yet…” vs “If you already have a business…” to make it clear when there is content to ignore or when content is relevant.

Q: Does the program explain for example how to start a business, or is it just around finding your purpose?

A: The course will show you (the simple ways) of how to start a business, if you don’t have one already, and to start making money with it.

Q: I can’t afford the course right now.  Will you run the course again in the future?

A: Yes, next year I’ll run the program again, though I can’t say when or if it will be the same price or more or less.

Q: I’m worried about not being able to feed my family.  Is this course worth investing in?

A: Rather than this program, is there a full or part-time job you can get to create more conventional financial stability? This isn’t a ‘hail mary’ or get rich quick program.

Q: Is there some mechanism built in the program that will hold participants accountable?

A: No one can force you to do anything… but what I can do is:

• Make the information as simple and doable as possible
• Share it in bite-sized chunks
• Help you create a more compelling vision for yourself and your work, to inspire you to create some better habits!

Also, I will have some simple ways to encourage people to buddy up. The BEST way to create some accountability is with the buddy system.

Q: I’m someone with seemingly hundreds of interests and don’t have one real big interest or purpose, which seems to me a requirement to be successful with a program like yours. Will the program work for me?

A: First – if you really can’t focus at all because of “Shiny Object Syndrome”, you’ll have problems succeeding at anything, right? (Whether it’s my program or someone else’s).  So –

Second – you CAN most definitely find that “one thing” that underlies all your interests, as I talk about in Video #3: “7 Step Process To Discover Your Purpose”.

I have a ton of different interests, and my frustration in trying to do them all is what actually led me to create Unique Genius…so the program is most definitely designed for people like you who are tired of scattering their energy and want some RESULTS.

Q: Is the program just for people who want to start a coaching or writing business?

A: Heck no.  I categorize businesses into a few key types:

1. Teaching (experts, training, programs, coaching, speaking, authors)
2. Experiences (events, travel, experiential seminars)
3. People Services (time-based consulting, healing)
4. Online services (web-based services or products, online communities)
5. Products (digital or physical)

A Unique Genius business can be any kind.  (Actually, a Unique Genius business, once it evolves & grows, ends up including all five pieces.)

The teaching model is USUALLY the best place to BEGIN for people, because you can make money before you spend money, it forces you to get really clear on your value, and it can lead to any other kind of business in the future….but you for sure don’t have to begin there.

Q: I don’t have extra money for start-up costs for a new business.

A: Do you have a $100 – $150?  You don’t need more than that (though it doesn’t hurt to have more of course!)

Here’s a recent Wall Street Journal article with three examples of businesses that were started for less than $150: “WSJ: Start-Ups on a Shoestring”

Q: I’m concerned that If I make money from what I love, I won’t love it as much.

A valid concern…if you stay focused on bringing your passion into work but without creating a dependency on having to only make money through your passion, you can make money through your passion while still enjoying it.

Q: Can I make enough money from a Unique Genius business to replace the money I make now and more?

A: First, if you need to earn money now, I always recommend that you keep your job or do part-time consulting to create a stable financial situation while you incubate your Unique Genius business on the side, with even an hour or few hours of work a week.

You can replace and improve on your current income, though I can’t say how long it will take you – as fast as a year, or as long as several years.  It took me about three years to make more than my old corporate job.

The sooner you begin, the sooner you will do it!!

Q: I can’t compete in my line of work – how would Unique Genius help me?

A: If you feel that you can’t compete, it’s likely that you aren’t different from the competition, you aren’t unique.  One thing that makes you unique in all the world is your story, your values, your superpowers…your Unique Genius.  Get clear on that and competition will disappear.

Q: I’m worried about what people will think of my purpose and passions.  I’m hesitant to share my ideas with people, either family or coworkers.

A: This is just a phase.  AT FIRST it’s often challenging for most people to share what’s coming up for them through the Unique Genius process.  I went through this myself, worrying about what people would think, because it was SO different than anything I’d done or was known for.

I have two whole steps in the ‘7-Step Discover Your Purpose Process”, “Share & Listen” and “Accept”, that help you get through this phase as easily as possible.  Again, remember you’ll get through this phase.

Q: I have a fear that starting my own business will make me unhappy, either 1) because I fail and suffer embarrassment and ridicule or 2) because I succeed and I get trapped by a lot of unfulfilling work.

A: That’s a tough trap you’re boxed into – damned if you do, damned if you don’t.  I guess if you’re happy with what you have today, it doesn’t matter…but if you aren’t, here’s what I’d suggest.

You have to try something and experiment, or else you’ll never make progress and learn how to thread the needle of these fears.

Even if you do something and it doesn’t work out as you wish, you will at least have learned more about what works and doesn’t work for you.  You can do this without making big commitments, in baby steps.

And besides, I’ve already written the book “CEOFlow: Turn Your Employees Into Mini-CEOs”… I know that I (and you) can’t get trapped by work or having employees!

Q: I’m concerned that I’m going to miss a step, most specifically as it relates to any kind of licensing needed / taxes / etc…all the legal stuff.

A: Those ‘business mechanics’ are tricky if you start with a business that deals with physical products, or a store… but if you begin with an information or teaching business, you don’t have to worry about 90% of that stuff!

Q: I have a very clear picture of the life I want to live but am having a hard time breaking the limiting beliefs I have to achieve my goals.

A: Everyone has limiting beliefs – I have had them, and still do   Much of the course is actually about breaking limiting beliefs – as you may have seen in the “How To Start A Business That Can’t Fail” video.

I had a ton of limiting beliefs that held me back before I started PebbleStorm & Unique Genius.  There’s no reason you can’t break ‘em with some help from myself, the guest trainers & encouragement from other PebbleStormers.

Q: I don’t have any skills, gifts or passions that are valuable, in terms of being able to get paid for them.

A: This is what the course is for – to help you recognize the skills, gifts & passions that you have but are buried or that you don’t recognize in yourself.  This is a common and natural phase to begin at, because you take yourself for granted.  The irony with superpowers is that they’re often too natural to you (like breathing) for you to notice J

If you’re at ‘ground zero’ with no idea or confidence in your gifts, you can still unlock your Unique Genius.  It takes commitment, baby steps and patience, because part of what you’ll be doing is changing your mindset and habits.

I’ll bet though that you’ll surprise yourself at how quickly in the course you’ll get some clarity & see where to mine your value!

Q: I want some more personal, 1-1 help from you.  What are my options?

If you want some private help, there are three options:

1. There is an ‘add-on’ Gold Level to the Superhero course that includes a Unique Genius Mastermind and 3-Day Live Unique Genius Experience Event
   
2. If you already have a business, you could join the Feed Your Freedom Mastermind (the follow up course to Unique Genius) which is all about making more money while keeping your freedom
3. Private, 1-1 Coaching

If you want more help than just in the Unique Genius Superhero Program, contact me through www.PebbleStorm.com/coaching to set up a session so we can get to know each other.

Q: Is the Program more than just the worksheets, items from the blog, “package” into the modules? I realize the bonuses are different, but the true core of the Program…?  Besides the calls, are the exercises more in depth than the blog?

Yes, definitely.

See Even More Q&A In The Comments

Check the comments below, because there are already 10+ more detailed questions and answers there.

To Find Out About Or Register…

The Unique Genius Superhero Program

Do You Have A Question?

Leave a comment below or email us at info – at – pebblestorm – dot – com.

Best,

Aaron Ross

Have you caught the Unique Genius videos?  (You can see the full overview at www.UniqueGenius.com).

Now Unique Genius is your purpose, translated into a successful, exciting business.  So this free series of videos teaches you two mainly about the two most important starting points:

1. How to discover your purpose (or mission), and answer the question “What do I want to do with my life?”

2. Learn how to turn all your ideas, interests and passions into a single successful business.

Some comments include:

• “I watched the video this morning and got totally inspired. I have a fire lit under my ass!”
• “Aaron!!! THIS IS MAGNIFICENT and BRILLIANT. I love the video. It’s very authentic and genuine. I can’t wait to share it to my network. Keep lighting those fires!!”
• “One of the best videos and communication of both the problem, aspirations, and the steps toward making things happen”

In the video, learn:

• How to start a business that can’t fail
• 16 myths of what it takes to start a successful business
• 6 common mistakes people make in turning this purpose into (lots of) income
• A Unique Genius exercise
• Lessons from some PAINFUL life & business mistakes I’ve made, and how you can learn from & apply them yourself

The video’s based on what I’ve learned from starting two kinds of businesses:
1) A conventional start-up: Spending $5 Million & working full-time for two years
2) A Unique Genius business: Spending $20-$100 and working part-time (4 hours a week) for two years

Forgetting fulfillment, freedom & happiness for a moment, which type do you think made more money?

This will be controversial to many of you because it’s so counter to what you’ve been taught by conventional experts.

(Forget market research & business plans? Enjoyment? Babysteps? Patience?!?)

I’d love to hear your questions & “skepticisms” (yes, I’m allowed to create words!) in the comments section of the video.

Register here to watch Unique Genius Video #2:

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Yesterday the Amazing Onna and I had some fun recording video, which can be fun if you don’t take it too seriously

Have you ever felt blocked from doing something you felt you should do?  I mean, blocked for MONTHS?  I find that happens to me all the time, and rather than using discipline and willpower to push my way through, I practice using fun and enjoyment to sneak around the resistance.

For example, I know I ‘should’ have been doing more video over the past months to help people connect with me and PebbleStorm, but I’ve been resisting it – for no good reason. And the longer I waited, the more guilty I felt…

Finally I took my own advice – to redesign/reframe how doing more video could be fun, so that the blocks and resistance disappear. On Monday, Onna Young and I had some fun shooting video on Monday for PebbleStorm. The result?  The rest of this post…

We’ll keep playing with video – it’ll be fun to see how this evolves.

How have you had fun creating business (or personal) videos? Please share your tips in the comments!

Welcome to PebbleStorm”  Video Now On The “About” Page

Where did the name PebbleStorm come from?

Casey Berman Shares About The PebbleStorm Community

9 Ways To Have Fun Creating Videos For Your Business

1. Buy a simple and fun video recorder for under $200: like a Flip, a FlipHD, or even a handheld camera.  My pocket camera Canon PowerShot SD 780is takes high-definition video as well.  You don’t need an expensive camera.  If you have a Mac or a webcam than you already have one ready to go.
2. Do it with a fun person/people - apply this lesson to everything!  It makes all the difference in creating video, creating businesses, or creating your life
3. Keep it simple – yes you can create a fancy setting, background, etc… but you don’t need to.  For these videos, we just walked outside to my front yard and started shooting.
4. Play with the editing - I use iMovie on my mac. It’s simple and really is fun to play with the different settings, fades, etc.  I just make sure I don’t spend too much time trying to get it perfect.  I literally just play with it.
5. Practice…but don’t be a perfectionist. We took several takes of each, but overall perhaps spent 30 minutes to an hour on these and the other video shots we did.  And it will get easier over time.  Of course there are parts of the videos that aren’t perfect, like the sound quality or birds cawing, but so what?  We got them done and had fun!
6. Do it in a fun place – like from Cabo, or anyplace that would make you feel more fun, comfortable or inspired.  Sure the sound quality might be worse in a random place…but so what?
7. Be spontaneous – before Onna came over to my house (she comes over on Monday afternoons for these kind of PebbleStorm work/play sessions), I sent her a text “Today we’re doing some video!”…and we just did it.  It was fun because it wasn’t a huge, complicated project.  We jumped into it and did it.
8. Create a routine – Onna and I are going to do a video interview series, more questions like the “Where did the name PebbleStorm come from?”  As we keep up the weekly drumbeat of videos, it’ll get easier and more fun and smoother… until we decide we need to shake things up.
9. Don’t worry, be crappy – just grab a camera or turn on a webcam and just do it!!

P.S. – Coaching

I’m now doing one-on-one coaching, to help people take their professional experiences, mash them up with their life passions to create an exciting business that is meaningful and enjoyable…just as I did for myself with PebbleStorm.

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My First Burning Man

The Friday before last (Aug 31), I made an executive decision to go to Burning Man the next night – Sat Sept 1. I did the 24-hour mad scramble, and made it I went up with an internet and legal entrepreneur Alexis Martin Neely and my marketing coach Max Simon.  It’s the kind of experience that could have been very challenging with the wrong people, and I’m glad I went with them and Alexis’ family and friends, because I had a great time both at Burning Man activities in general, and also in just getting to hang out with them personally.Burning Man is crazy! During the days I went to workshops or lectures on fun or just interesting topics like Acroyoga, Contact Dancing, Trance Dance, Group Singing, Polyamory, Shamanism, Conscious Business and…well, you get the idea. There’s all kinds of even crazier stuff for people to wander into or explore.  At night, we went out dancing at huge parties in the desert. A lot of people there are on drugs, but lots aren’t (like moi). It’s impossible to describe the environment – you have to go to “get” it.

I’m not sure about lessons learned yet, but I was exposed to all kinds of new ideas and experiences that stretched my awareness. I feel like it’ll take some time for everything to sink it and to see how it shapes me in the future. I’m still detoxing

More Pictures, Video n Stuff:

Pictures on Facebook
Video: Thunderdome fight:
Video: Burning The Man
What is Burning Man?

Next “Inner” Adventure: The Hoffman Institute

The more self-aware and conscious I become, the easier it is to see my blind spots – the ones I didn’t even know existed   Do you know what I mean?  Everyone has blind spots they don’t see – even you.  Yes even YOU, the person who’s been to every personal development course known to man! Anytime someone says “I’ve already done all the work, I don’t need anything else”…I call bullshit.  The work never stops, because there is always another layer to peel back.

This is critical for people developing their Unique Genius and dream business, because your success and happiness is a reflection, in big parts, of how authentic and open you are. It will be a lot harder for most people to achieve their dreams and goals without this kind of work – just as it’d be harder without mentors and coaches and partners.

Here’s Hoffman’s short homepage blurb: “The Process allows you to examine and better understand your life and reveals why you behave the way you do. Published scientific research demonstrates the Process’s long-term positive effects on relieving depression and anxiety. To date, more than 70,000 people worldwide have used the Hoffman Process to improve their quality of life and restore their relationships with friends and family.”

I’ve been excited for quite awhile to do the Hoffman Process, ever since Marni Battista (founder, Dating With Dignity) told me about it and how transformational it is.  So I’m going offline again on Friday for a week at the Hoffman Institute (www.HoffmanInstitute.org), a personal development retreat – no phone or email allowed.  Besdides Marni, another close friend, Yanitz Rubin here in PebbleStorm, has said it’s just amazing – totally transformational. For example, one of the main areas I’m interested in looking at and working through is being able to create more intimacy in relationships – friends, family, romantic, etc.  I feel like I tend to keep people at a distance, at least more than I’d like.

Their main essay introduction is “A Path To Personal Freedom And Love”

I’ll report back on this later in September!

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PebbleStorm is about making work enjoyable in every way: what you do, how you do it, who you do it with… (and of course, how all that enjoyment translates into making more money more easily).  So while the most important part of making money through enjoyment is discovering your Unique Genius and translating it into your dream business, there are ways to bring enjoyment into ANY job you have now.

Adding Enjoyment To Any Job

Most of us don’t even know how to make our little daily tasks enjoyable.  It can be simple!  Whether or not you enjoy your job, coworkers or career…there are ALWAYS ways to add some enjoyment back into it every day – it just takes practice.  Here’s a slide from a past webinar with a few simple ways to add enjoyment and fun into your work:

Winning Enjoyment Points & Gold Stars

People need to train themselves to make work enjoyable, just as they need to train and practice the guitar, cooking, meditation or better communication in a relationship.  A simple way to help yourself play with this is by giving yourself “10 Enjoyment Points” whenever you enjoy something at work.  Even better is if you’re posting it on a wall with others!  It’s a form of awareness training.  What do you enjoy at work during the day?  What makes a meeting, phone call or presentation enjoyable vs. painful?  Whether you’re the one hosting it or an attendee?  This is about shifting your awareness and perspective.

Sample goal: win 10 Enjoyment Points every day.  Start small – babysteps!

Try to catch yourself in the moment next time you find yourself enjoying work. Give yourself a gold star if you want!  (A client literally does keep gold star stickers handy so that she or her employees can give them to each other as in-the-moment rewards/reminders).

How Enjoyment At Work Can Change Enjoyment In Life

As you get better at learning how you can enjoy work…you’re retraining your mind, so that it gets easier to enjoy whatever you do in life!  I’ve noticed that it’s much easier for me to have fun in any situation once I learned how I can make work more fun in any situation

More Blog Posts/Details On Enjoyment Points From PebbleStormers

• Katrina Wong (Katchme blog) has a great post about Enjoyment Points here: Winning Enjoyment Points
• Erin Halling (Happy Surprises blog) has a whole category on them…Erin’s posts on Enjoyment Points.

The Best And Easiest Way To Make Work Enjoyable

Do “it” (whatever ‘it’ is) with someone you like, whether you’re creating something together, or creating your own things separately.

My Weekly Meetups

I often meet up with friends here in Santa Monica for working sessions that might be on a common project, or we might have different projects.  My current favorite haunts tend to be Whole Foods Venice, Novel Cafe on Main Street, and Urth on Main Street (although I actually prefer Urth on Melrose, because their outdoor seating isn’t as crowded).

For example,Mondays at 10am I’m meeting with a few friends for an accountability session, Monday afternoons are usually a working session with Onna or others, Friday afternoons a session with Carenna Willmont…etc.

It’s more effective if each different meetup has a specific purpose: “produce stuff”, “brainstorm new ideas”, “accountability/planning”, “shoot the breeze/serendipity”…anything you want.  All are equally as valid, as long as you all know what the point is.

Practice Makes Perfect

Learning how to make daily work enjoyable is easy to forget!  Which is why it takes practice, and why playing with enjoyment with others makes it easier (you’re reminding/helping each other).  Keep practicing!  You’ll find that it gets easier in time.

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I’m playing with video snippets to share on the blog…here are the first couple:

April 9, 2009: Cabo San Lucas, Mexico (Cabo Trip Pictures on Facebook)

Easter Sunday, April 12 2009: at home in Santa Monica, CA

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Special Webinar Replay Added Below

If you love your work, it’s no longer “work”, right?…

“Here’s an Uncommon Way to Discover Your ‘Unique Genius’ – Combining What You Love with Real Satisfaction and Financial Independence”

Enjoy More…Make More…Get More Out of Life!

Dear Internet Friend,

A few months ago, my friend Tim Ferriss (Yep, the author of the “4-Hour Workweek”) introduced me to a guy named Aaron Ross. He thought we ‘shared some of the same DNA’.

And it certainly makes sense…

You might have seen my personal “Maverick Manifesto” of ‘make more, have more fun and give more back’. Aaron’s notion is combining enjoyment, meaning and making money.

As I got to know Aaron more and more – I realized he’s got a real unique take on the entire notion of creating “true” wealth beyond simply what’s in your bank account.

If this sounds intriguing to you (and it should) take a quick peek on what Aaron and I will discuss on this free webinar:

1. How to make more money, more quickly, more easily through “Enjoyment” (The concept of “do what you enjoy” – or at least enjoy what you do – is simple enough … but it’s amazing how many people just don’t “get it” at the level Aaron does!)
2. Why now is undeniably the BEST time to rethink your career plans. (Yes, even in a so-called “recession”.)
3. I mentioned The 4-Hour Workweek earlier… PebbleStorm is a roadmap on how to get there! Best part… you don’t have to turn your life upside-down to achieve it. Part-time beginnings lead to full-time enjoyment, which leads to a lifetime of riches and fulfillment! PebbleStorm supports and encourages anyone in their creation of any dream business
4. The truth about Passive Income… find out how Aaron used only 20 easy hours of prep to start a $2000 per month autopilot income stream… and only takes one hour a month to maintain it now!
5. How letting go of just two negative emotions – impatience & guilt – lets you unleash extra energy for your business, and allows for more rapid recharging of your batteries when you need it!
6. Discovering your ‘Unique Genius’ (Each of us has a particular talent that resonates within us … and with the world around us … and it can help bring the world of your dreams to you!)
7. The importance of bringing fun into your work … how it helped create a billion-dollar company … and how you can benefit from the same strategy.

Plus, we’ll cover the ‘Five Steps of Aaron’s PebbleStorm’ concept (Reflect, Play, Attract, Package, and Receive … are the all-important keys to making money through Enjoyment!)

* * *

I’ve almost always been frustrated with our traditional expectations of how work and corporate jobs should function (even when I was the CEO of my own company). Back in the summer of 2006 I wrote down some different thoughts around my frustrations. These trains of thought helped crystallize PebbleStorm (“make money through enjoyment”) and PebbleStorm: CEOFlow (“grow revenue through enjoyment”). These thoughts started me down the path of wondering “how could I create environments without these frustrations?”

By the way, about PebbleStorm: CEOFlow… imagine you’ve already created your dream business and are making money through enjoyment. You’re about to be an accidental CEO with a whole new set of issues, employees and partners to deal with…fun fun fun ☺.  CEOs have special needs. The intention behind CEOFlow is to help you continue to evolve and grow your business, but without losing your enjoyment of it.

Here are the original (almost unchanged) notes from 2006 that I wrote to myself…

——————————————————-

Why can’t we take the work out of work?
A few people live their dream – why can’t more?  I don’t buy it when people assume intelligence or drive is what’s needed for success.  Why are so many people, including lots of very innovative, smart and ambitious people, trapped in the rat race?  Example: the NYT article on “In Silicon Valley, Millionaires Who Don’t Feel Rich”

Why can work be so unpleasant?  When it’s bad…
Yes, a great manager can be an amazing mentor and coach….but all too often manager-employee relationships often feel more like parent-child relationships, and put too much artificial power into people’s hands.  Why do so many workplaces not only tolerate, but promote controlling managers?

Working all the time in a corporate environment just feels so unproductive (not to confuse activity with productivity).  There’s so much work for so few results, in the scheme of someone’s life.  You’re trapped there in “face-time” (as opposed to space-time ☺)…waiting for other people to get back to you…producing lots of ‘stuff’ to look good just because your manager’s manager’s manager asked for it…”Um, about that TPS report…”  Back to the trusty 80/20 rule: 20% of the time people can be productive, 80% of the time they’re doing things that don’t really affect the company’s bottom line or their own happiness.

As a rule of thumb, the nature of a corporate hierarchy structurally creates conditions for fear, wasted time and politics.  With a limited number of slots available to people, everyone competes for them.  This is often made worse by CEOs who want to see competition between their people, thinking it will bring out their best, when really it just helps create an environment of fear and control.

The past strategy of economies of scale might have been beneficial, but what about the benefits of leverage and nimbleness? Can’t a company increase its profitability and impact, without losing its soul or flexibility?

Innovation requires speed, thought, freedom and a lack of constraints – not resources, size or economies of scale.

More Frustrations

I never felt like I could be completely productive whenever I wanted to be.  In a single job, you always end up waiting around for things to happen or people to get back to you, which is non-value-added time.  So people fill that time with busy work.

The classic hierarchy, while useful in organizing large groups of people, ends up creating unnatural “parent-child” relationships between managers and reports.  Just like Zimbardo’s “prison guard-and-prisoner” experiment at Stanford, in which the students playing as guards starting abusing prisoners, managers frequently abuse employees without even realizing it.  They’ve lost their context.  CEOs can be the worst offenders, being the most out of touch.

Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.  So how can you organize groups of people, without dangerously concentrating power?  In the short-term, power gets things done.  But over the long-term, it eats away at a culture.

In one job, you can only make incremental increases in productivity per year – it’s very rare that you can multiply your productivity or make big leaps.

Corporate structures inherently treat people as cogs in a machine, and this worsens as the organization gets bigger.  Especially once the org is past 150 people, and people can’t know everyone well, employees tend to become names on spreadsheets.

People attached too much of their own self-worth to their titles. While titles can be helpful in the short-term in identifying someone’s function in a company and place in the pecking order…over the long-term titles end up putting people in boxes. People get defined by their title, and every person is much more than their title!  It also creates a reward system in which people end up politicking just to get titles, when titles are used as part of the rewards system.

Most people are put into functional roles/groups that focus on a particular area: sales, marketing, development, etc.  Sometimes people are happy with this (for awhile).  Oftentimes, people end up being frustrated because they get blocked when they’re ready to make a move to another role or try something new to expand their experiences. Companies don’t like it when people move from one function to another – it’s ‘too risky’.  “You’ve been doing sales here for 5 years, what makes you think you can do product management or marketing?”

Biggest bottlenecks in business?  Why is work so unproductive?

Lack of trust creates long sales cycles, complicated contracts, dysfunctional corporate cultures, politics, hoops to jump through both inside a company and between companies.

Carrying costs: you rent space, hire a bunch of people and invest in all kinds of fixed costs…creating beast you have to feed.  Work and growth become and obligation, not a choice.  Now you gotta feed the beast!

“Selling” is incredibly inefficient compared to “attracting” through word-of-mouth. Also, selling is just a pain in the ass.  Most business owners don’t like to sell, and most salespeople aren’t very good at it (and don’t like it either).  It’s just a paycheck to them.

Contracts: most contracts, and the bulk of what’s in contracts, are crap.   Yes, you have to have them in this legally paranoid world, but is there a way to recreate a system in which you don’t need 80% of this stuff?

Lack of trust & integrity is what causes the bottlenecks, waste and frustration in business.   It’s why we need selling, HR, contracts…

Is there a way to bring trust and integrity back to business?

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Yep.  That’s my intention here, even if we might have to start from scratch in a bunch of areas. Shortly after I wrote these notes down (and processed a few other things), I came up with PebbleStorm and its mission.

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Wordle.net is a fun site that can take a bunch of text or your blog, and create a beautiful word cloud.  Here’s one it created from PebbleStorm.  It’s no accident that “Unique” & “Genius” are the biggest words!

And for more fun, here’s one from my sales blog www.BuildASalesMachine.com…

And for CEOFlow, although this will change quite a bit with some upcoming plans I have for the content…

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People either tend to love the way I think or they look at my like I’m an alien – “Make money through enjoyment?  That does not compute; it is illogical; that is not how the world works;…yadda yadda yadda…”   And yes, PebbleStorm’s not the standard way of thinking about work …yet    But – you can’t beat the system by staying in the system! If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll get what you’re getting. You have to think and act differently in order to get different results. 

Someone else that thinks my kind of different is Jonathon Mead, who writes the blog “Illuminated Mind, and wrote an ebook “Reclaim Your Dreams“.  I haven’t found that many other thinkers that align as closely to my thinking as he does.  It’s really worth reading.  Here are a couple of tidbits…

“Reclaim Your Dreams, It’s Time To Come Alive”

Following your dreams is scary. I get it.

What’s more scary is spending much of our lives searching for the illusion of security. What dreams would you have left behind if you didn’t live tomorrow? Would you regret not following your heart?

Beyond the grind.

The daily grind leads us to believe we should live by the rule of Panem et Cicenses, the Roman concept of bread and circuses; meager games and food to keep the populace entertained whilst powerful men do cruel things behind closed doors.

The monotony makes us think that we should keep our feet on the ground, heads down, mouths shut and our noses to the grindstone. We call this making a living. It’s more like a dying.

I think otherwise; I live by my dreams and can teach you how to do the same.”

Full post…

“Sometimes it’s Better When You’re a Giant Mess”

It seems that there’s two divergent camps when it comes to strategies for living.

Camp one says: get organized, get clear, set goals, be concise, and dream big.

Camp two says: give up, stop caring, kills your goals and reclaim ownership of your mind.

Full post…

Do you ever have so much to say or share, it paralyzes you?  Sometimes that’s how I feel with everything I have to share with PebbleStorm.  Ironically, the longer the time periods between blog posts, it probably means I have more than ever to share with people. Even I have to take my own advice, and practice babysteps…even as ‘small’ as posting a new sketch (from December 08). So -

I’ve always been drawn to the idea of three intersecting circles…but what does each circle stand for?  Finally I feel like it clicked, and I had:

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I’m always looking for cool apps to use and recommend, whether for business or personal productivity. With Maria’s help (PebbleStorm’s intern), we published a list of some favorites.  You can find the link in the PebbleStorm navigation bar, or click on “Great tools”

Any other recommendations or suggestions?  Email me or leave them in the comments!

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John Girard, CEO of Clickability: “There is something extraordinary that happens when smart business leaders sit down to talk about their ideas for transforming business, and Aaron Ross is a master at guiding these conversations to help find the real gems.  I think a best selling business book could come out of every one of these events — wish I had the time to write one of them ”

Here are the dates of three upcoming events for CEOs (one conference call, one Los Angeles dinner and one SF Bay Area dinner)…continued on CEOFlow.com.

Intrinsic (internal) versus extrinsic (external) motivation

A significant contributor to a state of CEOFlow is an environment in which employees are motivated primarily intrinsically by their own work, enjoyment and purpose (all in alignment with the organization of course!)…rather than motivated primarily by extrinsic motivators like fear, exaggerated incentives or control…continued on CEOFlow.com

Freshly painted in Kauai this morning, an image based off of an idea of Jose Caballer’s of www.thegroop.net:

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What’s the best way to explain PebbleStorm’s mission, when someone asks “Who/what is PebbleStorm, and why does it matter?” I’m not sure about the best way to describe it yet, but it’s progressing. Here’s a sample of the progression…

The original was: how work can be “more fun, more money, less stress”

Then it was …“more fun, more freedom, more money”

Now: “helping people make money through enjoyment” (which I really like!)

And “Roadmap to the 4-Hour Workweek” is pretty cool too, though it’s a tagline rather than a mission.

Last one: “Are you meant for something more”?” (again, this is a tagline, not mission)

What do you think? Comment here or write me at aaron(at)pebblestorm(dot)com

Note…what a “4-Hour Workweek” means to me (and to the guy who wrote the book, Tim Ferriss)

I (and Tim Ferriss) mean creating a workstyle where you only have to do a few hours of obligatory work that you don’t enjoy or that’s boring per week.

I personally will never work only a few hours a week – I truly enjoy working on projects with people. I love my current work, both in BlackBox Revenue, PebbleStorm and the other ideas/projects we have, and will never stop. I just want to minimize the painful or boring amounts to a little as possible. I want more fun, more freedom and more money, all at the same time.

I do some free coaching of small businesses through SCORE (www.score.org), the coaching arm of the Small Business Association.  I’ve also talked with many many first-time entrepreneurs while living in Silicon Valley and working at Alloy Ventures.  I’ve started my own companies and worked in startups.  From all these conversations, here comes version 0.1 of “The More Money, Less Stress Guide To Bootstrapping A New Business”:

http://pebblestorm.pbwiki.com/The+More+Results,+Less+Stress+Guide+To+Bootstrapping

Here’s where all my raw content lives, if you want to explore the original good stuff and see what else is out there that I haven’t gotten around to publishing here yet:

http://pebblestorm.pbwiki.com/