Let me start this first 2026 TRIPLE III TIME message with a historic proclamation: “I am not big on New Year Resolutions!” And I am sure I am not alone on this personal position…but at the same time I know there are many who at least make an honest attempt to save money…lose weight…communicate better…you know the list. So maybe it is professional time to toss out a Resolution idea that might help everyone. Let’s think about a special TRIPLE III TIME commitment to: “FINISH THE PROMISE!”
First, I want everyone to think about this Resolution mostly as a quality-building customer service. More often today I have witnessed and felt very frustrated when a company/organization did not “FINISH THE PROMISE!” for a service/product that was agreed upon. Think about times when a return call was not received, a repair not made, service order not completed, visit not arranged, and/or payment not sent on time. Do any of these actions impact quality customer service?
Quality customer service does not come naturally. Customers should NOT have to call and remind you of the product/service responsibilities you/they have agreed to and maybe have even been paid for. Quality customer service is as important as an accurate invoice or having the right signature on a contract. Quality customer service should also not drive individuals to wonder if a product/service will be delivered on time. Rather in both cases if a company/organization/individual prioritizes a “FINISH THE PROMISE!” performance practice everyday…every time…pure quality will follow.
Bottomline: Let’s all make a “FINISH THE PROMISE!” 2026 Customer Service Resolution. Make it an “across-the-board” personal and professional commitment…and I promise the benefits will follow.
Well… yesterday was Christmas. I hope every part of it worked out GREAT for everyone. A lot of clean-up in homes is probably an important first consideration but while you pick up all of the present wrappings… how about a few professional WHAT NEXT thoughts? Yes, I realize that 2026 is still a few days away…and there will be ample time for future thoughts then. But in this unique “in-between” time my TRIPLE III TIME mindset is pushing me to encourage everyone to take a “soft”: PRE-2026 Taking Stock of Your Priorities consideration moment.
And just for traditions sake…here’s a TOP 10 list of questions to help in your PRE-2026 Taking Stock of Your Priorities “study”.
1. What single VERY IMPORTANT accomplishment did you NOT achieve in 2025?
2. Who in your family or friend or colleague lists did you NOT connect with?
3. What question do you wish you had asked your supervisor at work?
4. Is there a home improvement project that is still on the “to-do” list?
5. Have you decided what form of professional development would work best for you in 2026?
6. Is there still a fun trip that was planned…that is still planned?
7. What action in 2025 made you feel successful…and can it happen again?
8. Did you remember that a good idea can only be good if you share it?
9. Did you grow into new personal/professional partnerships?
10. Did you improve as a leader, communicator, and/or innovator?
Have fun with your PRE-2026 Taking Stock of Your Priorities consideration moments. Give yourself “righteous” credit where it is appropriate and make WHAT NEXT 2026 priorities that challenge you.
“Those who make new innovations and are successful in breaking the rules are creating the new rules. And in a never-ending cycle, those new rules will have to be broken as well.” From “The New Rules of Innovation” (2012)
There are so many individual thought pieces that can be discussed when writing about innovation… but risk-taking and rule breaking are two that I have NOT specifically targeted… so far!!
As you… we… all watch and participate in a world that realizes change on almost a minute by minute basis… old ways and old rules just seem to be a heavy weight around fast-paced progress. Even when the latest innovation arrives and some question its success impacts… if it improves the status quo… it must be considered some form of “winner”.
Hence as the opening quote proclaims, if you don’t plan to: Break Some Rules!… progress will remain at the “held hostage-starting gate.”
During my Director years, one of my biggest innovation rule-breaking challenges was to inform those at the next higher level of leadership that applying their old rules to our new way of service delivery… would NOT work! Whether we framed our new initiative as a “demonstration project” or “pilot program”, the ultimate goal was to up-scale everyone’s mindset on how to evaluate us. New/alternative “measuring sticks” were debated and ultimately applied because traditional rules of performance needed to be “broken”!
Bottomline: if you really believe in innovation and you Break Some Rules… it should not be considered illegal/subversive/disrespectful or non-compliant. Rather it should be assessed, non-traditionally measured and given appropriate support for an attempt to modernize and encourage progress. Additionally when one Breaks Some Rules…unplanned successes and diverse development outcomes often occur!
Remember, innovation action needs to be accepted and encouraged…. or new successes may never be allowed to grow.
Sometime… somewhere we have all heard the phrase: “Don’t Lower The Bar”. And if discussed in a professional development situation… the phrase most often refers to lowering the standards/expectations that need to be met to qualify for something. So as a consultant advising business or organizational leaders… do you think there would ever be a time or event that would push me to suggest “lowering the bar”?
Working with people no matter the job or the position you hold is one of the toughest professional tasks. And although there may be decision-making moments that would offer positives if lowering the bar of requirements were made. In the long-term however… any precedent-setting action of lowering qualification requirements… may cause multiple non-progressive results.
What challenge/results am I referring to? Check out the following TRIPLE III TIME “Don’t Lower The Bar” concerns:
Lessening the number of learnings needed to attain certain credentials.
“Squashing down” the time needed to certify total completion of requirements.
Taking “assumed-learning” as “good enough”.
Convincing yourself that more experience will fill-in the learning gaps.
Not worrying about your own credibility when you sign a certificate of completion or letter of recommendation for someone.
Remembering that job orientation/on-boarding learning normally occurs just once.
Finally, regarding awarding promotions and advancements, lowering the bar based on employee longevity… existing degree status… or friendships and company/agency loyalty… can often result in unfortunate outcomes.
Applying the “Don’t Lower The Bar” principle may be difficult in some unique categories. However it has been my career-long experience that maintaining and maybe even RAISING THE BAR of professional standards/expectations… can produce quality progressive outcomes in creative ways!
“Finding ways to work with the wrong (or old) equipment can be a boost to your creativity!” (GREAT TED TALKS, Tom May, 2020)
Did you ever want to just throw your computer out the window when you push the wrong button and the screen goes blank?? Or maybe it took you 40 minutes to type the “perfect” paragraph and suddenly the battery power in your computer is gone and you effectively lose some important information? It is at these moments that Mr. May’s quote pushes me not to always rely on what a computer can do for me on “ITS” terms… but rather find a way to get more out of technology on my own creativity terms!
I describe my challenges with computer usage as a lead-in to this week’s TRIPLE III TIME message: Using The Wrong Equipment =’s Creativity! It is a real-time example of taking a little extra time… reinforcing patience… lessening the need for “perfection” and taking an alternative techno-approach to motivate innovation. Did the experiences I described make me try a little harder on improving my initiative and focus better to complete my project… yes it did. Was computer technology for me the wrong equipment for what I was attempting to write… yes. But did it challenge my creativity to make it work for me in a different fashion… YES!
The goal of this week’s message is to help everyone consider different forms of “wrong equipment” that you experience (more Marv examples: foam brushes, sledgehammer, virtual meetings, hand saw, cell phone, online book and pest sprays) and consider the creativity capacities it may ignite. Think about:
Repurposing equipment/tools to invent an alternative purpose for them.
Using wrong equipment in a totally different manner (especially computers) to get more out of them.
Lessen traditional stereotypes regarding wrong/old equipment and tools and realize: “They ain’t as bad as I thought”.
And/or in a unique kind of way…think about applying the Using The Wrong Equipment =’s Creativity message with regard to people you work with/employ. Maybe someone is the “wrong equipment” for one job…but may be absolutely great in another employment area. Creativity…right?!
Tom May offered a great, thoughtful quote. Make it work for you!
In high school and even when I started college (by orders from my parents) most of my career thoughts were about partner farming with my Dad and brother. Even as I half-heartedly took classes my first and second years…I still wasn’t real serious about a specific job interest nor what a college degree would do for me. But the more part-time jobs I took and the quality connections I made at every development turn…the more I realized the satisfactory smiles I attained just helping people.
So now as I look back and consider all of the non-traditional steps/actions I took to spend my entire career working for the cause of helping people…the better I understand that just helping people was the “WHY” driver in my work-world. And now for this TRIPLE III TIME moment, to share special thoughts about: Strengthening The “WHY” In What YOU Do!
First start by growing past that “it’s just a job” mentality. Too often people take this approach/attitude and do the minimum to make the it’s just a job”…a total reality. It is totally up to you to develop and show a special kind of energy for your “WHY”…that no one else in your workplace can replicate.
Second begin looking for and connecting with others that have similar “WHY” this job is especially right for me…right now approach. You really will never know when the chance meeting opportunity will occur…but often it finds you! Ideas, hobbies, philosophies, products, colleagues and priorities uniquely find their way into your conversations. The result is that your “WHY” purpose gains greater satisfaction and creativity.
Third, take advantage of these no cost high value connection opportunities. You will find that the new network partners will appreciate when you “take-advantage” of their skills and knowledge and then how it happens naturally in reverse. But remember you must let your “WHY” job/career thoughts be clear and thereby allow more open conversation to take place.
I can’t think or even guess the HUGE number of lifetime opportunities and privileges I have experienced when connecting with those who share my professional “WHY” and my enthusiasm when innovating “with-my-own-kind”! They represent a special kind of professional development and by Strengthening The “WHY” In What YOU Do! will better build that progress element in your world-of-work everyday…EVERYWAY!
“When we create a culture that rewards collaboration and cooperation, we actively encourage our team members to behave in that way. When we reward aggressiveness, this spreads throughout the organization like “a virus”. And while it might seem productive to create a red zone filled with star performers, eventually these individuals will be more concerned with trying to take each other out. Your star performers will very quickly become less than average.” (Jim Tamm: Cultivating Collaboration)
Do YOU Get Defensive? I will admit freely that as a life-time innovator and idea person…early in my career I would get quickly defensive if someone questioned my concept or new way of “getting-the-job-done”! It would be easy to hide behind the excuse that it was just human nature…right? However, it didn’t take me too long to realize that by getting defensive…I often drove colleagues away and maybe even lost their always needed support.
It is critical to realize that there are absolutely NO positives in taking a defensive posture on anything. Co-workers will not want to work with you. Bosses will treat you in a guarded way and not include you in high-value discussions. And customers will “keep their distance” if you get defensive even when they just ask a regular product/service question.
Finally if you apply the Do YOU Get Defensive? question with regard to your style as a leader…do you see yourself as open to questions…comment and/or critique? And don’t compare being defensive…with being confident. Your conduct/messaging will be worlds apart in how it is perceived by others.
Remember being defensive will always put you in the NEGATIVE category.
Life-long learning is a very general phrase that people quote to make sure everybody knows how important it is to keep an open mind to new ideas and unique experiences that may come your way. And yes as a more “seasoned” professional in the world-of-work, there is never a day that I don’t recognize some form of special life-long learning moment. However, for this week’s TRIPLE III TIME message… I want to specialize our thoughts about life-long learning…and discuss a single activity which I refer to as: “Being a Student of the Times”.
For my entire career I tried Being a (devoted) Student of the Times. By this I mean I cast both a wide and narrow view of current political, business, human need, economic, social trends and effective leadership with regard to what was happening around me. I may have not been going to a regular “school”… but taking daily stock of life and progress impactors… helped me organize leadership priorities for myself and those that worked with me everyday… EVERYDAY!
Being a Student of the Times comes with several important guidelines that need to be front and center in your mind to be effective. First, one must consider and respect the positions and situations of others. You have heard the statement about the difficulty in “trying to walk in another person’s shoes”? A high-quality Student of the Times requires one to switch places with others and see everyone’s point-of-view. Second, don’t expect your friends, colleagues and co-workers to know what you know. Assuming in this area means you can read their minds and Being a Student of the Times will let you know this position is not correct.
Finally Being a Student of the Times will force you to better acknowledge that the forever growing information-overload phenomenon exists everywhere and thereby makes most critical issues only truly a priority at one point in time. Plus with the expanding social media presence… it is appropriate to recognize that not everything you hear/read/view online is accurate, truthful and/or deserves your professional attention.
Bottomline: Being a Student of the Times will better position you… your business… your organization for tomorrow. Study well!!
As we all realize…continuous improvement and life-long learning often requires revisiting special important topic areas from time-to-time. So as I was talking to my American Government & Politics class recently about establishing and building a solid professional network of friends and colleagues… the last question I thought I would be asked was: “Well sir… if you were teaching A Workshop on NETWORKING to our graduating senior class… what topics would you cover?”
YES… I was caught off-guard! But yes you probably all know I carry a bunch of yellow legal pads with lots of notes… so I was ready to answer the question. And just for tradition-sake… I drafted customized concepts for A Workshop on NETWORKING in my own TOP 10 fashion!
Be aware that NETWORKING occurs everyday and everywhere you converse with people. Never waste an opportunity.
NETWORKING quality should not be measured by someone’s credentials. Let them be authentic.
Ideas and innovation are natural outgrowths of NETWORKING.
NETWORKING allows you to learn a little more about what you don’t know and avoid being wrong about an issue.
Good advice and support via NETWORKING can be high value no matter someone’s age.
Your professional reputation can be enhanced with solid NETWORKING connections.
Gaining linkages to specialists in multiple fields is a NETWORKING outcome.
Developing professional NETWORKING connections…causes one to uniquely test your relationship-building skills.
Sharing in a variety of ways is the essence of NETWORKING!
This is my favorite: NETWORKING helps make your ideas and events better.
Well the class probably got more information than they expected…but surely it was a lesson worth learning.
I hope at least one TOP 10 helps you be a better professional tomorrow.
Sometimes in my roles as a consultant or an educator a need arises to conduct a small bit of active research to offer a client “the better way forward”. Typically it is understood that the research is not the only factor involved in making an appropriate decision regarding a change in current organizational operations. Rather the goal is to gain a more in-depth snapshot of individuals…a group…or a certain setting to make sure of the accuracy of factors impacting what you may or may not want to change.
Why is “Observational Research” an important TRIPLE III TIME topic?
The intent of this “Observational Research” message is to encourage everyone…no matter your job…to occasionally apply this form of “natural assessment” to stay up-to-date with current product/service expectations. You don’t have to be a degreed scientist to do “Observational Research”. Instead, just keep your special study simple. Prioritize these points:
Decide what do you want to know.
Decide what you need to observe and for how long.
Keep resources in mind. Both time and money!
Analyze only what you observe…but include newly discovered insights.
Remember “Observational Research” can be a more quick and efficient way of gaining evidence-based information for planning or decision-making purposes. Also keep in mind that the purpose of “Observational Research” is to learn more about a certain organizational activity or issue…but not to make comparisons. Finally, when I utilized my simple “Observational Research” methods…it didn’t matter if a few issues changed during my study time. Instead it forced me to stay focused on my original “what do I want to know” goal!
Basic “Observational Research” is a useful administrative/management assessment tool. Try it!
Quality customer service does not come naturally. Customers should NOT have to call and remind you of the product/service responsibilities you/they have agreed to and maybe have even been paid for. Quality customer service is as important as an accurate invoice or having the right signature on a contract. Quality customer service should also not drive individuals to wonder if a product/service will be delivered on time. Rather in both cases if a company/organization/individual prioritizes a “FINISH THE PROMISE!” performance practice everyday…every time…pure quality will follow.
Inspiring Innovations, Inc. 