I love systems and the nuances of business. All of it is so intricate, intellectual and profound in the way that it mirrors our skills, personalities, and our innate ability to solve problems,
overcome obstacles, and keep moving forward in new and improved directions.
The system I used to capture this idea is a perfect example. The dictation software I used is an iPhone app called Dragon Naturally Speaking. You open the app, hit the record button, speak your thoughts, and then Dragon generates text that you can email or text to yourself, or wherever else you might want it to go. It's beautiful. Seamless.
I had just been to Starbucks to buy my espresso beans for the week, and had an inspiration during my exchange with one of the baristas. As a writer, these inspirations are frequent for me. Often, I'm writing in my head all day long. It's nice to capture some of those thoughts and ideas when I can...
I had purchased my own gift for Christmas this year - a really nice espresso machine. I put down about one and a half months worth of lattes purchased over the counter and took hold of 'Serena' and a new love affair began. It has taken a couple months to build my own system around making lattes, but the practice of building this system has been well worth the work. I now prefer my version of the latte even more than the one I used to ask the barista to make for me. And it costs about 75% less!
As an aside, I encourage you to read, "Pour Your Heart Into It " by Howard Schultz. Howard is the CEO and founder of Starbucks and will give you a very close look at what it takes to build a true system and why it is vital to your success. Not just your success as a business owner, but your career success in general.
OK, back to my story...
I have two Starbucks within my daily life radius. There used to be three but as I heard someone say in an interview recently, the recent downturn in the economy has forced on all of us one giant enema, and ALL of the excess is getting trimmed down and eliminated wherever necessary. And this will be good for all of us even though it might not feel like it right now.
Anyway, I've discovered that one shop does a much better job at grinding my espresso beans then the other. And because I read Howard's book, and because I've read many others that discuss the importance of a duplicatable system, I asked one of the baristas today why their beans come out so much finer, fluffier, and ultimately tastier than the beans I've purchased from the other shop. "I buy my beans here directly as a result of this." I said. To which the general manager replied with a big smile, "I don't have any problem with that!"
Her answer was telling. In fact there seemed to exist in the answer a sense of pride that resulted directly from the implementation of a system that they were proud to follow because of the results that it produced. "We calibrate our machine weekly." One of the manager's staff replied, almost before I could even finish asking my question.
Now, I have no idea whether or not the other store on University Avenue is calibrating their machine on a weekly basis. It certainly seems they are not. What it seems to me instead is that the shop out near my fitness studio is doing a much more effective job of following and implementing the system that has been created for them. And as a result, I'm shopping there more often.
Can you see why I love these systems so much?
John
PS I've created many systems in my businesses but so far the one I'm about to tell you about next is the one I'm most proud of so far. It is the system I use to sell personal training at my fitness studio here in Madison, WI. This system is so good, so fine tuned, and so effective that potential clients actually pay me to sell them training. That's right, I get paid to sell fitness training at my studio. If you're interested in reading more about this system, just follow the link below. I'm planning to offer a very small teleseminar where I will give you this system...
Here's the link: CloseLikeANomad.com