Thoughts from your Systems Goddess, Sandye Linnetz, Process Prodigy

Here I sit, sipping hot coffee and eating a “sunrise surprise” amidst the hustle bustle of the Terminal 6 deli at LAX. Most of the folks around me seem calm, peaceful and resigned to the layover/lost time associated with NOT flying “yet”. And I, your Systems Goddess, have joined the ranks of the computer geeks who “open and type” wherever they might be…

You know where I am. I’m at Los Angeles International Airport about 40 minutes north of my home. What you don’t know is from whence I have recently come. Why, just a short hour ago I was at the Long Beach Airport – about those same 25 minutes away from home, but to the south.

“What’s with the airport hopping?”, you ask. I promise you, it is not that I either love airports, or that I am visiting them as research for my new book.  Bottom line? Okay… My system for traveling sucks! I did print out my itinerary and boarding pass (I think that was step 2 on my get ready to go flow chart). What I didn’t bother to do was follow step 3: read over all travel documents for information and accuracy before moving them to a safe and easily accessible place in - or near – your carry on stuff. Yep, I assumed that I was flying out of Long Beach and planned my departure accordingly.

Now mind you, I did everything else according to my outrageously effective system. I used the list I had created and checked off items as I took care of them.

1. Let the neighbors know that you are going out of town and arrange for mail and newspaper pick-up
2. Make a list of what you want to take on the trip: clothes & accessories, personal fun stuff (e.g. suduko, camera, novel, favorite stuffed toy) and work related items & papers
3. Print out itinerary. Check-In online and print boarding pass.
4. If everything looks okay put all paperwork (including hotel/car/etc.) into computer case
5. Choose a suitcase and fill with the clothing and accessories listed above (after trying everything on and changing your mind 4 or 5 times)
6. Pack toiletries (after morning use)
7. Count out and put vitamins into a baggie and then into carry-on along with medication, glasses and other necessities
8. Put on motion-sickness bands
9. Grab the chai (good luck charm) or put on the magic shoes (I won’t even try to explain this)
10. Check and lock all windows and doors
11. Head for the airport

The breakdown? No problem with the system. I know it works. I’ve used it for years without a glitch. Looks like human error, then, doesn’t it. One small slip for Sandye one giant leap into travel hell. I skipped a step and the snowball began to grow. Traffic was awful this morning so I chose to take back and side streets. My 25-minute trip to Long Beach took almost 50 minutes – actually longer than it would have taken me to get to LAX. I did think it was odd that there was no sign outside for my airlines… my first clue that I had screwed up! It was then, and only then, that I decided to actually read my itinerary and boarding pass. No more clues needed. Clearly, I had skipped a step and thrown my system into oblivion. Also, clearly, all I could do at this point was STOP, regroup, and get back to the system.

That’s what I did. Called the airlines, owned up to my error, paid the $25 to get on stand-by for the next flight to JFK and headed to LAX. On the way I called the folks in New York and made a new plan (with back-up plan) to meet up upon arrival, checked my bag and here I am, sipping coffee and passing the layover/lost time associated with NOT flying “yet”.

By the way, I also inadvertently skipped step #9… bad luck? coincidence????

© 2008 Beth Schneider, Process Prodigy, Inc. Want to reprint this article? Feel free as long as you include the following: Beth Schneider, President of Process Prodigy Inc., www.processprodigy.com, along with her team of highly sought after operations consultants, reveal the insider secrets billion-dollar corporations pay thousands of dollars for. Specializing in process creation, Process Prodigy tools and techniques have helped entrepreneurs increase productivity by as much as 600%, and revenues by as much as 250%. Visit www.processprodigy.com/ezine and grab your FREE systems starter kit valued at $297.00.

Thoughts from your Systems Goddess, Sandye Linnetz, Process Prodigy

Who’s EM? Who’s PP? Well, folks, the secret is about to be revealed…
E Myth loves Process Prodigy! Hopefully you’ve already read Michael Gerber’s book, The E Myth or The E Myth Revisited – if you haven’t, go get it right now and READ IT! Seriously, I’ll wait…

Michael Gerber, business guru and author of The E Myth and The E Myth Revisited, is all about the business of business. According to Gerber it takes more than being able to bake a great chocolate chip cookie for one to open and operate a successful retail cookie empire. That’s the MYTH… that being an entrepreneur is all it takes to be a business genius. Apparently, that is not so. Simply having an idea, or a product, or a great public personality is not enough. Who knew? Gerber tells us that it is much more important to build a business than to DO business and that it is necessary to work ON your business rather than IN it. There’s a definite paradigm shift from the old ideas that “hard work” and “long hours” equal success; or that, in the case of the Cookie Store, the cookie is the product!

So, what is the “product” and what’s up with this E myth thing? And why does EM love PP? Well, we will get to the latter in a bit, for now let’s focus on identifying the product and describing its relationship to the E Myth.

According to Gerber, your business is the PRODUCT… your business is what you have to sell! Think McDonalds… franchises… turn key operations… HOKEY POKEY, folks. That’s what it’s all about. Yes, it does take an entrepreneur… but also a technician, a manager, and so much more.

I really do suggest that you read the book. You’ll learn about why it’s so important to have and define your vision for the future. You’ll be moved to design – and it is so exciting. It doesn’t matter if you are starting a new project or looking to goose up what now exists… in either case, this is some exciting stuff!

So, where does Process Prodigy enter into the picture? What’s the love story here? Well, “Once upon a time” an entrepreneur had a wonderful IDEA. And, without planning or vision defined, started a company. Hmmm That’s the “seat of the pants” idea. That’s the situation where the one with the great talent and love for baking cookies decides to open and run a company… without planning for space, technology, staff, sales and marketing, financing… the list goes on and on and the “wheel is re-invented” over and over. This is the business that will RUN YOU because there is no plan in place. Enter Process Prodigy… systems and processes to the rescue!

Asking yourself the questions that come up in The E Myth; “what’s the vision” (that’s PP speak for “where are you now and where do want to end up”) and “who and what will it take to create the future?” (PP for “how am I going to get there”?) simply beg the creation of systems and processes. Of course Michael Gerber is a huge proponent of Process Prodigy. Creating a business that is totally reproducible – which is what he suggests - absolutely requires that you design and put systems into place for everything – I mean EVERYTHING - that occurs within your company.

And so, EM and PP fell in love… and they live happily ever after!

© 2008 Beth Schneider, Process Prodigy, Inc. Want to reprint this article? Feel free as long as you include the following: Beth Schneider, President of Process Prodigy Inc., www.processprodigy.com, along with her team of highly sought after operations consultants, reveal the insider secrets billion-dollar corporations pay thousands of dollars for. Specializing in process creation, Process Prodigy tools and techniques have helped entrepreneurs increase productivity by as much as 600%, and revenues by as much as 250%. Visit www.processprodigy.com/ezine and grab your FREE systems starter kit valued at $297.00.

Thoughts from your Systems Goddess, Sandye Linnetz, Process Prodigy

Sometimes the game is in recognizing the system. There’s pretty much always a system when things “work”. Sure, randomness, choice, coincidence and luck can enter into the way things work, but, for the most part, it’s all about the system. Discover it, and you uncover another clue into the way things work.

This morning I got a group email from an old high school friend. He was reminiscing about Engineer Bill, a TV icon from the early 60’s. Somehow, with all of the memories dashing back and forth across cyber space, the email thread shifted to early televised wrestling. I was hooked… huge fan… loved it… still makes me smile and still can’t figure out WHY????

I got to thinking; what made that phoney baloney junk so entertaining and so popular? We all knew it was garbage, fake, ridiculous trash – and we kept on watching and coming back for more! What was the system that worked so well – like that proverbial well-oiled wrestler?

Systems require consistency, and “Championship Wrestling” with Dick Lane (remember him?) originated from the Olympic Auditorium on the outskirts of downtown Los Angeles. The “clients” (aka the viewers and fans) could count on seeing that same venue or at least Dick Lane EVERY week. There were always good guys and bad guys. You could count on the bad guys to cheat and the good guys to eventually win - some of the time.

There was Freddie Blassie (big blonde bruiser), Mr. Moto (with his black hat ala the character from James Bond), Haystack Calhoun – mammoth sized schlep in farmer’s overalls, Ricky Tricky Star (my personal fav; complete with ballet shoes and tutu), The Destroyer (no one could remove his mask or get out of his infamous “figure four leg lock”)… feel free to email the name and description of YOUR favorite to me.

Anyway, back to the system: Each week there would be a line-up of challengers trying to work their way up to the title of “World’s Champion”. (Sometimes that fancy Championship belt would actually change waists.) The venue would look a certain prescribed way; ring, arena, microphones, seating, aisles for the “grand entrances”… The announcer had his scripted sphiel – with appropriate breaks for commercials. He had all of the information about each wrestler and shared tidbits to keep the fans “in the know” and engaged. The crowd in the arena would be worked into a frenzy as each “character” (and I do not use the word lightly here) made his way into the ring. The referee would start the match and there were bells to end each round. If the excitement level needed a lift, someone would cheat – though no one actually seemed to know what the RULES were. Sometimes the good guys won and sometimes they lost. Always the viewer could count on visual stimulation. Screaming, booing and cheering were encouraged. Apparently, That’s Entertainment. Not quite as apparent; there was also a system in place… an Outrageously Effective System (there I go with those shameless plugs again!).

Championship Wrestling was also a smoothly run business. Tickets were sold, advertising was sold and licensed merchandise made somebody rich! Like that which draws humans to rubber neck at an accident or draws us to watch disasters on TV, the system worked.

Excuse me now, I want to see if I can find my Mr. Moto lunchbox!

© 2008 Beth Schneider, Process Prodigy, Inc. Want to reprint this article? Feel free as long as you include the following: Beth Schneider, President of Process Prodigy Inc., www.processprodigy.com, along with her team of highly sought after operations consultants, reveal the insider secrets billion-dollar corporations pay thousands of dollars for. Specializing in process creation, Process Prodigy tools and techniques have helped entrepreneurs increase productivity by as much as 600%, and revenues by as much as 250%. Visit www.processprodigy.com/ezine and grab your FREE systems starter kit valued at $297.00.

Thoughts from your Systems Goddess, Sandye Linnetz, Process Prodigy

Yes, folks, there’s method (aka a system) to my madness. Even when it comes to writing blogs ABOUT systemizing, there is a back system in place which, when followed, is outrageously effective (shameless plug for OES). It is when the existing system is ignored or not followed completely that stress sets in because:

• The blogs I write are not timely… either in regard to topic or time schedule
• I find myself rushing to meet deadlines
• I forget how to do things because I haven’t done them in so long
• Mistakes are more commonly made – both factual and technical
• Guilt sets in because I know that I am not doing what I should be doing
• Everything takes longer to do because I am recreating the wheel rather than following a plan than already works

Let me share the system I created for the Process Prodigy Systems Goddess. First, of course, I must have a topic. If I have one in mind I simply begin to type… If I need an idea I can:

• check my “list of ideas for future blogs” (which I add to as ideas occur)
• ask my boss if there is a “pressing topic”
• look at past blogs and elaborate on a topic that could use “more”
• pick a topic from the last book I read
• watch the news or read a business magazine or journal

With a topic in mind, I write (about two pages)… doing research as needed – as I write. I keep working on a blog until it is fully written. I do not generally stop and finish on another day; don’t want to loose that train of thought. If I must stop, I make sure that I have an outline and notes toward completion.
When working on a blog I do not stop to do anything else. Phone calls, emails and lunch will be handled when I am done.

When I feel that my blog is finished I reread it and make changes where necessary (although my personal style has me making changes, additions and corrections all along the way). I use my computer to do spell and grammar check. Even a former teacher isn’t always correct. When I find a mistake, it is immediately fixed and the blog is re-saved.

The completed blog gets a title and is saved. In fact, it is saved two times… once into my blog file and once to my desktop. I choose to waste memory instead of paper… it’s better for the environment!

Within 24 hours all blogs are to be posted to the internet on the Process Prodigy site. I assign which categories were covered, choose the date and time for publication and hit PUBLISH. Within 72 hours all blogs are to be recorded and the resulting podcasts uploaded to the site. As you can imagine, there’s a whole process for uploading text and two others for recording blogs and uploading podcasts. (This, by the way, is where I fall apart if I don’t do these steps regularly and in a timely manner, I forget what to do – and it takes two or three times as long as it should.) Finally, all text and podcasts are checked - on two different browsers – for accuracy and workability.

My system works… when I work it!

© 2008 Beth Schneider, Process Prodigy, Inc. Want to reprint this article? Feel free as long as you include the following: Beth Schneider, President of Process Prodigy Inc., www.processprodigy.com, along with her team of highly sought after operations consultants, reveal the insider secrets billion-dollar corporations pay thousands of dollars for. Specializing in process creation, Process Prodigy tools and techniques have helped entrepreneurs increase productivity by as much as 600%, and revenues by as much as 250%. Visit www.processprodigy.com/ezine and grab your FREE systems starter kit valued at $297.00.

 

 Systemizing Your Business: Gettin’ the Lingo: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Thoughts from your Systems Goddess, Sandye Linnetz, Process Prodigy

Will the real lingo masters please stand up! You know who you are… you’re the ones who speak in office slang and have shortened everything from the names of your clients to the restaurants where you take them for lunch. Much of what you talk about, you speak of in letters – not words, and you have nicknames for your co-workers, the mailman and the boss. You refer to common work terms with your own made up words and communicate in a language, which, to outsiders, is distinctly foreign.

And you are not an elitist, are you? There is method to your madness, isn’t there? Yes, you have discovered the value of the shortcut and the joy of a private, shared language among coworkers. You realize that having a common language… shortcut officespeak – saves time, energy and misunderstanding.

When you speak of a “lead”, everyone on the team knows that you are speaking about a potential client. A “vip lead” is a serious potential… a client who is possibly about to cover your annual salary; and you know that vip leads have their business cards dog eared and put into the “envelope”. You all know about “THE” envelope. It’s the special one that holds the business cards and notes that go directly to the boss – with copies to the fulfillment team.

We all know the difference between a “regular lead” and a “vip lead”. We also know that there is a system for handling each… and we know what those systems are. We communicate with few words and shared meanings. Say something at a team meeting, and we all know what you mean. Guess you could say we’re “on the same page”; “speaking the same language”!

All of this is possible – and happens rapidly and without much thought – because we have created and share a Process Prodigy internal language. Even when we use common terms, we are likely to have special meanings and related actions associated with them. There are terms that we use… flow charts terms, for example, that, when spoken, actually “speak volumes” to those of us who use them.

And the system for insuring the perpetration of the internal language? New hires get a “PP term book” – a dictionary of our in-house slang. Why, there may even be a test…

© 2008 Beth Schneider, Process Prodigy, Inc. Want to reprint this article? Feel free as long as you include the following: Beth Schneider, President of Process Prodigy Inc., www.processprodigy.com, along with her team of highly sought after operations consultants, reveal the insider secrets billion-dollar corporations pay thousands of dollars for. Specializing in process creation, Process Prodigy tools and techniques have helped entrepreneurs increase productivity by as much as 600%, and revenues by as much as 250%. Visit www.processprodigy.com/ezine and grab your FREE systems starter kit valued at $297.00.