Norbert Olberz

9:43 AM
P.O. Box 1817
Temecula, CA 92593
(951) 760-0798

Hey it's Tuesday and I'm on a roll.

I'm getting ready to open a nutritional practice
and I just wanted you to know why I'm slacking in
these posts.

Chiropractic is great, and I love it.

I think I do it rather well.

If I can just get my hands on a patient, they know
that I know, and from that point forward, things happen
for the patient that they want.

So it's all good.

And if I can have a great team, like I talked about in
my last post, this practice will soar.

And I truly mean that.

Today I'm going to talk about Norbert.

I'm going to share a story with you how Norbert Olberz
built a corporate giant from a tiny mom and pop business.

So if you're in a mom and pop business you might want to
read this closely and get some gems from what I'm about to
tell you.

Norbert was born in Germany in 1925, after World War ll

Norbert went to Canada where he worked as an oil roughneck
and a truck driver. When a sponsor posted $2,500 and assured
the U.S. government Norbert had a job, he came to the U.S. in
1955 at the age of 30.

Meanwhile, his friend Margit asked him to post $2,500 and sponsor
her German friend Irene Kitz. Norbert was happy to help, paid the
$2,500 and gladly forgave the debt. (by the way, $2,500 was a heck
of a lot of money at that time.)

Nearly a year later, Irene arrived and was introduced to Norbert.

She instantly touched his heart and he asked her out on a date.

On their 2nd date, suddenly he proposed marriage.

Startled, she considered his proposal and during dinner, she said,
“Here are the rules,” defining a marriage of equals, something
largely unheard of in the 1950’s.

After Norbert agreed, she accepted his proposal and three weeks
later they were married.

In 1959 they moved to what is now La Canada Flintridge, northeast
of Los Angeles as Norbert found what he hoped would be a great
opportunity.

They bought a little ski and tennis store they named Sport Chalet for
$4,000 and then the couple used the rest of their life savings of
$6,000 to pay for the inventory.

But it wasn’t enough money.

Norbert borrowed another $5,000 from suppliers and the couple was
now in debt way over their heads.

They were so broke, they lived in the store.

For the 1st two years, they
slept on portable beds, cooked their meals on a small propane stove
and showered using a garden hose.

Norbert often worried about all the debt he and Irene had.

Fortunately, she got a job as a teller at a local Bank of America branch
and she worked after hours in the store, the two of them being at first
the store’s only employees.

Gradually, through listening to their customers and through trial and
error, their little Sport Chalet grew into a profitable business and
Norbert began to expand it.

One story Norbert loved to tell about that expansion was about a woman
who came to the store on a summer day wanting to buy a baseball mitt for
her son. At first Norbert was thrilled thinking he was going to make an
off-season sale of ski mittens.

When she corrected him, he asked what a mitt is.

And when she explained that, he asked what a baseball is, for baseball was not played in Germany. As a result of that conversation, he added some baseball equipment and when that sold well, he realized there was real money to be made in team sports, especially in selling uniforms, shoes and other apparel.

So much money, that in 1974, he took over an old shuttered supermarket across the street and opened a 30,000 square foot facility to cater to the sports team market.

This big risk paid off well.

In 1981 he opened a 2nd store in Huntington Beach in Orange County and that soon caught on. He kept opening stores and in 1992, to raise more money to open additional stores, he took the company public.

Today there are 55 stores located in California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah and the company has $364 million in annual sales.

Norbert also became a real estate investor. His dream was to build a beautiful shopping center to include a Sport Chalet and its corporate headquarters

Over the years, when Norbert had a good year, he bought 2 or 3 houses in an adjoining tract to his store and when he had a bad year, he scrambled and bought 1 house.

Eventually he owned 29 homes and for years, he rented them to employees for an incredibly low $500 a month. Many of those homes were three bedrooms and some had swimming pools.

A three bedroom apartment near his store rented for 2 -3 times that much and a house for even more. Employees loved his generosity and moved into “Norbertville.” It was understood by all that someday Norbertville would be replaced by a beautiful shopping center but that turned out to be many years into the future.

Finally in 2008, Norbert and Irene proudly opened on what had been Norbertville, a beautiful shopping center, with retail space, the new corporate headquarters and a park and a pre-school.

But subsidized housing aside, Norbert and Irene did something else extraordinary to express their appreciation for Sport Chalet employees.

In 1998, nearly 40 years after Sport Chalet began, to reward their longest term 129 employees for helping build the company, they gave them $3 million of their own stock, a rare act of generosity in corporate America.

Suddenly those employees had huge and unexpected bonuses.

A year earlier, 72 year old Norbert hired Craig Levra to work closely with him and to replace him as CEO, which Craig did in 1999. Norbert served as Chairman until 2001 when he was 76 years of age and Craig replaced him in that role as well.

For the next 10 years, Norbert and Irene could focus on making the shopping center a reality and on the outdoor activities they loved. They were also long term supporters of the Sierra Club.

But on July 15th 2011, 86 year old Norbert died at his home of natural causes. He is survived by Irene, his wife of 52 years, their 48 year old son Eric, who serves on the Sport Chalet board of directors, and by their grandsons Karl and Marcus.

But Norbert is survived as well by the many thousands of employees, customers, suppliers and shareholders of Sport Chalet who it was his honor and passion to serve. The company employs 3,200 people and over the 52 years, estimates that it has employed about 40,000 people full or part time.

Among those former employees are doctors, lawyers, judges, professors, bankers, police officers, firefighters and others who got their start at Sport Chalet.

Norbert and Irene succeeded by having the courage to act.

If you have a dream, don’t let it languish.

Take at least some action this week to make it a reality.

Don't ever let anyone tell you that you can't do something. If you believe that, then you won't accomplish what you were put on earth to do. Believe in yourself, and
create a great team. When you create a great team, you're going to be successful, even if it's just one other person.

Enjoy the day.

Let me know your comments.

Dr. Carney

Do you really have a TEAM?

9:27 AM
Temecula, CA 92593
P.O. Box 1817

Hey

Sorry I'm a little late on the post, but I've been really busy.

No excuses.

Let's get started.

One of the keys to creating a culture of exceptional customer service is having a true team.

Only about 10% of all organizations ever reach the ultimate level of teamwork and cooperation. That number applies to chiropractors, WalMart, and even a wine dealer.

The Dallas Mavericks are one of those teams!

Their performance in the playoffs was a constant display of selfless actions and looking out for fellow teammates.

Despite the obvious bias and wishes of the TV announcers, Dirk and company beat one superstar team after another. No one thought it was possible to beat the Lakers, especially in straight games. Remember I'm in California and the Lakers rule here.

Then they extinguished the Miami Heat who thought they had assembled an unbeatable team of high-priced superstars.

So how did the Mavericks take a team of players from radically different backgrounds and with what some labeled as “average” talent and win it all?

It was through incredible teamwork.

Let’s look at several key factors that contributed to the victory.

1. They Spread the Load. Even a talented player like Dirk Nowitzki is bound to have an off night. Just when it appeared he was a bit off on his shot, other players like Jason Terry stepped up and had the game of his career. Dirk knew he was off and shifted his game to one of assists and defense, letting his teammates "grab" the spotlight.

2. They Celebrated Success. The Maverick stars, when interviewed by the media following a win, would deflect the credit to other members of their team. I never heard them saying “I did this” or “I did that.” It was always about the team. This was never as obvious as it was when Mark Cuban gave the honor of accepting the trophy to former owner and founder, Don Carter.

What a class act!

3. They Believed in Each Other. Unlike some of the other NBA teams who went down in the playoffs, the Mavs are not full of individual egos who were only concerned about their own stats and image. Every member of the Mavericks respected the skill and contribution of each other. They knew how important the players coming off the bench would be to make their ultimate goal.

4. They Kept Focused on a Common Goal. Even after shocking the sports world and sweeping the defending champion Lakers, the team limited their celebration knowing they were not done yet. The owner and the coaches reminded them that everything they worked for from the preseason to this moment was to win it all. They were focused!

Rick Carlisle, the coach of the Mavericks, made the following statement in a Sports Illustrated article: “They have made a statement. It’s not about our team but the game. Playing it a certain way. Trusting the pass. Believing in each other. Our team is not about individual ability; it’s about collective will, collective grit.”

Does your team (employees) have what it takes to win the “championship” in your industry?

It starts with leaders who are willing to serve their employees and communicate a vision for the goal of the team.

Next you hire employees who care more about each other than themselves.

Finally, put processes in place that encourage teamwork and are flexible enough to allow teammates the freedom and creativity to jump in and assist each other when possible.

You should be focused on two areas: 1) Customer Service and 2) Leadership. Any organization can do a good job in these areas, which means they will ultimately be successful.

INSTANTLY CONNNECT WITH PEOPLE

Hi,

Today is Thursday. I'll be attended a interesting unique
seminar in Irvine, CA this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday,
so if I don't blog on Friday, you'll know you should consider
this one the blog for Friday.

Here's another little strategy a mentor of mine used to instantly
connect with his audience... and lift their level of trust and respect
for him.

Here's what he did.

After he introduced himself, played a couple of songs, etc. he jumped
off the stage, like a rock star does... and ran around the entire concert
so everybody could see him.

You could do this too if you were giving a presentation.

What did he achieve by doing this?

He attempted to connect with everyone in the audience.

So even those people in the back row could now see, hear
and get a sense of who he was.

Pretty cool huh?

This way he didn't just connect with the small amount
of people at the front of the audience.

He connected with everyone.

Now, how on earth does this relate to marketing? Let me show
you a little technique you may be able to use in your next ad
or sales letter.

Whenever you're selling a product, or a service, there's a
portion of people who will be thinking in the back of their mind.

It sounds good, but it's not for me.

It doesn't relate to my needs.

So you need to 'figuratively speaking' (just like Michael)
walk around to every person in your 'prospect audience' and
spell out why your product or service relates to them.

Let's imagine you're selling a weight loss product. You could present
the benefits of your product, explain what it has to offer them,
and then say...

---

Who Needs This Program?

* Are you a housewife who wants to lose weight and doesn't have time
to go to a gym?

* Are you a single man who's looking to find a new girlfriend?
Every woman loves a man with a great physique!

* Are you a single woman looking to find the man of your dreams?

* Are you a married man who would like to spice up his sex life.
Watch what happens after you wine and dine your wife over a
candlelit dinner looking like a movie star.

* Do you enjoy entertaining friends? Love to socialize and bring
people together? After you finish this program...everyone will want
to know your secret and you'll command their attention.

---

Now notice how this little paragraph makes this product relevant
to EVERYONE who's reading it.

It doesn't matter if you're single or married.

Man or woman. There's specific benefits which apply to you.

If I was writing the copy for marketing course or marketing coaching,
I'd write something like this...

Who Needs These Secrets?

* Do you have a business you'd simply love to see overflowing with
customers, clients, or patients?

* Are you a single woman, (or a housewife about to get a divorce)
who wants to learn the ultimate way of making loads of money -
selling something everyone will want?

* Are you a doctor, who would like to have a waiting room swamped
with patients?

* Are you a marketing consultant, antique dealer, or budding new
copywriter who wants to stay on the cutting edge in order to provide
maximum value to your customers which equates to more money in your
bank account?

*Is there anything you want to sell? Your bike, car, home or
even your antique ashtray on ebay?

By the way, if you fit into any of the categories above, then
you should get your hands on my weekly FREE Marketing Email Newsletter
by hopping along to:

http://www.OutrageousChiropracticMarketing.com

That's it for now,

Dr. Carney

Your Email Headline And What Works...

The Email Headline

The HEADLINE is the most important part of your whole email, so you should put alot into this process. When I write emails for clients, I spend anywhere from an hour to
four hours writing the email.

I have a way to write emails and it's one I've been working on for years.

So... let's start here.

A killer headline will be the one thing that captures your audience! You will need to step outside the BOX to create curiosity for your reader.

Many people will tell you email marketing just simply doesn’t work, especially today. These are the people that are not writing “Killer Headlines” and can't write a story, or anything else I've talked about in this blog and my M.E.N. newsletters.

http://OutrageousChiropracticMarketing.com

To capture their curiosity, shock them or capture their emotional side, you have to have a good headline. The better the headline, the better your response.

I study email marketing like people eat food, so you know how serious I am.

Another effective way is to ask a question - to get them thinking.

Here's the important parts.

The Email Body

If your killer headline has captured their attention (and it has too) and now you have to give them a solution to their problem.

Write as if you are writing to 1 person. That's one of my cardinal RULE. Don’t address them as you are writing to a list. Don't ask them questions in the plural. This will make your emails more personal, giving great results - to your email.

Let them know what you can do for them.

Tell them how you can solve their problems, with a solution... you have at your disposal.

When you're talking to them in your email, use emotion in your words.

I have a list of power words I've talked about in this blog, so if you don't know those, you might want to search them out. I've also mentioned them in my M.E.N. newsletter, so make sure you use them.

Use words like: Ingenious, Blinding, Maximize, Cutting Edge, etc…, just to name a few.

There are literally HUNDREDS of these POWER words.

A Call to Action

Then, tell your reader what to do next.

You will need to direct them, tell them exactly where to go to get this information.

You’re Signature

I say this so much I even bore myself! You need to be transparent, people want to associate with people - not businesses!

Sign your email with your name, your phone number, Skype username, your blog address, etc.

Give them every opportunity to be able to connect with YOU, if they want to.

Here’s a recap for successful email writing. This is just the tip of the iceberg, but at least you have something to work with.

1. Here is what I’ve got for you (headline)
2. This is what I can do for you (body)
3. Here’s what to do next (call to action)
4. Signature detail (be transparent)

With that said, learn to not do this!

A bad example I just pulled from my spam folder.

Subject: $1,980 with no selling!

Body: Everyone is doing this: no selling, no recruiting, and no training. Just pick up your check and go spend it.

Signature: Check it out before I take the website down. Go to http://whatabigscam.crap

Anyone with half a brain will not fall for this.

This is the kind of email that gives people a bad name when it comes to email marketing etc.

So, you see what I mean!

If you are trying to make it and want to build a good quality list of people you can connect with in the future, so you need to give them VALUE, give them what they need, and give them what they WANT.

People are looking for someone they can trust.

Writing good marketing emails will help build this trust for you and your patients.

If you follow my rules.

Until next time...

Dr. Carney

What Does Rocky Have On You?

This is something one of my mentors sent me.

READ IT.

I think you'll like it.

I'll throw my own thoughts in but I want you to read this.

It's that important.

If you have been reading these this blog for long, you know that I am a huge fan of the Rocky movies, starring Sylvester Stallone so please, take the time to read this now.

Six different Rocky movies were produced with Rocky Balboa being the final one.

Each film is very interesting and Stallone's portrayal of the character so memorable that I've sometimes forgotten that Rocky was simply a fictitious character created for the movies.

Sylvester Stallone was being interviewed about how his memorable character came into being.

He explained that he wrote the first script at a particularly difficult time in his life.

He had no job, no money and the only acting he was doing was small parts as a gangster or movie extra.

His life and career were going nowhere.

But, he had a dream in his heart and he was not willing to give up.

He believed he could make it as an actor if he did NOT quit. He was always looking for an opportunity. You might say he was driven!

One day, when Stallone was leaving a movie set, he mentioned to one of the producers that he had written a story about a boxer. The producer said, "Well, that sounds pretty interesting. Drop it off and I'll take a look at it."

A few days later he dropped off the script and although it was in rough form, those who read it enjoyed it very much.

He soon received an offer of $25,000.00 from the producer to BUY it.

That was a lot of money - especially to someone who was "broke" and sometimes sleeping in his car. The only meaningful thing that he had in his life at that time was his dog, Butkus.

He would feed his dog, even when he couldn't feed himself.

So, an offer of that much money seemed like a fortune to him.

In his discussion with the producers, Stallone mentioned that he wanted to play the part of Rocky.

They laughed and told him that would be impossible. They already had in mind four possibilites: Ryan O'Neal, Burt Reynolds, Robert Redford, and James Caan, all of whom were stars at the top of their movie careers at the time. I personally can't see anyone mentioned playing Rocky, other than Stallone.

Although Stallone knew of those actors, he told them that he still thought he would be the best one to play the part. He was told they would think about it and get back to him.

When they called few days later, their offer was $100,000.00!

Again Stallone turned them down, insisting that he play the part of Rocky.

The next call came with an offer of $150,000.00. He turned it down.

Then $170,000.00 and again he refused the offer.

Then $250,000.00 - a quarter of a million dollars!

Even though he knew what a difference that much money could make in his life, he had a dream and he was looking for an opportunity. This was not it, so once more he turned down their offer.

In a few days, the offer jumped significantly - $330,000.00. In the interview Stallone said that at the time he couldn't even count that high and that he couldn't imagine seeing that much money!

But, the lengthy discussion ended when he again told them that the sale was contingent upon his playing the lead role.

At their subsequent offer, he almost gave in.

It was for $360,000.00.

He said the only problem was, if the movie and the story he had written about Rocky turned out to be a success, he would never be able to live with himself, knowing that he had given up on his dream and the opportunity that he desired so intensely.

"No," was his answer.

A week later, they called him and asked him to come in for an interview.

When he came in and sat down, they told him they would make him one LAST offer and he could be assured that this would be their final offer.

They offered Sylvester Stallone the grand total of - zero.

They told him all previous offers to purchase his script were off the table, but they would allow him to play the lead role.

He almost jumped out of his skin!!

This was the opportunity for which he had been waiting!

So, Sylvester Stallone played the part of Rocky Balboa in the first Rocky movie, and the rest as they say, "is history."

Though he made absolutely nothing for his script, his career was launched and his life has never been the same; neither has ours.

The movie, theme song and many of the other characters have become part of our culture - all because one man was looking for an opportunity.

What you are looking for in your life?

Do you simply get up every day and deal with life as it comes or are you trying to make a difference in your life, your family, or your business?

Do you have secret dreams and visions and goals that you want to accomplish?

Are you making it better for yourself and others, or are you simply doing just enough to get by each day, hoping for enough energy to crawl into bed at night?

I don't know about you, but I find this thing called life to be an interesting experience. It may be crazy to live with dreams and hopes and visions, but to live without them is madness!

Take a lesson from Sylvester Stallone and his character, Rocky Balboa; stick with your dreams.

Look for opportunities and do not give up until you have accomplished what you believe is the reason for which you were created.

Everything in life is better when you are living your dream and fulfilling your destiny. I trust, hope and pray that is your attitude toward life - not only this week, but forever!

I'm going to tell you something really important that I learned today that will make a lot of sense if you've read this blog post.

So...

be looking for it in the next few days.

Talk later.

Dr. Carney
P.O. Box 1817
Temecula, CA 92593
(951) 760-0798

This is Number 200... Congrats if you are reading this.

This is going to be a
Crash Course in Marketing
With Stories

It's Tuesday, and I was late
posting Mondays' blog, so I'm
going to post my blog for Wednesday
today.

See, I'll make it up to you by posting
early.

Remember learning Greek mythology in school?

I don't remember a lot, but hey, I know a few
things.

I’m going to give you one name, and I want
you to think about the first image that pops
into your head …

Hercules.

What’d you think about?

Was it what you read in that dusty old history book,
or was it the unforgettable Disney cartoon?

That, my friends, is the power of storytelling
in action.

According to thebook “Made to Stick”, stories
are an incredibly important element in creating ideas
that stick.

We humans process information much more efficiently
when it’s in the form of a story, and we’re therefore
much more likely to remember it.

We quickly forget a dry recitation of the FACTS.

And yet, most marketing is just that: fact after fact
after fact after fact, etc …

“Buy this widget from us, and it’ll do this,
this and this.”

That doesn’t "STIK".

NO it doesn't.

If you want your marketing to really 'sizzle',
like a hot steak, if you want people to remember
it when they're laying down to go to sleep, you
need to turn your marketing messages into stories.

I've told you this, over and over again.

You'll finally get it.

I’ve broken down the classical elements of story in
this blog post so you can begin to think like a storyteller,
and make your marketing messages stik...

The protagonist leads the way

You don’t have a story unless you have a main character —
also known as the protagonist — whom the audience empathizes
with.

The protagonist helps the audience become emotionally engaged
with the story.

That’s why very emotional scenes, such as love and action
scenes, are so powerful. Women know all about emotional
stories and they'll even cry when they got to a movie
or read a good story about a dog or a child etc.

Then think about horror movies, particularly when the
killer is chasing the protagonist (young person, child,
woman, good guy etc).

The audience is on the edge of their seats because they
are experiencing the same fears and rush of adrenaline
as the protagonist.

Who or what is the protagonist — the hero — of your
business?

Your antagonist is their antagonist.

You may even have a antagonist living in your home.

Doesn't have to be a person, but most likely it is.

In addition to a protagonist, a story also needs an
imposing antagonist — someone (or something) hindering
the protagonist from reaching his or her goal.

The antagonist creates conflict and sometimes frustration.

An antagonist can be a person, an entity, or even the
protagonist himself/herself (for instance, the protagonist
trying to overcome her own fear of her husband for instance).

Tap into and talk about a common “enemy” to bond with your
customers, and their loyalty to you will grow very strong,
very fast.

The protagonist must be on the move

Boring stories are ones where things happen to the protagonist.

Forget that.

Engaging stories are ones where the protagonist takes action to
defeat the antagonist.

In other words, there’s an active struggle.

Let’s say there’s a story about some really bad people who
steal a boy’s dog new six day old puppy.

The boy is sitting on his couch, crying, missing his dog
terribly.

A few moments later, a police officer knocks on the door and
delivers the slobbering, excited dog back to the boy.

Boring.

We’d rather see the boy's father chasing down the bad guys,
trying to get his beloved dog back himself.

Are you boring your clients/readers/patients/customers?

This is a cardinal sin of marketing.

Boring kills sales.

No plot = big problem, BIG PROBLEM.

Of course, a story isn’t a story unless it has a beginning,
a middle, and an end.

The beginning sets the stage, showing what the protagonist’s
life is like before the antagonist disturbs it.

After the antagonist is introduced, we enter the middle of
the story where the protagonist fights the antagonist, trying
to accomplish a particular goal.

Then, we reach the climax.

All seems lost.

The protagonist makes one more dramatic move and defeats
the antagonist totally.

In the end --- we see HOW the protagonist restores order
to his/her life.

What’s the “plot” of your content marketing?

Is there a beginning, middle, and end present in your messages?

The moral of the story is...

Lastly, great stories have an overarching message.

For instance, the moral of “Beauty and the Beast” is that
we shouldn’t judge people by their looks.

What’s the major message — or, moral — of your business or idea?

Distill it into one or two very clear lines that you
repeat, like a mantra, over and over in all of your marketing
efforts... pulling it all together

Now, let me bring this all together by diagramming one of
the greatest marketing stories of all time:

Apple, Inc.’s “1984″ commercial.

Take a minute to watch it. Just go to Google and type in:
Apple, Inc 1984 commercial

The protagonist in this story is the running woman.

The antagonist is “the man” on the screen
(Big Brother or Government for you “1984” fans).

The plot here is interesting.

There is a beginning, middle, and end, but the commercial
only shows us the climax, and merely hints at all the
other elements.

We can determine the beginning of the story was that the
woman and society were living free.

Then, Big Brother came and forced everyone to conform.

But the woman — possibly alone — resisted (the middle).

Now, when there is no hope left and the entire culture
has submitted to the will of “the Man” (the climax), she
takes one last action: she destroys big brother by launching
that hammer through the screen.

And she does it in front of the entire world.

As the screen explodes, we know that both the woman and
society have been freed from Big Brother once and for all.

The moral?

We must act to overcome tyranny and conformity, no matter
what the costs.

And the marketing message?

Macintosh will set you free from the tyranny and conformity
of the other droning, "boring" PC manufacturers.

See how stories really help make a marketing message stik?

Apple could have just said, “Hey, we make better computers,
and here’s why …”

Instead, they told a story.

Take a look at your marketing message and ask yourself:

How can I use a story to make my message stick?

It’s how we humans communicate with each other best.

Go tell your story ...

If you don't know how, then call me and we can work it
out. I'm available.

Dr. Carney
P.O. Box 1817
Temecula, CA 92593
(951) 760-0798

Better Late than... Never!

Seeking Out Failure, Believe It or Not
Can Lead to Long Term Success

Hey,

I know it's Tuesday --- okay.

I missed writing yesterday because I was in beautiful,
warm, (not HOT...) Catalina Island, CA. (and don't
forget, I said... island, because that is exactly
what it is.... it's an island in CA.)

Talk about fun. I took a ferry, (one hour and fifteen
minutes from San Pedro, CA and then walked the small town
for about 6 hours, shopping.

I found a really cool watch, went on a tour and found
out from the tour guide how this little island came
to be so famous. Marilyn Monroe, Errol Flynn, all the
big names used to go to Catalina Island.

Like I said, pretty cool stuff.

The weather was perfect and I took some killer photos
and videos.

This place is unbelieveable.

AWESOME. You should go there ONCE in your life. It'll
change the way you think about traveling abroad.

Well enough about that. Here's the really important
stuff.

I read a very interesting blog post the other day
about "survivor bias," an important statistical
principle that could greatly affect your future
success.

In brief, survivor bias
occurs when an analysis excludes information since
that information no longer exists.

Wow, is that getting technical or what?

Let me give you an example...

The English forces, during World War II, sent planes
each day to bomb the Germans. As you might expect,
several of these planes were shot down.

And, the ones that did come back typically returned
with multiple bullet holes.

Now, the English obviously wanted to maximize the
chances of its planes and soldiers returning home. soooo
English engineers (GOD help them) studied the planes that
returned.

In doing so, they found patterns among the bullet holes.

Specifically they found lots of holes on the wings and
tail of the plan, but few in the cockpit or fuel tanks.

As a result, the English added armored plating to the
wings and tail.

As you might have already concluded, this was the wrong
thing to do.

The better decision would have been to add armored plating
to the cockpit and fuel tanks.

For, the planes that were shot in those places were the planes
that were shot down and never returned.

Duh.....

The English engineers' analysis missed this data because these
were the planes that they were unable to examine.

This is "survivor bias"-- their inability to include this critical
data in their analysis since it was unavailable or didn't "survive."

So why does this matter to you?

Why would you care about this "survivor bias"?

It matters because as you start and/or grow your businesses,
you will have to hire service providers or staff.

And naturally, you will want to hire those with a track
record of success. I mean you don't want to hire someone that
doesn't know JACK about what they're doing right?

But, when you hire staff who have only worked at successful
companies, you may fall victim to survivor bias. That is,
they have not learned many of the lessons that individuals
and companies learn when they 'fail'.

Likewise, when you hire an employee that claims that
every one of their prior employers has been successful,
maybe even say it was because of them, they haven't learned
from failure.

Here's what you need to remember.

You can learn more from failure than from success.

While that can be debated, from personal experience I
can say that I've learned a ton from both failure and
success.

From successes, I have learned principles and formulas that
worked. The ones I strive to replicate on a daily basis.

And from failures, I have learned things to avoid.

I have learned flaws in my thinking.

But importantly, many of my successes have come out of failure.

From tinkering ideas and plans that weren't quite working.

And making them work. And, these new ideas would never have
come to me had I not failed first.

Now, clearly my advice is not to hire failures or people
with a habit of failure. But, likewise, it's not to hire people
who claim to always succeed.

Since a balance between success and failure often provides
that winning combination of wisdom.

So, the next time you are interviewing a key employee, make
sure to ask about their failures.

Ask about tasks and jobs that they or their companies failed at.
And find out what they learned from that failure. It's a simple
question, but when you ask it, you'll find out some very interesting
answers. Try it.

Ideally they are the types of candidates that learned a lot
from their failures and were able to overcome them.

This is because the vast majority of growing companies fail
at things over and over again. It is their ability to constantly
modify and improve their businesses that enables them to excel.

Surround yourself with people that have this ability.

Well I hope this post will help you.

Have a great day and be the best you can be.
Nothing wrong with that.

Dr. Carney