#206: Obstacles to your purpose

What are the obstacles to becoming a non-profit organization?

That’s what someone asked me recently. I was dumb-struck for a moment because so many obstacles suddenly cluttered my head. There are legal ones and organizational ones and compliance and operational and... the list goes on.

But then I remembered that there is only one real obstacle. This obstacle applies to all organizations, even money-making ones. And it never quite goes away.

Here it is: it is your reason for being. Are you sure that your organization has a purpose that society values enough to allow it to exist?

If people don’t value your purpose, then they won’t support it with their money, whether in the form of donations or purchases. Without their money, you will have no positive cash flow. And no cash flow means no future.

Get your purpose right and all those other obstacles will shrink. It really is that simple.


I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA

#205: Do the want-to stuff again and again

Do you want to be suddenly successful? Sure, who doesn’t. But how?

To be suddenly successful, you must practice success gradually and consistently. But what should you practice?

Here’s what I suggest. What are you likely to practice consistently? That which you love doing. Doing what you love is easy to do and easy to practice. It’s the other stuff that’s not.

Doing what you want to do is ‘living’. Doing what you feel you must do, is ‘survival’.

There’s little satisfaction in living if it is based on doing the must-do stuff without ever getting to the want-to stuff. The only good reason to do some of that must-do stuff now is if it will help you get to the want-to stuff next.

But get to the want-to stuff you must, because if you do what you love doing, again and again, you will be rewarded by being suddenly successful.



I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA

#204: Practice going broke

Ernest Hemingway pointed out that the way we go broke is ‘gradually, and then suddenly.’ What he did not add is that the opposite is also true. Success comes gradually, then suddenly.

The same happens to organizations: they go broke gradually and then suddenly. But they also become successful gradually, then suddenly.

Many successful people have demonstrated that to be suddenly successful you must take time to practice success gradually and consistently. I am pleased to say that I have worked with senior executives who obviously know this.

Sadly, I have also worked with the other type. These executives are pretty good when times are good, but at the slightest sign of financial trouble, they immediately practice going broke.

How do I know that? Because they focus on cutting costs, even at the expense of growing their sales.

Gradually, their costs come down, and suddenly, so does their business.


I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA

#203: Practice being suddenly successful

With the economy stuttering, it is only natural for many of us to worry about our finances because, as Ernest Hemingway wrote in his book ‘The Sun Also Rises’, we go broke ‘gradually, and then suddenly.’

Yes, our finances gradually get worse until... bang.

That’s the bad news. Here’s the good news. The opposite is equally true. How do you become successful? Gradually, then suddenly.

Most successful people will tell you that they struggled for quite some time before they became successful. And many will even admit that they often came close to giving up.

But of course they did not. They carried on and got better at it. That’s exactly what the famous golfer Gary Player meant when he said, ‘the more I practice, the luckier I get.’

You see, to be suddenly successful you must practice success gradually and consistently. So, get out there and practice being successful.


I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA

#202: At the top of the pyramid

As I explained last week, I like my leaders to be on top of the organizational pyramid.

Now let me tell you why I prefer a pyramid hierarchy to some of these fancy modern designs, like the wagon-wheel with the customer at the center.

A pyramid structure clearly shows the hierarchy of power and status. But it also shows the hierarchy of responsibility and accountability.

When it comes to execution of plans and delivering on promises made to customers and stakeholders, then responsibility and accountability matter. And it matters that we all know where the buck really stops.

Which part of the pyramids in Egypt is visible from afar? Yes, the pointy bit at the top.

I think that many modern business problems stem from the fact that many people at the top do not realize that we can see them clearly. And that it is very clear to us when they are not stopping the buck where it is supposed to be stopped.


I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am

#201: Be present to change now

Change is difficult if you are not present. Consider this: Most of us live in any time zone except the present moment.

Why? Because of guilt and fear. We fill today with remorse for a yesterday that should have been different and clutter the present with dreams of a better tomorrow. And so we suffocate the life out of the moment.

Guilt keeps us remorseful about the past. Fear keeps us doubtful about the future. Together they keep us absent from the here-and-now. Together they trick us into playing what-should, what-might and what-if games.

We forget that the past and the future do not exist right now. It is simply our guilt and our fear which trap us in a time that does not exist.

Perceived change happens in the past or the future, but actual change happens in the moment. Change is easier if you are present... by being free of guilt and fear in the moment of change.


I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am

#200: The key aspect of leadership

Tell me, what is the key aspect of leadership?

I bet that we could come up with a bucket full of words, such as visionary, inspiring, commanding, and so on. Yes, these characteristics are all necessary for effective leadership. But is there one aspect that is critical above all others? I think so.

It is the ability to see the overall picture. Not only to see it, but to understand it, to make sense of it and to share it in a way that enables others to act appropriately.

That’s why I prefer my leaders at the top of the organizational pyramid. The higher the pyramid, the better the view.

But be warned.

Being on top means that you had better stay on top of things because others depend on your view of the bigger picture. Never forget that you are up there because you are standing on their supporting shoulders. Let them down and they will let you down, hard.


I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am

#199: Time to wipe the slate clean

Why is it more difficult to change as we get older? Blame it on time.

Time enables us to frame our experiences as past- present- future. If we were to experience time as only now, then we would find it impossible to make sense of events.

Our memory of many yesterdays creates the comfort that there will be a tomorrow. And therein lies the problem. Memory creates the illusion that the future will be a continuation, an extension, of the past.

The more yesterdays we have accumulated, the more we approach the future expecting continuity, not disruption. That is why we find it so difficult to ‘start over’ and to ‘begin anew’.

Infants do not have many yesterdays. To them, every day is a blank slate, a new beginning full of surprises and adventures.

Change would be so much easier if every day was a clean slate. But with age, it seems, a clean slate is only possible if memory is wiped clean.


I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am