Paul Smith on juggling in business

Over lunch I picked up one of my favourite books, Paul Smith's You Can Find Inspiration in Everything - (And If You Can't, Look Again). I picked it up because – surprise, surprise, I was looking for inspiration on a project.

And I was struck by two quotes I found in the book:

"My job is a bit like jugglers that spin plates on poles. Keeping them all spinning perfectly is difficult. There is always one which starts to wobble when you are designing 19 collections a year, have more than 25 shops, 450 staff and are the chairman of the company".

"The reason I’ve been successful is because I’ve just got on and packed boxes, and I know that VAT means Value Added Tax not vodka and tonic. I’ve sold on the shop floor; I’ve typed invoices. At some point I’ve done everything, and I’ve always kept my head above water financially. Nevertheless, I’m extremely nervous about becoming a businessman and not a designer".

Turning ideas into reality

Introducing Harry Drnec

With 4 ‘Juggle Tapes’ in the can, we’ve been filming new ones.

Yesterday, I interviewed Harry Drnec. Harry Drnec is a marketing expert and entrepreneur who’s spent much of his career in the drinks industry. Born in Chicago, he started out as a US Air Force pilot in Vietnam before going to business school and embarking on a career in marketing. After working with brands including Budweiser and Gallo Wines he came to UK and in the ‘90s he made brands like Sol Beer and Snapple famous in the UK. Harry was then CEO of Red Bull UK, where be transformed a company that was losing money into a market leader. He is now Chairman of a carbonated drinks company; he’s involved in a technology start-up; he’s advising a car manufacturer; he’s on the board of several other companies; plus he has a farm in Suffolk that rears rare breed cattle and pigs. He’s a juggler and loving it!

Harry was excellent company and we have recorded some great material on the benefits and challenges of going from a life doing one thing to a life juggling many. It should go live on Viddler in a few weeks.

Why Kevin Roberts Likes To Juggle

In my second in the series of The Juggle Tapes I went to Paris to interview Kevin Roberts. Kevin is CEO Worldwide of Saatchi & Saatchi - one of the world’s leading creative organisations with a team of over 7,000 people across 83 countries. He is also the inaugural CEO in Residence at Cambridge University’s Judge Business School, he’s Chairman of USA Rugby, and a Director of New Zealand Telecom. He is the author of ‘Lovemarks’ and ‘The Lovemarks Effect’.

In the interview recorded on the roof of the Publicis building in Paris Kevin reveals his secrets for success – it’s all about juggling. These are the principles at the heart of his business success:

« 'Jugglers are living the most liberated, free, entrepreneurial, inspirational lives'

« ‘It’s not about work/life balance; it’s about work/life integration. I don’t want to balance my life, I want to blast it to the max'

« ‘Only do the stuff you enjoy.. just choose the things you are passionate about’

« ‘I tend to run things by imagination, intuition and inspiration’

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

It’s all about stories

I went to an event at Writtle College in Essex today billed as ‘Grow Your Business In Challenging Times’. Actually it was somewhat wrongly billed as the content was more about the importance of design in business. There were a number of speakers throughout the day but what struck me as I travelled home with a colleague was that the speakers who stood out were those with the interesting stories to tell (stories about their lives, their businesses, their ups and downs). From software entrepreneur Doug Richard and Landscape Architect Liz Lake through to the designer Wayne Hemingway and a young Dutch guy Philip Hess, whose company has designed an innovative umbrella – they all had good stories to tell. Stories that we could relate to, learn lessons from, and stories that entertained.

And whatever else they are about: at their most basic, that’s what my books ‘Leap!’ and ‘Juggle!’ are about; they are about my own story in life and business.

So forget crafting a detailed presentation on business strategy – just tell your story.

Surviving in A Tough Climate

There’s a lot of pessimism out there about business and enterprise but as I have said before I believe there are also a lot of opportunities out there too.
If you can launch a new business or survive building one during a downturn, then that’s a good basis for future business success.

3 ever-so-obvious ingredients for success:

1) Focus on a niche; don’t try and be all things to all people.

2) Keep it lean; keep overhead to an absolute minimum.

3) Work bloody hard.

Watch the video

Think about new benchmarks for success

At the heart of living the Juggle life is the need to redefine success; because when you juggle stuff you do for money with stuff you do for love, it’s not just about the salary anymore.

Traditionally, business success was all about Status and Salary. Even today, a friend of mine who’s job hunting proclaimed that his primary motive is to get a job that ‘earns as much money as possible’.

(Nothing wrong with that) But that’s not mine.

Measuring success is not about those traditional benchmarks. For many of us, it’s less about where you are on the corporate ladder, what position you occupy, what your perceived status is, and what your earnings are. Instead success is more about such indicators such as passion, happiness, fulfilment and lifestyle.

So instead of asking yourself whether you’re going to get a pay-rise this year or get promoted to a position with a bigger salary try introducing some other benchmarks. Ask yourself:

« Is this role something I feel totally passionate about?
« Do I work with a bunch of people who enrich and stimulate me?
« Is my job an extension of my DNA; is the Work Me the Real Me?
« Do I have the autonomy and flexibility I want?
« Do I get to ‘make a difference’ in this organisation?

Don’t be an unhappy overpaid executive (because what’s the point in that?), consider more important benchmarks in your career development.