Why Dreams are Not Realized

We live in a time of unparalleled innovation. This is the age of the entrepreneur. We are always hearing about twenty-or thirty-something geeks whose ideas go viral and, next thing you know, they are instant billionaires.

If only it really happened that way. The truth is the vast majority of ideas are doomed from the start. Most startups fail. And even some of the best-laid plans of industry-leading giants like Nokia, Sony  and Hewlett-Packard end in disaster.

Is it all just a question of luck and timing? Are we supposed to spend years investing in a concept, only to see it flop for no apparent reason and hope for better luck next time? Is it any consolation to pat each other on the back and say, "it sure seemed like a good idea at the time" or "back to the drawing board?"

Of course not, this is America, and we can do better than that. The trick is to understand that there's a big difference between invention and innovation, people don't always want to buy what you want to build, there are a whole lot of potential competitors out there, and often the devils in the details.

So whether you're an executive in a big company, a marketing manager, a business owner or pretty much anyone with a dream, here's a checklist of the 10 most common pitfalls to avoid, with some recent real-world examples.

Bad timing. Lots if new ideas are ahead of their time, meaning they lack necessary infrastructure or customer demand. Besides, there are all sorts of unintended consequences of bad timing. For example, announcing a product too far ahead of its availability -- like Research In Motion (RIM) did with the blackberry 10 platforms -- can freeze sales of existing products, a phenomenon known as the "Osborne Effect."

Everybody's doing it. All too often, people forget about a little thing called competition. If it's an idea worth doing, you can bet that others will follow, especially if the competitive barriers are easily surmountable. Think low-priced solar panels from China. Then there's Pandora. The Internet radio service was recently stunned by news that Apple was working on a competitive product.

It doesn't solve a big problem. We're always hearing about accidental ideas that become huge successes, like FaceBook and 3M's Post-It notes, but the overwhelming majority of concepts flop because nobody needs them. Inventors may come up with great ideas, but the trick is to turn them into products people can use. That's called innovation. It's also called good marketing.

Unpopular opinion. A lot of great ideas run into unforeseen issues that have nothing to do with the products themselves. Sometimes they're just unpopular or too far outside of cultural norms. For example, media reporting on the "lean, finely textured beef" that became known as "pink slime" decimated sales. Likewise, Aspartame's share of the artificial sweetener market was devastated by widely unsubstantiated claims and controversy.

Poor execution. It's great to love what you do, but if you don't know what you're doing all the passion in the world won't make you successful at it. There are many facets to every business and, when it comes to execution, the devil's usually in the details. Besides, some ideas aren't just hard to execute, they are just plain impractical. In other words, just because you're a foodie doesn't mean you should own a restaurant.

The numbers don't add up. For whatever reason, entrepreneurs, inventors and creative thinkers usually don't seem to have the bean-counter gene. Electric carmakers, for example, seem to be far better at wishful thinking than number crunching. Not only is the Tesla Roadster, the Fisker Karma and even the Chevy Volt pricey, some experts dispute Tesla’s insistence that he can make a profit selling the company's Model S sedan for $57,400. I happen to think they may be right.

Too much risk and too little synergy Megamergers like AOL-Time Warner and Sprint-Nextel failed primarily because due diligence on big acquisitions, even by public companies, is far less diligent than it should be in terms of evaluating risk and synergies. Then you've Sony going completely beyond its consumer electronics competency and venturing into the motion picture business, all the while touting synergies that never materialized.

Flawed assumptions. The Internet bubble spawned hundreds of what we used to call concept companies and IPOs based solely on the assumption that demand for communication bandwidth and infrastructure would increase exponentially, more or less indefinitely. The current malaise with internet stocks like Zynga, Groupon and FaceBook may or may not be analogous. Time will tell.

Where's the infrastructure? Nearly all products and services need some sort of infrastructure or ecosystem to achieve any kind of market success. Cars need refueling stations, light bulbs have to fit existing sockets, external computer and DVR storage must be compatible with standard connectors, and music and video services need content licenses. You'd be amazed how often entrepreneurs overlook the cost, time and risk associated with developing necessary ecosystems to support new product ideas.

Mismanagement. Maybe former HP CEO, Leo Apotheker had the right idea to transform the company into a software company, but the way to go about it wasn't to telegraph his plan to sell the company's $41 billion personal systems group more than a year in advance. All that succeeded in doing was confusing customers and getting him fired. If mismanagement can happen to HP, Nokia, Sony and hundreds of other big companies, it can certainly happen to you. 

Things to consider before terminating an employee

As a manager, one of the most difficult things you must do is fire a bad employee. Once you've made the decision there are five things you need to do before sitting down with the employee.

See if there is a better-fit elsewhere within the company. An employee that just does not work well in your department is not necessarily a bad employee. It just may be a mismatch. So before you fire someone for poor performance, look around and see if there is a spot where this person would be a great fit. Please note, this is not an instruction to dump your bad employee on some poor unsuspecting manager, but an instruction to look and see if there truly is something that would be a better fit. Be honest with your peers about the problems you've had and where you see this person's strengths.

Approve the termination all the way up. I know that you are the boss and what you say goes, but unless you own the company, you need to get formal approval from those above you. How far up the ladder depends on how big your company is and where you are on that ladder, but this always includes your boss. Why? Because people object to being fired and as part of their objection they are likely to complain. And sometimes your boss is an idiot who will demand that you reinstate the person. And you know what is worse than having a bad employee in your department? Having that bad employee still working because your boss overrode your decision. Get approvals and agreement before you terminate.

Get consensus sideways. Frequently, your employees have contact with other departments. These department heads don't manage your staff, but they do depend on them to get work done. (For instance, your team may provide the sales figures that operations use to do their product forecasting.) When you fire someone from your staff, you are directly affecting other groups. Explain what is going on and how you are going to meet this department's needs while you are searching for a replacement.

Consider how this is going to impact your whole team. Depending on the person's problems, your other staff may or may not see this coming. For instance, if the reason for termination is that your employee is frequently late, takes long lunches, and says rude things in staff meetings, your staff will breathe a sigh of relief when this slacker is finally gone. But, if he is making errors that only you see, is not driving sales as expected, or is an extremely smooth-talking slacker, they may be horrified that he's gone. This doesn't mean you should change your mind, it just means you need to take your remaining staff's reaction into consideration. Remember, their workload will increase when you fire this person. Think through what you will tell them, and how you will divide the work, and be prepared for fall out.

Dot all your i's and cross all your t’s. The need to terminate may seem so incredibly clear to you that there is no reason not to go ahead and terminate today. However, your company probably has procedures in place. These are not set up to annoy you or thwart you. They are set up to protect the company. If the policy is to place someone on a 30, (or 60 or 90) day performance improvement plan, do so. (Remember that if the person meets the conditions of the plan, you won't be firing him.) Check and double check with HR to make sure you're following internal procedures and that all employees are treated similarly. (If your employee has done X wrong but last year a different employee also did X wrong but was not terminated, you may be exposing the company to lawsuits by terminating.) HR needs to sign off as well. It's their job to protect the company.

Doing these things before you terminate someone help ensure that things go smoothly; they will, of course, still be painful, but looking for potential problems in advance will help you and the remaining staff.

Burn Out: The signs of Employee Exhaustion

Are you working too long and too hard? Could you achieve more by doing less? Professional athletes are susceptible to over-training -- thinking they must run another mile, do more stairs, or does one more set. But there is a narrow band that the athlete must train within in order to operate at peak performance. If they fall below this line, then they are not physically prepared enough. Rise above this line and they risk injury and physical exhaustion. Are you any different from an athlete who needs to perform at your peak? My experience says no. In fact, it's a tricky balance I'm often helping my clients find and sustain.

Dr. Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz first introduced us to the term "corporate athlete" in their book, The Power of Full Engagement. They argue that the corporate demands placed on all of us to work more, do more and to operate at a constant level of peak performance requires us to think and train like athletes. That means managing your energy more effectively and not succumbing to over-training -- doing more and more and getting less and less.

How do you know if you are "over-training" and need to take a break? Here are five common symptoms of doing too much and not operating at peak performance:

1. Hopelessness. When you are feeling burned out, the optimism and goal planning for the future you once felt are replaced with apathy, pessimism and just a general feeling that tomorrow will not be better than today. It's hard to get motivated when nothing seems to matter.

2. Exhaustion. If you find yourself downing an ever-increasing amount of coffee and energy shots just to stay conscious, chances are you're working too hard and need a break. Exhaustion occurs when the body doesn't have sufficient ability to rest and recuperate. Caffeine is just a Band-Aid -- it's covering up the fact that something is wrong. You shouldn't need 500mgs of caffeine to make it through the day. This is a telltale sign that you are performing beyond your limits.

3. Lack of focus. Another way to tell when you are pushing beyond your limits is when you are simply unable to focus on one thing at a time. Often this will creep up at home as well when you find that it's more and more difficult to engage your children or spouse without feeling compelled to text or email. If you find you are having more and more difficulty working on a project or communicating with your family without getting sidetracked, it's time to disengage from work for a while.

4. Irritability. If you are on edge and overreacting to every little issue, it's a sign that you have nothing left in the tank -- every bit of energy you had for humor, compassion, and creativity is gone and all that remains is blame, contempt, and frustration. If this describes you, it's time to do yourself (and your colleagues!) a favor and refill the tank.

5. Physical illness. Athletes are prone to injury when they over train, but while it's unlikely you will tear a muscle during your next presentation; you may experience physical maladies if you've been working too hard and too long. Common physical problems include headaches, digestion problems, back or neck pain and even getting colds or the flu. These are all signs that your body is breaking down from the demands and stress you are putting on it. Time to take a break.

The need to always be "on" and to work more and more hours can lead to over-training and burnout. While you'll still see results -- it's hard not to when you're working 12 hours a day -- what you do accomplish will take ever increasing amounts of energy and focus to continue to achieve. Instead, find your optimum performance zone where you feel rested, engaged and challenged so you can achieve more by doing less.

Negotiating: Getting what you need

As far as career skills go, negotiating is a useful one for the workplace. From snagging the salary you want; to getting your first pick of project, being able to massage a situation comes in handy. In Getting More: How You Can Negotiate to Succeed in Work and Life, author and negotiation expert Stuart Diamond shares the tips he teaches to his students at The Wharton School and executives at the 200 Fortune 500 companies for which he's consulted. His research on negotiation spans 20 years of research, was conducted in 45 countries and used data from 30,000 people. Here are four of his tips for never-fail negotiating:

Don't think about "winning.” Negotiation is not a competition; it's collaboration. Instead of winning, you should focus on meeting your goals. "If you think of it as 'winning,' you will think about beating them. And if you do that, you will not collaborate as much," says Diamond. Define your goals and ask yourself if your actions are helping you meet them.

Ask what you can do for them. Negotiation is a give and take, and asking how you can help the other person can go a long way. "In order to get your needs met, they have to feel, first, that you are willing to meet their needs. For instance, when interviewing for a job or asking for a raise or promotion, ask the company official what needs they want met," says Diamond. Then, discuss how you might meet their needs -- and vice versa.

Uncover any misconceptions. Diamond says people often have a closer viewpoint than they think, and an angry approach can prevent you both from seeing how close you really are. Instead of expressing your distaste for their viewpoint, ask them to clarify it. "Anytime you have a conflict with someone, ask what the parties are perceiving, whether there is a mismatch and, if so, why. Also, knowing their perceptions gives you a better starting point for persuasion, because you understand the pictures in their heads," says Diamond.

Never threaten or walk out. Ultimatums and walkouts make agreements a near impossibility, says Diamond. His favorite example is the NBA lockout of the past year. "The National Basketball Association wasted $800 million in a shortened season when the parties refused to deal with each other in a constructive negotiation setting, wasting precious time that could have been used to get a deal." Keep your emotions in check or you'll be checking out of your negotiation.

Becoming Extraordinary in Business

These days it's popular to complain about CEOs having all this wealth and power, how the "1 percent" has all the advantages, it's not what you know but who you know, the rich keep getting richer and all that.

You'd think CEOs were born with the title, like royalty, or just fell right out of the sky into a cushy corner office chair. The same goes for big successful companies these executives run. They didn't start out that way. 

So before I blow a gasket, I'm going to try to explain how this really works to all the know-it-alls who actually have no idea what they're talking about and yet somehow always seem to have the loudest voices. I'm going to explain how ordinary people and businesses become extraordinary.

And you know what? I'm going to explain it in a way that everyone can understand.

There's a great movie with Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver called "Galaxy Quest" in which a bunch of washed-up actors from a cult space TV show -- a Star Trek knockoff -- somehow end up in the middle of a real-life interstellar battle to save an alien race from genocide.

With the aliens' and their own lives at stake, the bungling, terrified actors somehow find the courage to step up to the plate and live up to their show's heroic motto: "Never give up, never surrender." In the end they save the alien race from extinction and rid the universe of a bad guy who ranks right up there with Darth Vader.

Let me tell you something. Climbing the corporate ladder and building a successful business in the real world can be exactly like that. It takes tremendous courage, resourcefulness and perseverance in the face of brutal competition and adversity that often seem impossible to overcome.

That's why the movie resonated with me like it did. There were definitely times over the past 30 years when I felt like those actors. Times when my relatively small team and company, underfunded and under-resourced, went up against gigantic, scary companies like Microsoft (MSFT) and Intel (INTC).

There were times when I wasn't at all sure I was up to the challenge. There were times when I felt hopeless, even washed up. But I never gave up and I never surrendered. And every successful corporate executive and business leader goes through the exact same thing for years and years. Entire companies, too.

When you denigrate Big Oil, Big Pharma or Big Telecom, you're missing the simple fact that big companies are nothing but small companies that became really successful through decades of remarkable effort. And people who worked their tails off to overcome extraordinary challenges and hardships lead them all. People just like you.

Exxon Mobil (XOM) CEO Rex Tillerson grew up in a small town in Texas, got a degree in civil engineering and started out as an entry-level engineer at the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, which had just changed it's name to Exxon. As the company grew, Tillerson climbed the ladder, finally becoming chief executive 31 years later.

Former Verizon (VZ) CEO Ivan Seidenberg began his career as a cable splicer's assistant right out of high school. Decades later he became head of NYNEX, a Regional Bell Operating Company, and through subsequent mergers with Bell Atlantic and GTE became CEO of newly formed Verizon in 2000.

AT&T (T) CEO Randall Stephenson joined the Oklahoma information technology department of Southwestern Bell right out of school in 1982; His predecessor, Ed Whitacre Jr., started out as a facility engineer, also at Southwestern Bell. He worked his way up to CEO, acquired one company after another, and eventually grew a "Baby Bell" into today's AT&T.

There's a common mantra these days that corporations are not people. Yes, they are. Starbucks (SBUX) founder and CEO Howard Schultz grew up not far from where I did in Brooklyn, New York. Steve Ballmer, the often-demonized chief executive of Microsoft, grew up In Detroit. His father worked for Ford (F).

A good friend of mine, a former CEO, just bought a beautiful estate in one of the nicest parts of Los Angeles. He has all sorts of fancy cars. But he didn't start that way. He worked for decades, first at a research lab, then as an entrepreneur at a few startups until one finally took off and went public.

All these people are just like you and me. They all came from working families. And their companies were no different from any small or midsize business. The only difference is that they and the employees of their companies worked tirelessly, faced extreme adversity, overcame the  obstacles and made it. They never gave up and never surrendered.

That's how ordinary people and companies beat the odds and became extraordinary.