2011 New Years Resolution - graphic style

 

I borrowed this graphic from the gaping void people.  I love it!.  It totally encapsulates my state of mind and philosophy for 2011.

You can see the original version by clicking here, or you can view more by heading over to gapingvoidgallery.com.

My 2011 work and business goals

My 2011 work goals aren't as well defined or laid out as my 2010 goals.  That may change as the year proceeds but in the meantime here are the areas I am focussing on -

• Knowledge.  I need to increase my knowledge and robustness of understanding for my workplace and the various areas of knowledge therein.
• Relaxation.  This year I will worry less about trying to get somewhere and be someone.  instead I will focus on enjoying what I and my team are challenged with.
• Expansion.  2011 is a year for growing both personally and socially.  In 2010 the social area was one that I did miserably in as far as my workplace.  This year I aim to correct that.
• Value add.  This is my key work goal for 2011.  I want to be able to add value to my job, my team and those around me through who I am, what I know and who I know.  This is the area that I really want to nail and do well. 

With some hard work and sweat mixed in with a dash good luck hopefully I will succeed.  If I can straing all these areas together then I am sure I will continue to 'go places'.

Signs of the Times

Weather forecasting is a vital science that can determine success or failure for so many different businesses.  For example farmers need to know when to harvest the hay.  Fishermen need to know when a good time is to set out to harvest the fish.

The same goes for all businesses and organisation.  Every business and organisation has it's own peculiar patterns and rhythms.  The key is being unable to understand when the various patterns occur, what causes the patterns to take place and when the pattern can be expected to change.

Here are a few thoughts that will hopefully assist you to forecast what is happening with the "weather" -

• Sales/income.  Everything hinges on the amount of income being generated.  A subset of this is customers.  Start measuring - new customers vs returning customers.
• Time.  The more data you have the more power you have.  Creating long term trend lines and charts will help you to see the big picture and understand anomalies such as timing differences that may be seasonal.
• Relevant data.  You need to measure and understand the industry which you work within.  Understanding an industry or business that is unrelated = a nice hobby but nit much else.

Here are a few indicators we use in education -

• New students.
• Existing and returning students.
• Number of students passing vs number of students failing.
• Capital investment.
• Finances.

Measuring and keeping data on the important statistics for your business or organisation is vital to maintain health and vitality.  And if you can;t stay healthy - you can at least dianose where the issues are.

I found this great article written by Gary Collier which also has some brilliant ideas and thoughts in it.

(Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/digitaljournal/4147617314/)