BizWiz Blog

I promised a review of the said book and here it is. I apologize to everyone for not doing this earlier, but I had to read every chapter twice or thrice to ensure I got the message. And it's not such a bad thing, since this book is excellent for reasons which I will detail below.

Outliers: The Story of Success is a compilation of the author's analysis of the lives of people who are successful. Perhaps more accurately, the book is about the story behind the story of success. Let me explain first the title: Outliers. An "outlier" is a term in statistics, which roughly translated to layman's terms, is "someone who is out of the ordinary or above average." They are the minuscule few who are exceptional in what they do.

Now, as I said, the book is about the story behind the story. I'll start with an example most familiar to us which is also included in the book: Bill Gates, founder of the behemoth Microsoft. He was the world's richest man and now he's doing charity work. All of you will agree that what he accomplished is simply extraordinary. He is a true outlier. And I think he's popular enough that everyone knows he dropped out of college to start his own company that eventually dominated the world of computers via their product Microsoft Windows. Was it just luck? The answer is "no." The book details how, by a series of extraordinary events and extraordinary effort, did Bill Gates achieve his lofty perch. It's not that he dropped out of college, but what happened even before that, the countless hours of labor he did with computers certainly come into play, coupled with opportunities. The details are in the book, which I will not spoil here. =)

The secret behind Bill Gate's success is also reflected in the phenomenal performance of many Chinese at math. Was it genetics that makes them good at numbers? The answer is "no" and the book tells you how early in life, Chinese children already have an edge against their non-Chinese counterparts which carries on throughout their life.

The book discusses other examples of outliers and how they become successful. I would recommend this book to everyone, but with a bit of caution: it's easy after reading this book to blame circumstance, heritage or family background for one's failures. As strange as it may seem, that is valid - to a point. But what Gladwell beautifully points out is that everyone just needs a chance. That is it. One doesn't need the best opportunities in the world, one doesn't need to be the smartest kid or have the most favorable background but just a chance to get a shot to be good in his or her endeavor, to be a success.

I think the challenge here, for us entrepreneurs, is to open new vistas so that everyone else can have a shot for a successful life. It may be in the form of a life-changing product or service, opportunities for employment or charitable work to help the less fortunate be equipped and prepared to aspire to be the best they can in life.

It's just a chance, but what a wold of difference it can make.

When I had a talk with one of my mentors a few months back, we had a deep discussion on how to achieve success. Success is, to most people, elusive. It seems to be always around the corner or peeking underneath a bush and yet when sought it seems to vanish, only to reappear again from a distance. It's tiring at times to try to grasp success and thus that's the reason, we think, why very few select people manage to achieve it.

Success is a vague thing at times and is hard to define. I think there is about as many definitions of success as there are talks about it! And yet almost everyone has some sort of visual representation of what success is. A father might think of it as growing old with his loving wife and children whom all graduated and have good jobs. To an employee, it might be to be at the top of the corporate ladder. To an entrepreneur it could be that his ventures are thriving, his profits multiplying.

And yet despite the differences in perspective there are some qualities that successful people might posses - that they are highly respected and deeply satisfied with their work.

Being both in the business of training people, me and my mentor tried to formulate a discernible patter on how one might achieve success. We came up with three things. These may not work for everyone, but these three helped us - and the people we train - on the road to success.

The first one is passion. And there two parts of passion. The first half is the passion for success. This is the drive to be successful no matter what it take, for how long it takes. This is what pushes us forward despite the bumps on the road (challenges), despite weight of the cargo (our past). One of my personal favorite story of passion is that of Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. They are authors of the hugely successful Chicken Soup for the Soul series. They self-published the book, which means they got no marketing assistance from a dedicated publisher. That can make a budding writer have cold feet. But as Mark says in a newsletter I received, they had to be creative and innovative in marketing. Failure was not an option to them because their families depended on them. After two years, the book did get into the best sellers list. The rest is history.

The second is passion for what you do. I can't think of a better example than our own local cosplayer Alodia Gosiengfiao. Cosplaying (from the word costume roleplay) is dressing up as an another character and acting like the character. At first, Alodia was just doing it as a hobby. She joins cosplay events where hundreds of participants showcase their creativity. Nowadays she's a well known model. And she's about to take her cosplaying to new heights: apparently there's a possibility that she'll play as a character in the movie adaptation of the highly popular video game World of Warcraft. I have to mention also that she plays video games, including the aforementioned title. Not a bad path for a career only a few people can dream of that resulted from a hobby.

Indeed passion drives people forward. Yet passion must be directed to be successful. In my next post, I'll reveal what we decided as the second piece of the puzzle that completes a picture of success.

Till then!

By Jason Estimado

Quite often, I hear or read these lines: "invest in stocks; they’ll go up in value;" "invest in land; it’s always in demand;" "invest in a business; it will give you extra income;" and the list goes on. Rarely, however, have I ever been advised or reminded to invest in myself.

What kinds of investments am I talking about here? Should I invest on a new music player... an iPod perhaps? Should I invest in a new laptop for my presentations? Or, should I invest in a new facial care treatment to make myself look younger? While I am definitely tempted to invest in that last one, the investments I am talking about here are those that may give me enormous returns in the future.

It is important to note, however, that the investments I am talking about here might not give us immediate returns. I’d like to think of them as fertilizer (perhaps not the best metaphor), that will help seeds grow and bear produce one day... [more]

Turnover, lackluster productivity and apathy are just some of the challenges that corporate executives face with their present manpower. Many managers have tried many different techniques to motivate their team; yet most of these techniques are temporary, at best. Perhaps, it’s time for a change. Perhaps, it’s time for your employees to adapt an “entrepreneurial mindset”!

Surprised? Don’t be. There is growing evidence that espousing an “entrepreneurial mindset” in your employees actually supports growth in sales and employment, increases corporate performance, and unleashes employee potential. This may all seem a little hard to accept right now, especially since most HR Professionals have been taught otherwise; but just think about it for a minute...

The famous philosopher, Aristotle, once wrote, "Man’s life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals"; and this is the basis of an “entrepreneurial mindset”. Employees with this type of mindset are driven more by results rather than by routine. This means that both the company and the individual reap immediate rewards in profit, performance, and sense of purpose. If your employees are motivated by “their own goals” and if they see your company as a means of reaching them, they are, in turn, encouraged and taught to use their ingenuity, invest themselves in their work, and reach for their goals by helping your company achieve its goals.... [more]

Be a part of the B.E.S.T. (Basic Entrepreneur Skills Training) Workshop and unlock the Mysteries of Entrepreneurship! Join us from 9:00am to 5:00pm, on February 27 and 28, 2010, at the SMX Convention Center (Meeting Room 10), SM Mall of Asia and find out why everyone is raving about B.E.S.T.!

Tickets are available at all TICKETNET Outlets located in all SHOEMART (SM) Customer Service Centers. For INQUIRIES and RESERVATIONS, please call 911-5555 or visit www.ticketnet.com.ph.

Our initial two (2) runs have proven that B.E.S.T. is, indeed one of the “best” workshops on entrepreneurship in the country today. This unique training seminar focuses on "Demystifying Entrepreneurship” by conjuring up a Fun, Magical and Highly Effective way of schooling our apprentices (learners) on the proper way of doing business. By dedicating a large portion of the workshop to enjoyable and enhanced learning activities and spells, B.E.S.T. enkindles basic entrepreneurial attitudes and skills, like goal-orientation, perseverance, creative-thinking, teamwork and courage; making B.E.S.T. a practical enhancement workshop for Employees, Managers, Executives, OFWs and yes… even Entrepreneurs.

So, don’t miss out on the B.E.S.T. Workshop ever!

For further inquiries, you may also contact BizWiz Resources at 830-0205 loc. 11 or through our direct line (812-2977); or email us at info@bizwizresources.com or marketing@bizwizresources.com. We will be more than happy to answer your queries.

Bona Fortuna Semper!