(Time to read this Blog is about 3 minutes)
Before we get to the main topic, here are a few things to get you thinking or smiling:
- My Biz Quote of the week:
“As a leader or manager, are you a sharer of knowledge, or a hoarder of knowledge? Sharing your knowledge grows your people and the business. Hoarding your knowledge so that you can micro-manage your people stifles, frustrates and drives top performers to leave, creates bottle-necks and makes your business unsalable.”
…Donald Cooper.
- Quick Biz Tip:
Do you love the work? A Biz Tip from Dolly Parton:
Sadly, we’ve lost the wonderfully talented, smart and human Dolly Parton…but her wisdom lives on. When asked, with all her millions, why she didn’t retire at almost 80 years of age, Dolly replied, “I always count my blessings more than I count my money. I don’t work for money, never did. It was the art, it was the job. I love the work!”
Do you ‘love the work’? Are you constantly committed to getting better at what you do? And, like Dolly, are you always looking for ways to make other’s lives better?
- Fun Trade War Fact. We keep hearing that the USA doesn’t need anything from Canada, but in 2025, the U.S. imported $160 billion worth of oil, gas and electricity from us.
- Via Rail’s dismal ‘on-time’ performance. Via Rail is Canada’s largest passenger rail carrier. In the passenger transportation business, safety and on-time performance are two of the most important metrics.
Last year, none of Via Rails passengers or crew died, but their on-time performance was an abysmal 35%. For comparison, on-time performance for trains in the U.S. was 72%, and in Europe, as high as 94%.
The business question for you is. ‘How are you performing on the things that matter most to your customers?” Do you even know for sure what they care about most and do you measure your performance in those areas? And, how do you use that info to get better?
- The robot race. Chinese factories now have over 2 mil production robots. Twice the number in the USA. For example, one Chinese factory has been able to reduce its human labour force from 700 to just 200 by install robots.
- AI update. Advanced concrete inspection uses artificial intelligence (AI) combined with drones and robots to detect surface and subsurface defects in concrete structures. It’s like an MRI for concrete.
Now, to this week’s important topic…
What can you learn from the best in the world at what you do?
Singapore’s Changi Airport (SIN), was recently named the world’s best airport for the 14th time. Changi boasts a whopping 247 restaurants and cafes and 16 lounges. It also has the world’s tallest indoor waterfall, a more than 80-foot-high walking net, a hedge maze, and more. I’ve been there many times…and everything about it is amazing! If you’re in the ‘Airport business’, this would be the place to study, if you want to get better.
Who is the best in the world at what you do? What can you learn from them? Have you studied them or, even better, visited them? If you can’t visit them ‘live’, study their website and online presence, their business model, their culture, their brand positioning and effective marketing.
- Who are the best at selling what you sell at the highest price? What can you learn from them about creating and delivering extraordinary customer experiences, recruitment, training and culture, pricing, branding and marketing?
- Who is the most successful at profitably selling the products or services that you sell at the lowest price? What can you learn from them about world-class operating efficiency, logistics, systems, processes, building trust, recruitment, training and culture, and effective marketing and branding?
- What can you learn about marketing, customer service excellence, efficiency, operations, recruitment, training and culture, and marketing from the world’s best in other industries? For example, every time you go to a restaurant, stay at a hotel or buy a new product, have you trained yourself to think about what they got right, what they didn’t…and how you could apply those insights to your biz?
A few years ago, I was asked to speak at several Conferences for the owners of Garden Centres. As a passionate gardener, I was stoked. As part of my research and prep, I asked Google who were the best Garden Centres in the USA, Great Britain, the Netherlands and New Zealand.
For days, I studied their websites, looked for innovative ideas and made tons of slides to show my Garden Centre audiences. They were amazed! Most of them had never thought to do this on-line research even though, every year, they had all winter with lots of time on their hands.
So, what will you do to learn from the best in the world at what you do and the best in the world at creating operational efficiency, high-performing cultures, extraordinary customer experiences and marketing that stands out and builds connections…and when will you start?
That’s it for this week…
Live brilliantly and be kind to each other!
Donald Cooper
