(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:

1. My Biz Quote of the week:
   “If you’re NOT clear about who you are, what you stand for and what your compelling value is, how will your customers know who you are?  Clarity starts with you”      
   …Donald Cooper.
    
2. Quick Biz Tip:
   Do you share your customers’ sense of urgency?

   Not sharing your customers’ sense of urgency is one of the biggest mistakes that a business can make.  It drives people nuts…and drives them away.  If they’re in a hurry, you need to respond quickly.  If their expectations about wait times are fundamentally unrealistic, try to manage their expectations.  If you can’t respond as quickly as they’d like, explain ‘why’, so they understand that you’re doing everything you can to look after them. 

   If they want to slow down, don’t rush or manipulate them.  They’ll hate you for that.

3. Our Government-run Canada Pension Plan oversees $700 billion of investments.  In 2021 16% of those investments were in Canadian securities.  Today, that number has fallen to just 12%.
    
4. ‘Fun Fact’. Chip maker, Nvidia’s market cap is now bigger than the entire stock markets of Canada, Australia, France, Spain and Saudi Arabia.
    
5. AI update. We keep hearing that AI will change or affect almost everything we do in business.  But most of the business owners and managers I speak with have very little understanding of  what this really means…and how to embrace AI.  So, each week, I’ll deliver a few examples to spark your creative juices.
   1. Rakovina Therapeutics’ AI-driven software reduces drug discovery time from 4 years to under 12 months.
   2. Vancouver-based technology company, ‘UnlockLand’ is using AI to simplify zoning and accelerate building development. Their platform interprets complex regulations and instantly generates compliant building plans. This gives small builders and individuals tools once reserved for large firms.
   3. AI is being used to design varieties of corn and other crops that are immune to pests, viruses and changing climates.

Now, to this week’s important topic:

Are smart phones hurting efficiency in your business        …and how are you addressing it?

The number of employees that I see focused on their smart phones, instead of their job, is frightening!   I just watched a landscape maintenance person operating a string trimmer (whipper-snipper) with one hand while texting someone with the other hand.  This piece of equipment requires two hands and a clear focus, so he was butchering the lawn.

At the Barcello Maya Palace Resort in Mexico last month, I watched the beach lifeguard sitting in his tower, face down, focused on his smart phone, without looking up once in 10 minutes to make sure that the hundreds of kids and families playing in the ocean were safe. 

The smart phone has become an addiction for many.  Here are some recent stats:

According to recent global data, the average person spends 4 hours and 37 minutes on their phone every day. That’s the equivalent of 70 days per year.

On average, they check their phones 58 times per day.  Almost 52% of those phone checks (30 per day) occur during work hours.

Here in Canada, the daily average is 2 hours and 46 minutes…and in the USA, it’s 3 hours and 22 minutes per day.

1. Gen Z  (ages 13 to 28)  average 6 hours and 5 minutes of screen time.  56% of them feel addicted to their smart phone.
2. Millennials  (ages 29 to 44)  average 4 hours and 36 minutes.  48% of them feel addicted.
3. Gen Xers  (ages 45 to 60)  average  4 hours and 9 minutes.  44% of them feel addicted.
4. Baby Boomers  (ages 61 to 79)  average 3 hours and 39 minutes.  29% of them feel addicted.

How big a problem is this in your business, how are you dealing with it…and how is it working?  I’d love to hear from you.

That’s it for this week…

Live brilliantly and be kind to each other!       

Donald Cooper 

Donald Cooper speaks and coaches internationally on management, marketing, and profitability.  He can be reached by email at donald@donaldcooper.com in Toronto, Canada.