(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:
   “What are you famous for?  If you’re not famous for something, you’re an undifferentiated commodity…and that will end badly
   …Donald Cooper.
    
2. Quick Biz Tip:
   Are you hiring talent…or just looking for ‘bodies’? 
    
   You can’t create an extraordinary business by hiring ‘ordinary’ people.  Many clients tell me, “I’m down 3 bodies.”  If you’re looking for ‘bodies’, you’ll hire ‘bodies’.  But, if you’re searching for ‘talent’, you’ll keep looking until you find ‘talent’.  We tend to find what we’re looking for.  Hire talent, not ‘bodies’.
    
   When you’re interviewing job candidates, first look for people who will fit with or elevate your Culture.  That’s a deal breaker. If they’re not a good fit, nothing else matters.
    
   Then, don’t just ask yourself if they can do the job you have for them ‘today’.  Ask yourself if they seem to have the qualities, drive, passion and attitude to do that job as it develops and evolves, and do they appear to be promotable to a bigger responsibility in the future?  If you never hire people who are promotable, you’re in big trouble down the road.
    
3. Vancouver airport now offers ‘therapy ponies’. Vancouver International Airport now has two ‘therapy ponies’, Magic and Tinkerbell, to comfort anxious flyers.  The airport, has long featured therapy dogs, but is the first in Canada to host ‘huggable’ ponies. 
    
4. Not so ‘Fun Fact’. In 2023, wildfires emitted the most carbon dioxide of any Canadian source …double that of the oil and gas industry.
    
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. Cement is the active ingredient in concrete, the most widely used material, after water. But, the production of cement is responsible for a greater share of carbon emissions than deforestation, global shipping and aviation combined.
       
      Tech startup, Carbon Re, has launched artificial intelligence (AI)-driven software to help cement producers optimize their processes and reduce their carbon emissions.

   2. Amazon just bought Bee AI, the maker of a new wearable AI wristband that will record everything in your day, including all conversations, and provide a summary of everything at the end of the day. Not creepy at all.

Now, to this week’s important topic:

 Is a culture of ‘us and them’ hurting your business?

A culture of ‘us and them’ is corrosive in any business.  Healthy, friendly and respectful competition between team members and departments can be an energizer and motivator…but ‘us and them’ is a killer and management needs to deal with it before it tears the business apart.  But, instead, management often ignores the situation or, even worse, fans the flames of ‘us and them’ in a bazaar belief that this is a good thing.  It is not.

I recently interviewed a gentleman who had been a very successful Parts Manager at a big car dealership.  He quit that job because of ‘us and them’.  The sales team at the dealership was praised, rewarded and pampered by management while both the Parts and Service Departments, who actually generated more profit for the business, were treated like 2^nd class citizens…and it hurt. 

‘Us and them’ can be between departments, divisions or functions within the business.  The sales team may put down the production folks by saying, “If we didn’t make the sales, you’d have nothing to produce!”  And production folks may razz the sales team by replying, “If we didn’t produce the product, you’d have nothing to sell!”  The truth is we’re all in the same boat and we should all row in the same direction…together. 

‘Us and them’ can also be between different ethnic groups within the business, or between folks who are different for some other reason.  This is a real killer and must not be tolerated.  Understanding, tolerance, respect, kindness and inclusion must (and can) prevail.     

Is an attitude of ‘us and them’ hurting any part of your business?  If so, who will fix that by creating a culture that honours everyone’s contribution to your growth and success?

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.