Full Steam Ahead!

Get Focused, Get Energized, Get Great Results!

Unleash the Power of Vision in Your Work and Your Life

Book by Ken Blanchard and Jesse Stoner

Book notes.

Business tips

From Tim Ferriss on http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2010/03/08/why-grow-and-other-wisdom-from-37signals/

• Small is not just a stepping-stone. Small is a great destination in itself.


• The easiest, most straightforward way to create a great product or service is to make something you want to use.
  
  
  
  • James Dyson - cyclonic, bagless vacuum cleaner.
  
  
  • Vic Firth - drumsticks.
  
  
  • Bill Bowerman - waffle sole in sports shoes.
  
  
  • Mary Kay Wagner - cosmetics.
  
  
  • "Solve your own problem" approach lets you fall in love with what you're making.
  
  
  • You know the problem and the value of its solution intimately.
  
  
  
  


• "Tone is in your fingers."
  
  
  
  • It's tempting for people to obsess over tools instead of what they're going to do with those tools.
  
  
  • People use equipment as a crutch. They're looking for a shortcut.
  
  
  • What really matters is how to actually get customers and make money.
  
  
  • It's not the gear that matters. It's playing what you've got as well as you can.
  
  
  
  


• Say no by default
  
  
  
  • "If I'd listened to customers, I'd have given them a faster horse." - HENRY FORD
  
  
  • Use the power of no to get your priorities straight.
  
  
  • You rarely regret saying no. But you often wind up regretting saying yes.
  
  
  • People avoid saying no because confrontation makes them uncomfortable.
  
  
  • Don't believe that "customer is always right" stuff, either. Making a few vocal customers happy isn't worth it if it ruins the product for everyone else.
  
  
  • If you're not willing to yield to a customer request, be polite and explain why. People are surprisingly understanding when you take the time to explain your point of view. You may even win them over to your way of thinking. If not, recommend a competitor if you think there's a better solution out there. It's better to have people be happy using someone else's product than disgruntled using yours.
  
  
  
  


• Recommends Rework - the first mainstream book by 37Signals.


• Recommends Basecamp - project management tool by 37Signals.


• Found another book "Getting Real" by 37Signals with online version available at http://gettingreal.37signals.com/toc.php


• Also saw on amazon their book "Defensive Design for the Web: How to improve error messages, help, forms, and other crisis points"