by Creel Price on February 16, 2012
I spent some time over the break reading Steve Jobs’ biography written by Walter Isaacson. A tomb of a book I was told to read by a host of ex-staff and friends claiming ‘Creel, he’s just like you.’ Well sure I hadn’t revolutionized the technology industry and founded the most valuable company in the world, but I did have what you might call a rather quirky leadership style.
So already feeling quite chuffed that Steve the world changer and Creel ‘never invented anything’ Price may have had some things in common, I sat down to read with great anticipation. However, it only took the first few chapters before I developed an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. I realised that I had none of Jobs’ techno-genius, eye for design or perfectionism. I wasn’t adopted and didn’t spend my university years on LSD, nor did I have a track record of weird diets or a well-publicized fight with disease. Rather in a process of elimination I figured my friends thought I had all of his not so great characteristics that included rudeness, control freak tendencies and what x-apple staff termed his ‘Reality Distortion Field’. Essentially; a tendency to make up your own reality and then proceed to brainwash those close to you to believe you are right.
So as self-justification for what I realise was my default leadership style, and to protect his enduring legacy, I have reverse engineered this seeming fault of Steve Jobs’ into a positive. Essentially some reasons why every entrepreneur who aspires to make a difference in the world needs a reality distortion field.
Here are five ways to embrace your inner Reality Distortion Field:
1. Expect More – Jobs asked a lot of his staff to stick to deadlines they thought improbable and achieve advances they thought impossible. By expecting more it is uncanny how often people rise to the occasion. As a leader your job is to inspire your staff to stretch. Their joint pride in achieving unlikely goals will soon make them forget the long hours, enormous stress and self doubt they experienced to get there.
2. Forget the Facts – When Jobs didn’t want to believe something he didn’t. If research or past history went against what he wanted he disregarded it. His board commissioned research proving why they shouldn’t proceed with retail stores and voted against it but Jobs did it anyway. Becoming some of the most successful stores in retail history. Research isn’t always right. If you believe then proceed.
3. Ideas aren’t Owned – Jobs was famous for putting down someone else’s idea and then shortly thereafter suggesting it as his own brilliant idea. Why did this work? A leader needs to be inspired about the creation of something new and special. They need the validation that their ideas are genius. A small change to an idea or how it is executed is still original and can make all of the difference and whether it will be successful or not. Ideas aren’t owned, they are a collaboration of people’s voiced or un-voiced thoughts but ultimately need to be championed by the leader.
4. Believe your own Publicity – Jobs’ mind was often away in the future yet he was very mindful of how he was perceived. You need to create big shoes to fill and wear them as if you have the feet of giants. You need to project your better self regardless of the past facts that dispute this. Only then can you become the man or woman you strive to be.
5. Dream the Impossible – Too many business people are all about incremental improvement. Jobs was about major advances because he dreamt the impossible. When no one believes your idea is possible then you may well be onto something. Don’t get dragged down by the 90% of the population who can’t see into the future unless there is proof in the present. Dream of the new world order and how you can make it happen.
R.I.P – Steve Jobs you were an inspiration to so many on so many levels. Thank you for showing us even your supposed faults were in fact part of your genius.
by Creel Price on April 4, 2011
Attending our second Sydney Kids’ markets at the Carriage Works yesterday brought me back to earth on two levels. The first is that it’s been over 3 months since my last blog post. Literally days after the inaugural Club Kidpreneur markets in December (the subject of my last blog post), we were blessed with the arrival of my firstborn – Connor John Price. It’s been the most amazing adventure to ever happen in my life – hopefully you can forgive the temporary MIA sign in my cyberworld. To see how quickly Connor (Australia’s latest aspiring kidpreneur) has grown and developed in 3 months has been truly a life changing experience – and one where I was determined to spend every last minute involved up to my arm pits – which included minutes previously allocated to my blog.
In one of my key-notes to entrepreneurs I often parady how they seem to start their businesses naively thinking it will be a “walk in the park” – an amazingly joyful experience where they think within months that they can build their business up to a stage that they can do what they want, when they want with the people they want to do it with. Unfortunately, it’s not long before their walk in the park soon becomes a “struggle in the dark” – at which point I show a picture of Bear Grylls (from Man vs Wild fame) emerging from the jungle as if he has been in World War III– usually to knowing looks of ‘that’s exactly what my business feels like’.
Well after 3 months of fatherhood I seem to be waking each morning to look in the mirror to see a similar Bear Grylls character staring back from another sleepless night – so I’m tossing up whether to start my own show entitled “Man vs Child”. Stay tuned . . .
The second thing that brought me back to earth was the power of kids to get out there and get stuff done. A message many of us procrastinating entrepreneurs could take a lesson from. Our markets have grown by 400% to almost a hundred mini stalls over two shifts – with kids selling everything from plants, to cup-cakes, smoothies, bookmarks, Easter cards, figurines, jewellery, candles, and all manner of inventions including pillows with tooth fairy pockets. Lessons learnt varied from giving free tasters, sandwich board promotions and the JJ Lemon Slicers Jennifer and Jasmin who learnt that $1 / piece was obviously too cheap and increased it to $3 and they still sold out. This exerpt from an email Luka Farquhar (we think age 11) sent us after the event pretty much sums up the day:
Today was an amazing experience for me to feel what it is like to run my own business. With Mum’s help, I made play dough, slime, cards, bookmarks, and we repackaged wacky bands and lolly snakes. It was such a successful day and I made $131.20. Costs were $38.50 so the profit was $92.70. Normally I get $5 per week pocket money if I do my chores, so this is the same as 18.54 weeks of chores! So that’s a lot!
It didn’t all work out so well, though. We had a disaster with the slime! We made 12 containers of slime but ended up throwing it all out because even for slime it was too slimey. We figured that the slime had too much liquid in it because it was off. So we thought that next time we would have to make it closer to the date, look at a new recipe and maybe test them first and also put it in the fridge straight after making it. However, this wasn’t a very expensive mistake because slime is cheap to make and we can re-use the containers. Luka Farquhar (age 11)
Sounds like Luka has a career ahead of her as a serial entrepreneur – I know adult entrepreneurs who can’t figure out how much profit they make! A big thanks to our volunteer mentors: Ann, Jason, Sean, Seb, Eamon, Louise, Emma, Peter, Gennedy, Steve, Bryan, Sha-Mayne and Nikki who volunteered two hours of their time once a week for the eight weeks of the after school program. If you would like to be a volunteer for the program in term two or want more information email Wendy at wendy@clubkidpreneur.com.
by Creel Price on December 13, 2010
What happens when you mix 25 business kids with 2,500 Xmas shoppers – well lots actually. Last Sunday was the inaugural Sydney Kids Market on behalf of the Club Kidpreneur Foundation and what a day it was. There is something quite special about kids learning the highs and lows of business, how to handle customers and building their financial literacy skills around handling cash and setting prices to make profit. Not to mention the initiative and sense of ownership they get by coming up with their own business name and logo, producing their products and then setting up their first ever market stall to sell their wares.
It was a day of high paced commerce with some products faring better than others. We had fancy dress photo’s, Xmas decorations, hand made clothes and jewellery. There were jams, toffee’s and cup cakes and of course the obligatory lemonade stand manned by the brothers Byron and Conner – destined for business success once they cottoned on to giving out free tasters – selling out within hours.
Poppy one of the veteran kidpreneurs from our DVD – check it out on the web site www.clubkidpreneur.com – had a great day selling over $300 worth of her hand drawn Xmas cards. And Zoe the sometime face of Club Kidpreneur (with a live radio interview and Total Girl Magazine profile under her belt) almost sold out of her clay figurines. Though it was touch and go as half way through when I suggested that it might be good idea to put her prices up rather than sell them all in the first few hours – Zoe’s well meaning cousin conspiratorially whispered in my ear ‘Excuse me – isn’t putting up the price against the law’ – maybe a future at the ACCC looms.
Banjo’s Rubbers (thankfully the eraser kind) were slightly harder going. Though in true entrepreneurial spirit he realised that whilst the adults weren’t keen to buy his Japanese imported products the kids were more than happy in a contra deal – swapping their much higher valued items for a smiling face or doe eyed monkey. It was also impressive to see that he kept the wheels of commerce flowing by giving most of his profits to the couple of kid buskers playing Christmas Carols for the shoppers.
This altruistic spirit pervaded the day with many of the kids pledging a percentage of their sales to some kind of charity. Hopefully this sends a message to the sceptics of mixing kids and commerce that business really can be a force for good.
But as the day drew to an end it seems the kids salemanship might have shown me up – as Eamon director of Club Kidpreneur pointed out in his lilting Irish accent “Say Creeeel – Ye must be a wee but imbarished – I tink ye sold less dan the kids.” Still at least my first foray into publishing is completed and the kids seemed to enjoy their free signed copy (even if the sell it to their friends at school for a nice little profit). Next time I’m going to get 6 year old Bryon to help me – with his Lemonade sold out he took a stack of books hawking them to anyone who would listen – more than happy to undertake this adventure before he even realised I was giving him a $5 commission.
A huge thanks go to the Club Kidpreneur team for having the vision and making the day a reality – Wendy, Emma, Seb, Louise, Tania, Roman, David, Rita and Eamon were inspiring. Also we would like to acknowledge the generous support of the Artesian Markets at the Carriage works in Redfern for giving our band of kidpreneurs the stalls.
Here is a link to a short video of the day thats sums up the vibe better than words can: Club Kidpreneur D2
