The Freak Factory - David Rendall

Freak Factor TV - Are You Making Copies or Originals?

"When you try to be different, people will try to make you fit in."

"I'm the boss. I don't make copies. I make originals." - Michael Scott, The Office

These quotes are from my Freak Factor presentation to the Association of Fundraising Professionals in August.

We all know that differentiation is essential to the success of our businesses and our careers but we are afraid to be different. The video clip below encourages viewers to overcome their fear by discussing three benefits of being different.

 

 

Conduct a Better Interview: Ask About Candidate's Side Effects

“Strong people always have strong weaknesses too. Where there are peaks, there are valleys.”
- Peter Drucker
 
Would you take a drug that causes an uncontrollable gambling addiction? It doesn’t sound very tempting but thousands of people who suffer from restless leg syndrome take Requip because the benefits outweigh the side effects.
 
The concept of side effects has implications for the way we interview. Most interviewers ask candidates about their biggest weakness and job seekers have been taught that there are three good responses:
 
1. Admit a weakness that seems beneficial to the company.
“I work too hard.”
 
2. Discuss a weakness that you’ve almost fixed.
“I used to be unorganized but I’ve really improved.”
 
3. Pick a weakness that isn’t relevant to the job.
“I’ll be a good cross-country truck driver, but I’m not a good team player.”
 
These responses aren’t very helpful. So instead of asking candidates about their weaknesses, we should start asking them about their benefits and side effects.
 
1. What are your benefits? What problems can you help us to solve?
 ”If your company is struggling with innovation, I can help.”
 
2. What are your side effects?
“I often break the rules and reject the status quo.”
 
3. How are your side effects related to your benefits?
“Innovation cannot happen without making difficult changes to current organizational norms.”
 
4. In what areas are you average?
“I’m competent when making presentations but don’t really inspire people with my rhetorical skills.”
 
These questions require more from the candidate than do the current set of questions and offer better information to the interviewer.
 
How do you respond to the candidate’s side effects?
Some drugs are not for “women who are pregnant or might become pregnant.” Just like not every drug is right for you, not every candidate is right for you. If the candidate’s benefits don’t address a specific problem that your organization has, then there is no reason to deal with their side effects.
 
If we choose employees who seem to lack major side effects, we will get only mediocre work. Where there are no side effects, there are no benefits.
 
Similarly, the better the employee is, the bigger their side effects will be. Steve Jobs is widely recognized as a tremendously successful CEO and very influential figure in the business world but he is not without side effects. He is legendary for being conceited, critical and volatile.
 
What side effects are you willing to accept?
When Vioxx was taken off the market because of the risk of heart attacks and strokes, I discussed the case with my ethics class. One student had taken Vioxx for chronic pain and wanted the FDA to allow Merck to make it available again. She was aware of the side effects but was willing to take the risk if it would reduce the pain that she lived with each day.
 
A good way to determine what side effects you are comfortable with is to fill in the blanks for the following sentence. “ I don’t care if you ____ , as long as you _____.”
“I don’t care if you are unorganized, as long as you are creative.”
“I don’t care if you are explosive, as long as you are passionate.”
“I don’t care if you break the rules, as long as you get results.”
 
Cheryl was obsessive about germs. For example, she refused to sit on the chairs in our classroom without first putting down a blanket. But she was the perfect director of health/safety for her organization.
 
Dwayne lacked empathy and had constant conflicts with his co-workers and managers. But none of this was a problem when he worked in the repossession business.
 
Every employee has side effects. It is an illusion to believe that we will find candidates with all strengths and no weaknesses. The goal is to find someone with the right combination of benefits and side effects for the condition that your organization is suffering from.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For advice on how to respond to the weaknesses question as an interviewee, check out my interview freak post.

Freak Factor TV - Conquer Stress with Fanatical Obsession

Did you ever wonder why rabid sports fans can endure sub-zero temperatures for hours at a time but most of us shut down at work if the temperature drops below 70 degrees?

Yes, there are other reasons besides massive alcohol consumption.

Find out how to conquer stress with fanatical obsession in the first two videos on Freak Factor TV, my new YouTube Channel.

Limitations are Liberating

Shaun Cassidy is an artist in residence at the McColl Center for Visual Art in Charlotte, North Carolina. He led a one-hour creativity exercise during a workshop that I attended recently. During the activity he said that "seemingly negative parameters can actually help you to be more innovative."

 

Cassidy’s perspective is supported by significant evidence. Social theorist, Barry Schwartz, in his book, The Paradox of Choice, explains that when we have too many choices, we struggle to make decisions. He encourages us to “learn to love constraints” because “as the number of choices we face increases, freedom of choice becomes a tyranny of choice. Routine decisions take so much time and attention that it becomes difficult to get through the day. In circumstances like this, we should learn to view limits on the possibilities that we face as liberating not constraining.”

 

Ironically, more options don't liberate us, they paralyze us. As Erich Fromm explained in Escape from Freedom, “people are beset not by a lack of opportunity but by a dizzying abundance of it.” It is counter-intuitive, but limitations, not options, are what liberate us.

 

Similarly, behavioral economist, Dan Ariely, argues that the common strategy of “keeping our options open” is a bad one and that we should “consciously start closing” some of those options. This is true because “they draw energy and commitment” away from activities that promise greater success.

 

Our weaknesses and limitations are not bad because they rule out options for us and make it easier for us to focus on the areas where we can be truly successful. Limitations are liberating.

 

Erik Weihenmayer is the first and only blind man to reach the summit of Mount Everest. “When asked if anything was possible, Weihenmayer answered, ‘No, there are limits. I mean, I can't drive a car. But there are good questions and bad questions in life. The bad questions are what if questions. What if I were smarter, or stronger? What if I could see? Those are dead-end questions. A good question is, ‘how do I do as much as I can with what I have?’” Similarly, John Wooden said “do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” As managers, we need to acknowledge our employees’ limitations and make sure that we don’t let what they cannot do interfere with what they can do.

Start with the smiles . . . not the frowns

Nick Morgan is the author of Trust Me: Four Steps to Authenticity and Charisma. He also writes an excellent blog with tips for effective speaking. One of his recent posts was about dealing with a negative audience.

Our natural inclination might be to start with the dissenters in the audience and try to win them over but that is the opposite of what he suggests. His first suggestion is to "talk to the positive people in the room."

"This is counter-intuitive, but important, because if you can establish a positive relationship with a few people in the room, that positive feeling will ripple across the crowd.  We have these things called mirror neurons in our brains that give us essentially the same experience as we see the people around us having.  So if we see someone reacting positively, we will too."

This same advice also applies to our own lives. Too often we focus on the negative aspects of our life and/or work and try to tackle the problems and weaknesses first. Instead, we should focus first on the positive elements of our lives and then the success and confidence we gain in those areas will ripple across the other parts of our lives as well.

If you use this strategy, you'll be surprised to find that, after starting with the positives, the negatives seem to disappear or at least become less problematic by the time you eventually get to them.

Dave likes to talk . . . do you like to listen?

I'm terrible at being quiet and listening. That is why I was so pleased when Jeff Brainard, from Catch Your Limit Consulting, asked if I'd  be willing to do a Freak Factor CODcast interview.

Catch Your Limit is a great example of how the freak factor can be applied to  organizations. They are the world's only consulting firm that specializes in "management, marketing and fish cleaning services" and their CODcast, not podcast, stands for Creativity on Demand. I'm hoping to share Jeff's story with you all soon.

We talked for about an hour and discussed a little bit of everything, including: scissors, baseball, marriage, Hardees Thickburgers, parenting, Lance Armstrong, school, careers, outsourcing, interviews, management and the outrageous rewards for being the best.

Below are some specific questions the interview might help to answer.

- How can fixing your weaknesses actually damage your strengths?

- Why should you go farther in the direction that people tell you not to go in?

- What do the people that like you the best, like the least about you?

- How can you get a head start on success?

- Why is Shaquille O'Neal so bad at free throws and why doesn't it matter?

- Why was Michael Jordan bad at baseball?

- Why won't Lance Armstrong ever win a marathon?

- Why do you have to be willing to be the worst in order to be the best?

- What can Hardees Thickburgers teach us about our career?

- Why should you let your kids do poorly in school?

- How can the Freak Factor improve your marriage?

- How should you respond to the interview question about your biggest weakness?

- Why should you outsource tasks that you don't like to do?

- Why bother trying to be the  best?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Did you notice the new tabs at the top of the blog?

I've added links to my Facebook page, Linked-In profile and these Free Resources:

• podcast
• eBook
• self-assessment

Sara Dunnigan didn't want to do it again . . . So she didn't

I've gotten some great responses to my Freak Factor podcast with Jeff Brainard at Catch Your Limit Consulting. One of my favorites came from Sara Dunnigan at The Greater Richmond Partnership in Virginia. We had a nice conversation last week and she explained how she has already been able to apply the freak factor at work. I'll let her tell you in her own words . . .

"I’ve been struggling for weeks to write an annual report for a business program that I manage. Each year, we interview about 600 business people in an effort to connect them with resources and support the growth of their businesses. The annual report is an aggregate view of the data points and every time I tried to write an engaging, conversational report that people would actually want to read – it came out like a dry article from an economic journal. While well-written and chock full of facts and figures – this was NOT the effect I was going for.

This wasn’t the first time I struggled with this project. It has been my responsibility for more than three years and no matter what I did to get better (I must have read every other similar publication in the country) I just couldn’t get there.  In fact, during the time I spent trying to write, all I really wanted to do was go out and talk to stakeholders in the community about what we had discovered, what we had done and exciting plans for the future.
 
Then I happened to pick up the podcast through some friends and heard the conversation about the freak factor. It just clicked for me. I had been working with Grace, an intern in our office who was a fantastic writer.  I did the data gathering and roughed in the outline and she reorganized the content and added the dimensional writing I was looking for in the project.

I’m happy because now I get to focus on building on my skills as a speaker and solutions facilitator and Grace got to use her skills and add another great project to her portfolio. Now I am excited about using this approach for other projects our small team works on.  It’s got me thinking more about by own freak factor and how I can stop fighting and fixing my weaknesses (maybe I SHOULD write a piece about our program for an economic journal)."

Sara's story is a great illustration of how the freak factor can transform your life at work.

- Sara made continued efforts to fix her weakness. It didn't work. However, the problem wasn't a lack of self-discipline.

- Sara was strong in some areas and struggled in others. She was good at gathering and organizing data but had difficulty creating a compelling report.

- The time she spent trying to fix her weaknesses was frustrating and unproductive and could have been better spent on activities that she did well.

- Finding someone else to write the report was a win-win-win situation. Sara was happy because she had more time to do what she loved. Her company and constituents were happy because the report was more interesting and Grace was happy because she had an opportunity to use her strengths at work. Applying the freak factor enhances teamwork and improves performance.

- Now, instead of criticizing herself for her writing style, Sara is looking for publications that value her particular approach. She is trying to find the right fit, instead of trying to fit in.

Do you have a freak factor story? I'd love to hear it. Post a comment, send an email or give me a call.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Did you notice the new tabs at the top of the blog? I've added links to my Facebook page and Linked-In profile as well as these Free Resources:

• podcast
• eBook
• self-assessment

What seems bad is good: The freak factor economy

The Freak Factor is based on the belief that your biggest weaknesses are also your biggest strengths. In other words, what seems to be bad is actually good.

Jonathan Fields, author of Career Renegade, applies this same principle to the recent economic meltdown in The Fire Fly Manifesto.

"What's going on in the world and the economy right now is frightening. . . But, I've got news for you. What feels like the end of the world to you now may, in fact, be the window you've dreamed of for decades. . . The meltdown has everyone re-examining how they earn a living and what they want out of their lives and careers."

"For those who've never explored a career with equal helpings of passion and prosperity out of a fear of being judged, unsupported or ridiculed, judgment has been suspended. . . This crisis has given you a massive, defensible reason to explore a radically different approach to the way you earn your living."

"What might unfold if you identified what you loved to do first, then tapped the wealth of tools, strategies and technologies that have only come onto the scene in the last few years to build a substantial living around what makes your entire life smile?"

Fields challenges traditional definitions of career success and offers a new standard. "Will this career allow me to: Spend the greatest amount of time, absorbed in activities and relationships that fill me up, while surrounding myself with people I cannot get enough of, and earning enough to live comfortably in the world?"

He also rejects the belief that jobs are the "safe" choice and entrepreneurship is risky. "As long as you're working for someone else, you'll never have the control you want." Additionally, your employer has priorities that can often conflict with your needs. "What's best for you is not their driving motivation."

Jonathan goes on to provide nine specific strategies for taking advantage of the current economic situation and how to begin to craft your own renegage career, whether it is inside an organization or in a business that you create. He also shares real-life examples of people who have applied these strategies successfully.

1. Don't freak [he's not talking about the freak factor]
2. Own up to your passion
3. Research your passion
4. Choose your renegade path
5. Speeducate yourself
6. Turn out your tribe
7. Rally your rabbis
8. Master your mind
9. Get out of your head

He concludes by suggesting that you "get a bucket, not an umbrella."

"While the pundits scream about the sky falling, most people are running for cover, ducking into doorways and buying umbrellas. But, a small group of savvy entrepreneurs and career renegades are out there with buckets waiting to catch it, bottle it, and sell it."

"Everyone's worlds are being shaken, and in this shaking, sometimes violent thrashing, lies a massive opportunity -- the chance to come alive."

My students and seminar participants love The Freak Factor but they fear that this isn't the right time to look for a job or start a business that matches their unique characteristics. What Jonathan is saying is that this is the perfect time to try something new.

Now is the right time to freak out!

Are you ready to put away your umbrella and get a bucket?

If you want more great stuff from Jonathan, click here to download a free sample chapter of Career Renegade or visit his Awake at the Wheel blog.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hungry for more Freak Factor?

Read the free e-book or listen to the free podcast

Where love and need are one

I met Allan Bacon, the Avocationist, at a recent seminar in Charlotte. Allan's goal is to help people find their calling without quitting their jobs. When I saw the title, Avocationist, I was immediately reminded of one of my favorite poems, Two Tramps in Mud Time, by Robert Frost.

The poems tells the story of a man chopping wood who is approached by two travelers looking for work. The main character enjoys chopping wood but the wandering tramps feel that their need for paid work trumps his need to engage in an activity that he loves.

Frost acknowledges that passion and employment are often separate but argues that it doesn't have to be that way. Our avocation (what we love to do) can be integrated with our vocation (what we do for a living). In the final paragraph he explains:
 
"But yield who will to their separation,
My object in living is to unite
My avocation and my vocation
As my two eyes make one in sight.
Only where love and need are one,
And the work is play for mortal stakes,
Is the deed ever really done
For Heaven and the future's sakes."

These words, that I read many years ago, have had a profound influence on the life that I've tried to create for myself and my family. I hope that they will do the same for you.

My hope for each of you is that  your work will become play, that you will be able to combine what you love to do with what you need to do, and that your vocation and your avocation will be united.

Cubicle Countdown - 7 Lessons in 7 Days - Days 6 & 7

The countdown is over. The Escape from Cubicle Nation workshop in Charlotte was yesterday. If you didn't make it, you can still check out Pam's website for a list of workshops near you.

I was unable to post for the final two days because I was preparing for a presentation in Greensboro where I recorded a new demo video for The Freak Factor. However, I still wanted to wrap-up my review of Pam's book.

If you read the last post, Lesson Five: Stand Out, you learned how to differentiate yourself and your business. In this final entry, we'll discuss the importance of integrating your personal goals with your business goals and I'll include some random insights from the seminar.

Lesson Six: Integrate Personal and Business Goals

One of the most common questions that Pam gets is "How do I get started? How did you do it?" You might be surprised by the answer.

Pam suggests that you start with your life goals. Imagine your ideal day five years in the future. Imagine what you'd like your home, work, relationship, activities and community to look like. How much do you want to work? Where do you want to live? Who do you want to spend time with?

You shouldn't start by just developing business goals. Most of us are starting a business because our current work doesn't make us happy. However, simply starting a business won't create happiness. We need to begin by learning more about ourselves and what we want life to be like, then we can discover what kind of work might profitably contribute to that life.

Aligning these two sets of goals can be challenging. Pam likens it to the difference between smoking a crack pipe and drinking wheatgrass juice. Crack makes you feel good right now, but does a lot of damage over the long-run. Wheatgrass juice is unpleasant in the short-term, but has a lot of long-term benefits.

"Keeping clear with my life purpose and business vision, which I call drinking wheatgrass juice, will give me long-term physical, emotional, and spiritual satisfaction. It is not a fast high, it is a lifetime of making smart, healthy choices."

The "'crack-pipe' story is meant to illustrate a very important point: if you don't consider your life as a key part of your business model, you may find yourself outwardly successful and inwardly miserable."

This distinction is vital. There are many entrepreneurs who are "miserable because they got too enamored with business growth at all costs and didn't see creating a great business as a means to live a great life."

Many people aren't aware of this danger. I've seen this a lot as I help small business owners with strategic planning. When I ask them about their personal goals, they seem confused and don't offer clear answers. They don't see how it is relevant to their business planning. Don't make that same mistake.

Now, unless you plan to live your life completely alone, you also have to involve your family, friends and other key people in your planning. If you want to have a great life together, you have to come to some agreement about what that life will look like.

What does this all look like when you are done?

Here is Pam's formula for combining personal characteristics and goals with business planning to create a profitable and fulfilling company. This is a good checklist for you as you work through the planning process.

Natural passion and interest + Skill and competence + Business model that delivers the life you want to live + Solid business planning with well-defined market = Likelihood of Good Business Idea

There is too much good stuff in Pam's book for me to include it all here. Get the book and you'll find more great information on:

• Finding the right mentors
• Free resources for building your business
• Health insurance for people who are self-employed
• Building a strong backbone for your company

I'll wrap up this lesson with one caution. "As much as we talk about wanting to be happy and fulfilled, when you actually are, it can annoy the crap out of those around you."

Your happiness will often remind other people how unhappy they are. This is important. You want to involve other people in the process but don't let them keep you from pursuing your dreams just because they haven't been willing or able to do the same.

If you'd like to begin the process of aligning your goals, you can download a life plan guide from Pam's website. It is at the bottom of the page on the left.

Lesson Seven: Random Insights from the Workshop

The following quotes are from Pam Slim:

"Desperation was never good for dating. It is even worse for marketing."

A Navajo proverb: "If you hang out in a barber shop long enough, you'll eventually get a haircut." Are you hanging out in the right places to get what you want?

"Controversy is good. Don't be afraid to polarize people." From Pam's mentor, Guy Kawasaki.

These quotes are from Kelly Rogers, a participant at the conference:

"Being who you are not is exhausting."

"I think with my mouth open."

This last set of quotes is from artist Shaun Cassidy. He led a one-hour creativity exercise during the workshop. It was one of the few team activities that I have ever actually enjoyed. The picture on the left shows the final product. This was one group's interpretation of the word "transformation."

"Seemingly negative parameters can actually help you to be more innovative."

This quote is my favorite and is supported by significant evidence. The book, The Paradox of Choice, explains that when we have too many choices, we struggle to make decisions. Ironically, more options don't liberate us, they paralyze us.

Shaun's idea also reinforces my belief that our weaknesses and limitations are not a bad thing because they rule out options for us and make it easier to focus on the areas where we can be truly successful. Limitations are liberating.

"There is tremendous value in not being in total control and not knowing exactly what you're doing."

"Creativity isn't a lightning bolt. It springboards from the great work of others."

"I think with my hands, not my brains."

I think it is interesting to contrast Shaun's method of thinking with Kelly's. He thinks with his hands. She thinks with her mouth. Both approaches are unique to them and might not work for everyone.

You can also find these quotes on Twitter using the hashtag #efcnclt

Now that I've attended the seminar, I can tell you that it is wonderful. I left there encouraged and enlightened. I also left there with a great new set of colleagues and friends in Charlotte.

Do you like what you're reading? Do you want more? Get a free sample chapter from Pam's book. [No registration is required. The link opens directly into a PDF document.]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hungry for more Freak Factor?

Get the free e-book at www.changethis.com/45.02.freakfactor