SPEAKERS WANTED FOR AI TOPICS
San Diego, August 2024
Barrel O’Monkeyz is hosting an AI “experts” panel in early August in San Diego. We are looking for 2 to 3 AI experts to engage in a one-hour fireside chat about how AI can be used in the world of finance.
We plan to have 15 high profile CFOs from the San Diego area exchanging ideas, plus other CEOs, company presidents, and entrepreneurs in attendance.
Interested? If so, reach out to me, Paul June, at (310) 503-1149 or [email protected] .
Encountering a problem is not the end of the world (in fact, so far, it never has been). Sure, we’re all likely to encounter a catastrophic situation at some point in our lives, but by and large, our day-to-day business and personal problems can be managed and overcome.
It’s how we react to these challenges that quite often determines our success or failure.
Reactions Matter
What do you think the outcome would have been for our Apollo 13 astronauts had they failed to respond adequately when an oxygen tank exploded on their way to the moon back in 1970? While they had to abort the lunar landing, the entire crew returned safely to Earth. With some quick thinking and a planful approach to diagnosing the problem and their ways to overcome it, “Houston, we’ve had a problem” turned into “Houston, we’ve solved our problem” and a happy ending.
When a problem arises in your life, how do you react? When a relationship hits rough water, what do you do—shutdown and retreat, or do you thoughtfully look at the issues and attempt to fix them?
What about your business? If profits are down, do you just keep on doing the same thing, hoping the problem fixes itself, or do you diagnose what’s going wrong and put together a strategic plan to fix it?
Problems Don’t Just Go Away
A lot of times I think we avoid our problems because it just seems easier to ignore them, hoping they’ll go away—and also because we fear failure. After all, if we attempt to fix a problem and it doesn’t work out—Ouch!—nothing hurts more.
Choosing NOT to address a problem, in my book, is no different than failing to solve it. The problem persists, weighing you down, sapping your energy and enthusiasm. Addressing a problem, even if you fail, does at least one thing—it allows you to let go and move on.
- When a problem arises for me, whether it’s personal or professional, the first thing I need to do is recognize and admit the problem exists. That’s not always easy for this King Monkey to do. After all, the last thing any of us wants to do in either a relationship or with our businesses is admit there’s a problem. We all like to think we live “problem free” lives!
- Once I’ve accepted there’s a problem, the next thing I do is evaluate and diagnose it. Just what is the nature of this problem? Is it a people/personnel issue, a product/service issue, a process issue, or is it some or all of these factors combined?
For example, if your marketing attempts are falling to connect with your audience, maybe it’s simply a matter of you and your team (personal/personnel) needing to be better able to understand the relationship of your customers and your product (a product/service issue) so you can retool your message (a process issue).
The Pay Off
Now comes the fun part: developing a treatment plan for solving or lessening a problem. I call this step fun because this is where I get to exercise my creative thinking muscles.
This step can also be challenging. Just because you’ve diagnosed a problem doesn’t mean your action plan to fix it will be as successful as you want or need it to be. Life isn’t like a TV show where some hero is going to rush in and save the day in 43 minutes or less. Further, there isn’t always a solution to every problem. Some things can’t be solved—at least not always to our satisfaction. But every problem can be addressed. Every problem can be identified, evaluated, diagnosed, and attempts made to solve it.
Give It a Try
When we problem-solve, we might not always get exactly what we want or need, but how we react to problems—that we actually react, rather than simply avoiding them, hoping they go away—can teach us a lot about ourselves, what’s important, and how we respond under pressure.
What problems have you had to solve recently? What problems—personal or business-related—need your attention right now?
As a starter, try stepping back and evaluating your situation objectively. Then try one or two things—small things, big things, you be the judge—that move you and the situation forward. Feel that? That’s the burden you’ve been carrying lifting off your shoulders. Feels good, doesn’t it?
Let’s Get Creative
Let Barrel O’Monkeyz act as your seasoned, outsourced marketing and creative team. Our barrel is full of talent and creative minds ready to help you overcome marketing and communications challenges with your target audience. Contact Barrel O’Monkeyz Today
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