Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

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Love Closure or More Possibilities? How to Best Balance Your Ps and Js

Filed Under Community, Inside-Out Thinking, Successful Blog | 3 Comments

Not Everyone Thinks the Same Way

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It came about because I’d had time to read a book called Please Understand Me. Character and Temperament Types by David Kersey. The book discussed the personality differences that were described by the four pairs of preferences defined in the Myers-Briggs Personality type Indicator. The book led me to champion the idea that the whole editorial department might benefit from a Myers-Briggs workshop. Approval came. All 30 or so of us took the personality test and about a week later we met offsite with a trained administrator who had scored our results but hadn’t shared them.

By way of background, the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator identifies which are your preferences in four pairs of trait behaviors.

The documentation and studies make it clear that every person has all 8 traits. The test measures which in each pair is an individual’s preferred way of interacting with other people and information — sort of the default setting, the one we go to when we’re left to our own devices, in a crisis, or designing our own situation. I thought was that it might bring home the reality that …

we can’t assume others think the same way we do.

Plan a Vacation

The facilitator set up activities that used used each trait pair to underscore the differences in outcomes that occur when we approach a task with different preferred ways of thinking. We were unaware of which trait we had when the task was assigned. Some tasks had mixed preference groups. Some had a group that wa all of one preference. The most memorable task and lesson for me was when she asked two groups to plan a vacation.

She assigned us to two groups by name. We didn’t now at the time, but one group was the Ps — those who value possibilities — and the other was the Js — those who value closure. She gave us about 20 minutes for planning then asked us to report back. The reports from each group were something like this.

I suspect it was purposeful that she had the Js report first.

The J Vacation

The Js had decided that they would go to Europe for precisely 21 days. They knew which countries they would visit in which order and how many days they would be staying in which country. They also knew which sites were on the list to visit in each country. Assignments had been made. Every member of the group knew his or her role. Assignments included: transportation, lodging, tickets to venues and sites, special meals in each city, even collection of emergency documents and numbers.

The Ps started snickering as we listened to the Js report. The reason for our delight was evident when our turn came.

The P Vacation

In the same amount of time, the Ps had decide to meet up in Taos, New Mexico and hang there for a while doing whatever we liked from a whole list of possibilities. The list of possibilities was quite impressive. Then those who wanted to could go on to visit the Caribbean — one island or more, and those who wanted to stay in New Mexico could.

As you might notice, the two groups had significantly different reports. What you might not fully appreciate is that both groups were quite pleased with their results.

How to Balance Your Ps and Js

The task was so well chosen that whenever I tell the story people have no problem deciding which group defines their preference. More importantly, the way we frustrate each other becomes apparent. .

Imagine a project team with an equal number of Ps and Js. While Ps are trying desperately to leave all of the options open, the Js are pushing fervently to get to a decision. Both groups are so intent on their preferred way of thinking, it can be hard to see the value of the other. Yet a team of all Ps would get lost or get nowhere and a team of all Js would miss out on many options that could raise their game. Here are some ways to best balance the value of your Ps and Js.

Let both groups know how the dynamic tension between their preferences supports and complements each other making the team stronger. After all, without the flexibility of a P it would be hard to respond to a disaster and without the structure of J wasted time could be a real problem.

Which are you and how do you value the other in your business?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

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5 Creative Ways to Faster More Effective Problem Solving

Filed Under Idea Bank, Inside-Out Thinking, Successful Blog | 1 Comment

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Whether we realize it consciously or simply move through process without thinking, the act of getting new ideas is an act of problem solving. We don’t have something we to do something we want to get done. The idea is the solution. But like finding lost keys or finding a job, the solution is always in the last place we look … mostly because we stop looking once we’ve found our solution.

On the first day back from vacation, getting into the rhythm of solution thinking might take a little more creativity than most days. Yet, in a short work week, we need to get a faster flow and wider choice of ideas in less time than usually. One way bring the vacation experience into the workplace and have it help us is trying what we learned to do as kids (often to explain our failures) — make up fantastic stories — with a little practice we can use that same ability to push us to faster success in problem solving. Here are a few techniques that will help you do that!

  1. Look for the questions presented not the answers. When we’re looking for ideas, we focus too narrowly over answers. Turn into a 3-year-old and ask relentless questions. What are you doing? What’s a blog post? What if you wrote it as another person? Suppose an alien kidnapped you just when you started writing? Use the questions to move your brain into the ridicucous and when you’re sure you’re there. Then work on the problem.
  2. Get obsessed and curious about one detail. The one weird detail of leaf on tree that is an entirely different color raises curiosity that leads to questions. Make up several stories that answer the curious question. The solution to your problem may occur to you as you explore the stories that you’re spinning.
  3. Take a vacation in your mind. Get some perspective by being reflective. Take your question with you as you imagine yourself in your most favorite habitat — on the beach, skiing, in a beautiful forest, In 5-star restaurant with a fabulous view — maybe even the edge of the Grand Canyon or under a starry night. Give yourself a mental that allows your ideas to expand and grow.
  4. Use music to go back in time. Put on it on softly and remember who you used to be. Ask yourself what would that you be thinking was important about current events and situations? Have a conversation with the person you once were about the problem that you’re now facing. Think about the most interesting characters — artists, writers, musicians, dancers, engineers, coders, designers, contractors, mathematicians, boring teachers, and bartenders — who you’ve shared your life with. How would they approach the puzzle you’re facing?
  5. Turn your situation into a disaster movie. Take the problem to world-ending proportions. Invent an action hero to save the world by delivering the solution you need at the very last second.

The process of linking your ideas into an ordered sequence of curious questions or an amazing plot line breaks down the false barriers that prevent us from seeing other ways to approach the answers we’re needing.

Which of the five ideas seems most up your alley?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

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How to Produce a Fireworks Display or Launch into Social Media Without Experience

Filed Under Customer Think, Inside-Out Thinking, Successful Blog | 5 Comments

Our Customers Face Situations Like This All of the Time

As I uploaded the photos from this year’s fireworks show over the lighted North Bridge on the Chicago River, I began to think of the event. It’s quite a business to put on a 15-20 minute display of fireworks. As I considered the teams of people and the skills that were needed, a thought kept occurring, suppose that a client said to me …

Your charge, should you decide to keep working with us, is to pull off the best fireworks display the city has ever known!


The more I thought about the idea, the more I realized that the question I was pondering isn’t so different from what we ask new social media managers every day of the week.

5 Questions for Putting on a Fireworks Display or Launching into Social Media

A great fireworks display is the result of planning, preparation, resources, and timing. The pyrotechnical art of combining noise, light, smoke and floating materials into design that burns with colored flames and moving sparks is a display of teamwork, technique, strategy and tactics in action! And that’s just to get the display in the air!

Beyond that crowd control and the traffic are a consideration. At the event I attended, the show was visible from the lake, the river, the streets, the pier, and a double decker bridge. The distraction of fireworks while people are managing transportation could cause more than minor accidents.

No wonder the colorful, brilliant displays are symbols of celebration, which often lead to competition!

I don’t know a thing about putting on a fireworks display. I don’t know makes them work, what’s dangerous, and what’s just for show. I don’t know what things cost and don’t have pyrotechnical experts in my most intimate networks.

Yet I’m an intelligent person.I’ve run a business. I’m good at asking questions.

What follows are 5 questions I would ask to make sure that I would know I was making an intelligent, solid and outstanding investment to pull off the best fireworks display (or social media launch) the city (or the industry) has every known.

  1. The mission and the vision: What does “the best fireworks display” or “the best social media launch” look like” in it’s visible and measurable result? Before we set out on a quest, we have to know what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. I might not know how to produce a great fireworks display, but I know how I define one. Leaders take the time to articulate the vision and the mission to ensure that everyone who joins the quest is moving toward the same destination and to ensure when we communicate our vocabulary means the same things.
  2. The team: Who will bring the expertise, commitment, and the thinking to share the risk and share the benefits? Leaders reach out to people who can contribute to the thinking, not just the building. We look for folks who “get” the seriousness of the work and the fun of being part of building something no one can build alone. Start with the question, “Have you ever held a job – run a business – where if you made the wrong decision many other people beyond yourself would be hurt?” People who know their business can explain the controls they put in place to ensure right decisions and mitigate the risk. Experienced candidates can give simple explanations that show solid thinking about where the possible problems in your exact situation.
  3. The resources and quality standards: What do we need to do the job right — what adds quality and what adds cost? A wise boss once said to me, “Spend as much as it takes to do the work well and not one penny more.” When we ask about tools and resources, we can’t separate out the definition of quality.

    Quality is the customer experience, not in the builder’s standards. If the customer cannot see, feel, hear, taste, touch, smell, understand, or perceive meaning from the difference, we are not adding quality — we are adding cost.

    Read that bold paragraph again. Quality is in the customer experience.

  4. The systems and logistics: Who will own which part of the process to achieve optimal results? It’s easy to get this one backwards. Any production process needs to be talked through considering both values — the big picture order in which the stages must occur and the flexibility within each stage that allows the highest performance from the team. In any complicated production, every step has different time-goal orientations. It takes longer to produce the art than the words that might go with it. When one person’s output relies on another person’s input, it’s important to talk through the way the work flow will travel, how we’ll track it, and who will report on things that break or jam up.
  5. The time-frame: What’s a realistic time frame to get the fireworks display (or social media launch) done right, allowing flexibility for unforeseen detours? Inside any discrete event or first-time project is a new decision, a problem, or a complication that we didn’t foresee at the outset. Making room for such adventures from the beginning builds strength into the infrastructure, allows us to under promise and over deliver.

It’s only natural when we’re working on something truly exciting, that we want to get up and running. Making things happen is thrilling! However, watching things break isn’t quite as much fun. To get more of the first and far less of the second, take the time to do the planning and ask the right questions. The right questions can lead to a production that moves as seamlessly as water flowing on a summer day.

Even if you don’t know a thing about putting on a fireworks display or running a social media launch, the right questions can get to you to a successful outcome far more quickly than hoping you’ve found the right expert to do it for you. After all, it’s about a unique and spectacular outcome that serves the customer.


Did I forget any questions that you use to keep your projects in the success column?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

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What Is the Best True Story You Could Tell about You?

Filed Under Business Life, Inside-Out Thinking, Marketing, Successful Blog, leadership | 6 Comments

Following or Finding a Path 2

Leaders Choose the Stories They Live

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As we grow up, we hear stories about ourselves: how we learned to walk, how we learned to talk, how we behaved, how we treated our siblings and friends. The stories predate the ability of our brains to remember the events. So we rely on the people telling them.

In incremental ways that grow larger over time, the stories people tell and the stories we tell ourselves become the definition of the person we see in the mirror. And when we’re in doubt about who that is, we’ve learned to look outside — to the stories — to describe the person we are inside. … if we just listen, pay attention long enough, the people and the stories will tell us who we are and why we’re here.

How many stories in your head are told from someone else’s point of view?
How many stories in your head are told by a weaker, smaller, less experienced version of you?
How many stories in your head are untrue?

Leaders live up to their best truth.
Leaders choose which stories we live.

What Is the Best True Story You Could Tell about You?

Leadership is taking responsibility for who we are now and who we will be. If we want to know our uniqueness and own it, we have to evaluate the stories we’ve been living and believing to decide what we know is true. We need to think deeply on the stories we’ve been telling about ourselves.

Leaders know their uniqueness and own it. We don’t need to invent a new tale. We need to recognize the true story of who we are as the leader we’ve decided to be.

Our cells are genetically programmed to do some things better than others. Our brain needs to pay attention to what our cells know. We can see the answers throughout our history and in our experience. Here’s how to do that …

Reflect on the stories you tell about yourself and decide which are those that truthfully represent the best value and values in you. Decide which stories truly define you and which ones can be left behind as now meaningless. Claim the true story that is your uniqueness, your skills and your abilities, your image, your traits, and your potential.

When you do that, you’ll take command of who you are now. That’s when you’ll begin to see your fit and purpose — how you individually meet a need or solve a problem in a way that no other person can. You’ll attract people who share those values. You’ll find it easier to talk about what you do, because you’ll know that your life stands a proof.

You’re the only one qualified to identify your true story — you are the person who has been living it every minute of it. Take the idea seriously. Listen to what you know about yourself.

What is the best true story you could tell about you?

Be irresistible.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

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5 People Who Can Turn Your Community into a Focused Influence Network

Filed Under Inside-Out Thinking, Interviews, Successful Blog | 4 Comments

It More Than What Naturally Occurs

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I sat at Brogan’s Roast earlier this month and the thought struck me how much we depend on each other. No one would question that our friend, Chris, enjoys the friendship of thousands of folks who would stand by him and help whenever he needs it. All you had to do was be there to feel the expanse of love in the room coming from the countless people who are in his massive network of colleagues, friends, coworkers, family and people who consider him their teacher.

Numbers like that can provide a huge pool of energy when you want to help a cause, make something happen, or move an idea across the internet. Certainly that’s true. But knowing a lot of people and even having a lot of people who know you is not the same as having a strategic network. To be strategic, we have to look how we the sort of individuals in our networks into groups. How we sort our networks into groups can support or thwart our goals. Our choices in mentally forming those groups inform our decisions about who we listen to and what we do.

Most people consciously or unconsciously group their community in an outward fashion. If you ask, they can see how the community becomes part of what they do. Who are the people in your community groups?

That sort of grouping naturally occurs in any community group.
It takes more — 5 particular types of people — to turn that community into a focused influence network.

5 People Who Can Turn Your Community into a Powerful Influence Network

Strategy looks at building something with thought and opportunity to strengthen the network and build a well-rounded group. Rather than looking who shows up in an outward fashion. Strategy builds with a plan of action. Strategy chooses five types of people who can provide infrastructure and stability that power the network with information and communication when we want our networks to help that cause, make that something happen, or move that idea across the internet.

Look at successful leaders — people you think of as influencers and people who enjoy repeat success. They’ve gone past community to developed information channels. They have skills at collecting and managing their contacts. They also include five kinds of people in their networks to keep the systems working fluidly and with balance. Can you spot these five in the successful communities you know?

It takes a focused team to manage the firehouse flow of information that comes at us from every direction. It takes that same kind of focus to deliver on a promise of service that will scale beyond the one Chris Brogan or even that brand team that might want to be everywhere doing everything in the best way we know. The people who celebrated this guy we all admire and love came in many types and play many roles in the community that is Team Brogan. We’d all be wise to find a few of those types to support us too.

If you look in your community, I bet you’ll find that you’ve got a few of them already there. How will you introduce yourself and invite them into your brand?

Be Irresistible.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

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