How to look BRILLIANT
(with little effort.)
I've working my way through the doorstop of a book that is Jack Canfield's "The Success Principles." Although I wasn't a big fan of the Chicken Soup series, my friend Michael York told me I just had to read it. It was important (he was right.)

The book is about 455 pages long and I'm only on 169, but I ran across this gem this morning, and wanted to share it with the Community Action Hero -- after I typed it into my message to him, I realized it was truly worth sharing with YOU today.

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Virginia Satir, the author of the classic parenting book "Peoplemaking", was probably the most successful and famous family therapist that ever lived.

During her long and illustrious career, she was hired by the Michigan State Department of Social Services to provide a proposal on how to revamp and restructure the Department of Social Services so it would serve the client population better.

Sixty days later, she provided the department with a 150-page report, which they said was the most amazing piece of work they had ever seen. "This is brilliant!" they gushed. "How did you come up with all these ideas?"

She replied, "Oh, I just went out to all the social workers in your system and I asked them what it would take for the system to work better."
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She ASKED them.
How many businesses would be better off if the companies simply ASKED their customers what THEY want? It's an old and established principle, but I can't recall the last time a company I did business with bothered to ask ME how their business could be improved.

How about you? Have you been asked lately?
...and who have YOU been asking as you run your business/department/project?

Plenty more brilliance in the book.
Pick-up a copy and start reading. It doesn't matter how long it takes you to make your way through it -- just finish it. As my buddy Michael said; "It's important."