Framptonia 2.0

This post was written on my iPad, on my flight to Germany.

My generation (I am 32) will have a more difficult time accumulating wealth than baby boomers. We will face numerous environmental and economical challenges: higher taxes, more humans consuming shrinking resources, and an aging baby boomer population that will require and demand costly health care.

While our challenges seem to mount in scope and severity, our ambition grows. To experience a quality of life lesser in nature than that of our parents, a very possible reality, is unacceptable and thankfully avoidable. We will have to be more creative than our parents to continue down the path of progress. It’s exciting that we are up to the challenge.

It’s ironic, that as we seem to be entering an economic recovery transition period, the iPad was released. While the iPad is not an entirely new concept, it is the most thought out device of it’s nature and will change computing and how we consume content forever. It’s the beginning of the end of books, papers and magazines as we know it; libraries and bookstores will never be the same. The iPad is an example of creativity, ambition and progress.

Better times are ahead because when going gets tough, humans rise to the occasion; it’s literally in our genes. Let the creativity begin.

You feel guilty for being lazy.  You think laziness is bad and/or wrong.  This is nonsense and the enemy of progress.  Laziness increases productivity, creativity, and ingenuity when channeled and handled effectively.

What is laziness?  It is wanting the most by doing the least.  It is what business, technology and environmentalism is all about.  True laziness just takes a little work to carry out.

Results of laziness have produced the automobile, ceiling fan, personal computer, laptop, smart phone, and iPad.  I wish I could get from here to there faster and without walking.  I wish I could do this financial report without an abacus.  I wish I could listen to any song or read any magazine or book I want without going to the store only to find out what I want is sold out.  These thoughts of pure laziness have produced the greatest products of human history.

Your boss wants you lazy.  They want you to figure out the absolute easiest and cheapest way to do your job – assuming quality and effectiveness is not sacrificed.  Think about it.  The point of any business is to give the customer exactly what they want with the least amount of expense and effort at a fair price over an extended period.  The difference between what the customer wants and what it takes to get them what they want is profit.

How do you channel your wish to get the most from the least, your genetically programmed laziness, to your advantage?  Get off your butt and go to work.  Think.  Focus on your list of “what the hells” and “why the hells”, come up with some answers and sell them.

Identifying, pondering and answering the “what the hells” and “why the hells” are vital to the survival of all organizations.  “What the hell are we doing this for?” or, “Why the hell are we doing it this way?”, are critical questions employees should ask and managers should demand.  More important are answers to these questions that start by “we should” or “you should .”  Ask yourself, co-workers and your superiors these questions (“what the hell?” and “why the hell?”) while making sure you follow-up by selling your well thought out solutions.  Few managers should argue with this approach.  If they do, management is not their calling.

Master the skill of laziness and you may find that you have a lot of time on your hands, and potentially a ton of money.  What to do with this time and money?  That’s a different post for a different day.

Assume, for the sake of discussion, that some form of social media is here for several years to come and that the vast majority of consumers will be users.  It may not be called Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or Buzz; it will be called something and will somehow resembel what we see today.

I am surprised how many business people, especially during these tough economic times, say “I don’t have time for social media”, “How do you have time for social media?”, or “I don’t trust myself with social media”.  How would they have reacted to the advent of the book, the telegraph, the telephone, the cell phone and email?  More importantly, how will customers, vendors, strategic partners and employees react to the advent of new technologies, ideas and knowledge.  Further more, what will their reactions and approach to these things do to my business?  Those who consider new things with open minds will help increase my business and their own at a faster pace than those who don’t.

The end of the social media honeymoon period is on the horizon.  I see the day where I steer clear of a vendor who has no social media presence.  I smell the day where my best customers are those that embraced social media early on, i.e, today or before.  Their embrace of social media may be the reason for their success or it may just be a symptom of their free, progressive and effective thinking.

Get in later and fight those who have already dug in their heals. The time is now. Be involved in social media in a deliberate and inquisitive fashion.  Bob Dylan was and is right. The times, they are a-changin’.

I recently saw a clip about TOMS Shoes on CBS Sunday Morning.  Founder, Blake Mycoskie, started the company on the premise that a pair of shoes is donated to someone in need of footwear for every pair of shoes TOMS sells.

What’s intriguing to me about this concept is not only the charity, but the business implications.  To date, CBS reports TOMS has given away 400,00 pairs of shoes.  If that’s true, TOMS has achieved at least $20 million in sales ($400,000 x $50 shoe retail). If you don’t like math don’t read anything else in green.

Most of the shoes sell for more than $50 but let’s be conservative for the sake of discussion.  What are his cost of sales? I am guessing that the shoes themselves cost him no more than $15 each and that the shoes he gives away are no more than $10/pair. That means he is making $25 a shoe; his gross profit has been $10 million.

I understand that he had to build a website, hire employees, warehouse the stuff and incur all the normal business expenses one must when running a business.  The interesting thing to me, however, is how his products are marketing themselves; his business model is taking on a life of its own. Consider that $10 shoe he is giving away his advertising and marketing budget.

He didn’t pay for CBS Sunday Morning to do this 5 minute story on him. You can’t buy that type of press. This is the type of product that catches on, and catches on fast.  I might even buy a pair of the shoes myself – not even sure I find them particularly attractive. Why not though? Someone gets a pair of shoes they need and I will be wearing a walking conversation starter. Everyone wins: Blake, TOMS employees, the person who just got his only pair of shoes, and me.

Will TOMS start a corporate trend? They will if they are profitable.

To all those I currently write checks to, I figured out how you can make more money and I would love to write you bigger checks. It has been my privilege and good fortune to work for my father over the last 20 years. Tom Frampton is an entrepreneur who founded a ceiling fan manufacturing company, Fanimation, in his garage at age 28.

Over the last 26 years his unique ceiling fan business, which is as much about fashion as it is about function, has evolved and grown to new heights. Two critical survival skills my Dad and Fanimation have taught me, however, stand out to me as timeless: the abilities of effectively dealing with change and a variety of people from all walks of life. This world has not, and will not stop throwing us challenges we have little to no control over: recessions that come in different shapes and sizes, market booms that at times make no sense and can be as hard to manage as downturns; and a variety of people that range from flexible and saintly, to stubborn and evil.

No matter what your industry or type of job is, one thing that is guaranteed is CHANGE – the considerable, life altering kind.

Do you enjoy and savor that warm and fuzzy feeling you have about your income level, boss, and job duties? Do you love that new great software package you just converted to? Can’t imagine your morning without that cute assistant who brings your coffee?  Don’t get too comfy; this too shall pass.

Are you sick and tired of your boss who “doesn’t get it”? Are you unhappy with a job that doesn’t fit your well-rounded, yet specific skill set? Are you perplexed by the new software that is full of bugs? Frustrated by the cranky receptionist, who loves to route your calls to your inside competition?  Don’t get discouraged, this too shall pass.

No matter what change comes your way, how you deal with it will make all the difference in the world. The ability to effectively manage and interact with people in a 360-degree manner is MONEY!

Want more cheese to buy that new MDX? Get proficient at leading those underneath, next to and ABOVE you. Realize and don’t forget that those above you can be influenced in YOUR favor. One of the best things that ever happened to me was working for a boss who was immature and seemed to hate my guts. Figuring out how to manage him (even though he was my boss) is a skill I use to this day. Keep in mind, that I don’t just report to Dad, I have hundreds of customers, vendors, wives…well, just one wife. No matter who comes your way, how you deal with them will make all the difference in the world.

Finally, something we all tend to forget, and sometimes ignore, is that WE change. That our 5-year future selves will disagree, and on some points dramatically disagree, with our current selves is a fact of life that cannot be overstated, and is often times not considered.  Next time you are sure about something, consider the fact you may one day think you were being a total idiot (if not about that one thing, it will be for another). How is that for humbling?