You have to dismount your donkey to enter a house
A Hindu priest and a philosopher dismount their asses and walk into a bar...
At least that's how I'd like to imagine the story starts.
In any case, the two were having a dispute about the path to enlightenment in which the philosopher argued the following...
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Do I need to burn it to the ground and start all over again?
Have you every felt like you just wanted to throw your hands up and just start all over again?
Maybe you've been grinding and grinding and nothing seems to be working?
Or you've been growing so quickly that everything around you feels like a hot mess?
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Find an expert that knows less than you, not more
The future of your business has never existed before.
Think about that.
That vision you have in your head about what you want your business to become has never existed before in the history of humanity.
And that begs a really important question.
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What Doubling Your Business Looks Like in Action
The past few months have been an absolute whirlwind. From some absolutely huge client wins to some exciting leaps forward with BE Lean’s capabilities and offerings, I’ve hardly had time to catch my breath.
Your support has meant the world to me through it all, so I wanted to give you a little taste of what’s been going on as I’ve been working to expand the impact of this little business I call BE Lean.
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The Past, The Future, and Radical Nuns
“When you have one foot in the past and the other in the future, you’re just pissing on the present.”
I can still picture our instructor Michelle standing with her legs spread wide as she imparted this lesson upon our cohort of the Possibilities Seminar, a personal development program focusing on emotional intelligence.
As life-changing as that workshop was for me (and I don’t say that lightly), this particular lesson didn’t really land for me at the time. Sure I got the point - don’t live in the past or the future. Be present.
But how do we move forward in life or in business with two feet firmly planted in the here and now?
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Continuous Improvement and Scalability
Brad Talks Shop on The Edges of Lean Podcast
I had a blast talking with Bella about some of the things I’m most passionate about, including answers to many of the questions people have asked me over the years.
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How to Scale Your Business One Step at a Time
Traction. Profit. Throughput. Innovation.
These are the four ingredients you need to scale a business.
But here's the important bit. At any given time, you should be focused on one, and only one, of them. Do you know which one your business should be focused on?
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Is it too early to systematize your business?
When I talk to people about what it is that I do, I often talk about that time in the growth trajectory of a business when everything that used to feel fun and simple becomes messy and complex.
But what if things get to a point where everything feels that way? When everything feels equally important and equally chaotic?
It's definitely time to systematize, right?
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So you want to build a rocket ship? 🚀
I am NOT the right guy for you...
For better or worse, we like to draw analogies between businesses and rocket ships an awful lot. In most cases, having a business take off like a rocket is considered the pique of success.
But here's the thing.
Have you ever spoken with the leader of a company that's built like a rocket ship?
They're doing amazing things. But they're also stressed out, burnt out, and spending all their time in their business.
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Why I Started BE Lean
New Years is always a special time for BE Lean because it not only marks the beginning of a new year, but it also marks the anniversary of when I started the company.
And this year, BE Lean hit its six year mark! 🎉
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What I learned from Buddha, Santa, and the Land of Smiles
Last week, I got back from a truly incredible vacation through Asia.
Being able to experience different cultures and ways of life is such a gift. And travel has been an investment in my personal growth as well.
There's so much I'm still digesting about our trip, but here's one thing that really stood out to me.
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What I learned from my bummer vacation
The thing I like best about travelling is the new perspectives that it offers.
Sometimes those perspectives come from the differences of a place or culture. Sometimes they simply come from not being at home.
And having just gotten back from vacation, here's what I'm reflecting on.
Fulfillment comes from accepting that you can't have everything you want.
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The most common question I get
A couple of weeks ago, I was speaking to a networking contact when he said, "So Brad, So you're the scalability guy. How do you scale your business when it's just you?"
It wasn't just him. I get asked this question constantly.
I responded, "Well it's true that I help my clients scale their business, but what my clients want isn't necessarily the same as what I want."
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Do we expect too much from politicians?
It's election season!
If you live in Maryland, early voting is open, and you have until July 19th to cast your vote in the primary.
But I didn't write this talk politics. Yes, you should vote. But in deciding who I want to vote for this year, I realized something.
I was expecting too much.
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Happy Pride Month!
How entrepreneurship gave me the confidence to be me
Nobody told me growing up that I needed to get straight A’s and a college degree.
Nobody told me that I needed to get a stable, well-paying job and climb the corporate ladder.
Nobody told me that I needed to find a nice girl, settle down, and start a family. (Ok maybe my Jewish grandmother did, but let’s roll with it).
But in upper-middle class suburbia where I grew up, when the dominant thing you see around you is one kind of path, you think that’s the path you’re supposed to follow too.
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Adulting is hard, in life AND business
Remember when you were young and life used to be simple and fun?
When your biggest worries were whether mom brought home the right flavor of cereal from the grocery store or if you'd be allowed to sleep over at your friend's house.
And then you grew up, and adulting happened…
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Why you should treat your employees like inventory
Have you ever had that suffocating feeling that the more your business grows, the further behind you fall?
Or maybe you’ve been burnt out one too many times, and you’re afraid to press on the gas pedal for fear that everything will fall apart if you’re not careful.
I’ve been hearing this kind of thing a lot from people lately. Business is booming, or they see opportunity ahead, and yet they find themselves unsure of how to manage it all.
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Why you DON'T want to grow your business
Think you want your business to grow?
You might want to think again...
I recently conducted a poll on LinkedIn where I asked people if they wanted their business to grow or to scale. Here were the results.
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Don't Be Like Lucy
How to scale your business by fixing the weakest link first
Recently, on a sunny Saturday afternoon, I was browsing Hulu when a flash of red hair and bright lips caught my eye. It was a timeless masterpiece and one of the most well-known shows of classic TV - an episode of I Love Lucy titled The Chocolate Factory.
Have you seen it?
In the episode, Lucy and Ethel are hired to work on the assembly line of a chocolate factory. Their task is simple - pick up each piece of chocolate that comes down the conveyor belt, wrap it, and place it back on the belt.
Sounds easy, right?
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All Things Are Created Twice
How to improve your creation process so that you can actually attain your vision
“All things are created twice. There’s a mental or first creation, and a physical or second creation to all things.” - Stephen Covey
Stephen Covey’s book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, has had a profound impact on me throughout my adult life. I always seem to be reminded of Covey’s wisdom and lessons at precisely the right times. And it’s particularly during this time of year that I’m reminded of one of those lessons - that all things are created twice.
I’m reminded of that lesson because it was during this time five years ago that I went through a pretty big turning point in my career. One that started with the sudden and devastating closure of my last business, but ultimately led to the creation of BE Lean.
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