China Inflation; In Search of a Theme; Calm Action; Resurrecting Anthony

"…keeping you great"

HEADLINES: 

China's Inflation 10% Last Year — though not expected to have an immediate impact on global prices, with both the US and China printing money as fast as they can you can expect upward pressure on prices. Plus China's one-child rule is catching up with them, as they are running low on factory workers, pushing up wages. Take four minutes and read this NY Times article and then watch your own margins closely in 2011 as your underlying costs might start to creep up.

"Beat the Fockers" — this is Barcelona-based Careesma's latest Quarterly Theme. One of Europe's leading online job boards, as part of their effort to present qualified vs. just a large quantity of candidates to employers, in the current quarter they are focused on reducing the mismatches between candidates and job offers, i.e. reducing the number of candidates that do not meet the criteria required by the company.

In Search of a Theme — notes Sebastian Ross, CEO of Careesma, "In our search for a theme for this objective, we Googled the word 'Mismatch'. What came up was the seminal movie "Meet the Fockers." It is hard to think of a bigger Mismatch between fathers-in-law like the hippie-styled Bernie and Rozalin Focker and the uptight Jack and Dina Byrnes. By thinking of this famous mismatch we know what we don't want and gave this quarter's theme the name – "Beat the Fockers."

The Little Fockers — continues Ross, "As luck would have it, just recently a new sequel of the Focker movie series came out: "The Little Fockers". So we thought there is no better way to kick-off our Mismatch-theme than to watch together how the 3rd generation of Fockers and Byrnes produce further real life mismatches." To support the theme throughout the quarter, key metrics measuring mismatches will be tracked and posted on a weekly basis. Concludes Ross, "A theme transforms a mere managerial goal into a company-wide mission by connecting it not just to our heads but to our hearts." What is your theme this quarter or for 2011.

Family Theme for 2011 — Maria Sipka, founder of Linqia, and her husband JC Duarte (many of you know him via EO and know both of them from their famous Indian wedding at the EO U in Delhi), set a family theme each year. One year it was "Perseverance"; for 2011 it's "New Beginnings." Over dinner last Friday night they described how the theme catalyzes their decisions and helps them to maintain perspective and focus for the year – much better than New Year's Resolutions or goals. So at our Sunday family meeting to kick off 2011, we reviewed each of our vision boards (even our 7 year-old has one) and set a family theme for 2011 — "Calm Action." We've already referred to it several times this week in making decisions. Think about setting a 2011 theme for your family as well as for your business.

What Really Matters in Life — speaking of family, read Resurrecting Anthony: A True Story of Courage & Destination, the real life story of the Cole family's rehabilitation of their son Anthony after he suffered a heart attack and brain damage at age 12. Released on Tuesday, here's the testimonial I wrote for the book … "Powerful lessons in letting go, being present, failure, belief, goals, perseverance, and making the toughest of decisions — expressed in a way that can only be shared by parents who have eighteen months to save their child. It's a story I shared last night around the dinner table with our own children. Thank you Linda and Tony for this honest account of your family's journey with your son." It's a great read, helping you see what really matters in life.

Date Change — Family Bike Trip — please join my family June 25 – July 1 on the island of Sardegna, off the coast of Italy, for a multi-sport (biking, hiking, kayaking) vacation hosted by Lauren Hefferon and her family. Lauren is the owner of Italy's #1 bike touring company and a devoted practitioner of the Rockefeller Habits — though we promise not to talk too much business on the trip. She changed the dates and reduced the price somewhat from what I sent out last time.