Here's a "Humungous" lesson in the December issue of Contractor Magazines' e-Zine. Click here

 

 Road Improvements  

 
“A Lasting Legacy”
By Mark Matteson

When I was 11 years old, we had a hoop attached to the shed. It stood about nine feet high. My father gave me an old leather basketball from the 1950’s. There was grass around the shed. Within a month, all the grass was dead from dribbling that old ball.

One day he made a phone call. An old friend of my dad’s was very handy. The next thing I knew, we installed a 15’ x 15’ concrete court. Then he said to me, “Mark, call some of your buddies. We are going to need about four guys for this next phase. The basketball hoop went up like a new barn in an Amish community. We raised the structure and dropped it into the two holes dug into the ground. We poured cement around it and put our palm prints in the wet cement along with our signatures. When it came time to carry on that tradition, I did the same thing with my kids. Palm prints and signatures with the date. I went by the old houses. The hoops and the signatures still stand all these years later. A lasting legacy to hoop tradition in our family.

Reading Paul Orfalea’s new book “Copy This” (the founder of one my favorite company’s and a often used vendor, Kinkos) he did the same thing when he was 22. Paul has a serious learning disorder, ADHD. He prides himself in challenging authority with humor. I will let him tell the story:
When I was a senior at USC, I happened to walk past a patch of newly poured cement, right near the center of the school in front of the Doheny Library. Here was my thinking at the time; if you see wet cement; you’re going to write something, aren’t you? I inscribed a bunch of names: Sirhan Sirhan, Lee Harvey Oswald, Paul Orfalea and Danny Tevrizian (my best friend.) It was broad daylight, not the best time to deface public property and get away with it. Before I had finished, a police officer collared me and sent me to talk to the dean. He wanted to know what I was doing. I told him I was a business major and the he had to give me credit for grasping the principles of marketing. I pointed to the Doheny Library. “See that guy?” I asked. He paid a lot of money to get his name on the library. I got it done for free.” Everyone cracked up and they let me go.

Paul’s story of his ascent is an inspirational and powerful business book. It’s loaded with practical ideas to assist any business leader in focusing on learning, growing, evolving. Here are a few key concepts from the founder of this extraordinary business:

• I always figured I wanted a smaller piece of a bigger pie. When I was a kid, the game RISK taught me there was no reason to expand in a neat geographic progression. We decided to open up on or near universities where we were assured both a hungry customer base and a ready source of smart coworkers.

• I could make Kinkos a great place to work. All we had going for us was the sparkle in our coworker’s eyes. I focused on what they COULD do. Instilling loyalty in our coworkers and partners was priority number one.

• Your eyes believe what they see. Your ears believe others. I taught myself to smell opportunity with my eyes.

• I didn’t run Kinkos. I always left that to other very capable people.

• We would later learn that we weren’t so much selling copies as we were assuaging anxiety. Everyone wanted it done yesterday. It was a good omen. Almost instantly it was apparent we tapped into a strong demand, the central goal of any entrepreneur.

• Your average street peddler has more business sense than the guy walking by in a suit.

• Paul Orfalea’s Personality Test (for hiring) He would meet them off site and ask them the following questions:
1. Do I like them?
2. Do they have passion?
3. Do they get along with their family and parents?
4. Are they B.S.er’s?
5. Have they saved money?
6. Are they honest?
7. Are they kind to waiters, janitors?
8. Do they arrive on time?
9. Do they speak clearly?
10. Do they have good follow through?
11. What are they like over dinner or a drink?

By working with obstacles life dealt him, (he calls his dyslexia “Learning Opportunities”) he grew a 100 square foot copy shop to a $1.5 Billion-a-year company that Fortune named one of the best places to work in America.

What kind of legacy are you leaving your children? (See page 134 of my newest book www.ffffbook.com) I think it’s time to pour some new cement. Hand me that stick…

 

 So that's where that came from!

Houses had thatched roofs (a few years ago) thick straw, piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the dogs, cats and other small animals (mice, rats, and bugs lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof, hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."

 One for the road

This months best read is none other than Paul Orfalea’s new book "Copy This".

You'll find it here: click here

 

  Watch "The Road" Buddy!

Matteson Avenue is changing and growing. We have a new site search tool on the Site Map page to help you better find resources.

Listen to the Girl Scout Cookie Story this month.

Laugh more this year.

Learn more this year by reading a book a month in the Reading List

Leave a legacy this year - Freedom From Fear Forever has a great message!

 

 The Boulevard

PLANNING ON KEEPING YOUR NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS? According to Purdue University, and most experts, it’s not only important to have written goals, but you must have a plan to reach your goals.

Goals 2006 is the complete program to help you "create a life on purpose." Will 2006 be just another ho-hum year that started with good intentions? Or will it be YOUR Year! Your year to lose that weight you're tired of carrying...start that business you've been talking about...get out of debt for good. Are you tired of being stuck in the same gear?

Go see why one program graduate, Lucy O. said, "Breaking through, or at least finally recognizing, what my barrier is with writing goals, is a MAJOR accomplishment - one I've been trying to find for over 15 years! And I finally got it - I GOT IT!" Click Here

 The Wire's Conduit

This months Wire tip is a bunch of tips to better manage your email. Some of may seem a bit simplistic but anything that saves time while wading through the mountain of email will help.

When you delete an email it doesn't go away right away. To make it go away right now, hold down the shift key and press delete. No wait - don't try it now.

To select multiple emails to delete hold down your control key (Ctrl) and click on random emails, then delete (to your trash folder) or press shift and delete for the instant go away.

Read the rest of the story here...

I rate this a 9 on the value scale (1-10 - 10 being best)
I rate this a 1 on the complexity scale ( 1-10 - 10 being hardest)
(If you get someone else to do it for you)

Questions? email Kevin at kevin@mattesonavenue.com Have a web site? Need a web site? Need an update? Need an E-zine? Ask about our package plans.

 

 End Construction  

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