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The DYOJO Podcast The Power & Practice of Questions Season 3, Episode 82 Contractors who specialize in navigating insurance claims, know that the process can be contentious. In this episode, we discuss mindsets and habits that can assist you in achieving better project outcomes.
Business is a negotiation. If you take the carrier out of the equation, you are often negotiating with your clients. Part of a successful negotiation is clearly defining the scope and expectations of the project so that you can accurately bid the cost of materials and labor. If the carrier is paying for the work, they have the right to ask whether the scope has been accurately presented and thoroughly supported. The second meaning for negotiating is to, “Find a way over or through (an obstacle or difficult path).” You can view the adjuster as your adversary, but assuming so from the get-go only gives them one option - to be adversarial. Or you can proceed with the mindset to attempt to understand their position, in light of The Claims Standard, and find a means to reach a mutually agreeable outcome. Our primary guest is Steven Patrick of Level the Playing Field. He shares several insights that help contractors develop a framework for working through the claims process. These concepts, also are applicable to instances of resistance between contractors and customer.
Our discussion includes shout-outs and/or appearances by these guests:
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Have you considered making videos for your business to share on YouTube or social media platforms but you are worried that they may be too cringe? Embrace the suck. As Paul T. Long says, "People bank [insert your business] with people." When he was deciding whether or not to create content for his business he considered:
For Paul, this meant creating 42 videos on The Commercial Real Estate Process. Doing so forced him to think through his client on-boarding process and help his clients to better understand and work their way through achieving their goals. Paul reports great engagement as well as process improvement. BUT, it started with him being willing to be terrible at making the videos, following through with the vision, and hitting the "post" button once they were ready. To encourage business professionals, we share some of our early cringe videos to help inspire you to follow through on that initiative that you are considering.
South Sound Conneciton (SSC) is all about sharing the stories of local people, business professionals, community members, and entrepreneurs. SSC is sponsored by:
As a manager or business owner, trying to get some advice on whether a strategy or service option is right for your business can feel like a difficult process. The development of the internet and social media has provided entrepreneurs with limitless opportunities for immediate feedback from any number of persons presenting themselves as authorities on a given subject. If you go online seeking feedback, you will likely receive conflicting input from the extremes of a given perspective. While there are no dumb questions, there are plenty of dumb answers; so how do you avoid bad advice? The DYOJO offers Seven Questions to assist you as a manager or business owners to determine whether a strategy or service option is right for your business. These simple questions will assist you to be better prepared to articulate questions in alignment with where you are in your development and where you are trying to go. I believe these questions will help you better determine who can help you on your journey as well as how much credence to give to various sources of input. Seven Universal Business QuestionsWhether you are growing your career or growing your business, you must always remember one key thing – it’s your DANG journey. No one is going to walk it for you. No commenter on social media, no coach, no consultant, no author, no podcast host, is going to take the direct hits when you fail or feel the wins as deeply as you do when you succeed. While it is smart to seek and take in good counsel on any element of business that may be new to you, I think it is important to consider these seven universal business questions:
Questioning Controversial Business TacticsYou will hear many smart people say really dumb things. Often this is related to our shared practice of repeating the platitudes of the day. Something can sound intelligent as it rolls off the tongue while being completely baseless and possibly harmful if applied. These seven questions will help you step back and take a broader view as you work to avoid taking bad advice and harming your business. In the age of fear-mongering, remember that there are differences between strategies that are illegal, unethical, controversial, and safe. Here are a few simple definitions:
In business, many prognosticators want to make controversial items into grandiose arguments over morals or ethics when what drives many of them is their own fears, lack of experience, and failures. I do not promote the idea that anyone should blur the lines with something that is illegal. Business persons should seek out hearty discussions about ethics with their qualified peers. Yet, in the guise of sound business advice, usually for self promotion, the responses to something controversial are too often in the extreme. Pundits within the restoration industry follow the tactics of politicians in making a battle of good versus evil where no deep moral dilemmas exist. Seven Questions Applied To A Specific StrategyRecently there have been some discussions, written and in video, regarding direct to consumer fire damage service offerings. You may have heard it by another name, fire damage chasing. Most of the responses that I have observed veer into the realm of indoctrination as opposed to an earnest discussion of the facts related to the topic. While fire chasing can be controversial, I am not hearing disciplined thought leading to the leaps [over logic] taken to reach these predetermined conclusions. Hearsay is not helpful in business or life and should not be promulgated as a diagnostic methodology when advising peers or clients towards a determination for their business.
If you would like to read more on how I applied these seven questions to the topic of direct to consumer fire damage service offerings ("chasing"), please read the article published with C&R Magazine, Industry High Horses: Fire Chasing. My friend, the global restoration watchdog, Pete Consigli, didn’t lie. The AEML Winter Break in January 2022 was FABULOUS. He said, “Be there or be square," and the team delivered on a value packed event. We had three days of information that was pertinent to mold assessors and remediator‘s, and so much more. Topics included:
A testament to the value that AEML brought to the microbial remediation industry was that the speakers were excited and engaged in the presentations from the other speakers. They often were the ones asking probing questions of each other to get a better understanding of the area of focus being discussed. If you want to know more about this event, and whet your appetite for 2024 when THE Florida Mold Conference returns:
I recently finished my first book of 2022. The title was, Shula: The Coach of the NFL’s Greatest Generation By Mark Ribowsky. I will share five takeaways from this book that I believe are helpful in educating our mindset and habits for growth. Takeaway #1: I am not a fan of audiobooks Let’s be clear about one thing, LISTENING to an audiobook is not READING. Can you add any audiobooks that you have consumed to your yearly “reading” list to make yourself feel better? If a weight lifter uses performance-enhancing drugs, their retort is that they still have to put in the work. Is listening doing the work? Whether a bodybuilder is natural or modified, they still have to do the work of actually lifting the weight. So, is turning the page what separates reading from listening as a qualitative endeavor? One of the best books I have read on organizational framework, Organizational Physics by Lex Sisney, was a title I listened to before I read it. The audiobook gave me a great overview and then reading the book helped me to better grasp and dive into the concepts. In this way, I have found that audiobooks are a good method for me to sift through the piles of books that I would like to read and supplement my reading. *If you would like to hear more from Lex, you can watch or listen to him on episode 42 of my podcast. Takeaway #2: Learning team leadership from coachesAs I share in my latest book, several years ago I picked up my first coach's biography and have been hooked since. Winning teams require individuals to understand, as Phil Jackson, former coach of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Kobe Bryant, and Shaquille O'Neal, says, “Good teams become great ones when the members trust each other enough to surrender the Me for the We.” (emphasis added) So, how then does a coach, and their coaching staff, work to get these well-paid individuals to buy into the idea that if they work as a team they will go further than they ever could as solo acts? If I could extract nuggets here and there, perhaps I could apply these principles to my own development as a person in a position of leadership trying to influence my team towards doing it right, doing it efficiently, and doing it excellently. Don Shula coached the perfect season in 1972, putting a cherry on top with a Super Bowl win over the Washington Redskins. This is a feat that has only been contested once in the last five decades by Bill Bellicheck and Tom Brady in 2007. That perfect regular season New England Patriots team lost to “The Helmet Catch” of the almost sacked Eli Manning and the fatefully assisted grasp of David Tyree. This and a few other of Shula’s accomplishments inspired me to read about this celebrated coach:
Shula describes coaching as, “I think what coaching is all about, is taking players and analyzing there ability, put them in a position where they can excel within the framework of the team winning.” Before you can help your players to find their fit, you must first clarify the framework so that you can build consistency and establish accountability among the team members. Takeaway #3: No matter how successful you are, there is always a BUT…When Rex Ryan was celebrated as the new coach of the New York Jets, I remember seeing a press conference in which he prophetically said (to the effect of), “The same things they love you for today, will be the things they hate you for tomorrow.” While Don Shula may be the most accomplished and longest-tenured football coach in NFL history, no matter how successful you are there is always a, “Yeah, but…” My home team, the Seattle Seahawks, is going through their own turmoil of their first losing season in a decade (2011), there is plenty of scuttlebutt over whether the team should fire their winningest head coach, Pete Carroll. So, this idea of whether a coach has lived out their time of usefulness or if a new system needs to be brought in is of particular note. Shula went to the Super Bowl six times, but he only won the big game two times. Yet, he also only had two losing seasons in his 33 years of coaching two professional football teams. So, why couldn’t he win the big one [more than twice]? Why did his teams make the playoffs but struggle to win these big games? Did the game pass him up, did he waiver in his values, or were there other factors? I came across this quote, which I think applies to all persons in a position of leadership, "I've been accused of being a conservative, 'grind'em-out' kind of coach, because that was the style of my teams in 1972-73, but I point out that when I was at Baltimore, and Johnny Unitas was my quarterback, we used to have a wide-open, explosive passing attack," Shula said in 1985. "And when I came down to Miami, I didn't try to jam the Unitas style down the throat of Bob Griese, who was a different kind of quarterback, nor did I try to force the Griese style on Marino when he came along." As a corollary, my father-in-law was a pastor for all of his professional life. He led large, what many would say “successful” organizations, and many small, even tiny, congregations. While there are many differences between church and state, there are also many similarities. Leadership is leadership. He noted, “You are the same pastor each time, just sometimes it hits differently.” His perspective was that his role was to be faithful to do the work, and he worked hard, but that you weren’t always in control of the outcome, especially where people are involved. I hear Don Shula expressing something similar, that his core values were the same throughout the 70s, 80s, and into the 90s, but he adapted his approach to the situations and staff. Shula has also said, “Success isn’t forever and failure isn’t fatal.” Listening to this book, I didn’t find that there was a standout nugget from the text. I was hoping he might answer the “buts” and yet it seems he was overall content with himself and his accomplishments. I mean this in a good way, because there are plenty of coaches that I have read who are miserable even in their high achievements. Takeaway #4: How do we rate coaches (leadership)?Being named as a head coach, does not mean that you will be given the reins by athletes or upper management. Coach, as a reflection of leadership, is something you earn. You have to earn the respect of the players if you want their buy-in to your system. You have to earn the respect of upper management if you want their pay-out when you add resources to your team. In businesses our internal metrics our the year end financials, did we win this year would equate to increasing revenue and solidifying profits. Not everyone sees that, so it’s difficult to judge unless you are publicly traded. So, what are the external measures of a successful leader in the skilled trades? I would love to hear your input on this, but for now we will turn our thoughts back to the character at hand, Don Shula, and how we rate coaches (leaders) in the National Football League (NFL). How do we rate coaches and how does Don Shula stack up?
How do we rate business leaders and how do you stack up?
Takeaway #5: Mindset and habits for growthThis quote from Don Shula, is about the best I have heard as it relates to work, “Work isnt work unless you would rather be doing something else.” Rather than striving (a word I detest) for that perfect unicorn job (the one you love) so that you won’t have to work a day in your life (as the ridiculous quote goes). When you make the committment to pursue something, work your butt off to be the best you can be. Coaching is about making others better by helping them to see that making the team better will help them achieve their goals. Over the holiday break, on a fun trip with family and close friends, we watched several segments of The Harder Way. This show is about Penny Hardaway coaching his alma mater Memphis. On the show, former NBA star Mike Miller says (from what I recall), “The difference between good and great is small. The difference between great and elite is huge.” By all the notes listed, Shula is clearly elite. Even Michael Jordan says, “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” Shula had a “my way or the highway” approach, which appealed to many of his standout players early in his career. But he also learned to adapt as time went on so that he could get the best out of his teams. Early in his career, owner Joe Robbie had called for Don to come over in a manner that Don did not appreciate. Shula responded, “You ever talk to me like that again, I’ll kick your ass.” According to Sport Illustrated reporter Michael Rosenberg, “The two were never friends, and the relationship could be icy, but it worked because neither thought they had to be friends.”
I’ve long held that we don’t have to like each other to work with each other, but we do have to trust that 1) we both want what is best for the team, and 2) that we will each do our best to do our own jobs (DYOJO). With those two elements of trust in place, we can lead peaceful and productive teams. We don’t need a fantasy job, unicorn friendships, and all of our employees don’t have to be ninjas. Don said that he was always learning and as noted previously, he did his best to adapt to the talent on his teams. While I don’t feel that I learned any enlightening nugget from this audiobook, it is also true that not everything needs to be a Mount Sinai moment. Often it is equally important to apply my heart to what I observe and learn a lesson from what I see. Your vision and values may not need a major overhaul, but you should always be challenging your mindset and habits if you want to grow. I leave you with a closing thought from Mr. Shula, “You take on what's right in front of you. You want to do the best you can with the opportunities that you have.” DYOJO NATION ALERT! Seasonings Greetings "Nation" from the Intentional Restorer. Santa put a note under the DYOJO Holiday Tree and asked that I share it with you. He asked if you have been naughty or nice in 2021? He said you should reward yourself and your key associates with a trip to the USA's #1 Snowbird destination next January 27th to 29th, 2022 America's Sunshine State! If you are an IEP, Remediator, Restorer and/or engaged in the Mold and Water Damage Restoration industry then Deerfield Beach Florida is where you'll want to be the last week of January in 2022 to get educated and network with fellow Mold Assessors and Remediators! A couple of weeks ago I posted a trailer video of the Restoration Global Watchdog telling the DYOJO Nation that THE Florida Mold Conference known as AEML Winter Break was going to be Fabulous and to Be There or Be Square! That video clip was taken from raw footage shot by me and Pete Consigli last 4th of July weekend in South Florida on a road trip after the RIA 75th Anniversary Diamond Convention. Today DYOJO Nation will be the first to preview the full-length movie of the Intentional Restorer and the Restoration Global Watchdog walking and narrating the Winter Break venue at the Deerfield Double Tree Hotel.
IF you are not convinced that being at Winter Break next January is the place to be, then you must like shoveling snow, scraping icy windshields, and bundling up to keep warm from the bone-chilling cold! I'll be there with the Global Watchdog doing a live stream DYOJO podcast from Winter Break, as will Cliff "Z-man" Zlotnik one of the OG's of IAQradio+ and even ISSA Media Director Jeff Cross of Straight Talk fame! Come enjoy the education, networking, and the weather in the Sunshine State the last week of January, like the Restoration Global Watchdog says, "It will be Fabulous, Be there or be Square!". Winter Break Agenda & Speakers
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AuthorJon Isaacson, The Intentional Restorer, is a 19 year veteran of the property restoration industry and a business coach through his organization The DYOJO. Archives
May 2022
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