Being the first of the month and April Fools Day, I enjoyed an early swim and breakfast at Coogee beach Sydney with some mates, and then lunch at Bondi beach with my family. It was a relaxing day and fairly uneventful until I got an email from my full time project officer of our Foundation in India and it read:

“Boss,
Thank u for everything U guys have done for me, but now I’m finding it difficult to survive with my pay,
So I’m quitting the Foundation, I’m really sorry about it. Good Bye & best of luck
Love u both”

This email took me for six and I could not believe that this project officer, after 4 years of being with us had just quit in a brief and abrupt email. After reading this and before a replied I went into crisis mode. “What am I going to do now and what succession plans did I have in place? Was all the strategies and investment in time and resources a complete waste of time? I was angry, disappointed and couldn’t believe what had just happened.

So I sent him a ‘graceful’ yet concerned reply to his email. By this time, in my mind, I had stressed about what was going to happen seeing our options for replacing him was limited, and also had thought about 100 other resilience based scenarios if this had ever happened again.

His reply to my reply read:

“Happy April Fools Day” Ha Ha, He He, Ho Ho. I don’t have u In the corner, I have u in my heart Boss, My words once spoken will never fail my friend, I will not leave the foundation till my last breath, unless and until u kick me out.
Have a nice day. How was my style?”

After cooling down I thought that all the things I had thought about during the half hour crisis, while the emails were being replied to, got me thinking a lot about what would happen if a major crisis hit. Like the CEO quit or died, or that linchpin of your team just suddenly left? What do your succession planning strategies look like? What haven’t you seen because a crisis has not hit yet?

The essence to being resilient is in the preparation and proactive strategies needed to be put in place for the days outside of April Fools jokes.

Waiting for good times to return is irresponsible, & focussing on ‘the good old days’ to come back is ignorant.

Recently I was talking with a manager of a large retail chain, he said that, “retail is very poor at the moment, but we are weathering the storm as it will return to how it was”. He thought he was being positive and optimistic. I hear it all the time, how we are waiting for our customers to return to their previous spending behaviour.

This irresponsible thinking is universal and we are trying to innovate through using techniques and formulas to get our clients to return to how they were.

This is called Bouncing Back.

Bouncing Forward is innovation through creating.

Another way to look at it would be what I like to call, Reactive Innovation verses Proactive Innovation.

Here is a graph of the difference between Reactive Innovation & Proactive Innovation:

Reactive Innovation                                                Proactive Innovation

Creating proactive innovative practices through Thought Leadership, is the secret ingredient for growth & staying ahead of competitors.

STOP being irresponsible & continue to proactively create, innovate & Bounce Forward…

Check out my new homepage about to be launched soon.

It’s been a magical 2 months travelling the world with my family on a work/charity/holiday trip. We’ve experienced the greenest school in the world, seen 2013 New Years Eve at the #1 Wonder of the world, Taj Mahal. Met people that have never met a foreigner or a white person & helped the poorest people in the world in providing education, food & clothing. To say it’s been awesome is an understatement.

The country that we spent the most amount of time in was India, and this was the place where where we saw the protests that have sparked interest around the world. In mid December, a young girl and her boyfriend were walking home from a movie when they where lured into a vehicle where a few young boys raped the young girl, who eventually died from her injuries. The full details of the story were horrific, yet the opportunity from this crisis is profound. The protests following this horrific incident have been inspiring as Indians will no longer tolerate the current gender inequality and are standing up for what they believe. The exciting thing about this is that the next generation of Indians is the catalyst for the uprising.

We are currently seeing history in the making where Indians are no longer accepting the status quo and protesting against the things that they refuse to live with. Just in the last 2 years this same group of young Indians were protesting against corruption, and a new campaign, which is soon to be released to combat against littering, and rubbish issues. This is the first time that the second largest populated country in the world is standing up against the things they believe in on a large scale; what an exciting time in history to be a part of.

Taking this all into consideration what are the things that you will no longer tolerate in your life or in your workplace? When creating wanted change there is a process that will help you to make it happen.

1. Identify the cause, NOT the symptoms

2. Become discontent with the status quo

3. Protest against it.

4. Create a solution

5. Take action

For a little Christmas cheer I thought I’d be creative. Have fun reading this:

Top 25 reasons WHY I lost my arm:

1. I went bowling with my friends. As I threw a heavy ball, my arm got ripped off.
2. I was saving a school of orphaned children from a shark. I killed the shark, but the Piranha next to it took my arm. But, I saved the orphans!
3. While fighting a crocodile, a truck sped past just as the croc pushed me onto a samurai sword, which cut my arm clean off.
4. My teacher gave me the cane, but she picked up a knife instead of the cane.
5. I was jogging on a treadmill, when I slipped & fell on some soap. The guy next to me with heavy weights collapsed, dropping the weights on my arm. The arm came clean off.
6. I had the red pill, not the blue pill. The red pill packet said, ‘eat this & your right arm will drop off’.
7. When lighting a candle, I saw my guitar and wondered what it would be like playing with one arm. So, I went to look for a cleaver.
8. Someone dared me to stick my arm outside of a train while another train went past.
9. I was hungry and wanted to know what right arm curry tasted like.
10. My mum got angry at me so she decided to discipline me.
11. I wanted to be a motivational speaker, and I heard the amputated speakers are the best.
12. I super-glued my arm to the outside of a plane.
13. I wanted to feel phantom pain, and after reading Phantom comics I got bored. So, I got creative.
14. I saw a bionic arm and thought, ‘I will do anything it takes to get one of those.’
15. I thought to myself that disabled people are better looking, and I knew that I didn’t fit in with able-bodied people.
16. I wanted to use an insurance claim as I needed the money.
17. A Lion, Tiger and an Elephant were fighting over who had bigger muscles, then they saw me, became jealous & ate my biggest arm.
18. It was an alien.
19. I wanted people to stare at me when I walked past.
20. I already had 2 arms and I didn’t want to be greedy.
21. I wanted to see what it was like to fall asleep while driving over 100km.
22. A helicopter blade flew off the helicopter, just missing me. Then Arnold Schwarzenegger stepped out of the helicopter and cut my arm off.
23. The Taliban needed a helping hand.
24. My iPhone 5 transformed into a ninja, and while fighting the ninja a 1986 Ford Escort drove through McDonalds while an eagle grabbed my arm to feed it’s young.
25. …

If you an help me out with Number #25. Just tweet it and Hashtag 25thReason (#25thReason) and make sure you you link me in @samcawthorn AWESOME, have fun and Merry Christmas!!

A principle that I live by, each and every day, is the 10/10/10 Principle. Everything I focus on and spend time doing each day I think to myself, ‘how much of a difference is this going to make in my life – and the lives of others – in the next 10 minutes, 10 months and 10 years?’. EVERYTHING! That’s from watching TV, to playing a game, to spending time with my wife and kids to flying around the world – each task, each focus point that consumes my energy, I ask myself does this thing I’m doing right now serve me and the people around me in the next 10 minutes, 10 months and 10 years. If it does not, I will not focus on it. But in saying all this I need a third space…

My good speaker friend Dr Adam Fraser recently released a book called Third Space. I love this concept and for busy people this book is a MUST read. He talks about how we transition from one aspect of our life to the other. The 1st space is the role or environment we are in now, the second space is the role or the environment we are about to transition into, the third space is the transitional gap. One of its most popular applications is the transition from work to home and how we all need a third space so we can show up 100% ready and focused.

The past month for me has been crazy flat out as I’ve only been at home 4 nights in the last month. It’s been an amazing month full of opportunity, and meeting some amazing people and innovative businesses. I have a strong compelling purpose and WHY on my life that drives me every day to be the best, and make the greatest impact on every person I meet. Though with this intrinsic craving of making a difference in peoples lives I MUST have a Third Space to make that transition from Motivational Speaker to Daddy and husband.

My Third Space is going to the movies. I love to watch a movie, sit back (In Gold Class, hehe) switch off, and be entertained for an hour and a half. It’s my escape; it’s my third space. I always must have an ice cream and sometimes popcorn, but it’s just my way of recharging. Sometimes after a long week of travelling, I get home and my wife sees that I’m a little stressed or still the motivational speaker Sam. So, she hands me my car keys and demands that I go to the movies.

What is your third space?

Where is that place or that thing that helps you transition from school to home, work to family or travelling to normal life?

Always look at ways to make sure you SHOW UP in peak state to ensure that everyone gets the BEST of you each and every day.

“Stop talking about WHAT you do and start talking about WHY you do it…”

I was reading recently about the outcomes of the latest research we are doing in the area of parent job happiness and the effects it has to children and bullies.

It shows that parents who work late or long hours have little or no negative effect to the children, the parents may feel bad, but there is little or no effect to the child. Parents who dislike their jobs or are not fulfilled at work, their children are most likely to become bullies at school. So it is NOT the schools fault, nor the parents fault but the organizations or the companies that do not pursue job satisfaction and staff engagement.

Schools MUST look at strategic ways how they can engage their wider communities and focus on adding value to the parent body. Too often we look at what the parent & community can do for the school instead of saying how can we add value to the parent and wider community.

Organizations and employers MUST bridge the gap between staff engagement and not just job satisfaction, but ‘job love’. One area I’ve been focused on recently is the power of WHY. Getting clarity on ‘your’ why brings purpose & passion back into the picture and stirs a powerful connection of why we do what we do. Simon Sinek, in his book ‘Start with Why’, talks about how many organizations focus on the ‘what’ they do and the ‘how’ they do it and loses the main drive of our motivation, energy and passion and that’s the power of ‘WHY’.

The greatest leaders in the world are the leaders who inspire not dictate. To inspire a passionate and connected organization you MUST connect the organizational ‘why’ to the individual ‘why’. Why do we do what we do and why do we get up each and every morning? Greater staff engagement begins when we connect the passions, strengths and purpose of the team member with what we are all trying to achieve collaboratively.

After I learned my WHY, I stopped talking about ‘what’ I do and I started talking about WHY I do what I do!!

What is your WHY?

With all the turmoil in the markets, the economy, the uncertainty of tomorrow, the rapid changes that are happening all around us, we need resilience more than ever.

There are new patterns of resilience as growing volatility surfaces. From natural disasters to political turmoil, economic crises to climate change. We are living in such uncertain times that disruption itself has become the new norm.

The ability of people, teams, communities & systems to maintain their core purpose and integrity through this unforseen turbulence is somewhat difficult. Yet many academics, scientists, economists, civic leaders, social innovators and people alike are asking the same basic questions; What causes one system to break down and another to Bounce Back Forward? How can we build greater shock absorbers for our communities, our economies and ourselves?

The answers to these questions are found in a new development in what I call ‘The 6 Patterns of Resilience’. The six contributing patterns are:

1. Adaptation: The psychological embracing of change
2. Agility: Effectively and efficiently shifting from one position to the other
3. Ability: Preparation and confidence in adjusting to uncertainty
4. Anecdote: The answer always lies within the problem
5. Advance: Innovate & create to move forward and shift the negative cycle
6. ACTION: Take rapid action to achieve desired outcomes

One example of The Six Patterns of Resilience is the Twitter Earthquake Detector (TED). In certain parts of USA there are more earthquakes than other regions, and a major issue for the US Geological Society was that the response team did not know the exact location when the quake first hit. So, they built a system that links social media to its disaster response team. When an earthquake is detected, the TED instantly scans for tweets about the severity of damage and location and maps it geographically. This enables a faster and more targeted response.

In the right situations, all kinds of things use these resilience patterns to Bounce Forward. People & businesses, communities & institutions, economies & ecosystems; each is resilient in it’s own way. The place in which you live, the company at which you work, and even yourself, we all carry a certain level of resilience in our every day lives. Learning and developing the BEST patterns of resilience and maximising the effectiveness of these in this changing world is imperative.

16 years ago, while studying in Tasmania, I met this girl called Kate. She was the hottest thing in the school and though she was not interested in me at all, I won her heart and today we live in Balmain Sydney with three children.

I tell you this because this is my WHY. This is my story. This is why I get up out of bed every morning and why I’m in business. I’m still passionate about making a difference in other peoples lives and impacting businesses in a positive way, but when push comes to shove, my WHY is for my wife and kids.

In our corporate lives, our working lives and our personal lives, we get so caught up with the ‘What’ and ‘How’. How are we going to smash budget this month? How are we going to engage the disengaged? What are we going to do about all the changes that are happening? What are the strategies and systems needed to move forward through this uncertainty? Even our vision & mission statements are focussed on the ‘What and How’. “We provide the BEST quality product & services while maintaining high integrity and operate within the framework of our value system”. Yet with all the focus on the ‘What and How’, we miss the most vital ingredient that can set us apart from everyone else, and it’s clarity on our WHY.

The WHY is the core story of an organisation or individual. It’s the reason why we do what we do and what drives our passion and energy. Most think that our why is for more $$$ we can put into the bank or as simple as paying the mortgage. But I beg to differ. Making more money is a result, and there is a reason behind why we pay the mortgage. We need to get down to the core of who we are and why we are doing what we’re doing, in the first place. If we can communicate effectively our corporate core story and ignite a compelling WHY into the team, then we will see a massive shift of greater productivity, successfulness rates and profitability. Our WHY is connected to how we feel; We feel good paying the mortgage so we can retire well, we feel good making money so we can create better lives for ourselves, our families and wider communities.

Take a look at Groupon, the fastest growing company ever, according to Forbes. They communicate with their following, not HOW they do it or even WHAT they do, they communicate in a way that makes their followers feel good about their purchase. Have a look at Apple, they don’t sell us on what they do, or even how they do it, but we buy because they make us feel good about the purchase.

This is what GREAT leaders do, they inspire through communicating a compelling reason why, which in turn makes teams feel good about wanting to achieve that goal. Yet, remember that happiness should NOT be connected to your goal, it has to be connected with your WHY.

Just five years ago, I had a major car accident that changed everything in my world. Yet while I was still in my car, and the paramedics were trying hard to save me, I thought about three questions that gave me clarity on my WHY.

Am I Passionate?
Am I Caring?
Am I Making a Difference?

Get your teams and people around you connected to their why. Strategies, systems, processes, things to do today lists, and the like will NEVER work to it’s capacity if the core story of WHY we do what we do is not communicated effectively.

Get your WHY right… Everything else will fall into place!

I wouldn’t normally do anything like this and this is a first for me, but over the next week (1st week of July 2012) I wanted to offer you a FREE ‘New Financial Year Gift’. It is a copy of my NEW book ’111 Tips to help you BOUNCE Forward’.

My entire life’s work in personal motivation and achievement has been communicated in this book. I have shared every tool, strategy and psychology that I NEEDED throughout my life to overcome the most devastating of tragedies. From having a major car accident which left me with a major disability, to losing my BEST friend and 22 year old younger brother to cancer.

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Leading into the new financial year our research shows that there are patterns that slows or even stops productivity. While we are all looking for new and innovative ways to boost productivity and raise profits, there are patterns that show that there are loopholes in the system and we are losing valuable opportunity if not addressed.

Below are 5 patterns that disrupt our productivity:

1.              Poor Communication of the ‘WHY’

Failure to communicate the organizational story with staff, clients and stakeholders will cause meaningless motivation. Humans need a reason why we do what we do.

Recently talking to an executive of a major Australian bank, he explained that they had gone through some major changes and the biggest change was the vision and mission statement for the company. When asked what it was, he then needed to go through his notes to remember what they were. The vision, mission and story HAS TO BE communicated and instilled into the fabrics of an organisation and the team. It gives us a WHY.

2.            Reactive Innovation

Most innovation is a result of a crisis or problem that forces change. Though we are capturing an opportunity, it is still a reactive one. However being pro-active with innovation keeps you one step ahead of the competition.

A few months ago I wrote about Irresponsible Innovation and the differences between reactive innovation and proactive innovation. The reality is that encouraging proactive innovation is the secret ingredient for growth & ensures long-term sustainability.

3.            Bouncing Back

I have immersed myself and become a little obsessed with this phrase ‘Bouncing Back’. To be quite honest this phrase is wrong, completely wrong as it implies that we have had a struggle or a crisis ad now we are bouncing back to where we were before the crisis hit. This is wrong and reactive thinking.

So stop focussing and talking about Bouncing Back and Bounce Forward.

4.             Segregation of Work & Life

The word ‘work’, can be taken as a negative connotation. Too often I hear people say, “I have no life, all I do is work”. There is a way we can blur the lines between work and life and realize that there is life at work and work in life. The more we can communicate the WHY and allow people to see the vision and just ‘do life’ with people at work will ensure greater collaboration and communication.

Work is life and life is work and it is a positive.

5.            Losing Relevance

How relevant would you and your products and services be in the future? My friend Michael McQueen an expert in relevance says, “Relevance is not just about success, it’s about your very survival”. Losing relevance will ensure that you will not be here in the future, we need to constantly evaluate our relevance with our wider audience to ultimately be one step ahead of our client expectations.

Constant and never ending improvements with our services and product will ensure a successful and more productive and profitable future in the years to come.