I recently attended a business conference where a man named Cameron Herold shared this story. It was just one of those stories that I was able to carry back to the office with me. On the days where I have been disciplined enough to do it, I have had my best days. I hope you all will get your 3 Things Done by 5pm on a 3 x 5 note card or on something as simple.
One day a management consultant, Ivy Lee, called on Schwab of the Bethlehem Steel Company. Lee outlined briefly his firm’s services, ending with the statement: “With our service, you’ll know how to manage better.”
The indignant Schwab said, “I’m not managing as well now as I know how. What we need around here is not more “knowing” but more doing, not knowledge but action; if you give us something to pep us up to do the things we ALREADY KNOW we ought to do, I’ll gladly listen to you and pay you anything you ask.”
“Fine,” said Lee. “I can give you something in twenty minutes that will step up your action and doing at least 50%.”
“OK,” said Schwab. “I have just about that much time before I must leave to catch a train. What’s your idea?”
Lee pulled a blank 3×5 note sheet out of his pocket, handed it to Schwab and said: “Write on this sheet the three most important tasks you have to do tomorrow.” That took about three minutes. “Now,” said Lee, “Put this sheet in your pocket and the first thing tomorrow morning look at item one and start working on it. Pull the sheet out of your pocket every fifteen minutes and look at item one until it is finished. Then tackle item two in the same way, then item three. Do this until quitting time. Don’t be concerned if you only finish one item. You’ll be working on the important ones. The others can wait. If you can’t finish them all by this method, you couldn’t with another method either, and without some system you’d probably not even decide which are most important.”
“Spend the last five minutes of every working day making out a “must do” list for the next day’s tasks. After you’ve convinced yourself of the worth of this system, have your men try it. Try it as long as you wish and then send me a check for what YOU think it’s worth.”
The whole interview lasted about twenty-five minutes. In two weeks, Schwab sent Lee a check for $25,000- a thousand dollars a minute. He added a note saying that the lesson was the most profitable from a money standpoint that he had ever learned. Did it work? In five years, it turned the unknown Bethlehem Steele Company into the biggest independent steel producer in the world and made Schwab a hundred-million dollar fortune and the best known steel man alive at that time.
-Andy
PS-For those of you curious about last weeks blog, I was able to recruit 14 people to join me in losing 10lbs before March 31. We are all sharing pictures daily of our toes on the scale and have lost 16lbs collectively the first week. I will keep you posted on our progress. My wife made 2 dozen chocolaste chip cookies tonight and I was only able to not indulge because I know 14 people are working hard with me to make good choices. I am proud to say I didnt have any.
We sure are lucky to have been graced by Glen’s performances on previous Sixthman events with his band Toad the Wet Sprocket as well as doing his solo sets, and we couldn’t be more honored to have him joining us this year on Cayamo. In fact Glen might be just as excited to be onboard as we are excited having him! He wrote up a little piece to share with everyone and get you even more anxious for next week! From Glen:
I’m sick of it!
So, bad news, I’m talking to you: I won’t stand for it any more. Especially on Fridays. I want to go into my weekends feeling good, happy, and alive, and I’m not going to let your bad news bring me down anymore. Some might say this is promoting ignorance…and maybe it is. However, the world will still go on whether or not I read that bad news, so why let it drag me down? I like to call it selective ignorance. Life is too damn short, so the less time I spend reading miserable news the better off I’ll be.
The hundreds of hours spent on executing the sort of event that takes a year of planning–a dream wedding, a roller derby tournament, or I don’t know . . . a chartered cruise with 2500 + paying guests and 25 + bands and artists–includes so many moving parts that no number of phone calls, brain storming sessions, or emails can hold off the inevitable. Something will go wrong. The car carrying your wedding cake might crash on the way to the reception. Your star skater might break her foot while dancing the week before the tournament. Your ship may miss it’s port of call due to a little wind. It’s the unexpected and uncontrollable moments that make me question my sanity in being a part of a team that puts together multiple events where so much could go wrong but it’s the way we respond to those times when things do go wrong that makes me love my job.
How many of you have heard of Ed Roland? For those of you who haven’t, how many of you have heard of the band, “Collective Soul?” Ed is the lead singer, founder, and creator of that amazing band, and he’ll be showcasing his solo skills on Cayamo this year. Personally, I’m a huge Collective Soul fan so I couldn’t be happier to have Ed on the ship. Some bands lose their talent in moving from studio to stage, but Ed and company manage to turn it up a notch for each performance that will certainly leave you wanting more. Afterwords is the latest studio album from the band.
Read this quote from Over the Rhine, married couple Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist: “Believe me, we don’t want to waste anybody’s time,” elaborates Detweiler. “When we stop believing we’re doing our best work, we’re done. Every song has to be good, every record has to be great, every concert has to have some spiritual significance—something that we can’t quantify, something bigger than all of us.”
PASTE Magazine recently included Katie Herzig in their “Best of What’s Next – 25 Artists to Ignore at Your Own Peril” roundup, and said that Apple Tree (her album set for release on April 21st), “pushes her now-signature style – brightly textured acoustic pop that’s clever yet sincere, sunny but grounded – to exquisite new heights. Paste Magazine will be on Cayamo, so it would be to your benefit to heed their advice and check out this Nashville artist. Speaking of Apple Tree, it’s Herzig’s most accomplished work to date.” Performing Songwriter magazine adds, “Katie Herzig is quickly becoming a treasured female artist. This album boasts beautifully and thoughtfully crafted songs and, most strikingly, Herzig’s endearing vocals.”
I am obsessed with joining the 
This blog might get me in trouble. But, I am looking for help! I’d say, on average, I spend a good 2 hours of each day, trying to figure out a plan to help me get more organized so I can get more done. Lately my M.O. has been to start every task I have (
