Create Your Own 2,000 Percent Solutions

Read Faster and Remember Much More

2011-06-25T18:30:00.000-07:00

Dear 2,000 Percent Solution Creator,

Are you feeling motivated tonight!

I pray that you are.

The Boston Center for Adult Education has asked me to teaching reading this summer (read faster and remember more).

There's no better way to accelerate making 2,000 percent solutions than by becoming and better and faster reader.

If you know of anyone who would like to spend two and a half hours improving his or her reading, feel free to send them along.

Here's the link:

http://bostoncae.augusoft.net/index.cfm?method=ClassInfo.ClassInformation&int_class_id=5918&int_category_id=0&int_sub_category_id=0&int_catalog_id=0&bit_url=1

Here's the course description:

If you're like most people, you think it's impossible to read faster and still remember what you've read. But the truth is, you can! And we'll show you how. We'll start by teaching you how to stop "speaking" in your head as you read, and how to move faster from one word to the next. You'll then learn to "scan" two words at a time, doubling your current reading speed. With tips from us, and practice, you'll learn to scan three, four, and even five words in a glance. Over time, you can eventually learn to scan a full line at a time. A paragraph. Or even a full page!

Along the way, we'll provide suggestions for improving your comprehension as well, such as having a purpose in mind as you read; guessing a word's meanings from context rather than interrupting your reading time to look it up; and more. Please bring a book that you haven't read before. Class will include lecturing, some exercises, and practice time.

Thursday, 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

; 1 session starting July 28, 2011, ending July 28, 2011

Tuition: $42.00 Member Cost: $36.00

Please let me know how I can help.

May God bless you, your family, and all you do in the name of Jesus!

With best regards, much appreciation, and all good wishes,

Don

P.S. This course could be a great blessing for a student.

P.P.S. If you can't make it to Boston for the course, be sure to read Lesson Five of 2,000 Percent Living.

A Fruitfulness Call to Pray About During Lent

2011-03-08T07:54:00.000-08:00

WESTON, Mass., March 8, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- A new Bible-based, Christian nonfiction book, Help Wanted -- One Million Breakthrough Tutors, Arise! written by Donald Mitchell, describes twelve ways that Christians can become more fruitful for the Lord, Jesus Christ, by helping others learn how to make Godly breakthroughs in obedience to and for Him. The book has been released for Lenten reading as Christians prepare to celebrate Jesus' victory over sin and death on Easter.

Help Wanted assists Christians to provide fruitfulness tutoring concerning Godly breakthroughs for those engaged in witnessing, congregational ministries, Christian nonprofit organizations, universities, secular teaching, youth organizations, foundations, social enterprises, governments, for-profit companies, independent professionals who advise organizations, and those involved in other activities. For those who are called to turn such Godly work into a part- or full-time profession, there's plenty of practical advice.

Donald Mitchell, author of 2,000 Percent Living and coauthor of Witnessing Made Easy and Ways You Can Witness observed, "Such tutoring allows Christians to become more visible to those who aren't yet saved by shining the Lord's precious light upon His world, and blesses those who are called to tutor as well as those who are served. In sharing this call from the One who I believe to be the Holy Spirit, I'm reminded of and encouraged by what this call could mean for Christians today when I read Moses' proclamation just before the Israelites crossed the Jordan, 'May the LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times more numerous than you are, and bless you as He has promised you!'" (Deuteronomy 1:11 -- NKJV)

The book can be purchased in paperback from many online sites, including Amazon.com.

Mitchell sponsored a global contest in 2006 and 2007 to locate more fruitful ways to witness that are the basis for the books that he has coauthored about witnessing. He also heads the 400 Year Project to accelerate improvements in all human endeavors, from spiritual to material, as described in his book, Adventures of an Optimist. He repented his sins and accepted Jesus' free gift of Salvation in 1959, and attends Calvary Chapel in the City, Boston, Massachusetts, where he serves as a deacon.

Excerpts from 2,000 Percent Living--2,000 Percent Living Blueprints: Follow These Directions to Achieve More Breathtaking Breakthroughs.

2010-09-10T13:53:00.000-07:00

For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us,
for we were not disorderly among you;
nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge,
but worked with labor and toil night and day,
that we might not be a burden to any of you,
not because we do not have authority,
but to make ourselves an example
of how you should follow us.

— 2 Thessalonians 3:7-9 (NKJV)

After I started writing this book, I visited an exhibition of
Sol LeWitt’s wall drawings at MASS MoCA in North
Adams, Massachusetts. In case you are unfamiliar with
this aspect of the artist’s work, let me explain a little bit
about it. Mr. LeWitt found the process of conceptualizing
art to be interesting and worthy apart from producing
the art, and he liked to draw. As a result, he worked on
helping people recreate his drawings on a grand scale
without him being present. If you would like to see some
of these recreated wall drawings, you can find examples
at the MASS MoCA Web site, www.massmoca.org. I also
encourage you to visit the exhibition, which will continue
until 2033.

As I toured the extensive display of wall drawings, I was
impressed by examples of the complex plans that Mr.
LeWitt (who is now deceased) provided for those who
want to render his wall drawings. The details are so
thoroughly developed and easy to understand that
virtually anyone who can read English can expect to
create an excellent wall drawing that will appear as
Mr. LeWitt intended. If you are musically inclined,
think of these instructions as being similar to the score
of a symphony. By playing what the composer wrote on
period instruments, you can recreate the music that
existed during the composer’s lifetime.

A new question occurred to me while I was touring the
exhibit: How well would people understand the nuances
of how to create 2,000 percent living breakthroughs after
the best current practitioners are no longer available?
I imagined that many well-meaning people might
misinterpret what has been written on the subject and
that, consequently, much effort could go into relatively
ineffective activities.

Having become aware of the humbling question of how
to best serve unborn generations, I immediately began
to appreciate that Mr. LeWitt’s instructions could be
likened to blueprints. With a good blueprint to make
something, any reasonably competent person who
knows how to use blueprints can create the desired
result.

I immediately determined that I would include
blueprints for a few of the most important aspects of
2,000 percent living in an appendix to this book. Those
who just want to graze through the concepts of 2,000
percent living will get what they want from the fourteen
lessons. Those who would like to create many
breathtaking breakthroughs can use the blueprints to
make progress more quickly.

Since providing blueprints is such an obvious idea, you
might wonder why I haven’t done previous work of this
sort to advance the 400 Year Project (see Adventures of
an Optimist). I have certainly toyed with the thought,
but I have avoided doing much about it beyond
coauthoring The 2,000 Percent Solution Workbook. In
choosing to be mostly silent about detailed instructions,
I was primarily concerned that I not stifle anyone’s
creativity. I believed that what I’ve learned and been
writing about can be reconceptualized into a simpler and
better form. I also hoped that many 2,000 percent
solution tutors would soon emerge and that they would
develop better blueprints than I could by drawing on
their experiences with the process.

Over the first fourteen years of the project, I learned
something that surprised me: With God’s help I can
develop improved breakthrough methods much faster
than most people become interested in learning how to
use them. That circumstance suggests that I need to
focus on making it easier to grasp the importance of
using these breakthrough methods and to appreciate how
little time and effort can be needed to apply the processes
to create remarkable solutions. As a result of my concern
about the relatively slow growth in the number of people
applying the process, I have decided to become a
blueprint maker for you.

In thinking about these blueprints, I realize that my task
is a little more complicated than Mr. LeWitt’s. What he
wanted to enable will still be literally relevant centuries
from now. What I am describing should be improved over
time as new resources, knowledge, and skills emerge.
Therefore, I need to write the blueprints to allow for
those advances to be incorporated into future solutions.
I’ll do my best to project potential advances in methods
by imagining some possibilities so that your application
of the blueprints will be more likely to benefit from any
fundamental improvements. I’ll also make this
information more relevant for the future by grounding
my writing as much as possible in circumstances that
are likely to remain similar to today.

Let’s get started by looking at the first blueprint: the
principles behind identifying ideal practices.

You will also find blueprints for being a breakthrough
leader and a breakthrough follower on my other blogs:
Live Spiritually Better than a Billionaire and Create a
Billion Dollar Business.

Copyright 2010, Donald W. Mitchell. All Rights Reserved.

Ideal Practice Identification Blueprint from 2,000 Percent Living

2010-09-10T13:49:00.000-07:00

“Therefore you shall be perfect,
just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

— Matthew 5:48 (NKJV)

This verse from Matthew isn’t familiar to many
Christians. Even those who know the verse are often
reluctant to take the words at face value. Based on
thinking about what I have observed, I realized that
many things individuals and groups do are conducted
almost perfectly on a routine basis. Most people fail to
realize that important point: God has provided each of us
with living examples of how to perfect what we do
individually and through cooperating with others. When
you understand more of the reasons why these successes
occur and apply them in Godly ways to your situation,
there will be few limits to what you can accomplish with
His direction and support.

The purpose of this blueprint is to help you to identify
many examples of near perfection in individual and group
performance, to extract principles that explain the high
performance, and to apply those principles to improve an
individual or group activity by performing steps five, six,
and seven of the 2,000 percent solution process. (See
The 2,000 Percent Solution and The 2,000 Percent
Solution Workbook.)

Copyright 2010 Donald W. Mitchell, All Rights Reserved.

Step One: Identify at Least Fifty Examples of Perfect or Near-Perfect Individual Performance by Adults

2010-09-10T13:39:00.000-07:00

Now all these things happened to them as examples,
and they were written for our admonition, ….

— 1 Corinthians 10:11 (NKJV)

You will learn more about creating 2,000 percent
solutions by developing your own examples, but I list
fifty instances here of adults taking near-perfect action
in many different aspects of life to provide a starting
point. In addition, these examples are intended to open
your mind to what you have already observed: that
instances of individual perfection and near perfection in
adult performance are common.

Consider the following:

• Breathing (Few healthy people who can find enough
fresh air stop breathing on their own.)
• Cashing or depositing a paycheck (Few people who
aren’t in a coma fail to learn how or forget to do so.)
• Refueling a working vehicle (Few people permanently
abandon a vehicle after it runs out of fuel.)
• Sending an invoice for work done (Few people forget
to seek payment for tasks performed to earn money.)
• Opening birthday presents (Many people even open
them secretly in advance.)

• Drinking enough liquids to avoid death from
dehydration (If potable fluids are available, those who
can reach and swallow them will drink what they need.)
• Asking for raises in pay (Few employed people will not
ask for an increase if one hasn’t occurred in the prior
three years and no contract prohibits it.)
• Changing a flat tire or finding someone to do so (Few
people permanently abandon an otherwise working
vehicle after it has a flat tire, even if they cannot change
the tire themselves.)
• Filing a tax return to obtain the refund of a significant
overpayment (People who don’t know what to do will
find someone who can help them.)
• Replacing clothing that is falling apart rather than go
naked (Very few poor people don’t have access to
replacement clothing that they can afford or obtain for
free.)

• Getting into a home after accidentally locking oneself
out (Few people become homeless following such a
mishap.)
• Learning to walk (Few people who are not disabled
from a young age fail to learn to walk.)
• Eating (Few healthy people without mental problems
fail to master how to take in food.)
• Smiling (Few people who aren’t paralyzed or do not
have autism fail to learn to smile.)
• Singing (Almost everyone who is not mute can make
musical sounds with their voices, although the
attractiveness of their singing varies a lot.)

• Drawing (Most people who can hold a pencil, crayon,
or stick will be able to sketch something that is
recognizable either on paper or in the dirt.)
• Communicating to others (Most people primarily
rely on their voices; others use sign language or
writing.)
• Sleeping (Hardly anyone fails to get some sleep
each week.)
• Learning (Almost everyone can learn something.)
• Telling the difference between day and night (Blind
people can use senses other than sight to notice shifts
in temperature and sounds associated with the sun’s
presence or absence.)

• Spending money (Almost everyone, even those with
modest mental capacities, can usually appreciate that
money can be exchanged for something they want.)
• Resting when tired (Few people deliberately keep busy
until so exhausted that they have to be hospitalized.)
• Hugging people (Only the armless find this to be
challenging.)
• Blowing out birthday candles (Few people who aren’t
on respirators lack enough coordination and lung capacity
to do this.)
• Opening an unlocked door (Almost everyone without
major physical limitations can operate a door’s
mechanism.)

• Recognizing family members (Until dementia occurs,
people are very likely to recognize family members by
sight, touch, sound, and smell.)
• Telling the difference between an onion and an apple
(Although the shapes and sizes are somewhat similar,
other characteristics make accurate identification hard
to avoid.)
• Getting someone’s attention (Even those who don’t
know how to do this pleasantly will eventually make
enough of a fuss to attract someone who wants to quiet
them.)
• Dreaming while sleeping (Hardly anyone reports
never having had dreams.)
• Sitting (Few remain standing or lying down if they are
physically capable of sitting and want to do so.)

• Recognizing their names (People who cannot read will
usually master what their names looks like, how they
appear by touch in Braille for the blind, or what they
sound like.)
• Petting small friendly animals (Almost everyone enjoys
the experience and with practice learns to touch animals
in a gentle, pleasant way that animals respond positively
to.)
• Drawing away from something that’s burning them
(Most of those with a reduced sense of feel will
eventually smell that their flesh is being charred.)
• Moving away from something that smells bad (It
doesn’t take much of a foul odor to cause us to shift
locations.)
• Kissing others (Some do this better than others.)

• Seeking out others (Most people are interested in
talking to and doing things with other people, and almost
everyone will look for help on occasion.)
• Moving away from danger (If you watch videos of
people in a dangerous situation, you see almost all those
who aren’t trained to save others heading toward a
safer location.)
• Remembering who has been kind to them (People
hope to bump into them again so the experience can
recur.)
• Telling the difference between a rock and an animal
(A few animals appear to be a little like rocks, but closer
inspection usually reveals the answer when movement
occurs or does not occur.)
• Remembering that chocolate tastes good (Nothing more
need be said on this subject.)

• Requesting help when in danger (It may only be
frantic waving, but the signal will be unmistakable.)
• Avoiding what a person has good reason to be
physically afraid of (Few people other than highly
trained scientists and their assistants seek to be near
alligators, coral snakes, and black mambas because of
their reputations for harming people.)
• Remembering happy occasions with pleasure (Just
thinking about such events makes people feel better.)
• Helping people who have helped them (The sense of
obligation makes people feel uncomfortable until they
reciprocate.)
• Laughing while looking at monkeys (These little
creatures can tickle our fancies more than many of the
best comedians.)

• Putting on more clothes when it gets cold (Only those
who cannot find more clothes won’t do this.)
• Screaming when startled (Jump out from where you
cannot be seen, shout “boo” from behind someone
standing in a dark place, and listen to the evidence.)
• Picking up untended hundred dollar bills lying in front
of them (This can be an expensive experiment to
conduct, but some robbers have provided evidence by
tossing money into the air in hopes of slowing down the
police by attracting money grabbers.)
• Remembering where they live (Except for those with
amnesia, people get back home eventually.)
• Looking up while fireworks are exploding in the air
(Sighted people will be drawn by the bright colors, but
even blind people will be drawn by the sound.)

Copyright 2010 Donald W. Mitchell, All Rights Reserved.

Step Two: Identify Reasons for Perfect or Near-Perfect Individual Adult Performance

2010-09-10T13:30:00.000-07:00

“Here is what I have found,” says the Preacher,
“Adding one thing to the other to find out the reason, ….”

— Ecclesiastes 7:27 (NKJV)

Many people feel incapable of answering questions about
the reasons for certain behaviors. They quite accurately
perceive that they are not scientists, nor are they
particularly familiar with scientific research.

When called on to explain observed behavior, even those
with some ideas don’t want to be embarrassed by
someone who knows more than they do. As a result,
many people will just sit quietly hoping the questioner
will change the subject rather than reply as best they
can.

Relax. Scientific explanations are not what you need to
appreciate the sources of perfection and near perfection.
You simply need to identify the predictable patterns that
underlie examples of individual perfect and near-perfect
behavior. If you can apply common sense to
understanding why you do what you do that’s perfect or
near perfect, you will supply helpful answers that you
can apply to improving performance in other
circumstances.

Let me help you get started by providing some reasons
for individual adult perfect and near-perfect behaviors,
while I leave you the fun of identifying even more
sophisticated and original explanations:

• Natural instincts (Before they are born, babies can been
seen sucking their thumbs in sonograms; and few babies
fail to learn to suck … the most efficient way for
newborns to obtain milk from their mothers or a bottle;
as a result, we shouldn’t be surprised to see that adults
can suck liquids through straws.)
• Reflex reactions (Few can resist either kicking out a
foot after being tapped on the knee with a rubber
hammer by a physician or giggling after being tickled.)
• Conscious awareness that is focused by some physical
needs until you act (Urgent needs to excrete and urinate
will concentrate your attention on finding a bathroom or
a private place to perform these bodily functions.)
• Dislike (Most people avoid what’s unpleasant, such as
the odor from a skunk’s scent gland.)
• Comfort (You can stand in the driving rain unprotected
while holding your closed umbrella, or you can open and
stand under it and not get so wet.)

• Emotional gratification gained through your action
(Throwing out your arms while greeting someone will
almost always lead to a heart-warming hug.)
• Avoiding embarrassment (A man whose pants aren’t
zipped will almost always take care of the oversight as
soon as he realizes his circumstance.)
• Being guided by the crowd (If you see people looking
up, you’ll feel an irresistible urge to look up, too.)
• Desire (Few men will look away from and ignore an
attractive woman who is determinedly trying to get
their attention while not wearing very many clothes.)
• Enjoyment (Most people are drawn to performing a
favorite activity that’s fun such as moving in rhythm
to favorite music.)

• Economic self-interest very obviously favors taking
action (You will be much worse off if you don’t take the
action, such as when you have an unredeemed winning
lottery ticket … you won’t get paid unless you turn it in.)
• Seeking social connections (Behaving well when first
meeting people will help to make a better first
impression.)
• Wanting safety (Learning to perform certain activities
can make you more secure, such as those living in a home
surrounded by nearby water learning to swim.)
• Avoiding inconvenience (If there are two checkout
lines in a store, people will either go into the shorter one
or the one that is moving much faster.)
• Perceiving that overwhelming advantages of many
kinds favor the action (An example of such a choice is
deciding to live in a building rather than in a cave.)

I encourage you to add to the list. Doing so will deepen
your understanding of what the most powerful human
motivators are. I particularly encourage you to think
about the last category that I listed: overwhelming
advantages of many kinds favor the action. That
behavioral motivation is the key concept for structuring
situations so that individual adults will perform
something perfectly or almost perfectly.

Some people may react negatively to thinking about
human motivation, imagining that applying such
information is always manipulative and unethical.
Before dismissing the appropriateness of applying this
knowledge, realize you can increase motivation ethically
by providing people with more of what they want that’s
good for them while being totally open about how you
are doing it. For instance, most people would like to
spend more time having good, clean fun with their loved
ones. If you add to their own motivations to help them
in a transparent way to spend more time with loved
ones, what’s the harm?

Copyright 2010 Donald W. Mitchell, All Rights Reserved.

Step Three: Identify at Least Fifty Examples of Perfect or Near- Perfect Group Performance

2010-09-10T13:12:00.000-07:00

So we built the wall,
and the entire wall was joined together
up to half its height,
for the people had a mind to work.

— Nehemiah 4:6 (NKJV)

This verse from Nehemiah brings to mind the part of
Mark Twain’s classic coming-of-age novel,
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, where Tom’s Aunt
Polly sends him out to whitewash the fence. Tom,
wanting to take it easy on a hot day, decides to persuade
the other children to do his work for him. Pretending that
the work is very enjoyable and that he wouldn’t want to
share it for any reason, Tom gains a free work crew and
a good laugh. While this is a fictional story, it rings true:
People can be persuaded to do unpleasant (and even
improper) tasks if they believe that the tasks are
enjoyable. That’s one reason why so many youngsters
get into trouble.

I want you to beware of Tom Sawyer’s approach and
instead act like a responsible adult: Build on peoples’
self-interest in positive ways to help them gain what
really is good for them and that they already want.

Let’s look at some examples of where groups of children
or adults perform perfectly or near perfectly with little
effort to gain something that’s good for all concerned:

• Soldiers follow the order to stand “at ease.” (It’s a simple
stance to master and feels much more comfortable than
the “attention” position that precedes it … ironically, it’s
much easier to pay attention to what is being said while
“at ease” than while at “attention.”)
• People who see fire and smoke nearby and hear a fire
alarm will head for the exits with little delay. (In my
experience, even those who are paralyzed by fear will be
assisted out by those who aren’t so fearful.)
• Elementary schoolchildren leave after the final bell rings
in their classrooms. (After being cooped up for most of the
school day, children are ready for a change of pace and
place; in most cases, they are headed for sports activities,
visits with friends, or their rooms at home.)
• Football players leave the playing field at half time for
either the sideline or the locker room. (They know the
coach wants to speak to them, they are ready for a break,
and there is limited time before the second half starts.)
• Drivers go forward after a red light turns green.
(Inattentive drivers will be reminded to proceed either
by their passengers or by honking horns from the drivers
behind them, serving to safely move traffic forward.)

• People drive on the correct side of the road. (Doing the
opposite is usually much more hazardous.)
• Pedestrians walk on the sidewalk rather than down the
middle of a busy road. (There is usually less chance of
being hit by a vehicle while on the sidewalk.)
• Readers look at English words from left to right and
Hebrew words from right to left. (The letters make
more sense when viewed in those directions.)
• Writers spell words in the most common way used by
their readers. (It’s easier to be understood that way.)
• People greet others in the most common friendly way
for that community. (Otherwise, people may be
offended or confused.)

• Employees don’t go to work on major religious
holidays that they observe. (Christians who are not
emergency personnel choose to be with their families
and friends on Christmas.)
• Runners wait for the starter’s pistol before crossing
the starting line. (Otherwise they will be disqualified
after two “false” starts and there will not be a fair
contest of skill for all concerned.)
• Neighbors don’t steal each others’ birdbaths.
(Neighbors would probably notice; it’s illegal; they aren’t
very expensive so most people can afford their own; and
they are usually bulky, heavy, and messy to haul away.)
• Visitors rarely try to take valuable art from museums
during visiting hours. (It’s illegal, there are guards, and
there are antitheft measures in place.)
• People drive cars in forward gears rather than in
reverse on roadways. (It’s much safer and easier to do it
this way.)

• Drivers close windows to vehicles before entering a car
wash. (There are signs to remind people, the attendants
usually mention it, and being hit by water will usually
get someone’s attention if all else fails.)
• Skaters put on skates before stepping onto the ice in a
rink. (Otherwise they will probably slip and fall rather
than have a good time skating.)
• Football players don helmets before taking the field in
a game. (It’s pretty dangerous not to do so and someone
will remind those who forget.)
• Hockey players carry hockey sticks during games.
(It’s pretty hard to handle the puck without one.)
• Carpenters use a hammer rather than their fists to
drive in nails. (It works much better and is less painful.)

• Passengers almost always arrive safely after
commercial plane flights. (Serious injuries from
commercial aviation are practically nonexistent as a
percentage of all people who fly … the flight deck crew
members have their lives and safety at stake, too.)
• People receive bills sent by mail. (Companies wouldn’t
use mail services and postal employees would lose their
jobs unless the rate of lost envelopes was very low.)
• People drink treated water without becoming sick.
(It’s well known how to kill bacteria, it’s inexpensive to
accomplish, and laws require it for most municipalities.)
• Bank customers’ deposits are correctly credited to their
checking accounts. (Banks make their money by lending
a multiple of the deposits that they have on hand, and
customers soon leave a bank that shortchanges their
deposits.)
• Aides to politicians promptly return telephone calls a
month before an election. (They don’t want to run the
risk of annoying a voter who might tell lots of others.)

• Firemen respond promptly to an alarm. (Some people
enjoy this work so much and consider it so valuable
that they volunteer their services for no pay.)
• Sunday school teachers and their substitutes are on
time for their classes. (These volunteers want to do
God’s work and are so concerned about the children
they teach that they will seek out a reliable replacement
when necessary.)
• Adults arrive on time for their baptisms. (This is an
important spiritual event that they are probably looking
forward to doing as a sign of their obedience to God, and
baptisms aren’t conducted every day.)
• Prisoners are ready to go outside when it’s time for
their yard exercise. (Many prisoners find these brief
times when they aren’t cooped up indoors to be the
high points of their days.)
• Teenagers remember to go to their drivers’ license
test appointments. (They are anxious to obtain licenses
and know that missing the appointment will delay
receipt.)

• Newly elected officials take their oaths of office. (They
cannot serve until this swearing in occurs, and they get a
lot of publicity when they do.)
• Mortgage lenders cash the certified pay-off checks
they receive at property closings. (They will have no
money to lend from the transaction and earn no new
interest until they do.)
• Ringmasters open the formal part of circus
performances. (The show doesn’t shift into high gear
until the ringmasters begin their spiels, ringmasters love
the attention, and many children cannot understand
what’s going on without an explanation.)
• Magicians make items seem to disappear. (It’s one of
the main ways they “amaze” the audience.)
• Trainers feed fish to sea lions during performances at
sea life parks. (The food encourages the sea lions to
perform.)

• Children show up to watch holiday parades that pass
their homes. (They love the excitement.)
• Christian families remember to decorate their
Christmas trees. (Joining with one another to decorate
the tree is one of many Christmas activities that families
enjoy.)
• Children willingly leave their family cars and the
parking lot to enter Disneyland. (Wouldn’t you, if you
were still a child?)
• Politicians vote for themselves. (They can use an
absentee ballot if they will be away from their registered
polling places.)
• Advertisers provide materials to be presented during
the time they have purchased on television and radio.
(Otherwise, the advertiser will owe the contracted
amount but receive no benefit from the expense.)

• Heads of state accept invitations to speak at the United
Nations. (They and their countries will receive much
publicity as a result.)
• Business travelers put enough postage on the envelopes
that they use to send in their passport applications.
(Otherwise, the mail will just be returned to them,
delaying receipt of their passports.)
• Prison wardens feed the inmates. (Who wants to
maintain control in a prison full of hungry, angry
people?)
• Jail guards check visitors for weapons. (It’s
dangerous not to.)
• Judges sentence people found guilty of crimes. (They
are required by law to do so, and judges can lose their
jobs if they don’t sentence guilty defendants.)

• Gas stations sell fuel except during rationing. (It’s a
major source of their income and may also help attract
repair customers.)
• Supermarkets have food for sale. (It’s hard to imagine
they would call themselves supermarkets otherwise.)
• White-tablecloth restaurants offer menus to diners.
(I’ve only been to one that didn’t. The waiter told me
the chef would make anything I wanted so I should just
order what I liked to eat.)
• Shoe stores display shoes you can buy. (Otherwise,
why bother to display them?)
• Airlines have seats on sale for future flights. (Airlines
usually lose money and need the cash that advance
payments for future flights bring.)

Copyright 2010 Donald W. Mitchell, All Rights Reserved.

Step Four: Identify Reasons for Perfect or Near-Perfect Group Performance

2010-09-10T12:55:00.000-07:00

… then you shall inquire, search out, and ask diligently.

— Deuteronomy 13:14 (NKJV)

I suspect that the preceding list of group performances
has inspired many ideas for why certain actions are done
in a perfect or near-perfect manner. One reason for
having such ideas may be because I often grouped
together examples of similar motivations. Whenever
searching for explanations of perfect and near-perfect
individual or group performance, you will probably find
it helpful to start by combining examples that seem
similar to you in motivation. In this subsection, I
describe some of the common motivators that I had in
mind while preparing the list.

Let’s begin by looking for reasons that might explain
the first group of five examples. Here are some of the
common factors that I noticed about them:

• All of these situations have either been previously
experienced (such as leaving a classroom) or practiced
(such as through fire drills).
• There is some obvious, immediate benefit for those
who take the action. (Soldiers are more comfortable,
people feel more relaxed away from the apparent threat
of a nearby fire, schoolchildren do something they prefer,
football players improve their chances of playing well in
the second half, and drivers arrive sooner at where they
are headed.)
• The actions are consistent with the preferences of the
people involved. (No one is expecting them to do
something that is counter to what they like to do.)
• Those taking action are reminded of the right action by
seeing what others do.
• Authority favors the action.
• Someone has previously emphasized to each person
the right action to take.
• The information that leads to the action is
unambiguous.
• There are potentially unpleasant consequences for not
acting in that way.

After appreciating how many influences are involved in
those five examples of where groups of children or adults
perform perfectly or near perfectly with little effort to
gain something that’s good for all concerned, you can see
why I like to use them. Even people who cannot
articulate why perfect or near-perfect performance
occurs in those circumstances will immediately
appreciate that some powerful human motivations are
at work.

You should have an easier time picking out the common
element in the second set of five examples (that begin
with driving down the correct side of the road): Here we
are simply looking at social conventions that make it
more convenient to accomplish either travel or
communication. Notice that such conventions can be
either legally required (such as on what side of the road
to drive) or informally enforced (such as how to greet
others in a friendly way).

The common element in the third set of five examples
(that includes drivers using forward gears rather than
reverse on roadways) may be a little harder to
appreciate: These examples describe ways of behaving
that allow ourselves and others to gain benefits. By not
stealing art while it’s on display, we don’t end up in jail
and the art is still available for us and others to enjoy on
another occasion. A combination of self-interest and
providing benefits for others can motivate high
performance. Notice that self-interest can be either
achieving something positive (obtaining something, such
as time with family) or avoiding something negative
(such as arrest or an accident).

Identifying the common element in the fourth set of
five examples (that contains the example of carpenters
driving nails with hammers rather than their fists)
should present few problems: The individual
advantages of behaving in a certain way are so strong
that almost everyone in a group will independently
choose to do the same thing. There’s an important lesson
here: Individual incentives, when strong enough, can
create group behavior without any group incentives.

I find the common element in the fifth set of examples
(the one that contains the example of bills being received
through the mail) to be particularly interesting: The
individual advantages to someone else of serving you
cause perfect and near-perfect performance that you
can rely on. In an organizational setting, the lesson is
that it’s very valuable to look for ways to align strong
personal motivations with the needs of those who are
served by the organization. In most cases, this
elementary lesson is ignored when designing work.
When such shortsightedness occurs, many faults and
flaws follow, almost all of which are avoidable.

The sixth set of examples (which includes firemen
responding to alarms) is actually a subset of the fifth
set, circumstances where self-motivation by the
individuals is so high that the organization doesn’t
need to provide any motivation to encourage the
performance that’s desired, even when most of the
benefit accrues to those who are served. Many
organizational leaders act on this insight by carefully
recruiting people to work who need no additional
encouragement or direction to perform in ways that
will be beneficial to all those who are supposed to be
served.

The seventh set of examples (the one that has trainers
feeding sea lions after they perform tricks) describes how
necessities that are understood shape our responses. If
people know that nothing that they desire will happen
until a certain action occurs, they will perform the action
in order to gain future benefits. Such actions may include
things that no one is particularly eager to do. Placing the
unpleasant or unimportant tasks in a process so that they
precede something that everyone wants to occur will lead
most people to promptly do the tasks. Here is where we
have to be careful not to be unethical in using motivation
to engage people to do something that isn’t in their best
interests, as Tom Sawyer did with his friends.

The eighth set of examples (containing politicians voting
for themselves) provides straightforward
demonstrations of individuals being expected to act in
their own best interest. In many social situations, people
are encouraged to defer to others in exchange for gaining
some social esteem. Many sales-oriented businesses
operate by providing lots of incentives to make more
money. This approach is a problem when some people
may be harmed in the process (such as when
unscrupulous salespeople unload their merchandise on
people who cannot afford it and don’t know any better).

The ninth set of examples (the one about putting
enough postage on an envelope containing a passport
application) explores places where reasonable fear of
negative consequences may cause us to be careful to do
things that aren’t inherently pleasant or desirable.
(Searching visitors to a jail isn’t pleasant for anyone, but
finding yourself on the receiving end of a loaded gun
during an attempted jail break is even less desirable.)

The last set of examples simply looks at how
commercial enterprises operate: They exist to gain
customers and want to have something to provide
unless an unusual circumstance intervenes to make
that impossible (such as when gasoline rationing during
the 1970s led to some stations being unable to sell
gasoline because they couldn’t acquire any). These
situations show high motivation because owners want
to prosper, employees want to get and keep jobs, and
customers need some of what is offered. The natural
alignment of those interests can be easily disturbed so
that different parties act at cross-purposes, such as
when a gas station tries to sell the lowest quality gas at
the highest possible price, employees want to do the
least amount of work, and customers have few
alternatives to choose from.

For your convenience, here is a summary of the
motivational influences that were important for each
of these ten sets of examples:

1. Previous experience or practice; an obvious,
immediate benefit;
preferred actions; other people model ideal behavior;
authority favors the action; prior encouragement;
unambiguous information; and potentially unpleasant
consequences for not acting
2. Social conventions that make it more convenient to
accomplish either travel or communication
3. Behaving in ways that allow those taking actions and
others to gain benefits
4. Overwhelming advantages for each person acting
5. Strong individual advantages for each person acting in
ways that serve others’ interests
6. High self-motivation
7. Meaningful rewards greater than any unpleasantness
and annoying requirements
8. Simple self-interest
9. Fear of potential negative consequences
10. Commercial self-interest

As I revealed these motivations, you may have been
reminded of the kind of writing that philosophers did in
the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Those writers
often attempted to examine possible solutions through
considering “normal” human behavior in different
circumstances. There is much wisdom in letting people
behave as they naturally seek to do; however, there is
even greater wisdom in encouraging people to draw on
their best qualities of wanting to serve others as well as
themselves so that even more perfect results occur.
Let’s look next at how to draw on the kind of lessons I
have just shared with you to develop an ideal practice.

Copyright 2010 Donald W. Mitchell, All Rights Reserved.

Step Five: Identify the Most Helpful Motivations to Draw on for Encouraging Perfect or Near-Perfect Group Performance

2010-09-10T12:45:00.000-07:00

But command Joshua,
and encourage him and strengthen him;
for he shall go over before this people,
and he shall cause them to inherit
the land which you will see.

— Deuteronomy 3:28 (NKJV)

Some people will use any excuse to avoid assembling a
large number of helpful motivations to encourage
perfect or near-perfect group performance in a given
situation. To me, that reluctance means that the
person seeking to create a solution isn’t sufficiently
motivated by the opportunity to improve.

When you find yourself acting this way, it’s good to
ask yourself why you aren’t more motivated. If you
can find the reason, you may be able to reshape your
thinking by looking for more reasons to do the best
possible job. For instance, some people may
concentrate initially on the personal benefits, such as
earning more money, and feel conflicted. Without
looking at the situation more closely, these people
may be assuming that they can only have more if
someone else loses or keeps less, such as when people
are gambling against one another or competing in an
athletic contest for a prize. There are also many
situations where creating more for one person or group
also provides more for all, such as when a company sells
more of a product that produces value for customers
way above its price, which might be the case for laptop
computers that are used by adult professionals and for
services such as access to medical libraries when they
are used by physicians.

Even after such an investigation into potential benefits
reveals many more reasons why improving motivation
and performance is good for all, work may still lag on
encouraging perfect or near-perfect group performance.
I find that some people just aren’t very interested in
creating breakthroughs or thinking about improving
motivation. Others are easily distracted from any
complex task. Still other people may have higher
priorities elsewhere, such as caring for a loved one’s
serious illness.

Whenever you cannot motivate yourself sufficiently to
work on this step’s task to the utmost of your ability, you
should turn the assignment over to someone who finds
the work to be endlessly interesting, valuable, and
rewarding: That’s one of the lessons of step seven of
the 2,000 percent solution process (Identify the Right
People and Provide the Right Motivation to implement
the 2,000 percent solution). Since you probably won’t
provide much added motivation for the person who
gains the assignment, be sure to select someone who is
strongly self-motivated to do a great job and share all
that you know about why it’s a wonderful idea to
encourage groups to perform perfectly or nearly
perfectly in the situation.

Whoever is going to design the process should then
focus on identifying the most powerful forms of
motivation that will encourage perfect or near-perfect
group performance. A good starting place is to
describe what is intended to be accomplished, to list
the tasks required to make those accomplishments
more likely, and to create an inventory of all the
reasons that might motivate someone to want to do
an especially good job with the tasks. In developing
such an inventory, it’s very helpful to involve other
people, especially those whose backgrounds and
interests are different from the person who created
the description, list of tasks, and inventory. Ideally,
ask people to help with the inventory who represent
many different points within the spectrum of the
backgrounds and experiences of those who will
probably be performing the tasks.

Next, rewrite the description, tasks, and inventory of
motivations list to make the motivational reasons
clearer and to more accurately express the opportunity
to perform well. Then show the rewriting to some other
people and ask for their reactions to what you have
described and listed to see if they correctly perceive
what you are trying to express. Revise the description,
tasks, and inventory list to correct any problems that
are uncovered.

At this point, show the description, tasks, and inventory
list either to all the people you want to influence because
they will be doing the tasks or, if there are too many
people involved to contact everyone, to a large-enough
random sample of those people to be statistically
accurate. Ask each person you contact to describe how
important each of the purposes is on a scale from one to
ten for them, with ten being the most motivating
anything could be and one being not motivating at all.

Analyze the reactions to see which sources of motivation
are most powerful (have a point score near ten) and are
effective with a lot of different people who will be doing
the tasks. In making these comparisons, you want to
identify the set of motivating factors that will provide
the strongest reasons to act for the most people.
Ideally, you would like each person to have at least five
motivating factors that they rate at nine or higher. That
won’t happen in many cases so, if necessary, you’ll be
looking instead for combinations of motivating factors
that will provide each person who will be doing the
tasks with at least three reasons that they rate at
seven or higher. If you can do better than reaching
that minimum, you should.

The obvious question at this point is “what do I do if
there aren’t three reasons ranked at least seven points
or higher for each person?” Should that occur, you have
four choices:

1. Consider if selective assignments can be used to
determine who works on the tasks so that you can
employ only the most motivated people.
2. Redesign what needs to be done to include more
strong motivating influences.
3. Shift what is to be accomplished to include more
results that are highly motivating.
4. Employ some combination of the first three choices.

Once you have found which forms of motivation to
emphasize, you are ready to design the training and
tasks that will include them. That’s the subject of
Step Six.

Copyright 2010 Donald W. Mitchell All Rights Reserved.

Step Six: Design the Training and Tasks to Employ the Helpful Motivations You Want to Use to Encourage Near-Perfect Performance

2010-09-10T12:29:00.000-07:00

These things command and teach.

— 1 Timothy 4:11 (NKJV)

While designing the training and tasks to achieve
various purposes will be different from instance to
instance, let me focus on some of the issues and
opportunities that are most likely to arise. To start
with, I have observed that many training and task
designers take shortcuts that cause them to miss
touching some of the important bases for achieving
success. Much like the rules of baseball dictate that
a player who hits the ball over the stadium fence
won’t score if he or she skips a base before arriving
at home plate, the designers of training and tasks
will not accomplish all that is possible when they
haven’t touched important motivational bases.

Let me be sure I haven’t misled you by focusing in
Step Five of this blueprint on identifying the
motivations that work for almost everyone:
Motivations that aren’t on that list are still going to
be important. Don’t miss the chance to employ the
power of those other motivations as well, just so long
as these motivating factors don’t discourage anyone.
You can avoid reducing motivation by simply asking
those who will be doing the tasks if any of the factors
discourage them.

Let me talk about what some of these common, but not
nearly universal, supporting motivations are. As we saw
in many of the group examples of perfect and near-
perfect performance, many people will perform the right
way because they want to fit in or seek approval from
others. Those motivations are most likely to occur when
the people doing the tasks know and like those they do
the activities with or for. As a result, there’s an
important opportunity to build long-term motivation by
designing training and tasks so that those who are doing
them get to know and like one another. While that
suggestion of encouraging camaraderie may seem like
an obvious point, many workers will tell you that they
don’t know very much about some of the people they
work with … and don’t like many of the people they
come into contact with every day at work. In fact, some
bosses encourage hostility among coworkers to make
them easier to control.

Another strong influence is for people to model their
behavior on what everyone else does. Here again, the
influence works best if people have a lot of respect and
appreciation for those they are modeling. As a result,
training and recognition activities can help identify those
who are the models who should be followed. Otherwise,
people will often emulate those who are most physically
attractive and pleasantly spoken, even if they don’t
perform properly.

Most people lack some amount of healthy self-esteem
and will enjoy gaining better self-appreciation when they
develop skill and effectiveness in the needed tasks. An
excellent way to increase the pleasure from building
self-esteem is by letting others know about a person’s
progress. To do so might mean holding an awards
ceremony where friends and family are encouraged to
attend for a fun time or by providing a gift certificate
to take friends and family out to dinner.

Boredom and indifference can be enemies of perfect
and near-perfect performance. I remember taking tap
dancing lessons as a youngster with a partner who was
much younger than me and who had trouble
remembering the steps. Since we did each step
together, a mistake by either of us required that we
repeat what we had just done. If my partner made the
same mistakes time after time, I would become so
bored that after awhile I couldn’t do my part either,
even if I knew it quite well. To help people stay fresh in
appreciating the situation and to be happily focused on
what they are doing, it’s valuable to include frequent
novelty into what’s being done. However, in providing
these novelties, it’s important not to let them become
distractions. Novelties should just be a sideshow and not
be confused with the main event.

People also like to feel connected to something
important. Disney and Ritz-Carlton have worked hard
to supply this motivation by providing their employees
with a deep understanding of what the companies stand
for. Disney, for example, requires new employees to
spend two weeks learning about the company’s
entertainment heritage in supporting families before
they begin any job-specific training.

During those two weeks, many new employees realize
that they don’t feel comfortable representing that
heritage and resign. That’s a much better time to
identify people with motivational mismatches than after
someone has started on the job or volunteer activity. If
your organization has a rich heritage that will motivate
some to want to do a better job and to stay more alert,
be sure that heritage is explained and appreciated by
those who will be doing the tasks.

Disney and Ritz-Carlton do something else that you
should consider: The companies encourage people doing
any task to feel they are essential to the organization’s
success. Disney employees are told that they are “cast
members,” people who are performing in ways that will
influence the experiences and enjoyment of the
potentially engaged and enthusiastic audience, the
customers. Ritz-Carlton employees are told that they
are “Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and
Gentlemen.” Who wouldn’t enjoy doing that? By
creating such a special role for each person, those
with tasks to do are more likely to be looking for
opportunities to solve problems, to make life better
for customers, and to serve others rather than
trying to make the situation better only for
themselves.

People are also interested in understanding the
impact of what they do. Take time to measure their
performance and its effects on others, and let them
regularly see the results. By showing where
improvements are possible, more attention will be
placed on those areas: This is an important lesson that
we can learn from applying the second step in the
2,000 percent solution process (Decide What to
Measure).

Take task doers to observe the impact of their activities
on customers and other stakeholders whom they don’t
normally see, and you can have an even bigger
motivational impact. Being given this opportunity makes
people feel that they are being invested in, seeing
themselves more as someone the organization cares
about. Observing the consequences of mistakes and
perfect performance can also provide strong ongoing
motivation to avoid errors, particularly when the cost of
errors is high to those who are affected.

Almost everyone who starts a new job is excited about
the opportunity, looking forward to doing a good job
and to making career progress with the organization. If
you come back a few months later, most new employees
will tell you that they don’t have the tools they need to
do a good job, the organization doesn’t properly support
their efforts, and their boss doesn’t care about them.
What a waste of motivation! A better approach is to
design tasks so that those who do the work have better
tools than what they expect, more support than
they had hoped for, and more caring interactions with
their bosses than they have experienced before. To
accomplish these things simply requires finding out
what the beliefs and expectations are of those who
will be asked to do the tasks and then to design the
training, tasks, and organizational support to provide
high levels of these kinds of encouragement. In
particular, a lot can be accomplished by having
supervisors and colleagues show appreciation for
learning, for good results, and for going beyond what is
normally expected. On a regular basis, someone should
sit down with each person to help plan future career
steps, so that the people doing the tasks understand how
this work ultimately fits into what the organization hopes
they will accomplish. Connecting tasks to career progress
engages more of a person’s motivations that are based on
self-interest.

Testing is essential to finding mistakes before making
permanent any training or task method. Most
organizations plan either no testing or far too little. A
better approach is to plan to continually experiment
with ways to improve motivation and performance
while making it clear to those involved that there are
bound to be flaws that need to be identified and to be
removed. In this way, those who do the work can be
helped to understand that they should provide and
encourage improvements. If the organization also helps
people learn how to analyze and develop solutions, the
results will be even better.

Copyright 2010 Donald W. Mitchell, All Rights Reserved

Step Seven: Continually Improve Training and Tasks Using the Helpful Motivations You Want to Draw on for Encouraging Near-Perfect Performance

2010-09-10T12:10:00.000-07:00

Therefore we do not lose heart.
Even though our outward man is perishing,
yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.

— 2 Corinthians 4:16 (NKJV)

Times change. Opinions shift. People mature. New
influences arise. All such variations make it important
to continually improve training and tasks to make them
more relevant to and rewarding for those who do the
tasks and those who benefit from their actions. Three
sources of inquiry can direct us closer to near-perfect
group performance:

1. Examine those who aren’t being considered for doing
the tasks.
2. Consider the latest thinking and attitudes of those
who are doing the tasks.
3. Learn how the beneficiaries feel about what they are
receiving.

Let me briefly examine each performance perspective
to describe how more can be learned and accomplished,
beginning with those who aren’t being hired or asked to
do the tasks. Over time, employers usually recruit and
hire people who are much like themselves. You’ll often
see workplaces and volunteer activities where each
person looks almost like a clone of the next person.
What’s even more likely to be true is that their thinking
is in lockstep. That’s a good trait if you have a perfect
idea of what needs to be done. Otherwise, it’s very
harmful … acting more like blinders that focus
attention in the wrong direction.

In many organizations, such homogenous staffs are
often seen as the result of prejudice, requiring changes
due to either a legal or a moral responsibility. Those
ethical perspectives may be true in a given instance,
but I think they miss a more important point: If an
organizational unit fails to draw on a large cross-
section of people, it is impoverished in terms of being
an interesting place to work where people can learn to
perform better. Customers miss opportunities to
benefit. Everyone is worse off.

Contrary to the view that narrow hiring practices are
primarily excuses for discrimination, my experience
has been that the practices more often reflect a form of
narcissism. The people doing the hiring are looking for
people who will admire and model them. When that
result is achieved, it isn’t good for anyone and certainly
doesn’t encourage near-perfect group performance.

It’s very helpful to grasp why different kinds of people
either aren’t being hired or retained by an organization.
Do they not apply? If so, there may be problems with
making potential applicants aware of the jobs or with the
motivations that are being provided. Do they apply
but not rate well in interviews? If that’s the case, the
interviews may be crafted too narrowly to grasp all the
elements of what someone can provide. Do they get the
jobs or the assignments but find the tasks or
motivations to be unsatisfying and quit? In that
circumstance, it may well be that the organization is
long overdue to reconsider what motivations are
offered and how the training and tasks are done.

Leaders also need to be up-to-date on what those doing
the tasks are thinking and feeling. Otherwise, what were
once highly motivating tasks will become boring and
unrewarding, and performance will decline. A
potentially motivating offset can be to shift who does
the tasks so that everyone becomes trained in how to do
a broad range of what needs to be done. When that
cross-training occurs and experience grows, fewer
problems occur when someone is out sick or leaves for
another position. A more substantial benefit is that
those who do the tasks develop a better sense of how
everything fits together. As a result, helpful
improvement suggestions will increase. Some workers
may instead be more motivated by focusing on what
they are doing. It would be discouraging and
distracting to cross-train these employees. Keep
asking. Views may change and leaders’ responses
should, too.

Leaders can also gain a lot of perspective by spending
full days working at these tasks alongside those who
normally do them. During such hands-on experiences,
perspectives shift to provide better understanding of
what the problems are that create mistakes and how
motivating or discouraging the circumstances are.
Spend enough time with the regular workers, and they
will begin to tell you things that you need to know but
that have been bottled up for one reason or another.

In addition, organizations gain when those who have
been doing the task for a long time are encouraged to
rethink what the purposes of the organization should
be and how to achieve those purposes. As part of such
a fundamental review, it is very valuable to visit and
consider methods employed in noncompeting
organizations that reflect totally different approaches.

For instance, assembly lines lead to a lot of mistakes
and higher costs as people scramble to deal with
problems without stopping the assembly line. Someone
who has worked on an assembly line for many years
would well know that near perfection isn’t going to
happen on a traditional assembly line. Let those
assemblers visit organizations that use team and group
assembly, and they will be very open to the advantages
of greater cooperation in a friendly context where
people can more easily assist one another. By contrast,
if you send managers and supervisors to investigate
the same methods and they report negatively about the
opportunity, realize that self-interest may be at work
because their jobs wouldn’t be as important in such an
environment.

Even when the training or the task itself doesn’t need
to be redesigned, the forms of motivation may still need
to be. Employees and volunteers can easily become
cynical about new motivational programs that feature
slogans, signs, and hoopla but don’t connect with their
own sense of what’s important and right to do. Let those
same people help design and explain new motivational
programs and opportunities, and their sincerity will
move hearts and minds toward making many
improvements.

Beneficiaries of near-perfect work change their minds,
develop new needs, shift their attention, and look for
variety. Keep providing them with what was once their
ideal, and you will eventually dissatisfy them. For
instance, there was a time when providing bigger and
gaudier tail fins was a factor in what vehicle would be
purchased.

More recently, almost everyone wanted as large and
high a vehicle as possible, regardless of gas mileage.
After gasoline prices rose above $4.00 a gallon, sales
of gas-sipping, smaller vehicles began to take off
instead.

Even in what seems like a straightforward area such as
improving quality, the same issue exists. When quality
is poor in offerings, customers will be most concerned
about the primary functionality of the offering. For a
vehicle, a functionality issue might be how often it
breaks down and has to be repaired. After functionality
is acceptable, many customers will start to be concerned
about quality issues related to appearance. In a vehicle,
this might relate to how good the paint job looks. Once
those problems are solved, customer preferences may
well emphasize making life more convenient for them
such as how well the vehicle’s cup holders accommodate
a variety of beverage container sizes and shapes.

In addition, customer needs with regard to what they
already use change over time. Companies tend to focus
on what customers care about near the time of a
purchase decision and not so much the rest of the
time. For instance, vehicle manufacturers don’t want
you to drive their product until it falls apart. They
would prefer that you buy a new one every year. To
encourage more sales, they steadily increase the
prices of parts on older models so that at some point
it becomes cheaper to buy a new vehicle rather than
to retain the older one, even if you prefer the older
one. Someone who feels victimized by the parts
pricing of the current vehicle’s manufacturer may seek
out a different manufacturer for the next vehicle who
doesn’t gouge customers so much with high prices for
replacement parts.

New business environments may raise totally new
issues. For instance, during the recession that started
in 2008, unemployment in the United States grew by
more than at any other time since the 1930s. When
some automotive companies went bankrupt, many
people who made auto parts lost good-paying jobs
with few prospects for obtaining equally attractive
new ones. Someone who was concerned about the
pain to individuals and families that was created by
this economic environment might want to know how
the purchase of a vehicle would affect people who were
or might become unemployed. Without paying
attention to what motivates customers, a vehicle
manufacturer with a good story for helping
employment might fail to tell that story.

Copyright 2010 Donald W. Mitchell All Rights Reserved

Step Eight: Repeat the First Seven Steps

2010-09-10T12:08:00.000-07:00

Will You not revive us again,
That Your people may rejoice in You?

— Psalm 85:6 (NKJV)

As with the 2,000 percent solution process, repetition
of the first seven steps of this blueprint yields
exponential increases in performance. When you
repeat those steps, you will be astonished by how
many more ways you can describe and supply
motivations that encourage perfect and near-perfect
performance. Repeat these seven steps as often as
possible to strengthen your knowledge of and skills in
improving performance.

Copyright 2010 Donald W. Mitchell, All Rights Reserved.

New Course Available for Those Who Want to Start a Succcessful New Business, Either Part Time or Full Time

2010-08-09T18:15:00.000-07:00

Good Evening, 2,000 Percent Solution Creators!

Are you feeling motivated this evening?

I know that I certainly am!

I pray that you are having a blessed day and that this will be your best year ever.

After having worked with thousands of entrepreneurs who have started businesses in the last 35 years, I recently felt called to write a book about how to do so in a more effective and satisfying way. What most people try to do is all wrong, and it's a shame to have so many people struggle so unnecessarily.

I especially want to encourage those who are Christians and want to devote themselves to serving the Lord through their new business to take this course.

Every hour that you spend on this course will save you 50 hours of work later on and over $1,000. So it's your choice whether to spend the time and money on the course or to spend the time and money on making avoidable mistakes later.

Here are some of the subjects you will cover with me:

1. Free up lots of time to work on your new business while you keep your day job.
2. Attract customers 20 times faster and more easily that your competitors do.
3. Use 96 percent less investment money to permit faster growth and higher profitability.
4. Which technical details about starting a new business are important for you to handle and which ones you should ask someone else to do for you.
5. Avoid making costly mistakes because of what you don't know that you don't know.
6. How to test your ideas inexpensively without putting yourself at risk.
7. The best sources of free information that can make you more successful.
8. The habits you need to develop to be most successful.
9. How to attract top talent at little cost.
10. How to keep your new business from consuming all your time and attention

I will begin writing the book in October and and hope to complete it before the end of Spring 2011.

It occurred to me that some people might appreciate having an opportunity to access these lessons early, to ask questions about how to use the information, and to get a head start on anyone else who intends to the the knowledge in the same ways.

The book's readers will benefit by my listening carefully to questions and addressing those key concerns more clearly in the book.

So it's an opportunity for everyone to benefit.

After thinking and praying about this calling over the last few weeks, I decided to offer a 52-week online course that will feature a weekly teaching and telephone conversation. I can conveniently accommodate up to 100 people on a telephone call and still offer an opportunity to ask questions and to get answers. So I decided to limit the group to that number.

We will begin on October 1 with the teleconferences but those who join the course before then will begin receiving lessons right away so they will have more time to work on these tasks.

As the book passes through editing, people who are taking the course will receive advanced copies.

I'm assuming that most people can obtain Skype or some other Voice-Over-Internet-Protocol telephone service so it won't be too expensive to call into the United States to join the conference calls. All lessons will be on the calls, so if you don't want to call in this won't be a good opportunity for you.

The fee for this course is $500 (United States Dollars) payable in advance. Normally I charge $20 a session for such courses, but I wanted to provide a good value so I reduced the price by more than half for you.

To join the group, simply send me your name, your e-mail address, your telephone number, and your payment to:

Donald W. Mitchell
P.O. Box 302
Weston, MA 02493
United States of America

If you would prefer to pay by check debit or credit card online, send me an e-mail to askdonmitchell@yahoo.com and I will tell you how you can pay through those methods by using PayPal.com/.

If you would prefer to receive only written materials, I can instead offer individual subscriptions and online access for questions and answers to the advanced work of The Billionaire Entrepreneurs' Master Mind that address how to create large enterprises quickly and with few resources. If this opportunity interests you, please let me know and I will provide the details. People who want this option may start the course as soon as they register.

Please let me know how I can help you.

I will be glad to answer any questions you have.

May God bless you, your family, and all you do in the name of Jesus!

With best regards, much appreciation, and all good wishes,

Donald W. Mitchell
Chairman
The Billionaire Entrepreneurs' Master Mind

Copyright 2010 Donald W. Mitchell, All Rights Reserved

10 Reaons to Become a Highly Paid 2,000 Percent Solution Tutor--August 9 Registration Deadline

2010-08-02T11:38:00.000-07:00

Good Afternoon, 2,000 Percent Solution Creators!

Are you feeling motivated this afternoon?

I know that I am!

I pray that August will be your best month so far. I believe it will if you decide to join my new course on becoming a 2,000 percent solution tutor. Let me explain why in 10 reasons:

1. Learning how to make 2,000 percent solutions will allow you to accomplish as much in 2 hours a week as you do now in 40 hours.

2. Teaching others to do the same will increase the benefits you will achieve by hundreds of times.

3. Teaching your family members this skill will provide more practical advantages than if you sent them all for advanced degrees at Harvard.

4. Applying these skills to establish a new business for yourself will make you a big success.

5. Teaching these skills to help nonprofit organizations will be more valuable than a billion dollar donation.

6. Applying what you learn to help others gain Salvation and grow in sanctification to become more like Jesus will provide you with eternal rewards.

7. You will have more free time than you ever thought possible.

8. You will meet students who will enrich your life way beyond what you can imagine.

9. You will have the joy of watching your students succeed and live their dreams.

10. You will achieve more than most people do in 20 life times.

In honor of my new book, Help Wanted, I have decided to offer a course in providing 2,000 percent solution tutoring. Such tutoring can be done on a part-time or full-time basis from any Internet-connected computer.

People who successfully complete the course will be certified by me as 2,000 percent solution tutors and I will publicize their names to help them find students to teach.

Completion of the course requires creating one successful 2,000 percent solution (accomplishing 20 times more while using no more time, money, and effort in total than what is done now) and tutoring one other person to do the same. Evidence of the work must be submitted to me electronically in writing for review within one year of starting the course.

Registration is limited to 50 people. There is a modest fee of $100 (US Dollars) that is payable in advance. Please send your name, e-mail address, telephone number, and payment to:

Donald W. Mitchell
P.O. Box 302
Weston, MA 02493
United States of America

Certified tutors will pay a royalty of five percent of their fees to me, which will enable them to receive ongoing information about how to be more successful as a tutor and to receive inquiries from potential students.

Please let me know if you have questions or if I can be of any assistance. You may contact me by e-mail at askdonmitchell@yahoo.com

If you would like to send your payment using PayPal.com, simply direct the payment to save_more_souls@yahoo.com

If you cannot get payment to me today, register anyway by sending me an e-mail to askdonmitchell@yahoo.com and tell me what payment arrangements you would like to make.

If you would like to read about some of the work of one such tutor, go to:

http://hstrial-rburra.homestead.com/about.html

I look forward to working with you.

May God bless you, your family, and all you do in the name of Jesus!

With best regards, much appreciation, and all good wishes,

Donald W. Mitchell
Chairman
The 400 Year Project

Copyright 2010 Donald W. Mitchell

Become a Sponsor of The 400 Year Project

2010-02-08T13:10:00.000-08:00

Good Afternoon, 2,000 Percent Solution Creators!

Are you feeling motivated this afternoon?

I know that I am!

I have exciting news for you about The 400 Year Project (the program designed to accelerate the rate of world-wide improvements by 20 times).

As I described in Adventures of an Optimist (BookSurge, 2007), one of the important aspects of implementing the project will be to prepare one million tutors who can assist organizations and individuals around the world to make the exponential breakthroughs that I have been writing about since 1995.

To facilitate that implementation step, I have begun writing a new book, Help Wanted, that describes the kinds of tutors needed and what they should be working on. My plan is to publish that book and make it widely available before the end of 2010.

Tutors are needed to work on the following opportunities:

-witnessing
-congregational ministries
-Christian non-profit organizations
-universities and colleges
-teachers and their unions
-voluntary associations for children
-foundations
-social-benefit-focused enterprises
-nations
-for-profit enterprises
-productivity-enhancement professionals
-lifting entrepreneurial effectiveness

While some individuals may wish to engage in this work on their own, I anticipate that many organizations will wish to sponsor an aspect of The 400 Year Project
to show their commitment to enhancing spiritual and social improvement while gaining competitive advantages over those who prefer to stick with traditional methods.

Beginning now, I am willing to accept sponsors and to help them apply the project's most advanced knowledge to their opportunities. Part of such sponsorships will be to prepare tutors skilled in particular applications of creating 2,000 percent (and higher order) solutions with the same time, effort, and resources.

I welcome all inquiries and will be glad to answer any questions you have. Please feel free to share this message with anyone you wish.

May God bless you, your family, and all you do in the name of Jesus!

With best regards, much appreciation, and all good wishes,

Donald W. Mitchell
Chairman
The 400 Year Project

Copyright 2010 Donald W. Mitchell

Two Christmas Gifts for You from The 400 Year Project

2009-12-25T12:45:00.000-08:00

Good Afternoon, 2,000 Percent Solution Creators!

Are you feeling motivated this afternoon?

I know that I am!

Merry Christmas! May the Lord's peace and blessings be upon you.

On behalf of The 400 Year Project to demonstrate how improvements can be made at 20 times the usual rate, I want to share with you two remarkable new resources to help you.

Dr. Burra Ramulu has just completed a new Web site as a resource to explain how to teach others to make 2,000 percent solutions. He kindly asked me to alert you to this information as a Christmas gift. You can read the Web site by going to:

http://hstrial-rburra.homestead.com/about.html

He recounts on this Web site how he was able to lead a team of volunteers to assist 60 people in his home village of Kasimpet in India to gain four powerful 2,000 percent solutions in just a short period of time (20 times more income, 20 times more net worth, 96 percent less debt, and 96 percent less interest costs).

This approach could be repeated with ease in almost any low-income community throughout the world. I hope you will have a chance to apply it.

If you contact him by e-mail, he will be pleased to answer any questions you have.

The second resource is a new book that I've just coauthored with Bishop Dale P. Combs, Lisa Combs, Jim Barbarossa, and Carla Barbarossa to describe an application of how to accomplish 400 times as much (a 2,000 percent squared solution) by increasing the Christian witnessing activities through a church's congregation.

Whether or not you are a Christian, you will find much valuable information in this book for expanding important knowledge.

You can read a free copy of the book online by going to either:

http://www.jubileeworshipcenter.com/feature_detail.asp?id=106

or

http://www.step-by-step.org/witness.html

May God bless you, your family, and all you do in the name of Jesus!

With best regards, much appreciation, and all good wishes,

Donald W. Mitchell
Chairman
The 400 Year Project

Copyright 2009 Donald W. Mitchell

Advance Peek at an Excerpt from 2,000 Percent Solution Living

2009-09-13T07:46:00.000-07:00

Good morning, 2,000 Percent Solution Creators!

Are you feeling motivated this morning?

I hope so. I know that I am!

I felt called by the Holy Spirit to accelerate
writing of my new book, 2,000 Percent
Solution Living. Writing is going well, and
I thought you might enjoy an advance peek
at this blockbuster book, a way to live way
beyond your wildest dreams.

This excerpt comes from part of the book's
introduction:

Wisdom is the principal thing;

Therefore get wisdom.

And in all your getting,

get understanding.

Take firm hold of instruction,

do not let go;

Keep her, for she is your life.

— Proverbs 4:7, 13 (NKJV)

Would you like to enjoy your life more, accomplish so much that you amaze yourself, have lots of free time, be with loved ones as much as you want, and earn a much higher income while spending less time and effort working? Those are some of the potential benefits that 2,000 percent solution living offers you.

To gain those benefits, you’ll have to make some changes: Stop doing some harmful things and start doing some more beneficial things. In the process, you can use God’s help to turn your life into a masterpiece that both brings glory to Him and joy to you and those you love.

How do I know what’s possible and what’s involved? I’ve been helping people make such improvements for many years as demonstrations of the opportunity for everyone on Earth to make improvements at 20 times the usual rate. In addition, I’ve gained benefits from 2,000 percent solution living for myself.

Are you ready to start now? Read on to learn what to do.

Fulfill Your Potential by Gaining the Right Knowledge and

Performing Breakthrough Service

“… he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger,

and he who governs as he who serves.”

— Luke 22:26 (NKJV)

Most people have no idea how little of their talent and knowledge they are employing. I see that lack of awareness all the time among my students. I believe that you are underestimating your potential as well.

Here’s an example of what I mean. Dr. Burra Ramulu worked as a shift supervisor at a fertilizer factory in the Middle East for many years. However, his most important responsibility was to train young Arabs to hold the organization’s senior roles. He was effective in such preparation, and all of those with positions above him in the organization were younger men whom he had originally trained.

After deciding to earn a doctorate, Dr. Ramulu became interested in 2,000 percent solutions (ways of accomplishing 20 times the results with the same or less time, money, and effort). His first 2,000 percent solution project was to study how his factory’s profits could be increased by more than 20 times while spending very little money for new investment. He found a way to greatly increase capacity, improve quality, expand productivity, and lower costs that only required an investment equal to about 10 percent of the plant’s existing capital base. As a result, cash flow expanded by more than 20 times.

Realizing that his opportunities to advance his career were constrained in the Middle East, Dr. Ramulu moved back to his native India and took a position with a global producer of basic commodities. As his dissertation subject, Dr. Ramulu investigated how to create a new business model for his employer, the first major business-model improvement for that industry in more than 50 years. As a result, he located a way to lower costs by over 40 percent, to reduce capital needs by even more, and to expand his company’s business volume by several hundred percent. The new business model was approved by his employer and is now being implemented. When in operation, profits for that business in India are expected to expand by much more than 20 times while competitors will be eliminated for many years to come.

Not satisfied with what he had learned and accomplished during the process of attaining his first doctorate, Dr. Ramulu decided to study for a second one. This time his dissertation work was based on an even more fundamental problem: How to lift poor, uneducated people out of despair and to make their lives hopeful and economically successful. Choosing to serve Kasimpet, the village where he grew up, Dr. Ramulu faithfully trekked hundreds of kilometers across India on weekends to teach the people there about 2,000 percent solutions.

Also supported by other volunteers who had once lived in Kasimpet, an initial 50 people soon reformed the bad thinking habits that had held them back, began using better thinking processes, formed a cooperative, and began designing and implementing profitable 2,000 percent solutions. In just a few months, most of those 50 people increased their incomes by more than 20 times, reduced their debts by more than 96 percent, slashed the interest rates they were paying on the remaining debt by 96 percent, and increased their net worths by more 20 times. They also gained new, positive outlooks on life, and sought to cooperate with one another rather than be divided by the accidents of birth from which castes are defined.

As this book was going to press, these 50 people had pledged to teach what they had learned to at least another 20 other people each who will be asked to do the same for 20 more people. Should everyone be faithful, most poverty and despair can be eliminated from that part of India in just a few years.

Naturally, Dr. Ramulu enjoys a wonderful sense of accomplishment from encouraging so many positive improvements. Can you imagine the sense of satisfaction that he enjoys each morning as he thinks about the villagers?

What else might Dr. Ramulu accomplish? It’s up to what God calls him to do. There is no practical limit to his potential to succeed in serving others.

There are millions of people with as much potential as Dr. Ramulu has who could have done what he did to serve others. But few of them choose to serve by learning and teaching breakthrough skills. Dr. Ramulu made that important choice, and that decision liberated him and those he has taught into 2,000 percent solution living.

I pray that this book will do the same for you.

Foundations of 2,000 Percent Solution Living

Become complete.

Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace;

and the God of love and peace will be with you.

— 2 Corinthians 13:11 (NKJV)

Since I was young, people have often asked for my advice. I have always been happy to share my ideas, and many people have benefited. I have always been grateful to God for granting me this ability to serve and for providing His guidance for what to say and write.

I was deeply humbled in 1995 when the Holy Spirit directed me to lead an effort to help everyone on the Earth accomplish at least 20 times more. (You can read about the origins, methods, and conclusions of what I call the 400 Year Project, ways to make 400 years worth of normal improvements during the years from 2015 through 2035, in Adventures of an Optimist, BookSurge 2007, and at www.fastforward400.com.) I was so overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task that I had no idea what to do first. Fortunately, He directed my steps and learning so that the necessary solutions have been identified and described in my books about the 400 Year Project.

Despite my willingness to help in every possible way, it recently struck me that I may not have been sharing what I have learned in the right ways: When I asked people who have been reading about my work for years what questions they would like me to answer about accomplishing 20 times more, I found nothing new in what they asked. In fact, I had previously written answers to each of the questions I received.

From those responses I realized that people who want to make breakthroughs in all aspects of their lives need a brief compendium of the most important ways to accomplish 20 times more. This book, 2,000 Percent Solution Living, is intended to facilitate those accomplishments.

After thinking about the possible contents for the book over several weeks, I was surprised to be awakened at 1:30 a.m. on May 19, 2009, by a voice that dictated to me in great detail what should be in this book. This dictation continued for many hours and finally paused for me to begin asking clarifying questions, which were then answered. The instruction lasted over six hours.

From that experience, I concluded that by writing this book I am merely serving as a fleshly vehicle for a message from the Holy Spirit that is intended for all people on Earth. I pray that I have been faithful and accurate in sharing with you what I was directed to write.

The Lessons for You

But who can teach a lesson to God,

since he judges even the most powerful?

— Job 21:22 (NLT)

Most people rarely read nonfiction books, dipping perhaps into one or two in a decade. If that’s your reading pattern, this section is for you. I summarize the book’s key lessons here.

If this information is enough for your purposes, stop after reading this section. If you want to learn more about why these solutions are important or how to implement them, go to the chapters that describe the lessons you want to learn more about.

If you would rather read a fuller treatment of the book’s contents, you can skip this section and just begin reading Chapter 1.

Lesson 1: Accept Salvation by repenting of your sins; believe Jesus is God’s Son and in His resurrection from the dead; and give your life to Jesus Christ to do His will, not yours (or rededicate your life to Him if you have accepted Salvation but have not been walking with Him). Start every day by praising and thanking the Lord, praying for what is righteous that you want done in the name of Jesus, and studying the Bible. Attend church whenever possible; make a weekly written commitment of added ways to follow His direction; and witness to others about your faith until at least 20 people to whom you have been speaking choose to accept Salvation.

Doing these things will help you to hear and understand the Holy Spirit who will guide your steps toward the most productive directions on Earth, will provide you with supernatural support for making performance breakthroughs, and will help you earn eternal rewards to be enjoyed in heaven. As a result, you will have all the wisdom and power you need to do any righteous thing you want. Isn’t that awesome?

May God bless you, your family, and all you do in the name of Jesus!

Donald W. Mitchell
Chairman, Mitchell and Company

Copyright 2009 Donald W. Mitchell

What 2,000 Percent Solutions Do You Want Me to Write About?

2009-05-27T11:55:00.000-07:00

Good morning, 2,000 Percent Solution Creators!

Are you feeling motivated this morning?

I hope so. I know that I am!

Can you take a minute to help me, please?

I'm planning my next book now, which will be a
non-fiction description of some 2,000 percent
solutions (ways to accomplish 20 times as much
with the same time, money, and effort) that
everyone should use.

For what problems would you like to see solutions
in the book?

If I use your suggestion and you are the first
to contact me, your name will be included in the
book's acknowledgments.

Please send your suggested problems to solve to
askdonmitchell@yahoo.com and put this in the
subject line:

I SUGGEST YOU SOLVE THIS PROBLEM.

If you want to learn more about the 400 Year Project, register for free to read about this work at http://www.fastforward400.com/

May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell
Chairman, Mitchell and Company

Copyright 2009 Donald W. Mitchell

Help Reduce Poverty with Your Ideas for a Global Contest

2008-11-07T09:38:00.000-08:00

Good morning, 2,000 Percent Solution Creators!

Are you feeling motivated this morning?

I hope so. I know that I am!

Because of the current global economic issues, I wanted
to do something to help poor people. While recently
reading a book called Crowdsourcing, I was struck by the
opportunity to launch a new kind of contest to create
better solutions for reducing poverty.

Traditionally, online contests have provided a period
of a few months to propose solutions. The best solutions
then gained prizes and recognition . . . and were
publicized for all to use.

The new idea is to start a contest by publishing some
outstanding solutions and inviting people to propose
improvements on those solutions. The list of published
solutions would be continually updated to reflect the
best solutions received to date.

Entrants would have the opportunity to use parts of
already proposed solutions for their entries.

In this way, someone might make a small change that
would provide a large improvement in a fine idea and
turn the result into something much better. And then
the process repeats itself as someone else adds
another valuable small change.

In the contests that were reported, the eventual
winning solutions were approximately 1,000 times
more effective than the first leading solutions that
were received.

I am interested in doing something like this by
beginning with the best solutions for eliminating
poverty that any of my students have generated. I
would publicize these on all of my blogs and put
out a press release about the contest.

What are your thoughts about this kind of contest?

How could it be made better?

How could it be made more interesting to you?

What prizes and recognition do you think should
be offered?

How should the winning entries be publicized?

Thank for your consideration of this request
for help.

I look forward to hearing from you.

You can send me e-mails at
save_more_souls@yahoo.com

If you want to learn more about the 400 Year Project, register for free to read about this work at http://www.fastforward400.com/

May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell
Chairman, Mitchell and Company

Copyright 2008 Donald W. Mitchell

Adventures of an Optimist Is Now Available

2008-01-01T17:17:00.000-08:00

Good evening, 2,000 Percent Solution Creators!

Are you feeling motivated this evening?

I hope so. I know that I am!

I also hope that 2008 will be your best year so far.

I thought you might enjoy learning about what I've been slaving over for the last six months to help you make better 2,000 percent solutions.

As you know, I've been working on the 400 Year Project (demonstrating ways to make global improvements at 20 times the usual rate) since 1995. Along the way, I've helped write six books that details progress on the project (The 2,000 Percent Solution, The 2,000 Percent Solution Workbook, The 2,000 Percent Squared Solution, The Portable 2,000 Percent Solution, The Irresistible Growth Enterprise, and The Ultimate Competitive Advantage).

The thinking behind the project has, however, moved much faster than publishing of books has permitted. As a result, I realized early in 2007 that I could see the end of the project.

I decided to share that vision of a world improving on all of its performance areas (big and small, individual and collective). I've put that vision in my new book, Adventures of an Optimist: A Progress Report on the 400 Year Project to Help You Improve 20 Times Faster.

Last year, I held a contest to find a foreword for the book. Ms. Teresa Bolen was the winner of the contest. Here is what she had to say about the book:

"What would you do if God gave you knowledge for making the world a much better place? Not your everyday, ordinary, run of the mill knowledge, but knowledge that would allow you and your team to create solutions that would otherwise not be available to the people of Earth for another 400 years.

"Though he’s far too humble a servant of God to say so himself, I believe that is exactly what happened to my mentor and friend Don when he was gifted with the inspiration to create the 400 Year Project – a project to create 400 hundred years worth of improvements in merely 20 years. You read that right: four centuries worth of improvements in only two short decades.

"The kinds of global improvement methods he writes about have the potential to provide nutritious food, clean water, excellent healthcare and safety to everyone on the planet. These improvement methods have the potential to bring peace to every region of the globe. On a more personal level, these methods have the potential to dramatically increase longevity, perhaps even to more than double one’s lifespan. Don’s methods offer the potential to improve the quality of life, personal relationships, finances, and education, and to present a myriad of new opportunities for you and everyone around you. If you’re not already familiar with Don’s other works such as The 2,000 Percent Solution, The 2,000 Percent Squared Solution, The Irresistible Growth Enterprise, and The Ultimate Competitive Advantage, then this may sound like a fairytale. However if you are already a follower of Don’s work, then you’ll immediately recognize the potential of his 400 Year Project to bring that Divine inspiration into physical reality, ushering in improvements on a global scale, limited only by the imaginations of those who are putting these teachings into practice. In a world where many find themselves lost in the doom and gloom of contemplating a future dominated by disease, disaster, crime, war, and suffering, Don’s optimistic vision is not merely a shining path of hope, but a template for how to recreate our world into something so blessed and wonderful that everyone experiencing it would become optimists.

"In Adventures of an Optimist, Don takes you on a personal journey of how he came to be such a practical optimist and why he has so much faith in all of us. He gives a crash course on his world-renowned 2,000 percent solutions, i.e. any way that you can accomplish 20 times as much with the same time and resources, and gives convincing evidence on how that kind of incredible progress — though seemingly enormous at first blush — is merely a baby step for each of us. Don shows us again and again that we can gain infinitely more by learning how to make breakthroughs in areas with the most potential to benefit ourselves and everyone else.

"One of the great things about Don’s writing is how he demonstrates the ways he and his students have repeatedly succeeded with these improvement methods. He also shares the flops, lest we begin to feel that we are reading the optimistic musings of an intellectual superman!

"Don’s masterful use of metaphors and riveting storytelling ability draw you in to experiencing those moments with Don almost as if you were there in person while it was happening. One of my favorite examples is when he describes becoming one of Amazon.com’s top ten reviewers. Like so many people, I had wondered how in the world he accomplished it, especially in addition to his busy life as CEO of Mitchell and Company, helping world-class business professionals create better and better business solutions; professor at Rushmore University, guiding students to create their own 2,000 percent solutions; and writing numerous finely crafted books. You get to imagine what it was like in Amazon’s earlier days when most people were using dial-up modems, see how Don’s thinking interacted with the growth of the internet and of Amazon, and find out how he realized he could reach more people through Amazon reviews than even the most famous authors of business books do.

"Once the reader is comfortably grounded into imagining the possibilities of 2,000 percent solutions, Don eases you into multiplying those exponential improvements. He expands the vision more and more, and you’ll either come out on the other side with your mind wide open for the very real possibilities that the 400 Year Project offers, or you’ll already be taking action to start making those breakthroughs in those areas with the most potential to benefit yourself and others.

"As you read the book and begin to fully grasp the promise of the 400 Year Project, creating 400 hundred years worth of improvements in only 20 years, you’ll ask yourself, “What role do I want to play?” If you’ve ever wanted to make the world an infinitely better place, if you’ve been looking for an opportunity to make a difference so profound that you joyfully leap out of bed each day to create that difference, then this book may just be the introduction to the means you’ve been seeking. Get ready to open your heart, open your mind, and let the possibility of a future brighter than all your wildest dreams be revealed to you."

Teresa Bolen

Author, Master Plan to Master Exams: How to Discover Your Hidden Abilities to Create the Success You Desire

Kyoto, September 15, 2007

Here is the table of contents so you can get a sense of what the book covers:

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Background Briefing: What Can Four Centuries Worth of Improvements in a Generation Mean for Your Life?

Preface: A Singular Sensation

Introduction: Seeds of an Optimistic Idea, the 400 Year Project

Part One: ORIGINS

Chapter 1: How I Became a Practical, Unlimited Optimist

Chapter 2: A Surprise Announcement

Part Two: LESSONS

Chapter 3: Crawling and Toddling Ahead

Chapter 4: Introducing 2,000 Percent Solutions

Chapter 5: Irresistible Growth Beckons

Chapter 6: Reaching Millions of Readers

Chapter 7: Competitive Advantages

Chapter 8: Tutoring Lessons

Chapter 9: A Complementary Dimension: Getting More Out of Life

Chapter 10: Multiplying Exponential Improvements

Chapter 11: Making 400 Years Worth of Progress Quickly by Further Multiplying Exponential Improvements

Chapter 12: Saving More Souls

Part Three: PRESCRIPTIONS

Chapter 13: A Learning Foundation for Rapid Progress

Chapter 14: Entrepreneurial Models for Rapid Progress

Epilogue: Your Role in the 400 Year Project

Appendix A: Become a Helpful Book Reviewer

Appendix B: Why Are 2,000 Percent Solutions Available for Almost Any Activity?

Appendix C: How to Have Your Own Optimistic Adventures

If you would like to get a brief look, Amazon.com has an excerpt that you can download for 49 cents at

http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-of-an-Optimist/dp/B000RO9UWI/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199235182&sr=1-1

If you would like to purchase a paperback copy, Amazon.com has new copies available for $18.99 at

http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Optimist-Progress-Project-Improve/dp/1419684981/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199235182&sr=1-2

If you want to learn more about the 400 Year Project, register for free to read about this work at http://www.fastforward400.com/.

May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell
Chairman, Mitchell and Company

Copyright 2008 Donald W. Mitchell

Join A Global Contest to Find the Best Way to Help Others Learn How to Create 2,000 Percent Solutions

2007-07-05T13:12:00.000-07:00

Good morning, 2,000 Percent Solution Creators!

Are you feeling motivated this morning?

I certainly hope so. I know that I am!

Are you ready to help the whole world make improvements at 20 times the usual rate?

Here's how you can help:

Join my global contest to find the best way to help others learn how to create 2,000 percent solutions.

The rules follow:

1. You must register by August 31, 2007 by sending an e-mail to ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com with this heading in the subject box: I Want to Register for the Global Contest to Help Others Learn How to Create 2,000 Percent Solutions.

2. All registrants will receive free electronic copies of The 2,000 Percent Solution and The 2,000 Percent Solution Workbook to help in preparing their entries.

3. All entries will become the property of Donald W. Mitchell to be used for advancing the 400 Year Project to accelerate global improvements by 20 times during 2015 through 2035.

4. Entries must spell out the eight steps in the 2,000 percent solution process for helping others learn how to create 2,000 percent solutions as described in The 2,000 Percent Solution and The 2,000 Percent Solution Workbook and be less than 5,000 words.

5. Entries must be received by September 30, 2007.

6. Winners will be announced by press release and in this blog.

7. Winners will be invited to become coauthors with me in future books about creating 2,000 percent solutions and will receive a share of the royalties from such books for which they are coauthors.

I look forward to reading your good ideas!

Remember to also visit

Live Spiritually Better than a Billionaire at http://livespirituallybetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

For information, contact me at
ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com .

I am available to you as a speaker on these subjects. You can find my background at http://livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars.blogspot.com/2005_08_30_livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars_archive.html/.

May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell
Chairman, Mitchell and Company

Copyright 2007 Donald W. Mitchell

Issues and Solutions for Small and Medium Sized American Manufacturers

2007-05-25T08:53:00.000-07:00

Good morning, 2,000 Percent Solution Creators!

Are you feeling motivated this morning?

I certainly hope so. I know that I am!

Ken Rayment interviewed me yesterday about how small and medium sized American manufacturers can become much more successful.

I pointed out that most such manufacturers are focused on soaring costs, pressure from customers not to raise prices, and sagging volume as domestic customers lose market share to imports. But those are merely symptoms of weak business models and ineffective cost management methods.

If you would like to hear the podcast, here's the link:

http://www.podcasternews.com/programs/87/better-process-podcast/4108/

Remember to also visit

Live Spiritually Better than a Billionaire at http://livespirituallybetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

The 2,000 Percent Squared Solution Is Now Available on Amazon.com and Lulu.com

2007-05-01T08:08:00.000-07:00

Good morning, 2,000 Percent Solution Creators!

Are you feeling motivated this morning?

I hope so. I know that I am!

The 2,000 Squared Percent Solution is now available on Amazon.com.

Carol Coles and I are delighted to share this breakthrough book with you!

You'll learn how to increase revenues (for companies) and effectiveness (for nonprofits) by 20 times while reducing the cost of delivering your offerings and benefits by 96 percent. These two 2,000 percent solutions are the equivalent of creating 20 normal 2,000 percent solutions. You'll see profits and effectiveness soar by 400 times.

Fifty-seven outstanding people have endorsed this book already, more than endorsed all of our earlier books combined.

Here's what a few of them had to say:

"A 400 times increase in results! Is that an outrageous claim? Not if you know how. It's all about leverage - finding the point where small incremental efforts create enormous returns. Coles and Mitchell provide the insights, examples and experience to help you find those leverage points - a compelling read."

David P. Norton - Author, The Balanced Scorecard

"The 2,000 Percent Squared Solution is a brillinat distillation of essential management principles that everyone, and I mean everyone, canuse to drive dramatic acceleration of performance. It's packed with great stories that make the principles easy to understand, embrace, and apply. Whether you're a leader in a big, small, for-profit or not-for-profit organization, you need this book."

Rosabeth Moss Kanter - Harvard Business School, best-selling author of Confidence: How Winning Streaks & Losing Streaks Begin and End

"The 2,000 Percent Squared Solution combines audacity and practicality into a one-of-a-kind guide for improving performance."

Daniel H. Pink - Author of A Whole New Mind

"If you want greater profits and more efficiency, read this book. I found many breakthrough concepts for growing and streamlining all of our companies in this book. It made me aware of a lot of things we were not addressing and we are now."

Jack Canfield - Co-author of The Success Principles™, and Co-creator, Chicken Soup for the Entrepreneur's Soul®

We hope you'll take the time to examine this volume.

Here's the link for Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com

Once there, use the isbn ( 0615142761 ) or this name exactly: The 2,000 Percent Squared Solution. If you leave out the comma in 2,000, you probably won't be able to find the book.

In addition, Amazon.com will be offering a preview beginning in May. You can buy a digital version of Chapter One for only 49 cents through the Amazon Shorts program. Check it out!

Details of the book have also been sent to Amazon.com and should appear on the book's page in the next week or so.

You can also buy the book or a digital version at Lulu.com:

http://www.lulu.com/content/727157

Remember to also visit

Live Spiritually Better than a Billionaire at http://livespirituallybetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

The Portable 2,000 Percent Solution is now available on Amazon.com

2007-04-30T08:15:00.000-07:00

Good morning, 2,000 Percent Solution Creators!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I hope so. I know that I am!

The Portable 2,000 Percent Solution is now available on Amazon.com.

This book is a condensation and updating of our 1999 (and 2003 reprint) book, The 2,000 Percent Solution.

Carol Coles and I are looking forward to reading reviews on Amazon.com written by the many excellent Amazon.com reviewers and comments in blogs by Amazon.com customers who received copies of the uncorrected galleys.

You are able to post reviews now.

If you decide to look the book up, be sure to put a comma into 2,000 when you search or you won't find The Portable 2,000 Percent Solution. You can also search by the ISBN which is 1419663364 .

Here's the link:

http://www.amazon.com/Portable-000-Percent-Solution/dp/1419663364/ref=sr_1_3/102-8591504-8645760?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1177945797&sr=1-3

Remember to also visit

Live Spiritually Better than a Billionaire at http://livespirituallybetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Read a Transcript of a Live Training to Stop Stalling on Creating 2,000 Percent Solutions!

2007-01-10T08:24:00.000-08:00

Good morning, 2,000 Percent Solution Creators!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I hope so. I know that I am!

On Friday, January 12, 2007, I began the first of four sessions focused on helping you overcome stalls that are keeping you from accomplishing 20 times as much. In these four tele-seminar sessions (each one lasting two hours), I help you spot your stalls and show you ways to overcome those stalls.

I go way beyond what I've written in the past with Carol Coles and Robert Metz in The 2,000 Percent Solution and The 2,000 Percent Solution Workbook.

What would it be worth to you to accomplish 20 times as much? Only you know.

Because you are a blog reader, you are eligible to buy the PDF transcript of this live training at the bargain price of only $39.00.

If you are interested, go to:

http://www.AskDonMitchell.com/StopStalling

This material will be the basis of a new book later this year, so you can get a head start now!

Please let me know what else you would like to learn, and I'll do my best to help in future blog entries.

Thanks so much for your support of this blog. I'm delighted that so many tens of thousands of people have made this blog part of their regular reading habit!

If you like this blog, please let others know who might also enjoy it. E-mailing your favorite post to them is a great idea.

Thank you to my many friends, students, clients and blog readers who are spreading the good word about this blog.

If you are visiting today because someone invited you, I'm delighted to meet you! Let's stay in touch.

Remember to also visit

Live Spiritually Better than a Billionaire at http://livespirituallybetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Mansions Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoymansionsbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Football Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoyfootballbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/ and

Be a World Hero Better than a Billionaire at http://beaworldherobetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/.

I offer individual on-line tutorials and in-person seminars on creating 2,000 percent solutions (20 times the results with the same effort), developing more profitable business models and designing strategies that work regardless of the business environment.
For information, contact me at
ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com .

I am available to you as a speaker on these subjects. You can find my background at http://livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars.blogspot.com/2005_08_30_livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars_archive.html/.

May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell
Chairman, Mitchell and Company

Copyright 2007 Donald W. Mitchell

Stay the Course Rather than Slice and Dice Your Time

2006-01-25T05:33:00.000-08:00

Good morning, 2,000 Percent Solution Creators!

Are you feeling motivated this morning?
I certainly hope so. I know that I am!

The Billionaire Entrepreneurs' Master
Mind put out a press release this morning
that I thought you might find helpful.

Here it is:

Entrepreneur Lesson: Start Ups Should Avoid Time Management in Favor of Multiplying Customer Benefits

Download this press release as an Adobe PDF document.

While Moses was away for forty days receiving the Ten Commandments from God, Aaron bowed to popular pressure and created a golden calf for the Hebrews to worship. As a result God became angry and decided that the Hebrews would wander in the wilderness for forty years before reaching the Promised Land. Likewise, entrepreneurs launching start ups today are finding that popular time management techniques encourage entrepreneurs to work on the wrong tasks, rather than spending whatever time is needed to complete the tasks that will lead to the promised land of entrepreneurial success. As a result, entrepreneur start ups fail to succeed more often, are smaller and less profitable, and take longer to establish.

Weston, MA (PRWEB) January 25, 2006 -- Entrepreneur start ups seeking to create billion dollar businesses should focus all their attention on the right tasks rather than allocating their time to what they think is important based on a new study.

Time management experts argue that you should split your day into a variety of tasks, emphasizing the most important ones according to your goals. Such a process would never have allowed Moses to spend forty days with God on Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments. Instead Moses would have been spending part of every day (except the Sabbath) reorganizing the distribution of manna, planning for the deployment of scouts to look for the Promised Land and practicing his technique for bringing forth water in the desert. Perhaps Aaron had, in fact, taken such a time management course and had an objective to keep people satisfied with their religious practices according to their own preferences. If so, he clearly was working on the wrong task.

The Billionaire Entrepreneurs’ Master Mind, http://billiondollarbusiness.blogspot.com/, a global learning organization that helps entrepreneurs create billion dollar businesses from start ups headed by Donald Mitchell (co-author of The 2,000 Percent Solution http://www.2000percentsolution.com/, The Ultimate Competitive Advantage and The Irresistible Growth Enterprise http://www.irresistibleforces.com/), examined the large companies that had the fastest growth under one CEO from 1989-2002 which had been founded as entrepreneurial ventures. This study determined that

The entrepreneurs focused their start ups on 7 key tasks, regardless of how long it took to accomplish the tasks:
― Creating a major new market or expanding an old one by 20 times
― Reducing the costs of customers and beneficiaries to use the start up’s offerings
― Adding customers 20 times faster than competitors at low cost
― Improving the start up’s business model at least every four years
― Employing a business model that didn’t require much external equity capital
― Building a management team deep in innovation, operations, finance and marketing
― Searching to find out what they didn’t know that they didn’t know.

This focus reminds many entrepreneurs of the way that Moses stayed with God on Mount Sinai until he had the Ten Commandments. It took forty days, but it was well worth the wait.

Donald Mitchell noted: “Entrepreneurs may be setting themselves up for failure when they set rigid deadlines for launching their offerings. If a delay means greatly adding to customer benefits, vast realms of opportunity will be opened up by being flexible rather than efficient in the venture’s use of time. Time management techniques can create a false illusion of progress while directing attention away from what’s really important to future success. Unsuccessful entrepreneurs usually are focusing on only one, two or three of the key tasks which creates the appearance rather than the reality of entrepreneurial progress.”

Mitchell cited the example of Tellabs which experienced a long delay of several years in producing its first telecommunications switch. But the company’s entrepreneurial leader, Mike Birck, was patient in order to ensure that the resulting product would be unstoppable. It was the right decision. After the product was launched, Tellabs experienced more sustained revenue, earnings and stock price growth than any other manufacturing company of its size in North America.

A media tele-conference will be held at 2 p.m. EST today, January 25. Please dial 1-712-580-7706 (passcode 16474222#) to join this tele-conference.

# # #

Please let me know what else you would like to
learn, and I'll do my best to help in future blog
entries.

Thanks so much for your support of this blog.
I'm delighted that so many tens of thousands
of people have made this blog part of their
regular reading habit!

If you like this blog, please let others
know who might also enjoy it. E-mailing
your favorite post to them is a great idea.

Thank you to my many friends, students,
clients and blog readers who are spreading the
good word about this blog.

If you are visiting today because someone
invited you, I'm delighted to meet you! Let's
stay in touch.

Remember to also visit

Live Spiritually Better than a Billionaire at http://livespirituallybetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Mansions Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoymansionsbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Football Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoyfootballbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/ and

Be a World Hero Better than a Billionaire at http://beaworldherobetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/.

I offer individual on-line tutorials and
in-person seminars on creating 2,000
percent solutions (20 times the results with
the same effort), developing more profitable
business models and designing strategies that
work regardless of the business environment.
For information, contact me at
ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com.

I am available to you as a speaker on these
subjects. You can find my background at http://livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars.blogspot.com/2005_08_30_livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars_archive.html/.

May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell
Chairman, Mitchell and Company

Copyright 2006 Donald W. Mitchell

Use Your Mental Capital Rather than Venture Capital

2006-01-18T06:04:00.000-08:00

Download this press release as an Adobe PDF document.

When David defeated Goliath, he used only a sling and some
stones. Leveraging his skill and focus, David aimed his
stones at the right spot and the rest is history. Entrepreneurs
today launching start ups are finding that venture capital
makes them vulnerable like Goliath while mental capital
makes them agile and effective like David.

Weston, MA (PR WEB) January 18, 2006 ― Entrepreneur
start ups seeking venture capital are less likely to create
billion dollar businesses than start ups that focus on 7 key
tasks based on a new study.

The Billionaire Entrepreneurs’ Master Mind,
http://billiondollarbusiness.blogspot.com/, a global learning
organization that helps entrepreneurs create billion dollar
businesses from start ups headed by Donald Mitchell
(co-author of The 2,000 Percent Solution
http://www.2000percentsolution.com/, The 2,000 Percent
Solution Workbook http://2000percentsolutions.blogspot.com/,
The Ultimate Competitive Advantage and The Irresistible
Growth Enterprise http://www.irresistibleforces.com/),
examined the large companies that had the fastest growth
under one CEO from 1989-2002.

Most of the top performers were begun by an entrepreneur
as a start up. The majority of these top-performing former
start ups never relied on venture capital. Examples include
Clear Channel Communications, Paychex, Virgin Group and
Wal-Mart. Their beginnings were often humble. Sir Richard
Branson dropped out of high school to start Virgin. Tom
Golisano started Paychex in a one-room office with two colleagues.

Instead of venture capital, the entrepreneurs focused their
start ups on 7 key tasks:
― Creating a major new market or expanding an old one by
20 times
― Reducing the costs of customers and beneficiaries to use
the start up’s offerings
― Adding customers 20 times faster than competitors at
low cost
― Improving the start up’s business model at least every
four years
― Employing a business model that didn’t require much
external equity capital
― Building a management team deep in innovation,
operations, finance and marketing
― Searching to find out what they didn’t know that they
didn’t know.

Donald Mitchell noted: “Venture capital is expensive because
investors are seeking huge gains. Fields that attract venture
capital soon have too many competitors. Venture capitalists
are quick to fire entrepreneurs who fail to meet their business
plan goals. Firms without venture capital learn how to create
leaner, more competitive businesses that can become highly
prosperous.”

A press conference for members of the media will be held at
4 p.m. EST today, January 18, to discuss this research and
how entrepreneurs can build their businesses more successfully.
To register for this press conference, send an e-mail before
4 p.m. EST today to e-mail protected from spam bots and
directions to join the call will be sent to you. Label your e-mail
subject as "Entrepreneur Lesson Press Conference".

# # #

Please let me know what else you would like to
learn, and I'll do my best to help in future blog
entries.

Thanks so much for your support of this blog.
I'm delighted that so many tens of thousands
of people have made this blog part of their
regular reading habit!

If you like this blog, please let others
know who might also enjoy it. E-mailing
your favorite post to them is a great idea.

Thank you to my many friends, students,
clients and blog readers who are spreading the
good word about this blog.

If you are visiting today because someone
invited you, I'm delighted to meet you! Let's
stay in touch.

Remember to also visit

Live Spiritually Better than a Billionaire at http://livespirituallybetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Mansions Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoymansionsbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Football Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoyfootballbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/ and

Be a World Hero Better than a Billionaire at http://beaworldherobetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/.

I offer individual on-line tutorials and
in-person seminars on creating 2,000
percent solutions (20 times the results with
the same effort), developing more profitable
business models and designing strategies that
work regardless of the business environment.
For information, contact me at
ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com.

I am available to you as a speaker on these
subjects. You can find my background at http://livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars.blogspot.com/2005_08_30_livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars_archive.html/.

May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell
Chairman, Mitchell and Company

Copyright 2006 Donald W. Mitchell

Free Tele-Seminars January 14, 18 and 21

2006-01-02T09:20:00.000-08:00

Good morning, 2,000 Percent Solution Creators!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so. I know that I am!

Beginning on January 14, I will host another series of three free one-hour conference calls in which you can join to hear me describe The Billionaire Entrepreneurs' Master Mind. As part of these calls, I will be describing more about creating 2,000 percent solutions to build a billion dollar business.

This will also be a good opportunity to learn more about creating 2,000 percent solutions.

Before each call you plan to join, I suggest you send me your questions by e-mail so I can focus on what interests you most.

I will also create a FAQ section to answer those questions after I have a better sense of what aspects are of most interest.

Send your questions by e-mail to ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com and label it "I Have a Question about Building a Billion Dollar Business" in the subject line.

Here's the Call-in Information:

Call Dates and Times:

Saturday, January 14, 2006: 11 a.m. EST (8 a.m. PST)

Wednesday, January 18, 2006: 5 p.m. EST (2 p.m. PST)

Saturday, January 21, 2006: 11 a.m. EST (8 a.m. PST)

Call-In Instructions:

Dial 1-712-580-7706 (in the United States) a few minutes early. I will calibrate the starting time using http://www.time.gov/.

Select 2 on your touch-tone keypad to bypass instructions.

Enter the teleconference passcode: 16474211#

You will hear music if you are the first person on the call. If you don't hear music, others are on the line. Please introduce yourself so I can make your acquaintance.

I look forward to speaking with you on one of these calls!

If you would like to learn more about how you can build a billion dollar business and cannot join one of these calls, send me an e-mail at ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com and label it "I Want to Build a Billion Dollar Business" in the subject line. I offer a variety of services that can help.

In the meantime, read the December 19, 2005 blog post to Create a Billion Dollar Business to learn more about The Billionaire Entrepreneurs' Master Mind.

Please let me know what else you would like to learn, and I'll do my best to help in future blog entries.

Thanks so much for your support of this blog. I'm delighted that so many tens of thousands of people have made this blog part of their regular reading habit!

If you like this blog, please let others know who might also enjoy it. E-mailing your favorite post to them is a great idea.

Thank you to my many friends, students, clients and blog readers who are spreading the good word about this blog.

If you are visiting today because someone invited you, I'm delighted to meet you! Let's stay in touch.

Remember to also visit

Live Spiritually Better than a Billionaire at http://livespirituallybetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Mansions Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoymansionsbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Football Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoyfootballbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/ and

Be a World Hero Better than a Billionaire at http://beaworldherobetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/.

I offer individual on-line tutorials and in-person seminars on creating 2,000 percent solutions (20 times the results with the same effort), developing more profitable business models and designing strategies that work regardless of the business environment. For information, contact me at ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com.

I am available to you as a speaker on these subjects. You can find my background at http://livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars.blogspot.com/2005_08_30_livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars_archive.html/.

May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell
Chairman, Mitchell and Company

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

Follow Mitchell's Law to Achieve Your Dreams in 2006

2005-12-31T06:02:00.000-08:00

Good morning, 2,000 Percent Solution Creators!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I hope so. I certainly know that I am.

Let me share one idea with you . . . that may be more valuable than any other idea you can apply in 2006.

Management gurus all have their ideas about how to make you more effective. Here are some of the practices that they advocate:

Time management
Management by objectives
Six Sigma quality
Non-stop innovation
Top grading
Empowerment
Team building
Employee ownership
Training

and on it goes.

There's a problem with what they propose: Such solutions ignore the potential of compound expansion of benefits.

Let me explain. If you gain a benefit in one area, your organization's results improve only by that amount . . . unless the benefit triggers a gain in another area. It's like having a saving account that earns interest for one year, but doesn't earn any interest after that year.

Why does that occur? Competitors are improving every year. By next year, they have matched your gain in some other area and your improvement no longer adds more profit and cash flow.

When you link together larger gains that multiply their organizational benefits faster than competitors, you create ever increasing scales of benefit.

Here's an example. Imagine that a company finds a way to expand its sales by 20 times. That's a great breakthrough. The first year profit gain is likely to be equivalent of 30 years of normal progress!

But that's just the beginning. Now have the same company find a way to reduce its cost of providing its offerings by 95%. These cost savings multiply over the increased volume. The first year gain in earnings and profits is likely to be the equivalent of 600 years of normal progress (profits are now approximately 40,000 percent of the beginning level).

Don't stop now. Next have the same company be able to expand the market growth by 20 times annually. This multiples sales, profits and cash flow even faster because the company's ability to gain market share from the first improvement is further increased. The first year gain in earnings and profits is likely to be the equivalent of 12,000 years of normal progress (profits are now approximately 80,000 percent of the beginning level). And each year of market growth at that rate adds 20 times more profits.

We can keep going by putting in innovations to reduce capital needs by 95%. This means that free cash flow will increase by several hundred thousand percent.

By now, you are probably ready for Mitchell's Law:

Organizational growth in cash flow and value expands geometrically as a function of market growth times cost reductions faster than competitors times gains in market share times capital intensity reductions faster than competitors times use of lower cost capital than competitors.

Here's the mathematical expression of that law:

OG = (MG)(CR)(MSG)(CIR)(ULCC)

Organizational Growth in Cash Flow and Value = OG

Market Growth = MG

Cost Reductions Faster than Competitors = CR

Market Share Gains = MSG

Capital Intensity Reductions Faster than Competitors = CIR

Use of Lower Cost Capital than Competitors = ULCC

If you have questions about Mitchell's Law, please make comments on this blog post or contact me at ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com/. Please label your subject as "Mitchell's Law" so I will know to be sure to look at your e-mail.

Donald W. Mitchell
Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

Major in 2,000 Percent Solution Processes at Rushmore University for Greater Success!

2005-12-31T05:22:00.000-08:00

Good morning, 2,000 Percent Solution Creators!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so. I know that I am!

I have a nice surprise for you this morning!

Rushmore University has just announced that it will now be offering masters and doctoral degrees in creating exponential organizational success via 2,000 percent solution studies. I will teach all of these courses.

You can apply The 2,000 Percent Solution Process to any subject that Rushmore offers courses in.

For more details, go to:

http://www.rushmore.edu/2000.htm

If you have questions, feel free to contact me directly at ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com/.

Here are some descriptions of experiences that others have had with my popular introductory course on this subject:

“Professor Donald Mitchell brought me to a whole new world. I used the course based on The 2,000 Percent Solution and The 2,000 Percent Solution Workbook to establish a strikingly promising business strategy for my company, which other business courses failed to help me provide. Now I am doubling my company’s business and profit very rapidly and realizing my dream: Exponential Business Success.”

–Hiroshi Fukushi

President, FD Green Co., Ltd.,

Thailand

; Managing Director, AET Manufacturing Co., Ltd.,

Thailand

; and Director, Ajinomoto Co. Ltd.,

Thailand

“This course obliterated my complacency. Our business has turned the corner due to application of the 2,000 percent solution principle. No more 6% interest on medium risk financial investments – 40% in 9 months, an annualized 755% improvement. The blinkers have gone.”

–William Kempen

Partner, Impact Human Resources, South Africa

“Donald Mitchell’s on-line tutorial alerted me to company stalls that must be avoided. It was very instructive to learn how not to do something. The creation of a 2,000 percent solution showed me that there are always better, cheaper and more effective ways to organize any business activity.”

–Neil R. McGrath

CEO, Application Developers Pty. Ltd., Australia

“The ‘Exponential Business Success’ course is quite ideal for small entrepreneurs and those working for reputable organisations to create solutions to the many snags that retard an enterprise’s exponential growth. The course is a powerful tool for those who are keen to bring significant change in their personal lives and organizations they work for.

“I am one of many students who have benefited greatly from this course. I am not only an effective member of my family and the organisation I work for but a visionary affiliate of my society as well.

“The author of the books The 2,000 Percent Solution and The 2,000 Percent Solution Workbook, Professor Donald Mitchell uses both resources to mentor his students in a more practical way. The first book takes the learner through stalls, stall busters commonly found in any organisation and the eight steps towards creating a valuable business solution … while The 2,000 Percent Solution Workbook guides the learner through a series of practical applications of the 2,000 Percent Solution process You do not need to go to class for the course is offered on-line.”

–Jacob V. Yesaya

Senior Lecturer in Vocational Education, Department of Vocational Education and Training,

Botswana

“This course enabled me to explore comprehensively all aspects of my organisation, ranging from the traditions we follow blindly, the complacency which had set in the way we serve our customers, the unnecessary bureaucracy and the blind spots in me and in my organization. This course helped me immensely in learning and acquiring expertise and know-how on how to manage and discipline my thinking, to be more creative, and build my self-confidence in my ability to make a big positive difference in other peoples’ lives.”

–Elijah Chingosho

Associate Professor, Rushmore University, Africa

“Under the wonderful guidance of my advisor, Professor Donald Mitchell, I developed goals, new habits and skills to achieve professional as well as personal success to lead a happy life.”

–Burra Ramulu

Supervisor, SAFCO-3,

Saudi Arabia

“When our effectiveness suffers because of stalled mind-sets, when our productivity is low, because we are stuck in bad habits that disfavour our projects, 2,000 percent solutions are effective answers. In his courses, Donald Mitchell shows students how to identify stalls and break through them by creating 2,000 percent solutions. I have found this idea of creating stall busters that supply exponential success highly useful in my professional and private life. Once people identify the main problems and create the ‘right’ solution to tackle them, not only do you solve the problem that you had in the first place, but you might also find yourself solving problems that you didn’t think that you even had and get results that you never even thought you could achieve. Donald Mitchell’s courses on the 2,000 percent solution are a highly beneficial lesson to any students who want to get things right and reach goals beyond their expectations.”

–Oliver Haggenmuller

Executive,

Switzerland

“I found Don Mitchell’s 8-step process an excellent practical tool to demolish all hindering forces and barriers in my work. The 2,000 Percent Solution gave me insight to look far beyond the limitations of my present reality. His feedback was very precise in a way that pinpointed the key areas where the performance of my business could be dramatically improved.”

–Roy Rissanen

MBA, Missionary Pilot, Africa

"The 2,000 Percent Solution course under the guidance and the kindness of author Professor Donald Mitchell has been a delightful experience. Easy and fun, I studied chapter after chapter with facility. The logical process and the selected examples make this book accessible to everyone."

- Alain Pierre Mignon

Executive, Indonesia

Beginning this week, I began hosting a series of three free one-hour conference calls in which you can join to hear me describe The Billionaire Entrepreneurs' Master Mind. As part of these calls, I will be describing more about creating 2,000 percent solutions.

Before each call you plan to join, I suggest you send me your questions by e-mail so I can focus on what interests you most.

I will also create a FAQ section to answer those questions after I have a better sense of what aspects are of most interest.

Send your questions by e-mail to ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com and label it "I Have a Question about Building a Billion Dollar Business" in the subject line.

Here's the Call-in Information:

Call Dates and Times:

Wednesday, December 28, 2005: 11 a.m. EST (8 a.m. PST)

Thursday, December 29, 2005: 5 p.m. EST (2 p.m. PST)

Monday, January 2, 2006: 11 a.m. EST (8 a.m. PST)

Call-In Instructions:

Dial 1-712-580-7706 (in the United States) a few minutes early. I will calibrate the starting time using http://www.time.gov/.

Select 2 on your touch-tone keypad to bypass instructions.

Enter the teleconference passcode: 16474211#

You will hear music if you are the first person on the call. If you don't hear music, others are on the line. Please introduce yourself so I can make your acquaintance.

I look forward to speaking with you on one of these calls!

If you would like to learn more about how you can build a billion dollar business and cannot join one of these calls, send me an e-mail at ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com and label it "I Want to Build a Billion Dollar Business" in the subject line. I offer a variety of services that can help.

In the meantime, read the December 19, 2005 blog post to Create a Billion Dollar Business to learn more about The Billionaire Entrepreneurs' Master Mind.

Please let me know what else you would like to learn, and I'll do my best to help in future blog entries.

Thanks so much for your support of this blog. I'm delighted that so many tens of thousands of people have made this blog part of their regular reading habit!

If you like this blog, please let others know who might also enjoy it. E-mailing your favorite post to them is a great idea.

Thank you to my many friends, students, clients and blog readers who are spreading the good word about this blog.

If you are visiting today because someone invited you, I'm delighted to meet you! Let's stay in touch.

Remember to also visit

Live Spiritually Better than a Billionaire at http://livespirituallybetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Mansions Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoymansionsbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Football Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoyfootballbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/ and

Be a World Hero Better than a Billionaire at http://beaworldherobetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/.

I offer individual on-line tutorials and in-person seminars on creating 2,000 percent solutions (20 times the results with the same effort), developing more profitable business models and designing strategies that work regardless of the business environment. For information, contact me at ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com.

I am available to you as a speaker on these subjects. You can find my background at http://livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars.blogspot.com/2005_08_30_livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars_archive.html/.

May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

Free Tele-Seminars December 28, 29 and January 2

2005-12-28T00:24:00.000-08:00

Good morning, 2,000 Percent Solution Creators!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so. I know that I am!

Beginning this morning, I will host a series of three free one-hour conference calls in which you can join to hear me describe The Billionaire Entrepreneurs' Master Mind. As part of these calls, I will be describing more about creating 2,000 percent solutions.

Before each call you plan to join, I suggest you send me your questions by e-mail so I can focus on what interests you most.

I will also create a FAQ section to answer those questions after I have a better sense of what aspects are of most interest.

Send your questions by e-mail to ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com and label it "I Have a Question about Building a Billion Dollar Business" in the subject line.

Here's the Call-in Information:

Call Dates and Times:

Wednesday, December 28, 2005: 11 a.m. EST (8 a.m. PST)

Thursday, December 29, 2005: 5 p.m. EST (2 p.m. PST)

Monday, January 2, 2006: 11 a.m. EST (8 a.m. PST)

Call-In Instructions:

Dial 1-712-580-7706 (in the United States) a few minutes early. I will calibrate the starting time using http://www.time.gov/.

Select 2 on your touch-tone keypad to bypass instructions.

Enter the teleconference passcode: 16474211#

You will hear music if you are the first person on the call. If you don't hear music, others are on the line. Please introduce yourself so I can make your acquaintance.

I look forward to speaking with you on one of these calls!

If you would like to learn more about how you can build a billion dollar business and cannot join one of these calls, send me an e-mail at ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com and label it "I Want to Build a Billion Dollar Business" in the subject line. I offer a variety of services that can help.

In the meantime, read the December 19, 2005 blog post to Create a Billion Dollar Business to learn more about The Billionaire Entrepreneurs' Master Mind.

Please let me know what else you would like to learn, and I'll do my best to help in future blog entries.

Thanks so much for your support of this blog. I'm delighted that so many tens of thousands of people have made this blog part of their regular reading habit!

If you like this blog, please let others know who might also enjoy it. E-mailing your favorite post to them is a great idea.

Thank you to my many friends, students, clients and blog readers who are spreading the good word about this blog.

If you are visiting today because someone invited you, I'm delighted to meet you! Let's stay in touch.

Remember to also visit

Live Spiritually Better than a Billionaire at http://livespirituallybetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Mansions Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoymansionsbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Football Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoyfootballbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/ and

Be a World Hero Better than a Billionaire at http://beaworldherobetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/.

I offer individual on-line tutorials and in-person seminars on creating 2,000 percent solutions (20 times the results with the same effort), developing more profitable business models and designing strategies that work regardless of the business environment. For information, contact me at ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com.

I am available to you as a speaker on these subjects. You can find my background at http://livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars.blogspot.com/2005_08_30_livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars_archive.html/.

May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell
Chairman, Mitchell and Company

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

Take the Course in Creating 2,000 Percent Solutions

2005-12-26T07:18:00.000-08:00

Good morning, 2,000 Percent Solution Creators!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so. I know that I am!

Many people ask me how they can afford the time and money to take a course in creating 2,000 percent solutions.

Let me suggest two 2,000 percent solutions to that challenge:

1. Ask your employer to pay for the course in exchange for developing a 2,000 percent solution on a mutually acceptable subject related to your own work.

2. Ask your employer to let you use normal working hours for time to take the course and apply the results.

These 2,000 percent solutions have a great advantage for you: Your employer will more rapidly recognize your skill in creating 2,000 percent solutions . . . which should lead to better assignments and promotions.

Before agreeing to such an idea, most employers want more information. To make that easier, I've included below the course instructions and some comments made by those who have taken the course. I can also send you copies of papers that others have written for this course to show you what's possible.

Here are the directions:

I am delighted that you will be taking my course on creating 2,000 percent solutions.

If you will send me some background about yourself, I will be better able to work with you on the course.

You should plan to read and use both The 2,000 Percent Solution and The 2,000 Percent Solution Worb0ok in the course.

If you want to refer other people to this subject who might help you with the project, let them know about the free on-line resources.

They can read all but two chapters of The 2,000 Percent Solution by going to www.2000percentsolution.com and clicking on the "excerpts" button on the left hand column. That will take them to the table of contents and start with the beginning material.

They can also order an inexpensive hard copy or an e-book download from Amazon.com.

Excerpts from The 2,000 Percent Solution Workbook can be found at http://2000percentsolutions.blogspot.com/. Inexpensive hard copies and e-books can also be ordered from Amazon.com.

As you work on the course, keep a journal of how you spend your time each day and how much time you spend. You should submit the journal to me along with your paper. That will give me a flavor of any problems you have had.

Your paper should have two parts. In the first part, you should identify some stalls that have been or are a problem now for an organization you know well or for you personally. Next, identify how those stalls were overcome or could be overcome. This material is covered in the first part of The 2,000 Percent Solution.

In the second part of the paper, you should create your own 2,000 percent solution (a way to do something 20 times more effectively with the same or fewer resources or effort or get the same results in 1/20 the time or effort). When you are ready to pick the area you want to work on, e-mail me and tell me about it and I will give you further suggestions. This part of the paper relates to the 8 step process in part two of The 2,000 Percent Solution. You should discuss how each part of the 8 step process applies to your development of a 2,000 percent solution and explain why your solution is or will become a 2,000 percent solution.

If you pick some issue that's strategic to you or an organization, you will get more benefit than if you pick some trivial area.

Don't worry about page limits. Most people need to write more words than they expect. I'm happy to review longer papers.

I will also be glad to review drafts of your paper and give you suggestions as you go.

When you are satisfied with the paper, send it to me for final comments and review.

If you have any questions as you go, please let me know.

Here are some descriptions of experiences that others have had with the course:

“Professor Donald Mitchell brought me to a whole new world. I used the course based on The 2,000 Percent Solution and The 2,000 Percent Solution Workbook to establish a strikingly promising business strategy for my company, which other business courses failed to help me provide. Now I am doubling my company’s business and profit very rapidly and realizing my dream: Exponential Business Success.”

–Hiroshi Fukushi

President, FD Green Co., Ltd.,

Thailand

; Managing Director, AET Manufacturing Co., Ltd.,

Thailand

; and Director, Ajinomoto Co. Ltd.,

Thailand

–William Kempen

Partner, Impact Human Resources, South Africa

–Neil R. McGrath

CEO, Application Developers Pty. Ltd., Australia

–Jacob V. Yesaya

Senior Lecturer in Vocational Education, Department of Vocational Education and Training,

Botswana

–Elijah Chingosho

–Burra Ramulu

Supervisor, SAFCO-3,

Saudi Arabia

–Oliver Haggenmuller

Executive,

Switzerland

–Roy Rissanen

MBA, Missionary Pilot, Africa

- Alain Pierre Mignon

Executive, Indonesia

Beginning this week, I will host a series of three free one-hour conference calls in which you can join to hear me describe The Billionaire Entrepreneurs' Master Mind. As part of these calls, I will be describing more about creating 2,000 percent solutions.

Before each call you plan to join, I suggest you send me your questions by e-mail so I can focus on what interests you most.

I will also create a FAQ section to answer those questions after I have a better sense of what aspects are of most interest.

Send your questions by e-mail to ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com and label it "I Have a Question about Building a Billion Dollar Business" in the subject line.

Here's the Call-in Information:

Call Dates and Times:

Wednesday, December 28, 2005: 11 a.m. EST (8 a.m. PST)

Thursday, December 29, 2005: 5 p.m. EST (2 p.m. PST)

Monday, January 2, 2006: 11 a.m. EST (8 a.m. PST)

Call-In Instructions:

Dial 1-712-580-7706 (in the United States) a few minutes early. I will calibrate the starting time using http://www.time.gov/.

Select 2 on your touch-tone keypad to bypass instructions.

Enter the teleconference passcode: 16474211#

You will hear music if you are the first person on the call. If you don't hear music, others are on the line. Please introduce yourself so I can make your acquaintance.

I look forward to speaking with you on one of these calls!

If you would like to learn more about how you can build a billion dollar business and cannot join one of these calls, send me an e-mail at ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com and label it "I Want to Build a Billion Dollar Business" in the subject line. I offer a variety of services that can help.

In the meantime, read the December 19, 2005 blog post to Create a Billion Dollar Business to learn more about The Billionaire Entrepreneurs' Master Mind.

Please let me know what else you would like to learn, and I'll do my best to help in future blog entries.

Thanks so much for your support of this blog. I'm delighted that so many tens of thousands of people have made this blog part of their regular reading habit!

If you like this blog, please let others know who might also enjoy it. E-mailing your favorite post to them is a great idea.

Thank you to my many friends, students, clients and blog readers who are spreading the good word about this blog.

If you are visiting today because someone invited you, I'm delighted to meet you! Let's stay in touch.

Remember to also visit

Live Spiritually Better than a Billionaire at http://livespirituallybetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Mansions Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoymansionsbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Football Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoyfootballbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/ and

Be a World Hero Better than a Billionaire at http://beaworldherobetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/.

I offer individual on-line tutorials and in-person seminars on creating 2,000 percent solutions (20 times the results with the same effort), developing more profitable business models and designing strategies that work regardless of the business environment. For information, contact me at ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com.

I am available to you as a speaker on these subjects. You can find my background at http://livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars.blogspot.com/2005_08_30_livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars_archive.html/.

May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

Free Teleconferences to Learn about Joining The Billionaire Entrepreneurs' Master Mind on December 28 and 29 and January 2

2005-12-24T10:12:00.000-08:00

Good morning, 2,000 Percent Solution Creators!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so. I know that I am!

I have great news for you: The Billionaire Entrepreneurs' Master Mind has been launched and membership applications are being accepted now!

Charter members are signing up from all around the world now.

Regular weekly teleconferences will begin in February.

Between now and then, I will be explaining this new service, evaluating prospective members, sharing background materials with members and reviewing their business models to suggest improvements.

I want to make it easy for you to consider becoming a member as well.

Beginning next week, I will host a series of three free one-hour conference calls in which you can join to hear me describe The Billionaire Entrepreneurs' Master Mind.

Before each call you plan to join, I suggest you send me your questions by e-mail so I can focus on what interests you most.

I will also create a FAQ section to answer those questions after I have a better sense of what aspects are of most interest.

Send your questions by e-mail to ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com and label it "I Have a Question about Building a Billion Dollar Business" in the subject line.

Here's the Call-in Information:

Call Dates and Times:

Wednesday, December 28, 2005: 11 a.m. EST (8 a.m. PST)

Thursday, December 29, 2005: 5 p.m. EST (2 p.m. PST)

Monday, January 2, 2006: 11 a.m. EST (8 a.m. PST)

Call-In Instructions:

Dial 1-712-580-7706 (in the United States) a few minutes early. I will calibrate the starting time using http://www.time.gov/.

Select 2 on your touch-tone keypad to bypass instructions.

Enter the teleconference passcode: 16474211#

You will hear music if you are the first person on the call. If you don't hear music, others are on the line. Please introduce yourself so I can make your acquaintance.

I look forward to speaking with you on one of these calls!

If you would like to learn more about how you can build a billion dollar business and cannot join one of these calls, send me an e-mail at ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com and label it "I Want to Build a Billion Dollar Business" in the subject line. I offer a variety of services that can help.

In the meantime, read the December 19, 2005 blog post to Create a Billion Dollar Business to learn more about The Billionaire Entrepreneurs' Master Mind.

May God bless you. Merry Christmas!

Donald W. Mitchell
Chairman
Mitchell and Company

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

Announcing Create a Billion Dollar Business

2005-12-19T11:41:00.000-08:00

Good morning, 2,000 Percent Solution Creators!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I know that I am.

As a follow-up to my recent announcement of The Billionaire Entrepreneurs’ Master Mind I wanted to alert you to a new blog, Create a Billion Dollar Business (see http://billiondollarbusiness.blogspot.com/).

This new blog will share exciting details about the new master mind for those who want to create unprecedented entrepreneurial success in their careers.

If you think this opportunity might be right for you, contact me at ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com with a subject heading of "I Want to Create a Billion Dollar Business". I'll be back to you to answer your questions and provide application information.

Merry Christmas!

May God bless you.

With best regards, much appreciation and all good wishes,

Donald W. Mitchell
Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

Develop a New Billion Dollar Business Better than a Billionaire!

2005-12-14T07:17:00.000-08:00

Good morning, 2,000 Percent Solution Creators!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so. I know that I am!

I am going to lay out this subject in its simplest form. I invite you to add your questions as comments to this post. I will answer each one below so that others can gain from the same information.

Most billionaires don't try to launch their own new billion dollar businesses. Rather, they are more likely to invest in venture capital funds seeking high rates of appreciation. The odds are that of 30 businesses they invest in, 27 will never be worth much. Three will have some significant value . . . and none of them will become a billion dollar business.

Here's a typical situation:

The CEO of a start-up workstation company proudly displayed his products and business projections. An engineering consultant had validated the technical superiority of the company’s offerings. All would be well . . . if only another $30 million in capital could be raised to ramp up production.

A year later the company was out of business. Despite the company’s satisfaction with its offerings, not a single customer ever bought one of the company’s workstations. Investors were as unimpressed as the customers. The assets were sold off for two cents on the dollar.

Having met many successful and unsuccessful entrepreneurs, I am constantly reminded that entrepreneurs may have more optimism than good ideas. Most entrepreneurs emphasize one potential customer advantage in their approach. Their approach falters when the company cannot deliver that advantage, customers are unimpressed or a competitor eliminates the entrepreneur’s edge.

Here’s a better approach for the 21st century: Create the right three 2,000 percent solutions and you’ll soon have a business worth over a billion even if you are starting with limited resources.

The three 2,000 percent solutions are:

1. A way to increase the size of the market by 20 times by improving benefits and/or reducing prices;

2. Reduce the company and stakeholder costs to create and use the offering by 95% and invest some of the savings into more benefits not offered by competitors for customers and other stakeholders; and

3. Accelerate recruitment of new customers to 20 times the best rate of any competitors.

On the surface, that sounds like three times the work of creating one 2,000 percent solution. That’s right. But because the benefits multiply against each dimension, the effect is to increase profits by 800,000 percent over a conventional competitor. That’s worth three times the effort.

To make this process easier, I have decided to create The Billionaire Entrepreneurs’ Master Mind beginning in 2006.

Members will develop new business models that combine the three essential 2,000 percent solutions into their business models. In doing this, they will be supported by their fellow entrepreneurs in the Master Mind and by me.

Each member will receive these benefits:

1. Detailed directions, examples and coaching for how to create these three 2,000 percent solutions.

2. Weekly tele-seminars exploring the creation of superior business models built from these three 2,000 percent solutions and how to implement them.

3. Introductions to fellow master mind members with complementary interests and talents to pursue joint ventures and other collaborations.

4. Publicity about their ventures and introductions to investors where those benefits are desired and appropriate.

5. Twice a year evaluations of business models and plans.

6. The option to exclude potential competitors from the master mind while in the group.

The charge for these services will be one annual fee that covers membership for up to 12 months.

All staff services for the master mind will be provided by me. I am co-author of The 2,000 Percent Solution, The 2,000 Percent Solution Workbook, The Irresistible Growth Enterprise, The Ultimate Competitive Advantage and the forthcoming The 2,000 Percent Squared Solution.

Applications for membership are now being accepted. Contact me at ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com for more information. Label your e-mail's subject as I Want to Build a Billion Dollar Business.

Could a billionaire do better? I sincerely doubt it.

When was the last time a billionaire created three 2,000 percent solutions in one business? I cannot remember it has been so long.

************************************

N.B. As you can tell, I'm experimenting with color. Let me know what you like and what I should change about my use of color.

Please let me know what else you would like to learn, and I'll do my best to help in future blog entries.

Thanks so much for your support of this blog. I'm delighted that so many tens of thousands of people have made this blog part of their regular reading habit!

If you like this blog, please let others know who might also enjoy it. E-mailing your favorite post to them is a great idea.

Thank you to my many friends, students, clients and blog readers who are spreading the good word about this blog.

If you are visiting today because someone invited you, I'm delighted to meet you! Let's stay in touch.

Remember to also visit

Live Spiritually Better than a Billionaire at http://livespirituallybetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Be More Successful than a Billionaire at http://bemoresuccessfulthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Mansions Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoymansionsbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Football Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoyfootballbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/ and

Be a World Hero Better than a Billionaire at http://beaworldherobetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/.

I offer individual on-line tutorials and in-person seminars on living better than a billionaire on five dollars extra a day, creating 2,000 percent solutions (20 times the results with the same effort), developing more profitable business models and designing strategies that work regardless of the business environment. For information, contact me at ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com.

I am available to you as a speaker on these subjects. You can find my background at http://livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars.blogspot.com/2005_08_30_livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars_archive.html/.

May God bless you. Merry Christmas!

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

Here's Your Link to Hear My Interview with Randy Gilbert

2005-12-01T06:39:00.000-08:00

Good morning, 2,000 Percent Solution Creators!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so. I know that I am!

Randy Gilbert has sent me the link to help you listen to my interview with him on November 30, 2005 about creating more 2,000 percent solutions.

Here it is: http://theinsidesuccessshow.com/Guests/Don_Mitchell1.htm

Listen and enjoy!

I offer individual on-line tutorials and in-person seminars on living better than a billionaire on five dollars extra a day, creating 2,000 percent solutions (20 times the results with the same effort), developing more profitable business models and designing strategies that work regardless of the business environment. For information, contact me at ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com.

I am available to you as a speaker on these subjects. You can find my background at http://livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars.blogspot.com/2005_08_30_livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars_archive.html/.

May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

Listen to Your Dream Concierge on The Inside Success Show

2005-11-30T11:12:00.000-08:00

Hi, 2,000 Percent Solution Creators!

I just wanted you to know that I will be appearing on Randy Gilbert's Internet radio show, The Inside Success Show, at 3 p.m. eastern standard time today. If you would like to call in to hear the show live, dial 507-726-3300 and use the passcode 22327#. After the show has aired, you can hear replays at http://theinsidesuccessshow.com/.

Thanks for your interest!

Donald W. Mitchell
Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

Ignore and Forget Bad Advice from Billionaires

2005-11-30T06:43:00.000-08:00

Good morning, 2,000 Percent Solution Creators!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so. I know that I am!

I recently read Trump: Think Like a Billionaire. As I did, I realized that a billionaire's perspective is so removed from how most people live as to be misleading when advice is offered. Let me quote my initial thoughts as captured in my book review:

Hire Experts. Hang with Celebs. Prepare for Your TV Show., November 22, 2005

Reviewer:

Donald Mitchell "Your Dream Concierge: Live Better than the Rich by reading my daily blog at http://livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars.blogspot.com" (a citizen of the world based on Boston) - See all my reviews

There I was stuck with a five hour wait in the Fort Lauderdale airport. I went into the bookstore seven times before succumbing to Trump: Think Like a Billionaire. But nothing else looked any better. I think it was the guarantee that I could bring the book back after I had read it for a 50% refund that hooked me.

I once met Bennett Cerf. He was a great publisher. It's too bad his name is sullied by printing a puff piece of no content self-promotion like this one under the Random House imprint.

Presumably, the reason you buy this book is so that you can think like a billionaire and become one. You can knock me over with a feather if anyone becomes richer because of reading this book.

The book has five parts: Real estate; money; the business of life; slices of a billionaire's life; and Inside the Apprentice.

In real estate, you learn that you need architects, contractors, agents, designers, lawyers, accountants, tax experts and other professionals to develop real estate. Hire good ones and treat them well . . . unless they are contractors. In that case, give them a hard time until they cut their price and deliver sooner. Walk through your properties as often as possible, looking at them like a tenant or a visitor, and fix any flaws. You learn everything you need to know in 44 pages including how to rent an apartment, read a classified ad and buy a home.

In money you find out that you cannot control costs unless you sign all the checks your billion-dollar company writes. You also learn not to trust a great deal. Have someone keep track of your financial situation and share it with you frequently. Don't borrow more than you can afford to lose. Get scholarships and grants for college and get a job for the rest. Everything you need to know comes in 31 pages.

In the business of life, Donald Trump tells you to do something you like, promote yourself by doing good work, be helpful in meetings, dress nicely, work all the time if you can make money at it, use your romantic desires to stimulate your work life, impress others that you are well organized, get a pre-nup so your next spouse won't take you to the cleaners, have a strong marriage if you want to make the most money and demand the best even if you're not paying. This takes 45 pages.

Slices of the Billionaire's Life include some heavy hitting examples and a diary of the work days for The Donald. He alternates between yelling at contractors, working on The Apprentice, chatting with celebrity buddies and sneaking out for a little golf.

In inside The Apprentice, you get a little gander at Apprentice 2 interspaced with crowing about the show's ratings.

Throughout all five sections, you read dozens of examples of people telling The Donald "You're fired" and cartoons developing the same point.

The book also displays many colored photographs of The Donald scowling. He has a few where he's getting TV publicity and he smiles for that. He does seem to like promotion.

You also get lots of photographs of The Donald and his third wife (while they were dating) including some where she is arrayed across the furniture and furnishings (atop a piano with a vertically challenged dress and standing partly in a marble pool in The Donald's living room). My favorite has them both scowling in the classic The Donald pose.

One sour note in the book is that The Donald decides to attack those rare souls who haven't given him publicity that was as positive as he desired.

If you really want to see how shallow someone can be, this is your book. If Trump: Think like a Billionaire didn't have that value, I would have graded the book as a one-star effort.

I recently read a note from a publisher that said that no one can discuss how to live well like The Donald. I'm still looking for that discussion rather than the pretty self-image he studies in the mirror in this book.

I think I'll skip future efforts by The Donald. I hope the book store is open when I go to the airport tomorrow so I can get half my money back on this book.

As you can see the content of the book is mostly about experiences you don't have. Here are a few examples:
-Are you married to your third spouse?
-Do you appear regularly on a television show?
-Do you own real estate worth billions?
-Do you have a helicopter to ferry you around?

When Mr. Trump does try to deal with everyday issues, he doesn't seem to be able to add very much. I suspect that's because Mr. Trump is actually inexperienced in these areas. When was the last time he looked for an apartment to live in on a limited budget? When was the last time he bought an ordinary home to live in? When was the last time he self-financed his own college education?

In the area of marriage, he strongly advises a pre-nuptial agreement. That's a legal contract that splits the assets in the case of divorce. I can see why he likes that idea. It saved him a bundle with his second wife because he divorced her just before the terms of the pre-nuptial agreement started to get expensive. The result was worth millions to him.

Now, how would you feel or would you have felt if before you married the first time, your intended insisted on an agreement for how to handle the divorce? Most people would assume that their intended planned to divorce. Why marry someone with that attitude? So is that advice to always secure a pre-nuptial agreement good for you? I doubt it.

In testing out a billionaire's advice, consider if the billionaire's circumstances and yours represent the same perspective. Then consider if the billionaire's expertise applies to your situation.

One of the reasons that I decided to write this blog and prepare my book by the same title is because I was concerned that there was no intermediary between the very wealthy and those who would like to live like them. Having come from humble roots and having also worked with many of the wealthiest people in the world, I can understand both worlds and try to translate them into the terms of the other experience and perspective.

Could a billionaire do better? I doubt it.

Most billionaires are entertaining themselves more than they are working. If they take the time to write a book, it's because they want to be adored . . . not because they want to help someone else achieve what they have achieved.

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N.B. As you can tell, I'm experimenting with color. Let me know what you like and what I should change about my use of color. Many thanks to Linda Grace for her suggestions which I am following!

Please let me know what else you would like to learn, and I'll do my best to help in future blog entries.

Enjoy Mansions Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoymansionsbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Football Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoyfootballbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/ and

Be a World Hero Better than a Billionaire at http://beaworldherobetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/.

I offer individual on-line tutorials and in-person seminars on living better than a billionaire on five dollars extra a day, creating 2,000 percent solutions (20 times the results with the same effort), developing more profitable business models and designing strategies that work regardless of the business environment. For information, contact me at ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com.

I am available to you as a speaker on these subjects. You can find my background at http://livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars.blogspot.com/2005_08_30_livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars_archive.html/.

May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

Use a Billionaire Mind Set to Create Your 2,000 Percent Solutions

2005-11-28T07:27:00.000-08:00

Good morning, 2,000 Percent Solution Creators!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so. I know that I am!

One of the most empowering thought exercises my students ever do is to imagine that they have unlimited financial resources to solve a problem. No matter what the problem is, they quickly come up with powerful answers. You can see them sitting a little taller, smiling a little broader and being more friendly as they do. Next, I encourage them to describe their solution in more detail. They happily agree. I feel like I've turned them into queens and kings for a day. I feel their joy.

When they begin to run out of steam . . . but are still feeling really happy, I change the exercise.

Next, I ask them to take their solution and find a way to implement it with no financial resources. Their eyes get a little wider, the smiles turn a little more rueful and the heads twist a little. Then, they shake their heads "yes" and start thinking.

Sometimes they need an idea starter or two to get them off ground zero. Here are a couple of my favorites:

1. Who will benefit so much from your solution that they will be willing to fund some or all of what needs to be done?

2. Who can implement your solution at very little cost?

At that point, bodies begin to lean forward as though preparing for a race. Excitement begins to build as twinkles into their eyes.

They now see that there are no limits . . . except the ones that place on themselves.

Remember that lesson.

Could a billionaire do better? I doubt it.

Because a billionaire has lots of money, billionaires typically skip the powerful part of the exercise where you find a way to do the same task without any financial resources. That's too bad because with a billionaire's greater experience in thinking about large-scale projects, billionaires could get to be very good at this.

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Please let me know what else you would like to learn, and I'll do my best to help in future blog entries.

Enjoy Mansions Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoymansionsbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Football Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoyfootballbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/ and

Be a World Hero Better than a Billionaire at http://beaworldherobetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/.

I offer individual on-line tutorials and in-person seminars on living better than a billionaire on five dollars extra a day, creating 2,000 percent solutions (20 times the results with the same effort), developing more profitable business models and designing strategies that work regardless of the business environment. For information, contact me at ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com.

I am available to you as a speaker on these subjects. You can find my background at http://livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars.blogspot.com/2005_08_30_livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars_archive.html/.

May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

Announcing The 2,000 Percent Solution Workbook

2005-11-23T05:45:00.000-08:00

Good morning, 2,000 Percent Solution Creators!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so. I know that I am!

In 1998, Carol Coles and I joined with Robert Metz, former Marketplace columnist at The New York Times to author The 2,000 Percent Solution. That book went on to become an Amazon.com best seller, was selected by the Chinese government as one of the ten best management books of the 20th century, and has been the basis of major improvements in companies, governments and non-profit organizations around the world.

I have been teaching courses based on that book since 1999 and began experimenting in 2003 with ways to help students learn and accomplish more. From those experiments, a companion workbook emerged that students have hailed as essential to their experiences.

Today, that workbook becomes available for the first time to the general public.

The 2,000 Percent Solution Workbook is an essential resource for anyone who wants to accomplish more with fewer resources.

You can buy copies in hardcover, soft cover or for digital download on www.iuniverse.com today (see http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?isbn=0-595-81881-1 for the digital download).

Amazon.com has listed the soft cover and hardcover versions, but is not yet accepting orders. Presumably, they will begin taking orders within a few days. To find the soft cover version, go to http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0595374883/104-5889592-2919129?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance

The workbook takes you through the key ideas in The 2,000 Percent Solution and one concept from The Irresistible Growth Enterprise. You also receive a list of questions designed to help you create your own 2,000 percent solution. In addition, you will learn how to help others create their own 2,000 percent solutions. If you head an organization, you can use this resource to reach world-class performance standards within two years by being your own consultant.

If you would like to take an on-line course with me based on the book and the workbook, please contact me at ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com

Can a billionaire do any better? I doubt it.

A billionaire can hire the world's finest consultants, the greatest experts and armies of people to implement the results. But the humble contributions of those who use The 2,000 Percent Solution and The 2,000 Percent Solution Workbook will soar past billionaires by combining great knowledge about their situation with insights into the greatest accomplishments of all time.

************************************

Please let me know what else you would like to learn, and I'll do my best to help in future blog entries.

Enjoy Mansions Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoymansionsbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Football Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoyfootballbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/ and

Be a World Hero Better than a Billionaire at http://beaworldherobetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/.

I offer individual on-line tutorials and in-person seminars on living better than a billionaire on five dollars extra a day, creating 2,000 percent solutions (20 times the results with the same effort), developing more profitable business models and designing strategies that work regardless of the business environment. For information, contact me at ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com.

I am available to you as a speaker on these subjects. You can find my background at http://livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars.blogspot.com/2005_08_30_livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars_archive.html/.

May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

2,000 Percent Solution Services

2005-11-21T05:54:00.000-08:00

2,000 Percent Solution Services

Certified tutors are available to assist you in using The 2,000 Percent Solution and The 2,000 Percent Solution Workbook to locate your stalls, overcome those stalls and create 2,000 percent solutions. These tutorials can be provided for individuals or groups, either on-line or in person.

Examples of outstanding papers written by graduate business students based on these materials can also be supplied to you by e-mail.

If you submit your 2,000 percent solution paper to us after you use this workbook, you may be eligible to join the 2,000 Percent Solution Club. New solutions are circulated among the members, and you will have chances to contact and share ideas with other members.

We also offer certification training in tutoring 2,000 percent solution students.

These materials and this training can be licensed by your organization to achieve even greater improvements.

The authors are available to give speeches and conduct workshops on these subjects.

Mitchell and Company also provides consulting services for creating and implementing 2,000 percent, 4 million percent and 16 billion percent solutions. These solutions can be applied to establish a new business, a new industry or make a giant leap ahead of your competitors.

For more information about these and our other services, call us at 781-647-4211, send an e-mail to ultimatecompetitiveadvantage@yahoo.com or write to us at Mitchell and Company, P.O. Box 302, Weston, Massachusetts 02493 USA.

Afterword

2005-11-20T11:49:00.000-08:00

Hello, Faithful Readers,

With this post, you skip ahead two chapters. You'll just have to read the book when it comes out to see the detail of what's covered in those chapters.

Afterword

Only you know the best way for you to apply this workbook. Because your answers to the questions in the workbook will change over time, you may find it helpful to fill out your answers anew each time that you either repeat the first seven steps to create a 2,000 percent solution, you mentor someone or a team working on a 2,000 percent solution, or mentor someone who is mentoring those working on 2,000 percent solutions. If you decide to re-ask and re-answer the workbook’s questions, be sure to look at your former answers. Those answers will give you further clues as to where you need to focus.

For some, this will mean adding pages into the workbook. For others, a series of time sequential answers will appear beneath each question in the workbook. For those who write the most extensive answers, this may mean creating an electronic file with dated answers in it. Still others, having more than one copy of the workbook may be the easiest way to record answers over time.

Progress towards the theoretical or ideal best practice will vary a lot from organization to organization and from performance area to performance area. Many clients and students have created 2,000 percent solutions that put them five or ten years ahead of the future best practice without making much of a dent against the theoretical or ideal best practice. Others have immediately found 2,000 percent solutions that carved out a high percentage of the potential for moving towards the theoretical of ideal best practice. As your organization proceeds, you will want to carefully understand what your organization does when you achieve the latter that doesn’t happen when you accomplish the former result. We hope you will share what you learn with us.

We deeply appreciate your commitment to and efforts on behalf of creating 2,000 percent solutions. You are remaking our world into a better place in a way that few other efforts can hope to match. Thank you!

Part Four: Help Others Learn How to Create and Implement 2,000 Percent Solutions

2005-11-19T08:56:00.000-08:00

Hello, Faithful Readers,

With this post, you skip ahead five chapters. You'll just have to read the book when it comes out to see the details of what's covered in those chapters.

Part Four

Help Others Learn How to Create and Implement 2,000 Percent Solutions

Most organizations learn about 2,000 percent solutions when an individual picks up The 2,000 Percent Solution on their own and decides to work with the book. Many fine solutions are created by talented, determined individuals working alone in this way, tutored only by the book’s questions. In other cases, individuals use the book while being our students, and they receive guidance and support from us in going through their initial 2,000 percent solution.

These successful process initiators often keep their first efforts invisible from their colleagues. They often work at night and on weekends away from the office. The first experience is a test of the process, and there’s no reason to seek wider awareness. Stealth change is the easiest way to make rapid progress in most circumstances.

Few, however, of the organizations proceed beyond that initial 2,000 percent solution success. There are a number of reasons for this. The person who initially used the process may feel awkward about asking others to put forth the same amount of effort in their spare time. There may be a limited experience in the organization in successfully employing new problem solving methods which may make the successful initiator skeptical of encouraging others. Colleagues may have little interest in learning new things. People may already be very busy with other activities, and one more task could overload everyone so that less is accomplished.

Whatever the reason for not proceeding to add other creators of 2,000 percent solutions, those who know the process and would like to introduce it to others can learn a lot from our experiences.

In the final two chapters, we share with you simple, effective ways to introduce the key ideas. Following such effective contacts, your colleagues can decide how much the process appeals to them. For those who then want to proceed, this workbook will help guide them.

Even if you have many people reporting to you, we suggest that you begin introducing this process by recruiting a single person who is interested in new ideas and improvements … someone with boundless energy. After such a person has a good experience, then consider taking your colleagues’ success public and involving someone else. When the natural enthusiasts have all been recruited, then consider introducing the opportunity to everyone else.

Chapter 7: Step Three: Identify the Future Best Practice and Measure It

2005-11-18T10:23:00.000-08:00

Chapter 7

Step Three: Identify the Future Best Practice and Measure It

The material in this chapter expands upon pages 163-177 in The 2,000 Percent Solution.

You should now begin using the measurements that you identified in chapter 6. Use those measurements to estimate the most effective way that your current and potential competitors will be pursuing the nth degree opportunity that you identified in chapter 4 by using the implementation choices you uncovered in chapter 5. In looking for the answers, stay open to identifying other possible opportunities and implementation choices that will work even better.

The future best practice often isn’t much more than a few percentage points of improvement over the current best practice. Why should you bother to identify the future best practice for such a small potential gain? First, the current best practice is often several hundred percent better than the average current practice. So the gap to the future best practice may be wide from where you are today unless you already are the industry leader in these dimensions. Second, you probably haven’t looked at this perspective before in the context of the best nth degree opportunity, and positive surprises are likely. Checking will help you avoid shooting too low with goals for your new approaches. Third, thinking about the future best practice is a helpful context for seeing unexpected opportunities well beyond what the future best practice is.

It’s hard enough to find out what the current best practice is. How can we hope to know what the future best practice will be? Obviously, no one can be sure. … but you can learn important lessons even if your conclusions are wrong in detail.

How should you proceed? A good starting point is to locate the current best practice. You can often find the current best practice by simply looking at outstanding successes by competitors and reading articles about what those competitors and their customers say in print that the companies do well. You can find out more from those who know the competitors well. Possible information sources including former employees who have been gone for a few years and suppliers who have not been sworn to secrecy. Naturally, you should follow good ethical standards in your research and not mislead anyone about what you are trying to learn. In addition, you can interview relevant customers and other key stakeholders to find out how they perceive the best practice offerings and how those offerings are provided. In some cases, you can even become a customer of the competitors and directly experience what they do.

Once you know the best that competitors do now, shift your attention to what developments they are working on. These developments are often hinted at in financial reports, press releases, stories in various technical, trade and business publications, talks at conferences and in advertising to fill new positions. From such sources, you can get a sense of what size commitments are involved in the developments, what the proposed targets and deadlines are, and what progress has been made so far.

Independent of those investigations into competitors’ plans and progress, look at the rate of improvement that competitors have typically achieved. Once you have measured that rate of historical progress you can project its continuation into the future.

What if you have potential competitors who are more capable than current competitors? Many companies do. Focus on those potential competitors who could bring some important new advantage to the industry. Such innovators are often start ups led by seasoned executives with innovation experience. Also watch out for are those who are very strong in other industries who could easily transfer those strengths into your industry.

You should also consider if you are threatened by new government programs that are advancing public domain capabilities (such as new technologies) that could be applied against you as well as new organizations that are pooling essential resources in new ways.

If you are in an industry that is affected by technology, be sure to also be on the watch for new patents and technical standards that could provide large advances for some companies as compared to others.

Applying these thoughts to our publishing example, the publisher should look at both what traditional publishers are doing with celebrities and new trends in how agents, impresarios, producers and other creative intermediaries are changing their relationships and contracts with the celebrities. Since Viacom is a powerful force in television, motion pictures, cable programming and books, the publisher should consider how Viacom could combine its resources and relationships in new ways to create the future best practice. In the process, the publisher should consider what advantages could be gain by teaming with Viacom as a partner to pursue 2,000 percent solutions.

Questions to help your organization identify the future best practices for implementing your nth degree opportunities.

Most companies have limited competitive information beyond what is regularly published by other companies in their financial reports, industry tracking services and occasional measurements in marketing research studies. Investigating the future best practice involves some additional data development as well as analysis of new circumstances that are affecting or could potentially affect your industry.

1. For the ways you want to implement your nth degree opportunity, which competitor does each aspect of that approach best?

In answering this question, feel free to break down performance into bits and pieces that could be combined in more effective ways by partners, suppliers or those providing outsourced services.

In the publishing example, the publisher could begin by finding out which celebrity books and publications have done the best which had a connection to a well-regarded nonprofit organization. This search should include how it was done in different categories. For example, Peter Drucker played a role in creating a nonprofit organization that originally bore his name, The Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management. That organization was folded into a new organization, The Leader to Leader Institute, that continues to benefit from ties to Professor Drucker as well as his brand-name appeal to many authors, professors and business executives. Although business books are not such a large category in the industry, there may be best practices there that will apply broadly to trade books and novels by celebrities. Ms. Oprah Winfrey has also played a defining role in influencing the sales of books through her television show and magazine. Other lessons can be drawn from that example. Actor Paul Newman created a nonprofit company to benefit children and has written books to promote that charity as well as the products the company makes. Yet other lessons can be garnered from that example. Surely, other examples will occur to the publisher and to you.

2. What improvements have each of these competitors made in the last several years in the most effective aspects of what they do?

Your purpose in answering this question is to identify information to use in estimating how fast future improvements might follow. Be sure to gather information about when these improvements were made and how long it took to develop the improvements.

3. What improvements in their most effective activities are these competitors known to be working on?

Be sure to look for both improvements in the current best practice methods and in related methods that could advance best practice performance.

4. When is it likely that these improvements will reach the marketplace?

In drawing your conclusions, consider how long experts estimate that it would take them to achieve the new results, the speed that the competitor has advanced in the past and any public hints you can find of progress along the way. Be especially vigilant about looking for tests in progress that you can monitor.

5. Which potentially effective competitors seem to be planning to enter against you in the next five years?

Be sure to track announcements of new partnerships, new contracts, new hiring and new tests that might tell you something about the potential competitors’ intentions.

6. When might these new competitors begin making their offerings?

Here, you are better advised to look for the earliest date rather than the most probable date. That’s important because putting forward your innovations before the new entrant does will be a more effective way to compete.

7. Which start-ups and new ventures could become effective best practice competitors during the next five to ten years?

Almost every industry has conferences at which companies describe what they are working on and what their prospects are for the future. You would do well to visit those conferences as well as any trade shows where such companies would be telling future customers about what the companies are working on. In addition, check any other public sources of information you can find about these companies.

8. When could these start-ups and new ventures first reach best practice effectiveness?

In particular, you should think about which customers will be most attracted by these new forms of effectiveness.

9. What new technologies and industry standards are being developed that could change the future best practices?

Be sure to consider technologies and industry standards aimed at suppliers, distributors, customers and end users as well as those that will directly affect you and your competitors.

10. When will the best practices brought about by new technologies and changed industry standards first reach customers?

If the new technologies and industry standards are being developed in part by those who are not your competitors and your company is a potential customer, you can probably find out all you need to know through technical discussions.

11. What best practice improvement areas are not being pursued by anyone with the resources required to succeed?

These gaps in new developments are potentially rich areas for your organization to consider, particularly if you can conceive of a rapid and relatively low cost way to make progress in those areas. In our publishing example, the lack of a focus on publishers developing projects and then looking for the talent to execute them is an example. Television shows and motion pictures have always been developed that way. Why should publishing projects be any different? By drawing on the skills of those who are already familiar with the process, rapid progress should be possible.

Chapter 6: Step Two: Decide What New Measures Are Needed

2005-11-17T10:49:00.000-08:00

Chapter 6

Step Two: Decide What New Measures Are Needed

The material in this chapter expands upon pages 149-162 in The 2,000 Percent Solution.

Having used the questions in chapter 5 to find nth degree opportunities for the future, it’s time to return to the five best ways to grasp the opportunity you selected. So far in the workbook, you have been encouraged to expand your thinking and to be open minded about what you considered doing. Beginning with this chapter, you will be doing the opposite: Taking a critical look to find out what’s practical … and what’s not.

You could fill many shelves with business books that report how new strategic directions fail because those in the organization did not understand the new direction and lacked either the skills or the resources to create the new direction. Using your existing measurements and adding new ones can help you overcome these difficult problems.

In thinking about new measurements, you need information that helps you explore opportunities that interest you as well as information that helps you test your ideas about what could work. We’ll look first at measurements that can help you explore the opportunities you have identified.

To make this chapter easier to understand, we will continue with the publishing example from chapter 4. As you recall, nth degree thinking identified achieving rapid positive word-of-mouth comments as what the publisher wants to optimize. The following six complementary methods for accomplishing that result were identified:

- Publish books written by well-regarded celebrities with intriguing new information

- Authors dedicate royalties to popular charities which will promote the books

- Companies donate books as part of their product promotions due to the subject matter

- Tie the book launch timing to a series of related broad-scale media events

- Create an appealing corporate-sponsored contest related to the theme of the book

- Provide newsworthy disclosures daily related to the book.

Let’s concentrate on just the first item on this list to develop an example of what measures are needed. Feel free to add your own ideas to this example to enrich your understanding of this process. We selected a publishing example for you because we knew that our readers would all have some familiarity with what it takes to attract readers to a book.

First, it would be very helpful to know what influential book reviewers would like to read about and from what prominent authors. Book reviewers receive advance copies months before the publication date, and early reviews often help influential readers decide which books they want to read. In addition, book reviewers often informally tout new books that they like to their friends which gets the word-of-mouth process off to a fast start.

Second, we want to ask the same question to those who are eager to read and talk about books just as soon as they come out … and who have influence on a large number of other readers who also like to read books just after they come out (let’s call them “early influencers”).

Third, we would like to know what sources help these early influencers rely on to decide what books to read. We can then use that information to get the word out.

Fourth, we want to know what hints about the book’s contents these early influencers are most likely to be responsive to. That information will help shape the book’s design and publicity.

Fifth, we can benefit from finding out what nuggets of desirable information in the book would cause early influencers to send out e-mails and make telephone calls to share good news about the book.

Sixth, we can gain by finding out if early influencers want to see authors talking about their books. If yes, we need to define the venues where the early influencers are and would like to attend an author event.

Seventh, we will make faster progress when we explore the second through the sixth perspectives with those who make their decisions to buy and read books primarily from what the early influencers report (let’s call them “early readers”).

Eighth, we also want to build from the celebrity’s fame and influence. To do this, the second through the sixth dimensions should be measured for those who are the most avid and easily stimulated fans for that celebrity and who also purchase or read books.

Ninth, we should also use the book’s contents to identify those who are extremely interested in that subject, whether or not they are fixated on a particular celebrity. Again, the second through sixth perspectives should be captured for those who are book purchasers or readers.

Tenth, what other groups can you think of who would likely be early book purchasers or readers?

For those who would like more examples of this thinking process, we recommend Crossing the Chasm, revised edition (HarperBusiness, 2002). That book is focused on technology examples.

Questions to help your organization use new measurements to identify the best opportunities for implementing nth degree opportunities.

Implementation measurements are usually so finely tuned that it takes time to put them into place. As a result, it’s unlikely that you will have these measurements before exploring a particular aspect of an nth degree opportunity.

For that reason, you should use the following questions to help you identify as many helpful measurements as you can. With that perspective, you can do a better job of informing those who will make the measurements what you need to know. With good design, you may find that the full extent of your measurements can be made at only a moderately greater cost than performing an incomplete set of measurements. Here is an area where you should plan to sleep on your answers before concluding that you are done with this section.

1. What types of customers will be most interested in your nth degree opportunity?

If you have very few potential customers, feel free to identify them individually. If you have many potential customers, pick some method of describing how they are different from those who will be not as interested. In the publishing example, book reviewers who are interested in the celebrity and subject were one such category.

2. What types of the most interested customers will be most profitable to attract in the beginning?

These groups should be from among those you identified in question 1. In the publishing example, you will probably agree that the early influencers group is the most profitable both because they will be buying the books early and because they will be influencing a lot of other people to buy books.

3. What factors that you can influence will be most important in attracting these most interested and profitable customers?

In the publishing example, these factors included the identity of the celebrity and the new information being presented in the book. Undoubtedly, other factors will also be important. The new measures should identify what all of the important factors are. If you have ideas about what these factors are, be sure to write them down so that they are tested in the measurement process.

4. What other groups of relatively profitable customers will be impressed by positive experiences among those identified in question 2 with your nth degree opportunity offering?

In the publishing example, these customers are those who pay attention to the views of the early influencers and those who write the earliest book reviews. In other industries (especially for industrial goods and services), customers are skeptical of those who have employed something in other industries. But there are exceptions, particularly in the other industry is well known to have high standards or difficult requirements. It’s critical that your early successes be able to widen the market’s appreciation for what you offer.

5. What factors will be most influential with those you identified in question 4?

In our publishing example, factors could include specific examples of the new information that is not revealed in the marketing and publicity literature and the enthusiasm of the comments made by the early influencers and book reviewers. In another case, factors that relate to the credibility of who said what and what they said will often be important. For instance, a single endorsement of your nth degree opportunity offering from a highly admired executive at a highly admired company will carry a lot more weight than a hundred endorsements from unknowns at companies that people feel are failing. If your offering has definable performance parameters, information about what the performance has been in comparable situations that are important to the customer can be critical.

6. Assuming that you attract those you identified in question 4, what relatively profitable groups of current and potential customers will those customers help you attract?

In the publishing example, these next most attractive and available customers will be the early readers, the people who pay attention to what those who are influenced by the early influencers have to say about new books they have read.

7. What factors will be most influential with those you identified in question 6?

In the publishing example, you may find that these later readers pay attention to a variety of variables beyond what their influencers have to say. These other factors may include how well displayed the book is in libraries and book stores, the word of mouth they hear from those the early readers do not normally rely on for book recommendations and how well the book is doing on best seller lists.

8. How do the interests of and influences on the averagely profitable customers vary from those you identified in questions 4 and 6?

Celebrity appearances involving autographing, handshaking and talks might be a big swing factor for many of these customers in the publishing example. It is critical to know about these differences so that your marketing activities will include the right activities at the right time. Otherwise, you will have a strong reaction from those who are highly profitable … but will fail to ignite the mass market which will provide the bulk of your profits. For more on this subject, we recommend Crossing the Chasm (ibid) as well.

9. Will any of these target customers provide you with inexpensive opportunities to test your offering with them before it is finalized?

Publishers and authors often circulate draft copies of books to get feedback from those who are representative of the market they want to serve. In high technology, customers are often provided with free “beta” copies of software and hardware to help both the company make adjustments and to demonstrate the superiority of the new offering to what has been available before.

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

Chapter 5: Step One: Understand the Importance of Measuring Performance

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Chapter 5

Step One: Understand the Importance of Measuring Performance

The material in this chapter expands upon pages 129-148 in The 2,000 Percent Solution.

Many people are surprised when they rapidly find many innovative ideas for creating breakthrough progress by using the questions in Part One. Two factors contribute to this enhanced creativity. First, you have used the questions in the workbook to explore areas of potential that you probably have not fully considered before. Second, by thinking about the opportunity in more detail and assuming that you could have unlimited resources and skills, you opened your mind to new areas of implementing improvements that you had not thought about before.

Let’s now turn that successful experience into lessons about the value of measurements. Move back in time and consider what measurements you could have put into place that would have revealed the opportunities you are now considering sooner … even without this workbook.

If you are like most people, you will discover that you haven’t been measuring the nth degree potential of opportunities to expand profitable demand from customers and end users. Instead, you have probably focused your measurements on how effective you are in serving customers and end users by doing what you already do. You need both sets of measurements to succeed. The nth degree measurements tell you “what” you should be emphasizing and the measurements of how you are performing now tell you “how” you are doing in pursuing the best “what” area.

The nth degree measurement gap can easily be filled by using a combination of survey techniques, detailed examinations of your most developed markets and market tests involving vastly changed benefits for customers and end users. We strongly encourage you to begin working with skilled practitioners to put the necessary nth degree measurements in place.

Most people discover from their new nth degree measurements is that they are totally unaware of some of the best ways to create more profitable near-term demand for your offerings. You are highly likely to find an even better opportunity than any of the ones you identified in chapter 3. As a result, it’s very important that you develop nth degree measurements before you repeat the eight step process in considering the opportunity you selected based on chapter 3.

These nth degree measurements can bring you an unexpected benefit: New insights into how to move faster and less expensively to nth degree effectiveness. For instance, the publishing company in the example developed in chapters 3 and 4 could use such measurements to identify which celebrities, which new information, which charities, which sponsors, which media events, what kind of a contest and what daily disclosures would work best to work with. A company that already had such information could then be much more precise and effective in finding the fastest, easiest ways to implement those insights.

Naturally, you should also examine why your organization doesn’t already have nth degree elasticity measurements in place. The source of that lack will uncover stalls that are holding your organization back in other ways as well as denying you these measurements. For many organizations, the root cause will be an over focus on “meeting budget.” In such organizations, anything that doesn’t contribute to meeting this year’s or next year’s budget is looked at as being entirely optional. But that short-term focus can paradoxically cause an organization to miss its best opportunities to prosper this year and next. It’s like a runner only developing conditioning to run for a short period of time. That runner will be failing to reach his or her full potential. With different conditioning, much faster times over longer courses would soon follow.

Another helpful focus for your new nth degree measurements is to search for the potential achievements of the people and organizations with whom you seek to partner. For example, how can they derive the most benefit out of the new directions that are very powerful for you? As you expand the number of stakeholders who will benefit and the size of their benefits, you will create a powerful momentum that will further speed your progress. If you would like to understand more about why this occurs, please see Part Three of our book, The Ultimate Competitive Advantage (Berrett-Koehler 2003).

Questions to help your organization identify the opportunities for identifying nth-degree opportunities through new measurements.

If you do not yet have nth-degree opportunity measurements in place, these questions will help you create those measurements. If you do have such measurements, you can use these questions to improve upon what you are doing today.

1. Which stakeholders (including end users, customers, opinion leaders, regulators, suppliers, distributors, partners, employees, shareholders, lenders, and the communities you serve) are or could be most critical to expanding your success to much higher levels?

Make this list as long as possible. Each group or person you identify should then be included in your new nth degree measurements.

2. How could each person or group expand profitable demand for your products and services in ways that would not be as helpful for your current and potential competitors?

Re-ask yourself this question as often as possible. Chances are that you are not considering enough ways to cooperate with your stakeholders. Also, as conditions and preferences change, new opportunities will open up to you. The answers to this question are essential building blocks to the type of measurements you need.

3. What’s the best way to find out more about the capability of each stakeholder to help you expand profitable demand for your products and services?

For large organizations, the answer is often to measure their successes in the past that relate to your particular needs. The answer might mean learning how rapidly a given distributor has usually gained ideal distribution for products and services like yours.

For large groups of individuals like end users, the answer is often to measure their responsiveness to various marketing and performance choices you offer or could offer through market research. In doing so, be sure to segment groups of individuals into those who offer various degrees of potential profitability and speed of adoption. Then when you focus on the results for those who will provide the most profit and adopt the soonest, you will know better where to start your focus.

As you consider a stakeholder or stakeholder group, be sure to also look into the indirect effects of gaining their support. For instance, some early adopters of new products and services are also sources of great word-of-mouth influence. Some early adopters will tell hundreds of people about their positive experiences and influence early trial among those who admire the early adopter. In this way, focusing on early adopters who are also influential with others can greatly speed your progress.

4. What new forms of information can help you gain insights into nth degree potential?

For a mining company, creating a more helpful form of information might mean translating geological information into a three dimensional computer model that geologists could use to help identify where the most valuable ore veins are likely to be located. For a biotechnology company, this approach could possibly mean defining likely characteristics of genes that could be adjusted to provide patentable health benefits. For a chemical company, this opportunity identification measurement could mean identifying potential product characteristics that will enhance customer performance in powerful ways.

5. How can you compile what you have learned so that it can be more effectively shared with other stakeholders and experts who can help you devise new methods of capturing nth degree benefits?

Many stakeholders can only help in one dimension of nth degree elasticity. In such cases, they will be overwhelmed and confused if you provide everything you have learned. Instead, you will need to package the results of your measurements in ways that provide simple clarity in one or a few dimensions. We suggest that you consider creating strategy maps for this purpose. To learn more about this process, we suggest that you read Strategy Maps (Harvard Business School Press, 2003) by Robert Kaplan and David Norton.

Part Three Introduction: Apply the Stall Buster's Guide in Eight Steps

2005-11-15T05:56:00.000-08:00

Part Three

Apply the Stall Buster’s Guide in Eight Steps

In using this part of the workbook, we suggest that you focus your attention throughout the next eight chapters on the opportunity you identified in chapter three of the workbook to create large amounts of benefit for your customers and end users. You should also plan to explore the five best ways of acquiring the resources and skills you need to be successful that you spelled out in chapter four.

The biggest mistake people make when first working on 2,000 percent solutions is to select opportunities that offer limited benefits from a 2,000 percent solution. As an extreme example of this, one CEO told us that he wanted to work first on improving his compensation system. A far better choice would have been to improve some aspect of performance and to begin on the compensation system as part of step seven of the eight step process.

A 2,000 percent solution requires following all of the eight steps outlined in part two of The 2,000 Percent Solution in the order described there.

As you answer the questions in this workbook, you may find yourself wanting to have a little more background on a particular step. We encourage you to reread the relevant section in The 2,000 Percent Solution. The eight step process begins with chapter 9 and continues through chapter 16 in that book.

Since you will repeat answering the questions in this part, we suggest that you be sure to keep your completed workbook. In future repetitions of the process, you will benefit from rereading your earlier answers. To preserve this opportunity for repetitions past the first one, you should also plan to keep your notes on how you answer these questions in the future as well.

As you pursue these eight chapters, you will find a shift in focus from The 2,000 Percent Solution in some parts of the eight step process. We have made these modifications to reflect what has worked best for our clients and students since we wrote the book back in 1998. We hope you will find these adjustments to be helpful to you as well.