Cool guy Steve Spangler with Ellen DeGeneres

At a recent convention where I was speaking, I ran into my good friend and science wizard Steve Spangler. As always, I was astounded by just how successful this guy is. He runs a multi-million dollar company, he’s an Emmy winner, and he’s appeared numerous times on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. And if you ask him what he does for a living, he’ll tell you the truth. He’s a science teacher.

So how does a science teacher achieve that kind of success? I think it boils down to a decision he made several years ago—a decision that most of us would never have thought to make.

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Jim Rohn once said, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” While there are certainly exceptions to this axiom, there’s enough truth in it that it might behoove us to pay attention. And by “pay attention” I mean “pay attention to just whom we’re hanging around with.” Let me give you an example.

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What if, on the day John Lennon and Paul McCartney first met, Lennon (who was the leader of his own band, The Quarrymen) had said, “You know, this McCartney fellow is pretty good—but I’ll bet if I look around I can find somebody cheaper.”

If that had happened, there’s a very good chance that you and I would never have heard of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, or the Beatles. The names George Harrison and Ringo Starr would mean nothing to us. (If, right now, you’re thinking to yourself, “Who are George Harrison and Ringo Starr?,” then you should leave this blog right now. It’s not for you. You may come back after you’ve listened to the White Album.) We never would have heard the songs Hey Jude, In My Life, Yesterday, I Want to Hold Your Hand, or All You Need Is Love, because they never would have existed.

The loss to the world would be almost unimaginable if John Lennon, having found the exact right person for the job, had opted to save a few dollars (or, being English, pounds) instead.

And yet companies do it all the time.

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We all know their names: John, Paul, George, and Ringo. (If there are any children reading this who don’t know what I’m talking about, these are the names of the Beatles. The Beatles were a pretty famous musical group in the 60s. The 60s was the coolest decade ever, and you missed it. So there.) These four guys changed history, but they didn’t do it alone. Here are four other names:

Brian, Neil, George (a different one), and Mal.

These are just four of the crucial people on what I call the Beatles’ “satellite” team. And in your business, just as in the Beatles, your satellite team can make or break you. Let’s take a closer look.

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I’ve never run a pre-school daycare, but for fifteen years I was the boss of ten multi-Emmy Award winning comedy writers, which amounts to pretty much the same thing. As the Executive Producer of Seattle’s sketch comedy TV show, Almost Live!, it was my job to keep a highly creative team motivated and productive. I learned a lot of things along the way, but primarily I learned that a creative team needs two seemingly incompatible things in order to thrive: direction and freedom—with a little fire thrown in along the way. Let’s take these one at a time. But first, a disclaimer:

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If you’re trying to create a great team, you may want to keep in mind some of the traits that made the Beatles one of the greatest teams in recent history: Read More…

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A couple of miles from where I live is an intersection where a local panhandler has staked his claim. Day after day he’s there brandishing his sign, looking for donations. Most days I just drive by and wave; he always waves back. Occasionally I’ll give him a few bucks. Clearly the location is working for him, otherwise he would have moved on long ago. A few weeks ago, during a brief respite from the winter cold, I was driving along with my windows open, and as I came to a stop at the light at the intersection, I noticed my “local” was engaged in a conversation with another panhandler, whom I hadn’t seen before. I thought maybe they were having a turf battle, but then I overheard the new guy say these words to my local guy as he looked at my local’s sign:

“I really like your wording, but you should use a thicker marker.”

All of a sudden it hit me: This new guy’s not just another panhandler–he’s a consultant! Read More…

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