Seeing Red Cars: Company uses book on annual 100% Club trip to Hawaii
Team members find focus on wants rather than barriers a freeing experience
In February, a Minnesota company that connects the IT experience, knowledge and resources of some 1,200 member companies throughout North America, took 17 of its 40 team members on an annual 100% Club trip to Hawaii—and spent time reading and discussing the concepts in the book Seeing Red Cars. The company provided the books Seeing Red Cars and StrengthsFinder 2.0 for everyone on the trip, and has since given copies to the rest of its staff.
Joe Reger, vice president of the firm, asked the participants to read the book in advance so they could discuss it as a group. “I read the book ahead of time to figure out where good breaks would be,” Joe explained. “We started out discussing the first 38 pages, the primary concept, and then the following days we covered about 25 to 40 pages at a time and did the exercises.” Readers can download the Seeing Red Cars Toolkit from the book’s website, seeingredcarsbook.com, so they can follow along with the book and complete the exercises to determine their personal and professional “I wants.”
Joe said he received very positive feedback on the book. “It’s a valuable exercise to discuss this with your team,” he said. “We were able to find a lot of examples in our jobs where we were focusing on the barriers. What we liked about it is, rather than focusing on the negatives—the things we hope don’t happen—it teaches us to focus on positive outcomes and to visualize ourselves getting there. For many on our team, that was actually a freeing experience; it was a revelation.”
One of Joe’s top salespeople provided feedback once they returned from the trip: “I really enjoyed the books we read at Club this year. Both contained concepts that are attitude changing—and even life-changing. They allowed me to understand that I do, in fact, have some defined areas of strength, and I don’t need to keep beating my head against the wall in my areas of weakness. The analogy of Seeing Red Cars—focusing on the things you WANT in your life—provided me with a clear picture of how to be more effective in both my business and personal life. I think if we can truly keep focused on those ‘red cars,’ the positive outcomes will be a natural reality.”
Later this month, management is meeting with the rest of the company for a two-hour session on Seeing Red Cars. “We’ll streamline what we did in Hawaii, but we want to make sure everybody is on the same page regarding the concepts and the terminology. We’re using the phraseology—in public emails and public announcements— we want you to keep Seeing Red Cars. We’ve tied it into the theme throughout the workplace here.” They also displayed a red Thunderbird model car in their common area, and bought 40 red Matchbox Hot Wheels cars for everyone’s desks.
The toy car on the company's conference room table keeps Red Cars top-of-mind during meetings.
If you want to drive yourself, your team and your organization to a positive future, I am excited to offer the process and toolkit that can get you there. Check out these resources at seeingredcarsbook.com.
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How could you use Seeing Red Cars the book with your work team?
How would your organization benefit if most people focused on wants instead of barriers?
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Laura Goodrich
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Seeing Red Cars — Mindset to Win — Forbes Magazine
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