Author: Fabrizio

Killer

FabrizioLeave a comment

When you reject, belittle, or forget to follow up to an initiative taken by a member of your team, what happens is next time they will think twice before taking initiative.

It is that simple. And the effect compounds for additional rejecting, belittling and forgetting.

This is not to say you have to accept and follow through with every idea. You just need to communicate clearly what is important and what is not, what is “right now” and what is “maybe tomorrow”, what makes the picture and what makes the frame. This transparency is needed for people to appreciate why some things happen and other do not.

Unfortunately most hide behind busyness, that is often just an expression of ignorance (having no idea) or arrogance (thinking everyone has a clear idea).

It is a killer for motivation.

Agent or spectator

FabrizioLeave a comment

The fact with difficult conversations is that you can delay them, but you cannot delay the negative effects of the situation that made them necessary in the first place.

If a colleague is under performing and you have to pick up their slack, silence will not improve things. If your boss is not giving you what you demand, silence will not make them change. If the team you are working in has a toxic culture, silence will not make that more digestible.

Also, more likely than not, eventually the outcome you fear and that justified the delay is going to materialize no matter what. That colleague is probably going to be fired anyway, your boss is going to get rid of you, or you are going to get rid of them, the team will have to make some drastic changes one way or the other.

So, at the end of the day it is mainly a matter of being an agent of change or a spectator. The former makes you waste a lot less time, and you have no time to waste.

Tired

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As a general rule, writing less rather than more is a wise decision.

And when you are tired, writing less rather than more should be an imperative. When you are tired, ideas gets fuzzy, reasoning falters, words get mixed up. Adding another sentence, another paragraph, another page will not make your argument stronger.

Of course, it is also possible to not write at all. Go get some rest, and get back to what seems the most urgent matter of the moment when it does not seem as urgent anymore (a night of sleep has this power).

Businesses would benefit immensely from this practice.

Empty house

Fabrizio1 Comment

When you are on the market to buy a house, and you start going around to see some of them, you will probably feel better about those who have furniture in it. Even when you actually plan to get rid of everything and bring your own furniture in.

An empty house is often difficult to imagine with actual life in it. It takes people a huge extra effort to visualise closets, carpets, curtains, chairs, tables, lamps, and so on.

A lot of B2B marketing nowadays feels like an empty house. Huge potential, but what am I going to put in this room? Will a bed fit in here? Will there be enough space for kids to play around, if we bring a sofa and a side table in?

Start with being specific, and it will be easier for customers to apply what they are seeing to their own unique cases. It is a shorter route.

* I owe the empty house metaphor to a customer I was chatting with a few days back. It is unbelievable what insights customers can provide.

Care enough

FabrizioLeave a comment

Your colleague does not know how to proceed with their project, there is not much you can do about it.

The executive team has made a decision about a new direction for the company, there is not much you can do about it.

That member of your team is demotivated and you are pretty sure they have started looking for a job, there is not much you can do about it.

The agency is not delivering the quality of work you were expecting for the price you are paying, there is not much you can do about it.

Customers do not understand what you have to offer or why they should care, there is not much you can do about it.

Except, of course, there is.

There is always something you can do about it, provided you care enough. A pep talk, a note, an alternative, a plan, some learning, real positivity, an email, a smile, some words of encouragement, a lot of influencing, long term commitment, a sincere interest.

So, when you go for inertia, at least own the decision: “I am sorry, this is just not important enough for me right now to try to do something to change things”.