Author: Fabrizio

Just a small part

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When faced with bad news, there’s a natural reaction that almost automatically kicks in.

It’s about making the bad news the totality of our reality. We feel discomfort, pain, despair, because we have just been told that something does not conform to the idea(s) we had about our life. And we often take this to the extreme. We amplify the discomfort, the pain, the despair. It becomes all we see around us and perceive within us. We go to a dark place.

And that is fine.

As long as we know that is not true. The discomfort, the pain, the despair, they are just a part of our reality. A small part indeed. So the following step, that is all but automatic and instictive, is to look at things around us for what they really are.

Ok, we did not get the job, and still we have that hobby we always wanted to dedicate time to.

Ok, our relationship is shattered, and still we have a dear friend that deeply cares about us.

Ok, our body is not working as it should, and still our mind is present, vibrant, open.

The second step is not about being optimistic. It’s about realizing that things happen to us all the time, a neverending flow. And that focusing all our attention, energy, commitment to a single one of them, no matter how bad, is a limit to expressing the potential of each life.

The bad news is you’re falling through the air, nothing to hang on to, no parachute. The good news is, there’s no ground.

Chögyam Trungpa

Dismissals

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There is one important thing to keep in mind when someone in the team has to be dismissed: the impact on those remaining.

For what I have seen so far, there are two reasons why a team member is let go.

The first one is behavioural. The person does not get along well with the rest of the team, is not in line with the company’s culture, generally speaking does not fit well with the work environment. Sometimes, the person is openly toxic and is poisoning the atmosphere for everybody.

The second one is operational. The person is not performing up to the standards, they are not doing their job, they are taking other people’s time in the attempt to catch up. Sometimes, the person is openly slacking, not delivering on their promise and failing to meet even the most basic expectations.

Behavioural dismissal is usually more accepted from those remaining in the team, mostly because the team has felt on their own skin that the relationship was not going well. Operational dismissal is usually more prone to objections, and in most cases it leaves a bitter taste and a sense of fear (“who will be next?”) in those remaining.

On way or the other, there are few things you have to do as a leader to try to mitigate the impact of a dismissal.

First, you have to be crystal clear in setting goals. What is expected of the person, how you are going to measure that, and what are the check points that you’ll go through together. This is valid both for behaviour and performance, and yet I argue that particularly for employees in new situations, the way they relate to others in the team and in the company should be on top of the list of goals.

Second, ask a lot how you can help and make sure to follow up on that. You are the leader, you own the failure and the missteps of your team members. There’s no one in the world that can simply start a new job or a new role and be ready to walk on their own. And this can be extended to all changes that happen in a company or a group.

Third, give ample warnings. If numbers and facts show that the person is not meeting the goals you have set together, despite your continuous and genuine help, be open and tell that. Be direct when you do that, deliver the seriousness of the situation, elaborate a plan together to get past it (you can start from point one and point two), and eventually make sure the person is aware of where they stand.

If you do that confidently, at the very least the dismissal will not come as a surprise. Of course, you cannot be open to the ones remaining regarding the reasons for the dismissal, and yet they will trust that there’s a reason (because you are following a process) and that they are not in danger (because you are going through the same process with them too).

Features vs value

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I got recently reminded of how difficult it is to take the perspective of the customer when you are trying to sell your product.

We were going through an exercise aimed at understanding what is the value our product delivers in front of certain pain points our target customer is facing. This was the pain point.

Uncertainty on whether people in the team are working under the most recent procedures or under outdated ones.

Right away, I listed the following under the “value” column.

Knowing that everybody in the team is working under the most recent procedures.

Then a colleague rightfully pointed out that was not a value, rather it was a feature of our product, something we were able to ensure with our solution.

The value, in this case, as we worked it out together, ended up being this.

Avoiding fines and delays due to having part of the team working under outdated procedures.

This is more measurable (fines and delays can be quantified), and it is more relatable for the prospect customer.

It was a great exercise, one that should periodically be organised across departments. On top of it, try to allocate time and resources to regularly interviewing customers and prospects about the pains they were feeling when they first got in touch with you. With these information on our side, it is possible toavoid talking only about what matters to us in the next campaign.

Consider future costs

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Everything you do is a trade-off.

When you are lucky, it’s between two options. More often than not, it involves multiple options, some of which are equally appealing.

If you go to the movie, you cannot stay home with your family or spend time reading a book. If you buy a new car, you’ll have to refrain from other big expenses for a while. If you accept that offer, you won’t be able to pursue your dream of being a freelancer or a full-time YouTuber.

It’s self-evident, I know. And yet, there are two things about trade-offs that is worth keeping in mind and reminding when appropriate.

First of all, the nature of a trade-off is that you leave some stuff behind. Regrets, while natural, are kind of pointless, as you know you would still be missing something, one of the options, would you have made another choice. It’s intrinsic to the idea of decision-making.

Nonetheless, and this is point number two, that does not mean you cannot change your mind. Even if the other options are no longer available, the fact you invested (time, energy, commitment) into your choice, does not mean you have to stick with it even in front of clear evidence it is not working. What you have to keep in mind is not what you put into the option you’ve pursued, but what you will put into it from now on. Is it better putting that bit into something that is not worth it anymore, or in something new, perhaps something you still have to discover yourself?

This second one, of course, is the basic idea of sunk cost. One of the easiest economic concepts to understand, one of the most complicated to put into practice.

A reminder

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What would be of your marketing if tomorrow you would be left without behavioural information, pixels, tracking, preferences, and so on?

Just a reminder that the tools you use today to deliver your message are just tools. Much more important is what’s behind that: what you stand for, what your customers stand for, what your products stand for. Once you have that clear, the rest will come no matter what.