Category: culture

Overcompensating

FabrizioLeave a comment

It’s tempting to set up a general rule to avoid a nuisance that is due to a few negative experiences. The problem is that the rule does not consider the vast majority of experiences that are positive, and therefore it ends up fixing an issue that, in most cases, is not an issue.

That’s the case of the employer setting up very rigid working hours because two people (out of tens or hundreds of employees) usually start working after lunch. What happens the next an employee is 10 minutes late? What if it’s their first time?

Overcompensating is rarely a good idea.

The superior companion

FabrizioLeave a comment

If you fall in love with an outcome, you will never notice that the world around you is moving, that the context is ever changing, and that the outcome, in the end, does not provide that sense of reward you had anticipated.

If instead you fall in love with the journey, you are in the present, here and now. You see the changes, you notice the details, you are awake and ready, you have a place to fall back to when the unexpected becomes reality.

The journey is just a superior companion.

Audit and reset

FabrizioLeave a comment

When you start something new, it is difficult to anticipate where that will be going.

Perhaps you buy a tool, you set up a process, you hire a few people, you add a contacts field in your CRM, and then after one or two years you find yourself in a completely different situation, and the thing that used to work (kind of) now clearly does not work anymore.

The problem though starts when you avoid auditing and resetting, and instead add more on top of what is not working. Another version of the tool, more people, a new step in the process, one more contacts field in the CRM.

Before you start adding, be sure to audit and reset.

It takes time, it might feel like a failure, and it’s not always pleasant. But that’s how you make the most out of what you will decide to bring in next.

When times are tough

FabrizioLeave a comment

The surest and fastest way to get unstuck is to bring in a different perspective.

A therapist, a coach, a colleague from another team, a mentor who’s been there before, your partner, a friend, a business advisor, a marketing agency, a freelancer.

Make that connection when times are tough.

Actually, make the connection when times are good so that you can leverage it when times are tough.

Seeking locks

FabrizioLeave a comment

You can have some skills, or you can ask what skills are needed.

You can have some needs that you aim to cover with one of your demotivated employees, so that their motivation will be high again. Or you can ask them how they want to be motivated and build a playground for them to go do what they love.

You can have a wonderful idea, or you can see where there is a gap in the market and try to cover that.

You can force people into complying into what you believe will work, or you can ask them what’s their way and ensure they can pursue that.

At the end of day, it’s once again about keys and locks.

Are you a maker of keys or a seeker of locks?