Tag: change

Arguing

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Before investing time, energy, relationships in an argument, it is advisable to spend some time understanding three things.

What is the impact of the outcome? It seems many times discussions and arguments arise for matters that do not move the needle: having the brochure with a blue or a red background, using this or that word, wanting an opportunity back that is already gone, and so on. You might have a strong preference for one or the other, and yet you know deep down the outcome is not going to move numbers and cultures, so consider dropping the argument altogether.

What are the facts I base my opinion on? When a discussion starts, it’s most likely about opinions and sentiments: I like this better than that, I think that banner would be more effective than the other, I have a feeling our customers would not understand us. Of course, this is valuable, and yet if you cannot anchor it to real life experiences, examples, and facts, consider dropping the argument altogether.

Are the people I am talking to ready to hear this? If you claim something progressive in a conservative environment, that might not be the right audience to put forward your brilliant new idea to. Wanting to go South when everybody (or at least, who’s driving) is going North, is a pretty ambitious target, so consider dropping the argument altogether.

If the impact your idea will have is relevant, you have facts supporting it and people willing to hear, than go ahead and invest. Be wary though that these three are often missing, and when that’s the case you are only going to waste time, energy and eventually deteriorate relationships.

Reporting relevance

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In July, this blog has gotten most visitors in a single month than ever, more than doubling the number from June. Views per day and per post have doubled as well. The reach was expanded to new countries, such as Ukraine, Papua New Guinea and the Netherlands, and viewership in an important country such as Germany was consolidated (visitors increased 1,000% month-over-month). The most popular hour to post is confirmed to be 8PM, as most of this blog’s audience seem to be online then.

This is all true. And of course, it is irrelevant.

With the amount of data we get exposed to nowadays, it is easy to get distracted by numbers and fake successes. We have actually developed an extended capacity to focus on the numbers that confirm what we believe is happening and boost our confidence, without talking about the ones that actually matters.

Why are you tracking what you are presenting? How does that affect the change you are trying to make? Are you closer or farther away from achieving that? Can you measure the final change? Is an history of those numbers, going back at least 12 months, available? Would people react differently if they would see natural numbers rather than percentages?

Those are important questions when preparing your next report. If you don’t know how to answer them, or if you catch yourself cheating while answering them, do everyone a favour and do not press send.

We just don’t care

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Is Faceapp sending your picture and personal data to a shady Russian firm that will use them against your will for illecit purposes?

Two considerations about the question that has dominated the internet in the past weeks.

Number 1, the level of mistrust towards tech companies is continuosly growing. And for good reasons. Faceapp is not alone in telling users that the company owns everything that is uploaded on their servers. After recent scandals, people are sceptical and ask good questions about what is done with the data they share within apps and other online services. It’s absolutely legitimate, and it’s fair.

Number 2, even if the question is asked, we are no longer very good at waiting for an answer, or demanding that the answer is in line with what we would consider a proper use of our pictures and data. If others are sharing how they will look like when they will be old, so should we. The rest is background noise, because the truth is we do not really care. It’s absolutely natural, tech companies know that, and they leverage the power of cheap and convenient.

Until we pick fair on everything else, in every situation, even when it’s expensive and difficult, we can’t expect others to be fair with us.

Culture with examples

Fabrizio8 Comments

More often than not, company culture is idealized.

A group of managers sit down and write about their ideal company. And of course, everybody wants an honest working environment where feedback is given regularly, it does not matter if they have never delivered honest feedback once in their careers, and the very idea of doing that scares them.

Next time you are having a conversation about culture, think back at what you and your colleagues have done so far. Certainly write down your ideals, but then challenge the group to identify and narrativize some concrete example that embody the ideals.

If finding those is not a problem, you are on the right track. Own the examples and spread them internally and externally, as they will resonate with people far better than words that have been inflated.

If finding examples is proving difficult, that’s the first symptom that your attempt with culture will fail. You can either proceed with a culture change (changing the way things are done), or try to find ideals that better reflect what is really happening (and for which you have good examples).

When asking for help

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If you ask for help, the worst thing that could happen is that the person or the group you are asking to will not be receptive and you will not get any help. Your situation does not really get any worse.

It’s the same as having money to invest with only the potential gain to risk. Worst case scenario, you walk with your initial sum.

We often avoid asking for help for the fear of being judged, of letting others know we do not know, of feeling inferior and not being able to give back. And yet the benefit is so vast we should not think twice.

Also, it’s a powerful way to build networks.