Tag: communication

The ocean of sameness

FabrizioLeave a comment

Messaging is the equivalent of defining. And when you define something you put a limit to it.

If I say tree, everybody understands what I am talking about, but at the same time everybody will have their own image of a tree in their mind.

If I say birch, fewer people will understand what I am talking about, but those who do will have a clear image in their mind.

If I say betula pendula, most people will not understand what I am talking about, but the very few who do will have a very powerful image in their mind, and a very strong connection with me.

Messaging is ineffective for many products because the limit is pushed further and further and further again, until the message itself loses any power to define what the product actually is. And for the fear of losing opportunities and market shares, all you end up selling is trees. Just like anybody else.

If your work involves some messaging, remember that your goal is to limit, not to expand. You can have different messages for different people and for different channels, but each one of them needs to be limited in order to resonate and actually mean something.

The alternative is drowning in an ocean of sameness.

Speed eats quality

FabrizioLeave a comment

Speed gives you an edge.

Not in the sense of cutting corners, rushing through things, hustling or muscling through. But in the sense of getting things through the finish line, often and consistently. Understanding when something is good, pressing the button, and moving to the next item.

Speed eats quality for breakfast.

Within a stone’s throw

FabrizioLeave a comment

Your urgency is not your customer’s urgency.

You might have a plan, investors that demand that you grow, the idea that 30% year-over-year is the only measure of success, a team that is competitive and wants nothing more than their bonus at the end of the quarter.

But that is you. And honestly, nobody cares.

Think about your customer’s plan instead, what their investors want from them, how they define success, what their team wants to achieve in the next 90 days.

And if your first thought is “it depends”, you might be right. Most likely, though, you are just trying to sell to anybody who comes within a stone’s throw.

Focus. And learn.

Good at something

FabrizioLeave a comment

If you are really good at something, there’s no reason to make others feel bad for not being at your same level.

Lift them up instead, or at the very least show them a new way to think, to act, to relate, to commit.

You’ll make your good worth it.

Indispensable

FabrizioLeave a comment

With some colleagues, things click right away. You trust them, they trust you. They are great to be around, deliver on their promises, they are competent and you have that feeling that you can learn a lot from them.

With some colleagues, it takes time for things to click. And that’s when things get difficult, because instead of relying on them, you create more work for yourself and other colleagues. Instead of giving them responsibilities, you start micro-managing or ignoring them. You become critical of everything they do and eventually loose any interest in even sitting down with them to have a chat.

When this is the challenge, do over communicate instead. Set ground rules and check that they still stand frequently. Be vocal about the discomfort, ask about their discomfort, and get to know them outside of what they do in their working hours.

That’s how you make yourself unique and indispensable.