Tag: entrepreneurship

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.

Surprising

FabrizioLeave a comment

There are so many variables in any open position, in any grant available, in any reward you might be pursuing, that it is actually more surprising when you succeed than when you fail.

And by the way, neither success nor failure is a reliable measure of your worth.

The sooner you get used to it, the more you can focus on building your own measure.

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?

Ranking opinions

FabrizioLeave a comment

A practical way to rank opinions.

  1. Opinions based on large datasets across similar situations. This is academic research or market research.
  2. Opinions based on limited datasets of the current situation. This is personal and direct experience.
  3. Opinions based on limited datasets across similar situations. This is personal and past experience or, typically, business books and good blogs, online courses, podcasts, etc.
  4. Opinions based on one or two datapoints across situations that might or might not be similar to the current one. This is anecdotical knowledge, and still where probably most online content nowadays fall into.
  5. Opinions based on beliefs and feelings. This is where most companies and teams die.

Aim for 1 or 2 when you have to make decisions that matter. Use 3 to broaden your perspective, but carefully understand how to filter through it. Entertain yourself with a controlled amount of 4. Run when people start arguing based on 5.

It would be fair to rank this post a 3.