Tag: entrepreneurship

Waiting for others

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How much of your work is waiting for others to do something?

Work is global, interconnected, relational, shared. It’s true today and it will be even more true in the future.

Yet waiting never corresponds to adding value. So, if a good part of your work depends on others doing something, you have a huge problem that you need to address.

On the other hand, many use others as an excuse when they fail to deliver, when they are unsure on what to do, when they fear their work might be wrong, when they have something more important to take care of. This also needs to be addressed, but it’s easier (not simpler though).

Excuses and reasons

Fabrizio5 Comments

Excuses are what you come up with when attempting to convince about something you did (and shouldn’t have done) or did not (and should have done).

Reasons are circumstances that explain why you have not done something you should have, or have done something you should not have.

Excuses are fragile. They are usually ex-post (they come after the fact). They border with lies, and as nobody wants to think of themselves as a liar, they set up for discordance and self-criticism, and eventually undermine the intention of doing.

Reasons are solid. They are usually ex-ante (they come before the fact). They fire up compassion and kindness towards ourselves, and they do not harm our will to do what we initially set out to do. Perhaps under different circumstances, or better equipped to face the ones that have emerged.

Eventually, only you can say if it’s excuses or reasons you are using to not show up.

Culture is action

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It’s impossible to talk about culture without taking behaviour into consideration.

You can read a book, spend time investigating what type of culture is a winning culture, have consultants come in and tell about the frameworks they have studied. But at the end of the day, culture is what you do. Culture is what the people around you do. Culture is in the actions and details.

That’s why it’s important to build cultures with examples. And in the long term, I am more and more convinced that coaching, both internal and external, is the only way to spread the culture as the company grows and the market changes.

Learning about culture is great, as it gives you the basics to discuss it in your organization and go about it strategically. Yet, remember that culture is not telling and cannot be commanded. Culture is action.

Unusual requests

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Three ways to address an unusual request from one of your customers.

1. Sorry, we can’t help, you can try over there.

2. We are sorry, we have tried and checked our policies, we can’t help. You can try over there.

3. We are sorry, it’s not perfect, but it should work. No need to pay for this, come back later and we might have a better, more permanent solution.

They are not so different from each other, in fact they stand on a continuum. And it is certainly possible to emphatize with each one of them.

But whether you go for 1, 2 or 3 makes a huge difference in the experience you shape for your customer and the relationship you are building with them.

Few words

FabrizioLeave a comment

Whatever you are going to do this year, make sure you can express that in few, concise words. Being able to tell about your project with clarity, inspiring curiosity, unlocking questions that drive the conversation forward. These are features that can give a real edge in a world of short attention span and endless content availability.

If the eyes of the person in front of you wander away, if your audience had doubts you feel you have already adressed, if your visitors drop without any action. You are not there yet.

It takes time and effort, conscious thinking and some rehearsing.

It will be your jump start to the change you seek to make.