Tag: speaking

If, when, and how

FabrizioLeave a comment

In life, as in business, it is often not a matter of if.

Things will happen that will mess with your plans, disturb your tranquillity, challenge your assumptions, force you to review your ideas.

On the other end, it is pointless to make it a matter of when.

You can’t control change, and timing might turn into an excuse to not do things. Tomorrow, when the right situation will present itself, after we have completed this, just one more time, and so on.

It turns out it is almost always a matter of how.

You are stronger if you have a practice, if you have a strategy, if you have a purpose, if you have a culture. Not because things will not happen right when you are not expecting them, but because you have something to step onto for the following leap.

It is always the right time for doing.

Three items

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If you draft a list of what is important and you end up with more than three items, that is just a to-do list.

You can focus on one item at any single time, and you can allow one or two more for when that single, most important one is giving you a break. That is it. Anything that you add on top of that is just confusion and distraction, sucking up energies and resources that you could otherwise invest delivering against what is important.

You pick the items on that list. But make it so they are no more than three.

In these times of change

FabrizioLeave a comment

In these times of change, we are going to stick to the plan.

Of course, you do not hear that. And that is proof of how poor plans usually are (for those who have plans at all), as well as of how impatient people grow when things do not work right here and right now.

The fact is, it is always times of change. Not always a pandemic, clearly, but a new competitor, a new market, a new boss, a new product, a new opportunity, a new regulation, a new standard, a new consumer behaviour.

Change is a given, in business as it is in life.

Hiding behind it to motivate bending the rules, going against your identity, cutting on kindness, should be done with extreme care.

Different languages

FabrizioLeave a comment

Sometimes, when talking to someone, you have the feeling you are speaking different languages.

And most likely, you are.

Perhaps you are talking about emotions and values, while they are talking about next week’s plans. Perhaps you want to nail down the details for the next events, while they are questioning if an event should be organized in the first place. Perhaps you are seeking guidance and wisdom, while they are just having a harsh period and all they can give is a condescending nod.

When this happens, the best thing you can do is to stop it right there. Not because you are right and they are wrong, not because you want to make a point, not because you are running late for your next meeting. Simply because it is a dead-end street.

Next time try negotiating the terms of the conversation right at the beginning, or even better when scheduling it.

I am seeking advice here.

I want to get a list of three actions we are going to take to move this forward.

I feel uncomfortable and demotivated, and I would like to have an open chat about my feelings.

I need to know what you are going to know about this.

Agree on a common ground, and things might end up in a better place.

The lazy approach

FabrizioLeave a comment

The lazy approach to communication mandates that you pick a new tool. And it will fail, because communication is about choosing what to communicate, how often, on which channels, to whom, while making whose who communicate accountable.

The lazy approach to communication mandates that you send an email. And it will fail, because communication works better face to face, over a period of time, in a two-way fashion, and when people communicating are actually open to changing their plans based of feedback.

The lazy approach to communication mandates that you go around the room. And it will fail, because communication needs an agenda, a plan, preparation, somebody who ensures we stick to the plan, somebody who takes the responsibility to cut others short.

The lazy approach to communication mandates that you speak your mind. And it will fail, because nobody wants to listen to you rambling while you attempt to clarify your opinion, your idea, your thoughts in front of an audience, just because you could not take ten minutes to write something down in advance.

Communication is hard work. And companies should stop half-assing it.