Tag: trust

If it works with ten people

FabrizioLeave a comment

The idea that by hiring more you will get more business is flawed.

The idea that by implementing more processes things will be running more smoothly is flawed.

The idea that by buying a new tool your employees will suddenly start to make sense is flawed.

The idea that by acquiring more customers your product will finally take off is flawed.

Hiring, processes, tools, and customer acquisition are fantastic ways to achieve goals, but they do not work in the same manner in all contexts. And particularly, they are not a cure for some fundamental flaws your organisation might have.

A general rule of thumb: if it works with ten people, you are ready to move to one hundred, one thousand, one million.

If it does not work with ten people, though, it’s time to go back to the drawing board and find a new way to make it work.

Benefit everybody

FabrizioLeave a comment

Overpromising is bad not because you are going to disappoint others but because you are setting yourself up for failure.

Make the selfish decision to only promise what you can actually do.

It’s the kind of selfishness that benefits everybody.

Not how people work

Fabrizio1 Comment

Subject: Such Interesting Mentorship Programmes

Body: Hi Fabrizio, came across your LinkedIn profile and wow you have participated in such interesting internship programmes. I’m just checking to see if you are the person responsible for lead generation. If you aren’t the right person to speak with, can you forward me on to someone more appropriate?

I guess the assumption here is that personalisation is easy. That to establish a relationship it is sufficient to point at some trivial thing, such as the colour of your hair, or the fact we both have two eyes and one mouth. That after quickly exchanging some pleasantries, it is ok to not only go straight to business, but also to ask for further introductions. That the receiver of a cold outreach is nothing but a necessary evil to surmount in the name of the business goal.

Of course, that’s not how it works. Because that is not how people work.

A bug or a feature

FabrizioLeave a comment

Many have problems coming to terms with the idea that they do not understand (something).

Even more panic at the mere thought of going in front of an audience – no matter how small, let’s say a team meeting – and admit that they do not understand (something).

If you hide your lack of understanding, you miss the opportunity to actually understand. It seems silly to just say that. But when you leave that meeting without asking the question needed to clarify the thing that is not clear, clarity will not come later on, as some sort of enlightenment. Instead, the opposite will happen. The lack of clarity and understanding will compound. That will mean an increasing feeling of being lost. For you, and also for those you might be asked to explain that very same thing to.

For years, I have seen my lack of technical knowledge in a technology-first world as a bug. Then I realized that it’s actually a feature. It’s what enables me to ask question after question. Until I get it. Until it is so clear that I can actually go and write some copy or message that makes it clear for everyone else.

And since this is not about me, I guess the point of all this is: that thing you regard as a defect, that part of you that you tend to hide, that characteristic that you feel ashamed of.

Is it a bug or a feature?

Scripts

FabrizioLeave a comment

The best way to build a relationship with others is to not treat them as if they were playing a support role in your masterpiece script.

Like the entrepreneur who can’t figure out why employees don’t care as much as they do. Or the manager who gets mad when someone resigns for a better position. Or the friend you don’t hear from anymore because you moved to the neighbouring city. Or the parent who can’t accept the fact their kids are taking a path they had never imagined for themselves.

Everyone has their own script they are working on, and when two people come together to co-author some parts of theirs, it’s a blessing, not an obligation.

We tend to forget that very easily.