Tag: values

Stand out

Fabrizio1 Comment

One of the things that will make you stand out most in business (and not only) is to close the circle on your promises.

This is true for individual contributors, teams, departments, and organizations as a whole.

If you promise something that you know you can’t deliver, or that you consistently don’t deliver over a period of time, the promise is most likely a way for you to get out of a difficult conversation, an awkward moment, a temporary discomfort.

It is not worth it.

Say only what you know you’ll do. And if you end up not doing it, give a reason and follow up.

When you meet your commitments, you build trust, gain confidence — look, you really can do it! — and grow the kind of backbone needed to say no when you truly can’t take something on.

Whitney Johnson, You Have to Stop Canceling and Rescheduling Things. Really.

Where you start from

Fabrizio1 Comment

When plans fail, it might be because you have not carefully considered the initial situation.

Leaps happen, but it is much more common to have things develop slowly, thanks to incremental and non-linear progresses.

And so, a great way to start a plan is to take a careful look at where you start from. What resources you have available. What people around you want. What initial wins you can get to start momentum. What it is that you can realistically achieve without changing most of what is going on.

You might know where you want it all to end, but if you start there, that is little more than wishful thinking. Taking little steps is the surest way to achieve success.

Merry Christmas.

Two types

FabrizioLeave a comment

There are two types of company.

One starts with values and sees revenue as a sort of by-product of carefully applying values in the things they do every day, whether somebody is watching or not.

One starts with revenue and sees values as an ideal that will be possible to transform into action only after reaching a certain level of revenue/success.

There is nothing inherently good or bad in one or the other, but they represent two profoundly different ways of doing things.

As a founder, you need to know what type of company you want to build and what type of people you want to work with.

As a jobseeker, you need to know in which type of company you perform better and you feel better.

Go about it intentionally. There is nothing worst than finding yourself in the wrong group.

Assuming good intentions

FabrizioLeave a comment

Assuming good intentions is truly the only way to build relationships and stay sane.

Some people might act out of malicious intents, trying to manipulate others in order to get ahead. Most though go about their lives in the exact same way as we do. They might have different ideas, points of view, preferences. But they are trying to do their best with the cards they have been dealt.

The alternative is to question everything and doubt everyone.

It is possible, and some choose that. I am not sure though they understand how much energy, attention, resources that is taking from them.

No real thing

FabrizioLeave a comment

For most people, there is no real thing that is going to be better if you are going to work one more day, or check your email on Christmas day, or take a meeting while your family is gathered for dinner.

It’s just your fear of giving away control and of finding out that you are not that important.

Take a break, go on vacation, spend quality time with your family. I promise you, when you will go back, the same problems and challenges will be there waiting for you.

You might just have some more resources to tackle them.