The Poison of Perfection

December 19, 2014 //
0

‘When I play the perfect set of tennis,’ I used to say to myself, ‘a set I couldn’t improve on in any way, I’m going to hang up my racquet and never play again.’ I’m still playing. You can’t get to perfection, nothing’s ever perfect for anything other than a fleeting moment.

It always used to amaze me that you’d find typos in printed books, especially first editions. Who’s checking these things? I would mark the errors on my copy, contemplate contacting the author – especially if I knew them – and never get round to doing it. I used to be a voracious reader of Seth Godin’s daily blog. Very rarely, because his work is pretty meticulous, I would find a typo, maybe once every 200 posts. I would send Mr G a note with the correction and he would unfailingly acknowledge me, like he has nothing else to do. I don’t do it any more.

The same applies to our working lives I think. Whatever you’re doing, it won’t ever be perfect! You occasionally get these very exciting periods during a land-grab, dot com-type situation where people talk about ‘ready, fire, aim.’ ‘Just get it out there,’ they say. ‘It’s good enough.’ When you’re in those periods it seems like you need to move so fast that good enough is all you have time for.

I’m not saying you should give up and get it out there. The ‘perfect’ approach is to aim for somewhere in the middle, between ready, fire, aim and perfect. Exactly where in the middle is down – or up – to you. You should always give something your best shot, or there’s no point doing it. It needs to be more than good enough. It needs to be the best you can do, in the time available.

You can always change something, tweak something, improve it or correct it a touch, with one more iteration. At some point, time is up, and you have to hit the ‘go’ button. As I was fond of saying, ‘life’s too short, and so am I.’

‘Perfect’ poisons you. Your best shot is your best shot.

 

 

Tags
Categories Communication, Customers, Marketing, Planning, Sales, Strategy

Paranoia and Trench Warfare

December 17, 2014 //
0

How do leaders and leading companies stay at the top? What keeps them innovating, trying, extending, refusing ever to rest on their collective laurels?

I think it’s a mindset, a mentality if you like. I’ve observed it in companies that I’ve had dealings with who were the acknowledged leaders in their field, and all of us as consumers are on the receiving end of leading  – and also-ran – products and services.

Two types of mindset seem to provide a constant focus for the intensity of winners. The first is paranoia. It’s the healthy version where you know you can’t stand still, you can’t rest on your laurels, or your last product, or your last quarter. There’s always someone coming up behind you, looking to take your place and be at the top of the tree. Someone’s out to get you. Fear of competition is a constant catalyst.

The second is the mentality of trench warfare. Even when they’re the stand-out leader in their field, the number 1 is constantly active, constantly ducking and diving, picking battles at close quarters, presenting a moving target to competitors, living to fight another day.

They’re not paranoid and fighting for themselves, however, they’re fighting for their customers, in every sense of the phrase. The new ones, the ones they have, and the ones they want.

Tags
Categories Customers, Sales, Strategy

Who is your Supplier of the Year?

December 15, 2014 //
0

In any type of business, the general idea is that you pay a supplier for something which you then make better, pass on or add to, in order to be able to sell on to someone else at a profit. This is true when you make and sell products. When you’re in the services business, your suppliers are generally your staff, or perhaps contractors, so it’s a little different.

One of the things I mentioned in my very first post was that we’re generally focused on our customers, but hardly ever our suppliers. We fawn over our customers, treat them like royalty, we’ll do anything for them. Our suppliers? Well, we treat them less well, we hammer them down to improve our margins, we give them the runaround when we have to. After all, they’re our suppliers, right? They’re lower down the food chain than us, or the supply chain at least.

Here’s a question for you: when was the last time you gave your best supplier an award? You put them on a pedestal and made them your supplier of the year, amid much fanfare? I remember listening to a presentation over 20 years ago from a much admired member of the graphic design community, long since dead, who talked about how his company was made a supplier of the year and how it caused him to totally rethink his own relationship with his suppliers.

Remember that your supply chain is often where you can get the early intelligence on emerging trends in your industry, so your suppliers can often become the source of your competitive advantage. Treat your suppliers well, treat them like partners, and good things will happen to you. Amplify and celebrate your best suppliers. They deserve it, they’ll thank you for it and it will serve you well in the long run.

Tags ,
Categories Customers, Marketing, Sales, Strategy

The Two Types of Busy

December 12, 2014 //
0

There are two types of busy.

In our yin and yang working lives, the first type of busy is the productive type, where you are focused, you have the end goal in mind, and you are getting through stuff. You’re giving people what they need to progress their own projects and they’re giving you what you need for success. You’re like a machine, energised, nothing can stop you. This is good busy.

The other type of busy is bad busy. You’re bogged down, maybe in admin, you’re doing tasks of low value, you’re switching between tasks and not getting them done. You can’t reach the people you need and the stuff that people need from you is long or difficult to complete. You’re frustrated and annoyed. You’re not productive.

It goes without saying that you need to maximise good busy, and minimise bad busy. How do you achieve this? By planning, being honest with yourself and others, setting the right expectations and executing. In other words, working smarter. Working smarter is always good busy.

Tags , ,
Categories Customers, Marketing, Sales

200 Not Out

December 10, 2014 //
0

Two hundred is a good number. In cricket, a century is considered a very good score by a batsman. A double century is a lot rarer, a lot more prized. ‘Not out’ means the batsman is still ‘at the crease’ and has the potential to score more ‘runs’.

Two hundred of anything is impressive I think. 200 fans or followers is more than the sacred 150, thought of as the maximum size for a ‘tribe’.  200 customers means you’re a serious player. 200 wins, well, you get the picture.

This, dear reader, is my 200th post. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading them. I’ve certainly enjoyed writing them.

Here’s to 200 more – as long as they’re useful!

Tags , , ,
Categories Communication, Customers, General

Start at the End

December 8, 2014 //
2

Writer’s block? Not sure how to start, or where to start? A lot of people will tell you: ‘just start, write something, anything to get you going.’

Whether you’re writing, composing, or just plain planning, I find the best place to start is the end. What is the end result you’re looking for? How do you want things to finish up? What’s your destination? Once you’ve defined that, you can work back and build your outline or framework.

Then you can start at the start.

Tags ,
Categories Communication, Marketing, Planning, Strategy

The CEO Defocus Treble

December 5, 2014 //
0

In a previous post I talked about the 3 things a CEO needs to do really well. There are also 3 things that are equally important for the leader of the business not to do:

1) Interfere. You’ve hired the best people in the key roles – according to rule 3 of the previous post – so let them do their jobs

2) Push the HIPPO. The Highest Paid Person’s Opinion doesn’t count as much as much as the data and information coming into the business

3) Let them know who’s boss. They know you’re the boss, and modesty, humility and honesty are much more admirable traits in a leader

Tags , ,
Categories Strategy

The CEO Treble

December 3, 2014 //
0

There are 3 things a CEO or Managing Director should be able to do really well:

1) Articulate the vision of the company, consistently and regularly

2) Ensure the financial welfare of the company. Secure the money in – accounts receivable and funding – watch the cash flow, keep to the budgets

3) Hire the best people possible in the key roles, either those with form or those who can grow into the role.

Master those 3 and you’re well on your way.

Tags , ,
Categories Strategy

The Internet and Inferiority

December 1, 2014 //
0

Years ago, we used to read about the people whose exploits in a certain field brought them fame and fortune. They inspired us and encouraged us to get to their heady heights.

If we were lucky, we got to see them do what they were the best at, and if we were really lucky, maybe we got to actually meet them once.

Then we got to listen to them or watch them on electronic devices as they made the ridiculously difficult look easy. We were more regularly exposed to the greatness of modern day gladiators, the greatness that we admired but didn’t yet have.

Nowadays, the Internet assails us with a 24/7 bombardment of greatness, or people claiming greatness. It’s especially true in business, where you hear success stories in sales, marketing, technology and social media – and they’re simply the ones I tend to see – on a more or less constant basis. Of course, the people getting all the lion’s share of the attention are the leaders in their field, or they’re doing a very good job of moving in that direction. They are today’s business heroes.

It’s easy to get an inferiority complex when you’re swamped by information from people who seem to be better than you at what you do. They must be better, right, because it’s here for all to see?

I try to stay focused on what I’m doing, learning from the great ideas out there, and trying things that are proven to have worked, but mostly staying true to my own instinct and my own path.

The Internet is an amazing, inspiring mechanism, but it can also be a hugely distracting and detracting one.

Tags , ,
Categories Communication, General, Marketing, Sales

Still Looking, Still Striving

November 28, 2014 //
0

There is a terribly famous song by U2 called ‘I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.’ Those of you – and I count myself among you – who don’t live to work, as opposed to work to live, may well identify with the lyric in the song.

I know people who go through an entire life without finding what they’re looking for career-wise.  Are their lives the lesser for it, do they feel unfulfilled as a result? No and no, at least they shouldn’t.

Searching for perfection in life, in work, in every single project or activity you turn your hand to, is an important means in itself, not a means to an end.

It’s unlikely we can achieve true perfection in anything, nor is it healthy or productive to try beyond a certain point, but it’s the looking for perfection, the striving for what we think the end goal is, that keeps us improving, keeps us working, keeps us alive even. Hunger for the new, the next big thing, stops us standing still and sustains the quality in the work we do.

Tags , ,
Categories Communication, General, Marketing, Sales
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »