Monthly Archives: March 2014

March 5, 2014 · 9:27 am

Opinions Etched In Sand

When was the last time you changed your mind? I don’t mean about something trivial such as what you wanted for supper but about something important. What should our business model be? For whom should I cast my vote? I also don’t mean when was the last time you made a decision. We make those all the time. It’s what happens after the decision is taken that is our topic today.

English: Footprints in the sand My footprints ...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I changed my mind about something the other day. It’s not really important to our discussion what it was, just that my view of the world moved from point A to point B. As I thought about that I realized that many people stick with their initial decisions about things all the time through thick and thin.  That might not be a bad thing, especially if you made a good choice at the time.  It’s a terrible thing, however, if you do so out of habit or sloth.  Things change and they do so more rapidly these days than at any time in our history.  If you made a decision five years ago some of what you took as fact when you did so probably is less right now.  Markets change.  Information changes.  Technology gets invented.  Stuff happens! If you make any investments you probably have that mindset.  Why doesn’t it extend to your business life (I’m ignoring politics here but…)?

A road you’ve driven down for years can suddenly have construction or a bridge out.  You have to alter your route or fly off the bridge.  Pretty obvious, right (I know – I’m a master of that!)?  Yet that thinking doesn’t apply to other aspects of many people’s lives.  Changing one’s mind is seen as weak or indecisive.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Strong people challenge their own beliefs. They look for facts, especially ones that contradict their own opinions, and avoid confirmation bias.  They keep an open mind when they go to make decisions and they test whether that decision is still valid based on changing circumstances.

My decisions aren’t etched in stone.  More like footprints etched in wet sand.  You can see what they are but when a strong wave comes along they might change.  I might be opinionated but I also accept that I might be wrong on some things.  Am I right about this?

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March 4, 2014 · 10:43 am

Roam

It’s TunesDay and I gave a lot of thought to our musical choice this week. I don’t know yet (we’ll see how this comes out) if it’s a good pick but the song that has been with me most of the week comes to us via the end of the 1980’s (1989 specifically) and my second favorite band from Athens, Georgia (R.E.M. would be #1): the B52’s.  Over the years this band has produced many serious pieces of ear candy but this is one of my favorites.  Turns out it has something to say about business too:

This song is catchy with a great beat, the chorus stays with you, and it’s easy on the ears.  That’s a tiny, obvious business point – the product needs to be appealing.  That’s where the simple stuff ends.

The B52’s are a band (they’re still around, you know) that often writes songs full of multiple meanings.  On the surface, “Roam” is about world travel and the freedom to pursue it without preconceptions or inhibitions.  As we’ve discussed before here on the screed, we don’t appreciate in business that the journey itself is the goal, not the just the end destination much of the time.  This song reminds us of that.

Then there is another layer of meaning.  The sexual innuendo in this band’s music is pretty apparent and this song is no exception.  The innocent song about taking extended vacations is actually a not so innocent one about stretching one’s sexual permissiveness to the limits (I’ll wait while you listen again!).  So what’s the business point there?

Great products can serve multiple purposes and audiences.  While Mom and Dad hear a catchy song about travel, the kids hear a song about sexual freedom.  A lot of music has those multiple meanings (go listen to “Little Red Rooster” and then explain to me how it’s about a chicken).  Smart business people define themselves and their brands but also leave room for their consumers to add their own meanings.  Our customers do define us in many ways just as much as we do ourselves.  Does that make sense?

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March 3, 2014 · 12:18 pm

That Won’t Work

Since Mondays are days of new beginnings (“does the work week actually ever end?” you ask), let’s begin with some thinking on starts.

Not just start-ups, since there are starts everywhere in business. A project, a deal, a meeting – they all represent new beginnings.  As we start whatever those journeys may be, we need a few things. Most important, we know to have some sense of where we’re heading and how: objectives and strategies in business-speak.  We need to understand that there may be detours along the way that will require us to adjust some things – maybe a delivery date, maybe tactic, maybe even the entire place to which we’re heading.

Where many businesspeople get into trouble is when they maintain a firm determination to get to wherever it was they set out disregarding the detours.  That’s silly.  So is the opposite – seeing all of the possibilities and refusing to firm up one’s focus.  If the purpose of the enterprise or project can’t be expressed clearly and definitively, there’s a problem.

As a leader, your job is to define the mission, assemble the team to accomplish it, instill confidence, and provide whatever resources your team requires to get to the destination.  If you project an attitude of determination and success, your team will as well.  If you’re unclear or scared, your odds of success drop dramatically.  You don’t need to have all the answers; you do need to believe that the answers are within the team’s grasp.

One of the hardest things you need to be able to do is to say “Stop the car – we’re lost.”   Telling the team “that won’t work” feels like a loss since it’s an admission that something has gone wrong.  Not true.  “That won’t work” can mean the situation has changed or that you’ve learned enough from what you’ve done so far to recognize adjustments are required.

The leaders and businesses that fail are the ones afraid to admit something won’t work out loud and then to adjust.  Great leaders see the need and explain it to their team clearly.  Which will you do?

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