Workplace Engineering

Ken Robinson, the educationalist, creativity expert and one of the funniest orators I have seen gave a talk on his new book The Element at the Dallas Museum of Arts to a packed audience.

I managed to get a copy of his book signed by the man himself after an hour and a half learning about people that have found the point at which natural talent meets personal passion. From math geniuses to gymnasts, from gardeners to concert pianists turned book editors, Sir Ken gave example after example of individuals that found purpose in their lives and are clearly better for it.

One of his claims to fame is a video on the TED website that has been downloaded over 4 million times. He’s not letting it go to his head, especially as a 90 second video of two kittens was downloaded 18 million times on YouTube.

Sir Ken’s own story is as inspiring as anything in the book. Born to a large working class family in Liverpool in the 1950’s, Sir Ken was an athletic four-year-old living his father’s vicarious dream of being a future football (soccer) player. He was struck down by polio and spent a year in hospital, followed by many years in special centers. Sir Ken’s parents redirected their son’s focus into education and over many years allowed him to discover his element. Sir Ken has found his element tackling the creativity and human resource crisis of our age and this journey has taken him across the world to his home in Los Angeles and collaborations with politicians, huge corporations and artists such as Paul McCartney.

I can’t say I’m impressed at his choice in soccer teams, Everton, though. C’mon you Red’s.

Any posting with a title like this deserves a wide showing. The advice is compelling too.

From Spectacles, Testicles, Wallet and Watch: Packing for 2009:

“I thought of this list as I was reflecting on how we as leaders should prepare for the obvious challenges 2009 presents. I think it pretty much sums up what we each need to have with us on this great adventure into the unknown.

• Make sure you have the ability to see things clearly. Develop connections with people who will provide you with provocative perspectives and counter-intuitive wisdom. Keep a sharp eye out for faint patterns as they emerge.
• Bring something that grounds you in reality. Know where you are now - ‘what time it is,’ if you will. Face the facts straight-on.
• Pay attention to both cash and credit. In times like this, the over-riding business wisdom is clear: keep cash on hand - and maintain your credit.
• And gather up your determination and courage. Perhaps more than anything, the year ahead promises to be one in which cool heads and clear focus are what’s needed above all else.”

(Via HarvardBusiness.org.)

The biggest “aha!” that I’ve had since starting my own business is how difficult it is to get your message out and to encourage potential customers to buy from you. I used to flatter myself that I was a good communicator and could persuade business leaders to follow my recommendations. Since last summer, I’ve found out that moving from selling to internal corporate customers to selling to real customers is like doing well in the little leagues and then walking out into the Superbowl. It’s enough to make you want to change your pants/trousers!

Here are some of the things I’ve learned:

1 - Great sales professionals deserve HUGE RESPECT! It takes a special kind of person to walk into a room, create rapport, build trust, maintain enthusiasm and have the stamina to eventually close the sale.

2 - A lot of sales professionals are not great. We’ve taken mentoring from a number of sales people along the way. As we’ve learned more, we’ve figured out that most just are not that good. Fortunately, we have one in our back pocket now who is causing the scales to fall from our eyes (you know who you are).

3 - The sales cycle isn’t like running a marathon, it’s like sailing around the world! In a marathon you have some control - train and eat well and put on a decent pair of running shoes and you should get to the finish line at some point. If you are sailing, you need the right training, right clothes, right boat, right equipment, right charts, right crew….and then you put to see, hoping that you’ll make all your checkpoints and get to your destination before you sink.

4 - Selling enterprise software is really hard! First you need to find out if a customer for your software actually exists. If you have an application that runs across organizational boundaries, it is especially difficult to find someone who can make a decision. If you can find someone who can be a champion for you, you are now in a race to get through all of the gates to an order before they move on to bigger and better things.

5 - Software is not a complete product (or at least ours isn’t). After spending six months as a pure software play, realized that we actually need to put food on the table. So, we’ve started to consult. Guess what! Now people are starting to get interested in our product…..provided we consult too.

6 - It’s the benefits, Stupid! I have spent six months extolling the features of our portal only to find out that our possible customers don’t really care. They want to know what our product can actually do for them. Our customers may not be able to calculate ROI is or even give a business school definition, but they have a very healthy understanding of what return on investment actually means.

7 - Focus. Focus. Focus. It is easier to sell a product that does one highly targeted thing well than a complicated the cure for world hunger. We’ve moved from selling a general light-weight online dashboard/scorecard that does everything to a services-vendor KPI reporting tool.

8 - It’s all about the customer. I did a Dale Carnegie course last year. It has taken me around a year of soak time to finally get the idea that it really is about them and not about me.

Big Up Respect to great sales people. I think I’ve at least found where the path to sales success starts now. 2009 is going to be about learning more and actually doing it!

Incredible question in the Harvard Discussion Leader article In 2009, Match the Urge to Purge with a Zest to Invest - Bill Taylor:

“For years now, as I have addressed executive audiences around the word, I have urged leaders to ask themselves one simple question: If your company went out of business tomorrow, who would really miss you and why? I first heard this question from advertising genius Roy Spence, who says he got it from strategy guru Jim Collins. Whatever the original source, the question is as profound as it is simple — and worth taking seriously as you evaluate how to navigate through this economic crisis.

Why might a company be missed? Because it’s providing a product or service so unique that it can’t be provided nearly as well by any other company. Because it’s forged a uniquely emotional connection with customers that other companies can’t replicate. Precious few companies meet any of these criteria — which may be why so many companies feel like they’re on the verge of going out of business, even in good times.”

For those of us who decided to launch businesses just before the reversal in economic fortunes, the question that we’ve got to answer is: “If your company went out of business tomorrow, would anyone know you existed in the first place?”

(Via Harvard Business Publishing.)

Maybe I need to stop getting up so early…..News in Science - Night owls are more creative - 13/12/2006 Jennifer Viegas
Discovery News:

Prefer to stay up late? It’s your inner creativity speaking Do your best work at night? Take solace as new research suggests that night owls are more likely to be creative thinkers.

Scientists can’t yet fully explain why evening types appear to be more creative, but they suggest it could be an adaptation to living outside the norm.