The philosophies of getting things done... and maybe a little leadership.

If you haven’t heard this from me before let me offer something up for your consideration —

"Everything we deal with can be categorized as either an opportunity or a problem". 

Sure some philosophies may offer broader considerations, but from a day-to day perspective it has worked very well for me over the years. You find yourself, on almost a constant basis, dealing with either an "opportunity statement" or a "problem statement". And an important consideration with regards to this, is if you can't categorize what you are dealing with, maybe it's not worth your attention or is of little consequence. 

Once an opportunity or a problem has been categorized and articulated it becomes an issue of assigning Goals and Objectives to whatever you are dealing with (this will help you zero in on what you are going to do with either your problem or opportunity). It should be pointed out that you may have a laundry list of opportunities and problems, so it’s also important to prioritize what you’re dealing with to ensure you are minimizing your big problems while taking advantage of your biggest opportunities — the problem of not knowing where to go after your favourite restaurant has closed pales in comparison to the unexpected government audit that has come your way.

As you move into the execution stage, there are three considerations that should be top of mind —

Ensure you involve people who are committed, have diverse perspectives (and skill sets), and are able to leave any ego (and agenda) at the door. If you are leading the effort let your team do their job because they’re definitely going to do a better job hitting those Goals and Objectives than you.

Have a framework and a process to move the thinking and execution of your initiatives forward. I liken it to a funnel — initially you want your approach to be broad and capture as much input and thinking as possible; as you prioritize and progress this thinking it allows you to focus in on key initiatives that you can execute on (and measure). A time and event will help you stay on track and meet your milestones.

Be aware of the time and resources you have to work with. This keeps you grounded in reality with regard to what you can and what you can not do — for example, planning out a multi-channel marketing campaign but only having the budget for guerrilla marketing will be a problem. Use your money effectively and show results because simply put, success attracts money.

And finally measure everything you do. Set expectations and measure how you are doing relative to them — whether it’s solving for the initial problem, understanding if you have met your Goals and Objectives, determining if you’ve initiated your key activities, or if you’re on schedule to meet your milestones. It should also be stressed that although you should never loose sight of hitting our Goals and Objectives, it’s just as important to always be progressing. Constant measuring will insure you are heading in the right direction.

It probably wouldn’t hurt if everyone around the table is also showing some leadership — my experience is this is how things really get done.

iamgpe

Delaying the discussion...

Here's the thing about business travel — it's really an exercise in efficiency, and unless you are into that sort of thing, the whole activity really isn't that much fun.

It's all about how effectively you can get your ticket and how quickly (and easily) you can get through customs and security — all the while juggling various forms of identification, accessories and bags, belts, and shoes. Sure I was in Boston, but that meant I never really got any farther than a Logon airport hotel, and saw little more than the four walls of a conference room. Of course, that was after I missed my connector.

"It's the Captain from the flight deck. You may have noticed the gate is moving back into position... we have a warning light on and maintenance is going to check it out. We'll get back to you as soon as we can."

"It's the Captain again. Looks like this plane won't be going anywhere. The good news is we are having a new plane brought in and it should be at gate 32 in twenty minutes. We will de-boarding in a moment and I'll see you at gate 32 in about twenty minutes".

An hour and twenty minutes later we were in the air.

You rarely grumble when you travel for business but rather tend to gather your things, inform anyone who is impacted using one (or more) of the many communication tools available, and make your way to wherever you have to get to in the most direct way possible. In the case of this particular business travel experience, as I was collecting my things I couldn't help but overhear someone on the phone explaining his situation and then said something that reminded me of a very important truism —

" I really didn't want to miss being part of the discussion"

It wasn't so much that he was missing a meeting because that happens all the time, but his lament was that he's missing the opportunity to add his voice to the discussion. 

And here is the truism —

Anything (and everything) only gets better when you add your voice to the discussion.

Sure I will admit that it's sometimes difficult, but that makes it even more important.

iamgpe

PS: I ended up getting to the meeting on time, and had a far bit to say. (I think)

The chronicling of a journey...

With reference to my blogging, it was recently pointed out that I was doing a pretty good job of chronicling my life — and even more recently, I received an email from someone who mentioned that they could identify with a blog I had written, and appreciated my "mentorship".

Considering my initial reasons for blogging were to articulate my domain expertise with regard to solving sales and marketing problems, become a better writer, and better understand social media strategy, the chronicling and mentorship accolades were an unexpected bonus. From the beginning I have blogged in five subject matter areas:

• Change and Adaption
• Creative Problem Solving
• Leadership
• Execution
• The Journeyman and the Human Condition

I suppose the frequency of what I write about depends on what business I have going on at the moment, what comes out of my conversations with people, and whatever life happens to offer up at any given time. I do remember making a conscious decision to embrace topics on the human condition more frequently because like life, sales and marketing problems are multi-dimensional (and frankly, more often than not, it's all one in the same anyway). There's something important that comes with chronicling your thoughts and ideas (be it in a blog, a video, or a pod cast) because its a tangible proxy of who you are and what you can do; more importantly, there is a permanency that allows others to engage (be it now or later). For me, blogging serves me well because I simply can't stand the sound of my voice (let alone look at myself on video)... so I say find your sweet spot and develop it.

When I asked the person who comment on my blog what she wanted, she went on to offer up what most 30-something corporate professionals seem to want —

What do I want? Three year plan- 

1. Grow into a people management position in the company and work towards a global role. Interested in the Asian markets.

2. Teach part time.

3. Keep working on my entrepreneurial endeavours

Life goal... grow and explore new things, keep teaching. More importantly, keep moving forward.

When she asked what I wanted, this is what I said (which I suspect is what most 50-something people might say in one form or an other) —

Me?  it’s all about legacy now... a legacy family property for my daughter to escape the city, a legacy in who I help with their "travels", and health to serve the two...

In the end I think he is right about me chronicling my professional endeavours as I weave myself through the trials and tribulations of helping companies with their sales and marketing problems, helping startups, understanding new technologies like Blockchain, and uncovering opportunities where I can help — all the while, embracing being that journeyman and experiencing the human condition.

One way or another, it's all about what we are doing as we strive to meet our goals ... although I can't help but encourage you to think about chronically your journey because we would all be better for hearing about it.

iamgpe