Roy's Blog
January 2, 2012
3 great ways to avoid the perfection trap
Source: Unsplash
Everyone seeks perfection.
The perfect body. The perfect smile. The perfect manuscript. The product that destroys the competition and wins the hearts of people.
The business plan that on paper maximizes the economic benefits to the organization.
The problem is, perfection doesn’t exist.
It’s like pursuing ‘the impossible dream’. For some reason we drive on to get another 10% of what we think is perfection before taking action.
The consequences of chasing perfection are significant.
We burn time.
The return on the extra time spent is zero.
And the results of the incremental effort are unnoticed in any event (50% extra time might produce something that can be noticed but it’s unlikely that anyone will notice the impact of spending another 10% on anything.)
But the real negative is that it keeps you from doing stuff.
Bre Pettis says it well:
”Perfection is boring. And it keeps you from being done.”
Seth Godin talks about the importance of shipping stuff.
And that if you waited until is completed, you would never deliver anything.
Try these 3 things to avoid the perfection trap:
▪️ Force yourself to get stuff just about right.
And then do it.
The reality is, that anything more is a waste of time given the unpredictability of the world today.
It is impossible for you to accurately account for the unknown so why bother?
Get a 70% solution and ship it out the door.
▪️ Give yourself a deadline to finish your work. When your time runs out you’re done.
STOP. Get it out the door. Get used to doing what you can in the time you have given yourself.
▪️ Track the results of your imperfection with your customers.
Get feedback. Determine if they are ok with what you’ve done or not.
Satisfy yourself that you are able to produce good work in less time.
Tweak your work on the run.
In business there is no such thing as the right answer. It’s what people are prepared to accept.
Solutions to 6 decimal places have no role here.
Round up or down and get on with it.
Ponder no longer.
Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series
- Posted 1.2.12 at 10:00 am by Roy Osing
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December 26, 2011
The reason why you’re imperfect and should be happy to be flawed
Source: Unsplash
The reason why you’re imperfect and should be happy to be flawed.
The world has pressured us to be perfect.
School teaches us to follow rote and colour inside the lines. Fashion tells us to dress a certain way if you want to fit in.
Most of us walk away with the feeling that we’re flawed in some way since we find it difficult meeting the acceptable norms of the day.
The reality is, however, that no one is flawed.
Rather they are unique.
Special.
Distinctive.
Visible.
Uncommon... in some way.
Flawed in someone else’s context or frame of reference perhaps, but incredible in others.
Find your frame
Your challenge is to find a frame that allows you to express yourself.
To realize your potential.
To contribute.
To be happy.
To realize your dreams.
Your frame could be your social network. A skill. A competency. A hobby. A business. A belief. A physical challenge. A community. A profession. A neighbourhood. A family.
Channel your emotions and energy away from defending yourself in the wrong frame. Away from feeling bad that you’re not fitting in
Rather, discover a frame that is right for you. One that describes who you are.
Where you can standout.
Where you can make a difference.
Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series
- Posted 12.26.11 at 10:00 am by Roy Osing
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December 19, 2011
‘Putterers’ do these 7 simple things to be great leaders
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‘Putterers’ do these 7 simple things to be great leaders
Great leaders are are amazing putterers.
Leadership is about helping people. Making it easier for them to do their jobs. Bashing barriers so they can do what they want to do.
Remarkable leaders are also great putterers in terms of taking care of the basics for people.
What do putterers do?
▪️They pay attention to detail. Detail about what’s going on in their life. It’s about the “small picture” where things get done. Where people take individual actions to move the organization forward.
At the coal face. If a leader doesn’t know what’s going on where customer meets company, how can they help the people working there?
▪️They have an uncanny ability to remember stuff so they can take action later. Being able to remember what has been observed in the heat of the moment for future reference.
▪️They make the work environment comfortable for people. Clean. Tidy. Organized. A nice place to work. A Maslov factor I suppose.
A basic need that people have. If they are working in a pit, don’t expect them to deliver sterling results.
▪️They take action themselves based on what they observe. Putterers rarely delegate. They get on it. You can’t delegate small picture stuff that needs attention. No one other than you can deal with the situation as well because only you FEEL what needs to be done.
Furthermore, delegation of small picture issues sends the “I really don’t give a damn” message to all, and your currency with the troops takes a plunge.
▪️They are always on the move. Always looking for things to improve for people. Don’t forget The small picture has a high resolution and to be able to deal with issues requires a lot of movement on the Leader’s part. Keep your feet moving!
▪️They anticipate. Being able to apply what they’ve learned in other circumstances to a situation that is developing in front of them. And, as a result, either avoiding an unpleasant ending OR achieving something extraordinary.
▪️They smile a lot. Putterers love what they so. And it’s contagious. And it costs nothing. People around them catch the smile virus. It spreads. Imagine a workplace where everyone is smiling!
How many putter acts do you practice everyday?
Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series
- Posted 12.19.11 at 10:00 am by Roy Osing
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December 15, 2011
4 easy ways to know if you have a great customer relationship
Source: Pexels
4 easy ways to know if you have a great customer relationship.
Building deep trusted relationships with business clients is critical to the long term success of your organization.
But how do you know if you are making any progress?
Here are 4 clues to tell you if you are on the right track or not.
1. You are always invited to your customers’s strategic planning meetings
They value your opinions on the issues facing their organization.
They know that you know their business. They trust your intentions. They honor your strategic skills and experience. They view you as a friendly ‘expert from afar’.
You are a valuable member of their direction-setting team.
2. You have ‘an office’ on their premises
A close presence exists between you and the client. It may be a physical presence where you actually have an office on the client’s premise or it could be a virtual presence where you are listed as one of their team members.
They want you accessible. Close at hand. To bounce ideas off. Test some ideas. The ultimate expression of trust and value is real estate owned by the customer; given to you.
3. Your customer never issues a Request for Proposal when they need a solution
Why bother? They have so much trust and faith in you that going out to get others to submit a bid on what they want is seen as a waste of time.
When your customer needs something, you are already on it.
There is no need to involve other suppliers. You take action. You deal with it seamlessly.
4. You are never referred to as a salesperson by the client
Your currency in their organization places you among their leadership team.
Labels are meaningless.
You are their trusted colleague. Their partner. Their friend.
It’s one thing to say that your objective is to develop deep relationships with your clients; it’s quite another to achieve it.
Observe how the client treats you and it will tell the whole story of the relationship.
Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series
- Posted 12.15.11 at 10:06 am by Roy Osing
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