Flogging a dead idea...

Seth Godin says 'ideas that spread win'. If your ideas aren’t spreading as you’d like, well... maybe they’re dead.

Are you flogging a dead idea?

Leaders bringing change to their teams; I wonder, how much is old stuff, old information or old ideas repackaged? Did the ’Save as’ button get a workout when you changed the date from last year or 5 years ago, and put the same information out there? Sam Trattles, an expert in negotiation gave me A+ advice for a high value gig: a goal of the process was to not repeat any of my information. Sam says people tune out, they’re done with it, they’ve heard it before and don’t hear it again.

We must find new ways to communicate, ways that re-connect, re-inspire, re-engage, not just revisit or reuse. As a consultant or expert, are you still trying to sell the same thing?

A colleague recently said if she just got more customers everything would improve for her. But this isn’t the only way to growth.

Getting more customers to know about your dead idea won’t do much for you. Our ideas need to evolve and adapt, as do we, or we’re just flogging a dead idea. How are you adapting your ideas?

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It's hectic, busy and frantic - for some

A colleague I'm sponsoring by providing mentoring services cancelled our scheduled session for today.

Something or someone else was a higher priority and so I got 'bumped', again. 

The bumping I get over; but in reviewing other comments about the bumping and other reschedules I read words like 'hectic', 'busy' and 'frantic'. 

What's with all the busy-ness? 

According to a nice read in Time Magazine this week it's (ironically) not about the time! It's about bandwidth AND time. They're two different things and we need to slice and dice and handle and manage both of them. You need to be present while you're present or you're not really present!

Also today in my local metropolitan daily there was a piece (via Harvard Business Review) on how we need to stop complaining about how busy we are. 

I enjoyed the 'I'm more important than you' reference because 'I'm busier than you'. 

Yes, I'm busy but I am also incredibly focused on making the best use of the time (and preparing to have plenty of bandwidth). I have needed to run my business, keep my appointments, facilitate two workshops, get married, have two parties, pack and prepare for time away and other 'admin' stuff in the past five days. But I would never be hectic, busy or frantic about it.

I'm leveraging productivity tools and programs, outsourcing services, delegating tasks, prioritising constantly and my favourite... (which I learned in a time management program when I was starting my first job) using 'calculated neglect'. 

Some things just don't or won't get done. Other things are SO gonna get done. 

I'm very conscious of the 'currency' I apply when I'm choosing what I'll do and what I won't do. Is this about now or the future? Is this a short term or longer term win? Will this matter in a day, week, month or year? 

I like reflecting on my values on this too - why I choose and prioritise the way I do. I completed the the Minessence Values Inventory earlier in the year and everything is crystal clear : I know what's important to me. Prioritising is a breeze.

And now to shift the mood of my day from someone not 'picking me', my very next mentoring client was: on time, had completed the set tasks, had specific questions for clarification and was clear about what was next on his agenda. Now THAT was a breeze. I can be impactful, focused and provide great service. I can do my best work - without being hectic, busy or frantic. 

I think being 'busy' is a great opener for another deeper conversation - your priorities, values and what's really important. 

** And as a footnote, some more brilliant and entertaining reading on the topic from Rajesh Setty

Referrals and Degrees of Separation

You know the now shrinking 'six degrees of separation' where you're only a few connections away from everyone on earth? How that applies to referrals and recommendations can be an interesting experience.

Recently a colleague referred me to a colleague who referred me to another colleague. Thanks to my colleague's recommendation, I started out on the conversation journey with the next two layers of colleagues!

The odds that this referral or transference of trust was going to work was lower than if

a. my colleague had worked directly with me on more than just a project or two ie; if we had a longer, deeper relationship

b. there were only one or two degrees of separation between me and the prospect - rather than this three or four levels.

The further removed the referral, the more weakened the trust, the more likely it's not going to be a match. A match on values, philosophy, ways of working...

For sure, connections and meeting up with people out of the blue can create some of the most wonderful and serendipitous relationships - business or otherwise.

But as Robyn Henderson networking guru explains in many of her books, workshops and presentations, networking is about the transference of trust. People like to work with people they know and trust.

While I built rapport and a good connection with the colleague of my colleague, the next layer can be more difficult. Now we're at the colleague of the colleague of the colleague. The trust and connection is weaker, the transference of trust is hanging on the recommendation of my original colleague and our ability to build rapport, understand each other's ways of working, seeing a way to possibility.

Confused? Don't be. Just continue to focus on building relationships with the people you know and trust. That circle or group of people closest to you. And they'll be more able to refer and recommend you to people they know and trust.

The next layer - the people who don't know who you are, who don't know the colleague of yours, may not be your best bet for business right now.

Keep focused on those closest. And let the ripples of connection flow from there, gently.