If you’re not willing to consider that you’re wrong, then, in the words of a Dan Dennett, you’re a spectator, not a participant.
Let’s agree on the standards of proof, and then begin.
PS unrelated tip: I just switched my browser to arc and it’s working out great. Recommended.
]]>In a follow-up post where he offered silkscreened shirts with your shield status as a fundraiser, he said that it might not be a good idea to actually wear the shirt to work.
That’s almost as fascinating as the shields up phenomenon.
There are good reasons to go shields up. It saves you a lot of filtering time. It increases job satisfaction because you’re not always comparing the reality of today with the imagined perfection of tomorrow somewhere else. And it creates a better relationship with your colleagues, because mutual commitment leads to trust.
And there are good reasons to put your shields down. You owe a debt to tomorrow–to use it in the best way you can. Too often, we let Resistance hold us back, instead of taking a hard look at what’s possible.
Why not share your status?
Tom Peters used to write about leaders who ran resumé sessions for their employees. Skeptics asked why on earth you would encourage your team to understand and demonstrate their value in the job market. He pointed out that it was better to work with people who wanted to stay, when the alternative is working with people who believe they’re stuck where they are.
There’s a long-time tension between the factory owner and the worker. The factory owner wants to take the maximum amount of labor in exchange the lowest amount of compensation. The worker often responds by playing defense and not letting the boss disrespect them.
Bosses invented employee loyalty, not employees.
The fear, if you wear your shields up shirt, is that your boss will ask for more. And that if you wear your shields down shirt, your boss will stop trusting you and start scheming to replace you.
Perhaps there’s an alternative:
The boss should act as if everyone has shields down. Assume you need to re-earn engagement and loyalty every day by offering respect, significance and interesting opportunities.
And the employees could act as if they have shields up, simply because it’s a powerful way to spend your day in flow. You can always change your mind tomorrow.
]]>Over time, things get more average.
That’s because each new customer, each new supplier and each new employee wants or needs something a little more normal, at least sometimes. The drift to normal can only be countered by persistent effort, usually at the cost of some element of short-term scale.
“It might not be for you,” always accompanies, “this is special.”
]]>And action is the result of tension, status or affiliation, and these are based on trust.
There are many ways to build that trust, and an instruction manual, a powerpoint deck and a set of bullets aren’t the only ones.
]]>If you describe the outcome with specificity and remove as many variables as possible, you’ll get the work done with more speed, higher reliability and less cost.
That velocity, though, might encourage us to recognize that all sorts of options are available. There are countless chances to make the project better and to find new opportunities.
Exploring the possibilities in moments of high velocity almost certainly ensures that costs will increase, reliability will be impacted and you’ll miss deadlines.
That’s because possibility is the art of being willing to be wrong. It’s exploration. It’s far easier to explore on foot than it is on a high-speed train.
The best time to explore is before you scale your investments, your commitments and the size of the team.
We seek both velocity and possibility, but not at the same time.
]]>Only a few stars seemed at all comfortable–Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross. On the other hand, Waylon Jennings felt excluded and stormed out halfway through. Huey Lewis said his legs were shaking. Some notable stars were too afraid to come at all. And Bob Dylan, the same guy who won the Nobel Prize, seems profoundly insecure the entire time, and it’s only when Stevie and Quincy Jones give him some reassurance that he’s finally able to sing at all.
We’d like to believe that if we only had the adulation, market success, and fan support of superstars like these, then we’d finally be comfortable and able to do our best.
In fact, it seems the opposite is true. Imposter syndrome shows up because we are imposters, imposters acting ‘as if’ in search of making something better.
Perhaps the best plan is to show up and not walk out.
]]>How dare you raise your hand to help, offer an idea, take responsibility…
Perhaps it might be helpful to reframe that feeling as the generosity of improvement instead.
If not you, who? If not now, when?
]]>But it’s helpful to realize that all decisions involve a purchase.
When we decide to spend time or take a risk or make a commitment, our brains act in a way very similar to how we choose to make a purchase.
When you talk about a non-profit, introduce a new sort of behavior or invite someone to follow along, you’re actually selling. Finding the empathy to treat it like a purchase is worth the effort.
Even if it doesn’t cost money. Especially then.
]]>I’m really pleased at how the books have stayed relevant and also delighted at what a good job the publisher did with the reissues. Also, the Italian version of This is Marketing just went back for its 14th printing.
You can find all of my books here, and the most recent one is here.
There’s a new episode of Tim’s podcast out today, and that gave me an excuse to point to my podcast page. There are hundreds of hours of interviews and conversations to choose from.
Also! The Marketing Seminar is on sale for 30% off today. And please consider checking out purple.space.
]]>By making it clear and obvious that this is what THEY (the plural) want and who THEY are, it’s easy to walk away from a larger we. Their worst troll becomes their mascot.
And in a media-fueled culture that thrives on division, this is a convenient shortcut.
What happens, though, if we find the worst person on our team and tell them to chill out a bit. That people like us don’t do things like that. That their trollish, extreme behavior is magnifying differences instead of making it more likely we end up with useful cultural cohesion…
It’s surprising how much the outlier is willing to listen to the very people they’re counting on for support. And the folks you seek to win over are much more likely to give you the benefit of the doubt if you have a history of discouraging bad behavior.
It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about politicians, sports fans, entrepreneurs or activists. More extreme division is unlikely to sell our idea and gain the support we’re looking for.
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