Discipline makes Daring possible.

Musings from The Disappearing Boss on People, Process and Responsible Autonomy for small-business employers.

Category: The Autonomous Enterprise

Bring your whole self to work
January 23, 2020

Bring your whole self to work

Conventional economic theory views human beings as rational seekers of pleasure and avoiders of pain – ‘homo economicus’.  We must be forced to work by the threat of starvation, while at the same time we must be persuaded to gratify every passing whim in order to boost consumption and profits.

Asking people to “Bring your whole self to work” is an acknowledgment that this view simply isn’t true.

But sometimes I do wish that people would respond to this request as ‘homo economicus’:

“Pay me for my whole self then.”

 

Take a closer look at Bentham’s ‘Springs of Action’ here.

Step-wise
January 17, 2020

Step-wise

Sport has long recognised ‘Muri’ – wasted effort through overburdening people, equipment or systems.    An unrelenting schedule of high-intensity training is counter-productive.     Eustress, the beneficial stress of additional effort that leads to improved performance, is more than offset by injury and exhaustion, or distress.   Athletes burn out, physically and mentally.

The answer they’ve found is simple:  build in short periods of recovery between longer periods of intensity.   That doesn’t mean the athletes do nothing, simply that they are training at a lower level that prevents distress.   These short recovery periods allow bodies and minds to recover, but are not long enough to allow a slide back to the previous performance level.

The result is a series of systematic, and predictable step-wise improvements in performance, that can be planned to coincide with major targets, such as a local, national or international competition, or the Olympics.

It seems to me that businesses could learn a lot from this approach.

Huge thanks to Matthew Cunliffe for this insight.

Making it better
January 13, 2020

Making it better

If a business is about making and keeping promises, what does better mean?

Making more promises?  Or keeping more?

Making our promises better?  Or keeping them better?

A good place to start might be to make better promises.   After all, the set of all useful things and the set of all profitable things do not fully correspond.

Better starts with finding our place in the intersection.

Free Samples
December 20, 2019

Free Samples

A free sample is a tester, a test drive, a small taste of what I might expect to get if I enroll with you to experience your Promise of Value more fully.

That means your sample, whatever it is, must demonstrate at least one key benefit I will only get by working with you, rather than someone else.

For services, that kind of sample is not as easy to create as opening a pot of jam or giving away a spoonful of Thai green curry, but it pays to persist in looking for the right way to demonstrate the unique value you offer.

You may even charge for it.    The point is to make it low-risk for both sides.

The important thing about a free sample is not that it’s free, but that it’s a true sample.

Trust your gut
December 19, 2019

Trust your gut

The person in front of you is saying all the right things, but something feels wrong.  Something jars.   You don’t quite believe that they share your core values or your vision.

You have a feeling that you should say no to this prospect.

An initial consultation, sales meeting or discovery meeting is there to help both sides decide whether they really want to work together.   It is perfectly OK for the prospective client to say no at this point.   It’s also perfectly OK for you to say no too, especially early on in your business.

You don’t have to agree with the people you serve on everything, but a misalignment on core values spells trouble.   Both sides will end up dissatisfied and resentful.

That means that the time and positive energy you gain to spend on your business by saying no to the wrong kind of client far outweighs the money they may pay.

Trust your gut and say no.

Show up and listen
December 18, 2019

Show up and listen

It’s tempting to think that showing up where your prospects are is all about you.  That it’s about promotion, raising awareness, getting their attention.

Showing up is really about showing that you care, and one of the best ways to do that is to use the time you spend with the people you wish to serve to listen to what’s really important to them.   Then create products and services that help.

The surest way to gain the kind of attention that matters is to give it first.

Community
December 17, 2019

Community

I spent Sunday with some of my family.   My sister and I both read Seth Godin’s daily blog and were trying to explain why to her daughter.

At one point we both said, almost in unison “Some days its just like he’s got inside your head.” 

I’m sure many of Seth’s readers say this every single day.

You can only do this if you know a) who it is you are trying to talk to; b) what’s likely to be going in inside their heads and c) where they are likely to go for inspiration, and the simple pleasure of being with ‘people like us’.

And the best way to know where the people you want to serve are at any one time, is to create a space and a community that does all these things just for them.

Not necessarily in that order
December 16, 2019

Not necessarily in that order

Where choosing from many options is unavoidable, you can help people choose (and keep them engaged in the process of choosing) with hierarchy.

Start with a few big options to select from, then gradually increase the granularity of choice until your client is happy to deal with 57 varieties.

That way you’ve educated them in how selection works, and you’ve made them interested in what comes next.

That makes them much more likely to stick with it to the end.

Make it vivid
December 12, 2019

Make it vivid

Another way to help the people you serve choose what they need from you, is to make the options concrete.

Instead of simply listing options, show your potential client what a particular combination actually looks like as a ‘finished dish’.

Then go further and put together combinations around what your target client needs, not just what you have to sell.

Narrow down
December 11, 2019

Narrow down

One way to help the people you serve to choose what they need from you is to categorise your offerings.

We’re used to this of course, in libraries, on menus, on well-organised magazine counters, on campuses.

The category gives us a very quick way in, a guide to where to start our more detailed search.

A caveat though, to be truly helpful, the categories need to be meaningful to your client.