Can you say this? Or you feel a tinge of remorse and recall the things that you could have done but didn’t?
I was reading biography of Steve Jobs when this line hit me like a thunderbolt. I am not going to write anything about biography now as that might be topic for other time. Jobs said this on the day he relinquished his CEO post from Apple. That evening author (Walter Issaacson) of his biography came to meet him. By this time Jobs have already been suffering from bouts of cancer for several years and he was well aware that he was about to die.
I am very certain that there must miniscule percentage of people who could say this at the dusk of their life or at the end of any day. We all run in life after immediate short term goals like a headless chicken. Can you say this today? If not, then this is the time to do whatsoever you think you can. I wish, I could have, I should have, given a chance, are all excuses. Stop living the life of someone else’s image of you. Stop living by other people’s advice, recommendation or lessons. Go live your Dream. Do whatsoever you think you can do. Forget social assumptions and norms. Drop people’s expectations. They are all bullshit. You know what you can do and you are right.
Live to say: I’ve done all that I can do.
PS: There are several times when something (statement, action, thought etc.) hit me like thunderbolt. That makes me stop; Stop whatsoever I am doing and think; Think about that thing. I call them Wisdom thunderbolt or wisbolt. I’ll be sharing those in future with ‘thunderbolt’ tag. Thanks.
Our ecosystem – education, family or society – is hell bent on creating intellectual midgets. We are taught to be Always Right. We are taught, “If you’re in doubt, Don’t”. We are taught not to make a fool of ourselves by doing anything anti-majority. We are taught to avoid people's mockery. We are taught to avoid confrontation. We are taught to feign omniscience and not ask question even if we don’t know something. We are taught not to tell people that they are wrong, even if they are wrong. We are taught to avoid and ignore things/people. We are taught not to question authorities, rules, traditions, processes, and so called intelligentsia. We are taught directly, indirectly, surreptitiously to be a midget.
You need to fight everyone, even yourself, to avoid this midget trap.
Try things.
Imagine.
Explore.
Make mistakes.
Learn.
Question.
Do it.
Even lovable Steve Jobs preached ‘Stay hungry, Stay Foolish’.
If you are in doubt, Do it.
At times, you get some concern from just one team member, from just one client or from just one customer. Your first thought will be ‘exceptions are always there. Ignore it’ or ‘this guy is finicky’.
Nope.
In this diplomatic world of ours not everyone complains. Not everyone is courageous enough to raise a concern. The concern from that one person can be concern of many more but others just prefer to ignore it. Most people, even if they encounter some problem/hassle don’t report it. That doesn't mean that concern went unnoticed. The feeling of discontent might simmer in people or remain in their subconscious for long. These people will give wrong feedback to others in their area of influence or at worst they might ditch your product/services.
Discontent leads to bad vibes and people with bad vibes spread cooked up information which leads to rumors. And Rumors are failure of leadership.
Concern from one person might also be a premonition. That person might be the first one to experience it and reporting it proactively. If you listen to the first one promptly then you can avoid big time issues/discomfort.
Understand concern from every single source, especially exceptions, and address it. And then broadcast that message to bigger audience who, you feel, might have been impacted. Address the concern. Broadcast it categorically. This will kills rumors and give people a sense of importance that their concern gets addressed. This is a small gesture but this can have huge impact.
Exceptions are not meant to be ignored.
There are times when we are running into deadlines and we have to deliver with some compromise on quality.
There are times when your client is a very demanding person, but with no additional budget.
There are times when your software developer will feel (or he may shout aloud) that you are becoming too finicky about small quality control details.
There are times when your friends will feel that you are being too rigid.
There are times when you feel that this is wrong and I should stop it. But then your Lizard brain asks you to just avoid it.
There are times when you feel you will start exercising; from tomorrow.
That is the time when you stand up and act.
Because you compromise only once, thereafter it will be a habit.
Be a yardstick of quality. Don’t be flexible in your expectations.
Tell that client that any new changes will be billed afresh. She might feel offended but if you deliver great quality she will understand.
Tell your friends that I can’t be flexible on this. This might feel anti majority but this is what I feel.
Tell your developer one more time that god lies in details and quality is the most important.
Compromise is Sin.
Everything is simple. Yes, Everything.
If something is complex, it means you didn’t spend the right amount of time on it, with requisite Focus.
There must be times when you solved something and felt, “ohh that was Simple”. It was not simple. You worked on it to make it simple.
If something still perplex you. You still didn’t get the right angle or right context.
Steve Jobs said “That’s been one of my mantras – focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex. You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”
What about legal document, terms and conditions, insurance docs, red herring etc? They are not simple. That’s why Nobody reads them. I am sure you don’t want your service/product to be of that class. How can you incorporate this in your company culture? Include “Make it Simpler” in your company philosophy. Whenever you are about to deliver something, Ask yourself “How can I make it simpler”.
Whatsoever is your field, things should be simple to you. Simplify. And then Simplify some more.
It’s elementary Mr. Watson.
Your plans are your faith in yourself. You plan something and you believe that it will succeed. Belief is never totally rational. There is always a pinch (sometimes tons) of emotions in a Plan. Plans always succeed in Mind. Plans are always million dollar idea. Plan always brings you fame, in plans.When you plan a startup, you believe in that idea. You do try to be logical and rational but faith is always there. You might have junked tens of plans before starting ‘the one’.
But,
Plans are based on your past experiences and your learning from various sources. Tell you, past experiences don’t exactly repeat in future and learning is way different from ground, dirty, reality. Infrastructure, Hiring, Budget, client payments and processes, they are all plans. And they will all go haywire.
You planned to hire; you planned to create, you planned to deliver. That's ideal plan stuff, but things are totally different on ground zero.
But,
That’s the thrill. Entrepreneurs dare. Plans will fail. And only then some plan will click. They are not failing, they are teaching you. Your faith in yourself will finally work. Your plan # xyz will surely work.
This is the time to plan and today is the time to execute.
You might be encouraging your team to work harder by promising them higher salary, provided they show results. Some managers promise better growth while others promise lesser work pressure in future. But when a manager offers something, he is showing the carrot which is a carrot to the manager.
You promise promotion, your team might be looking for frequent appreciations.
You are offering better hike but team members might be seeking better work culture.
You are offering stability however a team member might be seeking new challenges outside current domain.
You might be offering daily challenges but team might want to specialize in one particular focus area.
People promise for things that they like. This carrot approach is botched up in nearly all the appraisals system in nearly all the companies. Companies define a framework for its people and decide what the carrot is. Appraisal frameworks generalize the things but carrot is highly specific to an individual.
Same applies to products and services you are offering.
Your product is class apart functionally but your customers might be more inclined towards its exterior looks. Your product is good for showoff but your customers might love a more economical product. You give some service economically but you customers might be more interested in easy availability.
Find carrot of the person you are talking to and then talk in terms of that carrot.
