Well Scripted Life

"There is no such thing as tough. There is trained and untrained. Now which are you?" Denzel Washington, Man on Fire

Do you believe in having a hot hand? Batting streak? Lucky streak? Natural Born? Phenom? Prodigy? Turns out these don't really exist. Most are within the wide bounds of normal and others are more practiced. Picasso produced an estimated 50,000 pieces of artwork.

Have we evolved in the last hundred years? Are we faster, stronger? 4 min mile is proof. No one before 1954. 1964 a high school kid did it. And the current record is nearly 17 seconds faster than Bannister.

Of course, the human body has not improved. If we took a newborn baby from 500 BCE and raised it today, the baby would have the same chance at running the 4 min mile as any other modern baby born.  What's the difference?

The difference is knowledge. Knowledge of training techniques, nutrition, and belief that it's possible.  Atul Gwande's Better is a great example of someone at the top of his game pursuing still to improve.  Malcolm Gladwell made the 10,000 hour rule famous in Outliers. As he's explained, you have to be careful how the rule is applied. You must practice deliberately just outside the circle of what you find possible. Practicing what you find easy will not stretch your skills.

A life worth living is a life of skills. Most skills are like swimming or parenting. You can read all you want but until you get wet or have children, you don't know anything. Selling is this way. I always smile when a selling course doesn't include practice.

So what am I suggesting? I'm suggesting we agree that training is everything. We have to train the right way and we have to train our whole lives. If you slow down, you'll be left behind.

Tom Davenport has a very easy way to focus in on what's needed -- see the picture with the article. Divide the needs between 3 time periods: past, present, and future. And divide between known and unknown.

Not about being correct. It’s about asking the right questions.

Peter Drucker told us, “There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all."

To paraphrase, there is nothing so useless as answer correctly a question that doesn’t solve the problem.

A Sunday update!

It seems like the last update was only a couple of days ago; it has been a week already.

First a few stats. I started the 100 Day challenge on August 1st. I had already been making some podcast episodes, but I wasn’t doing anything daily.

42 episodes total.

36 days out of 100 done.

The secret is to define what counts as done. I have 3 goals: podcast, blog, and exercise. Each goal has a min, realistic, and stretch level. Most days I only achieve the minimum, but I do achieve it.

I have found I revisit some familiar ground repeatedly – maybe a different angle, but it’s the same ground. I’m getting the content out and recorded. As I mine for content, I’m discovering threads, like veins of gold. You don’t discover gold and move on to look for more. You mine what you have until it runs out. I’m working on fear, doubt, and the forces of inertia. Why do we wait, stop, freeze? Why don’t we make small moves in one direction to get progress toward any goal? I have more empathy for people in tough situations. I have a hint at why they find it difficult to do the basics. The challenges can become so high that cresting to green pasture seems impossible, so why bother?

I’m drifting into a daily podcast, and I don’t want to. Today is just an update. I give myself a break on Sunday to just talk to the few people following the podcast. Thank you. I mean it. It is part of what keeps me on track.

Labor Day is a special day to remember those that work. The army of hard-working people trying to get the job done, take care of their family, and be proud of what they have accomplished. And it marks the end of Summer. As a business community, we tend to get back to work now.

I have work to do, and I’ve hesitated for several reasons – mainly deciding on which path to take. I felt like I have to say no to one path before I can say yes to the other. This isn’t entirely true. In reality, I can say yes to one and switch when needed. I continue to learn and improve.

When you were a kid did you play the game or refuse because you might lose? The fear of losing was too big for me when I was young. I have to forgive my younger self. The younger-me didn’t have the support needed to handle the fear. I didn’t have someone standing there to tell me everyone is afraid and being brave is to go ahead and still play. You can’t be brave without fear.

My favorite verse in the Bible is “I believe. Help my unbelief.” Mark 9:24. The verse helps me realize I can hold both faith and doubt. I can be brave and afraid at the same time. The key is to sense the fear, see it as a signal, and act.  I am not an expert, but I have lived this out in business and sales for many years. I’ve experienced it first-hand.

If I am afraid, I use it like an alarm, a trigger to say I must act. Now I know what I must do. I must do that which I am afraid to do. I’m not talking about jumping off tall buildings. I’m talking about the practical work of reaching out and offering help. I’m talking about sales.

Here’s the hard part. Fear doesn’t seem to go away. I have grown in my faith that I can act, but I’m still afraid to pick up the phone or walk into the building. I still worry. Now I fortify my chances with preparation. I respect the people I’m going to contact and do a little homework to get an idea of how I can help. I don’t want to waste their time. I have a good idea I can help, or I don’t try.  Maybe if I was a little braver, I’d have a bigger imagination about who I can help.

I read a story once about an attorney who had never lost a case. I think his name is Gerry Spencer. I remember he said it wasn’t that hard because he only took cases he knew he could win. I’m guessing there was a little forced humility, but I got the idea. He was afraid of losing.

One of the things I love about sales is the purity of the challenge and the fear. Few occupations have day to day fear that you can confront and learn about yourself. Some people grow cold or hard and start to treat people poorly. I had an old car manager who was divorced three times and addicted to cocaine tell me if I worked hard I could be just like him.  I didn’t sell cars much longer after that.

Recently, I have had a rough few days, and it has been very good for me. I let myself believe I shouldn’t be afraid at this age, with this experience, with this training. I’m supposed to know what I am doing. I teach this for a living. I’ve been wrestling with the fear almost like a laboratory experiment. I didn’t realize why the fear was so strong or where it was coming from.

And then I listened to my favorite podcast, Finding Mastery by Michael Gervais.  You should skip my podcast and listen to his. So many great episodes, and today was with Tony Blauer about Knowing Fear. I’ve heard that when the student is ready the teacher appears. Well, I was ready, and I am learning.

I’m thinking about fear. The fear of failure. The fear of looking foolish. The fear of announcing one direction only to switch gears soon after. The fear is large and looming. I think it’s keeping me from acting in my own best interest.

What’s the cure for fear? Action, activity, movement, decisions. I don’t need to shout it from the mountain tops, but I can start walking in a direction that makes sense.  Small victories, short distances, climb the next hill.  Just do what I can from where I’m at with what I have.

Does that approach present a possible way out? Does it help? I think it does.

What do you do when you are afraid?

What do you know about drilling for oil? If you are like me, not very much. I’ve been reading up on drilling for oil to explore the idea, to compare it to everyday projects. Of course, technology has improved. Oil companies do what they can to find the most likely spot to drill, but someone has to go first. The initial step is a test to see if a bigger oil deposit is possible. The first one is called a wildcat well.

Any idea what the success rate is today for a wildcat well? The success rate is about 30%. It can cost around $50 million to dig the first well. Here’s the key according to Offshore-Technologyc.om “Most of the time, wildcats fail, but the hope is, when a company drills enough of them, it will discover enough oil to cover the overall cost. “

Did you catch that? The hope is to drill enough of the wildcat wells to win. It’s all about the doing. It isn’t about the planning, the technology, the surveys, the wisdom of crowds. It’s about drilling for oil. If you want to win, you must drill.

What’s the symbol of drilling for oil mean in your context? For me, it’s prospecting – literally the same word for the oil industry. I have to prospect to survive. If I prospect enough, I win. If I don’t, I lose.

It’s about the doing. It isn’t about the clever words, effective marketing, or beautiful products. It’s the work.

If we know we need to do the work, why don’t we? Why don’t I? What gets in the way?

1) A tendency to over think it. Better to act.

2) Dread out weights action; however, action blinds the dread. You can only focus one or the other.

3) Fear of failure. Self-fulfilling prophecy. Better to swing the bat and strike than just stand there.

4) All or nothing thinking. I can or I can’t – instead realize you can improve, get better.

5) Lack of goals. Set a target and work backwards. Warren Buffet says we all overestimate what we can do in the short-term and underestimate what we can do in the long run.

Are you drilling enough wells? The oil is out there.

Leaving the Air Force for the "real world", I had to find a job and quickly. I read a book Customers for Life by Carl Sewell. He described a world of selling cars that I found appealing. I found out much later that maybe he was seeing his world through rose colored glasses, but one of his principles was not to work somewhere that acted like a circus.

This was 1991, and you had to visit in person back then. The first dealership was noisy and had balloons, so I moved on. The next one met in a hotel conference room, seemed very professional. I wasn’t smart enough to realize the dealership itself might not be so professional. Guess what? It was very noisy, and they had balloons too.

My manager's name was Bubba, and Bubba had a lot of wisdom to share with his new pupil. One of the first rules in selling cars is you must turn over a prospect to the manager before you are allowed to let them leave.   The higher-pressure car lots were very serious about this rule.

My first day on the job, my first prospect, and I let the man get in his truck and leave without telling Bubba. Now to know Bubba is to love Bubba, but he isn't easy to get to know. He cornered me and "politely" ask why I hadn't introduced the client to him before the guy left. I said the guy was an asshole. I was about to get the first of many lessons. Bubba said, "OK. You tell me one guy is an asshole, then he's an asshole, but if you tell me 4 or 5 people are assholes, and I begin to wonder, 'Who's the asshole?'" As odd as this lesson might seem, it has served me well. I'm a little slower to judge fearing I might earn a well-deserved label from Bubba.

I met an interesting person today. I didn’t ask him about sharing our conversation publicly, so I’ll use a fake name. I’ll use my first name, Joe.

Joe’s running his own IT business. It’s a small business, and it’s growing. We only spent 30 minutes talking. I wondered what I could share that might be useful.

Joe did make an interesting comment about consulting or business-help firms out there. He said the focus was always on more clients; how to sell to more people. He doesn’t need to sell more. He’s got the business. What he wants is to be a better run business himself. He’s right. I can think of a couple of consultants, and they are more focused on getting more business, making more money – not so much the mechanics of running a small enterprise. I have heard of EOS, Entrepreneur Operating System. I don’t have any first-hand knowledge, but it was recommended highly from someone I trust.

The first thing I recommend surprises me. Joe has to say no. Say no to nearly everything. If the dog hunts, keep it. You can waste so much time chasing the next new technology idea or system. He doesn’t have time or the energy. How is Joe going to balance operating with exploring? I’m a big believer in exploring new ideas. This is where salespeople might be able to help. Joe will need to put boundaries on this also, but he can expect a good sales team to help him stay informed of good ideas.

I highly recommend Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande. Dr. Gawande is a surgeon in pursuit of perfection, not for his ego but to save lives. The book explores the use of checklists. I couldn’t recommend it highly enough.

I think it’s important for Joe to know where his business fits, and I believe he does already. I’d share a diagram to help drive the point home. Think of a square with narrow to broad on one side, and low price to high price on the other side of the square. Where do you fit? Are you low price to a broad market like Southwest? Are you high price to a narrow market like a specialized law firm? Joe has found a niche with small medical offices, and he’s not charging much compared to competition in town, so I’d say he’s narrow focused and low price. There isn’t a right or wrong answer. The key is to realize you can’t jump the boundaries. Southwest can’t figure out how to be high priced to a narrow market, neither can McDonalds. Remember Budweiser’s attempt to have a high-priced beer? Or other airlines trying to copy Southwest? Didn’t work. Never does, so Joe has to keep to his home court – narrow focus and low priced. Dance with the one you came with.

Keep life simple. This is an extension of saying no. Stick to the few services that you do well. Find new clients if you need to grow. If you add services, you can lose your focus. I’m not saying 100% no. I’m just saying be careful. Go very, very slow on adding new services.

Joe has to control expenses. If his expenses grow, he’ll have a very hard time being low priced and still making a profit. Also fits with saying no.

The last thing I say is Joe needs vision for his clients. Where is he taking them? They are all starting at different points on a scale of technology maturity, and what is Joe’s vision of maturity. I think he has an idea, but it isn’t written down yet. We both agreed it starts with backing up and security, and were does it go from there? If Joe has a vision, then he can sell the outcomes to the clients. He can say this is what life will be like when you come with me.

I’m glad I met Joe today, and I’ll recommend his service to any small medical office I know. It was a good day. Thanks