It is simple like hell.

1. Care about details.
2. At least don’t deliver bad experience.

Amazing thing is how little attention is paid to these two, how often we encounter service businesses who just don’t get it.

You can easily find a web hosting provider who guarantees 99.99% site uptime and you’ll find at least two instances in a month where your website is not functional. On asking the hosting support, the answer would be something like this: because of some blah blah blah, it is not up. It should be live as soon as the problem gets resolved…Vague answers. No attention to detail. No care about the customer.

You can easily find a restaurant whose mission is to serve and make customers delighted but after organizing a group lunch of 50 people, when you discover that the invoice is 25% higher than what was agreed, the restaurant manager would say: Maybe it is mistake of my staff maybe yours but nothing can be done once the invoice is prepared. Let me act as a third person. I can give you a good advice: You should have taken the order details in written! Which experience can be worse than this in hospitality industry?

In today’s business, real product or any product or service is:  Great user experience.

Overwhelming Google ads or Twitter marketing campaign can’t undo one bad experience. Don’t forget that customers’ public testimonials are just one tweet away.

If you can’t deliver great user experience, you don’t get paid. If you get paid for less than great user experience, you’ll not last longer in the business.

See Also:

1. Disaster-Prone Business Organizations 30
2. Simple 4 Step Approach Towards Success
3. Little Known Secrets of Performing Self-Retrospectives, The Agile Way!
4. Your Business Is Thriving If…10
5. Seven Simple Ways to Start Making Your Life Better

1. Disaster-Prone Business Organizations 30
2. Simple 4 Step Approach Towards Success
3. Little Known Secrets of Performing Self-Retrospectives, The Agile Way!
4. Your Business Is Thriving If…10
5. Seven Simple Ways to Start Making Your Life Better

Haven’t you heard the word ‘urgent’ used even when the matter is not so urgent?

It’s a known tactic which might be effective in the short term but not otherwise, for sure.

Why?

Because the word itself is overrated. It deprecates any quest that’s not urgent.

Who wants to communicate something that does not carry any value? At least wiser ones don’t. The real problem is: When it becomes an integral part of the culture, everyone else’s also encouraged to use the word ‘urgent’ in their not-so-urgent conversations as well.

Sometimes, in over-achievement oriented environments, the word ‘urgent’ is misused to create unreal pressure which leads to breakdowns and worse. For example a whiny (and possibly an insecure) boss calls you on Saturday evening and scream: If you don’t respond to client’s email during the weekend, we’ll end up losing this client. Why don’t you understand the urgency?

You should not be surprised to find that all the projects – regardless of its size and scope – with all the clients are urgent for this kind of boss.

Everyone gets it. It’s connoted.  Most people want to get things accomplished as soon as they can be completed.

I remember a story from my childhood which resonates well with toxic urgency.

Urgent Help Needed: Tiger’s here…It’s urgent, really!

There was a naughty shepherd boy living in a small village.  The village was near to the forest and there were instances of animals attacking people who lived near the border of the village.

Everyday, the boy used to take the cattle for grazing to the outskirts of the village.  One day, the naughty boy decided to make fun of fellow farmers.  So, he took the cattle towards the edge of the village, near to the forest.  After some time he started screaming,  “Urgent Help Needed! The tiger is here. It is eating away my cattle. Is there anyone who can save my cattle from the tiger?”

On hearing his voice, his fellow farmers left their fields and rushed in the direction from the voice was coming. They took sticks and cross-bows to attack  the tiger.  When they reached, they found no tiger but the only naughty boy. They asked, “Where’s the tiger? Are you alright?”

“Seems the tiger was also in some sort of urgency so he ran away,” grinned the boy.

Confused farmers returned back to their fields.

Same instance was repeated two days later. The farmers now understood that they were fooled and became angry but couldn’t do anything. The boy made fun of them again and thought how smart he was.

Four weeks later, the boy encountered a real tiger. Panicked as he started crying for help: “Please someone urgently save me. The tiger is here, he’s eating my cattle and soon I’ll be no more.”

The cries were heard by his fellow farmers. They thought, “The naughty boy is playing the same silly prank. There’s no need to go there and make a fool of ourselves.” They decided not to rush for help.

But,  few  minutes later the farmers  heard the roar of the tiger. They quickly discovered that this time it was not a prank so they rushed again to help the boy. But it was too late.  The boy was killed by the tiger and the tiger was heading to the forest.

The above story is used to teach children not to speak lies however if you observe, it translates another message as well.

Don’t make the word ‘Urgent’ cheap. Instead, reserve it for sudden unforeseen crisis such as when there are specific, unbowed consequences for non-actions.

1. Read.
2. Read more;
3. Read meaningful books;
4. Read meaningful books and blogs;
5. Keep reading;
6. Keep reading something you would like to learn from.
7. Walk.
8. Walk more;
9. Keep walking;
10. Keep walking;  pause.
11. Keep walking; pause. In fact, pause often.
12. Keep walking, pause often. Reflect on why you’re walking.
13. Write.
14. Write a daily book;
15. Write a daily book of experiences called journal;
16. Keep writing. Eventually, it will become basis of practical learning.
17. Talk.
18. Talk less;
19. Talk less; listen more.
20. Remember: We have 2 ears (to listen) and one mouth (to talk);
21. Talk only when you really need to.
22. Pause.
23. Pause, slow down;
24. Pause and slow down, to enjoy the journey.
25. Pause, Smile, Breathe and go Slowly.
26. Eat.
27. Eat tasty food;
28. Eat tasty and healthy food;
29. While eating, healthy is better than tasty.
30. Pray.
31. Pray daily;
32. Pray for someone who are near to you;
33. Pray for someone who are not;
34. Keep praying.
35. Be prepared.
36. Be prepared, practice a lot.
37. Be prepared, practice a lot, and excel in your subject like no one else has done, ever.
38. Deliver.
39. Deliver early;
40. Deliver early; deliver often.
41. Keep delivering;
42. Keep Delivering Happiness.
43. Imagine.
44. Imagine vividly;
45. Imagine vividly and creatively;
46. Imagine vividly, creatively and severely;
47. Imagine vividly, creatively, severely and ruminatively.
48. Plan.
49. Plan just enough;
50. Plan just enough and be flexible enough to respond to changes.
51. Change.
52. Embrace change;
53. Embrace change and treat change as an only constant;
54. Keep changing, for good.
55. Execute.
56. Execute the right thing;
57. Execute the right thing for the right mission;
58. Execute the right thing for the right mission and for the right vision;
59. Focus.
60. Laser focus;
61. Focus on the most important ;
62. Focus on most important thing that matters now.
63. Learn.
64. Learn more;
65. Learn more but study less;
66. Keep learning.
67. Unlearn.
68. Unlearning is harder than learning;
69. Unlearning is being open to change; embracing the change;
70. Unlearning is the most powerful learning tool.
71. Relearn.
72. Relearn what you have unlearned;
73. Relearn with the different perspective;
74. Relearning brings you near to enlightenment.
75. Thank.
76. Thank him;
77. Thank her;
78. Thank them all;
79. Thank you is one of the most powerful words.
80. Be happy.
81. Be happy for no reasons;
82. Be happy for who you are;
83. Be happy for who you are not;
84. Choose to be happy.
85. Measure.
86. Measure what is important;
87. Have right metrics for measurement;
88. Remember: things can be managed well if it can be measured.
89. Manage.
90. Manage yourself first;
91. Manage yourself first and then manage others;
92. Remember; if it’s not inherited from ‘people’ class, manage.
93. Show up;
94. Show up if it’s a good day;
95. Show up if it’s bad;
96. Even if you think you’ll fail, just show up.
97. Lead.
98. Lead almost always;
99. Lead beyond your title.
100. Remember: People can never be managed, only led.
101. So, lead, lead, lead – with or without title.

See Also:

1. On Being Upbeat 20
2. Walking matters, Direction matters more.
3. Zen of Time Management
4. You Can Learn Even from a Funny SMS You Get
5. Want to be what you think you might have been?

1. On Being Upbeat 20
2. Walking matters, Direction matters more.
3. Zen of Time Management
4. You Can Learn Even from a Funny SMS You Get
5. Want to be what you think you might have been?

…is easy compared to delivering something that makes a difference.

Applauding your Service Delivery Manager being online at 2:00 am to handle client escalation is easy. Applauding your VP of Sales travelling to tens of new geographies to initiate new sales tie-ups is easy.

Creating and measuring KRAs to applaud any such activities is relatively very comfortable and easy.

But Business is hard. So are the projects and so is the life – it takes creating a service, a product or a result of actual value. It will be replaced by some other mediocrity, otherwise – sooner than later!

Photo Credit: johnnieb’s Flickr photostream.

Questions that make difference are:

• What did your Service Delivery Manager do to ensure that similar type of escalations is prevented in future? What did he do to ensure that his work-life balance is maintained?
• What strategies your VP of Sales executed in the past quarter that made sure that constant flow of repeat business is in the pipeline – without even filling her calendar with tons of client visits? Why does she keep visiting tens of new geographies? What is ‘Visit to Valued Relationship’ ratio?

Imagine what value your business will get if your Service Delivery Manager is able to maintain his work-life balance or your Sales VP is able to spend time to really ‘think’ about creating strategies that will take your business to newer heights, rather than fearing and doing acts of mediocrity?

Wouldn’t your business be able to deliver something that creates tri-way win-win then? For everyone: for the client, for the employees and for the organization?

See Also:

1. What Many #Sales Focused Organizations Sometimes Forget (And How Not To)
2. Mini Saga – Doing Rather Than Being
3. Handsome And Consistent Returns That Lie Hidden Somewhere In Your Mind

1. What Many #Sales Focused Organizations Sometimes Forget (And How Not To)
2. Mini Saga – Doing Rather Than Being
3. Handsome And Consistent Returns That Lie Hidden Somewhere In Your Mind

1. Unhappy Employee
2. Not feeling fulfilled
3. Irrelevant job needs and the person skills
4. Weaker / undefined career path
5. Lack of recognition
6. Family needs not met
7. Because the spouse (or someone very important) is settling to another city or country
8. Poor salary, Poor benefits, no perks!
9. Low morale
10. Change of personal goals
11. Sensing layoff!
12. Poor Organization Culture
13. Ineffective reward systems
14. Boring workplace
15. Feeling of boredom
16. Lack of challenges
17. Work life imbalance
18. Stressful work environment
19. Very demanding client
20. Culture of not taking the accountability
21. Less overall communication between people
22. Lost faith in the vision
23. Too much Internal politics
24. Company culture mismatch with individual’s values
25. Too much bureaucracy
26. Too much agility
27. Insecurity
28. Unfriendly leave policy
29. Hostile environment
30. Revised mission statement not exciting
31. Lack of growth opportunities
32. Salary not in alignment with responsibilities!
33. Lack of learning opportunities
34. Lack of coaching, training and mentoring
35. Bad Boss
36. Whimsical reporting manager
37. Lack of motivation
38. Indistinctive  leadership in different situations
39. Management does not keep promises
40. Lack of trust and confidence in the boss / management
41. Bad Team
42. Sore relationship with team members
43. Mental / physical abuse

See Also:

1. 15 Things That Employees Want In Order To Feel Motivated
2. What Can Be Termed As A “World Class” Organization?
3. Four Causes Of Poor Performance (And What You Can Do About Some Of Those)
4. Five Steps To Turn An Organization Into A Learning Machine
5. Nine Irrefutable Ways to Establish and Maintain Profound Relationship with Your Boss

1. 15 Things That Employees Want In Order To Feel Motivated
2. What Can Be Termed As A “World Class” Organization?
3. Four Causes Of Poor Performance (And What You Can Do About Some Of Those)
4. Five Steps To Turn An Organization Into A Learning Machine
5. Nine Irrefutable Ways to Establish and Maintain Profound Relationship with Your Boss

Can you precisely answer this question: “Do you have ample amount of trust amongst your project team?” May be…May be No.

It becomes very difficult to manage projects when team members do not have good amount of trust among one another.   They would see everything happening in and on the project with skeptical eyes.

In the matrix organizations where project managers do not have implied authority to reward the team members by giving them pay-hike or promotion, trust remains the only effective factor that gets things done.

OK got it but what to do to build trust-based work environment?

Well, here’re few ideas:

1. Trust Yourself: It might look funny but I’ve seen many project managers who don’t trust themselves. They have doubts in everything they do, everything others do and they feel that everyone else is out there to cheat them. Do not belong to that community. Trust yourself. Trust your guts. Trust what you do. It’s okay to make mistakes, learn from it and move ahead. Remember, people don’t trust whom who do not trust himself.
2. Be authentic: Make sure what you say is fact. Be transparent in all you do. Do what you mean; mean what you do. Sarah Ban Breathnach said it once so beautifully, “The authentic self is the soul made visible.” So make your soul visible to your team and win their trust.
3. Effectively Handle Conflicts: Robert Townsand said it once, “A good manager doesn’t try to eliminate conflict; he tries to keep it from wasting the energies of his people. If you’re the boss and your people fight you openly when they think that you are wrong – that’s healthy.”  Make sure that conflict doesn’t get converted to combat, instead profit from it.
4. Listen twice, speak once: Greek philosopher Epictetus said, “We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” How true!  Invest in listening to your people. People feel good when they feel attended and listening is the best gift you can give to anyone.
5. Say No: When you really mean you should say no, say ‘No’. Just because of the fear of confrontation, do not say ‘yes’ for which you’ll regret later. Saying no is about being transparent. Saying no means taking responsibility. Say no and also be ready to justify the reasons behind it. Once convinced, team members will respect you more.

Trustless team is just unacceptable and as a project manager it’s your humble duty to plant the seeds of trust in your team. Also you need to think about bigger questions like below:

“Many organizations put their customer first in their so called mission statements but don’t invest in establishing and nurturing trust in their project teams.  This leads to unnecessary delays in getting things done. Isn’t it a customer-disservice?”

If you don’t have such bigger questions to combat then here are three not so big but still very important questions:

1. As a project manager, do you have ample amount of trust in your team?
2. If the answer is no then what concrete actions you’re taking about it?
3. If the answer is yes then what else can you do to solidify it?

Photo Credit: notsogoodphotography’s Flickr Photostream

See Also:

1. How To Inaugurate Effectiveness In Your Project Team
2. More On Better Team Relationships 12
3. If You Want to Have a Great Project Team
4. How Team Relationships Are Affecting Your Ongoing Projects?
5. Seven Promises That I and My Project Team Members Make To Ourselves

1. How To Inaugurate Effectiveness In Your Project Team
2. More On Better Team Relationships 12
3. If You Want to Have a Great Project Team
4. How Team Relationships Are Affecting Your Ongoing Projects?
5. Seven Promises That I and My Project Team Members Make To Ourselves

Unexpressed goal of any life is self-actualization and learning is the key tool which helps you reach there. Learning involves the process of learning, unlearning and relearning. This obviously invites an encounter with a specific form of result called failures and its consequences also.
While learning from our own failure is one thing we should focus on, we cannot afford to lose the opportunity to learn from other’s failures (…or mistakes or mere lack of knowledge).

In this context, I’d like to share about seven things if I had known earlier could have made more a difference in my being.

1. It’s the question that matters, not only the answer – For almost two and half decades of my life, I worked hard for finding right answers. It worked well in some situations but not always. Sometimes, it led to situations full of stress. But from the day I learned to ask right questions, things changed, all for good. Why? Because, questions invite the answers from different sources and provide you the mindset needed to work ‘ON’ the things in the most efficient way rather than working ‘IN’ the things.
2. Leadership needs no titles – I was thinking that I’ll be able to execute things well when I’ll get the title called ‘CEO’. Later I discovered that I was in total dark. I found out that everyone is a CEO. CEO of his or her own self and titles do not help you much in performing at your best. Leading beyond a title means being your best version; delivering excellence with 100% of your commitment, regardless of your title or position. It applies to personal life also. For example, you don’t need a title of ‘father’ or ‘mother’ to give selfless love to a child.
3. Be cause in the matter; not the effect – The folks who find themselves at the ‘effect’ side of the matter are the most miserable; exactly opposite to the leaders who choose to be cause in the matter. Being cause in the matter means taking responsibility. And once you start operating from the context of being responsible, massive actions happen and results follows.
4. The most effective path to excellence is Be…Do…Have – I would have loved to discover this earlier. Most people focus on first doing then being and then expecting to have but it seldom works. Instead, it works well when you first ‘become’ something; then your actions would be exactly like whom you have become and then you will have exactly what you need. For example, despite of the non-technical academic background, when I chose to become a software programmer, I did everything that programmers should do and found a good programming job also. More than a decade passed since then but still I’m a programmer. I can program different things including computer software, photography sequences or marriage functions, marketing presentations or game strategy, with little effort. It’s possible just because I focused on BEING whatever I had to be; programmer in this case.
5. Life is empty and meaningless; and empty and meaningless is also empty and meaningless – I searched for the meaning of life for almost 30 years to discover that there’s no meaning of life unless we (or someone) assign a meaning to it. Quality of the picture of life will depend on the lens we look from. And to assign whatever meaning we want to assign, we need nothingness. In the nothingness, there’s a space. The space which invites us to discover the realm of the possibilities out of which we’ll choose to do whatever we intend to do.
6. Silence is the secret to sanity – I was shocked to discover that I invested my energies in speaking…speaking and speaking for many years to win an outspoken personality award amongst friends and family. The day I learned to become silent, I really learned to listen. Listen to the many things I was not able to earlier. I discovered that speaking took up a lot of energy which could have been used in understanding. I discovered that Listening habit took my communication to the next level. I really became saner when I learned this skill.
7. Less is more – Its opposite ate up many years of my life. I used to start 4-5 projects at a time and start working on all of them simultaneously. It means, my energies were only 20 to 25 % utilized on each project. I was calling this my multitasking ability. But I was totally wrong, from the context of effectiveness. This was a proven path to be ineffective.  Later, on the back of several heartbreaking failures, I started to focus on one thing at a time and it started giving immense results. Then I made this my mantra for effectively doing anything. Focus on less and you’ll get more.

Sooner is better than later and timely application of excellence leads to a definite success. Excellence is created out of performance which is the result of consistent actions which are usually ignited out of knowledge, no matter experienced or gathered.

So, if you find something which you think you should have known earlier and could have made a difference, please feel free to share it in the comments.

Photo Credit: alicepopkorn’s Flickr photostream

PS: Leadership Development Carnival is up at GreatLeadershipByDan and I’m honored to have my How To Caffeinate Your Leadership Repertoire post included.

See Also:

1. Two Things We Can Improve Upon
2. Seven Prioritization Tips To Get Things Done In A More Meaningful Way

1. Two Things We Can Improve Upon
2. Seven Prioritization Tips To Get Things Done In A More Meaningful Way