Checklist? Check…

We went on a vacation this past September.  We always enjoyed going on vacation; even more so perhaps back in the day when I was working fulltime: 

A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you've been taking. 

Earl Wilson 

When preparing for our trips we use a checklist.  I’m a huge fan of checklists.  I suppose I developed this appreciation during my 40+ years as a sales professional.  In his book The Checklist Manifesto©, Atul Gawande put it best, this way: 

You want people to make sure to get the stupid stuff right.  Yet you also want to leave room for craft and judgment and the ability to respond to unexpected difficulties that arise along the way. 

“…get the stupid stuff right…”  I love that! 

In my experience, one of the most common opportunities for issues to “arise along the way”  comes during that phase of the software selling motion referred to as “The Demo”.  There are terrific resource available to those of us involved with product demonstrations.  One of my favorites is this Self-Evaluation Form provided by Julie Hansen.  However, Atul might say to Julie, it’s actually what happens before the demo that counts. 

I can remember to this day a demo I was scheduled to deliver to the Missouri Dairy Association back in 1985 (the Dark Ages).  They were interested in hiring my company to craft a custom “Personal System” but for dairy cows vs. actual people.  (I know, right?)  Because it was a custom project, I worked with my development team to go over MDA’s specs and come up with a workable solution. 

Once we thought we were ready, I traveled to Springfield, Missouri to demonstrate a mock-up.  Before leaving on the trip, I checked and doubled checked that I knew the log-in to our development system; I had my demo flow scripted and rehearsed; I brought a “Memorandum of Understanding” outlining the parameters of the project (e.g. price; development timeline; implementation; training; ongoing support; the works).  I didn’t have an actual checklist, but I was confident I had all my bases covered. 

Arriving at the prospect’s offices the first thing I realized was I was the only one suited-up.  Cowboy hats, belt buckles, and boots were preferred by my prospect.  I totally missed the “stupid stuff” about checking on appropriate attire.  However, they were accommodating (amused, too I bet!) and we settled in to a cramped and dusty office for the meeting. 

I successfully logged in and tested my connection to our development system (located in Chicago).  Everything was going according to plan.  That’s when Atul’s “unexpected difficulties” arose.  A message was broadcasted across my screen that the HQ IT staff would be “rebooting the development system in 5 minutes.  It will be offline for the next 2 hours”!

You guessed it…  in all of my preparation I forgot to confirm the development system would be available at that specific date and time.  (We never took the demo system down during business hours.  I assumed… well… you know how that saying goes!)  I was unable to reach the development team in time to prevent the impending doom.  As we were all were gathered around my PC we watched the system (and my deal) go dark. 

That trip contributed to my fledgling Dark Ages Computing ® library of experiences and my growing appreciation for checklists. 

When I returned …  I was ready for a vacation! 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.