Dressed for the part…

My wife and I just returned from vacation.  We visited our niece Lisa and nephew David in the Ocean Park area of Maryland.  Due to Covid, it was the first time we flew on an airplane in over 3 years. 

During our visit my nephew David noticed even in retirement and dressed casually, I see many things through the lens of business.  After a full career I guess that's something not easily turned off.  It's fun though (for me at least).  In business, especially in the sales profession, things are often not what they appear.  It takes a keen and disciplined view, or as Yogi Berra put it: 

            You can see a lot by observing. 

Saturday evening we went to a free concert in their community.  The outdoor patio area was, as Lisa would say, "bumper-to-bumper" with people; their cars in the parking lot; and boats in the marina.  Eclipse, a Journey cover band played from 6 to 10 pm.  They had the Ocean Pines Yacht Club rockin'!  I was dressed for the part: 

In addition to the great music and even better company with Lisa and David, I always get a kick from people watching.  I especially enjoy watching those from my generation who are…  well … old.  We don’t think of ourselves as old and my wife hates that description.  She prefers "seniors" or perhaps "elderly", but never "old". 

At the outdoor venue with perfectly warm weather one, gray-haired lady was dressed casually for the part including a walking cane.  She was sitting near us and enjoying the band with a group of "seniors".  To the casual observer she might have appeared… well… old.  Some might even have had concerns whether she would be too frail to walk back to the parking lot.  However, when the band played "Pour Some Sugar on Me" by Def Leppard, not only was she on her feet dancing with her friends, but I was close enough to see she was enthusiastically singing along.  She knew all the words!  Truly, my generation rocks! 

That evening I received several compliments about my shirt.  My niece wondered if I brought it on vacation specifically because of the concert.  I replied it was part that, and part coincidence.  After thinking about it further I realized my nephew had something in his comment about my business lens.  You see, throughout my sales career I was always trying to "dress for the part". 

I'm not sure how it works in today's modern, virtual, work-from-home business settings.  You don’t see many men suited up; wearing a necktie; sporting polished Wingtips.  A former Generation X colleague of mine once said, "Gary, I'm in software sales.  I don’t even own a tie let alone wearing one to work."  

Not only did I suit-up most of my career, but I even added suspenders back in the day when I was selling Oracle Financials (version 1.0 in 1989).  The software was expensive and buggy as hell - but I was dressed for the part.  I suppose Oracle wanted our prospects to feel our software was more mature and reliable than merely "betaware".  Oracle sales execs set the tone and we all added suspenders to our suit, tie, and Wingtips attire. 

Today, about the only people you see wearing suspenders are those from my generation who are … well… old.  But if you observe them carefully I bet you will see - they can still rock! 

                                                            GAP 

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

How’s your day been?

Five years ago this coming Monday, I was in an earthquake in Mexico City; a 7.1.  How do you work that into casual conversation? 

September 19, 2017 at 1:15 pm local time, a powerful earthquake shook the bejeezus out of my training class; our lunch break; my colleagues; and me!  Thankfully, no one in our group was hurt. 

Unfortunately, there were many in Mexico City and surrounding states that did get hurt; over 200 people killed; hundreds perhaps thousands injured.  According to The Guardian ©; 

It was the second major earthquake to hit Mexico in two weeks and came on the anniversary of the 1985 quake that devastated Mexico City, killing 5,000 people and destroying 10,000 homes. 

In fact, because of that 32^nd anniversary; commemorating the devastation; we actually had an emergency evacuation drill at 11am in 2017; about 2 hours before the real thing hit again! 

During the episode, I was conscious of the fact I was experiencing an earthquake – on the 19^th floor of a hotel no less.  What started out feeling like a freight train passing by causing the table to vibrate, quickly erupted into what seemed like a prolonged period of ferocious shaking.  I could not keep my feet. 

Those much braver than I were calling out; directing us towards the archway leading into the room.  Firmly they instructed us to move away from the windows; calmly, they reassured us that we will be alright.  Ultimately, we filed out onto the streets joining tens of thousands of others.

I remember looking out the window and seeing the glass buildings across the plaza actually swaying.  It was surreal.  It reminded me of the scene in movie The Matrix where a helicopter crash caused the façade of a glass office tower to ripple. 

So many had invested so much before the earthquake hit – and after.  Gustavo Moussalli, our Latin American Division Director and the executive sponsor for the class had made a huge commitment to his local partners; coordinating a 3-day enablement class to support their success. 

Gerardo Diez Martinez, our local Channel Manager arranged the meeting rooms and set-up; AV equipment; food and beverage; Gerardo spared no expense to insure we had everything we needed for his partners. 

My colleague Susanna Lagtapon sacrificed time away from her daughter’s 13^th birthday; traveling instead to join us for the class.  Our colleague, Tony Caporal, with cooler head and bravery, prevailed following the earthquake.  He helped us retrieve our laptops and luggage.  (Even stopping at the lobby bar to grab a free beer on his way out of the hotel.) 

Our VP, Brian Enright, was our “home base”; coordinating flights out of town; hotel reservations; and anything else he could do to support us from afar. 

And especially Hector Garcia from our long-time partner NetSoft.  Hector insisted on personally driving us to the airport; would not hear of us taking a taxi or a bus.  He would navigate us through the city streets; on constant vigil for our safety.  Three hours to drive us 12 kilometers.  Three hours in the opposite direction from his own home and family – taking us in his care. 

As with all disasters, there were many heroes – named and unnamed.  But that was 2017; Mexico City; and an earthquake.  Today, it’s another crisis; another natural disaster; another conflict. 

We are all thankful for so many first responders and other heroes – named and unnamed.  May God bless them all. 

GAP 

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

Dates never forgotten…

September 11, 2001 - we still remember.  What dates are never forgotten for you? 

In the novel, A Tale of Two Cities © is the contrast, “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…” both occurring at the same time.  For many Americans, 9/11/2001 seems like a demarcation point between the best of times before that morning and the worst of times after.  That’s when terrorism literally collided into freedom.

Do you remember where you were when news and the images of the planes crashing into the World Trade Centers in New York City were broadcast?  I always will.  In a flash Americans were once again about to be tested on what we can endure during the worst of times.  

December 7, 1945 tested my parent’s generation; October 24-29, 1929 tested my grandparents’.  On a more personal level April 20, 1999 was the worst of times for Columbine High School in my hometown. 

It’s amazing what we can accomplish during the best of times; and what we can endure during the worst of times.  The bad times help us appreciate and enjoy the good times.  Here’s how Ernest Hemingway phrased it: 

Life breaks us.  And when we heal, we’re stronger on the broken parts. 

Our ability to gain strength from adversity should come as no surprise, though.  Our ancestry is made of up generations who were broken; endured; and then grew stronger. Is today’s adversity caused by gun violence, racial injustice, and other calamities akin? 

For those who did not suffer a direct loss of loved ones from the recent (and lingering?) pandemic, our hardships now come in the form of inconvenience and economics.  It’s more arduous today to keep up; we hear "supply chain disruptions"; housing prices are almost unreachable.  Things we once dreamed of seem further from our grasp.  Our available resources are nearing the breaking point.  

But for America, that’s nothing new.  Our country has been on the brink; had parts broken; and healed back stronger for as long as we have been a country.  Was the suffering from the Revolution, the Civil War, the Viet Nam War, the Civil Rights Movement, or any other national, local, family, or personal crisis less hard? 

We are again facing threats to our way of life; and indeed many of our life’s ways need to change.  We are strong enough to face these threats because we come from generations of strength - families who struggled to make for this country, for their loved ones, and for themselves the best of times.  Like past generations, Americans today will have to re-earn the better things in life.  Perhaps we first must re-learn what those better things are: 

To really enjoy the better things in life, one must first have experienced the things they are better than.  

Oscar Holmolka 

Sunday we will reflect on that never forgotten, life-changing event known as 9/11.  As impactful perhaps as  the day an American walked on the moon, or the night the men's Olympic hockey team won the gold medal to Al Michaels’ famous words, “Do you believe in miracles?”  Our Unknown Sage reminds us: 

The First Rule of Life: 

The best things in life aren't things.

America endured October 24^th, 1929; grew stronger after the December 7^th, 1941; my hometown stands firm following the April 20^th, 1999; we’ve overcome 9/11/2001.  Today, American must endeavor to re-unite again.  

We will succeed because we have never forgotten.                                 

GAP 

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

Cost or value?

A friend of mine is a Project Manager for a national insurance company.  He recently submitted an updated investment justification for a technology purchase that was originally approved three years ago.  Turns out, the annual maintenance costs exceeded the initial projections.  The company's executives wanted to re-visit (and re-justify) the cost. 

I found this remarkable because in my sales career, my clients rarely went back and re-justified their purchases.  Let me ask you… post sale, how often did your clients go back to re-confirm the original cost justification?  

Products or services, I believe they all work the same.  George Eckes, a subject matter expert in Six Sigma manufacturing processes, chimed in…  (According to Wikipedia, “A six sigma process is one in which 99.99966% of the products manufactured are statistically expected to be free of defects”): 

About 30 percent of my clients have had a true Six Sigma cultural transformation; about 50 percent of my clients have obtained tactical results that justified their investment in paying my outrageous fees.  And about 20 percent of clients have totally wasted their money.           

Not every technology purchase has to be “justified”.  Here’s an excerpt from an interview published in the March 2012 issue of CFO Magazine: 

CFOs need to understand that you have to keep the core running, says NetSuite CFO Ron Gill.  Sometimes the CIO will say the phone system needs upgrading.  The CFO will ask, ‘What will we get from the upgrade?’ The CIO says, ‘Phones.' 

Way back in 1979 during my very first, B2B sales training class, we worked on feature-benefit drills.  Anytime we came across a feature we couldn’t immediately connect a benefit to, we were taught to use that famous, catch-all, cost justification phrase:  “Save Time; Save Money!” 

Over four decades later, I’m amazed at how often I still hear this phrase.  Maybe you say it yourself.  Oh and there’s the popular derivation that goes like this:  “With our automated, online, interruption, peddle, your people currently performing this task can do more important things for the company…”  More important things?  Such as? 

Much has been said and more has been written on how sales professionals can “cost justify” the sale of technology products and services.  “Value Proposition”; “Return On Investment”; “Total Cost of Ownership”, “Time to Value”; “Automating manual tasks”; what is your favorite justification technique?  (“Save Time; Save Money” you say?  Just shoot me!) 

When the client values the technology we're selling and wants the technology we're selling; they don’t always need a formal justification.  Don’t take my word for it.  ROI and the fact that it is often unneeded has been part of the technology industry for as long as there has been a technology industry: 

What's my return on investment in e-commerce?  Are you crazy? This is Columbus in the New World.  What was his ROI?

                        Andrew Grove 

In my experience, when I understood how the client valued my proposal a closed sale was at hand.  Of course, the term "value" is vague and varies by client.  We know it exists because it connects to the client’s “discretionary funds”.  Discretionary funds includes their original “budget” plus whatever it costs to get what they want.  They may not need it but if they value it and want it, who am I to say no? 

We might all consider seeking to understand what the client wants and then selling to the value.  After all, this approach could Save Time; Save Money! 

GAP 

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

Facing our daily fears…

Where do you turn to find the courage to face your day these days? 

We face much fear, uncertainty, and doubt as witnessed by the blaring news headlines, true?  The de-valuing of our 401k; global warming; job security; what our children post online.  In fact, it was the news of our modern day that stimulated the creation of my slogan: 

When life gets tough, you could get a helmet or … Arm yourself with the Peace & Power of a Positive Perspective.

Fear; uncertainty; doubt; often appear as a “surprise” in my life.  I hate surprises – even good surprises.  I’d rather be in “control”.  

My wife hosted a Halloween, surprise birthday party for me once.  All of our guests dressed in old people costumes.  It was great fun right up until everyone yelled, "surprise!" and my birthday cake appeared.  After the party I thanked my wife but admonished her never to throw me a surprise party again, Halloween or otherwise.  (BTW - my birthday is in February so I was definitely surprised.) 

Sometimes I find myself trying to “control” the lives of my children and grandchildren, too.  I try to protect them from those unknown, painful surprises impacting us all.  Impractical I know; I just can’t help but fear the unknown for me and others. 

I do turn to our favorite Unknown Sage often for encouragement.  He tries to help in the fear, uncertainty, and doubt department with a reminder: 

            Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is. 

German Proverb 

You should consider yourself very lucky if the size of the wolf in your mind has not grown during recent years. 

Perhaps modern man can learn how to face our difficulties from ancient societies.  The ancient Greeks believed their gods inspired man to approach the unknown without fear.  Imagine what our life would be like if we approached the unknown without fear.  

Imagine more faith; less control; more peace of mind; less fear; more courage, even in the face of less certainty.  Where the ancient Greeks emphasized faith and inspiration, are we emphasizing antacids and high blood pressure medication? 

One would expect that the advancement of modern science and our higher level of thinking serve to lessen the fear, uncertainty, and doubt while increasing courage in our lives.  David Ben-Gurion suggested that knowledge and courage are linked: 

Courage is a special kind of knowledge; the knowledge of how to fear what ought to be feared and how to not fear what ought not to be feared. 

OK then; we obviously have things we ought to fear.  We can’t think those things away; or will them away; or gain such tight control over every aspect of our life that we never have to worry about another "surprise".  

Can we apply business knowledge to better understand life’s fears? 

Two types of uncertainty plague most efforts to introduce major new products: known-unknowns and unknown-unknowns. 

Norman R. Augustine 

“Known-unknowns” and “unknown-unknowns”?  The wolf is getting bigger!  Where is an ancient Greek when we need one? 

Can the remedy for the fear we face in our modern lives really be as simple as having the type of faith that prevailed in ancient times?  

To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary.  To one without faith, no explanation is possible. 

Thomas Aquinas 

Thomas Aquinas, a 13^th century theologian and philosopher.  He may not be on Facebook, but he's still a little more modern than the ancient Greeks. 

GAP 

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

Agreeing to disagree…

I'm sensitive about the topic of retirement.  I know the vast majority of my readers are actively employed.  Even my wife is running a successful ecommerce business.  However now that I'm on the sidelines, perhaps I can offer a glimpse into what's happening to people in the working world; the other parts of the world, too.  Seems to be a lot of consternation and conflict, true? 

Ian Leslie wrote in his book Curious© this: 

A user of the social news and discussion site Reddit recently posted the following question: If someone from the 1950s suddenly appeared today, what would be the most difficult thing to explain to them about today?  The most popular answer was this one: I possess a device, in my pocket, that is capable of accessing the entirety of information known to man.  I use it to look at pictures of cats and get into arguments with strangers. 

Curiously, I am from the 1950s and we do use social media to get into arguments with strangers.  I worry how much I've been impacted: 

When I retire, I'll have the time to rediscover myself.  I used to be a nice person. 

Jeri Sedlar 

I've been thinking a lot about my skill and ability to disagree with someone else's point of view without coming across disagreeable.  I mean discussing or even debating different points of view is one thing; raising the temperature to a full blown argument and blasting someone online is something altogether different, don’t you agree? 

There, I said it (actually I wrote it), I'm trying to persuade you to agree with my point of view.  According to this 2020 post from thebalancecareers.com: 

Persuasion is convincing others to change their point of view, agree to a commitment, purchase a product or service, or take a course of action. Oral and written persuasive skills are valued in the workplace. Sales is the most obvious form of persuasion, but this skill is used in many other positions as well. 

Selling skills aside, I've noticed that I become angry too easily these days when I see or hear things going on around me that I disagree with.  Has the art of persuasion been usurped by social media and the ability to just lambast others and their points of view?

The article The persuasion triad - Aristotle Still Teaches, published in 2016 and referencing thought leadership from 23 centuries ago reminds us: 

Aristotle determined that persuasion comprises a combination of three appeals: logos, pathos, and ethos. Anyone seeking to persuade an audience should craft his/her message with facts (logos), tapping an argument's emotional aspect (pathos), and presenting his/her apparent moral standing (ethos). 

Facts, emotions, and moral standing?  I have improvement work to do.  Whether I'm right or wrong, I don't always have to look for a fight.  It's OK if we agree to disagree. 

According to Wikipedia, the phrase "agree to disagree" appeared in print all the way back in 1770:

…a phrase in English referring to the resolution of a conflict (usually a debate or quarrel) whereby all parties tolerate but do not accept the opposing positions. It generally occurs when all sides recognize that further conflict would be unnecessary, ineffective or otherwise undesirable. They may also remain on amicable terms while continuing to disagree about the unresolved issues. 

Agreeing to disagree; remaining on amicable terms.  There's a skill I can work on in retirement.  Wish I started working on it years ago. 

GAP 

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

Missing the point?

We're witnessing powerful trends in the workplace today.  Working from home; the "great resignation"; employee empowerment; a 4-day work week…  Although employees at many technology companies might be feeling less empowered these days - who can miss the headlines about Oracle's layoffs? 

            “EMPOWERMENT”: 

A term meant to give survivors of restructure the illusion they have a role in the company's future.

Unknown Sage 

Then I read in LinkedIn that those laid off employees have received an average of 70 new job offers.  Truthfully, it's hard for me to believe that those 70 new opportunities are equivalent to the jobs they lost.  But that's not the point. 

Emphasis on work-life balance makes me wonder if employees believe their managers are opposed to work-life balance.  I don’t think so, but I turned to a subject matter expert for further insight. 

Wikipedia states, "Clayton Magleby Christensen was an American academic and business consultant who developed the theory of "disruptive innovation", which has been called the most influential business idea of the early 21st century."  Now we're getting somewhere.  Clayton offered: 

In most companies, however, individual managers don't have the luxury of surviving a string of trials and errors in pursuit of the strategy that works.  Rightly or wrongly, individual managers in most organizations believe that they cannot fail:  If they champion a project that fails because the initial marketing plan was wrong, it will constitute a blotch on their track record, blocking their rise through the organization.                        

True enough, but I don’t feel managers avoiding career-threatening mistakes is the point. 

Malcolm Gladwell, bestselling author of  Blink© and The Tipping Point©, thinks remote work is actually hurting society.  As told on the “Diary of a CEO” podcast hosted by Steven Bartlett, Malcolm believes people need to come into the office to regain a “sense of belonging": 

"If we don’t feel like we’re part of something important, what’s the point?” he said. “If it’s just a paycheck, then it’s like what have you reduced your life to?” 

Have you noticed the key, missing element in this discussion?  While employees and employers are playing tug-of-war, there's been a dearth of discussion about the customer.  Another thought leader offered this wisdom:           

The problem was that nobody stayed with the customer to make sure they knew how to use the product… Consequently, they built an eighty-percent market share of unhappy clients. 

                        Rick Page 

I don’t know, and frankly don’t care, whether an employee is working from home; in an office; dressed in a 3-piece suit; or wearing yoga pants.  I believe the main point is how do these work-place trends impact customer satisfaction. 

You tell me…  when you’re interacting with an employee at a company and hear their dog barking or their baby crying in the background, is it distracting to you?  How can it not be distracting to the employee too.  As the customer, do we actually believe a distracted employee delivers better customer service? 

Distractions occur at the office you say?  I agree.  So tell me, do more tenured, more experienced employees do a better or worse job of overcoming distractions at the office?  Again I ask, how can a less tenured employee, who moves from company to company during this period of the "great resignation" provide better customer support than a more experienced employee? 

To me, the point being overlooked is this; lose your customers; lose your job - wherever your job is located and however you’re dressed.           

                                                            GAP 

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