Being Professional
In a conversation with someone who had been in business a very long time, the subject came around to professionalism. This gentleman bemoaned the fact that some of the people he had been dealing with were somewhat less than he had experienced. He explained, “Telephone calls aren’t returned, people are curt, not friendly, less than social and barely civil. It appears from my perspective that essential work is not completed in a quality manner and it is often late. Clients bear the brunt of this, but the people who work with these professionals don’t like it either.”
While he recognized that times and people had changed, he said that many so-called professionals weren’t professional at all.
“Professionals,” he said, “do it even if they don’t feel like it. They do it to a higher standard because they have higher standards. They set an example in all that they do.”
Your Street
Everyone drives the roads, highways and expressways where we live and work. Generally, these roadways can be put into one of three categories; one way streets, two way streets and dead ends. Business relationships can be looked at the same way.
People on dead ends offer nor take anything from others. They are dead ends in terms of exchanging information and probably don’t know or understand the value of relationships and the concept of sharing, or they may understand it completely and not want to bother with the process.
People on one way streets are takers. The flow of information and exchange is very one-sided; it goes one way only and if there is little, if anything coming back. Actions speak louder than words and it soon becomes clear to those who deal with this kind of individual what the true nature of the relationship is.
Those on two way streets are comfortable with the give and take that goes into a balanced relationship. This is the best kind of business relationship, because both parties are trying to use the combined resources available to improve both interests. Sometimes “score” is kept, but more often it is not. Even if this street is narrow, traffic flows in both directions.
Planning Scenarios
One of the big problems with planning is that many have become programmed to think in terms of “either or.” Our brain says, “Either it will happen or it won’t.” For many, this is a cop out.
This type of thinking tends to make decisions rather simple, but it doesn’t allow much room for being either optimistic or realistic.
Another way to consider planning is to take the possible outcomes and divide them into three categories. The first would be “best case” where it all works out, no hiccups or problems. The CAVE people (“Citizens against Virtually Everything”) just laugh at this scenario because once they know what the best case is, you can bet they will be strong in their efforts to make sure it doesn’t turn out to be the best case.
The second case is the worst case. Everything that can go wrong will go wrong and plans are made accordingly. Optimists don’t like to visit this scenario because it makes them feel negative.
The third case is the middle case; the realistic view. This is the “most likely” scenario. Things won’t go as planned, but the goals will be achieved, probably late, over budget and with some problems.
Yoda’s Words
In the movie “The Empire Strikes Back” Luke Skywalker spends time training with Yoda, the Jedi knight. At one point Yoda tells Luke to perform a specific task, to which Luke replies, “I’ll try.”
Yoda looks at Luke and speaks clearly: “Do or do not. There is no try.”
The next time you set out to do something, don’t just try. Anyone can try. Aim to do, finish the job to the best of your abilities.
Tile Molds
