Steacy.net

Toby Hecht taught me that businesses don’t exist. He was speaking about this from the standpoint of trying to talk to IBM. Toby says, “Try it sometime. Call and ask to talk to IBM.” While I recognized this as profound at the time, it took me a while to figure out where I was going to apply this insight. Where could I have this thinking show up more powerfully for me?

Ultimately something occurred to me. I noticed people were speaking to me about situations they were in or situations that they were trying to produce (such as getting an appointment for a sales call) and they would say, “I had a sales call at IBM today” or “IBM isn’t interested in our product right now” (I’m just using IBM as an example). And I realized how ineffective this speaking can be. It’s not very rigorous nor professional because–as Mr. Hecht had pointed out–IBM doesn’t exist!

I would have to ask, who did you meet with at IBM? Who isn’t interested in our product right now? If we began talking about the people involved, focusing on them, our conversations would be a lot more effective. From this insight I resolved never to speak like that except when doing so thoughtfully. Similarly, I’m going to encourage the people that I’m working with to do the same.

Now that you’ve read this post you may begin to notice people speaking about interacting with things that don’t exist. Most importantly, you may find yourself speaking this way. Depending on how you want to show up in business you may want to catch yourself and correct it. We can’t sell to, coordinate, cooperate, communicate, partner, team or do anything with something that doesn’t exist. We do these things with people.

Charles Handy is Visiting Professor at the London Business School, writer, and broadcaster. Those of us who are continuing to develop our Reading The World skills will note that in this interview Handy cites economics, demographics, and technology as the forces of change ending what he calls “the employee society”.

You’ll want to read this interview if you want to know more about these claims:

- Organizations are changing, with three types emerging in the future.

- “Leadership” is beginning to replace “management”.

- Education for tomorrow will go on all the time.

- People will have to learn the skills of selling.

In Into Thin Air author John Krakauer recounts an ill-fated expedition on Mt. Everest in which 4 out of the 6 climbers died. One of the tales of that disaster includes the story of an airplane pilot who had reached Everest’s summit earlier that day. He later told Krackauer that he had recognized dangerous cloud formations and saw the early signs of an impending storm that would claim the lives of 4 climbers. Krackauer recalls “…he told me that he recognized these innocent-looking puffs of water vapor to be the crowns of robust thunderheads immediately after reaching the top. ‘When you see a thunderhead in an airplane,’ he explained, ‘your first reaction is to get the f**k out of there. So that’s what I did.’ ”

This story has haunted me since I first read it several years ago, not just because of the disaster itself, but as a potential business lesson. This airplane pilot was a unique observer. He saw imminent danger when others only saw “innocent-looking puffs of water vapor”. This story has spurred me to ask, What are the equivalent warning signs for a business disaster? Would I recognize them and more importantly would I recognize them in time to get out? I’ll share some danger signs I’ve experienced in future posts. What are your danger signs?