By definition, you can believe whatever you want. And yet I don’t think most of us remind ourselves of that. In fact, we may look at this aspect of believe with disdain. But, what if we embrace it? We all hold beliefs, 1000s of them. For example, that you should look both ways before crossing the road. Certainly something very…
Category: Meaningful Management
How to listen to what you’re saying
A few days ago I mentioned that teachers occasionally find themselves explaining “this example is probably overkill.” For example, when a tourist asks for directions and you give them twenty routes instead of one. What I didn’t mention was the irony with which one can say something but not really take it to heart. I’ve found myself doing this when…
Integrity is not consistency
Last week I talked about preaching being more important than practice. Part of the reason the phrase “practice what you preach” is so popular is because we humans are tuned in to disparities between what one extols and what one exhibits. In a heart beat we know if someone is saying one thing and doing another. We have an intuitive…
Preaching is more important than practice
It’s easy to take offense when someone extols a virtue that you don’t feel they exhibit. I’ve been called out on this many times. For example, when someone accuses me of being inconsiderate, I’d rather not react in kind with “how dare you.” I’d rather listen and see if I can understand why the other person is hurting. I’d prefer…
How to create new services that customers will value
If you want to find new services to provide to your customers, try this contemplative process: Find the gap between the service you provide now and what the customer values. For example, most dry cleaning stores in NYC will pick up your laundry, they’ll wash it, fold it, organize it and return it back to your house. But, we all…
When criticism should be praise
I was reviewing a presentation today when I felt disturbed by the specifics of an example. The example was helping people look at the contents of a very large text file on a computer. At first glance the file appeared empty. That seemed like a bad example, why not have some contents to scroll through? Then, I realized, at the…
Being reasonable about negative reviews of your business
People have to realize that the majority of consumers aren’t scouring twitter to read every flippant, irrational tirade. And even if they are, they won’t automatically indict the business. We have to put the problem into perspective. There are sites that can impact customer perception, sites like yelp and trip advisor. It’s important to know what percentage of customers are…
The past is as uncertain as the future.
Surely you can relate to the notion that the future is mysterious. This is troubling to many of us, in the form of anxiety. Part of the unease with uncertainty is a false sense of certainty about the past. It’s as if after something happens, we are no longer uncertain about it. But, ask yourself, what did you do a…