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When Everything Becomes a Business

It is unfortunate that in today’s world that everything has “become a business”.

Test Cricket — “nothing more than a business”
Professional Football — “a money-making venture”
Fine Art — “basically a form of entrepreneurism”
etc.

While it is accurate that these and other pastimes can be seen as businesses, I think it is a mistake to argue forcefully that they can all be reduced to mere financial concerns.

It is true that they all have commercial aspects, but untrue that they should be seen through this lens exclusively. Everyone suffers when this happens, and when it happens too often a certain cynicism creeps into even the most altruistic activities, such as volunteerism and donations.

It is almost as if there is an accusation that if a cricketer is not viewing, for example, his career as a business, then he is not being realistic, or not being professional.

This might have a grain of truth, but it is also true that a test cricketer is not a mercenary. To think of what they do as “just a job” is to reduce the activity of playing cricket at the highest level to the most empty kind of employment.

The greater truth is that business-leaders are desperately trying to move their companies away from being entities whose only relationship to their people is one of trade — my money for your time and effort.

Instead, companies are at their best when people are able to lay aside such interpretations and are able to approach their jobs as if they are volunteers, with the kind of fervor and commitment that enhances their experience of being human, and deepens their working relationship with their co-workers.

It is tragic when a young professional allows the “commercial trade” that is a necessary part of their relationship with their employer to override all over concerns, even the concern for their own frame of mind.

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The New Approach to Creating Slides

In an earlier post, I wrote about the new ways to use PowerPoint slides, emphasizing pictures rather than words.

I have some examples of how my slides have evolved over time from being full of bullet points, to being driven by emotional images that help the audience to focus on the words I am saying, rather than those on the screen.

I have found a book that goes even further and provides a template and a way of thinking about presentations that is just excellent.

In the book Beyond Bullet Points, the author, Cliff Atkinson, makes the point that a good presentation is like a movie script, and the different scenes that are shot in the making of a film.

He has done an excellent job of reducing a movie to its elements, and applying the elements to a different purpose.

Movies have a basic structure, he argues. They begin with a particular background setting, against which a protagonist (usually the star or main figure) is going along in their life until some tragedy strikes that must be resolved.

The movie is about the steps taken to resolve the crisis, and at the end there is some kind of wrap-up to bring things to completion.

(Of course, there are amazing films made as a departure from the basic structure, but most departures are amazingly awful.)

A presentation or speech is no different, and the template he provides to structure a speech in 3 acts like a movie or play is a real breakthrough in thinking. He also advocates using PowerPoint slides as pictures with a minimum of words to build emotions at different points of the presentation.

I recommend it highly.

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HR Consultant Networking

At different times in the past I have been able to land projects but not been able to adequately staff them with the kind of people I really would like to have.

In fact, the problem has been so acute, that I have sometimes have felt as if I could not bid on larger projects because I could not find the right team to execute it.

Partly motivated by that problem, I recently started up a message board for HR Consultants.

This discussion list will hopefully become a home for those of us who are working in this area.

Click below to be taken to the message board:

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Why Framework Sells the Way It Does

I recently had the opportunity to solidify the way Framework does its selling.

Most of what passes for “selling skills” focuses on making the quick sale, which involves convincing a single person that they need to make a buying decision.

Unfortunately, this approach does not work for complex projects, products and services that involve more than a single buyer, or a significant dollar amount. Here in the Caribbean, I consider a “significant” sale to be more than US$10,000.

It all usually starts with a call initiated by either a prospective client or ourselves in which we discuss a potential problem. At this point, we only have an inking that a potential collaboration might exist.

The next step is to validate the problem through a round of informal interviews, in which we ask those impacted by the problem if they agree an issue exists, and whether or not it is worth putting time, effort and money into a solution. We try to get at the nature of the problem — the cost of its continued existence, and also whether or not it is a priority item, or should be a priority for the company.

Once these interviews are done, and we agree with the company that the issue is real, we sit down with them to co-design a solution, and issue a discussion document describing the solution.

After the discussion document has been validated, the following three questions are asked:

  1. What is the problem costing the company?
  2. What return can the customer expect?
  3. How much should the customer invest to achieve the desired result?

Once these have been discussed, a proposal is written to capture in writing what usually has already been decided.

In an earlier post, I shared why I run from RFP’s, but that was before I read Exceptional Selling by Jeff Thull, which put my years of experience selling projects in perspective in a powerful way. He shares the same point of view, and urges a salesperson of complex products to walk away if their standard process cannot be accommodated.

The problem I have had in the past is that I have been too willing to write a proposal based on a single conversation, with one person. The results of these proposals are usually problematic for both Framework and the prospective client — in short, no-one wins.

There just is no short-cut to the trust that is built when a process like this one is used.

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CaribHRForum 2007 Survey Results

The members of CaribHRForum responded to a simple survey in 2007 on their priority areas of interest, and how the forum could be expanded. The results have been compiled here, and include a copy of the actual survey instrument used.

To receive a summary of the results, you are invited to send an email to hrsurvey2007@aweber.com. Upon receipt by our auto responder, a confirmation email will be sent to your email inbox, which you must respond to in order to receive the report. Simply click on the link that looks like this when the confirmation email is received:
————————————————————————————————————————
CONFIRM BY VISITING THE LINK BELOW: http://www.aweber.co?/??????

There were some great suggestions, and I was surprised to discover which topics were of the greatest importance to HR practitioners. Someone suggested doing a more -in-depth survey of the entire memberships of HRMAB, HRMATT and HRMAJ — the three largest bodies. I think the idea has some merit.

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Framework’s Strategic Plans

I am toying with the idea of sharing the content of Framework’s strategic plan — and basically making it open source.

Why do that?

I have a hunch that I would gain more from sharing it than keeping, and while there might be some loss of “competitive advantage” of some kind, I believe that it would be minimal, and even be minuscule.

I’ll start out by sharing the broad themes and then give more detail as time goes on.

Here are the”statements” that Framework’s 2007 strategy is built around:

Marketing Tagline: “High-Stake Interventions”

Vision 2030: FWC is a world-class Caribbean-wide consulting firm, with a core of partners, excellent support staff and a virtual, cohesive network of independents.

Mission Statement: In partnerships with our clients, FWC intervenes in Caribbean companies to provide unique, practical solutions to difficult people problems. We use the best ideas in the world combined with the latest technology to produce both results and experiences that are unattainable without us.

Audio Logo: Working with Caribbean executives on their most difficult/pressing/top of mind people issues relating to service, motivation, culture and productivity.

Who We Are: Framework Consultant: Great minds, Great hearts. Lovers of life, excitement, fun and a challenge in every assignment.

Values/2007: The Tao, Perfection, Giving, Truth to Power

Brand Promise/Attributes: Bring sunshine, Newest thinking/innovation, relentless, speak truth to power