A while back, one of
the sales guys I know intentionally left his job without a new one to go to. I was surprised at how they were quietly
confident that they could land their next gig without any problem - they have
lots of practice selling themselves and their products/services. This is in stark contrast to my technical
colleagues who would be freaking out in this situation. This made me stop and think - what is
different given both technical and sales deliver value? I put it down to how we measure our
successes.
Completeness as the measure
I believe technical
people usually measure their success by their completeness
(breadth/depth/accuracy). And when I
consider my education it was all about being able to prove or demonstrate that
I "knew" my material and could apply it across various
situations. Correctness - within a
"black box" - was the measure of success. And let me be clear, correctness is important;
we don't want bridges falling down!
Success was a finished product within time, budget and quality
constraints. The why and the value
people might get from that product was (understandably) not covered.
Value as the measure
From what I can see
of my current gig in technical sales, it is all about value; the value of what
you offer, matching that offering to a need (fitness) and finally realising
that value (execution). Identification of
your value and their need is just as important as being able to communicate or
articulate it in a way that can be consumed.
The measure of success is much simpler; a successful transaction.
Perception and Paradigm
I never realised how
skewed my perception was to completeness and how at odds it is with the way the
world works. Looking at nature I see
that nothing is immortal (complete), yet everything still thrives in messy imperfection. In fact, it is that imperfection that can
lead to new and wonderful things; incomplete and imperfect is paradoxically the
heart of innovation. Innovation through
short iterations ensure that the right value is added (and removed) to be
"fit" within an ever changing environment.
Challenge
My challenge is to
not fuss about completeness or perfection and focus more on identifying,
articulating and delivering value.
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