I was recently engaged in a conversation on the topic of change. The context was will things that worked in the past always work in the future. You can imagine that I took the side that suggests that pat performance is no guarantee of future success. My opinion is well documented on this topic. The other party suggested that my opinion was limited and frankly, wrong. Like any debate, we look for a clear winner. I thought I won and I am sure my counterpart thought he had won. This got me to thinking. What if we were both right?
My personal opinion is that there is fundamental truth. Some would argue that much of truth is cultural and here again there may be two correct opinions. We are all born with a sense of right from wrong. Some of this may be cultural conditioning, but much is also inherent in humans. For example murder is wrong in any culture. This is truth. There are many more examples, but I want to bring this back to our world.
So how does this apply to a debate on the success of the past and future success? It lies in the value of timeless truths. Said another way, when our actions are governed by timeless principles, we will definitely find past success being reproduced in the future. If you are talking about selling efforts, I maintain the following are a few timeless principles.
1. Helping the Customer – our best opportunities present themselves as problems. Someone is having a problem and we deliver a solution that meets or exceeds their expectations. Help starts with concern and interest for the customer’s perspective.
2. Understanding the Consequence - We can’t solve a problem unless we understand the issue and its consequence to the customer. The latter is important because a problem with little consequence may not compel a prospect from choosing our solution. On the other hand, a small problem with grave consequence may be an excellent opportunity.
3. Deliver Value – value is what someone is willing to pay for. Knowing what a customer values is critical. It seems to me that companies that do this well, have a system to ask their customers what they value. They ask in a variety of ways and listen intently. Then great companies do more of what their customers want and less of everything else.
4. Behavior Determines Success - Regardless of the “times” - someone always wins. What determines the difference? It is most certainly the habits of winners that make a difference. Study any person at the top of their field or game, and I will show you someone with talent and exceptional habits.
5. Finish What You Start – This one is hard for me, but in life we are measured by what we finish, not what we start. When we finish strong, it speaks volumes about our products and services.
6. Question Everything – the Japanese perfected the process of asking why, five times to determine the root cause of an issue. This was probably invented by a 5 year old and usurped by Taiichi Ohno. Too often we react and correct symptoms rather than the root causes of problems.
7. Never be Satisfied – Good enough will never last. Someone is always getting better. I have a BlackBerry that is two years old. In two years, the following improvements have been made by RIM. Camera, games, touch screen, video, navigation, instant messenger, music, multiple ringtones, smaller, lighter, and a sharper screen. The Storm is a reasonable approximation of the iPhone, but not quite. I wonder is Steve Jobs is satisfied. If he isn’t, then why should we be satisfied.
I could go on and on, but I think my original point is valid. Principles are timeless, like truth.
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