Tag Archives: quality

don’t give them an excuse

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bill mccreary image from nhl.com

some nights in hockey — especially if your team has a reputation — referees will blow the whistle a little more than usual. it just happens that other games are merely called tight with little room to interpret the rules. whatever the cause, you never want to have your players cutting ruts to the penalty box.

on the bench during those kinds of games, there’s a common saying that gets passed around among coaches and players: “don’t give them an excuse to put you in the box.” it’s a simple message. even if what would normally not be called an infraction earns you a 2 minute trip to the sin bin, as a player you have to be smarter than that and adapt. you can’t give the referees any excuse to call you for it. keep the sticks down, keep both hands on your stick, and watch the play along the boards.

business can be much the same with clients instead of referees. some might love everything you develop for them or the kinds of services you provide, but others may be insatiable still and find flaws with anything you bring to bear. if you know you’re dealing with the latter, follow the same simple rule: don’t give them an excuse.

don’t give your clients a reason to question the validity of your statements; be sure to practice each and every one of your presentations and always perform the proper amount of due diligence in defining answers to their questions.

don’t give your clients a reason to believe that your products are broken; test, retest, and test some more until you’re absolutely certain that your products or services are programmed properly, or mathematically sound, or have multiple research studies to support them.

don’t give your clients a reason to feel like they can go elsewhere and get the same service; go out of your way to prove your organization’s commitment to them by answering their phone calls promptly, replying to their emails the same day, and generally making them feel like you give a damn about them as customers.

if you’re dealing with a difficult client, don’t complain if they’re bitchy or a hard-ass or they’re calling bad penalties. just don’t give them an excuse to call one in the first place.

where’s the beef?!

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a lot of effort goes into making different types of work products. still more effort needs to be done to make those work products worthwhile for the end user. and, believe it or not, even more effort goes into making those work products easily repeatable and scalable.

it’s all about infrastructure.

but sometimes — even though you try to approach it from the right angle — people don’t care about the process, what it took to get where you’re at, or what vision you have for where you’re going to get to. sometimes people just want the beef.

and they want more of it.

so what do you do when leadership, the boardroom, the market, asks “where’s the beef?!” two things:

  1. give them the beef
  2. pray like hell it doesn’t come back to bite you in the ass

consultants consulting consultants

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image by eqqman, flickr artist

it’s pretty easy when you’re working hard on a project to become engrossed in it.  all your energy becomes focused on one thing, and one thing only: delivering results.

be careful, though, because you might be delivering the wrong results.

when we get that kind of laser focus sometimes it’s hard to break free from it.  ”i have a deadline, i have to get this done, and i have to get it done right now.”  so, being the good workers we are, we start to work towards accomplishing that goal.  unfortunately, we sometimes go down the wrong path in getting to the finish line.  instead of looking at our available options, we pick the one we know will work even if it has consequences.  we’re not as efficient anymore.  our processes can be improved.  our tasks are disjointed.  our products don’t provide value.

these things happen, and they happen often.  it might start with priorities that all become worthless because every task now has ‘critical’ or ‘high’ importance.  it might start with a demanding client who asks you to turn a demo into a fully functional work product within a week.  but at the end of the day, it’s just something that happens.  that’s why i think — especially for those of us who work as consultants — that it’s so important we don’t forget to turn a consulting eye on ourselves.

what meetings are we having?  do they provide value?  has the mission of our project team changed?  do we still have the same goals in mind as we had 3 months before?  6 months before?  12 months before?  does our leadership structure still serve the client well?  does it serve the project team members well?

these questions and more are questions that need to be answered, but — perhaps more importantly — they need to drive tangible change.  it’s really simple to ask the question (i just did!); it’s a bit more difficult to implement changes based on the answers you get in return.

sometimes you just have to look in the mirror.

competition vs. collaboration — how far can you jump?

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image by unclebumpy, flickr artist

i recently came across a post on wired.com’s science section about american bullfrogs and their leaping ability.   in short: when in the wild, bullfrogs have a certain expectation of maximum leaping distance which scientists have previously measured at 4.3 meters. however, at a county fair in california’s calaveras county their bullfrogs have been known to leap over 7 meters when involved in their frog jumping competitions.  that’s quite an improvement!

in business, it seems everyone is focused on collaboration; on finding synergies and maximizing productivity.   but what if we increasingly looked not towards collaboration on our teams, but towards competition?  how would the game change then?

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who killed mom and pop? a discussion on quality

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i have a close relationship to mom and pop because i used to work for mom and pop back in high school.  it was a small shop around the corner from my house in south philly, italian flag painted on the floor of the storefront.  we took pictures of our frequent customers and would hang them on the walls; it was as much their shop as it was our own.

sal — the owner of the store and my boss — wasn’t a young man anymore, and you could tell that time wore on him harsher than to most people.  when you work your whole life — from the time you’re 5 years old till you’re in your 60s — buying and selling produce for your family’s storefront and also a large group of independent restaurants, your body starts to wear out.  in some ways it sounds a romantic story — the american spirit lived out by italian immigrants: unquestionable work ethic.  uncompromising reserve — but here’s where the story turns tragic.

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5 reasons your presentations suck

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image by HikingArtist.com, flickr artist

image by HikingArtist.com, flickr artist

my first “5 reasons..” post seemed to be fairly popular, so — ever the entrepreneur — i figured i’d capitalize on that success with my second installment. this particular list takes a look at your presentations.

if you’re a consultant like me, you live in powerpoint. you may even begin speaking in bullets. you turn everything you touch into simple, easy to read, easy to understand outlines of information.. even when it’s probably better to choose some other form of communication.

hey! we all do it (don’t lie. just fess up already). the problem is that many of us were never given the proper training, or the education that we did get on giving presentations was a bad one. so i hope that you take a look at the reasons after the jump here and make the necessary adjustments for your next presentation.

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5 reasons your meetings suck

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photo by Woman of Scorn, flickr artist

photo by tiarescott, flickr artist

i couldn’t tell you the number of times people have said to me, “i wish i wasn’t in meetings all day; i’d be able to get some actual work done for a change.” if i had a nickel for each time someone moaned or groaned about having to go to a meeting, i’d have easily paid my student loans off by now. it’s no secret: meetings suck.

but they don’t have to!

if a meeting you’re in is ever boring, or uninteresting, or leaves you totally disengaged — you’re doing it wrong. read through these 5 reasons your meetings suck, and learn from them. Continue reading →

don’t sell bad cantaloupe

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one of the hardest things to do — if not the hardest — is to tell someone you don’t want their money.

in the business world, it’s important to realize that your prospects for money now can hurt your prospects for money later. investors know this. you don’t sell stock when the market is on an up-swing. your $20 a share stock can turn into an $80 investment. but when it comes to selling services, there’s not much indication of a trend. this is what drives leaders to rash decisions.

you also wouldn’t sell stocks when they’re at rock bottom. i learned a valuable lesson when i was young (young-er anyway!) about the value of honesty and how client satisfaction changes everything. i sold produce for 5 years and in that time span, the most important sales were the sales where i didn’t sell anything.

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