Tag: People

People & Projects

Post author By jrlsage
Post date December 4, 2017

You need both!

The saying “your network is your net worth” feels trite to me.

Even now, when I type it, it gives me the feeling that “networker” at an event, handing out business cards. You know how they work, going from person to person asking the “right” questions to see if someone is worth the trouble of “linking” with.

I hate that guy (or girl).

Same thing with the idea that you just need to ship projects.

The saying “if you build it, they will come” has sunk teams for decades now.

They saying is awful because it leads to the genius in his bedroom stereotype, who has all the know-how in the world but needs an NDA to discuss it. Trust me, even if you signed it, it isn’t worth the ink that you used the NDA on.

What is the alternative?

Taking the people and projects approach. Making sure you connect with people and build your tribe through outreach, meetups, and coffee. Speaking with them about the work you are doing (and you are doing a project!) while having a genuine interest in where they are, regardless of “status.”

Because the secret is, both of those caricatures are right; they just go about it all wrong.

Tags People, projects, shipping

Blog Post

Take Someone Out

Post author By jrlsage
Post date October 29, 2017

Have lunch

When was the last time you had lunch with someone?

It is a massive opportunity.

Think about it, when else during the work day, do you have 30 minutes to an hour, to chat with the person of your choice.

As management guru Tom Peters notes:

Manage your exposure to people who make you uncomfortable. The average Brit or American has 220 work days a year – that’s 220 lunch opportunities. Go to lunch with other functions. Invite a car dealer in. Invite a restaurant owner, even though you run a finance department, just expose yourself to people who look at the world in a different way than you do.

Lunch is where people relax. You’ll learn more about the company, the team, or the project over a slice of pizza than 30 meetings.

Why? Should there be spreadsheets?

NO!

Learning about the person in front of you, their mannerisms, stories, and interests, will get your insight, which is worth more than facts.

Every business is in the human business. We haven’t been taken over by the robots yet.

Tags lunch, People

Blog Post

People Know More & Less About You Than You Think

Post author By jrlsage
Post date October 12, 2016

Surprise!

People around you (trusted advisors, mentors, bosses) tend to know more about you than you think:

Who you are
What you’ve done
How you’ve felt in the past

They know little about:

What you are thinking
What your plans are
How you want to do things, conduct business, uplevel, create/invent/compose?

They are our mistakes, and it is our future.

We hide our decisions from others. We are afraid of our mistakes in the past swallowing up the potential of the future.

“They remember our last mistakes, why even tell them?”

It might sting, and there is something useful in hearing your old mistakes from time to time. You miss out on context by not telling them. The hints to your past are a roadmap to errors in your future.

Like the Romans who left a slave to say the emperor “you are only a man” after a triumph, sometimes it’s good to get a little dose of someone else’s perception.

They see mistakes you haven’t, and the hints to your past are often a roadmap to errors in your future.

Even if it hurts, the beautiful thing about the future is that is in our hands.

Most people aren’t out to get you.

If you open yourself up, you’ll find that people are often out to lift you.

Tags community, Focus, hiding, People, Understanding

Blog Post

Connect the Circles

Post author By jrlsage
Post date May 18, 2016

We all know a ton of people

Google Plus, a social media service, has a concept called “circles.”

In them, you place people of a certain quality. For example, your brother and sister go in the “family” circle. The people at your job go into a “job” circle. So on and so forth.

You give each circle a particular update, share particular things and give priority.

When it first was created, I thought it was a genius idea because that is how my mind worked, compartmentalize and keep people in their circle.

It’s a good way to sort. Not everyone needs to know everything.

With that said, if you notice a connection that can happen from one circle to another, try to connect them. Bringing someone relevant to you, with the eyes of an outsider, can lead to great breakthroughs in their own work.

Maybe they know someone too?