The e-newsletter from Forrest Workshops
From the pine...
Fragility. The word's come up in a few conversations of late. Client groups talking about once-were-bedrock suppliers who now appear shaky and uncertain about their future plays. Previously-solid humans struggling and buckling beneath overload and taking a time out. About professional opinions - in the past, encapsulated and delivered with conviction and steel - now wobbly and less resolute.
Maybe it's a function of information and choice availability and empowerment. The more we know, the less we know is absolute, the more terrifying our choices become. Because there are so many flavours of yoghurt in the dairy cabinet to choose from. Because there's someone out there, visibly spruiking and deploying the 180 degree opposite approach to yours, and it's really lustrous and gleaming, and it looks like it's working, and so good odds you might be wrong or redundant.
Maybe it's a manifestation of frustration, of an occasional sense of futility, that the more we do and the harder we push, the slower the progress feels, the deeper the mud, the darker the clouds can appear. Because we're doing more in a transparent world, we see more failure (and it's perversely celebrated, even considered a badge... but it soooo hurts). And so we stop going full-boots-in (because boots-in means bigger bruises and longer recovery).
Maybe because we want it all, and some days in the lucky country it feels like we can have it all, and there's someone on every street corner saying you CAN have it all... and yet we don't, and that's confidence-eroding ("maybe it's me?")
Maybe, in our modern obsession with Agility, in doing away with the anchor, we've exposed our sometimes-brittle selves to the full buffeting force of the winds. Agile becoming fragile.
Hell, maybe it's just an unwillingness to sometimes stay stum, stoic, suck it up. Concepts frowned upon by many now because we're hyper-conscious of when internalising it goes bad, and we've gotten better as a species at recognising, understanding and supporting fragility rather than feeding it to the wolves. Maybe sometimes we're overcompensating.
If you're feeling it in your mob, this sense of fragility, at your next team workshop, think about (and talk about) why. Consider the consequences of it persisting, and put your heads together on what you can do to shore it up, solidify it (even with uncontrollable outside forces at play). And if you want a catalyst for the conversation, a touchstone you can use as a non-fragile rallying point? Take 'em back to the purpose, the reason, the legacy-defined-in-advance.
Whatever else cracks like eggshells in your world, the resolve to fulfil your purpose is one thing you better be pouring concrete into regularly.
Troy Forrest, Forrest Workshops & Strategy Road.
Talking Workshops
2 minutes on filtering your future terrain analysis brain dumps
Strategic play – defence, offence or omnipresence?
With a finite resource kitty, a band of talent that's never as wide as you'd like it to be, and some priority choices staring you in the face, the mental wrestle for the modern strategic leader includes this pearler;
"Do we strike out anew, first, fast, early, and get the disruptor's jump into fresh future fields of clover? Or do we (wo)man the trenches, hold the line, bear the strong arms we know how to use, and protect the gold and our relationships with the current gold givers (waiting for the "disruption storm" to pass) before making time-soaked next-step decisions?"
Then there's both. Cake-and-eat-it strategy. Do what you already do well (more) and do new in a way that fits you (extra). This of course is very appealing for what (should it be successful) might land on your dinner table today and tomorrow. But appreciate its limitations - it's spread-resource, spread-risk, maybe-spread-thin thinking. It's halving your strengths, your value proposition - where are your best and brightest deployed? And it's potentially dis-unifying if one part of the boat starts taking on water while the other part steams ahead (you're either tempted to cut the cord on the flailing, or you slow progress to bring 'em aboard the better ship (and abandon the outsiders relying on the deliverables that might be realised if you'd bailed long or hard enough).
Decent strategy for any enterprise striving to exist, be relevant and fulfilling purpose (bridging to legacy) in years ahead must embrace some diversity (if your entire life savings is in Bitcoin, sleep will probably elude you.) A balance of "stick to known knitting" and "tread considered but uncertain new paths". It buffers risk and lets you feel smart when one of your chanced arms pays off. Continually weigh the merits of focusing on the work you know versus that which is different, as well as the price you pay to spread afar (versus the price you pay by not changing). Then ask yourself the question, "would another dollar, another human, another effort in this sphere, likely deliver a greater return-on-purpose-fulfillment (ROPF... I may have made that up) than spreading that dollar over these other speculations?" Who knows?
#Strategy is the #HardDecisions.
From Tom Peters, Re-Imagine, 2003. That's, like, FIFTEEN years ago...
The Green Room
Good wood from smart guest contributors. This edition…. Peter Alderson, Shield Insurance Brokers (Risk analysis & protection strategies),
"Business risk protection in the cyber age".
Customer Sir-Vice Priming
Five physical movements to kickstart a kick-ar$e human interaction with a customer;
1. Raise your eyebrows (your eyes will widen with it)
2. Expand your lungs (breathe in, your shoulders will go up and back)
3. Widen your smile
4. Open your mouth a little
5. Press your palms together
That’s the service professionals equivalent of pulling your footy socks up before you take the field. The next movement is all lips, tongue and jaw, joyfully working in synch to deliver your personalised brand-aligned variation of “Good morning sir / madam, how can I help you today?”
Align. All pull hard. Go again. (Serendipitous metaphor, spied on the Yarra, Gotham).
Workshop observation...
If you’re in a tightly packed room for the day, and you want blood flowing;
a. get 'em up up regularly,
b. get 'em into tiger teams, and
c. get 'em going all Banksy on Butchers Paper. The art needn't be good, but the energy is.
Seeds
3 Socratic Question buckets you can ask your client to drink from...
1. Evidence... "why do you say that / think that?"
2. Consequences... "what'll most likely happen if THAT happens?"
3. Alternatives... "if that path is blocked or doesn't pan out, what else could be done?"
Strategy Roads... foggy.
The Swarm Guide
Meet Strategy Road Associate Bevan Roberts, a specialist in advising businesses, business owners and leaders readying a business for sale. Bevan guides family businesses, SMEs, large corporate enterprises and Boards in matters of business sale and purchase, succession planning, business valuations, value maximisation strategies and more.
Blooming
Investing in trust…
Nice little triad of exercises from Psychologist Michelle McQuaid to build your trust account;
- Map your trusters - with your name in the middle of a page, surround it with the names of the people and groups that you know truly, deeply trust you. Any gaps? How can you fill them with trust-earning actions?
- Give away control - delegate, empower, share.... trust others and see it reciprocate
- Ask for input from others - sincerely, not lip service. Actively seek and embrace the experience and talents of others and try employing it.
Sober perspective - most'da work you're doing? Means 2/5 of diddly. (Yorke Peninsula dawn)
The bravery of the executioner
The modern self-aware professional has come to accept that they are fallible vessels with a finite capacity - a limit of how much they can hold in their head, on their shoulders, before spontaneous combustion occurs. So time management 101 involves "firing" something from your to-do list, from your day and mental / emotional real estate. A client or colleague that doesn't pay or just sucks the life force from you. A task that used to pay bills or that built experience back when (but is now just habit without adequate or foreseeable return). A process not worth its weight.
We're pretty good at spotting the fruit rotten on the branch - the stuff that is well past its used by date and logic demands you cull it. It's stinky. Off. If those tasks, or people, are in your world, then you've been slow to recognise them, you need to sharpen your senses to catch them earlier in future, and they need to be gone, like, now.
We're somewhat less proficient at spotting the about-to-turn fruit. That, superficially, looks OK, but on closer inspection, really has no bright future, is past its best, and any value is on the downside of the curve. These about-to-be moochers of your time and thought often give you subtle emotional signals ("just doesn't FEEL right; something's different..."), and the challenge is to listen to that voice, and then to scratch the surface, and if you you see the early signs of rot and your hunch grows, take action on it.
The REALLY challenging bit is bud thinning. Stripping fledgling, healthy (but surplus, or variegated, or non-desired) things from your world to make room for the growth and thriving of the genuinely long-term valuable. The challenge here is these buds don't look or feel bad, and indeed they might grow into something terrific in time... but they're starving the truly important of time, nutrients, Oxygen, and so the opportunity cost you're paying in letting the non-purposeful pieces live on your to-do list, in your contacts folder... it's too high.
Great time management isn't just smacking the obviously rotten off the branch. It's actively removing the healthy (but non-aligned) to enable the small handful of genuinely powerful people, processes and plans to dominate your days. Brave enough?
Worth a Bo Peep...
Jeremy Gutsche created and runs the terrific TrendHunter site, whose work seeks out patterns emerging on the cutting edge of... well, everything. If you're looking for thought fodder, for emerging haute couture ideas in any market, his output is worth checking out. Here's a collective of keynotes he's aggregated, for a smorgasbord of perspectives on what customers are looking for. https://www.trendhunter.com/course/speeches-on-contemporary-consumerism
Luft balloons* (imagine...)
Juxtaposition... things next to other things. Complementary, or contrasting, or compounding, or just makes-sense-t0-be-neighbours. The brooch with the earrings, the kerchief with the tie, the candelabra next to the vase. Aesthetically juxtaposed. Then there's practical or efficiency juxtapositions. Putting sales next to marketing. The conceptual creatives next to the content curators. Customer service next to dispatch. The kitchen next to the can. Your discount coffee card next to your credit card in your wallet. Commercially beneficial juxtaposition? The florist opposite the cemetery. The donut shop next to the cop shop. The gin joint next to the shoe joint. The impulse chocolates at the supermarket checkout. Imagine your saleable offerings sitting smack bang beside
a provider, adjacent a location, where your perfect clients are frequenting. Your cases of cheap'n'cheerful wine beside the grey-nomad-packed caravan park. Your bookkeeping services next to the light industrial park. Your gallery of fine art beside the Jag dealer. Maybe the juxtaposition could turn into collisions and collaborations?
Consider spaces and precincts where your light will shine brightly in a sea of grey - juxtaposing with the bleak (mind you're not perceived having fleas laying with hounds). Consider the clustering of brands you'd be delighted to be mentally associated with and how you can sit, or advertise, beside them. Are there sequential juxtapositions that make sense in your market? "After they think this, they do that, and then they'll want this, and history shows that this behaviour comes next..." The aperitif leads into the food ordering leads into a trip to the loo that then becomes appetisers and... Consider your social media posts and the juxtaposition opportunities (and traps) with your pre- and post-content, and with what else is going up and hanging around.
Where might "putting something next to something else" be a chance for you to bundle, to piggyback, to associate, to shine and synergise, in 2018?
Anything looks scary with the right backdrop...
Slide deck specials
So simple to look at on a slide... so challenging to apply every client, every day.
Workshop heirarchies
Who does the facilitator pay most attention to?
- The boss / ultimate outcome owner - particularly pre- and post-session, but checking in regularly with eye contact, nods, morning tea side-bars and opening it up for their special comments when the time is right.
- The vehemently interested - who've invested themselves, are obviously working to contribute to and derive something of meaning from the session. Who want to collaborate, who grease the conversation wheels and help the person at the front of the room keep energy and flow and focus where it needs to be.
- The so-called stars - who you were worded up about in advance, who you know the boss is really hoping takes the bit between the teeth in the session, sets the example and, by virtue of their talent, delivers a platinum-level ROI from the time in the room. Sometimes they're part of the 2nd group, sometimes they're not. The facilitator keeps an eye on them, but doesn't serve anyone by kissing the ring they feel they wear.
- The agitator - it'd be lovely to say they come stone cold motherless last in the pecking order, but the reality is they threaten to derail the intent and mechanics of the workshop system if left unchecked. Part science and art employing their discomforting approach to the session in a productive way (or at least quarantining it), but they can't overshadow the main game.
- Everyone else. The quiet. The meek. The viewers. Unkindly or unfortunately, some passengers, some sheep, those waiting for a spoon feed or a drench gun and dip. Glassy eyes, who are easy for the facilitator to speak at generically, but empires have required less energy to build than it takes to activate the enthusiasm of some truly passive workshop participants. They're in the room, so they're important. Just last-important.
Workshops are buffets. The facilitator is street front spruiker, maitre d, concierge, waiter, chef and plate creator. But the work of consumption lays with the participant, and those visible champing at the bit get the most love.
The trees for the woods…
"cause that's what it's all about...
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Thank you for reading!
Forrest Workshops custom-builds and facilitates team workshops on topics ranging from strategic planning, leadership and sales practice development, to innovation, customer experience creation and collaborating with your supply chain in an evolving market. Based in Adelaide, serving clients nationally and internationally, from SMEs to Fortune 500s.
Committed to facilitating purposeful teamwork.
Contact Troy Forrest from Forrest Workshops on 0430 308963 or troy@forrestworkshops.com.au for a discussion.
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Contact Troy Forrest, troy@forrestworkshops.com.au