Monthly Archives: July 2017

TNF #095: Charting your course

Welcome Professionals…

… Today’s edition of TNF is inspired by the summer vacation period. Some of you may have read last year’s blogpost about “Surfing the client”, TNF #044. I went wind surfing on the Lake of Garda in Italy back then and wind surfing is exactly what I do this week.

Surfing and sailing provides us with a rich set of analogies for business life. During the year we are constantly out there on the open water, coping with different weather conditions, sometimes surfing new business opportunities and sometimes fighting the upcoming thunderstorm. We need to adapt to the terrain, the wind, the water. We have to pick the fitting gear every day and need to make sure that we make progress towards our goals and do not drift away.

Vacation time is a period where can step out of the water. We can sit on the shore and reflect the period behind us. We can make new plans for the time ahead and chart our course for the future. We can address some basic questions that need a regular review. From my point of view, twice a year is a good frequency for charting your course.

Charting your course: Where do I want to go? Do I clearly see the fixed star for my course
Progress assessment: Did I make progress into that direction? Where do I want to make improvements?
Equipment planning: Do I have all the resources, capabilities, tools and systems in place? What do I need to add or get rid of?
Milestone setting: What are my next milestones on the way to my goal?
Determination: How do I feel when I reach my next milestone? What will I do to celebrate this success?

I am writing this while sitting on the shore of Lake of Garda, watching my kids aquire some new wind surfing skills. Wishing you all a great summer vacation period!

Use the time for charting your course!

Malte

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TNF #095: Challenge your work

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Welcome Professionals…

…I am currently doing some writing. Actually, I am not referring to this short TNF blog post, but a 3-page article that will be sent to CEOs as a marketing paper. It is a work that I could do all by myself. I could probably come up with a version that is pretty good. At least one that is good enough from my point of view to be distributed. But I know that my view is biased.

To create something that is of an effective quality, I need to challenge my work with some outside-in perspective. Right after I had the first draft – essentially the outline of the article – I brought in a newspaper journalist and a marketing professional who review each iteration. They relentlessly criticize every version of the draft and make me go through it again and again. They do this in a constructive way, they also make some suggestions on improvements.

When we have a final draft, I will show it to a representative of the target audience and also get his comments. I will most likely have to re-work the thing again.

The process hurts. It is a nuisnace to iterate the same text again and again. That is exactly the point. Without the challenge group, I would not do it. I would give in too early. To meet our highest quality targets, we must challenge our work from the outside. By experts who feel comfortable to speak up and call us out.

Not giving up,

Malte

TNF #094: Break free

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Welcome Professionals…

…Last Friday I broke free. I was relieved of my cast on the right hand after 6 weeks. I already shared some learnings from this time when I could not use my right hand. Today, I want to draw some conclusions.

The handicap affected me most in: handwriting, typing, operating the mouse/trackpad, and – surprisingly – shaking hands.

I recognized how often we shake hands in Switzerland and how awkward it feels to grab someone’s right hand with my left hand. The people who were alert and spontaneous enough to put forth their own left hand earned my admiration.

My key learning experience evolved around writing. Here I have built some new habits that I will seek to maintain:

Taking less notes. I enjoy being able to make some handwritten notes in conversations, but I will be less exhaustive in the future. I will have more presence by taking wrapping up the essential minutes after the meeting.
Making use of Siri dictation. This is a great way of being more effective. Dictating a report or email on the go after a meeting can be quicker and more efficient. It can also be liberating to work outside of the office rather than sitting in front of the computer most of the time.
Using the phone more often vs. email. I recognized – once again – how much more powerful a direct conversation can be, instead of sending an email.

After all, I am very happy to be both-handed again. May the good things remain.

Hope you are all in the pink,

Malte

TNF #093: Keep focus

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Welcome Professionals…

…I know, many of us chose the profession of a top management consultant for the high variety of topics the job provides. There is hardly one project like the other. Many young graduates join consulting to see a variety of industries and like to work as a generalist in the beginning. I was the same when I started.

However, it is so hard getting started without any specialization. In fact, I think the only way to get a grip in business is through radical focus and specialization. Finding a topic, a niche industry, a special craft that is key to establish a standing as an expert. Then, when you have built the expertise and your personal brand, there will come opportunities to branch out and widen the focus bit by bit.

I was talking this week to a consultant who is trying to do business development across various industries. She was tackling IT, private banking, industrial goods, consumer goods and retail and medical technology – all at the same time! What’s more, she distributed her efforts across many geographies from Europe to Middle East. This is a very obvious example of wasted energy. And I am not blaming this person – she knew exactly what went wrong and decided to focus in the future.

It may be hard in the beginning to choose something and leave so many other interesting choices untapped. In a world of unlimited opportunities, we all suffer form FoMO – fear of missing out. The good thing is, it does not matter so much what we pick. Once we have mastered this area, we will get to diversify from there. To make a dent, we clearly must keep our focus.

Stay focused,

Malte