Business Insights

I have to note these ideas down so that I do not forget them for life. What better place than a blog to throw in what I have learnt from life! (I miss my personal diary - I hope it is safe at my home, inside my briefcase, so that I may get back to it at a later point in life.)

• Relationship Management. Make strong relationships and use them well. This is much better than kissing a**, because here the other person has an opportunity to use you as well. And when you make use of people, you are actually satisfying their ego. Be grateful for their help! I would love to add some unproved ideas - Be genuine in your relationships. The three pillars of any relationship are - trust, mutual respect and predictability. Lose any of those, and you end up straining your relationship. These pillars are built over time, and are hard to rebuild.
  
• Due diligence. When you try to achieve anything, try to seal the deal from all angles. For instance, when you are looking for a job, don’t just contact one person you know, contact everybody, and make sure that they all know you. Also, find out everything about the company. Now, you have made sure that only 10% is out of your control. Also, avoid complacency. Make sure that you're quick to respond because there is always somebody who does everything you do and much much more!
• Question. Ask the right questions and ask them early. What you lack in your head, you make up with your feet. (Courtesy due) If you have the nerve to withstand the "Mr. Stupid" label, you are guaranteed to come up with a result. And, if somebody says something that is not straightforward, never feel shy to ask where he or she got the data. Most of the time, you find that conclusions are made out of little evidence!
  
• Agree. Perceptions once made are difficult to change. Agree to the perception others have about you. And ask them to help you make amends. This usually works much better than a defensive stance. Ask for help and you will get it. (Courtesy due)
  
• Selling. In consultative selling, shamelessly driving in the value-add that you bring is important. Being modest and expecting the other person to understand is too complicated in a busy world.
• Persuasion. Be persuasive whenever you make an argument. Being persuasive means to drive in your message in every paragraph you write, or every sentence you speak. It is understood that good and bad coexist. You are not expected to show the negative side in any more than an indicative manner when you are attempting to seek support for a venture.
  
• Promise. Under promise and over deliver. If you promised the moon already, you are screwed. In marketing, Value = (Benefit - Price), which is called value-based selling.
  
• Communicate. Communicating your idea is your responsibility. It is not enough to have an idea. You should be able to convey it in a manner that is understandable. Rehearse enough so that the audience believes that you were able to do it with ease.
  
• Simplicity. Keep it simple. Even complicated things can be explained in simple terms. Simplicity is understandable, and anything understandable is worth a try. When you have to convey multiple ideas and your thoughts begin to rush in, "think like a four-year-old, but re-word your thoughts like an adult would do". (Courtesy due)
  
• Exit. Have an exit strategy. Nothing goes on perpetually. In other words, begin with the end in mind. Not to forget the importance of the "backward process" where you make sure early-on that your deliverable are what somebody actually wants to see, for instance, by making mock-up models. This helps us to be proactive rather than reactive.
  
• It depends. Almost usually, there is no answer to a particular problem. The correct answer actually depends. Our job is not to find the correct answer (absolutist thinking), but to find the answer that suits the situation. So the question to ask is not "What is the correct answer?" but "What is the correct answer for this situation? / What does the answer depend on and why?". And, most importantly, do it for the right reasons! (Courtesy due)
  
• Do not generalize. Our stereotypes do not work everywhere. People are inherently different.
• Stop complaining. Bitching does not take you anywhere. For instance, you might know that an acquaintance is not essentially a good person because you have closely interacted with him or her. But if you spell out this opinion to a third person who hasn't interacted as much, you lose your credibility. It is better to let others know for themselves. Think positively, and at least initially separate your analysis of a situation from what your emotion tells you. And, instead of complaining, do something!
  
• Uniformity. Once you have a goal, every strategy you apply should be aligned towards that goal. This is a basic principle of strategy, but we can apply it to every single thing we do. Setting your goal early on always helps because it allows you to focus your resources.
• Stop helping. People do not need your advice and support unless they ask for it. Sometimes it is better to let them roll in the mud and get dirty. Helping can make the other person dependent and less free. And, just to let you know, I am not trying to advise you here - these are ideas that will help me from repeating my own mistakes! Also, when you try to help, you are always helping your own ego. Forgo the ego once in a while!
  
• Resourcefulness. Being resourceful is more important than knowing. Know where you can find what you want, and that is much much important than using your brain to store everything. I can bookmark this blog, as far as I know when to come back and look for help.
  
• Opportunity cost. In other words, Profit = Revenues - Cost. If the cost is too high, then you may still end up a loser. A friend said:
  

"Always watch what the world needs along with your interests and try to get a common field of interest. That way you will not be left just as a revolutionary. Because going against the wind and wish of the people and becoming successful is always difficult. You may at the end find one successful moment of satisfaction. But you will not be able to measure the cost."

• Perfection. If you are doing a crime, better do it perfectly and with dedication! Better not leave that little strand of hair that Sherlock Holmes will search for! And not knowing what to do is OK, but if you are sure that you do not want to do it or you know that you cannot do it perfectly, better not do it at all.

(Courtesy: Sarvesh, Mittal, GW, MH)