Reality Jumping

I'm bummed out, someone looked at my house and may buy it, I don't want to move.
I'm so excited, we met with the customer for two hours and know we're going to work with them, isn't it great?
My subordinate knows as much as I do on this project, she'll do fine, so I can now move on to other things.

The above examples happen daily. We jump to a conclusion and act as if it's real. Then we obsess on what it's going to be like, how things will be better or worse and so on. Sometimes we think this is a good way to think. It's positive thinking, isn't it? Actually it's not. It's plain foolish. It's not based in reality.

That kind of thinking, reality jumping, is wasteful and it takes our eyes off what we're supposed to be doing. Whether it's trying to sell a house, land a deal or work a project, we have to act as if nothing's been concluded (a sale, for example) until it has actually happened. Otherwise, we lose opportunities and spend emotions needlessly.

It may sound like a downer, but until the house sale is closed, it ain't closed. Until that client signs on the dotted line, they ain't a client. And that project you dumped off to someone else is still your responsibility. That's reality.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com

Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery Center

Way back when I had a music career and had a full head of hair (well, maybe a fuller head of hair is more accurate), my buddy Dick and I went to California to meet with record producers to sell our band.

We would eat lunch at a hamburger joint and then make phone calls from a payphone bank (back in the days before cell phones you had to find payphones to call from). While we were on phones calling to set up appointments, we were entertained.

The entertainment? Every few minutes, like clockwork, people would walk by on their way to the plastic surgery center next door. We got to see actors, starlets, rock stars and various famous-types in person, looking like they really look.

What did I learn? Well, some of them were not at all good-looking, in fact some were were downright scary looking. Others looked better in person than I thought they did on camera. Some were not in very good shape, many were very small--one megastar (who is till a huge star) was a pint-sized guy, not the big, robust heartthrob that we knew him as.

They were just people, no different than the rest of us, certainly not close to perfection. They had their own issues, some looked happy, others not. Maybe in a different universe, we'd be the movie stars and they'd gawk at us.


Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com

The Myth of a Tough Economy

Don't buy it. It is not true that companies and salespeople are hungrier during a down economy. That's a myth.

If you're a manufacturer and you believe your dealers are automatically more aggressive in this economy, think again. If you're a dealer and think your sales force is going to work harder than ever to serve the client, think again.

This is not necessarily a bad situation for everyone.

It is a tragedy for the company that doesn't go back to its roots and get its hands dirty in the trenches making progress. That's what we have to do today. We have to get basic and realize why we're doing what we're doing, why our company is in existence, and what kind of impact we can make for our customers. If all of that is lost, then so are our hopes.

I've only seen one kind of success in this economy: the company or individual that sees this downturn as an advantage to stand out, to make a bigger difference, to be even bolder than before. That's reality.

Barry LaBov
LaBov and Beyond
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com
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PB&J Newsletter

I Met This Famous Guy

Back when I had hair, I was in a rock band. I loved, and practically worshiped, some of the great rock bands. I recently met a guy that was involved with many of my rock-and-roll heroes.

I couldn't wait to ask him the questions I'd stored up for decades. Then I met him.

Basically, every question I asked was dismissed. His view of the era was dramatically different from mine. You see, he was a performer in the era; I was a spectator. I glorified what he was involved with. He looked at it as his job - one he really loved, but a job nonetheless.

Freud said "Sometimes, a cigar is merely a cigar." Sometimes we (I) blow things out of proportion when they are merely no more than what they are.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com

Reality Ain't All It's Cracked Up To Be

As a former washed up, two bit musician, I like going to see "tribute bands"--those rock bands that dress up, act and play like the classic rock bands from the past. I've seen tribute bands cover the Beatles, the Doors and others.

I just saw a Doors tribute band and along with much of the audience, I was disappointed. The band was confused between songs, they played and sang sloppy at times and they didn't play the songs that we came to hear--they played some obscure songs that were better off not heard. My wife turned to me during one of those songs and asked, "What song is that, I've never heard it before." I answered her, "It's the least popular song from one of the Door's least successful albums."

It dawned on me what the problem was. The tribute band was too realistic--the original Doors would have behaved the same way--playing songs they liked as opposed to what the audience wanted, for example. Most of the audience wanted to hear the Doors greatest hits played and sung well note for note just like they did on their albums. Like the original Doors, this band didn't pay attention to what the audience wanted, it just wanted to be the "Doors."

Maybe this same holds true in business. People love a message that feels good. They don't want needless realism if it gets in the way of that message or that feeling.

Maybe reality ain't all it's cracked up to be...

Barry LaBov
LaBov and Beyond Marketing Communications
www.labov.com