A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here.

If you were sitting in Starbucks and heard the following from a man and a woman you couldn’t see, what would your reaction be?

If we can get every business in the world to adopt a global problem, get slightly smaller businesses to adopt a national problem, get smaller businesses still to adopt local problems, then we can get on top of pretty well every problem in the world.

Snicker at their naiveté? Wonder how they would monetize the idea? Drool a bit over the enormous trove of data they would have? Maybe give some thought on how you could get into the action?

Not that you would admit those thoughts in public.

But in the end, you would probably just shrug and write them off as a couple of idealistic dreamers who were unlikely to get anywhere with ideas like that.

Why?

Because they didn’t sound as if they had the passion, the drive, the pure grit, to pull off a truly world-changing idea.

All these scenarios are predicated on the assumption that the people talking were just people.

Would the fact that you were eavesdropping on Richard Branson and his daughter, Holly, cause you to change your assumptions?

Probably.

(Click to read more about Branson.)

Image credit: HikingArtist

A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here

Why is it that we assume the people in our own little bit of world see/do/think as we do.

Think about it.

Do you assume that when faced with choices they will choose as you would?

Do you assume the visions presented by your leaders are honest, true and in your best interest?

Do you assume your religious leaders practice what they preach?

Do you assume your spouse/partner/friend will like the movie/book/people that you like?

Do you assume your team will tackle work/projects in the same way you do?

Think about it.

For any of these assumptions to be true, the people involved would have to have exactly the same MAP and life experience that you have—which is impossible.

So the next time you find yourself assuming stop and remind yourself that they are not you.

Image credit: HikingArtist

When you want to create change, whether of culture, process or something else, there are seven steps you need to follow whether you are CEO or a first line supervisor,

1. Know who you are: This step is strictly between you and yourself, so you need to be brutally frank as to your attitudes, motivation, what’s important, what’s OK to do, etc., if you want to create authentic change.
2. Define your goals: Whatever change you want to effect needs to be well-defined and make sense to those affected.
3. Know what you have: Honestly assess (warts and all) whatever it is you want to change.
4. Be aware of the cost of change: Every/any action has a price and change is no different, so it is important to be sure the improvement/ROI is worth the cost.
5. Don’t assume: The human race functions to a great extent on various sets of unconscious assumptions. In the workplace people tend to assume that people with similar educations, experience levels, positions, etc., have similar mindsets, attitudes and philosophies. Predicating acceptance of change on the assumption of deep, unproven commonality is a recipe for disaster.
6. Don’t overwhelm the troops: Whatever the target and goal of the change recognize that you can’t just come in, make an announcement, and expect people to buy into the vision. Present it in small bite-size pieces and such a way that people feel they have input in the process, which creates a feeling of ownership.
7. Communicate and sell—don’t order and tell: No matter how positive the goal of the change you can’t just walk in on Monday and announce the new whatever and expect people to cooperate for understandable three reasons.
   1. It’s unlikely that anybody will believe you (talk’s cheap);
   2. if you’re new it’s unlikely they’ll trust you (no track record with them);
   3. whether you’re proposing a radical change or just tweaking something, generally speaking, people hate change and need a compelling reason to get on the bandwagon.

In the final analysis what you do carries far more weight than anything you say, so be sure you have the courage to walk your talk.

Flickr image credit: Jannes Pockele

Last week I provided a graphic example of the importance of using capitals when writing; one I believed would be easily remembered and act as a cautionary warning.

Some call me a fanatic because, whether written or spoken, bad grammar in native English speakers makes me nuts, but I believe it’s a reasonable level of fanaticism.

I do expect people who graduated high school or the equivalent, let alone college, to know the difference between to, too and two, it’s and its and lose and loose; nor do I shrug it off when they insert a comma every three words for no apparent reason.

This is especially true in business where I also assume (fantasize?) that they will at least spell check the email or document and do a quick re-read to catch typos like form instead of from.

But I am not a perfectionist as is Kyle Wiens, who won’t hire for any position in his company—from writer to programmer—if they can’t pass a grammar test; nor do I agree with most of those who voiced the opposite in comments.

Moreover, while I believe that my grammar-in-action rates in the high nineties, I doubt I could pass the grammar test Wiens uses when interviewing.

Just because I use grammar correctly doesn’t mean I know all the rules behind doing so—nor do I care.

If you consider all this as lacking much substance consider that Wiens’ post, published a week ago by the Harvard Business Review, has garnered in excess of 2000-and-counting comments.

Interesting argument, but to me, Wiens and his detractors are perfect examples of what’s really wrong in the workplace these days.

Too many managers and workers are evangelizing a black and white, zero-tolerance policy about [whatever] and then doing their best to enforce it within their world.

Extremism leaves little room for being reasonable, which is the approach taken by Madonnahamel when he says, “There’s a difference between being anal and being professional.”

Flickr image credit: g_kat26

Last year I wrote about the pros and cons of AMS (assumption, manipulation and self-fulfilling prophesy). As I said then, although there are positive aspects AMS usually surfaces in a negative way.A client who agrees with how important it is to avoid AMS asked me to come up with a simple, memorable way to present why assuming isn’t a good thing to do. He wanted something that would really sink in, not in a preachy way, but a fun way to which all his people could relate in all parts of their lives.

So I was staring at the word on the screen and that’s when I realized that we could use an oldie to put the idea across in just 13 words.

Now, scattered around the offices are signs that read

Think before you assume—don’t make an ass out of u and me!

Your comments—priceless

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Image credit:  claumart  CC license