Creating a Culture from Scratch

March 20, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Obama’s Social Media Digital Dream Team came to CU’s ATLAS center and spoke on “How Technology, Social Networking and Analytics Helped Secure a Presidential Reelection.  Regardless of your politics, you have to admit what they did reshaped the engagement landscape.

The panel included:

  • Chris Gansen, Engineering Lead, Dashboard, @cgansen
  • Jason Kunesh, Director of User Experience and Product, @jdkunesh
  • Dylan Richard, Director of Engineering, @dylanr

The intense passion and brainpower were inspiring; I’d love to work with any of those guys. Here’re a few tweets to get a flavor of the conversation:

  •  Engineer recruiting pitch “this is going to be the worst job you’ve had” and “you have a chance to impact history”
  • Pitch to potential volunteers – “How wd you like to work for the President”?
  • When people are running w hair on fire – “slow is smooth, smooth is fast”
  • Can have tons of data but it’s nothing w/out a clear, concise way to tell the story.
  • Engineers learned most fm “making it fail” game day. How things actually failed was different than how we thought they wd fail.
  • Everyone is an expert at something you just need to find out what it is.

I was fascinated by the nothing-BIG SOMETHING-nothing quality of their experience.  Basically they started at zero and then cranked for 18 months. During that time they created 200 apps, among other things. Then, whoosh, it all spiraled down the drain the moment the election was over.

As you can imagine, this dynamic presents all sorts of interesting individual and team performance considerations.  Jason talked about establishing culture starting from scratch. He described an iterative process of sharing Story of Self to create that bond:

  • Meet with a colleague.
  • Share a personal Challenge, Choice and Outcome.
  • Notice what we have in common.
  • Now we have a Story of Us.
  • Find another colleague and repeat.

 Elegant. Simple. Profound.

 

(Also on my mind: DailyDebriefApp, created in conjunction with @spikex, is now available in iTunes. Check it out on Facebook )

Share
Filed Under: Culture, Daily Debrief App, Difficult Conversations, Networking, Team Performance Tagged With: , , , ,

The Art of the E-Intro

December 16, 2012 by 4 Comments

The internet and tough economy have combined to accelerate our ability and appetite for meeting strangers. Not just random strangers, but people who work at companies we may want to do business with, work with or learn from. We can easily search our contacts to find someone to make that intro, and most people are receptive in a way that was unimaginable only a few years ago.

Sure you can whip together a quick:

 “Hi Bob, allow me to introduce Karen. We had coffee this morning and I think you two would have a lot to talk about.”

If Bob really trusts me and has some time on his hands (ha!), he may reach out to Karen. Otherwise he’s left wondering what the common ground might be.

“Is this Karen person going to try and sell me something? Is this intro work-related, or is Cindy subtly fixing us up?”

A great intro leaves nothing to guesswork and inspires a sense of possibility that makes it impossible to ignore. Here is a (modified) Real Life Example with markers highlighting the key features:

Hi David,

(A) I remember your telling me that if I find good talent to pass them your way. I’d like to introduce you to a colleague of mine, Lori Martin. (B) While she’s been highly successful as a medical equipment sales rep, her real passion is early childhood education. She would love to be selling products that ensure every child is kindergarten ready.  Naturally, I thought of you and your tools. (C) Lori is great at turning cold leads hot, always beats her targets, and shares what works with colleagues so the whole team wins. Sounds like the kind of person you like to work with!

(D) I’ve cc’d Lori here so you each have the others’ information.  Feel free to reach out directly.  Enjoy!

Cindy

Here’s how the “formula” breaks down:

A. Get their attention in a way that warms them up to what’s coming.

B. Share some context about the people you’re introducing. Be specific enough to intrigue them, but keep it brief for efficiency.

C. Throw in a personal observation about their strengths/experience to solidify the reason to connect.

D. Be clear about how to proceed.

One last tip, for the Subject, make it obvious so they know what the email is about now, and when they hunt for it later. E.g. David Meet Lori

Yes, an intro like that takes some time to put together – possibly as long as 15 – 20 minutes, and it shows. Readers learn important details, know why it’s worth their while and even feel a bit flattered.

Don’t whine about not having the time.  Yes, sometimes when you’ve spoken to both parties you can just say:

“Hi Bob and Karen, by now I’ve mentioned you each to one another. I think you’d enjoy meeting and discussing your mutual interest in in-bound marketing. I’ll now leave it up to you two to connect, enjoy!”

But when it really matters, like making sure a job application or proposal gets read, you truly honor your contact and that relationship by making a special intro. Who knows? Maybe one day they’ll return the favor.

What other tips can you offer on the Art of the E-Intro?

Share
Filed Under: Networking, Transitions Tagged With: , ,

When Did We Become Such Narcissists?

March 1, 2010 by Leave a Comment
The net and associated communication tools have affected us in obvious ways, as well as less obvious ones.  On the later list, would be our sense of appropriate response time.  In the olden days, i.e. when I first started working, we used DHL to courier instructions to our Hong Kong supplier.  It “only” took 3 days.  Then the fax came along and felt like a miracle; we would hear back within 24 hours.Now, people send an email, go make a cup of tea and are miffed if they haven’t had a response by the time they return.Okay, so maybe not all of you have become so ingrained with e-instant gratification, but I do see a lot of self-flagellation when job seekers, salespeople and networkers don’t get a quick response when they reach out.   It’s amazing what we make up to fill the void:

  • I guess they found someone better.
  • They must’ve heard (fill in your Dark Secret) about me.
  • Even though they asked for the proposal, maybe they didn’t mean it.

Usually a less than immediate response is more about them than you! We’re really busy people – thanks in part to net-related  info overload, expectations of immediate communication, and compressed timelines.  We’re also juggling more travel, elder care, child care, etc.  A lack of (instant) response is more likely due to:

  • Being laid low by the flu.
  • Needing input from several people in different time zones.
  • Moving cautiously in a trembling economy before committing.

So next time you find yourself going down the dark alley of self blame and parking there*, remember it isn’t all about you.  Consider,  “what could be going on for them?”

*A favorite metaphor, courtesy of my dear friend Anita.
Share
Filed Under: Networking, Professional Development Tagged With: , , ,