What Works: Hack your way to success
I guess you could say I joined the growth and development industry because I had a distain for the growth and development industry. I got REALLY tired of their cookie cutter processes and solutions. I got even more tired of the monthly subscription fees or the program ticket prices of those one size fits some tactics. When I opened What Works (it was Coaching at the time), I pledged to do what was right for my clients, not just what worked for my wallet.
See, just as our fingerprints are all uniquely different, the fingerprint of each business is too. If you have found yourself frustrated by things that haven’t worked for you, I have some hope. Not every process will work for everyone, every time. It’s at times like this I encourage you to hack your way to success.
What, Diane? Hack into my computer systems? No. Hack into the way you do things, your processes and systems, to see if they actually work.
Yesterday, I was speaking with a client about the way she approached sales. She had followed all the advice. She had bought into all the programs. “It’s not working,” she lamented. To which I replied, “and its not going to unless it works for you.”
How do you figure out what works for you? You track to hack.
Hacking Tip No. 1: Track your successes. You don’t have to do anything special. You can track successes on paper, on a white board, in staff meetings, or talking to your dog. Just become conscious of your successes. What you focus on increases. So you will start seeing more and more of them, too!
Hacking Tip No. 2: Ask — What made this successful? When you know the components of success, you can re-create success. Who was involved with the success? What did you do differently? Was there any part of this success that was a challenge? How did you handle that challenge? Have the courage to bravely question the source of your wins.
Hacking Tip No. 3: Make connections and new processes — When you have the process for a win, track that. Track what works to create more of, you guessed it, what works. Create policies that work. Document procedures that work. Train staff with playbooks that work.
Hacking Tip No. 4: Be agile — Be open to new data and how that might impact what works so well. There’s no long-term success in business as usual because variables are always changing. If you are stuck not growing, not succeeding, not making more money — it might be because you aren’t agile enough. Be willing to unlearn what you think you know!
Know this, how can you hack your way to success? Did this column give you any new ideas? The floor is yours, Carson City.
ABOUT DIANE DYE HANSEN
Diane Dye Hansen has more than 20 years of experience in communication and change management gained in the sectors of government, non-profit, healthcare, publishing, advertising, entertainment, and technology. Her Critical Opportunity Theory helps organizations and leaders turn challenge into opportunity through proper leadership and team communication.
She is the president and founder of What Works Consultants, Inc., a consulting firm which helps business leaders communicate when communication is hard. This is done through research, strategic communication planning, change management consulting, human resources recruitment and training. She is a columnist on CarsonNow.org. To meet her and learn how she and her team can help your company, visit What Works Consultants, Inc. online at www.whatworksconsultants.com.
- Carson City
- Advertising
- Business
- Business
- carson
- City
- computer
- connections
- cookie
- Development
- dog
- Experience
- Government
- Growth
- healthcare
- help
- hope
- Inc.
- Industry
- Leadership
- learn
- money
- Monthly
- new
- non-profit
- online
- Opportunity
- planning
- President
- program
- Programs
- Proper
- research
- sales
- staff
- Technology
- training
- White
- Entertainment
- Inc