“Ideas are the currency of difference-makers.”

• Steve Heston, author of this here blog…

There sure is lots written about currencies these days. Recession’s impact on the value of a dollar. The dollar in comparison to other nations’ currencies. Crypto currencies…

Markets fluctuate, ebb and flow.

Ideas grow in value, especially when they’re sought out, nurtured, celebrated and rewarded, even if they’re not all great.

Ideas, I’ve long maintained, are the currency of difference makers.

Long-time subscribers know my dad was a farmer. Prep the soil, plant the seeds, do everything you can and then hope for good weather. An exercise in Faith if ever there was one.

As leaders, are we prepping the soil to be ready for ideas to be planted? Are we encouraging our teams to bring ideas forward. Are we nurturing, fertilizing, and caring for those ideas?

Some will grow to bear great harvests. Some will never sprout. Some will show up as a shoot and then not survive the light of day. Their value is shared. It’s combined. The great harvests are borne off the volume of seeds we plant, and if we try to hand-pick the seeds that we just “know” are going to be big winners — we’ll fail.

Ideas are the currency of difference-makers. And their value grows, the more we seek them out.

“How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before it’s afternoon. December before it’s June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?”

• Dr. Suess

Willis Reed passed away earlier this week. My earliest “goose bumps” memory is of May 8, 1970, when Willis came limping out of the tunnel in Madison Square Garden to lift his New York Knick teammates to a world championship over the mighty Los Angeles Lakers and some dude named Wilt Chamberlain.

Our grainy, black and white TV and the crappy over-the-air signal it drew down to our farmhouse couldn’t betray the murmur, the buzz and then the ground-shaking roar of the Garden’s capacity crowd, and for a nine-year-old boy who loved basketball and sports in general — the impression was permanent.

I’m not big on “heroes.” I only have one, and He passed a couple thousand years ago. That said, Willis Reed, Tom Seaver, Muhammad Ali — made an impression that shaped the way I’d think, work, and play long after they were done in the spotlight.

Someone is watching us “come out of the tunnel” today. Someone will notice the way we pick up a teammate or whether we don’t.

It probably won’t be broadcasted (although in today’s world, who really knows, right?) and it probably won’t be reviewed on social media 53 years from now. But someone will still be watching. Someone will still notice.

Let’s make it as noteworthy as we can.

“If you walk in with information about you, they consider you a salesman. If you walk in with ideas and answers, they consider you a resource. Which one are you?”

• Jeffrey Gitomer, long-time sales trainer and coach

Gitomer is a good one, usually a relatively clear voice in the static. Even with an over-emphasis on the word “answers,” he covers the spectrum well here, and more importantly, he touches on the holy grail of sales professionals.

Ideas are the currency of Difference Makers.

Ideas transform challenges into strategies. Ideas move us forward, and if we end up moving in the wrong direction, fresh ideas will allow us to course-correct, keep moving and stay in the game.

I’ve never been a “system” guy, or a “methodology” guy, and it’s because ideas have always trumped the system or the method.

https://thehestongroup.com/5478-2/

“Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.”

• John Kenneth Galbraith (1908 – 2006), Canadian-American economist and diplomat

Truer today than ever, perhaps?

One, Galbraith was a diplomat, and diplomacy is in short supply these days. In fact, with all the talk of supply chain issues, why don’t we focus more on the short supply of diplomacy, grace and presumption of good intentions?

Two, even if selling is our career, the act of changing our mind might still serve us better than proving our point. See, as sales pros, we not only get focused on making the sale, we can get wrapped around the axle on how the buyer decides to make the purchase. If we just know that their motivator is “x” we focus all our energy on making that the focus of our “why you should buy.”

What if the buyer gives us a sign that something else is more important? What if we realize that some other element of that thing we sell matters more than the boss or the marketing materials suggest it matters?

In buying and selling, it’s about bringing people together for a common good. In life, politics, love, relationships, it ought to be about the same thing.

Changing our mind — not necessarily our principles or values, and certainly not our morals, but changing our mind within those boundaries — might be the best way to create a safe environment for others to change theirs.

“He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts – for support rather than illumination.”

– Andrew Lang (1844 – 1912), Scottish poet, thinker and literary critic

Using data is a crappy way to change someone’s mind. If all we’re tossing out is numbers, the odds are pretty good that we’re simply repeating the chorus of our song at the expense of the verses.

The story is told in the verses. The story is where the emotional connection gets made with our point, our position. If we’re using data at the expense of stories, we’re substituting something rational over something compelling.

Buying decisions are made emotionally and then rationalized with information, data or facts. I’ve been blessed with some very smart friends, many of whom are actuaries, CPAs, attorneys, and even judges. Even the actuaries look for the “why” behind the numbers, and base their decisions, strategic or otherwise on the stories the numbers help tell. Because the numbers never tell the entire story. Even though the “figures don’t lie” — the wise seller will put them in context and the wise buyer will consider them a part of their decision.

Dad said it differently; “Figures lie and liars figure,” he generalized, and he was on the right path, even though I don’t buy the dark undertone of the position. Business and salespeople who rely solely on numbers might be of a fixed mindset when a growth mindset is key to being viable tomorrow.

If we’re using data as more than a support mechanism, we are likely to lose our way and end up in an icky place. If we’re using stories and leveraging data to prop up the most important elements of those stories, our direction likely matches our intention.

“Arguing with an idiot is like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter how well you play the pigeon is going to wind up pooping on the board and then strutting around like it won.”

• Randy Phillips, Monday Morning Memo March 4, 2022

Long-time subscribers know that I am a devoted fan of the Iowa Hawkeyes, and we’re heading into the peak of college football season. So, what’s the connection to today’s headline and quote?

Three weeks ago, a variety of chess-playing-pigoens on The Tweeter and Instaface or Facegram were calling for the head of Iowa’s legendary head coach, Kirk Ferentz. He’s won 181 games as Iowa’s leader and has placed dozens of young men in the NFL, most of whom started as “Who’s He?” recruits. And three weeks ago, the idiots were calling for the university to fire him.

Most reasonable folks ignored them, on account o’ not wanting pigeon poo on their chess boards. A few well-intentioned fans, God bless them, took up the argument. Only to face lots of pooping and strutting. Because, you see, the Hawks have recorded two straight wins — one against a very bad team and one against a relatively bad team) and now many of these same Tweeters and Sound-Off call-in show hacks are touting “the system,” and expecting Iowa to win 7 of its last 8 games this year. “Build a statue,” they’re shouting…

Sigh.

It’s the same in our businesses. Ask “what’s right?” and get ready for the crickets. Ask “what’s wrong?” and look out for the dump truck of pigeon excrement headed your way.

Theodore Roosevelt said as much in 1910 in his famous Citizenship In A Republic speech (more widely known as “The Man In The Arena.”)

“A cynical habit of thought and speech, a readiness to criticize work which the critic himself never tries to perform, an intellectual aloofness which will not accept contact with life’s realities — all these are marks, not of superiority, but of weakness.”

The key phrase for me is “work which the critic himself never tries to perform.” As Joe South (and later Elvis) sang, “…before you abuse, criticize and accuse, walk a mile in my shoes.” We live in a time when folks who’ve never been in the arena, sit in the bowl of the arena and bluster at the ones with the sweat and tears that come from doing the work.

Just like most people have never coached a Division I, Power Five Conference football team for 24 years and to almost 200 wins, most people who complain the loudest about (insert boss, teacher, coach, CEO) do not have contact with the realities of business. Nor do they have a clear handle on what it takes to lead a team, run or own a business, make the hard decision and open yourself up to critiques from the pigeons with tons of fiber in their diets.

Should we question authority? Yes, if we’ve got an idea of what might be done differently. Should we speak truth to power? Dang right, as long as we’re willing to use forethought and empathy in framing our voice.

Odds are, though, if we find ourselves cynical, aloof or out of contact with reality, we maybe ought to check our tongues and simply do the work.

“This is the famous Budweiser beer. We know of no other brand at any price that costs so much to brew and age. Our exclusive Beechwood aging process produces a taste, a smoothness and a drinkability that distinctlty says “Budweiser.”

• Printed on every can and bottle of Bud and pretty much-required recitation when being put through the Budweister boot-camp. (Oh, and a really solid marketing lesson, too!”)

Memorization ain’t what it used to be, what with the whole Google / Interwebs at our fingertips all the time. Heck, I’m not even sure they teach geography in schools anymore, let alone having kids memorize all the states and their capitals.

And, I haven’t really liked Budweiser since I discovered dark beers in the late 90’s. After growing up in a “Bud” house, and working for Anheuser-Busch selling the “Mother Ship” brand — the taste has left me, but the words on the label never will.

In our businesses, in our stories to the market, what parts are worth memorizing? Retailers used to argue that Miller and / or Coors were “cheaper…” and we’d remind them that we knew of no other brand at any price which cost so much to brew and age. Bartenders had trouble arguing with the taste, the smoothness, and the drinkability… It did, after all, distinctly say, “Budweiser.”

No one memorizes prices. No one memorizes features. No one memorizes deals. Stories, though… people memorize stories. They personalize them. They pass them on to friends and family.

Is our business memorable? Are our stories worth memorizing?

If the answer is “yes,” then we have something upon which more, or longer, or better can be built.

“The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.”

• Michael Porter (b. 1947), American academic, economist and speaker

“I’m in favor of it.”

• John McKay (1923 – 2001), American football coach, when asked about his team’s “execution”

Strategy and execution are two different things.

I am still open, though, to the idea of using one word to address their relationship.

Many businesses are heading into strategic planning and budget season, when it can be tempting to erase (or at least blur) the line between the two. And, if we break the concept down to adverbs – strategy ultimately is the what, and execution is the how that drives us.

Let’s not forget the why…

Why? (See what I did there…?)

Strategy is almost exclusively about the top line (since that’s where all the math ultimately starts), yet for owner / operators it can’t only be about revenue growth. There needs to be a “true north” steeped in “Why?” Why do we want to grow revenue? Why do we want to become the market leader or move up in market share? What does that mean to our customers, our team, our shareholders? Porter’s concept, (also frequently attributed to Steve Jobs, Jack Welch, Jim Collins, etc) is best informed by a “why” that guides us in selecting what not to do. If a strategy runs in conflict to our why, we ought not to pursue it, in other words.

If “what” and “why” are aligned, then the focus turns to the how — execution. Not the kind that Coach McKay joked about when his team played horribly, mind you, rather the kind that determines how much headcount we can keep, how much we charge, how much we discount, how much we return to shareholders.

In budget and planning season, “stratecution” may ultimately be our focus. Let’s just make sure we get the two parts in the correct order, and sandwich a solid “why” in there to balance the two.

“Get your a** around behind you!”

• Dick Heston (1933 – 2002), circa 1970-ish, trying to teach his 9-year-old son to use a shovel

Dad’s point, while it didn’t register with me for about eight more years, was that if I’d keep the shovel working around my body, it’d move more grain and I’d look less like a bag full of squirrels trying to fight over the last acorn of the season.

But that’s not my point.

My point is that we ought to put our “but’s” behind us. As in “leave them permanently in a closet, behind something heavy.”

If you’ll forgive me for going all English major on you, unless it’s used as an adverb (“There is but one God…”) it’s argumentative. You’re a great kid, but… I love you, but… That’s a fair offer, but…

Even if we argue that our intent isn’t to be contrarian, the word has come to erase whatever came before it in the sentence.

Arguments that contain “but” are only as productive, but way less funny than Dan Akroyd and Jane Curtin on Saturday Night Live in “Point / Counterpoint.”

So, let’s put our but’s behind us. Permanently, perhaps.

“You’re a great kid, and I can sense how frustrated you are. Let’s try to figure that out together.”

“I love you, and I believe your intentions are good. I think there’s common ground for us if we’ll focus on it as a starting point.”

“That’s a fair offer, and I think I have an idea based on your offer that might work even better for both of us. Would you like to hear it?”

Yes, making the bt-to-and shift might be even more difficult than trying to learn how to use a shovel with your dad barking at you. AND, it’ll dang-sure be more rewarding.

“One of the most important things is to have empathy for the people we work for…”

• Simon Sinek (b. 1973) on the subject of Speaking Truth to Power

I’ve always been willing to speak truth to power, and occasionally without the empathy or compassion that Sinek calls for here. It’s cost me, big time. It’s the reason some of my closest friends love me and the reason that some of my greatest detractors don’t. To that second group, I’m sorry. I wish I’d have been more empathetic.

So, with that said…

We live in a time where it seems like more and more of the Emperors are all nakedy up on the back of their horsies. Yet, before we go all Roseanne Roseannadanna on them (“HEY! You trying to make me sick here?!), it will probably serve us well to consider their stories. Their motivation. Their goals. Their dreams. Their realities. Their fears.

As our economy ebbs, and as the world we’ve known has less and less in common with the world we’ve known — it’s easy to presume that layoffs, price increases, supply chain glitches, disagreements and decisions are simply cases of leadership losing touch with the “little people.”

But here’s the deal. We’re all little people in the big picture. Where can we find common ground?

We see it in politics, and while I hope it’s a passing trend, it alarms me that so few appear to stand for something, perhaps because they’re too wrapped up in being against something. We see it in sports. I sat with 69,000 of my closest friends Saturday and listened to too many of them scream horrible, hurtful things at the storied coach of our favorite team and his 22-year-old quarterback. Things they wouldn’t say to a sworn enemy. Things they certainly wouldn’t say if that coach or quarterback was sitting at the table with them.

We see it in our workplaces, and in our homes, sometimes without realizing the toll the past few years may have taken on our clients, our co-workers, our kids, and our spouses. We’d love to speak our truth to power — or anyone else who will hear it — but are we willing to hear their truth, to understand their “why?”

It’s not ironic that Simon Sinek’s best-selling book is “Start With Why.” And it’s not ironic that he leads off today’s post. Because when we focus on someone else’s “why,” we earn our way into their trust, and then, when we help them connect to their why, we earn our way into their hearts — and trusted and loved are two good neighborhoods for us to seek residence in.

It’s extremely important that truth gets spoken to those in power. It’s just as important for empathy to be part of the message.