Posted by Robert Merrill on July 14, 2009 under uFunctional Values | 
I heard that. Stop laughing.
No less than the Harvard Business Review just confirmed what I felt all along—the only reason I can sell at all is that I sell for a company I love.
Read the third comment to the HBR article—it saddens me, but also renews my determination to be different. Right now, uFunctional is just me. I love what I do (most days, anyway) and I believe in it. Get me started talking about software-intensive businesses and how to form a combined team of bizzies and techies and create value by creating software, and you can’t get me stopped.
It’s a problem. I just posted a comment to Roxx Allaire’s post, “What are the 7 Keys to Success in Sales,” that a key skill is Listening. Oops.
If uFunctional ever grows beyond just me, I hope I have the courage to keep it a team that those who represent it can love, and summarily fire those who would undermine that.
Failing that, I hope I have the courage to scuttle the whole thing.
Posted by Robert Merrill on November 28, 2008 under uFunctional Values |
I sort things out. I make do with what you have. I get something done.
I sort things out. From our first no-cost meeting, I’ll be sorting things out, in a curious, non-judgmental way. How does your business work? What software are you running, and where did it come from? Read more of this article »
Posted by Robert Merrill on August 13, 2008 under uFunctional Values |
What a strange topic for a consultant’s blog!
Not really.
Executives engage a consultant because things aren’t going great. The situation is a mess, and it’s their responsibility, and they’re not sure what to do. So they’re anxious, and maybe a little bit ashamed.
Employees don’t welcome a consultant because they and their work will be evaluated and judged by a stranger. So they’re defensive. Or maybe they greet the consultant with open arms because at last someone is going to speak truth to power. So they’re hopeful—maybe too hopeful—and are about to be let down, again.
I always remind myself of these things when getting started. Yes, the situation is probably a mess, but not on purpose. There’s history, and a lot of decisions that probably made a lot of sense at the time.
A client is a group of people, with knowledge and with feelings. I must learn from them, and before they will teach me, they must trust me. Then I will advise and instruct them. My advice and instruction may hurt, and before they can receive it, they must trust me even more.
My success depends on them, and their trust. In order to begin earning that, I must show compassion.
Not such a strange concept for a consultant after all.
