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İalchemy, llc |
The
Elements of Successful Effort
Hearts. What
do the people involved really care about?
Minds.
Do we understand what's going on as well as we'd like to believe?
Hands.
Have we found a way to take what we know and feel and make it tangible?
Actions.
Is why and how we do our thing clear and simple?
Prizes.
Is the final result something we can't wait to share and others can't
wait to experience?
These 5 aspects shape a
variety of outcomes. They also challenge many assumptions.
About why individuals and groups do things. About how they prioritize,
and privilege, the ways that 'tradition' or our legacy systems -- our
inertia -- say we should
do those things. In our
shop, as
we go about our work
helping others decide, connect, persuade and build, we try to remember a few
short-hand phrases to remind ourselves not to get caught up in grand
schemes and clever formulas.
- People buy with Emotion
and justify with Logic. Emotion has veto power;
Logic is boring.
- Nobody
ever threw
themselves on a hand-grenade for a spreadsheet.
- What's
in it for me? Make
me feel important. Help me manage my life.
These might appear to
discount the hard-earned credentials and expertise of various skills
and professions. Not true. In fact, we have various Masters' and MBAs
and JDs wandering through our offices, too. Those skills and degrees
are very important. But taken alone, they're also impotent when trying to convince
people that an Idea or a Change or a Decision is "in your best
interest" or "for your own good" or, our personal favorite, "is just
common sense!" We lead with hearts in our approaches because that's
where the energy starts. And because, if you ignore what Blaise Pascal famously tells us
about hearts, you're likely doomed to failure.
- "The
heart has its
reasons that reason cannot know."
Pascal
was a scientist and mathematician of serious reknown. No fuzzy thinker
there. Notice he didn't say that the heart is unknowable, just that
reason alone can't understand or win it over. We agree. This search for
common care is the vital first step in aligning and
mobilizing any community, brand or effort. |
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