Welcome back. I’ve had a wonderful summer, I trust you have too.
I love nuance. I love seeing things from all sides.
But I also love it when one simple sentence conveys an important point.
So, here are my favourite One Sentence Wonders
(I’d LOVE to hear yours. Please let me know what they are)
First one: customers and colleagues – who are wonderful things – don’t always know how we can best help them. So remember Henry Ford’s comment:
“If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse”
Second one: when we want to make permanent change, we often need to change people’s habits. But simply giving one inspiring rallying call won’t work on its own. This is best summed-up by author Octavia Butler’s quote:
“First, forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. It will sustain you, whether you are inspired or not”
Next: if you’re wondering why your one communication didn’t cause people to change behaviours, remember George Bernard-Shaw’s sentence:
“The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion it has taken place”
Or, when embarking on a new venture/goal/plan… it’s critical to know your desired outcome first. After all, as author David Campbell once said:
“If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll probably end up somewhere else”
(In fact, this quote also works for meetings. Because, when we don’t know the outcome we want… we’ll often have a meandering conversation that doesn’t lead anywhere)
And, if you work in sales, I’m sure you’ve heard me bang on about this one – it’s all about the AFTERs:
“Customers don’t care what you do. They only care why they’re better-off AFTER it”
Or what about this dreadful situation – one we’ve all experienced… when someone screams that something’s urgent, and demands you attend a meeting with them right now, a good response (that you might NOT say out loud to them!) is Bob Carter’s phrase:
“Poor planning on your part does not necessitate an emergency on mine”
So far, all my One Sentence Wonders are quotes from other people. Here’s one more. As far as I’m aware, it doesn’t have a definite creator. But, my word, it’s true…
… When you have a gap in your team – and need to recruit a new person – always remember that, with recruitment:
“It’s better a hole than an a*@hole!”
Action Point
I hope you like these. I do. There are many lessons we can learn from them.
Please feel free to share them.
And please send me your favourite One Sentence Wonders…