Accidental Entrepreneur: Anticipation
Hi Everyone,
Welcome to my 16th weekly article as this week is called “Anticipation.”
Being able to anticipate and contribute to the end goal comes down to 3 P’s: Preparation, Participant/Participation, and Presentation.
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My goal is to be able empower folks to go after their goals and reach their full potential!
“எண்ணித் துணிக கருமம் துணிந்தபின்
எண்ணுவம் என்பது இழுக்கு”. — திருக்குறள் (467)
“Consider, and then undertake a matter; after having undertaken it,
to say ‘We will consider,’ is folly”. — Thirukkural (467)
In the last two articles, I discussed the way of asking questions and listening by enabling others to provide information to optimize the overall interactions + learnings for both parties. In this article I want to elaborate on the ways to have effective conversations. This is important for studying, teaching and leading successful teams. The basic concept to be successful is Anticipation!. I used 3Ps, Preparation, Participant/Participation, and Presentation, to achieve the end goal by anticipating the various situations/scenarios.
Preparation: Everything starts with how prepared a person is. You can be the smartest person in the world or a well experienced person. Learning the fundamentals of the problem and coming up with answers or solutions to the problem at a specific time can go a long way toward achieving the ultimate goal.
As an example, when I started my career at Rockwell, right after graduating from Stanford, there were close to ten fresh graduates with similar degrees who joined the team. My foundational knowledge and how I trained myself during college made me stand out from others. Looking back at the way I learned at both universities helped me tremendously.
In “anticipation” of taking complex classes, sometimes close to 20 credit units, I was well prepared to take on the challenge. I prepared myself mentally by playing out the entire quarter at first and then each week in my mind and planned out the assignments as well as the exams accordingly. Then I anticipated the content and its application and asked relevant questions in the class to validate my understanding rather than waiting for office hours to clarify my doubts. This saved me many hours of going back and forth as well as it trained me to ask questions on the spot. Asking questions is an asset I still use with my customers, partners or mentees.
Participation: Now the foundation is set and you train yourself to ask questions. But the players and environment are different for each situation. This is where your situational awareness comes into play. When an opportunity is given for people to present the idea, people tend to forget the relevancy of the presentation to the audiences. If only they had spent some time researching what would be valuable for the audience and the reason for the meeting or engagement, it would have helped increase the chance of success.
During my early days in Sales, I was offered a training course called Miller Heiman Method. It was a well structured course for sales people to prepare for the customer meetings. The training really defines methodology for preparing for the meetings by identifying customer environments such as pain points, architecture, decision makers, etc. clearly. One item which resonated well with me was identifying participants and categorizing them as Technical buyers, Economical buyers, User and Coach. By preparing and anticipating the questions from various influencers, one would be able to help achieve the end goal quickly and with less effort.
Presentation: Final part is how to present the information. While it is important to describe the product and use case clearly, add some nuances of how the specific customer will use the products and describe their specific environment will resonate well with participants, rather than just presenting in general terms.
I have worked with so many very smart people in Silicon Valley. But one of the main founders in both of my startups is a person I look up to when it comes to presenting the ideas to customers or company executives. His approach had two concepts mixed together to build confidence while creating connections with the customer. First one is subject matter mastery. He presents with confidence and is easier for others to understand. Second one is that rather than telling others what they need to do, he will walk them into the situations and pose the answers as questions. When the listener follows the thought process and shakes his or her head in agreement, he would close the deal as if the answer came from the customer. Deal is done!
Anticipation is a key attribute which can help build the right foundation, then train yourself to learn the environment and then close the deal with confident and effective presentation. To achieve that, learn the basics right by reading or interacting with others. Then environmental and situational knowledge identify the right approach at the meetings. Finally close with confidence and some humbleness. Last three articles, Just Ask, Listen and Listen Well, and today’s Anticipation, I try to explain the basic principles which helped achieve great results. What are your basic principles which help you be productive?! Leave your answers below.
