Knowing vs. Doing

In 1999 the book "The Knowing - Doing Gap" was published, and in one of the great wasted efforts of writing/publishing, we already knew about the gap, and we continued to do nothing about it, as usual.

Here's the idea, in its earliest known form, by Confucius (551-479 BC):

I hear, and I forget.

I see, and I remember.

I do, and I understand.

The problem is that we simply do not DO what we know to be true. 

Changing our behavior is the Holy Grail of creating a successful life and business. It is so rare that behavior change actually happens that it seems almost non-existent, in fact it seems impossible to almost everyone except the few who find their way to it.

We are the way we are because our actions (our DOing) has created ourselves to be that way. Nothing happens in the universe except by some Action. A body at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by some outside force; a body in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by some outside force. This is Newton's First Law, and it applies to everything in the universe, including you and me.

A couple of hundred years later, Aristotle (384-322 BC) was clear about this:

We are what we repeatedly DO.

Excellence then is not an act, but a habit.

It's all about DOing, and continued DOing. If we want a result, we must Do the actions that will produce the result. This is the Scientific Method. Cause and Effect. It is a universal truth. 

We have known this for thousands of years, and yet we ignore this great truth.

Why?

Behavior change is hard. Changing habits is hard. It is our human nature that we seek our comfort zone. We are lazy. We take the path of least resistance. We like instant gratification. So, basically, we will not change unless we are forced to change by some external force that is stronger than our desire for comfort, stronger than our fear of the unknown. Good luck with that, right? 

It may take a major negative event to create the positive energy to commit to change. In my case, it was personal bankruptcy. It was the final devastation that left me with the knowledge that I just absolutely must change my life, total commitment was needed to find my way back to success. You might even say that bankruptcy was the best thing that happened to me to get me back on the right path, and stay on that path until success was achieved. 

Can you do it? Yes.

Will you do it? Probably not. 

Just writing those words is a painful admission. And yet I prefer to focus on working with the few who will DO what is needed to achieve their goals in Life and Business. Unfortunately, in order to find the few, many others waste their time and mine. But without working with the many, the few can not be found. If you think you are one of the few, call me! I want to help.

The problem in my life and other people's lives

is not the absence of knowing what to do,

but the absence of doing it.

Peter Drucker

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Resources:

Freakonomics Radio: How to Launch a Behavior-Change Revolution (podcast, free)

The Knowing - Doing Gap (online book, free)

What Got You Here Won't Get You There (book by Marshall Goldsmith, amazon)

Show up, work hard, and listen

One of my clients (first time CEO, first startup) went bust recently and I've been doing a private post-mortem on the reasons why. When I first met (name redacted), he was the very model of potential success, but things slowly devolved to the point where I could see he was going nowhere.

In our meetings, he took copious notes, and I was fascinated by how painfully detailed he was with these notes, which unfortunately interrupted the flow of our meetings. Although I suggested several times that he could simply record the audio of our meetings and take notes later if he wanted, and that it would give him more value for our time together, he ignored that advice and slowly, painfully, kept with the detailed notes on paper. I let it go, deciding to focus more on his results rather than the process. I should have seen it as a sign of things to come.

The results were never there. It was truly frustrating to watch him take no action on the items we discussed, but even worse was his penchant for taking action on major shifts in his strategy without ever discussing these things with his advisor. 

The results were predictable. He spent way more money than he should have, and he spent it on the wrong things. This put him into cash crunch mode all too often, taking focus away from executing. He never developed his story, value proposition, or product/market fit, didn't expand his fundraising efforts beyond one source who eventually, as predicted, dried up when there was no progress. He lost focus on his main product and spent valuable time developing a only slightly related business line that was completely undifferentiated, pivoted his main product into something much less unique in the urgent search for sales, and completely missed what the market was saying to his sales efforts (crickets: not a compelling business model), then pivoted again into a business model that would take much, much more capital to execute at a time when he had no capital left. All of this without discussing these moves with his advisor. These are just a few of his mis-steps. Too many to list here. Seriously, WTF? 

I took pains to repeat key suggestions, but it was if he was completely deaf. 

I kept holding out hope that he would turn it around. Eventually, he decided to make the ultimate pivot: pull the plug.

The bottom line is that he just didn't take action on the basics of what he needed to do. Success happens in the startup world only by taking action, quickly. If the action proves to be wrong, then take action again, fast.

"Fear is the disease, Action is the antidote."  His problem was that his actions were the wrong ones, and he didn't take action on the most basic of recommendations. He built no foundation for success.

This morning's email from James Clear seemed to speak to the issue. He discusses a famous coach's essential elements of success, albeit for athletes rather than CEOs, but the concept is the same. See if you agree:

Tim Grover was the athletic trainer used by Michael Jordan (and many elite NBA players). Here he is describing the three things he asks of every player:

"I don't care how much you can lift, how fast you can run, how many pull-ups you can do, or whether you can hit a three while blindfolded. There are only three things I ask of every client... Show up, work hard, and listen. That's it. It requires no talent, no special genetics, or any skill whatsoever to show up, work hard, and listen."

He adds:

"When I train my athletes, it's a dictatorship with three rules: show up, work hard, and listen. If you can do those three things, I can help you. If you can't we have no use for each other. I will bust my ass for you every way possible, but I expect you to do the same for yourself. I'm not going to work harder than you do for your benefit. Show me you want it, and I'll give it to you.”   Source: Relentless by Tim Grover

My ex-client continues in his delusions while he is going through the pain of dealing with the devolution of his startup. We all learn in different ways. Some can learn from the experience of others (advisors), and some have to learn the hard way, from their own experiences. 

I'm reminded of that old saying "There are none so blind as those who will not see. The most deluded people are those who choose to ignore what they already know."  This is the dreaded "Knowing - Doing Gap" that has been discussed. Hopefully, he will learn how to learn in his next adventure. That is the only silver lining in this dark cloud.   

What could I have done differently? I should have given him fair warning, earlier, that he was going to fail, and that he would be fired as a client if he continued on his path of inaction on key points, and for making major strategy shifts without discussion and planning. My learning experience here is that I was too optimistic and supportive. I hate to give up and fire a client. It won't happen again. I must realize that if I can not inspire taking the right actions, then they should find another advisor whose advice they will follow. Life is too short to spend on those who do not "Show up, work hard, and listen."

The good news is that now there's a spot in my calendar for a client who will show up, sincerely wants to learn, and is absolutely dedicated to taking action, not just notes. 

The Elevator Story

The Elevator Story

The Elevator Story is the elemental creation of the startup business.  It is foundational.  You must have an Elevator Story. It is intended to be a Habit, able to be told as a reflex, a Go To definition of the business.  It is the standard answer to the question "What do you do?" (and Why do you do it.) However, it is seldom delivered frequently enough to become a habit, and over time falls into disuse and is abandoned. The focused startup CEO will have a powerful Elevator Story for all occasions.


Pitch or Story?

Some call it an Elevator Pitch rather than an Elevator Story. I recommend Story. A pitch is what you hear from a used car salesman, or on late night TV commercials for a set of steak knives. Calling your story a pitch cheapens and demeans it in your thoughts. It lacks sincerity and integrity. A story is a sharing event.


The Magic of the Elevator Story

By design it is the finest distillation of everything you are all about, focused into the fewest and most powerful words, delivered with great impact and results.  By definition, delivering your Elevator Story is one of your greatest Opportunities in Life. Your shining moment.
A story that is crafted to be delivered verbally from one person to another, or a group of others, that describes the startup business.


The Spirituality of the Elevator Story

The Elevator Story is an Extraordinary Opportunity.
Sometimes the delivery of the Elevator Story will be a pre-planned event, such as at the beginning of a presentation before potential investors.  This setting allows for the maximum preparation and customizing the Elevator Story to the circumstances.  In the moments just prior to the start of the story, you should go to a Place of great personal Power.  Breathe.  Be grateful for the Opportunity. Start smiling.  Engage your Core Energy. Enthusiasm is contagious.

The Physicality of the Elevator Story

Breathe - to generate Energy, and Pause
Smile -  Human Interaction 101
Eye Contact -  Human Interaction 101
Tone - appropriate for the audience
Posture - project confidence
Gestures - hands, arms...
Pace - mirror the pace of the audience, moving to increase the Pace.

Pauses - the Pause gives Power to the previous, and creates attention to what comes next.
Energy - Enthusiasm is contagious.
The Surprise Gift - your card. The gift that keeps on giving.  Karma.
Duration - the shorter the better, less than 30 seconds. Add Chunks as the opportunity presents.


The Introduction

The first instants of the delivery are critical in getting attention.  Consider the framework: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action


The Call To Action

The Elevator Story is a meaningless waste of time unless there is some Call to Action.  Examples of a Call to Action would be to ask the listener to contact you, or to check out your website, or order your book on amazon.com.

A basic tenet of Sales is to Assume The Sale, so it will be better to Assume the Call to Action. The Call to Action is an Invitation to join you in your Adventure.


Other Forms of the Elevator Story

Website - the home page, or "about" page
Video -  add great Leverage to the Power of the story
Key Team Members - customize the Elevator Story for each key team member (CTO, Biz Dev, etc)


Additional resources

the-elevator-pitch
elevator-pitch-define-compose-practice-and-polish-rinse-and-repeat
why-your-startup-pitch-should-be-8-seconds-long
What Great Salespeople Do: the power of Story