When you see Ron, tell him…

…Tim has helped me grow. If he knows it, he shares it. If he doesn't know it, he owns-up and talks me through it. Tim gives advice when advice is needed, but let's me find my own path when I am able. He is my coach—focused on improving my performance—from poor to good as well as good to great. He wants to win and can tell me what winning looks like.

Tell him: Tim is tough, but fair. He has high expectations and shows disappointment when those expectations aren't met. But, he also gives credit when credit is due. He notices small things.

Tim is direct, but not careless. Caring, not codling. He tells me what time it is before it gets too late. He cuts slack when it is needed and reels it in when I can do more. He seeks to understand what I need to keep me moving when things are uncertain. He helps me understand the direction and needs of the company and explains my role.

Tell him: I hope that Tim says the same about me.

Handling Technical Objections

Any course in fundamental sales techniques will include material on handling a prospect's objections to closing a sale. A salesman's ability turn a recalcitrant objector into a willing buyer is pivotal in determining their success in challenging sales competitions. As technical consultants, we sell our opinions nearly every day. Some opinion buyers are willing, but others full squarely into the objectionista category. So, how are we to handle objections which threaten to void and devalue our valid opinions? Imagine—your opponent, Jimmy the IT Naysayer—here are six techniques that a novice can call-on to put Jimmy in his place and live to fight another day.

1. Direct evidence


2. Anecdotal evidence


3. Standing on experience


4. Invoking higher authority


5. The bake-off back-off


6. Tactical retreat

Direct Evidence

The most obvious means to handling a technical object is to have the data on your side. Feel people have the will-power or wherewithal to consume and counter a well-formed assertion back by data-oriented, detailed, documented evidence. To the extent that significant objections can be anticipated, prepare these powerful tricks in advance and keep them close to hand. Shutting down an objection with such an attack of preparedness on first utterance is the surest way to close a distractive avenue. This is sometimes known as "blinding with science".

Anecdotal Evidence

Knowledge Warriors are people. Employees are people. What makes our opinions more valuable than Jimmy's opinion? "Best Practices". Be careful, the phrase 'best practice' sounds like an English phrase; it is not. 'Best practice' is a Swahili phrase meaning: things other similar people (clients) have done in similar situations (related projects) that didn't get those people (project participants) fired. Can Jimmy refute your direct experience with such best practices at enumerable, unassailable stable of past successes? Not likely. Ideally, you will use ACTUAL anecdotes. Absent of ACTUAL anecdotes, their closest available proximate may have to do.

Standing on experience

Similar in concept to the anecdotal evidence defense, a stand on experience is playing your long view against the shorter sight of your technical naysayers. Naturally, you may stand on experience firmly only where your perceived experience exceeds the opponent's in duration and/or substance. A successful stand on experience play might play like this:

Jimmy: "This approach doesn't seem very good. What about the inherent instability of the underlying architectural SOA synergy?"

Knowledge Warrior: "Bruce, may I call you Bruce? Bruce, my years of experience are telling me that 'swamp nuts' are the answer. We can always handle the instability issue later."

Invoking higher authority

When your own experience is insufficient to carry the day, you may borrow from some jointly respected authority figure, in actuality or in principle. In actuality, you should be able to quote the authority figure as if you were a regular confidant. "Oh, at dinner the other night, Tim said that blogging is for losers." In principle, you will engage in supposition about the authority's opinion in the matter—to take-on a plausible position based on what so-and-so might think about this-or-that. "Oh, I think we both know that Ron would say that even reading a blog is for losers." The halo effect incurred from invoking the authority may make-up the difference in the apparent deficit in your own experience.

The bake-off back-off

Often objectors are looking for plausible statements that cast doubt on your opinion without requiring them to prove their base assertion. Usually they are looking to avoid work by objecting in the first place. Using the bake-off back-off plays on the opponent's unwillingness to put their efforts where their mouths are. It might go like this: "Jimmy, I am pretty sure that my approach is better, but I am willing to let you try implementing your idea and then we can compare results side-by-side. How would next Tuesday look for you?"

Tactical retreat

Perhaps my favorite gambit is the tactical retreat. Following the sage advice of Sun Tzu, every Knowledge Warrior strives toward glorious victory whilst recognizing that an ignoble retreat is often necessary to winning the war. The tactical retreat involves finding an issue to which you can safely admit defeat in order to gain credibility in the eyes of your audience—credibility that you will spend in-defense of another more critical point. At tactical retreat might break down like this:

Jimmy: "I read in Slashdot that Pega is terrible at sandwich making! And what about system integrations? Isn't TIBCO better for systems integration?"

Knowledge Warrior: "I hate to admit that Jimmy has a point… Pega is NOT good with sandwiches. The product is really focused on integration at the expense of a cohesive sandwich strategy."

In the end our solution need not be all things to all people, just all things to THESE people—our prospects.

Cultivating a sense of urgency

Those that interacted with me regularly last year should know that my theme for the year was stamina. Put concisely, stamina is the ability to consistently deliver high-quality output under severe conditions over time. I spoke about stamina in the context of working through illness, triumphing during long travels, and persevering through weeks of project crunch-time. But, that was last year's theme.

This year's theme, I have determined is: sense of urgency. Urgency is the attitude that a task should get done speedily. That it is important. That time is of the essence. A sense of urgency, therefore, is behaving as if every action is purposeful, every aspect of your work-life is urgent. It is about resolving to get things done and to project that resolve and purpose to those around you.

I first became aware that a sense of urgency could be cultivated in Basic Training (US Army Infantry that is). Drill Sergeants would routinely yell "Private! Move like you have a purpose!". In eating, in training, and in just walking from place to place, this mantra was repeated time and again. At first, I followed this command to avoid the shouting and occasional extra push-ups that would come with a perceived infraction, but in time, I found that moving with a purpose became second nature. You may notice that I often walk too fast, eat too fast, and talk too fast. I didn't always. These are habits born from following that simple directive: "Move like you have a purpose."

I came to recognize the imperative behind the mantra: one never knows when time previously wasted could have been used to handle an emergency task. In the army, this may mean the lives of people around you. In business, it may mean the livelihoods of people around you. No less serious, I assert. When you adopt a 'sense of urgency' attitude, people around you will notice. They respect your time: after all, you are busy taking care of business. Most powerfully, those for whom you perform your tasks will appreciate that your attitude toward completion mirrors their own attitude about the request. Dealing with someone with a properly honed sense of urgency is reassuring. When you move like you have a purpose, good things start to happen. I guarantee it.

Some notes of caution lest you confuse sense of urgency with an urgency addiction:

1. Don't mistake a sense of urgency for panic. Panic is what happens when the demand for immediacy outstrips our capacity to act. It is motion without focus, action with purpose. Urgency is motion in focus, purposeful intent. Panic is the enemy. Urgency is the weapon we use to defeat the enemy. When tasks are handled with a sense of urgency the backlog tends not to grow and overwhelm.
   
2. Don't mistake moving with a purpose for rushing. Being in a rush prevents observation, thoughtfulness, and care. Moving with purpose is thorough, powerful, and filled with motion. Rushing and moving purposefully may look the same, but the trail left behind each is quite different.
   
3. Not all tasks can be MOST urgent. You must always prioritize your goals. And having prioritized, ruthlessly pursue those top goals until they are completed. Often the strategy for completing the most things in the shortest amount of time is NOT TO DO MORE THAN ONE THING AT A TIME. Rather, to complete each task with focus and decisiveness—a fast serial approach rather than a parallel process. Careful pruning and feeding of your 'plate' is important career skill.
   
4. Finally, a cultivated sense of urgency doesn't require that EVERY task be handled immediately. Indeed, part of cultivating a sense of urgency involves choosing which tasks require action to deliver value and those that do not. Those that do are handled with purpose. Those that do not are not to be handled at all. If it isn't important, in other words, why are you doing it? Instead, get a handle on tasks that deliver value. I ask you: do you jump when every new email arrives?
   

Side Note: [I am not a Coveyite, but if you haven't read the 7 Habits book, you probably should.]