June 20, 2012

Who cares?

We make a lot of assumptions about who cares about our ideas, project, initiative, opinion, and more. Often, we do this up front, because we think it matters a lot. Many times it does. Many times it does not.

Sometimes the best way to find out who cares about your idea is to put it out there. Give a talk, write a blog post, Tweet it, or just tell some friends (they have to listen, even if they don’t really care).

Sometimes the best way to get your project off the ground – to find out who cares and how they may want to help shape it, share it, and enjoy it – is to just get started.

Sometimes the best way to find out who cares about an important initiative is by letting others know that you care about it.

Sometimes the best way to find out who cares about your opinion – and whether they agree or disagree with it – is to share it.

Action leads to reaction. Which can lead to discussion, momentum, and change. Or not. But it may be one of the best ways to give you a much better sense of who really cares.

Photo credit: kretyen

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  3. Keeping, Breaking, and Starting Traditions
  4. Be a good con artist
  5. Strategy is all about starting at the end, even for job postings
Filed Under: Communication Tagged With: , , , , 2 Comments
  • http://twitter.com/heyhoop Matthew Hooper

    Nice post Tom. I think most people, at least in IT, don’t voice their passions or intentions for fear of derailing what has been formulated in their head as a master plan. Most IT people I know are introverts who are extremely logical and calculated. As they absorb data they build a plan. Voicing their plan, thus provides and opportunity for others to find fault, or even worse, throw in more irrelevant data points. Thus they clam up.

    We say it’s a fear of failure, which it is ultimately, but I truly feel it’s a fear of overload. I’m not afraid to fail, but I am afraid of having my brain shutdown and being rendered paralyzed. It’s why one of the greatest talks I’ve heard is by Len Schlesinger on his book Action Trumps Everything – http://youtu.be/Iqgj013HnAc

    I haven’t read his book yet, but it’s on my list. Currently still reading EntreLeadership, then next is Platform by Michael Hyatt.

  • tomcatalini

    Thanks for the insightful thoughts, Matt. Taking the first step is often the hardest, it seems, and I hope many will consider that the threat of failure or overload can often be offset by the opportunity to better shape/define/refine for the upside as well – for a more positive impact, and real action/progress.

    And thanks for sharing those book titles — adding them to my reading list now!