Skip to main content

A peaceful lack of options

I'm sure this translates to many occupations other than sales, so view this through whatever personal lens you may.

A problem, a negotiation, a need arises. There are multiple ways to approach said situation. Have you ever been overwhelmed with the angles and facets that are at your disposal?

Have you ever seen a beginning and an end, and then in between lay a forest of options at which to hack and hew and saw?

Think of a circular room with a dozen or so doors, only half of which will lead you to where you need to go. Now pick a door. Oh, and one of the doors has a big alligator behind it....and he's hungry.

So as you work your way through a tough situation, there is that moment where you reach a singularity. Maybe it's a great win-win situation, and the corks start popping.

But....sometimes it's just not. Sometimes you hit a point where a line is drawn, and 1) That line could be the spot where two parties accept a bit of give and take, and shake hands. They say the perfect negotiation is when both parties walk away feeling as though they've given up something. More people should understand this.

However, that line could be 2) a demarcation point that turns into a precipice with a long abysmal drop.

So...There may be a smack of horror, a clenching up of every cell in your body, an internal emotional scream that you simply can't intellectualize for a specific window of time (full disclosure, this is where I am and what I feel as I write this post). This is because you don't know whether the line drawn will be an example of #1 or #2 above.

So.....you write a blog, or talk to a friend, or work out, or eat a huge slice of cake, or drink too much, etc, etc, etc.

And then.....you wake up the next morning (or something along these lines), and you see that there is only one door. And that you have to walk through it. And that you really don't have to think about it, you just have to get to walking.

You know that the door may lead to a fine result, or a satiated alligator.

But you've done what you can, and now it's time to move on and learn from what comes.

I see that tomorrow I have one door, and it is time to get to walking..... And in this, there is peace.

Oh....and I've got a huge slice of chocolate cake....so there's that.

(Footnote Disclosure of Post-Modern Fit of Indulgent Self-Awareness: I do realize that within this entire post I have been indirectly talking to myself. By putting this out into the blogosphere, I've put a bit of a muzzle on those voices, and although not an exact fit, it has muffled them. And, big fun for you,  you have just overheard a conversation of schizophrenic proportions with me, talking myself of a cliff, with a lovely chorus of screaming meemies in the background.)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Patron Saint of Salespeople

St. Lucia or St. Lucy is the Patron Saint of salespeople. Her story?? She stood strong in her faith and was persecuted because of it. She was hooked to a team of oxen, but could not be moved. She stood strong in her beliefs. Then she had her eyes cut out and was stabbed in the throat. Nice metaphor. In October, I missed my 'quota' for the first time this year. My 2010 personal goals allowed for this (plus one actually), but I was attempting to pitch the sales equivalent of a no-hitter. I missed. Even though I am still at roughly 150% YTD Even though I am guaranteed to go to President's Club (they've already listed it under 'taxable gift' on my last paystub). Even though I will almost assuredly be in the Top 10 nationwide..... Even though I have not been dragged away by a team of oxen, I still feel my eyes on a plate. But, I'm the one doing the gouging. There is no one as critical of me as me. Self-flagellation....works well with the Patron Saint/Catholic mot

One-Quarter Cleansing Cream

In 1955, the now legendary Ogilvy and Mather advertising firm began their campaign with Dove. "One-quarter cleansing cream" is, to this day, a corporate tag-line for Dove. The company was profitable in its very first year, an extreme rarity in personal-care products. Ogilvy and Mather stress their ad campaign and the Dove tag-line they created as being responsible for such success. Dove's ubiquitous tagline was created when David Ogilvy, the dynamic mind behind Ogilvy and Mather asked the question "Well, may I know the formula?" When the good people at Dove explained the ingredients, Mr. Ogilvy found out that the soap he was hired to advertise was only three-fourths soap. One-fourth of Dove soap was a compound with the generic name of "cleansing cream". Mr. Ogilvy saw this as a major differentiator and helped create a brand that became a household name. His trademark pursuit of an exceptional story to tell for his clients, created an approach that

A Glacier's Patience

I once thought in weeks and months. I grew to think in months and quarters. I have, lately, been viewing things in quarters and years. I am not sure when this really happened, but probably somewhere around my seventh anniversary with my current employer. There could be something to the seven-year-itch concept, but that is for a later post. So as this mindset sets in, I see a degree of patience that I never thought capable. Don't get me wrong, I will never have a tolerance for certain things (decisions contrary to one's own self interest, not understanding one's own self-interest, refusal to grow or develop, under/over estimating, certain forms of inefficiency, accepting an inherently broken process simply because it is process that is in place, etc, etc). But when things get complicated, when things change, I see it as inevitable. Too many things in the course of my career have ended up heading in one direction, only to land in another place entirely. John Lennon said &quo