Lesson 2 – The Law of Requisite Variety
As it pertains to Sales: The one with the most behavior flexibility has the most influence. I had a chance to control my equation by changing my behavior, but I chose to be at its mercy by staying on the train.
This used to happen to me in sales as well and I see others also make this mistake on a regular basis. You are giving a sales presentation or a pitch and it’s clearly not going well. You realize this and continue doing what you are doing anyway, because it feels uncomfortable to do something new. Doing something different, outside of the box or something opposite to what’s not working altogether is often the best way to have a breakthrough with a tough prospect or customer. Like Bruce Lee said “Be like water”. Think of it as a great opportunity to learn for next time. You will be surprised with what happens when you let go of sticking to a plan that isn’t working, and just try something different. A good technique when debating whether to go for it or not is to just say the following to yourself: “F*ck it!” and go for it. This alone took me miles.
After one of the most painful train rides of my life and a meaningless sprint to the ticket kiosk, I was coming to terms with the realization that the unthinkable actually happened. I was 5 minutes late and the train left the platform. There was another train coming an hour later, but it would arrive too late for our purpose. I called my boss, and offered to drive up there and even contemplated flying. He was very understanding about the whole incident and told me to go to our office. I however, was furious and harder on myself then he could have ever been. By afternoon the shock was beginning to subside and I began to think of how I can possibly turn this around and use it to my advantage. As a result I came up with the inspiration to write this post.