Shut up and Listen! + the New Victorians

I have to give credit to my friend Shelley Delayne, the owner of Orange CoWorking for introducing me to Dr. Ernesto Siroli.

Dr. Siroli is an Italian Management Consultant who's life's work is facilitating entrepreneurship using the passions and talents of the local people and providing the resources when they may be lacking (but only upon being asked to help).

His observations as an idealistic, Italian young man working with the Zambian people revealed a discovery that most of western/foreign aid given to the 3rd world over the post WWII period has been a catastrophic failure for a very simple reason.

The reason (Siroli discovered over 30 years ago) was that as successful westerners we take a paternalistic and patronizing view of indigenous people and make assumptions about their needs, desires and skills while we attempt to impose our ideas upon them and assume they should thank us for our "help".

Having lived in Central and South America I can tell you it's 100% true.

This isn't meant to bash Western culture or success.  On the contrary-what Siroli wants to us in the west to do  (if we want to help) is: for us to "Shut Up and LISTEN!"

After quietly and effectively executing his proven method of listening and being a resource to local entrepreneurs in local economies around the world he gave a TED Talk in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2012 assuming 6 people would see it (not knowing what TED, YouTube and Social Media could do) he became an "overnight" sensation with millions of views since 2012.

I'll give you two of his TED talks the way that I watched them:  I watched the more recent one first, about a "Millennial Revolution" comparing our current wave of innovation to the Victorian age that set up all the technology that we've lived under for the last 150 years (locomotive, electricity, internal combustion engine, manufacturing, aviation) etc.

I loved that talk and wanted to see what originally made him famous then went back and watched the 2012 TED Talk in Christchurch, New Zealand.

I think watching them this way is more interesting, but if you want to go chronological, watch the 2nd one first.

2012 Original TED Talk

So, how we can apply some of these concepts and principles to our businesses?

How about asking our clients or potential customers things like:

What are your passions?
Where are you strong?
Can you make it? sell it, or count the money?
Can I help you in any of those areas?

If your clients or entrepreneurs are weak in any of these 3 pillars of the "Trinity of Management" (none of them are strong at all 3) and they trust you, can your business/product or service HELP your customers where they are weak?

Can you solve a pain point or approach your product development with a mind toward asking questions?  If so:  I'd suggest you ask, then...

SHUT UP AND LISTEN.

The Hero's Journey meets the E-Myth (9/23/17)

While most professional bloggers would advise against overwhelming audiences with two concepts in the same post-I'll roll the dice that my (small) audience can handle it.

As someone who's visited entrepreneurship now for the third time in my career, I find myself conflicted and inspired by two similar yet opposing narratives:

The Entrepreneurial Myth vs. The Hero's Journey.

The Entrepreneurial Myth (or "E-Myth" as Michael Gerber first coined decades ago) is the false assumption that the typical entrepreneur is fighting an epic battle against forces that he/she eventually conquers with a brilliant technical product or blinding sales talent.

Gerber explains that the reality of business failure reaching 90%+ within 10 years shatters the Myth of the successful, talented solo Entrepreneur.

The reason for the failure rate is due to the Entrepreneur's lack of understanding that the skills for running a successful business are in every way different than the technical skills used to first open the business.

Working ON the business vs working IN the business is the key to long-lasting, repeatable business success.  In other words, focusing on the Golden Eggs instead of the Goose will kill the entrepreneur every time.
(I should trademark that one)!

Gerber explains in this groovy 1980s vintage video (the first 5 minutes are superb):

For a shorter Recap of the E-Myth Revisited Book:

The similar (and more romantic) narrative is that of what Joseph Campbell coined: "The Hero's Journey".

We are all familiar with the classic formula for many story structures of The Hero's Journey.  We usually find our Hero, an attractive character who we relate to like Luke Skywalker, Harry Potter, or Katniss Everdeen, fighting through their internal and external foes always triumphant over both in the end. *and almost always get the girl (or boy)!*

Here's a great Recap of why the Hero's Journey seems so familiar!

Since I already have my girl, I resolve to remain vigilant of the TRUTH that the only way to business success is to create, develop and deploy overwhelming value to customers while building a business structure and process that can sustain that value, always remaining true to the principles of Michael Gerber, Dr. Ernesto Siroli and Peter Drucker.

I'll probably write about those guys in future posts.

For now: I hope this post didn't overwhelm you but perhaps inspired you to identify your internal Entrepreneurial Hero.  Or at least inspire you to say a little prayer for those of us who are in the arena, on the high wire, and out on a limb.

Because unlike fictional heroes Entrepreneurs "ARE our only HOPE".