Page 130 - ConvinceThemFlip

convince them in 90 seconds or less
“Take them to a five-star hotel when they haven’t given
us what we need? You must be nuts,” the VP of finance
had told him. But that’s exactly what Steve did, and what
he got was exactly what the company needed.
Steve’s short-term solution was to take the department
away for a weekend workshop at a great old luxury hotel in
the Adirondack Mountains. Once everyone was away from
the office and in touch with the right kinds of stimuli, they
got more done on their most pressing project that weekend
than they had in the previous month. And the energy they
created went back to the office with them. Steve’s medium-
term solution was to redecorate their offices with bright
red swinging saloon doors and a matching red carpet, and
to plant a fifteen-foot tree outside the window. If they’d
been a bunch of analysts, this would not have been the
right move, but for Steve’s dreamers it worked wonders.
When Personalities Collide
Look around your office. Is there someone you don’t get
along with particularly well? What personality type is
he or she? What type are you? If you can figure this out,
you may be able to break the impasse. When two people
don’t know why they’re at odds or don’t understand who
they’re dealing with, the breakdown in communication
can be quick and enduring.
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