Reflections on 2020 — Update on previous lessons
Introduction
We are nearly at the end of 2020 and what a year it’s been. I don’t think anyone could have expected the craziness of what’s happened and I’m no different. As this year approached, I looked back at the prior decade that was closing and recapped the highlights that I had in my career over that time. This culminated in an article I wrote about (available here on LinkedIn “A decade in my journey — 2010–2019”) which also contained some lessons I’d learnt that may help those of us who are in the consulting or solution providing games. Now is as good a time as ever to see whether or not those lessons still hold true and if there is anything further to add.
How did the 2010–2019 lessons hold up?
Mostly fine. Below I detail (in bold) what these lessons were and add some updated thoughts. At the end I show a few new things I think are important considering what we went through in 2020:
To really understand problems, work with your customers (and whilst you’re there , try out their shoes) — This is still very true to this day and there is nothing worse than trying to solve a problem with limited client feedback. Whenever we are trying to solve a problem and are required to estimate how long it could take and what it would involve we need to ask a lot of questions and take the time needed to discuss with the client what is truly at the heart of the matter
Additionally, we need to continue putting ourselves in our customers shoes to understand the problem from their perspective. We may discover things we previously were unaware of and get a better perspective on possible solutions
Whatever the problem you’re trying to solve, it’s important to walk at least a few miles in your customers shoes. You need to understand what it’s like to wear boots and a hard hat if your client works in mines or what insights they get from the early morning news if they work in finance. Walk in their shoes (at least in your brainstorming sessions).
Customers are important, but don’t look to them for the solutions — That is, you should not ALWAYS look to them for the entirety of the solution you’ll propose. If your client had the answers, they wouldn’t be coming to you in the first place.
They are there to highlight the problems (as they understand it quite well facing it day to day) but in terms of solutions they’re not always the right ones. Industry experts, consultants, the broader community are all useful as a knowledge base to show how better things could be and I continue to encourage companies to reach out to their contacts outside of their company for ideas on how to make improvements. There’s a reason why we have sayings such as “you can’t see the forest for the trees” and for those that don’t know it means being too focused on the detail and to the point of not being able to see the bigger picture.
What does hold this back is the need for organisations/customers to experience the experience of the expert. In the experts mind they can often see a problem and an immediate solution. Only going along with customer thought solutions is akin to being in the late 19th century and wanting to swap out your old horse for a faster one, not looking at other possibilities like cars. Today we have multiple ways to solve problems and all at different budgetary levels. If you hire the right experts they’ll be able to help you understand what options you have a lot better than you could likely do on your own.
Fail Fast — This still rings true. Failing fast means creating small sample projects, products or prototypes and testing them with end users or decision makers.
2020 was a time when many had to innovate and adapt to the quickly evolving situation. In the experience I had with client clients, we got to experiment and try things out quickly to see what worked. This only happened because we had a framework within which we could experiment and get that customer feedback as soon as possible. Rinse, repeat, reflect.
Learn by doing — This still relates to the Fail Fast lesson but I saw so many more companies experiment by getting their hands dirty and trying things out.
2020 meant they had to learn and move at the same time and whilst most moves would not be right, you can see companies getting closer to the right solutions as they eliminate the wrong ones. This is a lesson that still rings true too.
Recognise the greater opportunity — 2020 has been all about crisis and unprecedented change. But, from crisis can come opportunity. Last year I mentioned how I weighed up going alone as a consultant or joining a startup on a seemingly more interesting adventure. I chose the latter because of the better possibilities it offered. The startup didn’t work out but I got so many more valuable experiences than I would have had going out on my own.
As 2020 rounds out to a close I think we all need to take a good look at our own pathways. We need to make sure that the one we’re on is the right one and that we’re prepared to put forth the effort to make it work even better in 2021.
Additional lessons from 2020
Now for some lessons that I feel are necessary to add given what we’ve all gone through this year.
Technology needs to be part of your business (no ifs and’s or buts) — for example, there are firms who were against staff working from home prior to the pandemic. Now that we’re in the midst of it, enabling staff to successfully work from home has become a necessity and it’s driven by good use of technology.
Additionally, the office is not dead (as some would say) but its story is being rewritten. As someone who’s experienced the best of both worlds I can see the benefits of both worlds. Remote working means travel time saved and an ability to get things done without office distractions and office time can lead to better creativity and problem solving.
Regardless of your stance, it’s clear that whether its employees or clients, a greater reliance and need to harness the power of technology is what will drive future business success for the majority. Wanting to reach out to hundreds of customers? Mastering Zoom or Teams conferences is necessary. Trying to work on documention with clients but need to physically distance? Harnessing the power of DocuSign or other collaborative apps will be key. Whichever way you cut it, learning to get the most out of your technology will see you do better in the future.
Data might be everywhere but its useless unless you harness it — many organisations are still trying to unlock and harness the power of descriptive analysis (e.g. reporting on what has happened in the past). The next steps are to diagnose the reasons for why things happen and potentially move into the predictive analysis too. Organisations keep improving but there is still a long way to go if they want to get to more advanced forms of analysis or want the benefits of these insights to be more widely available across their organisation.
Speaking of data everywhere, it literally can be. If you’re trying to understand your own industry you can get data from your own governing body where applicable or even get good insights from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
I’ve also seen a rise in the number of companies who are using non-traditional (aka alternative) sources to access data insights such as social media analytics, vessel tracking, IoT (internet of things) scanners and many more data generating sources that can lead them towards better understanding their customer, their industry and their own company’s performance within it.
So, if you haven’t already started looking at data this way then it’s time you did.
Appreciation for People
This is the biggest thing I’d like to add to the additional lessons from 2020. It’s about having an appreciation for technology and for each other.
I mentioned technology above and how we need it. But, 2020 has shown us that we also need to appreciate it more. I think we’ve learnt in 2020 that whilst we cannot do without technology and that we also took it for granted in the past. It was easy to disparage IT teams and software when things went wrong but that was because it wasn’t our only way of getting things done. When the only way to communicate is through technology, we started to appreciate the power it could bring us when used and appreciated.
Finally, there is also a need to appreciate other people. I’ve seen so much division across discussiosn on topics like vaccines, elections and other politicised matters this year. However, one thing that has rung the bell of positivity throughout 2020 is the human spirit. Positivity and the yearning for bonds and connections has seen bosses speaking to their employees about more than just work. It’s seen parents connect and experience more of their kids lives than they could have at the office. It’s also led to more people reaching out to family and friends more than they had in the past. People are at the heart of 2020 and an appreciation for our neighbour and fellow human being has been the key to this year. At least for me.
So as we look forward to 2021, I hope that these lessons can be helpful for you in your endeavours for projects you’re working or consulting on. Happy New Year!
