Hope Is Not a Strategy

A lesson to learn from CrowdStrike, the proud sponsor of system outages throughout the world,...

The recent CrowdStrike computer glitch causing systems across the nation to fail was a societal impacting event and could have been impacted. Flights canceled, trains stopped, news sites were down and probably many more unreported impacts. I hope you were not impacted.

Was this a known risk? Did anyone do anything to mitigate it? It appears they did not. They used the proverbial strategy of “We hope nothing happens with this software”. What if, instead, they considered what could go wrong and had a contingency plan in place. What if someone had just asked, “what happens if this causes a problem booting up windows devices? How would we resolve it efficiently?”

What are other ways where hope seeps its way into your business or career?

Business:

• I hope we have the right message

• I hope my pricing is right

• I hope my target customer finds this offering / feature valuable enough to purchase / upgrade

Career:

• I hope I get that promotion

• I hope I get a raise

• I hope my team follows me

You may have heard the adage, "hope is not a strategy." It's a simple, yet powerful statement that underscores the importance of proactive planning in the face of uncertainty. The recent widespread cyber outage serves as a stark reminder of this truth.

In ummary

A Better Way

So what would be a better way to handle these hopes and ensure the outcomes you desire?

1. Testing your concept

2. Manage your risks

3. Asking for what you want

4. Developing skills

5. Measure and adjust

Let’s unpack these,...

Testing your concept

Before investing time and money, quick tests to validate your assumptions are essential. There are various options you can use for testing, each of which takes more or less time and resources and produces varying degree of accuracy including:

• Putting that message out on social media with a call to action to “sign up” even if you don’t have the product yet

• Put more than one message out and see which one resonates (typical A/B testing)

• Do a survey of potential customers gauging their behaviors, degree of problem, and desire to solve it

• Go to the place where people might sign up or purchase your product or service and interview or observe the customer

• Produce a prototype and review that prototype with potential customers

• Do a pricing study

• Run a pilot or beta to get live feedback from customers

I’ve done all of these and you would be surprised by the surprises you find out.

I once did customer interviews vetting a series of new product ideas and learned that many of them were just interesting, but one represented a serious problem to solve. We embarked on that project and that product was a linchpin in the company’s future success.

Be aware that it is important to tame your unconscious bias. In an interview you may hear something like “that seems interesting” and think that is validation. But “interesting” doesn't sell. “Compelling” sells. You have to specifically ask them if they would purchase or ensure the test commits them to a purchase (like entering a credit card) to be sure.

Manage Your Risks

I’ve written about this before in this article on “A simple tool to plan your lives” and it certainly applies here. Basic risk management techniques are applicable to prevent hope from creating disappointment. Asking yourself “What would have to be true for this to be a good idea” is a great start. Also, identifying all the things that could go wrong, and the likelihood and risk if they do can create a good list to consider mitigating.

Could the product or service fail?

Could the customer not value it enough to warrant upgrading to the new version?

Could the product be so successful that you can’t keep up?

Etc,...

A company I previously worked for ran a sale that was so wildly successful that it created a system failure? Some simple risk management could have prevented that.

Asking For What You Want

Since hope is not a strategy, one way to achieve what you want is to ask. A common adage in sales is that you never get the sale if you don’t ask. And yet, so many of us are afraid to ask. Is it a promotion you seek? A raise? Do you need help on a project. Many of us are taught or learned not to upset the apple cart. We are afraid to say that we want something more for many reasons such as:

> Sounding greedy or dissatisfied

> Don’t want to take the job from someone else

> Don’t feel deserving

> Discomfort advocating for themselves

And yet, how valid or true are these reasons? Is it greedy to ask what it would take to get promoted? Or does it look like you have ambition and are trying to plot your path forward? Are you really not deserving or is imposter syndrome sneaking in and impacting your perception of the value you bring?

There are ways to ask for a raise or promotion without falling into these traps. And in many ways, it is a process, not a single conversation:

👥 Have a preliminary conversation with your supervisor asking what it would take. Knowing the path is helpful. Is there a career ladder defining the skills for the higher level jobs? Then study it and be clear about your development areas.

🖕 Seek higher level responsibilities so that you can demonstrate the necessary skills. Ask for that stretch assignment to showcase your preparedness.

👂 Ask for feedback so you can stay on top of any capabilities you still need to hone.

🎛️ Respect the process at your company. Perhaps promotions or raises are only issued at year end. If so, asking for a promotion mid-year may be seen as bad form.

📚 Do you research on jobs and salaries. Asking for a raise when you are paid at the top of your field may not be received well.

When I was interviewing for a job that wasn’t at the Director title I desired, I asked for that title - knowing that the team would grow over time and the title would be warranted. What’s the worst thing that could have happened? They could have said no. But they said Yes.

Developing Skills

Skills help you get the raise or promotion, and also to be a better leader. So if you want people to follow you, instead of hoping they do, learn how to be a good leader. You can do this many ways:

• If you had good leaders before you, consider what made them a good leader and try to emulate that. Were they non-judgmental? Did they micromanage? Were they strategic? How did they communicate? How did they make decisions? How did they handle mistakes or failures?

• Study leadership including reading books or taking courses. This is a topic well studied and written about.

• Hire a leadership coach to go with you on your journey. Make sure to pick one who has a successful history of being a good leader so they understand the challenges and characteristics of leadership.

When I was seeking membership on an executive team (from a VP position) I asked for coaching to help me ensure that path.

Measure and Adjust

The final strategy for ensuring that you are not solely relying on hope to achieve your goals or dreams is to measure it and know when an adjustment is necessary.

Are you at a company that doesn’t have a lot of upward growth and have now seen evidence of that? Maybe it is time to change companies

Is your new product or service not selling at the pace you desire, despite doing all the necessary steps to get you there? What is wrong? Go back to the marketplace and seek feedback.

You haven’t made a mistake yet - we all may mis-judge at times. The mistake is to keep on doing the same thing you are doing and not getting the results you desire. Evaluating what isn’t right and making adjustments to fix them is a great path forward.

In Summary

If you find yourself not getting what you want out of your life or career, coaching may be for you. Schedule a free coaching discovery call to explore how coaching can help you find it within you to reach your goals without relying on hope.