Peoplesize
I'm conceptualizing a few in-depth posts at the moment and came across a quote I liked so much, it's worth a post of its own. It was made by Brian Austin Whitney, the founder of Just Plain Folks, an organization dedicated to helping musicians find a livable income from making music, at a forum for the Freedom of Music Coalition Summit '04. He says he got it from Sears, and applies it to hires, but this little quote struck me as being extremely accurate for such a specific comment. I think it's universally applicable and truly conforms to what I have found in my own experience.
So, enough prologue, here it is.
Small people will always talk about people. Medium people will always talk about events. Big people talk about ideas.
BTW, I do think "always" is an operative word there. I mean, jeez, if you're not talking about people at least some of the time... go get yourself a fuckin clue. I actually think it's more the WAY you talk. With some, it's all about the personalities and egos, clashes of will without any real design, plan or point. For instance, my ex used to come home every day and whine for hours about the people he worked with, particularly the one woman who was once on the team.
With companies around here it's like bands or sports, it's guys on the team sort of stuff for all the start-ups... sometimes a token woman. In fact, at some WSGR panel the other night, the VCs used the term "guys on the team" repeatedly, referring to the Board and management. Out of some 50 entrepreneurs there, I was one of three women.
Anyway, after the whining about all the poor interactions with the co-workers (of course it was always their fault), I would try to show the big picture (a concept I'll go into much further in my post-Oscar post), and say, "did the company sell anything?". Did the company he put ten years into ever sell anything? No, it was a fucking loser and I spent years trying to get him to see that. Of course, as soon as the bust came he was fired... his whining brand of loyalty was not mutual... another point I could not seem to get across.
I even told him flat out, you know, honey, they expect strategic thinking at your level.... oh well, enough of my petty personal problems, they're mostly gone now, and you have the big picture as to what went wrong in my marriage. For someone constantly clicking on that wide-angle lens, it becomes frustrating trying to communicate with someone who can't seem to do that.
So, enough prologue, here it is.
Small people will always talk about people. Medium people will always talk about events. Big people talk about ideas.
BTW, I do think "always" is an operative word there. I mean, jeez, if you're not talking about people at least some of the time... go get yourself a fuckin clue. I actually think it's more the WAY you talk. With some, it's all about the personalities and egos, clashes of will without any real design, plan or point. For instance, my ex used to come home every day and whine for hours about the people he worked with, particularly the one woman who was once on the team.
With companies around here it's like bands or sports, it's guys on the team sort of stuff for all the start-ups... sometimes a token woman. In fact, at some WSGR panel the other night, the VCs used the term "guys on the team" repeatedly, referring to the Board and management. Out of some 50 entrepreneurs there, I was one of three women.
Anyway, after the whining about all the poor interactions with the co-workers (of course it was always their fault), I would try to show the big picture (a concept I'll go into much further in my post-Oscar post), and say, "did the company sell anything?". Did the company he put ten years into ever sell anything? No, it was a fucking loser and I spent years trying to get him to see that. Of course, as soon as the bust came he was fired... his whining brand of loyalty was not mutual... another point I could not seem to get across.
I even told him flat out, you know, honey, they expect strategic thinking at your level.... oh well, enough of my petty personal problems, they're mostly gone now, and you have the big picture as to what went wrong in my marriage. For someone constantly clicking on that wide-angle lens, it becomes frustrating trying to communicate with someone who can't seem to do that.
posted by Intervision at 8:55 PM
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