"Hurry Hurry Hurry.. Get Your Expert Here!"
A favorite saying of my Dad’s was “Don’t put the dog on”. For those of you who are not familiar with this old saying it came into use after the civil war. Back then lap dogs were a social status symbol among the wealthy. So anyone who was considered being flashy was jokingly said to be “putting the dog on”.
I often think of this saying when I see some of the spam emails I get. So many people claiming to be able to solve so many problems just by you clicking on and listening to their podcasts or following them on some twitter feed. They are arrogant enough to believe they can solve your problems without ever having met you.
I even fell for one of those. I signed up for a monthly podcast program that had what I believe to be some of the top thinkers in the world involved. At least that was the way they hooked me in. Turns out all I got was interviews filled with platitudes and stale stories of how these people all had achieved their success. If I would just do what they had done I too could have their level of success!
Today’s problems in business are complex and not easily solved, we can no longer expect a cookie cutter solution to any of them. If you have two people you have two entirely different problems. However, it is not a hopeless situation, there are things you can do to get your answers and they won’t take up so much of your time or money.
- Share your situation with someone you know in your line of work or industry. It has been my experience that people like to help. So don’t be afraid to ask as many as you need too until you feel you have an answer that will work for you.
- Try a brainstorming session. Get a bunch of people together for a dinner or cook out (maybe hold the beer and wine for later!) and present them with your issue and ask for some ideas. The key is they have to be familiar with you or your type of business. Ideally you would have a good mix with someone besides you facilitating the conversation.
- Read one of the great business books available. If you don’t like to read try one of the audio versions. Stick with the New York Times or Amazon’s best seller list.
Anyone of these ideas should give you a better shot at solving your problem.
I’m not saying that some of the traditional theories can’t be applied and that some of these consultants don’t know these theories inside and out. I am saying be wary of anyone who claims to be an expert. They may know how to solve some one’s problem but until they spend some time with you – it isn’t yours.
