Success Means Benefiting From Getting THERE

Let’s continue from the previous post.

Customer integration can involve sensitive issues beyond my awareness so I’m using this analogy to avoid potential stereotypes. It may seem lame, but hopefully isn’t offensive. Please use insights to adapt this to how customers perceive themselves, their needs & opportunities.

In WHAT GOT YOU HERE WON’T GET YOU THERE, Marshall Goldsmith & Mark Reiter explored Success Delusion starting with: "The bear was about to clamp onto an unsuspecting airborne salmon jumping upstream. [An UNUM] headline read: YOU PROBABLY FEEL LIKE THE BEAR. WE’D LIKE TO SUGGEST YOU’RE THE SALMON."

Let’s anthropomorphize salmon & bears. Their conditions aren’t optimized for them. Though abilities are adapted for their primary environmental areas (salmon in oceans), risks increase in secondary areas (rivers). Bears have more options for safe movement & waiting for opportunities to fulfill purposes for being ‘THERE’.

Without planning, they adjust by grabbing fish & choosing to eat immediately or on dry land. Salmon swim around obstacles (possibly bears’ legs) without recognizing threats.

Like salmon swimming in oceans & rivers, people presume succeeding again in similar conditions without acknowledging risks & threats.

Success motivates people to continue fulfilling purposes possibly without adjusting for new reality. Sub-purposes are important for adjusting to fluctuating obstacles & threats.

Sub-purpose 1= set goals from expectations & needs. S2= evaluate total conditions for goal feasibility. S3= determine how conditional elements change & how to adjust to fulfill expectations & needs. S4= plan for obstacles & threats to determine which resources fit goals & conditions. S5= overcome obstacles & threats. S6= Are remaining resources sufficient for goal-achievement? S7= goal-achievement.

Consider If Plans Are Enough Instead Of Wondering If You’ve Planned Long Enough.

Bears & salmon don’t set limits. Salmon won’t replenish if bears prevent spawning, Naturalists figure bears stabilize salmon populations. Excess salmon could obliterate resources & endanger the species.

As individuals & populations, people might push for too much without extrapolating: ‘If we do ABC for X years, we’ll create JK. Unfortunately, DEF will happen & cause GHI. If we do AB for Y years, DE can happen & cause GH. GH would be inconvenient but won’t prevent JK.’

Salmon gain size, strength & experiences before spawning in rivers where they hatched. Salmon can gain oceans of predator-evading experiences without applicable knowledge for rivers. Hatchlings survive by fitting through small spaces while swimming downstream without much jumping. They don’t attract much attention from bears hunting for big prey.

Even if people think they’ve been ‘THERE’, they haven’t done that.

Berry eating requires less energy from bears than scrambling to catch slippery, moving hatchlings. Small bears might benefit from a few hatchlings. Big bears might use more energy to catch a hatchling than they’d gain. River rocks & silt can be slippery, so awkward (not smoothly practiced) movements can cause injuries.

On land, bears use muscles differently than walking on & between slippery rocks while water buffets them. Muscle fibers develop based on how they’re challenged. Infrequent activities require more energy because they don’t build effective, efficient mental & muscle memory.

Hatchlings aren’t threats but hunting for them might be risky. Threats might be low but risks might be high.

People might not realize inefficient methods & cheap products could effectively bring insignificant benefits instead of fulfilling expectations.

Even after improving mental & muscle memory effectiveness & efficiency, people might be disappointed by cheap products. People can create advantages by comparing benefits with risks & costs (money, energy & time) of specific products & methods.

You can differentiate from competitors by helping customers with cognitive labor of unfamiliar topics, comparisons & decisions.

Salmons’ struggles are wasted when they die close to spawning. Advantage offers should include assuring customers’ benefits are worthwhile compared to risks & investments.

When people get ‘THERE’, are they too stressed because they & resources are exhausted? Which resources are necessary to gain benefits proportionate to total investments? Low-priced products don’t ensure full preparation or necessarily reduce financial risks.

It’d be like bears raiding picnic baskets for hibernation preparation. It’s seemingly easily obtained (cheaper) food, but without nutrients bears need to recover from activities, change bodily functions, survive without eating & emerge from hibernation.

It’s easy to focus on what’s visible, but multiple subtle factors affect partial failure or full success. If partial success is achieved, will results fail eventually? Help customers find optimal resources now, so they aren’t like starving bears running to rivers in mid-winter, scrambling for scarce food & weakly searching for hibernacula.

Full Success Requires Preparation, Timing & Resource Acquisition.

Help customers define ‘HERE’ & ‘THERE’ plus times when conditions will be favorable. Guide customers to plan their best affordable paths.

Your offers can affect whether people retreat to man-caves or she-sheds to rest, hibernate until they’re ready to try again or abandon projects. If people need to assess priorities before planning new steps, you can offer information so people can use the best criteria to decide which option is best.

Whether people have imposter syndrome or just think they have minor deficiencies, they might have unrefined qualifications. They might have rough skills & need practice &/or different methods.

People might misdiagnose problems & do the right things for the wrong problems. Did failure happen because of wrong timing, products &/or methods? If people were too stressed, tired, distracted, etc., they might’ve missed details. Maybe customers can repair & regain resources & save incomplete projects. If missing details are hard to identify, customers might have to restart.

Bears go to rivers & eat a lot of fish to prepare for hibernation when salmon spawn. Some are eaten by bears. That coincidence gives bears an advantage.

Humans create advantages by learning from case studies & choosing leaders to coordinate efforts. Retailers should be leaders because customers might act on immediate convenience & advertised bargains instead of considering options & scheduling actions.

Like leaping salmon, when people invest resources to establish momentum, they have sunk costs & would have to expend resources to change directions.

As an advisor, you should help customers connect experiences & information. Even when people need to act urgently, they should avoid contraindicated actions.

Consultation Example: ‘While (problem) emerges, you can prepare (project steps) you’ll need for whatever happens. When we know how severe (problem) will be, we can determine if it’s a hurdle you can jump or wall you can’t climb. I'll ask questions to guide you to the best kit to fix (damage) at the time you can prevent recurrence & preserve your investment in this (project). We need information & observation to discern if the current damage or impending potential damage could be worse. When you invest in (products), let’s be sure you get maximum benefits. You should decide if cautious delaying might prevent or secure benefits. People might succeed without waiting, but they might suffer if (risk) works against them. Since each person can withstand limited risks, it’s important to consider your current stress load. Based on current risks & resources, what can you afford to do later? What’s urgent now?’

Whether bears need to hibernate to recover after stress or because resources are scarce in winter, they change how they fulfill priorities. Help customers determine what & how to change plus when.

Personal recovery needs depend on stress which affects when people are ready for challenges. Are people ready for daily intensity plus total duration of projects? It’s easy to misjudge how soon benefits will be created.

If each benefit requires relatively equal resources & effort, help customers prioritize what will be most fulfilling.

Example: If results are appealing for sensory purposes, achieving WOW levels for each sense could be great, but possibly overpowering. The effort could be overwhelming & fatigue could decrease enjoyment. Help customers achieve more meaningful & possibly easier to achieve WOWs. Which sensory stimulus is already ‘HERE’ & doesn’t require going ‘THERE’? Which stimuli could be added like decorations?

When customers feel rested, are they ready for full or incremental journeys? Based on personal & financial resources, which WOW can customers afford to add to ‘HERE’ or ‘THERE’? If journeys are incremental, what could achieve incremental fulfillment & avoid frustration?

Emphasize how different factors & increments would synergize for full effects. For sensory factors, you can ask if people want to increase alertness or induce relaxation. Do they want flowery or fruity scents? By asking about favorite memories, you might find ways to recall & enhance feelings & thoughts with textures, scents, flavors, colors, sizes, weights, thicknesses, sounds, etc. Stimuli can link past & present experiences so people can mentally return to a previous ‘THERE’. Memories can remind people what made past experiences special or what to avoid in current journeys.

When you present benefits, describe options plus achievement requirements, so people can choose based on desires & abilities. If people can’t achieve each goal aspect or are disappointed by primary results, they can consider other options & adjust plans. After experiencing limited options, people might return for your help with full satisfaction.

Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.

Copyright 2022 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.

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