I solve problems!!!

I have spoken before about my rule of three ie if something crosses my path three times then it is significant and I need to do something about it, well it has happened again.

It started with a Linkedin discussion thread that asked if the reader could describe what (in the field of change) they do in three words? Well, I have long admired those that can convey what they do very succinctly whether it be at parties, over a meal or even at interview. It has been something I have struggled with at times and rarely been happy with my delivery. So that got me thinking and my answer was

"Deliver lasting change"

It was interesting that of the many responses, most were about how they do things rather that what they achieve. Examples included "Communicate, communicate, communicate", "Prepare, seed, water" abd "Diagnose actual problem".

This still felt a little unsatisfactory in terms of selling myself and my skills professionally so for my personal webiste I expanded to four words to make it "deliver lasting business change".

I have been thinking subsequently and the three words describing what I do is "I solve problems". This feels very comfortable as it is what I was trained to do, what I enjoy doing and indeed what I do do every day. I may test it when I meet new people and see if it is more powerful than "deliver lasting change".




So the second leg was a Forbes.com article entitled "How to Make the Best Business Impression in 8 seconds or Less". This argued that the average adult attention span is eight seconds and that in reality, most people will stop listening after five seconds. This is still a very succinct soundbite and needs a lot of practice. I am not sure I have nailed this one yet but the article does give some guides on how to craft the message. It is the sort of thing one would use at a first meeting, in an elevator or indeed as a crisp reponse to an interview.

While I think this could still do with some sharpening, my working

I help financial service organisations implement business change. I do this by creating confidence that the right things are being done in the right way to deliver the outcomes they desire.

 Now the third piece that I cam across was in an ebook on change from John Passy entitled "Transforming Dinosaurs Into Vampires". As I flicked through to the back (yes, a paper based habit that persists!) I came across an example of how to the newspaper industry is changing. In it he reports that the average web-reader (as opposed to paper-reader), in most cases, reads the first seven lines before jumping to another article. He acknowledges it is not the case that only the first seven lines are ever read, but it does give a sense of important those first few lines are to people who are short of time or need convincing that they want/need to read further.

This is of particular importance when it comes to promoting yourself in a CV or on a blog or website. Of course seven lines is not quite as well defined as "three words" or "eight (or five) seconds", but is still a good guide.

So circling back, did I get you as the reader interested in the title? Did the first seven lines persaude you to read further? Would my eight second spiel be enough for us to talk further?