I’ve been often amazed at throughout my jobs how much more importance is put on talking about doing things, versus actually doing them. At one of my previous employer’s, it was incredibly common for many folks to be praised and rewarded not so much for the results they actually delivered, but the way they presented their work. Many a promotions were awarded simply because someone could put together a snazzy powerpoint about how incredible they or their team was.
Recently we had a client that hired us to provide them a marketing plan…that’s it. Just a plan about how they could go about doing a better job marketing themselves. Don’t get me wrong, I can understand the value of strategic planning and it’s importance in driving business results. But in this client’s case, they didn’t have any additional budget…just enough for a plan. I couldn’t help but think to myself, why pay for a plan that you won’t be able to act on? What good does a few pages of words do you if you can’t put it in action? Needless to say I was able to convince the client that they were much better off putting those dollars to better use and have us actually do some work for them instead.
There’s too much talk in the world and not enough action don’t you think? Everyone talking about what they are going to do, and often times never seeing those things happen. I like being in the business of getting shit done, and associating myself with others that do. You can never go wrong with those folks. If you’re looking to hire someone, whether it’s a full time employee, contractor, etc., make sure you hire the do’ers and not the say’ers. Employees performance evaluation makes all the difference in the world.
Great post, Jason. In the words of the classic Elvis Presley song, “A little less conversation, a little more action” 🙂
Totally agree! Also love the Elvis Presley reference above.
Hear, hear! Simple and to the point. Thanks for the reminder Jason.
I couldn’t agree more!
I couldn’t help but think to myself, why pay for a plan that you won’t be able to act on? What good does a few pages of words do you if you can’t put it in action? Needless to say I was able to convince the client that they were much better off putting those dollars to better use and have us actually do some work for them instead.
I agree with you.. There are a lot of talks here in this world and we don’t even see any actions with it especially those powerful people.. It is better to take actions before talking..
A little less conversation, a little more action”I couldn’t help but think to myself, why pay for a plan that you won’t be able to act on? What good does a few pages of words do you if you can’t put it in action?
Needless to say I was able to convince the client that they were much better off putting those dollars to better use and have us actually do some work for them instead. Thanks for sharing.
This is interesting. One of my eyes turns out slightly – it’s usually not noticable but sometimes makes me appear to be looking past the person I’m talking to (I’m not sure why but this only happens somethimes). It’s made me a little self-conscious about making eye contact with someone and as a result of this I am very aware of looking at them!
I can imagine easily that it might just be nerves or insecurity that made this person look so shifty.