When I am approached and asked if I can help a leader, group of leaders or a business, often the right first step is to undertake an initial project for them to help them bring clarity to their vision and alignment around it. Once we have that initial project completed and they are ready for “what’s next”, we can then together look at that and, having already worked together on that project, whether or not we are a fit to work together for the longer term.
Now, these short-term projects are ones that I can, through experience, deliver relatively quickly and by asking the right questions of the right people in the right way. They always deliver value and I charge based on the value they will receive, as well as in honouring my own value and my focus on only working with a limited number of clients at any time.Put another way, I charge a healthy fee for these projects when I choose to undertake them. Now, when clients hear that fee, they will react in one of three ways.
- First, they may simply say “yes, we need this, let’s go”.
- Alternatively, they may say “that feels expensive, but I know it is worth it for us at this stage. We have a few questions, so let’s look at them before we proceed”.
- Third, people may balk at the price and say “I didn’t think it would cost that much”.
Any and all responses or reactions are valid based upon their lens. That said, I know my value and at the same time my core value is “Fair”. so I always price based on value I know I will deliver, so when people have potential value that they choose not to invest in releasing, that disappoints me.
To turn that lens on myself for a moment, I can also respond in any of those three ways, my lens can vary! For example, I recently had a quote for some work on my house. I wasn’t expert on that area of expertise, but somehow had a number in mind for what the quoted price would be. When it came in higher, I struggled with it as I had a (somewhat random) expectation of the price being lower. I took time to process my reaction, then I considered the value of the work and the choice of contractor (who I knew was top quality as they had done work for other people I respected before). I went ahead with the work, I knew I would get value from it.
One more thought from me. Be aware of your language on this area. Do you use words like “cost” or “spend”, or do you use words like “investment” and “value”? The choice of language often informs our thinking and feeling on where we choose to “spend” or “invest”.
These are some thoughts of my own on how we value expertise. I then also read some thoughts from Shane Parrish of Farnam Street which I share below (from his newsletter, sign up for it here). I clipped one line from it for the title of this post: “We win the moment at the cost of the decade“, and to me, that is linked to when I see business owners focussing on “HOW” (eg how do we make our business more efficient”) or one level of context up, to the WHAT (what strategic areas should we focus on), yet often they put insufficient focus on the WHY, such as; what is our Vision? why are we different? why are we here? what makes us different in the market? where will we be in the next decade and where will our market and industry/sector be?
I hand over to Shane for his thoughts now, and the first line from Sun Tzu also speaks concisely and eloquently to the power of having clarity of vision before anything. Without that, if you don’t know where you are going, all roads will take you there, a route to inefficiency, ineffectiveness and “cost” and “spending” over “investment” and “value”:
“Every battle is won before it’s ever fought.” — Sun Tzu
This lesson goes beyond war.
I recently spoke with an architect about the problems another one of his clients was going through. While they had originally interviewed the architect for the project, they wanted someone right away and thought he was too expensive for what they needed. Unfortunately, they currently find themselves buried in costly problems that he’s now solving for them with overtime. Was this a poor choice or just bad luck? If we play out the same scenario 100 times — where a couple rushes through the selection of an architect and builder, picking the cheapest immediately available option — how many times do you think it ends poorly? 80? 90? 95?
While most of us would never choose to play life on hard mode, that’s exactly what we do when we put ourselves in a bad position. One way to visualize this is through the lens of billiards. We become so focused on making the first shot that we fail to consider how we position the ball for the next shot. When we go to take the next shot, it’s harder than it had to be.
Consider a few simple ways we put ourselves in a bad position.
We borrow too much money. Everything works great until it doesn’t. When things inevitably change, we find ourselves ill-positioned. What seemed like an advantage becomes a nightmare.
We try to save money in the wrong places. We balk at the $500 an hour lawyer with years of relevant experience and opt for the $200 an hour lawyer who says the right things. Inevitably, we find ourselves paying for them to learn the lessons that command the $500 an hour. We do the same when it comes to purchases. Often, we opt for the ‘cheaper’ option only to realize our mistakes. As the saying goes, buy it right or buy it twice. Cheaper in the moment rarely works out to cheaper overall.
We win the moment at the cost of the decade. Examples of this are everywhere. For example, we skip necessary maintenance on core assets to juice returns, we accrue technical debt that goes unpaid, and we monetize buffers and margins of safety. In the process, the smallest shock can cause massive damage.
We fail to take care of ourselves. We don’t eat healthy, sleep right, or exercise enough. When problems come, we’re ill-positioned to deal with them.
We try to save time. We cut corners on a job and cringe when we have to fix our mistakes.
Being in a position to capitalize when times are bad requires doing different things when times are good. This goes against human nature — we don’t want to look like an idiot when times are good even if doing so offers an unstoppable advantage when times are tough. Good times eventually come to an end. As Warren Buffett says, “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.”
The main lesson here is to always put yourself in the best position possible no matter the future conditions. Not only does this mean avoiding costly problems, as the couple above learned, but it also means putting yourself in a position to perpetually play offense.
Brilliance might appear to win in the moment, but positioning wins in the end.