ABC is an acronym in Sales organizations for Always Be Closing. In other words, always be working to finalize the deal, complete the sale, get the signature on the bottom line, cash in and take the money to the bank. This pithy admonition was ingrained long before Alec Baldwin made it a centerpiece it in the movie Glengarry Glen Ross. But, if ABC means Always Be Closing to the Sales organization, what should it mean to the Technology organization?
What it too often means is Always Be Completing. In other words, for the scientist, engineer, or technology wizard, nothing is ever actually completed because there is always something else that must be done, adjustments to be made, tweaks to try, improvements to add, bells and whistles to bolt on, ideas to try, bugs to fix, research to finish, or a new version to install. ‘Completed’ is asymptotically approached but never realized. Ofttimes, to get a product to market you are forced to yank it out of the hands of the engineers and get it to production, ready or not. This fault of never achieving closure is in the genetic makeup of technologists because they want it to be “perfect” and perfection is unachievable. This approach hinders business and is why I wrote The Persuasive Wizard: How Technologists Sell Their Ideas to Non-technical Decision Makers, so that we technologists might improve ourselves. (The book will be out shortly.)
What ‘ABC’ should mean to technologists is Always Be Concise: a capability mandatory for technology persuasion. In other words, get on with it. An unfortunate trait of technologists is to give unnecessary, undesired, and unappreciated details to every technology query, drilling to the core of the earth with each response. A garrulous technology answer is the bane of our trade. We love our work so we want to keep talking and talking and talking. This shortcoming plagues science, engineering, mathematics, medicine, computer science, telecom, software, and the thousands of other occupations where wizards ply their trade. It affects the high and the low in our profession.
I was director of a renown think-tank organization. The division president caught me in the hall one day and remarked, “You know, you have a smart group, I guess, but let me tell you a typical experience. I’ve been looking to buy a piano for my daughter. So, I asked Barry (one of my engineers with broad interests and deep knowledge) which piano he might recommend. First he started with the molecular structure of how trees grow. Then, he described the Bessemer process. Next, he talked about the tension in strings. I left him rambling about the mechanization of piano levers. Doesn’t anyone in your group know how to be concise?”
I wish this reaction were either rare or anecdotal. It is neither. This has been pointed out to me time and again regarding some very smart people. So, I caution you. Strive to be concise. Here is how.
Reflect on your response. Answer the question that is asked, not the one you thought was asked, wish had been asked, or the one for which you know the answer. Keep your answer to a 3-5 sentences. No more. If the interlocutor wants more, let him request more. Listen to his response. If he moves the conversation in a different direction, he’s done with your answer. If he asks a slightly different question about the same subject, focus your answer to address this added nuance. Again, give no more than 2-3 sentences and then iterate the process. Let it be a dialog. If you follow these simple steps, you will find yourself well on the way to becoming The Persuasive Wizard.