#CuttheCr*p - lessons part two

#CuttheCr*p Lessons Part 2

By Chief Provocateur @Ajaz_Ahmed

A while back I wrote about my ‘Cut the Cr*p’ talks, the response was amazing, so here’s part two.

#GarlicBread Peter Kaye’s famous Garlic Bread sketch - “I’ve seen the future, I’ve tasted it, we’re all going to be eating 'Garlic Bread.' Am I hearing you right? Garlic bread? Bread with garlic on it? No, I don’t think so. No thank you.” While this is funny, this is the problem with people in business. When you come up with a good idea, the first thing your boss will say is “No” without even thinking about it, it’s happened to me many times. Don’t fall into ‘Garlic Bread syndrome.’ 


#ConfirmationBias Most people have a built-in bias and look for ways of confirming that bias. They look for ways of proving they're right and you're wrong, especially if you are low status ‘Colleague’. 


#NoOneCaresAboutYou You can learn this the hard way, in business, no one gives a damn about you. For example, people are nice to you when they want something, but nobody will knock on the door to say, “We think you’ve done a great job, you deserve this bonus.” Life doesn’t work that way, get used to it.


#DontWalkAroundBlind We’re bombarded with stimulus from the minute we wake, to the minute we go to sleep. The Internet, TV ad’s, newspaper ad’s, billboards, shops, etc. We’re exposed to so much inspiration, so why do I see so many cr*p in business. People must be walking around blind, can’t they see how cr*p they are compared other successful businesses? Open your eyes and get inspired. 


#NickIdeas I knick ideas all the time, I’ll see a colour here, a font there, navigation on a website, a way to describe something. My boring firm does well because I’ve applied retail principles to it, lessons I've learnt from lots of companies. Walk around with your eyes open, borrow ideas and use them in your business. 


#DontListenToCustomers Becoming the customer, use empathy, I don't do market research or customer surveys. I’m not the only one, great businesses use empathy. 


#ArseCovering Market research is for insecure middle managers who want to cover their arse in case something goes wrong. Learn to take risks and go with your gut.


#CustomersDontSayGoodbye In case you hadn’t noticed, customers don’t say goodbye, they just go. Don’t take your customers for granted, they might not be there tomorrow.


#GetToThePoint Learn to get to the point. 


#DontIgnoreDisruptors Incumbents generally ignore disruptors, they think they are too small to affect them. The disruptor gets bigger and bigger, and then one day it’s too late. History has lots of examples of incumbents ignoring disruptors. Don’t ignore them because you might live to regret it. 


#OutsideTheIndustry Disruptors generally come from outside your industry, and incumbents like to maintain the status quo and carry on doing the same thing today that they did yesterday.


#Goingout&Holiday At a certain point in life, people give up on their dreams and then they the only thing they look forward to is, going out on a Friday or Saturday night. They then spend six months talking about the holiday they're going on and the other six months talking about the holiday they went on. Don’t give up on your dreams.


#YourBiggestAsset For some reason people think that their house and car is their biggest asset, they spend time and money on them. Wake up, you're your biggest asset. Spend time and money on yourself and then buy a bigger house and car. 


I hope you get the idea, encourage everyone in your company to #CutTheCr*p.

It's really simple.