Perfect timing - both your friend and your worst enemy

Seth Godin wrote a great post about avocados last week. Turns out he has written about them before so I think, like me, he appreciates a good avocado and uses them to illustrate a broader point around things happening at the right time. Also last week Dave Kurlan posted an awesome recording of a sales coaching session in this blog article using baseball analogies, which he has used many times before, it was extremely insightful and worth a listen. Although I am not a huge baseball fan, Dave I both really enjoy a great coaching and role play session. Finally the Harvard Business Review had posted this article in February, neither is it about baseball nor avocados but it is certainly a really interesting read - especially as many companies think about expanding or taking advantage of pent up demand or gaps that have resulted from 12 plus months of COVID. All three of these great posts have something important in common, they all emphasize the relevance and impact of both good and bad timing!

We have all encountered situations where things go wrong and then we begin the process of debriefing. So many times, we look for proof or evidence of what went wrong, rarely do we walk away admitting that we simply executed the wrong question, tactic or strategy at a particular time. We usually find another scapegoat or an excuse for failure. As you learn from all three of the posts I referenced at the outset the impact of poor timing can be observed across an organization:

1.      Poorly timed practices or habits can kill the creativity and productivity of your meetings and force teams into unproductive paradigms.

2.      Questions asked too early in a sales conversation will at best slow the process down but more likely kill the opportunity because salespeople often do not even know that it happened nor how to recover from it if they do.

3.      Start ups and enterprise companies can both shoot themselves in the foot if they start expanding their business at the wrong time - either they are not ready or the market is not ready.

It is true that sometimes we are simply victims of poor timing, events happening around us and beyond our control. But let us not focus on those instances, instead, we need to talk about the times when we do have control of the timing and we still mess it up. How does that happen? We are probably smart people. We have been trained and schooled. We have experience in our field, or we would not be doing this job. Why do we therefore fall into this trap so often? Why does good timing or executing at the right time, so often escape us?

I would suggest that the same thing that happens to the salesperson, either in a role play or a real situation, happens to us all. I believe that if we examine any occurrence of "self inflicted" poor timing, we will find some of the same principles jumping out at us. You may not be a salesperson and you may not even work closely with the sales division, but chances are that whether it happens in the board room or the front line some of these factors are at play.

·      Failing to stay in the moment and focus on what is happening, what is being said, what is not being said and instead we get excited about an outcome or a result. For a salesperson that might be bragging about a closed deal or the commission they might earn. For a CEO it is the thrill of letting people know via a press release that they are expanding into Asia. Getting excited and ahead of ourselves is at the heart of poor timing, patience is the antidote.

·      Failing to listen to everything – and I mean everything. When Seth talks about the waste of time being expended when meetings decide to go down the road of introducing everyone to everyone for 20 minutes of a 60-minute meeting, we should not need him to tell us it is a waste of time. Listen to the tone, listen to the energy (or lack of) listen to the people that are not even paying attention as others are introduced, listening to the mood and reading the virtual room would tell you it is a waste of time. Listening involves far more than just hearing and taking notes, it goes much deeper and it is that depth that will help us avoid doing anything at the wrong time.

·      Failing to dig deep enough. A CEO might just ask if something is a good idea and everyone at the table nods and says yes. Now he has two choices, just move on, or ask the team why they like it? What are the risks they see? How do they think we will need to adjust? Of course, a CEO or any executive might like to surround himself with yes men and women and will therefore never ask these questions because he is too elated with the nod of approval. Similarly, a salesperson might have happy ears and not want to dig as deep as they need to and totally understand the client, it is easier to assume all is well and move forward. In either case digging deep will help us avoid asking or implementing at the wrong time. It will also help us to eliminate decisions that are made based on assumptions. There is a big difference between feeling like it is the right time and knowing it is the right time.

·      Failing to take appropriate action. So far it probably sounds like wrong timing comes down to doing something or asking something too soon. That is a common problem but, in many organizations, the opposite challenge is happening. They fail to decide, to draw a conclusion or act. Asking a question too late or failing to ask can ruin a sales meeting. Launching a new product or starting campaign too late can also be catastrophic. When choices linger and fail to come to closure – either a yes or a no, there are always negative consequences.

This post is not intended to solve the issues and problems associated with poor timing, there are too many culprits and players that can have an impact. Hopefully it just provides a place to start. I will however point out that as we head into another challenging year, on top of an already debilitating 2020 for many, the importance of not wasting time or executing at the wrong time cannot be understated.