21
Sep
The Happiness of Project Success !
About a month ago I hired a consultant to help me move my email from one PC to another, which involved a number of steps, including upgrading to another email system, combining files, and ensuring more than one email site was downloading to a single ‘pull’ source correctly, etc.
My topic is: WHY did I hire the consultant, rather than doing the work myself?
I had all of the components to do it myself:
- I had “Live Mail”.
- I had the skill set and knowledge.
- I certainly had the will.
but, I DIDN’T have the time.
The project was completed in short order, and very satisfactorily, albeit with an appropriate consultant’s fee.
And while I was happy to have completed the project, the surprising thing was what I experienced over the next few weeks. The satisfaction that I have been experiencing has literally changed my every day.
Mind you, this was a project that had been sitting on my ‘to-do’ list for years, so as expected, there was certainly satisfaction stemming from simply reducing my list.
Moreover, I was dealing with a cumbersome process of dealing with two PC’s and two email systems for a very long time. And in running the project through my mind many times, I kept coming up with areas of concern, and some pieces where I lacked the right knowledge. Which in itself, had me always relegating the project to a lower priority on my to-do list.
So, over the years….yes, sorry to say, that long….I had lost the vision of the EFFECT of having this task accomplished, that would result from an improvement in a process I undertook multiple times every day.
Now, literally every time I’m getting my personal email, I am full of the FEELING that the improved process has brought, which is surprisingly satisfying.
OK, by now you probably get my point, and where I’m going with this.
As consultants, I often wonder why our prospects don’t hire us on the spot….
- I know we can help immediately
- And I’m convinced that executives have the same intuition – that there are many consultants out there that could probably help them.
- AND, I’m very sure that simply because of a basic human trait, there’s a laundry list of ‘to-do’s that is sitting on every one of our prospect’s minds.
Maybe it’s simply the old gimmick of having to get a round TUIT. (Remember those?) But I don’t think so.
Certainly it’s about believing that we need to stick to the priority list, and if that nagging item down the list never reaches the top, so be it. Even if it’s a Bio-Med device / EMR Integration, or some other facet of EMR Integration like Nurse Call, or having an independent evaluation of your IT Strategy, or ….the list is long, isn’t it?
However, I submit the following:
That getting the simpler items dealt with and off the list….especially those that can have impact way beyond what it takes to get them resolved….will have a MOST satisfying effect. WHY? Sense of accomplishment?, One less thing to worry about?, Crossed one off the to-do list?, Yep, sure. But I believe it’s the anticipation and continued future use of the new process that really is the thing. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. Every time we see the new process’s effect, we know the impact, and it’s palpable. We actually Feel it.
So, the WAKE message?: We can really, really, have an effect on your well-being!
