Word of Mouth

Are you aware of the effects of what you say? One of the oldest and most impacting ways of communication, is spreading your view by

Word of Mouth
Matthew 15:11
The words you speak are a projection of your deepest self. Your spoken words come back and you and may pollute or heal you.



Already in the bible (Matthew 15:11) Jesus states that instead of discussing whether unclean foods (entering the mouth) defile a person, the words that come out of a person's mouth (could) defile him more.
However, be good of heart, so that good words come out of your mouth (Luke 6:45) to generate good things in life.


WOM Marketing
Word of Mouth (WOM) is serious business. Be aware that your spoken words could effect or infect your environment.

Just like a viral infection, your words can become contagiousness (sticky) and are (in)directly widely spread around.

In the world of (viral) marketing this is what in the book named "The Tipping Point", Gladwell calls:

The Stickiness Factor
Marketing research on products and brands, showed that (product or brand) success is closely related to a handful of 'stickiness' key drivers:

• Excellence: perceived as best of breed
• Uniqueness: clear one-of-a-kind differentiation
• Aesthetics: perceived aesthetic appeal
• Association: generates positive associations
• Engagement: fosters emotional involvement
• Functional value: addresses functional needs
• Nostalgic value: evokes sentimental linkages
• Personification: has character, personality
• Cost: perceived value for money

Whether you like to successful transfer a message, sell a product or "sell" yourself (like a brand), rate your message, product or yourself to the above list of 'sticky key drivers' and see how you can do better.

The more key drivers qualities are fulfilled, the more success you'll have.


WOM Formula
There's even a WOM formula that states that (the success of) WOM is a function of originality (O) and usefulness (U).

WOM = O x U

This formula has been extended by Alain Thys to:

WOM = O x U x S^C

With:

• O = Originality
• U = Usefulness
• S = Seed, covers the amount of initial locations you can seed your message(i.e. the number of customers, bloggers, etc.)
• C = Credibility, determines the relative value of these seed locations.

WOM HR in the office
Another WOM application can be given in the Human Resource (HR) field (Authentic Word of Mouth Marketing Innovations)
The way employees in a company respond and translate 'messages' and 'information' in the organization to other employees, depends on their 'Social Abilities' and their positive or negative 'Work Experiences'.

When making cultural changes in companies we may distinguish between these several kind of employees:

• Quadrant A
  Employees in Quadrant A do not feel positive or engaged at work. This group also tends to not have a large social circle, which means that even if they are complaining about the workplace, it will have limited effect. However, do not underestimate these people as many of them many not be extremely social in person but are social on the internet, where they can have an enormous impact. Especially if this group has tech skills, work hard to make them feel engaged and frequently ask them what they like about the job.
• Quadrant B
  Employees in Quadrant B generally like the job and have a positive opinion of it, but do not care to share that fact with a wide circle. This group should be encouraged to speak about the job more. If they are not comfortable with engaging more people in person, you can make them an online advocate of the company and train them in blogging, social networks and other online social tools where they can meet more people without feeling uncomfortable. They can also be mentored to go to more public events.
• Quadrant C
  Employees in Quadrant C are dangerous to your company. These highly social but negative people will spread negative stories, talk about company weaknesses and flaws in management. In the best of situations, you should try to move these employees to a more positive feeling for the company. Care must be taken that these people do not get left unchecked until they have severely damaged the company image, which as a social insider, is not difficult to do.
• Quadrant D
  Employees in Quadrant D should get paid double. These are the people that add energy and excitement to the company and they act as a latent but effective salesperson whenever they encounter someone. These are the people that, even years after they have left your business, will still be talking about it to new people.
  The key with employees in D is to recognize them, encourage them and challenge them to do even more. Give them the stories and access to information that will make it even easier for them. Turn up their volume.

Realize the power of WOM, use it!

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Cut the Knot !

Sometimes it's hard to take decisions.
However, problems in life can be looked upon as knots.



Just like real problems in life

• the stuck knots are sometimes hard to undo.
• there are a lot of different knot types

Now what can we learn from knots to solve problems in real life?

Stage 1 Analyze
First of all, before undoing (= solving) a knot (= problem), try to analyze it before just starting to pull (= attack) on the knot.
Pulling without analyzing might work, but often makes things worse. So always analyze first.

Stage 2 Work out action plan
Make an action plan and work this out.
Often you can undo knots in more than one way.
In general there are five different forms of (sequential) action plans


Action Plan 1 : Analytical Approach
Think on how the rope got into a knot anyway.
Undo the knot in small steps (don't force) by slightly loosen up the knot (rope) and 'working backwards".
Decide on which end of the rope to start. Sub-analyze after each step and go on

Action Plan 2 : Trial and Error
Without a direct plan, by trial and error, but still with firmness, strength, gentleness and infinite perseverance, loosen up the knot and try to to shake the knot repeatedly.

Action Plan 3 : Make things worse
When analytic approach and trail and error fail, and nothing helps, just take the risk of making things worse. Pull both ends of the rope at the same time in order to find out if the knot undoes itself!
Just like with knots in ropes, our problems often disappear by (the risk of) making them larger.
Even knots that you can undo in this way, may seem stuck at first. Simply loosen up the knot a bit. This diminishes the resistance of the rope. After that just pull.

Action Plan 4: Wait
Do nothing and wait a limited amount of time to see if the circumstances change or you might get other ideas or help.
Often when there's no tension on the knot, it loosens up itself so you can undo it.

Action Plan 5: Cut the knot
When every action plan until now has failed use the method Alexander the Great used by slicing the Gordian Knot with his sword.
So in these cases simply Cut the Knot.
This means that when patience and perseverance have failed, end the problem in a rigorous way.

When all the above methods have failed and you still got this problem, the only way to fight it is to recognize the problem is within yourself.

The famous philosopher Wittgenstein suggested that some problems are in fact knots in our head, often created by asking ourselves the wrong sorts of questions.

Now in the end it all comes down to you. You must decide to


Cut the knot or not

Wetter it is the knot outside or in your head (or both), don't let it drive you nuts.

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Share your Dreams

Some people are anxious to share their dreams.
But nothing is wrong with that. And with good friends you can even share your deeper thoughts.
So good friends may contribute to fulfil your dreams.





But suppose you've got a brand new idea or activity that you're (only) good at.
Don't worry to share this either.

Sharing good plans and ideas are just like giving away 'sheet music' of Bach:



It looks easy to play, But it isn't !

Still difficult to accept?





Imagine a fugue by Bach that's played by a fireman. Or the fire of your burning house that had to be extinguished by Bach.
What would the performance be in both cases?
Be confident about yourself.


Share your dreams and ideas and things will come your way !

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Blind Reality

There's this bible story of the Blind Man of Bethsaida (Mark 8:22-25).

Mark 8:22-25 22 And they came to Beth-sa'ida. And some people brought to him a blind man, and begged him to touch him. 23 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the village; and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands upon him, he asked him, "Do you see anything?" 24 And he looked up and said, "I see men; but they look like trees, walking." 25 Then again he laid his hands upon his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and saw everything clearly.

This is not just one of those spectacular healings of blind people by some or other magician.
It's one of the most powerful teachings in the bible.

It all has to do with the question:

Why did Jesus heal the blind man in two stages?

The answer to this question lays in the next recent scientific insights.

A new study on blind people who regain their sight, by Ione Fine and Donald MacLeod of the UCSD ( University Of California - San Diego ) shows:

ScienceDaily The two-year study focused on the experiences of Michael May, who, after having been completely blind since the age of 3 1/2, successfully underwent an experimental limbal stem cell transplant in his right eye at the age of 43. After regaining his sight in March of 2000, May, like many others who have regained their sight after decades of blindness, could see the world, but could not interpret what he was seeing. Two years after surgery, he still lives in a world of abstract shapes and colors instead of the environment of recognizable objects with three-dimensional shapes that normally sighted people take for granted.

This study explains scientifically that making a blind person see, consists of two stages:

• making it physically possible to let someone see
• make the person understand ( interpretate ) what he sees

It's (always) astonishing that the bible teaches us something that we can only seem to understand with the science insights of 2004.

This contributes to the fact that the bible is an authentic source and that the words of Jesus, even in our era, can teach us on how to develop science.

Spiritual View
But there's also a congruential spiritual view on this story.

When we live in our world and just look at things superficial, we are constantly confused.
We live, so to speak, as in a "blind reality". However, by reading the holy scripts and the words of Jesus we receive insight and are able to interpretate and to understand the things we see.

This levels us up to a higher level of consciousness and makes our lives more valuable.

This way leads to the life that was "ment to be".

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Columbus Egg

We often try to perform,living by the rules.

Rules are often developed based upon experiences, the past.
To capture the future, set for new directions, 'old rules' sometimes get in the way.

One step further is the Master, who sets the rules needed to achieve new goals.

A great example of such a master is Christofer Columbus, who discovered America in 1492.

The egg of Columbus

Just after his first voyage, Columbus was at a party.

There, somebody told him that if he had not discovered America, someone else would have.

Without reply, Columbus took an egg and said, "He who can make this egg stand here on the table without support, he was the first to discover the Indies."

Each person on the table attempted to make the egg stand, but no one succeeded.


Then Columbus took the egg in his hand an with a smart stroke upon the table, it remained upright.

As is clear, Columbus in one single action proved:

• He (only) had the capabilities of succeeding in utopic goals
  
• Once somebody discovered something new in a simple way, that doesn't mean it wasn't hard to discover
  
• To succeed, if neccesary, you'll have to change the rules (stroke the egg)
  
• Tough situations urge for thinking out of the box

Remember, sometimes you cannot make an omelette without breaking the egg.

Next time your goals look unreacheable or you don't have enough time or patience, simply try changing the rules.

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Career Decision Matrix

Rewarding employees looks simple. If someone "makes the numbers", simply reward him or her. When exceeding the numbers simply give an extra bonus or promote someone.

If someone doesn't deliver the promised targets, simply fire that person.

Unfortunately it's not that easy...





Lack of attitude
What if your employee "makes the numbers" but doesn't show the right attitude and/or doesn't demonstrate the company values.

Although it seems hard to decide: Fire that employee. Not firing, will result in 'copy behavior' of other employees, with chaos or possible mutiny as a result.


Not delivering the numbers
What about the reversed situation, when someone is showing the right attitude and company values, but doesn't (yet) deliver the promised numbers?

Give him or her a second or third chance.


Next time you reward someone, take into account his or her attitude.

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Sometimes Shit happens

Even if we do our utmost best in life,

Sometimes Shit Happens



All kind of Shit, like accidents, divorces, dead or health problems could be messing up our lives.
When dealing with Shit, we may ask the "What" and the "Why" question.

First we may analyze de cause of the shit (the What question).

• What caused the Shit?
• Did I cause it myself or did somebody else do this?
• Could I prevent this kind of Shit or not?

But perhaps more important is the "Why" question

• Why did this happen?
• Why did it happen to me, my friend or my enemy?
• Why did it happen now and not later or earlier?
• Is there a reason why this happened?

Answering the Why question, could give us the meaning of this Shit that happened in our life.
Let's distinguish between several events that could happen to us in life.

Suppose you got caught in a car crash.
This is not a global, but a personal event, with mainly personal impact.
If the accident was caused by you, you could raise the why-question to yourself.
If the accident was caused by someone else who - for instance - was drunk and got on the wrong side of the road, things become more difficult.
The meaning, sense or reason of such an accident is often not personal, but more local. People in your environment learn from this that drinking alcohol and driving don't go together.

However, questions that you could raise in these kind of situations are:
Why was I there, at that moment, with what reason? And, could I have reacted differently?

Global events, like a tsunami or an earthquake, have an enormous personal impact on us, but no personal conclusions (in terms of meaning) can be drawn.
In these kind of events life may seem unfair from a personal point of view. These events only have a global meaning. Only global conclusions, like 'building stronger houses', can be drawn here.

The reason why such events take place are on a global scale. They concern the life and development of the earth as a hole.

Things like humans, animals, corals or whatever are of minor importance than the greater goal : survival of the Earth.



So in general we may conclude that from local (global) Shit-events we may often draw personal (global) conclusions with a personal (global) meaning.
You could say that local events have a local reason and global events have a global reason. Don't mix them up!

But perhaps you think that

Things happen without a reason ?
As we've seen, this may seam so, because reasons are sometimes global and not personal.

But perhaps you think there are no reasons in life, and everything - Shit and Good - is just random happening, without a meaning?

In this case you probably also think you've got no destination?
Because events in life only have a meaning if you have a goal, a destination. Not chosen by yourself, but by the universe.

So if you think

There's a destination in life
you'll search for the reason that Shit happened to you. By learning from the reason's that caused this Shit, you'll be able to reframe yourself and still reach your final (but sometimes hidden) personal destination. In a way you could say the environment (universe) helps you to reach your destination by generating Shit if you don't decide in line with your destination.



In a way you could say that the meaning of Shit happening in your life depends on what you believe.

Redefine, self-redefine, Shit as

Shit Helps In Thinking

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Permission Paradox

You recognize these situations?:

• You apply for a 'manager job', but are turned down because you don't have any 'manager experience' However, you can not seem to gain manager experience without first being a manager.


• You've got your drivers license, but your father or partner doesn't allow you to drive his car. He's afraid you might damage it. You can only proof you will not damage the car by driving it.

These situations are examples of what is called the

Permission Paradox




The permission paradox with regard to career management is described and promoted by Spencer Stuart on bases of the book 'The 5 Patterns of Extraordinary Careers'.

It's one of the great Catch-22s in business.

In general it's simply stated: “You can't get the permission (job) without the experience and you can't get the experience without the permission (job).”


In practice you can overcome the paradox. Let's mention a few methods for gaining permission.

• If you want something, just ask


• Demonstrate competence or required behavior in areas that form the building blocks for new future roles


• To gain associative or expert permission, get the relevant credentials


• Ensure that both parties get something from the relationship

Of course there are more, (discussable) strategies to avoid the permission paradox.

But anyway, unlock your potential, be aware of the paradox and don't accept a 'no' for an answer: do something!

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