Wim GE De Vos

Small businesses with a BIG impact

The power of context

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tipping point

The key to getting people to change their behaviour sometimes lies with the smallest details of their immediate situation. The Power of Context says that human beings are a lot more sensitive to their environment than they may seem. It also says that small changes can have a big impact. Just like a business…

Studies on juvenile delinquency and drop-outs have proven that a child is better of in a good neighbourhood and a troubled family compared to a bad neighbourhood and a good family. This is another example of the power of context.

Pretty powerful and counter-intuitive to many of us. In ways we do not necessarily appreciate, our inner states are the result fo our outer circumstances.

We are powerfully shaped by our external environment. And features of our immediate social and physical world – the streets we walk down, the people we encounter – play a huge role in shaping who we are and how we act.

Now I ask you.

How do you use the Power of Context to shape behaviour of your team, clients and partners?

recommended reading: Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point

Recruit high energy ⚡ optimists

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high energy
optimist

Small businesses looking to have a big impact rely greatly on their teams. The people on the bus. They are instrumental to your success.

And I believe high energy optimists are who you need. Much more than experience, skillsets from a curriculum or realists. Supercharged dreamers.

Optimists are people who see things that can be. And that is exactly what is always in short supply when building a small business.

High energy is required to cut through the crap and keep moving forward. To make stuff happen. And even when there are stretches where it feels you are running in the sand they have what it takes to keep going.

Do not consider anybody else to get on the bus. High energy optimists are the jedis we need.

the domino effect 🁳

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ICE Cinema “sherlock”

Let me start todays post with the answer first: The Domino Effect. 🁉

And now the 3 questions to which the domino effect is the answer…

Why do some simple habits trigger other more powerful ones?

The domino effect proves it is within your power to spark a chain reaction of good habits by building new behaviours that naturally lead to the next successful action. There is an astounding interconnectedness between the systems of life and human behaviour is no exception.

The inherent relatedness of things is a core reason why choices in one area of life can lead to surprising results in other areas, regardless of the plans you make.

Why do I blog?

When a friend of mine asked why I started blogging daily I explained: the domino effect it has on how I live my day.

By blogging daily I am creating a self-discipline and consistency around daily learning moments. I start from the premise there must be something interesting to learn and share every day.

So I created a habit of reading, observing and analysing at least 1 thing every day that is worth learning. So I keep my mind and eyes wide open so I am more aware and conscious for this daily learning moment.

And then I write it down and share it publicly. This implies I have to think the learning moment through and structure it into small understandable tasty pieces 🍕.

How do you create a successful channel business?

An example. Today I spent half a day with Mr S., a new sales partner for ICE cinema (one of the cool ventures I am deeply involved with – mixed reality spaces etc…).

I passionately explained everything I know on the subject. Transmitted not just my knowledge on the product but also on the market, clients and logic behind why people an ICE cinema.

While I share my passion for how an ICE cinema really delivers on the promise of the suspension of disbelief and how it becomes the families favourite room in the house I am actually applying the power of the domino effect. I am helping to create yet another domino that will have a positive effect. Another small business that will have a BIG impact.

That is how you build a successful channel business. One domino at a time.

✌🏼 out. W

 

 

Mentor or Hero?

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Real Super Hero
me being Tony Stark 💥

Loads of business “self-help” books go on about why you should look for a mentor. For advice, guidance, insights and a bit of help here and there. Not me.

I would say, go and pick some heroes first. Heroes are far more powerful in my view. Let me quickly explain why:

  • Heroes are in no short supply. They come in all colours and shapes. Finding a mentor mostly happens within the circle of people you meet and know.
  • Heroes are analysed, dissected and explained by others. Whereas mentors work mainly from self-analysis and their own framework of success.
  • Heroes work together well and can be changed out when needed. Mentors create a longer term dependency and the relationship is often exclusive.
  • Heroes cannot be used as an excuse (hear yourself say “hey, i failed because when studying Steve Jobs, Hubspot and Sesame Street I found out they got some of this shit wrong…”). Mentors are often brought in as a (fake) insurance policy for success. Which is both unrealistic and unfair.

But most of all, I feel it is a matter of attitude towards your future. Active or passive.

You pick your heroes and study them, learn to think and act like them. Approach this if it were some intensive continuous training exercise. This is how you interiorise a success-attitude. Or you find a mentor and ask for advice and guidance (so the mentors initiative and timescales). Mainly a receiving more passive approach.

Act as if you own your destiny. Pick and study your heroes well. And if a mentor crosses your path introduce him to your heroes.

Note: I am much more in favour of the concept of “mentor-ing“. A do-word as they say. Mentoring is a crucial activity for those who want to lead change and achieve a vision.
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