The Power of a Personal Touch: From Birthday Gifts to Big Goals
I’ll bet you could have figured out who each one was for without looking at the cards.
It’s birthday season in my family. In the months of May through August, we have 8 birthdays to celebrate. This past weekend, we got together to celebrate three of those birthdays. One for my now 6 year-old niece, one for my now 10 year-old nephew, and mine. As we were opening the gifts, it occurred to me that a bystander could probably have guessed the recipient of each gift. The purple blanket for my niece, the graphic novel for my nephew, the knitting-themed canvas bag for me. Even when the gifts were similar (the kids both got legos), it was still pretty obvious who would be getting what. Even the wrapping was different.
This happened because each gift giver considered the recipient in their decision. They knew that my niece’s favorite color is purple, that my nephew loves funny books, and I’m obsessed with yarn.
But what happens when we don’t consider those impacted by our efforts?
Gift giving is an easy example for how to think about others - we know that we’ll earn the most relationship points by giving a thoughtful gift, one that we think the recipient will love based on what we know about them. But things aren’t always that simple.
In a previous post, I shared an overview of the Iteration Next framework, which includes being crystal clear on the outcomes you’re looking to achieve, understanding who you’re serving and why (including yourself), breaking big problems down into a manageable roadmap and backlog, and running and learning from experiments as you iterate.
An important aspect of the Iteration Next framework relies on understanding and considering the humans who are involved or impacted by your efforts to achieve your desired outcome (read more about that topic here). It’s easy to forget we don’t particularly like running when a colleague invites us to participate in that 5k for charity. Or forget that our teammate can’t start early because they have school dropoff in the morning. Or that the users of our software may not actually like to provide all their personal information on that form. We get so focused on the outcome that we forget that those personal details will make or break our success.
When you’re thinking about how to approach a goal or a project, there are three kinds of people that are worth considering as you decide your approach:
Know Yourself
What do you already know about yourself that will impact how you approach your efforts? How can you lean into what works well for you, and avoid things you know will trip you up, to set yourself up for success?
If you know you’re a night owl, you can predict that you’ll have a hard time with a goal that requires you to get up super early. If you’re motivated by external validation, how can you bring someone into your plans to help keep you accountable?Think About Your Team
In most goals or projects, there are people who are “in it with us”, helping with some or all of the work. What do you know about them, that leveraging well can help increase your success?
If you want to change your eating habits and your partner (who you eat many meals with) is a picky eater, you can look for recipes that include their favorite foods while still meeting your goals. If you need your boss to approve your increased project budget and you know they’re being measured on an increase in sales, you can walk them through how the additional funds will bring in new customers.
Consider Those Impacted By Your Results
Often, our goals don’t just impact us, but have an impact on those around you as well. What comes to mind about them that will help you create your ultimate vision of success?
If you have a goal of providing for your family, do you know if your kids would feel most provided for if you could pay for their education vs provide moral support at their big game? If you’re working on a big product launch, do you know if your customers really want that feature?
It’s easy to get so focused on our goals that we forget to consider the real humans who are impacted by our choices, including ourselves. When we take a few minutes to consider those around us who have a stake in things, we can come up with a better goal, a better plan, and better iterate along the way.
Who should you be taking into consideration as you make your plans?
As you think about what you know about yourself, those who are in it with you, and those who are impacted by your results, you probably realize there’s opportunity to explore this further. Want some help? Book your free strategy session and let’s dig in.
How will you iterate towards the person you’re becoming?
August 1, 2024
About the author:
Christina Von Stroh is a leadership coach who helps her clients become wildly successful by applying iterative software development practices to achieve their dreams. Want to work with Christina to help you iterate towards the person you’re becoming?
Book your free strategy session.
