“We are all entitled to our opinion, but we share the same facts”
This was one of my key take aways from an inspiring session led by industry analyst Alan Pelz-Sharpe at a recent Boye Product Manager peer group meeting in Boston.
A poignant message, which points towards something I have observed many times: that improved solutions and experiences often grow out of healthy disagreements.
Differing opinions require troubleshooting which brings about digging and exploration, the discovery of new perspectives and ultimately new possibilities.
Experience and know-how are key driving forces in any organisation. Putting them to work effectively can lead to big savings and provide you with big boosts in efficiency and competitiveness. This is easy to agree with, but the reality in many organisations runs counter to this logic as people are expected to do more with less, training budgets are cut and themes like networking, innovation and knowledge management get postponed indefinitely – or “until better times”…
Yet, bringing these hidden resources into play by encouraging, supporting, and implementing them effectively can make a big difference to the future success of big companies as well as small projects. Know-how is only as valuable as the ways it is applied and applying it can take difficult decisions and hard work.
The answers are out there
Whatever your problem or plan, other people have almost certainly faced – and successfully dealt with – something similar before. This is particularly important to remember when working with fast moving phenomena like digital.
There are vast untapped reserves of experience and know-how available among people in other organisations, other companies and other industries – sometimes in the most unexpected places and unlikely walks of life.
Connecting, facilitating and helping practitioners apply experience to the advantage of their workplace or their own careers is what we do at Boye & Co all year round in the peer groups. It is also what you can experience twice a year at our conferences.