So, you can sell anything, eh? Well, I have this idea…

And yeah, I’ve been doing it now for nigh on six years. Luckily for me, I’m good and can sell anything! But first thing in the morning, you’re feeling groggy and want just to crawl back into bed that question is one that fills the soul with dread.

It’s surprising the difference in office performance, though. I’ve been in offices that have a board and ones that don’t. I’ll not insult your intelligence by telling you which always performs better.

And, I have to say I love the conversational style of your blog writing. It’s almost like I can hear your voice when I read your stuff!

Matt

But there’s a great madness in y’all’s method there – certainly is a motivator when all the world sees it up there in black and white, ain’t it?

Being a telephone sales person by ‘trade’ I’ve very often had to make such a commitment: “So, how many sales today, Matt?” *Gulp* Especially if I’d had a late night or ridiculously early morning and was nowhere near the ‘top of my game.’

I’d give the estimate (read wild, random guess) and up on the whiteboard it would go. Whew! Need to work now!

But never a day went by when my target wasn’t reached… I think in some ways that giving that solidified, public commitment can certainly work as a great motivator and reason to actually do what is said. After all, no one likes the shame of not being able to do what you’ve said. Especially, in my case, in an office where all 20-30 staff heard you say you’d be able to sell x amount.

But yes, it still makes me somewhat nervous in all situations. It’s more than worth it though to get that extra motivation and drive.

Matt

Although… I think you did capture the nub of the gist of it – a lot of our success is in how we act until success finally catches up to us, don’cha think?

But you left out the best part of this exchange. It’s later, when the captain asks Ryan how he knew the Russian captain would go to starboard. Ryan admits: he didn’t. He took a chance. He had a 50/50 shot of getting it right.

Sometimes, you gotta fake it til you make it.

That was the last week of February. Then the opportunity to enter a recut version of the film into another contest came up, and I basically went through the post production process again, in order to get a seven minute version of the film submitted in time two weeks later. Was successful in that attempt as well