Who beats what, or not?
When wise heads say “doing business is all about who you know not what you know”, wiser heads should be shaking in disagreement. A “who” opens the door, but if you don’t know all the other steps in managing a project then the “who” will show you quickly back out the door.
Every process, project or venture is a series of steps: What, Who, When, and How. Each is as important as the next and all are needed, every time.
To use a familiar phrase: “Please explain”.
Every project or venture starts with someone saying: “Aha there is a better way”. Let’s call them the Creative type. This is the “what moment” where an idea is born. But don’t leave it up to the Creator to do anything further, because as soon as they’ve dreamed up that one, they’re onto the next.
We need to pass the baton on to someone who says “I know exactly who can get this project to fly.” This stage needs people who are great at organising other people, building teams, selling. They are the out there, high energy, people focused types who grab the idea and tell the world. Usually loudly.
Great, now we are getting somewhere. What’s next? Well, as they say in the textbooks it’s all about timing, so now we need the “when” people. They work out the order things need to get done, think about the risks and get some sense into it all. These are our good, reliable cautious types. The safe pair of hands.
And then once all the components and people are assembled we need someone to get them all marching to the same tune and doing it efficiently. These are the mechanical types, the ones that bolt all the pieces together and can see under the bonnet of a business. As kids they pulled everything to bits to see how it worked.
I’m a mechanic type which is why I have been able to build and manage so many diverse companies over the years from kids’ animation to biotechnology to securitisation trusts. To me, a business is pipes and processes and connecting the bits I do really well. But do I want to go to a networking function and swap business cards and stories with strangers? Not on your life.
Depending which one you are in the What Who When How spectrum means from your perspective it’s about the ideas or the people or getting the timing right or making it work better.
Most of us are a blend of a few types, but one is often predominant. I’m about equal creator type and steely analytical type, which together make me the mechanic who loves to see how things work and then think up ways to make them better. You should have seen my awesome Mechano Set creations as a kid!
Each type is as valuable as every other because you need all of them to get a result. No point having the best looking car at the best price with lousy performance (says the Mechanic!).
So, getting back to the old chestnut of “it’s not what you know it’s who you know”, I hope you can see that having the right connections is important but it is just one small link in the chain.
Perhaps it’s just semantics but words carry weight. This is a finely tuned world so seeing the whole picture hopefully gets you a better result. Isn’t that what we want? If you would like to find out more, please get in touch.