Are You iCurious?
How your search for knowledge will give you the business edge
By Brian Sullivan
My 3-year old daughter recently discovered her Daddy’s iPhone. As she picked it up, she began pressing every button. As her finger accidentally slid across the screen, she noticed she could make things move. And if she pressed that button on the bottom, music came on. The more noises and movements the phone made, the more curious she became. Three weeks later, Maggie can now do more on that thing than her Daddy and is a regular shopper in the Application Store. She keeps looking for the phone to do more, and with curiosity as her fuel she keeps making new discoveries.
Are you as curious as you were when you were a child? If you said yes, then it means you are NOT satisfied with what you already know. It means you feel challenged, not burdened when a new technology enters your life. It means you don’t look for answers to be given to you, but are thrilled when it is your job to search for (and find) the solution. So here is the iCurious formula for success:
Don’t ever say, "I am not a techie!"
Who is one of the most valuable people you know? It’s the person who can help you program your TV remote control or figure out how to hook that printer up to your computer. That person has extreme value to you. You have him/her on your speed dial, will interrupt them at dinnertime, and are amazed when they deliver knowledge that only they seem to have. They become irreplaceable.
Become THAT nerd
If being knowledgeable about stuff that other people don’t know qualifies you as a nerd, then it’s time for you to get out the masking tape and pocket protector and join the Geek Squad. The next time you have a tech question, first try to figure it out on your own. Because that headache you get when you are working with a new or challenging technology is your brain growing. The knowledge that is filling it up will still be there when you need it again.
Learning saves time
Whether it is technology or not, learning how to solve the problem on your own right now will save you hours and maybe days later. Many say they don’t have time to learn something new. Or they say, "It’s not my job to know that." It’s not the competition’s job either. But if the competition knows more, they are worth more.
Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer, said it well when he said, "It’s wonderful to have a beginner’s mind." He’s right. It means you don’t see the world for what it is, but instead for what it should be. So stay curious, and you will realize there is no end to the potential that your "beginner’s mind" brings to your sales region, company, industry and world.
Sales Coach and Business Consultant Brian Sullivan, CSP, is the author of the book, 20 Days to the TOP – How the PRECISE Selling Formula Will Make You Your Company’s Top Sales Performer in 20 Days or Less. Visit him at www.preciseselling.com or e-mail Brian at bsullivan@preciseselling.com.
|
|
|
