I know, I know, I haven't been much present here for the past few weeks, things are been extremely busy even a humble top-shelf CEO like me. Rest assured, I'll continue to serve wisdom to the people and guide members through the unknowns.
Today I'd like to introduce you to a way of thinking that has served me well so far. Whenever I deal with partners, customers, government officials, whatever legal entity with which I want to expand and deepen relationships to pursue profitable growth, there's this phase which I call "the zone".
The zone is this time and place where for instance our company and a potential client with deep pockets talk about the benefits of outsourcing their IT. We had a few meetings before, we know each other at some level, and everything leads me to believe that we'll soon have a deal. There is a sufficient level of comfort for any CEO to put his guards down and ease the negotiation tactics. This is the "zone".
Whenever I enter the zone I mentally challenge myself with the question, How are they going to fuck me?
It might be crappy planning on the customer's end that lead them to believe we'll do better. Might be that their IT infrastructure is a huge clusterfuck that is just waiting to be dumped on our lap. Might be that their employees are dumber than Homer Simpson and our IT outsourcing process will force us to integrate these low-watt bulbs into our existing team.
Instead of relaxing days before signing the contract, I get this uncomfortable itch in the back of my brain because I know there's a big fucktrap somewhere and I haven't seen it yet.
I therefore double my efforts, well I actually delegate some of it, to find how the customer/partner/government body will try to plant seeds of unprofitable growth into the deal. 95% of the time I manage to find the flaw before it's too late.
Of course there's a bunch of long faces the day we sign the deal, as the other party discovers a collection of interesting new sections in the contract. They realize the fucktrap has been discovered, yet they sign the deal to save their honour.
Friends, we live in an era where trust is a vintage value from a bygone era. Everyone is trying to fuck someone, and whenever this happens it is a direct hit on the bottom line. Better save yourself from disgrace and negative quarters, and next time you're about to enter a deal ask yourself this priceless question:
How are they going to fuck me?
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