| By Aaron Joslow I recently learned something about listening to client feedback that, in a roundabout way, clarified for me a great deal about writing and the writing process. Here's the situation: Imagine you just told your client of a great way to secure prospect meetings. You proposed using a three letter direct mail campaign, followed by follow up phone calls with a value-based offer. Your client responds with three reasons why that idea won't work. It's too expensive. Direct mail and cold calling are impersonal. And those methods take too long. At this point in the conversation, you stand at a fork and can choose to travel down two primary paths: this client is objecting to my ideas and doesn't like them or, great, this client has given me useful feedback. The first path likely leads to frustration, doubt, and an unrealized idea. The second path likely leads to a conversation about how to make a successful campaign possible, regardless of who is "right." You have choice when at this fork. As RainToday.com contributing editor Charles H. Green recently wrote, you can handle objections like snakes or like useful feedback. How would you react in this situation? Paradigm Shifts The realization here is that you indeed stand at a fork at which you can address a problem in one of two ways. And once you realize this, you have a choice. Choose to take the second path, and a whole new world of constructive feelings, thoughts and actions occurs. In the "7 Habits of Highly Successful People," Stephen R. Covey calls this moment of realization and transformation a "paradigm shift." In the above example, it is the moment the consultant understands that his or her years of client objection wasn't rejection, but was helpful, collegial feedback -- it's the moment of "Ah-ha!" All the frustration disappears in that instant and all the consultant sees are endless avenues of conversation to have with his or her client. Transforming The Writing Experience So how does this relate to your writing? Most writers I've talked with speak about how agonizing the writing process can be. At various points scary thoughts creep in. "I don't know what I'm saying." "This article will never pan out." "Why did I bother writing this anyway?" People start doing odd things when they write: trafficking between their desk and the water cooler every half hour; refreshing the local team's Internet scoreboard every fifteen minutes; dialing an aunt or prospective client that must be called for the first time in five years...now. For many writers, a lot of these thoughts and actions sprout from the same unhealthy viewpoint: something's wrong here. Well, nothing is. Consider that every piece of writing will come out the way it needs to come out. And every piece of writing will take as long as it needs to take. It's a simple observation. But, to critique Nike's "Just Do It" slogan, simple things are very often not easy to "just do." Getting To What Works You must replace the viewpoint of "what's wrong" with something else. Or, like a fallow field, your mind will grow only weeds. What to replace it with? Only you can choose which paradigm works. But usually something similar to, "I have something valuable to say" does the trick. I don't yet know how to cause this shift. I do know that it happened for me once I realized that I viewed my writing through a lens of "something is wrong with it." Only then did I have space to create a healthier interpretation. To start this journey, ask yourself: - How do I view my writing?
- What persistent complaints do I have about my writing?
- What thoughts limit what I have to write?
- If someone else had those thoughts, views, or complaints, would I believe they were valid?
- Would I recommend a friend or student use the same lens I use when I look at my writing?
These questions help you to identify which lens you view your writing through. And it greatly helps to transform a harmful pattern.
Writing Relationships I must confess that I have a bit of self-interest in causing a paradigm shift. I edit writing and work with writers every day. I find that writers who have a "what is possible" view enjoy the editing process. And, put bluntly, anyone who wants to contribute to RainToday.com has an interest in looking at their writing from "what is possible." I rarely publish writers who don't edit their work, view feedback as an ad hominem attack, or believe their words are sacrosanct. Writers' healthy attitudes towards their own writing also benefit the relationships with their readers - editors and end readers: - Writer/Editor: Writers who can absorb feedback and divorce themselves from "something's wrong" leave room for collaboration. The editor and writer can flush out ideas, spark excitement, inspire another article, clarify confusing sentences and paragraphs, recall forgotten stories, etc.
It also makes the editing process more fun. The article was caused by an idea. And the editing process allows for exploration of an idea that was exciting enough to merit an article. That's a journey I enjoy taking.
- Writer/Reader: Now, not only does this paradigm leave room for a more fulfilling writer/editor relationship, but it also enhances the writer/reader relationship. Articles that benefit from collaboration are, more often than not, more effective articles.
These articles spark your prospects' interest and hold their attention. Prospects tend to remember them and who wrote them. They tend to pass along these articles to a colleague or boss or file a printed copy on their desk.
All this keeps you top of mind with your prospect.
From a RainToday.com perspective, articles that writers have been willing to change are read and responded to by more "Rainmaker Report" readers.
Lastly, this paradigm allows the writer to enjoy the writing process. It is a great thrill to say exactly what one has to say and have the reader hear it. Also, when it comes to treating all the nervous-ticks and distracting actions that the act of writing can trigger, many people offer (and profit) from neat tips and tricks to solve them, overcome them, or avoid them: breath deeply, chew gum, use the frustration to exercise, or, my favorite, "Buy my product!" A paradigm shift can work best because it addresses the cause and not the symptoms. Covey helpfully quotes Henry David Thoreau on this point. "For every thousand hacking at the leaves of evil, there is one striking at the root." This stance costs nothing and its benefits are, in the words of MasterCard, priceless. |