Business Development:

Engaging the human being

By: Brian Kindilien, HB

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Why are YOU here? Heard of “Buy One, Give One Away

Companies (BO-GOA)?” Global financial crisis showed us what

happens when abstract profit motivation overwhelms purpose.

Government isn’t driven by profit, so why are YOU here?

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Caring for a little boy (composite stories)

“Timothy,” eight months old, was removed under emergency order by Victorian Child Protective Services (a division of DHS) on 20 August 2011.

19 year old mother disappeared for several days, leaving Timothy unattended.

A trained, background-checked, monitored carer family was selected, and at 1:30 am on 27 August, Timothy went to their home.

He is currently staying with these carers, who are “paid” @ $100/week for his expenses.

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The Role… DBI helps grow Victoria’s diverse and vibrant

economy by supporting pro-business policies and programs and the development of innovative industries. DBI engages with businesses and represents their needs to all levels of government; provides strategic economic planning advice and targeted business development assistance; encourages investment and trade; and markets Victoria in Australia and internationally.

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The Human… Brian Kindilien loves his family and friends (most

of them anyway), cares deeply about the responsibilities we all have as living entities, and sees that “motivating economic events” can have a positive effect. Brian spends as much time as he can with his loved ones and devotes a lot of time and energy seeking to inspire those motivating economic events. (Brian’s also preparing for the zombie apocalypse.)

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So, I’m in it for Timothy When I “engage with a client,” I do it because of Timothy. I “act” in a “role” with a specific set of rules and language, an

intellectual framework. I am NOT this role. I continuously work on stepping outside my own experience

and see the world from Timothy’s viewpoint. I intentionally do this work because I believe that Timothy has

a better chance at life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness when I am really, really good at it.

Remember BO-GOA? For every pair TOMS Shoes sells, it donates a pair to a child in need somewhere in the world.

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We’re from The Government… Imagine a prisoner who desperately wants to escape. One

day he discovers a rope in his cell. Trouble is, the rope is only half the length necessary to allow him to reach the ground safely. Yet he divides the rope in half, ties the two parts together, and escapes to his freedom.

Problem posed to 137 undergraduate research subjects. They asked half the participants to imagine themselves as the prisoner. They asked the other half to imagine someone else as the prisoner.

(from E. Polman of New York University and K. Emich of Cornell University and D. Pink’s “FLIP”

www.danpink.com)

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and we’re here to help Fewer than 50% of the participants in the first

group figured out the problem. In the second group, 66% came up with the solution.

People were faster and more creative when they tackled the problem on behalf of others rather than for themselves

(from D. Pink’s “FLIP” www.danpink.com)

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No, really Perhaps [government] is ill-configured to benefit from

Polman and Emich's insights. The rise of crowdsourcing and companies that post

problems on their web sites for people around the world to solve suggests that the moment may be right for reconfiguring problem-solving.

Consider how this applies to business intelligence.

(Paraphrased from D. Pink’s “FLIP” www.danpink.com)

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The “client” is human too C-level executives have pain, fear, EGO,

jealousy, rage, arrogance, love, empathy… When you communicate with people who

work in organisations, do they refer to the organisation as “they” or “we?”

Do your conversations with these human beings address their “Why?”

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Case study A fabricator (40+ staff, $10 M t/o) of truck

bodies met with two DBI BDMs recently. The “leader” of the company signalled that

they had “problems hiring good workers.” Why? The economy, the high Aus $,

government sucks, the busses don’t run here, Ford is leaving Australia…

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Case study None of the above. The organisation’s “leadership” wanted to

hire “good, reliable workers like the Irish and Croatians who appreciate a day’s work for honest pay.” (actual quote)

What do you do?

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The power of pain The xenophobic views of the case are a great example of the

power of pain. Until you reveal (or unveil) pain, you haven’t learned anything

of value. Meaningless business intelligence Missed investment signals

Use the role to reveal the pain. You do not have to agree with or even like the person.

Stay calm, professional, and safe Disengagement just as important

Pursuit of business development mastery.

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Consequences of pain Systems that assume bad faith from its participants, we

often foster the very behaviour we're trying to deter. People will push the limits of the formal rules, and game

the system when defenders aren't watching. By contrast, a structure of rules that assumes good faith

can actually encourage that behaviour.

(from Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a

Connected Age, New York University, C. Shirky and D. Pink’s “FLIP” www.danpink.com)

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The power of empathy Empathy is about spontaneously and naturally

“tuning in” to the other person's thoughts and feelings.

There are two major elements to empathy:1. Understanding another’s feelings and the ability to

perceive their perspective 2. An observer's “appropriate” emotional response to

another person's emotional state. (paraphrased from Simon Baron-Cohen (2003 lecture) professor of Developmental Psychopathology in the

Departments of Psychiatry and Experimental Psychology at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom)

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Empathy in the interview Limited emotion? Ask why they seem so calm

about important issues. Pain - what’s the problem? Ask why something

is a problem. Pain – consequences? Ask what happened as a

result of the problem; ask how it affected them. “Money” - how much? Ask how much they

typically invest to fix problems like this.

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Some details

A Whole New Mind by Daniel H. Pink, 2006 (print, iTunes, Audible)

Drive : The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink, 2011 (print, iTunes, Audible)

A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle, 2005 (print, iTunes, Audible)

Way of The Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman, 2006 (print, iTunes, Audible)

You Can’t Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar by David H. Sandler, 1995 (print)

Brian Kindilien Ext 80132 / 9938 0132 0458 761 402 brian.kindilien@dbi.vic.gov.au