TWHS#072: The Seamstress: Knowing Stuff Is Not Enough

Knowing your stuff is not enough!  Don’t get me wrong it's important to know what you're talking about, but just knowing your stuff is not enough. 

I was presenting at the "All Hands" event for a brilliant Data and AI organisation last week.  I shared a lesson with them that I learnt very early in my career.  But it's just as relevant now.

In 1996 I was working in technical support for a company called Radio Rentals.  They used to rent PCs to regular folks, and if you rented one you got access to me and the rest of the technical support team.

One Tuesday evening the phone rang.  It was a lady who needed some help to configure her printer on Windows 95. 

After the pleasantries I asked her to click on the Start button.  There was a delay.  Then an exclamation of "I've done it".  So, I asked her to click on the Control Panel icon.  Another delay then "hold on… done it!". 

I asked her to double click on the Printers Icon.  Another long delay.  Then she asked me "How do you get your toe to move so fast?".

"Toe?!?"  I asked.

It turns out the lady was a seamstress and this was her first computer.  Now, to those not familiar with the sewing arts, the throttle to a sewing machine is often controlled by a foot pedal.  This lady had received her shiny new beige computer and promptly put the mouse where she thought it went.  Under the desk on the carpet.

So I explained to her how the mouse went on the desk.  Within a few minutes the printer was all setup and printing perfectly.  Finally she could get all the sewing patterns she ever wanted.

So what was the lesson?  Well knowing how to setup a printer wasn't enough.  It was essential but not everything I needed.  I needed to be able to:

• Understand the problem the customer had.  Ask questions to understand her challenge.
• Provide some leadership on the real issue she had.  Helping her fix the mouse challenge was way more valuable.
• Communicate to her in a relevant way.  She knew nothing about computers, so I needed to use simple jargon-free language.

Those lessons applied to support.  They applied when I was a consultant.  They applied when I was in pre-sales.

Knowing your stuff is not enough.  You need to be able to understand the problem.  See the challenges they didn’t even knew they had and communicate in a compelling way.

Think how that applies to your stakeholders, your boss, your prospects, your colleagues.

Knowing your stuff is not enough.

Hope this helps.

Ben

-------------------------------------

Whenever you're ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

• Leaders In Tech: Raise the impact of your team.  Make them more influential, memorable and successful.  The Technical Storytelling Professional Program enables them to create clarity, generate energy and drive the results you need.
• Individuals: Accelerate your career and build your reputation.  Develop the skills to help you present,  influence and explain in the tech world.  Check out the Technical Storytelling Essentials or Tech Community Speaker courses.
• Tech World Human Skills Podcast:  The latest episode is "The Telling Part of Data Storytelling" with Scott Taylor. Check it out on the Elevated You website,  Apple, Spotify, YouTube or Amazon Podcasts.