Pick a word. Not just any word—a meaty, provocative word. Select the kind of word proven to evoke new thinking and gain new perspective. Think about your word every day for at least 30 days. Then think about using these words to drive improved performance. Here are 13 The Mad Clientist suggests.
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Invert – Invert your thinking. Take one thought or perception and turn it upside down—what if your perception was completely different? Just pretending improve outcomes, thinking, and empathy.
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Purge – Recognize the good, bad, or lack of benefit of your decision—and move on.
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Hundreds – There are hundreds of reasons not to do things. Find your reason to do things—or ignore the hundreds.
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Decide – Decide to overcome the obstacles.
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Move – Some competitor somewhere wants to crush you like a bug. Avoid this by always moving forward. Stagnate and you are crushed.
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Ask – Get out of your own head. Ask your clients what they think, and why they think it.
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Activity – Activity begets activity. Good activity begets good activity. Start making things happen and watch how many other good things happen.
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Bill – Build business development and client service into your legal service delivery to create even more billable hours.
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Control – The power to act is within your control.
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Share – Tell others about your ideas and use them to build better ones.
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Engage – Engage in one activity you don’t have time for and don’t feel comfortable doing. Just one.
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Stop – The time for thinking is done, at least for a moment. It’s time to act.
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One – Start with one behavior to improve or change. One client and one change at time drives many changes when all are engaged.
Each word represents a behavior or issue standing in the way of change. We recommend taking on one word at a time. This works out to different word every month. 30 days is sufficient to put you in a position where you think about how you want to change—and make it happen.
Just picking one word a month makes an impact. Each impact is enough for every one of your clients to see a difference and will put you in a position to grab some of the new business coming into the market before anyone else—and make you feel better about your performance while doing it.
Here’s to the power of words.
MBR