Power of Observation

“Vision is the art of seeing things invisible to others” ~ Jonathan Swift

Here, I am addressing the often Overlooked and Underutilized Power of Human beings – “The Power of Observation”.

A lot of times I am told that I have strong observation powers. Recently it was re-iterated by some team members when one morning I called for a strategy meet for expanding the customer base for apparel for Fashion @ Big Bazaar. The trigger for this meeting was observation of the street shoppers in Mumbai suburbs. I noticed that the women who were shopping were “middle class”! The kind of women who I would like to have in our stores. The clothes that they were buying were not more fashionable and not cheaper. So, it sparked the question on their motivation to shop there.

It made me think how I started my journey of keen observation. Then, I remembered my baptism by fire. Here goes my first experience leading to learning on “power of observation”

My first job as a management trainee (over two decades back) was in a multinational which also sold Shampoos. Those days for the shampoo category the key task was to increase customer trial and penetration through the sachet route. So, the sales task was to ensure wide distribution of sachet in the kirana stores. During the training period I also worked as a sales officer and my “mentor”, the Area Sales manager was to visit me in the market place. “Dressing up” the market was a done thing. So, I with my distributor made sure that the sachet distribution was wide (on the understanding with the shop keepers that we will take them back after the ASM visit).

During the visit, ASM went through the stores without any adverse remark and I was feeling relieved. In the last shop he said that the sachet were placed only yesterday. I tried to say that was not correct. He proceeded to count the number of sachet hanging on the hangar and said that the shop had not sold any. I hastily added that the sachet offtake was really poor. He then said that the sachet placed there were feeling new. In an Indian shop if they were hanging for a long period then they would have been dirty. I was left speechless.

So, my mantra is that developing the “power of observation” is an easy thing to do – we just need to focus on it. It is more a question of training and habit. I am attempting to put some tips for the same over here.

1.      “Point of view” based Observation : Reality is not very different from the way you would believe it. Having a “point of view” helps in defining the standard and any deviation is fairly easy to observe. E.g. If I believe that excess dust in a store is just not acceptable, I will work on finding reasons for the same. In a particular case, it was not about poor housekeeping but non-functional air curtain. Assuming things will be right is the biggest hindrance in your observation. Observation is done with an open mind and not just open eyes.

2.      Observe Like a Customer: In retail and most other businesses customers are your biggest assets. Can you experience the joys and frustrations of the customers, first hand. I have personally shopped (and observed) in our stores like a customer and have been able to contribute to improvements significantly. For me this is a very special thought.

3.      Observe Small Details : Nothing is too small to be noticed. I have noticed a sticker on a competitive store hoarding on the change of promo dates to finetune my tactics. Or the lights which are not functional in a store or at the fascade. And trust me, these are things that frustrate my team the most. But I am relentless on this.

4.      Prepare yourself to observe : If you continue thinking that things have always been this way and won’t be very different today, you will never be able to observe. Tell yourself that if you don’t observe anything new today, the day was a waste. Even if you decide that you have to observe 5 new things every day, you will over achieve your targets. There are enough things around to tell you something new every day.

5.      Act : Once you observed something wrong, take immediate steps to correct it, even if it’s a fairly small thing. This will further enhance your observation powers.

The "observation" is not just related to stores, but also to data. Think about applying all the above thoughts to data as well! You will find surprising answers. And suddenly, the data starts to speak to you? Have you ever experienced that? Trust me, the numbers talk to me.

Why does so much of what's in front of us seem invisible? Well, perhaps because people only see what they are prepared to see (Ralph Waldo Emerson), and because: what we see depends mainly on what we look for (John Lubbock).

What did Newton have special in him that others didn’t have? Everybody saw an apple falling, he observed. Jack Dorsey observed the people’s interest in social media and the need for updating it real time, what we have with us is Twitter!. Steve Job’s iPod, Bill Gates’ Microsoft, Page and Seargey’s Google – all are results of no extra ordinary powers, but just plain OBSERVATION.

Will you now “Observe” more? Looking forward to your views on the same.

 
 

You can also reach me out at @agrawalsanjeev on twitter

Unleashing the power of feedback

This article is about a concern that most of us go through in our careers as well as personal lives – Lack of Proper Feedback. Though all of us work in best possible way, sometimes, we do tend to get off the track – but how do we get back on track, unless someone tells us!

Sample this story. Alok and Richa worked for in the same company. Alok was heading the marketing department while Richa was sales in charge for a business unit. Both of them never got well along with each other. While Richa thought Alok was too laid back in his attitude, Alok thought Richa’s aggressiveness is just a way to impress her seniors. More often than not, these two would get into serious quarrels before every campaign break. Richa blamed Alok of informing her only at the last moment, while Alok said that Richa always tried to interfere in his domain, which he did not appreciate. Diwali campaign was about to break out and Tarun, the CEO of the company expected another spat between the two. So, he decided to resolve it himself this time. He called both of them individually and asked them what all problems they faced with each other. He jotted down everything that both of them had to say. Next he passed Richa’s feedback to Alok and vice versa saying it was a feedback from him of their work and he really thinks these are their improvement areas. Not to his surprise, the Diwali campaign had much lesser issues and working was smoother. He then called them together and told them the reality, ending with “…if only both of you started giving feedback to each other directly”.

Did you notice what can a simple feedback achieve? Feedback is a completely underrated part of work in most organizations. People continue to crib about their work areas and company, but hardly bother to give any feedback to anyone. The underlying assumption is always that “how will my feedback matter?”, but don’t we realize that every individual behaves in a certain way, because he thinks it is the right way. If its not, how will he know unless someone tell him? What we must understand and appreciate is that Everyone needs Feedback. A lot of us don’t see ourselves as others see us (reminded about Johari Window*), and so the feedback becomes really important to overcome the “Blind Spots” that we develop over a period of time. Have you realized how much impact does a smile from your spouse, a pat on the back from your Boss, delightful eyes of a customer or a look of appreciation from a colleague ;-) make? Don’t you feel irritated when your Boss doesn’t comment on the results of some work that you’ve put so much efforts in? Have you also tried telling your team members to improve in certain areas of work and seen some immediate results? It works! While a negative feedback results in improvement and performance enhancement, a positive feedback gives motivation to continue to perform even better. Also, not all feedback needs to be positive or negative. It can be just a simple indication saying the individual is on right track!

Giving / Receiving feedback isn’t easy. A lot of people don’t want to give feedback simply as they don’t want to confront each other, which could also be a probable start to the “Blame Game”. What we must understand is that we must be prepared to take the feedback in the right spirits! A lot of times we tend to believe that the person is giving negative feedback because “he doesn’t know enough”, or “she wants to me fail!”. That’s almost like moving towards the “Blind Spot” even further.  We must also learn to give feedback effectively – making sure that the other person understands the right intent behind it. If you make it sound like a complain, defensive behavior is inevitable.

The concept of feedback doesn’t apply only within the important areas of work. It can be in smaller things also. The more you give feedback, the more improvement you will see in things around. What changes would you like in a report, appreciating the new HR initiative, telling the R&D team about how the new toothpaste flavour has turned out and what could have made it better, little feedbacks can make your life easy. It’s also about leaving a comment on this blog and saying if it is in the right direction.The same is applicable even in your personal life. It’s there in telling your driver how well he drives and saves so much of your time. It’s there in asking your spouse whether he / she would like to change something about you.

PS: You can also reach me out at @agrawalsanjeev on twitter.

* Johari window is a great psychological tool used to help people better understand their interpersonal communication and relationships. This blog  addresses only the top right hand corner of the box.