Benefits Of Little Experiments And Figuring Out How People Perceive You

One of the most important lessons I learned from an angel investor in a prior venture I worked with was that of conducting test experiments. This might be as sophisticated as a split-cable marketing study where one delivers one segment or audience one type of message and another segment (randomly split) another type of message. See what results come from each segment. Analyze and come up with hypotheses why things are so. Go back and test and refine things.

What the angel investor taught me, however, was that I could get by with conducting some of this testing in more of an ad-hoc way without having to follow the rigor and statistical nature required in full-blown business experiments learned in business schools, etc. So long as I was disciplined, somewhat systematic, and could rely on my business instincts, this would get me in the ballpark and moving in the right direction.

To change gears a little, one way I have applied the ad-hoc testing technique is to get continuous feedback on myself as a business professional.

What is interesting about the blog world, it that one can get some feedback on how one is perceived by others. Through my blog postings, I have seen people refer to me in online contexts as:

• management consultant
• entrepreneur
• operating manager/executive

In my case, the balance has been weighed more toward the first two in the list as opposed to the third one. It is also interesting because I do not consider myself an entrepreneur. I have supported entrepreneurs and been in entrepreneurial contexts, but I have not yet been that first person in the company to conceive of a business idea. I have had to earn my status in entrepreneurial contexts (e.g., through the earliest sales in an org. or through market guidance).

How one is perceived is very useful information to have when selling oneself into a job or consulting gig, say. It is also good to be aware of this in persuation-type situations (e.g., some people may perceive you to be more skilled as an entrepreneur when you really need to position yourself as a management consultant).

To complement the online feedback I’ve processed, in offline settings, I have gotten some feedback over the years on how people perceive me:

• From a venture partner, ex-partner at well-known VC fund in South – classic bio and make-up of an entrepreneur, perhaps not naturally inclined but capable to be a position-player in business development
• From a CFO – great people facilitator with excellent communication skills, maybe a little weaker on accounting detail than what needed for this engagement
• From an entrepreneur – type of person needed for strategic finance issues and operating model considerations
• From a CFO – would be good at a controller position in a finance organization because of an ability to tie finance with communication skills, may need to shore up skills in detailed accounting.
• From a technical person – personality more of a Kellogg-type than a Chicago-type MBA (ouch?)
• From angel investors – a trusted, right-hand man
• From a client entrepreneur – significantly stronger on product development/management & business development as compared to online marketing
• From an entrepreneur – much more of a corporate-type as opposed to an entrepreneur (little negative?), good at driving structure in an org. though
• From a generalist-type executive in a multi-billion dollar firm – you are a generalist and a glue person that holds things together as opposed to being a front-person
• From a client/middle-market company – well-suited for change management/management consulting engagements that require working with all levels in an org. (i.e., not just executives but line workers)
• From a client/middle-market company – excellent at bringing management consulting-grade analytics and front-end, project management discipline to the table
• From a friend – not the makeup of a financial analyst
• From an angel investor – a terrible writer, but very good at picking an angle and delivering messages from that context
• From strangers – a good go-to resource on management consulting and business schools

What is very funny to me about this list is that I never ever pictured myself in business development (prior to business school), but somehow people perceive me that way and see me in that role.

The bottom-line is that by getting this type of feedback, it becomes easier to know how one stacks up against others in a professional context.

By using this technique, I have made some choices to de-emphasize my efforts in pursuing financial-type endeavors. Continue to focus on opportunities that will require me to interface with all types of people. Defer functional specialization as a general rule but keep watching the trends. Focus more on management consulting, people facilitation, product management, start-up and business development opportunities.

As an aside, in addition to asking others how they perceive me, I have also asked my son how he perceives me. It is a good feeling when he responds, "You’re my buddy." I have to take that feedback and keep life in balance too.