Jan/100
Dumb persistence
Business people often talk about the importance of persistence and tenacity. Keep trying, they will urge you, even when things look bad. Never give up!
This raises an interesting question. When you feel like you are fighting a losing battle, how can you tell whether you are fighting for a lost cause or whether a victory is just around the next corner? More to the point, will your actions have any impact on the outcome or are you at the mercy of events beyond your control? If persistence is followed by success, hindsight makes you look like a genius. But when you see failure in the rear view mirror, that same quality of persistence renders you stubborn and ignorant.
Persistence, in itself, is nothing to be proud of. In order to be useful, it must be accompanied by an element of critical self-analysis, rule-setting and intelligent action. Firstly, when you look closely at your situation and think carefully, is there really a chance to succeed? What parallels, analogies or evidence can you find to support your view? Once you have made up your mind, you need to set the rule. Decide what you must achieve and when you must achieve it in order to prove that your view is right. If you find that it is not right, then cease to persist, take what you have learnt and put your energy into a new battle or venture. If you leave it too late, you may find that your energy and resources are too depleted for another fight.
Whilst you continue to persist, give yourself the best chance of success by persisting intelligently. Don’t keep hammering away with the same approach, using the same tools. Be creative and find new ways to approach your challenge. The more remarkable your approach, the more likely you are to attract the attention of your customers or prospects. The more varied your choice of tools, the better your chance of keeping their attention.
From the perspective of your customer or your prospect, dumb persistence can be plain annoying.
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