Why do we need a positive mental attitude?
IT teams need a positive mental attitude to survive and thrive
Whatever we do in life there will always be things going on that we have little or no control over. We make a choice as to whether we are going to react in a positive or negative way. It is easy to overlook the fact that this is a choice. We choose whether to have a positive mental attitude.
“Christopher Lee could not have done a better job when he was at the height of his Hammer House of Horror film career.”
I have worked with engineers and technicians all my working life and being one myself I believe I have a right to say that we are not always as positive as we could be. I have been in workshops, cafes, pubs, and in many other locations where engineers and technicians congregate and I have lost count of the times I have felt like every last drop of life itself had been drained from me. Christopher Lee could not have done a better job when he was at the height of his Hammer House of Horror film career.
Over the past 43 years I have had the ‘pleasure’ to hear many of the same negative grumbles recycled an infinite number of times. In the early days I was one of the perpetrators taking part in what I originally thought of as banter and fair sport. However funny it seemed at the time, in reality it was far from fair, mostly hypocritical, extremely negative and damaging to the business. This almost daily banter and high jinx chipped away at the moral of anyone in earshot creating a chasm between the engineering and non-engineering teams. As you may guess prime targets for our engineering grumbles were inevitably the sales team closely followed by ‘the management’.
”…the extent of their negativity and ability to shake the confidence of our hard earned customers knew no bounds.”
It was very frustrating to lose opportunities to the competition at the last minute, but nowhere near as frustrating as the losses caused by some of our own engineers. If they were unable to sabotage the sales process mid-flight, they would do their level best to undermine our sales people during the installation. “Who sold you this then?” “You shouldn’t be doing it like this.” “This isn’t as good as the old kit we used to sell.” the extent of their negativity and ability to shake the confidence of our hard earned customers knew no bounds.
Whether they were making these statement to the sales team or to the customer the damage was deep and lasting. The sales people would lose confidence in the equipment, design or solution and customers would lose confidence in the sales person and our organisation’s ability to provide a service. Once the hard earned trust started to erode it was almost impossible to recover. A single throw away comment could destroy several months’ work in a few seconds. The sales process to that point may have included an exhibition, processing several hundred leads, weeks of follow up phone calls, several face to face meetings, one or more proposals, proof of concept demonstrations and more.
“If you don’t sell stuff you can’t pay for stuff.”
A couple of years later I was promoted to Area Manager and had even more responsibility for engineering and sales liaison. It was then that I came to my own conclusion that everyone in my business area and in the wider organisation was a sales person. We all represented our company and we all had some influence on our customer’s decision to partner with us – or move away from us. The engineers in particular could make or (and more often than not did) break the ability of the sales teams to succeed.
What always amazed me was the fact that the majority of engineers – people relatively skilled in logic – rarely made the connection that without sales there would be no salary. If you don’t sell stuff you can’t pay for stuff.
I do appreciate that some sales people do really well at alienating themselves from the rest of the business as a result of trying to win a deal at any cost. But not all sales people are like this, just as not all engineers are engaged in a plot for the global demise of sales teams.
“What we need throughout the organisation is a positive mental attitude. It needs to be ingrained in everything we do.”
Although I am making some light of this I am certainly not playing down the magnitude of the problem. Business needs sales people to succeed. Engineers are required to support the sales effort effectively and positively from pre to post sales. The management team is responsible for ensuring the sales team are offering solutions that the engineering team can deliver and support. It certainly is not the job of the engineering team to inform the sales team as to what they can or cannot sell.
If the sales person and their support team have done their job properly the customer and sales person relationship will be a mutually beneficial transaction. The sales person will be supplying what the customer wants. But it doesn’t just stop there.
There is little benefit in the engineers just going through the motions in support of the ‘greater cause’. There really has to be total buy in for this to work, and when there is the customer and the supplier benefits and it is evident from the initial sales engagement through to the ongoing support. What we need throughout the organisation is a positive mental attitude. It needs to be ingrained in everything we do.
“When the entire team is operating with a positive mental attitude the sum will be greater than the parts.”
Another cost of a breakdown in trust between engineering and sales teams is the additional cost of duplication of work. If the sales person is constantly worried as to what the engineering team might say to their mutual customers they spend more time than would otherwise be necessary monitoring the engineering engagement. If the relationship is based on trust and everyone in the team operates with a positive mental attitude the sales people will be confident to land over to the engineering team and continue with their vital role of developing business.
When the entire team is operating with a positive mental attitude the sum will be greater than the parts. Our performance will be enhanced when we all get on well with our colleagues. We can only really achieve this when we are working in a positive environment. When we work in a positive environment we enjoy coming into work and we enjoy achieving and celebrating our achievements with our colleagues.