Words of wisdom in the latest newsletter from Internet psychologist Graham Jones:
I’ve been an Associate Lecturer and examiner at the OU (Open University) for 12 years now and each year it amazes me how some candidates do brilliantly and other miss the point of the questions entirely. Often it’s nothing to do with ability – but simply not reading the question properly.
In business it is often the same story – people failing to understand their email marketing software, for instance, because they didn’t read the instructions properly. Or not being able to get their new phone to work because they haven’t read the manual. You do read instructions carefully don’t you…? Just a reminder…!
Rather like students taking exams, I find that the people who don’t read instructions or manuals are often the ones who then have to spend more time putting things right at a later date.
Then there are the companies (speaking of business) that submit proposals in which they respond to few, if any, of the requirements in the RFP. In this case, failue to stop and understand the customer’s requirements — the “instructions,” if you will — means that you’ll lose the customer’s business.