Business Development Segment
Business Development Segment
Daniel Burrus
Photo by Dov
For my money Dan Burrus has one of the most brilliant business development/technology minds on the planet. He said the biggest threat to corporations is “that they’ll change but not transform.” That may be true for professional speakers too. What do you think?
NSA Convention Dialog 
July 20, 2007 at 2:02 am
Dan was a great example of a theme I noticed throughout the convention. Being bolder. Being yourself. Trusting that in doing so, you attract more people/clients/companies/work than may be put off by exactly who you are. It seems obvious when I write it but it is not so obvious when I am trying to decide whether to do it!
July 20, 2007 at 2:07 am
I think Dan Burrus was right on target with this line. Although the words can be used synonomously, I think businesses often create CHANGE simply for change’s sake. Speakers can come in as consultants for the same reason.
The word “transformation” sounds more proactive; it sounds like progress.
But progress doesn’t happen overnight, not when the change is, as Burrus also said, “from the inside out.” When you’re talking about more than just a fresh coat of paint, when you’re talking about replacing the wall board underneath the wall that needs a fresh coat of paint, you’re talking about work that requires more care, more patience, more awareness…and more knowledge.
A robot, such as the one Dan Burrus used in his presentation, didn’t craft itself, nor did its creator build it overnight. It took time to devise the mechanisms and programming required for such a “wow” result.
The “wow” moments occur when something is transformed, whether that’s your mind, your spirit, or your body. This kind of impact that we speakers have the ability to infuse on our audiences requires what he also mentioned: “bold” action.
So I think Dan Burrus was right on target; his words even inspired me to come home to Phoenix and incorporate his premise in my profile on my blog: I want to transform lives. It’s a lofty goal, but not when you realize you only have to reach one person at a time but have the opportunity to reach so many more.
My goal now is to be bold about it.
What’s yours?
All my best,
~Jackie Dishner
July 20, 2007 at 11:57 am
Yes, I too was impressed with Dan’s comments (and the improvement of style since the first time I saw him). “Transformation” was a key phrase for me. I see it as the natural progression in my professional dialogue … from client satisfaction, to exceeding client expectations, to client loyalty and now to transforming the client’s challenges into opportunities with the client’s participation … a team effort unlike any before.
Thank you Dan for opening the mind a bit more.
July 20, 2007 at 7:07 pm
I agree that Dan’s “change but not transform” line is on target and immensely important, with the caveat that not every listener/reader holds the same meaning for those two verbs.
The most helpful distinction I’ve come across, and one that applies to both organizations and individuals, is Ken Wilber’s use of “translation” for change that improves our ability to function with within our current worldview, perspective or level of development, and “transformation” for change that moves us into an entirely new worldview, perspective or level of development.
Translation rearranges the furniture in our fifth-floor room at the Manchester Grand Hyatt. Transformation moves us to a room on the twenty-fifth (or any higher) floor–our new perspective is higher and more inclusive–it transcends and includes our fifth-floor, and all previous, views.
While both types of change have value, my understanding of Dan’s comment is the need for corporations (and all of us) to move beyond doing a better job at what they (we)already do, and discover how to meet the emergent intentional, behavioral, cultural and social needs of the marketplace.
July 20, 2007 at 8:40 pm
Thanks for that thought from Wilber re change/transformation Reggie – I needed exactly that concept for something I’m working on today. If this blog promotes the exchange of ideas and insights like that it will be a great resource.
BTW – thanks again for your poem at Convention. I think it was an inspired work superbly performed!
July 29, 2007 at 9:04 pm
Unfortunately, I missed the convention due to the fact I was working. I was shocked by the reports I heard. As professional speakers aren’t we supposed to be pushing people outside their comfort zone – challenging conventional wisdom (keep in mind when John Kenneth Galbraith coined the word he didn’t consider it a compliment). I often start a program – especially one that I know is going to be thought provoking by saying something like – My job is not to convince you that my ideas are correct today, my job is make you uncomfortable. Why? Because when you are uncomfortable you are outside your comfort zone and thinking, learning and growing. All of these involve change which can be uncomfortable, so if you are uncomfortable then we are going in the right direction. So I don’t necessarily ask you to agree with me today, but what I do ask is that you open up your mind to other possibilities and after the program you can begin to sort them out. Every situation is unique, so not all the ideas I will present will fit everyone exactly. Some will work fine, some will need to be tweaked, others will not work at all. But unless you open your mind to new possibilities – you are likely to become a dinosaur and we all know what happen to them.
It appears that some NSA members need the same advice. As professional speakers – we should be the very people that challenge conventional wisdom to get people to grow. If we are so closed minded that we can’t listen to different views – then we can’t do our job. So if you were offended by comments made at NSA – then maybe you should consider another job.
If we are only telling people what they want to hear, we are not doing our job and certainly not earning our fee. If you want to disagree with me – go back and read paragraph #1 because you don’t understand the role of the professional speaker. And don’t start in with free thinkers are only the keynoters. Even when doing training, when much of the material is practical skills we still need to be getting our audience to think – if for no other reasons that is how they will be empowered to use the material being presented. Once I was doing a breakout at constuction convention – it was project management – so exciting! I started my program by saving – “Some days I’m frustrated, because I think we should take all the books on project management and throw them away. ” I got a standing ovation and was rated the number one speaker at the convention. Not bad for starting from an irreverant position by attacking conventional wisdom. The point is often are audience is more sophisticated than we give them credit for. When we give the same old BS because that’s what is expected they realize we are simply BS artists – but when we have the courage to step out – they rally around us. I’m sure not everyone agreed with my statement – especially those that wrote the books. However, that’s not our job. But that said we can’t be irresponsible either, because I did say there is much about project management that is good, it just doesn’t focus on the most important aspect and that is leadership. Project management is written by left brained people who rely mostly on analytical tools, however, project management is a right brained activity that requires leadership. Those doing the work understand, unfortunately too many writing the books don’t. I also acknowledged there are some great books on PM – just not enough or that there are too many not very good. An important point is that (and I say this to my audiences) I don’t know all the answers – if I did heck I could charge a lot more. However, if things aren’t working the way we want them to – change is needed and so let’s explore possible changes together. So if you were upset by whatever was said at NSA (that doesn’t mean you couldn’t disagree) then you maybe need to reconsider your qualifications to lead from the platform. I know a lot of NSA members that would have advised me not to make that statement about project management – yet I rest my case based on the audience response. Of course, if you are going to make strong statements you should have the credibility to make them – I spent 30 years building some of the biggest buildings in the country – so I have a right to comment on what works or doesn’t work. So if you don’t have the credibility, or the experience, then of course you can’t make the most provocative statements. But that doesn’t mean you can’t listen to Dan Burris and others at the NSA convention that do.
Ian – you certainly did what NSA needed. It needs to shake up the thinking of a some people in its ranks.
July 31, 2007 at 9:18 am
To those of you who were in San Diego . . . I am curious about what you are thinking about, or already doing differently, as a result of not only Dan’s keynote, but also other sessions on business development at the conference? I’m really interested in hearing about what you are doing as a result of being in San Diego with the hope that you might trigger some additional ideas for me to consider or try.