Dreaming the Impossible Dream and How to Achieve it

Anyone know the best way to get from impossible to possible?  Ask yourself this question, “What’s something that would be impossible to do, but if you could do it, it would dramatically increase your success?”

In the late 90’s I worked at Compuware. I modified the impossible dream question.  I asked my friend and co-worker, Craig LaFrance, “What’s something that has been impossible to do at Compuware, that if I could do it, I would be considered a hero?” He replied, “Get Northfolk Southern to use Compuware’s full suite of products, they don’t have our mainframe testing tool.”

Here are the 4 Steps I used to Align and Adjust to the Decision Makers:

1. Listen: I listened to conversations around the water cooler, and I listened through the internet and reading the Atlanta Business Journal. I learned quickly that the software systems between the two railroads, recently merged, were not accurately reflecting the status of boxcars, causing huge headaches and cost.
2. Homework: I learned that Norfolk Southern had merged with another railroad and that their systems were clashing. One railroad’s system would say a boxcar was empty, and another would say it was full. It was in print, so the executives couldn’t dispute my findings. I then copied these articles and mailed them via email and postal mail to the CIO, and Dir of Technology with a handwritten note.
3. Compelling Statement: I hand wrote notes and I consistently asked them, “How much is it costing you to use helicopters to pilot in your engineers, send out personnel to verify boxcars, and hire local police to handle traffic jams? Are you ready to talk yet? I have some ideas on how to drastically cut this spending by 75%, and improve your IT systems at the same time.”
4. Bite-size Content: I clipped out newspaper articles, and I would send these once a week. These were easy to read, and didn’t take much time.

So, that’s it in a nutshell. Craig LaFrance was account manager for Norfolk Southern, and worked directly with all the product suite sales people. Due to  my seeding and taking him on appointments to meet with the IT executives at Norfolk Southern, he was able to renew Norfolk Southern’ s contract to include the mainframe testing tools.  I was now on my way to being the hero I needed to be, AND receiving a BIG commission check in return for my smart work.

p.s., Enjoy reading RareAgent’s white paper How to Align and Adjust to the Decision Maker by Thought Leader Josiane Feigon, President of Tele-Smart.