How to Win the Lottery-Guaranteed!

Have you ever bought a lottery ticket?  Are you now retired and residing in one of your seven homes--the one in the gated communities in Marco Island, or the penthouse in Manhattan you stay in just when you have the urge to see a play?  Me either.

I have another question for you.  Assuming you have in your lifetime at least once bought a lottery ticket, was it when the payoff was in the hundreds of millions of dollars?   Why bother when it's only seven million?  This sounds ludicrous, but it is the way many of us act.  We go for the really big bucks when the odds are much lower, but don't bother when the odds are more favorable.  Now, don't get me wrong--I'm not criticizing--and I have a confession.  I buy those big payday tickets, too.

Now to the part about the guarantee. There is no guarantee.   My point in this exercise is to show you how, even though you know very well there is no possible way that anyone could offer you a guarantee on winning the lottery, you had to look.  You wanted to believe it.  You might have even thought this author could be an idiot, and there could be some entertainment value in uncovering his lunacy. 

Let's take it to another level.  You are standing in line, waiting to purchase a ticket in the Mega-Zilla-Buckeroo Game, payoff at least $330 million--after all, it now has a high enough pot to overcome your disbelief that you will win.  Invariably, there is a guy in front of you who is wearing a grin, and like a radio left on in a home when the owners are gone, he keeps announcing to the air around him that he has the winning number.  He is going to get all that money.  He has the right numbers.  He guarantees it!  And he will gladly make eye contact with anyone around, because he wants them to be able to say to people the next day, "I was in line with that guy!" 

Are you like that guy in line--not about lottery tickets, but about your business?  Do you absolutely believe that your business idea or concept, for which you are about to (or did) mortgage your house, your kids education, and your future, simply cannot fail because you just know you are better, smarter, and whatever other exceptional adjectives one can supply, than those other folks out there? 

Now I will be the first person to tell you that believing in yourself is critical to success in everything you do.  Your sense of self directs your behavior, your attitudes, and consequently has a tremendous effect on the outcomes of your endeavors, whether social or professional.  But are your beliefs realistic?  Are they based on facts, reliable feedback and evidence, or just what you believe? 

I met with a company several years ago that was in the service industry.  The company was in a very competitive business and hadn't grown in three years. When I asked the owner to explain how his business was different from the many competitors, he seemed irritated, but smiled and said, "We provide better service than the other people."  This was his belief, and he was annoyed that I didn't know that.  I asked him how he collected his data about customer satisfaction, and whether he talked to his customers regularly about their services. He showed a little impatience, possibly wondering how such a stupid person could be a consultant.   "My supervisors do that all the time--I don't have time for that."  And he restated, "I know we're the best." 

Our meeting went on for another ten minutes or so, and he made it clear that he had great confidence in his plan and his methods, and he wasn't looking to spend money on any consulting.  I had already decided that this was not an individual open to feedback, which is essential to growth, and I couldn't help him.  I told him how I enjoyed meeting him and learning about his company, which was true, and the meeting ended.  Six months later, he was out of business.  The reality was, his company's service not only wasn't great, but below par.  He didn't want to bother talking to his customers, but they talked to him anyway--they spoke with their feet and left.

The moral of this story is not that companies can't stay afloat without my or any consultant's help.  Wouldn't I be just like the guy in the lottery ticket line if I thought so?  But make sure you are not that guy, either.  Don't let your beliefs blind you from information and feedback that is available that might enable you to grow personally and professionally, and your company to grow financially.