So I met a guy named Mike at the park this weekend. We were walking our dogs. Conversation rolled from common dog loving, to where we lived and, as expected, to what we do.
Mike is a regional sales representative for a major health and wellness supplier. He asked what I did and I told him, “I solve problems and help people, companies, churches, and non-profits achieve even greater dreams.” We talked about how it started years ago when I found a love for Decision Sciences. Mike had lots of questions and, as I answered them, I realized that I still need to work on explaining what we do. Most of my answers were case snippets of successes and the fun creative work that we do.
Mike was fascinated that we talked and worked with individuals, churches, companies, non-profits, teams, and leaders. I have to admit, I am kind of fascinated with all the opportunities too. I hope for the day when it gets easier to tell first-timers what we do but I also realize that day may never come. Let me tell you why.
What we do is so different, so unexpected, that it takes engagement, story-telling, and some human interaction to really explain. That is kind of nice. People are the center of what we care about. Individuals, groups, teams, leaders, and anyone who want to just be great. And we are willing to do just about anything to help people get there.
The core philosophy behind everything we do is the simple question, “What do you need?” We have no preconception of what we think you need and, often, we all find out that what we need is something much different that our original idea. But that simple question has led us to gathering experts and, often, getting more training ourselves to help answer the question.
What do you need? It is a powerful question when asked from a child to a parent. Powerful when asked from a husband to a wife, when asked from an employee to a boss, and from a boss to an employee. This simple question unlocks discussion, dreams, hurts, fears, and challenges. This simple question provides revelation and revolution when it gets answered.
What do you need? Do you even know? I realize each day that we go public with Different.ly that this is our core philosophy. This question and its answers are what helps us help others launch, retools, and fix. We are good at asking this question and helping folks sort through the myriad of answers and dreams.
This simple question is the thing that causes us to work with diverse organizations and people providing extremely diverse solutions and interactions. Imagine the power that this question could unleash if you asked it to others. Imagine a world where we focused on providing what people needed.
What do you need? How are you getting it? Let us know.
