“People’s behavior makes sense if you think about it in terms of their goals, needs, and motives” - Thomas Mann

There is a standard phrase in modern HR which is said so often that people often don’t believe it. “People are our greatest assets”. Well according to Steven Covey, now that we live in the information age instead of the industrial age, people and their minds are indeed far more valuable than machines and processing power.

But we never seem so invest enough time working out how people work. We will go on training to get the most out of our software and fail to work out how to get the most out of our selves, our colleagues, our staff and our management teams.

And the biggest mistake I have learned I only realized in the last two days listening to a John Maxwell CD. He says that we view other people through our own lenses. If we have faults, we expect them in other people. If we are mistrusting, we see other people as untrustworthy. If we are dishonest we will see other people as thieving. And if we view the world through those famous rose-tinted glasses, we are going to assume everyone is co-operative, has the same purpose in mind, and is willing to sacrifice for the common good – and boy will we be shocked when that doesn’t happen.

Already in a presentation talk I do to volunteer-dependant organizations I point out to them that volunteers do not always join a group with the same purpose in mind as the group has for them. Their motivations, volunteer vs group, can be very different, and that is okay, because the volunteer needs time for their values to become synchronized with that of the group. If it doesn’t happen then the person will move on. But when it does happen naturally through the work that the organization does, it will create a passionately dedicated individual that you couldn’t pay to keep away from his new calling.

And yet somehow I expected people to understand, accept, buy into the vision I had for this business right from the beginning. I expected people to trust me that I could see where it could ultimately end up.

But people do surprise you if you don’t pay attention. When you face a crisis in your life you will discover those people who will contact you – run toward your pain, and those who will ‘give you space’. The latter do so probably less because of the embarrassment of the situation and more because it may be a mirror to their own. You will also discover those who are willing to help and those who decide to start legal proceedings against you at the lowest point in your career, just to prove a point.

I never saw that one coming.

This blog is an exploration of the lessons I learned when my business failed. Please feel free to share your thoughts and ideas, as well as your own experiences. It will eventually be published as a book – hopefully as a warning to new entrepreneurs to avoid some of these mistakes. Please see the first few posts as an introduction.