I categorise people into two - are they aeroplanes or railway trains?
Aeroplanes are people who get from point A to point B fast, but by different routes each time. Railway trains are more predictable - they run on set paths, don't deviate too much from set paths, start at the same point and reach their destination by a fixed route in a regulated manner,
Like all categorisations about people, this is not a binary either-or. Every one of us has elements of both but I feel in each of us, one set of traits is more prominent. For instance, being a creature of routine, I am an unabashed railway train. Even after retirement, I get up daily at the same time and my activities fall more or less into the same sequence and same time groove. For instance, I go for a walk in the morning, leaving home at more or less the same time daily and even follow the same route. Needless to say but I walk for thirty five minutes daily, give or take a couple of minutes!
It has its advantages - gives a framework to one's life and an aura of certainty and purpose. People who are aeroplanes don't like to be straitjacketed. They like to try new things, get into new experiences and are perhaps more likely to think differently and maybe even innovate more. Railway trains are more likely to devise systems and procedures and implement them better.
In the context of sales, it is the difference between achieving targets by different methods and submitting all sales reports in time. In my very first sales job, more than four decades ago, a colleague who was an innovative salesperson was asked by the Big Chief why his reports weren't complete. He replied that the Chief had to decide between getting targets achieved or receiving immaculate reports. Guess what the Boss said - he obviously said he wanted both!
That is not the story of only corporate life. Life in general requires both sets of traits. There are situations which require meticulous execution and others which require total out-of-the-box thinking. All of us are capable of both. It is up to each of us to decide not only what each is more comfortable with, but also to use discretion to decide which approach is more suitable for each situation.
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