TACKLING DISTRACTIONS
Avlesh Singh, CEO and Co-founder, WebEngage talked about all the distractions that came his way last year and his efforts at skilfully tackling them. BY AVLESH SINGH For me, last year was the year of fighting distractions. A lot was going on at WebEngage. We were in the process of launching our marketing automation software – Journey Designer - and my team successfully achieved that goal. However, it wasn’t easy always. There were so many distractions that kept coming our way. Looking back, these were three big ones. 1. The media euphoria: Every start-up was making news, except for the fact that they were all consumer Internet or cool start-ups. Some were in the news for funding and others for the lack of it. Some were in the news because they hired by the hundreds, while others made news because they fired by the hundreds. I cared less about all of the above; until, of course, the time when these events led to a heightened sense of ‘fear of missing out’ in me. People consider lack of hype as lack of ambition. Fighting that common notion is an uphill task. There kicks in the distraction! 2. The surge of copycats: For every well executed business idea, there would be a dozen copy-cats in almost no time. And if you operate in a crowded space like marketing automation – good luck! For established categories (like customer support, email marketing etc), this doesn’t impact much if you have an early mover advantage with a good product. With WebEngage, we were creating a new category; and then we had to cope up with the surge of these copycats – some of them being shameless enough to use our website and marketing content, as is, on theirs. 3. Overcoming the ‘moonshot inertia’: There is no such term, I just made it up! Moonshots, 10x leap … all these terms are used for large companies that are able to move with start-up like pace when it comes to building stuff. In a running business, this is extremely hard to do. And believe me, it’s not for lack of intent. Challenging both (customers and team) to change this ‘state of love’ is a very difficult thing to do. Invariably, any moonshot attempt is perceived as a distraction. Managing distractions: Knowing you are distracted is the first step. Most fall in that trap unknowingly. There are a few things that have worked for me. Here’s my guide to fight distractions. a. Being disillusioned: Not everything that you see around you is truth. People say things even when they don’t mean it. And, there’s nothing wrong with it. People evolve. You need to evolve too. The key thing here is to find out what’s important. What is that you should lose your sleep over? Most distracted people would lose it for almost anything and everything. Disillusionment helps in keeping you focused on the bigger goal. b. Being on a mission: First and foremost, please have a mission in life. For some, it’s working for a good life, for some it’s buying a house, for me, it’s building an ever-growing company. Find yours. The stronger and bigger that mission is, the lesser the distraction would be. When on a mission, terms like can, maybe, should, but ... lose their significance. That said, having a mission is not enough. Getting the stakeholders (your team, family, etc.) aligned and executing as per that mission is a big challenge. c. Being organized: This one is a bit philosophical. Most people I know are heavily unorganized in their lives and work. And here’s a candid confession - so am I. I worked on it extensively last year to get better. Whether it’s about scheduling meetings or organizing files, I see real funny ways in how people accomplish such tasks. Most don’t even realize the downsides of a cluttered life. It kills your productivity. I have become much better at organizing myself, except for the fact that I still don’t use WhatsApp. Let software eat your world, at least for work. @ FEEDBACK
CEO and Co-founder, WebEngage
avlesh@webengage.com
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