An Infestation of BEPPUMOIDs Costs More Than You Think
In our last blog, we wrote about the challenges of having crucial conversations in an organization.
We thought we’d dig into it a little deeper this month with both blogs and our newsletter. It occurred to us that the inability to have crucial conversation may have its roots in an infestation of BEPPUMOIDs.
If you’ve been in class with us, you remember the BEPPUMOID, that little creature that crawls in your ear and prevents you from hearing anything anyone has to say. You can’t see it; your only clue is the symptoms.
There are nine symptoms of a BEPPUMOID infestation; you can have one or several. Your clue to your condition is experiencing of any of these states:
- Bored
- Emotional
- Physically tired
- Preoccupied
- Uninterested
- Mentally tired
- Organizing your thoughts (for your reply)
- Interrupting
- Distracted
The reason we think that the BEPPUMOID is getting in the way of those crucial conversations is because the infestation prevents you from listening.
You can’t engage in any kind of conversation (let alone a crucial one where the stakes are high) if you can’t listen.
So if you’re not listening, what are you leaving on the table? What are the issues that no one is handling that are costing your organization money, time, results, and good people?
Having the crucial conversations that will move your organization forward begins with one important step: handle your symptoms.
