Moving on from NSPRA 2015 in Nashville… Literally! – SCN Encourager

Daniel Pink, who wrote “To Sell is Human,” believes that we all possess a unique skill.

Moving!

Although the main premise of Pink’s book is that each one of us is involved in “sales” in multiple ways every week, he points out that most of us are not sales agents in the traditional sense, where a transfer of money takes place.

Rather, most of us are what Pink calls “movers” – primarily engaged in “sales type” endeavors where we attempt to get others to give up something other than money, like enrolling their children, volunteering time, or changing their opinion.

We’re “selling” whenever we’re trying to move somebody to do something or see things our way, be it our children, spouse, or district finance director.

I totally missed this point when I blogged about To Sell is Human a couple of years ago.

And this point probably would’ve remained missed (at least by me) except for the proddings of David Zach, whose words keep reminding me not to briskly skip past the insights found in my stack of “older” books whenever I’m trying to vainly make newer points about something.

I hope Pink’s book counts even though it’s barely more than two years old.

Perhaps too, you’ll recall that Zach was a keynoter at NSPRA 2000 in San Antonio.

His presentation was fantastic.

It was quite a setting that NSPRA had set up, right near the Alamo and all.

Anyway, what actually got me thinking about this is this:

I’ve been noticing a number of articles online lately that say the true drivers in today’s economy are divided into two groups: producers and consumers.

At various times, we are either one or the other.

Frequently the authors of these passages will go on to say that it’s the “producers” who are the innovators and creators; and it’s the “consumers” who are … well, lazy slackers and self-serving takers.

The graphic on the left illustrates this perfectly.

But I don’t I agree with this notion at all.

(That’s me courageously observing, “huh?”)

There’s a middle space, a space energetically occupied by the many NSPRA 2015 attendees I witnessed – via hashtag  – “consuming” tons of new ideas, approaches, techniques, and tools.

I never got the impression that those NSPRA attendees were unwilling to do the heavy lifting required upon their return to their respective districts once the conference was over.

You know what heavy lifting I mean: ALL that goes into relearning, applying, sharing, and engaging.

This kind of consuming doesn’t sound passive or lazy to me!

(This disclaimer, though: I only witnessed “consuming” as tweeted out by the NSPRA attendees online. Whatever offline “consuming” took place away from the workshops in Nashville is anybody’s guess!)

Now, back on point:

I think Daniel Pink would agree.

That in-between the narrow gap of space existing between producers and consumers in our school districts, there are school communicators and other “movers” who are are actively –
•  selling,
•  inviting,
•  influencing,
•  informing,
•  persuading,
•  and clarifying.

In essence, your role asks you to fervently toggle between both constituencies in an effort to serve them effectively.

Dang.

No wonder you’re tired. (Me, too!)

So, just for the record, I discontinued following the #NSPRA2015 yesterday at 4:32 pm.

I needed to take a breather.

I then began following #SlickDayTraders2015 at 4:33 pm.

This group of Twitter aficionados keeps you hopping, too.

Since last night, I have lost $36,834 and have had to amend my 2014 tax forms with the IRS.

Now, those guys really know how to sell!

I like our way better.

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