In the absence of communication there is only ever speculation, rumor and a plantation for negativity.

Always fill a vacuum.

Your vision is your view on the core purpose and idealogy of your company or endevour, the passion that drives it and the pleasure you aim to convey to the people you are doing this for. The vision is not a blah blah document, but instead a short and concise statement that will drive decision making and people to fulfil the company and brand’s role in the world.

For example, Southwest Airlines is a low cost airline whereas Jet Blue stands for safety, caring, integrity, fun and passion. Any employee inside these two companies uses this as a bearing to guide their decisions to match the bigger direction.

From the vision you can derive what core values you and your people (and, by extension, your brand) should follow, the core purpose and the visionary goals you’re going to aim for to achieve the vision.

But why have a vision? Everyone wants to know where to go. This points them in the same direction, toward the target you’re aiming for.

Great sales people are extremely charismatic. Well dressed charmers. They reach out, connect, find common ground, establish rapport and convince. Their attitude, tonality and body language adapts to the interaction with other people as they paint an attractive landscape that eventuality leads to trade. They dance as they reduce the risk for change and make what they have in their toolkit the most attractive option for the prospect’s problem.

They are up and they are down. They are emotional and passionate. Success for a sales person is measured as the grand finale act of convincing someone to commit to something they didn’t know they wanted. Every step to reach that point is an exercise in change and analysis and more change.

Real engineers live to solve problems. Instead of the rapidly altering emotion of a sales person, an engineer aims for a point and seldom alters the course until all the relevant data is captured, analyzed and pieced together to reach the solution.

Each problem is a jigsaw puzzle and work continues until it’s solved. A constant flow of thought and activity, trial and error until the goal is reached and the jigsaw completion.

Having a sales person guide engineers is to restart the jigsaw puzzle in every interaction. To have engineers be a component in a sales cycle is to inhibit the fluidity of the conversation and rapport. Each has a different set of motivators and path to success.

When the sales person has done their convincing, insert a transfer point between then and the when engineers being to enact the change agreed to with the client. Purposefully move from a state of conversation to one of action by itemizing the problem and the commitments made to resolve those problems.

Then let the sales person move to the next convincing situation and have the engineer focus on solving the problem.

This may come across as relatively obvious and even, possibly, old fashioned advice. In the modern world we tend to assume that the world is full of change and everyone must be able to accommodate this and people are more or less the same (this, I fear, is narrowed by most people’s built-in assumption that everyone is like THEM). To bridge gaps, technical frameworks exist to embrace change to shorten delivery cycles and bring sales people and engineers closer together.

This is fantastic news, however sales people are sales people because they are driven that way; the thrill and art of convincing and the commission for turning it into trade. The engineer isn’t driven by the same factors, but instead needs quiet time to solve the problems they are handed.

Ideologies of a worldwide ‘group hug’ aside, recognize these differences and be the transfer point between the two worlds when a sale needs to turn to action. In all other stages and steps, keep the two worlds separated.

Business textbooks, MBA courses and the common logic around change prescribes more. More process, more people, more money.

A friend who was moving to the US from France told me of a theory he’d heard about American companies. When there is a problem, American companies immediately apply ‘more gas’.

If something is broken, if a company isn’t performing well, the last thing to do is add on top of the mess. Instead refine, simplify, intertwine people and communication and focus only on doing one or two things exceptionally well.

Could not be further from the truth. Well, at least you and I know that’s the case.

Give your people room to breath and a bright, shining light to grow toward.

It’s like wearing a ton of makeup and a pushup bra to head out on a date (for the men – stuffing a sock or a small Coke bottle down your pants). The smoke and mirror act only buys you the first round. After that you’re left covering up the first lie with a second and on and on… At some point you’re going to let someone else or yourself down.

Start with the truth. Everybody wants that.