How Do You Catch a Mouse?
How to catch a mouse seems obvious until he’s in YOUR house. My first thought was to ignore it and hoped that it went away. Connie, my wife, didn’t care for that approach. So, I did what anyone else would do given such a difficult circumstance. I asked a neighbor. But not just any neighbor. I asked Joe. This guy can fix anything and has the patience of Job. I’m sure it’s not a coincidence that their names are spelled similarly. He quickly changed my perspective and sent me to the hardware store.
He had me approach this problem from the mouse’s perspective. In essence, he said:
- Think as they do. With colder months approaching, they’re looking for someplace warm. Next, they’re looking for some food. Then, and this is the scary part, they’re looking for a home. This is how they think.
- Go where they go. We walked around the outside of my house and saw some possible points of entry and then we went into the basement to find any possible pathways that they might commonly be taken. We went where they went.
- Like what they like. Since we already have cheese and peanut butter in the house, it wasn’t much of a stretch to like what they liked. However, this step shouldn’t be overlooked. However, don’t get carried away. Common house mice will eat just about anything. So, we liked what they like and made sure that peanut butter was available.
This quickly became a metaphor for management, leadership, sales, entrepreneurship and life.
Think as they do.
Put yourself in their shoes. What are they going through, personally and professionally? How can you make their day better? Don’t think about what’s in it for you. Think about what you would need to hear. Don’t be insincere or sarcastic. Be genuine and take the time for them to process what you’ve done or said.
Go where they go.
If they like to spend time at the movies, get to know more about the current movies that they’re watching. For a sports fan, at least look at some highlights and potentially get a feel for how their team is doing. If they like a certain food, try it out. Maybe even make them some. This will allow you to talk on the same subjects.
Like what they like.
This is all part of building a relationship. It doesn’t mean that you should get crazy, but genuinely invest in the relationship. The better you understand someone, the easier it is going to be to have a successful relationship. You have to CONNECT on some level if you’re ever going to CONNECT on a relationship level.
Stay tuned for “Give a mouse a cookie. ”
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