I had coffee with Lisa Haneberg from Management Craft the other day, and over the course of the conversation she told me about something she does that just begged to be blogged.
She mentioned that she would be interviewing Guy Kawasaki (author of the books The Art of the Start and Rules for Revolutionaries, among others) for her blog when he is in town, and that she was going to give him a ride to the airport, so would actually have an opportunity to spend some low-key drive time with him. How did she make that happen?
Every week, she makes at least five unreasonable requests. Requests she has no business making, and that people or companies have no realistic reason to say yes to. She figures that one in ten of those comes to fruition. So once every other week there's a good chance that something off the radar screen cool (like interviewing Guy Kawasaki for her blog) is likely to pop up.
You've heard me say again and again, "Action creates opportunity." This is a great example of that. I'm going to incorporate Lisa's unreasonable request approach into my routine from here on out. Who knows where that will take me?
How about you? What unreasonable requests can you make? Why not spend some time and brainstorm ideas. Make a list. Do a mindmap. I'll bet you can come up with scads of them.
And then - and here's the important part - start making them!
(By the way, on a tangential note, check out Lisa's new book, H.I.M.M. - High Impact Middle Management.)
Curt Rosengren
Passion Catalyst SM
Curt - You are too kind. Can I have your car? :-)
Posted by: Lisa Haneberg | November 01, 2004 at 07:15 AM
Good thing you're not expecting to get a yes on all of your requests, Lisa. ;-)
Posted by: Curt Rosengren | November 01, 2004 at 07:54 AM
While I think it's great to encourage people to stick their necks out, I can't help but feel a bit uncomfortable with this one. While the proverbial squeaky wheel does get the grease (even if it is "unreasonable"), that wheel will eventually be replaced because it's so darn annoying to everyone.
Personally, I think the world would be a lot better if we'd all be MORE reasonable, not less. I don't like this idea of being unreasonable to get ahead. It seems very self-serving and unfriendly.
Although I suppose it depends on how one defines "unreasonable."
Posted by: blork | November 03, 2004 at 08:28 AM
Saw your site tonight at Worthwhile
Magazine ,love the article on Unreasonable
Requests.Reminds me of the book Ross Perrot
wrote about just ask. will be bookmarking
your site
Paul Cody
Posted by: Paul Cody | November 04, 2004 at 06:14 PM
Donation question;
If your business could increase awareness
and donate a lot of money to one great
American charity,who would you choose.
We are a new Canadian company that has
partnered up with the Canadian Children's
Wish Foundation in Canada.We want to do
the same in the U.S.A but dont have a
clue on who to choose. Your suggestions
are appreciated
Posted by: Paul Cody | November 06, 2004 at 04:05 PM
Hmmmm...I was on my way to Mexico when Ed (blork) posted a comment and didn't see it. I want to follow up on that.
Ed, I think you have the wrong impression about what unreasonable means here. It's not stomping your feet and whining, "Do this for me." Unreasonable simply means that you have no realistic reason to expect that someone would say yes to your request.
Making unreasonable requests isn't about being a squeaky wheel. It's about throwing the door open to possibility without worrying about "failure."
I was telling a client about this idea shortly after Lisa mentioned it, and she said, "You'd have to have thick skin to do that." I said, "What thick skin? You're making the requests with no expectation that the answer will be yes. If the answer comes back no, you were right. Nothing lost. If the answer comes back yes, you've just had something happen that would never otherwise have happened. There's no risk. There's only upside."
Posted by: Curt Rosengren | January 02, 2005 at 09:51 AM
Curt,
I just saw this post about unreasonable requests. You said something about this originating with Lisa Haneberg. I'm wondering if she read my book, Faster Than The Speed of Change. Faster was published in late 1999 - there are two mini-chapters devoted to just this idea! In fact, we're currently writing an entire book about unreasonable action in business. Paul Lemberg, President, Quantum Growth Coaching - Business Coaching Franchise
Posted by: Paul Lemberg | July 17, 2005 at 06:40 PM
Unreasonable requests? You're talking to the master of unreasonable requests....
Posted by: Neil Underwood | December 01, 2005 at 12:05 AM