How do I add value?

Cost-value matrix (iQoncept - Fotolia)

We’ve all heard about value-added work, but how does one add value? If it were easy, we’d all be successful entrepreneurs, but effective value propositions are notoriously hard to achieve. For one reason or another, it’s difficult to find out what people want to accomplish. After all, they don’t know what they want to do most of the time. In addition, desires change by the second. Let’s talk!

The heart of this challenge is to discover what frustrates people most, what they want to do or what they’d like to have. Perhaps it’s something that drives them insane about the way they work. Can you help them to identify that problem and deliver better results? If you tap into a problem shared by many people, you may have a profitable, value-added service or product. On the other hand, you may be one of many vendors offering the same thing.

If you want to stand out, you must answer the following question: “Why should I use your services or products if someone else can do it at a lower cost or I can do it at no cost”? With today’s rapid pace of innovation, you have to show that you can do much more than use tools. You need to demonstrate that you possess a deep understanding of tools and theory, and establish a track record for getting the job done quickly, if not instantly, at a substantially lower cost.

At this point, you may wonder what’s in it for you. After all, cutting the time and lowering costs doesn’t seem very profitable. The answer is simple: you’ll be able to handle significantly more work with little or no overhead. As you learn to work faster than anyone else and deliver better results, word will spread and you’ll attract more clients and your profits will increase dramatically.

In the years ahead, technology will continue to level the playing field. This development holds a promise and a potential curse. You can strike out on your own and compete with overhead-laden corporations, or you can lose your shirt to other cost-competitive consultants and fixed-price contracts. Whether you strike out on your own or stay with a company, the question remains. How do you add value?

Start by finding out what you do best, and document a repeatable method for completing every task in your process. Consider multiple tools and methods for your work, but settle on the ones that allow the greatest flexibility at the lowest overhead cost.

Then, interview your supervisor or clients, find out exactly what they want to do and document it in detail. Brainstorm with them to identify and implement a well-documented solution that meets their specifications, saves time and protects their bottom line.

Finally, do not focus on technology! If a stone-age mallet will meet your customer’s needs, you don’t need a laser-guided hammer with a learning curve and a thousand-dollar price tag. If you follow these rules, you’ll add value to your company, your clients and yourself.

Perfection

Throughout our lives, we strive for perfection in one fashion or another, but it eludes our grasp. We need to believe we can create something with enduring value. Even if it fails to bring financial reward or social acceptance, we want to produce something that will call attention to our personal accomplishments.

The universe of which we’re a part also lacks perfection. For example, time is not uniform everywhere, and we can’t even tell it here without occasional adjustments. We who are an infinitesimal part of the universe are even less perfect. We make imperfect decisions, and regret them later. All of us write things we live to regret, blunder when we speak, forget names and confuse the facts.

It would seem, therefore, that any attempt at perfection is an exercise in futility—or is it? The pursuit of perfection makes life interesting. It gives us a reason to go back to work when the money isn't good or no longer satisfies. It saves us from giving up in hopeless despair.

For the sake of sanity, however, we need to recognize some important distinctions. Perfection is an ideal state in which something needs no improvement. In reality, we’d be foolish to label any state as perfect, because we can always find room for improvement. Even if we presently overlook many flaws in such a state, we’ll eventually recognize and want to adjust them. Moreover, today’s ideal state may become irrelevant or trite as we make additional discoveries.

Mastery is the ability to produce a desired result in a way that is widely recognized as the highest standard of excellence in one's art or craft. It may be marked by wide public recognition of one's genius or documented by the completion of a specific percentage of professional criteria. The main difference is that mastery comes with a constant recognition that the ideal state is a moving target.

Similarly, craftsmanship conveys the idea of skilled competence, but it is not bound to an ideal state. An effective craftsman sets aside the quest for an ideal state as conditions warrant. That doesn't mean the drive toward an ideal state is entirely absent. A fine piece of craftsmanship may not meet every standard, but it fulfills the most important ones, and is one step closer to the ideal state.

Of these concepts, I think the most delightful and realistic is craftsmanship. It is free from pretense and allows for life-long improvement. We give our best shot with each attempt, but recognize that there is always room to improve. Craftsmanship is sublime in design and exquisite in execution, because it recognizes priorities while looking for better things to come.

As you continue to hone your craft, your work will improve. Ultimately, you’ll be able to look back and celebrate even your most rudimentary accomplishments. Regardless of the imperfections you can now spot and correct instantly, you’ll know it was a marked improvement over previous versions and another step toward the realization of your highest aspirations.