We’re always selling ideas. Where to go on vacation, how to celebrate a birthday, whether to get a dog.

You say “Let’s go to Italy” and see sunlit piazzas and leisurely lunches. They hear “Let’s go to Italy” and see a ten-hour flight and a packed itinerary.

It’s the same destination, but you each imagine a completely different experience.

Ten Minutes

This used to happen in my business all the time.

I’d finish the latest business book convinced we had to let go of our unprofitable clients, productize our services, and generate recurring revenue.

In my mind, I could see all of it working, so I’d give my team the ten-minute firehose version, complete with my passionate conviction that we must start doing this right away.

I’d get silence and blank stares. Then someone would ask who would own it, or how it would work exactly.

Thinking they just didn’t see, I’d describe my vision again, with even more enthusiasm. 

Sometimes they’d push back. Sometimes they’d say yes in the meeting, but drag their feet afterward. 

Buy In

I’d already spent days learning about these strategies and connecting them to my business.

By the time I met with my team, I was fully bought in. They weren’t.

They got my excitement but none of the thinking behind it. 

When I suggested letting unprofitable clients go, I pictured more time for our best work. 

They imagined uncomfortable conversations, clients saying we’d abandoned them, and no bonus that year.

I wanted them to visualize how much better things could be. They wanted me to understand what it meant to them. 

I was so busy painting my picture, I never asked about theirs.

When the questions came, I should have asked what worried them. 

Then I could have said, “We’ve worked hard to build these relationships, and I don’t want this to cost anyone their bonus. How could we make this work?”

And I needed to listen long enough for them to process it, help shape it, and start to buy in. 

I thought I didn’t have time to do it that way. I was in a hurry.

But I had plenty of time to repeat myself, get frustrated, and wonder why it wasn’t happening.

Their World

The same is true in my personal life. If I want a wellness retreat and my husband wants a nature adventure, describing the meditation with more enthusiasm doesn’t help.

But if I step into his world and ask what adventure means to him, we discover that a sunrise hike in the mountains can be a beautiful form of meditation.

Chris and I joke that I live on Planet Debbie and he lives in Chris World. On Planet Debbie, the goal is serenity. In Chris World, the goal is the summit. 

Neither one is wrong. They’re just different ecosystems.

When I’m excited, I notice I crave agreement. Questions feel like they’re slowing me down.

And they are… but in a good way. Because exploring the answers is how we reach a shared understanding.

Everyone on your team has their own world too.

The fastest way to sell an idea is to step into theirs first.