Lately, Tammy's been getting many requests to handle situations where you were eager for someone to share information, but they kept saying, "You don't know what you don't know!" And didn't share a single piece of helpful information?
Instead of getting frustrated, there is a way you can get the information you desire!
Listen in as Tammy discusses her recent experience of this situation and how she handled it.
Although the small business community in the government contracting space was in Tammy's mind when she spoke about this topic, they are elements you may find helpful in your own industry and path!
[00:00:00] Welcome to The Messy Mind podcast, a show to support you in seeing the messiness can
[00:00:09] lead to your light bulb moments.
[00:00:11] I'm your host, Tammy L. Davis.
[00:00:18] Based on all of the inquiries and questions that I have been getting as of late on this
[00:00:24] particular subject matter, I thought I would pull out one of the old archives.
[00:00:30] Old archives is the same thing.
[00:00:32] But I thought I would rewind and pull out one of the old episodes to support people.
[00:00:38] I have been getting a lot of questions on how to handle a situation.
[00:00:43] And the situation is that there's someone who's eager to share information.
[00:00:48] You're in conversation with them, but they keep on saying that you don't know what
[00:00:53] you don't know.
[00:00:54] And even though they're saying that, they have not shared one piece of useful information.
[00:01:00] So I want to re-release this episode where I offer you some tips that instead of getting
[00:01:06] frustrated, there's a way that you can get the information that you desire.
[00:01:12] I hope you appreciate this rewind episode from our archives and remember to embrace
[00:01:19] the messiness.
[00:01:20] It can lead to your light bulb moments.
[00:01:27] I was listening to a teaming talk with a large prime in the Washington, D.C.
[00:01:31] area and the director of the small business programs during her presentation kept on
[00:01:37] saying, you don't know what you don't know.
[00:01:40] I mean, this was going on for minutes.
[00:01:43] Every time she would say something, she would then say, you don't know what you
[00:01:48] don't know. But she wasn't offering information on what we should know.
[00:01:53] What may have frustrated the average attendees, I shifted into my super sleuth mode.
[00:01:59] And for those who don't know me, this is my nickname because I can find anything I
[00:02:03] put my mind to, took a breath and started to ask key questions in order to get the
[00:02:09] information I needed.
[00:02:11] Heck, I believe all small businesses wanted to know what I was asking.
[00:02:16] I started to inquire what does she mean?
[00:02:18] We don't know what we don't know.
[00:02:20] Could she give us examples on what we should know based on her experiences with
[00:02:26] working with small businesses?
[00:02:27] What are the first two steps?
[00:02:29] Does she recommend for us to get in the know?
[00:02:33] However, in order for me to have the ability to ask those questions, I followed
[00:02:38] these steps to get the information that I wanted.
[00:02:42] Number one, do your homework.
[00:02:45] Prior to the event, I performed a bit of Intel.
[00:02:49] It's one thing to know about the event at a high level, but it's another thing
[00:02:54] to understand the purpose of the event, who will be facilitating, who was the
[00:02:58] main speaker or main speakers and then drill down even more on those
[00:03:03] individuals.
[00:03:04] I like to say leave no stone unturned as it relates to discovering the type
[00:03:10] of information to be shared at these small business outreach events.
[00:03:15] I try to gather as much review and study the agency's forecast prior to
[00:03:20] the event, because inevitably they're going to pull up the forecast.
[00:03:25] They're going to highlight special or specific requirements that they
[00:03:30] have within the agency.
[00:03:31] If you do your homework, if you study the agency's forecast prior to the
[00:03:35] event, it is the perfect opportunity to ask questions about the specific
[00:03:42] opportunity you have identified on the forecast.
[00:03:45] In addition, by asking specific questions on those requirements that
[00:03:51] again, they will display or it's a high probability that they will display
[00:03:55] during the small business event, you have the small business liaison front
[00:04:00] and center.
[00:04:01] And depending upon how that small business liaison answers your questions
[00:04:07] about that specific forecast opportunity or future requirement, sometimes
[00:04:13] we'll give you insight on the type of relationship that they have with
[00:04:17] the point of contact, the contracting officer, the contracting specialist
[00:04:22] within that agency.
[00:04:24] As you know, the small business liaison are to serve as conduits between
[00:04:29] the small business community and also those individuals I listed before
[00:04:34] the point of contacts, the program officers, the contracting officers
[00:04:38] and the contract specialist who initiated the requirements.
[00:04:42] Basically the agency needs, as I always like to say, help them,
[00:04:48] them being the small business liaisons, help you by doing your homework.
[00:04:54] Number two, be intentional.
[00:04:56] You cannot be everything to everyone in an agency, even the small ones.
[00:05:01] I can let you know what we have done is focus on three, yes, three agencies.
[00:05:07] And we are drilling down within those federal agencies to specific
[00:05:12] offices and even within those specific offices, then going down one additional
[00:05:17] level to specific initiatives within those offices, those who could
[00:05:22] benefit from our services.
[00:05:24] In addition, we are focused on one of our core competencies, which is
[00:05:29] organizational change management.
[00:05:31] We've identified which agencies have upcoming initiatives that could truly
[00:05:36] benefit from our core competency of organizational change management.
[00:05:40] And they are our focus.
[00:05:43] Number three, be specific.
[00:05:45] This ties to being intentional.
[00:05:47] However, when you are studying the forecast and reviewing your
[00:05:50] agencies or your desired agency's multi-year plan, their vision, be
[00:05:55] specific in your approach.
[00:05:57] In other words, in our case, we at Next Level Consulting, we offer enterprise
[00:06:02] resource planning, implementation services, production support, business
[00:06:06] process engineering and analysis, along with sustainability services.
[00:06:11] I also let you know another aspect of our core competencies are
[00:06:15] organizational change management.
[00:06:17] And that's the conscious choice I made to focus on organizational change management.
[00:06:22] Now, OCM, which is organizational change management, try to say that fast 10
[00:06:27] times, I just use the acronym OCM.
[00:06:30] It does encompass change management, training and communications, but all
[00:06:35] those efforts fall under one umbrella.
[00:06:38] And that is our focus for FY 2023 with our target agencies.
[00:06:44] And I would say again, last, make sure that you do your homework.
[00:06:51] Now I said that as tip number one, but this is a different type of homework
[00:06:54] that I want you to do as well or that we have done.
[00:06:58] And all I can do is just tell you what we're doing and
[00:07:01] what is working for us so far.
[00:07:04] So when I say do your homework, not only at the agency's website
[00:07:09] and also their forecast, but also usaspending.gov.
[00:07:13] It is astonishing to me, the number of fellow small businesses and really
[00:07:18] AA business participants, or at least the cohort that I'm a part of do
[00:07:24] not know about usspending.gov.
[00:07:27] Everyone knows about sam.gov.
[00:07:29] Everyone knows about FPDS, which are all tools that you can use to do your
[00:07:35] homework, but don't forget about the usspending.gov.
[00:07:40] Please remember to go to your agency's website and spend some time.
[00:07:44] A lot of information they put out that you need to know about discovering
[00:07:50] your target agency is within their website.
[00:07:53] So again, those are all tools that you can use.
[00:07:56] And since we are AA business participants, we have access to an
[00:08:00] amazing tool and that tool we have access to being a Pulse in
[00:08:05] quite a bit of Intel for our use.
[00:08:08] So while you can go to all those sites that I just referred to,
[00:08:12] especially sam.gov.
[00:08:14] FPDS.
[00:08:16] That website makes me cringe, but that's a whole nother conversation
[00:08:20] and usspending.gov.
[00:08:23] It really does support us in doing our homework on forecasts,
[00:08:26] expiring contracts, encumbrance, and provides us with the ultimate
[00:08:31] contact information for contracting specialists, contracting officers, and
[00:08:36] program managers.
[00:08:38] Although I highly recommend first reaching out.
[00:08:41] Well, after you've done your homework, please reach out to the small business
[00:08:46] office of your target agency and have them support you first with an
[00:08:51] introduction to one of those key decision makers.
[00:08:54] But before you do that, please do your homework again.
[00:08:57] Remember when I said step one, do your homework.
[00:09:00] Help the small business, liaisons help the small business office.
[00:09:04] It's called office of small business development utilization.
[00:09:08] I probably had that, but I'll get the actual acronym, but I was a boo.
[00:09:12] Help them help you by again, doing your homework.
[00:09:15] What specific office, what initiative, what specific requirement are
[00:09:20] you wanting to go after in your fiscal year?
[00:09:24] Now that you know better, we can do better.
[00:09:27] So whenever you find yourself in a situation like I was listening to
[00:09:31] someone who thinks they are sharing, but they are really not, you have
[00:09:35] a few key steps to support you in knowing what you do know.
[00:09:44] Thank you for joining us this time on the messy mind podcast.
[00:09:48] Please visit our website at themessymindpod.com.
[00:09:52] Make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you'll never miss an episode.
[00:09:57] While you're at it, if you found value in this episode, we'd appreciate
[00:10:01] a rating on Apple podcast or simply tell a friend about the show.
[00:10:06] Always remember to embrace the messiness.
[00:10:09] It can lead to your light bulb moments.