Archive of posts from February 2019

If you started your meaningful business and lead it to some level of success, you may have experienced these two scenarios:

• When you go into a bank without much money, you’re pointed to a chair and asked to wait, before someone batches you through their paperwork with below-average rates at an open desk.
• When you go into a bank with lots of money, every rep wants to shake your hand, the manager is called over to meet you, and...

If you do something for long enough, you’ll be an expert at it, for better or worse:

• An expert craftsman is someone who practices a craft for long enough to be perceived as better at it than somebody else is. If you’re practicing a lot, you might just have something valuable to share with the world.
• An expert whiner is someone who looks negatively (no, it’s not being a ‘realist’) at things for long enough that everything seems negative...

We could break down people’s goals into… a P.I.E. chart… comprising of 3 types:

PIE: People, Ideas, Execution.

• Execution folk discuss what they’re doing, and how they could do it differently. It’s always about action with these people. Ideas come up as a means to execution. Goal = action.
• Idea folk discuss what they could do that differs from what they’re doing. They even believe they will, one day. They won’t. Goal = talk.
• People folk discuss other people,...

I’ve met two vastly different types of self-proclaimed proponents of cause-driven capitalism. Which do you feel more intrinsically resonates with you?

• “We make donations to several different charities” – This type of proponent is a pseudo-proponent. They do it for seemliness and accolades as a vehicle for progress and unethical market advantage. Buyer beware.
• “We took full responsibility for this problem” – This type of proponent is a genuine artifact of difference-maker culture. They do it not to appear...

We have it backward:

• The people who like to claim to be #1, normally aren’t. They collect a lot of market share undeservedly and unashamedly through their claim, while delivering mediocre results via their ethical void.
• The people who don’t like to claim #1, often are. They collect people who realize their genius, providing they’re able to look beyond “#1”. Those able to will receive more powerful results via a heart of service.

Here’s a script-changer: if you’re...

Beliefs divide people. What if they didn’t?

• If you believe dressing for success helps you create important work, does it matter if “it’s true”? Might believing it make it self-fulfilling?
• If you believe feng shui can create more luck for you as you do important work, does it matter if “it’s true”? If you believe it helps you, then let it help you.
• If you believe the divine is helping you achieve your important work, does it matter if...

When we first get in touch with someone we can serve, we get to serve in one of two ways:

• Serving in haste: Trying to prove ourselves on a ‘discovery call’ so that the prospect will pay to see more of what we’ve got. This crass marginalization of our work–suggesting their problem can be addressed in under an hour, for free–is part of what’s holding our work back.
• Serving in taste: Honoring those we want to serve by listening...

We had equality 500 years ago. Everyone was poor, and nobody was empowered to make an impact that benefits others in a significant way.

• Now, we aren’t all equal. Some people have a shot at making an impact, using the marketplace, and others don’t, yet.
• The opportunity makes us different. Not equally down on our luck, or equally powerless to create change.
• We need people taking shots on those who need our help, so they too may have a...

So why say anything else?

• Because we talk about what interests us. And we like to share with people what we find most compelling about our work. Regardless of whether it’s what will be of most value or benefit to those listening.
• It’s harder to talk about what interests others. Especially when we’re so passionate about our work. Being able to articulate what they’d like to hear most–with as much passion as what excites us–is a skill earned through...

Remember when we used to search on Google then click around on websites?

Ever noticed how much less you do that now?

• We have new homes. Google is our old home. Instagram (and its brethren) is home now. It knows us, it asks less of us, and it’s more enjoyable than our old home ever was.
• We don’t search or click now. We scroll. And scroll. We slow down when we see something worth slowing down for. We click...

Not everything is here to stay for long. For teams doing important work, it’s important to know what does and what doesn’t:

• Tactics tend to change every few months. For instance, Instagram feed ads and squeeze pages were hot for advertising, until suddenly, they weren’t. Leaning exclusively upon a single tactic or channel is irresponsible of those leading important work.
• Yet the fundamentals rarely seem to change. Platforms may evolve quarterly, but humans take much longer…millions of years in...

Everyone would have you believe that they’re always doing great. They’re not:

• They’re dealt the same hand we are, in the same time in history with the same economy.
• They can play their hand differently, be it better or worse, but it’s all the same deck of cards.
• They can play for different reasons, be it for selfish or mission-led pursuits, but it’s all the same deck of cards.

It’s your turn.

Nobody wakes up in the morning wanting an unsuccessful day. Or to die having lived an unsuccessful life. Success is relative:

• When you care about the opinions of others, you’ll measure success against how many likes you get on Instagram.
• When you care about money, you’ll measure success against how many shiny objects you can flaunt to your peers.
• When you care about change, you’ll measure success against how much of an impact you made.

Success is a...

If we’re lucky, some of our plans will go to plan.

Usually, that’s not how it goes:

• The idea was good, but it just didn’t quite work out. Not because you’re no good, but because that’s just what happens sometimes. Otherwise, you could go to the Plan Store and buy any outcome you wanted, couldn’t you?
• The idea was no good, and you lost something because of it. Not because you’re no good, but because that’s just what happens...

First rule of engaging someone in the marketplace? Respect:

• Get to know me: We can’t expect others to engage us without first giving the opportunity to know us, our ways, our beliefs, and our character.
• Let me get to know you: They can’t expect us to engage them without first having the opportunity to know them, their ways, their beliefs, and their character.

We can choose between respecting the market by respecting our value and being disrespected in...

Sometimes, the worst thing that can happen to a good idea is another “good idea”:

• A bad idea won’t get actioned. Because it’s a bad idea.
• A good idea might distract you from the important work you’re already doing. Good ideas need saving for later, or they risk undoing your current work.

Don’t forget, you might already be working on a good idea. Don’t let having another one ruin it.

More than almost anything else.

• What you say to your market will make or break your company. No advertising channel or hot technique can save you from the wrong words.
• What you say to your team will make or break the team. No skillset or job perks can save you from simply not liking who you’re working with.
• What you say to yourself will make or break you. No outfit or online course can save you from having the...

I saw a sign on the street that said “Worship with us” today. It got me thinking about the pond we fish in:

• A small pond is where everyone may already be ‘converted’, and so we must compete and poach converts over to our corner, instead.
• A big pond is where we’re not fishing for merely the ‘converted’, but rather for those who may not yet belong to a competitor at all.

We can poach the converted or...

When tackling major social issues, it’s easy to think it’s an impossibility.

That’s just in your mind:

• Happiness comes from gratitude, a state of mind.
• Worry comes from fear of things that haven’t happened, a state of mind.
• The largest sex organ is the brain. Aka it’s mostly in your mind.
• Taking ownership of a problem only feels impossible, in your mind.

Turns out it’s all in our heads.

We’ve all the power to create change – we...

It’s a matter of the heart:

• Corporate exec: This is what people searching “entrepreneur” on Instagram actually want; authority and the trappings of disposable income.
• Entrepreneur: This is what people searching for new opportunities to innovate want; adventure, and the opportunity to create new market value.
• Social entrepreneur: This is what people searching for a bigger purpose want; a vision for a better planet, and the opportunity to make it happen.

Each gives vastly different rewards. Choose wisely.

Ever been on the phone and asked yourself, “Wait, where’s my phone?”

Sometimes what we’re looking for is already very close by:

• The right word to describe the benefit you render to the marketplace will be revealed by those you’ve served.
• The right connection to catapult your team forward will come from someone who you know, who trusts you.
• The right cause to support and create a difference it will make itself clear by how it affects those you...

Is there more that you can do for those you wish to serve?

• If yes, get making. Be it content, calls or campaigns, if it’s gone unmade, it’s time to uncover it and get it done. You owe it to your team to serve more, and to those you serve to receive everything you’ve got.
• If no, it’s over. You’re already on the path to closure because there’s opportunity you don’t want to see. Your competitors will get making,...

We’re not so binary as to have just ‘good’ days and ‘bad’ days. So what’s today’s score?

• We have a formula for our days. We may not have defined it yet, but we judge our days on a few select criteria that are unique to us.
• My formula is Impact + Growth + Legacy. If I score each of them out of 5, I know a “15 day” is a pretty great day.
• Your formula will be different to...

In the entrepreneurial and social-entrepreneurial worlds, we hear a lot about hustle.

We know what that means. So what’s toil? And what’s the difference between the two?

• Hustle is a constant state of motion, frenetic or otherwise. A rapid pursuit of an objective for an undetermined length of time. It’s powered by a drive born of emotion that compels us to move forward.
• Toil is a slow disciplined grind toward a specific end. A steady pursuit of an objective...

Sometimes the toil gets tough. What do you do when you don’t feel like pushing ahead?

• Remember who‘s at stake. If you support a cause, who are you leaving to receive a fraction of what’s possible for them, as a result of your inaction?
• Prehend why you decided to do it. If this thing you don’t want to do will move your team or company toward a place that enables you to do better, be better, or serve better,...

This is particularly important to appreciate if we’re doing important work (and if you’re reading this, that’s probably the case).

We are what we do repeatedly, whether we like it or not:

• Procrastinate? Then we’re a procrastinator. Our teams probably know it already, but we may not have admitted it to ourselves yet. Our work can’t grow under those conditions.
• Avoid hard things? Then that’s what we do, there’s no sense telling ourselves otherwise. It’s our biggest roadblock to...

Our eyes have a lesson to teach us about the future of our work:

• Eyes relax when they look further away. We lose the ability to see the big picture if we only look at things close-by.
• Eyes tense when they focus on nearby things. That tension can be relaxed with practice, without the need for glasses.

Your work may lose its vision if you strain and fixate on the immediate. But the damage isn’t permanent, we need...

What if winning isn’t for you?

• If you don’t enjoy taking part, is winning rewarding? Maybe a little, but delight needs context to be long-lasting, otherwise it merely becomes a quick thrill.
• If you enjoy taking part, is winning important? Maybe a little, but not really: it’s simply a bonus on top of already having the time of your life.

Of course, it’d be nice to take part and also win. But which matters more? Are you ready...