Archive of posts from May 2021

Do you compare your work to others?

There are many reasons why you shouldn’t.

Here are a few why you should:

There is no ‘expensive’, only ‘less expensive than’. Contrast creates value, and price is meaningless in isolation.

There is no ‘good value’, only ‘better value than’. We have to measure value against something in order to quantify it, even if it’s against its former self.

There is no ‘fast’, only ‘faster than’. If we remember there can be fast...

‘Modern’ has a short shelf-life.

Pursuing a ‘modern’ website means it won’t be modern when the trends change.

Chasing a ‘modern’ demographic means churning through people, each wave with needs different to the last.

Needing the latest ‘modern’ tools means your pocket never has the same device for long, even if each does the same things as its predecessor.

Wanting a ‘modern’ workplace means adopting behaviour, operations and culture from the innovation conveyor-belt, regardless of what’s on it.

Perhaps ‘modern’...

Is more value, better?

Let’s see:

Which is the better referral incentive: 10% off your next order, or an immediate cash reward or movie ticket or similar? It depends on whether your goal is repeat behaviour or value maximisation. They’re not directly connected.

Which is the better closed-wallet offer: a single page Word document that solves a small problem right away, or a 200 page PDF that solves a slightly bigger problem? It depends on whether your goal is for...

You do what you do through a lens.

You do it whether you know it or not.

But knowing it makes your work oh-so-much-better.

To find yours, here are a couple of examples:

When our coaching team creates coaching processes, they make processes through the lens of teachability and repeatability. Our focus on extracting audience narrative insights quickly means we need to be able to methodically equip team members (or those we serve) to repeat the process independently. 
That disqualifies...

Are you connecting enough with your peers to produce your best work?

Leadership is useful because many team members don’t talk to each other enough in a pinch. The ones that do, become leaders.

Development frameworks are useful because many developers don’t talk to each other enough in a pinch. The ones that do, make the frameworks.

Good books are useful because many interested in a subject don’t talk to each other enough to learn from each other any other...

What’s the simpler option to that thing you’re working on right now?

Do you need to double your customer list, or simply help your existing ones a little more?

Do you need 50% faster hardware to reduce overheads, or simply 5% more efficiency from your people?

Do you need to send generic 500 emails per week, or simply a small handful of thoughtful ones that solve a problem for people?

Do you need 50 web pages to pitch prospects with,...

I hear you’re making something great.

Will it flex?

Buying a new website? That’s great, I hope it’s going to be a great advocate of your customer’s desired journey. But will it flex? Better make sure you have the ability (or support) to edit that asset often in response to what you’re learning about your customers.

Preparing a new advertising campaign? That’s great, I hope it’s profitable. But will it flex? Better make sure your assets are ready to be...

This ones for the ‘closers’:

We don’t define value. We can help set downstream buying criteria, but customers define value. What’s important to them is what’s important. Our job is to help them define value.

We don’t convince customers to buy. We can help them make a good decision, but customers convince themselves. Our job is to help them convince themselves.

Sales are not random. We may witness seemingly random sales patterns, but that just means we aren’t paying enough...

What’s the law?

Companies often have manifestos. But how many in the team embody these things? For real?

Companies often have mission statements. But how many share this “mission”, rather than rolling their eyes at their higher-ups?

Companies often have “core values.” But for whom are they truly core values? What difference is it making?

Companies don’t often have a “law”. Law is how things absolutely happen. Sometimes because they’re believed in (patriotically), sometimes because they believe in who wrote...

What do product development, marketing, and washing the dishes have in common?

Here’s a quick story:

A monk told Joshu: “I have just entered the monastery. Please teach me.” Joshu asked: “Have you eaten your rice porridge?” The monk replied: “I have eaten.” Joshu said: “Then you had better wash your bowl.” At that moment the monk was enlightened.

Hey, there always feels like there’s a lot to do.

There’s certainly a lot we could do.

But remembering...

Your goal is not my goal. Your goal is probably not the same as your competitor’s, either.

So don’t compare:

My goal might be to create an environment that’s calm, steady, predictable, creative. Those might not be among your goals.

Your goal might be to re-invest profit as quickly as possible to maximise business growth while minimising corporation tax. That might not be among my goals.

When you observe the development of other companies or the progress of other individuals,...

What are your feelings toward cold email?

Cold email done well is an unrestricted, decentralised, open way for people with something valuable to share to connect with others, one at a time. This is good, and rare.

Cold email done badly is an unrestricted, decentralised, open way for people with nothing valuable to share to spam others at scale. This is bad, and common…

…So common, in fact, that “cold email” is synonymous with “cold email done badly”. As a...

People not sharing your product online?

“Why won’t they share our product on Twitter, it doesn’t cost them anything…”

Yes, it does.

If it doesn’t say something positive about them for associating with it, it costs them something. Status, trust, reputation, attention. These aren’t free, or infinite, so they aren’t spent as such.

If it says something positive about them for associating with it, it gains them something. Status, trust, reputation, attention. Because they’re valuable, sharing is now something people...

Here are some quotes from the school of Stoicism, and how we can apply them to our daily work:

“The best revenge is not to be like that”: Just because Jeff Bezos and Kevin Plank use their leadership positions to manipulate the stock market for their gain and everyone else’s loss, it doesn’t mean you need to play their game to get ahead. Play a different game.

“What’s bad for the hive is bad for the bee”: To accept the...

…but speed as a byproduct is great.

Trying to go fast often means communication suffers. If ambiguity breeds anxiety, and anxiety kills creative energy, speed kills your ability to produce your best work.

Trying to slow down often means better communication. If clarity removes anxiety, and that space leads to creativity, slowing down creates the opportunity to produce your best work.

When we focus on speed, we get slow, suboptimal output.

When we focus on slow, we get faster, more...

Do you represent your work?

Not just by being a spokesperson for the product. But by truly representing your work.

Chrysippus – sometimes known as “the second founder” or the third head of the school of Stoicism – supposedly wrote 500 lines a day. Not words, lines. An estimate states he wrote more than 700 papers on his work.

Similarly, Seneca supposedly read every day. “Reading, I hold, is indispensable”, he claimed. Not every sometimes, every day. This represented the belief...

What’s between the back foot, and the front foot?

You may have witnessed these traits in folks along your travels in business:

When they’re on the front-foot – succeeding, well-regarded, ahead-of-the-game – they’re to be credited and revered for their self-made success.

When they’re on the back-foot – embarrassed, stuck, stressed, “under the gun” – it’s your fault it didn’t work, or the government’s, or the supplier’s.

What’s in the middle?

Balance.

When we’re balanced – whether succeeding or stuck, winning or losing, among calm...

Warning: Shiny things!

Not in this post… But probably in a bunch of others you’ll read today online.

Shiny objects are everywhere. Vying for our attention. Distracting us from our commitment to focused, meaningful work.

They promise outsized riches in exchange for our distraction and detours. They deliver us splintered focus and fractional results.

Sometimes, it pays to recognise the opportunity behind the shininess. After all, many great innovations that benefit us started out shiny.

Most of the time though,...

The answer might not be in a course.

It might not be in your industry’s “best practices”.

It may not even be in that 5,000 word blog post that you bookmarked and have been meaning to get around to reading.

It may not even be in that Facebook Group you joined yesterday, or in those LinkedIn messages you’ve been meaning to get around to.

It might just be that…

…They’re in your audience.

…And that can feel inaccessible. Further away...

Do those with the best marketing win? We’ve seen brands with great ads in the past, things we may have shared with others. But we don’t remember their names now, because they didn’t live up to their promise.

Do those with the best product win? We may not have heard about the best products in many markets we participate in, only the ones that negotiated shelf space, or who played the Amazon game.

Do those with a different point of...