Archive of posts from May 2022

I’ve spoken to a handful of people this past couple of weeks for whom this was a tough realisation:

Hard things are hard.

People considering pursuing their dreams, but afraid to do so. It’s hard to go and do something different where you have no experience and success isn’t guaranteed. But hard things are hard, not bad.

People considering which type of business they’d like to create. Assessing which type of business would be ‘easier’ when, in reality, all new...

Everyone has some weapons of choice.

Tools may not make the man, but they can be an interesting and insightful peek into the workflows of our peers.

I get asked all the time what tools my teams and I use for creating the things we do. And each time, I wish I had a place I could direct folks so they could learn more about what’s in use, and why.

So I made a “slash tools” page (adamfairhead.com/tools) to...

Time freedom is a beautiful thing, and a great thing to have.

But many confuse “time freedom” with “nothing to do”. That puts their greatest bodies of work at risk, because passion projects usually involve a lot of time, which is in conflict with that conflated goal.

The “nothing to do” test comes to the rescue.

Ask yourself this:

“If you had nothing to do… and nothing you had to do… would you choose to do this anyway?”

I try to...

Is there still room for you and your project in your market?

Google has a huge amount of the search market. But there’s still room. And so DuckDuckGo, Ecosia, and Brave Search have a place to thrive, for their chosen niches.

Apple and Samsung have a huge market share of the mobile market. But there’s still room. And so Light Phone, Fairphone and Librem have a place to thrive, for their chosen niches.

Your market has huge market players, too....

The thing about uncertainty…

…is that it’s nothing new.

We’re constantly hearing about market uncertainty, now that stocks are down and inflation is high. But the market was always uncertain… that’s nothing new. The only variable is complacency.

We’re constantly hearing about how the future is uncertain, because of wars and global pandemics. But the future was always uncertain… that’s nothing new. The only variable is complacency.

My plans haven’t changed…

…because uncertainty hasn’t changed, and my plans aren’t based...

Ever heard these words?

“That’ll never work”?

Psh. They don’t mean it’ll never work. Here’s what they really mean:

It will be very difficult.

It will carry a high chance of failure.

Most people won’t be cut out for it.

Competition is much lower because of that.

It will take a very specific someone to make it work.

And you might just be the perfect fit.

My creative studio doesn’t list any awards.

Why?

Because they’re totally meaningless:

Most creative awards are franchises designed to feed on insecure creatives. They pay to list their work, pay to attend a ceremony, then get offered to open a franchise of their own. Pointless.

The few that aren’t as above, don’t mean your team is good at their work. There’s a distinct difference between good work delivered, good people delivering it, and award games indulged.

Awards have been won....

If you make something really great, you may be asking the wrong question.

“Who will buy this?” is the wrong question. It’s what most creators ask of the market. Posting and promoting so that someone—anyone—might try what’s being offered.

“Who will I choose?” is the right question. It’s what so many of us deem a luxury we can’t afford, when really it’s an opportunity made freely available to us.

You don’t have to shout, hoping someone will listen, in hope...

There have been generations of business grifters telling you that success awaits…if you can only get the right mindset…

…A mindset trapped within their book. Or hidden behind a secret. Or maybe unlocked at a hot-coal-walking live event. Or from buying their other book. Or perhaps in their reveal-all-but-not-really webinar.

It’s not so.

It’s actually a by-product of mindset, skill, discipline, direction, and luck.

Mindset: Not the think-and-grow-rich manifestation prosperity stuff you’ll find in new books. But the mental resilience,...

New ideas don’t normally sit well with the masses.

If you want mass-market appeal, you’re unlikely to change the culture and make something new. You will attract people who buy things because they’re safe, because they buy how things are, not where things are going.

Similarly, if you want to change the culture and make something new, you’re unlikely to receive mass-market interest. You’ll attract people who buy things before they’re ready, because they’re buying where you’re going, not where...

I bought my wife and I some headphones about six months ago…

One of them had the mic break within a few weeks. This week, the other stopped producing sound in one ear. Were they better at being headphones than the alternatives, or simply better at being a good deal during checkout?

I bought an MP3 player in 2005…

It was more expensive than the ones I had used before it. I replaced the battery once. It still works perfectly....

Ceremony…

Sounds old and stuffy, doesn’t it?

In many ways it is… which is why it’s being thrown out in so many areas of work and life.

But we’ve thrown out the good parts too.

The business suit may have been a workplace ceremony unsuited to remote desk work… but all the collaborating-in-sweatpants has led to blurred boundaries, such as political or theological debates happening on company time.

We used to mark the lines of professional conduct with the ceremony of attire…...

Pets.com died in the dot com bubble burst, despite raising $82.5 million in its 2000 IPO at $11 a share.

Because in the late 90s, it was a pipe-dream. How could it possibly work that people would buy pet food from a website… and wait for it to arrive… when you can just go to the store?

Before the year was out, it was dead (trading at $0.22 a share on the day of its bankruptcy).

Chewy.com launched in 2011. Most...

Do you believe in your work?

I mean really, believe in your work?

If so, stop that:

1: It’s perspective, not truth Belief feels like a rally-cry for the future we want. But it’s powered by opinion, not facts. The act of learning, testing, refining and optimising our work based on real evidence leads to growth, not hopes of a better future alone.

“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not...

This week I’ve been spending more time with “No”.

With the family news we’ve had this week, it’s challenged me to:

Say no to anything I know I should already say no to… but kept doing because of convenience. Notifications that I should really leave to admin. Calls I’m invited to that don’t come with specific goals, that I should cancel at least until goals are set.

Say no to the things I never thought to but would benefit from… such as...

Creators. Remember Sturgeon’s Law.

Sci-fi author Theodore Sturgeon observed the derisive critiques of his niche (that most of it is bad) could be applied to other fields equally well.

Hence Sturgeon’s Law: “Ninety percent of everything is crap.”

If you look upon your industry in dismay, remember Sturgeon’s Law.

If you feel like something’s wrong with you as you look back through sketchbooks and drafts, remember Sturgeon’s Law.

Ninety percent isn’t very good.

But we must persevere through the ninety...

Are you a mug? Are your customers?

The immediate answer is a sharp, “No! Of course not!”

Let’s go deeper:

The open market is often so keen to not feel like a mug by being outbid by a little, that they feel like a mug by overpaying by a lot. The closing call is so focused on closing an uncertain (and possibly unqualified) lead, that it’s not uncommon to observe FOMO deployed as a weapon.

There is an alternative to...

Creators often get stuck on what’s possible. What they’re capable of.

But I made my first sale when I was 5, my first complete video game when I was 11, my first collectible card game when I was 13.

Hard things are only hard until you figure them out.

So the question isn’t really what’s possible, is it?

The question is if it’s worth it on the other side of the challenge… if the body of work we’ll end up with...

It doesn’t have to be hard:

A difficult project doesn’t have to be hard. When looked at in small enough steps, each step is easy. If it’s still hard, you didn’t break it down small enough.

A long day doesn’t have to be hard. Every day is the same length, the only difference is our relationship with the time. If it’s still long, change the relationship.

A tricky conversation doesn’t have to be hard. They’re only hard when you’re stuck...

Ever get lucky? Where projects, teams and life goals just fall into place?

That has not been my experience.

We don’t need luck:

Build in spite of luck. Your project may not go viral. It may take an eternity to find the right support, if you ever find it. It may feel harder to make progress than you ever thought. Build in spite of all that.

Love in spite of luck. Stakeholders, clients, partners and peers may leave you in...

Is the market in a bad state at the moment?

Or is it merely sometimes up, sometimes down, and currently the latter?

I can’t bring myself to lament a market in which:

• Uncommitted creators stop creating
• Uncommitted community members and traders find something else to do
• Brand-builders continue to build brands
• Loyal fans are rewarded by those brands, forging even stronger relationships

In times of change, it’s worth reminding yourself of your focus.

There is opportunity here for...

Making cool things sometimes takes a long time.

And when they take a long time, sometimes progress feels erratic.

Sometimes you feel it. Other times you don’t.

Creative ceremony fixes this.

Here are some examples of creative ceremony:

One thing. I’m working on this single thing. Focused attention is like using a chisel with a hammer.

One place. I’m going to sit in this chair in this room to produce this work. This is the magic chair.

One sound. I’m...

For a long time, talk wasn’t cheap.

The few who represented the many with ‘talk’ — the CEOs, the MPs, the spokespeople — made the ‘doing’ possible for the many.

And the many who did the ‘doing’ didn’t need to talk… they needed to listen.

That’s changing.

Everyone has a voice now.

Everyone is learning to talk. Some better than others… some with original ideas and noble goals, and many others simply ramble incoherently.

But many nouveau-talkers have lost the art of...

Today I was asked, “Are you doing work that really matters to you?”

What a lovely question, I thought! It’s a privilege to be able to answer “Yes: I’m doing work that matters to me.”

I’m intimately aware of how profoundly beneficial one of the bodies of work we’re building currently can be to a great many people. I’m mindful that the joy and enthusiasm I give and receive that body of work is not a commodity among us. Marcus...

Working quickly slows me down.

I get so much more done when I work slowly:

Giving room for ideas to germinate and be explored means resilient, winning ideas emerge faster.

Taking time on the production of your work means you won’t have to ‘go back and do that one part again later.

Giving 20 slow, dedicated minutes to my daily post lets me explore an idea more thoughtfully and effectively than 40 rushed, distracted minutes ever could.

It takes time...

Which is better…

Being full-on, or just… on?

“Full-on” is when you hold nothing back, give everything, no rest nor prisoners taken. It sounds noble on Twitter, and looks glamorous on Instagram.

“On” is when you do the right amount of work, give what it needs, then rest. It focuses less on entrepreneurial martyrdom, and more on producing good work and living a good life.

You need not seek shelter in the majority paying lip service to the former.

Rest...

Take ‘deserve’ out of the equation:

“I don’t deserve this award, but I have arthritis and I don’t deserve that either.” – Jack Benny accepting a Emmy

Some don’t feel they deserve the success they desire. And so they either sabotage their efforts, or lament from inaction.

Some don’t feel they deserve the troubles they suffer. And so their suffering is even greater, their peace a casualty.

Feeling deserved or undeserved doesn’t appear to help much, then, does it.

What...

“Humans don’t mind hardship, in fact they thrive on it; what they mind is not feeling necessary. Modern society has perfected the art of making people not feel necessary.” – Sebastian Junger

The idea of machines taking our work is ridiculous to many, obvious to some.

To the many, it’s ridiculous because they can’t handle the idea of not being paid. This is why their work will dry up; they want to keep pushing the button for money.

There’s good greedy and bad greedy.

A good-greedy investor buys when others are selling in fear. This investor knows that when reason yields to emotion, reason is nevertheless the better signal to follow.

A bad-greedy investor won’t derisk ahead of turbulence, despite still maintaining a plentiful upside. We call these people ‘gamblers’.

A good-greedy business expands into new territories with host-beneficiary relationships, development their reach so they can support more people, using complimentary businesses as force-multipliers.

A bad-greedy business assaults...

Last night, we had an idea.

Within a few hours, we raised $50,000 for that idea.

Then executed the idea.

By the morning, it was successful.

This is the power of collaboration, working together, and a willingness to look after others.

Marcus Aurelius said, “That which is not good for the bee-hive cannot be good for the bees.”

Focus on yourself at the expense of others to experience isolation, stress, and hunger.

As Seneca put it, “They lose the day...