What if
Asking this is to exercise constraints. Unlike what many people think —that to be creative, you need to have freedom— when you’re restrained is when you get to be more creative. Asking “What if” helps in thinking broadly. And that’s the first step. After that, saying “But this is all I have” will set you in a game of constraints. Where you get to push yourself on how to do things different. And depending on how these things get to be different, your approach will be more or less creative.
The less you know…
The more knowledge and more imagination, more originality. How do you get to know more? By knowing less. And then diving deeper. Deepening your expertise. Specializing. Seeing the patterns. With that, you know “What is” and all you have to do after that is ask yourself “What could be?” Start with this: what if?
The option to say no
When you’re about to ask for something, be gracious and give control to the other one to say “No” without feeling guilt for saying so. That way you’ll save both of you of fake “Yes” and “I’ll think about it”. A couple of ways to do this: Feel free to say no, but it’d be amazing if you could. [Here comes your ask]. It’s totally ok to say no, and here I have something to ask [your ask]. We’re fine if you say no, but I need your help with something important to me.
“Work like a founder”
This one is if you’re working for somebody —or if you have people working for you. 🙂 “Work like a founder” That’s lame advice. Unless this founder is sharing the same level of rewards with you, it’s nonsense. Unless you’re sharing the same level of risk with them, it’s nonsense. This is not a call for mediocrity. It’s a call out to bullshit advice where power dynamics are unequal —and it’s absolutely fine that they are. Just people can’t use it as leverage to get “more work” in exchange for…
Feeling like an impostor?
Mike Julian and Adam Grant seem to have opposite takes re: impostor syndrome. Mike’s take: I think the tech industry has many failings and shortcomings, but one that’s been annoying me lately is the pervasive belief that everyone has impostor syndrome.There are people that worked their asses off to become great and they know it. We shouldn’t be minimizing that. And the other take, from Adam: The only people who never feel like impostors are narcissists.Being 100% sure of yourself at all times…
Relying heavily on AI
If you rely heavily on AI (or LLMs), here’s something worth checking. Is it being trained on biased datasets? If you want to explore the whole pod, you can follow it here.
You can do marvels
Lots of people see AI as a threat to “their work”. You know what AI is currently doing? It’s making the gap between the learners and the experts even larger. It has lots of pros, of course. However, a con to it is, precisely, a con. ^^ It’s making the lower, entry, learning level to not know the basics, while ai is getting “trained” on those. With no training, knowing AND mastering the basics, you’ll be awesome at prompts… that are empty. Just like someone who knows how to do lots of things…
How are your negotiation skills?
Look, today you’ll need to separate 10 mins of your time and do this one thing. It’s a big ask, I know. And I believe you’ll get a great insight from it. 🙂 This is a survey designed by Mike Lander to assess your Sales Negotiation Skills. “This diagnostic tool has been designed to provide you with insights into your negotiation skills, and areas for your development.” I took it and it was eye-opening —especially if you struggle/have a hard time in sale negotiations or are trying to stand out…
You’re a hostage
That’s the approach Meta, X(?), YouTube, and other social media platforms are taking. You don’t feel you should pay? Sure. We’ll put you in front of ads (aggressively) every 2 tweets (if they’re still tweets?), after every 3 posts, or in every video you’re about to watch. And if you pay, well… yeah, we’ll still sell your data to the highest bidder. “It’s just business.” Now, if you’re trying to get in front of the people you serve relying heavily (or only) on social media, odds are you…
How can you balance authenticity and sales on social media?
You don’t. It’s like asking “how do you make fries and play football while diving?” Makes no sense. They’re 2 different things that don’t take off from each other, so there’s nothing to “balance”. Authenticity has to do with how you bring your POV in a consistent manner. How you keep true to your beliefs (values). Sales, with how you guide and bring your prospects to make an informed decision —being that decision in their best interest and not necessarily you. Selling is leading. And to lead,…
