Doing it the wrong way
“If you’re efficient, you’re doing it the wrong way.” Interview to Jerry Seinfeld – Harvard Business Review Following yesterday’s email about helping your client with what they want, not what they need, this last part needed some closure (or opening). When you’re looking for new ways, different approaches, how to break from what is, to devise, see and design new futures, you’ll be wasteful. That’s just reality. You can’t make something that’ll work out at the first try (well, in most of the…
The cost of time
Pricing can’t include the cost of time. Because time… Doesn’t have a cost. Can’t be stored. Can’t be bought. Can’t be traded. Price is the representation of your promise —and of the opportunity cost to your buyer. It gives a context to the thing you can do with that money and what other ways you could spend that money on that you say no to. Time is nothing more than a constraint. I cannot cost.
Telling hands from brains
Know how to tell when you’re hiring an order-taker (hands to do a job) from an advisor (brains to think different)? They’ll do everything you do. Everything you need. They’ll keep you happy — until you’re not. You won’t get push back on what to do. You won’t get asked the uncomfortable questions to explain WHY you have to do what you say you have to do. It’ll just be to get things “better”, without defining what “better” is. And to “get better”, you’ll get sold on more things. More metrics….
On a ledger
Do you give your clients what they ask for or what they, really, deeply want? That was Christopher Nolan with Heath Ledger. He didn’t focus on what the fans were asking for —an “evil” actor. He focused on what they deeply wanted: a serious actor who’d tear the role and make them feel. Who’d blow their minds. Nolan stuck to his guns. The studio backed him up. They trusted the process (and the project), even when they “didn’t get it”. And that’s how we ended up with the best Joker. Now, when…
A shitty business strategy
Charging by the hour is nonsense. Time is not a measurement. Time is not an asset. Time is nothing but a constraint. “Selling” time focuses on the seller, not on the buyer. It transfers the risk to the buyer, taking the seller’s efficiency unclear (and the more inefficient, the more they make). It turns the goal-setting from “Something concrete to get the thing done”, into a financial assessment of “Something should be done BUT how much (more) it’d cost me? Do I have the money to (keep)…
Who’s McKinsey?
• You and Larry David wrote Seinfeld together, without a traditional writers’ room, and burnout was one reason you stopped. Was there a more sustainable way to do it? Could McKinsey or someone have helped you find a better model?• Who’s McKinsey?• It’s a consulting firm.• Are they funny?• No.• Then I don’t need them. If you’re efficient, you’re doing it the wrong way. Interview to Jerry Seinfeld – Harvard Business Review While “better” means for the interviewer a way to keep the show…
Ranking number 1 on Google
Optimizing keywords and your website to have all the stats at 100%. Loading time Responsiveness Image Alt text Accessibility And so on… That’ll get you to be number 1 on Google. The question is: What kind of number 1 on Google you want to be? What if you’re first on Google right next to McDonald’s? Odds are, it won’t drive the prospects you want to your expertise business (unless you do want to be looked for after McDo for a strategic decision). Optimizing for the wrong thing will make you…
Noise
Find your voice. Be contrarian. Be authentic. Getting all of these will make you stand out in your market. You’ll start “to print money”. Bullshit. First. You already have a voice. Just like a baby learning how to make their body and vocal chords to work, you have a voice. Second. A polemic won’t build you up into anything for the long term. Yeah, you might get viral. And gone with the next contrarian comment from someone else. Forgettable. Third. Be authentic. Because everyone else is a…
Optimizing the wrong things
◘ We’re talking with an agency to improve our website.They’ve told us we need to improve our SEO, links and so on. With that, our website will be better. FOUR WEEKS LATER… ◘ We’re now optimized and we see our load times are short, our links aren’t broken. ♠ Cool! So what was the goal of optimizing, again? ◘ Making it better. ♠ Ok. And now that it’s better… are you getting more leads? ◘ Oh! No… It’s still the same as usual. Optimizing the wrong things will keep you busy. The thing is, it…
First steps to leading transformations
Making transformations relies on knowing how to ask the right questions. How to lead the system for everyone to speak up. How to build trust —systemically. Your first questions: What do they want? What will this want achieve? Why do they want this? How did they get to this decision? Making these kind of questions will push your clients to think of what’s the big thing behind what they want. When that happens, your odds to help them succeed will grow. And they’ll have clarity of where they’re…
