Knowledge x Imagination
That’s the formula Marty Neumeier, brand and branding legend, defined for Originality. K x I = O “Originality comes from the exposure of factual knowledge to the animating force of imagination, depending on the quality of knowledge and level of imagination.” Metaskills: 5 Talents for The Robotic Age.2012. Marty Neumeier Meaning, originality is more of a spectrum, with different levels you can tune in. Interesting thing, the more imagination you use, the more original. The more original, the…
4 insanely unvaluable prompts to use with chatGPT. (Part 1)
“If you’re not learning ChatGPT, you’re falling behind.” This is one of the misconceptions around: “falling behind”. Incentivizing your FOMO (fear of missing out) and moving you into whatever is on trend just for the sakes of it. Here are prompts that —while being viral— bring nothing of value to you. The thinking behind these prompts… ???? Spoiler alert: this one comes out as a (digested) rant. 4 insanely unvaluable prompts to help you “master” ChatGPT. First two. 1. Learn any complex topic…
Is defining your category the same as creating your category?
Friend of the list, great illustrator and digital brand builder, Rad Co came back with this insightful question re: Category Creation. Here’s my answer (shared with permission) Is defining your category the same as creating your category? It depends on the meaning, although they’re two very different things from where I stand. For example, while some say that online/digital writing is a new category, it in fact is a sub-category. It belongs to the category “Writing”. Competitive-wise, digital…
Spend less time with your kids
– They just waste your time.- I can’t believe a father would say “Spend less time with your kids”. Now, watch this short ???? This is a common thing that happens when working with clients —or trying to close with prospects. We forget we might have different understandings of what we say, the nuances in our language and the subtle meanings. Most of the times, it doesn’t end in a big laugh, but in frustration, resentfulness, discomfort and stress, because we just assume. How do you become a Simon…
Product-Led Growth
There’s no such thing as product-led growth. Think of it: Growth. Led. By. The. Product. The product is inanimate. It can’t take responsibility. It can’t be accountable for. And it certainly cannot *lead*. As friend of the list and daily emailer, James Turner said in this essay: “The words you use matter. They change and shape the world around you. […] Things like asking, “Could you say that quietly?” as opposed to “Could you not shout?” when trying to lower the volume in the house.The…
How to avoid black swans
“Many modern-day “black swans” are merely plausible, but highly unlikely events that most people failed to consider because they’re outside their lived experience.” This section from Genevieve Hayes’ newsletter made me think that those are the biases that won’t let us see beyond our own noses, so we don’t prepare for a “black swan” —or, in diving terms: a clusterfuck. It’s inevitable, yet we act like it won’t happen. In organizations that are struggling, this keeps them in motion as inertia….
Time’s a constraint
Taking time as a measurement puts the focus on the wrong things. It focuses on the (time)frame rather than on the judgement and the effort to do work. Peter Block quoted by Ed Kless on The Soul Of Enterprise [Starts at 12:15] “All measurements are judgements in disguise.” You can use time to judge the level of effort to be involved in what you do. From there, you can say No, delight or infuriate your customers. Here are the 2 scenarios in play when judging a timeframe to inform your…
Quit charging your worth
“Charging your worth” focuses on you, not on the outcomes and transformations you can drive. It doesn’t focus on what your clients are after. It assigns the subjectivity to your POV (what you think it’s worth), instead of figuring out what is valuable for your clients. It implies that your worth has a fixed price. So that for whatever task you do, the price will be the same. Design a strategy? X price. Mown the lawn? The same X price. Wash the dishes? Same X price Implement a whole biz…
Category creation
“Category creation” really is creating sub-categories or niche markets. Hank Barnes. Rethinking Categories Which is not wrong. It’s just *not* creating a new category. To stay in the game of business, you need 2 things: will AND resources. To create a new category, you rely heavily on resources: you need money and time, a.k.a. big pockets AND patient investors. Louis Grenier lists here 4 reasons why *not* to create a “new” category. And it’s bloody genius. BTW, niching down ain’t category…
5 ways to see things… different.
Strategic creativity. Unlike the usual take on creativity (drawing, creating art, “inventiveness”), it aims at pondering questions about what could be, instead of what is. It’s not about “How can we be creative?” but about What if this could be different? Is there another way? Can we make another way? Here’s a (sort of) manifesto: BTW, this is not a How-To run/manage creatives. This kind of strategic creativity has nothing to do with that. It’s about how you can leverage your strategic…