Seeing things
“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things” That was Steve Jobs in an interview. And that’s right, it’s “just” seeing things and connecting them. Creativity comes in a way that it sees something, it makes the connection and brings…
Perspectives.
Now, it’s been 10 days since my last email after 2 years of non-stop dailies. Was on a trip in India with a client and it brought some perspective (besides the jetlag that really messed up my rhythm 🙃). It brought perspective about the level of impact. The scale of impact. Here’s a shift in my practice. From a perspective of one, to a perspective of one who leads. A small firm. A small business. If you’re running one of these you’re at a disadvantage. Or are you?? I’d argue that running a…
Keeping your promise
All your customers want and expect from you is for you to keep your promise. Kinda “Duh!”, right? And yet, you’d be surprised (or maybe not) how many people, soloists, fractionals, organizations and companies just don’t do that. Not even in the bare minimum. You want to stand out? Keep your word. The bar is so low in your market. After all, you don’t sell your offerings. What you sell are 3 things: Your promise. Your competence. Your confidence. To make your clients better.
All symptoms
All of the subjects from yesterday’s message look like somewhat related, some of them random, some of them to be grouped… and they all look like problems. But here’s the thing: they’re all symptoms. And —in the big picture— all symptoms of unclarity. To be unclear in the business, the needs it attends, to the segment it serves. If you had to score from them, how well would you do? 🙂
What’s coming
Here are a few themes that are recurring in the small/medium business I see. Which ones do you feel you resonate with? You’re struggling with getting your sales to be better. The market is highly competitive. You’re pushed to play on (the lowest) price. You can’t say No to customers. That’s losing business (and stupid). If you say No to a customer, you’re losing opportunities. Your competition is poaching your customers. Your revenue goals are not where you want them, despite everything…
What do you do after 2 years of…
What do you do after 2 years of… writing daily emails? You keep writing. You revise what you thought and wrote. You do an inventory of the common subjects. You think clearer. And deciding where to focus is like a revelation. What’s the YOU from 2 years ago that would benefit from the YOU from now? What would you tell them?
Wet Water
Seeing everywhere “Need to set strategic goals” feels a lot like an obvious thing. Just like saying “we need wet water” If goals are not strategic, what are they? 🤷
A force multipler
If you’re thinking in terms of how to change the game —not just “get better”, but to shift how things work— you need a few things. Between a force or a force multiplier*, you’d better take this last one. And one thing that multiplies the force your business is is your thinking. It’s how you operate. How you approach things. How you think. To know that in a structured way, you need to articulate it. And to articulate it, you need to think with your fingers. You need to publish. You need to…
From cool-to-have to game-changer
Yesterday’s message was about thinking of what you think would be cool to have for you / your business 2 years from now. Now, that’s a good perspective to have. However, if you think of something that would be a game-changer in 2 years from now for your business… that’s a different story. Here’s the thing: Thinking of something cool to have can motivate you for some time. Thinking of what a game-changer for your business, that’s the one that will push you to: Think big. Make the hard…
2 years from now
Think of that. What do you think would be cool for you and/or your business to happen 2 years from now? And this has nothing to do with “new year’s resolutions” (they’re no more than good intentions that’ll guilt-trip you at some point). Make a pause —for real— and stop everything you’re doing now. Now, think: “What would be cool for me / my business to happen 2 years from now?” Whatever you think you can or can’t, it’ll happen. Small hint: has nothing to do with many things at once. 🙂 Let…
