Time and Change
You’re about to get into shifting the way you do work for a better way. That’s what you think. That’s the goal. But, what’s “better”? It’s too abstract. Too fuzzy. Too hard to be on the same scale for everyone —you, your team (if you have one), your customers. A simple way to know and quantify this: Make 3 columns. Past. Present. Future. Choose one aspect that you need to do “better”. Write it down. What it’s been in the past. What it’s now. What you want it to be in the future. This will…
The first to speak. And the last to speak.
Timing. In sales and negotiation dynamics, it’s all about who has the more power —there’s always one who wants it more. When to be the first to speak? In my experience, talking money early (no, not the first thing that bursts out of your mouth as “What’s your budget?”) gives you an advantage. It enables you to: Be comfortable talking money. Anchor high. Lead the conversation with your rules. If it’s your prospect the one who talks money first, they’ll be in more control of the conversation….
Allow yourself to rant
It all starts as a rant. What you find nuts, ridiculous or outrageous. Pour your words into it. Be pissed. Be upset. Call out the nonsense. Then, ask ONE question: How could this help the ones I serve? Now, Flip. Brain dump. Reframe. Write and create. more insights Home Daily List Best Of Archive
The Anti-How-To Guide
Most guides are to tell you How-To do things. Step-by-step processes that are great to do the actionable thing. Of great help when you’re stuck or trying something new. They help you DO the thing. You get to train your hands skills. An Anti-How-To Guide? → To train your head skills. → To train your judgement. → To help […]
Creativity and Productivity
As creatives, entrepreneurs or soloists, there’s this mix up to believe that creativity and productivity are opposites. They’re not. Creativity. The ability to see opportunity. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Productivity. Ratio between the maximum output and the smallest effort. Peter Drucker. They’re different playgrounds, not ends of the same spectrum. more insights Home Daily List Best Of […]
Wishful thinking
Build a brand. Build a culture. Build leaders. Does this even make sense? As if by going thru a process, the result, no matter what, will be that: a brand, a culture or a leader. As you could manufacture any of those. It’s not like that at all. However… What you can do is build the systems […]
Fear
Comes in many shapes, sizes and forms. → Almost closing this deal.→ Almost moving forward on a project.→ Almost getting the gig. Until we feel powerless, overinvested, with the threat of losing what we’ve worked so hard for, that we give in and start lowering the price. Heck, we even think on working for free so we’ll get […]
Provocateurs
Your price is not a response to the market. It’s a provocation. Push them to consider. Think. Wonder. It’ll change the conversation from: → “Could this expert help me?” (and compare you to others) into → “How could this expert help me?” (compare your proposed options). In agitation, more insights Home Daily List Best Of […]
Come original
“To come original it ain’t nothin’ strange You got to represent you got come full range Full range of emotion full range of styles” Come Original. 311 Coming full range. A call to arms to putting the best of you into what you create, but also to the exploration of the overseen / unseen. To […]
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 Age2012. Marty Neumeier Meaning, originality is more of a […]