2 Trust
Who do you trust? Trust comes in two main forms. Relational and functional.
Functional is “what you see is what you get” and you can count on them. They are dependable, conscientious, timely, and do what they say they're going to do. In business, it’s expected, or at least it should be. With just a few interactions you can tell if someone is functionally trustworthy.
Relational trust is different. Different because it’s gated and more secure. It’s conditional, it has passwords, encryptions, combinations, hidden doors with hidden keys. Some people are more trusting with lower security but others have electric razor wire with warning signs (Do Not Enter.)
The relational trust firewall is dynamic and directly related to past pains. Access was given and it didn’t go well. So the password was changed and the locks re-keyed.
Trust boundaries are vital BUT if they are too rigid and void of grace, the isolation within the fortress is hell on earth.
Hunker
Hunkering down might be the most efficient and generous thing to do.
The chaos is real and people need leadership. Not to minimize or dramatize but to be an anchor. Show others the upside of the hunker.
Somewhere between emotion and logic is wisdom. Calmly find the wisdom amidst the big picture and small details. Then, confidently lead others to that spot.
It’s your time to lead.
Sh*t Show
Overwhelm is inevitable and will kill creativity if it’s perpetual. Perpetual overwhelm is a result of ineffectiveness. Ineffectiveness will inhibit deep work that matters. Finding the balance of efficiency and a healthy culture is where the “art” lives.
The quickest way to overcome perpetual overwhelm is NOT hiring another person to help. If you put the overwhelm on your helper, they will leave you. The overwhelm is yours to own. The effectiveness issue is on you.
If you’re unable to manage your own overwhelm, how will you coach a helper? They will sense the endless ineffectiveness and run for the hills.
Create your own structure to deal with it, find some relief, some space, THEN hire someone.
Why? Because no one wants to work in your sh*t show.
It's Just Business
Success in business is elusive. If you own a restaurant all you have to do is make sure the food is incredible. There should be an hour’s wait. If the product is good it should sell out.
Not that simple.
Some ideas are really great, yet never take off. If the goods and services are excellent, why is growth, profit, or success just average?
Do we look for better systems? Hire a website guy? Buy more ads? Cut costs, find new tactics, read another book?
What’s the problem with the business?
Maybe there is no such thing as a business problem, just people problems manifested in a business.
Steamy Dreams
Some of my best ideas come when I’m in the shower. The fogged glass often becomes a whiteboard. What is it about that particular environment that causes creativity? Creativity that seems inaccessible the rest of the day.
As an armchair neuroscientist I see it boiling down to two reasons. Reasons that will apply outside the shower steam.
1. Relaxed: Assuming I paid the gas bill the water temperature is perfect. My breathing is even and I’m calm. I’m comfortable and safe.
2. Present: My mind is not in reaction mode. I’m in a space where a response isn’t needed.
Install this type of space for yourself. A space where you can just be away from reactionary things. Things that require a decision. Things that distract you from your real work… the deep work that helps you make the world a better place.
We all have a space like this. Go there and create daily.
Consequences
Imagine you want to ramp up the sales in Q2 so you decide to reduce the price.
People love a good deal so revenue increases.
Mission accomplished.
You’ve increased sales and revenue is up. Was it the right play? When making a decision consider the second-order consequences. Your goal was to make more money.
You look at your Q2 P&L and revenue is up. It’s up because you chose to reduce the price and the market responded. Your net profit is down from Q1 because of the 2nd order of consequences.
Your margin took a hit because of the price reduction and you had to hire a couple of new people to handle the volume.
Multi-Tasking
My morning coffee ritual is more like an assembly line but with only one person. I measure, grind, fill, froth, add and stir precisely the same way every morning. It’s a series of small tasks towards the perfect cup. A cup that’s perfect for me.
The funny thing is I’m fooled into thinking I’m a great multitasker. Fooled because it’s physical… not mental. My mom claims to be a good multitasker. She would brag about driving her VW Bug while smoking a cigarette, holding a bottle of coke, shifting gears, all while ensuring my safety as I stood in the front seat. No one died or got burned.
It turns out we can multitask but we can’t multi-focus. Making coffee or shifting gears doesn’t take much thought. Thoughts that require attention. Attention switching is the real problem.
Switching from one thing to another has a cool feeling of momentum. Imagine checking emails, then you get a text, then a phone call, then someone pops by your office all while working on a spreadsheet. You get your stuff done and walk into your next meeting feeling like a savant.
Most mornings you don’t get it all done but today you did. The truth is, this form of multitasking is inefficient.
You want to be fast and accurate? One thing at a time, start to finish.
P.S. Still not buying it…??? Click the Star K below and take this fun test that’ll make you anxiously sweat when you realize how wrong you are :)
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The Exchange
Privacy is important. Important because no one wants to be violated or open the door to being exposed. Some people are more private than others. What’s appropriate? Are those who cover the camera on their laptop paranoid?
How does ego play in? Are they egomaniacs? Assuming “people” would think their life is interesting enough to snoop? What’s the line?
We see movie stars getting caught in the “act” all the time. Does that mean people care about our act?
Maybe… but likely not.
Some people avoid social media because Zuck might steal their info. Info that is likely already stored… and available to the highest bidder.
So do you hide or let the cat stay out of the bag? You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube but you can use your head.
Guarding all your data would be a full-time job. Is it worth your time? Are you that interesting? Are you willing to exchange convenience for privacy? If Alexa hears you talk about needing more toothpaste and then you see it as a suggested item on Amazon, do you feel violated?
No one likes to be violated but we also don’t like to be surprised by the cat.
Scarcity Mindset
If you think you may run out you probably will. The need to preserve or stockpile is a trap. Your main resource is your mind and the ability to connect. Stockpiling assumes you’re going to be alone and the truth is you won’t.
Hoarding suggests you’re not willing to ask for help. Help is hard to ask for with a scarcity mentality. Being self-sufficient is good and has its limits. True power comes from teamwork and collaboration.
Striving to be the one people will call for help might be the wrong goal. Stockpiling might suggest your fear of not having what it takes when it hits the fan.
The question is… What will be the currency?
My answer: Creativity
6 Ft Under
They say that everyone has a million-dollar idea. I wonder if “they” are right?
Some of the very best ideas end up between the ears of a dead guy 6 ft under. Why weren’t they shared? Because sharing is vulnerable. If you let your idea out into the wild, it might get laughed at or criticized. Feeling embarrassed or ashamed is something even “they” want to avoid.
The fear of this feeling keeps ideas hidden. Hidden because it’s safer. It turns out your humanness has a hard time separating physical pain from emotional pain… It just defaults to playing it safe.
Playing it safe keeps the ideas the world needs trapped between your ears, and eventually buried for good.
Go make your mark!
Proformas (Stupid Tax)
I’ve yet to do a deal or scale a company where the proforma was correct. They are always off, and completely inaccurate. Things cost more OR if you’re lucky, less than you expect. The ramp-up usually takes 2x what you thought.
So if proformas are always wrong, what’s the point? The point is despite their inaccuracy they are helpful. They force the creator to think. Think about the upside and downside.
The proforma becomes a receptacle to expenses and income streams as they occur to you. A place to contain surprises. It might not be “right” but “right” isn’t the goal.
The goal is to mitigate irreversible consequences.
As time rolls on your proformas get smarter because...you’re smarter.
On 3rd
If you’re standing on American soil, count yourself blessed. The land of opportunity has the largest GDP in the world which means people like it here.
It likely wasn't your choice to be in the U.S. Someone before you made that happen. Which means you don't get the credit. It no doubt takes some work. Work that slips our mind.
Do you know your great great grand dad’s full name? When was he born?
So here we stand on 3rd base feeling a bit like we just hit a triple. The work that paved the way… The lives lost defending the way… aren’t that visible at first glance.
Recognize the work, respect the work, and do your own work so you aren’t thrown out trying to steal home.
Accreditation
Licensing is a necessary evil in some industries. Before you get a license, make sure you like the work first.
Getting an accreditation of some sort as an exploratory journey is a fool's errand...
Any license you get in real estate centers around memorizing the penalties for doing stupid things… Then you get tested and voila, you’re licensed… It doesn't actually teach you anything about how to be successful but instead highlights what happens to you if you don't comply.
This makes the accreditation useless if you aren’t willing to do what it takes to be awesome. Find someone that IS awesome and work for them for a season. Then, if it’s a “hell yes I love this”, go get your license. Chances are you’ll be WAY ahead of your classmates.
Competition
We struggle to be truly happy with ourselves if we aren’t a little “better” than the next guy. This thinking forces us to compare. Comparing is mostly a distraction. A distraction from doing our unique work.
The work we do lives in two categories:
The work anyone can do (Tasks)
The work that only you can do
If you are building a business it requires both. If you want to “win” you’d better work ON your business(#2) and not IN it (#1).
Instead of trying to beat the competition, employ your unique talents to frustrate them.
Go make your mark!
Pro Tip: The real win is to have your competitors move from initial frustration to eventual inspiration…
Fine Wine
The results are conclusive. A $500 bottle of wine doesn’t taste better than a good $20 bottle. If the cat is out of the bag why aren’t people picketing the vineyards? How are sommeliers still employed? Why is some wine still $500/bottle?
If the blind folded wine expert likes the taste of the $20 bottle how does the free market support high dollar wine? The answer?
Narrative.
Story is powerful...very powerful. Powerful enough to increase the value of a bottle of wine by 2500%.
If those around you believe the narrative and you order the expensive wine (without sniffing the cork) Your status was just elevated.
It feels good to elevate our status. Sometimes the truth isn’t as fun because it kills the story and the status benefits. The only thing more valuable than the $500 bottle? The Narrative.
1984
It was one of the only books I read in highschool and Orwellian thinking has been woven into my worldview ever since. The notion of Big Brother and government motives of total control complete with thought police is outdated.
Perhaps Big Brother has a new plan. A plan that is far more simple, cheap, and subtle.
A plan to distract.
Distraction from what is important and true. Distraction from better choices. A distraction from making a difference. A distraction from creating.
The New Big Brother Says:
Hey man, look over here. It’s so shiny and new, it will make you feel good. Don’t get left out because you don’t know what happened in the game or who got voted off the island. Stay connected to the feed. Because the feed is easier. It’s easier because all you have to do is consume.
Don’t bother thinking (we’ll do it for you),
Don’t bother creating (we’ll do it for you)
Don’t bother with anything.
Stay where you are.
Hardest Questions
When you feel heavy emotion after an interaction with someone (enter knot in stomach, tight chest, blood rush to neck and face) There are really two things going on.
Your body has detected danger (It turns out it’s hard to tell the difference between physical and emotional threat)
You go into protection mode...
If it were a lion you would run. If it was a direct attack on your character you might also run.
The point worth understanding is that your ability to think rationally has left the jungle. Your entire being wants to survive. There is nothing you can do to eliminate this.
But...you can reduce it with truth. The truth is complicated by the tapes in your head. If you were bitten by a dog, you might play the tape “Dogs can’t be trusted”
The hardest question has two parts:
Is it true [Dogs can’t be trusted?]
What would life be like if I dropped the belief that [“Dogs can’t be trusted?”]
Don’t let the tail wag the dog without asking the hardest questions.
TrailBlazer
As a leader sometimes the path is crystal clear. So clear it feels like it should be obvious to everyone who is following. It’s helpful to understand why this assumption causes setbacks.
The trailblazing leader jumps out of the fox hole and charges forward. He risks it all and doesn’t ask for cover or let everyone else know what the plan is. He gets hit several times and finds a better position.
A position that will help win the battle.
A position that everyone will love.
A position that frustrates the leader who just lost the battle.
The leader who accidently fought hard only to lose alone.
Painting Profit
Money as a measuring stick of your worth confuses the merit of profit. Profit isn’t personal. If you don’t know how to make a profit something is wrong with you...or if you make a lot of money you must be taking advantage of others to get rich.
This thinking paints profit into a corner (you’re either out of business or you're greedy.)
What is profit for? Profit creates space for what’s next. Profit tells the story of what the market thinks of what you’ve created.
Profit paves the way. Go make a profit.
Taker Maker
There are two types of people in this world. The ones who make and the ones who take.
Not a selfish take but more of a consumer take. They’re both morally neutral and symbiotic. Are you a creator or a consumer? Do you buy or sell or do you buy so you can sell?
Don’t just consume...the world needs you to make what only you can.