Reading Time: < 1 minIn his new book, “A World Without Email“, author Cal Newport pushes people to consider how administrative work affects performance. In particular, he says: Why bother hiring a hotshot if the bulk of their time is spent doing administrative work? I don’t know if “hotshot” is the right word, but I completely agree with his […]
Business
Don’t lie to get the project
Reading Time: < 1 minSeth Godin recently published a blog post that ended with two great mottos: “You’ll pay a lot, but you’ll get more than you paid for.” “Our secret is that we don’t lie to get the project.” I agree wholeheartedly with both of those, though the second one is a little tricky. Back in 2016, a […]
Shallow fun versus deep fun
Reading Time: < 1 minI was recently listening to a podcast with Malcolm Gladwell and Adam Grant, and they got into a great discussion about having “fun” in your work. They disagreed initially, but as they unpacked it they ended up on the same page. The key was separating “shallow fun” and “deep fun”. Daniel Coyle explained the difference […]
What is the expected value of that?
Reading Time: 2 minWhen making any kind of financial decision, it can be interesting to look at the “expected value” of whatever you’re looking to buy. This can work particularly well for things like raffles and your sales. Raffles With a raffle it’s pretty simple. If you have a 1/100 chance of winning a $500 prize, the expected […]
Follow-up is crucial
Reading Time: 3 minA few years ago, we were all working in our office when a local company stopped by with a box of bagels and coffee for us. We didn’t know them, but they were reaching out to local marketing companies to let people know they exist (they were photographers, so potentially a good partner). They seemed […]
Be predictable, not polite
Reading Time: 2 minWhen you’re driving a car, the best thing you can do is to be predictable with your actions. If others know what you plan to do next, the odds of staying safe remain quite high. Conversely, if you do unpredictable things, even with good intentions, things can go wrong quickly. As a quick example, see […]
Predicting rain doesn’t count
Reading Time: < 1 minIf you’re a weatherman, the ability to predict the rain is important. For the rest of us, the actions we take once we know it’s going to rain are really what matters. As Warren Buffet has said: Predicting rain doesn’t count. Building arks does. The Nintendo Wii Back in early 2012, I remember a quiet […]
Perceived value is all that matters
Reading Time: < 1 minWhen trying to sell your product or service, the value that it provides to your customer is essential. The problem is that the true value is largely irrelevant — it’s all about the value that your customer perceives. The idea of Exchange Theory is that the perceived value of an item must be more than […]
That’s not my job
Reading Time: 2 minA few weeks ago, we bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee for my wife. It’s an excellent vehicle, but I noticed something interesting during the sales process. At one point they made a small financial miscalculation, but the finance manager ate the difference to make sure they stood by their word, which was appreciated. That was […]
There is no magic bullet for your business
Reading Time: < 1 minAs much as we want there to be one, there is no magic bullet for your business to make it succeed. The desire for one is what leads to all of the MLMs and online marketing sages that can give you “the secret” for just $299. A great example of that is this video from […]