All in Communications
I heard an interesting comment the other day at a panel of Founders and Venture Capitalists.
Someone made the observation that when the world went online during COVID, the available money went - predominantly - to ‘known’ founders (versus first time entrepreneurs or entrepreneurs that VCs didn’t know).
If there’s one thing that’s facilitated our ability to keep functioning (as normally as possible) over the last year and half (Outside of the vaccine and the healthcare community), it has be technology.
From e-commerce to productivity tools, technology has helped keep us working, playing, consuming and communicating when physical interaction was minimal to non-existent.
If we think about situations or times in our lives when we’ve felt underwater, under pressure or simply out of pace with what’s going on, it’s quite probable that we’ve reacted to those around us in less than positive ways.
Perhaps someone asks us about our work and we lash out at them instead of giving them a straight answer.
Today's podcast talks about our ideas of perfection, specifically in people.
I relate a war story from my consulting days about how reputations of specific individuals can be both accurate and inaccurate at the same time. The quicker we learn that, the easier it becomes to forge solid working relationships.
Company missions need to be to the point. They need to focus on what the company actually does, so that when you read them, you have a sense as to the firm’s aspirations and where their collective energies will be spent.
Tesla talks about “accelerating the world’s transition towards sustainable energy”.
Today's podcast focuses on the idea of silos within our organizations and teams.
There will always be tensions among different teams and that's actually not a bad thing. It's only bad when we let those tensions stop us from figuring out how to work together. When we truly collaborate, we're able to create great art.
The founder of LevelUp, a mobile payments and loyalty app that was bought by GrubHub in 2018, never wore shoes, slept in the office more than at home and used to wear the same orange shirt to work every day.
We’ve all heard stories like these. They’re chalked up as “wacky entrepreneur traits”, and become the stuff of legend when the outfit is successful.
OK, I’ll admit it. I have this problem.
Let me explain.
Some of you know that music, in particular playing guitar and songwriting, are passions of mine. I love the technical aspects as well as the pure musical, creative aspects of it.
This month's podcasts draw lessons from popular culture.
Today's episode speaks to the importance of self-talk and our choice of words. But not simply in the most overt sense that we need to recite affirmations, but even in our most casual conversations with ourselves. Our self-talk matters.
This month's podcasts draw lessons from popular culture.
In today's episode, I discuss a quote from Thom Yorke of Radiohead about this idea of exposure and vulnerability and the role it plays not only in art (which we tend to accept) but also in business (which we often don't).
At what point do we stop asking questions?
It comes very naturally to us when we’re young, but at some point, so many of us, simply stop.
There are many reasons for this. It could be that it wasn’t encouraged at home. Or it could be that our schools and our teachers didn’t want to hear them. Or it could be peer related, not wanting to seem ‘out of place’ with our friends. (I can’t quite decide which of those is the worst.)
This month's podcasts deal with matters of culture.
In today's episode, I speak to how the most important subject in business is also the least valued at business schools: soft skills and specifically, working with people. It's a tension that isn't likely to abate anytime soon, but it's still one we need to maintain a laser focus on.
George Martin is often referred to as The Fifth Beatle for the contributions he made to the band’s recording process.
Without question, the core of their creative genius came from the four band members themselves, but there’s no doubt he facilitated and enabled their creativity in very real, very direct ways. From the classical instrumentation we hear in so many of their songs to pushing the technical envelope with the technology available to them at the time.
This month's podcasts deal with matters of culture.
In today's episode, I discuss the problem of apathy - that is, when apathy arises in an organization, then we're all in trouble. The only solution - for everyone - is to engage.
I have this hypothesis that we get more worried about the competition when we’re not actually focused on being something.
What I mean by that is that, when our business or product doesn’t have a defined mission or overarching goal, when we’re not focused on moving towards becoming, then we tend to become fixated on what others in our space are doing.
If you were to ask me what the most valuable part of my education was from a decade in Management Consulting, I’d tell you it was the ability to craft a story. That is, putting together a slide deck or telling a message that was logical, coherent and that clearly communicated its central message.
As I learned when I left Consulting, that’s not a widely available skill. It’s a bit of a rarity, actually, but it’s critical to the success of any initiative.
I think the problem begins when we subscribe solely to a specific point of view, a particular doctrine.
This is what I believe in. These are the truths about this or that and they cannot be compromised.
We’ve learnt (been taught/taught ourselves) these doctrines over the years and have chosen to accept them as the path forward - the only path forward. And, we’ve galvanized the ‘opposition’ into a defined doctrine of its own - the other, that against which we must fight, come hell or high water.
This month's topics focus on personal war stories and observations.
In today's episode, I talk about an experience I had with the late, great Professor C.K. Prahalad when I was at Ross Business School, and specifically what it taught me about actually being clear about what we want, versus chasing some idea of what we think we want.
Does consensus = compromise?
Conventional thinking touts the need to “get to consensus” as we make decisions. But is ‘consensus’ the right answer?
In concept, consensus makes a lot of sense.
Beating the dealer. It’s the eternal quest.
How do I upset the odds? How do I move the needle to get what I want?
At its core, it’s really a desire to remain in control, to stay relevant. But it’s worth remembering what game we’re trying to play as well.
