Word — Omerisms

Based in Chicago, Omerisms is a blog by Omer Abdullah. His posts explore Ideas, perspectives and points of view across business, sales, marketing, life and (sometimes) football (the real kind).

All in Personal Codes

Confidence versus Volume

Dec 14

Dec 14 Confidence versus Volume

Communications, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Life, Personal Codes, Teams

In my last post, I talked about the Signal-to-Noise ratio and its applicability to our personal and professional lives - how we need to be able to look past the noise that we hear to the core signals, so that we can interpret and react to a situation appropriately.

There’s a related idea that Seth Godin highlighted in one of his recent posts that speaks to the idea of confidence versus volume. And that is, that we sometimes conflate the two - implicitly, when it’s coming from others, or explicitly, when we’re the ones doling it out.

The Work, Not The Idea of It

Dec 7

Dec 7 The Work, Not The Idea of It

Careers, Entrepreneurship, Personal Codes

The fact of the matter is that my most productive periods have come when I’ve been immersed in my work and not the idea of it.

What does that mean?

Analysis or Opinion?

Dec 4

Dec 4 Analysis or Opinion?

Careers, Communications, Life, Personal Codes

So, is that your analysis? Or is that your opinion?

We’ve entered an age when we seem to have conflated the two together. This is most evident in the mainstream media - where you’re either Left or Right, wrong or right, up or down, etc. But it’s not just the mainstream media, it’s as true in so much of our professional and personal lives as well.

This is how we need to be. This is how we need to think. This is how we need to act.

Nov 30

Nov 30 Hinkaku

Careers, Aspirations, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Life, Personal Codes, Teams

To become a Yokozuna (or Grand Champion) in Sumo Wrestling, there are, broadly, two sets of criteria that have to be met.

The first relates - as we might expect - to power and and skill, specifically performance in recent tournaments with a standard of two consecutive championships as an Ozeki (or an equivalent performance). This is reasonably objective, quantifiable criteria, one that is reasonably objectively measurable.

Nov 25

Nov 25 Omerisms Podcast - Episode 61

Aspirations, Careers, Entrepreneurship, Life, Personal Codes

This month's podcasts discusses the idea of happiness. It's such an important ideal and the next few podcasts talk about how we define it, grapple and fight for it, and ultimately, continue to pursue it.

Today's episode closes the month on a philosophical note - the idea that happiness is like Inbox Zero - it is elusive, we will never permanently achieve it, but we shouldn't stop striving for it.

"We Get To Carry Each Other"

Nov 20

Nov 20 "We Get To Carry Each Other"

Aspirations, Careers, Communications, Entrepreneurship, Life, Personal Codes

I was doing an Interval workout on the treadmill recently, following along with an online trainer (i.e. where you alternate bursts of high intensity effort with periods of lower effort).

At one point, having just completed a particularly intense interval, the trainer announced, “Well, that was a tough one. And we get to do that two more times!”

It was a curious choice of words. We get to do that two more times. Not we have to, or we need to. We get to.

Nov 18

Nov 18 Omerisms Podcast - Episode 60

Aspirations, Entrepreneurship, Life, Leadership, Personal Codes

This month's podcasts discusses the idea of happiness. It's such an important ideal and the next few podcasts talk about how we define it, grapple and fight for it, and ultimately, continue to pursue it.

In today's episode, I share two thoughts on happiness. The first is about the path to happiness and that it starts with kindness - to ourselves. The second is what happy people are actually like i.e. they aren't assholes.

Run The Problem. Don't Let The Problem Run You

Nov 13

Nov 13 Run The Problem. Don't Let The Problem Run You

Careers, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Life, Personal Codes

One of my favorite quotes is “Own your outcomes”, and speaks to the need for us to take ownership for whatever happens to us.

It doesn’t mean we can control whatever happens to us, because many times we can’t. Things happen, whether we like it or not.

But what we can do is take ownership for our situations, stop complaining or commiserating, and control how we respond. In other words, run the problem and don't let the problem run you.

Nov 11

Nov 11 Omerisms Podcast - Episode 59

Aspirations, Life, Personal Codes

This month's podcasts discusses the idea of happiness. It's such an important ideal and the next few podcasts talk about how we define it, grapple and fight for it, and ultimately, continue to pursue it.

Today's episode is from something I wrote about back in 2018, when Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain - two people who had it all - took their own lives. I discuss how happiness is never what it appears to be and that we don't know the roof is leaking until we're on the inside.

Is It Happening To You?

Nov 9

Nov 9 Is It Happening To You?

Aspirations, Careers, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Life, Personal Codes

An uptick in responsibility is the natural accompaniment of career advancement. This can come in many forms - managing more people, greater accountability for specific results, etc.

And the natural accompaniment to that increased responsibility is increased stress (at least if you take your role seriously).

Which isn’t, of course, a bad thing.

Nov 4

Nov 4 Omerisms Podcast - Episode 58

Life, Personal Codes

This month's podcasts discusses the idea of happiness. It's such an important ideal and the next few podcasts talk about how we define it, grapple and fight for it, and ultimately, continue to pursue it.

Today's episode focuses on how we define happiness, and specifically how it all boils down to expectations. That is, our happiness is always down to us and what we expect.

Looking For Silver Bullets

Oct 19

Oct 19 Looking For Silver Bullets

Aspirations, Careers, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Life, Personal Codes, Teams, Strategy, Sales

It’s a romantic notion, the idea of silver bullets.

It’s exciting (and oh so promising) to believe that there’s something out there - a solution, a framework, a technology, etc. - that has the potential of solving all of our problems or, at the very least, delivering a material, manifold improvement in our situation immediately.

Oct 14

Oct 14 Omerisms Podcast - Episode 55

Aspirations, Careers, Communications, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Life, Personal Codes, Teams

This month's podcasts focus on people - the teams we work with, the people we surround ourselves with, and how we should think about them. People make all the difference.

In today's episode, I discuss the importance of surrounding yourself with people who believe in you. As much as you need to believe in yourself, it's as important to have an open, welcoming, encouraging environment for us to flourish.

Eddie Van Halen: In Memoriam

Oct 12

Oct 12 Eddie Van Halen: In Memoriam

Aspirations, Careers, Creativity, Entrepreneurship, Life, Personal Codes

I know when most people think of Van Halen, they think of the song Jump, which was their biggest hit. And when it comes to guitar players, they automatically go to “Eruption” off the first Van Halen album. Those are the seminal pieces in Van Halen lore.

For me, though, while I love both of those tracks, the song that defines Van Halen - the one that got me into the band and, in fact, made me start playing the guitar, were the ‘joint’ songs Intruder/Pretty Woman.

Thinking About The Competition

Oct 9

Oct 9 Thinking About The Competition

Aspirations, Careers, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Life, Personal Codes, Teams

A couple of weeks ago, ahead of the Chelsea-Liverpool game in the English Premier League, a reporter asked the Chelsea Manager, Frank Lampard, how he felt about facing Liverpool considering where each team finished at the end of the prior season. (For those who don’t know, Liverpool won the league with 99 points, and Chelsea finished in fourth place, a whopping 33 points behind.)

Oct 7

Oct 7 Omerisms Podcast - Episode 54

Careers, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Life, Management Consulting, Personal Codes, Teams

This month's podcasts focus on people - the teams we work with, the people we surround ourselves with, and how we should think about them. People make all the difference.

In today's episode, I talk about something Warren Buffett said about the best thing about being rich. It isn't what you (or I) might have originally expected, and it has everything to do with people.

Winning The Rat Race...

Oct 5

Oct 5 Winning The Rat Race...

Aspirations, Careers, Entrepreneurship, Life, Personal Codes

Many years ago, one of my closest friends was discussing career choices with his father and in that conversation, his father told him something that I thought was on point, and profound. He said:

“Even if you win the rat race, you’re still a rat…”

There’s many ways to unpack that statement and you can certainly have your own interpretation of it.

Oct 2

Oct 2 Judgements

Careers, Communications, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Life, Personal Codes, Teams

We seem to have arrived at a place where, for many, the measure of a person’s worth and value to society is based on their net worth. And the proxies for this are in the titles we hold (and covet), the toys and trinkets we own and the clothes we wear.

We talk a good game, though. We talk about the value of hard work, the need to be happy, that love and caring trumps all.

The Case For Curiosity

Sep 28

Sep 28 The Case For Curiosity

Careers, Creativity, Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Life, Marketing, Personal Codes

There’s a quote attributed to the Portuguese writer, Saramego, that says, “old age starts where curiosity ends”.

When we’re young, we’re ‘naturally’ curious. We’re willing to try new things, take new paths and push ourselves (often to the point of discomfort). When we’re old, according to conventional wisdom, we seek comfort and contentment. We seek safety, and are willing to trade excitement - indeed, believe we’re required to trade it - in return.

Embracing Your Inner Bono

Sep 25

Sep 25 Embracing Your Inner Bono

Careers, Creativity, Life, Personal Codes

When I was 22, I decided to get my ear pierced.

I was a Business undergraduate working in Marketing & Sales, but with a wannabe musician buried deep inside who was trying to find a way to express his “Inner Bono”. And the form of that expression at that age was, ultimately, to get an earring. And so I did - a diamond stud that I wore all the time and never thought twice about.