Jerry Seinfeld was once asked by a young comic if he had any advice to help him get better.
His answer was simple: write better jokes - and the only way to do that, was to write every day. In fact, not only should he write every day, but he should keep track of this work:
The idea of ‘secrets’ is a funny thing. I’m not talking about secrets in a personal sense but in a work related sense. Our tactics, our approaches, our tools and knowledge. Our so-called secret sauce that ‘helps’ us achieve our professional goals.
We tend to hold these secrets dearly, with the idea that they are indeed unique to how we operate and what we do. And then the idea that if they were to get out, then our ability to achieve is doomed.
Today's episode focuses on a story from Live Aid back in the mid-Eighties and a moment that set the band U2 on the path to global stardom.
But on the day, it didn't seem like it to the band - and represents a lesson about risk-taking that we can all learn from.
The reality of the learning process is that it’s often non-linear and, most importantly, unpredictable.
There’s a tendency to think of it (hope?) as a “paint-by-numbers” approach: follow these steps and you’ll get to your destination. And while aspects of learning are indeed structured and conventional in that sense, many others are not. That, in so many respects, is where real learning happens.
I went for a walk with a client today.
We were supposed to meet in a conference room at his office building and talk through our plans for 2022. But as I waited at reception with my colleague, our client came down and asked if we wanted to sit in the office or perhaps go for a walk.
Today's episode focuses on the age old debate of nature versus nurture. We love to argue whether talent is innate or developed, or whether entrepreneurs are born versus made.
In the show, I argue that it doesn't matter - our only choice is to move forward to strive to achieve what we want. The alternatives aren't worth considering.
A common lament these days is that kids don’t read, or at least, they don’t read enough. Give them a spare moment and their first inclination is to pick up their phones and surf. Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, etc. - the mode varies but the rabbit hole is the same.
And the way things are progressing - we’re only moving deeper into our virtual worlds, with more and more social media platforms emerging - we’re only going to be spending more time in front of our screens, not less.
Earlier this month, the neighborhood I live in, Andersonville, was voted “The Coolest Neighborhood in the US” and the second coolest neighborhood in the world in the 2021 Time Out Index survey which polled 27,000 voters across the world.
Andersonville beat out such luminaries as Chelsea (New York), Sai Kung (Hong Kong) and Gracia (Barcelona).
Today's episode focuses on the one and only fundamental of success - doing the work.
Our role models from the sports to the business worlds understand this. The one commonality amongst all of them is that they've paid their dues. They put in the effort and did what was needed to lay the foundation for their success. If we aspire to that success, we need to do the same.
I believe endurance is the most critical ingredient of success.
Conventional thinking, fueled by everything we read in the media, suggests the key ingredients are far sexier: great ideas or talented teams or plenty of funding. Those are far more ‘romantic’ ideas and they certainly make for more enjoyable water cooler conversations.
Sports allegiances are, for the most part, irrational.
When we root for a team, we do so for reasons that typically have no objective basis. And on that emotional basis, we become “supporters” - and, for those of us who take our support seriously, proceed to entrench ourselves in the traditions of the team.
Today's podcast speaks to the perception that many of us have that we need to be (or at least show we're) perfect in front of those we live and work with.
The problem with this approach is that it's founded in insecurity and the idea that our vulnerability is something we should hide, when in fact, it's actually our strength.
It’s generally difficult for us to hold two contrasting ideas in our heads.
We have a tendency to move towards a specific interpretation, whether it relates to events, places or people. Something is either good or bad, someone is either smart or stupid, people should or should not be trusted.
NOTE: There are no spoilers in this post, but if you’re someone who wants to know nothing about ‘Squid Game’ before you watch it, save this post for later...
In the blockbuster Netflix show, Squid Game, 456 contestants are pitted against each other (unwittingly, at first) in what is essentially a death match to see who will claim the $38 million grand prize.
Today's episode focuses on the myth of the all-rounder.
We're programmed to try and be good at everything, and when we don't hit the mark, we taught to judge ourselves negatively. But the fact is we all have spikes and, while general knowledge is a good thing, our spikes are what really matter.
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 we’re really trying to solve for a specific problem, we need to be obsessed with the problem itself.
We have to be so focused on the issues that problem presents, such that we can understand it to a level that we can uncover all of the points of concern - not only who’s impacted, but also the way in which they’re specifically impacted and to what extent.
Today's episode focuses on the value of experience when starting a new business.
Often, we'll hear about start-up success stories that are driven by founders with no prior history in that sector. I talk through why that happens and how that should probably be more the norm than the exception.
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.
