Category: Business

  • How to avoid crisis when resting

    You’re committed, you work hard, and you put in the hours necessary to realize your dream. And every once in a while, you need to take a step back and recharge your batteries.

    So how do you stay on top of things while you recover and preserve your health and sanity?

    The only way I know how to do this is by staying far enough ahead of where I need to be, so things go from being ahead to on schedule instead of on schedule to omg-everything’s-on-fire.

    Your mileage may vary.

  • In the absence of competition

    Competitors can often be characterized by unimaginative and overconfident megalomaniacs duking it out over razor-thin margins in a race to the bottom*.

    The number of companies shoehorning yesterday’s electronics into iPhone and iPad-looking exteriors is at once depressing and encouraging, for example.

    Depressing because these companies (despite their billions in funding and vast supply chains) are so out of touch that they shamelessly copy what’s working and in some cases dare to even sue the originators for patent or copyright infringement…**

    …and encouraging because the gulf between true excellence in product design and the ripoffs will in the coming years become so vast that a discriminating customers will vote with their wallets in a way that causes companies to innovate or die.

    When I think of innovation, I think of James Cameron and Elon Musk. People willing to rethink entire experiences and limitations on human achievement.

    Steve Jobs was onto something, too.


    * = It was a lot of fun writing that sentence.

    ** = I recognize that Apple is not the originator of many of the ideas upon which several of its products are built, my point here is about execution and leadership.

  • Race and Vine

    Michael Parrish DuDell knows what he’s doing.

    I first met Michael during my Domino interview (December 2010) and was impressed by his poise and energy.

    This same poise and energy kept the Domino publishing train on its tracks for six wonderful months, and I’m not sure we would have gotten as much done in the office without his project management oversight.

    Michael recently transitioned out of an enviable and lucrative role with a firm to make his mark in the world, and I’m thrilled to share it with you today.

    Introducing race + vine:

    Specializing in connecting businesses to their consumers in more genuine and meaningful ways through content marketing, millennial engagement, and consumer experiences, race + vine fuses the most valuable elements of traditional PR, marketing, and branding with bold innovation and authentic storytelling to create deeply compelling (and sometimes edgy) work.

    If his services are a fit for your company’s needs, do yourself a favor a book him before everyone else does. You won’t regret it.

  • Urgency

    There will always be factors outside of your control when launching a new venture or doing work that matters. (Your ability to deal with this risk is what makes you valuable in the first place.)

    The voice of doubt and fear in your head (Resistance) will have you doing things like “research” and “preparation” for months and even years if you let it, virtually guaranteeing that your art is never shared with the world.

    Since the real lessons that need to be learned aren’t ones gleaned from Google searches and white paper browsing, the goal should be to launch quickly with as much momentum as possible.

    Your idea (in its original form) won’t survive contact with the market anyway, so why not spend six months iterating, delighting your customers, and building a customer base?

  • Better now than before

    Customers come to you because they have a problem they can’t (or don’t want to) solve. And while they may describe their problem in a certain way, it’s important to determine what the customer actually needs, regardless of how poorly the problem is being articulated.

    Assuming that they’ve reached out with the intent to actually engage you for your services (as opposed to just kicking the tires), your job then becomes 1) understanding very clearly what the issue is and 2) leaving the customer feeling like you can make the problem go away.

    It’s more of an art than a science, and there are many ways to say the wrong thing and scare the customer into never following up or following through. They should leave the conversation with more clarity than they had before connecting with you and if not, you might be trying to solve the wrong problem.

  • Performing under pressure

    …is almost never as good as performing well-prepared.

    Procrastination junkies extol the benefits of last-minute work, and there’s no denying that many people reach a powerful state of flow when working against a tight deadline. But the goal, I think, should be to bring about these states of flow well ahead of said deadlines.

    The work then becomes diving into projects well ahead of time and focusing them it intensely until they’re complete, rather than purposefully procrastinating and then circumstances require that you do this.

  • On track is behind

    Everyone knows that being behind is terrible, but the next level of preparation involves realizing that being on schedule is behind.

    It is simply impossible to delight customers, account for the unexpected, and deliver the highest quality product or service without trying to aggressively beat deadlines and stay ahead of what’s needed.

    If you’re treading just above water for too long, you might as well resign yourself to catastrophic failure while you’re at it. Get ahead while you can.

  • The real enemy

    If you’re trying to get into the mind of your customer, approach a pretty lady to ask for her number (or a handsome gentlemen for his…?), bring a new service to market, or launch an honest business…your enemy isn’t just the competition.

    What you’re really battling against is everyone who has done it wrong.

  • Intensity

    I’ve been playing around with kettlebells for a few months now with varying amounts of conviction. During a recent workout, I decided to actually follow the instructions and rest only for short periods between sets (which involved working out the entire body).

    It was a different workout.

    Usually I’ll rest for too long between sets, taking the time to make coffee, return a few emails, or go on vacation before returning to the punishment. After doing the workout as it was intended this time however, I was exhausted.

    This reminded me of the sustained high-output effort it takes to make progress on anything worthwhile. Intermittent bursts of progress here and there are ok, but a consistent push is required to realize meaningful progress.

  • Following up isn’t work

    If your job involves sales and outreach, your routine likely involves multiple conversations with prospective clients. A call here, another call next week (that’s rescheduled for the following week…), etc.

    You might be diligent about the followups and staying on the radar of your prospects, but I’m not convinced that this counts as work. Work is making what you’re selling discussion-worthy. Work is helping to build something that causes your phone to ring.

    Work is doing what no one else has the guts to do, consistently, because that’s what’s needed.