February 7th, 2010
What if you were invisible?
What if, no matter the effort, you were never appreciated– for anything.
Imagine you’d never get famous, never get known, for anything you’d ever do. What if no one saw your work– your friends, maybe, but no one else. You’d never get noticed, never achieve any acclaim, ever. Terrible, maybe? Expected, perhaps?
But what if you knew in advance?
If nothing you did would get you known, you wouldn’t chase fame or attention, because you’d know you’d never get it. The work itself would get a lot more important to you. You’d focus on the intrinsic value a lot more– whether you enjoyed it, whether it made your friends and family happy, and so on.
What else would happen?
Is it possible that the work itself would actually get better? Would the enjoyment you got from your work start giving you more incentive to work harder, longer hours, with more attention to what matters? Would your invisible work become incredible?
Or would you stop working altogether? What kind of person are you?
Try out this thought experiment. Write a post for me on your blog saying what would happen if you were invisible, if there were no media whatsoever, nor word of mouth, to get you any attention, forever.
Remember, no attention means no judgement, either.
Also of interest: Adding a search bar
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February 5th, 2010
Skill, Hard Work, and Luck
Three men working in a design company are all gunning for the same promotion.
One has skill, the other works hard, and the other has luck.
Which one would you rather be?
George is skillful. He’s really good at drafting and he’s always had an eye for the thing. He can look at a problem and get a quick, great impression of how to solve it. He’s a creative, shoot from the hip kinda guy.
Henry is a hard worker. He fails a lot (because he isn’t skilled) but he’s willing to put in more hours than anyone else. He burns the midnight oil when everyone else has decided to pack it in, because they’re not paid for overtime. Neither is Henry, of course, but he knows that’s not what this is about.
Jim is lucky. How did Jim even get up to this point in his career, anyway? Did he take a lot of risks? Did he brown-nose? Is he brilliant? No one has any idea. Jim just finds a way to be in the right meeting at the right time, and when he does, he gets the project. This has happened enough times that, now, most people think of his luck as being something else.
Everybody has a little bit of George, Henry, and Jim inside them. We work hard sometimes, we have some innate ability, and we’re sometimes lucky. But no matter who you think you may be, here’s the main thing: Act as though luck doesn’t exist.
It’s worthwhile to try to be George or Henry, or both. But believing in luck is to leave yourself to fate, to be complacent with your position. Instead, just act as though you are Jim already.
You will become him.
Also of interest: This is not the job you’re looking for
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February 4th, 2010
We Are Cowboys
We are cowboys. This place is a frontier.
The way we experience media right now is the way all future media will be. Nobody knows that yet, but we do. What we are trying right now may seem crazy to some people, fruitless communication with no purpose, but in reality what we are trying will become obvious to the next generation. We are learning what works, while others are still relying on old models and crossing their fingers.
We are digging for gold. Many of us will fail, die, or go back the way they came, but those that succeed will become magnates of the next age. Your grit will determine which of those you will be.
I am alright with waiting. If you are too, see you there.
If not, don’t worry, you’ll be remembered, too.
Also of interest: No related posts
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February 3rd, 2010
What are we going to do about the BA?
I was discussing with someone last night about the uselessness of the basic university degree. I compared it to an arms race– when one group has a BA, the other needs the BA to compete with them in the job marketplace, but when both sides have them, they no longer provide any employment advantage whatsoever.
Despite this, the price for university degrees remain absurdly high, and their ubiquity means people still ask for them before you’re allowed a job.
I’m not a big conspiracy theorist, but putting students into $100,000’s of debt before their 25th birthday (and inciting them with “no interest until graduation!!!!!111″) sure is a great way of keeping them subservient, isn’t it?
Anyway, I don’t think university is useless for everyone, but there has got to be a better way to do things for most people. Wipe out 2 years of college + 3 years of university and you can make it from the mailroom to a level you would be proud to get straight out of university– likely with a better salary. This, assuming you’re decently smart.
Actually, there’s the real problem. The BA is a credential, used to fog people into believing in your competence, despite the real world having very little to do with how well you do in school. I’m sure this is one of the reasons the Peter Principle is true.
For those of us that don’t need degrees, or whose children don’t, what alternative do we have? School still provides you with the contacts you need, and the credentials can occasionally be useful (art school comes to mind). Where can we go from here, what are the options?
I just can’t figure out why we should waste so much to achieve so little.
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February 2nd, 2010
Ignoring Social Cues
It’s ironic that Trust Agents talks about two things that are equally important, but actually contradictory.
What are they? The first of the behaviours is understanding social cues, and the second is pattern-breaking. Why are they opposites? See below.
Social Cues
Being a human artist implies an understanding of social cues, like body language, status, and a million other things that people feel out in daily life, largely without knowing about it. For example, you show an understanding of status when you act differently with your boss than your co-worker, for example. But whichever social cues we’re talking about, they are an example of behaving the way others expect us to, and fitting into their ideas of how to interact with them.
Basically, when we behave in a way that makes people feel comfortable, we do it by not setting off any alarms or behaving differently. By doing so, we can make sure they aren’t defensive and, as a result, become closer to them.
Pattern-Breaking
When we talked about patterns in Trust Agents, they’re discussed in our Make Your Own Game chapter, which is about “dominating niches,” to use a phrase I kind of hate… but it’s true. I’ve talked about pattern-breaking in talks I’ve done (as has Chris) so many times that it’s gotten very basic for us, but it remains important to understand that it’s about discomfort and making people see you in a different way.
Do you see why the two are opposites now? One is about fitting in while the other is about standing out. So basically I’m wondering whether it’s possible to do both at the same time (with the same people).
Here’s the way I see it: Fitting in is valuable if you’re not “not important,” while being an iconoclast is a good strategy if you’re “important.”
Another way to look at this is: In order to make yourself seem “important,” become an iconoclast (disrupt patterns). This shows people that you don’t follow the rules, which makes you seem like you’re a leader in the space.
Does that make sense? Or am I totally off my rocker?
Also of interest: You Will Not Always Matter
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February 1st, 2010
How to think about self-help books
Ok, I admit it. I am far too familiar with the self-help section of my bookstore.
Alternative diets, positive thinking, 7 habits, four-hour workweeks– yes, I’ve read them all. I have a very high tolerance for bullshit, especially of that type. Always have, despite being rather cynical and dismissive of the majority of the category.
If you believe the media’s portrayal of the people like me, we’re lonely men and women who have tragedy follow us like a black cloud. We’re down on our luck and unlikely to get back up anytime soon. We are the downtrodden.
Some of that may be true– but I’m dismissive of that, too.
Here’s the way I see these books. I think they should be read by everyone, most of the text largely dismissed and appalled by, and then the morsels that apply to you should be absorbed and become part of your routine or mindset. Actually, this not only applies to the way I view self-help, but also a majority of the information in my life. Never accept information at face value, basically. YMMV.
One of my new favourite blogs says you should come to a book with a question. That may help when you’re going through the chaff that’s on that bookshelf, maybe even preventing the occasional gag reflex, who knows.
But I don’t think anyone is born just being successful, or just having all the answers. And most of us don’t have mentors, but we need to look somewhere. It’s weird that it has to be in these books that we find the answers we’re looking for, but it’s even worse that many people refuse to look at them because of how cheesy they are (and man, are they ever).
When I started being able to do this, I found a lot of answers to stuff I needed to know. And you can do it on the web, too– in fact, maybe the web taught me to do it, no clue.
But I’m happy for my ability to both accept and reject this stuff at the same time. Can you do the same?
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January 29th, 2010
Why Twitter Was Inevitable
Have you listened to the radio recently?
I was on a radio interview with the CBC last week with Jo-Ann Roberts. It reminded me about a lot of stuff I had forgotten about in radio culture– things that are necessary because of channel-surfing that goes on with most listeners.
One of those things is to constantly repeat the thing we’re talking about, what we just discussed, and what we’re about to. It’s an attention-deficit medium, kind of like a Rocket Robin Hood episode. Listenens need to be reminded because we’re not really paying attention in the first place, or we weren’t there. Impatience is adapted to rather than penalized.
This is sound bite culture. You know this already.
Soundbites are the foundation of our media. We cut up, dissect, and put together short bits of information to support our biases and keep viewers. We design segments around these ways of speaking. This process destroys original context and places information into new (and convenient) contexts– or removes them entirely. The best piece of information is the one that’s easily digestible, uses simple language, and is massively spreadable.
The tweet is the apex of sound bite culture.
- It requires no context;
- it spreads faster and with little friction; and
- it’s easily inserted in any environment.
It is the absolute and perfect acceptance of a culture with as many channels as individuals. Too much to pay attention to? Reduce the information to its barest possible form, removing all filler to increase how much you can absorb. Natural, right?
This isn’t to say that it’s bad, but it does mean that in a world where Twitter is the easiest mechanism of propagation, ideas have to be designed with a simplicity that even previous media would have been uncomfortable with.
The question is whether this attribute will make other media wither away and die. If I can get my news piece in 140, do I need the whole article? I think most people, for most articles, will say no.
After all, no commercials, no filler… why would I ever pay attention to anything else?
Also of interest: Automatic Twitter friend adder… awesome :P
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January 28th, 2010
Great books this month
Guys, I normally don’t do this kind of thing, but Escape From Cubicle Nation is amazing.
I just met Pam Slim this week. We were getting awards for our books at the 800 CEO READ awards and as a result, we ended up trading books. I just finished reading hers and it’s so great. You know I’m not impressed by anything (ever), so I don’t say this lightly.
Seriously, for anyone considering starting a business, the book is full of information, supremely useful, but also written in an very clever, personable style. I banged it out in 3 days– just finished today. I want to pass it to so many people I know but I only have one copy. Seriously, I almost wish that I had written this book myself.
So far this month I’d say this book and Dan Pink’s Drive are my top reads. Go check that one out too.
Hope you guys are still on track with your reading a book a week! Remember, it’s never too late to start.
Also of interest: Hungry for a month
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January 27th, 2010
It Isn’t Perfect– Oh Well
I’m reading this amazing blog right now called Marshall and Me.
It’s Michael Hinton, a guy I met a few months ago, writing a post every day about something or other that Marshall McLuhan wrote. He’s doing 300 posts. (I love projects that have finite endings. Rules For My Unborn Son is another.)
Anyway, it’s interesting how McLuhan seems to have all these ideas he’s toying with at all times– and he’ll talk about stuff before it’s in its finite final form, fiddling with the idea until he finds the best way to talk about it. Here he is talking about “the medium is the message” before he figured out that exact phrasing.
This process of putting something out early and then reiterating until it’s perfect is really commendable. It’s how great software is made. It’s how the best ideas develop.
I do this sometimes on my blog– write stuff out in different forms until I’m really happy with it. You should try it. Even if the thought isn’t perfect, publish anyway, you know?
Companies on the other hand apparently need to be perfect. Like Apple’s thing today (do I even need to link to it), a release must be a perfect thing. Great timing, great device, everything, or the stock price dips.
But there’s a big difference between being perfect and having to bow to everyone’s expectations… isn’t there. ;)
Also of interest: Being the Tortoise
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January 26th, 2010
3 tips to get past your blocks
Do, or do not– you know how it goes.
Right now, it’s 9am. I just finished my Crossfit workout for the day. A few months ago, I did not work out at 9 in the morning. Not a chance. But today I was diligently up at 6:45 because my New York trip prevents me from going at my usual 5pm workout time. And I had to go.
Ask the guys in Victoria on my recent trip down there what my priority was, and they’ll tell you that it was to find a local place to work out before I did my Third Tuesday talk that night. How the hell this happened to me, I can’t say. But the impact is massive.
Ask me if I ever press the snooze button anymore, or if I avoid stuff on my task list– I don’t. It’s crazy. Something has clicked.
Yeah, something has happened to me during the past few months that has transformed how I make decisions. As a result, I believe willpower can be built, that introverts can be changed to extroverts, and procrastinators can be turned into GTD maniacs. Here’s the difference between the two.
1. Stop believing your own bullshit.
The bullshit is the internal dialogue that says “I’ll do this tomorrow” or “I’m too busy.” So let’s make it really simple for ourselves, ok? There is only one thing that isn’t a round-about, convoluted way to say “no.”
It’s to unequivocally say “yes.”
Everything else besides straight-up “Yes I will” is bullshit that eventually lead to “no.” You already know this. If you’re not doing something that needs to get done, it’s because you believe your absurd inner dialogue that thinks that your excuses are valid. But they never are.
2. Develop a willpower practice.
Daily meditation, Crossfit, and many other things have worked for me. You need activities that will push you past the point of discomfort, pain, and fear, and will force you to keep going, even when your mind is screaming to stop. Social pressure helps a lot for this; you can’t just get up and stop meditating if there’s like 5 people around you that will see you leave.
At first, this social pressure is what will actually force you to push past your limits, which is what helps you do it yourself. But you need training, and I’m not sure you can do it alone. So start doing things you feel are uncomfortable– in groups.
3. Create preset if-then responses.
You know what your blocks are, so while you aren’t going through them, you need to program yourself– that’s right, you heard me.
You must submit to something greater than yourself– the schedule if you want, or your past self, but whatever method you use: your procrastination has to be recognized as such and you submit yourself to a pre-conditioned auto-response that begins “it doesn’t matter what I think now, because…”
This is the same as “when I feel the urge for a cigarette, I will eat a carrot stick” but applied to your entire life. Most of your procrastination is habitual, so you need to force your brain out of its usual patterns by creating new ones. Then, when you see yourself breaking into your usual thing, force your new pattern on yourself. Eventually, the new pattern will be stronger.
Conclusion
Whomever you are, no matter how amazing you think you may be, the potential you is a lot better than the current you. But you have to get out of your rut first.
GO.
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