The Brand Follows The Work. YES.

July 2, 2013 ThisMuchWeKnow

The always excellent Nilofer Merchant has a great piece in HBR this week on getting the right focus about your personal brand. She argues that brand-as-marketing misses the point. Your brand should be the essence of what you offer. The brand follows the work. It should answer these two questions: What is it you care about? How will you find and work with allies? Agreed. At TMWK, we say your personal brand is a calling card that says: “Let me show you what I can do.” “I am part of the solution. I can help. Let’s talk.” [In times of flux], … Continue reading The Brand Follows The Work. YES.

The Future of Work1 Comment

No More Jobs. Just Stints. It Stinks.

June 28, 2013June 27, 2013 ThisMuchWeKnow

When I grow up I want to be a futurist. That is the coolest job, ever. However, according to one such futurist, Glen Hiemstra (via this Fast Company webcast) and channeling Peter Drucker, such a job will not be available to me, it will be one stint* among many. No more jobs. Instead, a stint here, a stint there. Stints everywhere! But hold on! Stint as verb means: “Supply an ungenerous or inadequate amount of (something).” Hmmm. I smell something fishy in the world of work, and it isn’t stint frisch… *AKA ‘gig’ ←This Much We Know.→ Continue reading No More Jobs. Just Stints. It Stinks.

The Curious Will Inherit The World, The Future of WorkLeave a comment

Innovation Via Disruption And Disagreeableness

June 27, 2013June 24, 2013 ThisMuchWeKnow

Great short video from the inestimable Malcolm Gladwell on some requirements for innovation and entrepreneurship. http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/newswire/2013/video–successful-innovation-via-disruption.html I was struck by the unusual combination of very different attributes, noted by Gladwell, required for success: creativity – willingness to experiment conscientiousness – follow-through on goals disagreeableness – don’t care about approval Disagreeableness I often reframe around creative tension – it seems a good way to drive forward, at the edge, with positive intent. I know many people with one, or two, of these attributes. It is a rare combination to find all three in one person, hence, perhaps, the acclaim successful innovators … Continue reading Innovation Via Disruption And Disagreeableness

The Curious Will Inherit The World, The Future of WorkLeave a comment

What Makes An Effective Knowledge Worker? (Gurteen Knowledge)

June 25, 2013June 24, 2013 ThisMuchWeKnow

Do you sit at a desk most days doing brainiac work? Consider yourself a knowledge worker? Well, here a simple test: check off as many knowledge worker attributes as you can on this list of 38 from David Gurteen @ (via Thierry deBaillon) A delightfully simple yet profound moment of reflection. What makes an effective knowledge worker? (Gurteen Knowledge). connect people with people connect people with ideas are good networkers do not follow the rules have strong communication skills like people feel good about themselves motivate others are catalysts ask for help demonstrate integrity are self reliant open to share are … Continue reading What Makes An Effective Knowledge Worker? (Gurteen Knowledge)

Personal Branding, The Curious Will Inherit The World, The Future of Work1 Comment

Sometimes, I Am A Mad, Drunk Uncle At A Wedding

June 24, 2013September 3, 2014 ThisMuchWeKnow

Sometimes, you just gotta shake it out. Shoot from the hip. Shout from the rooftops. Tell everyone: I LOVE you, no I MEAN it, I fuckin’ love yer. Sometimes. At work, perhaps not so much. However, there is that role … Continue reading Sometimes, I Am A Mad, Drunk Uncle At A Wedding

Personal Branding, The Future of WorkLeave a comment

We Are Intrapreneurs!

June 23, 2013June 18, 2013 ThisMuchWeKnow

I wrote elsewhere recently about acclaiming myself as an intrapreneur. I even put it on my LinkedIn profile, finally. Doing so was more fraught than I had thought when I first decided to use the moniker after a few glasses of wine with colleagues in Norway. Perhaps revealingly then, my little list of ways in which I (want to) show up has the word Intrapreneurs written very softly. Either that, or that word only had peculiarly faded in the sun. Explanations of the other ways I show up (minus mad drunk uncle at wedding. That’s for tomorrow.) The Dept. of … Continue reading We Are Intrapreneurs!

Story + Narrative, The Curious Will Inherit The WorldLeave a comment

Mature At Last!

June 22, 2013June 18, 2013 ThisMuchWeKnow

When I reached the grand old age of 42 last year, I declared I had the answers to Life, The Universe, and Everything, after the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams. You will recall that The Answer (to The Question) is 42. However, I must now question this assumption, as this article in the Telegraph supposes that men only reach maturity at the age of 43. Clearly, I could not have known the Answer in such a state of (adolescent?) immaturity. Perhaps, though, today I do. ←This Much We (maybe) Know.→ Continue reading Mature At Last!

Personal Branding, Story + Narrative1 Comment

“Yes. And…”

June 20, 2013June 18, 2013 ThisMuchWeKnow

We are looking at ways to describe how one ‘shows up.’ For me, firstly, the Dept. of Why. Then, “Can we fix it?” Now, say “Yes. And…” Yeah but no but yeah but no… All black hat thinkers go into combat with this barb at hand: “Yes, but…” It implies listening skills (“yes”) + intellectual rigour (“but…”), but usually indicates a boorish belief in one’s own importance. I should know. I can be very black hat…and… Language is important. By simply dropping the word “but” (or at least actively managing it) a whole new conversational interface is created. As my note … Continue reading “Yes. And…”

Personal Branding, The Curious Will Inherit The World, The Future of WorkLeave a comment

“Can We Fix It?”

June 19, 2013September 20, 2013 ThisMuchWeKnow

We are talking about how we ‘show up‘ at work. <Part I: The Dept. of Why?> Advances in neuroscience in the last 20 years have taught us more about the brain than the previous 500 years. Every leader, organizational effectiveness professional, change agent should be reading about the brain and how it makes us who we are. It also gives us insight into how we can change, if we so desire. “Can we fix it? Yes, we can!” Can we fix it? is a perfect example. It is a simple neurological practice. The basis is this.* One test group of … Continue reading “Can We Fix It?”