The great thing about being curious, and happy to deal with ambiguity? You have plenty of things to talk about, plenty of questions to ask, plenty of perspective. My guess is that there is never a dull moment when you … Continue reading Prosper In The Future Of Work: CHIEF Conversation Starter #14Actions
We have so many stories to tell. And stories sell. A slight problem is that there is more information created every two months than in the previous history of the universe. FACT.
So, every story has a little competition on its hands. What to do? Well, when you are dealing with pain and guts and glory then a tearful, heart-wrenching stream of consciousness will probably do the trick.
But what about when the topic is teaching the process for submitting your expenses, or sharing your company’s three strategic pillars, or understanding why return on invested capital is critical for the long term success of the company?
A little bit of work is required, a bit of prep. How to unlock the power? How to galvanize the troops to follow you into spreadsheet battle? How to cut through the clutter?
Recently I wrote a few posts about how to start out on the personal branding journey, after a late night conversation with a (successful) friend who wanted others to ‘get him’ more. It goes roughly like this: Reflect on who you are (Subtley) Insert outcomes of above into your daily conversations Get lucky No rocket science, just a little applied thinking. Well, turns out it works. The same friend let me know that he had been letting others know how he shows up and where he adds most value and what he is really good at. He had a few phrases he … Continue reading “This Is Who I Am” Lets Others Say “This Is Who You Are.”
I sat down at the table the other night and laid out 20 post-it notes, and wrote 20 hashtags on them, and felt much better. I moved some of the notes around to test out the flow. I need to do it a bit more before finalizing the content. I am working concurrently on the background images, all from my iPhone. As I take my work in a more personal direction, I have moved away from Google searches and toward using real-time, local content. Mostly, the images are colour commentary, not the detail. The Hashtags guide the conversation. I need to … Continue reading #PKyvr33 Day 12: Post-It Notes Make Life Easy
This is a real surprise. I think we have been educated to believe that those that share, know. They are the teachers, the experts. Their share is a broadcast to the unwashed, the unknowing. Ha! Not so. I have learned that as I share, I learn! Sharing today is much more about conversation and co-creation than it used to be. Little now is fully formed before others get to see it and start to add to it. This working out loud, in perpetual beta, is our beta gift to the world, and the world returns the favour by driving the … Continue reading #unSquirrel Manifesto 8: As I Share, I Learn
Your personal brand begins with reflection. You sense ideas of your brilliance. Now, you need to make them come alive. If you are an “analytical” accountant, well, so is every other accountant. So exactly what was your process or insight that allowed you to do that great work? Dig around for words, dig around for stories, especially. Share those stories. Others may not remember your direct strengths, but they will relay a good story about you. These stories are data points. They weave together to build your narrative, and as John Hagel so eloquently explains, your personal narrative is never finished, … Continue reading Personal Branding: Solidify Through Stories
The incomparable Miranda July ran one of her weird and wonderful art projects last year where she asked some renowned people to share some of their email correspondence with the world on various topics, under the moniker We Think Alone. One week, the topic was I love you. Here’s what Etgar Keret had to share, on the subject of Asthma Attacks, magically: When an asthmatic says “I love you,” and when an asthmatic says “I love you madly,” there’s a difference. The difference of a word. A word’s a lot. It could be “stop,” or “inhaler.” It could be “ambulance.” … Continue reading For Asthmatics, Every. Word. Counts.
This excellent WIRED article is worth revisiting again (yesterday, because it highlighted how 90% of everything is crap.) Enabling an audience, as the internet does for free, with zero barriers to entry, makes us work harder to provide value. When our work is stuck on a hard drive, or scribbled in a journal / notebook, it can languish, unloved, badly crafted. When, instead, we work out loud and share, we work darn hard to ensure there is tangible value to be gleaned from the content. Working out loud makes us better – all of us. As I have written before, … Continue reading “Social” Is Good For Us: It Raises The Bar
I could, if I wanted, have a few hundred / thousand twitter followers. I do not need to explain how to do that, it is a simple process of mathematics for most of us. It starts with following many. But I do not. And this is why: “You are my idea of a good writer because you have an unmannered style, and when I read what you write, I hear you talking.” – Isaac Asimov to Carl Sagan ←This Much We Know.→ Continue reading Why I Follow So Few People On Twitter
I was reading a Yammer community social stream today on the topic of ‘working out loud,’ something I have engaged with at work (via yammer) and in this blog. A theme within that circulated throughout the hour long discussion was the power of curiosity. Working out loud allows the curious to participate with you. And, contrary to some opinion that ‘broadcasting’ your own stuff is self-centred / showing off, those that share are also curious – because they are inviting that feedback / co-creation. They want to learn and to grow. Someone commented in the stream: “The best cure for … Continue reading Working Out Loud Makes EVERYONE Curious(er)
Once, many, many years ago, aged 13 or so, I was called out as High Potential (Hi-Po) at my local school. I was put in some kind of brainiac class and given challenging mental gymnastics to solve. I am not sure for what end the class was conceived. I remember enjoying it, but probably its main outcome was that I thought I was more special than I was. It took a few years for the arrogance to wear off – when I flunked my A level exams aged 18 and, instead of going to Cambridge to prepare myself for running … Continue reading “Everybody” Is The New “High Potential”
The future of work demands an embrace of flow. I have defined flow before as “part stepping forward (‘engendering an approach’) and part moving where the network suggests, pulsing through the wirearchy.” [John Hagel is a go-to resource for more in-depth … Continue reading “Share” Is The New “Save.”
This Much We Know 