Quick notes to help you grow your business in less time with less effort. . . sometime next week.
In this issue:
- Thoughts on Prioritization
- Being Human
- Random Stuff
Thoughts on Prioritization
- Management is tough. There are a lot of competing priorities demanding attention. Help your managers. Ask them to talk about how they prioritize. You'll both learn a lot.
- In complex businesses, everything is a competing priority. It's easy to get lost. Focus on the outcome and decide what you need "more of," or "less of" to stay on track.
- Prioritize, prepare, and personalize. That's a marketer's checklist for finding new opportunities with an audience. To get going, figure out who to talk to first.
- Help your managers get more done by scheduling their day around just a few priorities. They can't do everything on their list, so get one thing done, respond to the craziness that comes up, and move on with a sense of accomplishment.
Being Human - Speed
“The most important lesson I learned...was that the winner of a gunplay usually was the one who took his time." – Wyatt Earp
I was lucky to have a quick visit with a dean of a local college. She runs the Information Science and Technology school. Her department has a new business offering AI consulting. The professors are the main draw for hiring them, but by helping the professors, the students get to work on real-world problems.
As you'd expect, she asks if I am using any AI tools and I say yes. She then asks what I'm finding to be the most surprising thing, and I tell her about the shift of work. The tools don't seem to save time. They shift where my time is spent.
It reminds me of work I did with a law firm over a decade ago, helping ambitious associates be more effective at business development. In one meeting, one of the partners lectured these newer associates not to respond to questions so quickly. He said something like, "when you respond right away, it makes me think you didn't put any thought into it." After letting that set in, he followed up, saying, "And after I read your responses, I know you aren't putting thought into it."
Fast-forward to today, and our technology tools let us respond faster than ever. Like my veteran lawyer noted 10 years ago, speed makes it feel less than thoughtful. Especially with important questions. The faster the response, the more thoughtless it feels. And, like the lawyer also noted, when you read the quick responses carefully, it confirms your first impression.
The tools will get better. Like all tools, however, their usefulness will depend on the experience and thoughtfulness of the person using them. While these AI tools are in their infancy, I'm investing extra time being critical of their output. It won't save time today, but it will increase my effectiveness in the near future.
Random Stuff
"I struggle with laziness. I’m like, 'Should I sit down and do nothing or lie down and do nothing?" – Jim Gaffigan
My niece is getting married in just over a month. She's one of my godchildren, and it's for her that I've been mixing books about religion into my reading materials. Just in case. Gotta be ready.
Attending a recent funeral, I put on my dark suit. My only dark suit. It didn't fit. I had to blue-blazer it to the funeral.
I plan on wearing this dark suit to my niece's wedding. Ideally, wearing it without living in fear of ripping seams when I go to the bar. I need to drop some poundage. Not sure what happened. The suit fit the last time I wore it. "Which wasn't that long ago," I said to the dog, wiping cake crumbs from my mouth.
We were gifted a picture frame connected to the internet, and I've loaded it up with photos going back to around 2000. (anything before then hasn't been digitized) Each time I walk through the kitchen, I peek at the photos. Lots of photographic evidence showing how my weight has fluctuated over the years. I go up, I go down, I go up. This isn't new.
"I can do this," I said to Wilson the ABC. We stare at each other for a minute. He sighs. That's when I notice the next picture in the frame. It's a wedding. A fatter me. A different dark blue suit. Huh.
I wonder if that suit is in the back of the closet somewhere?
The shoulders are a bit wide, the lapels too. But maybe that's back in style? I find it. Still in its dry-cleaning plastic! I slip the coat on. Holy geez! I was a real porker the day I bought that one! It fits perfect. (In the picture it looked a little, um, tight.)
Whatever. I'm covered. I walk back past the picture frame, grab a handful of chips and wink at Wilson. "Dog, no matter what, in a few weeks your old man is going to be suited up and ready to talk 'bout Jesus." He drops his head with a thud, and sighs.
