Up Market |
- If You Don’t Know Where You’re Going, Any Road Will Take You There
- Why Reading Fiction is Good Business
- Get Your Offer Just Right So People Will Actually Buy
- Why Your Brain is a Liar and How That’s Hurting Your Business
| If You Don’t Know Where You’re Going, Any Road Will Take You There Posted: 24 Feb 2012 08:30 AM PST
Thank you so much for writing this column! I’m definitely a Fantastical – that bit about disappearing into an idea for hours on end describes me perfectly. But I don’t really see that as an asset – there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to what I choose to immerse myself in, and I rarely come back to the same idea twice. How can I channel my ability to dig deep into an idea and use it to actually finish some of what I start? Ten Thousand Directions Dear Ten Thousand, Oh my God, do I feel your pain. You, my friend, are a very special person in that you don’t have one or two passions and the odd hobby, but multiple passions spread across the board. History has called you everything from a polymath to a Jack of all Trades. Society currently looks down on you for not being able to “just pick something.” And you feel intense confusion and frustration because, as much as you’d like to, there’s just too much out there that’s interesting for you to rule anything out! I’m a polymath as well, and we’re in good company – Da Vinci, Franklin, Edison and Jefferson, among hundreds of others. Personally, I believe polymaths are going to save humanity from itself, but that’s somewhat beside the point. How do you, as a Fantastical and a polymath, get anything done? I won’t say that it’s easy, but it is possible. First, look for umbrellas. In this usage, an umbrella is an overarching theme or subject that can cover some of your interests or projects. Do you feel comfortable saying that your interests in ecology and bird watching fall under a general nature theme? That’s an umbrella. Go through your current list of ideas and projects and sort out umbrellas for each of them. Note down any upcoming deadlines, and then think through the next week or so. Instead of thinking about items that need to be checked off a to-do list, think in terms of having the opportunity to explore a given umbrella for a day or two before you move on to the next one. Second, identify or create a group of people with whom you can discuss your ideas. There are two purposes for this. One, the group discussion will serve to allow your half-baked ideas to interact with other half baked ideas to become more coherent. And two, it gives you a group of people you trust who can take some of those ideas and run with them. Polymaths can be amazingly productive when they find something to run with, but we’re not super human and we can’t act on every idea we have. Letting someone else take them relieves the pressure on you to act upon them yourself. And third, give yourself permission to record new ideas when they occur to you. Keep a notebook where you can write them down and flesh them out, then promise to come back to them later. And then keep that promise. Do some research in your down time. As you finish one project, rotate another into its place. Your mind is always going to come up with an excess of things for you to do, and you need to strike a balance between the variety that you crave as a Fantastical and the personal need (and societal pressure) to see your projects to completion. Everyone has a different balance. Some people prefer to be in the 3-4 project range, and others keep it up around 5, 6 or even 7. Do some experimenting and see what’s right for you. Good luck! Kirsten Got a productivity question? Send it to Kirsten!  |
| Why Reading Fiction is Good Business Posted: 24 Feb 2012 05:30 AM PST
According to research published in Scientific American, reading short stories and novels can enhance your social skills by providing insight into human emotions and situations. The imaginary scenarios can also help you better understand another person's point of view, make you more open to new situations and more socially aware. "The ability to interpret and respond to those different from us—colleagues, employees, bosses, customers and clients—is plainly critical to success, particularly in a globalized economy. The imperative to try to understand others’ points of view—to be empathetic—is essential in any collaborative enterprise," writes Anne Kreamer in a Harvard Business Review blog post. So, how is it exactly that fiction holds this power? By monitoring readers' brain activity, neuroscientists have seen that the act ignites neuronal pathways in the brain that correspond with what the reader is reading. For example, in one study, researchers detected increased activity in the part of the brain responsible for goal setting (the pre-frontal cortex) when participants read about characters setting goals. In another study, researchers asked 94 subjects to predict people's emotional states based on photographs of their eyes. Researchers at Toronto's York University wrote, “The more fiction people [had] read, the better they were at perceiving emotion in the eyes, and…correctly interpreting social cues." (You can take the test here.) Scientists have also shown a link between heightened emotional intelligence and better business outcomes. When Peter Salovey, psychology professor at Yale University, looked at correlations between emotional intelligence and salary at a health industry company, he found that people whose peers had rated them highest in emotional intelligence had received the largest raises. They also received more frequent promotions. That leaves one final question….What's on your reading list? Photo Credit: Photo Munki  |
| Get Your Offer Just Right So People Will Actually Buy Posted: 23 Feb 2012 05:00 PM PST
What?! I know that's blasphemy right? It's true. Your offer is more important than the product you create because if people don't know what pain you solve no one is going to care. Seriously no one cares. You may have created the most amazing drug that is 1,000 times better than Advil, but if people don't know about it they can't tell their friends about how amazing it truly is. That's why starting a new business is so hard. People don't like change until you compel them to understand that changing this one thing will make their life better. They don't want to figure out how to deal with an unknown. That is unless you can get your offer just right so they can't refuse trying out your product. Now your product better live up to your offer or your company is toast. That's just common sense. Pain Points Jason Fried, co-founder of 37signals, created the company’s core product Basecamp because it needed a collaboration tool to help them work on projects with different teams. They had people spread throughout the country and needed an easy way to make sure everyone understood what was completed and what wasn't. They focused on collaboration instead of spreadsheets. This one product launched their software business and turned them into a million-dollar company. Selling it was easy because they knew exactly where people's pain points were and how to craft the offer around these pain points. Here is a blurb from the Basecamp landing page: "For years project management software was about charts, graphs, and stats. And you know what? It didn't work. Pictures and numbers don't get projects done. Basecamp tackles project management from an entirely different angle: A focus on communication and collaboration. Basecamp brings people together." They explain what didn't work, what really does work and why you should buy this product. All in one paragraph. They probably couldn't craft this smooth offer in the beginning either, but once they put their product out there they knew who to go after and why they needed Basecamp. That's all you need. Crafting Your Offer Your offer won't be "just right" in the beginning. That's ok, but as long as you are solving a pain point you'll figure out what offers work best by testing them out. You'll start to see a pattern. I promise. Just listen to your core values and ask yourself "Why did I create this product?" or if you are service focused, "Why do I do this?" When you understand your "why" it becomes so much easier to put your offer out in the world and expect people to connect with it. People buy from people. When you can explain why you love what you do people will get on board with your offer. I promise. Photo Credit: 1hr photo  |
| Why Your Brain is a Liar and How That’s Hurting Your Business Posted: 23 Feb 2012 01:30 PM PST
Ironically, our brains are just as guilty. We're always looking to short-circuit the thinking process. Sometimes this is good. If your house is on fire, you don't want to spend a lot of time debating whether flames are dangerous, and if they are dangerous, what's the best strategy. You want action, not deliberation. But these short circuits can have harmful consequences, as anyone familiar with being unfairly judged or experiencing racism can attest. These judgments are the psychological basis for stereotypes. Of course there are other ways our brains try to Photoshop reality:
If our brains can't be trusted, what's the answer? The solution is as easy as knowing about these biases. That's all you need to break their hold. As influential as they are, as powerful as they can be, just being aware of the tricks your mind plays is enough to break the illusion. If you're a hiring manager, ask yourself (repeatedly), "does this person have the skills for the job?" or "how did they respond to my last question?" Each time you do, pause to think through your answer. Each time you force yourself to make an accurate judgment you break hold of the bias your brain wants to force on you. You can do the same thing with regret: by realizing that good decisions are grounded in other things besides avoiding regret (such as adventure, creativity, meaning, service etc…) Just like in a magician's act, when you know the illusion, it's broken. This is what makes psychology so interesting. We're all influenced by our brains more than we're ever aware. And yet, simply realizing that, changes the game. Don't let your brain call the shots and ruin your business. Go out there and challenge your assumptions. You might just be surprised at what's influencing your choices! Photo Credit: familymwr  |
What was the last really good novel you read — one that kept you turning pages even when other responsibilities beckoned? If you felt guilty for reading it, instead of checking your inbox or writing up that one last report, don't.
Your offer is more important than the product itself.
The world we live in is an illusion. I'm not talking about some philosophical or New Age belief. I'm talking about Photoshop. Whether it's | You are subscribed to email updates from Upmarket To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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