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Articles filed in: Success
The False Promise Of Shortcuts
The promise of a shortcut is the most powerful marketing tool you can wield. That’s why we see it used so often and effectively. Diet shakes have done little to make a dent in the obesity crisis, and yet they are part of a thriving multi-billion dollar industry. We all know what works is regular and stepwise progress, choosing the salad and putting on our running shoes more often than we reach for the chocolate cake and the TV remote.
And so it goes for whatever we’re endeavouring to do.
It’s not just what you do that counts, but the way you choose to do it. When in doubt take the stairs.
Image by Philippe Woolgar
You Don’t Need To Compete When You Know Who You Are
filed in Marketing, Strategy, Success
Before globalisation, marketing, hair straighteners and the bullworker, our tribal ancestors and village businesses stood out by excelling at their craft. They became known for doing the thing other people in the village couldn’t or wouldn’t do. They were beloved for the way they went about their work. Not much has changed about how loyalty is earned, and a brand is built—except for our ideas about how to get noticed and gain traction. Now we look for the magic formula. We try to stand out by doing a little of what everyone else is doing.
The irony is, the people we admire and the brands we aspire to emulate, gain our respect because they are original. Mimicry is futile. You stand out by understanding what makes you unique—not what gets you noticed. Taking a stand that only you can take is underrated.
You don’t need to compete when you know who you are.
Image by Scooter Loweriemore
The Rise Of The Interested
filed in Marketing, Strategy, Success
It doesn’t seem that long ago since a customer would get personal service at a drapery shop even if she was only buying four buttons for the baby cardigan she’d made. A real conversation ensued and colours were carefully matched. By the time money changed hands the assistant knew who the cardigan was for, when the baby was due and how many grandchildren the customer had. In the past, most companies gathered information because they were interested in helping, so they could serve us better. Now we immediately ask for the customer’s email address, we collect data, not out of interest, but often just to leverage it. We’ve allowed efficiency to suck the joy from our work.
Our obsession with optimisation and squeezing the most out of every interaction has led us down the path of knowing the facts, without caring about the stories and the people behind them. I think we’re beginning to realise our mistake. We’re often surprised by what we learn when we express a genuine interest in people. No work was ever worsened because it was carried out with empathy.
Image by Andrew
Navigating Opportunity
Have you noticed how different the world feels when you set out on a familiar journey but leave five minutes earlier? You experience things you’d ordinarily miss. You become aware of the subtle change in the light or weight of the clouds. The traffic moves easily through green lights, and the birdsong is louder. You see the tall guy in a blue suit walking his Alsatian before heading to work. Pass the homeless people who haven’t yet tidied themselves away. Cross paths with delivery men arriving at closed cafes, laden with fresh vegetables or warm croissants. People seem unhurried. Their cadence altered by the change in the city’s rhythm.
You’re in the same place, walking the same route and yet the terrain seems entirely new.
It’s possible to view opportunity through a similar lens. When you think you’ve hit a wall on your journey, it may not be time to take an alternative path. Maybe you just need to find a different way to navigate it?
Image by Jes
The Link Between Actions And Outcomes
When we set a goal to achieve a particular outcome, we zoom out to consider the big picture. And while a result is dependent on knowing what we’re aiming for, it also requires us to do the things that give us the best chance of accomplishing it. A successful attempt to get fit doesn’t hinge on joining the gym or buying the running shoes. It depends on us setting the alarm and doing up the laces.
What are the three smallest steps you can take today, and every day to get you to where you want to go? Start there—then do up your laces.
Image by Stefano Coroso
Gaining The Advantage
filed in Storytelling, Strategy, Success
This week you answered a customer query and solved her problem. You responded to every email, tweaked your resume and made your case well in the last meeting. You ticked off the things on your to-do list, had a look at your numbers and made solid plans for the weeks ahead. And that’s exactly what your competitors did too.
We spend a lot of our time doing the busy work of trying to gain an advantage in an attempt to compete and win. It turns out that the most sustainable path to significance is to do the things that the competition would never dream of doing—the things that only you would do.
You don’t need to compete when you know who you are.
Image by chat des Balkans
In Praise Of Curiosity
Not so long ago conversations with strangers just happened anywhere and everywhere. This was especially true in Dublin where I grew up. It was not unusual for someone you’d never met to practically tell you their life story while you were standing waiting for the 16A bus into the city. Showing an interest in other people, or being what some people might call, ‘nosy’ was part of our Irish DNA. That’s certainly changed the world over.
I’ll never forget the story author, Maeve Binchy once told during an interview, when she was asked where she got her ideas from and why her dialogue so good. She was sitting on a bus one day and overheard a conversation between two friends who were heading into town. One was planning to buy a 25th wedding anniversary card for her parents. “That’s nice.” her friend said. The couple’s daughter made a face. “Not at all, they have a terrible marriage,” she said. “But you know, the worse the marriage, the bigger the card.”
That conversation inspired Binchy to write her bestselling book, Silver Wedding.
Today, eyes down, earbuds in, thumbs scrolling, we are the losers. Our capacity to be interested is diminishing, as a result of our obsession with being interesting. We don’t know what we’re missing.
Image by Toshihiro Gamo
Perfect Ten
When we think of our work or products and services, we imagine the perfect ten version of them. The days without a wrinkle, when we are in the zone, and everything is running like clockwork.
Striving for ten while knowing it’s rarely achievable is not easy. The ability to live that paradox is how we make progress and create change—by the millimetre. Showing up to do our best, even when we wish it were better.
Image by Andrea Passoni
The Art Of Differentiation
filed in Storytelling, Success
We, humans, have always been good at noticing what’s compelling about others. Our species’ survival has depended on our ability to recognise strengths and weed out weaknesses. Today, that skill leads us down the road of unhealthy comparison. We have no trouble rattling off the positive attributes of a colleague, competitor or even the guy working out next to us at the gym. And yet we struggle to be as generous about our own.
It’s fine for Roger Federer to study a competitor’s gameplay before they go head-to-head because he needs to respond tactically in the moment. But the majority of Federer’s winning shots come from understanding his strengths and working on what he does well. Becoming more of who he is gets him over the line.
It’s doubtful that comparing yourself or your work to someones else’s will get you to where you want to go. Whether as an individual or a brand—you can’t own your unique identity if you’re spending the majority of your time looking over your shoulder. Differentiation happens when you authentically amplify the best of you. Not by finding ways to be a version of the competition, but by discovering how to be more of who you are. That’s where your search for clarity needs to begin.
Image by Marianne Bevis
A Thousand Times
The young mother explains the dangers of running across the road to her toddler for what seems like the thousandth time. The Japanese furniture maker begins sanding the chair his customer in Sydney ordered six months ago. The app developer reads every review of his beta looking for ways to make it better. The barista pulls his thousandth shot of the week as it if were his first.
What do you care enough about to do it for the thousandth time?
This is my 1000th blog post. Thank you a thousand times for giving me a reason to write.
Image by Jonathan Grado