Monday, August 19, 2019

Time to Reflect

I recently too a week off.  Like the photo - a time to reflect.  I run my life fast and hard - meetings from early morning to late evening.  I worry that this creates a short term view.  My greatest value is thinking strategically and long term.

Or as Stephen Covey says - "sharpen the saw".  Take some time to sharpen the saw.

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Since I was on holidays I allowed myself to read a "pleasure book" by a friend - Sue Williams - "Ready to Come About".  It was  a captivating true story of her and her husband, Dave, sailing the ocean alone.

Yes - it was an adventure of sailing, near death, cold, equipment failure, self reliance but what made it interesting is it was the story of personal development.  Her personal story woven through the adventure.

Because I know Dave and Sue well, it made the story even more interesting.  Dave is an conservative accountant and Sue is a non-adventurer (by her own account).  They were an improbable couple to do such a journey.

I really enjoyed it.

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I recently read an article on flywheels.  https://futureblind.com/2019/08/03/advantage-flywheels/ 

For many businesses or business problems, this is a great way of looking at things.

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Unrelated.  There is a simple and great concept - checklists.  A book on the topic talks about how they can save lives in a hospital setting.  They are good for less life and death situations also.

Wednesday, August 07, 2019

Jim's 3 Second Rule of Marketing

I get a lot of email.  And I think the digital world has shortened my attention span.  I lack tolerance for long emails - especially if someone is trying to sell to me.  So I recommend a 3 second rule.  If a marketing email cannot be read in 3 seconds, it is too long.

In 2009, I wrote a guest blog for my friend Hilary Topper praising short succinct writing.  I still stand my those thoughts.

So that is my 3 second blog for today.

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Ok - tough to stop at just 3 seconds.  As a leader, I think lack of attention span and focus and be detrimental.  The biggest impact a leader can have is by spending long, high focus periods on high priority tasks.

If we flit too much and do not go deep, we can never add our greatest value.