Each year we ask you what books have inspired you, or that you have given to others. Then we take your answers, plus add a few of our own and turn them into our annual list. We hope it proves useful.
Well-being.
Business should be like a great brief.
It should invite a sense of wonder. A sense of curiosity. A sense of unknowing.
It should not try to create magic, but rather focus on creating the conditions for magic to happen.
The unknowing is the magic.
Alas.
Business is a broken promise.
We have capped imagination and with that possibility.
We are intoxicated with algorithms, predictive outcomes and an insatiable desire to pre-empt every creative thought with “how do you measure it?”
BTW. Data is not the meta thought. It is a tool.
I was once asked by a CFO how…
Write Your Company Into Growth.
We’ve just launch a new version of this wildly successful LIVE course.
It was so well received by attendees we only change one word of it. Recorded.
You couldn’t make this up.
So we didn’t.
(Not that we would.)
What follows are un-retouched testimonials from attendees of the Keyboard CEO Course: Now available online.
Words fail us.
(For once.)
This was inspired by listening to Greg Bunch on a morning rant.
- The barrier is a gift.
- Be grateful when it appears.
- It will make you think different.
- Don’t worry about a lack of money.
- Worry about a lack of ideas.
- Don’t worry about a lack of resources.
- Worry about the lack of resourcefulness.
- Brave ideas cost less than average ones.
- Don’t be average.
- Prototype fast.
- Validate before launch.
- Use social media to test.
- Small bets won’t break you.
- Bet often. But small.
- Perfection is the enemy.
- Long deadlines kill urgency.
- Consensus kills creativity.
- David versus Goliath. Remember who wins.
- …
‘Your immune system looks after you.
How do you look after it?’
Our immune system is the most powerful weapon we have in the fight against any virus or even disease.
Most people reach for supplements, but, right now, the shelves are empty.
This list is focused on the available and free. Mostly.
1, Reduce stress.
You’ve read everything. Watched everything. It’s good to be informed. But it’s not good to be stressed. The immune system works less well then.
Take a break from the news.
2, Sleep.
The immune system is low maintenance. Give it 8 hours of sleep…
My online workshop (Email for Growth) is taking more time than I thought. Hence, the lack of Saturday Shares. I guess it shows focus. Anyway, this got my attention while something else is getting my attention.
1, Obsession is natural. But rare.
2, Strategy letter. Ben and Jerry’s vs Amazon.
3, We are all confident idiots.
Word/phrase I looked up this week: Looping header.
4, Why Venture Capital doesn’t do fashion well?
5, Use this tool to find your purpose.
6, 100 tools to help you launch and grow.
1, The local Network effect. Or, learnings from an ant.
3, Love The flywheel. More wisdome from Jim Collins.
4, China. The USA. Two types of capitalism at play. Good read.
5, Entries for Sony’s World photography awards.
6, Might go to this if I can getaway. Web summit. Lisbon.
7, The astrology app now on my phone. Thanks to my eldest daughter.
8, Billie Eilish interview on Howard Stern.
9, 5 ways Patagonia built a ridiculous culture.
10, Shabbat. A day of unplugged rest.
Book bought.
Love a bit of Dave Asprey. Super Human.
…
How do teams win, even when the odds are against them? It is not complex, just hard. There are humans involved.
1, Who you hire will decide everything.
No news here. Move on.
2, How you hire will decide who you hire.
Your hiring framework will decide your success.
It’s essential to know.
You can’t train for:
1. Kindness.
2. Optimism.
3. Integrity.
4. Grit.
5. Curiosity.
6. Work ethic.
7. Care for others.
If you can’t train for it, then you must hire for it.
You can train for.
1, Skills.
2, Capabilities.
3, Process.
4, Technique.
In the…
Last weekend I drove to London so didn’t get time to do this. Anyway, this is is what got my attention last week.
1, Great teams are about personalities, not just skills.
2, Why you hire 51 percenters.
3, Good read. My dad had a ticket to fly anywhere. Then they took it away.
4, JK Rowling on what you need to write.
5, How to have a difficult conversation with a difficult person on your team?
6, 7 ideas you can steal from Lego’s intrapreneur in residence.
