Is there anything more difficult?
Showing up day after day, week after week, sometimes for years, as your movement slowly gains steam, as your organization hits speed bumps, as the news goes from bad to worse…
Showing up, it turns out, is the hardest part of making a difference.
Make a list of the organizations and voices and movements that have made a difference. How old are they? How long have they been at it?
Creating impact, building something of substance, changing the culture… this is the work of a lifetime, not merely a fun project.
It's not easy, but I have a feeling you're up for it. Because it matters.
November 12, 2016
Fill in the missing number:
π, 1, __, 3, 11, 15, 13, 17
Some people, when confronted with an artificial problem like this, simply throw up their hands. It's a trick, it's a waste of time, there's really no value in it.
Some people look for the quick insight, the fact that there's an irrational number, that the string doesn't go on forever, etc. But they usually get stuck.
Some people are only interested in the answer, and are eager to argue that it should be zero, not four, while others would point out that zero isn't necessarily a natural number, and on and on, merely as a way from hiding from the entire point of the lesson.
The real lesson happens once we realize the metaphor that's available to each of us: Things don't need to be artificial to be puzzles. In fact, if you're willing to be disappointed in your search for the right answer, just about every situation is a puzzle, a place where an insight might be found.
Artificial puzzles like this one generally guarantee a right answer exists. The challenge of the natural puzzle is that you eagerly accept that maybe, there's no good solution.
If you don't like the puzzle you've got, pick a different one. We're never going to run out of puzzles.
Our human interactions, the scarcity around us, the opportunities we all have—they're puzzles. They are invitations to find a new way to do something, a beneficial shortcut, a connection in an economy based on connections.
But first, you have to see.
[PS time to start planning for Thanksgiving.]
November 11, 2016
Sometimes, the wind is at our back, the resources are easily acquired and good karma increases our ability to do great work.
Sometimes.
Other times, it feels like we're up against it, that the wind has shifted, that there's not a lot of opportunity or momentum.
It's in those times that, "what are you working on?" becomes a vital question, a lifeline to get us from here to there.
Trainwrecks, tantrums, massive shifts in the way things are and are supposed to be–they make it difficult to concentrate, to plan, to leap…
We each have a platform, access to tools, a change we'd like to make in the world around us. We each have a chance to connect, to see, to lead.
And it's not, at least right now, fun or easy. It might not even seem like you've got a shot, or that the wind is too harsh.
Persist. It matters.
November 10, 2016
When we’re sure it’s not going to work, when we can’t figure out where to turn, when we don’t know what to do next…
Sometimes, our ability to do the best we can in small ways is enough to start moving forward. And when it doesn’t work, we try something else.
Enough small things by enough people coalesce into the next big thing.
November 9, 2016
Care a little more.
Show up.
Embrace possibility.
Tell the truth.
Dive deeper.
Seek the truth behind the story.
Ask the difficult question.
Lend a hand.
Dance with fear.
Play the long game.
Say 'no' to hate.
Look for opportunities, especially when it seems like there aren't any left.
Risk a bigger dream.
Take care of the little guy.
Offer a personal insight.
Build something magical.
Keep your promises.
Do work that matters.
Expect more.
Sign your work.
Be generous for no reason.
Give the benefit of the doubt.
Develop empathy.
Make your mom proud.
Take responsibility.
Give credit.
Play by a better set of rules.
Choose your customers.
Choose your reputation.
Choose your future.
Thank the ref.
Reward patience.
Leap.
Breathe.
Because we can.
It really is up to us. Which is great, because we're capable of changing everything if we choose.
All we can do is all we can do, but maybe, all we can do is enough.
November 8, 2016
This thing you're making…
This day you're spending at work…
This interaction you're having…
Is it merely the next one in a long string of next ones, good enough to get you through?
Or is it special enough to be the last one? The one you're remembered by…
November 7, 2016
The easiest way to win an election is to get the people who might vote for your opponent to not vote.
TV has proven an effective engine behind this strategy, and the growth in voter turnout has slowed since campaigns began running significant TV campaigns 50 years ago. [This year's turnout was the lowest since 2000].
It works because it's not that difficult to talk someone out of voting.
The two most common unstated reasons for not voting are:
"I don't want to vote for the person who loses, because I'll feel badly having wasted my vote and being associated with the unpopular outcome."
"I don't want to vote for the person who wins, because then I'll be partly responsible for whatever happens."
A popular rationale to justify either of these reasons is:
"I don't like either candidate, they're both terrible."
The thing is, there has never been a perfect leader. There has never been a flawless president. There are always weaknesses, foibles and scandals. It takes more than a hundred years before the patina sets in, and even then, most great leaders throughout history had defects that would cause them to wither under today's profit-minded, scandal-focused media.
Same thing for the charities we donate to (or don't), the heroes and mentors we revere, the organizations we're proud to be a part of.
Change is always rough around the edges. It has no right answers, no ideal keys that unlock the future. But risky schemes are always risky.
The media, with our complicity, has created a game where we end up disillusioned and disgusted. But it's only the disillusioned and the disgusted voters who are capable of raising the bar in the long run.
Vote as if you're responsible, because you are, especially if you don't vote.
Vote as if it's not anonymous, knowing that you'll have to explain it to your grandchildren.
Work for justice. Progress is possible. It matters.
November 6, 2016
When a stranger treats you poorly, tries to rip you off, brings discourtesy instead of respect
…how do you treat the next stranger?
Paying bad behavior forward hurts.
November 5, 2016
Ignore sunk costs: One of the most popular book Kickstarters ever was a project to publish a new, attractive version of the Bible. It raised more than $1.2 million. In this video, released shortly after the books were finally printed, we learn a lot about sunk costs. The first: It’s a fallacy to decide that merely because more people are buying something that it’s now a more important project. The joy you will create per person doesn't change when you have more readers.
Not only that, but given the efficient nature of book printing, more books printed shouldn’t lead to a two-year delay in the project.
Second, and far more useful, is understanding that real artists ship. In this case, the creator of the project spent every penny available to overengineer and procrastinate. My guess is that he would have gone right to the limit with $500,000 and with $5,000,000. The amount of money you have to spend should have nothing to do with how you spend it. Worth re-reading that sentence. Budgets exist to help us make plans, not because the problem we seek to solve is related to the money. It's not. It's related to the expectation of our customer.
Once the theater is big enough that you can't see the folks in the back row, it doesn't matter how big the theater is.
In this case, as in so many others, the real question is: What is it for?
What is the project for? What did the backers buy? When is it time to ship?
When making decisions, we need to drop much of the traditional narrative and get back to a very simple analysis:
At this fork in the road, what are our options?
Given the promise we've made and the resources we have to keep that promise, what's the best option?
Do that.
Do it regardless of how much it cost to get here, regardless of how nervous you are, regardless of how hard you worked on the other option. Those aren't factors in making a rational decision.
November 4, 2016
Every website your organization puts up is going to reach a moment when it is obsolete, out of date or buggy.
How will you know?
And what will you do about it?
Big organizations have this problem every day. When building a website, the hierarchy pays attention. There are meetings and approvals, and it all fits together in the current strategy.
But a year or a decade later, those folks have moved on, but the website remains. And it's unlikely that there's someone checking it for bad behavior.
So there's the Fedex database that sends customers to a drop box that doesn't accept packages any longer. Or the part of the Brother website that requires users to change their password every single time they visit. I'm sure I have pages out there on the web that are out of date or buggy as well. It's inevitable.
Here are two simple questions that ought to be part of any online launch:
- Where can our users report defects on this page?
If you include a link to a human or perhaps a monitored feedback form, it's a lot more likely you'll hear about the things that aren't working in time to actually fix them before you take a loss.
- What's our plan for sunsetting this site?
If they close down Vine or our strategy changes or we need to take action, who is responsible?
Stick around long enough and it's going to break. We come out ahead when we treat that event like part of our job, not a random emergency.
