Situations have no solution, they’re not problems, they’re simply the way it is.
Problems are distinguished by the fact that they have solutions. But that doesn’t mean that the solution is obvious, easy or convenient.
If the problem is important enough, we should pick the best available solution, not turn it into a situation.
We all make mistakes. We all do things that we then realize weren’t in our interest, or useful to the community.
If we do it a second time, it’s worth taking a hard look at the system that set us up for failure. How did the system get here? Who benefits?
When we can see the system, we have a chance to fix it.
That’s the first question.
The second question is, “how do we make it work better?”
These two questions, patiently repeated, lead to incremental improvement and an understanding of reality.
The opposite approach is, “because I said so.”
Reality might not care what you want.
The Strategy Deck that I made to go with my book has developed a real following. It’s a powerful way to break a creative logjam. Taking out the deck in a meeting lowers resistance and increases a sense of possibility and playfulness. I’ve just gone back to press for a fourth printing, but they take a while. You can only get a deck from Porchlight.
This is Strategy was selected today as one of the 25 BEST NON-FICTION BOOKS OF THE YEAR. It’s a useful selection of books, and I’m delighted to be on it.
In more delicious news, the Strategy chocolate bar I created with Askinosie continues to delight and inspire. First, because it’s delicious (my friends at Zingerman’s said it was one of the best they’ve ever had). Second, because of the hard work Askinosie is persistently doing to change the brutal nature of the chocolate industry. And third, because it comes with a collectible trading card.
I had a ton of fun making these cards (which is a totally separate set of cards from the more functional deck I mentioned at the beginning of this post), sitting in my studio and dreaming up which people ought to be highlighted…
And it’s been delightful to hear from people who have discovered a card in their bar.
But the most delightful part is hearing from people I put on a card (I didn’t ask first). My hope, of course, is that I’d get lucky and a friend or colleague would randomly discover a card in a bar they purchased, but that hasn’t happened quite yet. Here’s what Acar sent me:
Everyone should have a daily blog, and now I’m coming to the conclusion that everyone should make a collectible deck, at least once. I make mine with Skylar at Shuffled Ink.
PS in case you missed it, yesterday’s post had an invite to Purple.space. Signups close in a few days.
Tech and culture have enabled a new sort of informality. Not simply the end of suits and ties and heels at work, but the office itself is fading away.
But there’s a difference between being informal and being in such a hurry to get to the next thing that we don’t take this thing seriously.
I recently had a sales call with a software consulting firm. The person who organized the call joined from his car. While driving.
The artifice of sitting at a desk, having good lighting, wearing a smock, writing a memo instead of making stuff up as you go along, looking people in the eye, quoting your sources, measuring twice not once, showing up on time, doing the reading, showing your work… these are signals. Not just signals to the person you’re working with or persuading, but signals to yourself.
It’s easy to misunderstand the idea of agile and the minimum viable product. We shouldn’t forget that the unspoken rule is: Don’t ship junk. We send a message to the market when we’re in such a hurry that we don’t put in the care and focus needed to do great work.
Getting more boxes checked simply leads to having more boxes checked. If we’re here to make a difference, we often get there with better, not with more.
New years bring resolutions, but those resolutions rarely stick. Creating change is difficult, and it’s hard to do it alone.
New years remind us that we might need a better strategy. A philosophy of becoming, a clear vision on where we’re going (and why).
Here’s an invitation to make a commitment, and to turn January into the foundation for the progress we seek to make.
Beginning January 4, we’re organizing a community of practice, a group of people engaging online toward better.
Buy two copies of This is Strategy in any format this week and you’re invited to join a four-week sprint on purple.space. It will include access to the Strategy online course as well as several other video-based courses (usually worth $600 or so) and there are no upsells or hustles. I’ll be running several live QA zoom calls and there is peer to peer coaching as well.
Simply people coming together to do the work.
The sign up form is here. It closes in a few days and space is limited, I’ll close the form once we’re full. Come if you’re ready.
