Time
Is zero-sum.
–
Think about the opportunity cost of activities.
Thinking
Practice it.
Away from screens.
–
How?
Cycling, walking, running, swimming, meditating, cooking, writing.
Simplicity
“Make things as simple as they can be, but no simpler.” – Einstein
–
If you can’t explain what you do in two sentences, you don’t know what you do.
If you can’t define a problem in two sentences, you don’t know what the problem is.
Values
Integrity.
–
Here’s three: Integrity, Ingenuity & Hard Work.
Reinforcement
Praise publicly and loudly.
Criticise in private and quietly.
Say thank you and well done.
Selling
Is simple, but not easy.
–
Understand what problem someone wants to solve, give them something to solve that problem.
Help people
Listen to what people are struggling with (be boring).
Help them organise their own thoughts – don’t impose yours.
–
Help people with their goals:
GROW.
What do you want? (Goal)
Where are you now? (Reality)
What could you do? (Options)
What will you do? (When/Where)
KPIs
You only get three.
–
There’s a reason they’re called Key Performance Indicators.
Not everything is important all the time.
–
Trouble deciding? See: Sturgeon’s Law or Pareto Principle.
Problems
Are not challenges or opportunities. They are problems.
And they need to be fixed.
–
Solving problems in a team:
Bring the group together. 5 minutes on each of the below questions to come to consensus.
If no consensus is reached, leader decides.
- What is our problem?
- Is it actually a problem?
- What’s needed to solve it?
- Who will effect the fix?
- When will it be done?
Efficiency
Is not all it’s cracked up to be.
–
See: lean supply chains in response to Covid.
“It’s not until the tide goes out that you find out who’s been swimming without shorts.” – Buffett
The tide will, at some point, go out.
–
Also see: creativity.
Ego
“It is amazing what you can achieve when you don’t care who gets the credit.” – Truman
–
Have no ego, but assume the most responsibility.
Be where the buck stops.
Time Management
| Urgent | Not Urgent | |
| Important | Do | Plan |
| Not Important | Postpone | Ignore |
Also: Sturgeon’s Law (90% of everything is crap).
Productivity
Write a to-do list.
In pen, on paper.
–
For repeatable tasks – make a checklist.
Multitasking
Isn’t real.
–
Do one thing, do it properly.
Success
“Be so good they can’t ignore you”. Steve Martin
–
Also: luck.
Trust
As much as possible.
–
Trust but verify support.
Networking
Ask for advice. Offer a coffee.
Delegation
Trust a lot. Decentralise.
Berkshire Hathaway has returned 20% per year for 55 years through ruthless decentralisation.
–
But sometimes don’t.
Jerry Seinfeld says his show’s phenomenal and enduring success is due to his micromanaging every aspect of it.
(Buffett has handled capital allocation for most of those 55 years).
Creativity
Inverse efficiency.
–
Organise yourself to be bored. Creativity needs space to fester.
Contradiction
Is ok.
–
If you’re consistently consistent, you’re not challenging your own thoughts enough.
(Try to) kill your best ideas. You gain perspective.
Communication
No one has time to, and no one does, read paragraphs in emails.
Be direct, and cc with care.
Assume positive intent.
Use plain English – we’re not impressed by the long words.
Change
“If I had nine hours to cut down a tree, I’d spend six hours sharpening my axe”. Lincoln
–
With nine hours to make a change, spend six getting people on board.
Be Boring
And intensely curious.
It will help you learn. It will make you listen.
–
There once was an owl who lived in an oak
The more he saw, the less he spoke
The less he spoke, the more he heard
Why can’t we all be like this old bird?
Lukas Grech 