Success
213 posts
The Bounds Of Possibility
Now that we are no longer bound by the constraints of probability, we must face the fact that we have a responsibility to own what’s possible. Opportunity abounds.
What’s Your Customer Acquisition Strategy?
Successful selling is as much about customer discernment as it is about brand differentiation.
Planned Progress
If you’re going to build the business you want, then you must be intentional about how you’re going to do it. There is no such thing as accidental progress.
The Myth Of Significance
Lately, we have come to believe in the myth of significance. Put our faith in being chosen, becoming ‘the one’. Striving to be bigger, noticed or more than, while simultaneously recounting a narrative of never enough. In our minds, significance boasts a title, resides in a corner office, speaks from
More Vs. Enough
Our culture has taught us that we should multiply our effort to maximise our reward. But a sustainable business—one that is both viable and brings us joy, doesn’t always necessitate exponential growth.
Always, Sometimes, Never
Doing our best work requires us to pay attention to the things and people that energise us. One way to do this is to consider categorising potential opportunities, projects or clients into three buckets. Always, sometimes and never. The goal is to do more of the ‘always’ work, on the projects that b
What Can You Learn From Your Competitors?
What’s the story your competitor doesn’t want to tell?
Thank You For Your Work
We can be more grateful customers and build the kind of organisations that create them on purpose.
Your Company Needs A Strong Strategic Narrative
A strong strategic narrative enables us to prioritise the opportunities, plans and behaviours that align our vision and values with our customer’s unmet needs.
Build Your Darlings
Build your darlings for the people you care about serving. Those people who will fall in love with how your work enables them to live the lives they want.
Better Work Happens By Design
My parents both left school in their early teens. They and most of their peers were manual labourers, who didn’t get to choose the kind of work they did. They worked in factories or on building sites for most of their lives. Work for them was a means to an end—a way to contribute to…
Try Anyway
Texas head teacher, Belinda George, doesn’t have access to more resources than her colleagues. So how does she change her students’ lives for the better? Instead of focusing on the things she and her team can’t control, like educational policy and budgets, she concentrates on the things she can infl
Efficiency Vs. Meaning
Mike’s been driving for Uber for three years. In that time he’s done 20,000 trips while maintaining a consistent 4.94-star rating. Mike works when he wants to. He’s earning more than enough money to pay the bills, and yet he can’t help feeling there’s something missing. Mike is a phenomenally succes
Prices Are Stories
Just because someone has the money to pay what you’re charging doesn’t mean they’re your ideal customer.
Build A Trust Engine
In the golden age of the advertising businesses of all sizes relied on ads to promote and sell their products. Giant corporations reached us via TV and whole page newspaper ads. Small businesses got our attention by placing small ads in the local newspaper. In the past advertising allowed average pr
The Opportunity Cost Of Pursuing New Opportunities
Time. We can sell it. We can buy it. But we can’t get it back. And yet when it comes to resourcing opportunities, we sometimes believe we can have it all. All we need is to be disciplined about how we spend our time. When we choose to pursue a new project or goal we’re…
The Power Of Assumptions
It was standing room only on the 109 tram, as it always is at five o’ clock on a Monday evening. As more passengers boarded the crowded carriage, a man holding a briefcase got up from his seat to let the woman standing in the aisle next to him sit down. She declined. He persisted.…
Proud Work
When I was growing up, work was a means to an end for many of the breadwinners in our neighbourhood. Work meant food in the bellies and clothes on the backs of the people you loved. There is both dignity and joy in providing, especially when you’ve gone hungry and shoeless, as my father often…
What’s On Your ‘Not To Do’ List?
Back in 2007, the New York Times called Apple’s decision not to add a mechanical keyboard to the iPhone their billion dollar gamble). That decision worked out pretty well for Apple. Some of the most successful ideas in the world were born from a conviction about the things the creator, founder or co
Easy Does It
Our expectations about the quality of products have increased exponentially with our ability to perfect the things we produce. When quality improves our tolerance for mistakes plummets. Interestingly, the same isn’t true for human interactions. Even though digital technology has enabled degrees of e
