miercuri, 9 martie 2016

Seth's Blog : Are they ready for you yet?



Are they ready for you yet?

Most of the time, we don't go first. There are good reasons for this (the iWatch comes to mind). With the exception of sushi and fresh powder, there's little cultural or economic advantage to always trying the new thing first.

Change happens because some people, some of the time, have neophilia. We are dissatisfied enough or passionate enough that we seek out the new thing, mostly because it's new. This is the chowhound who seeks out the latest restaurant, or the idealist who supports the newest policy proposal.

But a surprisingly small percentage of the population has neophilia. So movie studios work to share almost the entire movie in the TV ads before opening weekend, because they know most people don't actually want to be surprised and take a risk, even at the movies. And so Kickstarter makes it easy to jump in at just the right moment, after an idea is sure to work, not when it's merely an idea. (This is now working for some charities as well).

Project creators have to wrestle with this chasm. First, there's the thrill of the launch, and then the gratifying response from the early adopters. (Note that they are not called adapters, for a good reason). But then, then there's a trough, the period between the excitement of the new and the satisfaction of the proven.

It can take days or years to get to proven. To get to the moment when you can honestly say, "it's ready for you now." Nothing new is for everyone. By definition, the new is for a few, those that see a benefit in going first.

This week, applications are open for altMBA5. There's only a week left before our first deadline. Over the last year, hundreds of people like you have enrolled in this four-week intensive workshop, and have come away changed, working at a higher level, seeing things differently, contributing in ways that truly matter.

Please take just a moment to read these testimonials from our students.

We're ready for you now.

We used to be new, now we're proven. That's something that every project that crosses the chasm has to be able to demonstrate.

The altMBA is the most effective transformation tool I've ever created. More than books or blog posts, this extraordinary group sprint is the agent of change I've been seeking, and I think, so have you.

I hope to see you there. We're ready. Are you?

       

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duminică, 6 martie 2016

Seth's Blog : Listening to smart vs. I'm with stupid



Listening to smart vs. I'm with stupid

In what areas have you found that you benefit from listening to someone who's really smart about the decision you need to make?

Not a self-appointed expert, but someone with experience, patience and maturity, someone who's been educated in the field, practiced in it, someone who understands the history and the mechanics of what's on offer...

Certainly, most of us would agree that in areas like removing a tumor, investing a nest egg or even baking a loaf of bread, listening to these folks is the way to go. Ignoring all of them is foolhardy.

Sometimes, in our search for the new thing, we mistakenly grab the foolish thing instead. "I'm with stupid."

Challenging the status quo and going against all the the traditional rules of thumb is a great way to take a leap. But that sort of leap needs to be a portfolio play, part of a larger arc, not a matter of life and death, not the last spin of the wheel you're going to get if you're wrong.

[Worth noting that plenty of smart people shunned Semmelweis, Lovelace and Alan Kay. But not all of the smart people.]

By all means, take these intellectual risks. But not when you're skydiving. Being uninformed doesn't make you a renegade. It merely makes you uniformed.

       

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marți, 1 martie 2016

Seth's Blog : Reading between the lines



Reading between the lines

If you've ever been rejected (grad school, an article submission, a job) you may have spent some time analyzing the rejection letter itself, reading between the lines, trying to figure out why you were actually rejected.

The thing is, there's almost nothing written between lines.

People rarely say what they mean when they reject you. It's just not worth the risk. Not worth saying, "I'm filled with fear about taking this sort of chance on you." Not worth the blowback of saying, "you're a miserable writer, the bane of my existence, and you will never amount to anything." It'll just come back to haunt them.

And of course, if you do read that sort of apparently honest screed in a rejection letter, it's just as likely to be about the writer as it is about you and your work.

Make a pile of the thousands of rejection letters that successful people have received over the years and analyze them for insights and patterns—you won't find much of use.

Short version: You got rejected. The words and the tone of the rejection aren't going to tell you much, and every moment you spend dissecting them is a way to hide from the real work of making something that will resonate tomorrow.

If you really want to know why someone didn't like your work, you're going to have to put a lot more effort into it understanding the person who rejected you. Reading the tea leaves in the rejection letters and one-star reviews is pretty worthless.

       

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