What changes is our ambition, and that is underpinned by what we value as important. There’s a lovely book I read years ago called “Rules for Aging” by Roger Rosenblatt. Rule 1 states: it doesn’t matter, it really doesn’t. I think most of us would say that our preoccupations change as we ease into our 50s. My version is “there’s not much that matters, but what matters matters a lot”.
Read MoreThe Breakthrough Company has decided to enter the podcast industry and armed with 700,001st mover advantage we aim to disrupt the industry.
You might well ask why we’re entering this space when it’s going to be so hard to compete with the 7000 that have an average download of 35,000 per episode.
Because we’re not seeking to be in the top 1%. We’re aiming to be in the top 10%, with an average of 1100 downloads.
Read MoreI think we should waste more time.
We are bombarded with productivity hacks, articles on getting more done, podcasts about fitting more in, optimal work times, reducing distractions, flow etc. People worry that they have no more time to use more efficiently. We’ve gone overboard.
Read MoreFast forward to a date night conversation about fun and adventure. One of the things we’re practicing is open-ended questions. These are questions where you’re not trying to lead the other or persuade or in fact do anything but learn what they think or feel about something. For example, “How do you feel about that?” is a great open-ended question, as is “Under what circumstances would you…?”
Read MoreIn blackjack, doubling down means to double your bet because you like the card in your hand and you’re confident that the next card will make you a winner. In business, it means putting more investment in an area that shows high potential.
Our conversation gave us the gift of clarity about our focus in 2019, and we’ve already used that clarity to make decisions in all sorts of areas
Read MoreHe made absolutely the right decision. You hear people say “Follow your passion and the profits will come, do what you love and the money will follow”. It’s garbage. I’ve advised a few people to leave their passion for outside working hours because not enough people share it sufficiently strongly to make it economically viable.
Read MoreSo, the very first question to consider is – whose life are you living? What constraints are you allowing others to place on you? You might have a partner who is more risk averse than you. Clarity requires a conversation about how you can accommodate their need for comfort with your need for challenge. But don’t just be silently compliant.
Read MoreYou need to let go of the idea that working harder is going to make your business more successful, along with working harder means working longer hours. Instead, you need to learn that working fewer hours on a small number of important things will take you further and faster. And to do that, you need to get clear about where your efforts will get greatest return.
Read MoreI’m learning the solo from Hotel California. Everyone knows it. It’s genuinely iconic, and it’s bloody hard to play. There are two guitars, played by Joe Walsh and Don “Fingers” Feldon. Actually, there are 8 guitars on the track, but one is more than enough.
Read MoreBusiness confidence stays in the news. The latest GDP report shows the economy growing at its normal rate, though in my experience GDP figures are 3 months behind the SME economy.
No one knows whether the loss in confidence will impact growth. Generally, expectations of slower growth are a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Read MoreFor years the question has been “How can I make people more accountable?” I always thought this was the wrong question because it was about the person asking the question and how they could get others to do what they (the questioner) wanted. Accountability is something others put on you, responsibility is something you take.
Read MoreBecause they are the best-trained. Forget Beauden Barrett, the key guy is Steve Hansen (and before him Graham Henry). Since they’ve been involved, All Black coaching teams have taught their teams how to train (learn).
If you want to perform better, train your managers in learning how to learn, and learning how to teach.
Read MoreI was having a conversation with a Breakthrough member and another guy at our Challenger workshop the other day. The member was talking about how valuable the Breakthrough programme has been in terms of business growth (oh alright, I prompted him). But then he spontaneously said, “Actually the most valuable part has been the effect on my relationship with my wife.”
Read MoreA couple of weeks ago I ran into a client from my time as a partner in a large business consulting firm. Rieny Marck and I worked together 20 years ago, and he was reminiscing about the Lumley Insurance journey.
I did some work with them over the space of about a year, starting with a vision and strategy session and then working through a detailed opportunity assessment and priority process. He still recalled the methodology I used, and my reference to something I called the “zone of sensible excitement”.
Read MoreMy GP is a fascinating man. He knows all these obscure things and treatments. He always likes to see me because I have exotic symptoms that he regards as a test of his trivia trove (and they are trivial). One of his trivia titbits is that there is a part of the brain called the locus coeruleus which is responsible for filtering out unwanted sounds.
Read MoreMy youngest son is a wonderful musician, already better than I will ever be. He was born with musical talent (he owes me for that), but he learned to be a musician, and he owes a great teacher and a determined mother for that.
Mrs T said he had to practice for 30 minutes a day and every night his mother made him practice for at least that (sometimes with a timer and often with a lot of resistance).
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