Haim Schlesinger - Thinking Out Loud: Recent Episodes
Haim Schlesinger
Insight (inner-sight). You'd imagine all you need to do is think, introspect. But I believe there's a preceding step causing you to miss many insights and aha moments.
Stopping something you already do and are committed to, is hard, even when it is no longer viable.
Have you ever noticed, while experiencing an aha moment (some call it the eureka moment), what actually happens, how it comes about, and why it occurs?
There are many cases of old ideas that failed, only to be implemented again - successfully - at a later time.
When you have an idea, you start by marketing and selling it to others to make it real, to execute on it.
Then you have a product or service, and you concentrate on selling and marketing it.
But...
"Transfer" has been called the "Holy Grail of education." -- Ultralearning by Scott Young
It happens when you learn something in one context, say in a classroom, and can use it in another context, in real life.
"You're going to spend the rest of your life in the future. Maybe we ought to think about this." - Daniel Burrus
Heroes are people you admire for their virtues, for being a certain way, or doing things usually in a specific way.
Failure is dealt with much better nowadays. It no longer carries (such) a stigma. As a result, a lot of methods for trying things fast are prevalent today.
In a growing number of products, the top-selling brand is “others” - the rest of the brands that come after the top ones, combined.
You may have heard of the “Concorde Fallacy.” It comes from when the French and British governments continued funding the Concorde airplane, even when it was already clear it will not be financially successful.
Before taking action, if you want to eliminate waste of time (and money) and simultaneously increase the rate and quality of your results, take a few minutes to answer the following questions.
A business plan has many functions, but the first test your future business needs to pass is to answer the question, “is it doomed to fail?” The second question to answer: “is the potential worth the effort?”
I once built a very successful business based merely on the idea of standing out by going against “best practices” in my market.
Did you ever wake up and wondered why, only to realize something was “missing”: a light that was turned off, some noise that ceased?
Giving up on things is hard, even if you know it’s the right way to go. Deciding to do so and actually doing it are two different steps.
Be clear on both the essential value of your idea and the fundamental value you’ll get from your decisions and actions.
Playing "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" is fun, but not a great way to actually and accurately find your target.
Do you come up with ideas? Do you know how you do that? What would be the process for you to come up with better ideas?
You need to convey the message, “I know you don’t need me now, but I’m here when you do,” repeatedly, so that when the need arises, you are the first thing that comes to mind.
Daily, I find I want to do something that does not involve creation. I want something I can pay attention to without too much intellectual effort.
The essence of your idea is the – usually undiscovered – philosophy of how all of the moving parts of your idea, make your idea achieve the desired result.
An orchestral conductor does two things listeners don't: 1. Hear each part separately. 2. Know what (and how) each part has to be played next.
If you want to make your idea real, you must collaborate with others who help you. Would you like to know what they are thinking?
There is, however, one objective problem: how do you know you have failed? How do you know you should not tweak it anymore to make it work? How do you know you need to get off this wrong track by quitting?
Taking a big goal and breaking it up into sub-goals is a good strategy. It helps you deal with the size of some goals, both psychologically and practically.
There is another benefit to chunking your project into smaller parts, but many times it is hidden. Two factors play in hiding it...
"Leverage: the power to influence a person or situation to achieve a particular outcome" -- Oxford English Dictionary
Consider the following regarding your idea and its implementation.
You want to:
When you implement your idea, and it becomes a product or service, you have a great tool that was not available when it's was still only an idea. A device that will help you not only change your product but also can help you make your idea better.
The tool is feedback from those using your product to gain the benefit you created with your initial idea.
But, there is one problem: most will never tell you what you need to know.
Are you doing a lot but not achieving as much as you’d expect?
It’s like treading water. You invest a lot of energy but never get far.
If you want to achieve the most in the least amount of time, you should stick to only doing what’s essential to reaching your goal.
Growth comes when users (clients, customers, buyers) find meaning in what you are selling.
You create an idea. It has an essence - what makes it work. You create a product or a service by deciphering the essence of your idea and implementing it in a way that’s meaningful to the target audience.
It's simple, but not easy. I'll get to that shortly.
I own a Japanese tea bowl I like to use for drinking my coffee. It's not much suited to drinking from when full, but I still love drinking my coffee from it.
The first couple of times drinking from this bowl, I spilled some coffee. I know why, and I know that slowing down when drinking solves this problem. Still, it happened 2-3 times before this knowledge became ingrained enough to be used without conscious thought.
What is the one thing you can do that costs you no money, and will significantly improve your chances for success?
Your time is most valuable. Deciding and committing to taking your idea and making it real, takes years, sometimes decades.
During this journey, you'll have to stay focused. Daily you'll face options you should refuse.
You have probably heard about the 10,000-hour rule created by Malcolm Gladwell in his book “Outliers: The Story of Success.”
Gladwell proposes that the key to success is doing the thing (e.g., practice) in the right amount (10,000 hours).
Execution – doing – is vital for success.
I used the word “created” above on purpose. It is based on real research done by Anders Ericsson, but the way Malcolm Gladwell presents it in his book is not precise.
You need ideas to innovate. Creating ideas is the easier part. Then you need to decide if your idea is good, if it fulfills its purpose to the target audience.
How do you know which ones are good? Even if your idea is good, how do you know if (and how) you can make it better?
As an entrepreneur, wouldn't it be better if you didn’t have any competition?
Making decisions is very similar. The difference is, when you are a buyer, you need to buy into one option among the many that exist and compete for your favor. Or do you?!
Not knowing is the normal constant state. For most decisions in life, you will not have a full context of knowledge – even if the evidence is overwhelmingly conclusive to be sure in your decision.
Did you ever experience these two feelings?
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You try something (usually new), and by the looks of it, even before you try doing it, you have confidence that you can do it. You are convinced you are better than most people at it (even though you never tried it before). Many times you are right.
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You are about to do something you feel won't go right. You think that most people are somehow better at it than you. You try it, and mostly your prediction of failure comes true.
You have a goal. Now you think and plan how to achieve it. Most commonly, you try and build a linear progression from one step to the next, and trust that it will get you to the end goal you seek.
"I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free." — Michelangelo
As an entrepreneur, you are also an artist. Michelangelo had knowledge and skill, both from studying and experience. You have your own capabilities also from studying and doing, gaining experience.
Do you like riddles?
When you encounter one, you try and find “the solution,” repeatedly coming up with different ways to solve it.
Most likely, after a while, you come up with a solution that satisfies the rules of the riddle.
A significant factor...
You want to achieve a goal with your idea.
I’m not talking about the obvious ones: wealth, freedom, fame. I’m talking about the purpose of your idea, what it tries to do, the problem it tries to solve.
Your idea came to life to do exactly that, but what exactly is that?
Wristwatches were first worn by women more as a decoration than a tool for punctuality. It was only during World War I that soldiers began using wrist watches for their time keeping functionality.
Now, 100 years later, people wear mechanical watches for many reasons. (The least important reason being the need to tell accurate time!)
Most of the work you’ll do when implementing your idea is about solving problems. Think about it; your idea itself is probably about solving a problem – your idea is the solution.
Concentrating on the problem and the solution is something you must do to make your idea real.
From time to time you should also do something else: see new opportunities with your idea.
Ideas are private. They start in your mind. When you get that wonderful feeling at the eureka moment, it’s usually a very private event.
How do you limit the spread of an infectious disease?
Since the virus spreads through contact with an infected person, prevent physical contact between sick and infected people and healthy ones.
How should we do this?
When my wife was pregnant with our first child, we asked our doctor if it was safe for her to fly. First, he told us that the statistics showed there is an eight-fold increase in the chance of problems during a flight, for pregnant women.
It sounds frightening, doesn’t it?!
Then he also said...
"Fewer and fewer people are 'subordinates,' even in fairly low-level jobs. Increasingly they are knowledge workers." — Peter Drucker
Nowadays, with the Coronavirus (COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2) situation, the number of knowledge workers will grow as people find new ways to make a living working from home.
Let me start with a personal tale of woe.
At one time,I was closely involved in a very profitable venture. Unfortunately, it was shut down within two years of reaching its peak.
My sorrow was aggravated by the fact that I had predicted the long term negative effect of each decision that lead to the venture closing down.
When the Israeli commanders wanted to move tanks into enemy territory, one commander decided to enter at a certain spot that was already marked on the map as “impossible”.
Do you think of yourself as someone who can solve problems and overcome obstacles? If you do, it can lead you astray.
What happens when you hear a new idea? You immediately form an opinion on whether it is a good idea.
How does this happen?
Errors have a negative impact, and insights have a positive impact. However, there is another dimension that is missing...
I am sure you are familiar with the following types of thinking.
You think about:
What to do
How to do it
However, there is a third type...
Do you want (or need) some help? Are you looking for an expert to help you?
How do you decide who’s right for you?
Find out about the 3 types of experts that exist, and how to decide which one you should seek
You often hear about “The Idea” and “The Execution,” as if they were two different things.
However, executing your idea is, in itself, a progression of ideas.
You have an idea and you feel it’s a great idea. You feel happy, elated, and you have an urge to immediately do something about it.
Is there a connection between your emotions about your idea, and its potential for success?
“If you can fix a problem with money, it's not really a problem.” ― Kim Kardashian
This is true, up to a point. The difficulty is... defining the problem.
You have an idea you think, rather you know, is good, but others just don’t get it. What’s going on? More importantly, what should you do? Should you listen to them or follow your own conviction?
First, let’s tackle some reasons why others “just don’t get it.”
...Now, you are in the middle of it all, and not everything is as expected; something feels wrong. You are busy, things happen and there are results, but they are not what you wished for, or even realistically expected.
...This is what you should be doing whenever you delegate a task, whenever you outsource. You know what you want and can predict different paths others might take.
But…
You need deep knowledge to be able to do that. This knowledge comes from two sources...
"Ideas are easy. Execution is everything.” — John Doerr
Nowadays, this quote seems to represent the Zeitgeist. It pits the idea against the execution. This creates (at least mentally, if not technically) a dichotomy between the idea and execution."
“He who can does; he who cannot, teaches.” - George Bernard Shaw
Why is this relevant to your idea (and its success)?
Consider the IBM logo.
Visually, you just see three letters when you look at this logo. However, there are actually eight horizontal lines with gaps.
The iPod is a more complex example. It was a hugely successful portable music player. Why was that?
When Coca Cola first marketed in China, they translated the brand name phonetically. But the meaning of the characters came out “bite the wax tadpole” or “female horse fastened with wax”.
A funny anecdote. It teaches us something fundamental…
The assumption that they implicitly made, was that both the homeowner and the guest would only agree to this when pressured by lack of accommodations and their high price (both caused by high demand due to the convention in town).
However, they were wrong. And Airbnb went on to become the leader in a new category of accommodations.
One of the pillars of Flow is controlling our consciousness and how we perceive what happens in the real world.
To do that (while not becoming delusional), you need to clearly know both your conscious mind and the external world. If either is fuzzy, then you are in danger of going off track and never achieving Flow and happiness.