Business Growth Consulting #307 This week: Futures, Headspace, Special thing

GREG’S BUSINESS GROWTH NEWSLETTER #307
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Quick notes to help you grow your business in less time with less effort. . . sometime next week.

In this issue:

– Techniques for FIT
– Being Human
– Random Stuff

Techniques for FIT
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• When everything is important, nothing is. Like top-secret clearance. If everything is classified, nothing seems special and secrets are divulged. Invest time in differentiation.
• Discomfort is part of learning. If we’re going to break through our cognitive bias and become good at the things we think we’d be good at, discomfort is part of the program. 

• Projections are going to be wrong. No one can predict the future, but if you take a conservative approach to strategic projections your organization will come out ahead.
• In a world full of rapid change it’s important to think about what your “enough” is. Especially when the world is shouting, “never settle.”

Being Human – Boozeaphelia
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“Still, a man hears what he wants to hear. And disregards the rest. -–The Boxer (Simon and Garfunkel)

Cover art from Columbia Records

There was a time in the not so distant past when you had very little idea what was going on in someone’s head. Occasionally something might pop out of their mouth to make you think, “really?”, but most of the time you could go about the day without knowing someone’s inner thoughts.

Nowadays, it’s not a surprise to hear, read, or be otherwise confronted with the ideas deep inside someone’s head. There are times this is funny, like the unicorn story lead in on this “This American Life” podcast:

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/293/a-little-bit-of-knowledge

Other times it’s less funny, like when I was talking to a business owner in the lobby of his business, and Oprah came on the TV. It triggered him to launch into a weird racist, conspiracy rant that was strangely complete in his head. He looked at me like, “you know.” I must have stared back wide-eyed because he kept explaining it to me until I left thinking, “what color is the sky in your world?”

I bring this up because it’s a feature of being human. We’re not logical creatures, weighing evidence and considering counter-arguments to our arguments. We tend to grab on to a few ideas, draw a conclusion, then stop. As the philosopher Paul Simon in his Simon and Garfunkel days said, “a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.” So true.

Keep this in mind as we head into the holiday season. A few sips of bourbon tends to loosen the lips and these days who knows what’s going to slip out. This is especially true for me. I’ve been out of circulation a bit, spending a lot of time in my head.

Good stuff.

Random stuff

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“Dickens transformed the American Christmas dinner. . . distinct menu items from the Cratchit’s table later showed up in cookbooks as prescriptive Christmas dinners. In one from 1847, the Christmas menu included ‘turkey, cranberries, and mincemeats’ evoking the Cratchits’ meal.” –Kaufman & McGreevy

The holidays are approaching, and I am reminded I don’t have any special things I’m known for during the holiday season. In the past I had a little run where everyone I knew received some sort of Mad Gringo themed something or other. Most of my net worth was tied up in Mad Gringo inventory, so it made sense, but it wasn’t my go-to once the MG went under.

Ideas I’ve had over time include, but are not limited to:

• a Holiday sweater, jumpsuit, or festive pair of pants
• a signature Holiday cocktail, mixed in batches, given as gifts
• a silly Santa hat, worn 24/7 for a week, even to church
• a delicious casserole or dip, “Mmm. Love that Greg’s dip.”
• a unique blend of whiskeys, saw it in a magazine article
• a special pie, “Oh! Is that Greg’s special pie?”
• a clever annual letter/newsletter/photo montage
• a decorative baggie full of scrumptious homemade candies
• a Holiday piano song with the kids singing harmony
• a go-to dance with my lovely bride, “Do the dance! Dance!”
• a box of wild boar jerky harvested and smoked by yours truly
• a tiny carved totem, taught to me by a shaman on walkabout
• a poem or short story told with handmade puppets
• a DJ set and light show of 80s new wave

I know traditions aren’t simply declared, but I kind of wish they were. I assume this is as good a time as any to get started on one. I may try making a pie. Or writing a song.

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