For anyone trying to discern what to do with their life: PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU PAY ATTENTION TO. That’s pretty much all the info you need. – Amy Krouse Rosenthal With over 20 million unemployed from the COVID-19 crisis, the decks have been shuffling hard for both employers and employees. The last thing youContinue reading “What to Do”
Author Archives: Don Dalrymple
Clarity Comes from Engagement
Spending time designing a system, message or business requires getting clear about how something should work, flow or connect. I have not found that this can be done in isolation. I need to bounce ideas off of others and work to get insights to integrate into the design. Socially, we understand this. We have friendsContinue reading “Clarity Comes from Engagement”
Get Rid of the One-off Projects
A simple way to think about whether you are growing a business, in addition to productizing your services, is to stay focused on repeatability. There is no end to one-off projects you can likely get involved with and provide solutions for. However, there’s a lot of cost when you work on one-offs: Energy. You haveContinue reading “Get Rid of the One-off Projects”
Productize Your Services so You Can Scale
When you are starting a venture, and you don’t know what people will buy, it is a great strategy to say, “Yes,” to everything. I consider this part of research and development. The cost is that you get spread out and may have to work on projects that extend your energy or cost you inContinue reading “Productize Your Services so You Can Scale”
New Habits in a Non-Connected World
I feel like the adrenaline has oozed out from this past month of COVID-19 sheltering in place. The pace and mode of productivity, pushing and intensity has given way to more of an acceptance and deliberation. It’s been great for my blood pressure as well as allowing some new habits to emerge that I wantContinue reading “New Habits in a Non-Connected World”
How to Sell Now
The coronavirus pandemic makes business as usual irrelevant for many who are not essential or working on the front lines. While we have our businesses set up to appeal to value, strategy, or commitment, you become a low priority when people don’t want to think beyond the next couple days. Instead of trying harder, youContinue reading “How to Sell Now”
Do You Have Any Idea?
I was sharing with a friend the other day about the film, Ford V Ferrari. I love this scene between Matt Damon’s character, Carroll Shelby, and Christian Bale’s character, Ken Miles. The tension between various agendas, respect for protocol and the politics of racing and cars are complex between Ford Motor Company executives, racing managersContinue reading “Do You Have Any Idea?”
Free Up More Time
“… you want maximal free time, not maximal activity, and you can assess your own “success” according to such metric.” ~ Nassim Taleb As business is slowing and we are in this environment of quarantining, it’s an opportunity to look around and remove or reduce waste. I can understand feeling disoriented when there’s not aContinue reading “Free Up More Time”
Transcript: Episode 18, Jason Fried
As the coronavirus has affected our businesses and everyday lives, the strategy for remote work can be a powerful strategy. It’s an opportunity to make things more efficient and build a culture of respect and productivity. I like the dialogue and candor on tradeoffs in this conversation between the founders of WordPress and Basecamp. Distributed.blogContinue reading “Transcript: Episode 18, Jason Fried”
Optionality
When you have so much uncertainty in your projects, relationships and dealmaking, the fear of loss or desire for perfection can be inhibiting. I find it best to create optionality. Pick the path with the most options and keeping your choices open. This is especially true when it comes to creating opportunities. Choose projects thatContinue reading “Optionality”
