Author: jrlsage

Trouble – Tension, emotions, and all sorts of uncomfortable things come with pushing boundaries. I don’t think you can do meaningful work without it. You care, they care, and that’s just how things go. The important part isn’t that it happens, but how you handle it.

• Can you apologize?
• Do you feel that there is retribution around the corner?
• Do you feel like you need to hide?

Uh oh – the wrong answers here mean trouble

QB2 – There is a saying that the backup quarterback is the most popular person in the city, and unless you’ve got a hall of famer, that is usually true. Being an experienced backup means you know that that love is contingent on perfection, and as a QB2, you aren’t just by where you are in the depth chart. So better to not listen. And if you are QB1, don’t let outside forces shake your confidence. You still have a job to do.

Finishing the work – We don’t get things done unless they are done. Being done means stop. So, when it’s time to be done, just stop. It’s time to finish.

Excitement -What does it look like if you bring your best to the work? How does an exciting day look? Where are the “bonus points,” the extra energy that you get from your excitement going?

It pays to be proactive here. This doesn’t happen everyday.

I’ve been in New York 9 years – Today marks the day I moved to the city I love 9 years ago. New York has been great to me – it’s provided me an outlet to be creative, push my skills, and meet incredible people. 

To another nine years. 

Add fuel – Once you’ve done the work to identify things that work, your best bet is to stand back and just add fuel. Look for ways to remove roadblocks, and get out of the way. Your team is most likely ready to be all-stars, help them get there.

Push – On that note above, make sure your teams are being nudged in the right direction to get there. Entropy is real, and you are dealing with everyone’s past in order to build a better future. Keep nudging, keep critiquing, keep supporting – and you’ll be adding fuel soon enough.

Innovation Input Part 2 – Yield. We’re looking for yield on our cash. Innovation is a path to the long shot. As a long shot, we can make the assumption that things won’t work. If all of our ideas were perfect we’d be whisked away and studied by some government. Since things won’t work, if you want innovation to happen, you’ll need to make sure people know they are playing with house money.

This means A) ensuring the people with the money (the C-Suite, your boss, your investor) understand that this is money we’re spending on experimentation and B) the people who will use this resource know it’s time to take chances.

If you are missing either part you’re in for a long day.

Learn to Stop – Yep. One more page is not going to make that report better. Sometimes you have to go with what you have, and move from there.

nII

Which battle are you fighting – When you want to shift culture and create change, one of the most important skills you can have is knowing when and where to pick your battles. If you spread yourself too thin or fight a culture enemy that is too strong, you’ll just walk right into burnout.

The more leadership experience more relevant this is. In fact, I think once you get in the door, and at least quarterly after that, it’s critical to assess those battles and pick your battlefield. You want to be as proactive as possible, because it sucks to look up and be in the same culture you walked in on, especially if you know you could have done better.

Sugar Medicine – Sometimes medicine needs sugar. In fact, I’d say MOST times medicine needs sugar. Changemakers find the way to add the right amount of sugar to get the medicine they need without too much tension. They do know they need tension though, can’t drown that out.

Boredom clears the mind – there is so much power in allowing yourself some boredom. It clears your mind of the cobwebs and optimizes the cycles you have. When you add a beautiful place, it compounds the effect. I’m starting to understand trips outside without any communication – if nothing else, you’ll be clearheaded on your return.

Ugh work – Ugh, the stuff that makes us better 10 years from now that have little impact today. It isn’t fun, but it’s the difference between an iterative career and an exponential one. Make time for it, and realize there won’t be an output.

Powerful – We’re powerful. Don’t forget that. Powerful doesn’t mean good or all good. Powerful doesn’t mean bad or all bad. Powerful means we can take responsibility if we choose to. Powerful means we can get better. We are powerful.

JFK vs LGA – Today is a travel day, and I’ve recently(last 3 weeks) been to both of these airports. LGA isn’t so popular, but I enjoy it because that may lead it to be the travel option for no-frills flyers. When I fly at LGA, the security lines are light and it tends towards commuter flyers, the flyers that know the difference between a carry on bag and a checked bag. JFK is a free for all. Sure it’s beautiful inside, but ugh, security is going to be a mess anytime you go.

Get there early.

I’m hiring – Yep, looking for a senior PM to work for my product team at Informed. Info here. Know anyone? If you got the job description from this blog, make a note when you submit!

Strategy powers vision – And your job is to do two things. One, inform the vision with what is happening on the ground/intuition. Two, craft/execute a strategy that pushes that vision forward. As a leader, your strategy pushes vision, no matter where you are “ranked.” The only question is, are you open to taking on the responsibility?

Silence is the work – Art is built in the silence. The muse is all consuming when it wants your time, and if you want to get anything out of her, you have to listen. That is why it’s all around silence. So if you want to do are, learn how to embrace that silence.

Owning It – You are you, flaws and all. Just own it.

Innovation Input Pt. 1- What is input x multiplying for output y. How much is your innovation multiplying your cash? If that multiplier is less than 1, you’ve got a science project.

Science projects are ok every once in a while, especially when you frame it as one.

They won’t , however, get the job done alone.

We are seeking home runs(great yield).

Great days mean hard work – starting your day strong is awesome, so try to take advantage. Create space on days like this to work on the strange hard things, and punt the rest.

Average days are around the corner, I can bet it.