dismissed – From the desk of Adam Thomas

Discuss before discussing

The beginning of a discussion is important because it sets the table for the intellectual food that you are about to share with one another.

It often gets dismissed, but setting the ground rules for discussion and laying out what you want to say can sharpen your thinking and give some relief to the person with whom you are talking. They get to feel comfortable know the boundaries and usually, this results in a constructive conversation.

The reason why it gets dismissed is because we assume it’s silly because everyone “knows” what we “know.”

But we don’t. Isn’t that one of the reasons we’re talking?

The altMBA is powerful.

When I started writing this, that is the first thing I thought of, so I figured why not start with it? The program was a rousing success for me. I learned a ton of tactics that change the path of the projects I engage in. I learned how to ask better questions and how to give feedback.

There was one change that may have set my life in a different direction, and that is the idea of “direction” (no pun intended).

Before doing this program, I was a ball of energy with nowhere to go. I often sat, shaking, generating, but with no way to understanding of direction I missed making a real impact. I dismissed it.I made it a point to avoid direction at all cost because it felt wasteful. Even in my first post in the program, I dismissed goals.

Now, because of the work of altMBA, I have changed.

When I did the work, and saw how powerful asking the question “Who is this for?” was, and how much clarity that question had when it’s asked earnestly and with an open mind, it was shocking. This led me down a path of understanding someone’s world view. I’m now more particular about the transformation I want to make. Most importantly, I’m shipping more impactful work in a much shorter time.

Direction is a force multiplier, and with this new strategy regarding my work, I can’t wait to see what’s next.