Friends of Dave #57: Do Your Job
Whether you love or hate the Patriots, hard to argue with their mantra...
The Super Bowl is next week, and it is making life very difficult in our house. We live in Patriots country, our sports obsessed youngest son wears Brady and Gronk jerseys like every other day (sometimes he makes a costume change and wears both in one day), and my wife is a born and bred Eagles fan all the way. As you can imagine, I'm trying hard to mind my Ps and Qs this week, Friends of Dave....
I know a lot of you hate the Patriots and even the NFL right now. Believe me, I get it. There are definitely things not to like about both of them. But one thing that has always contributed to me being a fan of the "Patriot Way" is the simple mantra that is the foundation of their culture: DO YOUR JOB.
I published a previously written blog post of mine on LinkedIn earlier this week with my thoughts about this topic, so I won't get into it too much here. But it is always the simplest things that contribute the most to achieving a goal or excellence, isn't it? Far too often we allow ourselves to get distracted and derailed by things that have nothing to do with our personal success plans. If we simply just focus on knowing our role and executing (particularly as part of a team or organization), the rest should take care of itself.
If you agree, please check out my article on LinkedIn and like and/or share it. Look, there's a reason the Patriots are preparing for their record 10th Super Bowl. And it's not because their pretty boy QB wears Uggs...
Have a great weekend and enjoy the selections. And raise your hand if you bet that deep price cuts on Nutella would be all that was needed to turn French shoppers into People of Walmart....
XOXO
Dave
3 To Start You Up...
Post-Hurricane Maria, Teachers Are Leading Where Government is Failing — impact.vice.com
Check out this insightful piece written by Friend of Dave Miguel Guadalupe on how Puerto Rico's educators are taking the lead and fighting to keep schools open and their communities moving forward four months after Hurricane Maria decimated the island's infrastructure.
The Art of Asking for Important Introductions — www.meltwater.com
Everyone knows they need to network more, but most are not good at it. Learn why effective introductions are an art form and ways to improve how you go about it.
Can You Trust a Eureka Moment? — www.scientificamerican.com
In one experiment, in which 38 participants had to think of a single word that could form a compound phrase with three previously presented words (such as “apple” for the trio “crab,” “pine” and “sauce”), aha! solutions were correct 94 percent of the time compared with 78 percent accuracy for analytical solutions.
New research shows sudden insights are usually correct and so there is little need for paralysis by analysis.
4 To Help You Do Your Day Job...
Work and the Loneliness Epidemic — hbr.org
Isolation at work is putting businesses at risk. This is as much a commentary on adapting to generational shifts in communication as well as increased overall use of social media as it is about fostering healthy work environments.
INFOGRAPHIC: How to Get More Out of Your Existing Customers — labs.openviewpartners.com Existing customers are often worth much more than new clients. You spend less to retain them than acquire new customers so why not learn to maximize their benefits?
The [Adjective] [Number] Things You Need to Know About Clickbait — firstround.com
People find clickbait detestable. Abhorrent. The paradox is that people generally hate clickbait the most right after they click on it. I call this the Clickbait Conundrum: People hate it, but it works.
Really interesting and comprehensive look at what separates good, value added marketing content from clickbait. You'll definitely appreciate this if you are in sales and marketing, and you might find the science behind it interesting if you find yourself clicking on articles on social media.
Business schools have a problem with FinTech — www.ft.com
By nature, changes in finance are more evolutionary. So, of course, you would think that educating people about it would take on a similar pace. But the future of finance is sprouting roots in FinTech -- and it is easy to see how universities are struggling to keep up.
Of Course, 3 Random Ones...
Mattress Firm: Built for Comfort or Money Laundering? — www.businessinsider.com
ODDEST THING I READ ALL WEEK: A conspiracy theory about why there are so many Mattress Firm stores is taking off on social media. For real....and it kinda makes sense....
'Riots' Break Out in France Over Nutella Promotion — fortune.com
So was this "Brown Friday" maybe? The embedded Twitter videos are are MUST SEE.
Who Really Designed the American Dime? — www.atlasobscura.com
The controversy that has long roiled the coin world....
And The Last Word....
Inside One of America’s Last Pencil Factories
Interesting story and cool photo essay. Quick one to check out.