A shorthand that is worth paying more for.

Because if you know what you want for your logo – the right shape, the right colour, and the right fonts. It’s rather cheap to find someone who is good at photoshop.

Even better, if you can write the instructions in a manual, then you can find someone even cheaper.

Perhaps you don’t know what you want (yet). Then instead of saying go design a great logo and I will like it.

It is perhaps more truthful to say – I need someone to go on an exploration with me. Because what great means to you is something entirely different from what it means to your neighbours.

Acknowledge the human work and judgement to guess what you want. But also realise that after the tenth logo design – and he still has not got it. You might need to change a designer or really dig deep to figure out what you really want in the first place.

Because no one likes that French chef that tell us to add more love in the soup.

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The photo was taken in a Shisha cafe in Gifu, Japan.

Google famously got rid of all middle managers and when into disorganisation mode. Super talented engineers pick their own project, form their team and got it done. Product features are built at lightning speed.

Similarly, university students received project briefs, assemble their own teams and get working.

With high performing team members, who need managers?

Except (when asked) Google engineers want someone who they could learn something from and someone who helped make decisions. And except, at school, advisor review projects and ask questions to steer the project progress.

In 2002, Google call it quits and brought back their people manager.

Managers (when done well) cares for you. They make sure you are accountable, they stretch you and they create an environment for you to do your best work. They know how to hire great people, evaluate them, and give them hard feedback. They coordinate resources, they facilitate difficult conversations and they fight for you.

They thought of you, the team, and the organisation. Then, put on this great balancing act. And maybe sometimes, they fail. They make mistakes (as we all do).

But once we can stop denying that it is easy, then we can start appreciating the generous work of someone who cares about you – maybe sometimes even a little more than your mum.

Would you be able to say that you have given same care back to them?

[PS Claire Liew did a great presentation (slides). Recommended. Eric Schmidt, ex-CEO of Google, wrote A Trillion Dollar Coach as a tribute to his late coach, Bill Campbell. Wisdom with nuance. ]

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The photo was taken in San Francisco while wandering aimlessly.

A hard thing to say and admit.

Sure, there are benefits to an accurate view of the world. But remember the time that you were wrong. Waving the white flag of surrender. The emotional labour we expand to come to that.

Can sorry be a weapon?

In a long-standing argument (where you just want to move on), consider that there might be something that you are missing.

In this case, go first. Sorry, you’re right. Help me understand where you are coming from?

It brings the posture of openness and curiosity. An invitation for understanding, turning a conflict into a conversation.

You might end up disagreeing over a point. But now, you see what they see and learn their story. You have earned an understanding to convince better.

You might even be right in the first place. But now, you just save yourself weeks of made-up mental argument. A cheap weapon, all things considered.

Now with more power, what can you be sorry for?

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The photo was taken in Tepito, Mexico City.

Any project that you are trying for the first time is creative work. Cook a meal. Put up an art show. Start a business. It’s new, it’s hard, and if you are smart, you’d look around for advice.  

There are 3 kinds of advice here and they are equally important.

1) Do you have the right tactics?
Is your knife sharp? Can you write a grant application? Can you give a presentation with authority? Can you carry out the strategy?

2) Do you have the right strategy?
Do you understand the macro forces at work? The music business was perfect until someone started sharing mp3 for free. The ice harvesting industry was very happy until the fridge came along.

3) Do you care enough to fail?
Imagine if Thomas Edison gave up on the third try, we might not have the light bulb today. Do you care enough to try, try and try again? Do you care enough to expand emotional labour (which is different from physical labour)?

Too often, we confuse the 3 things. So, we talk to the artist about caring more but it’s not going to help one bit. Because she cares too much and it’s getting in the way.

Or the friend who wants to quit smoking and you start telling him what to do. He knows what to do. He doesn’t care enough.

A lot of “advice” we get (or give) are tactics. We end up pushing more in the same bad direction. Perhaps, we need to ask if what we really need are tactics.

You’ll be surprised very often, what you really ask for is not what you need.

Hat tips to Seth Godin for introducing the idea.

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The photo was taken in the MRI room. It is interesting to see the difference in room lighting for the patient and the staff.

Would you eat a plate of broccoli instead?

No salt, no sauce, just boiled broccolis.

If a plate is not enough, have one more. But no cheating, just broccoli.

If what you want are burger, fries, and a bad day cure, it is perhaps easier to admit that. And use it as a compass on the journey to a healthy lifestyle.

The work might be to avoid bad days or to find delicious and healthy alternatives. But it all starts with a plate of broccoli.

That is a dangerous promise. You have put yourself together with the possibilities of failure. You are on the hook to uphold your promise.

Consider the opposite. Don’t tell anyone before you solved the problem.

You get all credit without the risk. All the upside without the downside.

Authors don’t announce their book until it’s 90% done. Apple doesn’t reveal its new products until all the patents are filed.

Create a tension within yourself that propels action.

The next time you find a problem (or a complaint), that might be your treasure map, keep that a secret and start chipping away. Once ready, delight others with your solution. Soon, you would indispensable and don’t blame me when you are invited to the next secret ‘save the world’ gathering.

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The photo was taken at the interview with the amazing Khailee Ng. We chatted about his visit to Necker island.