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Creative Houston Sparks
Health Guide USA Tips & Trusted Links
Values weigh more heavily than beliefs with respect to our actions. (Hint: they have $value.) We are willing to pay the price to reach something we value.
Digital Tonto: Values Always Cost You Something, 2023-May-21 by Greg Satell
...values are often confused with beliefs. When you’re sitting around a conference table, it’s easy to build a consensus about broad virtues such as excellence, integrity and customer service. True values, on the other hand, are idiosyncratic. They represent choices that are directly related to a particular mission.
Make no mistake. Real values always cost you something. They are what guides you when you need to make hard calls instead of taking the easy path. They are what makes the difference between looking back with pride or regret. Perhaps most importantly, they are what allows others to trust you.
Without genuine commitment [to] values there can be no trust. Without trust, there can be no shared purpose.
Greg Satell's 5 Rules paraphrased to my words:
5 Simple Rules That Will Make You A Powerful Communicator | Digital Tonto
Sometimes the hardest thing is merely to make yourself understood. Things that change the world, or even a small part of it, always arrive out of context because, by definition, the world hasn’t changed yet.
That’s why innovators need to be great communicators, because an idea that doesn’t gain traction is an idea that fails.
That’s easier said than done. As Fareed Zakaria has put it, “Thinking and writing are inextricably intertwined. When I begin to write, I realize that my ‘thoughts’ are usually a jumble of half-baked, incoherent impulses strung together with gaping logical holes between them.”
I have been dragging my heels about learning ChatGPT. I know I have to do it, but I like the old way of doing things like research and editing. Plus, if I'm going to have to double-check its output, what's the point? Frank Shaw, the Chief Communications Officer at Microsoft challenges me:
LinkedIn: The Future of Communications: How to Adapt to the AI Transformation by Frank X. Shaw
As communicators, we tell stories that help people fall in love with Microsoft, the things we make, and the impact we have in the world. And now we add – using the incredible potential of artificial intelligence – to that purpose.
Okay, here's how he says we should get started:
To realize this incredible potential, we must first understand the soul of our jobs. If we don’t deeply understand this, then all the fantastic new tools in the universe won’t help us. 😊 And what is clear is this: It is human interaction that drives the insights and the stories and the emotional connections.
Looking at artificial intelligence as a way to free up my time and increase my communication quality... Well, I guess I better get started.
Plus, Frank increases my confidence with his sound insight into the innovation process:
We have an idea, we experiment with it, we measure it, we evaluate it, we share it with one another, we repeat. Some experiments will work, and we’ll celebrate! Some will fail, and we will learn! Both are great outcomes.
Empathy can be as simple as a speaking glance that says "I heard you." Or it can begin by asking someone Why do you feel that way?, then listening without making them feel judged. We usually use empathy to acquire allies, but it's equally important to understand the feelings of our competitors and enemies. If someone is trying to stop you, slow down and consider what they're feeling. Better yet, ask them.
Digital Tonto: How Empathy Can Be Your Secret Weapon, 2023-Apr-2 by Greg Satell
One thing I learned over many years living in foreign cultures is that it’s important to understand how people around you think, especially if you don’t agree with them and, as is sometimes the case, find their point of view morally reprehensible. In fact, learning more about how others think can make you a more effective leader, negotiator and manager.
Empathy is not absolution. You can internalize the ideas of others and still vehemently disagree. There is a reason that Special Forces are trained to understand the cultures in which they will operate and it isn’t because it makes them nicer people. It’s because it makes them more lethal operators.
It is only through empathy that we can understand motivations—for good or ill—and design effective strategies to build shared purpose or, if need be, design a dilemma for an opponent. To operate in an often difficult world, you need to understand your environment. That’s why building empathy skills can be like a secret weapon.
Michael Katz just published a great newsletter issue about building trust with your audience. It's fun to read, and I won't give away the message here!
Blue Penguin Development: Trust-Based Marketing, 2023-Mar-16 by Michael Katz
Trust is Not a Given
Since that day [first-time paragliding], I’ve given a lot of thought to trust (and life insurance). More specifically, what allowed me, with all my fears, to move ahead?
I think it came down to three things, all of which also relate to how prospective clients decide to commit (or not) and work with professional service providers like us…
#1. Professionalism....