The reason that Uber drivers will always struggle
They don't have a relationship with the customer. It turns out that finding a customer and knowing where he wants to go is almost as valuable as having a car and knowing how to drive it. Because Uber and other middlemen are earning permission to connect with their customers, the driver will always get the short end of the stick.
They can easily replace the driver, but the driver can't easily replace Uber.
It's clearly difficult to gain the trust and attention of customers. Which is precisely why it's the best way to build an asset.
The world is here, knocking at our door
The Almond range extender is a pretty cool wifi device. Mine had a hiccup, so I called tech support. In just a few minutes on a toll free line, Maan Thapa graciously identified and fixed my problem, throwing in a few suggestions as well. Maan is from Nepal and he works in India. The Almond is manufactured in Taipei and their marketing is done in Dubai.
Proximity is overrated.
If the boss can write it down, she can find someone cheaper than you to do the work
Probably a robot. The best jobs are jobs where we don't await instructions, where using good judgment and taking initiative are far more important than obedience.
The economy is now powered by connection, not industry. Connection and innovation and the instant movement of data means that the rules most of us grew up with are quickly becoming obsolete.
In Linchpin and Icarus, I laid out the math of our future at work. All the demagoguery doesn't matter, because those old-fashioned, well-paid common factory jobs, powered by a steam engine or an assembly line—they're not coming back.
Instead, we have a chance to invent something extraordinary in their place.
August 12, 2016
Sometimes, news comes along that confirms something we've wanted to believe all along.
It usually amplifies our skepticism.
But sometimes, it reinforces our trust.
The goal is to build a brand with a story that, when you do the work you most want to do, people say, "I knew it." And when something untoward happens, people say, "that must have been an accident, they'll fix it."
August 11, 2016
Of course it is. You can learn to be more patient.
What about good judgment and maturity?
Yes, also skills.
August 10, 2016
A simple test for brands, organizations and individuals:
When you exaggerate the things that people associate with you, your presence and your contribution, does it make you a better version of yourself?
August 9, 2016
Risk mistake number one: Risk means failure.
This worldview equates any risk, no matter how slim, with a certainty. If the chances of hurting yourself skydiving are 1%, it's easy to ignore the 99% likelihood that it will go beautifully.
If you carry this worldview around, you're not going to take many risks, because your fundamental misunderstanding is that whatever is uncertain is bad.
Risk mistake number two: Low risk events don't happen.
This is the stock investor who freaks out when the market doesn't go up the way he and everyone else expected it to. The reason that some investments offer higher returns is that they're not guaranteed to work. Implicit in that high return, then, is the clear warning that sometimes, you won't get what you're hoping for.
I'm not distinguishing between optimism and pessimism. The optimist is well aware of risks, but deep down, she believes that things are going to get better. The risk-blind individual, though, is willfully (or perhaps ignorantly) unaware of what risk actually is.
Most of the things that we do have two possible outcomes: they might work or they might not. Being able to live with the possibility of either is essential if we're going to move forward.
August 8, 2016
At any gathering of people, from a high school assembly to the General Assembly at the UN, from a conference to a rehearsal at the orchestra, the really interesting conversations and actions almost always happen around the edges.
If you could eavesdrop on the homecoming queen or the sitting prime minister, you'd hear very little of value. These folks think they have too much to lose to do something that feels risky, and everything that's interesting is risky.
Change almost always starts at the edges and moves toward the center.
August 7, 2016
A career is often based on one of these three stances:
The Scientist does experiments. Sometimes they work, sometimes they fail. She takes good notes. Comes up with a theory. Works to disprove it. Publishes the work. Moves on to more experiments.
The Engineer builds things that work. Take existing practices, weave them together and create a bridge that won't fall down, write code that won't crash, design an HR department that's efficient and effective.
The Operations Manager takes the handbook and executes on it. Brilliantly. Promises, kept. Hands on, full communications, on time.
The scientist invents the train. The engineer builds it out. The operations manager makes it run on time.
Operations managers shouldn't do experiments. Scientists shouldn't ask for instructions on what to do next. Engineers shouldn't make stuff up…
Which hat do you wear?
Hint: you can change hats as often as you want. but be clear about the task at hand.
[Update: Joe reminds me I missed a critical fourth hat: The salesperson. She's the one who provides the vital last step, the bridge to the customer…]
August 6, 2016
The woman sitting next to me on the plane is successful by any measure–she's happy, engaged, making a difference.
And she confessed that she doesn't buy anything from Amazon, doesn't use Facebook, rarely connects online.
How is this possible?
I think it's because true effort multipliers are rare indeed. Without a doubt, a good tool helps us do a task better, but often, particularly online, there's so much effort and overhead and fear associated with the tools we use that sometimes they don't leverage our work as much as we give them credit for.
It might be that time spent knitting, reading, being introspective and digging deep is more productive than checking a Twitter feed just one more time.
There isn't a magic formula, the perfect combination of tools to use or to avoid. What matters more is the decision to matter.
August 5, 2016
Shortcuts taken, corners cut, compromises made.
By degrees, inch by inch, each justifiable (or justified) moment adds up to become a brand, a reputation, a life.
August 4, 2016
(So said Hemingway on seeing fake books in his fancy hotel room.)
Of course we are. We always are. We're always headed down for the count. It's unsustainable. We corrupt our best stuff, don't take good enough care of each other, ignore the truth, make short-term decisions and generally screw it up.
But even though we're headed for extinction, or perhaps precisely because we are, that doesn't mean we can't do our best. It doesn't mean we can't set an example, raise the bar and try mightily to do the work that we're capable of.
It might not work. But at least we tried.
August 3, 2016
