10X-ing 🚀 🌌 💰#56

10X-ing 🚀 🌌 💰#56

Winter has chilled Melbourne in the past week with over 1m of snow falling on my beloved Mt Hotham hills.

I’m writing from Bali, visiting a dear friend temporarily living here and celebrating my (tropical) birthday next week. The lush green surrounds are relaxing and as always the food is stylishly presented and scrumptious. It brings a grin to my face seeing so much life, relaxing on the shores at sunset.

May all be well in your environs.

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I’ve been working with three organisations to have them become more focused and agile. Interesting the topic of conversation has increasingly been about roles – new roles at that.

Here are the insights ~

The Strategic Advisor + Performance Coach

I find working with high performing leaders fascinating and rewarding. Being in strategic conversations, using natural instinct to hone people’s aspirations into realistic business plans and actions, clearing their way when needed, seeing individuals fly and surprise themselves – it’s good fun.

Recently clients have been wondering ~

a) how growing organisations with high performers set themselves up to ‘self organise’ – the impossible dream that may be possible – where individuals can be self-led in a culture and environment that has them progress, perform, develop, enjoy life,…

b) what high performers need to succeed

c) how to differentiate an organisation to attract high performers

In high performance environments trust can be built quickly as people deliver what they say they’re going to, or maturely communicate and reset if they can’t, and agility can happen in part because individuals know what they’re fascinated by and what they’re good at, and communication can be direct with this undercurrent of respect and vision alignment.

When people are operating in these environs, new ways are required to support their progress, enjoyment and development.

Instinctively, and from experience, one of the solutions is having access to strong and respected supporters, guides, leaders and trusted peers to listen, to suggest practical solutions, and nudge (kindly, sometimes strongly).

Such people can use their intuition to sense what the person needs to gain progress (as an individual AND in their projects/activities/organisations), so they feel heard, supported, weight lifted off their shoulders, understood, appreciated, have clear direction and more.

Cue: [some aspects of] Wendy from the show “Billions” who’s known for contributing value that correlates directly to the company’s great success.

She’s a strategic advisor and performance coach who meets with individuals at set and spontaneous times and does all of the above. She’s there when needed to uplift performance and outcomes and involved in strategic decisions, planning and is constantly aligning people’s direction to the detailed vision.

In high performance environments people are motivated to improve so tailored support makes a difference. Perhaps your organisation could do with a character(s) like this?

(Hey Aussies, you can watch Billions on Stan)

The Digital Researcher role.

For close to ten years I’ve encouraged clients to engage a Digital Researcher in their organisation: a person who can track and explore trends, emerging tech, products and new entrants via relevant forums and sites such as Kickstarter, social media and their (expanding) wide network of industry and market experts. As delivery becomes faster / instantaneous, having a person delivering these insights (and inspiring others to do so) seems obvious. I’ve often worked with wise Eddie Harran to provide these services for clients.

Opening up to opportunities and being aware of the risks is good business. Get started!

Your role in this research

Being connected to what fascinates you as an individual affords a natural tendency to the research just mentioned.

 

An organisation of aligned individuals, all contributing insights to what’s happening, what’s coming and highlighting risks to be mitigated sounds great to me.

What has enthralled you online recently?

Enjoy these gems ~

10X your thinking. Sounds simple. It could be!

This may have you believing your BIG ideas are possible and lead you in to protecting your crazy thinking.

I love the idea of running fast with experience and instinct – perhaps that means checking business cases/plans at the door of the “crazy factory of your organisation” and getting on with bringing your moonshots to life.

There’ll be more of this happening in the future. “Here’s to the crazy ones”, hey Steve Jobs?

“This is a very short, roughly 10-minute, episode. It explains how to ..escape incremental thinking and think truly BIG. I loved it so much that I now listen to it on a regular basis as a reminder. Perhaps you’ll end up doing the same…. Astro is currently Captain of Moonshots (CEO) of X, Alphabet’s moonshot factory for building magical, audacious ideas that, through science and technology, can be brought to reality.” Tim Ferriss

I’m excited. Thanks Claire 🙂

“I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I’m frightened of the old ones.” — John Cage 

Thanks Derek.I love that Andō posted a reply – you may be interested to become a patron..

.

Hey Aussies – I hope you meet James ~

Have fun,
Sam
Art of Learning  🍱 🏄 🔥 #46

Art of Learning 🍱 🏄 🔥 #46

Open Up To New Tech.

In many facets of life people are fearful of and threatened by the new. This is often obvious in tech.

“we humans sure are insecure when it comes to technology”
Matt Simon of WIRED

If you arrive at a new technology do your best to see it proactively as something to uncover, discover its usefulness, learn the risks too, use positive languaging to see its usefulness take off. When you see the media and others discounting or fearmongering a technology, dig deeper and find your own perspective and reasoning. Self-driving cars, blockchains and digital tokens/currency are a great example.

Would we already have safer driving conditions if more senior government and business leaders, the media and others proactively talked about and influenced the use of the technology? I imagine so, especially when taking into account the risks from the prevalence of phone use while driving. We’ve heard many times that the data shows self-driving cars are safer than human drivers yet the media focuses heavily on cars being hacked. The implications of being hacked are concerning though the conversation can be more constructive and uplifting.

From the new developments around you, what are the opportunities for you as an individual?

Use this calm WIRED article as inspiration. (Thanks Claire.)

Bento box competitiveness.

I had a sensational time recently learning how to make osaka-style okinomiyaki at a dinner party. Flipping them was good fun! I also learnt about the competitiveness around kids bento boxes at some schools in Japan. HAVE A LOOK AT THESE…. (I’m so impressed.)

Innovation.

As a new surfer I was rapt to hear about Kelly Slater’s wave pool. He and his teams have spent years innovating to create perfect, tailored waves and the results are thrilling – even if you’re not a surfer.

In September the world surfing league are holding a competition there which recognises that artificial waves offer a consistent wave for each competitor to show their prowess and personal style.

Enjoy the fun of these videos:

Wave pool built by Kelly Slater

The intentions and when it all started working.

Drone view showing the technology. How’s the train on the side!?

The Art of Learning.

The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance” by master Josh Waitzkin is a peaceful, kind offering of clever learning and high performance tools, including insightful stories from Josh’s life in uncovering top human performance. Towards the end the steps in creating a calming trigger for high stress situations is fascinating. Enjoy this one. [I know you will Pete Spence!]

Favourite reads & listens

  • A great talk that I’ll be watching again on creating an integrous life – even just the last few mins. Thanks KP!
  • 1. Sleep 2. Water 3. Food. Simplez.
  • This quick “five second” tool for getting stuff done and helping you out of procrastination / a lack of action on important things is great:When you have an instinct to do something or have a great idea, immediately countdown 5-4-3-2-1 while taking action. Try it out![Wend – your clients may enjoy this one.]

The 5 Second Rule: Mel Robbins

Great online presence

  • The simplicity and power of Dan Wernah‘s website.

After my last email highlighting unroll.me to bulk-unsubscribe from newsletters a few people unsubscribed from this one. It’s fun to see people taking action. How’d your unsubscribing go?

Look out for the Falcon Heavy (and accoutrements) launch. It’s scheduled for 6th Feb.

Happy end of January!
~ Sam

RunwayDigital.com

Bitcoin reading 🌞 🌲 🍎 #43

Bitcoin reading 🌞 🌲 🍎 #43

Get Up To Speed With Bitcoin & Crypto’s.

After watching and reading loads of bitcoin, blockchain, cryptocurrency, ethereum talks and posts, I’ve found “The Internet of Money” book written by Andreas M. Antonopoulos the quickest, most engaging listen. It’ll take you from not understanding to really clever, easy-to-comprehend ideas.

If you’ve been thinking you need to learn about blockchain or have a twinkling of interest, there’s something there for you to uncover.

Here’s how you can listen to Andreas’ book for free:

1. Sign up with Audible to get your first book free for 30 days.

2. Login and use your free credit to purchase “The Internet of Money” written by Andreas M. Antonopoulos.

3. On your smartphone download the Audible app, login, then click the image ofAndreas’ book to start downloading the book.

4. Grab your headphones and hit play. 4 hours 8 minutes straight will do it though I like to listen when I’m driving, walking, or while I’m doing something that doesn’t require much attention.

Let me know how you go.

Crypto’s to the end of 2017.

With their wider utility, it’s great to see increasing interest in Ethers. I’m interested to watch what happens with crypto values to the end of the 2017. Perhaps they’ll be in more holiday conversations and people may have time to setup online wallets and purchase.

Favourite Reads & Listens.

  • Excited to have started using web browser Brave, powered by BAT tokens, on my computer and iPhone. Less bugs than expected (still a few) though enjoying it as a alternative to Chrome.

  • Nick Hand’s videos are a calm, collected, usually fascinating watch. He has a respectful and kind way of delving into the person he profiles. Impressive too as many of short films are gathered as Nick rides his bike around countries.  I attended Nick’s Do Lectures video workshop in Wales and it was so good! Next time you’re in Bristol, visit him at the Letterpress Collective.

  • Thinking about a cryptokitty? or buying a cryptopuppy?

  • Food for thought on blockchain and the future. (thread)

  • Someone made it big on Bitcoin and is now giving US$86M. Will you apply? #pineapples!

Great online presence.

  • Delivering all the answers… this captivating site from Nick Jaffe helps you prepare your adventure. Go stay!

  • Great tweets and replies from Elon about selling hats to fund The Boring Company ($20 per hat x 50,000 hats = $1 million). Last I checked he was at 42k and made a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy joke. So fun! His twitter bio has me chuckling:

Bye!

~ Sam
RunwayDigital.com

 

 

P.S. As promised:

Extending Senses  🏃 🚚 👂#41

Extending Senses 🏃 🚚 👂#41

It was the “latte” in this Tesla semi post that made me grin.

______

Books that you miss upon finishing.

I was entranced and entertained listening to Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.

VR/AR leaders often recommend it to experience one of our possible futures: ultra-simulation (in 2045). The impressive narration by Wil Wheaton often had me chuckling, the detail in the book astounded me and of course it was fun to hear the vast number of (familiar) 1980’s references.

It’s also a Spielberg movie to be released next year.

______
Kevin Kelly in Recomendo.

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Favourite reads & listens

  • What senses would you extend?Neil Harbisson talks about going from full colourblindness to installing an antenna so he could hear sound. Apparently the cleaning product isle in the supermarket is like a fun nightclub! It’s an uplifting, fascinating, futuristic, 9:35min watch. Actually even the first few minutes is worth it to imagine a new dimension for you.Photo credit: Ted.com
  • Rolling Stone followed Elon around for months.Here are a few quotes that struck me:



  • The world is getting better at a stunning rate“. This report has “evidence of abundance” graphs and insights. Big thanks to Peter Diamandis and his team for showcasing how the world is improving. Here’s to balanced news.

 

 

 

 

 

  • Using algorithms and radical transparency at work may make your workplace even easier. (thx Jacqui Hocking)
  • The Websummit opening remarks are a great call for designers, creators, entrepreneurs and technologists to focus on building tech that is useful and fair for society. Included are: Stephen Hawking on AI, Bryan Johnson on HI, a regulator’s view of Facebook and other ultra powerful tech companies.

Great presence

  • Thanks for the laugh David Roberts (of Innovation and Disruption at Singularity University). Here is his bio: “His fascination with technology began In fourth grade after building a hovering electric drone, to carry his younger sister to the bus stop, powered by what was formerly his mother’s vacuum cleaner, and fortunately limited by the length of an electric power cord.”Have you added humour to yours?
  • Good fun at the London tube:

Have a wonderful week,

~ Sam

RunwayDigital.com

 

PS. One of the companies and experiences that have most impressed me in the last couple of years is Manly Ocean Adventures. Knowledgeable, exceptional value, and thoughtful, they’re advertising their incredible experiences (with or without whales) as great Christmas gift ideas. If you’re near Sydney or your people are… this could be for you!

 

 

PPS. in a previous email I wrote about the Apple Airpods. My update from a month of using them is that I’m still loving the earphones quick change between computer and iPhone and watch phonecall pickup. I am missing the ease of the Jaybirds hanging around my neck. The Airpods are a bit more of a cognitive load for me. They’re fiddly to remember where they are / to put in my pocket when I’m on the move and I sense I’ve a higher risk of losing them. Jaybird X2 Sport were around my neck all the time and I could use one or two earphones and never think about the battery or getting into the practice of taking out one Airpod during a long phonecall to make sure I have enough battery. The tech of the Airpods is beautiful and clever and it’s wonderful they can be used across many bluetooth devices – not just Apple’s. Airpods around the neck!?!