Disqus - Friends of pranay

Re: Extending Yourself Into a Platform

lisa hickey — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 15:53:17 -0000

I almost missed this because my first thought was "but I don't want to be a platform. It sounds boring and ugly and pretty darn abstract." But of course I did read it, because I trust your insights, and, quite frankly, wouldn't have gotten nearly as far as I did, as fast, were it not for you and the seemingly limitless amount of strategic, insightful, actionable information you always share. And the paragraph in your post that begins "I started by connecting with people" and ends, "I asked for very little in return for everything that I gave" sums up so much of your process, of what I see you doing day in and day out. It's awesome. It's going on my wall, aw heck, it's going straight into my memory bank so I can just recite it when needed.
Now if I could just learn to *think* like you. :)
Another cheery fan.

Re: The Writing Practice

lisa hickey — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 08:21:50 -0000

While most people thought this Chris's post was about writing, I thought it was about "being useful." Many thanks, Chris, and now Doc, for *that*.

Doc - "Washing dishes" is based on an old saying "Hands busy. Mind Free." And in "reading other things", I suggest expanding even further: Instruction manuals for clarity and conciseness, poetry for grace and cadence.

Chris - "Photos first" LOVE that. A simple action that can change the way I do things. Useful.

Re: Are You Following the Same Old Conventions

lisa hickey — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:16:44 -0000

Wow. Love this Hal: "What if by changing the way we market the product, we change the nature of the product itself?" It get at the real beauty of social media for me, which is what I thought Chris's post was about ~ the intersection of creativity and humanity. The best of all worlds. The way to keep moving forward.

Re: What Goes Into Redrawing

lisa hickey — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 07:37:03 -0000

As always, Chris, I love your thinking -- love that you can paint in such big broad strokes but move quickly towards tangible, helpful to-dos.

But for today, this is the sentence that changed me: "I’m the kind of person who can see something unique, noodle it into a working prototype, and then get others to weaponize it."

Wow. I am SO putting that on my to-do list. I want to be that person too.
Many thanks.

Re: Go The Distance

lisa hickey — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 07:19:13 -0000

Hi Chris,

You post brings up something I have been thinking of for a while -- the evolving nature of media. How in the past, newspapers/magazines were something your "read". In today's world it's things you "share and discuss". In the future, it will be things you "act on".

I don't think people are used to thinking that the information they receive, if it's "useful" can almost always lead to new actions. (I guess that's actually the definition of "useful"). And so, it's hard for them to write from that point of view.

So once again, I thank you for expressing the idea so eloquently and clearly. You are a true leading example of "service journalism."

Re: On Intention

lisa hickey — Mon, 03 May 2010 22:28:09 -0000

Your example of having an idea come to you while putting on makeup reminds me of one of my favorite insights (source unknown). It's "Hands busy, mind free." Thank you for your lovely thoughts on ideas and intentions.

Re: Women in the Workplace

lisa hickey — Sun, 23 May 2010 07:38:48 -0000

It took me a long time to realize that the only way to be a leader is to get out there and lead -- no matter what your role, job title, gender or work environment.

Lead by actually doing things that create positive change, lead by offering your own unique viewpoint and wisdom in every situation, lead by giving away ideas and knowledge, lead by giving away the credit, lead by not being afraid to change that which is not working. Don't worry about talking about those things: lead by creating change through your actions. Do these things long before you are ever asked to be in a position of leadership, otherwise, trust me, you won't know what to do when you get there. :)

If you are a woman and there's a man who has a problem with a "woman boss", forget the word boss, and lead anyway. Start with small victories, springboard from those, make leadership an important part of everything you do. Learn to lead; remember it's not always intuitive -- for men nor for women.

Re: http://justb-byou.com/blog/2010/5/27/if-you-want-go-fast-go-alone-if-you-want-go-far-go/

lisa hickey — Fri, 28 May 2010 23:38:41 -0000

This is SO amazing. Gorgeous. Inventive. Interactive in all the best sense of the word. Go everyone!

Re: An Author’s Plan for Social Media Efforts

lisa hickey — Sat, 29 May 2010 08:19:04 -0000

Hey Chris, thanks again for such specific helpful advice. I just want to mention that I did ALL those things that you suggest, (as a social media consultant for someone else’s book, not even my own) and not only did we sell a bunch of books, but we were able to create a true media company around the book.

Here are a couple more things to add to the list:

1. Think of yourself as a media company from the get-go. That is, don’t think of social media as a promotional strategy as much as a content distribution strategy. Media companies create content that is compelling and engaging, run it on appropriate channels and time and schedule that distribution appropriately. Think through your big picture plan of how that will work.

2. Do the reverse of Chris’s #12. Ask people who share your same values to be guest bloggers on your blog. They will promote their own post, leading people back to you. The key is just to make sure the link back to what you are talking about in your book is clear.

3. Keep track of the numbers but don’t obsess over them. We now have over 250,000 connections across all our social media channels. That in itself is a story. That number alone has value to others. We leverage that value.

4. The people who connect with you across more than one channel are your true evangelists. Treat them like gold. Heck, treat everyone like gold.

5. If you think about how your content works in other formats besides the written word, other people will as well. Examples:
-- We asked other people to write for us, we were able to launch a full online magazine with the help of many.
-- We added an audio component to our blog and got approached to do radio shows and podcasts.
-- We held events in theaters instead of just bookstores and we got approached to do a Broadway play.
-- We had a whole video strategy (instead of just a single video trailer) and it turned into a movie. That movie gave us access to larger media channels who are now talking to us about a potential TV show and second movie.

Hope that helps. 2 things for the record – 1. almost everything I learned about social media, I learned from Chris. 2. If you had asked me a year ago if the above could have happened by simply getting out and doing the stuff that Chris talks about, I wouldn’t have believed it.

Re: Taking off My Spanx (How Letting Go of Perfection Will Set Me Free)

lisa hickey — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 23:16:46 -0000

Hey that was great. Thanks for the honesty, the insight, the awesomeness of the storytelling.

Re: Our Many New Phones

lisa hickey — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 07:46:49 -0000

I know a whole lot of people get cranky about the multiple communication channels and the infiltration of them everywhere -- but for me, it has changed my live so much for the better that I would NEVER go back. For me -- people communicate with me the way in the way that makes the most sense at the time:
text - short and urgent (usually my kids, they know I'll prioritize)
email - actionable as soon as I can get to it
phone - things that need back and forth (with you on VM being useless)
in-person - "pushing a rock up a hill", for work (activities that truly require team, in person effort) or infusions of joy for other times.
tweets, status updates, blog comments, etc. -- leisurely, luxuriously, serendipitious ways to meet and connect with people.

Because of multiple channels, I am SO much more productive than I ever used to be -- 10 times, 20 times? -- probably more. And because of that -- the times I'm with my kids, or friends, or family or de-tech times are unstressed and joyous. 'Cuz when I need to be available, I am.

Also LOVE the blurry of professional and private life. I love my work. I love my non-work. So I'm pretty much happy all the time, and because of all these multiple communication devices, flit seamlessly between the two.

Still can't figure out why people are cranky about it. :)

Re: Understanding Value In A Share-Economy

lisa hickey — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 20:32:18 -0000

I have to admit, I went kicking and screaming into the “share economy”, but now that I’m immersed in it I find it truly amazing and couldn’t be happier. My biggest reason to sigh these days is that I get so many results I can’t do more sharing.

These are my observations:

1) I tell people that “I give my ideas away and sooner or later people tell me they want to pay me for them.” No – not the specific ideas I give away. But people see that if they could take my thinking and apply it to their business, they would have something of value. And that’s what they pay me for. More than anything else, I love the fact that I don’t have to promote myself – ever. I just solve other people’s really interesting really creative problems, all the time. And word gets around that I’m a creative problem solver.

2) My second biggest joy is with people who, a year or so ago, stared at me blankly when I explained how social media, new media, and the share economy actually worked. And now, I can’t tell you how many come to me and say, “You know, everything you told me back then actually worked. I'm succeeding in ways I never thought possible.”

3) A former venture capitalist that I work with, Tom Matlack, told me the secret to most of his multi-million dollar investments was simple: He figured out a way for the other person to get rich first. It is that word “first” which changed my mindset. OH. It’s not only ok if what I give away allows the other person to succeed before I do, but *that’s the way it works.* People who don’t share are worried there won’t be enough left over for them. It simply isn’t true. It’s that there isn’t enough right now. But there always seems to be enough as we all figure it out together.

Re: Relationships and Currency

lisa hickey — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 08:44:40 -0000

I LOVE the this: "Every time you ask for a favor from someone like me, you would do something downright amazing for someone else. I don’t want the favor back. I just want you to do something incredibly awesome for someone else." That's world-changing. I'm off to tell my own peculiar brand of favor-askers to do the same.

The other thing I liked was Suzyoge's comment "Think twice before becoming dependent on a "go to" person instead of becoming one."

thanks all!

Re: Your (Brilliant) Responses to Gladwell on Social Media and Activism - Alexis Madrigal - Technology - The Atlantic

lisa hickey — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 08:50:33 -0000

The thing I find so odd is that Gladwell *taught* me about weak ties. "The Tipping Point" changed my life because of his insight that going outside of you core circle of people you network with can get you the job or put you in touch with the person that can make the decision you want made.

Then along comes social networking. And *voila* leveraging weak ties gets easier. But guess what. So does leveraging strong ties.

As I commented in one of the other posts: "Anyone who thinks that Social Media can't be used for activism *simply hasn't acted* when connected with people, ideas, organizations or other activists. But wake up, Malcolm Gladwell --> those people that aren't acting to mobilize and create change online wouldn't have acted anyway."

Re: Virtual reality: meshing our networked lives

lisa hickey — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 00:24:10 -0000

So much of this interview rings true to me. "Everything is real" -- it makes it so much *easier* than trying to find that darn line. And it makes me think about all the "thin" connections in life -- I was going to say IRL -- in real life, but I much prefer the notion everything's in real life. You're right -- should I somehow say that the interaction I have with the cashier is more "real" than a heated debate over values that I have online? Of course not!

I also agree that -- from a personal standpoint -- social networks give me a chance to "experiment more with expressive and creative capacities." For most of my life, I've been afraid that everything I say would somehow be "wrong". And then I found out -- I was right. No matter what I say, someone, somewhere thinks it's "wrong". How great is that! I can be wrong, and the sky doesn't fall! Amazing! So now, experiment with communication styles that supports my values -- I try to be thoughtful, kind, clear, creative and with humor and insight -- and to mix up the way those particular values come across.

Re: Start From Nothing 2011

lisa hickey — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 08:30:47 -0000

Hey Chris,
Ages ago you and I had lunch. I had very little of value to bring to the table at that time, (in fact, I was perilously close to being "that guy"), but you were amazing in your ability to transform my thinking.

And one of the things you told me was: "Put the VALUE at the home base, and put the INTERACTION on the outposts." All I can say is yeah. That works. Again and again, in ways I couldn't possibly have anticipated.

Which also goes to your point of: "I want the model not to be a transaction-and-leave, but a transaction-and-relationship." It's the only way to do business these days, IMO. It's what great brands, great companies, have always known, but the tools of today make it easier than ever to do it well. (Just make sure to use the tools with thoughtfully and strategically.)

thanks for all. I believe I owe you lunch. : )

Re: How to Run Better Presentations & Improve Results

lisa hickey — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 10:20:56 -0000

Hah, you're not a jerk for telling people what you're thinking in the meetings, you're awesome for articulating it and giving people the ability to crack the code. Interesting to note that some people like to hear the results first and others like to hear the process first so they can form the conclusions with you. In either case, most presentations could benefit from clarity and simplicity of analysis. Thanks for the clarity and simplicity of yours.

Re: The Power of Twitter in Information Discovery

lisa hickey — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 08:41:05 -0000

It’s a huge mind shift to know that the important news will come to you instead of you having to seek out the important news. And the thing I like about Twitter is that is has a “conversation built right in.” The power of Twitter is that it is both a broadcast device and a personal communication device. That’s what gives its speed. People who go seamlessly between “getting information” “sharing and talking about it” “acting on it” “distributing their own information” will be the ones who “get” Twitter.

Jeff Jarvis described serendipity as “unexpected relevance.” And I’ve long said that Twitter “accelerates serendipity.” So when news comes in to me these days, it’s exactly the news I was hoping for. News that adds to my world view, goes deep into topics that I am interested in, and is attached to a community of people who want to talk intelligently about it.

The other thing I like about Twitter is meeting complete strangers and then going through deepening levels of engagement with them. Early on in Twitter I sent this tweet: “How friends are born. Stranger > follow > @ > dm > FB > email > phone > meet > Friend.” That tweet often gets tweeted around the world, and it really came about from me just trying to figure out the sales cycle of using Twitter as a business tool. I follow a lot of people so that I can get that “unexpected relevance” of making new connections along with getting the information I desire.

Re: The Power of Twitter in Information Discovery

lisa hickey — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 09:38:47 -0000

Yes, that link you shared was great. I just commented on that as well. One of my favorite insights: "Google proved the thesis that if you find a strong signal (the link), and curate it at scale (the search engine), you can become the most important company in the Internet economy. With both, of course, the true currency was human attention."

Re: On Leadership, Teams, Success & Happiness

lisa hickey — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 13:37:49 -0000

I love how you interweave the qualities of leaders, teams and even happiness. (yes, work can be the source of joy – but more often because of the connections you make and insights you share. And the confidence that comes with mastering the day to day interactions that lead to leadership skills.)
And I especially love your raw honesty in this:

“But here’s the thing. VCs fund people all the time with no traction. They fund people with no customers. They even fund people with no product. They just aren’t funding you. Dig deeper. Understand why. Be reflective. Be honest.”

(And I can say this now, after having been through the process, learning from what when wrong, course-correcting to get there.)

The tangible way give to solve that – get a team in place – ties in all that you said above. Start leading others, no matter what stage you’re in. The best way – no, the only way – to be viewed as a leader is to actually lead. In today’s world, it is easier than ever to give people things that aren’t money in return for helping you. Equity, connections, press, networking, knowledge are all things you can give away in return for teams of people to help move you forward. A VC I know says she looks for management teams that “truly believe in the numbers they are presenting.” If you believe in those, you can convince others of the value of what you are doing.

Re: Should You Really Be A Startup Entrepreneur?

lisa hickey — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 17:45:43 -0000

I was on the roller-coaster ride all over again reading that. Yeah, been there, done that. I liked Elie's comments on being able to make good decisions even in the face of enormous stress. I think that's why entrepreneurs become serial entrepreneurs even when they fail. You know the difficult decisions, the unforeseen circumstances will arise -- yes, the sales guy will quit 30 minutes before the board meeting. Yes, the term sheet will be meaningless when the deal falls apart. Yes, there's the sleepless night wondering how you're going to make payroll. But solving those problems -- saying "hah, I did it" when you get through them -- that's where the highs come from.

I can't go back to being anything but an entrepreneur. And I honestly think that in order to survive in the next wave of this economy, it's wise for *everyone* to at least think like an entrepreneur, whether they run a start up or not.

Thanks for another great post, Mark.

Re: Map it Out

lisa hickey — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 08:51:17 -0000

Chris, thanks for this.

I remember when I started my first company, I had read a book called “The E-Myth mentality.” In it was an idea that immediately resonated with me: Create *every* business as if it is a franchise business. Make it turnkey, make it replicable. That way, you know that whoever you hire, that person can jump in and get the results you need immediately. As long as they have the right skill set, you can hire anyone.

Flash forward to recently, when I’m having a group discussion with Seth Godin and others about whether Seth’s idea of every person in a company being a Linchpin, being indispensible, can fit with the model. And the answer is: absolutely.

The idea is “Do that, do more.” Every employee, no matter how high up the ladder or how far down – by reading a document like Chris suggests – should be able to get results on the day they start. Every employee needs to know they can “Do That” right out the gate – it’s a clear path to success for both themselves and the company.

But because you as a business owner want to hire only people who are extraordinary, those same people also “Do more.” You’ve just made the process so easy for them that they can do what they are *good* at with their eyes closed. But then, after they’ve gotten those results, the best employees “Do more”. They bring to the job something that gets results in the way you couldn’t even anticipated.

“Do that” gets you a business that runs well, runs smoothly, is sustainable. “Do more” is how you grow.

Re: Can You Really Build a Great Tech Firm Outside Silicon Valley?

lisa hickey — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 08:10:21 -0000

"Once we see proof of performance then raising $10-15 million is achievable."

I think keeping that in mind is one of the best ways for an entrepreneur to stay focused, no matter how great they think their idea is.

Another jam-packed insightful article, beyond even the Silicon Vally argument, love all the company name-dropping and examples. Thanks!

Re: Fannie's Room: Good Men Project Presents MRAs. Part I

lisa hickey — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 21:27:00 -0000

Thanks for the two posts Fannie.

I am publisher of The Good Men Project magazine and have been working with Tom Matlack since the Project’s inception.

We published the MRA package because we believe the issues the MRA brings up are important and should be talked about. I personally don't believe in a lot of the MRA’s tactics. And I have had this conversation with Paul Elam and others in the group. But I still believe it’s an important conversation to have.

I am not actually interested in "proof" or who is "right" as much as I am interested in helping create a more functional dialogue and society around gender issues. To me, that means getting people to talk about these issues -- even people who don’t know where to start.

If there are large groups of men who think they are getting screwed in divorce cases, that’s a problem. If there are men who are victims of violence, but don't know how to get the support services they need, that’s a problem. If society can effectively abolish rape jokes for women but still allow male on male prison rape jokes, that’s a problem. And if the media continues to portrayed men as evil or bumbling idiotic dads or sex-crazed philanderers, that too is a problem.

I am not pro-MRA, anti-MRA, pro-feminism or anti-feminism. I am pro-equality, pro-discussion, pro-men and pro-women.

One of the reasons The Good Men Project appealed to me from the start was because Tom wanted to explore the nuances of what it means to be a good man. Not to define; nor to judge. And early on in our conversations of where to take this, Tom said that the one thing the feminist movement did was change the perception of women from one-dimensional sex objects into multi-dimensional, complex, intelligent humans. He wanted to help do the same for men.

Have we been 100% successful in our tactics? No, of course not. Have we said things that – taken out of context – could be held up as “proof” of some grave wrongdoing on our part? Probably. Are we going to continue the conversation in a way that welcomes different points of view? Yes.

Thanks for continuing the discussion.

Re: Fannie's Room: Good Men Project Presents MRAs. Part I

lisa hickey — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 09:54:49 -0000

I do agree with that. I didn't mean to imply that men get a worse deal than women, nor that feminists aren't allies, nor that women's problems still should not have great importance. I simply believe that looking at the world through the lens of "there are some problems that are unique to men and should be addressed" is of importance also.