Insights

Why You Won’t Like This Blog

I had a few emails (and 14 unsubscriptions) after this blog post I wrote yesterday. The emails I received expressed the sender’s dislike of the post, saying that if I didn’t have anything nice to say, I shouldn’t say anything at all. I’m guessing the unsubscribes shared that view.

That’s fair enough. Opinion pieces often do that – some will agree, some will disagree, and some won’t care either way. And that’s all good, and how it should be – it’d be a pretty boring world if we all agreed on the same topics.

Whether the post was enough to make folks unsubscribe because of it, I don’t know. Personally, I think I’ve written far “worse” and much more opinionated posts here, but that’s by the by. Like I say, the choice is yours – I’m not forcing you to do anything, nor would I want to.

But it led me to thinking what this blog is about, and what type of readers it has. And that in turn led me to thinking of reasons why you wouldn’t like this blog, if you were a new visitor today.

So here’s the quick 15-second elevator pitch on why you won’t like this blog.

It’s often blunt and, while respecting reputations, isn’t afraid to challenge people and practices.
It’s not just about social media, but how that fits into the bigger picture.
There are sometimes cuss words.
It won’t tell you how to raise whatever influence score system you’d like to game.

I’m sure there are many more reasons not to like this blog (and feel free to drop them into the comments!), but these are the ones that I’ve had most feedback on over time.

If any of these aren’t your cup of tea, I fully understand you not visiting again – there are plenty of blogs out there that will meet your needs on any or all of the above.

If, however, you like honesty and an open approach to everything – where your voice is just as key as mine – then thanks for continuing to be here, and let’s keep challenging the way we think.

Cheers!

image: waferbaby

Why We Can’t Give Up

Sometimes you want to just throw in the towel and give up.

Sometimes you look around and see nothing but smoke and mirrors and a bunch of crap that you know to be nothing but faux genuineness and bullshit.

In short, you question why you’re still doing what you do when the charlatans have hypnotized the audience and the click of the fingers to open their eyes again never comes.

You wonder if you should just call it a day, surrender to the fact that the cheerleaders and the jocks have won and the clever kids never made it out of the library.

(For the record, being Scottish we never had cheerleaders and jocks at our schools so I’m basing my thought here on John Hughes movies).

You wonder if you should step away and say you gave it your best shot, but your best shot will never be enough because the shepherds have long since branded their sheep and formed the herd mentality that silences your valid disagreements.

Sound familiar? Join the club.

For the last few months, I’ve watched as the same old soundbites get trundled out and been called new thinking. I’ve watched as brilliant voices ask brilliant questions and get ostracized because they dare challenge the In Crowd. I’ve watched a medium I love and advise on become the equivalent of a clown parade when the circus comes to town.

And I’ve watched this all and become disheartened – often – at how gullible we allow ourselves to be and accept this crap.

But it’s for all that and more that we can’t give up.

Because if we give up, the shitdiots win. If we give up, the lies and the falseness and the business-breaking advice wins. If we give up, then repetition wins and originality and creativity loses.

We have a responsibility to make sure the bullcrap artists don’t win. We complain about mediocrity and yet we support it every day by continuing to support the feckless and insincere.

No more.

Draw the line. Build the fort. Amass your cohorts. Look at the crap and cast it aside. Look at the lies and combat with truth. Look at poor business practices and advice and destroy its inadequacies with facts and actions.

We’re at a crossroads. The decision you make will either see you give up and let the same crud take the money and run, or it will see real become the norm.

The choice is yours. Make it the right one.

image: anyjazz65

Ideas Are Gold

Ideas are gold.

Ideas are the platforms for greatness.

Ideas are the moments in time that will find the cure for cancer.

Ideas are the ingredients that become a recipe to feed the world.

Ideas are the words that join a melody and make a grown man cry.

Ideas are the architects that build shelters for the abused.

Ideas are the intent that lead to mission accomplished.

Ideas are gold. Don’t let yours be wasted.

Calls and Actions

We all know things are tough at the minute.

Businesses are laying staff off or closing down altogether, contractors are finding less clients and people are finding it hard to make ends meet. And it?s probably going to get worse before it gets better.

So here?s an idea. A call to action, if you like.

If you?re a business owner that?s in the position to help, reach out to your community. Those contacts you build up every day of the week? Use them. Use their knowledge and expertise. Offer them contract work.

You don?t even have to worry about advertising costs. Use the tools that you?re using to make these connections in the first place.

Put a call out on Twitter for work or an opportunity, and if you see someone doing this, re-tweet it.

Write a blog post about who you need and why (or have a Skills Needed page with your current requirements).

Use your LinkedIn connections to either recommend a position to someone, or someone to a position.

Yes, going local is always preferable and should be your first port of call. But that?s not always an option, which is where your community comes in.

We often count on our community for so many things. How about helping them out at the same time we count on them?

image: steven w