Author: Dan Blank

How Experience Prevents You From Doing Great Things

Michael Arrington wrote a blog post over the weekend, explaining why experience can actually prevent someone from doing incredible things. That, because they have wisdom enough to know that an idea is a bit wild, a bit unlikely to succeed, that the experienced person or company avoids them, and looks skeptically on those who try new ideas.

He describes how inexperience and blind passion can lead to building something of value:

“Nearly everything that is really disruptive is created by someone too young to know that they never had a chance of winning. So they blindly charge ahead, and they win. Most startups look sort of dumb in the really early stages, mostly because if they were so obviously going to win then someone would have likely jumped in already.”

And how so many mature and established businesses and individuals continually pass on innovative ideas – on exciting ideas – on profitable ideas – because of their experience:

“The wisdom that comes with experience seems like such a valuable asset to have. You have advice that people should listen to, you think, as you smirk condescendingly at the kid with the big idea and no clue what terrible obstacles stand between her and success… I sometimes feel that skepticism creeping into my thinking when I look at a new idea being presented by an eager and innocent young entrepreneur… Who am I to tell someone that they can’t change the world?”

Michael frames this around age – that he’s noticed himself become more skeptical now that he is 40, having heard so many entrepreneurs pitch him ideas over the past five years. But I would add that this same thing happens at any age, for two other reasons that hold us back:

  • Fear of Failure:

    We don’t want to fail. Even for someone who is young, many of us feel we have something to prove, or desperately want to find success after years of work. By the time you are 20 years old, you have been in school for most of your life, spending thousands of hours studying, learning, and trying. You’ve likely played hundreds of games or prepared for dozens of recitals or debates or what have you. Maybe you’ve loved and lost already.

    So you don’t want to lose. You get on track and try to find a path that guarantees success. And things that aren’t well established, that aren’t yet proven, can be seen as risky, or outlandish because they are risky.

    This is why many people pile in way too late for investment opportunities. They didn’t have the foresight or guts to take the risk when it was meaningful. Later on, when everyone around them feels it’s safe to invest in a particular business or industry, they do too. This goes beyond bubbles around things like housing, this is how most people invest in both good times and bad. The follow the pack.

    Fear drives many of us to make the safest decision, the one with the best chance to succeed. And this is why so many people avoid trying wild new ideas… they are too afraid to fail.

  • Pride:
    Basically, few of us want to look foolish. We don’t want to lose the respect of our family, colleagues and friends, by taking a risk, failing, and then being made fun of. So we hide behind our pride, not only not trying new ideas ourselves, but tearing down others who do try them.

    Many people would LOVE to try new ideas, but feel boxed in by responsibility, so they can’t. How many people do you know that looked at a successful business – eBay, Craigslist, Facebook, Priceline – and said “I had that idea, I could have done that.” Or looked at a successful business, and were convinced that a current strategy was wrong, and that THEY knew the right move to make.

    Clearly, they feel they have the experience and wisdom for great success, and yet, they don’t act.

The solution? Find small ways to test out ideas that you have. Instead of risking your entire family’s savings on a business venture, invest in small ways, either with your time, support or money. Encourage those around you who have ideas on how to build something new – something unproven – something risky.

We watch sports because there is a chance for glory, and a chance for failure. Take the chance in your own life to find the glory, regardless of the risk of failure.

Thanks!

-Dan

Ideas vs Execution (An Idea Alone is Not Enough)

This week, I watched a documentary about ordinary people who did an extraordinary thing. They didn’t have much money, they didn’t have great connections, they didn’t have a particular expertise above anyone else in their field, but they had passion. And with that, they amassed an important collection of modern art, and became celebrities in the art world.

“Anybody can have these ideas, but to actually do it is quite a miracle.”
– Dorothy Vogel

The documentary was “Herb & Dorothy,” and it told the story of Herb & Dorothy Vogel, who spent the past 50 years collecting artwork in New York City. The crux of the story is that they ended up with a multimillion dollar collection on the salary of a postal worker and librarian – that these two unassuming people infiltrated the art world. But there is so much more to it than that.

Herb and Dorothy lived in a small, 1-bedroom rent stabilized apartment, and for half a century, they devoted their lives to the art world. Not to gaming it, not to studying it, but to EXPERIENCING it. Primarily, they became friends with artists – they collected people as much as they collected artwork, evidently. They didn’t have children, they didn’t have much of anything, except for art.

 

But it wasn’t about just the work itself, they were participants in the art culture. They met everyone, saw everything, and tracked an artist’s work as it evolved. They became a part of the process. They never sold any of the nearly 5,000 pieces they collected, and eventually gave most of it away to museums. When the National Gallery of Art gave them a small stipend to live on – pay medical bills, the rent, etc – they instead used it to buy more art.

As I watched their story, I took away a few lessons that I thought were critical for building something of value:

  • Sometimes, doing something extraordinary is an act of simple dedication and stamina, not sweeping and dramatic moments.
  • There is opportunity outside of trends. Herb & Dorothy never participated in financial art booms, they focused on what they loved and took a long term view of it all.
  • Traditional limits (finance, connections) can be overcome in the most simple of ways. Herb & Dorothy negotiated their way to not just possess objects, but to create powerful connections and friendships, which somehow lead to the creation of their collection.
  • Many who learn of Herb & Dorothy’s story will think: “I can do that.” And yet, 99.9% of the world will never do anything remotely close to what they did. Herb & Dorothy are an incredible example of how you don’t always need a brilliant idea to succeed, just uncompromising execution.

Thanks!

-Dan

The Fallacy of “Going Viral”

Many individuals and businesses approach the web and social media with the hopes of ‘going viral.’ What this means is that they hope for a sudden and huge amount of attention to something they release – be it a company, product, blog post, video, Tweet, etc.

They hope to build in a day, what it takes even the most successful – YEARS – to do. Sure, it happens, but today I want to chat about why going viral is not the best strategy for moving your career or business forward.

I have talked to so many young people over the years who desperately want to be a famous singer, musician, or band, so I want to use the music industry as an example here. They are convinced that if the right person sees their talent, that they will be signed to a label, and then if the world sees their talent, they will be adored and famous.

Some writers feel this way too, that if they could just get an agent or publisher to stop for a moment and recognize their talent, that it would lead to a book deal, and instant success.

But it doesn’t work that way, at least not 99% of the time. Here are a few examples from the music world:

  • One of my all-time favorite bands is Blur – they were HUGE in the 1990’s in England, and experienced a fair amount of success in the US. Awhile back I heard an interview with their bassist Alex James, as he reflected on their success, surprised at how much work it took to get known, and then once they were famous, how much work it took just to stay on top. Constant interviews, radio spots, gigs, and appearances. They had to struggle in the beginning, and he felt that it never got much easier. It was always WAY more effort than he would have expected for the simplest step forward.
  • Lady GaGa: “We’re supposed to be tired. I don’t know who told everyone otherwise, but you make a record and you tour. That’s how you build a career.”
  • Another favorite band – The Swell Season – took a similar approach. The band won an Academy Award for a song they wrote for the film Once. Singer Glen Hansard has said that the award merely gave them an opportunity to convince people of the value of their work. Their success was not ‘done’ when they won an Academy Award. They have been touring the world for the past two years, playing show after show, trying to convince people of their value. The award alone did not establish their future, it simply gave them an opportunity to try to do so.
  • I was listening to a radio broadcast from this year’s Glastonbury Festival, and they interviewed Jesca Hoop, one of the performers. She said that last year she played one of the smaller stages in the tents, and there were two people in the audience: her manager and (I think) her manager’s friend. Then, when the manager & friend came ‘backstage,’ she was playing to no one. This year, she played again, and had an audience. It makes you think – after such a poor experience last year – it’s somewhat amazing she showed up. But that’s what you do to build your career. You keep showing up.

You build your fan base one fan at a time (see Debbie Stier’s article on this.) You build your credibility one day at a time. Why is everyone so hung up on ‘going viral’ – what is wrong with a lifetime of growing, of connecting, of succeeding?

When people win the lottery, or a musician suddenly gets huge, or someone does ‘go viral’ – what happens? They are surrounded by people who seemingly adore them, but didn’t even know who they were a week ago. The world is seen through rose-colored glasses, as success was easy, and every new expense seems like an investment to help fortify this new lofty position.

Plenty of lottery winners end up broke, end up unhappy, and confused. Many zero-to-hero musicians become one-hit wonders, spending decades trying to recapture that very brief moment of success. They become trapped in that moment, a lounge act.

Likewise, the loyalty of a fan base built over time is stronger than sudden success. When you go viral, everyone becomes aware of you at the same moment, they are all fans with a loose connection. Easy to get, easy to lose.

One thing that has changed, is that many can build their credibility and fan base via the web. A musician or writer doesn’t have to leave the house to engage with new and existing fans.

Thanks!

-Dan

Embrace Your Competition

I learn by embracing people that you could call my ‘competition.’ I treat them as mentors, I learn from their experience, I ask them questions.

I promote them, I try to find ways to collaborate, to build something together that neither could do alone. I try to understand their goals, and find ways to help, even if it’s just a simple ReTweet.

“Competition” is no longer easy to define. We are really only competing with ourselves.

Measuring yourself against others is not always the best way: do you want to be the team that is poorly run, with fuzzy goals and total dysfunction – BUT – you outperformed your even more pathetic competition by 15%. Does that make it okay to focus on “beating the competition?”

To be the best you can be – in your career and in your business – consider redefining where you end and where your competition begins.

Embrace the people who have gone down the same road you are going down. There is so much that brings you together:

  • They have the same passion as you. That’s rare and powerful – take them out for a coffee and chat about it.
  • They have failed at things you might be trying to do. Learn from that. Why didn’t it work. What would they do differently?
  • They succeeded at things you might be trying to do. What part of that strategy was responsible for it’s success? What part was wasted effort. How could that success be extended even further?
  • There is so much more under the surface. Their existing products only tell you where they were and where they are – not where they hope to go. The real story is often masked – and the real story is often where the lessons are.

Here are some ways you can begin working WITH your competition, instead of against them:

Redefine Who the Competition Is
Be open about who you define as your competition. If you sell widgets for lefties, you don’t have to JUST focus on other companies that do that. Focus on other who serve the same market as you: others who serve different products for lefties; Others who sell widgets to other segments of the market; Companies who serve entirely different markets with different products, but share a similar product, company structure, sales approach, or business philosophy.

I find that people are often trounced by those who they didn’t even consider their competition. They were too busy looking elsewhere, narrowly defining their industry and the options their audience have.

Humanize the Competition
Stop treating the competition as a massive “them.” That competitor is a group of actual people who care passionately about your industry and are probably nice, down to earth folks.

Reach Out on a Personal Level
Don’t just lurk – connect. Take someone out for lunch or breakfast. This is not to pump them for information, but to make a powerful connection and try to find mutual goals. Business is done because of relationships. Create them.

Get Out of Your Bubble
Find ways to collaborate – officially or unofficially. On a professional or more personal level. Too many people drive their careers and businesses into a bubble – where all of their connections existing within a single company and their expertise on a single product. Expand beyond those boundaries. It will serve your career well in the long run, and will open up your business to new avenues.

Connect Everyone
Introduce people to each other across businesses. Put one competitor in touch with another. Put someone else in your company in touch with a competitor. Get partners and industry organizations involved.

Thanks!

-Dan

Experts: Perception vs Reality

I’ve been considering an often overused term: “expert.” My focus is on two areas:

  • Media & Journalism: Whether traditional media are full of experts and new media and social media are full of amateurs.
  • Online Education: With the proliferation of online courses, what differentiates someone who is knowledgeable vs someone who is an expert?

Valeria Maltoni linked to an interesting post yesterday: “In Defense of Experts,” in which they debate the value between crowdsourced reviews (of 200 non-experts) and a review by a single expert.

This got me to consider why we assume that people associated with a well-known brand are inherently ‘experts,’ and that their value could potentially be more authoritative than the opinions of others.

This relates to traditional media – newspapers and magazines in particular – where their is a halo effect around contributors and reporters. Part of this is clearly the institutional code of ethics of large established brands. The other depends on the individual. Some have a long history of experience, and have been on staff for years. Others are contributors or columnists – people who we assume are experts, since the newspaper or magazine has spent money to put their words into ink on paper.

I was chatting with someone recently who was surprised to learn that some journalists in niche B2B media brands are not topic experts. They cover a particular market, let’s say it’s chicken farming, but they have not experienced chicken farming or studied it. They are journalists, whose talent includes covering any topic in an objective manner. Their ability lies in finding stories and communicating them effectively.

The conversation had us discussing whether this was of more value, or hearing from an actual chicken farmer whose hands dirtied the keyboard as they typed because they were just wrangling chickens a moment earlier.

There’s no clear answer, especially not when generalizing in a made-up example. But it speaks to the changes that media is undergoing, and why some in traditional media are convinced that their industry will never experience the shift that the music industry has. That there will always be a future for reasonably paid full-time editorial staffers for niche publications.

But suddenly, Chicken Farmer Digest is competing with the very people they are serving. Their sources are now their competition. The question is: has the value of CFD editorial reporting decreased now that their sources are covering themselves?

Actual experts spend a lifetime building their experience, connections and credibility. Compare this to some online experts, who are no doubt knowledgeable, but whose experience is short, and focus on a topic fleeting.

Tim Ferris discussed this in The 4-Hour Workweek:

“Expert status can be created in less than four weeks if you understand basic credibility indicators.”

He makes the critical point that “being perceived as an expert and being an expert” are sometimes two different things. His four steps to being perceived as an expert:

  1. Join two or three related trade organizations.
  2. Read the three top-selling books on your topic.
  3. Give one free one-to-three hour seminar at a the closest well-known university. Then do the same at branches of two well-known big companies.
  4. Offer to write one or two articles for trade magazines related to your topic, citing what you have accomplished in steps 1 and 3 for credibility.
  5. Join ProfNet, which is a service that journalists use to find experts to quote for articles. Use steps 1, 3, and 4 to demonstrate credibility.

Do you want to be an expert? Just do a Google search, there are lots of articles promising that you can become an expert on anything in no time. They aren’t saying you can learn about a topic, or become knowledgeable, but actually become an expert. An authority.

I am always fascinated with downloadable products such as eBooks and online courses. Are they filled with short-lived tips, or are they authored by someone with deep experience in a particular niche? Is their expertise based on perception, or reality?

This same thought-process applies to any form or online and offline content, including events.

I am thrilled at how the web has opened up a world of education, a world of learning, of sharing and connection. And I’m thrilled that people can access and become experts more easily. But I am cautious about throwing around words like ‘expert,’ because in order for it to mean something, it needs to be rare. It needs to be earned.

Thanks!

-Dan