I’m onboarding a new employee. In the past, I would ask the person to watch videos, take certifications, and listen to me talk. This time it would be different.I asked the person to do several small tasks. Every task had an objective and a measurable outcome. The tasks are simple; they don’t require advanced experience. Like stepping stones, each task builds upon the other in complexity and scope. By the end of week 1, the new employee developed a strong idea our business, how it works, and how their work contributes. What if other corporate trainings more like that?

There is a person on my team that spends their day calling clients. They ask clients, “did the lead we send you convert?” This person’s work is ultra-valuable. Collecting intelligence is for making the known the unknown. I tell this person that their job is to find the smallest unit of truth that is actionable — an insight.Insights give me, and other account-facing people, the awareness we need to make smart decisions. Two learnings.Prize the work of someone with the job of generating insights for you. Never underestimate someone whose only job is to smile and dial.

I restarted the wifi point in my office today. I unplugged it for 30 seconds. I plugged it back in. Worked like a charm.Powerful metaphor for when life gets tough.

You have a network of people that know more than you do. If you don’t, stop reading and start developing one. You can use that network to solve tough problems. Today, I completed my “Professional Development” goals at work. I struggle to answer that question because my goal is truly to remain in the game — I have no aspirations beyond that. I asked some friends of mine, “hey, you know me okay, how have you leveraged this question in the past?”My hive mind shared two great answers. I won’t share them here, they’re not relevant. What’s relevant is that the hive mind paid off. I walked away with ideas that excited and engaged me. You’re not alone at work. You always have people that want to help. If you say you don’t know anybody, I say you’re wrong. Why? Because you got this email, and you know me.

Shane Parrish from Farnam Street often says, “are you operating on easy mode or hard mode?”Example: If you stay up late and you have a big presentation the next morning, you’re going to be operating on the next morning on “hard mode.” I thought about that today. I had a hard time focusing on work.My mind wandered to other subjects. New signals from Slack drew my attention away from my most important objectives. I ended my work shift late. I operated on hard mode. Working on easy mode is hard. You must discipline your mind and your behaviors to operate that way. Get rid of signals that throw your attention. Tell everybody that your heads down and focused. Don’t make your phone your captor. Life doesn’t need to be this way. Sometimes it’s a choice. When you have the choice, choose wisely.

I spoke to my friend, Sean, the other day. I shared my idea that music, even the arts, should should be prioritized in education. Why?Science, Technology, Engineering and Math are important subjects. If you read my blog, you know that I have an interest in these subjects. I see these subjects like tools that a person can use to explain or build a system. I see music as the spoke that combines everything together.To create music is to employ the laws of physics and concepts from engineering. Imagine a music class where a student learned not only notes and how to play an instrument; but also learned the practical applications of their other courses. Students would use statistics as a way to analyze music. They learn about wave forms and how they can create different wave forms from their instrument. They ask about how to combine wave forms. Imagine a class where students learn how to work cross-functionally. They write music for their class. To be effective, they must talk to students who play different instruments. They must learn the limitations and strengths of the instrument. They write music that allows their class-mate (read: cross-functional partner) to be successful. Imagine a class where ideas are born, destroyed, and iterated upon. In ensemble class students learn how to develop an idea and riff on it. They learn that destination-less brainstorming isn’t as effective as rapid continuous-improvement. They learn how to develop and sell ideas that get riffed. No one needs to know why music is important — on it’s own, I argue it might not be that important. But, when you start to make music multi-disciplinary (which it is by nature), the benefits scale exponentially.

I have blogged to you since 2019. Long time.I looked back at the archives and noticed that December seems to be the month about beliefs and thinking. I gave you guidance for how to challenge yourself and clarify your thinking on December 4 and December 5. I share the most practical “how to” with you on December 5.Perhaps I focus on thinking and clarity in December as preparation for the new year. Perhaps December is the time for clarifying intention, evaluating our decisions from the year, and deciding what next year will be about. I’ve often thought about doing a year-in-review; perhaps I’ll do one.

No great harm can come to you for being thoughtfully wrong. You will make lots of decisions today. Your decisions will be informed by assumptions. Your assumptions are generated from your observation of the world. Your observation of the world is gelled over by your bias. Your bias formed as a result of your life. Your life was never yours to start. The first principles that guide your decisions may not be accurate; and you are likely wrong more than you’re right. It’s best to get it off your chest and admit it. Why? You get the benefit of perspective. Considering multiple perspectives and inputs gives you the intel you need to make your work better.

It’s a question I don’t have an answer to; but I am thinking about. Are beliefs developed through the acquisition of knowledge? I wonder how many beliefs people have that aren’t a result of knowledge. Are beliefs developed through repetitive storytelling? I think I’m closer. People tend to believe the things they hear over and over again. It’s possible they start to pay attention when that story is about survival, waging war against the forces of evil, or about a hope eternal. Are these stories knowledge? I don’t know. I think I know that knowledge doesn’t break belief. All the facts and figures in the world don’t change a person’s belief. Why change a person’s belief then?For now, I only see one reason. If you can give that person a story to tell themselves that’s better than the one they’re telling themselves about themselves right now. That story needs to be built on:The facts as that person sees them, A description of how the environment is changing around them, The real costs and hard truths of change and inaction, and finally,The tremendous joy they will feel as they overcome the odds and begin their new story as the hero.Knowledge might only be as useful as the stories it allows us to tell.

Wednesdays are a struggle for me. Typically, it’s an information overload day. I struggle to find a way to manage. Here’s what I’m doing:Spend more time heads down in work. I pay for brain.fm, put on nice head phones, and go at my work.Turn my phone off. I got rid of social media years ago, and I do my best not to look at my phone. My family and friends probably hope I pick it up more often than I do. Write things down. The company I work at uses clickup.com. When I owe someone something, I make a clickup task for myself. I follow through by scheduling time to work on these clickups later. There are things I wish I did more that I don’t do. I know why I don’t do it. I don’t schedule time for it. That’s on me. There are only so many hours in a life. I don’t know how many hours I have left. I know I need to get better at using the ones I have. And like any form of prioritization, there are things that end up on the cutting room floor. Life strategy is like business strategy. It’s all about what you don’t do.