Some lessons I learned in 2021
Hi-
We’ve reached December.
How has 2021 been for y’all?
A bit up down on my end…if I’m being quite honest, but I’m holding it together.
I wanted to take a moment to share some lessons I learned from the year.
Strategy is the most important skill most organizations and people need now:
Where will you compete?
How will you win?
What does the world you exist in look like?
These are the key questions and in a lot of places and situation, they aren’t being asked often enough, consistently enough, or with enough seriousness.
Part one, people don’t even know what strategy is. There’s been too much tactification.
Part two, there hasn’t been any incentive to do the real work of strategy.
Strategy matters. Those that can take the long-term view are winning. Those that are reacting all the time are struggling.
“Branding” or brand management has developed a bad smell in too many places: Again, when you have “influencers” and numpties telling you about “managing your personal brand, man”, it is hard to get away from the smell of manure fast enough.
I also learned this year that on the marketing side of things, understanding and implementing a stronger brand strategy is something a lot of businesses need and are struggling with.
Again, tactics-driven culture is one reason.
But the second reason is that there are just so many bad teachers and a lack of good ones to help share the ideas in a way that people can use them effectively.
Hustle-culture is a ridiculous thing: Hustle porn like Gary V and those clowns would offer was always a toxic stew of stupidity and posturing.
If we’ve learned one lesson from the pandemic, it’s that you make plans, and god laughs.
That seems to have played out in a healthy way in the way that people are approaching some of the decision-making now.
“The Great Resignation”, that’s a reflection of a toxic culture where people were treated like lemmings, beaten down, and dumped on.
The same goes for hustle culture.
Mental health needs are rising: We all need to pay more attention to our mental health.
I’ve been on a bit of a crusade about this in regards to kids because I have been coaching and working with kids in my community and recognize the signs of stress and trauma from the events of the past two years and have been a bit floored when people reflexively tell me, “everything is fine.”
It isn’t.
You see nervous tics and anxiety in kids and adults when you know what to look for.
There aren’t enough mental health resources in most countries, but if you can find some…get access to them.
A great book is still your friend: Books are windows into other worlds and I’ve struggled to read as much as I would normally read this year, but let me share a few that I really found entertaining this year.
You can take tons of lessons from them for any part of your world:
The Barcelona Inheritance by Jonathan Wilson: I find Jonathan Wilson to be the best soccer writer in the world. His research is tremendous and the way he explains tactics is beautiful. As someone that is catching up with my soccer education, this one really helped me understand the dynamics of Barcelona, but also famous figures like Pep, Cruyff, and Jose.
The Storyteller by Dave Grohl: This isn’t a Nirvana book. It is a book about Dave Grohl and his experiences becoming one of the biggest stars in the world, but really how despite that he comes off as a relatively normal dude that is trying to be a good dad, neighbor, father, and son. I read it so fast and that hadn’t really happened in a while.
We Need to Hang Out by Billy Baker: My neighbor, Jenny, gave this to me because I helped her throw a surprise party for her husband in our backyard. It was after reading the book that I realized I’m sort of a glue guy for the neighborhood and that this matters because we’ve built up culture and society where it can often feel easy and be easy to become isolated. I guess I fight that.
There are so many books.
This isn’t a comprehensive list by any stretch, but these are the highlights to me…or the things that keep coming back.
Share some of yours with me and I’ll see if I can compile a list to share on my blog or in one of the issues before the end of the year.
Dave