Your cart is currently empty!
The Invisible Mentor Weekly Newsletter: Brain Food Wednesdays Number 91: Connecting the Dots to Elevate Your Business and Career
Dear Reader,
There is a popular quote from Steve Jobs that was extracted from a commencement speech he gave in 2005.
“Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.”
As most of you know by now, I’ve been building out the content on my membership site, the Art of Learning. I gave myself until September 18th to have 50 Bookish Notes on the site. I reached that goal and intend to add another 50 to have 100. The intent is to have enough content for subscribers to sink their teeth into. It will also enable them to connect more dots as they consume more Bookish Notes.
While I’ve been working on the Bookish Note, something else has been going on. I’m finding connections between books. And I’m finding connections between the Bookish Notes and The One Problem podcast interviews I’ve done. When you learn new information, it’s important to tie it to what you already know. This also allows you to remember information. My instinct is telling me to add in the video version of the podcasts to a collection of Bookish Notes for people to watch because they’re so short.
Developing the skill of connecting the dots is important, because at the very least, you’re analyzing and evaluating information. This enables you to see what others miss. And it also gives you an edge over your peers, and you’re then able to elevate your business and career.
So how do you connect the dots? Read the Ask Avil section of this newsletter.
On a different note, it’s not too late to participate in the Rainbow Reading Challenge. The Challenge officially ends on October 6th. You’ll be reading seven books in 30 days and each of the books will have a cover that’s one of the colors of the rainbow.
Will you participate in the Rainbow Reading Challenge? Join my Facebook group Reading Rocks: Read a Book, Discover Solutions, Change the World.
[Please Read: Introducing the Rainbow Book Cover Nonfiction Reading Challenge]
Two Programs to Help You With Personal Growth
Business Knowledge Accelerator: Read Like a Leader, Digest More Books
Do you need new ideas to apply to your business? Buy the Business Knowledge Accelerator. You’ll have a list of books to read. But more importantly, you’ll learn a methodology to save time when reading nonfiction books. You’ll be introduced to a concept where you read to learn what you need to know. This is information you can use going forward. Imagine how many more books you could read in the time you saved.
Art of Learning Membership Site
How would you like to access the best, most useful information I have, that’s better than book summaries? Buy monthly access to the Bookish Note that’s behind my paywall. I group Bookish Notes together by a common theme, turning them into a course. Imagine reading themed Bookish Notes and starting to lay the foundation for a new skill.
Ask Avil
How Do You Connect the Dots, So You Elevate Your Business and Career?
These days, professionals lead busy, complex lives. You may feel like you’re on-the-go without time to decompress. One of the things I’ve noticed about myself, is that I have to make time to think. That’s when creative ideas come to me. Because of the busyness of your life, you may think creating space for reflection is just another thing to add to your list of things to do. A lot of times when I’m writing, I’m not just writing to an audience. I’m also writing to myself as well. I often gain clarity through written words.
As I was reflecting on what I should write about in this newsletter, it occurred to me that the Haystack Method is an excellent way to connect the dots between pieces of information. I’ve mentioned the Haystack Method because I frequently mention the book, Non-Obvious Megatrends by Rohit Bhargava. When you’re taking in new information, it’s important to connect it to what you already know. Gather information and ideas, curate into groups that make sense. What insights do you glean? Curate ideas into a defensible trend. You may have to adjust the model based on how you’re consuming content.
Here are the five components of the method.
- Gathering: Save interesting ideas.
- Aggregating: Curate info clusters.
- Elevating: Identify broader themes.
- Naming: Create elegant descriptions.
- Proving: Validate without bias.
Step 1: Gathering
You take in new information all day long. You interact with content. You have many encounters every day. You have conversations, watch TV, read books, listen to podcasts, take online courses, travel around your city, go to museums and art galleries. These are sources to collect ideas. Make note of what you learn.
Step 2: Aggregating
- Take individual ideas and disconnected thoughts and group them together based on bigger ideas. How do ideas fit together?
- After gathering ideas, choose a time to combine the early results of your observation and curiosity with thoughtful insights about what it means and how it fits together. What makes the story interesting? How is the idea affecting several industries? What makes you interested in the story?
- Aggregating means adding meaning to the ideas and stories. This personalizes things when you add your impressions. What is the underlying human need?
Step 3: Elevating
Think about underlying themes that relate one group of ideas to another to describe a broader idea of shift. Have a broader view. Aggregate multiple groupings of information together into something that might be a trend. Try to make combining ideas non-obvious. Elevate an idea to make it bigger and more encompassing.
Step 4: Naming
- Involves describing an elevated idea in an easy to understand and memorable way.
- Shares a specific point of view.
- Great trend names convey meaning with simplicity.
- Finding the name for an idea is important.
Step 5: Proving
Ensure that there are enough examples and concrete research to justify why the idea does indeed describe an accelerating present enough to be called a trend. Something is not a trend because you say it is. Find supporting documentation.
Some Thoughts
An example in relation to the Bookish Notes is that I’m seeing themes emerging across books. Diverse authors say the same things, though they’re saying them differently. And sometimes, although they say something similar to another author, they also expand the thought and idea. Based on a theme, I place the books in a collection to form a course. However, I’m also seeing connections between books and podcast interviews.
This tells me that it’s important to use different media to take in information. Another way is to take courses. Using the Haystack Method, you can make sense of the information. It’s not necessarily an easy thing to do. But if you want to reap the rewards, you have to do the work.
Reading List
Now that the summer is over, I’m reading both fiction and nonfiction books. It’s not easy to balance life with creating Bookish Notes, and participating in the Rainbow Reading Challenge.
However, I seem to be managing. I’m currently reading, Leadering: The Ways Visionary Leaders Play Bigger by Nancy Giordano. And yesterday I finished reading Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles.
The following list of books, I’ll eventually get to, but if you read them before me, please let me know what you think of them. I’m leaving the reading list below in the newsletter because I think the books are very much worth reading. I’m working on developing my personal brand, and I want to display my thought leadership. Therefore, I’m reading books on specific topics.
Recently, I submitted an article on Leadership Mentoring, which the International Mentoring Association will publish in October. I’m working on articles for both Forbes and Medium. At some point, I’d like to submit an article to Quartz. I’m reading diverse books on specific topics with the hope that I can connect the dots, and talk about the connections in articles. I’ll have information for articles as well as for Bookish Notes.
How are you developing your thought leadership?
Reading List
- Future Mapping (read)
- Everything is Figureoutable by Marie Forleo
- The Airbnb Story: How Three Ordinary Guys Disrupted an Industry, Made Billions . . . and Created Plenty of Controversy by Leigh Gallagher
- Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal by Nick Bilton
- Levers: The Framework for Building Repeatability into Your Business by Amos Schwartzfarb
- Behind the Red Door: How Elizabeth Arden’s Legacy Inspired My Coming-of-Age Story in the Beauty Industry by Louise Claire Johnson
- Five Stars: The Communication Secrets to Get from Good to Great by Carmine Gallo
- I Got There: How a Mixed-Race Kid Overcame Racism, Poverty, and Abuse to Arrive at the American Dream by JT McCormick
- One Big Thing: Discovering What You Were Born to Do by Phil Howard Cooke
- Self Leadership and the One Minute Manager Revised Edition: Gain the Mindset and Skillset for Getting What You Need to Succeed by Ken Blanchard and Susan Fowler (read)
The Invisible Mentor Blog
Blog Posts
There are several benefits to building out the content for my membership site. I have fresh content for my blog. I didn’t get started this week, but I hope to get started next week. I’m also looking for interesting women to feature on The One Problem
The One Problem
I can’t believe that I’ve published 31 podcast episodes already. The videos are short, so they’re easy enough to listen to. And if you read books, I want you to start connecting ideas between the books you read and the podcast episodes you listen to.
- Sophie Gray, Founder of DiveThru: Being Disconnected from Yourself
- The One Problem Interview with Lois McGuire, Author
- The One Problem Interview with Roberta Liebenberg, Senior Law Partner
- The One Problem Interview: Angela Payne, Founder Leed HR
- The One Problem Interview: Rose-marie Fernandez, Founder Coaching Worx
- The One Problem Interview: Reverend, Dr Cheri DiNovo
- The One Problem Interview: Hillary Sobel, Lawyer
- The One Problem: Janet Zaretsky, BS Brilliance Master
- The One Problem: Julie Foucht, Art of Feminine Marketing
- The One Problem: Evelyn Jerome Alexander, Magellan College Counseling
- The One Problem Interview with Rosalin Krieger, The Unstucker
- The One Problem Interview: Tetyana Dudnyk, Director, Technology Project Management Office
- The One Problem Interview: Maura Lustig, Transformational Coach
- The One Problem: Vicki Saunders, Founder SheEO
- Episode 17 The One Problem: Tara Hunt, Founder Truly Inc
- The One Problem Interview: Melanie Russell Talks About Partnership Agreements
- The One Problem Interview: Anthea Rossouw, Founder of Dreamcatcher
- Germain St. Denis, Consultant, Change Leadership: The One Problem Interview
- The One Problem Interview: Sandra Lisi, Leadership Coach
- The One Problem: Deena Baikowitz, Business & Career Coach
- The One Problem: Kelli Wingo, The One Problem Interview: Kelli Wingo, KMW Catalyst
- The One Problem: Patricia Roberts,Chief Operating Officer of the Gift of College
- The One Problem: The One Problem: Patti Pokorchak, Small Biz Sales Coach
- The One Problem: Adrienne Harris, Managing Partner, Portage Sales
- The One Problem: Kristy Wallace, CEO Ellevate Network
- The One Problem: Margye Solomon Talks about Aging and Relevance
- The One Problem: Deb Boulanger, Launch Lab for Women Entrepreneurs
- The One Problem: Sharon Horne Ellstrom – Stop Being Like Others, Be YOU
- The One Problem: Liz Kitchell from SheMoolah Talks Money Conversations
- The One Problem: Avil Beckford, Author of Digest 30 Books in 30 Days
- The One Problem: Interview With Kelly Daring, Author of Is Love Enough
Product Alert
7 Day Reading Makeover Challenge
This is an affordable program to get started on leadership reading. Leaders read to learn what they need to know. You’ll also learn how to synthesize information.
Art of Learning Membership Site
How would you like to access the best, most useful information I have, that’s better than book summaries? Buy monthly access to the Bookish Note that’s behind my paywall. I group Bookish Notes together by a common theme, turning them into a course. Imagine reading themed Bookish Notes and starting to lay the foundation for a new skill.
Until Next Week,
Avil Beckford, Founder, The Invisible Mentor!
LinkedIn | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest | Facebook