⫹⫺ Hiatus

CMMN WLTH 097 - Cheat Codes for Creators, Makers and Doers

Hello my friends,

CMMN WLTH is back.

I hope you’re doing well. Thanks to everyone who reached out over the past few months. It means a lot.

I started writing these notes back in Jan 2021, at the height of the Covid pandemic, and sent them for 97 consecutive weeks.

However, at the end of last year, I realized the practice that I started to inspire myself was no longer serving its purpose. My heart wasn’t in it and as a result, the quality suffered.

Hence, a short hiatus.

*CMMN WLTH v2.0

The good news is that I used some of the downtime to listen to your feedback and ultimately simplify the format.

More curated, higher quality:

• 4 inspirational/informational pieces of media (instead of 10).

• 3 learnings

• 1 key quote

Let me know if you like the updates by replying to this e-mail.

Thanks for your patience,

— Andy

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In this week’s email:

• Product - Don’t kill the creative “magic” with too much structure.

• People - Answer the question: “What should we do about…”

• Process - How to keep a competitive advantage.

• Out of Office - Sync cost fallacy.

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*Product

No Creative Person Has Ever Asked For a Brainstorming Session by Brian Collins

“The opposite of courage isn’t cowardice, it’s conformity”

• Too much structure kills creativity.

• Never leave serendipity to chance.

• Intentionality is the real secret to creating interesting work.

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*People

Enthusiastically Hiring by Ravi Gupta

“The vast majority of the time I’ve heard someone be the subject of “What should we do about…”, it has ended with the person in question not being at the company within 12 months.”

• There is always a good reason to avoid a tough conversation.

• Create a culture of trust and compassion while maintaining high standards.

• Provide a simple framework for making decisions on difficult team members.

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*Process

Why Competitive Advantages Die by Morgan Housel

“Being right is the enemy of staying right because it leads you to forget the way the world works.” - Jason Zweig

• Keeping a competitive edge is harder than gaining one in the first place.

• Serendipity often masquerades as skill.

• A list of reasons competitive advantages die.

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*Out of Office

Google calendar but you can see how much each meeting costs.

“Sync cost”.

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Weekly Subscribers: 290

Open Rate: 54%

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