Getting Everyone On Board

It’s going to be really hard to build a great show if some of the people on stage don’t want to build a great show.

And this is tricky to navigate.

The first idea that comes to mind is to minimize the roles of the people who want to just keep doing the same old thing and don’t want to put in the work. But this is a pretty horrible way to start a quest for greatness.

The next idea is to let-go of some people who probably needed to be let go of quite a while ago…and replace them with those who are willing to get on board with the vision and even add to it.

But you don’t want to let anyone go. You’ve worked so hard to get to where you are and the thought of messing with the chemistry, even though it’s fractured, is terrifying. So what’s the best chance of getting everyone on the same page?

Show them the vision. Paint them a picture. Use words and emotion and connection and excitement to tell them how their life will be better if they put in the work. Talk about how amazing it feels to walk on stage already knowing you have a great show in your pocket. The feeling of walking off stage knowing that you delivered at an elite level…even on the nights when the crowd doesn’t cheer as loud.

And talk about how having a hundred great shows per year means a hundred great nights per year…and a hundred great nights per year goes a long way to building a pretty great life.

»» Unfortunately what usually happens when some people want to build a great show and some people don’t is that nothing gets said and everyone simply lives with a quiet constant tension and resentment. Don’t pick this option.

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Willpower And Chapstick

No one finishes a chapstick.

And there’s no glory in being the exception to that rule.

The point isn’t to make it through a chapstick…the point is to have it when you need it. If you don’t have it (because you lost it, not because you finished it), you spend a few dollars to get it.

No need to spend your willpower on a problem that is so easily fixed.

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Todd And Margo

They make the movie.

Well no. Clark makes the movie. But…

Todd and Margo are the opposite of Clark so they go a long way in highlighting just how Clark Clark is…that added context makes the Griswold clan seem all the more kooky and laughable. And the kooky and laughable is what defines the movie.

Context, proximity and juxtaposition are key factors for how others experience and define you.

All the best to you during your Christmas Vacation.

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Cows At Christmas

I grew up in rural Minnesota where there were a lot of farms and farmers. My family was not a farming family but we knew lots that were.

People farmed all sorts of things…beans, corn, chickens, pigs…and dairy cows.

I remember having a band rehearsal at my friend Kurt’s house and afterwards drinking a glass of milk as he pointed outside at the cow where it came from.

The cows gotta get milked. Every day.

So when Christmas rolls around it doesn’t do much good to try and explain to them how you’re going out of town for a week. The cows don’t care that it’s Christmas.

But luckily for the cows, the farmers knew this a long time ago when they committed to being dairy farmers. So the cows get milked on Christmas…no complaints, it’s not a surprise, that’s part of the deal.

If you want a different deal, better to sell the farm than try to negotiate holiday scheduling with the cows.

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The Secret Family Recipe

There’s a lot of secret family recipes being whipped up this time of year.

The best thing about the secret family recipe is that it’s called the secret family recipe.

And the point of the secret family recipe is to simply enjoy it, not guess what the secret is.

The secret cookie recipe, the soup, the cocktail, the sweet potatoes…maybe it’s just the recipe on the back of the box or bottle or maybe it’s truly a secret and never been written down and only passed down verbally to the oldest child in the family.

In any case if you have a secret like this, no need to hold onto it for fear that someone might figure it out or steal it. But rather, share it so that others can have the joy of enjoying (rather than knowing) the secret.

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It's The Thought That Counts

Why don’t we just exchange certain amounts of cash at Christmas? It would be much more efficient for everyone.

Because it’s the thought that counts. And the best gifts aren’t concerned with efficiency.

It’s the thought that takes it out of the transactional and into the creative and emotional…i.e. into connection. And as always it’s the connection we long for. To be seen, to be thought of and to be that for others.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple