By Rajesh Setty on Mon 09 Nov 2009, 10:26 PM - 6 Comments
Photo Courtesy: psyberartist on Flickr
Marketplace is right most of the time. It will set the price for what you bring to the table – based on the supply and demand equations that exist (all the time)
Smart people sometimes hit a roadblock when they don’t get what they truly deserve. What they don’t realize is that in many cases they are the ones to blame for that situation.
Here is a typical scenario:
As you become an expert, it takes you less time to complete a task in your area of expertise. As they grow their expertise in the area, the time takes keeps shrinking.
Now, let us look at the external world. There are broadly two kinds of people there.
1. Those that measure value by output: These people will be delighted to have you on your side. They don’t care how long it takes to complete something. They are focused on the output or outcome. If you take less time, that does not make the work less valuable. In fact, they are willing to pay you a premium as they save a ton of time because they engaged with you.
2. Those that measure value by input: These people think that if something needs to be valuable, you have to put in a lot of effort. If you produce something quickly, you have put in less effort – meaning it MUST be less valuable.
If you are an expert, you will thrive when you are working with the first group of people. Similarly, you will be frustrated if you are working with the second group of people.
So, what do you do?
The quick thing to do is to observe and notice who you are working with. If you bring something valuable but are not valued, you may not know how to demonstrate the value or you may be working with people who value by the input. If you don’t know how to demonstrate the value, the responsibility is on you to educate yourself.
If the people who you are working with don’t want to see the value, you may be tempted to try and educate them. That would be a huge opportunity cost. People rarely change.
The better option for you is to dis-engage when your work is valued less. You will be better off finding people who value your work.
All the best!
=====================
Note 1: Here are links to the other 200 articles in the series
Rajesh Setty: Best of Life Beyond Code – Distinguish Yourself #1 – #50
Rajesh Setty: Best of Life Beyond Code -Distinguish Yourself #51 – #100
Rajesh Setty: Best of Life Beyond Code -Distinguish Yourself #101 – #100
Rajesh Setty: Best of Life Beyond Code -Distinguish Yourself #151 – #200
Note 2: The first 25 entries in the series have been packaged in a ChangeThis manifesto that was published on September 07, 2005. You can download that manifesto here:
ChangeThis Manifesto: 25 Ways to Distinguish Yourself (PDF, Free)
Note 3: My latest manifesto on ChangeThis was published on August 6, 2008. This is a photographic manifesto featuring 15 of my mini sagas (stories in exactly 50 words). Here is the link:
ChangeThis Manifesto: Mini Sagas – Bite Sized Lessons for Life and Business (PDF, Free)
Posted in the Distinguish yourself category.
By Rajesh Setty on Tue 03 Nov 2009, 11:10 AM - Leave Comment
If you are in the bay area on November 18, I would love to see you at this event where I will be speaking about how to build thought leadership without breaking your back.
A quick summary
Thought Leadership 2.0
Building thought leadership without breaking your back
Everyone knows the benefit of being established as a thought leader. For starters, there is an immediate trustworthiness associated with thought leaders that will increase your influence as you are perceived as someone who “knows” and who “cares.”
In the old world, tools to build thought leadership included writing books, speaking and getting the attention of the media. There was a physical limit on the number of spots available and the competition was intense. Social Media seemed to change that with everyone being able to create their own platform to establish thought leadership. However, this created its own problem. With more than 150 million blogs and more than 50 million people on Twitter, how do you ensure that you are heard?
In this talk, #THINKtweet series editor and successful entrepreneur Rajesh Setty will cover what it takes to build thought leadership in this new world.
More details are here.
Silicon Valley Business Meetup: Thought Leadership 2.0
Note: There is a fee of $20 to attend. All attendees will receive free copy of ONE of the books below:
1. “#THINKtweet” by Rajesh Setty
2. “#DIVERSITYtweet” by Deepika Bajaj or
3. “#MILLENNIALtweet” by Alexandra Levitt
Posted in the Announcement category.
By Rajesh Setty on Thu 22 Oct 2009, 10:36 PM - 9 Comments
Yesterday I was at the Hertz counter in Los Angeles and there were about half a dozen people in front of me in the line.
I was surprised (actually shocked) to see four of the six people in front of me choose the pre-paid gas option.
For those of you who don’t know what is pre-paid gas option, you pay for the entire tank of gas and you can return the car with an empty tank.
A quick side note: I know there are some nit-pickers who might be reading it. You can’t return a car with an EMPTY gas tank (you will need to get it towed, literally) so that is not the point of the blog post.
Now, the pre-paid option seems like a convenience option. But let us look at this in a bit more detail. You can drive about 300 miles with a full tank of gas. So if you want to make the most of the pre-paid option, you have to drive about that distance and return the car without filling the tank again. If you return the car with half a tank of gas, you literally paid twice the price per gallon on the gas. Pretty good for the car rental company.
After the first person chose the pre-paid option, I listened to the story with care. The story was well-crafted and staged:
There was a big board that showed two prices:
Average gas price in LA: $3.06 per gallon
Price with pre-paid gas option: $2.63 per gallon
There was another big board that said if you don’t take the pre-paid option, you would be paying a fee of $7.99 per gallon ( this included the re-fueling charge)
The agent would simply show the board and say that if the customer wanted to save money (?????) on gas, they might want to choose the pre-paid gas option.
It was simply brilliant piece of storytelling.
Really, there was no time to think. In a few seconds the customer has to decide whether he or she wants to take the pre-paid option and the entire story was staged in such a way that taking the pre-paid option made a lot of sense. The gas price was cheaper than the average gas price in LA.
The price shown was per gallon (around $2.63) but what was being charged was for a tank full of gas (around $45.00)
We can debate whether the car rental companies are using ethical practices in pitching the pre-paid gas option. Rather than worrying about them, it is best for us to be vigilant on the stories that we are being told to influence our decisions.
Photo Courtesy: Mr.Beaver on Flickr
Posted in the Business Models category.
By Rajesh Setty on Mon 19 Oct 2009, 12:10 AM - 1 Comment
Photo Courtesy: Melissa Maples on Flickr
Sometimes we take things literally.
Enjoy the story:
Loan
Rick stopped someone in the lobby and said – “I am from the office next door. Can you please lend me $1000?” The person flatly refused stating that he doesn’t know Rick well. With a confused look, Rick said – “That’s odd. My coworkers won’t lend me saying they know me too well.”
===
Note:
1. A mini saga is a story told in exactly 50 words. Not 49 or 51 but exactly 50.
2. You can download a photographic manifesto of Mini Sagas at ChangeThis. Here is the link – Mini Sagas: Bite-sized Wisdom for Life and Business (PDF, 2.9MB).
3. For a complete list of Mini Sagas, please see the entire list here or at Squidoo.
Posted in the Mini Saga category.
By Rajesh Setty on Tue 13 Oct 2009, 12:10 AM - 2 Comments
Some background first…
The day before I went for a long hike (long is relative BTW) I told my friend Arun that I was planning to go on a hike the next day. Arun asked me – “So where are you going?” And I proudly mentioned that it was “Rancho San Antonio,” he just laughed and said – “It is not a hike, it’s a walk.”
Of course, he would said that being an avid hiker. For me, being on the hiking trails for the first time, it was definitely a HIKE.
Why share the background?
Simply because I know there will be some other avid hikers out there who will dispute my claim that I went for a hike 
I went to Rancho San Antonio Open Space Reserve with my friend Sanjai who I have known for 20 years or so. We took the Wildcat Loop Trail to go to the top of the mountain. It took us more than two hours to go to the top of the mountain and come back. The elevation was about 900 ft. While it was a gorgeous day, I would be lying if I didn’t say that I was sweating by the time we reached the top of the mountain.
The view from the top of the mountain made it all worth it.
What made the journey (and sweating) more meaningful was the discussions we had throughout the hike and back. The topics ranged from work, life, philosophy, simply catching up on our journey so far, some strategy, marketing ideas and what we both should really focus on in the coming years, what investments we need to make on ourselves in the coming year. Most importantly the key aspect was the brutal feedback that we both had for each other to grow and making more meaning in our lives.
The hike was exhausting but I am glad that I used my own advice of having a second reason to do something significant.
This was a clear case where I was totally recharged by all the sweating that went into this hike.
I was reflecting back on the trip and this is what I think made it more meaningful for both of us:
We planned this hike a few days ago and from that day onwards, we kept exchanging emails on what we should be talking about during our hike. On the day of the hike, we could have talked about many things including movies and games but since there were a ton of subjects pending (based on the growing list) we didn’t have the time to digress on the topics. So the combination that evolved was
Hike (Fun) + Talk (Relevant and Timely) = Time Spent (Meaningful)
What also helped was that we both didn’t have major expectations from this little hike we were going on. So there was no pressure on treating this like a project or something to start with.
Now I am sure all of you are recharged for the upcoming week – so wish you a great week ahead!
Posted in the Main Page category.
By Rajesh Setty on Mon 12 Oct 2009, 12:10 AM - 2 Comments
Photo Courtesy: Bobasonic on Flickr
Sometimes dreams can be unbelievable
Enjoy the story:
Dream
Rick handed the keys to his Ferrari to the Valet guy and the phone rang. Actually it was the phone in his office.
It was all a dream!
Rick smiled and got up and walked towards his Mercedes.
Just then, he heard a voice – “Wake up, you will miss the train.”
===
Note:
1. A mini saga is a story told in exactly 50 words. Not 49 or 51 but exactly 50.
2. You can download a photographic manifesto of Mini Sagas at ChangeThis. Here is the link – Mini Sagas: Bite-sized Wisdom for Life and Business (PDF, 2.9MB).
3. For a complete list of Mini Sagas, please see the entire list here or at Squidoo.
Posted in the Mini Saga category.
By Rajesh Setty on Thu 08 Oct 2009, 11:27 AM - 2 Comments
A social media powered eBook project is simply a collaborative effort conceived and completed with the power of social media. The project is dynamic, participatory and even democratic in nature and takes on its own life as it evolves from an idea to a final product. ”Defiant: Practical Tips for thriving in Tough Times” (a 90-page eBook) is one such attempt on social media.
For those of you who are interested in the day-by-day account of how the book was created, you can read Appendix IV within the eBook or you can get a sneak preview here. More than 50 contributors graciously provided content for the eBook and I am totally thankful to all of them. Collaborating on social media was the fastest way to get the collective wisdom and insights on a topic that is on the mind of many people – how to survive and thrive in these tough times.
In this article, I want to cover two things:
1. 7 Steps to Create a Social Media Powered eBook
2. 9 Building Blocks for a Successful Social Media Powered eBook
7 Steps to Create a Social Media Powered eBook
Creating a social media powered eBook is fun especially because the book can evolve in ways that can (positively) surprise even the creator of the project. So, here are the 7 steps at a high-level:
1. Conceptualize: Way before the eBook becomes real, it is conceptualized in your head. Having a clear vision for the project will help you to speed up the next steps of the project.
2. Create Content Outline: Your contributors are providing the puzzle pieces but only you know how the completed puzzle will look like. You hold the master-key for the project and should have the content outline at your finger-tips. Just remember that you might have to change this outline (several times) as the contributions start coming in.
3. Identify Contributors: The quality of the project is greatly influenced by the quality of contributions to the project. So you need good contributors to participate in your project. Make a list of who will add the greatest value to the project among the people that you and your network have access to. You may want the “best” to contribute but what is realistic is to get the “best among those you and your network have access to” to contribute.
4. Crowdsource: Effectively use the social media outlets to request contributions. For this project, I used LinkedIn Answers, Facebook and Twitter, a few mailing lists I belong to, my blog and my mailing list to solicit contributions.
5. Curate: Not all contributions are created equal. You have to apply the “ultimate filter” to ensure that the highest quality contributions will make the cut.
6. Collate: The next step is to organize the curated content based on the content outline you created before. This is really where you put the puzzle pieces together.
7. Create a Compelling Design: You can’t judge book by the cover but if the cover is not good, one may not pick up the book. So, invest on the design and packaging of the book. It will be well worth it.
OK, that was about execution. Before you go ahead and start executing on your own social media powered eBook project, please take a moment to think about the following foundational elements that will provide you the power and influence to “execute” on such a project.
9 Building Blocks for a Successful Social Media Powered eBook
Here are the seven building blocks for making your social media powered eBook project successful.
1. Resources: First, you need to dedicate resources (time, energy and mindshare) for this project. Second, you need “good” help from your network (in terms of project management, follow through, editing, design and development) to make this a reality. If you underestimate the resources required, either you will fail in the project or create a product that is below par affecting your identity and subsequently your ability to launch such a project in the future.
2. Relevance: The topic you pick has to be highly relevant – not just for you but for the contributors and the audience.
3. Reach: The total reach you have through all of your networks will greatly influence how quickly you can complete the project.
4. Relationships: Long-term relationships provide a huge competitive advantage on this or any other big project. Your friends will be happy to participate in such a social media project because well… they are friends, right?
5. Reciprocation: Social media is two-way street. You give and you get (and the order is important) Giving does not entitle you for getting anything back but not giving is a sure way of ensuring that you don’t get back anything. Unleash the power of reciprocation by giving first.
6. Results: Your past results will influence the willingness of key contributors to contribute to your project. Everyone is busy and there are so many social media outlets to contribute so your past results (if they are good) will sway the people towards contributing.
7. Resonance: Resonance is a big test. You are passionate about the project for sure. But will this “resonate” with the contributors and the audience that you want this to reach?
8. Remarkable: Make it a remarkable project so that others will feel proud to participate in. Remember that most of the contributors will already have powerful personal brands and they want to
9. ROII: ROI is return on investment for an interaction. Contributions are investing their time and the audiences you are reaching out to are investing their time reading the output. It is reasonable for both of them to expect a good return on investment for their interaction (ROII) and it is your duty to provide them just that.
If it seems like a LOT of work, it is. But the effort is worth it because of the leverage it provides to everyone that participates to make it successful.
You can see the outcome of the project by downloading the eBook by clicking the button below (no registration required)
Posted in the Business Models, Compelling Offers category.
By Rajesh Setty on Sun 04 Oct 2009, 11:55 AM - 4 Comments
Photo Courtesy: Shenghung Lin on Flickr
Making good decisions is very important. But it’s also important to know how long you will take to make those “right” decisions.
Enjoy the story:
Decision
Luke’s journey came to a screeching halt at a crossroad. Luke wanted to make the “right” choice. Both the roads seems to have a share of positives and negatives. Luke kept thinking for a long time. It was getting dark and a drunk truck driver accidentally ran over and killed him.
===
Note:
1. A mini saga is a story told in exactly 50 words. Not 49 or 51 but exactly 50.
2. You can download a photographic manifesto of Mini Sagas at ChangeThis. Here is the link – Mini Sagas: Bite-sized Wisdom for Life and Business (PDF, 2.9MB).
3. For a complete list of Mini Sagas, please see the entire list here or at Squidoo.
Posted in the Mini Saga category.
By Rajesh Setty on Mon 28 Sep 2009, 12:10 AM - 3 Comments
Photo Courtesy: Dharma Communications on Flickr
Sometimes when you plan a surprise, you have to be ready for than what you planned for…
Enjoy the story:
Surprise
Jack spent a fortune for that diamond necklace. Fifteen years of being married to Becky, he had never once remembered her birthday. Today, he wanted to surprise her.
When he sneaked into his home late at night, Becky wasn’t there. A card on the table said – “It’s over Jack!”
===
Note:
1. A mini saga is a story told in exactly 50 words. Not 49 or 51 but exactly 50.
2. You can download a photographic manifesto of Mini Sagas at ChangeThis. Here is the link – Mini Sagas: Bite-sized Wisdom for Life and Business (PDF, 2.9MB).
3. For a complete list of Mini Sagas, please see the entire list here or at Squidoo.
Posted in the Mini Saga category.
By Rajesh Setty on Mon 21 Sep 2009, 11:55 AM - 3 Comments
Photo Courtesy: Jeff Bauche on Flickr
First, let me tell a story that I head from Osho and then make a few comments.
So, here goes the story:
This is a Sufi story. There were two disciples learning from a master. They were also close friends. Everyday they would meditate for hours inside and then go to the garden and doing walking meditation.
Both of them being smokers, they hatched a plan to ask the master for permission to smoke when they were in the garden. They thought it won’t be nice to smoke inside the house but smoking the garden should be OK. They decided to seek the Master’s permission next day.
Next day they checked with the Master separately.
In the evening when they started their walking meditation, one of the disciples took out his cigarette and started smoking. The other one was shocked and told the smoker that it’s not wise to go against the Master’s orders.
The smoker was surprised and said that when he checked with the Master, the master had given him permission to smoke.
Now, it was the first person’s turn to NOT only be surprised but also to be upset that the Master had said “No” to him and had said “Yes” to his friend.
The smoker asked – “So what did you ask the Master?”
The non-smoker said – “I asked whether I can smoke while doing walking meditation?”
The smoker smiled and said – “OK that explains it. I asked whether I can do walking meditation while smoking?”
I have talked about the power of questions before but this story nails it.
The way non-smoker put the question made it look like there was lack of dedication.
The way the smoker put the question made it look like he was walking the extra mile.
Something to think about!
Posted in the Main Page category.
Recent Comments