Nex(t)cellence™ THINK TANK, September 24th-27th in Barcelona

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Tired of the Swedish summer weather? Join us in Barcelona! 🙂

 

I’m very happy to present my latest collaboration with Per Frykman and Magdalena Bibik: Nex(t)cellence. Maybe you’ve heard Tom Peters say ”Excellence is not an aspiration, it’s the next five minutes”? We call it Nex(t)cellence and within this concept we will strive to give you the tools to succeed in today´s ever-changing world.

 

In September we will go to Barcelona for a 3 day Nex(t)cellence THINK TANK. In this THINK TANK we will work on your ideas, strategy and promotion of your company to expand it’s borders heading for success. Together with a limited number of participants, you will co-create ideas and insights on the future entrepreneurship and work-life.

 

For three days, we will look into you professional reputation – your most important asset – and how it kicks off the expectations that are so crucial today. We will explore how you enter and stay in startup mode to be even more creative and take action on new ideas. We will challenge you to expand your case and the boarders of your business.

 

As the numbers of participants are limited, make sure to reserve your spot today!

 

Nex(t)cellence THINK TANK gives you the opportunity to meet exciting people, to co-create ideas and set you, and your business, for success.

 

We promise that it will be extremely creative, rewarding and last but not least: a lot of fun! And a lot warmer and sunnier than Swedish summer (so far)… 😉

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Why you should give yourself permission to be stupid

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The importance of working on the unimportant.

You’ve probably heard about Google’s 20% time; that 20% of the employees’ time should be devoted to developing new ideas. So what’s the point with spending 20% of your time on something that has nothing to do with the core business?

 

To be able to reinvent and innovate we need to dedicate time to work on things that are unapproved and maybe even thought to be stupid. We need to find time to explore those crazy ideas that might be useless, but could just as well turn out to be the ones changing the game. We need to understand the importance of working on the unimportant.

 

In today’s work-life we focus so much on getting things done. Efficiency is our goal. We strive to find the perfect solution. Perfection is thought to be the ultimate destination. But efficiency and perfection might just not be the fastest way to innovation. As Ludwig Wittgenstein put it:

 

“If people did not sometimes do silly things, then nothing intelligent would ever get done.” Ludwig Wittgenstein

 

We need to be stupid to be intelligent. We need to focus on the unimportant to get something really important done.

 

Therefore I suggest you give yourself permission to be stupid and dedicate some time in your calendar for working on unimportant stuff.

 

Wanna learn more about creativity and fun at work, read this blog post by Samuel West.

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Do you over-strategize?

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In my former world (management consulting) the word strategy could be the most popular and mostly used word ever. Everyone suggests “we need a strategy for this” and “we need to think strategically about that”. And after strategy it’s time for planning. Strategy and planning, planning and strategy and so forth and so on. When is the time for action?

 

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As we all know, it is action that actually changes things. But very often, action seems to have the lowest priority on our lists.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I think strategy and planning are super important (and fun). But. I also think we sometimes use strategy and planning as an excuse for not taking action. I think we hide behind that strategizing and planning because we are afraid. What if we start taking action and everything goes wrong? What if we fail?

 

Well, what if you succeed?

 

In today’s ever changing world there’s no time for extensive strategizing and planning. We need to act. We need to start before we’re ready. We need to launch in beta and improve as we go.

 

And you know what? It doesn’t matter if you fail sometime. Progress is so much more attractive than perfection.

 

Ready, set – GO!

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Become known for what you haven’t done…yet

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Some time ago, I was interview in the Swedish newspaper Metro about expectations and how to attract clients (or employers, or talent, or investors…) in today’s expectations economy.

 

We know from research at Stanford University and Harvard Business School that potential outshines experience when choosing whom to hire, what product or service we will buy or where to invest. It’s about kicking off the right expectations! That’s what makes people stand in endless lines to get the latest Apple product – even if they haven’t tried, or even seen, it.

 

”It´s potential, not experience we go crazy over”

Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson, Colombia Business School

 

The journalist interviewing me came up with the brilliant headline: ”Become known for what you haven’t done…yet.” Wow, talking about kicking off expectations! 🙂

 

How will you get known for what you haven’t done? Yet…

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How to constantly reinvent without losing focus

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Ok, you might have discovered by now that I’m a huge fan of experimenting, trying new things and to start before you are ready. Though, I sometimes hear a concern that this means you will lose focus – that your clients will be confused because your message is vague and not consistent. Therefore I take this opportunity to once and for all tell you my answer to that concern. It’s a small three letter word: W-H-Y.*

 

Why do you do what you do? What is your belief? What positive change would you like to make in the world? How will you leave the world a better place? What are your nonnegotiable values?

 

This is the core and essence of your business. This is consistent. This is what your experimentation and beta versions evolve around.

 
Actually, reinventing on a daily basis takes a huge amount of focus. Focus on improving and becoming more unique and more authentic.

 
Reinvent ”what” and reinvent ”how”. But if you find yourself constantly reinventing the why – consider changing business or career.

 

*Learn more about why-how-what in Simon Sinek’s brilliant TED talk.

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My top 3 advice for entrepreneurs (and other professionals)

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Was asked on Twitter the other day about my best advice for entrepreneurs. Thought I should share it here as well. My top 3 advice for entrepreneurs – and all other professionals:

 

1. Love what you do
If you’re not passionate about what you’re doing – quit! Your passion will inspire your clients, your employees, your colleagues, your employer… Nothing makes you more attractive than being really passionate about your work!

 

2. Stay curious

Today, everything changes all the time. Clients and talents change preferences. Overnight existing markets are gone and new have emerged. To stay relevant you need to keep your mind open to all the opportunities around you.
Hint: Curiosity is also a really good tool to preserve passion. Just saying… 🙂 

 

3. Think beta

Change is fast. To keep up you need to act now. There is no time for extensive planning. In fact, I think we often use planning as an excuse for not taking action… Therefore – think progress, not perfection. Start before you’re ready. Launch yourself in beta version and improve as you go!

 

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Rock on! 🙂
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Nowhere or now here?

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Found this in my feed the other day:

 

“Opportunity is nowhere” can be reframed as “Opportunity is now here”.

 

What a difference a blank space make! Think about it, how often do we get stuck just because we cant find that space?

 

I have kept this “space” in mind for the last couple of days and it has helped me rewire my mindset from impossible to possible. If one single tap on the space bar can change the whole meaning of a sentence, what can our highly advanced brains do? Exactly – anything!

 

Let’s make an impact and change the world!

 

Do you see opportunities nowhere or as now here? What can you do to change your perspective?

 

 

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Time for exponential innovation

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No more time for linear innovation – now it needs to be exponential. To keep up we need to take small steps often, instead of big steps now and then.

 

Think: beta version, beta version, beta version. Think: reinvent, reinvent, reinvent. Your business. Your career. Your offer. Yourself. On a daily basis. Think: progress not perfection.

 

My firm belief is that people and companies that manage to stay in startup mode are the ones who will succeed, make an impact and change the world.

 

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Before making a business plan you need to do this

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Simon Sinek found out that really successful leaders and companies are the one that starts with why. They answer the question WHY they’re doing what they’re doing before describing HOW and WHAT they’re doing. Although, most companies still just tell us the what. And the same is true when we make our business plans. We answer what we deliver and we answer how our business models look. But do we consider why we’re in business? In my experience the answer is unfortunately most often ”no”.

 

Today it’s even more crucial to start with why, as markets and prerequisites are changing faster than ever. Let me explain:

We use Apple as an example as it’s familiar to most of us and also very easy to follow. If Apple had started with telling us what they do the answer would have been ”computers”. Adding the how ”user friendly and with stunning design”. In this case we wouldn’t have had the iPhone, Apple TV, Apple Watch and so on.

 

Fortunately Apple did start with why – ”we challenge status quo”. Following up with the how ”we make really user friendly and good looking products” and as a result the what can be everything from computers to smartphones to watches to who knows what comes next. Knowing their why means Apple can constantly develop and catch up with the market – even quite often disrupt the market…

 

Starting with why means freedom to explore, it means you can become the change maker you’d like to be. So before making that business plan, explore your WHY, find out what you’d like to take a stand for, what movement you’d like to start. Then go tell the world.

 

Knowing WHY is one of the essential ingredients to keep a constant startup mode and make a bigger impact in the world. And of course it’s a part of my Your Next Big Thing SystemTM. Learn more.

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My top 5 take aways from StartupDay 2015

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Yesterday, I attended StartupDay 2015 in Stockholm. A great and inspiring day! It also confirmed my ideas about Your Next Big Thing. Here are my five key takeaways.

1. Be passionate about what you’re doing

Reason 1: To become successful as an entrepreneur you need to be an expert of the problem you’re trying to solve. That means spend hours and hours on researching that topic. If you find it boring it’s very unlikely you’ll succeed…
Reason 2: There is no such thing as work/life balance today. Work is life and life is work. If you’re passionate about what you’re doing that’s not a problem, not even scary 😉

2. Dream big but start small

Keep your mind open and never forget WHY you are in business. But be careful about the steps your trying to take. If too big, chances are you will be totally overwhelmed and simply stay where you are. Instead take small steps frequently. Have fun, play and move forward one step at the time.

3. Beta, beta, beta

I wrote about why we should look at ourselves as an app last week. During StartupDay many speakers talked about the importance of experimenting and trying different tings to see what works. My take on that is that we need to think of ourselves and our business as Beta versions. We need to launch even though we think we aren’t ready and then make constant improvements as we move on. Remember – it’s about progress, not perfection

4. Competition doesn’t exist

There is no such thing as a zero-sum game. The future is collaboration. Because there’s only one YOU and no one will do the exact same thing as you do in the exact same way. We need to find our own nisch and get experts in our field. In the future everyone will be an entrepreneur. Freelancing will be the new nine to five. There will be lots and lots of exiting, awesome people out there to do business with. Be exceptional at ONE thing. Let others take care of the rest. Together we will create magic!

5. Alter the future

Entrepreneurship will be the way to actually change the world. It’s the new activism! Your business is your opportunity to create an alternative future and make an impact.

So, what are you waiting for? I say welcome to Your Next Big Thing. Ready…set…GO!

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