Kind of often I hear ”You’re so brave starting your own business”. Of course, I’m very honored that people think I’m brave and happy for the compliment – thank you!! But honestly, I’m no braver than anyone else. What happened when I followed my dream and started my business some years ago, was that I realized three important things:

 

  1. There is no right time.
  2. There is no right level of experience or education.
  3. There are no right conditions.

 

Now is just as good as tomorrow, or next week or next year, for taking action. To me it’s helpful to think about myself and my business as constant beta versions; not perfect but always making progress and striving to be remarkable.

 

Maybe that could help you to? Don’t let your dream wait for you!

 

The brilliant Seth Godin wrote the other day about dreams.

 

If having a small dream we start with what’s available and choose the best alternative. If having a big and important dream we start with what’s needed and then find a way. Something to keep in mind when it feels hard. Small dreams are easier to realize. But as Seth Godin puts it; is easier the goal?

 

Highly recommend you to follow Seth Godin’s blog.

As some of you know, Per Frykman and I currently work on a new book – a book that’s reinventing itself and is a permanent beta version. Our ambition is to write the world’s first fully customized book, where you choose the content to get your personalized hands-on guide to the future of entrepreneurship and work-life.

 

No matter what you do, you will face the unexpected more than once during the process. That happened to us yesterday. We had just read the great book The Start-up of You by Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha (if you haven’t already, read it!) where we discovered that they also write about ”permanent beta”. Of course, we sent them a email to check if it would be a problem that we used the same phrase as a title for our book. We got a very nice reply where they wished us good luck and kindly let us know that they would be happy if we didn’t use it as the title. Alright then, so we needed to come up with a new title. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed at first, but it turned out that after all this unexpected happening resulted in a BIG win (as it almost always does – stay open to unexpected opportunities!)

 

the beta paradigm_coverWe started thinking about the concept of being in constant beta once again. And we realized that this concept has the potential to actually transform business and work-life. The change will be so substantial we think it is a paradigm shift. Therefore, our project and book has a new title: The Beta Paradigm – Time to get famous for what you haven’t done… yet.

 

Some might think paradigm is a really strong word. It is. But it’s our firm belief that that’s exactly where we’re heading. Call us crazy, we’ll love it 🙂

 

Welcome to The Beta Paradigm!

One important ingredient to succeed as an entrepreneur, or any other professional, permanent betais to commit to continuous growth – or as we like to call it: to be in permanent beta. Your beta versions help you easily make progress and each beta version make you more and more unique. It is because of your uniqueness people choose to work with you and it is because of your uniqueness you’ll get famous. And as you are unique, why should you read the same book as everyone else? Of course you should have your unique guide to the future of entrepreneurship and work-life. #permanentbeta #tailormadebookinprogress

 

Learn more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sagrada Familia is one of Barcelona’s most famous buildings. Also known as a never-ending project. Sometime said with resignation, but I think it is just the opposite! This is a church in constant beta version! Just as Sagrada Familia, you and your business are never done. There’s always a chance to do things differently, to improve, grow and get to the next level. I’m so looking forward to our Nex(t)cellence THINK TANK where we’ll explore the future of entrepreneurship and work-life. Of course with inspiration from the church in permanent beta.

 

Why not join? 🙂

Together with Per Frykman, I’m happy to introduce our latest project:permanent beta

A book that will keep reinventing itself and be in permanent beta version. Because that’s the only reliable strategy in today’s ever-changing world; to constantly reinvent yourself and your business and find new ways to do things even better. You simply need to enter and stay in startup mode. This will build your reputation, your most valuable asset, and your reputation kicks off the crucial expectations that are what we actually buy in the expectations economy. That’s why it is so important to get famous for what you haven’t done…yet.

 

Our ambition is to write the world’s first fully tailor made book, where you choose the content to get your personalized hands-on guide to the future of entrepreneurship and work-life.

As an entrepreneur you know the importance of moving quickly and be flexible. There’s simply no time for overthinking. We need to enter and stay in startup mode. This can be kind of hard if you are a perfectionist, like me. Though, I always talk about making progress not perfection. Here’s one example of how I overcame perfection.

 

Some years ago I misspelled a word in a tweet (this was when I tweeted in Swedish, my native language – nowadays I probably misspell and write strange grammar all the time 😉 ) That small misspelling thing kept me awake at night. Sounds crazy right? I realized it actually was. So, I decided to start misspelling by purpose. Of course not everything all the time, but to sneak in some small mistakes once in a while. And you know what happened? Nothing. No-one thought I was less competent or serious.

 

On the other hand, what did happened was that I started writing a lot – on my blog, on Twitter and on LinkedIn – and people liked what I wrote. Writing helps me get clearer and clearer about my message and it helps me launch better and better beta versions of myself.

 

No guarantees the same method will work for you, but I encourage you to think about what tiny step you can take to challenge your inner perfectionist.

 

Nowadays, I’m much better on taking action and focus on progress rather than perfection. Though, there’s still a small perfecitonist inside 🙂

Read a blog post some time ago about laughing at work. When we get older we tend to laugh more seldom. And most of our laughter takes place during the weekends. During the weeks we have more important things going on – work. But that’s really a disservice.

 

Laughing helps us relax, makes us better listeners, makes us more creative, productive and engaged. We feel better and strengthen the workplace community. All essential ingredients to Stay in Startup Mode! It’s time to laugh at work!

 

According to researchers several factors influence how much we laugh at work:

 

The culture: Most laughter is found in flat, non-hierarchical organizations, where the employees can be themselves, where creativity and innovation are encouraged. What can I say? Surprise! 😉

Don’t have time: OMG – is this really true??!

Afraid to insult someone: Well, that’s of course something to take into consideration. You should laugh with someone, not at someone….

Afraid to be known as ”not serious”: I ask you to re-read what laughing does to us; helps us relax, makes us better listeners, makes us more creative, productive and engaged… Does it sound like ”not serious” to you? What if laughing rather means you’re authentic, don’t take yourself too seriously, shows that you love what you do and that you’re courageous enough to have fun at work?

 

Laughing could be one of the best investments in your business or career. What will you do this week to increase laughing at work?

 

Thanks Chefshuset for the inspiration 🙂

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…

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?