One page memos


In his book Maverick, Ricardo Semler explains how at Semco they mandate memos to be one page long at most. Also, memos have to be titled with a newspaper-like headline summarizing what the memo is about.

Quote:

If you really want someone to evaluate a project’s chances, give them but a single page to do it — and make them write a headline that gets to the point, as in a newspaper. There’s no mistaking the conclusion of a memo that begins: “New Toaster Will Sell 20,000 Units for $2 Million Profit.”

And so Semco’s Headline Memo was born. The crucial information is at the top of the page. If you want to know more, read a paragraph or two. But there are no second pages…

This has not only reduced unnecessary paperwork, but has also helped us avoid meetings that were often needed to clarify ambiguous memos. Concision is worth the investment. The longer the message, the greater the chance of misinterpretation.

Of course, one-page memos took some getting used to. People sometimes had to rewrite them five or ten times before managing to synthesize their thoughts.

This wouldn’t have surprised Mark Twain, who once apologized for writing a long letter because he didn’t have time to write a short one.

How Self-Publishing a Book Can Transform Your Career - Chandler Bolt


My notes of the Peak Work Performance Summit session with Chandler Bolt, co-founder and CEO of the Self-Publishing School and author of the book Book Launch:

  • Why books are the new business card
  • How writing a book can benefit your career
  • Recommendation for producing work you can be proud of, even when you're not an experienced writer
  • How anyone can write a book without quitting their day-job

Read more…

The single most important skill for you to master


Key points from Hal Elrod's Achieve Your Goals podcast episode named The single most important skill for you to master:

Regardless of your field, one of the most important skill sets to master – arguably the single most important – is your ability to effectively connect with, communicate with, and influence your fellow human beings (clients, prospects, friends, family, colleagues, etc.)

The Context Creation Formula consists of five components:

  1. [ACK] Acknowledge Your Audience
  2. [ETW] Enter Their World
  3. [ENR] Enroll Your Audience
  4. [WIIFT] What’s In It For Them?
  5. [ETR + BVA] Earn The Right + Be Vulnerable and Authentic

ACK + ETW + ENR + WIIFT + [ETR+BVA] = Context Creation

Read more about each component …