Cheap help can be expensive.
Opportunity cost is the value of the lost opportunity—what you could’ve been doing right now if you had gone for the better yet more expensive agency/contractor.
Opportunity costs are most painful when we miss opportunities or lose clients.
We pay attention to “exclusive offers” when they land in our inbox.
If we’re a fan of the vendor, we jump on the offer…even if it’s only to save a few bucks (and even if we don’t need what they’re selling).
Exclusive offers have a way of creating urgency to act.
The role we’re in right now is an exclusive offer because it is temporary (either we’ll move on, or it will move on). While we still have this offer, what growth/learnings can we extract from it in order to prepare for the next role—whatever it may be?
The motto ‘United we stand, divided we fall’ is part of our country’s genes. Our founding fathers were on to something when they said this.
What does unity look like at work?
What do we stand to gain from unity? Lose?
What do we stand to gain from division? Lose?
Happy Independence Day.
Is your deck consumed by bar charts? Are you looking for a way to break the monotony while still getting the point across?
Try replacing a side-by-side bar chart with a bar-in-bar chart.
Here’s an example:
Someone with a great ambition will EAGERLY do what no one else wants to do.
If you don’t know who to call on, seek out these ambitious people for help.
Put rookies on your roster. Also sign up the seasoned professionals who have preserved the vibrant mentality of rookies.
If they happen to be lethargic about taking up the opportunity (and it’s out of character for them): what do they need? How can they get what they need? They’ll come back into the game once the barrier is removed.
Looking down at the ground, soil looks like nothing more than inanimate dirt.
It’s actually hiding a thriving ecosystem which houses ONE QUARTER of the Earth’s organisms—from bacteria all the way up to moles! Who knew!
We are quick to conclude based only on what’s visible in plain sight.
Job titles and MAYBE a flashy degree (if they have one) are usually the only things by which we recognize our coworkers, because these are what’s visible on email signatures and LinkedIn profiles. These are what bring them into meetings and projects.
Digging deeper, we might be surprised at all the ways we can help each other solve problems—if we cared to look beyond titles and degrees.
Job titles and degrees are souvenirs of past accomplishments. They’re an inaccurate representation of the potential that’s yet to be discovered.
“We finally replaced John.” Perhaps a better way to frame this sentence is, “we finally replaced John’s position.”
Once we’re gone, someone else will surely fill the void. Surely. Even Steve Jobs’ seat was filled.
Positions can be filled, but individuals are irreplaceable. Every human has a unique spark that can illuminate their corner of the universe. Some have figured out how to let that spark shine…others are still afraid to stand out.
For me: I’m still working on it. I’ve been gifted with the position of a market access consultant, which I use as a stomping ground to practice shining my spark.
The spark is what we carry with us even when we leave behind the position.
Who will miss you when you’re gone?
Fear can be paralyzing and keep you from taking action. When you’re playing it safe, what do you stand to gain? What are you losing?
At what point do you forget the risks and leap?
Carefree is different from careless. One is liberating whereas the other is reckless.
Walking the tightrope is not an option–it’s the only option.
Creating an effective payer value proposition requires shifting from inside-out thinking to one that’s outside-in (rather than telling them what you want, tell them what they need to hear). An enticing value proposition is one that bridges the gap and helps payers connect previously unconnected dots. Here are some thoughtful questions that will help create rich messages for your payer value proposition:
There will always be limitations: limitations based on market dynamics, resources available to you, data to support the product, and the list goes on.
But what assets do you already have? Challenge yourself to write down 50 assets. What about 100? You may just surprise yourself. And who knows…the limitations themselves just might be your biggest assets!
In the words of the artist Phil Hansen, who was forced to abandon art due to a disability, later channeled it to create art in ways no one else had before him: “instead of telling each other to seize the day, maybe we can remind ourselves everyday to seize the limitation.”
“If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you” –Gospel of Thomas.
