Try It. Tweak It. Use It. Share It. Volume 1

Photo by Guillaume Flandre on Unsplash

By Mary Aviles

Try It. Tweak It. Use It. Share It. is my framework for synthesizing and putting into context ideas I’ve encountered from a variety of sources. Hopefully you can find something in here to inspire action or garner new momentum in your work.

Try It.

If you've been struggling with your ability to disseminate information in the most meaningful way, consider these tips from Seth Godin. For years I've been trying to develop one presentation to rule them all. It turns out, one format cannot serve both needs. Instead, develop and deliver an engaging live presentation. Then, follow up with either detailed notes pages or a memo for the leave behind.

"A smart presenter will have two decks. One deck has plenty of text, but then those pages are hidden when the presentation is performed live."

Tweak It.

If I could only follow one person, it would be Avinash Kaushik. I find immediate use for his thinking every single time I receive one of his Marketing < > Analytics Intersect newsletters. He offers this advice for following only 88 people on Twitter. I have my own approach to Twitter content consumption via careful grooming of my "Must-Follow Short List" via TweetDeck (see below). However, lately, I've been feeling like I should revisit my overall time investment, which also entails carefully-curated Facebook and Instagram feeds, and instead concentrate on my newsletters and a reprioritized Twitter list. Avinash's post provides some fantastic guideposts for this shift.

Use It.

In her book Forged in Crisis: The Power of Courageous Leadership in Turbulent Times, Harvard Business School historian Nancy Koehn talks about “gathering periods.” Gathering periods, she says, are those times of deep introspection when you’re listening, reading, absorbing, learning from other people, from daily experiences—when you’re internalizing key inputs. You’re stashing them away, waiting to apply them. If you don't have time to read the book, listen to the Harvard Business Review IdeaCast and learn to recognize when you’re in one of those periods. It will help ease your anxiety that you’re not making enough progress. Embrace this time and trust that you will make the connections and apply the learning when you need it.

Share It.

The first step to successfully developing your personal brand is to evaluate your self awareness. I came across this immensely useful free insight quiz (which reflects a small subset of Dr. Tasha Eurich's self assessment). The post I found it in also offered some applicable tips to distinguishing between unproductive rumination and valuable self reflection. 

"People who improved their external self-awareness did so by seeking out feedback from loving critics — that is, people who have their best interests in mind and are willing to tell them the truth."

Thank you for reading. I'd love to hear what you thought and any suggestions you have for improvement. If you implement one of the ideas you found here, I'd be thrilled if you reported back your outcomes!