Undisruptable

The world is full of AI guys telling you that you don't need the work.

AI ain't going anywhere. And it will bring the biggest benefits to people who've done the non-AI work.

Because they get the context.

As Rick Rubin says: There are no shortcuts. You have to do the work.

Four years last week since our businesses got shut down for two years.

A lot of predictions about change got made back then. By now the hot takes have cooled down. What was the real effect on our business?

Five handy things we learned from that time that continue to help us grow.

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The March 2020 episode I refer to: Laying people off is hideous but at least do it right.

Customers know the brands and people who talk it up the most are the ones most likely to let them down.

And nobody reads the generic self-praise that Chat-GPT cranks out.

This week: suggestions on how to cut through their templates.

The world is full of people who are happy to have you work for them, yet seem surprised at your uppity requests to get paid on reasonable terms.

Learn from the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin.

Exciting personal news this week but you'll have to listen to find out.

Each week I write of different things that might help you get ahead in business. This week, let’s deal with the best thing for that.

A smart life partner who gets it, and you.

This week, how a plucky local iced coffee beat the biggest beverage brand in the world.

Why Adelaide is great. And why it's a mistake to treat cities where you do business as just dots on the map.

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Adelaide things

What's a Stobie Pole?

Where was the birthplace of chicken salt?

Balfours heritage-listed frog cakes

Teambuilding, corporate wellness and resilience training all have a worthwhile place.

Not if the stress is coming from your own organisation though.

This week: new research from Oxford University on why so many of these initiatives ... don't work, and may make things worse.

And more effective things you can do instead.

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NYT story: Workplace Wellness Programs Have Little Benefit, Study Finds

Flight Of The Conchords: Business Time Live 2007

This week is all about rizz. The Oxford word of the year.

Should you use it in business?

This week, the deep, weird embarrassment of older folk trying to use Gen Z slang at work. Or anywhere.

Including two words guaranteed make any Gen Z person nauseous.

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Dad dance science story https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/lets-do-the-cringe-why-dad-dancing-was-designed-to-repel-20091217-l028.html

How are you going to grow your business in 2024?

Because growth is good, right?

Mostly but not always. The 10x growth mindset, particularly in B2B, is that of the pickup artist.

Eternally on the cruise for new “targets”*. Talking lots about yourself. The thrill of the pursuit, the adrenalin surge of beating your competitors, the flex of announcing your latest win in the trade media.

This week: how to develop more profitable growth. Get it from your existing customers.

I rarely write directly of our work at Scene Change but you get the occasional milestone moment. We recently did the LED stage backdrop for the ARIAs broadcast. (For international listeners it’s our smaller version of the Grammys).

We got there by having the wrong plan from the day we opened. From that, a new theory to explain the world of sales and suppliers that might make your life less disappointing.