'Ben Thinking' for the week of 09.16
Hope you’re all having a great week. Did you know we missed National Cinema Day? It was August 31. And I love any chance I can get to debate the best movies ever made. Recently our culture team asked us a series of movie questions, leading off with the ‘best movie ever made?’ question. I opened—and closed—the bidding with "The Godfather". All though I will entertain "Pulp Fiction", now getting ready to celebrate it’s 30th (!!!) anniversary.
If you don’t agree with my number one pick…feel free to let loose in the comments. This isn’t one of those newsletters … we can have fun here.
You know what’s not been so fun? Trying to find non-AI stories to share here. As you may know, I put out my weekly AI Round-up over at the Akhia Insights blog. (No shortage of content in that world. Quick promo: Post-MAICON edition coming tomorrow!) I am seeing a world where AI is just going to be infused into everything we’re talking about.
This week’s first story only strengthens that thought. Let's get to it!
AI Adoption: on the rise
6.6M people – 2022
86.3M people – 2024
110.9M people (est.) – 2026
Those are the number of people using generative AI (and predicted to do so) as the adoption rate swells. But why? Apps, smart devices, retailers, social platforms – they are all incorporating AI into their offerings so you may already be using it. in this report from eMarketer, (paywall) as originally shared by Dave Fleet, you can see all you can handle about what are the driving forces behind this as well as what it means for us.
Command-Control … Delete.
Guess what? We can’t just tell people what to do anymore. Well, we can. But it won’t get ya far. I came across this HBR article where the focus is all about how to think more like a coach. Which…is great. But, as the article takes the time to point out in the beginning:
“To be fair, many managers simply don’t have the time to do things differently or take part in extended training programs. They’re facing escalating levels of workload and burnout and yet are being asked to adopt a more patient, facilitative style of leadership. “
Hell, I’m not even sure you’ll have time to read this article. But if you do, you can expect to find a few quick ideas to implement into your day-to-day that can shift you and your team more to a coaching mindset.
“Leaders go to bed in the present and wake up in the future.”
Whoa. Unsettling words from a recent edition of Chief Executive. And a great reminder (like we need one) that we are trying to learn and lead at the speed of light.
I loved this read and have accepted its challenge of ditching best practices in favor of next practices. Check it out.
I rarely do this.
But in this case, these two articles, from the same publication – Chief Executive – belong together. As good as that last one was…as it points out, we have a lot coming at us. So why not simplify and focus on something that combines back-to-basics with the new school?
Well, this article doesn’t have one suggestion. It has 8, from a recent CEO roundtable. This is one you may want to mark.
Reddit is at the top of Google Search and growing ad revenues. Time for marketers to take note?
Do people still go to tradeshows?
Is a question I’ve been asked 20 of my nearly 25 years in this business. The answer is always … it depends.
Maybe ‘do people still go’ isn’t the right question. Instead, maybe the question should be ‘what’s our event-led growth strategy?’. Learn more about that and why this is the approach companies should be taking when it comes to evaluating tradeshows (and other events).
Only 26% of us are taking all of our PTO.
And when we do take it, almost half of us feel guilty. We don’t unplug. We don’t do ourselves any good. We really struggle with this whole ‘time off’ thing.
Let’s face it. We’re bad at this, guys. Really bad, according to the stats in this Fast Company article.
But, the article offers a silver lining … one very easy tip to help. And it makes a lot of sense because it kind of solves the other problem (of not taking all our PTO).
I also have a tip – take a half day PTO, spend 10 minutes of it reading this and enjoy the rest. You’re welcome.
For the pod squad.
Dysfunctional Leadership Teams – and How to Fix Them.
Listen, if you’re reading this you have been part of a team at some point that has experienced what this podcast is talking about. I know I have. And thankfully we had a coach lead us through some valuable work. Now, I can listen to these and say ‘oh boy, yep; that’s an issue that isn’t going away.’
It’s a great podcast with some actionable suggestions for the teams that want to be fixed. (Which, by the way, is the most crucial, most important part of all of this…)
Get ready … it’s less than a month away.
No, not my birthday. Manufacturing month! And if you don’t have a loose outline of a few ways you want to leverage this important month, you will want to read this blog.
And after you read it you may want to talk to me. But start with the blog.
Need a speaker, facilitator, panelist or moderator?
I would be happy to contribute to your next event or planning session. Contact me to talk more.
Feel free to share with anyone else you think would enjoy the articles and resources!
Thank you,
Ben