A lawyer by education and a leader by passion, I'm writing to share everything I learn about innovation, entrepreneurship, business and strategy. My blog posts are in English, French, Portuguese and German. Why? Because the world is a lot smaller than it seems and I want to help as many people as possible reach their fullest potential!
Itâs March and itâs almost been three months since my first blog post on âexpert-focusâ.Â
For those of you that havenât read it yet, the objective was to encourage readers to get stuff done. The message went like this: for professional and personal reasons, find something that drives you to want to be better. Then work hard to improve that something as best as you can. Result: youâll be better at what you do, be more confident doing it and provide colleagues and clients with better quality work and added value.
For those of you that did read it, whatâs your focus and what have been doing to build it? If youâve got nothing so far thatâs cool. Just remember that as you read this blog post youâll never be younger than you are right now - make the most of life, time flies ;)
If you have no clue as to where or how to start this journey of expert-focus, please allow me to share with you some of my recent endeavours at expertizing myself. My focus is legal and business knowledge and to improve, Iâve been learning through books, classes and practice.Â
In terms of books, Iâve been worming it up quite a bit recently. A great and inspiring read that I highly recommend to everyone looking to leave their mark in the design world (or business in general) is A Fine Line by the founder of frog design, Hartmut Esslinger. It was so good in terms of practical examples of rethinking design and business strategies that I plan on reading it again - this time with a highlighter and notebook. There were so many gold nuggets of knowledge in this book that I want ingrained into my mind.
In terms of classes, Iâve decided to go back to school. Not for an MBA or a third degree; I already have two, history and law. Nope, Iâve proudly joined the brave new world of moocs because I really like the idea of hacking my education. The latter stands for massive open online course. Click here for a solid list of moocs and here for a discussion on the credential aspect of this new means of education. I just completed, with Coursera Signature Track certification, the course entitled Developing Innovative Ideas for New Companies given by the business school at the University of Maryland. There were over fifty course lectures to watch and six weekly assignments to complete. I spent weeknights, lunch hours and weekends taking notes and learning more about the structure of an enterprise and how to identify new business opportunities. So great was my online learning experience that I am very much looking forward to my next mooc starting in a few weeks, this time through edX. The course: Entrepreneurship 101: Who is Your Customer? The university providing the course: MIT. What more can I say? Talk about motivation to learn.
Lastly, from a practical standpoint, I have been readily applying my new and existing knowledge where I can in order grow my career as well as the careers of those around me. At the web design studio where I work, Dynamo, I have been suggesting new processes and helping implement new procedures to, among others, improving our legal documentation management and our resource allocation scheduling. My goal is to help foster better efficiency and improve decision-making at the management level so that my fellow expert designers, developers and content strategists at Dynamo can focus on doing what they do best: create awesome digital solutions for our clients!
So, thus far, what is the result from all the additional hours outside of work spent in front of a screen and my nose buried in the pages of books?
Value. I have acquired value because - every single day - I am working to improve myself. I am passionately working to be better at what I do so that I can help others be even better at what they do. This is my purpose and this is my expert-focus.
I know that some of my colleagues at Dynamo are working hard to improving their own skill sets and adding more value to their work by taking moocs like this and you should too!Â
Iâd love to hear about your journey in discovering your own expert-focus and, especially, how your making the lives of your colleagues and clients better!
2014: Jahr des Ărmel Hochkrempelns und Experten-Fokus
Ich liebe lesen und ich liebe zu teilen, was ich lerne.
Im Dezember 2013 las ich ĂŒber, wie ich es nenne, âExperten-Fokusâ und predige seitdem (in)offiziell diese Botschaft an alle, von denen ich denke, dass sie davon profitieren können.
Die Botschaft ist einfach: wÀhle einen Schwerpunkt, werde ein Experte in diesem Schwerpunkt und der Rest wird folgen.
Okay, der letzte Teil erfordert einiges an ernsthaftem Ărmel Hochkrempeln und kann in seiner Bedeutung frei als âErfolgâ ĂŒbersetzt werden, aber das ist an sich immer relativ und wohl einen separaten Blogbeitrag wert. FĂŒrs erste werde ich damit beginnen, wie Experten-Fokus meine Aufmerksamkeit erlangt hat und werde dann die beiden wichtigsten Elemente dieses Gedankens erörtern und wie es Sie in 2014 beeinflussen wird.
Es fing an als Blogbeitrag der New Yorker Design-, Entwicklung- und Strategiefirma Barrel, ĂŒber das Thema âverschlankenâ ihrer Kundenliste. Sodann fand ich mich wieder, eines der in dem Blog empfohlenen BĂŒcher, âThe Win Without Pitching Manifestoâ von Blair Enns, grĂŒndlich aufzuschlĂŒsseln, Zeile um Zeile (ich empfehle es wĂ€rmstens all denen, die nach mehr Motivation und FĂŒhrung suchen, um in ihrer Arbeit weiter zu kommen). Ich bin jetzt so leidenschaftlich ĂŒber das Thema Experten-Fokus wie ĂŒber TischfuĂball, und das meine Freunde, wie meine Kollegen bei Dynamo bestĂ€tigen können, sagt viel aus.
Obwohl EnnsŽ Buch zwölf Proklamationen erörtert, die jedes kreative Unternehmen lernen und auf ihr Unternehmen anwenden sollte, werde ich mit Ihnen die beiden teilen, die meiner Meinung nach die wichtigsten sind: Spezialisierung und Fachkompetenz.
Erst mit diesen beiden können die anderen Proklamationen richtig verwirklicht werden.Â
Das Konzept der Spezialisierung ist in der Theorie einfach, doch in der Praxis recht schwierig zu realisieren, und das geht so: als kreative Person ist es Ihre Aufgabe, einen Schwerpunkt zu wĂ€hlen, sich als Experte in diesem Schwerpunkt zu positionieren und Tag und Nacht daran zu arbeiten, diesen Anspruch auf Fachkompetenz zu fördern. Dadurch wird Ihr vertieftes Fachwissen die entscheidende Komponente, die Sie von anderen unterscheidet, da Ihre Kunden Sie wegen Ihres Fachwissens, nicht wegen Ihres Service einstellen. Nach Enns ist dies eine fundamentale GeschĂ€ftsstrategie, und vielen kreativen Firmen fĂ€llt es schwer, sich darauf festzunageln. Es ist nicht einfach, diese mutige Entscheidung zu treffen, einen Weg, und nur diesen einen, zu wĂ€hlen. Wenn Sie jedoch einmal diese Entscheidung getroffen haben, sich als die spezifische Bezugsquelle zu positionieren, zum Beispiel, nur E-Commerce Websites fĂŒr Online-EinzelhĂ€ndler von Bekleidung zu gestalten und zu entwickeln, bereiten Sie sich darauf vor, sprichwörtlich die Ărmel hochzukrempeln und sich zu expert-ieren (ja, ich meinte expert-ieren, es ist die Handlung, einen Experten aus Ihnen zu machen).Â
Wie wird man ein Experte? Erstens mĂŒssen Sie hart und konstant daran arbeiten, Ihre vorhandenen Kenntnisse und FĂ€higkeiten zu ergĂ€nzen und zu vertiefen â idealerweise solche, die Ihren neuen Fokus komplementieren. Und, wie Enns erklĂ€rt, ist der beste Weg, das zu erreichen, zur Feder zu greifen (oder die Fingerspitzen auf die Tastatur zu legen, Ihre Wahl) und zu schreiben. Einfach gesagt, Schreiben sammelt Ihre Gedanken, formalisiert sie, hilft Ihnen, Ihre Forderung nach Fachkompetenz zu festigen und ist fĂŒr Sie der beste Weg, Ihr Wissen zu vertiefen. Enns erörtert auch wie wichtig es ist, es sich anzugewöhnen, Ihren Arbeitsprozess aufzuschreiben: dokumentieren Sie, wie Sie arbeiten; definieren Sie, wie Sie in Zukunft arbeiten möchten; und prĂ€zisieren Sie dabei immer Ihre Vorgehensweise zur Problemlösung. Schreiben Sie im Grunde stĂ€ndig, denn Experten schreiben.
Nun haben Sie also Ihr Ziel fĂŒr 2014: werden Sie ein fokussierter Experte. Das einzige, das Sie eigentlich dafĂŒr tun mĂŒssen, ist dieses Ziel zu Ihrer RealitĂ€t zu machen, und falls Sie es noch nicht bemerkt haben, das durchweg wiederkehrende Motto dieses Beitrages ist zu arbeiten.
Arbeiten Sie daran, Ihre FĂ€higkeiten zu verbessern. Arbeiten Sie daran, mehr zu schreiben. Wirklich, selbst der Prozess, eine Spezialisierung auszuwĂ€hlen, erfordert erheblich viel Nachdenken und harte Arbeit. Deshalb, wie die Ăberschrift zu verstehen gibt, krempeln Sie 2014 die Ărmel hoch und bewegen Sie die Dinge. Je mehr Sie arbeiten, desto mehr bringt es Ihnen ein, und, letztlich, desto mehr können Sie anderen um Sie herum geben, einschlieĂlich Ihren Kunden.
Viel GlĂŒck Ihnen allen angehenden-hart-arbeitenden-fokussierten-Experten!
Le message est simple : choisissez un sujet sur lequel vous pouvez vous concentrer (voire le focus), devenez un expert sur ce sujet et le reste suivra.
2014: O Ano de Arregaçar as Mangas (e do Expert Focus)
Eu amo ler e compartilhar o que aprendo.
Hå algumas semanas, eu li sobre o que estou criando, o expert focus (tradução literal sendo: foco especialista), e tenho estado (não-) oficialmente pregando sua mensagem a todos aqueles que acreditam poder tirar proveito da mesma.
Embora o livro de Enns discuta doze proclamaçÔes que todo negĂłcio criativo deveria aprender e aplicar Ă sua empresa, compartilharei o que eu acredito serem os dois mais importantes: especialização e experiĂȘcia. Ă a partir destes que as outras proclamaçÔes podem realmente ser concretizadas.
In December 2013 I read about what I am coining âexpert focusâ and have been (un)officially preaching its message to all those I believe can profit from it.
The message is simple: choose a focus, become an expert on that focus and the rest will follow.Â
Okay, that last part requires some serious sleeve-rolling and can be loosely translated to meaning âsuccessâ but that in and of itself is always relative and indeed worthy of a separate blog post. For now, Iâll begin with how expert focus came to my attention and will then discuss the two most important elements of this notion and how it will affect you in 2014.
It started off as a blog post from the New York design, development and strategy house, Barrel, on the subject of âslimming downâ their client roster. I then found myself thoroughly breaking down, line by line, one of the books referenced in the blog, âThe Win Without Pitching Manifestoâ by Blair Enns (I totally recommend it to all those looking for motivation and guidance to take their work to the next level). I am now as passionate about the subject of expert focus as I am about foosball and that my friends, as my colleagues at Dynamo can attest to, says a lot.
Although Ennsâ book discusses twelve proclamations that every creative business should learn and apply to their enterprise, I am going to share what I believe to be the two most important: specialization and expertise. It is from these two, that the other proclamations can truly come to fruition.
The concept of specialization is simple in theory yet quite difficult to implement in reality and goes like this: as a creative person, your job is to choose a focus, position yourself as an expert on that focus and work day and night to support your claim of expertise. As result, your deepened expertise will be the critical element that will set you apart from others as your clients will hire you for your expertise, not your services. According to Enns, this is a fundamental business strategy that many creative firms have a hard time pinning down. It isnât easy to make that bold decision to choose one path and one path alone. However, once you make that decision of positioning yourself as the go-to source for say, designing and developing online-only clothing retailer e-commerce websites, get ready to proverbially roll them sleeves up and expert-ize yourself (yes, I said expert-ize, it is the act of making an expert of yourself).
How does one become an expert? For starters, you must work hard and often on adding to and deepening your current skills and capabilities - ideally, those that complement your new focus. And, as Enns explains, the best way to accomplish this is to put pen to paper (or fingertip to keyboard, your choice) and write. Simply put, writing gets you found, formalizes your thinking, helps to solidify your claim to expertise and is the best way for you to deepen your knowledge. Enns also discusses the importance of getting into the habit of writing down your work process: document how you work; define how you want to work in the future; and, always be refining your approach to problem-solving. Essentially, always be writing because experts write.
So you now have your objective for 2014: become a focused expert. The only thing you really need to do is to make this objective your reality and unless you didnât notice, the recurring theme throughout this post is to work.Â
Work on improving your skills. Work on writing more. Heck, even the act of choosing a specialization requires considerable thought and hard work. Therefore, as the title above indicates, make 2014 the year of rolling up your sleeves and making things happen. The more you work, the more you bring to yourself and, ultimately, the more you can bring to others around you, including your clients.
Good luck to all of you hard-working-focused-experts-to-be!