Getting Work To Work

When you are struggling to get your work to work, what stories are you telling yourself about the process and the outcomes? Lately, I feel a shift happening. I'm getting to work faster, I'm less emotional about the what-ifs and the mistakes, and I'm pushing myself harder than usual. But most importantly, the stories that I'm telling myself have changed. How did this happen? In this episode of Getting Work To Work, I'm going to share the eight ways that I wasn't getting my work to work and how the stories are being rewritten.

How are you discovering and solving the grand challenges of our time? This is a driving question that fuels David S. Kidder's work as a founder, investor, speaker, and author. From the books New to Big, The Intellectual Devotional, and The Startup Playbook to the company he co-founded in 2013 called Bionic, everything he does is co-created with other people. In this interview episode of Getting Work To Work, David shares about what goes into discovering the future, how to ignite growth revolutions, why the special forces model works for his team, how forgiveness of failure is essential in learning and taking risks, and why he only focuses on things he deeply cares about.

In an upcoming interview episode, I had the pleasure of talking with David S. Kidder, co-author of New to Big, and The Intellectual Devotional, and something he said blew my mind: Everything he does is co-created with people who are more talented or passionate than he is. This got me thinking about how much effort I put on a daily basis to create the work I do, by myself. And naturally, questions filled my mind. In this episode of Getting Work To Work, I'm going to explore seven questions that help me consider and incorporate the spirit of co-creation into my daily practice.

"How do you stay inspired?" is one of my favorite questions to be asked and to ask others. Everyone has their own tricks and tips to navigate the endless sea of information and experiences in today's digital landscape. But something that is not talked about enough is the fact that inspiration is hard work. The speed at which technology and our creative industries change is breathtaking. Just when we think we've got a handle on our jobs—bam!—something new to consider. There is so much new content being created every single day, where do we begin? When have we accumulated enough inspiration for us to finally sit down and get to work?

If love is the most powerful force in the universe, why do we often leave it out of work? This is the question that Extreme Leader Steve Farber answers in his upcoming book, Love is Just Damn Good Business: Do What You Love in the Service of People Who Love What You Do. In this interview episode of Getting Work To Work, Steve and I explore the business case for love and how it's the ultimate competitive advantage as we move forward into the future. We also touch on his background in creativity from singing songs to writing books, how he brings his creativity to the stage when speaking, and what he has learned about the impact of his work on others over the years.

As a solo business owner, do I really need to be on social media? I know I'm not alone in asking this question, but I've been thinking about it more and more. Fueled by the book New to Big by David Kidder and Christina Wallace, I'm going to explore the question in its root form: Do I really need to be? It can be anything you think you need to be—from social media and email newsletters to search engine optimization and finding the right combination of content creation and strategy. As creative entrepreneurs, we need to be more proactive in challenging our assumptions about what we need to be, in order to truly be who we are.

You ever have one of those moments where you find yourself completely jealous of a friend for doing their creative work? This weekend, I found myself in a weird mood as I passively watched every single Instagram story about the project. In that state of jealousy, I began noticing other people making short films over the weekend for the 48 Hour Film Project. It's like when you want to buy a car and start seeing it everywhere (this is known as the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon). I was seeing these creative projects all over the place! What was I doing wrong? Well for one, sitting on my couch, watching other people create, instead of getting up and doing something about it. Oh, the power of creative jealousy.

I don't think I've met someone who loves podcasts more than Podcast Junkie, Zach Auld. With a list of nearly 400 podcasts he subscribes to, and is also current on, Zach has transformed his love of listening to producing his own podcasts, as well as building a community of other podcast creators. In this interview episode of Getting Work To Work, Zach shares about how podcasts changed his life, what led him to listening to producing, the evolution of audio fiction—from the radio to podcasts, the podcasts he produces, and the ways he supports indie podcasts.

What price are you willing to pay for success? Will you push aside who you are for the favor of others? Will you say and do anything to get the contract? Will you hold on to your dream project long into your golden years? These are a few questions I'm asking myself after watching the long awaited film by Terry Gilliam, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. I first heard of the film and its disastrous beginnings in the 2002 documentary, Lost in La Mancha, with many production starts and stops over the years. How am I supposed to feel after 17 years of wanting to see the film? Imagine being the filmmaker living with the story for many years beyond that? In today's episode of Getting Work To Work, I'm going to explore some of the themes of the film and what we as creative entrepreneurs can learn from both the film and the journey to make it.

Being creative entrepreneurs, there's a lot of talk about understanding why you do what you do. I've talked a lot about it in this podcast over the years. I've read the books, listened to the talks, and done the work to "start with why," as declared by Simon Sinek. But this morning I had an epiphany: Somewhere along the journey, I forgot a valuable lesson. It had nothing to do with my why. It was that I actually like doing what I do. I know, complete shock! Sure there are challenges, inadequacies, and the daily bouts with imposter syndrome, but the more I produce creative work for my business and for others, the less need I have for a concrete understanding of "why" and a greater desire to shout "why not."