The Fink Tank

Mum’s request was objectively stupid.

There was barely a problem to solve, and the “solution” added pointless extra faffing.

Regardless, Col and I did it without question, because it was mum asking. Who doesn’t want to just make their mum happy?? Not us!

Mum is a kind, generous, and loving parent and grandparent. If she occasionally has a silly request that doesn’t make sense, we’ll happily absorb it without question.

As many a married person must ask themselves, “Would you rather be right or happy?”

Is it different when it comes to work styles? When you’re paying someone? 

If you’re aware you’re being fussy, high-maintenance, and the only person who cares is you?

Maybe.

It's hard to prove something to a dead person.

Col tried for a long time.

When making the Fink Tank we don’t discuss our topics in advance. One of us brings a story or prompt and we go where it takes us. I surprised myself in this episode by asking Col if he was trying, in his twenties, to prove something to our dead Dad. We’ve somehow never really spoken about it directly before, so it was a bit of a moment. 

Trying to live up to the expectations - real or imagined - of our parents is something most of us do. Consciously or subconsciously, the expectations are there. Trying to meet them can be a lifelong struggle. 

Is it harder or easier if said parent has been dead for more than half your life??

On a recent retreat with Cory Muscara and Chad Littlefield, Cory gave Col a piece of advice which “really just unlocked some shit.”

It’s worth a listen.

Have I wasted tens of thousand of dollars? Yes ..and no.

I love all my fancy expensive camera gear, and the multi-camera setup we usually use for The Fink Tank. But our best performing episode of this year was shot just on a phone!

Does that mean I should chuck all the expensive tech? Of course not, it’s critical for most of my professional projects.

But it’s absolutely NOT where most people should start. If you want to build a credible professional video presence, fancy camera gear is a TERRIBLE idea. It’s an intimidating time-suck, there’s a huge learning curve, and you’ll probably do… nothing. Col and I have seen many keen beans splash out on all the fancy gear with the best of intentions, only for it to gather dust while they remain invisible.

Better to just get started quickly with your phone. You don’t need fancy gear. You need time on your feet.

Go you good things.

If you want help, the Be Less Sh!t on Camera course might be the place for you!

In the 1980s dad bought a home video camera that weighed about 12 kilograms.

It was made up of three different units tethered together with cables the girth of jumper leads. I have fond memories of dad using me as a pack horse on his home-movie missions. The actual camera was the size of a phone book (a gloriously antiquated analogy!), there was a second unit which housed the brick sized VHS tape which recorded the footage, and a power supply about the size and weight of a car battery. The image quality was terrible, and dad’s camera skills not much better. But I have lovely memories of sitting with the family around the tv in the living room watching his handiwork.

Dad died just before the turn of the millennium, before technology put twenty different gadgets into one single magic device in your pocket.

That was only a few decades ago. The sheer sorcery of what a phone can do now would’ve made dad’s eyes pop out of his tiny skull.I can picture the joy and delight on his face, if he were somehow magically be able to watch mum, his beloved wife, casually beaming a live two-way video to his adoring grandkids a whole city away. A live two-way video feed??? In your pocket??? INSANE.And yet… and yet. It’s come at a cost.

I evolved to get along with my 50 fellow Neanderthals, not to cope with the angst of all humanity screaming for my attention.

Dad would’ve marvelled at the existence of The Fink Tank, and been a huge fan of Col and my efforts. And he would also have called the whole enterprise, and us, “bloody hopeless”.

Anyway, how are you going with your phone addiction?

First there’s the buzz and excitement of a new community. You “find your people” and the world is full of possibility. Amazing things happen.

The sparkle evolves and matures, and then…. fizzes out.

Either the whole thing implodes or it’s time for you to leave.

Friendships can be for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. Communities too.

Why does this happen? What can you do about it? How do you cope?

In this Friday Fink Tank Col and I discuss this over parrots.

We’re both hypocrites. You probably are too.

We’re doing exactly what we’re advising against, by recording something we said we weren’t capturing, and publishing it somewhere we say doesn’t matter.

Regardless, this episode might be all the evidence you need it's possible to be both rampantly hypocritical and still make a decent point.

Welcome back to The Friday Fink Tank for 2025! Col and are delighted to be here.

How’s everyone doing out there?? What standards are you applying to others but not yourself? What principles do you staunchly believe in and happily ignore??

Wrapping up season 2 of the Fink Tank!

Do you aspire to be “world class”?

Col thinks you should.

I think that’s bollocks.

Please enjoy some friendly sibling fireworks on what “world class” means, and whether it’s a useful or realistic aspiration.

We started with Col’s interesting idea that people will forgive *one* element of something being a bit crap. But not two.

I immediately warmed to this idea, and could recognise its truth.

- If you’re a great presenter but you have crap slides, you’re still a great presenter. But if you’re ALSO dressed poorly? Trouble.

- If you’re a bit scruffy but your speech and slides are immaculate? You’re quirky.

We then plunge into disagreement about being "world class", and whether trebuchets are the superior siege weapon.

What say you? Have at it in the comments!

We’re probably all guilty of shaving a yak when we’ve lost sight of our original goal. If you want to see THE classic example, skip to the last minute for some Bryan Cranston gold from in Malcom in the Middle.

Allow me - through a 2005 Seth Godin blog - to explain.

Paraphrasing Seth's example, Yak Shaving is the last in a series of steps toward something you want to do.

“I need to drive to a meeting across town”

“My car’s broken down, but I could borrow my neighbour Jill’s.”

“But it would feel awkward asking because I still haven’t returned her Mongolian pillow”

“I haven’t returned her Mongolian pillow because my dog chewed it and I need to get some authentic replacement stuffing”

The next thing you know you’re at the zoo shaving a Yak, just so you can borrow a car.

In this Friday Fink Tank Col and I compare our Yak Shaving potholes. Col reveals his strategy for avoiding the Yak Shaving, using an unsurprising strategy involving an imaginary Peter Cook.

What your version of Yak Shaving?

New rule: you have to have three kids before you're allowed to have kids!

Today's Fink Tank starts with an admission from Col that despite having three kids, as a parent he's just making it up as he goes along.

All new parents share this realisation (I've heard!): there's no amount of study or research that will truly prepare you for parenthood. The only real preparation is the act of parenting itself.

This insight turns out to be true of nearly every challenge we face. The real preparation is found in the doing.