We've all done it. We write out a to-do list at the start of the day, and then, when we write out our list, we just add everything back onto it. If the tasks on your to-do list are not too important and don't have to be completed by a specific time, then this isn't a major concern; however, when you really need to get something done, it becomes more critical. So, SMART targets are the way to go forward.
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 In 2018, I wrote a short piece that turned into one of the most enduring ideas I’ve carried with me through client meetings, stakeholder updates and team conversations. It was simply this: choose 'and' instead of 'but'. You can read the original here: LinkedIn Article – 2018 Seven years on, this small word swap is still one of the quickest ways to de-escalate tension, build trust and encourage collaboration.  For many companies, their marketing and sales teams have worked in parallel, often chasing different goals using different tools. Customer success, when considered, is typically introduced after the sale. In a business landscape that demands agility, this fragmented approach no longer holds. Revenue Operations, commonly known as RevOps, is the current 'new' method being touted, only it's nothing new. RevOps has been around for the past decade, but it has recently emerged as the crucial framework for driving predictable and sustainable growth. According to a 2020 study by Boston Consulting Group, companies with a strong RevOps function achieve up to a 100% increase in digital marketing ROI and a 10-20% improvement in sales productivity.  Whether you’re leading a team, managing multiple digital campaigns or wearing several hats in a fast-paced organisation, staying organised is no longer a luxury. It’s essential. As someone who’s juggled CRM integrations, cross-functional projects and time-sensitive marketing strategies, I know that a streamlined approach can make the difference between calm and chaos. This guide distils that experience into easy, actionable ideas.  Data Protection Isn’t Complicated, But It Does Matter Data protection has a reputation for being overwhelming. For small teams and independent consultants, it can feel like a legal maze filled with paperwork and penalties. But in truth, the principles behind UK data protection law are clear, practical and entirely achievable — even without a legal department. Done well, data protection doesn’t just keep you compliant. It builds trust, improves operations and gives you more confidence in how you handle customer information. * Caveat - this post is for guidance only and if in doubt you should seek legal advice.
 At the end of each day, are you baffled by the fact that you’ve accomplished absolutely nothing of value?
It’s so easy to get caught up in the thick of things that you forget to really pay attention to the things that produce identifiable returns. Whether you spend your days working in an office or taking care of things at home, it’s important to inject value in your tasks to avoid monotony and reassure yourself that you’re making the most of your time. Luckily, it’s fairly easy to determine if what you’re about to embark on each day will produce the value you’re comfortable with.  You know what it's like: you have a list of small, but not essential, things to do, and you've been avoiding them. At other times, your creativity has taken a dive, and the best way to get it going again is to make a list of tasks to complete and do those tasks in quick sprints, so you approach each one fresh, but only for a short period of time. A bit like circuit training for tasks. I was recently introduced to a really fun app that's great for when you're procrastinating about small tasks or need to shake up your routine.  Accelerated learning was a really big thing back in the 80s and 90s and then it just lost it's kudos.
But just because it has fallen out of fashion doesn't mean it has stopped working. Colin Rose, who brought together a number of learning principles, put forward that Accelerated Learning is a unique way of presenting information to gain powerful learning experiences. One of the key principles that Colin Rose suggested was that if we play music when learning that has the same beat as our hearts then we are more likely to relax and take in what we are reading or learning. He suggested that Baroque music is perfect for this. I have personally found that similar beats help me when I'm creating and designing.  The original blog below was published in January 2023 and since then things have changed rapidly in AI, most notably in the last few months.
When I first started using ChatGPT it would often give me links in the output that didn't exist. In AI generation anything that is created and was not truely real are often referred to as hallucinations, such as an extra finger on a hand in an image or these false links. One of the benchmarks I used for AI was whether or not it could create information / images around bobbin lace (which I teach, blog and podcast on). We all took for granted that AI resources were approximately 12 months out of date, that was accepted and we worked within these constraints. To start with, I would get these very strange outputs and images then just a couple of months ago, across all the platforms, the urls were real, and suddenly bobbin lace was being talked about more accurately. |
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