Trust Your Instincts

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If there's a business lesson that I seem to need to continually learn over and over again, it's that I ought to trust my instincts.  The schema your brain creates in order to tune in opportunities and tune out the irrelevant (or worse) is very real and very effective.  Listen to it. That's not to say that decisions should be made entirely on gut feel.  All decisions of any significant magnitude should be supported with research, and tempered with the guidance from others who have had to make the same or similar decisions before.

But if a deal sounds too good to be true - it probably is.  Look into it a bit more.  If you think you should be doing more of something, research it and if it still seems like it's a good idea - do it.  Let instinct guide where you place at least some of your resources when it comes to research and future direction.  Get in the habit of doing a few Google searches on whatever it is you're going through, whether it's trying to cut costs, trying to hire the right people or weighing the options for expansion.  Find people who have gone through something similar on a message board, blog or social network.  Ask their advice.  Listen to it.  Take it into consideration.

And NEVER, never, never do something that runs contrary to your instincts unless you've looked into it fully and have taken steps to counter as much risk as possible.  Don't let people tell you your instincts are irrelevant.  They're there and they're very real.

Me on DishyMix

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The lovely and talented Susan Bratton interviewed me at Ad Tech NY for her unique podcast, DishyMix.  The episode is here. One of the things I love about DishyMix is that it gives you insight into the PEOPLE who are big in the digital business - not just from the standpoint of the secrets to their success or what business books they read, but from the perspective of what they do in their spare time, where they come from and what they're like personally.  To me, that's wonderfully consistent with the spirit prevalant when the digital business first came into being - when we cared about everybody else trying to make a living doing digital and what they were like as people.

Anyway, Suz and I split a bottle of Three Philosophers and talked about all sorts of stuff, including ATVs and campers, what Underscore is up to, and I even told the story of how the Old Timers List got started.

Suz, if you're reading this, thanks for having me on the show.