It took me thirty years to populate the bookshelf that’s behind me in most of my videos. Most of us don’t have the time or patience to do that.
At the same time, the wonky computer-generated background many people use on Zoom calls undermines the impact and authority you might be seeking. I just discovered these grey backgrounds and using one creates an instant upgrade for many users. $55 well spent. Sample down below.
[All my lighting and setup tips are here.]
As I was writing this, I saw the announcement from ElevenLabs that they are now supporting dubbing in dozens of languages. It’s not perfect, but it’s sort of a miracle.
Here’s what it sounds and looks like:
It’s possible you use social media to grow your business. Or to enhance your career. Or maybe it’s to find delight and joy.
When you add up all the tikking, tokking, tweeting and clicking, what’s the return on that investment? Is your vacation more fun when you spend it taking photos for your Instagram followers? Are you feeding Linkedin or is it feeding you?
Labor is work that we get paid for. It’s work we wouldn’t do for free. And for most people on social media, it’s unpaid labor on behalf of the platforms.
If it’s paying off for you, keep going!
If it’s not, it might be worth reconsidering.
The simple test: when you do it more, do things get better?
Not, “what do you think you can get?”
Not, “what you’d be willing to live with…”
Instead: If you were willing to be on the hook for the responsibility (if it works out) and the disappointment (if it doesn’t), which one do you actually want?
It’s harder to answer than it sounds.
Moore’s Law was stated 60 years ago, but it only became a law once its predictions came true.
The reason that your laptop doesn’t cost as much as your house is that computer chips get relentlessly cheaper and more powerful. Just as Gordon Moore predicted.
But perhaps it wasn’t a prediction. Perhaps he wasn’t imagining what would happen. It might be that it was a prescription. That computer chips get faster on his schedule precisely because he said they would. We build fabs and new business models in anticipation of the drop in prices, and that causes the drops to happen.
We’ve seen this happen with economic forecasts, bank runs and even, with Joe Namath at the helm, football teams.
Eric Ries has a new book, Incorruptible. It’s based on the clear truth that our economic system is filled with incentives that cause well-meaning people (especially bosses) to make short-term, selfish and toxic decisions. It also describes a different way forward.
It’s easy to point to the power of selfish extractive capitalism and imagine that there’s nothing to be done about it. But perhaps we’ve been waiting for a map, one that can be a scripture and a Baedeker to people seeking coordinated change.
Systemic change requires systemic action. And the prescription is often a good place to begin.
If that’s not happening, it’s possible you’re not being bold enough, generous enough or creative enough.
It might be teenagers, competitors or that stranger down the street, but generous creative leadership always creates skeptics.
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