Category: Creativity

[My views are my own]

In 2013, I joined Time Warner to help lead the spin-off, IPO and transformation of Time Inc. We were in a terribly disadvantaged position given that we were six months away from an IPO, we had no digital strategy, we were spinning off with over $1B of debt, and print magazine audiences were getting crushed by the exponential growth of the iPhone and social media.

While we couldn’t clearly see our digital future, we knew we needed to start down the path of digital transformation.

So, we just started taking action. We funded hundreds of test projects. It was like spreading seed to learn what might produce the green shoots of our digital future.

To me, this is the Growth Mindset in action.

It’s just like driving at night. You can only see as far as your headlights. But, that’s enough to make the entire journey.

As we moved forward with our test projects and trial and error, we learned more about the path ahead. We started seeing green shoots, and we followed up by pyramiding more funding and resources into those areas.

By the time we sold to Meredith Corp. (four years later) we had built a billion dollar digital business.

The single biggest challenge with transformation (and most entrepreneurial ideas) is that folks never take the first step from A to B. They are frozen by a fixed mindset of not having the certainty of the entire journey mapped out before them.

The Growth Mindset requires you to just get started, learn along the way, adjust as you learn, and keep going.

If you are interested in engaging further in this conversation, I’d love to go on the journey with you. Please subscribe to my FREE newsletter/blog. The link is at the top of the page on a desktop browser and at the bottom of the page on a mobile browser. Also, please follow me on Twitter, connect with me on LinkedIn, and post a comment below. I’d love to know what you think.

[My views are my own].

For most of quarantine, I’ve felt like a tortured artist.

I should be lot more content.

My family is safe and healthy; I’ve been able to spend a lot of time outside with my wife and kids (which I love); and, my work has provided me with some new/interesting challenges.

But, I’ve found that I’ve been itching for a new creative challenge.

Back in September, I decided that I wanted to experiment with creating content and distributing it through social media.

After a big start, work and life got busy. So, I stopped writing.

About a month ago, I joined Seth Godin’s The Creative’s Workshop. And, I committed to spending an hour a day (every day) writing.

I farted around for the first few weeks of the workshop. What I wrote felt more like bad teenage diary entries.

Then, over the last week, I decided to just write short snackable content, and I quickly published three blog posts (Dad Buzz, Shit-Birds, and Mass Delusions).

I’m still finding my voice. But, I think I want to use this time to:
Begin creating content to capture the ideas in my head; and get it out to the world.
Leverage social media to start a dialog around these issues with my network. (LinkedIn has been surprisingly productive for driving traffic to my blog, and for general engagement).
I’ll probably turn my attention to more work-related issues including Business Transformation, Return to Growth, and Change Leadership.

If you are interested in engaging further in this conversation, I’d love to go on the journey with you. Please subscribe to this newsletter/blog (link at the top of the page on desktop browser and at the bottom of the page on mobile browser), follow me on Twitter, and connect with me on LinkedIn; and post a comment below. I’d love to know what you think.

Thank you!
Jaison