The Manager 119 - Stocks, Flows, Reviews
THE MANAGER - BY ROB LAMBERT
Hi,
I hope you are safe and well and looking forward to the break.
This week I’m going to briefly talk about “stocks and flows” with regard to your life’s work and social media. It will also be the last newsletter until 2021. I’m taking a week off!
I will also include some highlights from my “annual retrospective”, which I figured a few of you may find interesting.
Thank You
I would like to say a massive thank you for reading this newsletter.
It's a labour of love for sure and it's always kept my heart warm knowing people are actually reading it.
It’s great to hear from so many of you too – please keep that up next year. It makes this all worth it. So, thank you. It is appreciated.
Stocks and Flows
I stumbled across an interesting article last week about stocks and flows, with regard to social media, and it really hit home.
The concept goes like this:
Stocks are pieces of work that last for years.
Flows are social media updates that last a very short time indeed, depending on your platform of choice.
It resonated with me because I have a core value that I try to live by each day; “create more than I consume”.
Creation to me are “stocks”, not endless LinkedIn posts or tweets but things that will last for years. (Like these newsletters)
As we head into the New Year, I will be retracting a little further from the social media rat race and spending less time on “flows”.
Why?
Because it’s getting increasingly harder to get your work seen. As such, it requires a huge investment in “flows” – but that will come at the expense of “stocks”. Or paid advertising.
When I consider my life’s work, what’s more important? Spending time on creating stocks or flows?
For me it’s stocks.
As we head into the New Year, many of us will be wanting to raise our profile, network to find jobs or simply learn from others. Social Media is part of that, but I will encourage you to focus on stocks as well as flows.
What are stocks:
The great work you do for your company or business.
The books, presentations, videos, online courses and more.
The journals you keep for your kids.
The time you spend with family.
Your health.
Stocks are the pillars of life that we lead – they are the things that truly last. Flows are how we tell people about it – they are ephemeral.
Retrospective
Each year I do an annual retrospective in December (a wonderful exercise by the way), in which I look at how I have fared during the year against my ideal.
I’ll share some highlights here – if you’re not interested – skip to the articles!!
Went well
Despite the pandemic I’ve still had a good year consulting.
Not as good as last year but I cannot complain either.
Published 41 videos to YouTube.
Not bad. It’s a two year experiment, with the goal of publishing 100 videos. Since the experiment started in March – I’ll likely hit 50 by then.
Self published the “forget time management” book.
Not bad, I aim to put two books out per year, so one down and the other one is a Christmas focus. So, didn’t hit this, but not far away.
I published my online communications course this year.
I was planning on delivering the course in-person at a few conferences and some clients, but that all got undone by the virus.
I didn’t plan this, but thought I’d pivot. Turns out it was a good idea. Thanks to all who bought it. Hope it’s helping!
I aimed to launch the Stationery Freaks podcast.
This happened! I can’t believe people are listening to it!
I aimed to launch the Parent Brain podcast.
This did happen, then stalled, then I went back to simply blogging.
I’m daily blogging over there if you’re interested. So, counting this as a win.
Got to spend a lot of time with my family, mostly due to the pandemic.
No commute!
Tended to my fitness routine better than last year, but still room for improvement.
Started journaling, which has been very helpful.
Published 39 of these newsletters.
Had a blip in March and April as I setup my YouTube channel. Not bad.
Counting this as a win, although aiming for one every week next year.
Wrote an average for 4000 words per day. Happy with that.
Learned a lot about filmmaking and photography this year.
I’ve started posting more to Instagram to get into the habit of taking more photos.
Completed 6 months of my HR course and passed all modules so far. Win.
Presented remotely at 4 conferences.
I focused almost entirely on the creation of stocks, letting go of the outcomes. It was wonderfully liberating.
I didn’t worry about engagement numbers, sales, YouTube views or anything else – just putting work out there and moving on to the next thing (with a little promotion).
Didn’t go well
The in-person conferences didn’t happen, meaning I didn't get to travel to San Diego, Spain and Germany. Not much I could do about this.
No annual holiday but cannot complain as the summer here in the UK was HOT.
We planned to move to a new house or extend – this didn’t happen either, but grateful for what we have.
Although, it would be nice for the boys to get their own room.
I planned on getting another tattoo (don’t ask) which didn’t happen.
I’m distancing as much as possible…didn’t seem worth the risk.
I spent too long on LinkedIn.
A lot of what is published on there is “dream” and “sympathy” type posts.
I soon realised that these get high engagement, but actually, do they result in knowledge for anyone? Or business for those who post it?
I experimented with Facebook ads, with mixed outcomes. I experimented with LinkedIn adds – what a waste of money.
I bought more gear for my YouTube film making than I actually needed.
I didn’t read as much as I would have liked.
Some personal stuff was trying this year for sure.
Hoping next year there are fewer car accidents, less COVID and fewer people in my life who don’t have my best interests at heart.
I didn't deal well with some of this stuff, but I know how to control my "thoughts" more now. I'm learning.
I hope in 2021 that the markets recover, jobs bounce back, and you have a cracking year. I will encourage you to focus on stocks and less on flows. I’ve certainly found greater inner peace by doing fewer “flows” and more “stocks”.
And I hope to bring you some cracking content every week next year. Don’t worry – I have 245 backlog items to get through!
Have a lovely break. Thanks again for your support. And I look forward to another year of creating “The Manager”.
Don’t hesitate to get in touch, ask me anything, suggest content topics, or just say Hi.
Stocks are the good work you do every day, it doesn’t have to be blogs, articles, videos or books. It’s time with family, creative projects, work that inspires you and the good work that you’re doing for your communities, teams and companies.
Let me know what greatness you’re doing. I’m always intrigued as to what others are working on.
Take care
See you next year.
Thanks.
Enough already.
Rob..
Published to YouTube this week
How to find Levers of Change in your company.
FOOD FOR YOUR BRAIN
I've included a few fun things in this week's roundup. It's the festive season after all.
Lego is a good "tool" for team building exercises. It's also pretty awesome for recreating this classic Japanese wave art.
The original schematics for the Apple computer by Steve Wozniak sold this week. Interesting.
Generational diversity is important. Here's why.
Ditch your work to do your job. A lesson from the Beatles on why creative space is needed by us all.
I'm a mad "pencil" freak. There's something great about using a pencil to doodle, draw or write. But what could I possibly do with the "stubs"? Well, in this video the guy creates a pretty cool "container" from pencils.
If people are too close to you - use this social distancing zapper. Seriously? Are people using these things. Law Suits.
Spent a good 30 minutes with my boys creating Opera using blobs.
We're only ever as good as our worst day.
If we're wrong - say so. Otherwise we run the risk of creating new work, new ideas, new drama to hide the fact we made a mistake. I see this FAR too often.
People with high levels of self control are happier.
Creative people really do see the world differently. Not better, or worse, just differently.
Learn with me
Learn how to develop your superpower in the world of work - effective communication skills.
My award winning in-person Communication workshop, is now online as a modular text only course. Complete it at your own pace, practice the lessons with practical exercises and develop a solid understanding of the science of communication.
Find out more here.
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Thanks
Rob..