Nicholas Bate

Just One Thing, 74 of 101

A day of rest is a simple but powerful tactic.

TBC

Strategies, tactics and ‘how to’ in Being the Best.

Great Series

Interesting web-sites.

A Ball on a Saturday in a Covid-19 World

What an amazing invention. The ball. Small, hand-sized for hurling. Larger team-sized for sharing and competing. Those which need a bat or a racket or even a cue. Those which are light and those which for their size are remarkably heavy. The right three and some patience and you can juggle. An English perfectly horizontal large lawn, hoops, the back-drop of a splendid manor house and a slightly incomprehensible game. A dusty square in France, some tables scattered with the odd glass of Ricard and the sharp 'click' of boules. A toddler loves a ball: most things (apart from the family dog) just sit there, but a ball rolls and rolls and best of all adults chase. Balls change mood: the book is going nowhere, she hasn't sent a text for 36h and it continues to rain? Take a ball, find a wall and do a Steve McQueen 'in the cooler'. Sick of confinement? Maximise your exercise allowance with a ball and feel a whole lot better. A ball keeps you strong as you lift and throw a medicine ball. If you are a real hero you can try cross-fit 'wall-balls'. A ball keeps you mobile as you manipulate it around your body without dropping at ever increasing speed. A ball gives you imperative as you hurl it long and high down the field on that early cold morning, deciding how best to tackle Q3. 

Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.

Give a man a ball, he's happy. Teach a man to play ball, he's content for life.

Just One Thing, 73 of 101

Humour really is the best medicine.

And the best preventative immune system strengthener.

Seek-daily-laughs, chuckles and grins.

TBC. 

14 Questions for a Business in Covid World

1. How are we planning to make this autumn/fall our best ever?
2. How are we ensuring price is NEVER the top of the list of decision criteria for our customers?
3. How will our leadership ensure our people consistently deliver of their best?
4. What kind of company will we be in 5 years from now?
5. Where is the slack, the waste and the hidden cost in our business?
6. What would a client say after trying to ring for help?
7. Where is our vital few hit list?
8. Who are our best people and how do get them to want to stay with us?
9. Who are our OK people and how do we get them to raise their standards?
10. How do we really treat our clients and suppliers?
11. How much money are we spending on innovation?
12. Are more junior people comfortable sharing ideas with more senior people?
13. Do we catch people doing things right?
14. How much time is dedicated daily to working on the company?

14 Routes to More Business in a Covid World

1. Follow-up everything.
2. Never lose touch with anybody.
3. Treat every customer individually.
4. Get the small stuff right from minute one.
5. Be a person they want to talk to.
6. Make more calls.
7. Send more proposals.
8. Ask more customers for leads.
9. Brainstorm at every Zoom team meeting: what's working and how can we do more of it?
10. Anticipate the market; predict the client.
11. Make things easy for current customers.
12. Make money and invest it in (1) skill development and (2) product.
13. Don’t just do a newsletter. Do an interesting newsletter. 
14. Never, ever, ever allow yourself to doubt that you can get a bigger slice of a shrinking pie.

How to make good coffee

At home, to budget.

Try and imagine how many records

there are in this world.

Just One Thing, 72 of 101

Ease of distraction was essential in daily, dangerous hunter-gatherer world.

In the home office, it’s destroying your productivity.

Fix it. 

TBC

Strategies, tactics and ‘how to’ in Being the Best.

Tuesday Melange 27

1. The Writing Primer.
2. How to Start your Very Own Business.
3. plus The Start Up Myths
4. Stay STRONG
5. Crazy Bold Experiments
6. Just say NO to PPT
7. Post Covid Business Essentials.
8. The Marketing Primer.
9. Redundancy
10. Covid-19, 101
11. Hunter-Gatherer 21C
12. Tackling Stress.
13. Manage that career
14. Be Bold 101
15. You still haven’t read Being The Best?! 
16. Things They Don’t Teach at Business School
17. the secrets of success
18. Life Tips 101
19. Zen & Art of Cubicle Freedom
20. Be Bold 101
21. Carnage At Kodak
22. The Very Best Drugs You Need
23. Billions of Light Years Away In Another Galaxy
24. 22 Routes To Your Non Fiction Book
25. Lists For The Life You Love
26. Her Notes To Herself
27. How To Lessen E-Mail Pain