Thought much about data used for AI models, especially large language models
- Where is it from?
- How can you control access to your content? (It’s complicated and changing.)
- Should you restrict access? I am still not sure about this last one.
Thought about where is the value from expert advisors. First thing is that they have (are paid to take) time to focus on your problem while you are fighting the demands of your day-job. Beyond that, my tongue-in-cheek labels are:
- Ancient - they have done it before, have expertise.
- Magicians - they have proprietary processes and methodologies; how they do it.
- Illuminati - they (may) have access to secret data that only they have or only they know how to interpret. (Think confidential employee surveys as an easy example; not just yours but many from previous engagements, see ‘Ancient’.)
- Freemasons (with apologies to actual freemasons) - exclusive networks and events.
So, consultants are ancient magicians from the illumniati tradition of freemasons1. No wonder we have a difficult reputation.
Thought about my To-NOT-Do list: what, precisely, am I going to do less of in order to do more of the things that matter?
Reading
Interesting business reading this week:
Secret Tradecraft of Elite Advisors by David C. Baker (Amazon paid link: UK | US).
This is for successful consultants expert advisors who want to want to up their game. So, if you are already earning, say, £200k annually from your direct fees and you want to get to around £1M in own fees, then this one is for you.
Alternatively, another reason this book may not be for you (yet): Why are you still providing references to sceptical buyers instead of asking them for references to ensure they work well with an expert advisor?
Recognise where you are in your journey as a consultant.
Some points I found interesting on this reading:
- We should be asking more “how?” questions of experts. How do you go about applying your expertise. What is your proprietary method of working?
- Make sure you have the foundations in place (before you read this book, but also generally): Positioning, Lead generation plan (have at least one high-impact tactic that suits your personality, eg speaking engagements, events, research reports, book, …), Financial performance (know what to track), Cadence (days for Preparation (3/week), Contribution (2/week), and Perspective (1/week)), Generalist context (see the book), and Clarify your role where ideally your priorities are:
- Financial performance.
- Key staff - hire and develop.
- New business
- Working with clients (yes, this is last)
- And finally Mental health (yours).
- You should be curbing your enthusiasm for fun and profit….
Really enjoyed Tell Better Stories by Jeremy Connell-Waite | Business Storytelling - this is a tremendously useful compilation of valuable, proven, often classic, resources for story telling. Organization is helpful. Go there, and study. Warning: moderately deep rabbit hole. 🐇
Interesting tech reading this week:
Looked at DevOps for Data Science and liked what I saw. I think this should be required reading for everyone in my team.
What I am reading now:
Scaling People - Tactics for management and company building by Claire Hughes Johnson. Stripe Press
Until next week: Travel well, whichever road you are on 👋.
Footnotes
Deliberate not capitalised because I use ‘freemasons’ as a generic shorthand for ‘secret societies providing access to exclusive networks’ which I think is the popular view of Freemasons.↩︎