[/caption]More smart? Smarter, that's it.
I guess I knew this, but I forgot. Some of us, and I suspect this includes many entrepreneurs and creative types, work way better under pressure. Not only that, we learn so much more when we suspect it's vital, not when we're feeling la-di-da. We also learn more when there are fewer people on hand to help us, like when those people are really busy doing their own thing that we've already assigned to them, or maybe they've thrown in the towel and moved to a faraway island. (And I'm sorry if I caused that... really I am. You know who you are.)
About learning under duress, stress and the rest. I'm of the generation that grew up not attached to a keyboard. No, I had to learn the hard way - as a young adult. And I've gotten pretty good at installing software, troubleshooting, even making an incompatible printer work with my Mac! (Four hours it took, four full hours!) For 2009 business planning in Dismal Economy World, I know it will be important to reach out to clients and prospects in a whole range of ways - from speaking engagements to media relations, mailings to direct personal outreach.
Even as a veteran marketer, I learn new skills when I have to perform unfamiliar hands-on tasks. Like running a slide projector (this is the stuff of nightmares for a verbal learner with no mechanical skills whatsoever). You'd think that the scary part of speaking in front of a large crowd would be... speaking. But for me it's displaying that damnable PowerPoint presentation. IF I have one.
So, in the perpetual interest of finding something lovely in nearly any situation - just think how much you'll learn this year! With so little support! How many new horizons! What an enhanced professional you'll be. Me, too, I hope.
PowerPoint is overused, anyway. Unless you really need to break things down bullet-style (and don't mind when your audience is too busy skimming the bullets to actually listen to all you're saying that DOESN'T appear on the slide), you can probably do without.
ReplyDeleteI love the photo at the top of this entry. It would be perfect if it also featured a small bottle of scotch.
Someone already drank it.
ReplyDeletePowerPoint is easy, and playing with computer equipment is fun, but marketing is an interesting new challenge. After twelve years of self-employment, with business always arriving by word-of-mouth, in the Dismal Economy World (I like your term and will borrow it) I think it might be smart for me to try some outreach to attract new clients. Just think how much I'll learn from THAT this year!
ReplyDelete