Hijacked by the book

Hey LinkedIn Legends,

I owe you an apology for the radio silence on my ‘not so weekly newsletter.’ I guess the ‘not so’ part was more prophetic than I thought, huh? ?? The truth is, I’ve been utterly consumed by this book I’m writing. It’s like my brain’s control panel has been hijacked.

In our minds, we have switches and dials. Switches flip on or off, often without our say-so, triggering those primal fight-or-flight responses. But dials? They’re more sophisticated. They allow for shades of grey, degrees of intensity.

Take my grandkids, for instance. They’re at that ‘why’ stage, where their curiosity dial is cranked to the max. It’s relentless and, let’s be honest, a tad annoying. Eventually, they’ll learn to dial it back, and by the time they hit nine, that burning curiosity seems to fizzle out. We adults tend to keep our curiosity on the down-low because, well, it can be inconvenient. But that dial is always there, waiting to be turned up again.

Curiosity, creativity, empathy, collaboration – these are all dials, not switches. We’re born with them set to high volume, and as we grow, we learn to adjust them, sometimes muting them in the process.

Sometimes, you need to turn that curiosity up to eleven. When you’re learning, brainstorming, staying vigilant, understanding customer needs, or trying to be a better team player, that dial better be cranked. A company buzzing with curiosity is more likely to be innovative, customer-centric, and profitable.

That’s precisely why I’m penning a tome on curiosity as a business KPI. It’s about learning to turn up the volume when it counts, especially in the corporate world. It makes businesses more resilient, perceptive, innovative, creative, customer-focused, and, yes, more profitable. Plus, it’s infectious – it inspires others to turn up their dials too.

But let me tell you, writing a book is no walk in the park. It’s like a dial that doubles as a switch – once you turn it on, it’s on for good. Writing becomes a constant companion, from the crack of dawn till the dead of night, even invading your dreams. It’s all-consuming, and frankly, it’s exhausting.

So, bear with me, dear followers. I’ll be back with more frequent updates once this beast of a manuscript is tamed. In the meantime, keep those curiosity dials cranked up and stay awesome!

Best, Rik

aka Grumpy Old Dude