Dancey Growth Group

Stephen Dancey

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Work, Wisdom, or Wealth

“Work, Wisdom, or Wealth-these are the 3 ways you can support us.”

I first heard this during a Board of Directors meeting, and it clicked instantly.
▪️ Work-get your hands dirty
▪️ Wisdom-share your knowledge and experience
▪️ Wealth-make a donation

I’ve worked hard and been fortunate enough to support causes important to me, and to provide an easier life for my kids than I had growing up.

I try to instill the same gratitude and appreciation in my kids, and it is hard to do! They have not lived the same life, and so I must use varied tactics.

I tell them a fulfilled life involves 3 pillars:
▪️ Family
▪️ Work
▪️ Personal Time

In this personal time, you have hobbies and charity, and that the key is to find what fulfills you while giving back. I hope they find what fulfills them.

On this Giving Tuesday, I support West End House Boys Camp, and you can too. bit.ly/DonateToWEHC

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Over or Follows: How do Form & Function shape your choices?


Over or Follows: How do Form & Function shape your choices?

I enjoyed two salads at local restaurants recently:

1. Form Over Function-the salad was beautifully presented, with each ingredient in its own section of the bowl.

2. Form Follows Function-the salad was beautifully presented, with the ingredients mixed evenly in an appetizing display of color.

The first thing I said to myself when # 1 was presented was, “that is gorgeous, but how am I going to mix it without spilling everywhere?”

Maybe I’m overthinking it, but I notice the details.

I coach my clients to keep the spark that makes them unique, but always remember how their customer will interact with the product.

The customer may not always be right, but their experience shapes how they communicate your brand to the world.

Moral of the story: I should have gotten the burger.

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Respectfully, please stop yapping

“Respectfully, please stop yapping.”

This was the text my wife and I got from our teenage son, as we were trying to pull information from him while we were out of state.

He had the rare privilege of being home alone, and didn’t want to ‘waste’ it texting back and forth with his parents.

While it was a frustrating, and hilarious, text to receive, after putting ourselves in his shoes we understood where he was coming from.

It illustrates the Platinum Rule, “Treat others as they would like to be treated.” It is much different from the Golden Rule, and once you hear it, the Platinum Rule will become your go to.

I often think of this when dealing with extroverts vs. introverts, both personally and in business. For example…
▪️ An introvert doesn’t want a surprise birthday party
▪️ An extrovert prefers an in person meeting over a virtual one

So when you get to ‘yapping’, make sure the recipient is in a yapping mood. 😀

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The Top 10 Ways to Annoy Your LinkedIn Network with AI (and What to Do Instead)

With so many posts and messages on LinkedIn clearly being AI generated, I didn’t want to be left behind. With my human edits (emojis and em-dashes deleted for sanity), here is ChatGPT’s Top Ten List:

1. Mass-sending identical connection requests
▪️Why it annoys: Feels spammy and impersonal.
▪️AI alternative: Use AI to draft short, personalized notes.

2. Instantly DM’ing a sales pitch after connecting
▪️Why it annoys: Too pushy, without having built a relationship first.
▪️AI alternative: Have AI help you write a warm intro that offers value first.

3. Flooding the feed with promotional posts
▪️Why it annoys: Feeds get repetitive and sales-y.
▪️AI alternative: Use AI to create a diverse and timely content plan.

4. Posting unedited AI essays
▪️Why it annoys: Feels inauthentic and sounds robotic.
▪️AI alternative: Let AI draft, but always human-edit for authenticity.

5. Auto-commenting “Great post!” everywhere
▪️Why it annoys: Obvious automation.
▪️AI alternative: Ask AI to suggest thoughtful, specific comments.

6. Endorsement requests from strangers
▪️Why it annoys: Feels transactional.
▪️AI alternative: Use AI to draft a request for people who know your work.

7. Tagging everyone to boost reach
▪️Why it annoys: Pulls people into irrelevant conversations.
▪️AI alternative: Use AI to identify those directly connected to the topic.

8. Endless automated follow-ups
▪️Why it annoys: Harassment by persistence.
▪️AI alternative: Use AI to draft one polite follow-up, and then move on.

9. Sharing misleading, clickbaity, or divisive content
▪️Why it annoys: Undermines trust and can alienate your network.
▪️AI alternative: Use AI to fact-check sources before sharing.

10. DM’ing random files or resumes
▪️Why it annoys: intrusive behavior with security and privacy concerns.
▪️AI alternative: Use AI to create a short message and portfolio link.

What’s the most annoying LinkedIn AI habit you’ve seen lately?

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Write and Wrong

Write and Wrong Image

This past week I read, and participated in, discussions amongst friends, family, and acquaintances that ranged from civil, to testy, to heated. I was reminded with emphasis how poorly text based social media are suited for accurate and intelligent communication.

For thousands of years, the vast majority of human communication was face to face, where tone, facial expression, and context are much more easily understood. Only in the last 100 years with the telephone (which removed facial context), and just very recently via digital media (which further removed audio context) have many of these interactions transitioned solely to text on apps like Facebook and Twitter.

As I was thinking about this problem, I was listening to The James Altucher Show Podcast (Episode 192 with Stephen Dubner). At 33:30, Stephen Dubner says, “Written communication is very two-dimensional and you’re missing all the inflection, you’re missing humor, people make mistakes in writing and in reading, and I find that a lot of problems I’m constantly encountering, like people failing to follow through, or to do stuff, or to get the idea, are the result of literally poor communication.”

Not to mention the ease with which one can type an update free from proofreading, nuance, or fact-checking combined with digital permanence denies people the chance to say, “I didn’t mean it like that, let me clarify” as they might in a conversation.

What makes matters worse is the virtual echo chambers we find ourselves in, whether chosen by us or for us. On Twitter, as you chose to follow like-minded accounts, you surround yourself with similar opinions. On Facebook, their algorithm increasingly encircles you by news and information and discussions that resonate with your pre-established thoughts. Their goal as a profit-maximizing business is to leave their users with a positive experience, and if that means divergence of opinions are squashed, then so be it.

To further exacerbate the problem, the sensationalized news promotes/derides the vocal minority on the fringes of any group that wants to get publicity, and that viewpoint or inflexibility is ascribed to the entire group.

Now, what does this have to do with business? I run into the same misunderstandings and miscommunications with email as with social media. The rules are the same no matter which media you are communicating with:

  1. Know your audience
  2. Type with clarity to avoid ambiguity
  3. Choose a conversation over text, especially when your subject matter may be inflammatory or divisive

Personally, my rule of thumb is “Never type anything I wouldn’t want to show my grandmother.”

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Keeping Your Briefcase Full

Keeping Your Briefcase Full Image

My grandfather recently told me the story of a consulting engagement he had in 1972. My grandmother asked him, “What makes you qualified to be a consultant?” His answer? “I charge a lot and I come from out of town!”

After we finished chuckling, I thought about the mindset of hiring an outside professional to come into an organization. Are price and distance really the determining factors?

Price:

I’ve heard from multiple professionals in the industry who say that charging enough is critical as proof of value. The immediate thought when someone sees a low price is to question the value of the service they are getting. (I learned as much as I increased my rates trifold in the first six months).

In addition, people continually underestimate their own expertise. For many industries, there are no number of certifications and letters after your name that will convince a small or medium sized business owner that you are an authority worth hiring. More often, the social proof of referrals, testimonials, case studies, and fit in an organization will be the deciding aspect.

Distance:

When I think distance, what I really hear is ‘outside of the organization’. I have been on both sides of the coin-inside when an outside professional has come in, and outside as the ‘experienced professional’.

In both cases, communication is the key to success. Institutional buy-in, cooperation, and a true desire to teach or learn are the means to accomplishment in the organization. When all parties understand their roles, how the outside presence will affect them, and can see what the path forward looks like, then they can fruitfully move forward under the baseline expectations.

My grandfather also told me he brought an expensive leather briefcase to his gig. He said it was because successful people carried briefcases, and it was a signal that he was for real. Of course, it was completely empty. My advice though, is that you’d better be careful-any professional will be exposed in the long run if their metaphorical briefcase is empty.

Sorry Pop!