To a more productive 2016!
Here here …this is a brilliant repost from the talented and always straight to the point Peter Shankman. Props on this AMAZINGLY useful reminder …we’re ALL time starved!!
Nothing is more annoying, perhaps in the entire world, than the expression “can I pick your brain.” The expression itself is creepy. “Can I stick my finger into the gooey bowl of tapioca that’s protected by your skull and pull some stuff out?” Ew. Give me a tissue.
Perhaps more annoying, is that picking someone’s brain is a much more intricate process than you might imagine. Take “the coffee,” for instance. Simple in form, “Peter, can I buy you a cup of coffee and pick your brain,” actually turns into a two-hour process, in which neither of you are really getting any work done. (Think about stopping work, getting there, finding the person, having the coffee, talking, leaving, traffic, getting back to the office, settling back into a groove, etc…) It’s why I banned meetings except for one day a week.
End result: If you’re asking to pick my brain, more than likely, you’re imposing. But – There are ways to pick someone’s brain where it’s not only not imposing, but actually beneficial to you both. Read on:
1) Combine brain-picking with something someone is already doing. The amount of meetings I hold in Central Park while running would surprise you. This morning, in fact, I met with my friend David, who wanted to pick my brain about a new idea he had. The only time we could both make it work was super-early, so he and I met at 5am, and went for a run from 5am to 6am. He got my undivided attention for an hour, and we both got a workout in. Fact is, if you want to pick someone’s brain, make it as easy as possible for them to agree. Make it on their terms, in a way that doesn’t disrupt them, and actually can help them.
2) Want to pick someone’s brain? Help them first. This sounds crazy, but it works: If you really want to get information from someone, chances are, you’ll do whatever it takes, right? I was dying to get ten minutes with a CEO back when I was just starting out. I’d been emailing him, trying to nail down a time. I asked him if he was free for a drink one night, and he told me that he wasn’t, he had to reserve a car and go to the airport to pick up his sister who was coming into NYC for the first time. I offered to drive him to the airport and back, if I could pick his brain on the ride out. I said that I’d even wear a uniform and sit in the front, and he and his sister could sit in the back on the ride back, and I wouldn’t say a word. He gave me an hour of his time in the car and at the airport. All it cost me was a few bucks in tolls and gas. I still count that CEO as a friend to this day, 18 years later.
3) Be ready to go at a moment’s notice, and be willing to go out of your way. There’s a great scene in my mom’s favorite movie, The American President, where Michael J. Fox wants five minutes of the President’s time. But the President (Michael Douglas) is leaving in the presidential limo to head to the airport. Michael J. Fox simply gets in the car for the ride. Want a few minutes with the boss? Leave when he does, and take whatever subway he takes. Who cares that it’s in the wrong direction from your house? You can always ride back.
4) If you’re picking by email, make sure the email is the cleanest, clearest, most to the point email you’ve ever written. The ones that get answered by me are always the ones that have less than a paragraph, with a specific question. “Tell me your thoughts,” doesn’t work. Neither does “Got any ideas on…” But what does work is the following: “Peter – I need one specific idea on how to get my marketing team to all be on the same page with this project,” or “Peter, when you were writing your last book, how did you stay focused?” Be clear and concise, and I’ll answer you most every time.
Great right? He’s also just launched a virtual edition of his traveling masterminds series that’s totally worth checking out but do it fast if interested- caps out at 50 people!
#kellyapproved
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