Happy Friday! Last week, I asked for your help and it was amazing to see sooo many responses to the poll. Though it was very much of a leading question, I did get a few super interesting responses one of which is below:
Reading back in the hard pill to swallow archives, I barely see chapter outlines. If you are really writing a book, you need chapters that make sense together, and they need to be fleshed out with research. When you get beyond the outline, and start writing you'll reveal how little you actually know and then you'll start the real work. Most people writing books go steadily insane or give up.
It has been a fascinating journey to date and the above is NOT wrong - I have been taking “done is better than perfect approach” to-date, but now for the results…
🥁🥁🥁 Drumroll please 🥁🥁🥁
So choice 2 it is…. new podcast series it is… but in the meantime…. will continue diving a bit deeper into each of the “chapters” with some anecdotes and whatever else comes up till I make time to produce yet another 🎧 podcast series. this week, I am being lazy but also as promised, my co-conspirator’s response below….
👇🏼👇🏼Paul Simm’s response to my “Der Ausgang” post👇🏼👇🏼
Ha, December 39 2020 – I laughed out loud at that. But as Samuel L Jackson says in the opening to ‘Death to 2020’ on Netflix, ‘why the fuck would you want to dwell on such a shit year? No, seriously, why would you wanna do that?’ (or words to that effect).
Anyway. Not much contentious material for me to pick up in this post. But one thing I did observe is that all of your bullet points highlight a sense of you valuing those people who can see that ‘it’s bigger than us’. All your bullets – purpose and passion, think outside their silo, persevere against the no, have empathy – point to a mindset that is firmly focussed on what’s possible and being influenced by those outside the industry rather than inside.
It makes me wonder how much coaching we actually give people, or how much we simply encourage them, to look outside. If we value those things then surely it should be quite a lot. But, how many pharma people are ‘well-read’ and who immerse themselves in alternative business cultures? How many job applications ask upfront for ‘range’ and lateral thinking? Almost zero, I’d guess. Pretty damn poor, no?
Last week I ran a ‘Predictions 2021’ webinar, and I did a fair bit of research/thinking. I admit to looking 90% outside the industry and just 10% inside. That feels like the right ratio. Looking at what pharma executives are doing is no longer a barometer of what will happen, and most certainly not an inspiration.
People often tell me that I have a warped view of our industry, because by hosting events I would naturally come into the small subset of people who decided to get up off their ass and learn something outside the 4 walls of their cubicle. Even a large event would represent less than 1% of those who could/should be there. And maybe they’re right – I do have a warped view.
But if they are right, given that I found a fair few of the attendees pretty drone-esque (I often used to complain to colleagues that they might be wearing a smart jacket, but they acted as if on vacation), then even that 1% isn’t very dynamic.
Based on your criteria of what matters, we should be way more open-minded. Perhaps future events should focus on bringing ‘stuff that’s got absolutely nothing to do with pharma’ to the stage. Perhaps we should coordinate roadshows where we take people out of their comfort zone. Who’s up for a rollercoaster ride?
Happy Friday,