Don’t Waste That Peek Behind The Curtain
We’ve all gotten it at one time or another, that peek
behind the curtain, a look at how things really
get done, decisions get made, people get picked, or not. I have been blessed with deep insights and
knowledge gained just by being there. Little
bits of information filed away, gathered here and there, in the short term, in
the junk drawer of random incidents. Nothing
really clicked right away, and for a time it was my mental collection of
oddities, things only I would notice.
You probably have a similar box of things that just
stick out to you. Situations where you saw just a little more than the average
person gets to see. Insights you’re able
to gain now because of all you’ve seen before.
A peek behind the curtain. That
thing you know. Whether it’s a theme you
detect, a pattern you perceive, or specific events you’ve witnessed, your body
of unique “peeks behind the curtain” is yours for a reason. Leverage
your unique knowledge.
Sharing
– A powerful strategy to leverage unique knowledge
When I share knowledge I’ve gained, I always
benefit. “As iron sharpens iron…” is a
scriptural shorthand describing one of many benefits I get when sharing unique
insights. I always like to make sure what I’m talking about makes sense, so
having people to share insights with can lead me to additional information,
which refines my insight.
Sharing not only refines your insights, but expands
your network, which increases the likelihood of additional peeks behind the
curtain and insight. Sometimes I’m even invited to peeks behind the
curtain, and I spend my fair share of time nudging people toward things related
to insights they’ve shared.
Document
– Blazing the trail
Document, document, document. At the very least, start writing things down,
or, if it’s more suited to your style, make audio and or video recordings, but
get it recorded. While audio and video recordings
of actual events are like gold, an audio and/or video of you laying out your
insights can be valuable. With transcription service prices where they are, you
could have a soft copy transcript of your recording to start building your
files for not a lot of money.
The bigger piece of documentation is cataloging the
data you have. Keeping track of what you
have, how you got it, what it means, what it’s connected to, etc., just
scratches the surface of considerations when connecting your insight to the
world. Where will it reside physically,
digitally? How will you control
access? All good questions, but not ones
that need to be answered today. As you
build the case for your insight and start documenting, those are some of the
questions you need to keep in front of you.
Keep Sharing – This is a marathon
Share, and keep sharing. Insight is built on the cyclical nature of maintaining
the feedback loop, so keep it going.
