Weekly Download 15.17

Here’s a recap of news and notes from around the Web that caught my attention over the past week or so. This edition is dedicated to Detroit entrepreneur Josh Linkner, who I was able to hear speak three years ago. Several of his most recent posts have hit home with me, and hopefully for you, too.

A New Theory of Relativity provides an updated formula for business success. This brief, but impactful article notes:

“…the success of your business or career will not be based on what you already know, it will be based on how fast and inexpensively you learn.”

How Bureaucracy Can Kill might seem a little sensational at first glance, but the pitfalls of blind rule following are legitimate. The key to taking an approach of thoughtfulness over compliance is understanding the situation the other party is in. I’ve recently been in training that applies this concept to customer service to reinforce that we need to make sure we are clear on the objective that our customer is trying to achieve and their current situation.

Instead of fear paralyzing us, why not Flip the Fear and leverage it to fuel progress? One way is to look at a longer-term horizon and realize how the fear may be focused on a narrow short-term window. Over the long haul, your particular fear may be irrelevant.