Always be connecting dots:
Always be connecting dots.
ABCD.
Heard this from Danny Meyer today.
He’s the founder of Shake Shack.
One of the most successful American restauranteurs and entrepreneurs in the food space.
Awesome podcast episode (listen here).
He mentioned this idea.
Always be connecting dots.
Connect people.
Connect places.
Connect ideas.
Connect everything.
He spoke about scaling hospitality.
How the small details matter.
How spending a minute learning about someone can make all the difference.
People will never forget when you acknowledge them.
When you ask them questions.
When you’re interested in their life.
One of the practices at his restaurants is they’ll spend a few minutes learning about each customer.
Not just their name but what they do and who they are.
That’s been a game changer for his businesses.
People always come back.
The restaurant becomes essential to who they are.
But it’s not just in his businesses - it’s his life.
Never heard this concept so eloquently discussed before.
Always be connecting dots.
Dots could be people.
Putting two folks together who you think would appreciate each other.
Creating new relationships that hadn’t occurred.
Clarence Avant, the black godfather, was incredible at this.
Reason why he had such an amazing career.
Be a connector.
Don’t expect anything in return.
Watch the world open up in mysterious ways.
It will make all the difference in your career and relationships.
People want to help those they like and those who help them.
But this concept was not just about relationships.
It was about ideas.
Concepts from different disciplines.
Connecting ideas previously once thought to be unconnected.
One of my friends told me that last year.
Read him this post ‘Is Elon Musk trying to become Ghenghis Khan?’
I tied these concepts from history, pop culture, current events, nonfiction, geopolitics and fertility.
I didn’t think anything of it but when I finished reading it to him, he was shocked.
He said ‘You tie concepts together that no one else even pays attention to.’
Never thought about my writing like that before but I see it now more than ever.
All this reading, all this writing, all this thinking has led me to this.
I know going forward if I continue on this path, I’ll be able to see patterns no one else can see.
Here’s the weird thing, I’m not trying to do it.
Some of the great thinkers like Jordan Peterson and Charlie Munger tie ideas together that come from vastly different areas.
There’s a reason people love listening to them because every time you hear them speak, you see the world in a new way.
Got that comment today from someone who I did a podcast with.
He wrote in his email ‘I see you as more of a Marcus Aurelius kind of person, which there are no words/titles to describe him properly.’
It gave me goosebumps.
That’s never been my goal.
That’s never been my dream.
That’s never been what I’m trying to do.
All I’m trying to do is…
Always be connecting dots.
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