Reuben Rail

#Strategy #Leadership & #Culture consultant. Husband. Father. Lover of books and awesome (cheesy) action movies.

[Reuben Rail @reubenrail]

What the fax?! I guess faxing isn’t dead 🤷‍♂️ Use Dropbox Fax by @DropboxSign to send and receive faxes from anywhere. #DropboxFax https://t.co/DDiom3N6Cd

[Reuben Rail @reubenrail]

Elon Musk’s Enemy, USAID, Was Investigating Starlink’s Contracts in Ukraine https://t.co/R1WlBQP1Hz

[Reuben Rail @reubenrail]

Some #leadership pearls of wisdom here.

[Dave Kline @dklineii]

21 Leadership Lessons (I revisit once a week)

[Reuben Rail @reubenrail]

"In many cases, what you hope to learn by reading books or listening to podcasts can only be learned by attempting what you fear. Some knowledge is only revealed through action."

-@JamesClear

[Reuben Rail @reubenrail]

The irony as this article is behind a paywall. Please fix @theatla

"Democracy does not die in darkness—it dies behind paywalls," @stengel writes: https://t.co/vZBxNaRCGF

[Reuben Rail @reubenrail]

"If you want to avoid criticism, create less.
If you want to avoid irrelevance, create more."

-@JamesClear

[Reuben Rail @reubenrail]

Hey @GoogleWorkspace - for Meet, it would be great if we could have personalized URLs for our own 'room' like Zoom does. Thanks.

[Reuben Rail @reubenrail]

US vetoes UN resolution backed by many nations demanding immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza https://t.co/WVgHTU0q5t

[Reuben Rail @reubenrail]

"Life is harder when you expect a lot of the world and little of yourself.

Life is easier when you expect a lot of yourself and little of the world.

High standards, low expectations."

-@JamesClear

[Reuben Rail @reubenrail]

Ouch.

"You won't always get what you strive for, but you will definitely get what you settle for. You won't magically outperform your standards."

-@JamesClear

[Reuben Rail @reubenrail]

Jobs To Be Done theory is an invaluable approach to innovation & discovering customers' unmet needs.

But, I haven't seen any examples for nonprofits &/or social services.

If you know of any case studies, please share them here. Thx. #jtbd

@bmoesta @Strategyn @Ulwick

[Reuben Rail @reubenrail]

Got some new business cards from @canva and appreciate the sustainable packaging. Thanks for keeping it green.

[Reuben Rail @reubenrail]

Great perspective and points.

Do HARD things. And I would add - celebrate them (for yourself, and with your kids) when you/they do.

[Nat Eliason @nateliason]

Prove you can do hard things

When a teenager asks why they need to learn calculus, what should you say?

You know they will never use it in adulthood, outside of certain career choices.

You could say, “It’ll help you get into college,” but then they’re left wondering why college cares if you know calculus.

And once they’re in college, maybe you could say, “To get a good job,” but why would a potential hirer care how you did in multivariate calculus if your job doesn’t require any knowledge of calculus?

But I recently realized there is a very good reason to take Calculus. It’s to prove you can do hard things.

The ability to do hard things is perhaps the most useful ability you can foster in yourself or your children. And proof that you are someone who can do them is one of the most useful assets you can have on your life resume.

Our self-image is composed of historical evidence of our abilities. The more hard things you push yourself to do, the more competent you will see yourself to be.

If you can run marathons or throw double your body weight over your head, the sleep deprivation from a newborn is only a mild irritant.

If you can excel at organic chemistry or econometrics, onboarding for a new finance job will be a breeze.

But if we avoid hard things, anything mildly challenging will seem insurmountable.

We’ll cry into TikTok over an errant period at the end of a text message. We’ll see ourselves as incapable of learning new skills, taking on new careers, and escaping bad situations.

The proof you can do hard things is one of the most powerful gifts you can give yourself.

My goal with our kids is to avoid lying to them as much as possible.

I won’t tell them that calculus is super important or even that grades are super important. The truth is, they aren’t, so long as you have other plans.

Calculus is a great way to prove you can do hard things if you have no other proof to show.

But if you’re learning programming and building apps in your free time, or winning soccer championships, or writing a novel, then you are doing hard things. Probably harder than Calculus.

This is also why there’s so much survivorship bias and bad advice in the “C students hire A students” trope. Most C students are not doing other hard things instead of school. They’re just goofing off, so they end up working for the A student.

But some C students are getting C’s because they’re obsessed with other projects. Hard projects. And that obsession with doing hard things lets them blow past their Excellent Sheep peers over time.

So if you have a C student who’s obsessed with something hard, you probably don’t have to worry. If they’re getting high and watching TikTok, well…

I don’t particularly care what grades my kids get once they start school. But I do care that they consistently prove to themselves they can do hard things. If Calculus is how they want to do it, fine, but there are many, many more options.

And if you’re not someone who knows they can do hard things, find a way to prove it to yourself.

Build a habit, learn a skill, create something, whatever it is that turns your default stance on challenges from “that seems hard” to “I can figure it out.”

Create proof you can do hard things.

[Reuben Rail @reubenrail]

"Is grass-fed beef good or bad for the climate?"
An interesting article and report to consider. I am curious about the thoughts of others in #Sustainability work.
https://t.co/u4H5ReiRqj

[Reuben Rail @reubenrail]

. @strategyzer - Do you have case studies of companies using the #BusinessModelCanvas to develop their #strategy?

Just read @RogerLMartin article on Playing to Win and BMC. Curious on application examples.
https://t.co/JQ286psifA

Thanks.

[Reuben Rail @reubenrail]

Ouch.

"It's hard to build momentum if you're dividing your attention."

– @JamesClear

[Reuben Rail @reubenrail]

"The purpose of life is to discover your gift. The work of life is to develop it. The meaning of life is to give your gift away." — David Viscott

The three stages of life: Discover, Develop, Gift.

A simple formula for a life well-lived.

- @SahilBloom

[Reuben Rail @reubenrail]

@IAmPascio 👋

[Reuben Rail @reubenrail]

Hey @JamesClear - have you seen this? A habit test was created on Atomic Habits (not me).
https://t.co/nhm5i6Yp2z

[Reuben Rail @reubenrail]

Hello @tryarmra - is there any research on using ARMRA while fasting? Does it spike insulin? Would it interrupt autophagy? Thx.