While we’re on hiatus preparing for a new season of Rethink the Way You Sell, we wanted to bring you some content from Jeff you probably haven’t heard before. Jeff produced a premium podcast called Deeper Thought from 2020-2022 and you’re about to hear one of those episodes. Enjoy!

This is an enhanced audio version of the Deeper Thought post "Stop COMPLICATING Things" written by Mike Simmons including an interview with the author. What do all battles, a well-cooked steak and your business have in common...they aren't complicated.

FULL TEXT

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Sun Tzu's Art of War is one of my favorite books. If you have not listened to Aidan Gillan's (you may know him as Little-finger in Game of Thrones) narration via Audible - you are missing out.

Music, Color, Taste - Direct vs Indirect

Chapter V is focused on Energy - the following image is captured via the Wisehouse Classics Edition

5 Musical Notes, 5 Primary Colors, 5 Cardinal Tastes - Yet when you combine the notes together you can create things that folks have never heard before. When you combine the colors you can create art, never before created. When you combine the tastes you can make flavors that will create memories that will last a life time (some good, some bad)

When it comes to battle though - Sun Tzu highlights that there really are only 2 methods of attack. Direct vs Indirect.

So What?

(*sorry, could not make it more than 200 words without asking a question - and now the genie is out of the bottle)

Think about the most amazing dish that you have ever had. What was it about that dish that made it amazing? Was it the complex nature of the dish? Was it the combination of flavors? Was it the surprise? Was it the thing others might not have noticed? Was it something simple? (maybe some type of citrus)

When I make a steak I use 4 ingredients - Salt, Pepper, Butter, and a cut of Ribeye.

How do I apply this to my work?

Well, with discovery, with account planning, with call planning, when writing proposals...it all starts with a couple of simple questions.

Who?

What?

Why?

Where?

When?

How?

Now What?

I'd like you to think about how you execute. How you do the work that you do. Break it down to the smallest parts, and then think about - what would happen if you started to combine some of those parts in a way that you have not done so before.

Then think - how can you level up your game in a way that you have not done before, leveraging what is known, and by getting back to basics. Net/Net - by keeping things simple.

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Stop Complicating Things with Mike Simmons