Every day is a school day

Learning is critical for on-going success and a fulfilled life.

I sometimes think how depressing it must be to know everything and never have that joy of discovery. I am very far from that state, as this week shows.

Take today and yesterday. I wasted time trying to find a solution by searching the internet. I finally worked out that we have a trusted advisor who could probably tell me the answer of which bit of software to use. In fact, he said that for £6, he could solve the issue. I had wasted several hours searching, not really knowing what I was doing. The moral - think before you start, there might be someone else who knows the answer or a quick way to find it - ask someone who knows!

But what prompted that search was an ad that popped up on my phone. The product advertised wasn't great, but what it did is make me realise that I had been missing a trick. I do lots of interviews with clients and their contacts as I develop feasibility studies and strategies or undertake evaluations, for example. I scribble wildly while they talk and then afterwards try to decipher my 'doctor like handwriting. I had never considered that I could record the calls or meetings and then use transcription software to produce a written record that I could use as the foundations for my strategic work. Now I know handwriting things helps me to remember, and I think I will still write bits, but this way, for example, I get the full quotes for an evaluation.

Using my researching skills, I found the best transcription software, and I hope that it is as good as it says. Then I thought about the recording; I needed a proper file for this software. Obviously, it is easy to record meetings online, but recording phone calls seemed very complicated with different issues and software. I ploughed on with my research. I didn't think this is an area where I know an expert! As I said, he solved the problem in 2 minutes and for £6 per month to automatically record my calls, and I can then download them for transcription.

Of course, the transcription may not work, but if it does, it will both boost my productivity and improve the quality of what my clients get. The moral - keep up with what technology can do. Relying on random ads on your mobile, as I have, is not the best way.

I will let you know if it all works in a future blog.

Want to learn some other things, you might find these interesting:

Six strategic lessons we can all learn from the Olympics

7 marketing tips from Father Christmas

Any cows come up to you recently and offered their milk?

Share This Page:

Tags: charity entrepreneur marketing social enterprise inspiration goal setting values strategic development responsible organisation charter coaching business planning collaboration innovation tools 21st century business business success csr socent growth aspiration local authority feasibility study creative think tank corporate culture vision

Find entries by tag

Every day is a school day

Comments