Join my Big Collaboration Experiment in 2014 – #MyThreeWords
My three words for 2014 are “Big Collaboration Experiment”.
This is my third #mythreewords. I started with “I Love You” in 2012 and “Be Worthy Together” in 2013.
Here’s my why for 2014.
Big (as a BEHAG)
2014 is the year we go “Big” with Listly. My Listly experience has been a fun and interesting challenge thus far. I’m loving the journey. I’ve learned a lot. There is much more to learn. I’m deeply emotionally invested in Listly’s outcome.
Shyam and I have each invested 2+ years so far. 7k on Alexa and 100k users. Our belief is Listly will be a top 100 internet site. We see Listly sitting shoulder to shoulder with YouTube, Slideshare and Soundcloud.
Creating “lists” as a distinct form of media is a classic innovator challenge.We’re changing habits and expectations. We’ve been building out our vision and our ability to scale. There’s lots more to come, but we have a very credible foundation.
Raising lists from “text in a blog” to being their own form of media is a heady audacious goal. Our BEHAG.
It requires perception change. That is always challenging and always takes time.
2013 was a hard year for me. I felt pretty strange as I transitioned from being active on social to being focussed on our email newsletter. Our newsletter has grown from 2.5k to 12k subscribers in the 42 weeks since we began the newsletter.
It was Chris Brogan (the instigator of #mythreewords) that inspired me to push ahead and begin our newsletter. Starting was hard. Keeping going was harder. I’m so glad we persisted. Persistence is key. Marathon was a candidate word for this year. Time and effort pay off. It also gives people time to accept, internalize and rationalize your ideas and beliefs.
The transition to being newsletter driven was big part of creating the Listly machine we have today. Listly is now a self-sustaining self-feeding machine. Metaphorically, the newsletter is an input to the machine – fuel. People discover Listly through the content that’s on Listly and embedded on blogs. They join Listly to participate with other people’s list and then to create their own content. The cycle repeats.
Big comes from making this cycle more efficient (shorter and more amplified). Big also comes from being – existing. When it comes to driving adoption you can’t hurry the need for time to pass. Humans have adoption cycles. I know many people have Listly in their plans for 2014, which in turn will trigger more adoption.
Big will always be challenging, but now we have a machine our focus can shift to to making that machine more efficient. Big comes from oiling the wheels of your machine. You will notice constant iteration in the experience over the next year.
Growing a machine becomes fun, as much, if not more fun that me being engaged socially. It was an interesting transition for me, not one I expected, but one I am now appreciating. I’m sure there are more transitions in the road ahead.
Collaboration
Collaboration is one of my three words for 2013 because it’s tablestakes in this age of excess. Collaboration is scale.
If you are not collaborating you are missing out, you risk becoming irrelevant. You could just be unnoticed. So easily done.
While collaboration may be tablestakes it’s also a source of differentiation. There are many ways to collaborate. Collaboration comes in many sizes. Some of the biggest collaborations can come from the least influential of individuals.
The power of collaboration comes from the collective power of each individual or brand. Collaboration is a multiplier, an amplifier.
Collaboration is a unique and much misunderstood. Collaboration is like trust – it works better when you don’t ask. Asking causes friction.
Collaboration is also a game of approximate equals. People only help people who can be helpful to them. There is a sliding scale of utility. It’s a hard, but undeniable truth. We can declare this as bad, but it is the truth. People filter people and projects.
Collaboration is also one of my three words because it’s about timing. Listly is ready and big enough to be collaboration worthy. We also have an innovative platform and can act to seamlessly connect would-be collaborators.
Collaboration is nascent. Anything goes in collaboration and most things are new to most people.
One way we will be collaborating is by opening up our API. We believe the opens many doors.
Listly is a collaborative content platform, so we are perfectly placed to innovate in the field of Collaborative Content Creation.
Collaboration is the heart of crowdsourcing.
Our goal for 2014 is to push the boundaries in collaboration, hence my third word.
Experiment (aka Growth Hacking)
It’s too easy to slip out of experimenting. Too easy to aim to repeat your last success. We slip into our comfort zones.
An experimental mindset keeps you fresh. It keeps you rechecking for the current boundaries. To experiment you need new topics, new ideas and new collaborators. Experimentation is healthy and rejuvenating.
You don’t experiment to fail, but failing is a consequence of trying. Experiments that all work aren’t really experiments. The big gains come when you push the boundaries of possibility. Experiments are simply managed risk. Tolerable excursions into the unknown.
Experimentation and collaboration are about being open to possibility. They are about giving serendipity a chance.
One way to force success and failure is to try several things in parallel. There can only be one winner and possible multiple losers. Experimentation is about assuming you are never all right. There is always a better way.
I get the amazing pleasure to participate in all sorts of cool projects. For this I feel truly blessed.
Sometimes projects go nowhere, but the existence of these experiments become inputs to other projects. Data backs up hunches.
I really believe that if you aren’t stepping into your own discomfort, you are under performing. Experiments should make you uncomfortable. Posting content should make you wince. If it doesn’t you aren’t trying hard enough. You are playing it too safe.
I love and hate writing my 3 words posts. It’s way harder than it looks. Looking back is hard too. Reviewing my 2013 post is interesting – I’m still not a big personal sharer. I feel proud of much of the content I produced in 2013. I feel I pass the “Shareworthy” test. I created a body of work in 2013 that gives me fuel to drive us forward in 2014.
Have you written a three word post? I’d recommend it. What are your three words?
Here’s a collaboratively list of three word posts. If you don’t write a post you can just write an entry and tag your three words. Or just leave someone a vote or a comment of encouragement.
@ChrisBrogan's #mythreewords Blogathon 2014
Add you post or just your 3 words, Tag with you 3 words, separated by commas
3 Words For 2014
Relationships Create Movements
corporate responsibility, social causes, relationships, community, networking
Jen Olney ~ Every New Year the tradition is to set your resolutions by January 1st and usually by January 3rd you've probably broken those resolutions. Why not instead pick a theme for your year? Fellow SteamFeed'er and Co-Founder of List.ly Nick Kellet has started a campaign inspired by Chris Brogan called #MyThreeWords.
It is the beginning of the new year and as per Dr. Seuss in the book Oh, The Places You'll Go!, states: "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose." And this is so true...
My favorite web development in 2013 was the launch of list.ly. Early in the year, Lutheran Confessions had the honor of ending up 39th on a popular list of Christian blogs you should be reading. Thanks to Christian Piatt for creating that list.
Three words can drive momentum, maintain focus and prioritize your efforts! Will you take the Three Word challenge? Credit Chris Brogan For This!
These are mine: Sensation. Promotion. Veracious.
Posted by Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter, Master Resume Writer in Chris Brogan, My Three Words, New Year Goals on Dec 30th, 2013 | 4 responses By Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter Each year, Chris Brogan, Publisher of Owner Magazine and CEO/President of Human Business Works, blogs about his 3 Words for the new year.
Well! It took me a lot of soul searching to find my One Word! Now three? Fearless, is the One Word chosen to represent our 90 th Anniversary year in 2014. It only follows that #MyThreeWords for 2014 are Be. Fearless. Now!
My three words for 2014 are "Big Collaboration Experiment". This is my third #mythreewords. I started with "I Love You" in 2012 and "Be Worthy Together" in 2013.
See the Glog! My three words 2014: @chrisbrogan's, my three word | Glogster EDU - 21st century multimedia tool for educators, teachers and students
It's always an engaging experience to look back at ones previous years posts and see how the three words written in January set the theme for the year! Did we stay on track or did "new" themes and variations take over during the year.
My 3 Words for 2014 | Pastor Joe McGarry Since 2011 I have participated with picking 3 words to help guide my year. This idea has come from Chris Brogan and it has helped keep me focus on my goals throughout the year.
Reflect, Write, Package
My Three Words:
CIRCLES CIRCLES CIRCLES
Ask What If...?
Rather than starting with answers, we figured out how to ask better questions. What If...? is an experiential platfor(u)m where new ideas are heard, shared, and built together. We're riding the future with active curiosity
Believe, Achieve, Succeed - 2014
These are my (3) Words to live by for 2014: (This is the meaning to me.)
If you BELIEVE that you can ACHIEVE your wildest dreams, then you have no choice but to SUCCEED.
Yours in Health, Fitness Life and Business.
Serve - Speak - No
These 3 words will help me steer thru the waves to come in 2014:
"Serve" - because I intend to focus on serving others with energy, making a meaningful difference to them & to myself.
"Speak" - because I intend to invest effort to attract invitations to speak at conferences, un-conferences, workshops... + practise the art of serving audiences well.
"No" - because I need to say 'No' to most of the stream of ambitious projects I cook up with others + find a good way to share big ideas with others, so they may run with whatever they fancy.
Add you post or just your 3 words, Tag with you 3 words, separated by commas
Image Credit: humblog
Nick is co-founder the social curation platform Listly, that combines crowdsourcing, content curation and embedable lists to drive high-level community engagement, live inside your blog posts. Connect with Nick on Twitter · Linkedin, Facebook and G+ and follow his writing via his other guest posts and on his blogs at NickKellet.com and blog.list.ly
My one word theme for 2014 is SOAR! since you’re asking for 3, how about: SOAR LIKE EAGLES!
This is fun, Nick. Thanks for asking to play 🙂
I was here last year for this Nick and I agree with Ali this is fun. This year my 3 words will be Start A Revolution : )
Nick and ChrisBrogan my three words are Flow, Innovation, Evolution
My three words are experiment, simplicity and relationships. My phrase is “stepping up and being bold” – a phrase I used a few years back that served me well so I am re-instating it as a permanent fixture in my life and business.