Jeremey DuVall

Adventures in leadership and life-long learning

You’re Not That Great (aka How to Stay Grounded)

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“That’s the news from Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.” 1

That’s how Garrison Keillor ended his radio show, called Prarie Home Companion, for over 42 years. 2 Lake Wobegon was a fictional setting Keillor created for the show, but his famous send off line has taken on a new meaning.

Photo credit: Cover of Lake Wobegon audiobook by Keillor

“The Lake Wobegon effect” goes by many names (Better-Than-Average Effect, Superiority Illusion, etc) describes a motivational bias in which we tend to view ourselves favorably when compared to others. It has been easily illustrated in studies from driving skill to intelligence. In a YouGov study, 55% of Americans think they’re smarter than the average American. A study of New Zealand drivers showed that the average driver thought they drove slower than 85-90% of their companions.

Both of these statements can’t be true. The average is the average for a reason, right? Only half of us can be above average. That’s how statistics work.

Despite our best intentions, we view ourselves favorably when compared to others whether that’s inflating our own self-perception or degrading the perception of others in our own minds.

Why does this happen? More importantly, what can we do about it?

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How to Avoid Decision Fatigue by Setting Default Habits

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Which internet browser do you use? Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer?

When I read Originals by Adam Grant, one of the most surprising studies involved just that—your browser. It turns out, your browser can be an indication of conformity. Grant references a study conducted by Cornerstone OnDemand. In the study, they asked customer support professionals about various aspects of their work, and they found a link between which browser the employee used and their level of performance at work.

Grant goes on to hypothesize that the link between browser and performance has to do with defaults. Internet Explorer comes pre-installed on all Windows machines. Likewise, Safari is pre-installed on Macs. If you use one of these browsers, you’re effectively saying “The default is good enough for me.”

On the other hand, Chrome and Firefox are both available for free download, but you have to actively go out and install them on your computer. It only takes a few minutes, but it requires you to actively think “I wonder if there is something better out there.”

The takeaway from the study (and Grant’s book Originals) isn’t that we should all go out and change our browsers. Instead, the takeaway is that we should question default decisions.

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What’s your creative advantage?

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Competition is healthy. It drives up the quality of work we produce.

If you’re writing a blog, you’re competing with millions of other bloggers out there (with thousands more starting each day). You’re also competing with Time.com, Facebook, Twitter and every news outlets for attention.

If you’re a musician, you’re competing with the thousands of established labels and musicians already entrenched on your audience’s iPhones and Spotify playlists. You’re also competing with the thousands of indie artists and amateurs uploading their songs through GarageBand on their new Mac to share on YouTube.

If you make physical products, you not only have to compete with Target, Amazon, and other established brands that provide a one-stop shop for virtually anything your customer might want. You also have to compete with all of the new store owners powered by WooCommerce, Etsy, Shopify, and Square. Let’s go ahead and add in the entrepreneurs on Kickstarter as well.

The same concept applies for podcasters, painters, photographers, and any other creative out there on the planet.

In The Long Tail by Chris Anderson, he presents two simple facts applicable to creatives:

  1. The potential audience for your work is growing. Unbridled selection on the internet and powerful search tools means it’s possible for a consumer to find virtually anything they want online including your work. You can now build a diehard audience without the previous constraints of an existing distribution list, special connections, or physical proximity.
  2. Along with that potential new audience comes competition. While it has become easier and easier to reach your target audience, it has also become easier and easier to produce art as well.
A graphical depiction of the long tail
Photo credit: LongTail.com

This all boils down to a simple question: You’re always competing against someone for your audience’s attention. You have to identify your edge.

What dimensions of your craft can you compete on and have an unhealthy advantage?

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Monthly Review: July 2017

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I publish a monthly review of habits, work, etc. You’ll be able to find them all here.

First, before we get started, I just sent out the latest edition of my monthly newsletter. It’s called “If we grabbed coffee…” and it’s just that—articles, books, and ideas I would discuss with my best friends over coffee. I try to keep it super personable, and I also give out a free book each month. You can sign up here if you’re interested.

Some awesome things happened in July! First, we travelled to Banner Elk, North Carolina for a wedding. We were able to get some hiking in around the mountains while we were up there. It’s an absolutely gorgeous part of the country. Glad I was able to get back there!

Second, I completed my first GoRuck Tough event over the Fourth of July. It was tough indeed but a great experience all around. I’m already looking forward to the next one (perhaps doing the GoRuck Heavy—24 hours!).

Third, I met Lance Armstrong on the streets of Boulder while he was gearing up to do a recording of his Stages podcast. I’m a big Lance Armstrong fan so it was a pretty cool experience. He’s a really nice guy, and his podcast is worth listening to.

Here’s a full recap of the books, habits, etc that I tackled in July along with what’s up next for August.

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How to Kickstart a Feedback Culture on Your Team

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I distinctly remember a time when a feedback conversation blew up in my face.

I was managing a team of personal trainers at a recreation center on my college campus. During a shadowing session with a newer trainer, I sat down with them to go over some suggestions I had. In my gut, I knew this wasn’t going to go well.

Immediately, the trainer grew defensive. Instead of listening to what I had to say, we were arguing back and forth. Firmly entrenched in my own viewpoints, I argued back. The conversation didn’t get out of hand, but it was clear we weren’t making any progress. Both parties were set in their own thinking and showing no signs of budging.

Perhaps you’ve been in this exact situation—approaching a new teammate with some critical feedback. You want desperately for the conversation to go well. In many ways, that first feedback conversation sets the tone for the rest of the relationship. Recovery from a bad start is possible, but it’s uncomfortable and difficult for everyone involved.

Starting a cycle of feedback on your team is equal parts important and delicate. The trick is to not start with direct, critical feedback but rather progress that direction over time building a relationship along the way. Here’s a step-by-step progression for moving from 0 to “This could be better” without burning bridges.

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Moving Up the Care Personally Axis (Radical Candor)

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I just finished up with Radical Candor, a book on leadership by former Google and Facebook executive Kim Scott. Scott lays out two axes that exist within leadership—care personally and challenge directly. Together, they create the radical candor framework.

A visual depiction of the radical candor framework
This post on First Round Review offers a great breakdown if you just want to learn more about the framework. Image from Radical Candor.

Care personally is just that—demonstrating to your teammates that you give a damn about their well-being and success.

Challenge directly is all about helping them improve, giving them feedback, and pushing them to excel.

I want to talk about moving up on the Care personally axis and moving towards Radical Candor pulling both from the book and personal experience.

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Do You Raise the Average?

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You’ve undoubtedly heard Jim Rohn’s famous quip:

You’re the average of the five individuals you spend the most time with.

A quick Google search will turn up articles on LifeHacker, Entrepreneur.com, and more all pointing to the singular argument; who you spend time with matters. They influence how you think, how you act, and what you believe.

Generally, the “law of averages” focuses on what you adopt from others. Your mindset, beliefs, and habits are influenced by those close to you. We can flip the equation around though and look at it a different way. You influence the mindset, beliefs, and habits of your close friends, which leads to a simple question.

Do you raise the average?

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Monthly Review: June 2017

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I publish a monthly review of habits, work, etc. You’ll be able to find them all here.

June was a pretty kickass month. Summer in Colorado is in full swing meaning we have some nice temps and little rain. It’s very tempting to spend all day every day outside in the sunshine by the pool or in the mountains. Here’s a snippet of my June highlights:

  • My wife and I took a trip up to Breckenridge with some family in town. We went on a short hike on an absolutely gorgeous day.
  • I completed Ragnar Trail Snowmass and my first GoRuck Tough event. Lack of sleep pervaded both events!
  • I traveled to San Francisco for a few days of learning at the True University.

I’m looking forward to July as we have a vacation planned to North Carolina and more friends visiting.

Here’s the full breakdown of books, goals, etc from the month of June and what I’m working on in July.

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Here’s a Wacky Exercise: Try Writing Your Own Eulogy

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Last week, I was in Berkeley, California writing my own eulogy. Yep. I know. A bit premature. I’m not planning on using it for many, many years to come.

I was attending True University 2017, a series of workshops put on by True Ventures for their portfolio companies. The last day consisted of a leadership intensive, which is where I found myself sitting in a room surrounded by 100 strangers writing out what I hoped my wife would say at my funeral.

A tad bit morbid? Sure.

Fun? Not exactly.

Helpful? Definitely.

Here’s a quick breakdown of how we got to the eulogy piece, where I see this benefiting me down the road, and how you can complete a version of the exercise. It won’t take longer than 10 minutes in total. Promise.

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The Unpracticed Art of Receiving Feedback

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When I first stepped into the role of team lead at Automattic, I knew one of my biggest areas for growth revolved around feedback. Sure, I’d led a team in the past, but this felt like an entirely new ballgame.

I dove in headfirst into reading all about feedback. I scheduled feedback sessions with everyone on my team and encouraged them to give me feedback as well with leadback surveys. Overall, I thought I had a handle on the feedback thing.

About a year ago, I stumbled across the book Thanks for the Feedback by Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen. Not only did the book have an amazing tagline1; when I put it down, I realized I had earmarked nearly every other page. It changed how I viewed feedback in general.

Giving feedback was only half of the equation; receiving feedback was the other (arguably, more important) half. I realized that focusing on the latter could help with the former.

In January of 2017, I gave a workshop to my colleagues at Automattic all about receiving feedback covering many of the concepts from the book and examples of how I was putting them to use. A few people told me the workshop was helpful so I thought I’d share it here.

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