Hey Reader,
The other week, I wrote about trading your creativity for speed - Something I believe is truly harmful to the world of art, creativity, and business.
More recently, I was reading an email from Jay Clouse and he said something that spoke to that same idea, so I wanted to share.
(Sidenote: If you're not already, go subscribe to Jay's newsletter.)
Jay shared 2 insights he took away from an interview that really connected with him.
This was his first insight:
Insight #1: The long way has become the shortcut
My favorite podcast right now is
Plain English with Derek Thompson. I've always been a fan of Derek's writing, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that I eagerly devour each new podcast he publishes too.
The topics and content of each episode feel very, well, episodic. There are some throughlines over time, but episode to episode, topics are pretty divergent: AI, healthcare, U.S. debt crisis, happiness, employment, religion, etc.
But what really impresses me about Derek's podcast is how clearly well-prepared it is. I don't mean well-produced; he's doing a remote video podcast, which I know from experience is VERY hard to turn into a compelling YouTube video—especially if your guests don't have professional video setups.
When I say well-prepared, I'm talking about both Derek's preparation of the interviews and his scripted introductions. I think both are in a league of their own. He recently hosted a three-person discussion with Morgan Housel and David Wallace-Wells, and it was so well facilitated.
If you've ever been or even seen a panel discussion, you know how POORLY they are typically facilitated. To run a good panel, you need to prepare the discussion in advance AND communicate that plan to the guests—two additional steps most interviewers wouldn't do. Throughout his interviews, he constantly references specific past material and cites his sources.
And Derek's introductions are so well written that they immediately pull you in AND perfectly set the table for the discussion. If you're not a podcaster, this may not mean much to you. But as a podcaster, it's clear to me that he's putting in rare effort and care into this, and it shows.
Rachitsky says he loves doing them because he can help shape the best ideas from the best people. Editing a guest post takes longer than writing his own posts. Author and positioning expert
April Dunford, who has
written three guest posts for Lenny’s Newsletter, encapsulates the
three-month process: many back-and-forths on ideas, structural changes from Rachitsky’s editor, creation of graphics and proofing. “People don’t understand how much time I spend editing,” says Rachitsky. “It’s not that they write the thing and we publish it. We spend months iterating on it. My goal with each post is for it to be the best thing that person has ever written.”
Taken together, in a world of people trying to shortcut the content production process with AI, there's a good argument that unreasonable effort is the true shortcut. It seems like nothing cuts through thin-feeling content like something truly substantive.
It was the last bit that really hit me, because it’s what I’ve been feeling more and more of.
There are so many tools out there, AI tools, that allow us to speed up our processes, create more content more quickly than ever, and pump stuff out to our audiences.
But…does that mean we should?
Is more content actually what our audience wants? Is more content what’s actually going to help them?
Does more = better?
I don’t think it does.
I think what the people we serve want…and what they deserve…and what will actually help them…is not more content. It’s more effort. More care. More transparency.
More authenticity. More of YOU being the you that they followed to begin with.
So maybe Jay is right. Maybe the new shortcut to more success is actually taken the long way and putting the time and effort in to make what we create and share more valuable to those we are trying to serve.
What do you think? Hit reply and let me know your thoughts.
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~ Jeff
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I appreciate you.
Jeff Gargas
COO / Co-Founder, Teach Better Team
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P.S. When you're ready, here's how I can help:
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