The Weekly Minute - November 12, 2023

Hello and Happy Sunday evening! 

I’ll share my usual below, including topics such as the customer’s hierarchy of needs, storytelling, strategic thinking and going first. But first, I want to highlight the now very popular story of Josh Dobbs. 

For those who don’t know, Josh Dobbs is now the quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings (which is my long-time favorite team). After “our” (because I claim myself as part of the team) regular starter Kirk Cousins was injured a couple weeks ago with a torn achilles, the Vikings traded for him to serve as an insurance backup behind a rookie QB, Jaren Hall. Five days later (last Sunday) Jaren Hall went down in the first quarter with a concussion and Dobbs was ushered into the game with players and plays he didn’t know. It was backyard football and he carried the team on his back. The Vikings beat the Falcons in the final minute, against all odds, and was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week. 

I repeat: he didn’t even know the names of his teammates.

And now, after another week in the system and practice (and learning some names), Dobbs did it again in leading the Vikings to a win over the favored Saints. Let’s go Josh! 

What I Read This Week

• The Customer Hierarchy of Needs (via Shep Hyken)

• Products that Work

• Trust and Safety

• Alignment

• Appreciation 

• Emotional Connection

From Harvard Business Review

• Storytelling That Drives Bold Change (via HBR)

• When tackling urgent organizational problems, leaders usually work hard to identify underlying causes, tap a wide range of knowledge, and experiment with solutions. But once they’ve mapped out a plan, there’s one more crucial step they must take: crafting a story so compelling that it will harness their organizations’ energy and direct it toward change. 

• Suggested here are four key steps: (1) Understand your story so well that you can describe it in simple terms, (2) honor the past, (3) articulate a persuasive mandate for change, and (4) lay out a rigorous and optimistic path forward.

• 10 Ways to Prove You’re a Strategic Thinker (via HBR)

• Elevate your perspective

• Be forward-looking

• Anticipate potent impacts

• Connect the dots

• Simplify the complicated

• Use analogies and metaphors

• Stimulate strategic dialogue

• Show you are informed

• Practice strategic listening

• Seek feedback

One Thought About Going First

• Professional volleyball player Gabby Reece on the power of going first:

  • "I always say that I'll go first... That means if I'm checking out at the store, I'll say hello first. If I'm coming across somebody and make eye contact, I'll smile first. [I wish] people would experiment with that in their life a little bit. Be first, because – not all times, but most times – it comes in your favor."

Healthcare Corner

• Amazon launches One Medical for Prime (Via Becker’s)

  • Amazon has launched One Medical for Prime, a new service that offers discounted subscriptions to One Medical, a membership-based primary care platform, to its Prime members. The service allows Prime members to access unlimited virtual visits and same- or next-day appointments at One Medical’s clinics.

  • This could have several implications for the healthcare landscape, so I’ll be watching.

See you next week.