We record the Fink Tank on Col’s farm. They have lots of animals. Sometimes they die.  As someone fairly new to farming, Col still finds this pretty confronting. Deakin, his 4 year old, is far less affected, because he’s never known anything different.  He’s used to deadstock.  When you’re operating a solo business, you have to get used to your deadstock.  Awkward sales calls, rejections, failed projects.  They’re the unavoidable by-product if you want successful sales calls and amazing...

Nearly everyone is prone to dips in self-belief. Those who aren't are surely lying. Oscillations in confidence can be crippling. When starting a new venture, the road is often bumpy. When developing a new skill, it's rarely a smooth ascension to mastery. Most of life's endeavours come with peaks and troughs. Sometimes there are good reasons for them. Often there aren't. It's particularly galling when a loss of confidence is THE ONLY thing that might actually justify the loss in...

When he was fifteen years old, Formula 1 driver Daniel Riccardo learnt a *teeeny* bit about how to drive from Col, who ran a go-kart company at the time. Is your professional life analogous to a world famous F1 driver’s early karting career? Or to his penchant for “doing a shoey” with champagne on the winner’s dais?  Probably not. But this gratuitous name-drop DOES have relevance when we talk about exponential growth curves (and Col gets to say the word “asymptote”). Some growth...

This week's Fink Tank is all killer, no filler! Err... sorry, I've just been handed a note. Apparently that’s, um, like, incorrect.  Turns out this episode of The Fink Tank does, in fact, contain quite a lot of filler. Filler words. You know the ones. Um. Kinda, like, ya know, ummm, if that makes sense? Communication is central to the success of nearly every job. Warren Buffet famously said you can increase your value by 50% by improving your public speaking skills... no...

The statute of limitations has expired, so I confess that on 4 February 2017 I beat up a motivational speaker in the Sofitel ballroom in Sydney. I watched this clown of a presenter commit a litany of egregious public speaking crimes. The captive audience suffered horribly, and I knew I had to act. “The standard you walk past is the standard you accept” Not on my watch.  This speaker, this MONSTER, did horrible things.  Among other travesties, he: ⛵ told a long irrelevant...

Ready for some Friday morning schadenfreude? After a triumphant first day's skiing in Japan, Col and me crash back down to earth, literally and figuratively! We were lucky enough to be skiing before we started school. We've spent our whole lives being excellent skiers... in Australian conditions. Imagine our shock when Japan exposed just how bad at skiing we can actually be! It was a humbling and hilarious experience. And it's similar to something we see in a number of work-related...

The Fink Tank on tour, from the Hakuba ski fields of Japan! 🇯🇵⛷️🗻 Fighting the universe is a tough gig. It’s much bigger than you, and notoriously stubborn.  What do you do when your great plan ISN’T a great plan for right now? Your ability to be flexible and adjust accordingly is key. My favourite part of this episode - apart from recording it on a chairlift! - is when my mind blows at the 4:30s mark. As usual, we laugh quite a lot. --- Send in a voice message:...

Making The Fink Tank has taught us comedic lessons about willpower, frameworks, and accountability.  It took MONTHS to get the Fink Tank up and running last year. A circus of self-sabotage left it languishing on the launchpad for months.  This was entirely my fault. Col and I recorded several episodes, and after a few weeks of weapons-grade procrastination I had a couple edited and ready to go. Yet I couldn’t hit publish. The imposter syndrome and fear of judgement was crippling. Worse than...

Podcasts come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. I *think* that’s how the saying goes?? After 6 months and 25 episodes, that’s a wrap on season one of The Fink Tank! We’re probably not committing to a lifetime, but we’ll definitely be back for season two in the new year. A huge THANK YOU to everyone who has enjoyed and engaged with this joyful sibling experiment! The comments, conversation, and wonderful feedback has been a delight. The consistent engagement from...

How much of the content you consume was produced in the past 24 hours? Probably a lot. What are the chances that consuming something produced IN THE LAST 24 HOURS is the best use of your attention?? Probably low. Maybe Col should be holding up a newspaper, hostage and ransom style, to prove our worthiness for the 24 hour cycle newsfeed. Although this episode was recorded on the 16th of November, so the information we’re holding hostage could well be dead by now. --- Send in a voice...

Could reading kids books make you a better presenter? Oh YES, J Dog!! Often the WAY you talk matters more than the words you’re saying. Whether you’re outgoing and animated, or more subtly inclined, embracing a bit of drama and performance will make you more compelling.  Georgia Murch says people hear our content, but smell our intent. Our delivery style speaks volumes about our intent. It’s up to us to smell good. In this Friday Fink Tank Col explains how reading stories to his kids has...

When is it a good idea to be a bit of a goose? 🦆 Bloopers and unguarded moments can build connection and trust. But they often feel risky. Vulnerability is appealing, but sloppiness isn’t. Making a mistake can make people like you more, but only if they already liked you! It’s a minefield. 💣 💥 We can’t all have the charm of Dr Gihan Jayaweera 'Dr G' getting busted popping and locking in his car while stopped at the lights. Fortunately, in this Friday Fink Tank Col and I provide an...

ARE YOU GUILTY OF THIS EGREGIOUS CRIME? Okay that was a bit dramatic. Downplaying your experience, preparation and hard work might not, at time of writing, be an indictable offence. But it should be. - It betrays the effort underpinning your accomplishments.  - It misleads those who might be inspired by you. - It sells you short. Tall Poppy Syndrome has a lot to answer for. It’s particularly bad in Australia and New Zealand, where being “a natural” is high praise. Yeah nah.  Nearly...

Are you memorable, or forgettably bland?  You probably turn the volume down on interesting parts of yourself for fear of being unprofessional.  That sucks. In this Friday Fink Tank we chat about the time Cam's party persona and professional world collided, courtesy of the delightful Guy Chapple. Spoiler alert: nothing exploded. Being different and distinct is a big advantage in many roles and jobs, particularly if you’re a solo operator. But knowing how to show up is tricky. How do you...

Maisie the miniature horse says: Don’t be original, be relevant. Col scythes through today’s Fink Tank with this great sentiment. Striving for originality is a fools errand. Relevance is a far more useful goal. As C.S. Lewis tells us, simply telling the truth is a far better path to originality. Paul Watkins models this brilliantly with his LinkedIn Daily Dose, which you should definitely check out. I’ve never met Paul, but I’m working on it. (How’s that Beau Miles-esque challenge coming...

The episode where Col and I are judgemental prats. If you have a particular interest or expertise, there's a good chance you think it's more important than it actually is. We're inclined to think EVERYONE should spend more time getting good at the thing we do well. Can't these fools see how much better their lives would be if they'd just listen to my expert advice?? Also, I have excellent taste and values thank you very much. We conclude this Friday Fink Tank reflecting the good earth is...

Asking for money is important.  The best street performers practise how they ask for money, because they’ve learnt the quality of their show doesn’t magically turn into dollars in the hat.  If a busker wants to make more money, getting 5% better at asking for money will make more of a difference than getting 5% better at juggling chainsaws. If you’re a solo business operator, you’re probably in a similar position. You’re already great at juggling your chainsaws. Make sure you’re also...

My brother Michael trained his dog to scratch at the balcony door if he needed to go out for a wee. After a week or so the system worked fairly well. The dog would scratch the door, Michael would open the door, the dog would go out for a wee. The dog learned that scratching the door got Michael to open it. So far so good. Weeks later, the dog scratched at the balcony door. Michael duly got out of his beanbag to open it. The dog ignored the open door, and dashed over to sit in Michael’s warm...

The best thing about being your own boss is nobody tells you what to do. The WORST part about being your own boss…. I feel this on a daily basis. I have videos I’d like to record, videos I’ve recorded that I haven’t published (they’re literally just sitting there waiting to be posted!), and a bunch of ideas for directions I could take my business. And nobody is making me do it. It S***S ME. If you’re a solo operator, keeping yourself accountable to your goals can be tricky. How do you give...

“Complex systems that work invariably evolved from simple systems that also worked.”In this episode Col Fink takes aim at lofty expectations for technology solutions.It’s very common to underestimate how much time and effort will go into setting up a new, say, CRM. By trying to do too much, we risk ending up with a system that never does ANYTHING.Better to start with something simple that actually works and actually does something. It can evolve later.It reminds me of the early days of home...

When a hundred and fifty people turned their heads and glared directly at me, my panicked response was “IT WASN’T ME!” I didn’t directly cause the EAR-SPLITTING BLAST OF WHITE NOISE that shocked the crowd. But I was sitting at the sound desk at the conference, so it WAS my responsibility. My first response was horrible. My next action was even worse. I can still feel the shame. It’s a techicolour memory. What do you do in the uncomfortable spotlight when things going wrong? Are you an...

Cam knows exactly what his fingers SHOULD be doing when he plays the guitar left-handed. But they absolutely cannot do it.  And nor should they. They’ve never practiced the other hand’s job! Expertise isn’t the same as muscle memory.  You probably experienced a version of this the first time you got on stage or in front of a camera. You’re an expert and you know your stuff, why isn’t it coming out of your mouth the way it has hundreds of times before?? Muscle memory is very specific, yet...

A spontaneous riff (ha) on the value of pop songs. More specifically, YOUR pop songs. Put on the spot, Col comes up with a great metaphor for choosing how to deliver great value. Fittingly, this is a shorter, pop-song-length episode! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/finktank/message