Insights With Trent Munday

The truth is not cold. It has no temperature. It just is what it is. Oftentimes we don't like the sound of the truth and so we go on the defensive. We just tell ourselves the truth teller is being a bit mean. A bit cold. But the best response is to accept that the truth is not cold, or harsh or heated, even. It just is what it is. NB: Thanks to Cameron Diaz in The Counselor for that little gem of a quote. #truthbomb #realitycheck #greatquotes

Once upon a time it seems like we got all the information and made our decisions based on that. These days, it seems like we're always waiting for, or at least expecting, further updates. More data. More information. And in waiting for more, we delay our decisions. Procrastination Rules! So, if you're experiencing a little Organisational funk when it comes to decision making, maybe it's time to just assume there is no further information coming. Ask yourself, 'Is this enough information for us to make a good decision?' You might just find that you do. Take a look at some recent decisions where you waited for more information and ask yourself, 'Did that extra information really help us make a better decision?'. You may be surprised how little difference it really made. #decisionmaking #informationoverload #procrastination

If I was running a hotel these days, I'd be approaching brands in my local area to create themed and branded rooms within my property. What sort of brands? Any and all brands could work. But ideally, it would make the most sense for brands in the bedroom, living room, bathroom space. After all, that's really what a hotel room is. Bed, Bath & Beyond might be a good one. IKEA would be a perfect example. Even a hardware brand like Bunnings in Australia. These branded hotel rooms could effectively become living showrooms. A great place to market test new products too. Imagine a Bunnings Hardware branded hotel room where you get a screwdriver upon checkin and you can remove the tagged products on the wall of your room and take with you when you check out. There's no end to the creative ideas you could come up with. #hotels #hotelmarketing #brandingideas

I've spoken with many people who blame Covid-19 for destroying their business. For many of them, that's only part of the story. The reality is, their business was struggling before the current Covid Crisis. But that's ok, as long as they use Covid-19 as the Catalyst to make the changes they've actually needed to make for some time. And the good news is that they now have the Cover they need to go ahead and try something new, without the fear of failure. Frankly speaking, they don't have much choice. Until Covid-19 they could've probably just kept plodding along for another year or two or more. But now, they must make changes. So, even though Covid-19 probably isn't really the Cause of many of the problems with many of our businesses, it absolutely can be the Catalyst for change AND, more importantly, it can give us the Cover we need to give it a go. #covid19 #businessmodelinnovation #stayagile

We tend to obsess about the results. We obsess about the Output. As a result of that, we often lose sight of the value of the Input. We do that at our peril. Oftentimes it is the nuances and intricacies hidden within the Input that actually enable us to unlock the real power of the Output. NB: Thanks to Gary Vaynerchuck for the inspiration for today's episode. #input #output #process

The payments space has been evolving pretty rapidly over the past few years. The developments have largely been enabled by advances in technology. As the technological evolution propels us towards the Internet of Things, where everything is connected, payments will become embedded. That means that your Smart Fridge will know when you're running low on milk and order it automatically from an online grocery store that will deliver it via drone to your front door. That entire transaction will happen without any involvement from you. As Artificial Intelligence improves, one day soon your Smart Home will probably negotiate with the Smart Power Grid to get the best energy deal for your home. Again, the payment will be embedded in the things - ie: the Smart Home and Smart Grid. Welcome to the Future. It's just around the corner. #paymentsolutions #paymentsindustry #internetofthings

There's a lot of talk about the New Normal. What will life be like in a post COVID-19 world? What opportunities will present. But don't forget about the Old Normal. Many of the frustrations of the Old Normal will still be there. And some of them, like traffic jams, will be much more frustrating, at least for a while, because we haven't had to deal with them during lockdowns and movement controls. Wherever there is a frustration, there is an opportunity for you to create and craft products and services to help alleviate them. And that is a massive opportunity. #newnormal #postcovid19 #businessopportunities

I heard this quote on the new Netflix Series - Operation Buffalo. Science is the great conversation stopper. In a world where we all have access to platforms to express our opinions, the conversations just seem to go on forever. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. But at some point, we just need to draw a line through it and move on. At some point we just have to agree to disagree on our opinions, but hopefully accept the facts. The simplest way to do that is to defer to the data, to the facts, to the science. #science #data #opinions

We talk a lot about the importance of young people making mistakes and losing, so that they can learn from their losses. In theory, the same holds true for older, more experienced people too. But in reality, it's not so easy for us older heads to do that. The problem is, the more experienced we are, the more we tend to believe that we are right. So, if we lose a contract or a negotiation, it's simply because the other party just didn't understand. Nothing for me to learn here.  I am right. I know I'm right. I have all this experience. They are wrong.  End of story. So, if you're a bit older and more experienced, like me, just be aware that you may need to work a little harder to dissect and analyse the losses so that you can learn from them. #learning #mistakes #losses

Whenever the quality of something is ultimately subjective, we tend to just defer to the experts. But the experts should still provide some type of explanation, justification of qualification for their opinion. With music, for example, thy might say this song is the best because of the beat or the rhythm or the tempo. With a painting, it might because of the colours or use of shading. That way, you can dissect their reasoning and form an informed opinion based on your own perspective. To simply defer to the experts because it is subjective is never a good idea. #subjectmatterexperts #opinion #subjective

We've all had the experience where we're listening to someone telling us how something is and we think.. 'Hang on. That's not how I see it!' We all experience life through a different lens, with different realities. Yet oftentimes we tend to apply that lens as a blanket across the entire situation, as if to say, emphatically... 'This is how it is!' It's almost as if we don't even consider for one second that there could possibly be an alternate reality for someone else. The reality is, that is how it is...for YOU. It may not be how it is for ME.  #realitycheck #perspective #empathy

You should put just as much thought and effort into how your business looks when it's closed, as when it's open. We've all walked past a shop window after they've closed and seen the outdoor furniture and signs all stacked at the front of the shop, just inside the door. Of course, that makes sense operationally, but it's not a great impression for the person looking in your window after hours. Potential customers may still making buying decisions, even though your business might be closed. If the look in and see a less than inviting shop, closed or not, they may well decide not to bother coming back again tomorrow, when you're open. #shopfront #afterhours #firstimpressions

The global recovery from the COVID-19 crisis will be unevenly distributed. Just as each country went into this crisis at different times, stages and levels of intensity, so it will be as we come out. And in THAT lies a massive opportunity. You can look and see and learn from what happens in those countries that come out of the crisis early. Look at what products and services are in demand. Then, see how you can leverage that knowledge to get first-mover advantage in your country, as your recovery begins. If you're lucky enough to be in one of the countries leading the way out of the recovery...even better. You can know export your knowledge and experience to those countries who aren't quite there yet. This is a MASSIVE opportunity. Indeed, it may well be where the next big companies emerge from. Go For It! #postcovid19business #businessopportunities #covid19recovery

Day 2 of our conversation about opportunities. A great way to find new opportunities is through niche communities - a relatively small group of people united around a common theme or interest or activity. A niche community can be built around just about anything. Even better, a niche community can have multiple levels or layers to the niche. eg: Young Mums becomes Young Single Mums in Rural Areas. The more layers to the niche, the tighter that community probably is. So here's how to find the opportunities... 1. Get involved in niche communities that are of interest to you. 2. Find out what their pain points are. (Just listen. They'll be talking about them) 3. Create or craft product or service solutions to address those pain points. Now, you not only have a product or service that has a a definite market, but you also have a market which will support you, as you're part of their community. NB: This is NOT about trolling communities to try to sell them stuff! It's about joining communities that fit

Wherever there is uneven distribution, there is an opportunity. Chances are, in an unevenly distributed marketplace, there will a portion of that market that feels marginalised, underserved. That is your opportunity. To even up the distribution. And even though it might seem like a small opportunity, relative to the bigger market, it might just be big enough for you to eke out a business for you. #marketopportunities #businessopportunity #businessstrategy  

Most would say that the whole point of wishing for something is to dream a little. To hope for something that is out of reach. Unattainable even. But consider this slightly contrarian view. The problem with that, according to Seth Godin, is that wishing consumes a lot of energy. And if you're spending all that energy on something over wish you have no control, the end result is usually frustration at not getting what you wished for. Far better, says Godin, to wish for something over which you do have some control. Something that you at least have some chance of impacting the result. That way, the wishing can take on a motivational element whereby you maybe try that little bit harder to get there. Thanks Seth. #motivation #wishing #hopes

Lots of business are thinking about Scenario Planning these days. Essentially what this is, is considering possible alternate futures so that you can put in place systems, plans, processes and strategies to best adapt, should one of these future scenarios play out. This interesting article suggests that using novels or fictional stories in the process might actually be a big help to businesses. https://bit.ly/3q1Ce6N The reason is that whenever we're considering our business, our industry, our colleagues, there will always be some in-built bias. But if we're looking at it all through the lens of a made up story, it's much easier for us to have an open mind. Woody Wade, as an expert in Scenario Planning, what do you think about this idea? PS: That's Bill for the article! #scenarioplanning #strategicplanning #thefuture

Controversial Tibetan Buddhist, Chogyam Trungpa, once said... "It's easier to put on a pair of shoes than to wrap the earth in leather" It's a quote that does, I feel, have a few different levels to it. But to me, the simple essence of the statement is the same as the one I shared with you in Ep. 1138 of this show - The World Is As You Find It , which is quote from the movie Vice. And the reason I think it's worth exploring is that we always seem to talking about changing the world. Making big impacts.  It feels like we almost have an obligation to do so. But maybe we don't have to. Sometimes, maybe we're just better off putting on a pair of shoes instead of trying to wrap the world in leather. #quotes #perspective #realitycheck  

Anyone who has ever made a sales pitch, had a business meeting or had a job interview knows this feeling... You put all the time and effort into planning for what you DO want to say, only to end up saying something you wish you hadn't. And it's often those things we say that we shouldn't have said that end up costing us the deal, or the sale or the job. It's not the things that we forgot to mention. For example, if you're applying for a job with a vegan skin care company, you probably don't want to mention that you like to take your kids fishing and hunting in your spare time. So, next time, think first about the things that you definitely do NOT want to say, then worry about what you do. #interviewtips #thinkdifferently #chooseyourwords

Depending on your perspective, eSports is either a bunch of kids sitting around playing video games OR a legitimate sport. But regardless of your perspective, you can't deny that this is a real business. Most estimates value the eSports industry at around USD $1 billion today and expect that to almost double by the end of 2022. Whether you call the participants in eSports 'athletes' or 'gamers', they have their own unique set of Wellness needs. And here's the big opportunity...much of what and how we talk about Wellness is just not geared to these people. So, if you can craft or create your Wellness products and services in such a way that they relate to and resonate with the eSports community, you have a very real opportunity to own that niche. You could become THE eSports Wellness person/business/brand. #esports #gaming #wellness