A Day in the Life of a Senior Leader

Chapter 42. One Compliment

An idea just came to me. I’ve been writing for a long time, so the ideas come partially formed. Not written, but formed into the beginnings of a familiar shape. It is critical in the next hour that I write this idea down somewhere accessible because it’s just an idea, and failure to capture it means it will disappear as simply as it appeared.

Whether this idea becomes an actual piece is defined by the next 72 hours. If I succeed in sitting down and expanding the idea, the probability of a completed piece increases significantly. This first attempt is an hour of my time, perhaps more if the window aligns with a weekend, so call this first investment 90 minutes, on average.

In this session, I am taking the wisp of an idea and giving it shape. What was a three-to-five-word reminder is now 5 to 10 paragraphs. If I’m lucky, I can see the beginning and part of the middle. If I’m really lucky, section titles are starting to show up. These section titles are similar to the initial inspiration in that they, to me, elegantly encapsulate part of the idea. If I can’t find a section title but know I’ve moved from beginning to middle, I write a dummy title, usually “Something.”

Something

If I make it to the middle of a piece, the publishing probability has again increased significantly. Still, as I’ve matured and relaxed about my writing, the number of abandoned articles has increased significantly. If this reads like bad news, I understand, but I’ve learned two ...