Brewed From Within

Real Skills

Talent is natural.
Skills are learned.

Instead of abstracting, even nerfing the value of what makes us indispensable by using terms like soft skills or power skills, “real skills” invite the new reality. Knowledge, action, and persistence are still required, but real skills help us connect, communicate, and collaborate as we pursue peculiar work fueled by significance in our connected era.

As Seth Godin writes about, real skills help students, founders, intrapreneurs, and people-centric organizations activate humans working toward shared understandings. This updated term removes the optional vibes out of subtle superpowers that help us go beyond the status quo. To close his 2023 manifesto for teams, The Song of Significance, Godin shares this working encyclopedia of categorized real skills.

SELF-CONTROL

Adaptability to changing requirements
Agility in the face of unexpected obstacles
Alacrity and the ability to start and stop quickly
Authenticity and consistent behavior
Bouncing back from failure
Coach-ability and the desire to coach others
Collaborative mindset
Compassion for those in need
Competitiveness
Conscientiousness in keeping promises
Customer service passion
Eagerness to learn from criticism
Emotional intelligence
Endurance for the long haul
Enthusiasm for the work
Ethics even when not under scrutiny
Etiquette
Flexibility
Friendliness
Honesty
Living in balance
Managing difficult conversations
Motivated to take on new challenges
Passionate
Posture for forward motion
Purpose
Quick-wittedness
Resilience
Risk-taking
Self-awareness
Self-confidence
Sense of humor
Strategic thinking taking priority over short-term gamesmanship
Stress management
Tolerance of change & uncertainty

PRODUCTIVITY

Attention to detail
Crisis management skills
Decision-making with effectiveness
Delegation for productivity
Diligence and attention to detail
Entrepreneurial thinking and guts
Facilitation of discussion
Goal-setting skills
Innovative problem-solving techniques
Lateral thinking
Lean techniques
Listening skills
Managing up
Meeting hygiene
Planning for projects
Problem-solving
Research skills
Technology savvy
Time management
Troubleshooting

WISDOM

Artistic sense and good taste
Conflict resolution instincts
Creativity in the face of challenges
Critical thinking instead of mere compliance
Dealing with difficult people
Diplomacy in difficult situations
Empathy for customers, co-workers, and vendors
Intercultural competence
Mentoring
Social skills
Supervising with confidence

PERCEPTION

Design thinking
Fashion instinct
Judging people and situations
Mapmaking
Strategic thinking

INFLUENCE

Ability to deliver clear, useful criticism
Assertiveness on behalf of ideas that matter
Body language (reading and delivering)
Charisma and skills to influence others
Clarity in language and vision
Dispute-resolution skills
Giving feedback without ego
Influence
Inspiring to others
Interpersonal skills
Leadership
Negotiation skills
Networking
Persuasive
Presentation skills
Public speaking
Reframing
Selling skills
Storytelling
Talent management
Team building
Writing for impact

What a provoking collection of conversation starters! This encyclopedia is a guiding light for when we are being honest with our own abilities, filling gaps on the team, considering session topics for an event, or working to reform educational curriculum. Special thanks to Seth Godin for granting permission to share these real skills as they were written. Real skills are regularly updated to meet emerging demands as well.

Let’s add inclusivity, curiosity, showing up, content creation, systems thinking, accelerating others through the art of connection, identifying founder-market fit, thinking big, mindfulness, following up, pure wonder, and having fun.

What will you brew into the mix?

By Ben McDougal, ago

Uncharted

Building without a map is a bold art form.
It’s challenging, dangerous, and rewarding.

It’s challenging because these expeditions call for initiative to show up but also an unknown amount of resources to stay persistent. All seven capitals (intellectual, human, financial, institutional, physical, network, cultural) can each be hard to find, but celebrating what we have attracts more of what we want. As different types of capital connect, staying balanced with your personal bandwidth requires attention. But when we care and remain realistic, we give ourselves the permission to keep building.

Uncharted crusades can also be dangerous. This quest will not go as anticipated and the opportunity cost is high, with endless ways to spend our time. Even when odds are against us, a healthy obsession paired with a willingness to succeed or learn cultivates a potent mix of curiosity, optimism, and righteous recklessness. Those willing to try have a huge advantage over everyone else willing to wait.

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What might you regret not doing?

When exploring the unknown for the first time, be clever, collaborative, and patient. Also, remember that winners quit all the time. They simply quit the right things at the right time. So, get passionate without falling in love with impossible and don’t be afraid to ask for help. There’s much to learn from heroes, mentors, and those you seek to serve. Success and failure leave clues, so speed up progress and avoid pitfalls by leaning into tribes you trust.

When you’ve built without a map, the highs and lows strengthen decision-making. Practice also makes the unknown less intimidating. Experienced wayfinders gather feedback faster, measure the right metrics, and appreciate the hardships without allowing pride from the past to mislead them.

We know how rewarding it can be to build an event, business, or relationship you’re proud of.

To dance toward the unknown, be thoughtful with early moves but don’t get paralyzed by perfection. Sustain growth with sequenced storytelling. Be urgent but not frantic by activating trust channels that stimulate accountability. Welcome feedback like a scientist, listen with concentration, and savor metrics beyond the money.

By Ben McDougal, ago

ChatUX

Chatbots have a PR problem.

On one hand, conversational AI combines large language models (“LLMs”), vast data sets, and interesting influence layers to provide insightful ideas and answers to almost any question. Chatbots provide a personalized interaction with education, content creator, language learning support, financial advice, customer assistance, helpful reminders for important tasks, co-founder assistance, and even mental health therapy. These AI companions munch on mediocre and are always available to chat. ChatGPT is the most well-known example, but other content creation methods, bot building platforms, and layered tools, such as BEN BOT and ChatSpot, are being activated in creative ways.

On the other hand, when most humans hear the word “chatbot”, the word serves up a slimy aftertaste. We think of automated help desks that put us in circles, fake followers on social media, the search tool that can never quite find an question, or that lead generation form that only wants to guide you to the next sale. Even with the best intention, a history of hacks fuel mistrust and makes it hard to avoid the spammy connotation.

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Hallucinating is when AI confidently delivers inaccurate responses.

Chatbots may not be able to interpret complex interactions, decode user intent, express empathy, or keep up with the rapid pace of change in the world, but it feels naive to pretend that conversational AI is not efficacious.

As we continue learning how to interact with this innovation, we need a term that is more inviting. A term that evokes trust. One that describes an intelligent counterpart with no agenda. When the user experience is not misguided by motive and AI is truly conversational, “ChatUX” may be the term we seek.

ChatUX describes the interaction between humans and software, unlocked by conversational AI.

Chat is an informal conversation or to talk in a friendly and informal way. UX is short for User Experience, which describes how we interact with a product or service. It includes our perception of value, ease of use, and efficiency. “ChatUX” can help us understand how to interact with emerging technology, while also improving the chatbot’s image.

ChatUX is not spam. ChatUX won’t take your job, sell you something you don’t want, or take over the world. ChatUX requires ingenuity. It is translation technology designed to access endless insight, with an ability to communicate it effectively. It’s software that speaks our language while supporting a timely, interesting, accurate, unbiased, and meaningful experience for anyone curious and generous enough to build beyond the status quo.

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I’m hosting a new podcast! Stay tuned for more caffeinated conversations around technology, entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship, and community building.

By Ben McDougal, ago

Phygital

Blending a physical reality with digital depth is something humanity has experimented with for decades. Catchy names, memorable phone numbers, short URLs, and QR codes are simple methods that guide a physical interaction to details online.

Augmented Reality (AR), Bluetooth, Near Field Communication (NFC), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), biotech, and smart materials all take it up a notch. Each of these technologies provide a path to phygital experiences.

To spin some yarn, let’s stitch this nerdy good term into the world of fashion. Phygital clothing now has passive chips embedded behind a patch or hidden in the garment. When tapped by a phone, the tiny chip is given enough electricity to pass data. This prompts a notification that links to digital destinations. The destination may be a website just for fun, but for larger brands with dollowers, the loyalty contest is given all-new levels. Imagine the status game of a global fan base that unlocks digital assets by working together. An elbow bump from someone wearing your favorite brand can now highlight ownership and unlock gamified layers.

With ownership determined by code and real-time incentives connected to the owner, this nerdy good phygital term quickly becomes apart of the web3 taxonomy. That said, the flex is not about being high-tech. It’s introducing a remarkability factor.

When remarkability matters, as it often does, phygital twists offer an edge. There are endless examples of digital depth revolutionizing every industry. Computers and smartphones link a physical device to digital experiences and the first smart vending machine in 1982 would lead to an entire microcosm we call the Internet of Things (IoT). Today’s chips are cute, but nanotech (think a computer on every cell) and neurotech (think brain-computer interfacing) represent a direct line where input and output will require no physical movement. Edges dull as new becomes commonplace, so the time to get phygital is now.

As the world continues to be phygitized, more physical products will be mirrored by digitized counterparts, ownership will be obvious, and an augmented experience will be increasingly invisible as our perceived reality is reinforced by the phygital world all around us.

By Ben McDougal, ago

Fresh Powder

After a gondola ride, whether you ski or snowboard, you’re not getting far without the right equipment.

Let’s imagine you’ve made it to the top of a snow-covered mountain. The distant view is inspiring and there are endless ways to enjoy the ride back down. Similarly, there are endless ways a business can evolve.

Financial modeling is an important technique that helps us simulate different scenarios for a business.

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This contribution was written by Jeff Erickson. Jeff is an investor, advisor, and skier on the silicon slopes of Utah.

A financial model helps forecast the financial performance of a company. They are based on the company’s historical performance and assumptions about the future. This tool can be used to make better decisions when raising financial capital and to assess potential returns of a given venture.

Returning to our mountainous metaphor, think of financial models as your map of the snowy terrain. It provides an overview of the area, routes to explore, and dangers to avoid. Like a trail map, financial models use numbers to set the scene, then help us determine the speed and direction of our business. They also help identify potential risks and optimize how different types of resources are used.

A financial model is essentially a roadmap for the future, and it gives investors an understanding of how you plan to generate revenue and scale over time. A solid financial model demonstrates that you have done research into the market, understand potential risks and opportunities, and have thought through the key drivers for success. Your financial model helps investors see how you think about your business and whether you understand the levers that matter. It also gives them confidence when they see that you know how to strategically allocate the money they may invest and that you know how to manage cash flow.

Most investors speak in the language of finance. Terms like run rate, CAC, LTV, runway, and burn rate are common vernacular. Building your financial model helps you learn, decipher, and understand this language of finance, enabling you to more effectively work with investors.

A common mistake is thinking that it’s you and your financial model versus the world. Instead of falling in love with assumptions, work with potential investors by using the financial model to analyze various scenarios. When founders can cruise down the mountain with investors while using a financial model to explain different scenarios in real-time, partners will get more excited about taking the lift back up for another run.

Entrepreneurs need to be aware of the changing terrain to make the best decisions for their evolving business. Let’s avoid the trees and carve out a few steps that will land you in a position to know the numbers.

Define

Before building a financial model, it is important to define the company’s business model, revenue streams, and financial objectives. This information will determine how you structure assumptions for the projections to accurately reflect what could realistically happen with your business.

Gather

Once you define company goals, gather historical data relevant to creating accurate projections. This includes past sales, costs for running operations, generating revenue, customer acquisition, and any other financial data that may help tell the story of your business.

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Prevent that new business idea from floating toward someday by compiling relevant resources that brew confidence in getting others excited to join you.

Build

Using qualitative (industry trends) and quantitative (past results) data points, build realistic assumptions to drive your financial model. This can be done using spreadsheets, but dedicated software makes it easier. With a framework in place, begin with customer acquisition data (sales outreach, paid ads, referrals, etc.). Next, make assumptions around revenue streams by considering all the ways you can make money (product sales, services, advertising revenue, etc.). Continue by including resources related to building a team, then focus on any changes in operating expenses. Finally, consider any required expenses to scale your business and how to finance the venture long term.

Validate

Once initial assumptions are plugged into a financial model, it’s important to track the accuracy of your assumptions each month and to update the numbers based on actual data. With metrics consistently tracked over time, your financial model becomes more accurate and reliable. You will notice trends in customer acquisition, identify the most profitable revenue streams, and monitor your expense projections. Additionally, you will be able to run different scenarios using your financial model to help you confidently make better decisions in running your business.

As we add financial models into an investor pack, dynamic understanding is supported by an interactive tool to project progress. This shared awareness brews confidence and helps more people enjoy the ride in a shared direction.

By Ben McDougal, ago