Unleashed - How to Thrive as an Independent Professional – Details, episodes & analysis

Show Notes:

Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez, a leading expert on project management, talks about his upcoming HBR book.  Antonio shares his career path, including his time at PwC, banking, and pharma, and his early realization of the importance of project management.

Changing the Perception of Project Management

He discusses his mission to change the perception of project management from a tactical to a strategic role, including his work with the Project Management Institute (PMI) and his goal to publish in Harvard Business Review (HBR). Antonio highlights the challenges he faced in gaining recognition for project management as a most important facet of any organization, and his eventual success in publishing his second book with HBR. Antonio explains the key concept of his new book and shares how he pitched the idea to HBR, emphasizing that everyone is a project manager and that organizations should be project-driven.

The Definition of Project Management

Antonio mentions the success of his first book with HBR, which sold over 50,000 copies and was translated into multiple languages. He moves on to outline the theme of his new book: how every organization should become project-driven to adapt faster and transform constantly in a changing world. When asked to define what a project is, Antonio provides a classic academic definition of a project, emphasizing its start, end, objective, and teamwork. He then shares a more inspirational definition, stating that projects build the future of organizations and should be seen as essential and prestigious. He stresses the importance of project managers being proud of their work and the significant impact projects have on the future of companies.

Project-driven vs. Operations-driven Organizations

Antonio compares and contrasts project-driven and operations-driven organizations. He explains that most established companies are operations-driven, with operations at the core and projects as secondary. He also discusses the impact of the agile mindset, which broke down silos and hierarchies but still prioritized operations. Antonio introduces his model of a project-driven organization, where projects are at the core, teams are fully dedicated, and operations become more modular and secondary.

Transformation from Operations-driven to Project-driven

When offering tips on driving transformation from operations-driven to project-driven, Antonio identifies three main challenges: the organization's culture, the role of leaders, and the evolution of project management. He highlights the high failure rate of projects and the need for continuous transformation rather than continuous improvement, and emphasizes the importance of co-creation, bottom-up approaches, and the courage to stop projects that are not working.

Managing Project Portfolios and Tracking Projects

Antonio suggests conducting an inventory of all projects, identifying owners, and cutting a significant number of projects to focus on the most important ones. He recommends using project portfolio management (PPM) tools or simple Excel sheets to track projects. Antonio stresses the importance of prioritizing projects that lead to exponential growth and big bets rather than incremental improvements. When managing project portfolios and changing their management infrastructure, Antonio advises leaders to sponsor no more than three projects and to group projects into programs for better focus. He recommends having fully dedicated project teams where people leave their day jobs to focus on projects. Antonio explains that leaders should act more as coaches, empowering teams to take decisions and prioritize within projects. And finally, he emphasizes the importance of sharing knowledge and being open to exchanging ideas with others.

Timestamps:

00:02: Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez's Background and Mission

04:08: Introduction to Powered by Projects

07:29: Defining Projects and Their Importance

09:05: Project-Driven vs. Operations-Driven Organizations

16:28: Challenges and Solutions for Project Management

22:28: Managing Project Portfolios and Prioritization

29:01: Empowering Project Teams and Leadership

Links:

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/antonionietorodriguez

Business: https://projectsnco.com

New Book: https://poweredbyprojects.com/

 Other Books: https://www.amazon.ca/stores/author/B00CMECP0U

HBR Articles: https://store.hbr.org/shop/?section=product&search_query=Antonio%20Nieto%20Rodriguez#/filter:categories:Articles

 This episode on Umbrex: https://umbrex.com/unleashed/episode-626-antonio-nieto-rodriguez-author-of-hbrs-powered-by-projects-leading-your-organization-in-the-transformation-age/

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

*AI generated timestamps and show notes.

Show Notes:

Samora Wolokolie talks about his dual roles as a CPA, CA and attorney in Monrovia, Liberia. Samora lists his credentials: chartered accountant, certified public accountant, certified forensic investigation professional, certified fraud examiner, certified tax practitioner, and lawyer, and details his academic background. He is also an assistant professor at the University of Liberia where he teaches all levels of accounting. Samora also teaches at other universities and holds graduate and post graduate degrees from Cuttington University, and Charisma University. He talks about his career path, including working with Deloitte in 2000, then moved to PKF Liberia and Baker Tilly, where he qualified as a chartered accountant in 2014.

Serving as Liberia's Deputy Minister of Finance for Fiscal Affairs
Samora served as Liberia's Deputy Minister of Finance for Fiscal Affairs from 2018 to 2024, managing the national budget and growing it from $600 million to $800 million. When asked about the major sources of revenue for the Liberian government, Samora explains that over 80% of the government budget comes from domestic revenue, with the rest from External resources (donors like the IMF, World Bank, and European Union). He details the importance of conducting audits and meeting benchmarks to access external resources and shares a few examples of how this works. Samora discusses his role in developing revenue policies and regulations, focusing on domestic resource mobilization to grow the budget to $1 billion. He highlights the challenges and strategies needed to achieve this goal, including tax policies and revenue measures. He goes on to explain the structure of the companies he currently works for, his roles there, and how it focuses on both accounting and legal issues.

Major Industries and Economic Potential in Liberia
The conversation turns to the main industries in Liberia. Samora describes Liberia as an input-driven economy with significant potential in mining, forestry, and infrastructure development. He mentions the mining sector's potential, including gold, iron ore, and diamonds, and the involvement of companies like ArcelorMittal. Samora also discusses the forestry sector's potential, including logs and the Kimberley Process. He emphasizes the government's efforts in infrastructure development, particularly road construction and building maintenance. He goes on to talk about investment potential and licensing, shipping, and exporting.

Consulting and Legal Processes in Liberia
Samora talks about the process of hiring independent consultants in Liberia. He advises talking to an attorney and a CPA. He recommends checking with the Liberian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (LICPA) and the Liberian National Bar Association (LNBA) for licensed professionals. Samora explains the distinction between attorneys and counsellors at law in Liberia and recommends dealing with firms to ensure coverage through professional liability and insurance coverage. He goes into detail on the importance of following processes and doing due diligence and background checks when hiring consultants.

Taxation and Labor Law Considerations for Foreign Companies
Focusing on the tax implications for foreign companies hiring consultants in Liberia, Samora explains the withholding tax rates for resident and non-resident taxpayers, including the 10% and 15% rates for ordinary companies and the 6% rate for mining operations. He clarifies the concept of resident and non-resident status based on the number of days spent in Liberia. Samora discusses the importance of understanding Labor law considerations, including contracts, occupational health and safety, and long-term employment. He also explains the tax brackets and Social Security tax obligations for foreign companies, employees and independent contractors, in addition to labour laws and health and safety laws in Liberia.

Insurance Requirements for Firms in Liberia.
Samora advises firms to have professional liability insurance to cover potential transgressions. He emphasizes the importance of ensuring payments pass through formal financial institutions to avoid money laundering issues. Samora suggests using bank-to-bank wire transfers or prepaid cards for payments to consultants, and he reiterates the importance of due diligence and background checks when hiring consultants in Liberia.

Timestamps:

04:11: Revenue Sources and Management in Liberia 

09:38: Major Industries and Economic Potential 

20:04: Consulting and Legal Processes in Liberia 

27:08: Taxation and Labor Law Considerations

36:50: Insurance and Payment Methods 

Links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/atty-samora-p-z-wolokolie-ph-d-cfe-ca-cpa-fcfip-l-l-b-67315438/

Alliance CPA Inc:  https://alliancecpainc.com/

TORCH Professional Consultancy Inc:  https://topcinc.com/

This episode on Umbrex: https://umbrex.com/unleashed/episode-625-samora-p-z-wolokolie-how-to-hire-a-consultant-in-liberia/

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Show Notes:

Sandor Marton, a McKinsey alum and co-founder of Chronos Insights introduces the AI research companion tool and explains its features. Sandor shares his background in growth strategy, commercial strategy, and due diligence work. He identifies the problems faced by small firms and independent practitioners who don't have large teams in place to assign people to do the massive amount of necessary foundational research, which limits the size of projects they can take on.

An Overview of Chronos Insights

Sandor discusses partnering with Matt Jones and Dustin Chrysler to develop an AI-powered solution for market and competitive landscape research. He talks about the background of the team and the issues they initially tackled. The team aimed to create a specialized prompt leveraging ChatGPT's large language model while moving away from ChatGPT's programming "to make people happy" and to deliver more accurate results. They developed their tool, Chronos, with a different approach. The tool uses neural search and keyword search to provide more accurate and sourced research solutions. Sandor talks about how they tested the agents. He found it saved 75% of research time using the platform and emphasizes the need for review and revision of AI-generated outputs.

Chronos Research Capabilities

The conversation turns to access to proprietary databases, and Sandor explains the current use of the alpha version sources publicly available information. He also talks about their engineering resources and can build a version that taps into proprietary, private, or licensed resources, and that the user can direct the agent to source from specific sources. Sandor refers to a large Fortune 100 company that has hired them to build an agent to work with their internal research team. Sandor discusses potential future features like an interview finder tool and a composite self-referencing insights feature. The discussion touches on the flexibility of the tool in handling different types of research problems.

User Interface Explained

Sandor explains the simple UI of the tool, which includes five landing pages: Project Overview, Research Statement of Work, Research Plan, Research Tab, and Research Summary.

The tool creates a research plan based on the user's research statement of work, breaking it down into discrete task prompts. Sandor demonstrates how to use the tool by copying and pasting a Word document into the Research Statement of Work tab. The tool generates a detailed research plan, including market landscape, competitor landscape, and key trends and developments.

Project Overview

Research Plan Generation

Sandor explains the process of generating a research plan, including organizing research tasks by major research categories and subsections. He shares an example of the various categories to be researched within the statement of work. The tool creates task prompts for each topic within the research statement of work. Users can edit tasks and change the language model used for research. Sandor highlights the efficiency of running multiple tasks concurrently using the platform and demonstrates how it works and the various categories of research that can be explored, analyzed, and summarized.

How Chronos Summarizes Prompts

Sections Identified and Tasks to Complete

Subsections Explained

Reviewing and Exporting

Sandor demonstrates how to review and export the research outputs generated by the tool. The tool provides citations for each task, allowing users to verify the sources. Users can rerun tasks and edit them as needed. The tool offers a research summary feature, which condenses the research outputs into a concise format.

Research Task Overview

Market Landscape Research

Use Cases and Future Developments

Sandor talks about use cases and future developments. He explains that it can handle various research topics and how they have programmed the agent to eliminate errors. Sandor mentions a project which included researching sales cycles and client selection criteria. The tool has potential for developing primary research, valuation and diligence work, and incorporating proprietary or licensed material.

Timestamps:

02:44: Development of the AI Research Companion

05:42: Current and Future Features of the Tool 

08:55: Walkthrough of the AI Research Companion Tool 

18:54: Detailed Explanation of the Research Plan 

25:22: Running and Reviewing the Research Plan 

33:20: Future Developments and Use Cases 

37:20: Conclusion and Contact Information 

Links:

Website: https://www.chronosinsights.com/

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Show Notes:

Will Bachman welcomes Alex Boyd, the founder of Revenue Zen, a B2B organic growth marketing firm. Alex talks about organic growth marketing and how it is simply sharing knowledge about a product or service through platforms like websites, forums, and social media without relying on paid advertising. Alex's strategy works because clients are drawn to the content and reach out to him. He is now helping other B2B companies achieve success through organic growth marketing.

Developing Organic Content for B2B Markets

Alex Boyd works with B2B clients who typically have an average order value of at least 20k to 50k or more. He helps them to find their voice, clarify their thought process, produce content, get it out there, and watch that turn into leads and pipeline. His clients are usually software companies, consultancies, and other service providers who sell digitally and have a higher than average ticket size. By writing LinkedIn content that is well targeted and speaks to their audience and producing blog posts that are targeted to niche, lower volume keywords, his clients can see a huge ROI with just a few leads.

Alex talks about how they help software companies create content. He explains how they have a structured interview with the founders of the companies to understand their needs and goals, and draw out their expertise. Then, they create content that focuses on the specialty of the company as well as how technology can be used as part of the process. He emphasizes that the founders may not be social media writers, but they can provide valuable insights on how to implement the solution. Alex offers a sanitized case study of a software client. Most of his clients receive targeted, well-written content that they can post themselves. 

Alex's business helps clients craft effective social media content that can help them generate leads. He advocates for a structured interview process to draw out the client's expertise, and then they can coach them or produce content that the client can edit. Alex shares a few interview questions that help draw out valuable information on the company that helps build engaging content that yields results. He identifies the type of content that works. 

Tips on Creating Engaging Content 

He suggests starting with an origin story, as it helps the client's network to understand why they started the business. He also suggests asking about the client's favorite interview questions to draw out the information. Alex believes that making up content for social media does not work, and that it is important to draw out the expertise and knowledge of the client to create effective content. He emphasizes the need to be short and insightful in content marketing. 

Alex explains how to manage reaction and engagement to social and content posts, and how to transition from commenting on someone's posts to having meaningful conversation. He offers tips on backlinks, messaging and responding, and how to prep the groundwork for posts.  Alex said that the majority of the 135 engagements he has brought in from his LinkedIn posts and comments have been inbound. He suggests that the best way to have a conversation with someone is to have a natural conversation that doesn't have a direct lead into one's service but is still relevant. Will asks for tips on how to move from commenting on someone's posts to having a live conversation. Alex suggests providing a targeted note expressing interest in talking and engaging in meaningful conversations that don't lead to a sales pitch. He adds that the best conversations are those that don't lead to a sales pitch but are still relevant.

When engaging potential customers on social media, it is important to be mindful of how you approach them. Instead of leading directly into a sales conversation, it is best to demonstrate your expertise by asking questions that show your credibility. To do this effectively, ask questions related to the topic that you know about, and make sure they include your expertise. For example, if your expertise is in SEO, you could ask questions about backlink distribution and content production. Pretend you are giving a micro-consulting engagement and think about the value you can provide. This will help you create questions that demonstrate your expertise without feeling like a sales pitch.

How to Gain and Engage with Clients on LinkedIn

Alex explains how to choose questions that demonstrate your knowledge, and how to comment on a LinkedIn post. In addition to using a Sales Navigator account in order to highlight posts from those people, he suggests using a bookmarking system or a spreadsheet to track the posts, and how focusing on a smaller group of potential leads is the best way to comment on relevant posts.

Alex also suggests engaging with other people in the same space, such as influencers, consultants and software companies, as this can be more effective than engaging directly with the prospects. To find these people, Alex suggests creating pre-made influencer lists, which can be done by looking at which creators and consultants get the most engagement from decision makers. Finally, Alex recommends having offline conversations with others who also sell to the same market.

Alex talks about the software he created, Aware, to help with posting content on social media which orchestrates all LinkedIn activity on one platform to organize the process and save time. The typical person using Aware are usually growing on LinkedIn but want to spend less time managing LinkedIn data.

Sales Leadership on Social Media

Alex shares tips on how to drive engagement and points to Dan Morris as an example, whose posts do not get a lot of engagement but are targeted to a specific niche and resonates with them. He suggests creating content that is targeted to the right audience and that asks questions or request for reposts to encourage engagement.

He talks about sales leadership and how to best use social media to increase engagement and reach more people. One of the tips is to make sure the first couple of lines of a post are as powerful as possible, and to take the best line from the end of the post and put it at the beginning. He also shares how to respond when a post does gain a lot of attention to take advantage of the momentum. He suggests that virality often does not lead to much net new pipeline and it can even be distracting. If clients do have a post go viral, Alex suggests that they not try to respond to everyone, but instead look for the signal in the noise and prioritize business development. Alex also offers insight on the best and worst days and times to post on LinkedIn.

Alex states that it is more important to post quality content than to post frequently. He suggests that people should choose a quality threshold above which their content must be and be consistent. He also advises against pushing out half-assed content in the name of frequency. He suggests that if people are able to spend 3-4 hours a week planning and creating good content, they will do better. He also offers recommendations on formatting content whether text, video, or images.  He also offers one last piece of advice on sharing content for best results. 

Timestamps:

01:30 Unlocking the Potential of Thought Leadership for B2B Clients 

06:36 Uncovering the Power of Interviews for Content Marketing Success

13:03 Connecting with Social Media Engagers 

14:54 Transitioning from social media to Live Conversation 

18:22 Commenting Tips for LinkedIn

25:16 Proactive Ways to Engage with Clients and Followers 

25:48 The Benefits of Using Aware for LinkedIn Success

31:23 Tips for Generating Engagement on LinkedIn

35:32 Maximizing Engagement and Business Development Through Social Media Posting

Links:

Website: https://revenuezen.com

Website: https://useaware.co

CONTACT INFO:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexcboyd/

Get in touch with Alex: https://www.gated.com/@alexboyd

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Show Notes:

Chris Heivly and Will Bachman discuss the concept of startup communities and the importance of building them. Chris is the co-founder of MapQuest, which was sold to AOL for $1.2 billion, and the author of the Build the Fort. His second book, The Startup Community Builder's Field Guide, focuses on how five simple lessons learned as a 10-year-old can set entrepreneurs up for startup success. Chris defines a startup community as a set of people involved in innovative activities in a particular geography. He explains that startup communities can be incredibly powerful in helping entrepreneurs to succeed and should be proactively built by providing resources, mentorship, and capital.

The Benefits of a Startup Community

Chris talks about the concept of startup communities and how they are no longer geographically bound. He believes that networks are essential in order to develop a successful startup community, and that all members of the community, such as corporate innovators, investors, founders, researchers, and university students, should work together for the greater good. Additionally, he mentions that the concept of startup communities applies to industry-specific communities as well, and not just geographically bound ones. He believes that the key to advancing technology is through startups and corporate innovation, and that these networks should be utilized to the fullest extent.

Chris points out that it is important to rely on people outside of one's geographic network to build a successful community.  He explains that it can be difficult for founders to invest time and energy into the community due to the amount of tasks they have to complete in their business. He mentions that it is important to build meaningful connections in order to make a successful community and connect with venture capitalists, local investors, and to get involved in the local economy to make sure that it is thriving, and that one will gain knowledge and potential customers by doing so.  Chris suggests startup lawyers, marketing experts, economic development professionals, and people from universities want to ensure the success of startups and help create a vibrant local economy, and he shares a case study on a startup community he was involved with.

The Advantages of a Local Tech Scene

Chris talks about the advantages of being in a local tech scene, rather than working in a virtual space. He adds that the local physical advantage is that one can easily access mentorship and advice in a formal sense. He notes that this may come in the form of attending events, or engaging with other startups in the same building. He also points out that networking with local resources can be beneficial for finding answers to questions, and finding the right attorney for legal needs. He explains the importance of providing resources, such as programming and co-working spaces, to help new entrepreneurs get their businesses off the ground. Chris emphasizes the value of what they call gear, or ad hoc advice and mentorship, as an invaluable resource. These resources can be found through serendipitous sparks, such as running into people at coffee shops or events. 

Chris suggests that the best way to create events and activities that will engage the community is to listen to what the people want and find a leader who is motivated to make a change. He encourages grassroots-style initiatives that come from the bottom up, and to move forward with the goal of helping or supporting others.

The Three A's that Help Build Local  Community 

To help the local community, Chris suggests that it can be done in various ways, such as running a Little League team or getting involved in the arts. He recommends getting involved in the entrepreneur community and how it can have a great economic impact. 

Chris talks about the three A's framework in his book which stands for actors, activities, and attitudes. This framework is designed to make the ecosystem more inclusive and inviting for everyone to play a role. Actors can range from economic developers, government bureaucrats, university people, corporate members, founders, investors, and more. Activities vary depending on the maturity of the ecosystem. Attitudes are the most forgotten part of the framework and are important in creating a collaborative, supportive, and inclusive mindset. Chris encourages everyone to adopt a better attitude and behavior in order to create a better ecosystem. He offers a few steps to drive this forward.

To build an active network that you can lean on, Chris suggests introducing two people from your network who don't know each other, and having a 'gift first mentality' by reaching out to others without expecting something in return. He shares a story from 2009 to 2010, where he ran around doing 275 connections in five months, and at the end asked a simple question: What can I do for you?. He encourages people to ask what keeps them up at night, and what their challenges are, so that they can be helped.

Building a Network of Trust

Chris believes that by helping others without expecting anything in return, a strong network of trust and support is created that can benefit everyone. He has met with over 4000 people in the Raleigh-Durham area to build these relationships. He encourages young people to do the same to get more done faster. In return, these contacts are more likely to help him with projects such as writing a book or speaking at events. Chris believes that by investing time and effort into forming meaningful relationships, success can be achieved more quickly.

Chris has encountered thousands of people over the past 15 years and has created a system of pre-investing with each of them individually. He explains that he has an open office hours system where anyone can sign up for a 20 minute meeting. He also explains that, although he doesn't have a strong connection with all 4000 people, he can activate them whenever he needs to. His purpose is to support and empower founders to create successful businesses and cities. He hopes to accomplish this through his meetings and connections. Chris shares a few success stories from the people he has met and connections he has made, and the path he took after the success of his startup MapQuest.

Timestamps

01:49 Building a Startup Community 

03:47 Conversation on Building a Startup Community 

06:48 Exploring the Benefits of Joining a Local Startup Community 

13:58 The Advantages of Being Local in a Start-up Scene 

16:52 Building a Startup Community in Raleigh, NC 

25:14 The Four Stages of Ecosystem Maturity 

29:33 Exploring the Benefits of a "Gift First" Mentality in Building Community Connections 

36:33 Connecting People for Mutual Benefit 

43:06 Career Development and Corporate Venture Funds 

45:20 Writing the Build a Fort Series 

Links:

Website: http://heivly.com/

The Book: Build the Fort 

CONTACT INFO:

Twitter: @chrisheivly

Email: Chris@buildthefort.com

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Show Notes:

In this episode, Will Bachman talks to Adam Braff, a former McKinsey partner who specializes in data analytics. Adam has been using chat GPT to explore how this powerful tool can be harnessed for data analysis. He explores the implications and potential impact of this innovative approach.

The Quest for Analyzing Quantitative Data

The ability to analyze quantitative data using generative AI has long been a holy grail for many data scientists. While Chat GPT and other language models have proven their prowess in generating text and even creating visual content. Adam talks about how to  tackle the challenge of applying these tools to analyze large datasets problems and uncover potential solutions.

Adam outlines four key aspects of the problem at hand. First, there is a need to upload data into the Chat GPT tool, as the existing training data may not encompass the specific dataset of interest. Second, an intuitive interface is required to facilitate a conversation with the tool, allowing for iterative exploration and analysis. Third, the ability to visualize the data in various formats, such as tables and graphs, is crucial for understanding and validating the results. Lastly, incorporating up-to-date contextual information about the world around us is essential to gain insights into correlations and patterns within the data.

Uploading Data: Bridging the Gap

To address the challenge of uploading data into Chat GPT, several options have emerged. One approach involves integration with popular spreadsheet tools like Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel. Users can interact with the data by writing formulas and commands directly within the spreadsheet software. 

Another option is to paste data directly into Chat GPT, as long as it fits within the context window. This approach allows for a quick overview of the data and initial exploration of its contents. The ability to have a conversation with chat GPT is a significant breakthrough in data analytics. Adam highlights the emergence of third-party plugins that enable users to interact with the tool directly. These plugins, such as "chat with your data" and "chat with G sheet," bring us closer to the goal of conversational data analysis within the chat GPT environment.

Additionally, separate startups have leveraged APIs to connect with open AI models like GPT 3.5 and GPT 4. These startups, such as seek.ai and data DM, provide an alternative approach to interact with the data, although they operate outside the chat GPT window.

Code Interpreter: The 800-Pound Gorilla

Among the various solutions, Chat GPT code interpreter stands out as a powerful tool for data analysis. As an official open AI product, it offers a native and robust interface within Chat GPT. By activating code interpreter, users gain access to a chatbot-like interface where they can upload data, ask questions, and receive answers in real-time.

The code interpreter translates user queries into Python code, allowing for complex data manipulations and analyses. For example, if a user wants to analyze the correlation between variables or observe trends over time, code interpreter can aggregate and analyze the data accordingly. While the current interface may require users to refer back to the original spreadsheet for column names and other details, it provides a promising solution for non-technical analysts to engage with data.

Unleashing the Potential: A Case Study

To illustrate the capabilities of code interpreter, Adam conducted an analysis using three datasets: daily credit card spending on fast food brands, weekly food spending in various categories, and macroeconomic data from the Federal Reserve. The goal was to explore correlations between fast food spending, overall food spending, and economic conditions.

By uploading these datasets into code interpreter, Adam engaged in a conversation with the tool, asking questions and receiving insights on trends overtime. The analysis aimed to uncover potential drivers of spending on fast food brands and identify correlations with broader food spending and economic indicators. Adam explains the various types of analysis and data the tool can deliver and how it can be delivered.

Accessing a Python Interpreter

For those unfamiliar with Python programming, Braff provided guidance on how to access a Python interpreter. He suggested using platforms like Replit, which allow users to create a free environment for running Python code. Additionally, he mentioned that AI language models like ChatGPT can generate Python code for specific tasks, making it easier for non-technical users to experiment with programming. He emphasizes the importance of hands-on experimentation and encourages individuals to explore these tools to enhance their data analysis skills.

Navigating the Landscape of AI Tools

Adam talks about the landscape of AI tools and their potential applications in organizations. He talks about how he experimented with scraping. He stresses the need for a problem-solving framework and highlights the importance of breaking down complex problems into manageable steps. By understanding which parts of the problem-solving process AI tools excel at, users can leverage these tools effectively. Braff also emphasized the importance of experimenting with different modalities of interaction, such as step-by-step queries or end-to-end analysis, to find the most suitable approach for each problem.

Implications and Future Impact

The ability to analyze data using chat GPT and similar tools has significant implications for various industries. Adam talks about the problem of hallucination, where the tool is limited, and how far it is to becoming a plug and play data scientist. However, he explains how non-technical analysts can engage with data in a conversational manner, gaining insights and experimenting with how they ask questions and exploring correlations without the need for advanced technical skills. This democratization of data analysis opens up new possibilities for decision-making and problem-solving. Investors, corporate executives, and researchers can leverage chat GPT to uncover hidden patterns and trends within their datasets. By understanding the correlations between different variables, they can make more informed decisions and develop strategies based on data-driven insights.

The Role of AI Tools in Enterprise Data Analytics

When discussing the use of AI tools at the enterprise level, Adam acknowledges the need for caution and data security. He advises against randomly uploading corporate data into AI tools and highlights the risks associated with data leakage and potential misuse. To address these concerns, he mentions solutions like Microsoft Azure's OpenAI service, which allows organizations to run AI models locally and keep their proprietary data secure. He also mentions Chat GPT's incognito mode, and the upcoming release of ChatGPT for enterprise tool, which will probably have additional safety guarantees. He talks about what the tool is being used for today such as crunching numbers and making predictions, in addition to coding and analytics and generative AI.

Implications and Forecasting

As the conversation draws to a close, Adam talks about using the tool for forecasting but that it will become better when the technology merges with browsers. He emphasizes the importance of continuous learning and experimentation, as well as the potential for individuals to enhance their skills in domain knowledge, statistics, and technical/data knowledge. He highlights the role of AI tools as a means of human augmentation, assisting users in their data analysis tasks, and talks about his writing and teaching work, and writes about how generative AI is used in teaching and learning. 

Looking ahead, Adam predicts that AI tools will continue to evolve and improve, becoming more user-friendly and capable of handling complex analytics tasks. He emphasizes the need for organizations to embrace these tools while ensuring data security and compliance. By leveraging AI tools effectively, organizations can unlock the full potential of their data and drive better decision-making.

In conclusion, AI-powered tools like Code Interpreter and ChatGPT are revolutionizing the field of data analytics. While they have their limitations, they offer immense potential for organizations and individuals to gain insights from their data. By understanding the capabilities and limitations of these tools, experimenting with different modalities of interaction, and prioritizing data security, organizations can harness the power of AI to drive better analyses, generate value, and make informed decisions in an increasingly data-driven world.

Timestamps:

01:37 Options for uploading data into chat GPT

08:40 The interface of chat GPT code interpreter

12:25 The potential for non-technical analysts to use these tools

13:37 Example of using code interpreter to analyze credit card spending data

15:46 Using code interpreter

21:07 Experimenting with code interpreter and learning Python programming

23:34 Code interpreter can graph data, but limitations exist

25:16 Recommendations for using code interpreter effectively

34:33 Enterprise solutions for using code interpreter with proprietary data

35:45 Current use cases of code interpreter in companies

36:51  Using the GPT-3 tool for forecasting

Links:

Website: https://braff.co/genai-1

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Show Notes:

Keith Durst runs Friends of Chef (FOC), a consulting firm that works at the intersection of hospitality and real estate. Keith has worked on major projects in 15 different states, and he lists several projects they have worked on in New York City, such as Rockefeller Center, Lincoln Center, the Whitney Museum, and Blackstone's corporate headquarters as just a few of his projects. 

Reimagining the Rockefeller Center

Keith uses Rockefeller Center as a case study to explain the different stages and services his firm provides to their projects. The initial phase of the project involves understanding the needs and goals of the developer or owner.  He talks about researching the market, designing the concept, and bringing it to life with construction. Finally, they help with the launch of the project and ensure its success.

The goal of the project at Rockefeller Center was to create a place where New Yorkers would want to spend their time, rather than focus on it as a tourist destination. To achieve this, the development team looked at what was missing and why and how they redeveloped the area to be more open and accessible to New Yorkers. He talks about the changes that were made and how these changes have made the area an attractive destination for locals to visit.

Keith explains the specifics of how to do a needs assessment for the Rockefeller Center, including assessing the local community. They wanted to create an authentic New York experience on the campus, so they didn't rely on the competitive set. The goal was to create different levels of food and beverage, including bakeries, breweries, cafes, and sit down seating that would give people working at Rockefeller Center the ability to stay in the area to socialize and make reservations at popular places, but also that it would attract a wide demographic. In the end, Keith hopes that the changes will give people the time and energy back to spend more than one day in the area.

The Friends of Chef Mission and Vision

The goal of the FOC team is to create an environment that is welcoming to all kinds of people from different parts of the city. The team also plans out different day periods to maximize the restaurants' potential and manage flow periods. Keith explains why the balance between destination restaurants and quick lunch spots is important. He emphasized that it's important to bring in businesses that understand throughput and have efficient POS and under periods. Once customer needs and establishment needs have been assessed, the next step is working with the team and their engineers and leasing people to ideate and figure out how to make their plans a reality.

Viable Financial Planning for Restaurants

Keith talks about the process of developing a space for a restaurant. The first step is to conduct an assessment and determine which types of restaurants would be a good fit for the space. The next phase is financial underwriting, which involves understanding the costs from both the developers and operators point of view of pre-opening and building the space, as well as developing a critical path to open the restaurant. 

Keith talks about the importance of having a partner mentality when working with landlords in the restaurant industry. Keith explains that a good deal cannot be done with bad people, and vice versa, and that the landlord and operator need to have a solid relationship. He adds that the two parties need to come up with a plan that works for both, and that the developer needs to have a vision that will make the property worth more. Keith then explains that when developing a financial plan, the team identifies the type of restaurant that will work in the specific location to achieve buy-in from all parties involved. Finally, he mentions the need for sign off from the executive committee of the company.

Key Factors when Designing a Restaurant

Keith explains that when designing a restaurant, there are a few key considerations: the developer and superintendents should have a thorough knowledge of the building, engineers who can ensure all electrical and plumbing needs are professionally installed; a kitchen designer to monitor the essential health and safety needs of a kitchen are met, a health and safety official, a designer to work with Keith's team and the operator, and finally, the developer to sign off on designs. This is all before the final fixtures, furnishings. He explains why the menu should be an early part of the kitchen design to meet specific culinary requirements and that, as such, the chef often plays a key role in the kitchen design.

The Development of FOC 

Keith shares how his firm started.  Keith gained experience opening and running high end restaurants in New York City. He was approached by a hotelier who needed help getting their food and beverage program set up. Initially, he worked on it alone, but soon realized he needed a team to be able to execute and grow the business. He now has a partner who has extensive experience in the hospitality industry at a high level. 

Keith assembled a team of 15 highly skilled and experienced people in the hospitality industry. Through his team, Keith  has been able to work on projects of varying levels of complexity, ranging from setting up food and beverage for stadiums to small restaurants. He has also partnered with established restaurant groups to learn more about the current market and labor practices. Keith also mentions a close friend, chef and restaurant owner who he often consults with for practical and helpful advice and knowledge on the running of a kitchen. 

Keith explains a key factor to the success of his business is building relationships with the people in the hospitality, real estate, and other communities to find the projects they think will be the most motivational for his team. They seek out projects that everyone is excited about and are proud to work on. Keith believes that their team has figured out the best way to build relationships and communities in order to come up with great projects. They have been able to join boards and reinvest in the people they care about as a result of their success.

Timestamps:

05:51 Needs Assessment for Rockefeller Center Food and Beverage Options 

10:04 Balancing Different Restaurant Use Cases in Rock Center 

12:59 Developing a Restaurant Space 

14:13 The Importance of Partnership Between Landlord and Operator 

19:43 Skill Sets Required for Restaurant Design and Build 

22:40 Conversation on Restaurant Design and Menu Planning 

25:07 Founding His Firm and Building Teams for High-End Restaurants 

Links:

Website: www.friendofchef.com

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Show Notes:

Oscar Trimboli is the author of How to Listen and the host of the podcast Deep Listening. He talks about the importance of listening in the context of an initial discussion with a client, and highlights the importance of being present and mindful in the conversation, and to focus on understanding the other person's perspective. Oscar stresses the need to be aware of underlying emotions, and to be patient and respectful during the conversation. He concludes that having an open dialogue and listening to the other person's point of view is paramount to building a strong relationship and achieving successful outcomes.

How to Improve Client Projects

Oscar talks about the importance of listening during the context call with a client on their project. He emphasizes that listening should not be limited to face-to-face conversation but should include pre- and post- conversation activities as well. As an example, he mentioned his own pre-interview question to the client about the audience in attendance. Oscar suggests three questions to ask prior to entering the room. By posing these questions, you can gain a better understanding of the client's needs and desires and be better equipped to lead the conversation. Oscar explains how to best approach a context conversation for a potential project by asking these three questions, which should include the characteristics of a great listener: curiosity, flexibility and openness. 

In email introductions, Oscar explains how to add three bullet points to an email introducing the project, which should include mentioning three common issues the project may have, and how to refer to these issues to position yourself as knowledgeable while also gaining information. These questions can also position you as a problem solver and not just as a gaining a client for your business. 

The Importance of Listening to what Is not Said

In order to be a great listener, one must understand the science and art of conversation. Oscar talks about the importance of listening and the gap between thinking speed and speaking speed. Oscar suggests that we should be conscious of what is not being said in a conversation and offers some ways to self-assess. An effective listener should focus on both what is being said and what is not being said. A speaker typically speaks at 125-150 words per minute, but can think in a range of 900-1600 words per minute whereas you can listen up to 400 words per minute. Paying attention to what the speaker hasn't said can help create a more meaningful conversation and create a more positive experience for the client. As a result, referrals should increase as clients feel heard and valued.

What to Avoid When Mirroring Clients

Oscar talks about the best way to ask questions when trying to understand a project from a client's perspective and the importance of mirroring the client's specific language and vocabulary during a meeting. He suggests that the consultant should be careful and cautious when using language related to the future, as the client may not be able to believe in such a distant vision. He also suggests calibrating the language to the client's time horizon and paying attention to the type of language the client is using. For example, are they speaking in stories or statistics? Are they big picture or linear? The consultant should be matching the client's level of abstraction in order to have a successful conversation.

Oscar highlights the importance of using mental models to recognize code words, and listening to different perspectives. He expands on the advisor's role, giving an example with a client he worked with in the pharmaceutical industry to demonstrate gaps in listening and understanding, which degraded performance. 

How to Improve Listening and Comprehension in a Meeting

To improve listening, Oscar introduces the 70/70s squared approach, where roughly 70% of the way through a meeting, a person can ask a question to understand what has been heard. He offered a few variations of this question, like asking to summarize the last 30 minutes or asking what questions the CEO would ask if they were in the room. Ultimately, these questions help people to step back and rethink their approach, considering the perspectives of people in authority or in other areas of the business. 

Following Up after the Meeting

Oscar stresses the importance of being mindful of how one takes notes during a meeting and the purpose behind it. He suggests that it may be beneficial to record the conversation and to state your actions clearly. After the meeting, it is important to generate artifacts such as what happened in the conversation and supplemental materials. Within 24 hours, it is beneficial to ask the client if anything has popped up since the conversation or if anything was not covered during the meeting. 

To follow up after a meeting,  Will suggests sending a recap email as a way to show that the listener was paying attention and to provide a summary of the discussion. Oscar adds that, if the listener has paid attention to the other person's communication preferences, they could send a video or voice memo as an additional way to demonstrate understanding and increase the shareability of the summarised information and progress the complex ideas faster in the organisation. He talks about the benefits of thinking about how you communicate and not just what you communicate and talks about methods used in his own consulting practice. Finally, Oscar offers three valuable tips to improve listening and communication skills. 

Timestamps:

03:51 Exploring the Benefits of Pre-Meeting Questions for Effective Listening
09:01 Frictionless Scheduling: Making it Easier for Clients to Say Yes
09:52 Adopting a New Email Response Protocol

10:54 Understanding the Neuroscience of Conversation
14:41 Listening to What Is Not Said
20:23 Mirroring Client Language
25:09 Listening and Mental Models
25:36 Exploring Unheard Perspectives

36:40 After the Meeting Actions and Artifacts

Links:

Online Quiz: ListeningQuiz.com

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Show Notes:

Will Bachman and John Horn talk about competitors and how they should be taken into account when formulating a strategy. John points out that lowering the price is an easy response to a new product or market entry, which can prevent success. He suggests that understanding the competitor's mindset is a key element to predicting their next move and positioning oneself for success. He also emphasizes the importance of being aware of the competitors' strategies, as it can influence the success of any new idea or product.

A Framework to Understand the Competitor's Mindset

John states that companies should pay attention to both their customers and their competitors depending on the type of market they are in. For established markets, such as toilet paper, companies should focus on competitors and their pricing, product innovation, and market entry challenges. For newer markets, like AI, companies should focus on customers since customers may not know what they want and the market is open and wide. John believes that it is important to have different departments that focus on each aspect since customer and competitor focuses require different approaches. However, it is essential for companies to be aware of both their customers and their competitors in order to remain competitive in the market. 

John talks about the importance of competition intelligence in developing an organization's strategy. He explains the Blue Ocean analogy-- the idea of swimming in uncharted waters to find success. He emphasizes that one must understand why the competition is not in the blue ocean before considering it as a viable option. He then outlines his four-step framework for gathering competition intelligence: reviewing public communication and actions; assessing competitor assets and resources; considering the human factor; and predicting, observing, and adjusting. This framework can help organizations build a picture of their competitors' mindset and ultimately develop a successful strategy.

How to Gather Competitive Intelligence

John offers advice to a growing company that wants to build a competitive intelligence function. John recommends gathering information from companies that scrape and gather information from publicly available sources such as SEC filings, the company's website, and social media. He notes that the most valuable information comes from within the organization, and suggests running WarGames, which are business simulations that involve setting up players, choices, and a timeframe to unlock competitive insight. John gives a few examples of questions that should be asked. Companies can use a CRM system to gain better insight into their competitors. The idea is to start with one question, such as Who do you talk about? and then gradually add more questions to the CRM form to prime sales agents to ask about competitors. This will help the company track which competitors are discussed in different geographies and customer types, and what pricing, product portfolio, partners, etc. are discussed. This data can then be used to identify which sales agents have reported the most about a particular competitor, and to ask them for more information. This will make it easier for the company to collect information that may already be in the heads of their staff.

Collecting Data to Understand Competitors

John talks about the value of collecting data to understand competitors. He suggests that data should not be collected by marketing or finance unless they are strategically focused and deliberate, as it may not receive enough focus. He adds that asking questions up and down the supply chain can be a great way to collect information, but there can be challenges in how it is implemented. John explains that competitive insight functions are cost centers, meaning that they don't directly drive revenue, so it can be difficult to get buy-in from the senior level team.  He explains the best way to ensure competitive intelligence is properly implemented.  When using competitive insight to make strategic decisions within an organization, it is important to start small and focus on one or two competitors at a time. It is also important to identify which teams within the organization need what type of information. John also stresses the value in using anecdotes and using story over data to gain support from senior leaders. 

Investing Competitive Intelligence

John highlights the value of focusing on the competitor's USP to gain valuable insight. 

He explains how to convince senior leaders of the need for a competitive insight function. He suggests using stories to demonstrate the value of CI and its ability to help prevent costly mistakes. He also suggests that if senior leaders are convinced of the importance of CI and can see its value, they will continue to invest in it. He gives an example of a company where the CI function had such strong support from senior leadership that anyone making a strategic presentation to the CEO had to first consult with the CI group or leave the room. His conclusion is that, if senior leaders can be convinced of the value of CI, they will continue to invest in it.

Finally, he provided links to his own firm, Gateway Insights, and the Washington University Olin Business School website for anyone who wanted to contact him and learn more about competitive intelligence.

Timestamps:

03:10 Balancing Attention Between Customers and Competitors 

08:15 Understanding the Competition for Strategic Planning 

09:05 Investigating the decision makers

13:25 Building a Competitive Intelligence Function for Growing Companies 

15:30 Competitive intelligence type of dashboard function

21:50 Collecting Data and Voice of the Customer Insights 

26:57 Exploring the Role of Competitive Intelligence in Decision Making 

27:46 Competitive insight functions as cost centers

29:18 Defining which team needs what information

31:14 Using anecdotes to inspire action from leaders

Links:

Website: www.gatewayinsights.com

CONTACT INFO:

Email: johnhorn@wustl.edu

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Show Notes:

David A. Fields talks about the purpose of outreach emails and how to ensure they are effective. The purpose of outreach is not to sell, but rather to create conversations. He talks about both  'cold' outreach, which is to contacts who you don't know and 'cool' outreach, which is sending emails to people who the sender knows, but who have not been in contact in a few years. He also covers developing a tracking system, and follow-up calls.Regardless of the type of outreach, the goal is not to sell, but rather to create conversations that may lead to relationships and opportunities.

David talks about the importance of creating meaningful conversations instead of transactional ones when reaching out to potential clients. He states that jumping right into "Do you need my help on anything?" or selling, can ruin a relationship. He suggests using the 111 Email approach which has been found to be extraordinarily effective. Instead of focusing on oneself, the email should be about the recipient and what they are interested in. This approach can get a response rate of 40-50%, which is a very high rate for cool outreach. David explains that the email should include only one line and one focus question. He  gives an example of a 111 Email and emphasizes that the focus should always be on the other person and not on trying to sell something.

David emphasizes that even if the person is not a client, it is still beneficial to talk with them as it increases the chances of business finding their firm, and that the more conversations one is a part of, the more likely it is that business will find their firm.

Emails Questions that Engage Clients 

David shares an effective approach to continuing the conversation. One tip is to give a link to schedule a time for a call, and decide that it would be better to simply ask the other person if they would like to catch up.

When asking someone for a quick catch up, conversation, or call, he suggests to not be too business-like and to keep it simple by starting with Are you up for a quick catch up? 

Follow up questions should include: "I'm gonna have my assistant scheduled something," "What about these times?" "How's next week?" etc.,  to make it easier for the other person to respond. He also suggests not asking too many questions on the email, but to keep it simple with the goal of getting the other person on the phone or into a Zoom call.  David discusses the importance of using live conversations, as opposed to email or other messaging apps, in order to create better relationships with clients. He provides examples of how to transition from email conversations to live ones, such as asking if the client is open for a quick conversation and catch up. David also advises against using humor in emails, as it can often be misinterpreted and can put one at risk. The goal of the email is to get the client on a call.

How to Contact People for Networking Purposes

David talks about the best ways to contact people for networking purposes, including categories of emails people should use, such as job related, comments on LinkedIn, and questions that ask if an email address is still valid. He also talks about the frequency of emails and suggests sending them once every two to three months, and tracking the responses in a CRM system. He also offers tips on how to approach a person on LinkedIn who seems to be an interesting contact, but with whom you have  no prior connection and suggests a few ways to reach out in a cold contact situation such as explaining  why you are reaching out and how the contact could be beneficial to the client. Additionally, David recommends researching the person to get an understanding of their background and interests, and how the contact could be mutually beneficial. He suggests making the message personal and concise, and also including a call to action. To connect with potential clients, David suggests using personalized connections as a way to make a connection, such as referencing an affiliation they might have. He gives examples of successful email outreach and follow up messaging and timeline.

Cold Leads in the Consulting Industry

David talks about sales tactics for cold leads in the consulting industry. David recommends the Ben Franklin approach, which is asking for help with a project such as being interviewed for a podcast instead of trying to sell directly. He also suggests an aggressive reframe, where the consultant takes an opposing stance from the norm and then offers a solution. He offers examples to demonstrate how this works. He talks about how emails  help improve lead generation.  When asked if a direct approach like saying "here's what we do" is helpful, David responds that he has not seen it work and  identifies the type of  email content and approaches that are ineffective and questions that fail to engage. He also talks about the importance of crafting a personalized subject line. David explains that his team focuses on having a clear, one-topic message and keeping it personal. He also mentions that the subject line should be short and make it clear that the message is personal.  With short, question emails,  it may not be effective due to the high volume of spam emails using this format. David closes by sharing the one line follow up message and explaining why the "turn" works.

Timestamps

04:24 How to Reach Out Without Being Transactional

06:51 Making Sense of 111 Emails

12:40 Building Relationships and Generating Business 

15:00 Exploring Conversation Strategies for Professional Networking 

16:56 Consistency and Influence in Networking 

21:45 Maintaining Relationships Through Email and Other Messaging Apps

30:04 Network Core Frequency and the 2099 List 

32:00 Creating a Personalized Connection Point for Cold Outreach

43:17 Effective Outreach Strategies 

51:25 How to Use the "Turn" Technique for Professional Networking 

Links: 

Website: https://www.davidafields.com/

CONTACT INFO:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidafields/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/_davidafields?lang=en

Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.