Always be connecting dots

Always be connecting dots:

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Always be connecting dots.

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ABCD.

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Heard this from Danny Meyer today.

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He’s the founder of Shake Shack.

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One of the most successful American restauranteurs and entrepreneurs in the food space.

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Awesome podcast episode (listen here).

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He mentioned this idea.

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Always be connecting dots.

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Connect people.

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Connect places.

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Connect ideas.

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Connect everything.

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He spoke about scaling hospitality.

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How the small details matter.

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How spending a minute learning about someone can make all the difference.

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People will never forget when you acknowledge them.

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When you ask them questions.

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When you’re interested in their life.

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One of the practices at his restaurants is they’ll spend a few minutes learning about each customer.

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Not just their name but what they do and who they are.

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That’s been a game changer for his businesses.

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People always come back.

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The restaurant becomes essential to who they are.

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But it’s not just in his businesses - it’s his life.

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Never heard this concept so eloquently discussed before.

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Always be connecting dots.

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Dots could be people.

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Putting two folks together who you think would appreciate each other.

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Creating new relationships that hadn’t occurred.

Clarence Avant, the black godfather, was incredible at this.

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Reason why he had such an amazing career.

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Be a connector.

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Don’t expect anything in return.

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Watch the world open up in mysterious ways.

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It will make all the difference in your career and relationships.

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People want to help those they like and those who help them.

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But this concept was not just about relationships.

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It was about ideas.

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Concepts from different disciplines.

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Connecting ideas previously once thought to be unconnected.

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One of my friends told me that last year.

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Read him this post ‘Is Elon Musk trying to become Ghenghis Khan?’

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I tied these concepts from history, pop culture, current events, nonfiction, geopolitics and fertility.

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I didn’t think anything of it but when I finished reading it to him, he was shocked.

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He said ‘You tie concepts together that no one else even pays attention to.’

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Never thought about my writing like that before but I see it now more than ever.

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All this reading, all this writing, all this thinking has led me to this.

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I know going forward if I continue on this path, I’ll be able to see patterns no one else can see.

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Here’s the weird thing, I’m not trying to do it.

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Some of the great thinkers like Jordan Peterson and Charlie Munger tie ideas together that come from vastly different areas.

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There’s a reason people love listening to them because every time you hear them speak, you see the world in a new way.

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Got that comment today from someone who I did a podcast with.

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He wrote in his email ‘I see you as more of a Marcus Aurelius kind of person, which there are no words/titles to describe him properly.’

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It gave me goosebumps.

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That’s never been my goal.

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That’s never been my dream.

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That’s never been what I’m trying to do.

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All I’m trying to do is…

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Always be connecting dots.

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