100 Waves Later: Key Lessons and Reflections
Two years ago, I wasn’t sure what I should do. I was launching an advising practice focused on helping organizations grow through sustainable innovation. My dream was to invest half of my time in research, learning, writing, and speaking, and the other half in working directly with clients to apply that learning.
But could you start a company and devote only half of your time to clients? Was that even feasible?
I felt it was important to have an outlet to share what I was learning. Blogs are a bit old school, and e-newsletters are a dime a dozen. Podcasts are great (and I already host one), but there is no way to know who listens, and feedback is limited. Social media has tremendous scale, but it is difficult to reach your own audience reliably over time.
I settled on something I could email out each week. My first idea was a simple “headlines” email about what I was reading. I consume 100+ articles, reports, or datasets each week – why not pick the top 4-5 and share a sentence or two on why it’s important?
After a few weeks, I realized that this wasn’t going to work. Most of the time, there wasn’t one singular piece of content or data that interested me. My gift is connecting the dots between trends, insights, and data points. The value of what I do is showing how things relate to each other. And I couldn’t sum up these insights in one or two sentences – I needed more space.
So I swallowed hard and committed to the format you see today – one column each week, unpacking a specific insight or trend that you can use to GROW – GROW your leadership, GROW your organization, and GROW your revenue.
Today, two years later, you are reading the 100th edition of the Wave Report. 🤯
Whether you’ve just joined this community or if you were here for edition #1, THANK YOU. I hope this report has been a blessing to you.
Would you take 30 seconds to help me with something? Contact me and answer two questions:
What do you appreciate most about the Wave Report?
How can we improve the Wave Report to serve you better?
As I’ve reflected over the past few weeks, I wrote down tens lessons I’ve learned from hundreds of hours invested in researching, writing, editing, and publishing one hundred consecutive editions of The Wave Report.
10 Lessons from Publishing 100 Wave Reports
1. Feedback is more important than shipping. Sharing insights is only helpful if they are received, understood, and acted upon. In the world of product development, “shipping” is a core value - getting the product shipped and into the world so you can learn and iterate. I value shipping as well – putting ideas into the world consistently. But shipping is worthless without feedback. Every Wave Report ends with a 1-10 score, and I’m grateful when you take the time to rate it. I also enjoy receiving replies, and I read and respond to each one.
2. Discipline is more important than talent. Talent is helpful, but there is no substitute for putting in the work. When I started writing The Wave Report, I had a friend tell me how much they appreciated it, but they couldn’t see how I could pull off something with this level of in-depth insight every week. It was a reasonable question!
One hundred weeks in, I’ve had to develop systems and mental muscles to consistently output content that is at the level of quality that I expect. One of my favorite people to listen to on discipline and “putting in the work” is Kobe Bryant. Check out this video of Kobe Bryant talking about discipline if you want some inspiration. This quote stands out to me.
“What…is greatness? I don’t even know what that is. I think greatness is in infinite growth. Every single day are you getting better and better and better? Are you constantly growing? Greatness is not a destination. I think it’s a process, more so than anything. If you have that mentality, then you will continually chase greatness, and in that process of understanding that you will nevery truly achieve it, but you’ll keep getting better every single day, then you will continually strive to reach your fullest potential. I think that process and that journey is what greatness is.”
– Kobe Bryant
3. Reps make us better. Related to the point above about discipline, there is no substitute for the learning and improvement that comes through repetition. I love getting things perfect. At one point, I wondered if I should do a monthly Wave Report. But think about it this way – a monthly report is 12 “reps” per year. A weekly report is 52 “reps” per year. More reps in the same amount of time means more experimentation, more learning, more growth.
4. Use forcing functions to make yourself better. A friend of mine and successful writer, Michael Simmons, taught me about the idea of a “forcing function” – anything you commit to that requires you to perform. To show up. There is nothing like committing yourself to something that makes you a little nervous. Something that will force you to bring your A-game. Forcing functions also give you the accountability to show up and do what you need to do. Every Friday, I’ve committed to you receiving a Wave Report. That means I’m writing this Wave Report on a plane to D.C., where I’ll be speaking this week. No excuses.
5. Rhythm is a beautiful thing. Related to my point above about reps, which do you think is easier – 52 Wave Reports or 12 Wave Reports? I would make the case that 52 has been easier. I’ve had to create a rhythm each week and each month, and it’s now a part of what I do. I never am not thinking about the Wave Report, but it doesn’t dominate my time, my attention, or my best thinking because it’s simply a part of the rhythm of what I do. In fact, it enables me to develop ideas and insights that I’m noticing.
6. Anything that requires this much effort should serve multiple purposes. There is no way around it – The Wave Report involves a lot of work. I invest between 5-10 hours each week producing each edition. The only way to justify that kind of investment is for it to serve multiple purposes. For me, The Wave Report serves at least six purposes: 1) Research to improve my understanding, 2) Learning insights I can share or apply, 3) Develop ideas or insights I’m noticing, 4) Work out how to articulate what I’m seeing, 5) Grow the community of people who are interested in what I have to say and what we do at Imago Consulting, 6) Share what we do at Imago so that when it makes sense, we can work together.
7. It’s important to repeat yourself. The best lessons are repeated in different ways and at different times. Sometimes, I’m tempted to think everything I say must be new. But then I think of all the times in my own life that I’ve read a book at just the right time or stumbled across a podcast that is two years old but speaks to me, and I realize it’s not only okay to repeat yourself, but essential. People don’t read or even notice everything you say, so it’s important to reiterate ideas – it’s a service to your audience.
8. An email list is one of the most important things you can invest in. I’ve never once regretted the decision to invest in building a community of people who care about growing, learning, and innovation – that’s you. I’ve heard it said that all you need are 1,000 true fans. Or was it 100? The point is – we all have a tribe, and it’s a beautiful thing when you can reach out and communicate with them directly.
9. Be true to who you are. The more I have been willing to be “me,” the more I have found people respond. I’m not for everyone, and neither is my content or my style – no one is. But it is so much more enjoyable to be yourself. I also think it’s helpful for consistency – when you are trying to be someone else or sound like someone else, it’s really hard to do the work day in and day out to show up.
10. The best subscriber is someone who wants to hear what you have to say. I look at you, my reader, as a part of a community of people who care about similar things – growth, learning, and innovation. It is more important to me that my readers are growing personally than my list is growing numerically. That doesn’t mean I don’t invest in growing readership, but keeping my priorities straight, I think, helps me stay focused on the right things.
The number one way the Wave Report has grown is when people like you share it with others. I’ve been blown away by the response these past two years, and I’m looking forward to many years to come.
💡 Takeaway: The journey of the past 100 Wave Reports has been well worth the investment. While this week’s report has been more reflective, I hope some of the lessons I’ve shared today are helpful to you. Thank you for being a part of the journey.
Here’s to 💯 more!
Until next week… Surfs Up! 🌊
- Dave
About the Author | Dave Raley
Consultant, speaker, and writer Dave Raley is the founder of Imago Consulting, a firm that helps non-profits and businesses create profitable growth through sustainable innovation. He’s the author of a weekly trendspotting report called The Wave Report, and the co-founder of the Purpose & Profit Podcast — a show about the ideas at the intersection of nonprofit causes and for-profit brands.
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