Kitchen Side: “Do Nothing,” Cope Creep, and Life Lessons from Es Devlin

Listen to the Podcast

The conversation covers various topics related to decision-making, motivation, and experimentation in business and marketing. It begins with a conversation about cope creep and the fear of failure. The hosts explore the challenges of overcoming the status quo and making strategic decisions. They also discuss the paradox of choice and the impact of too many options. The conversation concludes with a reflection on the influence of influencers and the tendency to chase after new trends. The conversation explores the challenges of constantly pursuing something new, the pressure for short-term wins, and the difficulty of long-term thinking. It also delves into the concept of cope creep and the importance of maintaining authenticity while collaborating. The conversation concludes with lessons from artist Es Devlin on starting projects and incorporating influences into one’s own style.

Key Takeaways

• Fear of failure and analysis paralysis can prevent people from taking action and making decisions.
• The abundance of options can make it difficult to choose and commit to a particular path.
• Experimentation and testing are essential for making informed decisions and finding the most effective strategies.
• The influence of influencers and the constant pursuit of new trends can lead to a lack of focus and consistent strategy.

Show Links

• Connect with David Khim on LinkedIn and Twitter
• Connect with Alex Birkett on LinkedIn and Twitter
• Connect with Allie Decker on LinkedIn and Twitter
• Connect with Omniscient Digital on LinkedIn or Twitter

What is Kitchen Side?

One big benefit of running an agency or working at one is you get to see the “kitchen side” of many different businesses; their revenue, their operations, their automations, and their culture.

You understand how things look from the inside and how that differs from the outside.

You understand how the sausage is made. 

As an agency ourselves, we’re working both on growing our clients’ businesses as well as our own. This podcast is one project, but we also blog, make videos, do sales, and have quite a robust portfolio of automations and hacks to run our business.

We want to take you behind the curtain, to the kitchen side of our business, to witness our brainstorms, discussions, and internal dialogues behind the public works that we ship.

Time Stamps

• [00:00] Introduction
• [02:39] Cope Creep and Fear of Failure
• [05:23] Motivational Factors and Overcoming the Status Quo
• [09:21] The Paradox of Choice and Decision-Making
• [12:28] Testing and Experimentation
• [20:22] The Influence of Influencers and Shiny Object Syndrome
• [24:12] The Temptation of Constantly Pursuing Something New
• [25:10] The Challenge of Waiting for Results
• [25:26] The Balance of Aggressive Patience
• [26:04] Making Iterations Within a Larger Strategy
• [27:01] The Pressure for Short-Term Wins
• [27:52] The Difficulty of Long-Term Thinking
• [28:37] Identifying Leading and Lagging Indicators
• [29:03] Pursuing Quick Wins to Show Value
• [29:28] Setting Early Stage Benchmarks
• [30:27] Generating Feedback Quickly
• [31:20] The Concept of Cope Creep
• [33:11] Maintaining Authenticity While Collaborating
• [43:39] Lessons from Artist Es Devlin

---