July 11, 2023 • 34 mins
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire appears as a guest on Carl Richards's Speaking of Speaking podcast!
What if the secret to enhancing your professional communication lies in positivity and gratitude? That's the intriguing premise we explore in this thought-provoking conversation between Carl Richards and Jeffrey A. McGuire, a professional musician and communication expert. Drawing from his unique experiences traversing the music and business worlds, jam shares insights into the transformative power of positive communication.
The episode takes a look at Positive Psychology, shining a light on its practical application in fostering empathetic, clear, and trust-building communication. We discuss the unique communication framework built around these principles used at Open Strategy Partners, and how it has empowered us to build thriving relationships with our clients. Listen in as we unpack the importance of a positive work culture and the power of gratitude statements in shaping these interactions.
Finally, we take a deep-dive into the realm of mindful communication. We talk about how mindfulness can influence the impact of our words, especially when engaging with a technical audience. Prioritizing mental health and self-care, particularly under the pressure of tight deadlines, is another resonant theme explored in this episode. By the end of this episode, you'll walk away with a new perspective on how positivity, gratitude, and mindful communication can improve your personal and professional life.
More Speaking of Speaking here: https://speakingofspeaking.buzzsprout.com/
Welcome to the Open Strategy Partners podcast, "Communicate, Connect, Grow!" At Open Strategy Partners, we specialize in strategic product communication. We help you communicate the value of what you do, connect you with the people who need to know about it, and grow.
To get in touch with us, follow what we’re doing, or learn about our Writer Enablement Workshops, you can:
- Go to our website
- Email us at hello@openstrategypartners.com
- Hit us up on Twitter
- Subscribe to our podcast wherever you listen to podcasts
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Carl Richards (00:07):
Hi, i'm Carl from OSP and this is Communicate
Connect Grow the OSP podcast.
We divide our episodes acrossthree themes Communicate,
Connect and Grow.
This is a Connect episode wherewe share a bit behind the
scenes of how we embracepositivity and gratitude here at
OSP.
Jam sits down with one of ourmembers of the OSP family me,
(00:31):
carl Richards and we talkpositivity and communication.
We've all heard the expressionaccentuate the positive.
(00:53):
How often do we really do it,not just in our everyday lives,
but in business as well.
It's crucial.
Jam and I explore howpositivity in business is not
only driving the team here atOSP, but also moving and growing
clientele.
The information for thispodcast episode is taken from
one of my episodes on theSpeaking of Speaking podcast, so
(01:16):
it may sound a bit different inplaces.
Sit back, relax and let'sexplore positivity and gratitude
in communication.
Jeffrey, welcome to or shall Isay Jam, welcome to Speaking of
Speaking.
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire (01:31):
Hey, thanks, carl, i'm happy to be
here.
Carl Richards (01:33):
It is an honor having you here.
I have to say it's been afantastic year learning a lot
about not just who you are, butalso a lot about your beliefs
and where you come from as itrelates to speaking and
communication.
I do want to talk about thattoday, but I also know you have
a love for music and a passionfor music.
Let's start there and let'stalk music.
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire (01:56):
I am a musician by calling and
education and I still get paidto play music, although not so
much anymore.
I made the leap several yearsago so that music's not my
full-time income anymore and Ithink that's been, overall, a
pretty good choice.
But I'm still a professionalperforming musician.
(02:17):
I still travel aroundoccasionally, play with friends,
do some recording stuff likethat I am, my home base is a
French horn player and I havedone quite a lot of singing in
my time.
I think it's actually part ofthe thread that I followed about
that ended up with thiscommunication work that I do now
(02:37):
.
But I really do love music andI learned classical music and
I've performed a ton of thatTrayman Music or Christiaz Opera
, all of that stuff and also alot of jazz and a lot of other
stuff along the way.
Carl Richards (02:51):
You mentioned jazz.
Is there a huge call for aFrench horn in the jazz world?
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire (02:56):
Yes and no.
In the jazz world there's aplace for people to express
themselves, and a jazz Frenchhorn is not only not unique, but
it's not the weirdest thingthat I've heard.
I mean, i think it gets a lotstranger when you start talking
about jazz bassoon or jazz oboeor yeah.
However, really, reallyinterestingly, on the recording
(03:19):
Birth of the Cool that MilesDavis did with a nonet or dictet
setting, which is a reallyreally really fantastic composed
bebop record, basically fromI'm going to get the year wrong,
but it's quite early Startingwith Birth of the Cool,
basically until today, whichmeans, honestly, a solid 60, 70
(03:41):
years of practice.
Right now there have been hornsin bands.
Gunther Schuller played withMiles Davis in that nonet, then
all the work that Miles Davisdid with Gil Evans, so the Porgy
and Bess Suite, the sketches ofSpain Suite, a bunch of other
things that band has horn in it.
Stan Kenton had horns StanKenton's Grammy-winning West
(04:03):
Side Story, jazz Big BanderAgents, which is one of the
greatest records ever.
Go listen to it.
There are horns on that.
Jj Johnson used horns andthere's this concept of the
expanded big band or the concertbig band, and so your regular
big band setting is a rhythmsection, so basically piano,
guitar and bass and drums andthen five wind doublers, so five
(04:26):
reeds, five saxophone players,three or four or five trombones
and five trumpets.
Some people swap aroundinstruments, but anyway this
expanded big band, you getpeople.
I played with Lalo Schifrin, iplayed with Jean-Luc Ponti, i
played with a bunch of peoplewhere there'd be like Timpani
and a tuba and two French hornsand an oboe and a xylophone and
(04:49):
you know, adding all thesethings on it, and horns were
there a lot.
And I had the incredible goodfortune, when I was with my
master's degree in New York tobe at Manhattan School of Music
where there's a great jazzprogram, and the first semester
I was there there was a noticeup on the bulletin board that
said, hey, we're doing.
It was porgy and bass, i think.
Anyway, we're doing in the topbig band, we need a couple horns
(05:11):
for the semester, and so Iplayed that project.
They let me play the project,and then we toured it across.
We played a few concerts acrossthe country.
We did a whole bunch of thingsand then every semester I was
there, they did a project withhorns.
So I did two solid years ofplaying big band.
I learned to read all thecharts Few years later when I
moved to Germany.
There's a ton of great musicianshere in Germany but playing
jazz and reading swing and bigband charts and knowing how to
(05:34):
do that is not part of thestandard operating procedure for
horn players here in Germany.
And I looked into some amazinggigs with the video.
The WDR big band, which is abig radio band, big band here in
Cologne, with the radio band inFrankfurt And with a bunch of
smaller ensembles I played withsome incredible combos, went all
(05:56):
around Europe with it.
I got super lucky with that andhad so much fun And there's a
few recording floating aroundthat I'm on.
They're just.
I love hearing that It was agreat time.
I hope it comes back again.
Carl Richards (06:08):
But I am geeking out right now because I love
music.
I grew up around it like you.
I sang, i learned piano, didn'tget very good at it, my
instrument was trumpet And I,you know, i try and pick it up
now I don't think I have theembouchure for it, but but and I
don't know how easy it is tocome back, but but certainly
(06:31):
never knew, just as you'reexplaining the application for,
for French horn and band, and Iand I, and I think it's
fascinating because, as thispodcast gets back to its
original roots about, you know,speaking and communication and
and and sharing a lot about that.
Music is a language unto itself, right, and I think people
(06:52):
understand that, but there'salso a, there's a certain, not a
science, but there's it, likewe all gather, even if we say,
oh, i don't like that kind ofmusic.
Music seems to be what, whatlifts us up at what's, it's what
motivates us, it helps us workthrough anger or whatever it is.
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuir (07:10):
Music's always there And it's that
language of music that helps usthrough good times, bad times
all the time, for sure, and Ithink there's a thread right
through to to what I do now.
I always used to say thatperforming music for other
people is an entirely positiveactivity.
Honestly, if I screw somethingup terribly, the worst thing
(07:34):
that can happen is that I won'tget that gig next time, right,
that it'll damage my career.
But if I, if I don't play sogreat, nothing gets polluted,
nobody but me gets fired.
There's no terribleconsequences to it.
If I do a great job, if I'm I'mdoing some amazing piece with
amazing people, there's a hugechance that that we can move the
audience Right, and then we canmake a special moment that we
(07:57):
can make their day or make theirlife or make their year, you
know, or making that specialrecording that I always go back
to And remember when we did that.
That's, it's entirely positive.
Yeah, that it felt like anincredible.
It still feels like anincredible privilege, frankly,
to to have the ability to dothat.
Carl Richards (08:13):
I want to jump off that that positivity note
that you mentioned there,Because one of the things that
in your current role at OpenStrategy Partners as a partner
that you and Tracy Evans TracyEvans will be a guest, by the
way, on another episode, If notthis season, because we already
have a jam-packed season, butthen certainly maybe into season
(08:35):
five, but hopefully this seasonOne of the things that Open
Strategy Partners is very goodat is focusing on or emphasizing
positivity.
And I want to cover this in afew different ways, because, as
a team member at OSP, we focus alot on gratitude and their
other things.
So let's start with gratitude.
(08:56):
When did you and and Tracy, oror when was that decided that
we're going to really focus ongratitude as a team?
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire (09:03):
When we were figuring out what, what
business we were going to run,you know, when we were gaming
out different business modelsand stuff.
Tracy was reading a lot aboutpositive psychology, which I
think some people might saythat's been a little bit
discredited, but I think there'sa wonderful grains of truth in
the whole positive psychologymovement.
(09:23):
And what does it mean to behappy?
and is happiness the goal andall of that stuff?
Positive psychology very, veryinteresting And there's very
legitimate sources that talkabout it.
So she was reading a lot aboutthat And once we figured out
what the company was going to be, we kicked off officially in
September of 2017.
And things went well enoughthat by January of 2018, we were
(09:47):
able to hire our first teammember.
The three of us had all had verydifferent, but all very
difficult work experiences inthe past across a lot of
different times and experiences,and it's not important what
that was, but one thing that wasvery clear to us is that we
(10:09):
wanted to be the place where wewould want to work.
I was very concerned about notrepeating the mistakes of my
past.
I didn't want to be the abused.
Can you becomes the abuser kindof thing.
That sounds really really dark,right, but and at the time I
was becoming aware I did thatwas my chance to start to learn
(10:31):
about leadership, and leadershipis really different to
management, right.
Leadership is a different thingand you know still were were
all a bunch of people doing abunch of things that enhance
each other.
Even now, there's more like 10of us.
It felt very important to us tocreate a place where we would
want to work, and Tracy was veryadamant that that would start
(10:53):
with culture first, and a lot ofthis Positive psychology stuff
came in at the base, alongsidemindfulness and so on.
I think that reinforced some ofmy ideas about communication.
But a bunch of the things thatwe do every day now at OSP
crystallized out of that momentof like who do we want to be,
(11:15):
not who do we want to work forand what do we want to deliver.
But what is this place and howdo we want to feel when we're
working here?
gratitude statements so we havea whole gratitude channel in
our internal chat.
Communication.
Saying thank you is incrediblypowerful and important.
Giving someone a compliment orsaying thank you for something
when you're feeling really downempirically makes well, i feel
(11:38):
better and it's another positivepsychology move Gratitude.
Just I don't know it helps, ithelps, it helps so much.
And then, in parallel to this,we do not write negative copy,
we don't use violent language,we don't use more metaphors.
We've made a bunch of choicesto be Well at OSP, when we talk
(11:58):
about our authenticcommunication framework, it is
building communications basedaround empathy and clarity and
trust.
Empathy of language, empathy ofsubject matter, empathy of
helping you understand whetherthis is even whether you even
need to be reading whatever I'mwriting.
And clarity means being honest,right about like.
(12:19):
This is what we do well andthis is what we don't do.
And and not not making up stuffor obfuscating or or or
exaggerating, which I think is abig problem in a lot of tech
marketing.
And trust right.
Build trust with your audience.
If we have a client who wantsto build up a long term sales
relationship over time, the bestway is to tell them exactly
what is going on, exactly whatwe can and can't do, be logical,
(12:42):
be reasonable, help themthrough the tough times right.
And by applying empathy andclarity we build trust over time
and that seems to work.
So Empathy, clarity, trust workreally, really early concepts.
Long answer to a very goodquestion.
Carl Richards (12:54):
I'm really glad you took the time to explain
that and we're going to move onfrom that, but I did.
I did want to mention, by theway if you're listening to this
podcast and you want to find outsome of those details about
what Jeffrey was talking aboutreally some of their, their
communication strategies at OSP.
It's, it's on their website,it's a, it's a part of their,
(13:16):
their DNA.
So we'll make sure the linksare all in the show notes.
After today, we'll also link tothe OSP podcast because,
firstly, it's a great podcast.
I'm not just saying thatbecause I'm a part of it and
work through it, but there'salso a lot of great
communication that happens withthat podcast and there's three
different channels of that show.
(13:36):
Actually, when we talk aboutthat for a moment, seeing as
we're on a podcast, why don't wepromote the?
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire (13:40):
OSP podcast.
Let me give you my, let me giveyou my shameless pitch.
right, yeah, exactly, so it's.
Carl Richards (13:47):
Tell me what the podcast is and where.
Where did it come from?
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire (13:51):
in our earliest workshops with a coach
that we had to help us foundand plan what we're going to do
with open strategy partners.
The company motto or thepillars, it's a communicate,
connect, grow.
So we say we help agencies andtechnology organizations
communicate The value of whatthey do to connect them to the
(14:12):
people who should know about itand grow.
So communicate, connect, grow.
And then we do strategiccommunications to help growth,
whether that's sales, whetherthat's Downloads of your open
source package, whether that'sbuilding a partner network,
whatever it is.
And we have a bunch of moveswhere we're not a content agency
, we are a strategiccommunications agency.
(14:33):
So, in a nutshell, we work withclients to translate from the
complexity of their products andservices services To the value
that they deliver, and we tryand we communicate that so that
other people can find it.
So we do strategic consultingand we have our own strategic
framework and tools in therethat are very powerful and very
interesting.
It's classic marketing stuffwith personas and buyers and so
(14:56):
on, but we also have a couple oftools of our own, including
what we call the value map.
Then we have a wholecommunication planning exercise.
So, essentially, once you haveyour strategy, your goals, clear
.
How can that be supported bycommunication.
If you want it, we can createthe common communication with
you or for you audio video.
(15:16):
We mostly do writing in wordsblog post, white papers, etc.
Etc.
So those are our practices.
And then, because of the waythat we've approached especially
writing, but everything that wedo is very process oriented, so
everything is somewhere betweenquite well and very well
documented And modular, so it'srepeatable.
We can hand off tasks betweenus and our clients, between our
(15:38):
team members, or do it all oneperson.
It's gonna be done the same wayand that gives us consistency
and repeatability and that's acertain level of quality that we
can Guarantee.
And in the writing practice thatgoes from you know, having a
content brief that tells youwhat you're going to write about
before you start writing.
You never stare at a blank pageand we never sit down and blog
for someone.
We understand This piece ofcommunication is promoting that,
(16:02):
with this focus for thataudience who face these
challenges.
Right, it's really great as awriter to have all that already
set up for you.
All of that works really reallywell.
And it works so well that ourfourth area of business activity
is writer enablement.
So, if you would like to neverstare at a blank page again when
you start writing.
(16:22):
You can come and talk to usabout about our recent templates
and how to use them and sign upfor a workshop or ask you know,
ask one of us to Explain it toyou.
A lot of these things were alsoputting them on our website,
piece by piece, so that otherpeople can take advantage of
these systems.
We come from the open sourceworld and I feel we can help
more people in the world then wecould ever have his clients.
(16:43):
So we also have writerenablement workshops.
We have workshops to build funthings like teen profiles for
your website, but there's abunch of.
We do a bunch of things on thehow to communicate side Which
are fun and interesting,alongside strategy planning and
creating communications.
Now the podcast fits squarelyinto this writer enablement
(17:04):
thing.
The pieces that we've done sofar Are talking about how we
write an edit and then going,episode by episode, through our
Sixty plus editorial codes.
We have a system of editorialcodes that are the result of
several years of work of peopletrying to extract my editorial
brain And turn it into somethingusable and repeatable for other
(17:27):
team members and the world.
Now the things actually online.
What is good writing?
I've written a lot and I've beenedited a lot and I used to talk
about living in the editorialprocess and the fact that I know
in my bones that any piece ofwriting worked on by two or
three people is going to bebetter than Any piece of writing
(17:47):
by any one of us.
I am not precious about mywords.
People who don't write so muchhave a hard time accepting
things being ripped out andreordered and changed and
whatever.
But I've really lived in thateditorial process.
So we worked really, really,really hard so that an editor
can explain themselves when theymake changes.
Do this because it's a morelogical way to explain it.
(18:09):
Don't say that because it's awar metaphor and we prefer not
to use violent language and soon and so forth.
And these are codes so that theeditor is forced to show their
homework, to show their thinkingto the writer And, very
importantly, we never say thiswas wrong and now it's right.
(18:29):
Here's what you wrote and here'show I corrected it.
We make suggestions and offers.
Here's what it was and here'show I think it would be.
Here's how I've changed it AndI think it might be better for
these reasons, because this ruleor that, whatever it is.
So we use a lot of comments.
So our editorial process is notblack boxes, it's a conversation
, and, as an author receivingthat kind of editing, i have
(18:51):
three choices.
If you change something, i cansay, whoa, that's so much better
, thank you.
I can say I've thought about itand I considered it, and no, i
want to keep mine original, buthere's why.
So having a justification,having thought through again and
then made the same choice, evenwith the new editorial input,
(19:13):
is a legitimate reason to keepit as it was.
And then what very oftenhappens is a sort of third
option will appear out of theexchange about the first two,
and it's better than all of that.
So our editorial process is nothierarchical and it's not about
seniority and it's not blackboxes, which is everything that
I hated about professionalwriting in the past.
It's a conversation and theeditors are learning as much as
(19:33):
the writers and we have a lot ofI want to say fun with it, and
that's the sort of stuff thatI'm extremely keen to share with
the world.
And that's where our first twopodcasts are, and it's
explaining, piece by piece,parts of that system and we're
just going to keep going with itbecause it's going really well
and I really appreciate yourhelp with it, carl.
Carl Richards (19:52):
Oh, i'm thrilled to be a part of it.
There are some amazing thingsthat I've learned and I've
applied, having learned aboutthese editorial codes that I
knew nothing about.
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire (20:02):
I mean , i thought Wait a minute, Carl,
that costs extra sorry, no, no,you can't.
Carl Richards (20:06):
It's like putting my hand in the cookie jar.
right now, you can't have acookie.
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire (20:10):
Oh, now I want a cookie.
Carl Richards (20:11):
I've learned so much because so much of our
language and I wanted to talkabout this.
I really wanted to get to thispoint because I know you've
spent a lot of time on stage butso much of our language, not
only in writing but also inspeaking, comes from you
mentioned war metaphors or otherwritings that are put more of a
(20:33):
negative emphasis on it.
I also like the fact that whenyou're going through that
editing process, there's nowrong or right.
There's suggestions, which Ithink is a completely different
concept than what most corporateworlds do.
Obviously, it's like no, thisis the way we do it.
Don't ask why, just do it thatway.
But let's take it from aspeaking perspective.
(20:53):
Do you find yourself puttingmore of the positivity and has
your speaking changed?
COVID notwithstanding, but whenyou're speaking on stage now,
are you more cognizant of whereyou're going with your language
and the words or metaphors orthings that you're choosing as
you're, even if you're recordinga podcast episode, are you more
cognizant of that?
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire (21:15):
Yes, i have done a lot of public
speaking and a lot ofinterviewing and a lot of
podcasts over the years.
What we're talking about at OSPis, in the end if you have to
boil it right down to itsessence it's being mindful, it's
being aware of what we aresaying and how we're saying it.
(21:35):
I was an okay editor before.
I'm a better editor now becauseseveral of our colleagues over
a few years watched me editingtexts and asked me why I did a
thing and asked me why I did athing and asked me why I did a
thing.
We got these principles out ofit.
A lot of it matches up withreasonable editorial thinking
(21:55):
and a lot of it is this otherworld that we're somehow
building.
That absolutely led me toconsidering my words and
considering my topics and how Iget there.
I appreciate that outcome.
I think mindfulness in generalis better place for me to be
than mindlessness.
Carl Richards (22:17):
It's important to make sure that when we are
communicating our ideas, whetherthey're on a stage, whether
they're on Heaven forbid we stayon Zoom too much longer.
But whether it's on a Zoom callor whether it's in our writing
that we are aware of thatmindfulness that we're aware of
there is an end user to whatwe're creating.
(22:40):
How is that messaging going tobe received?
I think it's one of thosethings that maybe has been not
missed, but maybe we've gottenaway from it a little bit.
I'm not saying because ofCOVID-19.
I just think that the worlditself has gotten away from it.
I'm hoping, if I could gazeinto my crystal ball and say,
during season four, we're goingto become a more positive world
(23:01):
and we're going to focus onbeing more mindful of how the
end user is reacting to whatwe're sharing with them.
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuir (23:08):
There's a really interesting
anti-pattern that I don't have aname for.
I want to figure out.
It probably has a name, butthere's something that we really
hit early in the company in theOSP time.
There's a way of writing fortechnical audiences which is not
exactly fud for youruncertainty and doubt, but it's
(23:30):
so close It's when you'retelling the reader that they're
doing something wrong.
Essentially, the thing is likeif you're still using so-and-so,
you're wasting however, manyhours of your day, especially
developers who are veryopinionated, very smart people.
If you say, hey, come read myarticle about this super cool
(23:54):
thing, and you go into thearticle, it's like if you're
still using technology X, you'rejust a dummy.
That's like the quickest way toturn someone off and it's such
a subtle trap, right.
And instead of saying if you'reusing X, you could be wasting
two hours of your day, you write, hey, if you try, why our thing
(24:15):
here?
We'd love to know what youthink about it, and our
experience has shown it.
That is, it's saved us a couplehours a day And that's the same
information.
but I'm not talking negativelyabout something else.
I'm talking positively aboutthe thing I'm trying to promote
and I am Signaling to my readerthat my reader is an intelligent
, open-minded person and if theyfeel like trying this thing,
(24:38):
i've seen benefits from it, andwhy don't they come have a look?
right, and it's just a matterof a couple of words And I think
it makes all the difference towhat it's saying.
We've touched on positivity andgratitude, but we also were
really.
We want to be human first.
We want you to take care ofyourself first, right, and
that's the most important.
And whatever happens in yourfamily and whatever happens like
our work, i love it.
(25:00):
I think that I am helping.
We are helping our clients, whoI consider peers and friends
and colleagues in technology.
All of that's great andImportant.
At the best times were becauseof the strategic nature of our
work.
I think we're helping them havebetter businesses right, which
is awesome and fun and sointeresting.
My side of the house is kind ofcommunications and then there's
(25:23):
the strategic side as well, butnone of this is life and death,
right, if your dad is dying oryou're sick or There's whatever
it is, it's the weekend.
Go do the important stuff,right.
Go be with your family.
Go do something with yourfriends.
Go cook right.
Honestly, deadlines areimportant, all that kind of
(25:46):
stuff, but that's not what comesfirst, i think that was a huge
potential clients.
Disclaimer We're super good atdelivering on time, just say,
and Also we sort of joke aboutit.
But as a founder here I do findmyself breaking those rules
sometimes.
Carl Richards (26:02):
But it's, i don't know, it's okay, it was my
choice, i think there are timesthat if you're working on tight
deadlines, yeah, okay, you mighthave to pull a Sunday afternoon
because it's a clientdeliverable that happens.
But if it's consistently, youknow, every Sunday or during a
vacation period or somethinglike that And that's one of the
things that I've learned toappreciate is that work It's
(26:25):
done, it's a great environment,It's, it's fun to be in.
I'm so thrilled to be a part ofit.
But at the end of the day, yes,the client deliverables are
important, but so is my mentalhealth.
So is my weekend, my, my,whatever it is.
Because at the end of the day,you know that you're going to
get more results out of and I'llsay me, because I'm part of
(26:47):
that, that team, you'll get moreout of me.
If you've let me sleep enough,let's not interrupt at my
vacation.
No, all those things that seemto be forgotten.
Sometimes I'm gonna go on alimb here and say, in the
Western world, because that'swhere I am.
I mean, you're in Cologne,germany, i'm on Canada.
But sometimes we forget thatand We think, nope, has to be
(27:09):
done right now, even if it'sSaturday afternoon.
We need to have thisconversation now.
We need to do this right now.
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire (27:14):
Yeah, there's a difference between
quote-unquote Europe and NorthAmerica, but we're not gonna
call you after hours unless it'sreally important, you know.
Carl Richards (27:24):
And oh, say hi.
I mean, how many times have youcalled me on a Friday afternoon
at four o'clock, knowing thatit's well, maybe not four
o'clock, because that's probablyten o'clock your time, but you
know three o'clock or twoo'clock in the afternoon going?
hey, carl, how's it going?
Just wanted to say hi and saythanks for all your help this
week and things like that, whichis just, it's so cool.
(27:47):
I love phone calls like that.
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire (27:48):
Okay, all right, i'll admit it, i'll
admit it.
But, um, you know, when you goon vacation, you should just
turn yourself off, like all thatstuff just seems to be.
You know what that comes from.
Circling back, that comes fromsome of my old work experiences.
I was in a very high-growthstartup where I had a lot of
wonderful experiences and someterrible ones, and I watched
(28:10):
some of my American colleaguesturn on their out-of-office
messages between 8, 30 and 10 amSaying I am currently at a
dentist appointment, but I willget back to you as soon as I get
back to the office and if it'sreally important.
My cell number is this and youcan call me right now and we'll
(28:32):
figure it out.
It's like 90 minutes of yourlife.
I just it's not.
We're not the police and we'renot surgeons, and I just don't.
It was, it's too much, right,it's too much and and so, yeah,
that was another thing of like.
How do we feel human here?
Carl Richards (28:47):
I'm really glad you shared that, because I think
that's something that you knowWe can take a page from over
here in the Western world.
So thank you, thank you,jeffrey, for bringing, for
bringing that out.
I would give you theopportunity, though, to Pass
along something to our listeners.
What would you?
I mean, we've shared a lot, butis there anything that you'd
like to pass along to them thatthey can use as a tool, or
(29:09):
what's the best way for them toHold?
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire (29:11):
you.
We have a website.
It's a lot to type.
It's open strategy partners dotcom.
We are sharing piece by pieceby piece what we do and how we
do it.
There are a few pages dedicatedto showing you what a workshop
might look like and some of theservices that we offer.
Our blog is full of how to andinformation and insights.
(29:33):
There's some stuff now aboutwriting good case studies and
why and how, and Every podcastget supposed as well, so a lot
of the editorial codes are goingup there.
We're speaking in late twentytwenty one.
In early twenty twenty two wereturning on an entirely new
section of the website that'sgonna be full of documentation
and all this writing and editingstuff.
I want to share how we do whatwe do so that you can also do it
(29:58):
.
And if you'd like to come be aclient, you'd like to learn how
to do something better, or youhave a A complex topic that
needs explaining in terms of thevalue it delivers.
That's what we're here for.
We love technology.
We come from the world of opensource.
We love agencies and productcompanies.
I love that sort of stuff.
I'd love to talk with you, butif I can just help you, then go
check it out, get in touch, tellme how it helped and you know,
(30:20):
i'd love to know if you knowthis stuff makes sense to other
people.
What now that it's outside ofour heads?
Carl Richards (30:26):
And Jeffrey loves coffee as well.
So if it's, even if it's acrossborders, he might be having a
coffee with you, although itmight be a smaller cup, because
he does like his espresso.
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire (30:38):
So yes , i don't have my stunt espresso
cup in front of me.
well, yep.
Carl Richards (30:44):
Jeffrey, it's been fantastic chatting with you
today.
Thanks for taking the time.
Before I let you go, any finalthoughts or words of wisdom you
like to impart.
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire (30:53):
I don't know about the wisdom
department call, but thanks forthanks for inviting me on here.
It's it's really great to talkwith you and I have.
You know, i'm really glad tosay you and I talk several times
a week and it's great To haveyou on our team.
I really, really like it.
I really like having you aroundand the help that you.
You know the work that you dois great.
So you know, it's kind of coolto hang out in your.
(31:16):
Actually, i don't know, are youmoonlighting with us or is this
your moonlighting now?
I don't.
Anyway, it's great to talk withyou.
I'm really happy to be here andthank you.
Just say it's great to talk bymoonlight.
So, romantic.
Carl Richards (31:30):
Jeffrey, thanks so much for joining me today.
Thank you, carl.
If you want positive change,positive response and positive
(31:53):
results, it starts with apositive, filled with gratitude
outlook.
How are you embracingpositivity and gratitude in your
environment?
Share your examples orquestions with us via Twitter at
open underscore strategy oremail hello at
openstrategypartnerscom.
And speaking of time, yesterdayI bought six watches.
(32:15):
You could say I have a lot oftime on my hands.
How do you use date in yourwriting?
Share your examples orquestions with us via Twitter at
open underscore strategy oremail hello at
openstrategypartnerscom.
This was one of the editorialcodes we use at OSP.
(32:37):
If you'd like to learn more inthe meantime, come on over to
openstrategypartnerscom, have alook at our writer, enablement
workshops, case study offeringor get in touch to talk about
your strategy or productcommunication needs.
Thanks to everyone whocontributed to this podcast All
the P's at OSP.
Thanks to our clients whobelieve in us.
(32:59):
Shout out to Patrick Gaumontfor our high energy maple syrup
flavored theme music And to MikeSnow for additional horn
arrangements.
Thank you for listening andsubscribing About our three
themes on the podcast.
You'll hear different members ofthe OSP team hosting episodes
over time.
Communicate all things.
(33:20):
Communication We share how wetackle writing, editing, word
choices, formats, processes andmore, but in depth conversations
with interesting, smart peopleabout who they are, what they do
and how they approach theirlife and work as communicators,
technologists and leaders.
Grow We cover approaches tounderstanding and expressing the
(33:45):
value of what you do, includingtools, templates and practical
applications.
We also feel strongly aboutbuilding a mindful, positive,
human first culture at work.
It's bound to pop up from timeto time too.
This podcast is us figuring outcommunication, connection and
growing together.
(34:06):
Subscribe now on YouTube, applePodcasts or the podcast channel
of your choice.
Hi, i'm Carl from OSP and this is Communicate
Connect Grow the OSP podcast.
We divide our episodes acrossthree themes Communicate,
Connect and Grow.
This is a Connect episode wherewe share a bit behind the
scenes of how we embracepositivity and gratitude here at
OSP.
Jam sits down with one of ourmembers of the OSP family me,
(00:31):
carl Richards and we talkpositivity and communication.
We've all heard the expressionaccentuate the positive.
(00:53):
How often do we really do it,not just in our everyday lives,
but in business as well.
It's crucial.
Jam and I explore howpositivity in business is not
only driving the team here atOSP, but also moving and growing
clientele.
The information for thispodcast episode is taken from
one of my episodes on theSpeaking of Speaking podcast, so
(01:16):
it may sound a bit different inplaces.
Sit back, relax and let'sexplore positivity and gratitude
in communication.
Jeffrey, welcome to or shall Isay Jam, welcome to Speaking of
Speaking.
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire (01:31):
Hey, thanks, carl, i'm happy to be
here.
Carl Richards (01:33):
It is an honor having you here.
I have to say it's been afantastic year learning a lot
about not just who you are, butalso a lot about your beliefs
and where you come from as itrelates to speaking and
communication.
I do want to talk about thattoday, but I also know you have
a love for music and a passionfor music.
Let's start there and let'stalk music.
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire (01:56):
I am a musician by calling and
education and I still get paidto play music, although not so
much anymore.
I made the leap several yearsago so that music's not my
full-time income anymore and Ithink that's been, overall, a
pretty good choice.
But I'm still a professionalperforming musician.
(02:17):
I still travel aroundoccasionally, play with friends,
do some recording stuff likethat I am, my home base is a
French horn player and I havedone quite a lot of singing in
my time.
I think it's actually part ofthe thread that I followed about
that ended up with thiscommunication work that I do now
(02:37):
.
But I really do love music andI learned classical music and
I've performed a ton of thatTrayman Music or Christiaz Opera
, all of that stuff and also alot of jazz and a lot of other
stuff along the way.
Carl Richards (02:51):
You mentioned jazz.
Is there a huge call for aFrench horn in the jazz world?
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire (02:56):
Yes and no.
In the jazz world there's aplace for people to express
themselves, and a jazz Frenchhorn is not only not unique, but
it's not the weirdest thingthat I've heard.
I mean, i think it gets a lotstranger when you start talking
about jazz bassoon or jazz oboeor yeah.
However, really, reallyinterestingly, on the recording
(03:19):
Birth of the Cool that MilesDavis did with a nonet or dictet
setting, which is a reallyreally really fantastic composed
bebop record, basically fromI'm going to get the year wrong,
but it's quite early Startingwith Birth of the Cool,
basically until today, whichmeans, honestly, a solid 60, 70
(03:41):
years of practice.
Right now there have been hornsin bands.
Gunther Schuller played withMiles Davis in that nonet, then
all the work that Miles Davisdid with Gil Evans, so the Porgy
and Bess Suite, the sketches ofSpain Suite, a bunch of other
things that band has horn in it.
Stan Kenton had horns StanKenton's Grammy-winning West
(04:03):
Side Story, jazz Big BanderAgents, which is one of the
greatest records ever.
Go listen to it.
There are horns on that.
Jj Johnson used horns andthere's this concept of the
expanded big band or the concertbig band, and so your regular
big band setting is a rhythmsection, so basically piano,
guitar and bass and drums andthen five wind doublers, so five
(04:26):
reeds, five saxophone players,three or four or five trombones
and five trumpets.
Some people swap aroundinstruments, but anyway this
expanded big band, you getpeople.
I played with Lalo Schifrin, iplayed with Jean-Luc Ponti, i
played with a bunch of peoplewhere there'd be like Timpani
and a tuba and two French hornsand an oboe and a xylophone and
(04:49):
you know, adding all thesethings on it, and horns were
there a lot.
And I had the incredible goodfortune, when I was with my
master's degree in New York tobe at Manhattan School of Music
where there's a great jazzprogram, and the first semester
I was there there was a noticeup on the bulletin board that
said, hey, we're doing.
It was porgy and bass, i think.
Anyway, we're doing in the topbig band, we need a couple horns
(05:11):
for the semester, and so Iplayed that project.
They let me play the project,and then we toured it across.
We played a few concerts acrossthe country.
We did a whole bunch of thingsand then every semester I was
there, they did a project withhorns.
So I did two solid years ofplaying big band.
I learned to read all thecharts Few years later when I
moved to Germany.
There's a ton of great musicianshere in Germany but playing
jazz and reading swing and bigband charts and knowing how to
(05:34):
do that is not part of thestandard operating procedure for
horn players here in Germany.
And I looked into some amazinggigs with the video.
The WDR big band, which is abig radio band, big band here in
Cologne, with the radio band inFrankfurt And with a bunch of
smaller ensembles I played withsome incredible combos, went all
(05:56):
around Europe with it.
I got super lucky with that andhad so much fun And there's a
few recording floating aroundthat I'm on.
They're just.
I love hearing that It was agreat time.
I hope it comes back again.
Carl Richards (06:08):
But I am geeking out right now because I love
music.
I grew up around it like you.
I sang, i learned piano, didn'tget very good at it, my
instrument was trumpet And I,you know, i try and pick it up
now I don't think I have theembouchure for it, but but and I
don't know how easy it is tocome back, but but certainly
(06:31):
never knew, just as you'reexplaining the application for,
for French horn and band, and Iand I, and I think it's
fascinating because, as thispodcast gets back to its
original roots about, you know,speaking and communication and
and and sharing a lot about that.
Music is a language unto itself, right, and I think people
(06:52):
understand that, but there'salso a, there's a certain, not a
science, but there's it, likewe all gather, even if we say,
oh, i don't like that kind ofmusic.
Music seems to be what, whatlifts us up at what's, it's what
motivates us, it helps us workthrough anger or whatever it is.
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuir (07:10):
Music's always there And it's that
language of music that helps usthrough good times, bad times
all the time, for sure, and Ithink there's a thread right
through to to what I do now.
I always used to say thatperforming music for other
people is an entirely positiveactivity.
Honestly, if I screw somethingup terribly, the worst thing
(07:34):
that can happen is that I won'tget that gig next time, right,
that it'll damage my career.
But if I, if I don't play sogreat, nothing gets polluted,
nobody but me gets fired.
There's no terribleconsequences to it.
If I do a great job, if I'm I'mdoing some amazing piece with
amazing people, there's a hugechance that that we can move the
audience Right, and then we canmake a special moment that we
(07:57):
can make their day or make theirlife or make their year, you
know, or making that specialrecording that I always go back
to And remember when we did that.
That's, it's entirely positive.
Yeah, that it felt like anincredible.
It still feels like anincredible privilege, frankly,
to to have the ability to dothat.
Carl Richards (08:13):
I want to jump off that that positivity note
that you mentioned there,Because one of the things that
in your current role at OpenStrategy Partners as a partner
that you and Tracy Evans TracyEvans will be a guest, by the
way, on another episode, If notthis season, because we already
have a jam-packed season, butthen certainly maybe into season
(08:35):
five, but hopefully this seasonOne of the things that Open
Strategy Partners is very goodat is focusing on or emphasizing
positivity.
And I want to cover this in afew different ways, because, as
a team member at OSP, we focus alot on gratitude and their
other things.
So let's start with gratitude.
(08:56):
When did you and and Tracy, oror when was that decided that
we're going to really focus ongratitude as a team?
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire (09:03):
When we were figuring out what, what
business we were going to run,you know, when we were gaming
out different business modelsand stuff.
Tracy was reading a lot aboutpositive psychology, which I
think some people might saythat's been a little bit
discredited, but I think there'sa wonderful grains of truth in
the whole positive psychologymovement.
(09:23):
And what does it mean to behappy?
and is happiness the goal andall of that stuff?
Positive psychology very, veryinteresting And there's very
legitimate sources that talkabout it.
So she was reading a lot aboutthat And once we figured out
what the company was going to be, we kicked off officially in
September of 2017.
And things went well enoughthat by January of 2018, we were
(09:47):
able to hire our first teammember.
The three of us had all had verydifferent, but all very
difficult work experiences inthe past across a lot of
different times and experiences,and it's not important what
that was, but one thing that wasvery clear to us is that we
(10:09):
wanted to be the place where wewould want to work.
I was very concerned about notrepeating the mistakes of my
past.
I didn't want to be the abused.
Can you becomes the abuser kindof thing.
That sounds really really dark,right, but and at the time I
was becoming aware I did thatwas my chance to start to learn
(10:31):
about leadership, and leadershipis really different to
management, right.
Leadership is a different thingand you know still were were
all a bunch of people doing abunch of things that enhance
each other.
Even now, there's more like 10of us.
It felt very important to us tocreate a place where we would
want to work, and Tracy was veryadamant that that would start
(10:53):
with culture first, and a lot ofthis Positive psychology stuff
came in at the base, alongsidemindfulness and so on.
I think that reinforced some ofmy ideas about communication.
But a bunch of the things thatwe do every day now at OSP
crystallized out of that momentof like who do we want to be,
(11:15):
not who do we want to work forand what do we want to deliver.
But what is this place and howdo we want to feel when we're
working here?
gratitude statements so we havea whole gratitude channel in
our internal chat.
Communication.
Saying thank you is incrediblypowerful and important.
Giving someone a compliment orsaying thank you for something
when you're feeling really downempirically makes well, i feel
(11:38):
better and it's another positivepsychology move Gratitude.
Just I don't know it helps, ithelps, it helps so much.
And then, in parallel to this,we do not write negative copy,
we don't use violent language,we don't use more metaphors.
We've made a bunch of choicesto be Well at OSP, when we talk
(11:58):
about our authenticcommunication framework, it is
building communications basedaround empathy and clarity and
trust.
Empathy of language, empathy ofsubject matter, empathy of
helping you understand whetherthis is even whether you even
need to be reading whatever I'mwriting.
And clarity means being honest,right about like.
(12:19):
This is what we do well andthis is what we don't do.
And and not not making up stuffor obfuscating or or or
exaggerating, which I think is abig problem in a lot of tech
marketing.
And trust right.
Build trust with your audience.
If we have a client who wantsto build up a long term sales
relationship over time, the bestway is to tell them exactly
what is going on, exactly whatwe can and can't do, be logical,
(12:42):
be reasonable, help themthrough the tough times right.
And by applying empathy andclarity we build trust over time
and that seems to work.
So Empathy, clarity, trust workreally, really early concepts.
Long answer to a very goodquestion.
Carl Richards (12:54):
I'm really glad you took the time to explain
that and we're going to move onfrom that, but I did.
I did want to mention, by theway if you're listening to this
podcast and you want to find outsome of those details about
what Jeffrey was talking aboutreally some of their, their
communication strategies at OSP.
It's, it's on their website,it's a, it's a part of their,
(13:16):
their DNA.
So we'll make sure the linksare all in the show notes.
After today, we'll also link tothe OSP podcast because,
firstly, it's a great podcast.
I'm not just saying thatbecause I'm a part of it and
work through it, but there'salso a lot of great
communication that happens withthat podcast and there's three
different channels of that show.
(13:36):
Actually, when we talk aboutthat for a moment, seeing as
we're on a podcast, why don't wepromote the?
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire (13:40):
OSP podcast.
Let me give you my, let me giveyou my shameless pitch.
right, yeah, exactly, so it's.
Carl Richards (13:47):
Tell me what the podcast is and where.
Where did it come from?
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire (13:51):
in our earliest workshops with a coach
that we had to help us foundand plan what we're going to do
with open strategy partners.
The company motto or thepillars, it's a communicate,
connect, grow.
So we say we help agencies andtechnology organizations
communicate The value of whatthey do to connect them to the
(14:12):
people who should know about itand grow.
So communicate, connect, grow.
And then we do strategiccommunications to help growth,
whether that's sales, whetherthat's Downloads of your open
source package, whether that'sbuilding a partner network,
whatever it is.
And we have a bunch of moveswhere we're not a content agency
, we are a strategiccommunications agency.
(14:33):
So, in a nutshell, we work withclients to translate from the
complexity of their products andservices services To the value
that they deliver, and we tryand we communicate that so that
other people can find it.
So we do strategic consultingand we have our own strategic
framework and tools in therethat are very powerful and very
interesting.
It's classic marketing stuffwith personas and buyers and so
(14:56):
on, but we also have a couple oftools of our own, including
what we call the value map.
Then we have a wholecommunication planning exercise.
So, essentially, once you haveyour strategy, your goals, clear
.
How can that be supported bycommunication.
If you want it, we can createthe common communication with
you or for you audio video.
(15:16):
We mostly do writing in wordsblog post, white papers, etc.
Etc.
So those are our practices.
And then, because of the waythat we've approached especially
writing, but everything that wedo is very process oriented, so
everything is somewhere betweenquite well and very well
documented And modular, so it'srepeatable.
We can hand off tasks betweenus and our clients, between our
(15:38):
team members, or do it all oneperson.
It's gonna be done the same wayand that gives us consistency
and repeatability and that's acertain level of quality that we
can Guarantee.
And in the writing practice thatgoes from you know, having a
content brief that tells youwhat you're going to write about
before you start writing.
You never stare at a blank pageand we never sit down and blog
for someone.
We understand This piece ofcommunication is promoting that,
(16:02):
with this focus for thataudience who face these
challenges.
Right, it's really great as awriter to have all that already
set up for you.
All of that works really reallywell.
And it works so well that ourfourth area of business activity
is writer enablement.
So, if you would like to neverstare at a blank page again when
you start writing.
(16:22):
You can come and talk to usabout about our recent templates
and how to use them and sign upfor a workshop or ask you know,
ask one of us to Explain it toyou.
A lot of these things were alsoputting them on our website,
piece by piece, so that otherpeople can take advantage of
these systems.
We come from the open sourceworld and I feel we can help
more people in the world then wecould ever have his clients.
(16:43):
So we also have writerenablement workshops.
We have workshops to build funthings like teen profiles for
your website, but there's abunch of.
We do a bunch of things on thehow to communicate side Which
are fun and interesting,alongside strategy planning and
creating communications.
Now the podcast fits squarelyinto this writer enablement
(17:04):
thing.
The pieces that we've done sofar Are talking about how we
write an edit and then going,episode by episode, through our
Sixty plus editorial codes.
We have a system of editorialcodes that are the result of
several years of work of peopletrying to extract my editorial
brain And turn it into somethingusable and repeatable for other
(17:27):
team members and the world.
Now the things actually online.
What is good writing?
I've written a lot and I've beenedited a lot and I used to talk
about living in the editorialprocess and the fact that I know
in my bones that any piece ofwriting worked on by two or
three people is going to bebetter than Any piece of writing
(17:47):
by any one of us.
I am not precious about mywords.
People who don't write so muchhave a hard time accepting
things being ripped out andreordered and changed and
whatever.
But I've really lived in thateditorial process.
So we worked really, really,really hard so that an editor
can explain themselves when theymake changes.
Do this because it's a morelogical way to explain it.
(18:09):
Don't say that because it's awar metaphor and we prefer not
to use violent language and soon and so forth.
And these are codes so that theeditor is forced to show their
homework, to show their thinkingto the writer And, very
importantly, we never say thiswas wrong and now it's right.
(18:29):
Here's what you wrote and here'show I corrected it.
We make suggestions and offers.
Here's what it was and here'show I think it would be.
Here's how I've changed it AndI think it might be better for
these reasons, because this ruleor that, whatever it is.
So we use a lot of comments.
So our editorial process is notblack boxes, it's a conversation
, and, as an author receivingthat kind of editing, i have
(18:51):
three choices.
If you change something, i cansay, whoa, that's so much better
, thank you.
I can say I've thought about itand I considered it, and no, i
want to keep mine original, buthere's why.
So having a justification,having thought through again and
then made the same choice, evenwith the new editorial input,
(19:13):
is a legitimate reason to keepit as it was.
And then what very oftenhappens is a sort of third
option will appear out of theexchange about the first two,
and it's better than all of that.
So our editorial process is nothierarchical and it's not about
seniority and it's not blackboxes, which is everything that
I hated about professionalwriting in the past.
It's a conversation and theeditors are learning as much as
(19:33):
the writers and we have a lot ofI want to say fun with it, and
that's the sort of stuff thatI'm extremely keen to share with
the world.
And that's where our first twopodcasts are, and it's
explaining, piece by piece,parts of that system and we're
just going to keep going with itbecause it's going really well
and I really appreciate yourhelp with it, carl.
Carl Richards (19:52):
Oh, i'm thrilled to be a part of it.
There are some amazing thingsthat I've learned and I've
applied, having learned aboutthese editorial codes that I
knew nothing about.
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire (20:02):
I mean , i thought Wait a minute, Carl,
that costs extra sorry, no, no,you can't.
Carl Richards (20:06):
It's like putting my hand in the cookie jar.
right now, you can't have acookie.
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire (20:10):
Oh, now I want a cookie.
Carl Richards (20:11):
I've learned so much because so much of our
language and I wanted to talkabout this.
I really wanted to get to thispoint because I know you've
spent a lot of time on stage butso much of our language, not
only in writing but also inspeaking, comes from you
mentioned war metaphors or otherwritings that are put more of a
(20:33):
negative emphasis on it.
I also like the fact that whenyou're going through that
editing process, there's nowrong or right.
There's suggestions, which Ithink is a completely different
concept than what most corporateworlds do.
Obviously, it's like no, thisis the way we do it.
Don't ask why, just do it thatway.
But let's take it from aspeaking perspective.
(20:53):
Do you find yourself puttingmore of the positivity and has
your speaking changed?
COVID notwithstanding, but whenyou're speaking on stage now,
are you more cognizant of whereyou're going with your language
and the words or metaphors orthings that you're choosing as
you're, even if you're recordinga podcast episode, are you more
cognizant of that?
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire (21:15):
Yes, i have done a lot of public
speaking and a lot ofinterviewing and a lot of
podcasts over the years.
What we're talking about at OSPis, in the end if you have to
boil it right down to itsessence it's being mindful, it's
being aware of what we aresaying and how we're saying it.
(21:35):
I was an okay editor before.
I'm a better editor now becauseseveral of our colleagues over
a few years watched me editingtexts and asked me why I did a
thing and asked me why I did athing and asked me why I did a
thing.
We got these principles out ofit.
A lot of it matches up withreasonable editorial thinking
(21:55):
and a lot of it is this otherworld that we're somehow
building.
That absolutely led me toconsidering my words and
considering my topics and how Iget there.
I appreciate that outcome.
I think mindfulness in generalis better place for me to be
than mindlessness.
Carl Richards (22:17):
It's important to make sure that when we are
communicating our ideas, whetherthey're on a stage, whether
they're on Heaven forbid we stayon Zoom too much longer.
But whether it's on a Zoom callor whether it's in our writing
that we are aware of thatmindfulness that we're aware of
there is an end user to whatwe're creating.
(22:40):
How is that messaging going tobe received?
I think it's one of thosethings that maybe has been not
missed, but maybe we've gottenaway from it a little bit.
I'm not saying because ofCOVID-19.
I just think that the worlditself has gotten away from it.
I'm hoping, if I could gazeinto my crystal ball and say,
during season four, we're goingto become a more positive world
(23:01):
and we're going to focus onbeing more mindful of how the
end user is reacting to whatwe're sharing with them.
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuir (23:08):
There's a really interesting
anti-pattern that I don't have aname for.
I want to figure out.
It probably has a name, butthere's something that we really
hit early in the company in theOSP time.
There's a way of writing fortechnical audiences which is not
exactly fud for youruncertainty and doubt, but it's
(23:30):
so close It's when you'retelling the reader that they're
doing something wrong.
Essentially, the thing is likeif you're still using so-and-so,
you're wasting however, manyhours of your day, especially
developers who are veryopinionated, very smart people.
If you say, hey, come read myarticle about this super cool
(23:54):
thing, and you go into thearticle, it's like if you're
still using technology X, you'rejust a dummy.
That's like the quickest way toturn someone off and it's such
a subtle trap, right.
And instead of saying if you'reusing X, you could be wasting
two hours of your day, you write, hey, if you try, why our thing
(24:15):
here?
We'd love to know what youthink about it, and our
experience has shown it.
That is, it's saved us a couplehours a day And that's the same
information.
but I'm not talking negativelyabout something else.
I'm talking positively aboutthe thing I'm trying to promote
and I am Signaling to my readerthat my reader is an intelligent
, open-minded person and if theyfeel like trying this thing,
(24:38):
i've seen benefits from it, andwhy don't they come have a look?
right, and it's just a matterof a couple of words And I think
it makes all the difference towhat it's saying.
We've touched on positivity andgratitude, but we also were
really.
We want to be human first.
We want you to take care ofyourself first, right, and
that's the most important.
And whatever happens in yourfamily and whatever happens like
our work, i love it.
(25:00):
I think that I am helping.
We are helping our clients, whoI consider peers and friends
and colleagues in technology.
All of that's great andImportant.
At the best times were becauseof the strategic nature of our
work.
I think we're helping them havebetter businesses right, which
is awesome and fun and sointeresting.
My side of the house is kind ofcommunications and then there's
(25:23):
the strategic side as well, butnone of this is life and death,
right, if your dad is dying oryou're sick or There's whatever
it is, it's the weekend.
Go do the important stuff,right.
Go be with your family.
Go do something with yourfriends.
Go cook right.
Honestly, deadlines areimportant, all that kind of
(25:46):
stuff, but that's not what comesfirst, i think that was a huge
potential clients.
Disclaimer We're super good atdelivering on time, just say,
and Also we sort of joke aboutit.
But as a founder here I do findmyself breaking those rules
sometimes.
Carl Richards (26:02):
But it's, i don't know, it's okay, it was my
choice, i think there are timesthat if you're working on tight
deadlines, yeah, okay, you mighthave to pull a Sunday afternoon
because it's a clientdeliverable that happens.
But if it's consistently, youknow, every Sunday or during a
vacation period or somethinglike that And that's one of the
things that I've learned toappreciate is that work It's
(26:25):
done, it's a great environment,It's, it's fun to be in.
I'm so thrilled to be a part ofit.
But at the end of the day, yes,the client deliverables are
important, but so is my mentalhealth.
So is my weekend, my, my,whatever it is.
Because at the end of the day,you know that you're going to
get more results out of and I'llsay me, because I'm part of
(26:47):
that, that team, you'll get moreout of me.
If you've let me sleep enough,let's not interrupt at my
vacation.
No, all those things that seemto be forgotten.
Sometimes I'm gonna go on alimb here and say, in the
Western world, because that'swhere I am.
I mean, you're in Cologne,germany, i'm on Canada.
But sometimes we forget thatand We think, nope, has to be
(27:09):
done right now, even if it'sSaturday afternoon.
We need to have thisconversation now.
We need to do this right now.
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire (27:14):
Yeah, there's a difference between
quote-unquote Europe and NorthAmerica, but we're not gonna
call you after hours unless it'sreally important, you know.
Carl Richards (27:24):
And oh, say hi.
I mean, how many times have youcalled me on a Friday afternoon
at four o'clock, knowing thatit's well, maybe not four
o'clock, because that's probablyten o'clock your time, but you
know three o'clock or twoo'clock in the afternoon going?
hey, carl, how's it going?
Just wanted to say hi and saythanks for all your help this
week and things like that, whichis just, it's so cool.
(27:47):
I love phone calls like that.
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire (27:48):
Okay, all right, i'll admit it, i'll
admit it.
But, um, you know, when you goon vacation, you should just
turn yourself off, like all thatstuff just seems to be.
You know what that comes from.
Circling back, that comes fromsome of my old work experiences.
I was in a very high-growthstartup where I had a lot of
wonderful experiences and someterrible ones, and I watched
(28:10):
some of my American colleaguesturn on their out-of-office
messages between 8, 30 and 10 amSaying I am currently at a
dentist appointment, but I willget back to you as soon as I get
back to the office and if it'sreally important.
My cell number is this and youcan call me right now and we'll
(28:32):
figure it out.
It's like 90 minutes of yourlife.
I just it's not.
We're not the police and we'renot surgeons, and I just don't.
It was, it's too much, right,it's too much and and so, yeah,
that was another thing of like.
How do we feel human here?
Carl Richards (28:47):
I'm really glad you shared that, because I think
that's something that you knowWe can take a page from over
here in the Western world.
So thank you, thank you,jeffrey, for bringing, for
bringing that out.
I would give you theopportunity, though, to Pass
along something to our listeners.
What would you?
I mean, we've shared a lot, butis there anything that you'd
like to pass along to them thatthey can use as a tool, or
(29:09):
what's the best way for them toHold?
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire (29:11):
you.
We have a website.
It's a lot to type.
It's open strategy partners dotcom.
We are sharing piece by pieceby piece what we do and how we
do it.
There are a few pages dedicatedto showing you what a workshop
might look like and some of theservices that we offer.
Our blog is full of how to andinformation and insights.
(29:33):
There's some stuff now aboutwriting good case studies and
why and how, and Every podcastget supposed as well, so a lot
of the editorial codes are goingup there.
We're speaking in late twentytwenty one.
In early twenty twenty two wereturning on an entirely new
section of the website that'sgonna be full of documentation
and all this writing and editingstuff.
I want to share how we do whatwe do so that you can also do it
(29:58):
.
And if you'd like to come be aclient, you'd like to learn how
to do something better, or youhave a A complex topic that
needs explaining in terms of thevalue it delivers.
That's what we're here for.
We love technology.
We come from the world of opensource.
We love agencies and productcompanies.
I love that sort of stuff.
I'd love to talk with you, butif I can just help you, then go
check it out, get in touch, tellme how it helped and you know,
(30:20):
i'd love to know if you knowthis stuff makes sense to other
people.
What now that it's outside ofour heads?
Carl Richards (30:26):
And Jeffrey loves coffee as well.
So if it's, even if it's acrossborders, he might be having a
coffee with you, although itmight be a smaller cup, because
he does like his espresso.
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire (30:38):
So yes , i don't have my stunt espresso
cup in front of me.
well, yep.
Carl Richards (30:44):
Jeffrey, it's been fantastic chatting with you
today.
Thanks for taking the time.
Before I let you go, any finalthoughts or words of wisdom you
like to impart.
Jeffrey A. "jam" McGuire (30:53):
I don't know about the wisdom
department call, but thanks forthanks for inviting me on here.
It's it's really great to talkwith you and I have.
You know, i'm really glad tosay you and I talk several times
a week and it's great To haveyou on our team.
I really, really like it.
I really like having you aroundand the help that you.
You know the work that you dois great.
So you know, it's kind of coolto hang out in your.
(31:16):
Actually, i don't know, are youmoonlighting with us or is this
your moonlighting now?
I don't.
Anyway, it's great to talk withyou.
I'm really happy to be here andthank you.
Just say it's great to talk bymoonlight.
So, romantic.
Carl Richards (31:30):
Jeffrey, thanks so much for joining me today.
Thank you, carl.
If you want positive change,positive response and positive
(31:53):
results, it starts with apositive, filled with gratitude
outlook.
How are you embracingpositivity and gratitude in your
environment?
Share your examples orquestions with us via Twitter at
open underscore strategy oremail hello at
openstrategypartnerscom.
And speaking of time, yesterdayI bought six watches.
(32:15):
You could say I have a lot oftime on my hands.
How do you use date in yourwriting?
Share your examples orquestions with us via Twitter at
open underscore strategy oremail hello at
openstrategypartnerscom.
This was one of the editorialcodes we use at OSP.
(32:37):
If you'd like to learn more inthe meantime, come on over to
openstrategypartnerscom, have alook at our writer, enablement
workshops, case study offeringor get in touch to talk about
your strategy or productcommunication needs.
Thanks to everyone whocontributed to this podcast All
the P's at OSP.
Thanks to our clients whobelieve in us.
(32:59):
Shout out to Patrick Gaumontfor our high energy maple syrup
flavored theme music And to MikeSnow for additional horn
arrangements.
Thank you for listening andsubscribing About our three
themes on the podcast.
You'll hear different members ofthe OSP team hosting episodes
over time.
Communicate all things.
(33:20):
Communication We share how wetackle writing, editing, word
choices, formats, processes andmore, but in depth conversations
with interesting, smart peopleabout who they are, what they do
and how they approach theirlife and work as communicators,
technologists and leaders.
Grow We cover approaches tounderstanding and expressing the
(33:45):
value of what you do, includingtools, templates and practical
applications.
We also feel strongly aboutbuilding a mindful, positive,
human first culture at work.
It's bound to pop up from timeto time too.
This podcast is us figuring outcommunication, connection and
growing together.
(34:06):
Subscribe now on YouTube, applePodcasts or the podcast channel
of your choice.
Popular Podcasts
United States of Kennedy
United States of Kennedy is a podcast about our cultural fascination with the Kennedy dynasty. Every week, hosts Lyra Smith and George Civeris go into one aspect of the Kennedy story.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com