Disruption 2021

One thing is for certain if you are going to succeed in today's global, digital-first opportunity platform, connecting entrepreneurial networks together with a broadening consumer online-marketplace. We have to learn to love the disruption.

Our profession happens to have been through multiple cycles of disruption. We're in one now- one that is more exciting and transformational in a favorable way than any of the preceding disruptive periods.

This new one, Social Commerce, is the most exciting transition or disruption that we are seeing on our distribution channel, largely because of macro trends. When you talk about value creation in any industry, the macro trends that are driving that now with the gig economy, with social commerce, influencer and affiliate marketing---those all feed so nicely together with the traditional direct sales model. As companies and leaders lean into those macro trends, with the right strategy, there is enormous potential.

At Asili Global, we provide solutions to a world that is in need of work, health products, opportunity, culture and community. People are realizing that human connection, relationships and flexibility matter. We provide all of that! We provide the opportunity for people to interact one-on-one. We provide the opportunity for people to have more flexibility in the way we work, anywhere, anytime. And we provide solutions for their actual health & wellness needs.

There is so much more potential for success when we actually represent ourselves for what we have: a trusted person-to-person relationship, amazing products in an easily accessible manner, and becoming part of a community or a brand that actually values you instead of seeing you as a transaction.

Critical Thinking

It’s natural for people to group themselves together with people who think or act like them. This happens especially readily online, where it’s so easy to find a specific cultural niche. Social media algorithms can narrow our perspectives further, serving up only news that fits our individual beliefs.

This is a problem. If everyone in our social circles thinks as we do, we become more rigid in our thinking, and less likely to change our beliefs on the basis of new information. In fact, the more people listen to people who share their views, research shows the more polarized their views become.

It’s crucial to get outside your personal bubble. You can start small. If you work in accounting, make friends with people in marketing. If you always go to lunch with senior staff, go to a ball game with your junior colleagues. Training yourself this way will help you escape your usual thinking and gain richer insights.

In team settings, give people the chance to give their opinions independently without the influence of the group. When I ask for advice, for instance, I typically withhold my own preferences and ask team members to email me their opinions in separate notes. This tactic helps prevent people from engaging in groupthink.

While these simple tactics may sound easy or even obvious, they’re rare in practice, particularly in the business world, and too many organizations don’t take the time to engage in robust forms of reasoning. But the important work of critical thinking pays off. While luck plays a role — sometimes small, sometimes large — in a company’s successes, the most important business victories are achieved through thinking smart.

Excerpt from: https://hbr.org/2019/05/3-simple-habits-to-improve-your-critical-thinking

Outwitting the Devil

Have you read the book "Outwitting the Devil"? I just listened to the 3 hour audiobook recording below over the weekend, and it's amazing to think that it was written in 1938 by Napolean Hill, author of "Think and Grow Rich". In this book Hill uncovers the secrets to freedom and success by evaluating the greatest obstacles that humans face in order to attain their personal goals in life.

Three key principles (there are MANY more) from the book: 1. Making decisions based on faith, instead of fear. (i.e. thinking about what could go wrong rather than believing things will go well) 2. The necessity of definiteness of purpose. (i.e. having a focus and going "all in" on that focus) 3. The Law of Hypnotic Rhythm. (i.e. repeating behaviors that become habits) For those of you who have read it, what principles did you like the most?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_IynEEZvxw

Working Through a World of Misinformation.

For years, the critics of the Direct Sales profession have offered up ill-informed opinions that express a negative opinion about direct selling. Too often these negative opinions are based on incomplete data combined with individual anecdotes of dissatisfied former sellers that the propagators of the misinformation then apply to the whole industry.

What is not, or is rarely, acknowledged is that there are many, if not most, direct selling companies that have provided part and full-time income opportunities for decades without a single blemish on their record or regulatory action against them. Many of these companies sell products that have become will known brands with thousands of loyal customers. The undeniable fact is that the ethical companies who follow industry best practices far outnumber the bad actors but you almost never hear about that from the industry critics.

Some of the current and most egregious misinformation that is spread on social media are addressed in this article:

https://worldofdirectselling.com/through-world-of-misinformation/

The Grass Is Always Greener On Social Media

 

8 Great Reasons To Put Down Your Phone

 

Why Volvo Gave Away The Patent For Their Most Important Invention

We hear a lot these days about "for the greater good" or "doing the right thing". Here's a real example from the history books.

 https://www.arnoldclark.com/newsroom/265-why-volvo-gave-away-the-patent-for-their-most-important-invention