4 ms·

The words "pick your brain" are virtually never good ones to lead with, by the way, because they turn off many people who have useful things to say, in addition

by patio11 14y ago

The words "pick your brain" are virtually never good ones to lead with, by the way, because they turn off many people who have useful things to say, in addition to dsivers. (Close second: "Can you mentor me?") They suggest the interpersonal equivalent of the planning meeting from heck, with no agenda, no goals, and no way to safely declare failure and thereby avoid the next meeting. If you want a specific thing, asking for it is better. If you do not know what you want, a) strongly consider whether that problem will be alleviated with another person using cycles on it or not and/or b) figure out what you want, and how helping you get it helps them, prior to asking for anything.

tgrass 14y ago
Yours is an interesting reply in context, because his reaction is not one of dismissal, but of exhaustion: he didn't get anything out of the meetings to pick his brain. The person asking very well may have. I'm guilty of the 'let me pick your brain.' And your advice, which is directed to me, is spot on - and I'll take it seriously. But the true wisdom lies in the depths of it: treat everyone like their human. Don't exhaust a man just because he's successful.
gregpilling 14y ago
Interesting viewpoint on "pick your brain". As a 40-something business owner I am always happy when someone less experienced at business wants to pick my brain. I have told many people that if they buy me a beer they can ask business questions all night. I have a few like minded (and aged) friends who I meet with every thursday night at a local pub. We always welcome people to meet with us - the only condition is that they have to be running a small business or trying to start one. So for me personally I enjoy having my brain picked or mentoring someone. Of course, dsivers seemed to go a little overboard with 400 meetings in two years which would be 4 per week roughly. Compare that to the once per month I do it for perspective. To each their own of course.
- tocomment 14y ago
  (side note: there's a lot of lorem ipsum text on your website) (I was trying to find your location to get in on a mentoring beer session :-)
  - gregpilling 14y ago
    you can email me: gregpilling@gmail.com our website was hacked, and while it gets 200 visits a day (hardly anything), keeping up with orders has been more important than fixing lorem ipsum on the new site.

by patio11 14y ago

tgrass 14y ago

Yours is an interesting reply in context, because his reaction is not one of dismissal, but of exhaustion: he didn't get anything out of the meetings to pick his brain. The person asking very well may have. I'm guilty of the 'let me pick your brain.' And your advice, which is directed to me, is spot on - and I'll take it seriously. But the true wisdom lies in the depths of it: treat everyone like their human. Don't exhaust a man just because he's successful.

gregpilling 14y ago

Interesting viewpoint on "pick your brain". As a 40-something business owner I am always happy when someone less experienced at business wants to pick my brain. I have told many people that if they buy me a beer they can ask business questions all night. I have a few like minded (and aged) friends who I meet with every thursday night at a local pub. We always welcome people to meet with us - the only condition is that they have to be running a small business or trying to start one. So for me personally I enjoy having my brain picked or mentoring someone. Of course, dsivers seemed to go a little overboard with 400 meetings in two years which would be 4 per week roughly. Compare that to the once per month I do it for perspective. To each their own of course.

tocomment 14y ago
(side note: there's a lot of lorem ipsum text on your website) (I was trying to find your location to get in on a mentoring beer session :-)
- gregpilling 14y ago
  you can email me: gregpilling@gmail.com our website was hacked, and while it gets 200 visits a day (hardly anything), keeping up with orders has been more important than fixing lorem ipsum on the new site.