Episode XI - Compounding Effects & Muddled Causality

Lots of positivity from concerted actions but struggling to identify cause & effect...

Jul 17, 2023

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Last week was a difficult week to love - that was the opening line of my last post.

This time around, last week was difficult to be upset with in any way! - welcome to the peaks & troughs of the small business owner…

So where did so much positivity come from? Especially off the back of the previous week being pretty unedifying?

Simple - compounding effects.

Let’s get into it…

The Peak

man standing on dock steel wool photography — Photo by Ricardo Rocha on Unsplash

Let’s start with a definition:

Compounding effects are secondary outcomes from actions not initially designed to trigger such an outcome

Or simple terms, you do one thing & two or more positive outcomes happen, despite only intending for one.

And whilst positive outcomes are always welcome, I reserve a special kind of joy for those that come with no additional effort.

In we go…

The myth of multiple ventures

I have to start here - conventional wisdom will tell you that you should stay focused on one venture, one business that you pour all of your efforts into.

Having multiple ventures will divide your focus & therefore reduce your impact - or so they say.

Personally I’ve never been a fan of conventional wisdom - it’s a cage built by those with less imagination who want to confine you to the limits of their thinking.

For me, having multiple ventures offers an opportunity for compounding effects.

What I learn from one venture becomes applicable in another.

I’m not suggesting that compounding effects aren’t possible to achieve if you only run one venture. I’m merely stating that my experience has shown that they are more likely if you do.

At least if you’ve set up those ventures to be intentionally complementary anyway.

Example I: Coaching

Quick recap: I run two main trading businesses right now, WeTeachCRO (my agency, 6.5 years old) & And Then The World (my co-founded agency coaching business, 2.5 years old).

Starting And Then The World was my first foray into compounding effects - I’d take what I’d learned from running my own agency & use it to help others run theirs.

I knew that I’d continue to learn things from my own first-hand experience as an agency owner, and therefore I should become a more effective coach as a result.

What I didn’t realise however was how much I would learn from those I coached.

So many different experiences, so many different approaches, so many different ways of finding value in the agency world.

And I have been able to take some of those learnings back into my own agency.

Symbiosis at its finest; compounding effects abound.

Example II: LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a prime example of the power of compounding effects.

In its simplest form, you end up with something like this:

Good content = more followers = bigger reach = higher industry status = more business opportunities

And whilst nothing is quite that linear, I can say from first-hand experience that the above has rung true for me.

At least up to the higher industry status point, which is as far as I have gotten in my 6.5 months of effort here. I believe that the more business opportunities will follow, but honestly, I don’t feel I can prove that just yet.

But the basic story here is that I produce the same amount of Good(?!) content each week as I have since the start of 2023. It’s no more effort now than it was in January, but the outcomes are greater, as discussed a few weeks’ back.

What I’m experiencing now is the compounding effects of everything I have done so far in 2023.

Same effort, bigger outcome.

Example III: Substack

Quick recap II: on Friday 7th July, we launched And Then The World’s Micro-Agency Fortnightly (MAF) on Substack.

As part of its set-up, Substack allows each newsletter to recommend others - so naturally, MAF recommends Oversharing Business (OB) & vice-versa.

And lo-and-behold, the (low-level!) excitement we built for the launch of MAF via our existing contacts in the agency space gave OB its best week for acquiring new subscribers since its own launch.

No additional effort required for a 38% increase in subscribers in one week.

Now that is a compounding effect!

So what have we learned here Matt?

Look for opportunities that might create compounding effects.

They may take months of effort to bear fruit, or they may take days - but if you can find them, they can unlock fantastic rewards.

And never forget that your time is always the biggest limiting factor - it’s something none of us can ever get back, so seeking ways to use it efficiently is a must in my eyes.

If this week’s Peak exploration resonates with you, share it with others:

The Trough

As is probably quite obvious by now, I'm an analyst - I try to take stock of everything I do to better understand why I’m doing it.

The idea here is that if I can better understand the why, I will make better decisions on the what & how.

A vital part of that analysis is distinguishing cause from effect.

And it may surprise you to realise how difficult that can be to make that distinction at times.

It’s a tough concept to explain hypothetically, so I’ve outlined some examples from last week, because it was undoubtedly my Trough - a conceptual quagmire through which I struggled to plot a path:

Chasing something

I always believe that there is a better way - I don’t always know what “better” really means, but I do believe it is out there.

Probably what drove me to a career in CRO, and definitely what has driven me to write so extensively about self-optimisation.

So on the face of things, this would be a clear example of cause right?

I am driven to seek “better”, and therefore it is natural that I would be chasing something

However, could I be…

…running from something else?

No business I have ever been involved in has been perfect. Not mine, not anyone else’s either.

There are always things that could be improved. With each path I take to improve my businesses, there are another set of paths that then become closed off to me.

The start of 2023 was a rocky period for my (and many others’) businesses, and frankly, things still aren’t back to where I would like them to be.

So…

Am I in fact running away from things that have proven challenging over the last 6+ months?

And if so, is that desire for better in fact an effect of that sub-par performance? And if performance improved, would I still feel the same draw towards new ventures?

I battled with that thought all week, and flatly am no closer to a resolution - haven’t the foggiest!

The grass is always greener

This is a cliché, yes, but I do believe it is true. When it comes to thinking about new ventures or new directions at least.

Why?

Because they look easier.

Why?

Because you don’t know what it actually takes to be successful with them.

You haven’t done it before, and so you don’t know the little details that might make all the difference.

So if you’re trying (as I have been) to distinguish between cause & effect, between push & pull, ask yourself whether you’re making that same “easier” judgement.

How about the flipside of this cliché…

…better the devil you know?

Of course the flipside of a cliché is another cliché!

But for me, this one is as much false as the first one is true.

And for the exact reverse of the reasoning above.

The devil you know (your existing job, business, hobby etc.) is not better.

And it’s not better because you know first-hand all of the things that annoy you about it.

You’ve experienced them time & again and no amount of rationalisation will change the fact that you have attached negative emotions to them.

And if you haven’t got any negative emotions from your existing devil, then you have the perfect set-up and would therefore not be in the position to consider changing tack anyway!

And maybe it is my take on those two clichés is exactly why I am where I am - contemplating cause & effect, push & pull, action & reaction.

If this has triggered any thoughts on your own experiences, I would strongly recommend a deeper exploration of what is cause & what is effect for you.

It’s a bloody tricky task at times, but you never want the cart to be leading the horse ;)

A last request

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Writing is great for me, your feedback can help me make the reading greater for you.