The Digital Contrarianâ„¢

Ryan Levesque

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The Digital Contrarianâ„¢

Ryan Levesque

Issue #025

| The Digital Contrarianâ„¢

Tipping Points

Contrarian Thinking, & The "Scaleability" of Half-Baked, Unpopular Ideas...

Ryan Levesque

13 min read

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There is so much I want to share with you today.
 
In fact, I’ve had to exhibit serious restraint in this issue.
 
Because as I’m typing this to you on my journey back home to Vermont…
 
After spending the last few days at a private mastermind in support of Village Impact (the charity started by Amy McLaren and her husband Stu…)
 
And time with some of the most incredible people in the world supporting the charity, like some of the smiling faces you see here:
Right to left: Jeff Walker (NYT bestselling author of Launch, Bari Baumgardner (Founder SAGE Event Management, behind Tony Robbins, Russell Brunson, & hundreds of other live and virtual events), Amy Porterfield (NYT bestselling author of Two Weeks Notice), Bonnie Christine (Award-winning pattern design artist) and of course, your favorite Bearded Vermonter :-)
All to raise money for any incredibly worth cause:
 
Building Village Impact’s next elementary school in Kenya.
 
(They’ve built 16 so far, including our “ASK Academy”, which we partnered with Village Impact to build back in 2016 to provide an education to over 400+ girls and boys every year…)
 
And after….
 
Reviewing the pages and pages of notes I have from this event….
 
And also…
 
Reflecting on the dozens and dozens of discussions I had this past week…
 
There is far too much for me to be able to cover in this issue…
 
So I’ve been asking myself:
 
What would be the most impactful thing from this event that I could share with you in this newsletter here today?
 
Was it the private text message Amy Porterfield sent me after the talk I delivered?
 
Was it the conversation I had with Michael Hyatt around the nuance of using AI in our work?
 
Was it deluge of Instagram aha moments I had from my conversations with Nicole Johnsey Burke and Emily Masterson?
 
Was it the insight from Marshawn Evans Daniels around the difference between “Destiny Work” vs. “Industry Work”?
 
Was it the provocative potential title Bonnie Christine gave me for my forthcoming book?
 
Turns out…
 
It is something entirely different from (and at the same time the summation of) everything I’ve described above…
 
And it’s something I did not expect to sharing with you here today…

1 | The Risk of Sharing Contrarian, (& Potentially Unpopular) Ideas...

On the morning of Day 2 of the mastermind event…
 
I delivered a new talk, which I anxiously titled:
 
“How to Become the Least Popular Person in the Room”
 
And the reason why I titled it like that was because…
 
I introduced a contrarian (and potentially unpopular) point of view around AI that challenged the overwhelming view expressed in the room on Day 1 of the event.
 
And I was a little bit nervous.
 
Because what I decided to share represented a relatively new set of ideas….
 
Not yet fully formed.
 
And I was concerned:
 
Would my work be completely rejected?
 
Would my ideas be completely torn apart?
 
But I decided to take the risk.
 
Because…
 
When I listen to my heart…
 
And what I feel called to be speaking about and writing about right now…
 
I couldn’t help but share what I decided to share…
* * *
And now…
 
Following the talk…
 
I now know that this work is also touching on something inside others as well…
 
Because after I finished delivering the presentation…
 
The talk received feedback like the following:
 
“You’ve challenged some of my most fundamental beliefs.”
– Stu McLaren
 
And…
 

“I felt a stirring in my heart when you spoke.”
– Megan Hyatt Miller

 
* * *
Now I’ll get back to what exactly I shared in this talk to generate this type of reaction and response in a moment…
 
But first…
 
We need to begin our conversation today by understanding…

2 | The Tipping Point of New Ideas.

I’ve always felt an inexorable link and connection to Malcolm Gladwell’s work.
 
When my first book, Ask was released in 2015 and debuted at #1…
 
It had to beat out Malcom Gladwell’s book on the bestseller list at the time, David and Goliath (which was in the middle of an unprecedented run and on its way to selling well over a million copies worldwide.)
Ask was definitely the David to Gladwell’s Goliath.
 
And right now, I feel like “David” once again as I enter into new territory with the work I’m exploring in the talk I delivered this week – which is also a central component of my forthcoming book…
 
Now, as part of my research for this book (title is still TBD, BTW…)
 
I’ve been reading Malcom Gladwell’s latest work, Revenge of the Tipping Point (the follow-up to his original 2006 debut title, The Tipping Point) which you can see here on my lap in the airplane as I’m typing this right now, along with some of my notes…
In Revenge of the Tipping Point, there are a number of interesting ideas.
 
But there’s one insight in particular that I think is worth introducing into our conversation today, and it has to do with…

3 | The "Magic Third" & How New Ideas Surprisingly Spread.

Because it turns out, for any new and novel idea…
 
There is a magic number that needs to be reached in order for that idea (or product, for that matter) to “catch on” within a given population, group, or what we might define as a “market”…
 
In Revenge of the Tipping Point, Gladwell tackles some pretty big (and heavy) topics. Race Relations, Gay Marriage, and the Holocaust, just to name a few…
 
But as marketers, entrepreneurs, and creators – it made me think about how the principles in Revenge of the Tipping Point might also apply to the ideas (and products) we introduce in the markets we serve:
 
And the key insight sits within what Gladwell describes as the “Magic Third”.
 
To paraphrase Gladwell’s writing, the “Magic Third” essentially boils down to the following idea:
 
Something dramatic happens when a once-insignificant idea, perspective, or point-of-view reaches between one-quarter and one-third of a population. At that point, the entire group often reaches full adoption of this new idea, which was often previously considered controversial.
 
After spending time reflecting, I can’t help but think about how this rule might apply to not only introducing new ideas but also to introducing new products and creative work in general…

4 | The Tipping Point of New Products, & Social Media Algorithms.

IF it is in fact true that for a new idea to reach mass adoption, acceptance, and for it to hit “the jet stream”…
 
That it needs to “flip” between one-quarter and one-third of the market you’re focused on reaching…
 
I have to wonder if there is a relationship between this, and how algorithms work on social media.
 
In other words, is there a “Magic Third” Tipping Point that needs to be reached for whatever it is we’re creating to “take off”?
 
Whether that’s our Instagram Account, YouTube Channel, Podcast, or our latest Book?
 
For example, I think about my friends Dan Martell and Codie Sanchez, who have taken off on social media in the last 18 months…
If Tipping Point dynamics are in at play when we release something new into the world…
 
Then what’s incredibly frustrating with the “Magic Third” (or “Magic Quarter” as Gladwell also describes it) is that leading up to that number, it can often feel like we’re not gaining any traction whatsoever.
 
(I know for Dan at least, he was incredibly frustrated for at least the first year and how little traction he was gaining on social media before finally taking off…)
 
Because as Gladwell writes:
 

“Once 25 percent of the members of any group start pushing for a new [idea], the rest of the group quickly…. goes along. But the change isn’t gradual. It wasn’t that you had some defectors at 20 percent, then a few more at 22 percent, and finally at 25 percent you got everyone. Nothing happened until you got to 25 percent – and then everything happened.”

 
Now, what I find fascinating…
 
Is that at our mastermind this past week, I experienced a micro-version of the “Magic Third” Tipping Point in the most unexpected way:
 
Because prior to the talk I delivered…
 
On Day 1 of our mastermind, virtually everyone in the room was championing the benefits of leveraging AI nearly-ubiquitously in the content we create…
 
But after the talk…
 
On Day 2 of the event, nearly everyone in the room was at least questioning virtually every single one of these assumptions.
 
It wasn’t gradual.
 
It was abrupt.
 
Nothing happened, until everything happened.
* * *
However…
 
The problem with new ideas is that by definition, they are not yet fully formed when they arrive into the world…
 
Like for example, I know the ideas shared in my talk currently lack a central, unifying thesis…
 
In other words:
 
I know there is something there.
 
But I also know there’s still more work to be done.
 
So there is seemingly a paradox.
 
How do we get our new ideas to reach that critical “Magic Third” in order to achieve mass adoption…
 
When these new ideas by definition, are imperfect and incomplete?
 
This takes us to the next connective concept which is…

5 | Sharing New Ideas Before You're Ready.

As you can see in my slightly-messy “semi-analog” hand-written notes below:
There are four words highlighted in yellow.
 
One of those words is:
 
Prototyping.
 
Now, the notes you see here are from a talk delivered by Joel Miller (Michael Hyatt’s son-in-law and his co-collaborator of 26 years…)
 
In his talk, Joel explained the importance of Prototyping new ideas.
 
In other words, getting your ideas into the world to see what lands and what sticks in the smallest of ways before locking yourself into a permanently defined direction.
 
And often times – before you feel ready to share.
 
For example:
 
This might be an essay that you write to get early feedback on the ideas you plan on incorporating into a book, before you irrevocably formalize those words in print.
 
That’s what Nathan Barry, Founder & CEO of Kit.com (pictured with me below), did with an essay he wrote back in 2019 called The Ladders of Wealth Creation (An excellent read, by the way.)
There are a number of different ways you can prototype your work.
 
Everything from working with clients one-on-one.
 
To hosting a small live workshop.
 
To writing about your ideas in a weekly newsletter like this…
 
To delivering a talk – like the one I delivered at this event.
 
In fact, one of my objectives with this talk…
 
Was to workshop some of my new ideas…
 
To test which concepts land…
 
To see which words and phrases stick…
 
To identify what objections show up…
 
Like for example:
 
I mentioned something in my talk that struck a chord.
 
In an argument I made against using any form of AI in your writing unless otherwise disclosed… And advocating that every piece of communication signed with your name should come directly from you, I argued:
 
“The world is craving the Sunday brunch, freshly-squeezed orange juice version of YOU. Not the watered-down AI version that comes in a can.”
 
As I’ve previously written here in The Digital Contrarian and elsewhere:
 
In order for people to trust you…
 
They need to see your Heart. Humor. And Humanity.
* * *
And this provocative position made people think.
 
It led to deep discussion and debate.
 
And…
 
It brought up an objection…
 
An all too familiar refrain among marketers and entrepreneurs…

6 | "But...... It Doesn't SCALE!"

In fact, this came up in a question raised by Michael Bungay Stanier challenging my point of view (which I warmly welcomed).
 
BTW – If you’re not familiar, Michael (pictured below) is the author of The Coaching Habit (over a million copies sold) and six other books.
Michael, or “MBS” as he’s known to his friends – is someone I have tremendous respect for. He’s a brilliant thinker, writer, and a Rhodes Scholar…
 
And he posited the following question in the Q&A session following my talk:
 
“What I’m seeing with this heart, humor, and humanity – is that it’s artisanal. And the challenge of artisanal – is it’s not scalable, because as soon as you try and scale it, you either get crushed by the fact that you’ve only got so much heart and humanity – or as soon as you start thinking of scaling this in your business, you start doing things that undermines what you’re trying to do. So how do you work the dance of that?”
 
His question forced me to think.
 
So I thought I’d share part of the exchange that took place and my response to MBS’s thoughts:
 
“I do believe there is a way to share that heart, humor, and humanity and reach your audience through intimacy at scale.
 
It’s what we’re doing right now. It’s the 25 of us here in this room experiencing this moment in time. It’s the 100,000 people that read the words that I share in my weekly newsletter each week.
 
That’s what intimacy at scale feels like.
 
But I don’t think this type of work and thinking is something we can abdicate to AI technology or a team of writers to do for us…
 
I believe that this has to come directly from us, because I believe people can tell the difference. I really do. I think we all can. We can tell when something feels off. When it feels hollow.
 
Even if we can’t quite put our finger on the reason why.”
 
During this exchange, Alexis Banc, CEO of Kwik Brain and contributor to the New York Times bestseller Limitless texted me the following, which I think puts further words to this:
 
“I believe there is energy transfer, when the actual author is writing. The thoughts have energy and emotion, which are captured through words.
 
When readers read those words, they can feel the author’s “energy signature” consciously or unconsciously.
 
The heart feels it, even if the mind can’t exactly comprehend what’s happening. It goes far beyond mere communication and transfer of information.”
MBS continued to press me in the exchange:
 
“This may come across as a little provocative, but it feels a very privileged position to be able to say that you have 100,000 people, you have wealth, you have a farm. You know – high-touch, high-humanity, is really hard to pull off if you don’t have a brand and a reputation.”
 
My response was the following:
 
“I love this conversation, and I would challenge this position.
 
If I think back to my early days when I had no audience, no reputation, and nobody knew who I was, the way I got my first few clients is I went to events and I had conversations one-on-one.
 
I did the decidedly un-scaleable.
 
I sat next to someone at an event and I said: “Hi my name is Ryan. What do you do?”
 
At the end of the day, we’re all in the same business. We’re in the business of communication and connection.
 
And to actually communicate and connect with your audience, you have to use your unique gifts – whether that’s writing or speaking… audio or video… or the written word.
 
But at the end of the day that communication ultimately has to come from you. The REAL you. Not from some AI proxy. Because people can tell the difference.”
 

7 | It's Never Been Easier to Get Into the Game, But It's Never Been Harder to Stand Out.

I read a quote recently that really stood out to me:
 
“It’s never been easier to get into the game, but it’s never been harder to stand out.”
 
And I think this underscores much of this conversation.
 
Literally anybody can go to ChatGPT and tell it to go out and write an email… or a LinkedIn post… or even an entire book..
 
And that’s why we’re experiencing this “beige-ification” of the internet right now –  and an unprecedented level of competition…
 
It’s never been easier to get into the game.
 
But in this sea of regurgitated AI content, and with the sheer volume of it all…
 
It’s never been harder to stand out.
 
However…
 
There actually IS a way to stand out that’s available to every single one of us:
 
To produce “the freshly squeezed Sunday brunch orange juice version” of your work while the rest of the world tries to sell the “watered down AI version in a can” of theirs…
 
Because people can taste the difference.
 
They can.
 
Just like you can.
 
Even when you can’t quite put your finger on it.
 
Which brings us to…

8 | My Call to Action to YOU.

Following my talk, I had half-a-dozen versions of the following conversation with several different colleagues:
 
“Ryan, the theme of your talk hit me hard. But I don’t know where to start.
 
There are things I want to say to my subscribers and to my audience right now…
 
But I feel this tension between where I’ve been, what I’ve been doing, and who I really am as a person…
 
With what I REALLY want to say.
 
And I don’t even know where to begin…”
* * *
The answer?
 
Write THAT.
 
That is what you need to share.
 
The tension you’re feeling right now.
 
Your Messy Middle.
 
Before you’ve gotten it all figured out.
 

In fact, my call to action to you today is this:

Share with your audience:
 
The biggest thing you’re struggling with right now…
 
The dilemma you’re feeling…
 
The tension pulling you in multiple directions…
 
And do it today…
 
Do it before you’re ready…
 
Before that idea you’re working on in your mind right now and in your heart is fully formed…
 
Because this is what prototyping looks like.
 
Even if your thoughts right now are still a bit half-baked.
 
Because sometimes the world needs to taste the cookie dough version of your idea…
 
In its raw and imperfect and unfinished form…
 
Straight off the kitchen counter…
 
In order to one day buy the fully-baked cookie…
 
When it eventually hits store shelves.
* * *
Alright.
 
I’ll leave you with that for today.
 
BTW – If this newsletter has struck a chord with you…
 
(Or if you completely disagree with me)
 
I’d love to hear from you today.
 
Please get in touch with a short note.
 
I read every single email that comes through.
 
No AI.
 
Just me.
 
And I’d love to hear from YOU.
 
Until next week,
 
Ryan :-)

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