Thoughts From The Cake Scraps

An eight – above average but falling short of the best. This is what I find when I ask people about their Excel skills.  In fact I would wager that this is what most people would say about their skills with any tool provided one thing.  The sole criteria for being an 8 is that they have used the tool enough such that their usage would be self-defined as frequent or occasionally (as opposed to used once or once a year).  The problem is, of course, that we don’t live in Lake Wobegon.  But if you ask people, person after person will tell you an 8.

I am not immune to this.  In fact, I claim to be an 8 of 10 in the business non-statistical application of Excel.  To me this means that I am not responsible for knowing the advanced mathematical and statistical formulas used in Excel, nor do I know how to write advanced VBA code from scratch.  What it does mean is that I know my way around PivotTables (and getpivot – both syntax options), am well versed in formatting data/graphs, can use a variety of text formulas (len, mid, right, left, proper, etc.), lookup formulas (vlookup, hlookup, index, etc.) and other advanced worksheet formulas (indirect, match, find, search, sumif, etc.), know how to create a dynamic named range, write basic VBA code, and create basic custom number formats (including if/then logic).

I know that I have shortcomings as well.  I don’t have the syntax for custom number formats memorized, array formulas still take a bit to figure out (and I don’t often think to use them), my VBA skills could use some polish, there are a bunch of keyboard shortcuts I don’t have memorized, and I don’t use many advanced Excel Add-Ins that turn it up another notch.  I’m sure there are others, but the point is that I know I have room for improvement and see examples of really talented individuals when I read blogs or when I am searching for an answer to an issue.

The point is that I feel like I am a well informed 8.  I am not saying I am an 8 because it just feels right.  I’m saying I’m an 8 because I put in time to learn what I don’t know.  I have been in rooms where I’m not the best, but clearly quite a bit more advanced than a large percentage of the room. And yes, I would wager money that I am not so smart that I can escape the unknown unknowns.  So I am an 8 and I know it for a fact.

And hence the 8 of 10 Paradox.  Or, rather, the Downing Effect wherein “people with a below average IQ to overestimate their IQ, and of people with an above average IQ to underestimate their IQ” and “the ability to accurately estimate others’ IQ [is] proportional to one’s own IQ”.  Applied more broadly it is called the Dunning-Kruger Effect.

So remember, as you go through life, people will always be comparing themselves to others.  Knowing your results in comparison to the average just makes us feel better.  But there will be times when there is not quick test score to compare; no easy benchmark to measure against.  There will only be an opinion.  At that moment you should really stop, be honest with yourself, and consider which side of the Dunning-Kruger effect you are on.

I give this post an 8/10.  What would you give it?

This has been a Thought From The Cake Scraps.

In @garyvee ‘s most recent book, The Thank You Economy, Gary makes a compelling argument for the use of social media.  If you know of Gary you know that he has been a huge proponent of social media – despite hating the term ‘social media’ – and he has had a strong and steady rise into the spotlight.  The Thank You Economy, TYE for short, is the essence of all of his bravado, condensed into an easy-read book that you’ll work your way through in a matter of hours.  I give this book an 8 of 10 and would classify it as a long-form personal opinion (with a dash of how-to type talk and examples).

The good news is that people that have not followed Gary and the social media trend (or have and don’t buy into it yet), this book is a great summary.  Unfortunately, the opposite is also true.  If you are a true fan of Gary and you follow his tweets, talks, Wine Library TV (now Daily Grape), Facebook (yes, he got /gary), etc. then this book will not hold any surprises.  It will still be entertaining and may motivate you to some extent to go get after it, but it will not share some massive new insight that was heretofore unknown.

Regardless of your exposure to Gary, the book is an interesting read with a unique perspective on the social media landscape – told from somebody on the bleeding edge of the trend and by an individual who couldn’t believe more in its power.  He references the very well known Old Spice craze and shares his thoughts on how businesses need to get back to the basics.  He often reminisces about old-school (“your grandparents generation”) ways of doing business, where they always knew your name.  Back when shopping was an intimate experience and a place where people met.

Oddly, it is an amazing parallel as people now share more than ever on websites and websites know more and more about an individual with every click.  In a very real sense the ‘shopkeepers’ do know you by name.

I actually found the most interesting part of the book after the conclusion in the area titled “Sawdust”.  Here you get a rapid fire series of topics, some as short as one line, that Gary provides his opinion on.  For any Gary Vay-Ner-Chuk fan(a Vaniac) this is a part of the book the really rings true.  You can almost see him jumping from topic to topic in his trademark over-the-top ultra-sure manner that makes him so engaging to watch.

What are your thoughts on social media?

This has been a Thought From The Cake Scraps.