Multiplicity Abounds
Manufacturers typically have an easier job spotting the by-products that they produce. If you work in a lumber-mill you see the sawdust and wood scraps, the company has to do something with them, and a smart company will find ways to turn the waste into opportunity.
Your by-products might be invisible, or at least hidden, but they are still there! Not to mention that sometimes when you produce something in one context, what was produced ends up being a building block to something later, or a resource to pull from for building out multiple things down the road.
Examples
In Rework, Fried and Hansson provide 3 stories of various by-products:
1️⃣ Their Previous Book: Getting Real
The experience that came from building a company and building software was the “waste.” That “waste” was captured in blog posts, then a workshop series, then into a PDF, and then into a book. It gave over $1 Million directly to the company and then contributed to over $1 Million indirectly.
2️⃣ The Rock Band: Wilco
They filmed their recording process and released it as a documentary. The movie generated some healthy revenue and it introduced the band to a wider audience.
3️⃣ Henry Ford
“Henry Ford learned of a process for turning wood scraps from the production of Model T’s into charcoal briquets. he built a charcoal plant and Ford Charcoal was created (later renamed Kingsford Charcoal). Today, Kingsford is still the leading manufacturer of charcoal in America.”
Software companies don’t usually think about writing books. Bands don’t usually think about filming the recording process. Car manufacturers don’t usually think about selling charcoal. There’s probably something you haven’t thought about that you could [curate and use] too.
How to Capture Your By-Products
Observe your work areas, be they physical or digital and see what by-products exist.
Create things that make your life better, and then see if you can encourage others with your own findings or creations.
This is similar to our entry: Scratch Your Own Itch
Document, document, document… You never know when what you need in one moment, or what fascinates you in one moment, will be useful at a later date.
To do this well, you’ll need at least a decent Note System, or to be really efficient and organized, a 2nd Brain System.
When tackling a new initiative, think about what you’ve done that is similar. Pull from those resources (key takeaways, literal documentation, tools, etc.), and get a head start!
🌟 TOP PICKS
Rework - 80+ short lessons learned by a startup and passed on to all leaders and managers. One lesson from this book is the inspiration for this issue of T+P.
ℹ️ Product links in this newsletter are affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty - Proverbs 14:23
