TACTIC MATTERS
OR WHY WE NEED TO
HAVE
A DIGITAL
APPRENTICESHIP
MODEL
GEEK GIRL MEETUP
SEPTEMBER BERLIN 2012
@NicoleSimon, nicole-simon.eu

The plan
 „With all talk about strategy, tactics and
operation is often overlooked. As a result
process documentation is considered evil and
not learning the tools of the trade kinda hipster.
I will present examples and myths from my
daily work and client liefe and hope to leave
you with a better idea of why tactics are
relevant”
 A move to Berlin came in the way. ;) So more
fingerfood ideas than the planned meal.

Strategy vs. Tactics
Strategy Tactic (+ Operation)
 Vision – where do  how do we get there
we want to go and  what is to do?
why  steps, procedures,
 what to achieve workflows

Example for tactics
 Setting up / running / supporting / managing
 mail boxes to work with externals / VA
 a tumblr blog the proper way
 content process from research to publishing
 blogger outreach
 events with attendees list
 running data through scripts / spreadsheet
 organizing a physical inbox

Everything playing together
Quelle Wikipedia, Artikel Note, Klavierauszug, Partitur

Amateur versus professional
 Amateur tries around and if successful, is
happy
 Does not really learn from experiences
 Professional tries to get to the ground of what
they are doing and providing solutions which
can be optimized over time
 Tries to transfer knowledge to strengthen the
web of knowledge
 And there are people who like doing this

People love accounting
 Okay, some people love accounting. If you
don„t love it, don„t work there
 Simple question: Did you build Lego or play
with it?
 I heard most of my life „Step away from the
tools!“
- when in fact I should step closer towards
them
 there is a strong need to move towards an
apprentice – journeyman – master model to

practice makes perfect
 Malcom Gladwell‟s outliers describes the
famous 10K hours (but he also describes “to
be there at the right time”)
 But you will not be able to „do‟ everything on
that level which is why we need more
connection points or as I like to call it pipes

More pipes and more
connections
 Having single ego driven products and
services / startups will not move us ahead.
 We need more connection between systems in
order to achive what science fiction has been
promising us for like forever
 Working on open source projects / creative
commons will not be the future but it is a step
in the right direction
 „Tactics“ as I define it play a huge part

Understand roles
 Traditional model of shared production
process is working – you should adapt it
 But this requires also a mindset of such a
workflow
 Ask yourself: If you had an assistant, would
you trust them with your inbox aka Google Mail
login?
 Is then the solution to not have an assistant or
prepare your surrounding in a way that you
can?

Example Interview
Deutschlandradio
 Each of the following is one person
 pre interview / initial contact
 setting up time and place of recording
 getting me in the studio, setting up
 technician on my side
 technician on the oder side
 pre show person to coordinate
 moderator to talk to me
 Sounds crazy?

We need to evolve
 Technology – while advancing forward – has
moved backwards
 The things I could do a decade ago are not
available any more
 We are dumbing down (and startups play their
part in this) instead of moving to a
<insertwordhere> future
 That includes spending ressources

No input, no output

The master apprentice problem
 People stay on the level pre apprentice
 There is no system to compare yourself in
regards of your skill set
 Teaching of skills and craftsmanship is not
done systematically or properly
 Result: We all stay amateurs and waste time
with people who need apprenticeship level
support instead of working with professionals

Using skripts / workflows
15
 “Cooking by recipe”
makes your steps
repeatable
 Everything you do
more than once a year
should be skripted
 Goal: Be able to
switch of your brain

Workflow is not evil
 Enterprise and traditional business is a source
of inspiration for easier working
 No fretting over what to do
 Bad workflow is the problem
 “French intern” test
 “it is about being ready”

Learn the tools and ask the
master
 If in doubt, find somebody who can do it better
than you do.
 They know the tricks of the trade and know
where you currently stand
 Start to have a producer mindset, not a
consumer, start looking for the ways to
enhance and help others

Pay it forward works
 Things will not come back to you directly but
indirectly
 Example my podcast series
 It allows me from time to time to ask stupid
questions
 I get asked things in my area of expertise
which help me to deepen my knowledge

‚Fazit„
 Ignore what people are telling you to go to / at
and move towards what you like doing
 Comments, suggestions?
I„d love to get your input!
http://nicole-simon.eu/contact