#73 | 12.6.24 - The Secret to Meaningful Appreciation / AI Grandma Fights Back Against Scammers / Lessons from 10 Books on Productivity / The 25 Best Places to Go in 2025
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The Secret to Meaningful Appreciation
Last week, I wrote about The Gratitude Multiplier—a concept that resonated with many of you. I received a great follow-up question from Sarah J:
Can over-recognition ever become a detriment?
Such a thoughtful question deserves a thoughtful answer. Here’s my perspective:
As leaders, most of us don’t say “thank you” nearly as often as we should. Craig Groeschel gives brilliant advice on this: whatever number of thank-yous you think is enough, double it. Only then are you approaching the sweet spot.
But here’s the catch: not all gratitude is created equal. Appreciation can sometimes backfire if it feels insincere or disconnected from the reality of someone’s contributions.
A friend of mine recently shared a story about a former manager. As the manager left the office every day, he’d call out, “Thanks, everyone, for your work today!” While the sentiment wasn’t necessarily bad, my friend said it was the only time this manager ever expressed gratitude. Without specific acknowledgment of anyone’s individual efforts, the thank-yous felt like a hollow habit rather than genuine appreciation.
So, how can we make sure our praise hits the mark?
One word - Specificity
Specificity transforms a generic “thank you” into something personal, memorable, and motivating. Instead of a broad, impersonal message like, “Thanks, everyone,” take the time to highlight specific actions and their impact.
For example:
Instead of: “Thanks, team, for your hard work today.”
Try: “Thanks, Jan, for your persistence in closing that sale. We’ve been working with that client for months, and your efforts helped us finally cross the finish line.”
Or:
Instead of: “Appreciate you all!”
Try: “Bill, I noticed you held the door open for the UPS delivery person this morning. That small gesture speaks volumes about the team culture we’re building here.”
Why Specificity Works
Specific praise shows that you’re paying attention. It makes people feel genuinely seen and valued. It also reinforces the behaviors you want to encourage across your team—setting a tone for what success looks like.
By combining specificity with increased frequency, you’ll create a culture of genuine appreciation where people feel motivated and recognized for their unique contributions.
AI Grandma Fights Back Against Scammers
Have you met Daisy? Daisy is an AI bot that can hold autonomous conversations with scam callers to waste their time 🤣 While she does not intercept any calls, she has multiple phone numbers of her own that O2 has worked to get into circulation online.
Lessons from 10 Books on Productivity
An excellent summary here of the lessons from well-known productivity books. I particularly enjoyed the summary from The 4 Disciplines of Execution:
Choose a single focus, a “wildly important goal” you’ll try to achieve above and beyond the day-to-day whirlwind of your working life.
Track your progress on the goal. In particular, separate the lag measures you care about from lead measures you can influence.
Put up a scoreboard so everyone can see your progress.
Stay accountable through a weekly meeting where you see how you can make progress happen.
The 25 Best Places to Go in 2025
This was a fun list to scroll through. Definitely gave me some good ideas for the coming year!
Words to wrap up:
“Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of.”
- C.S. Lewis