Welcome to Brass Tack Thinking

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Brass Tack Thinking - Welcome to Brass TacksWe know who you are: You make things happen.

You want to make things happen. You need to make things happen. It’s part of who you are—maybe even at the core of it. You’re one of those people who brings change. It surrounds you. Follows you wherever you go.

You’re not the only one. But you are frustrated.

You’re an outlier. Not a lot of people see the world the way you do. Even fewer are willing—like you are—to do something about what they see.

Sometimes you feel like Cassandra, cursed to speak the truth to a world that doesn’t believe. Or like Sisyphus, rolling the same rock, up the same hill, only for it to come crashing down again (minus only a few pebbles, now mostly lodged in your feet) to reward your efforts.

You see what needs to happen, but no one else does. Or maybe you see what needs to happen, and can’t figure out how to get there from here. Or maybe you know something needs to happen, but you can’t yet figure out what. Or maybe you just want to make things, including yourself, better and want a way to do that.

That’s where Brass Tack Thinking comes in.

We’re like you. We’re constructive heretics, working within systems to change them, and intellectual magpies, finding solutions wherever they hide. We’ve each spent years making things happen—for individuals, for organizations, for ourselves. And now we want to do it with you.

Brass Tack Thinking is mindset – a set of principles and systems – for making things happen. When we started to talk about how each of us has tackled our life and career challenges over the years, we realized that, far from being alone, we shared an approach, a mindset, for bringing change. For making it real, not just something we wished for. For setting our minds to something, and laying out a path to get there.

The chief tenet of that mindset is a belief that making things happen is a process. A teachable one. A repeatable one. It’s a process that uses basic elements—brass tacks, if you will—to assess a situation as it is, how we want it to be, and how to make that future state real and sustainable.

So let’s do it.

We’re starting this blog as a collaboration. Both with each other, and more importantly, with you as well. We want to use this collaboration as a way to help you make your priorities happen—in work, in life, wherever—and to help build a coalition of those of us for whom action is the validation of thought.

Some of the posts will be purely tactical, others philosophical. Some will be well-planned, others are likely to be off-the-cuff rants (so forgive us in advance). Some will be about specific tools (yes, even social media…), others will be about what specific tools enable in the bigger picture. But all are meant to move talking about doing things into actually, well, doing things.

We have bigger plans, of course, for where this all could go. But we’ll keep those under wraps for now. (You’ll be in on the ground floor.)

In the meantime, weigh in. Tell us where your “pain points” are. Tell us where you stumble and where you succeed. Tell us how we, and this approach that we’re developing, can be most useful to you. We’re listening, we’re excited, and we’re ready to get down to Brass Tacks.

Let’s make things happen. Together. Thanks for coming along for the ride.

Our best,

Amber and Tamsen

p.s. – If you’ve been a subscriber to Altitude Branding, no need to change a thing. You’ll continue to get posts right from BTT just like you always have. And if you haven’t subscribed yet, what are you waiting for?

image credit: monamarie

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  • http://www.ricardobueno.com Ricardo Bueno

    Amber & Tamsen: congrats on the new blog and the new look! Definitely lookin' forward to pokin' around, following along and weighing in here and there…

  • http://www.sonnygill.com Sonny Gill

    Amber – I remember when you gave me the fortunate opportunity to hear (though, very little) of a new project of yours and Tamsen's, and I've been curious as to what it was until last week when you announced BTT. Definitely excited to see/read what you two have cooking for this new venture and look forward to being a part of it! All the best to you smart cookies.

  • http://www.thechrisjordan.com Chris Jordan

    Sort of like a caller on a radio show… I'm a long time listener, first time commenter. So I thought this would be a good time to poke my head in and say hello. I'm excited to see what direction you take this, and where you help lead people with it.

  • http://cloverdewcreative.wordpress.com Sara Halperin

    HECK, YES. I'm ready. Let's get this show on the road! ;)

  • AmberNaslund

    You better weigh in lots! :)

  • AmberNaslund

    Thanks, Sonny. You're one of my “old school” peeps and it's fun to have you here for all the twists and turns. I hope you'll stick around and lend your insights; heaven knows you've got great in the trenches experiences that lots of people can learn from. Thanks for your support. :)

  • http://ianmrountree.com Ian M Rountree

    Nice kick-off, Amber – very cool! Can't wait to see what comes of the shift from Altitude to here. It's a brave new world, isn't it?

  • AmberNaslund

    Thanks, Ian. It won't be quite as massive a shift as you might think. I've actually been headed this direction on Altitude for a while, so this just makes it official. :)

  • AmberNaslund

    Well hi! So glad you broke your silence. Glad to have you aboard.

  • AmberNaslund

    I know YOU are, miss crazy train. Glad to have you here. I know you've got lots to say, and I hope you'll pipe up often.

  • http://blog.pathoftheblueeye.com Fard Johnmar

    Just found your blog via @mindofandre. I agree that making stuff happen is hard work. Looking forward to seeing your process. Hoping that it addresses the emotional issues associated with being a doer — after all, it's lonely work.

    Best of Luck
    Fard Johnmar
    http://blog.pathoftheblueeye.com

  • http://twitter.com/creativexplorer james bridgman

    I love the approach, philoshopy and general – 'get on with it' attitude. Looking forward to reading more, and congratulations on the launch

  • http://www.sulmoz.com Puja Madan

    Amber, I've been following your blog for almost 8 months now and have become a big fan of your insights and practical tidbits that you share so generously. As you embark on your new adventure, there's only warm, heartfelt wishes for your success! I look forward to more goodies from you and Tamsen…

  • http://twitter.com/hansdekraker Hans

    Interesting. interested and resonates. Remember your impetus from the Intronetworks webinar with Mark. Curious and happy to weigh in from Sydney.

  • KatFrench

    Very, very cool, ladies. :)

    The whole approach of collaborative problem solving to get stuff done is really similar to what we're doing over at Thoughtwrestling. Adding BTT to my feeds and looking forward to what you smart chicks come up with next.

  • http://twitter.com/DanaLHopkins Dana L Hopkins

    Amber and Tamsen I just linked to your blog from Chris Brogan who suggested it. Did you reach into my head and pull out the sentiments and descriptions of how I feel and the challenges I face. I am hooked and am eager to follow on this journey.

  • http://twitter.com/missy5ft2 Missy Knight

    Congratulations on the new blog launch – looking forward to your content and discussions to follow.

  • http://www.keithburtis.com Keith Burtis

    Congrats to you both and best of success!

  • mitchfanning

    Congrats on the launch! Looking fwd to adding my 2 cents to the conversation here on Brass Tack Thinking.

    Cheers,
    @mitchfanning

  • danperez

    Amber & Tamsen, congrats & best wishes on this new endeavor. I hope you take it from the ground floor to the penthouse. Amber, I've always appreciated your honesty and non-conformist attitude. With that said, I'll look forward to your occasional off-the-cuff rants. Keep striving. . .

    “Greatest fools are oft most satisfied.” – Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux

    Nuff said.

  • http://www.briandshelton.com Brian D. Shelton

    Congratulations on the new blog! I loved the introduction (great writing) and look forward to following the conversations here at BTT.

  • http://allurblogs.blogspot.com/ AJinNashville

    Big ups on the new venture, Amber! I'm not as well acquainted with Tamsen, but I hope you know how much I admire your wonderful personality and the always-smart approach to everything of yours I read. Looking forward to expanding my horizons further and getting down to brass tacks! ;)

  • AmberNaslund

    Glad to have you here! And you can bet that we'll be talking a lot about the emotional, sociological and psychological stuff behind making things happen. Tamsen and I both know it well. :)

  • AmberNaslund

    Many thanks, James. We're glad to have you here.

  • AmberNaslund

    Thanks so much, Puja! Really appreciate your continued support, and can't wait to have you weigh in as we move forward. :)

  • AmberNaslund

    Hi Hans! Great to see you again. Looking forward to hearing what you've got to say, and hope things are well down under! I'd really like to get back there sometime this year. Scheming…

  • AmberNaslund

    Hi Kat! Thanks so much. And I love what you're up to over at Thoughtwrestling, especially with the focus on executing on creativity. I'll be keeping track of what you guys are up to over there, too! Congrats on a great project.

  • AmberNaslund

    That's what we were going for. :) Our ESP is finely tuned… kidding. Truly, it's more common than you think. And the more we realized there were like minds out there looking for purchase, the more we realized not only did we want to do this, we simply had to. Glad to have you here.

  • http://twitter.com/tamadear Tamsen McMahon (@tamadear)

    I LOVE the idea of Thoughtwrestling, and will be adding that to my feeds as well! As we said, we want this to be a coalition of people who want to get things done–glad to know you're with us!

  • AmberNaslund

    Missy, you've been such a great supporter for so long, so I'm very glad to have you aboard for the next chapter here. Thank you much for being part of it.

  • AmberNaslund

    Thanks, Keith. You've also been a great source of support over the last couple of years, so I'm very grateful you'll be sticking around for the journey. Looking forward to hearing more from you in the coming months.

  • http://twitter.com/tamadear Tamsen McMahon (@tamadear)

    You've discovered our secret…we're psychic! Now, if only that were true. The good news, of course, is that what we hope to represent is a way of thinking about situations and challenges that's the exact opposite of hocus pocus. Looking forward to seeing you here and hearing what you think!

  • AmberNaslund

    Thanks Mitch! So glad you'll be sticking around. I've enjoyed chatting with you and can't wait for more.

  • http://twitter.com/tamadear Tamsen McMahon (@tamadear)

    Thanks, Missy! We hope to see you here often.

  • AmberNaslund

    Ah, Dan. You've been so full of enthusiasm and support I can't tell you how grateful I am. You know you'll be getting plenty of sass from me. And make no mistake, Tamsen can BRING IT. Though she's usually much more tactful than I. :)

  • AmberNaslund

    I have to tip the hat to Tamsen here… I put the post up, but she wrote it. She's got an elegant way with words.

  • AmberNaslund

    Thank you AJ! You'll get to know Tamsen, and you won't be sorry. I've been an admirer of her work for a while now so it's truly my pleasure to work with her on this project. Thanks for sticking around and supporting us here!

  • http://twitter.com/tamadear Tamsen McMahon (@tamadear)

    Thank you, Keith! We're both so touched about how supportive everyone has been.

  • http://twitter.com/tamadear Tamsen McMahon (@tamadear)

    We're glad you have you here!

  • http://twitter.com/tamadear Tamsen McMahon (@tamadear)

    One of the most exciting things about this is where we think it can go. Thanks for your good wishes–we look forward to delivering on them!

  • http://twitter.com/tamadear Tamsen McMahon (@tamadear)

    Thanks, Brian! We consider this the start of a great conversation with all of you. Glad you'll be a part of it.

  • danperez

    Tamsen, You're welcome! All this with a newborn? You go girl! I'm following. . .

  • danperez

    Amber, I would expect nothing less. *Hug*

  • http://socialbutterflyguy.com/ DJ Waldow

    Amber and Tamsen, Tamsen and Amber. That has a nice ring to it. I'm feel honored to know both of you. There is not a doubt in my mind that this blog will kick even more ass than Altitude Branding did – and that's a tough one to top. You both have such passion, energy, and smarts. You also both tell it how you see it which is always refreshing. A no BS approach, with thought-provoking, actionable content (and a dash of humor) is a winner. I'll read every single post.

    I'm done rambling. Beers on me next time I see y'all…

    DJ Waldow
    Director of Community, Blue Sky Factory
    @djwaldow

  • http://nikkistephan.com Nikki Stephan

    Congrats to both of you! Looking forward to all the great info that I KNOW will come from this blog. :)

  • http://broadcasting-brain.com Mark Dykeman

    Thanks for the kind words and the Tweet as well, Amber! Can you say “traffic spike”?

    Best wishes for BT!

  • http://broadcasting-brain.com Mark Dykeman

    Thanks Tamsen!

  • http://twitter.com/tamadear Tamsen McMahon (@tamadear)

    Insanity is one of the qualities Amber and I share. ;)

  • http://twitter.com/tamadear Tamsen McMahon (@tamadear)

    We're so lucky to have you as one of our cheerleaders, DJ. And you're on for that beer (or other, related, libation)–I'm just glad to finally be able to partake! ;)

  • http://twitter.com/tamadear Tamsen McMahon (@tamadear)

    Thanks so much! Good thing we both thrive under pressure… ;)