The Weekly Reframe #12

3 things that made me think differently and why they matter.

1/ Notice

Yesterday was Valentine's Day. The price of flowers, especially red roses 🌹, can be 100% higher on 'the day' than off-peak in March.

Some call it supply and demand. True, but incomplete. Prices fluctuate when perceived value shifts. Valentine’s pulls a few big levers all at once:

• Deadline: A fixed date creates urgency that March doesn’t have; urgency reduces price sensitivity because the alternative is social failure.
• Scarcity: That nagging voice... “If I wait, they’re gone.” The deadline + limited stock turns a want-to-have into a must-have.
• Social signalling: On this special day, flowers aren’t just flowers. They function as a ritual that shows “I remembered” and “I love you”.
• Theatre: Special displays and packaging reframe the product as an experience or ritual, not a commodity.

So you’re not paying for flowers. You’re paying for the value of certainty, meaning, a social outcome, and experience creation.

All at a price premium.

Now think about this in a work context. Look at your work through the lens of contribution, not effort.

If something is important and urgent; if your expertise significantly reduces the risks of failure and increase the chances of success; if you offer better decisions and faster outcomes... why would you price your contribution in terms of time in the office?

2/ Do

I came back again to the excellent LinkedIn post from Karen Monaghan, the Founder and CEO of Our Kinds.

I wrote about it last week in the context of this directive: If you don't understand the system, you have no business trying to change it.

I won't reiterate the post content. Suffice it to say most cafés are already system-engineered to function smoothly. They avoid 'variations' that put grit in the oil of a working system.

The post is an excellent case study for:

Solution hypothesis → Customer test → Discover constraints → Solution pivot → Implementation success.

This week I suggest you write down the 3 'exceptions' that show up in your work. Things like scope creep, last-minute urgency, unclear decision-making.

Choose one and create a guardrail for next week (one question you always ask, one boundary you always hold, one default you always use).

Your only goal - fewer exceptions, not more effort to accommodate them.

3/ Question

Who knows a version of you that you’ve now outgrown?
You don’t need to convince them.
But if you keep performing for their outdated picture,
you’ve just agreed to stay smaller.
Stop auditioning for the role you no longer want.

A few examples to stimulate your thinking:

“I stay because they’ve ‘always been there’, even though the work drains me.”

“I avoid sharing what I’m building because they’ll roll their eyes.”

“I keep saying yes to the same type of project because that’s what they expect.”

“I downplay my ambition because it makes others more comfortable.”

“I let them introduce me as my old title because correcting them feels awkward.”

Ask yourself: Where do I choose approval over alignment?

Hit reply and share your takeaways this week.

That's it until next week.


Clive