Your feedback on Forestview

One month in, here's what some of you are saying about the newsletter

Quick summary:

• Several readers have shared their initial thoughts on Forestview

• Some quick fixes have taken place with others planned in the near future

• Additional feedback is greatly appreciated! My contact info is provided below

• As with any new product at launch, Forestview will continue to evolve over time

The motivation behind Forestview

The Forestview newsletter launched just over 1 month ago and I’ve received feedback from several readers over this time that I wanted to share with all of you. When I initially launched Forestview, I shared my reasons for doing so as well as the values that underlie this newsletter. What I did not explicitly state is that part of my motivation in launching the Forestview newsletter was my wish to have a similar resource when I worked at large organizations and was responsible for leading innovation efforts at those firms. While C-suite executives are responsible for charting the future course for their enterprises, the reality is their day-to-day responsibilities are demanding and relentless, full of back-to-back meetings and an inbox that’s overflowing. (Actually, that description fits most professionals I know, C-suite or not.) As a leader responsible for identifying, shaping, and executing on innovation efforts, senior executives often looked to me for advice and guidance to inform our firm’s strategy and help set our future direction. In this role, I found it exceedingly difficult to find information about current trends that were impacting the future that were clear and concise and not tied to serving ads or making a sales pitch. So, in some ways, I initially launched Forestview with “past me” as a target audience, knowing that I was not the only one who faced this struggle.

While I have designed Forestview based on my 25+ years experience in the financial services industry, the newsletter is not intended to simply be a blog or reflection on my career journey. It is ultimately intended for you - a reader who are looking for the same reliable and trustworthy sources of information to help shape your own thinking, strategies, tactics and actions. I want to ensure the newsletter is not simply a vanity project but drives value to you, the reader. My goal is to stimulate your own thinking, inspire you to share the newsletter with colleagues, and start a conversation that ultimately leads to better decision making for your organization. I’ve seen this occur repeatedly with my book The End Of Insurance As We Know It and hope to channel that success on an ongoing basis with the Forestview newsletter.

Ideas for improvement

Here is the top feedback I’ve received over the past month that readers have shared:

• Add a summary at the top of each edition to provide the “bottom line up front”

• Provide further reading section at the bottom of each edition to allow for depth

• Organize editions by topics to provide an overall theme by month or quarter

• Keep each edition to 10 minutes or less of reading time

• Create a podcast version to allow for listening rather than reading via e-mail

In response to these terrific suggestions, Forestview will be evolving. Each edition now has a quick summary at the top so you get the core concepts up front and can choose to continue reading further, file it away for later, or simply hit delete. Future editions will have links to further reading at the bottom as every topic covered has a lot more information sources to be explored.

Starting in July, each month will have an overall theme for the Monday edition which will consider a current trend or topic that has implications for the future that most organizations must respond to. Friday editions will cover more general thoughts, concepts and lessons learned on innovation. Each edition will remain at a similar length for readability and timeliness - a little more in depth than most of the content you consume to spur “big picture” thinking but hopefully not in the TL;DR category (too long, didn’t read).

Over the second half of 2022, the plan for my firm Forestview Insights is for us to develop new products such as videos, podcasts, and online learning courses that provide more depth for those looking to go beyond the basic concepts shared in the Forestview newsletter. This will include the launch of the Forestview newsletter as a podcast that simply provides the same information as the written newsletter, but in an audible format for ease of accessibility. Any ideas or suggestions for what additional products would be beneficial to you and your organization are greatly appreciated.

How can Forestview be a better resource for you?

Finally, I’d love to receive more feedback from readers!

What topics would you like to hear more about? I’ll continue sharing those that I find relevant and impactful, but there are so many to potentially cover that any thoughts you have on this question would be quite helpful. Both broad themes and more narrow topics are helpful. For example, is crypto and Web3 of interest to you? What about the changing role of institutions and shifts in power globally and locally?

Are Mondays and Fridays the best days of the week to send out the newsletter? Marketers tend to send out e-mails Tuesdays and Thursdays and Wednesdays are popular as well because they get the highest open rates. In my experience, these days were my busiest meeting days and the last thing I wanted an extra e-mail in my inbox. Is slimming down to a once-a-week cadence better? Any thoughts on frequency and best day(s) of the week for this newsletter are exceedingly valuable.

How can the Forestview newsletter be more impactful? Given that my stated goal is not simply to convey information but to also stimulate thinking and encourage you to share the newsletter with others and start a conversation, how can I best achieve this? Would more data or case studies would be beneficial? What about featuring resources that relate to a specific topic such as individuals and organizations that can help you? Your time is a valuable resource that you invest in Forestview as a loyal reader, so I want to this newsletter provides as much value to you as possible.

Have feedback to provide on Forestview? Post a comment below, send me an e-mail at rob@seetheforestview.com or DM me on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram. Thanks for subscribing and sharing your thoughts!