The Simplest Growth Tool

If you want to create long-term value, start replying to everyone you hear from.

- by JASON FEIFER

How responsive are you—to friends, colleagues, and even strangers?

Now, be honest: Have you ever really thought about that? You should.

“I find responsiveness to be one of the qualities I value most in people, and some of the best leaders and people I know are responsive,” the pop artist Artie Sandstone recently wrote me. “On the flip side, so many people I love and respect seem to place responsiveness on a lower level of importance. Why? It requires little talent and adds so much value.”

Great question. Responsiveness might be the easiest, simplest, and yet most overlooked thing you can do to make people happy, show them respect, and create new opportunities. I reply to almost everyone who emails or DMs me, and have benefited enormously.

I get it—responding to people is time-consuming! So let’s make it easier for you. To start, I suspect there are three reasons that people don’t do it.

1 Organizational breakdown