Spooky Action

The Future Sneaks Up on You

2011-09-06T20:16:00.002-07:00

It's easy to get caught up in the bread and circuses of what most media is saying about the state of the economy and the world. I pity the fool that watches television! Newton Minow made the most prophetic statement of the 20th century when he said:

"When television is good, nothing — not the theater, not the magazines or newspapers — nothing is better.

But when television is bad, nothing is worse. I invite each of you to sit down in front of your own television set when your station goes on the air and stay there, for a day, without a book, without a magazine, without a newspaper, without a profit and loss sheet or a rating book to distract you. Keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland.

You will see a procession of game shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families, blood and thunder, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder, western bad men, western good men, private eyes, gangsters, more violence, and cartoons. And endlessly commercials — many screaming, cajoling, and offending. And most of all, boredom. True, you'll see a few things you will enjoy. But they will be very, very few. And if you think I exaggerate, I only ask you to try it."

But while you're being distracted by murder and mayhem, amazing things are happening outside of the glass rectangle.

To whit: Researchers at Tufts University have created a single molecule motor! Did you see that on the nightly news? Nope. They're too busy with cultural trivia and the latest potentially disatrous to notice the big stuff. These advances keep piling up at an accelerating rate. In 5 years they'll start making stunning medical breakthroughs. In 10 they'll make it possible to wipe out malnutrition worldwide if we can depose the forces that profit from it.

What then?

My Apologies to Mighty Capey

2011-02-03T13:41:00.004-07:00

Mid-way through last NFL season I wrote a post entitled "There is No Joy in Cheesevile, Mighty Capey Has Struck Out"

Everything I said in it has turned out to be utter rubbish!

In the off season, the Packers brought in defensive coordinator Dom Capers to shore up a defense that couldn't stop anyone when it counted in 2008. Guess what. The Packers still can't stop anyone when it really counts.

Even though it's only Week 8, the Packers conceded the NFC North title to the Vikings with their loss today. Sure, they're ONLY three games back in the standings, but they have yet to make a statement win against a quality opponent. But they DO have two statement embarrassing losses at home. And they barely escaped a third statement embarassing loss to Chicago at home in Week One.

At what point does the coaching staff decide not to allow a dozen sacks in a single game? Troy Aikmen told a story this week about how Jimmy Johnson said he'd rather take a dozen holding penalties and throw a dozen balls away rather than take sacks. Apparently Mike McCarthy would rather take sacks. And Aaron Rodgers should be given a spot on the Seinfeld show, because he NEVER LEARNS to get rid of the ball on time! As long-suffering Cubs fans would say: maybe next year...

Ted Thompson's record post-Favre is a losing one. The Packers may end up with a winning record this season, but they'll be watching the playoffs from home this January.

Wow. Could I be more wrong on all counts as the Packers head to ~~Super Bowl VL~~ the Big Game That Happens On the First Weekend in February?

Okay, so the Packers DID make the playoffs last year, but IN MY DEFENSE the offensive line got healthy (physically and attitudinally) right after the old post and the Packers gave up 50-something points to the Cardinals in losing their opening playoff game. And Rodgers and McCarthy didn't get the play calling right until after the Matt Flynn game in New England in Week 15 of THIS season. But Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy and Dom Capers and the whole Packers staff and team did something amazing this season with all of the injuries and changes. Teams bringing in street free agents to start during the second half of the season don't go to the Game Opposite the Final Round of the Phoenix Open.

Win or lose on Sunday, this season will be one of the most amazing, and satisfying, for any Packer fan.

I officially declare the Wrath of the Football Gods to be over!

UPDATE:Told you so!

No Harlan, No Favre. Just the center of a new dynasty in the tradition of the Green Bay Packers.

Worried about a Holmgren-style ego meltdown? Don't be. From Mike McCarthy's day-after press conference:

(What is your view of the way Rodgers played last night, and how in sync do you feel you are with him now?)
I thought Aaron Rodgers played like Aaron Rodgers, and that’s why he is the MVP. He has been so consistent throughout the season, and even more so in the playoffs. But the play-caller and the quarterback are on the same page. Just the conversation we had in the locker room before the game. It was simply let me be aggressive as the play-caller; you have to be the disciplined one and keep us in favorable plays and throw it away if you have a bad look, and he did a great job with that. I think he has the best set of skills in the league as far as his pinpoint accuracy, his athletic ability, and all of his best football is in front of him. It’s a special relationship. It will go on long after football, but he did exactly what he was supposed to do. He let the play-caller be aggressive and he managed the football game.

emphasis mine

Oh, and do you think that answer had anything to do with this one:

(The last Packers coach to win a Super Bowl left a couple of years later. Do you see yourself being in this job long-term? Do you see this as your last job?)
I would hope this is my last job. I’m a builder and we have built something special. This program was built the right way, has quality people in Aaron Rodgers and all the way through that are going to lead this football team for a long time. So I would definitely hope this is my last job.

And he's already got Valentine's Day covered with this:

(The last two coaches to win the trophy, Sean Payton and Mike Tomlin, said they only got an hour or two of sleep and they slept with the trophy. How much sleep did you get, and did you sleep with the trophy?)
My wife is too good looking not to sleep with her. I didn’t sleep with the trophy. The trophy is with our director of security, Doug Collins. I don’t know if he slept with it. You’ll have to ask him.

Makings of a dynasty right there, my friends!

...and, blinking, he stepped back out into the light, and proceeded in a new direction

2010-05-01T14:06:00.007-07:00

How are you feeling about your financial future these days? If you're like me, you're probably not feeling too confident about the path you're on.

I've got a job (for which I am very thankful), but last week the company had a round of layoffs, and I don't want to be sweating those out when I'm 70 years old. And neither a government stipend nor the tatters of my 401(k) are looking like they'll provide the lifestyle I've dreamed of for decades...

So what is the answer?

Coming up with a great new idea, starting my own business, growing it into something special, and retiring on the proceeds of an IPO or sale? The odds are always long, and I'm 0-3 on the entrepreneurial experiment, so maybe I'll look elsewhere this time. Besides, I'd like to generate some income this year.

How about finishing that book and getting it published and leveraging that into a lucrative speaking and training business? That's not worked out so far, and I'm really not interested right now in doing something alone. And I'd like to generate some income this year.

Maybe trading FOREX or stocks on the side? One of my entrepreneurial ventures was along those lines, and I saw what an unpredictable market can do to some good systems...maybe later, because I'd have a big learning curve, and I want to generate income this year.

I sure am picky. I want something that I can start in addition to my day job, but something that can grow into my long term nest egg. Something I don't have to do all by myself, but doesn't have a long term learning curve before I start making money. And I want it to be something that's a big win-win for everyone involved.

I searched and thought and prayed long and hard about what I could do, and then one day a friend suggested I check out a network marketing company called Qivana.

I wasn't too keen on the idea. Was it some sort of pyramid scheme (not win-win)? And I am definitely not a great salesperson with a vast personal network. But as I did my due diligence, I found that the business met all my other criteria. I can start it part time and invest more time as the business grows. The company makes some really interesting products systems for improving internal bodily systems and for weight management (and yes, I'm using them and yes they work!). The management team has deep expertise in the industry and has taken these types of companies to greatness before. And best of all, the company is in it's first year and has that nest-egg-building upside!

No, wait, best of all is that it's not a pyramid scheme. There are plenty of legitimate network marketing companies; Warren Buffett owns more than one. And I really believe in the company and products, so letting people know about the opportunity doesn't feel like selling. I feel better about this opportunity than I did about all those other things before. If you would find out more about Qivana, feel free to contact me.

This may or may not be for you, but if Congress has their way, preventative medicine will be the only type you'll have any control over in the future...I'm going to own my life. What would it be like if you owned yours?

From Popular Science: Baguette Dropped From Bird’s Beak Shuts Down the Large Hadron Collider (Really)

2009-11-10T22:21:00.004-07:00

Renactment - not actual footage of Baguette

Popular Science reports that a French bird - let's call him Jean Luc Mallard - has taken out the Large Hadron Collider with a piece of bread:

The bird dropped some bread on a section of outdoor machinery, eventually leading to significant over heating in parts of the accelerator. The LHC was not operational at the time of the incident, but the spike produced so much heat that had the beam been on, automatic failsafes would have shut down the machine.

The article concludes with the sentence:

With freak accident after freak accident piling up over at CERN, the idea of time traveling particles returning from the future to prevent their own discovery is beginning to seem less and less far fetched.

I'm thinking that a simpler explanation is that God is toying with physicists...and you! 'Particles from the future?' HA! HA! Good one, scientists! Where is Occam's Razor when you need it?

But in the comments to the PopSci post was this:

The bird's briefing:

The approach will not be easy. You are required to maneuver straight down this trench and skim the surface to this point. The target area is only two meters wide. It's a small thermal exhaust port, right below the main port. The shaft leads directly to the reactor system. A precise hit will start a chain reaction which should destroy the station.

Geek scripture...

UPDATE: Packers GM Ted Thompson denies that ignominious decisions from the future are coming back in time to the 2009 Packers offensive line to make egregious errors in order to justify said future ignominious decisions...but that's about the only explanation for Sunday's performance...that, or the power of the dreamsicle...

The Divine Mercy Chaplet Podcast

2009-11-01T20:58:00.003-07:00

The Divine Mercy Chaplet is a prayer dictated by Our Lord to Sister Faustina Kowalska in the 1930's. He said:

Encourage souls to say the Chaplet which I have given you ... Whoever will recite it will receive great mercy at the hour of death ... When they say this chaplet in the presence of the dying, I will stand between my Father and the dying person, not as the Just Judge but as the Merciful Savior ... Priests will recommend it to sinners as their last hope of salvation. Even if there were a sinner most hardened, if he were to recite this chaplet only once, he would receive grace from my infinite mercy. I desire to grant unimaginable graces to those souls who trust in My mercy ... Through the Chaplet you will obtain everything, if what you ask for is compatible with My will.

The Chaplet is prayed using a standard Rosary. It begins with the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Apostle's Creed.

Then, on each large bead we pray:

Eternal Father,
I offer you the Body and Blood,
Soul and Divinity,
of Your Dearly Beloved Son,
Our Lord, Jesus Christ,
in atonement for our sins
and those of the whole world.

And on each small bead in a decade, we pray:

For the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world

And after all five decades are completed, we say the following prayer three times:

Holy God,
Holy Mighty One,
Holy Immortal One,
have mercy on us
and on the whole world

I was inspired to create this audio version of the Chaplet by Elizabeth Scalia's wonderful podcasts of the Rosary:

The Joyful Mysteries
The Sorrowful Mysteries
The Glorious Mysteries
The Luminous Mysteries

I have personally witnessed the miraculous power of the Chaplet, and hope you will pray it with me.

There Is No Joy In Cheeseville, Mighty Capey Has Struck Out

2009-11-01T20:17:00.003-07:00

In the off season, the Packers brought in defensive coordinator Dom Capers to shore up a defense that couldn't stop anyone when it counted in 2008. Guess what. The Packers still can't stop anyone when it really counts.

Even though it's only Week 8, the Packers conceded the NFC North title to the Vikings with their loss today. Sure, they're ONLY three games back in the standings, but they have yet to make a statement win against a quality opponent. But they DO have two statement embarrassing losses at home. And they barely escaped a third statement embarassing loss to Chicago at home in Week One.

At what point does the coaching staff decide not to allow a dozen sacks in a single game? Troy Aikmen told a story this week about how Jimmy Johnson said he'd rather take a dozen holding penalties and throw a dozen balls away rather than take sacks. Apparently Mike McCarthy would rather take sacks. And Aaron Rodgers should be given a spot on the Seinfeld show, because he NEVER LEARNS to get rid of the ball on time! As long-suffering Cubs fans would say: maybe next year...

Ted Thompson's record post-Favre is a losing one. The Packers may end up with a winning record this season, but they'll be watching the playoffs from home this January. Again. Wait - where did Thompson come from? Oh yeah, Da Bears...suddenly I don't feel so good!

Perhaps the wrath of the football gods has dictated that the Packers will not win while Bob Harlan is still around, but I don't want to watch a repeat of the long drought of the 70's and 80's...

St. Vincent, pray for us!

Which of These Three Places Holds Osama bin Laden?

2009-02-18T15:23:00.005-07:00

An essay in the MIT International Review uses biogeographic theories and satellite imagery to posit most likely hiding place of Osama bin Laden. And they make a pretty compelling case that he's probably hanging out in one of three places in the Pakistani city of Parrachinar. The methodology is ingenious, and the paper is an easy, short read (and it has satellite photos of the region and buildings in question). Check it out!

Personally, I think Osama is mouldering in a cave in Tora Bora, but if I had to bet on one of these I'd go with the one in the middle.

h/t to Seerov and Dan the Man.

Conclusive Proof That God Has a Sense of Humor

2009-02-14T13:02:00.003-07:00

On Friday the 13th, Congress passes a bill letting Americans keep thirteen dollars a week of their own money (while taking many times that out of future generations' wallets), and some black cat is going to sign it into law next week.

Will you be needing any further evidence that Washington is not the answer to your problems?

Stay tuned...

The Recovery Begins

2009-01-27T18:27:00.003-07:00

2008 was a very humbling experience for me - and I'm guessing I wasn't alone in that experience. I lost pretty much everything, except what's most important (see About page picture). But I also gained some very valuable things, too. I didn't get any government bailouts. But I did get unexpected, unselfish help during my darkest hours. And through that I foresaw the way out of our global troubles. I've been organizing my thoughts and will publish them soon. I believe that the worst is past, and opportunity is nigh.

Thanks for sticking around...

I've Got The Obama Thing Figured Out

2008-11-11T19:55:00.001-07:00

I'm starting to think that Obama is a cybernetic organism sent from the future by President George PDQ Bach to destroy The One - Hillary Clinton!

Barack Obama EvilWatch

2008-11-04T19:35:00.002-07:00

Looks like the $600 Million mannequin will be the next President of the United States. To me that's a travesty, because he is about to do some truly evil things. Don't believe me? Then watch the following:

1) Freedom of Choice Act: This legislation will nullify any limit on abortion. It will also force federal funding of abortion and force Catholic healthcare providers to perform abortions. It it estimated that this act will result in 125,000 murders per year. And even if you are repulsed by these acts, you will be forced to pay for them.

2) Card Check: Secret ballots in union elections will be a thing of the past. Under President Obama's plan, burly union thugs can show up at your door and 'persuade' you to sign a card supporting unionization. Hey, it'll mean less legitimate jobs (look at the employment statistics for the upper midwest since 1950) and more illegal immigration as employers dodge the thugs, but I'm sure that's what Obama voters were after in the first place.

3) Illinois Corruption Probe: Imagine that Elliot Ness is mid-way through his clean-up of Mafia corruption in the Windy City when President Roosevelt wins and goes on TV to let him know his services are no longer needed.

This is the real litmus test of whether Barack Obama is a truly historic figure in American History, or a sad little Chicago Machine sock puppet. And I mean every word of that last sentence. Patrick Fitzgerald, the federal prosecutor in Chicago, has been meticulously dismantling the corrupt bipartisan political machine in Illinois. He has taken down both crooked Republicans and Democrats. He has followed the trail of corruption right into Daley Plaza, and is about to clean house. But Barack owes much to the crooked Chicago Machine, and to the local mafiosi. He's said he supports keeping Fitzgerald in place, but if he removes Fitzgerald he will prove he is nothing more than a useful idiot of his Chicago 'handlers'.

Any one of these things is a truly evil act. Two are a clear demonstration of contempt for the electorate. Three are evidence of Chavez-esque megalomania.

And that's a line you only get to cross once, and don't get to step back over.

Barack Obama has made a living receiving favors from political and media machines, and now Rumpelstiltsdaley & company are coming to collect. How will President Obama respond?

I pray I'm wrong.

My Economic Stimulus Package - How to Increase Top Line Revenue

2008-10-22T18:18:00.002-07:00

Over at MikeDewitt.net, I reveal my economic stimulus package:

"My fellow Americans, Recently many people have expressed a desire for an effective economic stimulus package to help us through these uncertain economic times. Having seen the ineffectual response of the minions of the Great Teat of the Potomac, I feel compelled to offer my own economic stimulus package. The beauty of my program is that it will help organizations large and small, whether they sell products or services, to increase their revenues over the short and long haul. And the best part is that you can begin participating in the plan right now by watching this short introductory video:"

Check it out!

Parable of the Day Laborers

2008-10-17T12:44:00.006-07:00

A short time ago, the Gospel at Mass was the Parable of the Day Laborers:

“For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the landowner who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay the normal daily wage and sent them out to work.

“At nine o’clock in the morning he was passing through the marketplace and saw some people standing around doing nothing. So he hired them, telling them he would pay them whatever was right at the end of the day. So they went to work in the vineyard. At noon and again at three o’clock he did the same thing.

“At five o’clock that afternoon he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, ‘Why haven’t you been working today?’

“They replied, ‘Because no one hired us.’

“The landowner told them, ‘Then go out and join the others in my vineyard.’

“That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first. When those hired at five o’clock were paid, each received a full day’s wage. When those hired first came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more. But they, too, were paid a day’s wage. 11 When they received their pay, they protested to the owner, ‘Those people worked only one hour, and yet you’ve paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat.’

“He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage? Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you. Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?’

“So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.”

As I listened to the Gospel, two thoughts struck me:

If our reward for living a Christian life is the infinite reward of eternity in heaven, how do you give latecomers a fraction of what the original laborers received? INFINITE IS INFINITE. What is half of an infinite amount? Yes, an infinite amount!. What is one quarter of an infinite amount? An infinite amount! How much is one one-hundredth of an infinite amount? One one-billionth of an infinite amount? Yes, our reward no matter how divided is still infinite!
The first laborers spent the entire day certain of their reward. They agreed to a fair wage and knew what they would get at sundown. But the same cannot be said of those who were hired later. How much of the day did they spend worrying about how they would feed their family that night? Having collected my first unemployment check this year, I can tell you that time spent not working and wondering how you will feed your family is no vacation. (And there is no more depressing thing than being told "we won't hire you because you're overqualified", Thankfully, God does not follow HR "best practices".).

The parable was designed to demonstrate God's infinite love and power to an agrarian audience, but it rings just as true today. Perhaps we shouldn't worry so much about the election or our struggles in daily life, because we know that at the end of the day all who toil in this vineyard will receive our infinite reward.

An America Michelle Obama Can Be Proud Of: Secret Service Dispatched on Obamakind's Unsubstantiated Allegation

2008-10-14T13:56:00.004-07:00

Remember how people said if George Bush were elected all sorts of civil liberties would be usurped?

Exactly how many Bush dissenters died or were imprisoned (or even hassled) during the past eight years?

It can be very disappointing when someone you so thoroughly demonized doesn't act the part.

Well if Bush isn't going to keep the spirit of fascism alive in America, who will?

Who will lead those poor oppressed souls yearning for retribution against "THEM" for denying everyone's rightful daily bliss? Who will encourage the true believers to act out their rage against "THEM", because "WE" are for hope and change and therefore the ends justify the means?

I know that seems over the top, but today's news contains the story of a Texas woman who got a visit from the Secret Service based on a verbal accusation from an Obama campaign worker WITH NO EVIDENCE TO BACK UP THE ALLEGATION. Apparently the woman, who received an unsolicited call from the campaign worker, didn't show the proper deferrence to her betters in the campaign:

"She asked if I was an Obama supporter, to which I replied, 'No, I don't support him. Your guy is a socialist who voted four times in the state Senate to let little babies die in hospital closets; I think you should find something better to do with your time.' (And then) I hung up."

Hughes said she was surprised to see two Secret Service agents at her door, and upset to learn that the conversation she had with the volunteer apparently had not been recorded.

"I find it hard to believe that (campaign volunteers) don't tape these calls. They call people unsolicited and they aren't monitoring the calls or recording them? I think that is absolutely ridiculous," she said.

I shudder to think that in a few months we might be wishing for the 'kindler, gentler days' of Janet Reno...

If this were one isolated incident I would let it slide. But between the massive ACORN-led voter fraud (suppported with $800K of Obama Campaign money - hey, inner city minors were HOPING that someone would offer them some cigarettes or spare CHANGE if they would sign the voter roles), and the campaign-organized sabotage of unsympathetic media outlets, I think this demonstrates a larger pattern of disregard for the laws and principles that make America special.

A disregard for basic decency.

Obama hasn't decried any of this behavior. He actively incited some of it. He financially back other parts of it. The messages are not lost on the would-be brown shirts. It's okay to treat "THEM" as if they are not your equals. And that means laws don't protect "THEM". So if you need to bend or break laws to defeat "THEM", it's okay.

Michelle and Barack are proud of this version of America.

But I'm not. Nor are most people. So we'll do our actual patriotic duty and vote on November 4th. And I won't feel racist in the slightest when I mark my ballot for John McCain.

And unlike all those Hollywood hypocrites who say they'll move out of the country if their candidate loses, I'm staying either way. Unless Texas exercises its right to secede. Then I'm moving there, if for no other reason than to lobby the new secretary of the treasury to put George W. Bush on the 100 TD (Texas Dollars) bill. In no time his likeness will be all over the world as people trade their old inflation-battered USD for rock solid Texas Money!

Or not. We'll see...

Presidential debate over in three minutes

2008-10-07T18:25:00.002-07:00

0:00:00 Obama lies with a straight face to the American people about the economy.

0:02:00 McCain changes the subject; praises 'message of hope' of My Little Ponies.

See you in '12 when the electoral asteroid destroys these dinosaurs!

No More Matchsticks

2008-10-02T21:29:00.003-07:00

I can't recall a Republican senator ever winning the Presidency. I CAN recall them losing it; most recently Bob Dole in '96. And if things stay on course, John McCain will lose in 2008.

Why?

Because there are no consequences of losing. On Inauguration Day 2009 he'll have the same seats at the same banquets that he had in 2004 - and 1996. He'll have the same chambers as the day before the election (unless the Republicans miraculously win a majority).

It's all kabuki theater to the Washington insiders. With reelection percentages in the 90's, who gives a hoot about the constituents once you've punched your golden ticket?

And informed voters shake their heads, because the cynical pols are right.

Which brings me back to John McCain.

Senator McCain has a mixed legacy. No one can question his patriotism and his courage in Communist prison camps. But his legislative legacy is spotty. The McCain-Feingold bill is unconstitutional at its most charitable. He himself chose not to live within its limits this year. The unintended consequences of the 527s has been outrageous. Yet he has offered no apology for this abortion of civil liberty.

And now he purports to bear the standard for the Republican Party. But he's playing poker for matchsticks. There is no downside for losing. As we said before, he gets to attend the same balls, clink snifters with the same lobbyists, and fleece the same voters he does today.

And that's wrong. And that's wimpy. The sort of thing you expect from Sen. Present and Sen. Gaffapalooza.

So here's what John McCain should do today. Call a press conference and say the following:

"I'm John McCain. I have spent my whole life defending this country. Today I stand before you as a candidate for President of the United States. I take my candidacy very seriously. There are those who say senators have nothing to lose in presidential races, and that's why they don't get elected (unless their dad conspires with the mob to deliver Chicago).

It is true that Senators Biden, Obama, and I will all legally retain our seats should we lose in November. But that is not the American way. We have 'no skin in the game'. And that is wrong for the country I love.

To demonstrate my commitment to my ideals and my platform, I pledge today to resign my seat in the Senate if I am defeated in the election. I challenge my opponents to do the same. A contest of ideas this important should have real consequences, and the financial and political future of a few people seems a good starting point."

What do you think?

Change This!

2008-07-12T21:49:00.002-07:00

ChangeThis has been the home for people with great ideas who wanted to spring them on an unsuspecting world.

Two recent essays deserve particular mention. The first is The Connection Culture: A New Source of Competitive Advantage, Michael Lee Stallard's prescription to improve your organization and the world. Reading it is the best use of your time right this minute, unless you have to give someone the Heimlich Maneuver or perform CPR. In all seriousness, if everyone read Michael's message and took it to heart, the world would become a better place.

If your focus is only on creating dramatic, lasting, positive changes in large companies or organizations (something which usually ends in either outright failure or declaration of victory and acceptance of poor results), then you need to read Mike Kanazawa's People Don’t Hate Change, They Hate How You’re Trying to Change Them. This manifesto reveals many of the key tenets found in his book Big Ideas to Big Results. If you can only read one book on the subject, this should be that one book. You still have to decide what you want to change, but Kanazawa’s book, co-authored with Bob Miles, provide a detailed roadmap for HOW to accomplish the change. I’ve seen a lot of change initiatives, and their Accelerated Corporate Transformation (ACT) process incorporates every key lesson I’ve ever learned. I’ll be posting a review of the book soon, but you can read the manifesto right now.

I wish I’d been able to read both of these pieces earlier in my career. They’re clear and compelling and fun reads. I’ll leave you with a pull quote from People Don’t Hate Change, They Hate How You’re Trying to Change Them:

”Think about it…is your goal to get the most out of your people or the best out of your people? You typically can’t get both.”

When Things Become Uncertain, The Certain Becomes More Valuable

2008-07-07T20:33:00.003-07:00

Think about the title of this article. I wrote it in a note to a loved one, and I'm trying to decide if it's profound or trite. Something tells me it's the former. I know that the something is the cognitive bias toward emotionally weighing DOWNSIDE risk much greater than UPSIDE risk. We perceive the potential pain much more acutely than the potential gain. Why?

The video What's Going On In There gives the answer I believe. Downside risk poses a threat to our identity. WE made a bad decision. Aligning that fact with our entire set of existing opinions would be a painful process. Do we really want to do that?

As economic news starts to create a perception of increased downside risk, what will the natural human reaction be? Seek sanctuary in certainty; mitigate those risks! Only this can put our minds at ease. And mental tranquility is the most precious commodity on the planet.

And you know this to be true.

The general mindset, as characterized by the phrase "keeping up with the Joneses", is one of being afraid of being perceived as not as good as someone else, regardless of how good one has it. All downside focus, no appreciation. There is a virtual mountain of literature on how the cosmetic and fashion industries have used such tools against women, but the total spending by those industries pales in comparison to the outlays directed to "male performance anxiety". Entire networks and indeed entire professional sports (e.g., Fox and the NFL), would cease to function without the massive cash infusions from makers of pills that only work in unplumbed bathtubs! (Note: I'd like to shake the hand of the advertising man that made up "priapism"; talk about your billion dollar ideas! "one potential side effect is that you could win the woody lottery" That should have spawned a congressional inquiry. No, wait. I'm sure it did. Just not an official one.)

And that's the perfect proof of my theorem! Sure, there were aging boomers who couldn't fly the flag at full mast anymore, but the volumes of pill and cream sales cover them and everyone who's had a real problem for the last 165,00 years. And that's only THIS YEAR'S sales! All of last year's sales and all of next year's sales will be to guys who are physically able, BUT HAVE BECOME SPOOKED BY THE ADS. So why risk a tepid response when you have a shot at being the poster boy for priapism? When things become uncertain (or just perceived as uncertain), the certain (or even the perceived certain) becomes more valuable.

Well, this post certainly didn't go where I planned, but I think I've made my point. I'd like to say just one more thing. It's a sad day when I think to myself "I wish they'd bring back hard liquor and cigarette ads to television so I can watch football with my kids again".

What's Going On In There?

2008-06-29T09:52:00.003-07:00

Have you ever looked another human being in the eye and wondered "What's going on in there?" Me, too! So I spent years looking for workable models of how the brain works and how to use those models to help facilitate change. Here's what I found:

Enjoy, and let me know what you think in the tip jar or comment box, or just pass it along to two people you think might enjoy it!

The Science of Being Well Audiobook

2008-06-19T21:31:00.005-07:00

Recently my audio recording of The Science of Getting Rich passed the 10,000 download mark. I am grateful for all of you who have enjoyed and benefited from it.

A few months ago Frank in New Zealand asked me to create an audiobook of Wattles' "The Science of Being Well". It seemed a simple enough thing to do. But the Great Trash Compactor of Life had other plans for me.

Painful ones.

I guess I wasn't thinking and acting in the Certain Way.

But today I am pleased to announce that I have completed the audio recording of The Science of Being Well! I took the liberty of recording an introduction:

This book, The Science of Being Well, is the second in a series by Wallace D. Wattles. The first was about how to get wealthy; this one is about how to get healthy. As in the Science of Getting Rich, Wattles advises you to think and act in a Certain Way.

What I found most interesting about this book is that almost one hundred years after its publication, cancer research is bearing out his assertions regarding the Certain Way of thinking. As for the Certain Way of acting, the author discusses the four voluntary functions of eating, drinking, breathing, and sleeping. You'll find his advice straightforward, refreshing, and (in these days) controversial - for the good!

As with the first book, the concepts are simple. The challenge is in having the discipline to apply the concepts with faith and persistence. The good news is that you should see results faster with the Science of Being Well than with the Science of Getting Rich.

Enjoy this book, and when you do, please express your gratitude by hitting the tip jar at spookyaction.blogspot.com. It will reinforce your faith in the Principle of Life, and you'll feel better for it - literally, according to the author.

Wattles does actually say that in the book, though not necessarily about Spooky Action. But I really could use your help right now.

Enjoy the book in perfect health!

Mike

The Science of Being Well

Introduction
Preface
I. The Principle of Health
II. The Foundation of Life
III. Life and Its Organisms
IV. What to Think
V. Faith
VI. Use of the Will
VII. Health From God"
VIII. Summary of the Mental Actions
IX. When to Eat
X. What to Eat
XI. How to Eat
XII. Hunger and Appetites
XIII. In a Nutshell
XIV. Breathing
XV. Sleep
XVI. Supplementary Instructions
XVII. A Summary of the Science of Being Well

The Wrath of the HR Gods Has Me Bouncing and Flapping

2008-05-13T20:28:00.002-07:00

Somewhere in the back of my mind I suspected it could end disastrously, but I went ahead anyway.

I published the The Ten Worst Job Interview Questions Ever and invoked the wrath of the HR gods. A few weeks later, I was asked to participate in a Reduction in Force with many of my co-workers. The timing was bad for this to happen, but I guess it shows that opportunity does knock when you least expect it.

One thing that helped me prepare for the aftermath was Barry Moltz's book Bounce. In a Q&A I had with Barry about the book he said this:

"I get sick and tired of people saying that failure is there is always something to learn from failure. We are continually reminded by those around us that failure is an important ingredient in the next success, possibly even a prerequisite. We tell ourselves that failure “happened to us” so that we could learn some important lesson that would later propel us to even more success.

Sometimes failure just sucks. There is absolutely nothing to learn."

Was there anything to learn from this? Working for an acquiree in the financial services industry wasn't the best place be in early 2008? Analysis over. Time to turn the page and bounce.

One thing I did was create mikedewitt.net. It's a place where I can showcase things I've written and done in more depth than a resume or blog. It'll also be the place where I publish my future experience design work. I've collected some things from Spooky Action and BusinessPundit to start, but there'll be more coming in the future. I'm even finishing up the Business Process Transformation video. Why don't you pop over and give me some feedback (we bouncers have thick skin)? Besides, haven't you always wondered "What does that guy do when he's not bloviating here?"

So now that I've bounced, it's time to start flapping. No, not literally. I'm referring instead to the "Butterfly Effect". Lisa Haneberg, one of my favorite management authors, recently explained the concept in her essay The Butterfly Effect:

"Simply put, the butterfly effect is the notion that something as small as a flap of a butterfly’s wings can make a big impact – like causing a tornado on the other side of the world. The flapping wings move the air and the effect reverberates. If the butterfly hadn’t flapped its wings or had flapped in a different direction or with more or less force, the tornado may not have occurred in the same place or time, or at all.

Actions lead to reactions - sometimes. We flap our butterfly wings and things happen that we cannot predict or control. If we look back on our lives over the past five years we might be able to piece together the small changes that impacted the larger ones, but often we have no idea. People we don’t know and who don’t know us are flapping today in directions that will change our circumstances next week.

Complex systems – they’re fuzzy, enigmatic and wonderful. And we can put the imperfect unpredictable nature of humanity to work to improve our lives and the planet. The key to harnessing the power of the butterfly effect is that small, daily, directionally correct actions can change the world. Our goals define the futures we want to create. When our flaps are focused and frequent, our energies reverberate in a direction aligned with our goals.

Conversations are like invisible relay races. We love to talk about the conversations we have had. We tell our friends about what our others friends are up to and we spread interesting news like butterflies on speed. We talk and things change. If we communicate well and repeatedly, things change quickly – the relay is on and we have hundreds of flapping butterflies on our team. Conversations are the most potent types of butterfly flaps especially when you share your goals and seek diverse input from others."

You really owe it to yourself to read Lisa's essay in it's entirety.

So here is my flap in your direction. My resume and background are over at mikedewitt.net. I'm a technology and change management expert. I love to help organizations leverage technology for big business benefit. Do you need some of that or know someone who does? I'll give 1% of my first year's gross pay to the person who reads this post and whose flap starts the chain that leads to that work (I'm also happy to donate the money to your favorite charity). You can reach me through the comments or e-mail me at mdewitt@alum.mit.edu. Let's brew the perfect storm, shall we?

Special note to Bob Hruzek: I think this qualifies for the mash-up project. What say ye?

The 10 Worst Job Interview Questions Ever

2008-04-01T16:40:00.013-07:00

What was the worst job interview question you were ever asked?

Over at BusinessPundit, I created a list of the top ten worst job interview questions of all time (okay, modern day english-speaking all time). Here's the intro:

Good interview questions can help employers judge the technical qualifications, people skills, problem solving approach, and team fit of prospective employees. Bad interview questions do none of those. Instead, they confuse, irk, or offend the applicant (often in combination). Our ten worst job interview questions exhibit one or more of the following characteristics:

Illegal - Ask about certain topics and it’s “Do not pass Go; do not collect your next paycheck.” Your employer has been advised to reduce its liabilities, and that means you.

Useless - questions test trivial knowledge that has no bearing on aptitude or generate pseudopsychological responses that Dr. Phil could bloviate on for an entire episode.

Hackneyed - There’s an old saying: “If you’re one in a million, you have 1,000 clones in the People’s Republic of China.” These questions were once original, but they’ve been asked so many times that everyone has memorized ‘pat’ answers to them.

Here are BusinessPundit’s ten worst job interview questions, along with the characteristics that got them on the list, and some possible rejoinders. Please note that being asked any of these questions should make you seriously consider whether you want to entrust your livelihood and sanity to this organization.

Find out which questions belong to the following answers:

“No, but I’m always open to new experiences”
“In mirrors and on YouTube. Unless I’m undead; then only on YouTube.”
“I’ve been tested to 12 ft-lbs per square inch”
“Jack”

I'm sure you have a bad interview experience to relate, or try your hand at coming up with snarkier answers to the questions. Come join in the fun!

[UPDATE] After 112,885 hits, 1859 Diggs, and 208 comments (okay, half are mine), I think I can state that the post has some entertainment value. Go on and check it out if you haven't already.

Rules of the Game of Life

2008-03-14T18:03:00.002-07:00

Rules of the Game of Life:

You get to make up the rules
You have to live by those rules
Return to step one IF YOU DARE

Anything you'd like to add?

Bounce! - Q&A With Author Barry Moltz

2008-02-27T14:47:00.002-07:00

Barry Moltz's book "Bounce" may do more to help you understand the reality of career paths and success and failure than anything else you'll ever read. I'd just wish I'd read it backwards, because then everything would have been clear to me on the second page.

That second-to-last page used the analogy of the old text-based computer games like Adventure, where you explored an online world by looking around, picking things up, and trying to use them to interact in that world. It was never a simple linear process. No one expected to solve all the puzzles and win the game on the first try. Customers would probably be angry if they did! Most advancement came from trial and error learning, but sometimes bad things happened randomly. Sometimes you had to backtrack a level or two because of a miscalculation. But that was part of the game experience and no one felt shamed for having made a mistake.

In Bounce! Moltz posits that life works the same way and that we should have the same attitudes about "failures" and "setbacks". I had the opportunity to ask Barry a few questions about the book to give you a flavor for it.

Question: What was the inspiration for the book?

Answer: I get sick and tired of people saying that failure is there is always something to learn from failure. We are continually reminded by those around us that failure is an important ingredient in the next success, possibly even a prerequisite. We tell ourselves that failure “happened to us” so that we could learn some important lesson that would later propel us to even more success.

Sometimes failure just sucks. There is absolutely nothing to learn.

When I lost my largest client because they were indicted by the SEC, what did I learn? That I wasn’t supposed to do business with criminals? I knew this… When my best employee left my company because her husband got a job in another state, what was I to learn? Not to hire people who are married?

If failure was such a necessary ingredient for success, then when we fail we would be sending emails to all the people in our business network that read something like this:

To: Everyone I Know
From: Barry Moltz
Subject: Yippee! Another Failure

“I can’t help but brag that I have failed yet again. I am writing because I knew you would want to share this wonderful moment with me. I am so proud of myself because as a result of my latest failure and all the unbelievable things I was able to learn, I am now so much closer to that big financial success I deserve. I am certain that my time is coming soon since I have failed at an increasing rate lately, and I have learned so much. Please stay in touch so I can share with you when I even have an even greater failure and get that much closer to the success you all want for me.”---Your Close Business Friend, Barry

Failure is valuable only when we realize it is a normal part of the business process even when there always isn’t something to learn.

Question: You identify ten building bands for bouncing. Is there any special order to them? Are some natural precedents of others? Is that implied in the order of the chapters?

Answer: Yes, there are an order to the bands like the chapters are ordered. The first thing you need to appreciate is your environment. Just like your parents told you, it matters where you are from. Culture shapes your individual tolerance for success and failure. These archetypes of success teach you how others define it and the pressure they put on you with their definition. They drive you crazy and hold your back.

Next you need to develop Humility. Our business careers are not linear. Life changes very quickly and bad times will happen to you. We all screw up sometimes. Randomness and luck play a large role in financial success. With humility, we Face the Fear of Failure and Give Up the Shame. Failure is an option, a good one in fact. It is okay to be afraid. Grieve your failures and wallow in it if you need to. Hold a “Pity Party”, but let go whatever shame you have absorbed and deflect what others are placing on you. Remember that Failure Gives a Choice: We don’t always learn from failure. It provides an escape hatch to find a different choice. We need to learn that Process matters more than Outcome. We are too focused on the binary outcome: success or failure. We need to realize business is all about cycles and focus on the process more than the outcome for better decision making that will improve our chance of success.

Finally, we need to set Patient Goals– Reality eventually collides with the dream that has been thrust upon you. Create your own dreams. Set goals before you start so you know what success and failure look like when you get there. We need to define Own Measurement System. This requires that we Value Action. Stop reading my book and see what comes next. Experience builds confidence.

Question: Which of the bands do you think are the hardest to internalize intellectually? Which are the hardest to put into practice?

Answer: The hardest ones are to set patient goals and define your own measurement system. There is a lot of pressure in our society on success. We are all addicted to achievement. We need to pause and be thankful for what we have today. We need to lower the bar a bit because there is always someone that is going to be richer, smarter or better looking than you. We need to downsize our dreams. In this, we can begin to define our own brand of success – not someone else's.

First, we need to set patient, interim goals. I remember when I asked my Zen master when I first began mediating, how long I should mediate for- 15 minutes, half hour or an hour each day? He said that I should try it for a minute for each day for the next few months. If I was successful, I should go to two minutes. This is where I learned when striving for new goals, what we important in the climb was not even to get a foothold. Get a toehold…if you can get some progress toward your goal, you have a better chance of achieving it in the long run.

We also need to strive for minimal achievement. We need to focus on being good at a few things and focus on doing one thing well at a time. This is so difficult in a society of multi- tasking which is really ineffective. There is tremendous power through focus.

Question: You talk in the second chapter of the book about you fascination with One Hit Wonders? I thought being a one hit wonder was a bad thing and how does it relate?

Answer: What happens if you go out there and only hit that big success one time like those one hit wonders? Remember, it doesn't matter how many times you fail. It doesn't matter how many times you almost get it right. No one is going to know or care about your failures, and neither should you. All that matters in business is that you get it right once. Wayne Gretzky said that “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.” We can’t get caught up in the failures. It only matters that we met our success requirements that one time. When things go bad, we can think back to perhaps that one time where the planets aligned, and we got to the goal line.

With true business confidence, we can look back a single success and enjoy it for what it was. Maybe there is only one success on a particular path. We may need to bounce to an entirely different path to get another success. The complete answer to this puzzle can’t be known until the end of our lives. The order of successes and failures does not diminish the high point. Hitting it once can help root a sense of business confidence that will carry through whether the rest of the path is filled with failure, success, or a mix of both. It will give us the resiliency spring to bounce through the rest of our business lives.

Question: Who are the most interesting people you interviewed for this book?

Answer: They are all interesting. But one that stands out for me is Brett Farmiloe. Here is a guy that graduates college and decides that he will travel around the country in a Pursue the Passion Tour to discover what really makes people tick. There is also Scott Jordan, who left being a lawyer and started Scottevest to carry all those gadgets in pockets we didn’t have! He actually now has a clothing line that really is second to none if you travel so much like I do.

Question: There's a lot in this book. In the span of a page and a half you cover IBM's F.U.D., Escape from Cubicle Nation (a fave of mine), and the 'prevent defense'. If I only have an hour to spend with the material, what would you suggest (aside from learning to speed read beforehand)?

Answer: Skip around. Skip entire parts of the book if you want. The short sections have bold headings so this is easy to do. Only read the parts that interest you and will make a difference for your life. Then throw the book away and take action on how it fits into your life.

Thanks, Barry; both for writing this great book and for taking the time to answer these questions. I think people in any point of their career will benefit from reading Bounce!

xyzzy

The End of the Rob May Era at Businesspundit

2008-02-21T06:25:00.000-07:00

For the past five years, one of my favorite blogs - for the subject matter and the quality of the content, has been Rob May's Businesspundit.com. I was disappointed to learn a few months ago that Rob was growing weary of the daily grind and was selling the blog. Today he published his last Businesspundit post. As BP readers would expect, it's excellent:

"I am sitting in a coffee shop this morning breathing a sigh of relief. After almost 5 years of blogging, I am done. This past year, my heart just hasn't been into it, and I think that is reflected in the lackluster posting compared to previous years. I had a contract to fulfill with Creative Weblogging, and it ends today.
...
Five years ago, my views on business were very very different than they are today. So I thought for an appropriate last post, I would examine the top 10 things about business that I view differently than I did 5 years ago. I am not saying these are gospel, or even that they are correct. I think absolutism is a sign of closed mindedness and that any intelligent person should always be adjusting their views slightly in light of new evidence and changing times. Five years from now, I will probably read this post and think that I was wrong about some of these. Nonetheless, this is where my mind stands today."

You can read the top ten here. I'm not so sure he'll change his mind on any of these, but we'll see. He'll still write an occasional post over at BusinessPundit, and he's got a great new blog, Coconut Headsets, where his posts are more in-depth if less frequent.

Thank you so very much for all you've done, Rob; and best of luck on all your new ventures!

P.S. You can watch a video interview of Rob by Jason Falls where he talks about his Businesspundit adventure in part one and gives advice to new bloggers in part two. Great stuff; nice kitchen! ;-)

The Three Timeless Secrets to Firing Up Your Employees

2008-02-18T22:40:00.004-07:00

What if I told you that there were three sure-fire keys to firing up your employees? Would you believe me?

What if I told you that I had collected extensive scientific research supporting those conclusions. Would that convince you? No?

Okay, what if I recounted dozens of stories from throughout history and across industries and disciplines showing how people applied these three secrets again and again to succeed beyond all reason. Would you want to read them?

Imagine if you had the secrets, the research, and the stories. What could you do with all that?

Find out be reading Michael Stallard's Fired Up or Burned Out. You'll be glad you did.

You're still here? What more do you want? For all you left-brained logical thinkers the research is all laid out. For you right-brained thinkers there are enough stories for everyone in your organization. For knuckle draggers like me there are the stories of Ulysses S. Grant and the Marquis du LaFayette. For the more enlightened you have Anita Roddick of The Body Shop and Dr. Fred Epstein (don't know Dr. Fred? His story alone is worth the price of the book!).

Why is the diversity of stories important? Because unless you're raising a clone army your team consists of people with a variety of experiences, learning styles, and values. The beauty of this book is that it gives you specific tools to address all of them in their own terms.

And THAT is what makes this book such a powerful transformational tool. Ready to click on THE LINK NOW?

Of course, if you don't want to attempt this type of transformational work yourself, E Pluribus Partners will gladly offer their assistance.

But you don't NEED them. The book has a section with specific, concrete steps on becoming a leader with can make this happen.

I have been burned out and I have been fired up. I've managed fired up and burned out employees. So have you. Life is too short to be lived 'burned out'.

Remember what it feels like to be part of a fired up team? How alive did it make you feel? How energized were you each day when you woke up?

Think about what a totally fired up life would be like.

It's there for the creating. Here is the map. You need only to be bold enough to follow it.

DO IT NOW!

P.S. On a personal note, I have mixed feelings as I write this. One of my own writing projects focused on much the same principles; so I'm a day late and a dollar short. Rats! On the other hand, my own research galvanizes my endorsement of the ideas in this book. Get it. Use them. Live long and prosper (or something to that effect).

P.P.S. Michael has started a blog which is as well written and engaging as the book. You should check it out.

P.P.P.S. Full disclosure: the links above are Amazon Associate links, which means that when you click through, buy the book, and transform your work life, I'll get a dollar.
Wait. You get career fulfillment and I get a Whopper Jr?
I'd be disappointed, except that I know that someone who benefits from the book will need the services of someone like me, and all will work out in the end!

Science of Getting Rich Free Audiobook - 5,000 downloads!

2008-02-04T12:36:00.001-07:00

This weekend the free audio version of The Science of Getting Rich reached the 5,000 download milestone! That's about 4900 more downloads than I expected when I recorded it.

I would like to thank Rick Cockrum and Lyman Reed for linking to the program; I'm sure that's where most of the hits came from.

If you are interested, you can learn more about the program at the original post. And thanks to everyone who took a listen!

UPDATE: You can now listen to The Science of Being Well, courtesy of me! And please hit the tip jar. Or else it's all cat pictures all the time...and I'm not kidding. Okay. I am.

Wrath of the Football Gods - The Cold, Dark End of the Harlan Era

2008-01-21T06:25:00.000-07:00

Back in November of 2005, Spooky Action broke the news about a curse on the Green Bay Packers

"Green Bay Packer Fans: Do you get the feeling the Pack is cursed this year?

I have good news and bad news for you.

The bad news is that the team IS cursed.

The good news is that the curse could end as soon as 2007."

The specifics of the curse:

"I don't like what I'm seeing here. At least they didn't include a team beauty salon. But they're turning this place from a stadium teams used to fear into the Green and Gold Resort and Day Spa. Those guys are about this far away from invoking my wrath!"

Time passes...

"That's the last straw!!"

"What?"

"See that little plaque in the middle there?
It marks the fact that we are standing in Harlan Plaza!"

"But isn't he still alive?"

"Very much so, but he and Sherman are going to get the Moses treatment for all this. They'll never get to the Promised Land of football. In fact, they'll never win another playoff game!"

And aside from two wins over Mike Holmgren (who committed the larger sin of making Super Bowl XXXII all about him), Green Bay has played in four playoff games (3 at Lambeau where the team had never lost), and each has ended in bitter disappointment.

Harlan, who extended his term as President of the club after unspecified 'issues' forced him to fire his hand-picked successor, is now officially retired after the Packers' season ended in a 23-20 overtime home loss to the New York Giants.

But is this the end of the curse? Let's check in with Vince and Curly...

"Well Vince, no mercy for Harlan?"

"What part about 'The Moses Treatment' wasn't clear, Curly?"

"But now he's retired. Is this the end of the curse?"

"Technically, yes, but there's another problem."

"What's that?"

"The new Lambeau Field has been an economic boon to the community as a year-round attraction - a sort of football theme park, but as a venue for professional football it's about as intimidating for opposing players as a trip to Disneyland. The new Lambeau turned out to be a Faustian bargain for the team and the community.

Take the preparation for last night's game. Both teams knew it was going to be very cold. So what did the Packers do to prepare?"

"Practice outside to prepare for gametime conditions?"

"Not exactly. That would have been the obvious choice, but instead Mike McCarthy had them practice indoors with footballs that had been stored in a freezer!"

"That's just wrong..."

"Too clever by half, if you ask me. But McCarthy and Ted Thompson have made a lot of good moves this year, and progressing this far with the youngest team in the league was great work! Hopefully they'll learn from this experience. If you're going to play home games in January in Green Bay, you'd better be able to handle those conditions..."

"...but I hear the weather in Tampa is nice in February. That sounds like a nice place to plan a team trip next year!"

A Moron I Want to Learn From

2008-01-07T15:07:00.000-07:00

Mark Joyner, who I figured was a guru at anything internet, has confessed to being a blogging moron. That hasn't stopped him from creating a new online course about blogging, which he is making available free to get feedback and blog plugs. If you insert the following text into a blog post, you can play, too!

I'm evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they're letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.
It covers:
The best blogging techniques.
How to get traffic to your blog.
How to turn your blog into money.
I'll let you know what I think once I've had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it's still free.

I'm guessing the blogging moron has turned out something pretty compelling, but as the boilerplate says: I'll let you know...

"it recreates the experience of being a unicorn with a rocket-launching horn"

2007-12-13T12:06:00.000-07:00

Popular Mechanics has its list of the Ten Worst Gadgets of 2007. The writing is priceless, such as the title quote. Check it out and comment on any products you think should have made the list!

What I Learned from Youth Hockey

2007-12-10T00:29:00.000-07:00

Growing up in Green Bay WI, I spent plenty of time on ice skates. I probably was smaller than the kid in this photo when my dad first "laced 'em up" for me. But it wasn't until I was ten that I got involved in a formal hockey program. At the time, I was one of the smallest kids on the team, but I did have two things going for me:

I was lightning fast
I was fearless

Hockey has been called a 'collision sport' as opposed to a 'contact sport' because of the technique of 'checking' opponents. If you've ever seen a hockey game, you will no doubt recall players slamming into others and knocking them into the boards. That's checking.

Anyway, during one of our early practices our star oversized player had the puck in one corner and I flew almost the length of the rink and decked him with a perfect check. Unfortunately, his buddies were watching and laughed uncontrollably because a pint-sized teammate had just leveled him. I was pretty proud of myself, but he knocked the smerk right off my face by hitting me from behind a minute later, sending me crashing into the boards head first.

And he got sent to the penalty box for it.

As we were warming up for our first game, the coach pulled me aside and pointed at a large player on the other team. "Mike," he said, "the first chance you get, give that player the hardest check you've ever thrown."

The game started and it wasn't a minute into the first period when I had my first chance. The guy took the puck in one corner and was looking to make a pass when I streaked across the ice, jumped, and sent him sprawling to the ice. The opposing bench broke into peals of laughter and jeers. I turned and started to skate toward the action. My checkee got up and tore after me and executed a perfect, but illegal cross-check in the back (sending me flying).

Of course, he got sent straight to the penalty box, we went on a power play, and with five skaters to their four we easily scored!

You can guess where this is headed, can't you? Yep, I used the same tactic all season long and in nearly every game the exact same thing happened. Sometimes my 'taking one for the team' helped, and sometimes it didn't. The tactic was good for one goal only.

So what did I learn from this experience? A few things, actually.

First, you can gain an advantage on an opponent by getting inside their head. My coach knew that the best kid on each team had a super-sized ego and would not stand for being embarrassed by a much smaller opponent. They were also not mature enough to wait for a legal opportunity to retaliate.

Second, there is always a way to make your mark in any endeavor. I was 'just a guy' (as the scouts say) aside from my 'special talent', but I was able to make a meaningful contribution in an unorthodox way.

Third, your helmet, pads, and mouthguard are you best friends on the ice! I got tossed around like a rag doll on some of those cheap shots, but I never broke anything (for which my mother was very grateful).

This post is a late entry into Robert Hruzek's What I Learned from the World of Sports group writing project. Check out the other entries; [Tony the Tiger voice] they're great!

Photo courtesy of fatal Cleopatra at Flickr.

The Best Business Book of 2008

2007-12-07T12:05:00.000-07:00

Yes, you read that right. Below is my review of David Maister's upcoming book Strategy and the Fat Smoker. No offense to any other authors with upcoming books, but this book is truly remarkable. Check it out:

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[Note: If you're having trouble with the embedded version, try this link to the video at Veoh. And sorry for the inconvenience.]

You can also find out more at David's website.

Another Inconvenient Truth - The Roots of Illegal Immigration

2007-11-15T12:03:00.000-07:00

Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata
Alvaro Vargas Llosa goes to southern Mexico to meet with Emiliano Zapata's grandson, and provides you with the context you need to understand the roots of illegal immigration:

"What has been the consequence of a century of collectivization of the land? In the 1990s, when trade policies became more liberal, Mexico's rural population found itself caught up in an extremely inefficient system that was undercapitalized, making it very difficult for Mexican peasants to compete with the outside world. When the government finally allowed the villagers to sell the ejidos, something they had been prevented from doing since 1917, many of them put their land on the market and left for Mexico's cities. When the urban areas did not offer improved conditions, they migrated to the United States. "If my grandfather came back," ponders Emiliano, "he would die of sadness."

Read the whole thing.

Book me, Dano!

2007-11-14T05:09:00.000-07:00

Rick Cockrum, of Shards of Consciousness tagged me with a book meme. Okay, Rick. Here you go:

How many books do I have? A couple hundred.

What is the last book I read? Strategy and the Fat Smoker, by David Maister. It doesn't officially ship until January, but I'll be putting up a review soon! Quite possibly the only book on management you will ever need...

What is the last book I bought? A Crack in the Edge of the World, by Simon Winchester, one of my favorite authors. The story of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, as only the author of Krakatoa can tell it.

Five Meaningful Books:

Are You Ready to Succeed, by Srikumar Rao. Incredibly powerful book that will change the way you look at life and the world.
Critical Chain, by Eli Goldratt. You have probably read The Goal, but this (and It's Not Luck) are better. You will never look at a project plan the same again!
Influence, by Robert Cialdini. If you can only read one of these books, get this one! It will change the way you look at how your brain works.
The Science of Getting Rich, by Wallace D. Wattles. I'm partial to this free audio version of a book that lays it out plain and simple. It's like Strategy and the Fat Smoker in that respect!
Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson. A ripping yarn, magnificently written! Wonderful for all ages.

I don't tag people, but feel free to create your own answers to the questions!

Audacity for Podcasting Video Primer

2007-11-13T12:00:00.000-07:00

Joanna Young recently posted What I Learned From Podcasting over at Confident Writing. In the post she mentioned being challenged when editing the audio. I commented that I liked the freeware audio editor Audacity, which made podcast editing simple. I offered to create a quick tutorial if she was interested, and she took me up on it!

So I grabbed my freeware screencam application, CamStudio. I hadn't had much practice with it, but was able to create something workable (although you be the judge of that). There's a little problem with screen/audio synchronization in the middle; I've still got things to learn.

Topics covered in the video:

Recording speech
Trimming vocal tracks
Time shifting tracks
Adding additional tracks
Splitting tracks
Adding bumper music
Exporting project as an MP3 file

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Any comments and suggestions are cheerfully accepted in the comment box!

What I Learned From a Hole in the Sky

2007-11-08T06:51:00.000-07:00

The scene: a mill town in the upper Midwest. A sunny spring day with a warm breeze hinting at the promise of impending summer. A high school track abuzz with activity. Junior high schoolers running and jumping and tossing heavy objects.

At one end of the track infield a group of boys were using tape measures mark their steps for the pole vault event. There I was, a smallish lad, going about my pre-competition routine completely unaware of the magnitude of the events that were about to unfold.

There are a couple of facts that will provide the proper context for the rest of the story.

1) I wasn't a very good pole vaulter. In 7th grade my highest vault 7'6'' (world class high jumpers were doing that). In 8th grade, my best was 8'6''. Here, at the final meet of 9th grade, my best was - you guessed it - 9'6''. That wasn't awful, but our team's top entrant (let's call him Jim), had a best of 10'6'', and had been clearing 11'' in practice.

2) Improvements in vaulting occurred in small increments; usually 3'', but sometimes 6''.

3) I loved to pole vault. Winning would have been nice, but I did it for the sheer fun of flying. Despite plenty of injuries and the drudgery of setup and teardown of equipment each day at practice, I never once gave thought to quitting.

The other important thing about pole vaulting is that while it requires a unique combination of speed, strength, and agility (which I didn't then possess), the greatest challenge is mental. When you stand at the end of the runway, you know all the things that can go wrong (these were pre-helmet days, but that's another story). And when you look at the bar you have to clear, it's usually floating up in the air, with only the blue sky or an occasional cloud behind it. Perspective-wise, it's WAY up there! And if you let those thoughts seep into your mind, you're sunk (he says from experience).

But not on this day. There was a large berm behind the other end of the track, and on that berm stood a massive old elm tree. When we started vaulting at 8' (you always start low just to get on the board), the bar was in the middle of the tree trunk. It looked like I could high jump it! I cleared 8' on the first try. I cleared 8'6'' on the first try. I cleared 9' on the first try, too. So did Jim, for whom it was the first height of the day.

Next up was 9'6'', my best height ever. The bar was now at the first row of branches. A little too high for me to high jump, but definitely vaultable. And I cleared it on the first try. So did Jim, only he cleared it by a foot.

The bar was moved up to 10'. I missed the first time, but easily cleared the bar on my second attempt! My family and friends were both excited and completely befuddled (I know this because they later told me so; they were kind enough to express only excited on the track). Jim cleared the height on his first attempt. But nobody else did. He was feeling pretty good, because his primary competition was gone and all he had left was one scrub who was now in completely uncharted territory.

10'6'' was next. I was up first. Good thing I'd forgotten I was a scrub and focused solely on that bar in the lower limbs of that elm tree. Piece of cake! And I cleared it on my first try. Nobody was more suprised than my mother - except Jim, who proceeded to miss on his first attempt, which put me in the lead (!), but he cleared the bar on his second attempt.

Now the bar was set at 10'9''. Since this was such a higher height than I was used to, I had to adjust my hand placement on the pole and lengthen my run a bit. This isn't an exact science, and a major contributor to why incremental improvements are generally small. On my first attempt at 10'9'' my steps were wildly off and all I could do was run through the pit. Jim narrowly missed clearing the bar. On my second attempt I hit the bar on the way up, but so did Jim.

I tried not to think about it, but if we both missed our next jumps, I would be city champion based on misses at 10'6''!

Before my last attempt, I focused on that tree, and the conviction that the bar was still in my range. I flew down the runway, planted the pole, rocked back, pulled hard, and flung myself over the bar! I laughed on my way back down to the mat!

Jim didn't look so good, but he dug deep and executed a beautiful jump that easily cleared the bar.

Eleven feet, a height neither of us had tried in competition, was next. I nearly crashed into one of the standards holding up the bar on my first attempt. That must have emboldened Jim, because he scraped the bar on the way up on his first attempt, but it stayed on the pegs, and he had the lead.

But I wasn't done. On my second attempt, I knocked the bar off with my elbow, but I got the necessary height. Before my third and final attempt, I visualized myself easily going over the bar with perfect form several time before opening my eyes and starting my run. When it works, that visualization stuff is amazing, because the vault was just as I pictured it. I had now jumped a foot and a half higher than I ever had before! By this time all the other events were complete, so there was a pretty good crowd, and their cheers felt thunderous!

11'3'' was next. The bar was still in the branches of the tree, but when I stood my pole up next to the bar to judge hand placement, there was no denying I was well out of my comfort zone. My first attempt was another aborted run-through. Jim barely missed. Second attempt for me was another run-through; I was starting also get tired. Jim hit the bar on the way up and looked to be losing steam, too.

On my final attempt, I got a great approach and got up to the height of the bar, but not over it, and missed. Jim, knowing he'd won the meet, ran though the pit on his final attempt.

I was a fiercely competitive kid, and was torn between disappointment at not winning and amazement at doing what everyone at that track, including me, would not have believed possible. Heck, I think about it now and it's still hard to believe. If someone just told me the story, I'd be incredulous. I guess truth is stranger than fiction - at least that's been my experience over the past few decades.

So what did I learn from this pivotal event in my life?

Change happens discontinuously. That is: we all like to have goals and plan for incremental, manageable change. Life, however, doesn't work that way! Circumstances and opportunities seem to come unexpectedly, at a time and place of their own choosing. There's an old saying: Luck is where preparation meets opportunity. We can plan the preparation, but can only be on the lookout for opportunity.
How we frame our perception of the world makes all the difference in life. The elm tree created a hole in the sky that changed my perspective dramatically (if temporarily), and opened up the pathway to doing the improbable.
Doing what you love can power you past unbelievable obstacles. My parents humored me and allowed me to stay with pole vaulting even though it was abundantly clear that I was unsuited for it (based on almost three years of performance). But if I'd done the reasonable thing and found another event or sport, I would not have learned that on any given day, the unbelievable can happen - to each one of us.

On that pleasant May evening, I didn't have a full appreciation of those important life lessons. And if I don't focus, it's easy to lose the benefit of that experience in the machinations of everyday life. Thanks, Bob, for challenging me to WILF (yes, it's now a verb) something important, because now it will be easier to remember.

This post is part of Robert Hruzek's ongoing group writing project: What I Learned From. Click the link and check out all the entries. They're fantastic! And you can still participate, too. Click here for more details.

[Photo courtesy of Latvian on Flickr]

Business Process Transformation Video

2007-11-06T21:10:00.000-07:00

Several moons ago Troy Worman asked if anyone could recommend good process design books. I bloviated that I knew a thing or two about the subject and would grace y'all with my wisdom. I thought a video primer on the topic would be novel, and set about creating one.

My old boss Ray Fordyce used to say "He may not be too bright, but he makes up for it by being a slow learner".

Over the past couple of decades I've spent an inordinate amount of time designing and redesigning business processes. I've studied the work of the Japanese manufacturing masters and seen how their work could be adapted in corporate legal departments. I've learned secrets of Chilean political prisoners and Israeli creative masterminds. And I've synthesized them into a cohesive and straightforward system for business process transformation.

Normally I'd charge a premium for this kind of insight, but because I'm experimenting with new media, I'm going to ask you to watch the video (17 minutes) and give me some feedback. I guarantee it'll be time well spent for you, and I'll benefit from your comments. I look forward to hearing from you!

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Think and Grow Buff?

2007-11-01T17:16:00.000-07:00

From Jonathan Fields:

Can your brain make you buff? Imaginary workouts can build strength and fuel weight loss

"Building muscle, it turns out, is not nearly as mechanical as we thought. And, in fact, a recent study by Erin M. Shackell and Lionel G. Standing at Bishop’s University reveals you may be able to make nearly identical gains in strength and fitness without lifting a finger!"

GO READ THE WHOLE THING!

At the end of the article, Jonathan asks:

"If I created an mp3 with a 30-minute, full-body visualized workout to test this research, would you be willing to commit to listening to it 3 times a week for a month and then reporting back your results? If so, let me know in the comments below and if there is enough interest, we’ll run our own study."

This is the kind of experiment that I will gladly be a lab rat in! You can, too. Go leave a comment at Jonathan's post. He needs another couple dozen people to get a quorum. How about you? C'mon, it'll be fun! And when it works, you'll have plenty of conversation fodder for those holiday parties coming up. In fact, by being on this program, you'll be able to keep yourself in better shape during party season...

Two Satirical Gems

2007-10-26T17:06:00.000-07:00

Came across two brilliant works of satire today.

First, via David Maister, is Jonathan Copulsky's Smells Like the Publishing Spirit, which describes his upcoming bestselling book Who's Buying Our Guano.

Second, America Can't Win the War on Fire, by Harvey. The attention to detail is what makes this one special.

Enjoy!

Either Yahoo has a data problem, or you need to sell short RIGHT NOW

2007-10-21T22:10:00.000-07:00

It's 12:09 EDT on Monday, and I noticed something very strange this weekend. Yahoo Finance tracks analyst recommendations of Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Sell, Strong Sell on thousands of stocks. This weekend a great deal of those recommendations disappeared; zeros across the board!

How could this be?

There are two obvious explanations:

1) This is a computer feed problem at Yahoo that has persisted for a couple of days. Okay, the guy in charge is on vacation, and he'll get to it when he's gone throug the other 200 e-mails he got while he was out.

2) Analysts know something they're not saying out loud. Research shows that the Thompson database of analyst opinions was significantly altered following the dot com crash. If I'm an analyst, do I have any reason to tout stocks (after all, that IS my job) if I don't believe the trend is with me or that a particular stock is a great buy? Yet for the top 25% of stocks in the top 25% of industries in the stock market, most have no analyst recommendations.

Could be nothing; a data glitch. I'm just saying keep your eyes peeled.

UPDATE: I guess the guy got through his e-mails, because the analyst data is back at Yahoo Finance. Darn; it was such a fun conspiracy theory!

Asset vs. Liability Processes

2007-10-10T16:55:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I posted anything here. I've been working on a few things, including a primer on business process redesign. This snippet describes the difference between Asset and Liability processes. I grabbed this great photo from Steve Evans' amazing Flickr photo collection, and then Blabberizedd it. This was a first try, but the results came out irreverently productive enough to post. More soon.

Exactly How Old IS Dirt?

2007-09-27T06:19:00.000-07:00

Here is a party game to play for my birthday. Yesterday my age was a prime number. Now you can create an equation for my new age using the numbers 2, 3, and 4.

Hint 1: I am not 432; not even in dog years.

Hint 2: I am not 14 (3x4+2); though some previous posts may have you wondering...

Leave your guess in the comments; the lower the number the higher my praise of your acumen will be! ;-)

Meanwhile, here is a party favor for you in the spirit of the day. Enjoy!

Photo courtesy of foundphotoslj

Who Will Be the Li and Fung of IT Outsourcing?

2007-09-25T12:24:00.001-07:00

Have you ever heard of Li and Fung? Are you wearing clothes right now? If so, it's a pretty good bet that one or more pieces came through Li and Fung's supply chain. In the worldwide garment business, Li and Fung is the 800 lb gorilla, and they are light-years ahead of their competitors.

A few years back I did some work with a major clothing company here in the states, and learned about the garment industry supply chain. A couple generations ago the U.S. had a thriving garment manufacturing industry. But that was virtually wiped out by manufacturers seeking cheaper labor in other countries. China and India were the first countries to benefit from these moves, but many other countries in southeast asia, the middle east, and even the Carribean basin have textile manufacturing plants. At first, many of the major garment companies tried a vertical integration approach, where they owned all the pieces of the supply chain. This ultimately proved uncompetitive, since new factories with superior cost and capability were constantly springing up.

Enter Li and Fung, who made the following pitch to the garment companies:

We have thousands of partners in our supply chain that can meet any level of quality you desire. You give us the specs for a manufacturing run, and we'll find the best suppliers at the best price and guarantee the quality of the merchandise. Even better, if you are flexible with the designs (e.g., button shape), we will work with our suppliers to create more economical alternatives for your consideration. Even including our fee, the price will be lower than you will get in-house or from anyone else.

And they consistently delivered on their promise. The China Apprentice has a must read profile on the firm. Excerpt:

So what gives L&F their advantage in supply chain management? The Li and Fung Research Center explains that the company has seven principles forming the pillars of supply chain management. The research group says the key is that the “supply chain must be flexible, agile, cost-effective and responsive. Nowadays it is more common for companies to collaborate in a global context where each of them focuses on its core competency and outsource the rest.” L&F has taken its core competency to the extreme by perfecting the science (and art) of outsourcing. The company follows the following principles to assure it stays at the leading edge of supply chain management theory and practice.
• Be customer-centric and market demand driven;
• Focus on one’s core competency and outsource non-core activities, in order to develop a positioning in the supply chain;
• Develop a close, risk- and profit-sharing relationship with business partners;
• Design, implement, evaluate and continuously improve the work flow, physical flow, information flow and cash flow in the supply chain;
• Adopt information technology to optimize the operation of the supply chain;
• Shorten production lead time and delivery cycles; and
• Lower costs in sourcing, warehousing and transportation

Read the whole thing!

So what does this have to do with I.T. outsourcing? The New York Times today ran a story titled Outsourcing Works, So India Is Exporting Jobs. It turns out that the same pattern of labor arbitrage that hit the garment industry decades ago is repeating itself in the I.T. outsourcing industry. And it looks like the major Indian outsourcing firms are leading the way. Today they are taking the approach of building their own centers in various geographies. Who will be the first to take the Li and Fung approach, and when? From the NYT article, it looks like Infosys Technologies is leading the current trend, but no major player seems to be focusing on the partnering model yet. Maybe Li and Fung should get into outsourcing....

Photo of silk factory in Uzbekistan courtesy of upyernoz at Flickr

Fireside Chat with Lisa Haneberg

2007-09-24T07:21:00.000-07:00

What do a mastodon hunter and a manager have in common? Chat with Mike DeWitt.

Last week I had the distinct pleasure of speaking with author and management consultant Lisa Haneberg as part of her Fireside Chat series of podcasts. We talked about business acumen in the context of liver transplant clinics and, yes, mastodon hunting, among other things. Luckily for me, Lisa is an excellent interviewer and was able to tease some cogent thoughts out of me! I would say it was definitely a productively irreverent conversation. Join us for a few laughs a thought-provoking discussion of how to build business acumen (we disturbingly came to the conclusion that it wasn't by listening to podcasts and reading blogs).

You can listen via the Web Player, or download the mp3 version for offline listening. I'd love to hear any feedback you have.

Thanks again, Lisa, for a great conversation!

Archimedes and Web 2.0

2007-09-21T21:56:00.000-07:00

2,000 years ago Archimedes famously quipped “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world”. Theoretically, he was right, but practically it remains impossible to this day. Where would the fulcrum rest? What material would we use to create a lever that stretched to another star system?

Many social networking applications suffer from the same “theoretically great, but practically daunting” problem. In these applications, the fulcrum is a critical mass of participants eager and ready to contribute, and the lever is the compelling experience offered by the system (a combination of content and functionality).

Neighborhoods, from Point2 Technologies, is one such application. Point2’s NLS is a prominent nationwide listing service for real estate professionals. In 2006 they undertook the effort to organize a database of neighborhoods that included not just cities and zip codes, but actual subdivision names. This database allows a Neighborhoods user to specify their city and state/province and see a listing of all Facebook users in their neighborhood (this is a great feature). You can also see people in adjoining neighborhoods, your entire city, and other neighborhoods and cities as well!

For each neighborhood, there is a listing of neighbors and friends, as well as areas to for descriptions, photos, a wall and the NLS listings for the neighborhood. This would allow for people thinking about moving to an area to get information about it, and for residents to keep in touch in a single network. That all makes sense, right?

But there’s a problem. Two, actually. The fulcrum and the lever. Right now there are about 25,000 Neighbors on the app. I live in Scottsdale, AZ; population 242,000. You can see from the view above, the total number of neighbors is 62. There are 214 neighborhoods listed under Scottsdale in Neighborhoods. That’s 4 neighborhoods per neighbor. You will also notice in the picture that there is no information whatsoever filled in about our city. Hmm. Let’s try Phoenix, population: 1.5 million. One ‘About’ and two wall items from a single neighbor on the same day in early August. Chicago (with 3668 neighbors)? One wall enty. If I’m not here for the real estate listings, there’s nothing going on.

Who exactly is supposed to be that “critical mass” of early users? I’m pretty sure Point2 figured that it would be their larger core audience, real estate folks, but they are conspicuous in their absence. Realtors are missing out on a real opportunity to seed the content for the neighborhoods they work.

Which brings us to the second problem. As mentioned above, there’s virtually no content out in the system today. And even if there were content, an About box, a general Wall, and a block of photos doesn’t seem to make for a thriving community. Finding neighbors and then creating a regular Facebook group would offer us all a lot more.

I can imagine an application like this with 500,000 members as part of thriving communities sharing all kinds of information in several media – the web2.0 idyll. I just can’t imagine that application being Neighborhoods given its current status. No fulcrum; no lever.

I wrote this review for FaceReviews.com, but I must admit to being influenced by my old friend Mike Feinstein (VC par excellence), and to Clayton Christensen.

In the original FaceReviews post, I didn't offer suggestions for how to fix the problem. What would you do?

The answer was blatantly obvious to me, and to Bryan.

So let's role play. You're a company that has created a competitor to the almighty Multiple Listing Service (MLS). You've fought them in the courts. You've fought them in the minds of real estate agents. And you've thrived.

One day one of your developers walks into the Marketing department and says: "You know, Facebook is really hot right now and we could pound out a Facebook app in a weekend if you provided the Amp and pizza."

Yeah, baby!

And they all lived happily ever after, except for one detail. Social networks require a network of people wanting to network. How many people are going to sit down at their computer and ask "I wonder if there are any facebook applications that can connect me to my neighbors?"

Zero. Okay, eight. But that's not critical mass, even in one neighborhood.

So if you're Point2's now-embarrassed marketing exec, what should you do?

Ask yourself the following series of questions:

1) Who would benefit from making this a vibrant network (and who do I have a strong relationship with)?

Um. Real estate agents. How would they benefit? Oh, let's say that Agent X puts up a bunch of great information on the neighborhood and its goings-on, demonstrating their superior knowledge of what's going on. Do you think that will generate any extra business for Agent X?

Is the pope Catholic?

2) Do real estate agents have networks that might benefit from such an app?

Are the first two intials of the person buried in Grant's Tomb 'U.S.'?

3) Do real estate agents want to build interactive networks?

Will the sun rise in the east tomorrow?

4) Will real estate agents pay to grow their networks?

Point2 knows the answer to that question. So why aren't they screaming at their premium agents to jump all over this opportunity?

Why aren't you? It's wide open...

Spooky Action Predicts - A Bit of Sports Prognostication

2007-09-07T06:50:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine from Milwaukee writes:

OK, prediction time:

1) What will happen with NL Central – name the top three teams at the end of the season.
2) How will the Badgers do this year?
3) This isn’t even worth asking – how will the Pack do?

It's almost time for another installment of "Wrath of the Football Gods", isn't it?

Geez, try asking me for stock tips next time. That'd be easier.

NL Central - top three teams at the end of the season will be the top three today. The other three are nowhere near as strong. As for the final standings, based on schedule the Cubs should be able to cruise to the title. They have one series with the Cards, but other than that it's a steady diet of NL Central bottom-feeders and Carmelite nuns. Somebody up there likes Lou Piniella! The Cards have a tougher schedule, because they're at AZ this weekend (in a tight pennant race with SD), and have to play the Cubs and Brewers. The Brewers' schedule is no easier. The last homestand vs. St. Louis and then San Diego will either break them or galvanize them for a great playoff run! My gut reaction is that the Cubs will take the division and that the second place team in the NL West will get the wild card.

I watched the Badger game on Saturday. They will be able to score on everybody. The defense looked porous at times; that will be the big concern. They should cruise until November, when they get Ohio State and Michigan back-to-back, but how long has it been since they played in November with that much on the line? I believe they will win the Big Ten. Whether they end up in Glendale or Pasadena, who knows? Even if they slip somewhere during the regular season, they'll finish ranked in the top ten and their bowl game will be played in 2008.

Your last question is the true head scratcher. After watching the third quarter of last night's game, I don't think it much matters who wins the NFC North, or the NFC title itself. The real super bowl will be the AFC Championship game! That said, the NFC North is ALWAYS up for grabs. Bob McGinn's article where he quotes non-NFC-North scouts resonates with me. Except for how good everyone thinks the Bears are. I think the Pack's thrashing of the Bears at the end of the season was no fluke. Everyone thinks the Bears' defense is so good, but the Packers and Colts spanked them pretty good, and New Orleans should have as well. I think last night's game showed just how weak the Saints really are - and they're one of the prime contenders for the NFC title! Unfortunately, I can't see how Ted Thompson could have done LESS to help the Packers improve! He does seem hell-bent on making Favre do it all by himself. The scheduling gods were not kind to the Pack, either. September could be as unkind as last year, but I believe that the Packers will end the season at 10-6 or 9-7. Week 2 vs. the Giants will tell the story. Unfortunately for the good folks of Wisconsin, the curse is still in force because Harlan is still at the helm; no playoff victories again this season, though they might get to play in the postseason.

So there you have it. Call your bookie and get those favorable early rates!

The Key to 'The Secret' in One Picture

2007-09-05T07:11:00.000-07:00

Via Lileks:

I Forgot I Was Gifted. You Probably Have, Too

2007-08-31T17:51:00.000-07:00

For the longest time I have tried to meditate. My monkey mind is an entire menagerie!

I watched my breathing. I sat still and sensed my body. I mantra'd. I laid still and sensed my body.

If I lasted 2 minutes without a thought, I was lucky. Usually it was much less. I kept trying for months, without success. I grew disheartened.

Today I remembered how - for me.

How could I have missed what was hiding in plain sight?

It's 1981. Boston, Massachusetts. A student at M.I.T. faces 6-10 hours of homework a day. How do you maintain focus for those stretches?

For me, it was two things. When I started to work I popped Cheap Trick's 'At Budokan' into the cassette player. After the first bar I was in the zone. Yes, the place Mihály Csíkszentmihályi called flow. And the world outside my desk disappeared. After two plays of the cassette I'd break and gather my roommates and go to the Pizza Pad to play Frogger. Then back to the desk for another double play of Budokan. Sometimes it took 3 or 4 cycles to get the homework done, but the routine didn't vary. The music allowed me to use 100% of my mind to solve the problem at hand without fatigue.

Okay, maybe the effectiveness decayed a bit after 2 a.m...

Sometimes we rotated music, but the cycle was the same. By the most conservative estimate, I listened to that tape over a thousand times in my time at M.I.T.

Recently I mentioned on Liz's blog that Umphrey's McGee's podcast #39 had the same flow-inducing effect. My creative writing ablity soared when I listened to it. I'm guessing that I've listened to that recording nearly 200 times.

Are you seeing a pattern here?

Let me add one more illustration. In high school I was a pole vaulter. It's as much a mental challenge as a physical one. There you stand at the end of the runway, staring at a bar floating above the clouds behind it. Your job is to run as hard as you can at the bar, stick a fiberglass stick in the ground and wait for the stick to flick you over the bar. Assuming you jammed the stick into the ground at the proper angle and rate of speed. If you don't, bad things happen - I have two concussions and innumerable ankle sprains to show for it.

I know what you're thinking. Mike - after all those ankle sprains and two concussions, didn't you LEARN anything?

Yes. I did. I learned to fly.

And that's why I kept vaulting. It's hard to describe that moment you go over the bar. You see it below you. Time stands still. Then, after that blissful moment in which you are aware of the bar, the crowd, and the air beneath you, gravity returns and pulls you to the ground in a great rush of wind!

That may sound zen-ish, but that's not my revelation.

As I said, standing at the end of the runway can be very intimidating. But I learned a way to beat it. It started with the opening chords of Grand Funk Railroad's Shinin' On (the live version, not the studio version). Then I saw myself hurtling down the runway and vaulting over the bar. Then I hit the pit shouting "YES".

Neurolinguistic programming (NLP) afficianados would recognize this sequence immediately, but Bandler and Grinder were still grad students in those days. I had no idea what I was doing; I just knew it worked.

Fast forward to this afternoon. It's a hundred and farkin' fifteen degrees outside! And it doesn't feel like a dry heat. Did I mention the A/C on my van is acting up? I'm reflecting on Eckhart Tolle's 'The Power of Now' and thinking "how can I be present if my face is melting?" I flipped on ol' podcast 39 and started trying to concentrate on the now. And it worked! I drove home in presence. I walked down the driveway and gazed at the evening sky with total amazement and no mental chatter. And then I turned off the music and used my mind to continue the soundtrack, with no mental chatter.

And then it hit me like a freight train running over my foot. If I'd looked within for my ability to meditate instead of looking for external guidance, I'd have saved myself a great deal of frustration.

What have you been looking for externally that you already know internally?

Please consider that question carefully if you're not totally satisfied with your life. You already have the answer. You just need to be willing to acknowledge it. Don't be a dumbass and turn a blind eye to it for 30 years like I did! Ask yourself: was there ever a time when you succeeded in anything closely resembling what you want to do? If yes, what went through your head? If you can't remember such a time, is there another frame of reference that gets you to yes? Because you have surprised yourself at least once. I know it.

And you know it too.

More on this subject when the experience design site explodes on the scene next week!

Five Curious Experiments at Spooky Action Labs

2007-08-30T06:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I posted five original must-read articles from this blog in response to a challenge from Liz Strauss. In the comments to her post I joked that it might be fun to create a list of the five most regrettable posts on a blog. She suggested some more creative list topics, and so here are five curiosities that never caught on as I hoped. But they were all fun experiments and contributed to the posts that folks do come here to read.

Narcissistic Public Service Announcement Okay, so it's not Conjunction Junction, but the abuse of the pronoun myself is reaching pandemic proportions! Where else can you find Ron Popiel, Billy Idol, James Taylor, and Cowboy Curtis in one post?

Four Jokes to Live By My first foray into the era of 'talkies'. I got the basic idea for this podcast several years ago, and finally got around to pulling it together at the start of this year. Response was underwhelming, but I learned a lot from doing it.

Top 5 Faces NOT to Make During an Audit I am a wordsmith. Can I do a top five list just by mugging for the camera?

Mini Confectioner's Haggis A real-live experiment in experience design. Can I concoct an ethnically-themed dessert for a pot luck for less than $5 and less than 5 minutes prep time? I suppose my success should serve as evidence for the power of the Law of Attraction...

Crash Course in Learning from Harry Potter I can't read music; I don't play an instrument, but this is a symphony of words, pictures, and ideas! Okay, maybe not a symphony; more like "Variations on a Theme by Kathy Sierra and John Salt".

Are you wondering about those M&Ms at the top of the post? Apparently Mars is experimenting with custom M&Ms sporting logos and slogans. Will it be wildly popular? Who knows, but they'll never know unless they run a few experiments!

Twelve Steps for Personal Development Addicts

2007-08-29T16:28:00.000-07:00

Lyman Reed has created an instant classic with his post Twelve Steps for Personal Development Addicts. It's hilarious and scary all at once in that I-resemble-that-remark way. Excerpt:

2. Came to believe that if the book we read last week wasn’t working, maybe if I buy another one, it will!

5. Humbly admitted to no one, especially not ourselves, that we weren’t really working on any of this stuff, just thinking about it and not taking any action.

I point out this post for two reasons. I've already stated the first, but the second is that I think I may be in recovery from this addiction. I didn't fully realize this fact until last week. In case you missed it, Kevin Eikenberry, author of Remarkable Leadership has waged a remarkable (well, duh!) campaign to catapult his book to the top of the Amazon charts. One of the ways authors will do this is to have a blitz of free bonuses for people who order on the first day (or soon after publishing). If you click on Kevin's link, you will see that he is offering not two bonuses, not ten bonuses, not fifty bonuses, but a mind-boggling 71 free bonuses!! Bravo, Kevin; that must have taken a monumental effort to assemble!

But I didn't order the book, even though I could get all that for about twenty bucks. I love free stuff as much as anyone, but about halfway down the list I realized that I would never get through even a fraction of the material, and then I'd wonder what I'd missed in the unstudied items.

I also got to thinking about Wallace Wattles and the Science of Getting Rich, and how faith, focus, perseverance, and gratitude were all I needed to succeed. I felt like the Grinch on top of Mt. Crumpit as I realized that personal development isn't about any specific system, program, or guru. They may provide useful tools I can use in my development program, but the spirit of personal development is the four items mentioned above. And I thought that perhaps creatively focusing only on them was what I should be doing. Perhaps there's hope for me yet...

Five Original Must-Read Articles by Mike DeWitt

2007-08-29T12:15:00.001-07:00

Liz Strauss at Successful Blog recently challenged me to "select five original must-read articles that I wrote throughout history (so to speak)."

Normally this would be a time-consuming, but pleasurable stroll down memory lane, and I would do it for Liz because she is such a good friend. But it's my lucky day, because I went through a similar exercise only a month ago! So instead of reviewing all my posts, I just need to winnow down that top ten and see if I can't drop in a recent one.

So here is the list of five must-read posts here at Spooky Action. They also define the kinds of content you'll get on this blog.

Spooky Action Predicts: Nick Carr Has Your Number (.8 Probability) The first post; sort of like a debut album, it has the accumulated ideas of several years, and you'll find an awful lot of my philosophy there. Yeah, it took a while to shake the sophomore blues, until I wrote:

When Bad Things Happen to Good Concepts is the embodiment of the Product Irreverence ethos. You'll never see a pencil sharpener the same again. This piece is now part of MBA By Blog!

Categories of Fun and Experience Design I've written a book-length treatise on Experience Design based on the concepts here, and you'll be seeing more of that material coming soon. This one has been linked quite a bit by people who know more than me on the subject!

How to Make Important Decisions This one spent nine months at number one when you Google the title. Alas, I have dipped to number 3 (we're more entertaining)! My take on how the mind works.

What I Learned from an Unscheduled Trip to the Bottom of the Grand Canyon. I've really enjoyed Robert Hruzek's "What I've Learned From..." group writing project. This is one of my favorites, because it tells a story (with incredible pictures) and has a good actual lesson, too.

So there you have it! If you haven't joined in this exercise, give it a try; you'll be glad you did. And thanks Liz for inviting me to play!

My Virtual Brush With Fame - The Glenda Watson Hyatt Book Tour

2007-08-21T12:47:00.000-07:00

Another 110 degree day here in the Valley of the Sun, which means it's 47 degrees in my office. I step outside for a few minutes to thaw out, and I imagine myself driving along the Apache Trail on the way to Lake Roosevelt.

This is my favorite stretch: Fish Creek Hill. If you look closely, you'll see that here the Trail is a one-lane dirt road with plywood guard rails. What you can't tell from the picture is that it drops at a 10 degree grade. That might not seem like a big number, but picture in your mind the steepest road you've ever driven on. Now make it 40% steeper! That's a ten degree grade.

Did I mention that traffic flows in both directions on the one lane dirt plume of terror? There are occasional places to pull over and let oncoming traffic pass, and it's always exciting getting close to that guard rail to squeeze by...

In one of those alcoves I notice a red Ferrari convertible with a flat tire. I stop and ask the woman in the driver's seat "would you like some help with that flat, ma'am?"

"I'll do it myself", she answers with a smile.

Wow! She's got moxey. I know I've seen that smile before, but where?

"Hey, are you Glenda Watson Hyatt?" I call out.

"Ta!Da! In person," she exclaims.

I'd met Glenda several months before via the blogosphere. She was wickedly funny, and only after I'd gotten to know her delightful personality did I learn that she has cerebral palsy and communicates with the world through her left thumb. But that hasn't stopped her from living an amzaing life, which she has chronicled in an equally amazing book entitled I'll Do It Myself (click the link to learn more).

"May I ask you a few questions about your book, Glenda?" I inquired.

"Of course", she replied.

Everyone writes a book with someone in mind. Sometimes we write for ourselves, and sometimes we write with a specific person in mind. Who did you write your book for?

First, and foremost, I wrote the book for youth and young adults with cerebral palsy and other disabilities to motivate, to inspire and to share how I have navigated life.

Secondly, I wrote it for parents, who, after having their bundle of joy gently placed in their awaiting arms, are given the devastating news their baby has cerebral palsy. In an instant, their hopes and dreams for their child, as well as for their family, are smashed. I hope this book offers a glimmer of hope for these parents, as well as for the siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles. I want to show that life can still be meaningful, despite cerebral palsy.

Lastly, I hope the book will enable doctors and medical professionals to see beyond the diagnosis, the prognosis and the can’ts, and see the patient as a person filled with capabilities, potential and desires. However, that may be expecting far too much from only one book!

I know that this is an autobiography, but were there any surprises or revelations for you during the writing process?

Yes, there were a few surprises and some parts were hard to write. One was surprise was regarding my Grade 7 teacher. He had some unusual teaching methods; let's simply say his contract was not renewed. However, despite him not being my favourite teacher, while I was writing the book, I found myself owing him some gratitude because he encouraged my writing. Perhaps he saw potential and knew that writing would have to play an important part in my life.

If you could pick any actress in film history to play you in the movie version of the book, who would it be, and why?

This is a question I've actually discussed with my good friend Penny (www.1stpod.com); adapting my book into a screen play is part of my long-term vision. In fact, it has just become my next big dream as I am writing this!

Julia Roberts is my first choice. Her fun-loving, bubbly personality is a perfect match. And she already has the red hair!

However, it really annoys me when people with disabilities typically aren't played by actors and actresses with disabilities. It reminds me of Shakespearean times when female roles were played by boys and young men. For this reason, I'd be honoured to have Geri Jewell (http://www.gerijewell.com/), the first actress with a disability to land a recurring role on a prime time series, play me.

[I was thinking a young Lucille Ball, but Geri works for me!]

What surprises people most about your story?

I think most people are surprised by how much I have done, even though I have a physical disability. [For me it was her incredible resilience!]

You are participating in the Blog for a Year contest, trying to win a salary to blog for a year. How can people help you, and what is the best reason to do so?

People can offer their support by voting daily (http://blogforayear.com/profiles/glenda-watson-hyatt); from home and work or school would be awesome. They can also spread the word by posting a badge on their site or blog and blogging about it. If they are on Facebook, they are welcome to join my fan club (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2378349797). If they twitter, please tweet often. Your support in spreading the word is much appreciated.

Winning, particularly if the contributions reach the full amount of $160,000 (http://blogforayear.com/), means I could focus on blogging (www.doitmyselfblog.com), which has opened a whole new world to me, and enables me to communicate and share my story with people from around the world. Winning would also enable me to get off social assistance, which is my goal. Thanks so much. Together I know I can climb to #1(http://blogforayear.com/profiles)!

Suddenly my Blackberry started vibrating and I was once again back at work, reading an important message from a colleague [Did I want to grab lunch at Chotchkie's?]. I really wanted to ask Glenda how she got all the way from Saskatchewan to Arizona in one day, but then I figured it was Glenda and it was a Ferrari 360 Spyder. What more explanation was needed?

You can follow the rest of Glenda's Summer Sojourn Virtual Book tour at her blog. And don't forget to vote for Glenda in the Blog for a Year contest!

Enjoy the rest of your sojourn, Glenda!

Photo from Risk's Ultralight Hiking Page, where you can see many breathtaking photos from the trail.

Bonus: video of the first part of the downhill run.

The Fat Smoker and the Black Swan

2007-08-14T12:58:00.000-07:00

The Great Oracle of Professional Services, David Maister, writes:

"The parallel between the market for business advice and the weight-loss industry fascinates me. We have in most countries a huge industry which basically doesn't have much to say except "eat less exercize more." Is there really any difference between Jennie Craig and Weight Watchers except the psychology of the process you voluntarily put yourself in, in order to provide structure to what you know you should be doing anyaway. Why do weight loss books sell so well? Why is everyone looking for the latest fad diet?"

I asked a similar question about self-help books in general a couple of years ago, and came up with a strong opinion. For those of you looking for a quick read, I'll net out the posts. The reason there are a zillion self-help books saying the same thing has little to do with the books themselves and everything to do with the individual reader experience.

Since I wrote those posts I stumbled onto an additional nuance. Earlier this year Nassim Nicholas Taleb wrote a book entitled The Black Swan [link takes you to the corresponding ChangeThis manifesto]. His basic thesis is that our lives are heavily influenced by Black Swans, which he characterizes thusly:

"First it is an outlier, as it lies outside the realm of regular expectations, because nothing in the past can convincingly point out its possibility. Second, it carries an extreme impact. Third, in spite of its outlier status, human nature makes us concoct explanations for its occurrence after the fact, making it explainable and predictable."

For the fat smoker, the experience of losing the weight / stopping smoking fits the description. And the fat smoker's mind goes into concoction mode. While the reality is that the conditions just happened to be right for him or her to "eat less and exercise more", they're more likely to glom onto the book or program that got them going in the right direction. And so they tell their friends about this wonderful program, some of whom may also be just on the edge of a mental state that will allow them to "eat less and exercise more". They'll have success, too. If this happens to enough people, the book becomes a runaway best seller! Of course, for reasons discussed in the previous posts, not everyone is going to be able to use the book/program to keep them in the proper mental state. But the Black Swan of the "ultimate diet book" keeps them looking for one of their own.

In business, as in self-improvement, the key is not some new recipe, it's the motivation an organization or individual brings to the effort. Wally Bock notes in the comments section of David's post that the key to success in major initiatives, from losing weight to learning to golf or implementing Six Sigma, is in keeping motivated when the you hit the inevitable plateau or dip. And here's where the mental concoction apparatus does its finest work. After all, "I just bit the bullet and kept plugging away" doesn't have much story value.

What is the moral for managers and consultants?

As we discussed in When Bad Things Happen to Good Concepts, it's vitally important to understand the difference between concept and context.
Success ultimately boils down to motivation, and not everyone is motivated by the same things. You need to know what really motivates your employees/customers.
Plan for, and watch for, the plateau or dip. When it happens, be ready to inject experiences that will bolster the motivation of the dipees.

What do you think? Did I miss anything? How would you answer David's question?

Carnival of the Capitalists for August 13, 2007

2007-08-13T01:23:00.000-07:00

Welcome to this week's Carnival of the Capitalists. I should have known when I signed up to host on the 13th to plan for the unexpected. Who knew it would be the Blue Screen of Death? And then the dreaded sound of scraping from the hard drive. Followed by air conditioner problems; never good in the middle of August in Arizona. And the first day of school is today (I guess every cloud DOES have a silver lining!).

Over 50 submissions this week, too! I guess everyone is blogging on summer vacation this year. And since you have extra time on your hands, I'm giving everyone link love this week. I also have a list of the top picks (in my personal opinion - no offense to anyone who isn't a top pick; I'm just as capricious as the host who didn't top pick my submission last week!) Please note that CotC only allows one post per author and one post per blog.

Top Picks for the Time-Challenged

Sagar Satapathy presents All You Need is Love and a Good Financial Plan: 17 Finance Tips from the Beatles posted at Credit Card Lowdown. I'm not a big Beatles fan, but he gets high marks for creativity!

Charles Green posits that We've All Caught the Detroit Disease. Money quote: "We’ve learned well from Detroit—the wrong lessons." Ouch!

Benjamin Kepple presents Moneyball posted at Ben Kepple, in which he discusses quandary of the value of the yuan (and the problems both the Chinese and American governments face in dealing with the issue).

Bob Vineyard explains some interesting facts about health care spending. Interesting in that pending disaster sort of way...

James Hamilton of Econbrowser discusses last week's interventions by central banks in What is a liquidity event?. So that's what the Fed is doing...

Michael K. Dawson presents Leave Buy and Hold to the Billionaires posted at Breaking the Shackles of the 9 to 5 | by The Time & Money Group. Money quote of the week: "One of the most expensive lessons that I have ever learned is that it is much better to sell a stock and buy it back higher than to suffer through a draw down."

Rob presents Rupert Murdoch Would Be a Fruitcake To Make the WSJ Free posted at Businesspundit. I liked Rob's analysis very much. Then I read Jon Strande's ~~smackdown~~ rebuttal, which brought up some interesting ideas of how to make it work.

"Last Friday when I found myself agreeing with Jim Cramer, I felt very uncomfortable for obvious reasons." Babak presents Financial Liquidity Injection: Better Late Than Never posted at Trader's Narrative.

"YouTubes database of iPhone-related videos reached for more than 15,000. The most popular of them was viewed 4 million times." Wow. Michael Ferrerya presents From iPhone to YouTube - The Viral Marketing Method.

Christine Kane presents What's Easy. What's Not. posted at Christine Kane's Blog. Okay, so this isn't exactly standard CotC fare, but it's so beautifully written I had to include it in the faves.

Careers

Wilson Ng presents the perfect post for Monday the 13th: Going to the Top too fast posted at Reflections of a BizDrivenLife. Alas, he's probably right.

Economics

Aundi presents Economics of Burning Man posted at Queercents. Note: language is not G rated on this post.

Jay Deragon presents Get S.E.T. for Change, in which he discusses the convergence of Sociology, Economics and Technology.

Adam presents The Knowledge Economy Hypothesis posted at Sophistpundit. I feel like I should get college credits for finishing that one, but very well written.

David Tufte discusses 'Why Is Macroeconomics So Hard - "Balanced" Journalism"' at voluntaryXchange. Money quote: "Is it any wonder than a nation full of leisurely people who can afford to pay to have someone to redo their closets to hold more stuff have unfounded angst about the economy?"

CA presents Manufacturing moving back to the US? - Part 1 : Atlantic Canada’s Small Business Blog - IQI Strategic Management Inc. posted at Atlantic Canada's Small Business Blog. As Wolfgang used to say on Laugh In: "Very interesting..."

Entrepreneurship

Edith Yeung lists 13 Things a Successful Entrepreneur Must Know & Take Action On posted at Edith Yeung.Com: Dream. Think. Act.. I liked the Just Do This at the end!

Wayne Hurlbert presents Connections: Bloggers plus dots equal business : Blog Business World posted at Blog Business World. There do seem to be a lot of new businesses coming out of blogging relationships these days.

Christopher Anderson presents Planning an Business Trip. Good advice for maximizing deductions!

Crystal Cohen presents Leveling the Playing Fields.

Finance

Rachel Langston says OSAs are MVPs over at My Money Thinks. OSAs are Online Savings Accounts.

Andy presents How to Determine Financial Success posted at moneywalks. Two words: net worth!

DR presents 5 Steps to Achieving the 24-hour Work Week (Which Beats The 4-Hour Work Week) posted at The Dough Roller. No Mondays...hmm...Step 5 is important for everyone these days...

Matthew Paulson presents How to Make a Guaranteed 14.57% Rate of Return on Your Money. posted at FinanceIsPersonal.com. Another spoonful of castor oil, but it's good advice.

FMF presents Disney Money Saving Tips: Avoid Crowds, Be Flexible, Shop Around posted at Free Money Finance. Non-financial tip: bring a baby!

Martin Bosworth presents "Faith-based investing" and total economic collapse posted at Scholars and Rogues. It's not that kind of "faith-based".

Silicon Valley Blogger presents How Are You Building Your Net Worth? posted at The Digerati Life. Two words: pie charts!

Shannon Christman presents Why Getting a Degree Isn’t Always a Sound Financial Decision posted at Saving Advice Blog. Good questions and solid analysis.

George presents Buybacks vs. Dividends posted at Fat Pitch Financials, which presents the results of a reader poll.

Management

Carmen Van Kerckhove presents How to respond to a racist joke posted at Race in the Workplace - how race and racism influence our working lives. Very well written piece. I wish all training of this type were this cogent.

Alvaro Fernandez presents Training the Aging Workforce posted at Brain Fitness Blog. It's never too early to set your baby boomer exit strategy!

Wally Bock at Three Star Leadership Blog discusses Engagement: Seven Ways to Increase It. I can provide apocryphal evidence for this: "If you have a bad boss, you will have a terrible workplace. If you have a great boss you can have a great workplace in the most awful and dysfunctional of companies."

Leon Gettler presents Interview with Boyden World Corporation president Christopher J Clarke posted at Sox First. I'm not sold on the concept of "short term CFOs".

Louise Manning presents Are You A Good Facilitator? posted at The Human Imprint. Nice distinction between leadership and facilitation!

Bridgette Boudreaux presents The Money Is In The Service posted at Your Time 2 Soar. A birthday cake for a copier?

Sales and Marketing

David Kam discusses ADcraft, marketing in the World of Warcraft. Any group of 9 million people is a market too ripe to ignore.

The Markets

Matthew Ash says The Long Term is Still As Bright As Ever, and he has a chart to prove it. He also says the short and intermediate don't look so rosy.

Warren Wong admonishes you to Stop Checking That Stock at INTJ Personal Development. If you're not going to act, why look?

nickel presents The Dow Jones Industrial Average: Then and Now posted at fivecentnickel.com. I think my grandfather had a few shares of Distilling and Cattle Feeding.

Miscellany

Jimmy Liberty presents Thom Hartmann?s Faulty Attack On Capitalism? Part I posted at Jimmy Liberty's Blog, wherein he discusses current events from the 1700's. And I agree with him.

Vihar Sheth presents Sustainable Sports posted at green | rising, and includes a list of the Top Ten Vegetarian-Friendly Ballparks.

Dan Melson presents San Diego Real Estate Market Prognosis August 2007 posted at Searchlight Crusade. He points out that San Diego has been on the leading edge of real estate trends, both good and bad, so you may want to check this out.

Mark at SportsBiz - The Business of Sports Illuminated discusses GM's severance of it's 23 year relationship with the U.S. Olympic Committee.

What to do with $80 Million worth of stock certificates sent to you by mistake? Shivering Timbers presents Stock Certificates posted at Dispatches from the Frozen North.

FitBuff presents Free Water, What a Novel Idea! | FitBuff.com's Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog posted at FitBuff.com's Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog. Well, not exactly free...

And there you have it! Next week's edition will be at Revenue River. You can visit him before then if you like. Check out his Penn and Teller post! Or you can stay here and look at more irreverently productive stuff. You can start with this list of defining posts, or anything in the sidebar.

Drat! I just noticed that next week's host was also last week's host. What do you think the probability of me getting a "top" listing next week is?

What I Learned From an Unscheduled Trip to the Bottom of the Grand Canyon

2007-08-09T07:37:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been to the Grand Canyon? Do pictures, or even video, do justice to it? To me, they can't capture the sense of awe you feel standing on the rim in person. Go ahead and click the picture below to expand it to full size. It's incredible, but not like the real thing.

I first visited the Grand Canyon when I was 13 years old. For years I had hiked the mountains of the western U.S. and Canada with my grandparents, but had never done any serious canyon hiking. We planned to spend a week at Grand Canyon National Park, with the goal of working our way up to an overnight trip to the bottom of the canyon and back.

The distance from rim to river is about 7.8 miles. That's not too daunting; it's the 4300 ft altitude change that can kill you, literally: [You can click any picture to enlarge]

So our plan for the first day was to spend the morning getting our "trail legs" by hiking down to the 1.5 mile mark and coming back. From mountain hiking I knew that going up took about three times as long as going down the same path.

My grandfather, mother, brother and I set out early in the morning, and in no time we were at the 1.5 mile mark. The scenery was breathtaking, and since we were making better time than expected, we decided we could go a little further.

The trail was great, and the views became more fascinating as we proceeded into the canyon.

Remember that little patch of green in the center of the first picture? It's called Indian Garden, and we made it there without breaking a sweat. We stopped with the intent of turning around BUT...

...of that 4300 ft vertical drop, we'd already completed almost 3000. Why not go just a little farther to see what the inner canyon looks like?

Below the plateau, most of the rock is black schist, a volcanic rock. And what happens when black rock is exposed to intense sunlight over a period of time? That's right; it turns the sunlight into radiated heat. It got progressively hotter as we went down. Of course, once we got into the lower canyon, the lure of getting to the river became a siren song. It was hot, and the thought of putting our feet in cool water before turning around was too much to resist!

And there it is! Yee ha!

But wait. What's wrong with this picture?

I remember running to the beach, tossing off my shoes and socks and jumping into the water - only to be involuntarily flung backward onto the sand by the shock of how freezing cold the water was!! The water flowing through the canyon has spent months, maybe years chilling at the very bottom of Lake Powell, and felt as cold as Lake Superior on that hot June day. But we made it!

Now for the fun part; turning around and returning to the top. Here's a stretch of the trail through the lower canyon. They don't call the the Devil's Corkscrew for nothing! [Reminder: all of these pictures can be clicked to view and zoom. This one in particular will put you in the mood of the trip.]

Here is a more panoramic view. Where we're going is way up in the right hand corner. Can you see why they post those warning signs? *gulp*

As we worked our way up the Devil's Corkscrew, I began to notice a fine white powder on my arms. Can you guess what it was?

Salt. The dry heat wicked all the moisture I was sweating off of me instantly, leaving only a salty residue. Good thing we brought salt pills with us! But we were going through the water pretty quickly. (I ended up drinking the better part of a gallon of water without ever having to visit the facilities)

Indian Gardens from the other direction! Shade never looked so sweet, and we could refill our canteens.

Only another 2908' straight up to go! At this point we'd already hiked over 11 miles, but still had four and change left. Our pace had slacked considerably, but my grandfather admonished us that he didn't have the money for a helicopter rescue, so we trudged on. That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

A couple of hours into the next stretch something wonderful happens. Your consciousness focuses down to a small space a couple paces in front of you. You're not aware of your body, or the canyon. Just the trail rolling along, changing color as you slowly ascend through the rock strata. I imagine this is how zombies feel.

Even a dry heat will bake you to a crisp! I don't feel so good.

Finally, the rim is within attainable reach! Where's that fourth wind when I really need it?

Oh yes, right here! (It's great to be a kid)

We reach the top twelve hours after we started, and now that the adrenaline is gone I'm a limp bag of very sore bones. 15.8 miles and over 400 stories of elevation change (actually, 400 down and then another 400 back up)!

The end of quite a day, but a view like this can make you forget the pain of the preceding hours.

So what exactly did I learn from that day?

Henry Kissinger once said: "The absence of alternatives clears the mind marvelously." It's surprising what we can do when we absolutely have to. We spend most of our lives in a gear much lower than our true peak capability. Often our heroic potential is only used in times of duress; but it's always there for those bold enough to use it.

This post was written as part of the "What I Learned from Vacation" group writing project.

Note: The pictures in this post came from HikeArizona.com, an invaluable source of information for people hiking in this great state. Thanks to all the fabulous members who contribute trip photos to the site!

August 6 Carnival of the Capitalists

2007-08-06T07:04:00.000-07:00

This week's Carnival of the Capitalists is up at Linked Intelligence. Check out some great posts; the Sales and Marketing section is especially good this week!

Next week's Carnival will be right here. I look forward to reading each and every submission!

Shared Answers - Here's How You Get Them To Believe Your ROI Projections?

2007-08-04T08:41:00.000-07:00

In my previous post, I posed the question:

Have you ever come up with a great idea and pitched it to customers and/or investors, only to have your financial justification picked apart like a carcass on the savanna?

Me, too!

And worse yet, if I was pitching to a group of people, they would each attack different assumptions or, worse still, they would propose conflicting values for the same variable!

And sometimes, what I was proposing was unprecedented, and no one could really say what the right numbers were.

This problem vexed me for years, until I came up with the perfect solution! Want to know what it is?

What I am about to tell you is a multimillion dollar secret!

How do I know that?

Because the first time I used it, my client decided to spend four times their entire IT budget on a single project, when I offered two lower-cost alternatives to them.

So I tried it again on something smaller, and that client loved it.

I tried it on entire business plans, too. In each case, the client thanked me for giving them insight where there had only been rancor. (okay, rancor may be a bit of an exaggeration).

Did you notice the spoiler in the previous post? If I hadn't put that link in the question, this is where I'd make the first ask for $79.95 for the "Secret of ROI" eBook. What I am about to tell you is one of the most valuable lessons (in dollar terms) I've ever learned.

The human brain is the most sophisticated pattern matcher and synthesizer ever created, but it's not perfect. I can't simply state a point of fact and know for certain that you will internalize it, even if I believe with all my heart and soul and have mountains of data to back it up. You will only believe the new fact to the extent that you can rationalize it with the entire set of existing beliefs/patterns in your head. [As proof, did you take that last sentence on faith to be true? Did you question it? But I digress...]

My ROI problem was an example of this phenomenon. I would present a perfectly rational model of the economics of a new system - one that I had internalized while creating it - and expect the customer to immediately "get it". Their natural reaction was to poke at it based on their prior experience, which usually included unrealistic ROI scenarios. Can you guess the solution yet?

Let's take a concrete example. A friend of mine wanted to get approval for a project to improve the usability of a some IT applications. How do you justify a project like that? By calculating the cost savings of the improved productivity. (Normally I'd prefer something more tangible, but this is a simple example) The number of effected employees is known, as is Accounting's cost for the current tasks. But what about the improvement in productivity? No matter what number you pick, somebody is going to have a problem with it, even if you pick something way below the expected return.

The solution. Don't pick one. Let your audience pick it. By building a simple model and letting them play with the assumptions, you provide a tool to help them internalize the dynamics of the decision. Here's the one we built for our example:

[Note: These numbers are smaller than the real-world ones]

Now, in the presentation to the approvers, my friend could ask them what they thought the percentage should be, and let the audience see what effect changing that parameter had on the total return. Want to pick a pessimistic number? How about an optimistic one? In my experience, audiences invariably settle on a number bigger than the one I would have proposed if I had to give one number. But the real value of the tool is that it allows the group to interact and discuss scenarios and the internal assumptions they each have, and that interaction allows group members to internalize the ROI of the system.

The example is a very simple one. Typically there is more than one variable involved, but the concept scales nicely. The key is to have one page that shows the key variables/assumptions as well as the bottom line effect. This allows people to immediately see the effects of changing the value of any variable. They see which ones have big effects and which ones have small effects. Each change helps them to build a new pattern of understanding of the ROI.

There are a few other nuances I've learned along the way, and those you will have to pay me for. But you can succeed brilliantly with what you already know. Give it a try; you'll be glad you did!

This post is an entry in the group writing project SharedAnswers07, hosted by Grow Your Writing Business and WritingThoughts. Click on either link to learn more or to participate yourself!

The Science of Getting Rich - Audio Version

2007-08-03T12:57:00.000-07:00

Did this genial-looking fellow write the most valuable self-improvement book of the twentieth century?

I think there is a case to be made that he did.

For those of you who don't know him, let me introduce you to Wallace D. Wattles, and the book I refer to is The Science of Getting Rich, which he published in 1910.

The gist of the book is this:

"THERE is a Science of getting rich, and it is an exact science, like algebra or arithmetic. There are certain laws which govern the process of acquiring riches; once these laws are learned and obeyed by any man, he will get rich with mathematical certainty.

The ownership of money and property comes as a result of doing things in a certain way; those who do things in this Certain Way, whether on purpose or accidentally, get rich; while those who do not do things in this Certain Way, no matter how hard they work or how able they are, remain poor.

It is a natural law that like causes always produce like effects; and, therefore, any man or woman who learns to do things in this certain way will infallibly get rich."

And in roughly 60 pages he lays out the Certain Way, which begins with the concept of the Law of Attraction (though that term wouldn't be coined for some time), and describes a full program for getting rich. It's clearly written, and applicable by anyone, anywhere. It's complete, and unadorned with unnecessary extras. It eliminates any excuses for not following the program, but doesn't sugar coat the discipline required to succeed. Here is the entire program in a nutshell (also known as Chapter 17):

"THERE is a thinking stuff from which all things are made, and which, in its original state, permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces of the universe.

A thought in this substance produces the thing that is imaged by the thought.

Man can form things in his thought, and by impressing his thought upon formless substance can cause the thing he thinks about to be created.

In order to do this, man must pass from the competitive to the creative mind; otherwise he cannot be in harmony with the Formless Intelligence, which is always creative and never competitive in spirit.

Man may come into full harmony with the Formless Substance by entertaining a lively and sincere gratitude for the blessings it bestows upon him. Gratitude unifies the mind of man with the intelligence of Substance, so that man's thoughts are received by the Formless. Man can remain upon the creative plane only by uniting himself with the Formless Intelligence through a deep and continuous feeling of gratitude.

Man must form a clear and definite mental image of the things he wishes to have, to do, or to become; and he must hold this mental image in his thoughts, while being deeply grateful to the Supreme that all his desires are granted to him. The man who wishes to get rich must spend his leisure hours in contemplating his Vision, and in earnest thanksgiving that the reality is being given to him. Too much stress cannot be laid on the importance of frequent contemplation of the mental image, coupled with unwavering faith and devout gratitude. This is the process by which the impression is given to the Formless, and the creative forces set in motion.

The creative energy works through the established channels of natural growth, and of the industrial and social order. All that is included in his mental image will surely be brought to the man who follows the instructions given above, and whose faith does not waver. What he wants will come to him through the ways of established trade and commerce.

In order to receive his own when it shall come to him, man must be active; and this activity can only consist in more than filling his present place. He must keep in mind the Purpose to get rich through the realization of his mental image. And he must do, every day, all that can be done that day, taking care to do each act in a successful manner. He must give to every man a use value in excess of the cash value he receives, so that each transaction makes for more life; and he must so hold the Advancing Thought that the impression of increase will be communicated to all with whom he comes in contact.

The men and women who practice the foregoing instructions will certainly get rich; and the riches they receive will be in exact proportion to the definiteness of their vision, the fixity of their purpose, the steadiness of their faith, and the depth of their gratitude."

There are several online texts of the book (such as the linked one from Rick Cockrum at Shards of Consciousness), since the copyright has now expired in the United States and the book is in the public domain. I like to use my commuting time to listen to audiobooks, but didn't find a corresponding free audio version. So I created one. Now anyone with an internet connection and a set of speakers (or an MP3 player) can listen to the book. Have a listen, and I hope you enjoy and learn from this great book!

Preface

Chapter 1: The Right to Be Rich

Chapter 2: There Is a Science of Getting Rich

Chapter 3: Is Opportunity Monopolized?

Chapter 4: The First Principle in the Science of Getting Rich

Chapter 5: Increasing Life

Chapter 6: How Riches Come to You

Chapter 7: Gratitude

Chapter 8: Thinking in the Certain Way

Chapter 9: How to Use the Will

Chapter 10: Further Uses of the Will

Chapter 11: Acting in the Certain Way

Chapter 12: Efficient Action

Chapter 13: Getting Into the Right Business

Chapter 14: The Impression of Increase

Chapter 15: The Advancing Man

Chapter 16: Some Cautions, and Concluding Observations

Chapter 17: Summary of the Science of Getting Rich

Note: Any comments or suggestions are always appreciated!

Shared Answers - How Do You Get Them To Believe Your ROI Projections?

2007-08-02T19:29:00.000-07:00

Have you ever come up with a great idea and pitched it to customers and/or investors, only to have your financial justification picked apart like a carcass on the savanna?

Me, too!

And worse yet, if I was pitching to a group of people, they would each attack different assumptions or, worse, they would propose conflicting values for the same variable!

And sometimes, what I was proposing was unprecedented, and no one could really say what the right numbers were.

This problem vexed me for years, until I came up with the perfect solution! Want to know what it is?

Sorry, the rules of the contest say I have to answer the question in a different post. Check back later for the answer.

This post is an entry in the group writing project SharedAnswers07, hosted by Grow Your Writing Business and WritingThoughts. Click on either link to learn more or to participate yourself!

spoiler

Puke-a-Pet

2007-08-02T17:15:00.000-07:00

"Warm and squishy, Puke-a-Pet is your perfect flight companion"

From my friend Steve's Airsickness Bag Collection. Choose Virgin Atlantic "Design for Chunks" to see the rest of the "designer" bags in this series. I'm still laughing at "do not fill above this line".

Last Time on "As the Action Gets Spooky"

2007-07-27T17:01:00.000-07:00

William Tully over at LOGICal eMOTIONs started a meme asking folks to list ten posts that define what their blog is about and why. The estimable Blue Shark tagged me, and it seemed like a good thing to do. So here the ten post that best define Spooky Action.

Spooky Action Predicts: Nick Carr Has Your Number (.8 Probability) The first post; sort of like a debut album, it has the accumulated ideas of several years, and you'll find an awful lot of my philosophy there. Yeah, it took a while to shake the sophomore blues, until I wrote:

Good to Great Throughout the Ages Are the keys in Good to Great a mirror of essential elements of epic mythology? I make the case in a piece that shows the kind of non-linear thinking that shows up here regularly.

When Bad Things Happen to Good Concepts is the embodiment of the Product Irreverence ethos. You'll never see a pencil sharpener the same again. This piece is now part of MBA By Blog!

How to Make Important Decisions Go ahead. Google the title. Nine months at Number One, baby! My take on how the mind works.

Crash Course in Learning from Harry Potter Inspired by posts from two of my favorite bloggers (who sadly are both not currently blogging), this is a visual mash-up of their most creative training advice. Lots of Easter Eggs and cross-references; one of my favorite pieces!

Categories of Fun and Experience Design I've written a book-length treatise on Experience Design based on the concepts here, and you'll be seeing more of that material coming soon. This one has been linked quite a bit by people who know more than me on the subject!

STATISTICS SHOW EATING ICE CREAM CAUSES MURDER After being double-dog dared by my friend Liz Strauss to write this piece, it now occupies prime Google result position on the subject. Hey, at least they'll get a laugh while doing that term paper research!

Where is the Line Between Gift and Investment Sometimes we think Deep Thoughts here.

Four Jokes to Live By Now you can listen to me bloviate, too!

Cause and Effect in Professional Services What do you get when you mix McConnell and Huba, Green and Maister, Keiningham and Vavra, Blanchard and Bowles, and an overactive imagination? This post, which synthesizes teachings from all of them into a model for building strong professional services practices.

I'm not going to tag anyone, since I'm not wild about these things, but feel free to join in the fun if the mood strikes you!

What I Learned from Being Abandoned in Mexico City

2007-07-06T06:19:00.000-07:00

[MZM's latest group writing project concerns lessons learned from travel.]

Back in the late 80's I did a lot of business travel, usually on short notice. One such trip took me to Mexico City. I arrived around noon, and was picked up by a local colleague, who took me to my hotel to freshen up before a 4:00 meeting and then dinner. I relaxed a bit, and reviewed my work for the next day. At 4:30 my colleagues called to say they were running a bit late. At 5:00 they called to say they'd be over at 6:00. At 6:30 they called and said that the meeting was off, but that we'd meet for dinner at 8:00. When the phone rang at 7:30, guess what? Yep. Dinner was canceled due to protracted meetings that would go on very late.

So there I was in a unfamiliar foreign city, having sat by myself in the hotel for several hours, in an ever-increasing state of agitation. Normally I'd just resign myself to room service in this situation, but I needed to get out for a bit. I recalled my boss (who had traveled extensively) saying that one of the best meals he'd ever eaten was at a place called La Fonda del Recuerdo. Since my Mexican hosts were paying for my expenses, I figured I'd give it a try. I asked the concierge for the address, and she suggested I take a taxi. No problem. My now-rusty high school Spanish could get me through that part. The ride was longer than I expected, and before long it didn't feel like I was in happy-fun-tourist-land anymore. I was beginning to wonder if the taxi driver was taking me for a joy ride, and thinking this might not have been such a good idea.

Eventually, the driver dropped me off in front of the restaurant, and I walked in and asked for a table for one. The maitre d' greeted me warmly and showed me to a table. My waiter didn't speak english, but having lived in Texas for a few years, I knew how to say "Cerveza, por favor" to get things rolling. The restaurant was a bustling place, with families and business people, all having a great time. There were strolling bands, and people happily sang along with them. When it was time to order, the maitre d' returned to help me navigate the menu (not available in Gringo-friendly form). He suggested that if I was hungry I should try the Veracruz Sampler or some such thing. I thought that sounded good.

I didn't realize I was ordering dinner for four. The waiter brought out a platter the size of a small picnic table loaded with what had to be three pounds of meat (carne asada, pork, and chicken mole) and a full set of sides! I did my best, but after an hour there was still a considerable portion of food left and I wanted to be able to walk out of the restaurant.

When the waiter brought the bill and I did the conversion in my head, the total was under $15! I tipped 30% and slipped the maitre d' several pesos, too. He hailed me a taxi, and I returned to the hotel a much happier man than the one who had left there a few hours before.

So what did I learn from this story? That sometimes bitter disappointment can be the seed for great adventure and enjoyment - if we're bold and/or smart enough to look past our initial expectations!

WIIFM and MMFI

2007-07-04T20:22:00.000-07:00

Long time FOSA (Friend of Spooky Action) John asked me to comment on David Maister's post The Consultant and the CEO, in which a reader poses a question regarding a bad consulting situation:

“For the last month or so I have been working well with a client and her staff helping them develop their brand strategy. My client heads a division of a company. A couple of weeks into the project I’ve become aware that my client has an abysmal relationship with her CEO, whom she reports to. I also quickly learned that the CEO is a tyrant and displays many of the characteristics Bob Sutton described in his book The No Asshole Rule. The CEO makes the lives of her staff miserable. They are both terrified and befuddled by her unpredictable, bullying and overbearing behavior.

“Last week my client went overseas for work and the CEO has decided she wants to run the branding project during my client’s absence. The CEO attended a meeting of the leadership team I’m working with and she proceeded to denigrate her staff telling them that their opinion meant nothing and then proceeded to attack the project. The staff all looked at me to say “sorry” but couldn’t say a word.

“My question for you and your readers is this. How involved should a consultant get in trying to help a group of people who can’t make headway because the way the CEO behaves?”

Ugh. I would venture that most consultants have been in this type of situation. David's answer was that the consultant shouldn't get involved in trying to help the group. It's a no-win situation to do so, thus you shouldn't even try.

I have learned that there are certain people with whom I shouldn't differ without very carefully examining my reasoning. David would be right at the top of his list, and his advice is wise and prudent. As a consultant, it isn't your job to be an organizational therapist (unless that is specifically what you were hired to do).

[Takes deep breath]

But, as one of the commenters pointed out, there is a change management aspect to practically every project, and that includes people at all levels of the organization. In this particular situation I as consultant wouldn't take on the task of fixing the relationship between the CEO and her staff, but I would ask my client and her staff if there is a WIIFM or MMFI regarding this project for the CEO, and if they honestly think that she understands them.

WIIFM stands for "What's In It For Me?" People make decisions for personal reasons, and often later backfill with 'facts' to justify that decision. Most major-account sales programs are designed around this paradigm. WIIFM is very personal and situational. A consultant has very little chance of being able to divine/define the WIIFM at a deep personal level until they have invested the time and energy to become a trusted advisor. One would hope the CEO's staff would have better insight into her inner workings. The WIIFM might be tactical and tangible (the project will result in a 50% increase in sales which will mean $X to you personally) or strategic and intangible (a chance to leave a lasting legacy to the community).

You should also make sure that your project doesn't have any major negative WIIFM's to a key executive. I once worked on a project to revamp some training so that it could be completed successfully in two days instead of five. Since this training effected hundreds of technicians, our team felt that this was a clear winner all around. Except that our division president had told the CEO that it was impossible to complete the training in less than five days. Our success was detrimental to her personal reputation. Unless we found a positive WIIFM for her, she would squash our project like a bug!

Which brings us to MMFI - Make Me Feel Important. The other question I would ask as a consultant would be: Is there a way to make the CEO feel important in conjunction with the project? As with our division president, there are often people who aren't integral to the project, but who can sabotage if they don't see a WIIFM. In many cases, Make Me Feel Important is that WIIFM component. In the case of our division president, even though she had been opposed to our efforts, we had to allow her to save face with the CEO by letting her take credit for championing the initiative. Yes, we had to grit our teeth and swallow our pride, but in the end it was a win for everyone.

Before taking on any project as a consultant, it's important to know the WIIFM for the team, the people influenced by the project (such as users or suppliers), and the sponsors and influencers in the organization. If there are any major negatives or unknowns, you should plan to deal with them or rethink the project. If you ignore these change management considerations, you'll pay dearly down the line. I know, I have the career scars to prove it!

Postive Thinking - 'Solitary, Poor, Nasty, Brutish, and Short'

2007-06-25T12:42:00.000-07:00

Do you recognize the quoted phrase in the title of this post? Think you've heard something like that before but can't place it?

It's from a 1651 book by Thomas Hobbes entitled "Leviathan", and the quote characterized the life of man in his natural state (or a pure democracy)! Hobbes wasn't much of a positive thinker, apparently.

Then again, maybe positive thinking isn't natural. According to Hobbes, the natural state is one of fear and avarice - every man for himself. There are places around the world today where this scenario is a reality and despair is in abundance. People in those situations naturally fear everyone and everything. People in safer circumstances ask how a benevolent God could allow such suffering? Or get cut off in traffic and feel personally insulted, and perhaps even take retribution! For me, at least, it's often hard to see good in many of the lessons of the School of Hard Knocks, particularly when they come in bunches. Or, as it sometimes happens, near-comical torrents (okay, they'd be comical if they were fictional and happening to someone else). The natural thought is "What next?" or "Why me?"

Much of this comes from the fact that the oldest parts of our brain, our reptilian r-Complex, survived for millions of years using just that set of attitudes. We only later evolved the ability to love and subsequently to reason at a high level. Yet in times of stress, the reptile brain makes decisions using the old patterns, and later our higher brains backfill the "reasons" for those decisions. Often to our detriment. How many times has justifying a bad irrational decision caused us further harm?

Winston Churchill once said: "Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those others that have been tried." People may think that asking "What is good about [insert bad situation here]?" is naive and Pollyanna-ish. But as with democracy, it beats all the other thoughts you could have at that moment. Take for example the centerpiece of my weekend. It's about noon and well over 100 degrees in the shade. My daughter calls and her car won't start. I pack up my tools and make the 40 minute drive to her apartment (did I mention the air in my car is acting up?). I get there and we pop the hood. We are not in the shade. Try to jump it. No luck. Disconnect and pull out the battery. Drive to semi-nearby auto parts place. Battery has kicked the bucket. Buy new battery. Install new battery only to note that terminals are reversed. Uninstall battery, drive back to auto parts store, exchange battery, drive back to apartment, install battery. Success! Seek medical help for heat stroke treatment.

During this whole time there are many choice thoughts I could have had (and have in the past). But my daughter is very busy (full time college student by day, overnight manager at a major retailer by night), and I don't get to see her nearly as much as I'd like. And I knew she really needed her car fixed right away. So I was grateful for being able to help her, and for the bonus time we got together. I still looked and smelled a fright when it was all done, but I felt great!

This post is part of Think Positive! Blog's group writing project. I was pressganged into this project by Nic Darling, whose post title of Positive Thinking: Life is Miserable inspired me to come up with something even more anachronistic. Thanks, Nic! And thanks Kristen for starting the project!

Spooky Action Introspection

2007-06-21T21:11:00.001-07:00

What if death is just a portal? A less awkward and faster acting version of puberty?

(Don't call 911. I'm just asking how it would change your outlook on life)

The Theory of (Personal Productivity) Constraints

2007-06-13T17:29:00.000-07:00

My friend Dave Olson writes an intriguing post:

How do you increase your capacity?

* Emotional capacity
* Financial capacity
* Productivity capacity
* Relationship capacity

If the key to growth in life is capacity, then you’ve got to learn how to do more.

Right?

WRONG!

The key to increasing your capacity is doing more… of less. At least that’s what I think.

I believe that when he first said "you've got to learn how to do more" he meant "more" as in "new and different things than you already know". And when he says that's the wrong approach, I stand up and salute!

Dave continues:

"If you concentrate on doing only the things that YOU should do, you will become more effective."

Amen to that!

I've heard other people tout the "focus on your strengths" approach; most notably Marcus Buckingham, author of Now, Discover Your Strengthsand the brand newGo Put Your Strengths to Work. But that seems a bit counter-intuitive. Shouldn't I work on fixing my weaknesses?

Dave finishes his post by asking:

"What are you good at? What unique things do only you do?"

My response:

"I see connections other people haven’t (probably to maintain their sanity). For instance, your “focus on your strengths” is analogous to Eli Goldratt’s “focus on the constraint” in production systems."

Dave asked for a bit of clarification, since he hadn't heard of Goldratt (!)

Eli Goldratt is an iconoclastic genius. His book The Goalwill forever change your understanding of manufacturing and production processes.

For.e.ver.

If you haven't read the book, go hit that link and ask for express shipping. Or run to your local library or book store. They've got it. You will thank me.

But if you've read the book or just want the spoiler notes, here is why I think that Goldratt would agree with Dave's statement.

Eli's basic thesis is that any production system of nontrivial complexity is constrained by at most one or two steps in the process. In the book the constraint is a machine known as Herbie. The machines upstream from Herbie can make all the parts they want, but if Herbie can't process them they will just stack up as excess inventory. The machines downstream of Herbie are dependent upon his output, so they can't go any faster than he can. The entire system's capacity is controlled by the capacity of the constraint. You can spend all the money you want on improving other departments and other machines, but every dollar will have been wasted. You would have been better off flushing them down the toilet, because at least then you wouldn't have an expectation of improvement!

Faced with this problem, Goldratt outlined a five step process for maximizing the throughput of a system:

Identify the system constraint
Maximize the throughput of the constraint as is
Subordinate everything else to the constraint (for the reasons stated above)
Invest in adding constraint capacity, if prudent
Go back and see if the former constraint is still the constraint. If not, rinse and repeat.

Let's say you run a take-out pizza joint. You've got a pretty good crew. Your dough crew can knock out 1 pie per minute. The sauce and toppings guys can handle three per minute. The oven requires 15 minutes to back a pie, with a capacity for baking 5 pizzas at a time.

Where is the constraint?

Yep. The oven. No matter how fast you create 'em, that oven can only crank out one every three minutes. So if you want to increase your throughput, all you can do is increase oven capacity. So let's say you invest in one of those conveyor-belt models that can churn out a pizza every 45 seconds. Now where is the constraint?

So that's the theory.

Now, how does it relate to personal productivity?

You decide the pizza business doesn't allow you to express your creative self. So you become one of those sidewalk chalk artists.

How do you make money? People throw money into a handy receptacle you provide for tips.

What is the constraint on how much money you make? It's your ability to create compelling artwork.

But that's not the only thing you do. You have to keep your permits and finances in order. You need to find good locations to work. You need to interact with potential patrons.

But is your time better spent adding a juggling act or refining your ability to render those eye-popping 3-D effects?

The time may come when you want to scout new locations, but is that something you need to do yourself, or can you get someone else to do it?

Your unique talents are usually the things that gets rewarded the most in the marketplace. By focusing your efforts on improving your unique value proposition, you maximize your throughput / monetary value. You can work to improve in other areas because it's fun or you don't want to bother finding someone else to do the work, but you're not really maximizing your capacity.

And that's why Eli Goldratt, Marcus Buckingham, Dave Olson, and I are all on the same page on this concept.

What I Learned From an Unscheduled Trip to Cleveland

2007-06-08T06:11:00.000-07:00

Bob Hruzek has a new "What I Learned From..." project running, this time concerning work. Because I started my ~~unfortunate~~ illustrious career in product support, I learned a whole heck of a lot in a short amount of time. An MBA from the School of Hard Knocks.

One of the products I supported (yes, I was the entire product support group), was an integrated voice and data terminal. [Google search for picture was fruitless] Imagine a machine about the footprint of a laptop. Then put a 9" CRT sticking out of the right side and a handset on the left side, with a corded keyboard you could either stick under the unit or pull out to type. The devices had a built-in phone/address book and terminal emulation capability (hey, the IBM PC had just come out; who knew they would end up on everybody's desk?).

One of our beta test customers was a conglomerate based in beautiful Cleveland, Ohio. They had outfitted several of their top executives with these devices. The initial installation and training seemed to go fine, but almost immediately we started getting calls telling us that the autodial capability from the built-in phone directory didn't work. But not for every entry. It seemed almost random. We tried to reproduce the problem in our lab, but couldn't. We entered all of the entries they had into one of our machines, but every one of them worked. Worse yet, our on-site techs would create duplicate entries that worked just fine! After several days, the sponsoring client executive blew a gasket and demanded that my boss and I show up in person to resolve the problem or he was going to throw all of the equipment out the window (that's what he said anyway, and they were 14 floors up)!

So my boss and I packed up a bunch of test equipment, including some fresh-from-the-lab non-UL listed prototypes, and headed off to Cleveland. We arrived mid-afternoon and were escorted to his office, which was larger than my first house. The executive himself was out of town until the next morning, but his administrative assistant showed us to his desk and the device in question. We got into the phone directory and looked at the first two entries:

We pressed autodial on the first entry, and the call went through fine. We pressed autodial on the second one and it failed.

"It seems to be stopping at that one", my boss said.

"That's because it's a lower case L", I replied.

We looked at each other with that "it couldn't be, could it?" expression, but after another 30 seconds of checking, the pattern was clear.

"Who created the entries in the phone book?" we asked the AA.

"I did", she said. "I didn't realize they would be a problem." Sure enough. All of those seasoned assistants had learned to use L's and O's instead of numbers as a way to keep their fingers home-rowed many years ago in typing school. On paper, they work great. But those damned computers weren't smart enough to know what they were doing.

In about 15 minutes we instructed all of the executives' admins how to fix the problem, and everything was great. When we met with the sponsor the next morning, he was more than apologetic. And he went from being one of our biggest detractors to one of our biggest proponents.

So what did I learn from all that? That the old saying is true: You can never make anything foolproof; fools are so ingenious.

Actually, the real lesson is that you can test a new product every way imaginable, but that your customers will find a way to break it almost immediately. Plan to deal with it gracefully if you want to keep them happy.

Dexter's Memetic Laboratory

2007-06-05T12:01:00.000-07:00

I know what's wrong with my blog now.

Liz Strauss recently instigated a group blogging project, asking people to answer the question: What's Your Blogging Metaphor? I tried to ignore it; focusing instead on writing the irreverent guide to experience design, but Troy called me out, so I thought I'd take a quick shot.

After 10 minutes of scribbling and crossing-out, it hit me. For me, blogging is Dexter's Memetic Lab.

Dexter's Lab is a cartoon featuring a boy genius who has a secret laboratory in his house, in which he creates all manner of machines and monsters. Mayhem then ensues directly or as a result of interaction with his sister Dee Dee and other characters.

Since I began blogging, I've used these pages to experiment with ideas (or memes). From looking at the book Good to Great through the lens of epic mythology, to experimenting with typologies of fun, Spooky Action has been my lab for new or unusual (or as Wayne Hurlbut quaintly puts it: eclectic) ideas. Sometimes they turn out better than expected. Other times not. Sometimes they generate interesting conversations, but usually they don't. That's okay, because what I'm doing here is experimenting with memes. And the experimenter is rarely defined by failures they generate. but are remembered for the successes they do have (see sidebar)!

Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do...

Carnival of the Capitalists for June 4, 2007

2007-06-03T23:09:00.000-07:00

Welcome to this week's Carnival of the Capitalists, which includes submissions regarding business, economics, finance, and management (but not personal finance or career management; sorry). Here is this week's fine fare of business posting:

Pamela Slim at Escape From Cubicle Nation posts Obsession with the competition is a luxury of the over-funded. While the title really says it all, Pam has some great advice about keeping the proper perspective regarding competition.

Carmen Van Kerckhove at Race in the Workplace posits that Diversity Training Doesn't Work. Here's Why and knocks that topic out of the park straightaway to the deepest part of left field!

Pawel Brodzinski at Software Project Management demonstrates how NOT to implement a new cost cutting program in Cost Cutting for Dummies. Extremely generalizable to other corporate initiatives.

Wally Bock at Three Star Leadership has an interesting and nicely balanced take and the challenges of managing the new generation of workers who are Addicted to Praise.

Steven Silvers thinks that the eHarmony complaint proves once again that lawsuits are a great way to generate serious publicity for extremist silliness. I think he defames cavemen in the process.

Rob Sama at the samaBlog explains why he thinks we are (despite contrary indicators) in a period of high inflation. Interesting food for thought.

Charles Green at Trust Matters ask Who Should You Trust on Trust in Business: a respected researcher or a business magazine with pages to fill? Oops, I guess I tipped my hand!

Rob at BusinessPundit asks if dressing (or in his case driving) for success really matters in JB Fuqua and The Trappings of Success: Do You Need Them?. He wants to know if his '74 AMC Pacer might be holding his career back. Go leave him a comment!

James Hamilton at Econbrowser sings Don't Worry, Be Happy about anemic-looking first quarter real GDP. I sure hope he's right!

Wayne Hurlbut at Blog Business World discusses Marketing gimmicks: bending spoons and magic. "Marketing gimmicks" is redundant, right? Or is that "Marketing magic"?

The Laundry Capitalist share stats showing that The Poor Get Richer, as do the rich, leaving a few crumbs for the middle class. Ouch!

Becky McCray at Small Biz Survival tells us What I Learned From Failure. That girl has made more than her share of lemonade!

Michelle Cramer at GreatFX Business Cards write about Rules for Networking on MySpace.

Next's weeks Carnival will be at Steven Silvers' place. Maybe I should take back that defamation remark? Nah!

There were a few posts that I thought didn't fit the criteria listed above, but marginally, so I included them here:

Dan Melson's There's No Such Thing as Full Service Agency for a Discount Price

Leon Gettler's The Politics of Pay

Silicon Valley Blogger's Stock Market Technical Analysis Versus Fundamental Analysis, In Pictures

John Ingrisano's Is Franchising Right for You?

Thanks for stopping by, and please feel free to look around. There are some suggestions over there on the right.

5-29-2007 Carnival of the Capitalists

2007-05-29T17:41:00.000-07:00

This week's edition of the Carnival of the Capitalists is up at The Marketing Whore, who does a very nice job of commenting on each of the submitted posts. There are a good, diverse crop of posts this week. One of my favorites is written by Charles Green, one of the authors of The Trusted Advisor. In his post, he takes the notion of 'generic' trusted advisors to task.

Unfortunately, this raises the bar for next week's host, yours truly. Nice job, Gracie!

Is It 1929 All Over Again?

2007-05-25T13:47:00.001-07:00

I have been following the stock market with wary anticipation of a major correction. The historical mid-term correction has yet to occur, and there are several indicators of general economic problems.

There is a great deal of debate about the genesis of the stock market crash of 1929. One theory says that the primary driver was the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. The link has a good overview and rationale, which seems completely plausible to me. So imagine my reaction when I read in USNews that Congress is planning on passing major tariffs on most Chinese products! Note to esteemed legislators: Who do you think is holding all of those Treasury bonds? And what do you think they will do with them if you start a trade war?

Sheesh.

It's the FAST That Eat the Slow

2007-05-18T11:58:00.000-07:00

Author, speaker, and management consultant extraordinaire Laurence Haughton is conducting a web seminar entitled "It's the FAST That Eat the Slow", based on his bestselling book It’s Not the Big That Eat the Small…It’s the Fast That Eat the Slow. The seminar will be conducted on May 29th at 9:00am PST, noon Eastern.

Here's what Laurence says he'll be talking about:

I’ll be teaching 3 strategies to think faster, execute faster, and make speed a competitive advantage. It’s based on my first bestseller “It’s Not the Big that Eat the Small…It’s the FAST that Eat the Slow.” The title of the workshop is (of course) “It’s the FAST that Eat the Slow.”

In this 60 minute LiveMeeting I’ll show entrepreneurs: how to spot trends before the competition; how to get people who will follow through fast; and how leaders can make fast decisions that they’ll never regret.

Based on my experience with his previous seminar on organizational change, I can heartily recommend this seminar!

You can register for the session here.

What Makes Toyota So Formidable

2007-05-17T07:55:00.000-07:00

A fictitious fan write:

"Dear Mike:

I'd really like to know what makes Toyota such a juggernaut, but I have ADD and could never finish Taiichi Ohno's book. Is there a single article that I could read to understand what the real secret is? And could it showcase Americans applying the secret so it doesn't appear to be some Japanese cultural mumbo-jumbo?

Thanks,

Cletus"

Well, my friend, today is your lucky day! This Fast Company article does exactly that. Here's the money quote:

"If you go to the Big Three, you'd find improvement projects just like you'd find at Georgetown," says Jeffrey Liker, a professor of engineering at the University of Michigan and author of The Toyota Way, a classic exploration of Toyota's methods. "But they would be led by some kind of engineering group, or a Six Sigma black belt, or a lean-manufacturing guru of some kind.

"They might even do as good a job as they did at [Toyota's Georgetown, KY plant]. But here's the thing. Then they'd turn that project into a PowerPoint. They'd present it at every place in the whole company. They'd say, 'Look what we did!' In a year, that happens a couple of times in a whole plant for the Big Three. And it would get all kinds of publicity in the company.

"Toyota," Liker says, "is doing it in every single department, every single day. They're doing it on their own"--no black belts--"and they're doing it regularly, not just once."

Sounds a lot like When Bad Things Happen To Good Concepts, only better. Do go read the whole thing. The specific examples are stunning; the message crystal clear. But like so many other "secrets", challenge is to make the effort to apply it to your own situation.

[h/t: Rob Patterson]

Halos and Horns

2007-05-16T12:23:00.000-07:00

While working on Moonshot and Tsunamis, I was contemplating the change management / influence tools of the angels and devils that live on our shoulders (or in our heads). I tried to stratify elements of John Boyd's and Robert Cialdini's writings, and came up with this:

Notes:

Some of Cialdini's 6 tools of Influence didn't fit neatly in one camp. You will notice that some of them are the most powerful of the group.
The 2 tools that do fit neatly into one category, fit the Horns.
Initiative, Adaptability, and Harmony are the key elements of successful insurgent/counterinsurgent operations
Uncertainty, Menace, and Mistrust are what those successful 'change agents' try to foment amongst their opponents. Too bad they show up in management practices so often.
Implicit bonds are the key enabler of Initiative, Adaptability, and Harmony. How many corporate Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) measure them?

Does this list look right to you? What would you add?

A Blogging Proposal

2007-05-15T17:23:00.000-07:00

Dan at tdaxp is visiting Beijing, where he writes:

"Let's spend our lives together

I write many things, but I do not know how to write it.

I don't know how to say it.

And you know my voice -- you would not want me to try to sing it!

Unlike you I am not an artist. I cannot draw it or paint it.

More than I can write, say, sing, draw, or paint,

I love you.

Feifei,

Will you marry me?"

How did she respond? You'll have to look in the comments, naturally!

I never saw one of those before, but people do find the strangest ways to propose. Mine was with a fortune cookie. What stories of unusual proposals do you have?

Top 5 Faces NOT to Make During an Audit

2007-05-11T05:42:00.000-07:00

Darren Rowse at ProBlogger has a new group writing project: Top 5. The rules are simple:

"Be as creative as you’d like - take it in any direction you want as long as it relates to the topic".

Poker players call it "the tell", those little signals you give off while playing the game. The raised eyebrow when you fill out that straight; which hand you use to push your chips forward. You may not play high-stakes poker, but there are plenty of situations where you want to be careful not to give away your thoughts, and none may be more important than when you are being audited, by the IRS or some other government regulator.

As a service to you, dear reader, I offer the Top 5 Faces NOT to Make During an Audit. They may make the auditor wonder if there's something you're not telling them...

Please note, that if you are an auditor, you should add these to your repertoire!

If you are new to Spooky Action, please feel free to look around. Here's a bonus Top 5 - Favorite Posts on This Blog:

What I Learned from 16 Great Writers

2007-05-07T05:47:00.000-07:00

Last week I posted What I Learned From a Mesquite Tree as part of a Middle Zone Musings group writing project.

Here is the complete list of entries, each one finishing the phrase “What I Learned From…”

“… Teen Girl Squad”, by Markk at My Opinions Are Important Now I remember why I don't get all excited when high school reunions come around...

“… the Mt. Pinatubo Eruption”, by Ronald Huerca at Ronalfy.com This fine post is a real testament to the human spirit!

“… Drugs”, by Sam Brougher at Forest Azuaran Climb inside Sam's head while takes drug. I'm having the acupuncture and hypnosis for my next procedure!

“… a Mesquite Tree”, by Mike DeWitt at Spooky Action I really connected with this author!

“… Drinking Starbucks Coffee”, by George Manty at Can I Make Big Money Online I kind of disagree with George's point (I'd say Cialdini's Social Proof has a bigger effect), but I'll agree with anyone who questions what the big deal is about Starbucks.

“… My Wife!”, by Rajaram Sethuraman at Thoughts of a Rambler Something tells me that Rajaram will be learning additional lessons after his wife reads this post! ;-)

“… Having a Daughter”, by Marco Richter at FitForFreedom I know a little something about debt and daughters (see profile), so Marco's post really resonated with me.

“… Norm”, by Joe Raasch at The Happy Burro Too much of our lives are lived on autopilot. Norm teaches Joe and me a good lesson.

“… my mentors”, by Karin H. at The Kiss Business Too I need to find myself a couple of mentors as amazing as Karin's!

“… Procrastinating”, by Yvonne Russell at Grow Your Writing BusinessHilarious research on thinking!

“… a Squirrel”, by G.L. Hoffman at What Would Dad SayTeachable moments are everywhere, as a couple of albino squirrels remind us...

“… Blogging”, by Gayla McCord at Mom Gadget In Big Bucks, the protagonist learns: 1) Do What You Love, and 2) Always Put Making Money Over Doing What You Love (you'll have to read the rest to see how to resolve that paradox). Gayla has a nice personal blogging twist on the same topic.

“… a Weight Problem”, by Monique Attinger at Insurance Guide 101 How do you tie the topics of weight loss and insurance together in one cogent post? Click Monique's link to find out!

“… Taking Out the Garbage”, by Michael Chantrel at Mortgage Guide 101 Blog How do you tie the topics of taking out the garbage and paying your mortgage? Michael knows!

“… RUMMAGING!” by William Tully at LOGICal eMOTIONs A marvelous piece about perspective!

“… A Light Switch”, by Robert Hruzek at Middle Zone Musings Between this story and the companion sailboat caper, you get the distinct impression that Bob's life is never dull!

Thanks, Bob, for creating this concept, and thank you to all the contributors. I really enjoyed them all! Let's see how long it takes for Bob's promised 50,000 point Technorati ranking improvement...

What I Learned From a Mesquite Tree

2007-05-03T05:31:00.000-07:00

Have you ever eaten mesquite-grilled food? M-m-m! But do you know where those wood chips came from?! While it may not be Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, this story does involve nastiness and bloodshed.

When I moved to Arizona, I bought a house with a mesquite tree in the back yard. It didn't take long to realize why many mesquite owners don't proliferate them. First, they are constantly dropping/shedding/expelling pods, fronds, and other growths. It seems like you're always raking something under a mesquite. Second, they grow like weeds - prodigiously and randomly. And third, when you go to trim that growth, you find that the new growth has razor-sharp thorns hidden along its length! After my first battle with a mesquite thicket I looked like I'd been scourged by the Romans. "Why couldn't I have had a nice kite-eating tree instead?" I wondered aloud.

Over time, though, I came to appreciate some characteristics of my backyard menace. It was incredibly hardy, and the wood was great-smelling! But the truly great thing about a mesquite is its malleability. Because they grow so fast in so many directions, and because the wood is so strong, you can "sculpt" the things like no other tree I know! There is one in my neighborhood that actually looks like the trunk has a loop in it from one angle (the guy who maintains it studied in Japan for a decade).

I know, you're thinking "Mike, if the mesquite taught you to look beyond first impressions, I'm going to hurl!" Don't worry. The mesquite taught me a new perspective on personal development. That's more interesting, isn't it?

Allow me to explain. When you first try to make changes in thought and habit, your mind can seem a lot like a mesquite: constantly expelling negative self-talk, developing a bewildering thicket of opinions and habits despite your best conscious effort not to. And, boy, do those opinions and habits resist change!

When I first started trimming that tree, I was fairly tentative in my cutting. Having lived most of my life in the midwest, the concept of hacking a significant portion of a tree's vegetation with the expectation that it would grow back seemingly overnight was a foreign, nay, alien concept to me. But with some experimentation, I soon learned that temerity was wrong; that by being bold I could do a much better job.

Many of us live our lives timidly, making little changes here and there, afraid that making big changes will jeopardize our very existence. But our minds aren't maples, they're mesquites. Left untrimmed - the unexamined life - they grow into unrecognizable thickets of addiction, confusion, and misery. Minimally attended, they provide decent shade and utility (a passable existence). But it turns out that they can quickly be turned into something magical. You are limited only by your willingness to be bold, your willingness to experiment, and your ability to creatively adapt to evolving growth!

So here is the perspective on personal development that I learned from that mesquite tree:

Start with an overall direction and plan. It may be a far cry from the way things are today, but you'll be surprised how fast things can change.
Deal with specific circumstances as they arise in ways that advance the plan. You can't control every unfolding event. Don't try to; just keep going in the right direction. Unforeseen setbacks will occur, but so will opportunities to advance faster than expected. Be ready to exploit them.
Don't be afraid to hack away at things that don't conform to the plan. This is the hardest part, because it is tough work and the fear of screwing things up is Brobdingnagian! But that's where the transition from "decent shade" to "living marvel" happens. It's okay to start small, but it's even better to be bold and go big! There will be cuts and scrapes and contusions along the way, but the results will astound you.

Ah, the sweet taste of success...

[This post is part of a group writing project concocted by Robert Hruzek.]

Quantum Physics News - Reality Does Not Exist When We Aren't Observing It

2007-05-02T11:52:00.000-07:00

Physics Web:

"Some physicists are uncomfortable with the idea that all individual quantum events are innately random. This is why many have proposed more complete theories, which suggest that events are at least partially governed by extra "hidden variables". Now physicists from Austria claim to have performed an experiment that rules out a broad class of hidden-variables theories that focus on realism -- giving the uneasy consequence that reality does not exist when we are not observing it."

I guess our thoughts really do create our reality.

Additional thoughts?

Commitment and Consistency

2007-05-01T06:10:00.000-07:00

I know how to brainwash you. So does Charlie Munger, vice-chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. We both learned the secret from Prof. Robert Cialdini, who learned it from the Chinese. Would you like to know how it's done? I can teach you in about two minutes.

Have you read Prof. Cialdini's Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion? If you have, then you know what I'm talking about. If not, you've missed out on one of the most important lessons you'll ever learn. Don't believe me? Would Mr. Munger's strong recommendation be better? How about George Soros or Peter Lynch? They all recommend the book. In fact, Mr. Munger gave a copy to every single attendee at a speech at Harvard, along with this admonition:

"And if you have half as much sense as I think you do, you will immediately order copies for all of your children and several of your friends. You will never make a better investment."

[emphasis mine]

At least click on the link above and check it out. I'll resume the post when you come back.

Cialdini outlines 6 tools of influence, which he formulated over a three year period by "infiltrating" influence peddling organizations such as used car dealerships and the Hare Krishnas, and by studying others, such as the brainwashing experts. During the Korean War the Chinese demonstrated that you didn't need special drugs to brainwash American prisoners of war. Or special forms of torture. The only things they needed were patience and creativity.

And an understanding of the principle of Commitment and Consistency.

It turns out that your brain, consciously and subconsciously, works VERY hard to be consistent. How hard is very hard? One of Cialdini's experiments to test this principle consisted of having a student go to an affluent neighborhood and ask residents to display a 3" x 3" sign saying "Be a safe driver", which the majority of residents agreed to do. Three weeks later, he sent out another student to ask the residents with the small signs to display a larger sign:

"To get an idea of just how the sign would look, they were shown a photograph depicting an attractive house, the view of which was almost completely obscured by a very large, poorly lettered sign reading DRIVE CAREFULLY."

76% of those affluent residents agreed to do it! Because making the tiny commitment to campaigning for public safety with the smaller sign made their brains want to act in a consistent manner when asked to make a larger, ridiculous, but consistent commitment.

How you use this principle is up to you, but it can be used for good. Here is a handy example. Over at Successful Blog, Liz Strauss asked an interesting question:

"A friend of yours, Larry, is larger than life. He seems to know everyone in the country and most of the folks online. He’s rich and highly connected, especially in home and garden television. Once when you were in New York, he invited you to an event at the Waldorf where the entire industry seemed to be in attendance.

Larry is so busy in his world, that he doesn’t seem to notice that you have attained some status. Your blog has gotten press, and you’ve become known as an expert. In fact, you’re a celebrity and highly popular with the gardening set. You’ve written three books of your own and been interviewed by People, House and Garden, and Architectural Digest — not too shabby for a blogger. These days it’s not unusual to get a short bit on the Today Show when they need an expert.

After many months, you finally can announce that you have a daily spot on a national home and garden television show. While you’re reading the press release and formal announcement, Larry calls to congratulate you. Then he says how glad he is that he was able to help you land that job.

You’re stunned. Larry didn’t help. He’s never met any of the people involved. You did it on your own.

How do you respond?

The comments in Liz's post are fascinating, and got me asking myself "What would Cialdini do in that situation?" I thought about the 6 tools, and this is how I would respond (if I had an hour to craft my answer).

"Larry, it is an honor to have a luminary figure in our industry like you recognize the value of my work and act to advance it. Thank you."

Then I'd sit and wait for Larry's brain to process the fact that he'd made such a commitment, setting up a future opportunity for me to call on Larry to act in a consistent manner. And I'd wait for him to act in a consistent manner right now by telling me why he did it (his brain is feverishly if subconsciously crafting a reason for this in the silence), which only further strengthens the commitment!

That's why car sales people try to get you to make tiny commitments to making a car buying decision before they make the big ask, e.g.: "If you were to buy a car like this, would you prefer the cloth or leather seating?" And that's why the Chinese didn't start by asking P.O.W.s to renounce the United States, but rather by asking if they thought it was possible that the U.S. Government had ever made a mistake. Once they'd gotten a tiny seed of doubt to take root, they knew that with careful nurturing, they could turn even the strongest captive to their purpose.

My response to Larry uses another of the 6 tools, too. Did you catch it? It turns out that using 2 or more tools together geometrically multiplies their effectiveness! And people are using these tools on you every day. So if you haven't read the book, now would be a good time to click on the link and buy a copy.

If you have read the book, answer this question: which of the other five tools might Larry have been trying to use on me?

If you know, tell me in a comment. Not sure? Better click on the link and get a little refresher. ;-)

The 21 Biggest Technology Flops? Who Writes This Stuff?

2007-04-23T17:45:00.001-07:00

Famous former blogdesignophrenic (and a blogger I admire), Troy Worman, posts about the 21 Biggest Technology Flops, as chosen by Computerworld.
The list includes:

Apple Newton - can you say technoSanjaya? Newton vs. Palm Pilot should be a case study at every business school in the world. Newton was the ultimate PDA when announced. It had the Apple name. It had the latest in handwriting recognition. And as Yul Brynner would say "Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera". There was only one problem. You had to spend a ridiculous amount of time "training" the device to recognize your handwriting! But is handwriting recognition the only alternative to using a keyboard? Everyone assumed so. Then some propellerhead over at Palm got hit on the head by [I won't say it], and realized that all people truly wanted was the ability to enter things into a handheld device, and they'd be willing to spend a little time learning a new syntax in exchange for real productivity. The Palmers created graffiti (remember learning that?) and the need for generalized handwriting recognition disappeared from the face of the earth. That was one very costly assumption.
Digital Audio Tape - Paging Jack Valenti; Mr. Valenti, please pick up the red courtesy phone and explain how the RIAA killed consumer digital audio tape. The funny thing is that there are millions of digital audio tapes in use today; they're just being used for data backup.
DIVX, not to be confused with the DiVX codec - Let's see: Should I buy a specialized player to play the proprietary DIVX discs, or buy a DVD player, which is being touted as being "open"? Right. Next?
dot.bombs - Not since Hans Christian Andersen published "The Emperor's New Clothes" have the gullible been relieved of so much cash by such willing charlatans.
e-Books - truly the Edsel of technology. They make so much sense on so many levels - portability, searchability - but the user experience, especially in context of years of experience with the tactile sensation of books, just doesn't measure up.
IBM PCjr - IBM worked really hard to insure that PCjr didn't cannibalize sales of the IBM PC. They succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.
Internet currency - at least banana republics have real estate - and bananas. Currency backed by sock puppets and Whoopi Goldberg?
Iridium - if you think competing with the RIAA is tough, imagine competing with a collection of first world governments
Microsoft Bob - he and the Pets.com sock puppet broke Khalid Sheik Mohammed. My brain hurts just thinking about it.
The Net PC - "But they sold like hotcakes in France! What gives?" Funny thing is that the modern cell phone IS the realization of the Net PC for many people.
The Paperless Office - see note above on e-Books
Push Technology - the electronic equivalent of the paper blob. What's wrong with this picture: You offer a service that distracts people from their jobs, and stick their employers with a massive bandwidth bill?
Smart Appliances - "Yes, I'm looking for one of those refrigerators that will automatically broadcast the fact that I drank six cases of beer and ate 37 frozen pizzas this weekend." On second thought, maybe they would have succeeded if they'd focused on the hard-core couch potato market.
Virtual Reality - it turns out you don't need to spend a bundle on funny glasses to live in a fantasy world. How much money does WoW make?
Apple Lisa - even Bill Gates has admitted there'd be no Windows GUI without Lisa.
Dreamcast - sorry, I missed that one completely
NeXT - An array of cutting edge feature that became de rigeur in short order, the underpinnings of Mac OS. If only they hadn't been so damned conceited. Sometimes it's the company, not the technology that fails.
OS/2 - Bill Gates got IBM to fund his next-generation operating system. Listen to the speech linked above to see why he was a god in the early 90's.
Qube - Your CEO has a grand vision; your CFO forgets to show him the capital outlays required; but they did nearly everything today's interactive services do. If they'd only had a couple trillion dollars more.
Speech recognition - In numerous specialty applications, this technology rules. I wonder why nobody ever created speech graffiti for PDAs or cell phones?
WebTV - the pet project Bill Gates can't bring himself to put to sleep. His very own PCjr.

Having graduated from college with a computer science degree in 1982, I remember the boom and bust cycles of most of these vividly. I wonder what technological marvels of 2007 will make this list in 2017?

Hello, I'm Mike

2007-04-19T06:54:00.000-07:00

In case you're wondering who writes this stuff, it's the guy in the lower right of this picture:

Thanks for stopping by, and yes, I am a very lucky man!

Stick Figures In Peril

2007-04-13T14:00:00.000-07:00

It may be Friday the 13th. You may be having a bad day. But Stick Figures in Peril are having perpetual horrific experiences just so you won't!

Let's all be grateful for their service.

Agile Business Lessons from World War 1

2007-04-09T14:27:00.000-07:00

As an American whose perspective of WW1 consists primarily of reading The Magic Mountain and All Quiet on the Western Front, I mostly think of the Great War in terms of unspeakable senseless carnage and little else. I had no idea that in Canada many consider the battle of Vimy as the start of real Canadian nationhood.

Rob Patterson has blogged extensively on Vimy. His grandfather participated in the battle, and Rob himself is in Vimy, France for the 90th anniversary commemoration. As part of his tribute the Canadian Expeditionary Force, he wrote Lessons From Vimy, an 18-page document outlining lessons from the CEF in creating agile business units and practices. It's well written and illustrated, and the lessons are just as fresh today as they were back then. In fact, I was surprised that I hadn't heard of the CEF and their exploits before. I figured that John Boyd would have mentioned them in Patterns of Conflict, because their actions were a clear precursor to tactics refined by the Germans prior to WW2. But he didn't. So go read about them over at Rob's blog. You'll be amazed at what they accomplished (the impossible to the French, British, AND Germans).

Breakthroughs in a Fortnight?

2007-03-30T08:21:00.000-07:00

Is it possible to generate a breakthrough idea or accomplishment for your business or career in two weeks?

Is there an instruction manual to tell you how?

Is it less than 100 pages, so you can get started right away?

Yes. Yes. And no, you'll have to slog through 103 pages.

Management consultant and breakthrough catalyzer Lisa Haneberg wrote Two Weeks to a Breakthrough to document the program of the same name that she has been refining over the last ten years.

This book is a gem on many levels. First, it is brief enough that you can take in the entire program in one sitting. Second, it provides both the context for the program and specific day-by-day instructions of how to execute the program. Third, while the program is specific in actions, they can be used in nearly any context, business or personal. Fourth, the author provides comments from program participants - both positive and negative - to give you a sense of how it has worked for others. She even includes a two-week journal of one of her participants.

I particularly liked the chapter on goal setting. Haneberg goes beyond the SMART approach and brilliantly outlines steps for defining life-changing, breakthrough-level goals that aren't simply fantasy. This chapter alone is worth the investment.

The actual breakthrough process revolves around varying daily practice in three areas: sharing your goal, taking action toward it, and making requests. Lisa gives suggestions on how to do each of these, including making seemingly unreasonable requests, and on how to generate the number and variety of shares, actions, and requests you'll need for the program.

So if you're looking to make a breakthrough and are willing to put a few dozen hours into it over a couple of weeks, get Two Weeks to a Breakthrough. You can also learn more about the program at the blog of the same name, or click on Saggy the Terrified Cactus^TM below to watch an excellent 26-minute webinar on the topic:

[Note: review originally published at BusinessPundit]

All That Is Necessary for the Triumph of Evil Is For Good Men to Do Nothing

2007-03-28T19:53:00.000-07:00

Much has been written about Kathy Sierra's post Death Threats Against Bloggers are NOT "Protected Speech". I find it difficult to think of what I can add, yet the ethos expressed in the title of this post compels me to try.

I have had someone I love suffer harassment. It hurts more than just one person, and the terror is real. What disturbs me most about the responses of Chris Locke and others is the pride they have in the "You Own Your Own Words" ethos; that they have no responsibility as a community member to condemn acts such as death threats. This is anarchy, pure and simple.

If any good comes of this whole affair, it will be that the MeanKids/BobsYourUncle communities have given us two valuable experiments in practical anarchy, and in each case showed that anarchy breeds escalating evil. It sickens me that this long- and bloodily-discredited meme continues to infect healthy minds.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Kathy and everyone else involved in this situation; hopefully the title lesson will be learned and remembered by all.

Lucid Awakenness

2007-03-23T08:54:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had a lucid dream - one in which you were consciously aware that you were dreaming? What triggered the realization?

The first key to controlling your dreams is to be able to recognize when you are dreaming. The simplest technique for doing this is called reality testing. It consists of creating a habit of regularly doing some simple test, such as looking at a piece of paper with a simple saying on it, or looking at a digital watch. This habit will carry over to your dream state, but when you reread the paper a couple of times, or look at your watch twice during a dream, the saying or time will change between readings. Recognizing this inconsistency triggers the realization that you're dreaming.

Once you realize what's going on, you can start to take control. You can fly. You can have lunch with historical figures. You can do the impossible. Not all at once, but you can work up to it with concentration and practice. And while you may have had other wonderful dreams in your life, they probably pale in comparison to the shortest, simplest lucid dream. Am I right?

I think there is a parallel effect during our awake time. Most of us go through life reacting to what comes at us, often acting without conscious decision using patterns of behavior we've built over a lifetime. It may be a pleasant existence or a nightmare, but we don't ever bother to do the reality check that could get us to the next level of living.

What is that reality check? I think it's this: On a regular basis, ask yourself two questions: Who am I? What am I doing here?

When addressing "Who am I?", you should answer by stating your core beliefs, your identity. This will take some introspection, and if you're like me, the first ~~few~~ several attempts will be unsatisfactory. But until you can write down an answer you feel comfortable with, it won't help you with lucid awakeness. Similarly, your answer to "What am I doing here?" needs to address your central beliefs and goals. As an example, I would expect Lisa Haneberg to answer "I am catalyzing breakthroughs for individuals and organizations", not "I am riding my motorcycle to a book signing in Wenatchee". Focusing on purpose and beliefs allows us to calibrate when we're running on autopilot. And to then choose to take greater control of our lives. Like learning to fly during lucid dreaming, our ability to change our lives doesn't happen instantly. But we can build skills to do the impossible. It's the focus - the lucidity - that makes all the difference.

So answer those questions. Who are you? What are you doing here? Write down your answers, and make a habit of doing the reality check regularly (multiple times a day to start). Then notice when your actions are out of alignment with your original answer, and choose lucid awakenness.

The Great Global Warming Swindle

2007-03-20T12:29:00.000-07:00

Channel 4 Documentary: The Great Global Warming Swindle.

I was sorely tempted to title this post "Young Martin Durkin comments on Emperor Al's new Clothes", but the BBC's original title for the documentary is perfect. I had heard about this film from several sources, but hadn't made the time to watch it. Foolish me! Twenty years from now, this work will be remembered as a pivot point in the greatest global conversation of this century, much as the child's remarks about the naked emperor changed a kingdom's conversation.

Part grade-school science lesson, part "what's driving this debate" (hint: follow the money), part "how to swindle the world", this film is engaging, entertaining, and educational. The first third of the show, covering the science of global warming is particularly good, explaining the historical record and atmospheric science in terms that anyone, including grade-schoolers and those of us who have forgotten most of what we learned in grade school, can easily grasp. I can only add one thing to the thorough treatment of the show: extraterrestrial warming. This half hour will profoundly change the way you think about the topic of global warming.

The rest of the film may just make you sick. It carefully documents how the debate got out of hand over the past several years, and how laughably shaky theories became global conventional wisdom. Like the tale of the emperor's new clothes, it's one of vanity and greed and "going along to get along" on a massive scale.

This film might just be the small child's voice that gets the global villagers talking...

Kathy Sierra's Seven Blog Virtues (for a Global Microbrand)

2007-03-16T22:09:00.000-07:00

She Who Must Not Be Photoshopped^TM has created a marvelous PDF of her slides for a panel at SXSW that focused on Hugh McLeod's Global Microbrand concept.

If you're not catblogging, you'll be inspired by this presentation. In January of last year, I said her Crash Course in Learning Theory was the best blog content of 2006, and is still a document I regularly review when creating my own materials. The Seven Virtues presentation may be the analog for blogging. It certainly embodies all of the virtues itself! My favorite slide: the screaming saguaro cactus in a lightning storm. It reminds me of why I enjoy monsoon season here in Phoenix so much. We get those displays of nature's wonder regularly.

Now go read the whole thing. You have no better way to spend the next five minutes.

Islam, Christianity, IBM, Microsoft

2007-03-14T20:55:00.000-07:00

Prince wannabe Dan at tdaxp (Prince had an unpronounceable symbol, Dan has an unpronounceable 5-letter moniker) writes a brilliant post about how the relationship of IBM and Microsoft in the computer industry mirrors the relationship of Islam and Christianity over the centuries.

I kid you not, and it is brilliant.

This isn't a "Oh yeah, why didn't I see that?" kind of post. It's the kind of post that requires you to rewire many synapse connections to understand. It might make your brain hurt (my initial reaction), but it will increase your understanding of both business and world history. What more can you ask for?

(Yes, I know. Tastes like chocolate and only costs a dollar. Sorry, no flavor requests and the post is free!)

Doing Only What's Humanly Possible

2007-03-08T06:32:00.000-07:00

Liz Strauss has a must-read post for busy people over at Successful Blog. Please go read the whole thing. Here are two quotes to entice you:

"Go on home. You’re tired. You’ll come back tomorrow and in the first hour you’ll accomplish three times what you would do in the next hour now."

"Remember that you can only do what’s humanly possible. . . . and to think you can do more makes you a kind of snob [big grin here], because the rest of us humans can’t."

That first one is so true (although, as a morning person, I may be biased)!

Handicapping the Carr-Benkler Wager

2007-03-07T12:34:00.000-07:00

Will Web 2.0 initiatives eventually be dominated by paid participants? Yochia Benkler and Nicholas Carr have a wager on it:

"In a critique of Benkler's work last summer, business writer Nicholas Carr speculated that Web 2.0 media sites like Digg, Flickr and YouTube are able to rely on volunteer contributions simply because a market has yet to emerge to price this "new kind of labor." He and Benkler then entered into what has come to be widely known in Web circles as the "Carr-Benkler wager": a bet on whether, by 2011, such sites will be driven primarily by volunteers or by professionals."

As a service to BusinessPundit and Spooky Action readers, I handicap the wager:

"The parallels between the positions of Carr and Benkler on this issue and Carr and the IT community with respect to IT Doesn't Matter are striking. The proponents of the new technology say "We are dealing with new and unprecedented things!", to which Carr's basic reply is "The things may be new, but the people dealing with them have dealt with other new things repeatedly in the past, with very predictable behaviors." Technology changes quickly, but our brains do not. We are running the same 'wetware' as our ancient ancestors. Certain behavior patterns have been noted consistently for thousands of years. I think one of those patterns was expressed nicely by Abraham Maslow and his hierarchy of needs. The challenge for Benkler and company is that you have to climb a good way up the hierarchy to get to the needs that common-based peer production projects can satisfy. Throughout history, people who have gotten to those levels have been very successful people. And they have been successful people who specialized in doing a small number of things extremely well and employing others to do the rest. We are fortunate to live in a time where more people than ever are at these levels, and what are some of the fastest growing sectors of the economy? Personal services! Self-actualizers are prodigious buyers of cleaning services; they buy food prepared for them by rent-a-chefs (even if it's chef Ray Kroc); they have personal trainers and life coaches. They will pay for quality services, sometimes in barter; sometimes in cash."

As they say "Read the whole thing", if only to see how Pa Ingles and Niccolo Paganini fit into the picture!

The Terrorists Have Already Won...

2007-03-02T07:45:00.000-07:00

Received this message from a colleague [names changed for gratuitous linking opportunity]:

"Mike,

Jon, Mark and I really do appreciate the help you have been providing.

A number of weeks ago you mentioned a particular beer that you liked.

I wrote down the name and headed out to my local beer depot.

No luck.

Went to a larger beer depot. They carry hundreds of beers from all around the world.

No luck.

Decided on Plan B. Purchased 6 bottles of beer from 6 different countries.

Took 'em home and packed them up nicely (and safely).

Took them to my local post office (Menomonee Falls). Found the front door locked with a sign to step around back.

Stepped around the back and found a loading doc. Was told the Post Office moved 4 miles north.

Drove 4 miles north.

Waited in line 15 minutes.

Was told the U.S. postal services does not ship beer.....

Was told to use Brown (UPS). Asked where I could find this magic UPS, was told go 6 miles south.

Went 6 miles south and found the UPS Store.

Left there smiling, feeling confident that Mike would get his beer on the following Monday.

I left town for a few days.

Got back - 2 voices mails from UPS.

They are not allowed, by state law, to ship beer. Wisconsin is one of only two states that have this thoughtful law.

Was told to come and pick them up, or they would toss them (ya right).

Was told I needed to go to the distribution center in Brookfield. OK, I can do that.

Wednesday at 5:30 I get another call from UPS, one of the bottles has broken. Do I still want the beer?

OK - yes I tell them, I want my 5 bottles of beer back.

Tonight, after work, I set out on a new adventure - reclaiming 5 bottles of beer.

Next time your in town, I've got 5 bottles of beer you can stick in your carry-on.....

Like they say - No Good Deed Goes Unpunished....

BillRay"

What is this world coming to, when a man cannot get a six pack of Wisconsin's finest shipped to his door?! Or maybe it's God's way of helping me observe Lent properly...

PED - From Game Design to Experience Design

2007-02-27T12:34:00.000-07:00

Part Four of the Principles of Experience Design Series

In the previous post in the series, we discussed the DESIGN ONCE, EXPERIENCE MANY TIMES model created by game designers to explore the experiences they create for game players. The Mechanics-Dynamics-Aesthetics model is a very powerful one, but there are three important limits to understand about the model.

The mechanics are fixed
The game design assumes a desired set of aesthetics
The game design makes assumptions about how the user will interact with the game (the dynamics)

An experience designer has the opportunity to provide a richer experience by exploiting these constraints, through:

Asking for and receiving feedback on desired aesthetics
Asking for and receiving feedback on how dynamics are working
Evolving mechanics

Why is this important? Let's pretend for a moment that you are an aspiring actor/singer/dancer who is waiting tables at a neighborhood ethnic restaurant while waiting for your big break. Money is tight, every dollar of tip income means something! You've been assigned 3 tables. At the first is an elderly couple with their three grandchildren. They've been coming here weekly for years and always order the same thing. The kids seem a little more rambunctious than usual tonight. At the second table are two men in business suits - a salesman with an important prospective client with whom he wants to build a stronger relationship. The final table contains a group of people who meet monthly to try different restaurants to build their knowledge of cuisine. You could serve them all identically and according to your training, but the opportunity for designing superior experiences (and bigger tips) awaits you!

Let's start with the couple and their unruly grandchildren. What can you do to make their experience more better? They're regulars that order the same thing each time, but there's one difference this evening. The kids are acting up, so they might value speed of execution tonight. So you ask them "Would you like to see a menu, or should I just place your usual order to save you a little time tonight?" Their answer gives you feedback on their desired aesthetic, and they probably want to get the little darlings home to their parents as quickly as possible tonight.

The salesman at the next table has a very different agenda. In fact, maximizing the amount of time pleasurably spent would be high on his list. This would be a good scenario for your best "attentive but not intrusive" routine. Your goal is to ensure that they keep their conversation going. You want to get good feedback on how the dinner is going, so that if you need to pay more or less attention, you can.

The final group tells you who they are and asks for recommendations of dishes that represent the cuisine well. Your recommendations and your discussion of the history and variety of the cuisine are well appreciated by this group, but would not have been by the others. Then you offer that one of the cooks grew up in the country of cuisine origin, and has a few signature dishes that are considered by management to be to exotic for the menu. You ask if, as students of the cuisine, they would like to try one, and they're extremely happy with your evolving dining mechanics!

Can you think of other things you could do to enhance the experience of each group?

It is interesting to see how the basic MDA model still applies. Designing any experience starts with knowing the desired aesthetics, and then selecting the appropriate mechanics to cause the dynamics that produce those desired aesthetics in the mind of the experiencers. The challenges of moving from design once, experience many times to design-one-or-many-times, experience once-or-many-times are the elements of feedback and evolving mechanics.

The way most organizations deal with these challenges is to include PEOPLE as part of the mechanics. That introduces the notion of a multilevel experience, because now the person involved in creating the experience is having their own experience in the process! And the quality of the provider's experience can have a profound effect on the end experiencer! That's one of the key reasons that restauranteur Danny Meyer believes that he must focus first on the experiences of his employees in order to provide great customer service.

Meyer reinforced that the first and most important application of hospitality is to the people who work for you, and then, in descending order of priority, to the guests, the community, the suppliers, and the investors. “By putting your employees first, you have happier employees, which then lead to a higher HQ. A higher HQ leads to happy customers, which benefits all the stakeholders. The cycle is virtuous, not linear, because the stakeholders all impact each other.”

Too bad more people don't look at things this way.

Next time we'll talk about how process design and experience design are related, and a great methodology for designing processes with superior feedback mechanisms. After that, customer delight!

Part 4 of the Principles of Experience Design series:

Don't miss a single part of the series; Subscribe to Spooky Action today!

STATISTICS SHOW EATING ICE CREAM CAUSES MURDER

2007-02-23T06:09:00.000-07:00

It's true! Multiple independent studies in cities across the United States have shown a significant correlation between the rates of ice cream consumption and violent crimes (both murder and rape). Detailed analyses confirm that the rate of ice cream consumption jumps several hours before that of violent crime. And finally, interviews with convicted felons revealed that a higher percentage of them admitted to eating ice cream shortly before committing their crimes during those peak periods!

Hundreds of statisticians have examined this evidence and not one has disputed the validity of these statistics!

Yet there are those who contend that the increase in crime is a consequence of "natural climatological fluctuations". They cite studies of heat wave / crime wave correlation in lactose-enlightened countries. They also point to heat wave / ice cream consumption correlation in non-violent populations. Most disturbingly, they offer evidence of lactose-intolerant violent criminals, which would seem to invalidate the entire ice cream -> crime cause-and-effect relationship.

I can't help thinking they have a point, but I could be wrong...

What Gift Would You Give If You Knew You Could Not Fail?

2007-02-22T10:13:00.000-07:00

We've all heard the old question: "What would you DO if you knew you could not fail?" How many of us have answered it, without making a commitment to doing anything about it?

Yeah, me too.

Recently, Liz Strauss blogged about giving when no one notices. That got me wondering. If we give with an expectation of some return, is it really a gift? Or is it a payment? Where is the line between a true gift and a payment/investment? As it turns out, every gift is an investment. The only difference is our expectation of the nature and timing of the payoff. Karin noted over at Liz's post that "Givers always gain; receivers maybe".

All this made me wonder if the "What would you do?" question isn't inherently limiting. It focuses on the cause of a benefit, not on the benefit itself. And the benefit is the real goal. With the 'do' question we focus on ourselves. With the 'give' question, we focus on the benefit to both ourselves and others. It's bigger; it's win-win; in my mind, at least, it's more compelling!

How does that feel to you?

Go ahead; give it a try. How would you answer the question "What gift would you give if you knew you could not fail?" It's okay to start small, but doesn't it give you more energy to think of things this way? Commit to giving just one gift like this, and let me know how it works!

[Originally posted at 100 Bloggers]

The Unbearable Lightbulbiness of Beings

2007-02-20T15:20:00.000-07:00

Liz Strauss has a brilliant post containing the only 3 questions that count in hiring someone:

Can this person do the job? This question is about the job or project description — expertise, skill set, and industry experience — salary is included here.
Will this person do the job? This question is about motivation, energy, and work ethic.
How will this person fit with the team? This question is about interpersonal skills, stress management, and communication.

I will say that if you can answer these three questions about a candidate, they will succeed in the job. But my experience tells me that you need to answer one more: How willing is this person to change? Particularly in start-ups, people will be asked to change hats and titles and duties on a regular basis. In large organizations, the semi-annual reorganization is bound to force change on people.

I discussed this topic in my podcast Four Jokes to Live By, starting with this joke:

How many psychiatrists does it take to change a lightbulb?

Only one, but the lightbulb really has to want to change!"

How does that apply to hiring practices? Well, people have varying levels of "lightbulbiness" - resistance to change - in their world views. How many women have said to their bridesmaids "He's not much right now, but I can change him", only to realize later that they married a lightbulb?

One of the counterintuitive principles in the book "Good to Great" is "First Who, Then What", which says that you need to get the right people on the bus before deciding where the bus is going. Yet most hiring processes focus on fit to current position. Doing this rigorously will get you an entire busload of lightbulbs!

We all have varying levels of lightbulbiness within us. The important thing is that we don't set goals in conflict with those areas of high lightbulbiness (also know as our core identity and beliefs). That's a simple, yet oft-repeated recipe for failure! And as a hiring manager, you need to assess the lightbulbiness of your team members with respect to any new initiative you need them to help with.

Okay, I've flogged the daylights out of that metaphor. The material in the podcast is much more entertaining. Check it out if you've got 15 minutes to spare.

My BusinessPundit Resume

2007-02-20T11:50:00.000-07:00

Rob over at BusinessPundit is looking for additional contributors:

"What am I looking for? The primary criterion is that you love business. You should enjoy reading about business, thinking about business, talking about business, writing about business, and engaging in business. You have to be willing to be a little controversial, and not afraid of criticism. It helps if you have a particular interest in some or all of the following: entrepreneurship, finance/accounting, cognitive psychology, neuroscience, economics, new technology, management, strategy, execution, and leadership. It probably helps if you are a bit skeptical of manias and fads, and are highly interested in the thought processes and decision making side of business. It also helps if you are interested in how the academic side of business can be applied to the real world. Prior writing or blogging experience isn't necessary, but it does help. You should also be able to write at least one post of decent length every week, or multiple short posts about newsworthy issues."

Regular Spooky Action readers will recognize many of these qualities in your humble host, but I thought I would take this opportunity to introduce myself to the folks at Creative Weblogging. Here are a few posts that show the kinds of BusinessPundit-y writing I've done in the past couple of years:

Spooky Action Predicts: Nick Carr has your number! (.8 probability) If you can read only one post to decide if I fit, this is the one. Carr caused a firestorm of controversy in the IT realm when he published the HBR article "IT Doesn't Matter", but this post outlines exactly why he's right for most organizations. Where else will you find Cerberus (the three-headed guardian of the underworld), William James (the father of American psychology), Robert Cialdini, and Jim Collins tied together in one post?

The Theory and Practice of Customer Delight in a Nutshell Everybody likes to talk about customer delight, and plenty has been written about the topic. This post explains the simple secret to creating delight, and points to some source material for futher reading.

Good To Great Throughout the Ages which answers the question: "If we pass the bright light of G2G through the prism of epic mythology, what will project onto the opposite wall?" It turns out that the key tenets of G2G can be found in most epic mythology, and what that implies for today's organization.

Why Co-workers Hoard Information The simple, visual answer:

I discussed a counterexample attitude from David Maister, the professional services guru - AND HE COMMENTED!

A Lattice of Insights from Charlie Munger Nobody knows the intersection of cognitive psychology and business like Charlie Munger. This post highlights key points of a speech he made looking at the soft science of economics from a hard science viewpoint.

When Bad Things Happen to Good Concepts How's this for 'skeptical of manias and fads':

"How can such bad things happen to good concepts?

Simple. The executive who read about the new concept in Harvard Business Review doesn't really want to apply the concept. No, he wants an instant application that gives him the same results as the HBR case study! And he wants it in time to effect this year's earnings!! There's no time for a complete definition of context, and besides, we're mostly similar to those other companies anyway, so let's bring in a complete application, tweak it for the most important unique characteristics of our company, and get a quick win!

But since we don't know anything about the new concept - and because we're in a hurry - we don't realize that the color of the boot was only relevant because the last application the consultant built was at a bullfighting establishment in Matamoros. Dios Mio!"

Part Two of the series sparked a controversy that spilled into the comments section...

Part Three answered the question "Is there a downside to collaboration?" by providing a simple, two question test to decide when your collaboration efforts have gone from good to bad.

Meet the Nick Carr of Organizational Change Management Nick Carr may have said IT doesn't matter, but Prof. Chris Grey took on the entire notion of managing organizational change! His piece was rather long, so I excerpted the juiciest bits and added additional insight regarding the foibles of many common change practices and how to avoid them.

How to Make Important Decisions Looking for 'the decision-making side of business' and 'application of academic theory'? Here you go!

Jim Collins on the Carly Fiorina Story Sometimes 25 characters is all it takes...

There's more where that came from, but that should give you a clear idea of who I am, what I have to say, and how I say it. Thank you in advance for your consideration!

Where is the Line Between Gift and Investment?

2007-02-19T07:20:00.000-07:00

Liz Strauss has an interesting post entitled Change the World: Give When No One Notices, in which she talks about the book "The Giving Tree", and her changing view of the story over time. She also speaks about Nelson Mandela:

"The difference between a victim and a Nelson Mandela is a choice in the mind of the giver.

We choose unconditional love or choose to be a victim. The response of the one who receives doesn’t enter into the decision. Many who were helped by Nelson Mandela showed and felt no response to his gift. Yet he didn’t become the victim.

That one choice by Nelson Mandela so inspires me to make the same kind of choices in my own far less burdensome situations.

Sometimes we give and no one seems to notice. That doesn’t matter. Does it?"

In my previous post A Bit of Friendly Advice, I opined that there is no benefit to self-pity and a scarcity mentality. Liz's post is very much aligned with those thoughts, but more articulate in the prescription for how to live.

People suffering from scarcity mentality only give when there is an expectation of getting something in return. But this isn't really giving; it's investing. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Without investment in relationships there'd be society as we know it.

The problem comes (as Liz points out) when your 'gift' doesn't pay the expected dividend. As a giver, you then have a choice to make. You can feel wronged. You can choose not to give again. Or you can realize that a gift is truly a gift when there is no expectation of return; only gratitude for being able to give.

Let's use my friendly advice as an example. If I offer it with the expectation that it will result in immediate behavior change, I'm in for great disappointment. If I offer it with expectation that it will be immediately appreciated, same thing. Since it's unsolicited advice, I will most likely get just the opposite. But I think that the ideas can be of real value to the receiver, so I will give them without any expectation, and be grateful that I can.

So where is the line between gift and investment?

It's a trick question. EVERYTHING we do is an investment; we just don't know where it's going, or what the payback will be. Whether you believe in the Law of Attraction or the biblical dictum "As you sow, so shall you reap", the principle is the same. The energy you put into the world will be magnified and reflected back to you; you just don't necessarily know how or when. That's why both "The Prayer of Jabez" and "The Luck Factor" say that one of the keys to gaining God's blessings / being lucky is to actively look for gifts/luck, because you can't predict when they'll show up or what form they'll take!

One personal example of these principles is this blog. The time and effort spent on it appears to have a pretty low payback. Total Donations: $0. Total Amazon Associate earnings: $6.37. Even by less monetary standards it would seem to be disappointing. The MEDIAN number of comments per post is ZERO. The majority of my posts, even some that I consider my very best work, draw neither cheers nor jeers. The most frequent referral page is Google image search results for "Bullitt mustang", which was a toss-in graphic in one of my posts.

A while back I had a choice to make. I could quit, which is what most bloggers eventually do. I could get serious about my blogging effort as an investment and retool the site with focused content and take the numerous suggestions available online and get those metrics moving in the right direction. Or I could treat Spooky Action as a gift to you.

And my heart told me that's the right thing to do. And when I look for reflection of my gift, I do find it. One of the great thing about having a low-traffic blog is that I can look at each individual visit to this blog in only a few minutes. Every day a couple of people hit the site because they searched for How to Make an Important Decision" (or some variant). And there on the first page is my best advice on the topic. If any of those readers use that information to make a better decision, they've made my world a better place!

One of the secrets of customer delight is that delight is highly correlated with surprise. People with abundance mentalities - who believe in this model of universal reflection of gifts - are thus setting themselves up to be delighted again and again! Doesn't that sound like a good life investment strategy?

No, Liz, it doesn't matter if no one seems to notice. What does matter is that we notice.

A Bit of Friendly Advice

2007-02-17T20:29:00.000-07:00

Here are a few words I was going to say to someone I care for, but before I do I thought I should internalize them myself:

You are a person who jealously guards your own council. This is both a wonderful strength and a terrible weakness. A strength because it can prevent you from being duped or cheated; from having your heart broken. A weakness because it can prevent you from accepting gifts of wisdom outside your own experience; from opening your heart to wonders you've never imagined. I offer you these words from my heart, without condition or expectation of what you will do with them:

No one has ever truly benefited from self-pity. It is a prison of one's own making that may provide the illusion of emotional relief, but which really shackles you more than you can imagine. (And because you take no council of others, no one can show you what harm it is doing).

No one has ever truly benefited from a scarcity mentality. Yes, you may gain from a sale while spreading the fear, but in the end the net effect is a geometric growth in fear, both external and internal. The former is dangerous; the latter a self-booked trip to Hell.

Where is Mary Poppins when you need a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down?