I read a book review on "Iconoclast" by Gregory Berns in Fast Company, October 2008.
Iconoclast in the case of the book means to One who attacks cherished beliefs. I think most entrepreneurs are good at this. They challenge the known and think creatively.
The following is a summary of Iconoclast from Fast Company:
-- The brain is fundamentally a lazy piece of meat. It doesn't want to waste energy.
-- In order to think creatively, you must develop new neural pathways and break out of the cycle of experience - dependant categorization. As Mark Twain said, "Education consists mainly in what we have unlearned." For most people, this does not come naturally. Often, the harder you think differently, the more rigid the categories become.
-- Fortunately, the networks that govern both perception and imagination can be reprogrammed. By deploying your attention differently, the frontal cortex, which contains rules for decision making, can reconfigure neural networks so that you can see things that you didn't see before. You need a novel stimulus -- either a new piece of information or an unfamiliar environment -- to jolt attentional systems awake. The more radical the change, the greater the likelihood of fresh insights.
-- Only when you consciously confront your brain's shortcuts will you be able to imagine outside of its boundaries.
So I believe in the theory. I know I want to be creative. I know I need to to thrive in a changing world. Part of my routine is to challenge myself intellectually. I partly do that by reading but often by doing something completely different. I am thinking how to incorporate this into habit.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Personal Development for Smart People
I read a new book - Personal Development for Smart People by one of my favourite self help gurus - Steve Pavlina. I even used a list of values that he developed (and I added to) in my Time Management Book.
Part 1 deals with 7 fundamental principles - Truth, Love, Power, Oneness, Authority, Courage and Intelligence.
I had a negative reaction to a paragraph he wrote in the section on Truth about habits. The gist of his message was - to become more intelligent, do things differently. "Excessive routine is the enemy of intelligence". Of course I am a big believer in having success habits. Later in the book he devotes a full chapter to success habits though so he does understand the power of habits.
I liked and agree with what he said about media conditioning. We can become over influenced by traditional media. And much of media has a conflict. They want to "sell" you that something is not good for you - EG alcohol will make you feel popular or sexy. He even suggests a media fast for 30 days.
I liked what he said about momentum. The key is to get started and get moving. I will write an article on this in the coming days. I am adding articles to my resources section with fair frequency now. I just added one on Be a Life Long Learner (I am sure Pavlina would agree with that one) and another on Leadership vs. Management.
Part 2 talks about practical application - Habits, Career, Money, Health, Relationships and Spirituality.
I found a lot of practical tips in the first section (like start with the worst thing first thing and master the first hour of the day) so really looked forward to more practical application.
From the Habits chapter:
"Habits are your Mind's approach to time management. It would be extremely inefficient for you to decide how to spend every minute of every day. Your conscious mind has better things to do than solve the same problems over and over, so it delegates known problems to your subconscious"
The book is well written and easy to read. And it is inspirational.
The book is full of ideas. It is one of those books that you can take only 2 or 3 ideas and incorporate them into your life to make a big change. Definitely worth reading if you are interested in self development.
Part 1 deals with 7 fundamental principles - Truth, Love, Power, Oneness, Authority, Courage and Intelligence.
I had a negative reaction to a paragraph he wrote in the section on Truth about habits. The gist of his message was - to become more intelligent, do things differently. "Excessive routine is the enemy of intelligence". Of course I am a big believer in having success habits. Later in the book he devotes a full chapter to success habits though so he does understand the power of habits.
I liked and agree with what he said about media conditioning. We can become over influenced by traditional media. And much of media has a conflict. They want to "sell" you that something is not good for you - EG alcohol will make you feel popular or sexy. He even suggests a media fast for 30 days.
I liked what he said about momentum. The key is to get started and get moving. I will write an article on this in the coming days. I am adding articles to my resources section with fair frequency now. I just added one on Be a Life Long Learner (I am sure Pavlina would agree with that one) and another on Leadership vs. Management.
Part 2 talks about practical application - Habits, Career, Money, Health, Relationships and Spirituality.
I found a lot of practical tips in the first section (like start with the worst thing first thing and master the first hour of the day) so really looked forward to more practical application.
From the Habits chapter:
"Habits are your Mind's approach to time management. It would be extremely inefficient for you to decide how to spend every minute of every day. Your conscious mind has better things to do than solve the same problems over and over, so it delegates known problems to your subconscious"
The book is well written and easy to read. And it is inspirational.
The book is full of ideas. It is one of those books that you can take only 2 or 3 ideas and incorporate them into your life to make a big change. Definitely worth reading if you are interested in self development.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
The Pebble and Banker to the Poor
Today was perfect for a 16 K run. A bit drizzly at 8 AM but perfect temperature (about 15 degrees C). Of course it helped to be prodded to do it by a friend who ran with me. I normally run a maximum distance of 10K unless I am training for something.
As I started to run, I felt a stone in my shoe. It felt huge. I knew if I kept running, I would have a blister. So, I stopped and removed the "huge" stone but it turned out to be a tiny pebble.
I think about time management and our lives. Often the smallest of pebbles can put us off track. Often the pebbles feel like large stones. It helps to have tools and strategies to deal with these pebbles. That's partly what inspired me to write my Time Management book.
Stuff happens. Usually it is not as big as it feels at the time. Build your tools now to deal with "the stuff".
On a recent flight, I read an outstanding book called Banker to the Poor Microlending and the Battle Against World Poverty by Muhammad Yunus. Muhammad taught economics at the University of Bangladesh and saw the poverty around him and felt that that his theoretical work at the university was not solving the problem. What he saw was the small amounts of money loaned to people to allow them to start their business or raw materials could have a huge impact.
He started Grameen Bank and started making micro-credit loans to people in groups using the social pressure to make sure everyone repays their loans. His first loans he saw that 42 people needed $27.00 to buy raw materials and this was his first loan. He had tremendous success repaying the loans and has since grown to almost 2,000 branches and a staff of 11,000 which has loaned $3.9 billion with a recovery rate of 98%.
Impressive results with limited resources.
This is a true book of hope and definitely worth reading.
As I started to run, I felt a stone in my shoe. It felt huge. I knew if I kept running, I would have a blister. So, I stopped and removed the "huge" stone but it turned out to be a tiny pebble.
I think about time management and our lives. Often the smallest of pebbles can put us off track. Often the pebbles feel like large stones. It helps to have tools and strategies to deal with these pebbles. That's partly what inspired me to write my Time Management book.
Stuff happens. Usually it is not as big as it feels at the time. Build your tools now to deal with "the stuff".
On a recent flight, I read an outstanding book called Banker to the Poor Microlending and the Battle Against World Poverty by Muhammad Yunus. Muhammad taught economics at the University of Bangladesh and saw the poverty around him and felt that that his theoretical work at the university was not solving the problem. What he saw was the small amounts of money loaned to people to allow them to start their business or raw materials could have a huge impact.
He started Grameen Bank and started making micro-credit loans to people in groups using the social pressure to make sure everyone repays their loans. His first loans he saw that 42 people needed $27.00 to buy raw materials and this was his first loan. He had tremendous success repaying the loans and has since grown to almost 2,000 branches and a staff of 11,000 which has loaned $3.9 billion with a recovery rate of 98%.
Impressive results with limited resources.
This is a true book of hope and definitely worth reading.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Get Smarter Book Review
SYNNEX released great results. I was at a RIM board meeting today. RIM also released results.
I am stressed from being out of my office. Perhaps I should read my article on 8 Ways to Handle Stress.
I am way behind in posting my business book reviews so need to post more often for a while.
I read an awesome book by Seymour Schulich called, "Life and Business Lessons Get Smarter". Seymour Schulich is an accomplished entrepreneur billionaire which is why people might listen to him.
The book consists of 48 very short chapters. (Don't be daunted -- this is a very simple and fast read.) It is written largely as an older man's mentoring for someone who is new and going into business. As I read the various rules, I couldn't help but smile and nod in agreement with almost everything he had to say in almost every area.
The book is not only business lessons but covers lessons on finance and life. He even gets into relationships.
I found the book to be a page turner (which might seem ironic for a business book, but perhaps I am different). It contained many gems and philosophies.
It is definitely worth the read!
I am stressed from being out of my office. Perhaps I should read my article on 8 Ways to Handle Stress.
I am way behind in posting my business book reviews so need to post more often for a while.
I read an awesome book by Seymour Schulich called, "Life and Business Lessons Get Smarter". Seymour Schulich is an accomplished entrepreneur billionaire which is why people might listen to him.
The book consists of 48 very short chapters. (Don't be daunted -- this is a very simple and fast read.) It is written largely as an older man's mentoring for someone who is new and going into business. As I read the various rules, I couldn't help but smile and nod in agreement with almost everything he had to say in almost every area.
The book is not only business lessons but covers lessons on finance and life. He even gets into relationships.
I found the book to be a page turner (which might seem ironic for a business book, but perhaps I am different). It contained many gems and philosophies.
It is definitely worth the read!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
What you measure, you improve
I am back on the road (Calgary this time). I did not work out today. Perhaps I should read my own Work Out Inspration Article .
If you can't measure it, you can't manage it is the tag line of TimeTECH a time and attendance management company.
Some variation on this expression has been used in business for years. I like the variation - If you can't measure it, you can't improve it since I am a continuous improvment person.
This started me thinking. Is it possible to change everything into a measurable. For example, can calmness or niceness be measured?
One concern I have with measurement is do we track only the measurable and ignore the things that are tough to measure?
And if we are not careful, we forget to add the quality measurement. For example I could tick off that I worked out today (and I did not yet) but perhaps I did not push as hard as yesterday or last week so it is a good idea to try to add that measure also.
So my goal today is to look at my measurements to see how I can add the quality to it.
And a quote to make you think:
Success is dangerous. One begins to copy oneself, and to copy oneself is more dangerous than to copy others. It leads to sterility.
Pablo Picasso
If you can't measure it, you can't manage it is the tag line of TimeTECH a time and attendance management company.
Some variation on this expression has been used in business for years. I like the variation - If you can't measure it, you can't improve it since I am a continuous improvment person.
This started me thinking. Is it possible to change everything into a measurable. For example, can calmness or niceness be measured?
One concern I have with measurement is do we track only the measurable and ignore the things that are tough to measure?
And if we are not careful, we forget to add the quality measurement. For example I could tick off that I worked out today (and I did not yet) but perhaps I did not push as hard as yesterday or last week so it is a good idea to try to add that measure also.
So my goal today is to look at my measurements to see how I can add the quality to it.
And a quote to make you think:
Success is dangerous. One begins to copy oneself, and to copy oneself is more dangerous than to copy others. It leads to sterility.
Pablo Picasso
Monday, September 22, 2008
Unleashing the Power of Rubber Bands
I recently read, "Unleashing the Power of Rubber Bands: Lessons in Non-linear Leadership" by Nancy Ortberg.
The thesis of the book is that leading tends not to be linear; it tends to be exponential. The more you pull the rubber band the greater resistance. (I found the analogy particularly interesting since I have recently added using Therabands to my workout schedule. They are very lightweight, portable and can be used almost anywhere. I probably wouldn't need weights in my office if I had learned to use bands when I first starting working out.)
One of the quotes from the book that I liked was, "Great leaders know the value of doing the right things and that includes valuing the contribution of all of the players". I think one area where I have not done as well is telling people I appreciate their contribution. Fortunately I am a life-long learner so I can always change. For me it might even tie in with my own celebration. I tend not to celebrate my own wins as much as I could.
Another quote was, "Much of the frustration that leaders face comes from trying to solve what needs to be managed and trying to manage what needs to be solved. Being able to distinguish which areas need clarity and which areas will be ongoing tensions is a necessary skill." That paragraph was a real truism for me. So many of the things that we are involved in are not solved, they are simply somewhere along a continuum.
I found the book to be interesting, challenging, and thought provoking and would recommend it as a good read.
Only caveat, because Nancy has worked extensively with the church many of her examples have religious overtones that might put some people off.
The thesis of the book is that leading tends not to be linear; it tends to be exponential. The more you pull the rubber band the greater resistance. (I found the analogy particularly interesting since I have recently added using Therabands to my workout schedule. They are very lightweight, portable and can be used almost anywhere. I probably wouldn't need weights in my office if I had learned to use bands when I first starting working out.)
One of the quotes from the book that I liked was, "Great leaders know the value of doing the right things and that includes valuing the contribution of all of the players". I think one area where I have not done as well is telling people I appreciate their contribution. Fortunately I am a life-long learner so I can always change. For me it might even tie in with my own celebration. I tend not to celebrate my own wins as much as I could.
Another quote was, "Much of the frustration that leaders face comes from trying to solve what needs to be managed and trying to manage what needs to be solved. Being able to distinguish which areas need clarity and which areas will be ongoing tensions is a necessary skill." That paragraph was a real truism for me. So many of the things that we are involved in are not solved, they are simply somewhere along a continuum.
I found the book to be interesting, challenging, and thought provoking and would recommend it as a good read.
Only caveat, because Nancy has worked extensively with the church many of her examples have religious overtones that might put some people off.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
How I Handle Too Many Things to do
Sometimes I can get almost an overwhelming number of things that I need to do. I have developed strategies to help me deal with this.
1 - I recognize when I am likely to be swamped and try to plan a bit of extra time and flexibility in my schedule. For example, I am just back from being out of the office and know I am going into management meetings. This is a time I will have too many things on. So I have tried to leave a bit of space.
2 - I reset peoples' expectation on when I can have things done. I pride myself on being fast and crisp. But in times like this, I tell people "I will review it next Wednesday and get back to you then". By setting proper expectation, the pressure is reduced.
3 - The basis of any time management system is the "To Do" list. It is even more important when juggling many balls to have a good to do list.
4 - And once I have the To Do list, I prioritize. It is more important to work on the important than to get many of the less important things done.
5 - if my list is too long, I create a "To Do Right Now" list which a more manageable number of tasks on it. For me, that usually means just 3 or 4 things to do.
6 - Sometimes the overwhelm seems too great. At these times, I just do it. Dig in and start and momentum will carry me through a huge list.
7 - I create games with myself. On my To Do list, I put the time each task will take. This means I can play a game to see if I can beat the projected times. Set a list of things to complete by X times. After all - games are fun so why not make it a game.
8 - I like to have a clean work space. One trick for me is to put any mess behind me (on my credenza - or a drawer works well) so I will not see it. A messy desk is a whole bunch of things saying "do me, do me". This can just add to the stress and often result in busy work rather than productive work being done.
Now back to work to get my list done.
1 - I recognize when I am likely to be swamped and try to plan a bit of extra time and flexibility in my schedule. For example, I am just back from being out of the office and know I am going into management meetings. This is a time I will have too many things on. So I have tried to leave a bit of space.
2 - I reset peoples' expectation on when I can have things done. I pride myself on being fast and crisp. But in times like this, I tell people "I will review it next Wednesday and get back to you then". By setting proper expectation, the pressure is reduced.
3 - The basis of any time management system is the "To Do" list. It is even more important when juggling many balls to have a good to do list.
4 - And once I have the To Do list, I prioritize. It is more important to work on the important than to get many of the less important things done.
5 - if my list is too long, I create a "To Do Right Now" list which a more manageable number of tasks on it. For me, that usually means just 3 or 4 things to do.
6 - Sometimes the overwhelm seems too great. At these times, I just do it. Dig in and start and momentum will carry me through a huge list.
7 - I create games with myself. On my To Do list, I put the time each task will take. This means I can play a game to see if I can beat the projected times. Set a list of things to complete by X times. After all - games are fun so why not make it a game.
8 - I like to have a clean work space. One trick for me is to put any mess behind me (on my credenza - or a drawer works well) so I will not see it. A messy desk is a whole bunch of things saying "do me, do me". This can just add to the stress and often result in busy work rather than productive work being done.
Now back to work to get my list done.
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