Resistance & Coincidence

This word had cropped up a few times recently for me in different contexts and the coincidence is undeniable.

Resistance is the central feature of Steven Pressfield's book "The War of Art" and in this sense it's the manifestation of procrastination and all the other negative things we invent which allow us to delay or put off the accomplishment of those objectives that really and truly matter to us.

Resistance is greatest on those things we love doing and are most passionate about. It's sly and cunning. The writing of this blog for example is my own resistance at doing what I should be doing. See what I mean ? "The War of Art" was created with an artistic audience in mind but parts of it are applicable to anyone that needs to be creative in their roles/ their lives. While I can't say I agree with everything he says in the book, it was a passionate expose of the struggle those that have a gift to offer, go through. Resistance is a common enemy to all of us though, and the word has popped up in a few different contexts of late which is a little ironic to me. It resembles those situations when you learn something new, and look up only to discover that it has surrounded you the entire time and you'd just never seen it.

Resistance is one of the past year's favorite songs for me (by Muse) and it speaks rhythmically to overcoming great odds and persevering. Resistance is also how I have come to think of three days of every week - in an exercise regime that pushes me beyond my own comfort zone, and my inner voice begs me to quit. When I have mastered these days, I know I can do anything, and Pressfield touches exactly that nerve in the "The War of Art".

As a testament to how strongly he feels about making us each aware and empowered to overcome our own version of resistance, he's made the book a complimentary download on various e-Reader platforms out there.

I'd urge you to grab it and devour it - and start to see how we each manifest resistance and are standing in our own way.

Some Favourite Music and Lyrics

I live in a household with quite eclectic musical tastes.

Some of us enjoy rap, others like very traditional oldies and new pop, and some enjoy dance music and top 40 hits. I happen to enjoy some of each of the above, and also R&B, Classical, Jazz and some more rock-y bands from when I was younger.

The music I'm most interested in connecting to is probably rap - only because I really despised it when I first heard some, and wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt. My issue of late with rap is that the lyrics tend to be written by someone with a pre-school education - they're sophomoric, and I think if I hear "wich you" instead of "with you" one more time I'll cut my own ears off. Having said that though I'm told I tend to get exposed to more mainstream rap rather than than the 'better' intelligent stuff. I'm not sure about that, but I'll leave it be for now.

In thinking about music and lyrics, my favorite songs of this past year all have at least one killer line - that's the single element that jumps out to me when I think of the song, and it defines the song often for me. I wanted to offer an overview of some songs and their definitve lyrics, and invite you to think about your own favs the same way - I'll bet something similar come to mind. This is a personal list of course, and you'll no doubt disagree with some choices - but that's really the point...music is a way we express ourselves and in a way it's a celebration. We all celebrate a little differently - it's what makes the world a colorful mosaic.

Most Evocative - Eminem's - Love the way you Lie (part II) with Rihanna
Maybe our relationship isn't as crazy as it seems;
Maybe that's what happens when a tornado meets a volcano;
All I know is I love you too much to walk away though
A wonderfully deep and evocative story of a troubled relationship.

Most Honest - Marianas Trench - Beside You
I'm just trying to keep this together, because I could do worse, and you could do better

A deep love song by a smart song-writer that knows how to stitch a tune together too.

Most Twistedly Thoughtful - Marianas Trench - Shake Tramp
And the guilt in me is the hurt in you
And the hurt in you is the lost in me
And the lost in me is the need in you
And the need in you is the guilt in me

A raucous, raw nerve of a pop/rock scream.

Lifetime Achievement Award for Lyric Genius - Leonard Cohen/John Cale - Hallelujah
Your faith was strong but you needed proof,
You saw her bathing on the roof;
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you.
She tied you to a kitchen chair,
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair;
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Cohen is unquestionably a brilliant lyricist, and the song's pretty incredible too.

Look these up, they're all on Youtube and enjoy these killer lines in some great songs.

Connecting

That family is not close, don't generally participate in each others daily lives and rarely assembles, but make an effort to do so at Christmas because connecting is that important.

Numerous friends spend the hours to write out Holiday cards by hand, recognizing that our relationships are significant enough to invest in like this, if only but once a year. They see connecting is that important.

We reach out to our far-away family members, and need a text, a mail, a FB update or best yet a Skype call every few days to help us get over the pain of separation, because connecting is that important.

One of my friends is sitting atop a roof, trying to get a cell signal, to touch the outside world. He's now directly in the line of fire as a result and risking his life, but connecting is that important.

It's a time of togetherness and for me that one idea carries the true meaning of the season - connecting really is that important for us all.

There's a Mole in our Protest Organization and It's Us

It's happening over and over, and it's very effectively debilitating the idea of organized protest.

You remember 'protest' don't you, from its glory days of the 60's ? People believed in a cause and due the emerging influence of the TV media, they got coverage and their message spread far and wide developing supporters in unlikely corners - supporters that were voters - and so governments listened. It was simpler times, and it represented with some hindsight, the peak of the ability to influence policy and direction through mass protests.

These days, you'd think organizers would have it easier. There's certainly no lack of causes - (insert your city here) G"x" protest, university fees, global warming, save the furry mammal, this war, that conflict, garbage dumps, changes to public transit...the list literally does go on and on and I haven't even mentioned the perennial favorites like poverty, abortion or homelessness or the cadre of social program changes out there. But - here's news - the anti-protest types are smarter at the moment, and they know how to effectively debilitate any protest out there...

You see the anti-protest types are using the eye of the media very effectively against demonstrators who've become complacent in their view of the publicity the generate. The "truth" it seems isn't enough anymore to create a rallying cry around their cause. That's because perception rules, and the 'anti' camps have begun to spin the story so that the truth is all but obscured. Instead you see masked protesters looting stores, flipping cars and causing damage, which all but eliminates the veracity for whatever cause it is. The TV pictures and print & online media stories and twitter updates are about how uncontrolled and unruly the protest is (we expected Gandhi perhaps?), which means we the external audience lose our sympathy for those protesting...and if we voters don't care, then the powers that be who are being protested against, don't care. Voter in this sense carries both a literal and financial meaning.

So, if you were being targeted by some fair-thinking group that didn't like your policies, would your organization hire some folks to don masks and pretend to play along with the protests, and then do the visible bad stuff ? All with the intent of swaying public opinion ? I bet you would. In fact there's a growing chorus of accusations of this from various public bodies that have held protests in recent times.

Now, walk the steps of the fair-thinking group's protest organizers who have a sizable task just getting people out, to show support for their cause. They don't control the crowd, or issue wristbands to those protesting for them. After they set it in motion, they are bystanders to the wave of enthusiasm they helped generate. They're powerless to do much other than complain after the fact that their efforts were hijacked if that turns out to be the case. And afterward...well it's too late. The very nature of what they try to do (organize strangers) means open communications as well, enabling easy infiltration. So, I put forth that today's model of mass protest is screwed.

But there is an answer I think, and it lays with the very piece of leverage that has moved the balance of power. Media attention. Once protests drank from it in an age of innocence, and now the anti-protest groups manipulate it more effectively.

Think about this.. what was the most effective large protest in very recent times ? The Daily Show's "The Rally To Restore Sanity/Restore Fear" which drew over 200,000 to Washington. It was masterminded by the left/right/left wing approach that Stewart and Colbert very successfully bring to TV. While it's causes are interesting, they aren't material to this argument - the point here I'd make is that they succeeded in bringing an unpopular sentiment to large scale attention because they are masters of media spin. They controlled and managed the message fully.

The lesson here therefore is that to succeed you need a media consultant - a professional who does positioning, and secures the message to be brought by the crowd to the media, almost without the need for the crowd itself. Imagine a virtual protest, or even a threat of large scale protest. Get celebrities endorsing it, get excitement building about it, and get it all done without the uncontrollable masses being your delivery mechanism for the message. Organize it, get people on message and put it in cells where just anyone isn't allowed to join. This is a 21st century protest, and it'll do away with the biggest single issue any protest faces - our open involvement. You see in the world of mass demonstrations, we're our own worst enemy.

The Days when it Just Seems too Hard

Some days we struggle to maintain our focus, our purpose and our energy.

It's natural, and one of the phrases I heard a while back that has echoed a little for me was that in order to focus, you must de-focus. Think about that one for a second, as it does make lots of sense. The original intent of it was different, but it works nicely here too I think.

When there's too much noise and clutter and other debilitating things that vie for our attention (like wasting time reading some vacuous blog!) coursing around us, we need to step back at times and gather ourselves, regroup if you want to call it that. It may take a moment, an hour or a year depending on the circumstances. You've heard people talk about the wonders of the power nap at work ? Same idea.

One thing were rarely given within our work-time confines is the freedom (in a defined time sense) to think and be creative, and that's another form of re-grouping and one that often re-energizes us for our tasks and helps us develop new, fresh approaches to the things we do.

I happen to be one of those people that likes a to-do list (not on Saturday's thanks very much though, honey) and I find simply revising this to refine and break down the various deliverables I have, helps me to see the larger picture and allows me to step back into whatever I'm doing at full pace. No doubt each of us has some trick they know that works for themselves.

I'm writing this today to promote the idea of giving yourself a little break, as the ability to re-focus, re-energize and re-purpose your own efforts will mean you're able to freshly apply yourself. It parallels the idea of giving a muscle a short break between exercises to allow it to rest, knowing you'll be needing its full power again shortly.

So, step back from what you're doing if it's just too difficult today. Take a breather, and re-structure the task as if you're the boss and then go at it again full steam ahead. You'll more creative and committed to the result that way.

You see, sometimes to go faster, you need to go slower.

Our Message in a Bottle

Is actually a gold plated record, made of copper. It contains greetings in 55 languages (I can't help but think the recipient will try to speak the 'earth' language and only be able to say Hello, Hello, Hello etc...) and it's currently 17,409,695,485 Km's from Earth. It's moving away from us at a mind-bending 18kms per second. (London-New York in 5 mins anyone ?).

It's Voyager 1, and it's the farthest object from the rest of us that our race as ever created. It's pushing well beyond the edge of the known solar system, having been in space since September 1977. It reflects our values, our message and our technology from that time.

If it were to be sent today, would we have included a DVD instead ? (or perhaps an iPod). How would our core messages have changed in 35 years..? Think now 50, 75 or even 250 years out...our message in a bottle will be a quaint antique reflecting how things were in an emerging technical society that less than 10 years earlier had made it's first footprints upon another stellar body. How different will we be, assuming we're still here..

Voyager 1 represents both the best of us in our reach towards expanding our own horizons, and the most myopic of us at the same time. It reflects a moment in time, captured immortal as if it was the most important. I pray whoever finds Voyager 1 (and happens to own a record player of the same vintage) takes pity on us and sees our impertinence as a virtue of youth.

I Wish for Less

It's a common feature of any evolving product or service that over time it becomes 'bigger' or more complete. Features are added to please and attract more people and a by-product of that growth and depth is that it can lose it's initial attractiveness. It also invariably gets slower - that is the interface we have into it requires a few more choice and buttons that are placed there to give us options.

Rarely is anything ever trimmed to make it faster. In our commercial world, cares are probably the only commodity that actually offer this, but these 'versions' aren't designed for the masses, they are the limited edition racing-esque models for those that can afford to take their fancy car to the track and blitz around it. Back seats are removed, as is the stereo, all for extra money and some go-faster paint job.

In a software or application sense, rarely is the goal to make it simpler, and less onerous...more true to it's core purpose. And that's a shame as good applications or fine products that do exactly as promised are few and far between. Items such as an abacus, a compass, barbed wire or zippers have remained largely the same for hundreds or even thousands of years. Should it be necessary to upgrade to the latest version only to be slowed down in it's actual purpose ?

I don't think so, this is a case of less is more.

Hi-tech, No-tech

I was reminded again this week about how people involved in technology aren't necessarily jazzed about technology.

I was with a team that have really cool tech offerings - neat stuff, cutting edge in many ways. However when I asked them about use of online capabilities, I found the room was a group of Luddites. Not one knew about, let alone used anything. Hmmm.

Now I'm not suggesting that you have to tweet and poke folks on Facebook and live social media and online connectivity to be 'cool' by any means. By I am suggesting that if you walk new technology as part of your role, you ought to consistently do so. I'd expect that as a customer, and so they lost tremendous credibility in my eyes over something innocuous and unimportant.

Once lost, it's really hard to regain credibility.

Transparency vs Need to Know

This is a question that's been festering in my head ever since that Wikileaks story surfaced in the media. For the record, I don't think the story is about:

• US foreign policy
• Access to data laws that may have been broken
• Domestic terrorism or national security
• The ego maniacal nature of the Wikileaks founder
• What any other country thinks of the data revealed
• The technical nature of how the data was accessed
  

For me, this is a tug of war between the need for greater levels of transparency in government and large organizations, and the understanding that some things are not intended for a wider audience. It's the geopolitical equivalent of parenting. On one hand, there's what we really think of our kid's performance on the field, in the class or wherever...these are thoughts that rarely leave our mouths. On the other hand, there's what we say to insure that our words are positively reinforcing, and don't cut down the kid's ego. Wikileaks parallels this to me, except that both voices are actually heard and laid down for the record on a governmental scale.

Should an ambassador be allowed to give an unvarnished, un-spun version of how they see another country or situation, knowing its intended for purely internal use...yes of course. Should a government be allowed to make important decisions and not disclose those, as they may be unpopular ...probably not.

But the context of the Wikileaks situations brings this into sharper and more pressing focus. Should a third party organization be in a position to expose all information they lay their hands on, in the public interest..? Well that's an interesting one. No right has been given to them to do this by the public, nor was the public asking for this depth of information. And government's certainly aren't happy about having their pants pulled down in public.

But there's a silver lining here I might suggest, even though we didn't know we needed one.

Knowing that we could be exposed, that our stock price might dip, that our popularity could sag in the event our "true" bad behaviors are revealed, that will help keep us in line a little. If we've lost our moral compass as a guiding principle, at least the fear of exposure will help keep things on the straight and narrow a little. This is clearly a stick rather than a carrot, but if as a society we don't elect to self-motivate ourselves into doing the right thing, perhaps there's a role for the wiki-leaks of the world.

This is a sad conclusion of course, and one we can fix by managing our companies the way we would want to be managed, and electing individuals to represent us that don't just tell us what we want to hear, but also tell us the hard truths we need to hear. I'm not sure that's a short term realistic expectation however, so we're back to relying on the Julian Assange's of the world.

Very sad indeed.

Faith

I do work for a company that I used to work at as an employee, and as happens occasionally, events with customers or internal developments don't go quite as planned. It's frustrating to me but I go with the flow as they say, understanding that it's difficult at times to get customers moving at the speed you might like. We've all been there.

There are guidelines or rules as well though as to how our interactions happen - that is between the company and I, and while I have to have faith that our work together will be fairly looked at, I do find it interesting and concerning that at times that's one-way. You see when things are up in the air as they often are with customers, the company sees risk and so do I. When this happens there's a very clear choice that has to be made - do you continue to work in good faith, or do you put on the brakes and decide not to expose yourself, waste anymore valuable time and so on without some guarantee of being compensated.

Now, I for one like the idea of faith in each other, as it makes the pavement of life a little better to walk along if I look at it in a big picture sense, but I'm also aware we live in a litigious society today, and the lack of a confirmed commitment to do work together means we don't have one. In the event that things do turn out for the worse, then I would be relying on the goodwill of my friends at the company to do the right thing. That spells more risk for me, but none for them.

Faith works best when it's shared, when we all have the same vision for what success looks like and move together in that direction. Having faith alone in something - that's usually the start of the definition of 'crazy'.

And the Winner for Most Empowering Washroom Accessory is...

I was at a customer site last week and in their grand headquarters lobby area. Bright, airy, spacious and with an entire wall of patents that company had done. Impressive, and suitably intimidating to those visitors coming into it. I'm certain that was the desired effect.

As usual, there was a set of washrooms on one wall of this great space, and these are the ones primarily used by visitors, being outside of the security perimeter of the organization's inner workings. I had occasion to visit these while waiting there, and upon exit there was a wall size mirror - easily 15 feet high and 10 feet across. Etched into it in very large font across the top was "You Look Great!"

I smiled, and felt the great karmic readjustment take place and appreciated their corporate culture that much more for this small gift.

Honesty - or Not

Are you honest when asked what you think of another's work or style or statements ? Or do you tell them something "nice", not wanting to offend or hurt their feelings. Perhaps you are truthful, brutally so - with the end result that you're resented for the bluntness and insensitivity shown. We've all heard and been part of variations on these discussions before.

Some people are known for their frankness and respected for it, while others are known for their tact and ability to say just the right thing at the right time.

Have you thought about what you're known for ?

I'd bet others have, and it runs through their mind before asking you whether they look good in this outfit, are compelling in this argument, or will have their perspective adopted in this argument.

I might encourage you to become known for the nature of your responses, as you will be able to tell an awful lot about the people asking you things if you have defined yourself.

If for example, you're a 'straight-shooter' known for your no BS responses, being (or not being) asked for your opinion tells you whether the other person is actually looking to be told the truth. If you're a flatterer, then those seeking your words will need re-assurance, but those seeking the truth know they need not ask.

By defining yourself amongst your friends and peers like this, you will move beyond the conversations about weather and last night's TV programs. Instead you're going to start to really connect on the said, and unsaid.

Now be truthful, does this blog make me look fat ?

Coaching Magic

I'm on the path of learning to coach.

Which is interesting as I had thought I had done it for many years, and tried to emulate that kind of behavior for years before that. It turns out coaching is harder than it seems, and is a term often mis-used.

To coach, we have to create an environment where others learn from within, and begin to trust themselves. They become aware and responsible.

Sounds good doesn't it ?

Which makes me want to learn to coach.

Deployed

Someone very close to me was deployed this week - off to war-torn Afghanistan to do his part. I've wondered this Remembrance day week a fair bit about this, and asked myself if I might have done the same.

In that position, it doesn't matter whether you agree with the mission objective - the reason foreign troops are on Afgan soil. In that position it doesn't matter whether you want to go, or whether you will like living in a tent for six months. If you have strong feelings either way about the Taliban, and their style and history of local government - it doesn't matter.

Because you're told to go - you're deployed and it's part of the lifestyle that you've chosen for yourself. Therein lies your level of control, the ability to affect the situations that effect you. Often this is a decision taken long ago, a life choice made before that life opened up it's mysteries, challenges and beauty to you.

When faced with this direction, you can become stoic, understanding the greater duty involved in serving, and resigning yourself to some minor hardships along the way. Or you can happily welcome the chance to do your part - help those you serve with and those you don't and make a difference, knowing that you can make a real difference and assist those people that will need it most in their darkest times.

My friend went to Afghanistan with a little of both of these attitudes , but mostly the latter. He's wise enough to keep his head when things get tough, and positive enough to inspire those around him.

I didn't question his decision to go, even once as I knew he needed to be there to satisfy his desire to do the right thing. That seems ironic and poignant during this week, but next week and the week after and the one after that, I'll still be thinking of him, and I'll always be proud of him. I'm honored to call him my friend and yet embarrassed to have not told him so in as many words.

Keep your head down buddy, and come back safe.

Will it Make the Boat go Faster

A singular focus. A common purpose and an unrelenting attention to that which will help us be ultimately successful. That's what the title refers to.

It was used as a rally-call by Team New Zealand in the America's Cup race some years back. I was so taken with the idea, that I had large signs with the same message printed up, and placed in my office - though I was neither a sailor or in a boat.

The beauty of the message is that it was pervasively used by the organizing teams and administration of Team New Zealand in their preparation leading up the race. It was present in Finance meetings, HR meetings, sourcing and every other discussion as the guiding principle of why they were there. It didn't matter your role on the greater team, from Captain to coffee-boy, all were aimed at the same objective.

Ask yourself if during the last meeting you were in, if that was the case. I suspect not.

It's a unique organization that can so thoroughly and completely get all involved to move in the same direction, in unison, and have all benefit from the momentum created. We think of culture at an organization as being difficult to craft and nurture, but in reality it's the simplest messages, applied with consistency that help the cream rise to the top.

By the way...they won the race...the boat did go faster.

Crystal Ball - Online Growth to Where ?

Online growth is a frequent topic of discussion, but I wanted to offer a different perspective and look at it a new way. I wanted to tell you where it's all going.

There have been details published of late as it relates to online growth - or more specifically online consumption growth...what, where and how much. Some of the data is fascinating - as are the conclusions we can reach.

• Internet traffic from mobile devices was almost non-existent in 2007, today it's 3% and growing fast - doubling every 8 months
• Apple is now is the 4th largest mobile phone vendor in the world, and the largest 'smart-phone' manufacturer, having surpassed RIM with 90.5% growth in the last 12 months
• Apple's mobile devices account for 42% of internet traffic from all mobile devices
  
• Apple's overall share of the internet (Apple operating systems) is approaching 6% with the largest gains happening from iOS, thats the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch operating system - (that same 42% from above).
• It's projected that mobile telephony share of internet use is going to be 20% in 2-3 years

What does all this mean ?

It means we'll start to see more and more internet use happening while using our phones (that term- 'phones' may turn out to be as poorly named as a band releasing a new 'album')

It means the awareness and associated pressure created in the marketplace from Apple's initiatives will create entire mini-industries of copy-cat companies - all trying to lure us online from our mobile device with their cheaper, poorer copies

It means the interest in content development (in the form of apps) will continue and get even deeper. This is currently the wild west of offerings with few big companies doing more than dipping their toes. (Remind you of early internet presence where the F500 let start-ups rule until it passed early adopters only ?)

It means you should sell your stock in companies that make 'too-thinly focused' mobile devices like GPS's, music players, cameras, and hand-held gaming systems. They will be "app-ed" out of business

It means we'll develop new thumb repetitive strain injuries and think that's normal

It means the nature of the devices will morph until they are blended into our sunglasses, earpieces and some bright person will come up with the idea of 'implants' to speak to us as thoughts. They don't have to be hand held after-all.

It means consumerism will move more mobily online - if you don't have an ability to sell your company offerings online quickly now - you'd better mobile-ise your online store and do it quick

It means our SSIM chip cards will soon also house some form of payment - call it octopus, oyster or whatever. We'll enter into a new realm of digital commerce where our device takes over our wallets as well and our digital signature will allow us to pay for stuff too

It means you should invest in mobile-battery research companies, as we'll need lots of them

It means all our current trend watches - collaboration, wikinomics, long tails and outliers need to be re-imagined specifically for a mobile enabled society - making some self-appointed business gurus rich with their next books/ibooks

It means the world as we see it today is about to shift again - no more tied-to-your-desk, fiber-enabled, heavy-application centricity for us - we're about to be a truly mobile society, working in the cloud

Technology Heroin

A friend just picked up an iPhone 4 at my behest.

I might have raved a little about it..just a little. Anyway, he hated it interestingly.

I ended up siting down and I helped him set it up after his initial attempts were frustrating and counter-productive. And he liked it a little after that. The interesting piece was that it wasn't the phone, or the new face-time thing, or the nice screen or camera - it was the apps. He'd found a few on his own, and every small app that he liked a little and added seemed to make the overall appreciation for the hardware platform itself get higher and higher.

So I think he's hooked now. Which will be handy, as it'll be nice to have a friend in rehab when we lose these things.

Do you Beleive ?

Many years ago, a smart gentlemen for whom I'm privileged to call my friend and I came up with this title above for how we planed to revitalize our employer.

We developed a program that touched on just about all attributes of how we went to market and interacted with our customer base and redefined them around exceeding customer expectations and developing an almost religious level of zeal for customer success. We knew if we could make our people all about helping our own customers succeed then we'd be great as a business, and we'd have set ourselves apart in a stellar way from our competition.

"Do you Beleive?" was an internally focused program launch reference, that being phase 1 of our metamorphosis as a company. As I look back on my entire work-life there are few moments I'm more proud of, and belive had greater potential than the heady days of re-crafting our company vision and go-to-market strategy. At the same time, the program's death at the hands of vision-less bureaucrats was probably the turning point for me, and the point when I decided to leave them after 16 years.

I was reminded of this time in my life today when reading something written by Donal Daly and his references to Paul O'Dea's work regarding Innocent in the UK..read it here and bookmark that site as Donal's a great writer and offers an interesting perspective 100% of the time.

Innocent seems a company that "gets it", like Zappos or Gap Adventures. All of them understand that success is primarily measured by customer enthusiasm for their offering. If the end result of the transaction completed isn't your customer raving to five of their friends about your company - then you're not trying hard enough.

Now - let's also apply this a little personally - do you believe ? - and I do mean you. If you don't, I'd put forth that you're working at the wrong place, doing the wrong thing for yourself. Change it please - for yourself and others around you. Find the place where you can believe, where you want to be just because you believe it so passionately in what they do, and because you really truly care. The best part is that once you arrive, you'll find your people there.

Collaboration - it's Strengths and Weaknesses

I've had a very interesting day, listening to Don Tapscott, Geoff Cape and Mike Evans at Toronto's Evergreen Brickworks T.H.E. inaugural event. A fascinating presentation about the power of collaboration and the role of technology in the health and environmental movement. A hundred new ideas flooded my brain, and I've felt inspired in many of my existing projects.

There was one interesting discussion in the session based on a question raised on the validity of an article written by Malcolm Gladwell in the current New Yorker magazine. It's here and the thesis of it is that the social networks of today have 'weak ties' that don't support social activism as we've known it. Mr Gladwell, a reknown author who was not present at the THE event seemed to offer a divergent view from Mr. Tapscott and when asked about it, the view of the panel was that Mr. Gladwell was wrong in his assertion - indeed social collaboration tools and possibilities can change our world, and they offered a number of compelling examples.

In thinking about this since I left the Brickworks today, I don't think I agree and here's why.

The heart of the argument Mr. Gladwell makes is that while we can collaborate around an idea, the extension of that is to place oneself at risk (physically, financially,) and this is required for real activism, and he offers examples from the US civil rights movement and a few other moments in recent history. He then cites a series of examples where Facebook or Twitter are credited for having a role, and debunks those statements. While I can't speak to the credibility of his evidence, there does seem to be some merit to the claim, and I'd offer examples from the creation the Brickworks and the social communication vehicles Dr. Evans has created to validate this.

Evergreen Brickworks was created as a result of the vision and desire of Geoff Cape's Evergreen organization to reclaim some of Toronto's past, and give the city an urban green space where history, community and nature meet. It's an admirable dream, and one that's been achieved over 8 long years of work convincing many people and groups to take part. Full credit to the Evergreen organization for marshaling this monumental effort that has resulted in millions invested to revitalize an abondoned industrial site into an urban playground. Was it easy ? I think the answer is clearly no, and it didn't happen off the back of millions of individuals each offering $1 - rather a small number of committed individuals saw Geoff's vision and helped make it a reality, and that in turn helped get other Government, corporate and other benefactors onboard. These first visionaries are Gladwell's social activists in this sense - they placed themselves at risk (financially) in order to reap certain social rewards in a manner others weren't willing to. Altruism at it's best.

Dr. Mike Evans showed some of the great work he's doing, leveraging social media tools into healthcare to be health-proactive and creating collaborative networks around those with similar cares. He had a great quote - "Stories trump data and relationships trump stories". This is the foundational element in creating a video series for cancer victims as they take on the disease and offer insights for other victims - a community aligned around a shared issue. But these victims have clearly done this as they are at risk - and wanted to help other cancer victims - I can't think of a closer analogy to civil rights pioneer's motivation. While these newly created social healthcare groups leverage collaborative tools, they aren't dependent upon them as a means to 'friend' or 'follow' one another - they are doing more, and helping each other directly and tangibly.

The last insight I'll offer comes from Toronto's recent hosting of the G8 and G20 summits - 'the summer of protest' that largely was unsuccessful. (Canadian's tend to apologize after rioting ). Arguably, the authorities defeated the protesters as they'd tapped into the protesters social communications networks and literally planted police amongst these groups. The groups were out-smarted by the police that used (in some cases) very rough means to enforce a sense of calm and peace. This was real social activism in a recognized sense, and it was defeated by the very social collaboration tool set it tried to leverage.

So - is Don Tapscott incorrect in the value of collaboration - not at all - it's a huge advancement and one that may well rock our world as we know it with group think overcoming old, outdated structures. But that doesn't mean it's all powerful, or that it will do everything well. The magic I might point to will be finding the way to get people committed, to get them to place themselves at risk physically or financially using these networks. We're not there yet, but it's the pot of gold at the base of the collaboration rainbow.

Carbon Irony

We are all carbon based life forms - you, me, birds, lobsters, zebra and bees. It's ironic then that carbon has come to represent one of our most pressing planetary issues. You see in it's dioxide form it's a by product of life. Our planet must be able to metabolize it or we overload the system and bad things start to happen. The system self corrects to eliminate all the deposits ( we are these deposits in this sense) in various ways including dropping it into the oceans and ground. Nothing new here, except that it appears we had a pretty profound misunderstanding of how that takes place it seems in the sea.

I read an interesting article in a recent Economist about the work of Dr. Jiao Nianzhi and his work to find out more about AAPB's (aerobic anoxygenic photoheterotrophic bacteria). Check out the Economist here if you want to read it yourself. Anyway, my one sentence summary for those not inclined to get a science brain cramp is this: there appears to be another planetary level layer at work in how carbon is removed from earth and this guy has found it and is investigating it.

Hmmm. Kind of makes you think doesn't it ? Global warming and the arguments it creates on all sides develop quite a lot of heat (that one is free for you). And yet there appear to be entire aspects of the system that we don't yet understand. How about we funnel our energies into figuring this thing out, then decide - with all the right information - what needs to be done.

Thank you Dr. Nianzhi as sometimes we need to be reminded that we should always ask what it is that we don't know before jumping to conclusions.

Stretching

Sit back and relax and before we get started, we’re going to stretch a little. Your brain that is, not your body.

Think of the most incredible thing in your life that should be very unbelievable, but that you know to be true. Now, think about why you have been willing to overcome it’s “unbelievable-ness” – even if that is very personal – again I’m speaking about something just in your life, that perhaps you have only in your heart. (there’s no need to share it with anyone)

Got it ?

Now, with that reason that you overcame incredulity in your own head, imagine trying to explain it to another person – one not connected with the details, so that to them, it would also seem unbelievable. Construct a sentence in your own head as to how you might convince them to open their minds and embrace the possibility of this thing, this idea you’ve shared. What would you say to have someone open their mind to your idea ?

Are you done..? Take a moment if you're not.

Great. Now repeat that sentence to yourself, for yourself – the one you’ve just constructed, and ask yourself to try to apply it to what you see around you, what you hear and how you’ve elected to experience the people, places and time you are in.

What I’m hoping you’ve just done is grant yourself a moment where your own perspective changes about what’s around you, and how you exist. Problems that seem immovable now seem solvable with your magic wand of new perspective. Opportunities that you may have felt were outside your grasp may now seem like they may be within reach after-all. And other’s opinions that you have felt strongly about may merit a second look.

We didn’t do anything magic here, we simply elected to move away from our comfort zone a little and engage a muscle you already had – the ability to see things from another angle.

I don’t know about you, but I find that I often forget to use this muscle frequently enough, and as a result it can get weaker. Whenever I do re-engage it, it’s like listening to a favorite song from long ago – it just feels good.

In hindsight, that was easy wasn’t it - I bet you didn’t even break a sweat.

Fun with Numbers

28 03 7117 1.5 01 30

Go on then – what do these numbers bring to mind ?

28 - This is the smallest seat pitch on a commercial airplane operating today. It’s a measurement in inches of Spirit Airlines' economy seat. Great for kids. Not so much for other humans.

03 - This is the global ranking of Beijing’s Capital Airport in passenger numbers. Perhaps not surprising for China that they have world’s 3^rd busiest airport, it’s now processing more people than Tokyo’s Narita which placed in 5^th.

7117 – This is the astounding number of rooms in the Venetian/Palazzo Complex in Las Vegas. You’d think some of them must be on sale at the world’s largest hotel.

1.5 - This number comes to us from the great state of Kansas and speaks to Kansas City airport’s proximity to downtown. You can almost walk from plane to meeting.

01 - This is Los Angeles rating for most expensive taxi fares in the US. It’s a good thing LA is nicely compact and you can walk it all without need for a car.

30 - This is the amount of time in hours I’ve been travelling so far today (thanks Int’l date line) and accounts for punchy postings like this one.

Internet Access and the Correlation to Economics & Creativity

I've just spent a week in Australia & New Zealand. Wonderful places full of incredible sights, boisterous, life-loving people and some of the smartest folks I know. They've successfully blended a life -work balance in a way few others on earth have.

I did notice a disturbing trend however while there however and it speaks to how easily we communicate with each each and collaborate towards a better end result. [I should say in an effort to create full-disclosure here that I am very pro-collaboration].

Getting internet access anywhere in these countries is hard. While there are many access points they're all fenced off. Whereas publicly available internet access is a commitment many progressive urban centers are moving towards, that's not down under. Sunnyvale, California and the City of London in the UK are tow places that today offer complimentary public WiFi, but finding even cheap access to the net is very hard to come by in the primary cities of Australia and New Zealand.

What does it mean ?

It means the economics of access are placed before the benefits of widespread net adoption. This is short-sighted and in these two cases quite concerning you see, as both countries are knowledge economies. They don't have endless natural resources that can be dug from the ground. They are net importers of many basic goods, and their wealth to date has allowed that to happen. With the onset of cheaper offshore manufacturing on their Asian doorstep however, they've transitioned to services-based wealth generation. And they're strangling collaboration and the very life-blood of connectivity. While there are a few places where you can buy & surf (not that surf, matey), these also are the exception rather than the rule.

So my advice to all the world leaders that read this is that you should understand what your countries' future depends upon to be economically healthy, and then put the appropriate tools in place to enable to happen. Anything less is shortsighted.

What does unoriginal mean ?

At what point does our conversation, our discussions or our efforts to be interesting become unoriginal ?

Talking about the same things repeatedly over time can be dull. That's understandable. Those around us grow fatigued when hearing the same repeated things. But where is the point of departure on this ? At what quantitative definitive point do we enter plagiarism?

I was having dinner with an old and dear friend I hadn't seen in while, and I decided to talk a little about some theories of time I am exploring. I know, old news to regular readers. {Btw- enjoy that small time joke on me}. As I broached the subject my internal voice that I am sure we all enjoy questioned the idea of speaking of something already laid out for all to see. I was intellectually aware I had crossed some threshold - invisible as it may be. Nonetheless I carried on and was later caught out on the matter. On one hand its absolutely recycling and on the other experts talk endlessly about the same topic not because they are monotonous, but rather because they continue to explore the boundaries of the subject. (I am not claiming to be an expert here).

So is full disclosure necessary ? Perhaps, but that also makes one come off as a poncy twit. "On my blog the other day I wrote about...". You don't want to be that person.

So the answer is "I don't know" but as usual dear audience (consisting of my
Mother only, probably) I offer up some brain-meat for you to chew on. What do you think - can we reference ourselves without citing it?

Oh- and be sure to mention that you read it here first Mom.

I Flew 12,000 km Backwards

... and boy are my arms tired as the very old joke goes.

The miracle of how small our world has become is considered so everyday that it passes without comment most of the time. Think back to 40 years ago and even this trip I've just completed was pretty extraordinary. 80 years ago it would have had to be done by ship and before that it was often a simple one way life transformation as the distances were on the same parallel as we view going to Mars these days. (6months)

Now let's look forward and imagine the same circumstances. By 2050 will we consider an orbital excursion regular and bemoan the 2-3 days it might take to get to a Martian vacation. .? We have dismissed jetlag - it's not serious just something you work through. Will stasis-lag be the same..? Einstein's physics teaches us that we will age at different rates as we approach the speed of light but what if my spouse also went into stasis or traveled as fast and far at the same time. Would it matter 'when' we lived as long as we were together ? Is this a short-cut to time travel of a sort?

I will predict that only our core values will survive intact in the coming years. Almost everything around us will be modified from how we see things now. I'm not talking flying cars here, I'm trying to imagine how the need and desire to travel and explore will evolve with technology knowing that the 'baseline of the want' will remain in place. Might it be possible for very realistic virtualization of a place to satisfy that need..? I bet it would, cutting deeply into leisure travel as we know it. That's a simple example of how satisfying the core need will allow us to radically change how we do things.

What can you imagine and the tricky part- how do we start to bring it to life. See what 12,000 km backwards does to you ?

It’s the little things

I was reading a book I’ve been meaning to for some time – I saw it online and have kept in on my desktop for almost a year. I knew it was worth my time as soon as I saw originally, and so saved it. But I never made the time for it.

Ever do that – see something that you know is good for you but just never quite get to it ? It might be today’s plan to exercise or eat right. It might be that compliment that you want to give to your significant other as you know it’ll make their day. Telling your kid that you love them, or even sitting down with them and playing their game, or discussing their topic.

I had some time on my hands today, and so elected to do some of these things. And this book – it’s full of little nuggets of wisdom and gold. Wonderful stuff that’s soul candy. Here’s a sampling:

“We are the strivingest people who have ever lived. We are ambitious, time-starved, competitive, distracted. We move at full velocity, yet constantly fear we are not doing enough. Although we live longer than any humans before us, our lives feel shorter, restless, breathless... Dear ones, EASE UP. Pump the brakes. Take a step back. Seriously. Take two steps back. Turn off all your electronics and surrender over all your aspirations and do absolutely nothing for a spell.” – Elizabeth Gilbert

“Everyone has their own private Mount Everest that they were put on this Earth to climb” and “Power is never given, Power is taken” – Hugh Macleod

I’m clearly pleased with the decision I made to spend time on this, and I feel rewarded in this investment I’ve made. But my point in bringing this to your attention isn’t to gloat or brag about having that time or finding this. Rather I wanted to ask you to do something for yourself today. Doesn’t matter what it is – but it should be rewarding to you on a personal level.

Why ?

Because no one else will do it for you, and you shouldn’t feel cheated or hard-done by if you don’t ever get this kind of little token of appreciation. You should feel responsible that you are attending to a need you really do have. We need to eat, and we need to consume water, we need shelter and occasionally, we need to get a pat on the back. Our managers may not have remembered to tell us "good job" today (wonderful though if they did), and our relationships may not have resulted in some small compliment. That’s ok though, as you can take 60 seconds and reward yourself for making it another day.

Don’t go overboard, and understand that the end result will be someone who is infinitesimally happier and more likely to pass along the benefit to another.

That’s why.

Real vs Reel

I saw a wonderful quote today - Life's more like the real game than an episode of Sports Center.

It made me smile. Then it made me think.

In our world of constantly bombarded messages all competing for our attention, sexy often wins, hence the need to be louder, more colourful and create a bigger impact. In short, we're fed the highlight reel constantly and as a result we come to expect it.

The highlight reel is the best bits - the home run, the diving catch, the spectacular goal, touchdown or try. In short, it's the once-in-a-long-long-time-play that someone makes. When shown this type of feat regularly we start to expect it, but of course life's not like that. It's a counter-point to the movie montage scene where the falling-in-love couple play in the grass, look longingly at each other and go in paddle boats, all set to some sappy tune. The movie is telling us "this is the part where they fall in love". We all acknowledge that.

Except the highlight reel is worse as it doesn't come with that explicitly - it doesn't say this is the unreal part, instead it's implication is - this is how you should play. Or even - this is how you'll do when you use our stuff. (play any Axe commercial in your mind now for proof)

So is reel better than real - the humdrum, the long tedious times, and the days where you have bad hair, bad breath and a bad mood. Would it be better to live in short SPECTACULAR bursts ? Some people undoubtedly think that.

I don't.

Bring on the mediocre, test my patience with life and let me eat lots of average food. I want to wear clothing I don't always like, have unsatisfied cravings and be miserable some of the time. I need to know what that's like and be very familiar with it - for without that I can't appreciate the extraordinary. And I do want to - appreciate it I mean.

Voting with your Wallet

I made a stand today.

I've been on the decision point of paying membership fees at one of those very large warehouse supermarkets. I won't say which, only that it rhymes with ShostCo. I'm not a member, though some friends and family are and so I've been in a few times. I think some of their products are interesting & unique, and some of the pricing is pretty good. Not all by any means - their electronics are outclassed and out-priced at many other places for instance.

Back to my narrative though - I am having some family over this weekend, and I know they'd have what I like to cook up on special occasions like this, so I literally walked in with the intention of paying them their $55 just to have the privilege of shopping at their store. And I stopped. I had a conversation with the membership lady, but really - she didn't need to be there as the conversation was really quite personal between me & me.

Let me say a few things at this point...

1. I'm a fervent fan of small town merchants. A little main street section is what town's revolve around, so big box stores aren't in a town's interest in a character sense. I'm the first one to complain that the place I live has started to look like every other place around here. This urban sprawl is a blight, and an extremely shortsighted way to live our lives just so we can get 48 rolls of toilet paper for $1 less.
2. I'm also not against the idea of membership at stores, and I have a few already - notably my favorite retailer - MEC. I've no issue whatsoever provided it goes to some explainable cause that's a little worthwhile. As a means to simply line the owner's pocket though ? Nope sorry that's in the same league as Airline hidden fees.
3. The stores aren't convenient to get to, nor are the everyday values something I think are great, so it's not a place I crave.
   

What's all this mean - it means I walked away from "ShostCo" and their membership desk and decided that if I didn't take a stand and vote with my wallet, then how can I complain if no one else does.

I encourage you - not to do what I did as that's my decision - but rather I encourage to make positive, conscious choices and vote clearly with your own wallet. Your retailers & suppliers deserve to know whether they are providing the kind of value to you that you want.

The New Consumer Experience ?

I stand here writing this standing in line for a new technology toy. I have tried in vain to acquire this for the past weeks, spending lots of brain cells trying to determine the supply and demand economics behind my planned acquisition. I've tried 5-6 times in person, and innumerable times over the phone. Today, I've been in line for 90 minutes with an estimated two hours still to go. A number of questions have been going through my head during the whole exercise and I wanted to share them.

1) Is this the new desirable consumer norm ? By that I mean is the PR story of demand worth throttling sales in our consumer twitter-verse of what's cool in the moment.

2) What is the line of toleration people have? How do we know we (sellers) are getting enough product out to sustain excitement and maintain front page news status.

3) How can this be re-created for services or other offerings ? Building contractors and plumbers manage this - how do professional services manage this too..?

And lastly... How much longer will my phone battery last as I write this.

This last question is determinant of the others, and hence I will leave you to ponder the other questions on your own.

__

As a postscript, it did indeed take 3.5 hours of waiting and then an hour plus with the merchant in question. Was it worth it...well that's another post.

When Observation and Reality Don't Match - Part 2.

I said I'd keep my eyes open for this, and I didn't have to look for long. The New Scientist magazine article on recently unveiled observational evidence that the laws of physics may change across the universe. (Please take special note of the word 'law" here). Here's the link to all who are interested: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19429-laws-of-physics-may-change-across-the-universe.html

I offer this quote..."If the interpretation of the light is correct, it is "a huge deal", agrees Craig Hogan, head of the Fermilab Center for Particle Astrophysics in Batavia, Illinois. But like Cowie, he suspects there is a flaw somewhere in the analysis. "I think the result is not real," he says."

Ok - so that was easy enough to come across and it's admittedly anecdotal...BUT it does illustrate the point. I'm sure with a little more eloquence, the scientist in question would have more precisely said: "I question the validity of this observational data, and the scope of it's implications as we have significant other data which would indicate that the laws as defined are sound."

So, what's the morale of this story ?

Never stop questioning - curiosity is how we advance our knowledge base.

We may Die, but We Never Really Go Away

Everyone knows we convert food into energy and use it to grow - the 'stuff' that is food, is converted by our bodies into mass - some people are very very successful at this.

When we're conceived, it's a contribution by the father and mother that gets us started - and the building blocks of that were the foods they ate, the drinks they drank.

What about when we die..? Well our stuff goes back into the ground or atmosphere and the cycle begins anew.

So is anything 'new'? Yes and no. New forms of matter are created (from other forms). Think about high school science and the table of elements. Our bodies create muscle, fat, bones, ligaments and so on from what we consume. Extra stuff is discarded as waste.

Is there ever a time when we create new matter..? No, everything we're made of was always here*. It wasn't in this form, but every atom that we are, that is around us - the ground, the trees the birds and sky - it was here in the beginning in some perhaps more basic form such as Helium or Hydrogen. Thanks to element producing factories such as stars, it's been transformed and we're possible. Of course there's lots more to it...but it does make you wonder.

Hold up your right hand, look at it closely. Where do you think the atoms that make it up were, before you were using them ?

When Observation and Reality Don't Match

Science has given us many many things. If science was on Facebook, I'd 'like' it, as we have received so much from it over the centuries. Modern science - since say 1500 - has enabled us as a species to take leaps and bounds forward - I won't bore you with an infomercial as I don't think there would be much disagreement over this point. (note I'm not deriding any other form of contribution here, just singling out Science for recognition).

One of my very favorite contributions that scientists have made (after-all it's people doing science that counts) is in theoretical areas where they are trying to establish something as fact. When looked at this way, science comes to the border lands with philosophy with a "I think therefore I am" approach credited to Rene Descartes, arguably the father of modern philosophical thought and a noted physicist and scientist too, who lived until 1650. You see back in those early years of modern science, there was so much to discover, uncover and prove still, that where science began, and philosophy ended was still murky. One of the first tasks of modern scientific thought was to establish a set of rules or laws for how it would work that would stand the test of time. Descartes wasn't alone in doing this, his contemporaries like Galileo and shortly afterward Newton worked to establish similar sets of rules we could lay our scientific foundation on.

One of the best outputs of these various efforts in my opinion was a generic rule was that a theory had to be established as sound, and then proven, before it could be accepted as a scientific 'law'. So powerful is this idea, that it translated well into Biology, Chemistry , Physics and modern life. Just because I say something that feasibly makes sense, doesn't make it real, unless observation and experimentation can prove it to be real. For example, when I was a little kid, I thought I'd figured out the whole human body thing. You see I knew that when your heart stopped, you died. I knew the heart and lungs were related in some way too. So, I hypothesized that when you held your breath, your heart stopped, and then you died. It explained asphyxiation and why your body took over in an involuntary spasm when it really needed air (the body wanted the heart to go again) This is an example then of a theory that could have been easily dis-proven by checking your heart rate when holding your breath - only I was 6 and unaware of this scientific principle, so didn't do that. But I digress.

The value of this simple, elegant law is tremendous, and sometimes it's shocking that it's forgotten.

When we witness something that should make us question the law or established 'fact', we often choose instead to disbelieve what we have witnessed. While granted we can be fooled or mistaken by what we see at times, when strong empirical evidence is presented to us that contradicts something we had previously taken as "truth or fact" often the reaction will be to maintain our view, when it is clearly wrong.

I'll keep my eyes open for this in the coming days - and I bet I can come back with some meaty examples pretty quick.

Diet Coke - A Case Study in Breaking The Habit

Hi, my name is Steve and I'm an addict. To Diet Coke that is. It's been 5 years since my last drink.

This is a case study in brand allegiance rather than a study of addiction. Arguably as you'll see I was addicted to the brand, not the drink as such. But I get ahead of myself.

I was a loyal Diet Coke drinker for many years. I enjoyed the taste, and it was a nice little jolt of caffeine when I wanted it. In fact I was able to nail the timing on the rush I'd get. You might say after years I was a familiar and true client. I wouldn't drink Pepsi/Diet Pepsi as I could tell the taste difference from 50 paces and I didn't enjoy it. In fact if I was in one of Pepsi's restaurant chains where Diet Coke wasn't an option, I'd go without rather than suffer through a bad imitation.

As I moved around the globe for my work, my Diet Coke was beside me, trustworthy and dependable. I was a happy guy with my Diet Coke relationship. And then something happened. Something awful.

I was living in Hong Kong at the time, and for reasons no doubt to appeal to the local 6million people there, Coke changed the recipe of Diet Coke locally. They had a few variations on the market at the time too - my optional favourite was lemon Diet Coke (trust me, it's good). Anyway, the nice folks at Coca-Cola changed to a sweeter Diet Coke, and I didn't like it. They didn't change all variations though, and I was able to enjoy my Diet Coke with lemon flavouring for 2-3 months after they switched the traditional one. So what did I do when they changed, when they broke their promise to me about what it would taste like, how it would satisfy my cravings..?

I kept buying it. I'd sip it, cringe and throw it away. But the next day I'd buy another. This went on for a while - I was addicted

You see I had so conditioned myself to reaching for the red & silver can that my Diet Coke relationship meant more to me than just the taste. But I hated it now. I wouldn't / couldn't drink it. I reveled in any business trips to other parts of the world where I could secretly sip my mistress (Only Hong Kong changed the formula to my knowledge). But all this simply postponed the inevitable. The break-up that was writing on the wall. I had to stop.

Eventually after some months, I stopped buying & drinking Diet Coke as I was betrayed by it. I now live where I can easily access it - the same old great taste that I'm sure I'd enjoy still today. But I don't. I don't dare go near the stuff as the brand broke it's promise to me, and betrayed our special relationship. I won't buy it again on principle. (I'd still never buy Pepsi products either though, and I can't quite rationalize that ether).

My Diet Coke tale is a rich one in lessons I think - about brand loyalty, about conditioning and about addiction. While I still have high regards for the brand, I won't touch it any longer. Which is odd. Sometimes to this day I still feel the urge to get the comfort of buying one - knowing I have a go-to choice or a friend I can count on.

I know Coca-Cola's lost a truly loyal customer in this mess, and I'm still searching for something tasty at every lunch.

Vanity

I know some adults who have worn braces in their adult years. I know others that have done teeth whitening and gotten botox. I myself am going under the knife for some health – related adjustments too – all in the name of vanity.

Why ?

As my friend Alan (as pure an Aussie as there ever was, all 5 foot 3 of him, & the spitting image of Kris Kringle) was fond of saying.. ”Last I checked, this wasn’t a F$%^& beauty contest”. Indeed it’s not, but sometimes it can seem like it.

We’re bombarded with visuals of what beauty is supposed to look like. There’s a class of celebrity-ism out there that revolves around beauty, and the reality TV industry is arguably built on this foundation. (Marketing line: Watch pretty people go through various traumas). This is so beaten into us that when a true talent arises that doesn’t happen to be beautiful (Susan Boyle anyone ?) it’s remarkable to us.

But I rant.

Do we need to adjust ourselves to be younger, more perfect looking, a virtual mating ploy a la peacocking..or is it done as we feel better about ourselves and that confidence shines through.

Or does this matter – is it really worth thinking about (I’m parking the whole first world “Let them eat cake” attitude argument for the sake of this discussion). Is it just what makes our world and economy go round like malls, fancy cars and manicured lawns. Is playing with our appearance simply the manifestation of these same desires.

Years and years ago when GOD was being drilled into my head (unsuccessfully), I questioned why Pride was a sin as I thought the effort to do something well and the effort it took to achieve that outcome surely couldn’t be sinful. I see however that pride & vanity are two sides of the same coin - and it’s all heads and tails.

Do you count up or down to your goals ?

I was exercising this am, and the machine I was on was counting down towards 0:00 remaining. It did create a sense of urgency as I had a defined effort level I wanted to reach, but it got me wondering. If working towards a goal, do you look at the time (effort) invested as your metric, or the time (effort) remaining ?

I've no issue with the way this machine works and am therefore probably a 'beat the clock' goal oriented person. But equally valid would be the person who wanted to invest "X" effort in what they do, and therefore would like to see the count on that.

It's always interesting to think through the psychology of the designs all around us. Most of it isn't overtly obvious and requires us to see it, to acknowledge it. Too many of us don't I'd bet.

What I did on my summer vacation

It was a great summer.

I did many things.

I spent time with my family, and we went on vacation to Africa.

My youngest and I climbed a mountain.

I saw lions.

I moved house.

My oldest went off to school.

I had fun.

I worked a little.

I wish it was still summer.


By Steve

Are There Similar Challenges in Technology Adoption for Schools & Sales ?

One might see many similarities in the challenges that affect formal education as they relate to technology adoption, to the world that I primarily work in - helping sales people excel, often through the use of technology. Not surprising perhaps as learning and technology are both ever-evolving so represent moving targets on both counts.

A number of salient points were raised a little while ago by Larry Cuban (an American teacher and education expert) and Mr. Cuban goes onto describe two divergent views in his post - worth a read if you're as fascinated by how key learnings in one area can apply to another as I am.

The primary issues that Mr. Cuban highlights through a reference to another expert are technocentrism and pedagogical dogmatism.

Technocentrists ... seek “educational uses for particular technologies.” Instead, “educators must focus upon how best to assist students’ learning.” to quote his post. While pedegogical dogmatism is to put it in a dull fashion - "my way or the highway" - an educator with an unbending view of the way things should be done. This lack of a flexible view combined with singular focus on the way to embrace technical change is problematic - image that!

This issue isn't unique to schools, it runs rampant in the sales training world as well I'll suggest. I see it in the lack of depth of offering at 99% of the providers in the space, and the eyes of customers who have experienced one too many poor executions of sales methodologies captured in software of some sort.

Granted this is a difficult nut to crack, but first a few needed assumptions have to be to acknowledged :

• Not everyone optimally learns the same way
• Some people are "computer impaired", some are "process challenged" and a few are both
• Learning is about the student, not the teacher and that's as true in the meeting room as it is in the classroom

Luckily for us and our children some companies and teachers "get it" and they embrace a toolset - where it makes sense, and can help accelerate the desired change, and not just simply because it's there.

The trees the trolls the loons and the lake

There's a lake in Canada's Algonquin Park that's quite special to me. Just about all of them are beautiful - ethereal and silent, capable of both anger and grace. But one of them is also quite magical - to my family and I anyway.

This one particular lake, deep within the park's wilderness is home to loons and trolls and wind and the trees that do their bidding. It's a long involved story that goes on for generations and I won't go into, for if you haven't been there you won't truly appreciate it. Paddling this lake though, seeing and smelling and feeling it - where the hills climb sharply from the water's edge and the forest has eyes reflecting off the lake that watch you as you glide atop it's deep waters, you know the place you are in is solemn and the stories must be true.

It's a rare place that instills quiet in your soul, and allows you to sense dimensions that aren't obvious most anywhere else. I won't share the location or name of this place, for fear it'll be found and spoiled. For while the loons and trolls and trees have been there for a long long time, people haven't and our privilege of witnessing this isn't a right, its a gift.

My wish is that each of us has such a place that we can literally visit, and use as a source of internal peace when we need it.

The Long View

As the Rolling Stones put it (to music) - we can't always get what we want. Being neither as musical or lip-endowed as the Stones, I wanted to try to tackle the questions of what to do with disappointing news in this context instead.

The temptation as taught through many old movies growing up was to find a bar and bury your heart in the bottom of a bottle. Fair enough, though the picture painted was rarely as ugly as that is in real life. Drunks are neither pretty or entertaining unless said drunk happens to be you. The result afterward? (without the intervention of the Hollywood fairy) the same problem, and a hangover.

Ruling that out then, when you find you didn't get that job, promotion, date or other significantly hoped-for result, what's a good response ? I decided a few years ago with some guidance from some folks whom I respect, that I wanted to try to emulate what I would say to one of my kids in the same situation.

We all acknowledge that we learn more from our failures than we do from our successes, so the first reaction I try to make is to assess what can be learned when the situation doesn't end in the desired outcome. (Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me). The most pressing thing to determine is to how to avoid the exact same outcome - in other words what needs to change if the situation were to present itself again. Not all situations require this to be determined quickly, but some are.

The next step and very important perspective to embrace is the long view. The long view is the big picture perspective beyond this immediate interaction. If you are trying to get a date with someone you like and they say "no", take the long view and keep up the efforts to make a positive personal connection. That's the long view. When you don't get that promotion, work extra smartly and hard and ensure your efforts are noted - that's the long view. Any situation really can get a long view - it's a determination to keep trying to achieve your desired outcome without quitting. It speaks to perseverance, determination and a willingness to go that extra mile. All good stuff.

The long view is the key to me - it turns negative outcomes into bumps in the road. It helps us see past our need for immediate gratification that we're trained to expect and instead understand that sometimes things are worth working hard to get.

Adam Smith vs Arthur C Clarke

Think of it as literary wrestling or the class struggle of ideas and fictional idealism.

Smith famously wrote Wealth of Nations (the actual title is longer as was the norm in the mid 1700's) and this book laid the groundwork in political economics and is our foundation of modern economics arguably. Concepts such as the invisible hand, self interested competition and early ideas around opportunity costs were all introduced by this gentleman who had brilliant insights.

So how does an 18th century political economist and general thinker end up at odds with a 20th century science fiction writer ?

Arthur C Clarke is amongst the most talented, and creative minds of the last century (He's died two years ago, living in Sri Lanka), and gave the world tangible science - he contributed to the development of radar systems in WWII and later is credited with the core ideas behind satellite technology, geostationary orbits and space flight. But it's the creative side that has made his name more well known. Famously the creator behind such works as 2001: Space Odyssey and other foundational elements of science fiction writing, Clarke imagined worlds and superimposed the human condition upon them in a way many could relate to.

One of his books was required reading for me in school - a piece of fiction known as Childhood's End brought into the curriculum by a teacher who understood the need to make literature and reading enjoyable. In this book, a world is imagined where humanity evolves through a helping hand (not Smith's invisible hand) and it proposes a world where production is handled automatically and offered freely by the state. People have no need to work to survive, rather work is done out of the joy of doing so, or to gain extra material possessions. There's a particular line or two that has stuck with for over 30 years, and it goes like this - "....was considerably less of a burden than the providing for the armies of ticket collectors, shop assistants, bank clerks, stock brokers and so forth, whose main function, when one took the global point of view, was to transfer items from one ledger to another." I love that small piece of writing as it sums up our entire political economic system and dismisses it elegantly and simply. Witnessing these two great thinkers and being present as they might have discussed ideal "systems" would be a wondrous thing. It may have even gotten physical.

Overqualified

This is a term used in job searches primarily and means "having more education, training, or experience than is required for a job or position".

It does have negative qualities about it though and I might suggest these are undeserved, for they are one-sided at best.

For the employer, having an employee who is over-qualified might lead to that employee's boredom or distaste for a given job that they might perceive was beneath them. Realistically the employer gets a staff member who should be well capable of performing the role in question given that they probably offer significant experience and qualifications.

Importantly, it's the employee's choice to accept a role for which they are perceived to be over-qualified. But, it is their risk, and the downside is really all theirs. When would an individual choose to take on such a role..? When they want to mentor, (and can't get a job at a Biz school!) or when they want to blow away a known set of goals and love an industry. Or perhaps, it could be that they really admire the company in question, and just want to be along for the ride.

Dear Daughter..

All too often milestones in our lives go unnoticed and unappreciated. This wasn't one of those times, and that probably made it more difficult, as it was a clear, defined change in your direction and how things will be in the future.

As a parent, my role has been to prepare you and to ensure you're able to stand on your own two feet and be a happy, productive member of society. As your Dad my job has been to protect you, care for you, provide for you and ensure that you know you are loved. As you have gone through this change in your own life, it's also time to assess where I stand, and to determine how I did as well, on both the parental and paternal fronts.

As I can't live your next days for you, and in fact I can't even be there to watch you (which is difficult), let me address the change from my own perspective and observations only.

You are intelligent and able to be employed. Case in point, you have held a job for years and were a promoted individual and your skills and abilities were independently recognized by others at the ripe old age of 16. You have succeeded in virtually every role you have tried, and throw your passion and energy into tasks that you take on this way. Outside of formal employment, you have a wide and deep circle of people you socialize with, being appreciated for your sense of humour and the ability to organize friends - a thankless task relating to teenagers everywhere. So, are you a productive and happy member of society at large, and have you demonstrated the potential to keep this going into the future ? The answer is definitively yes - so much so that different countries should be soliciting you to be their citizen.

On the more personal front, I think we did pretty well. You never came to harm outside of normal kid stuff, and despite your trim figure, were never at a loss for things to eat, or a roof overhead. You experienced exposure to other cultures, and have even enjoyed a few accents already in your own life. You seem happy - that's very changeable understandably - but you are rarely at a loss for a smile or the ability to pass along a small kindness. Children and dogs like you which is always a sure sign of good things. So, with your state of being, I'm pretty happy and comfortable.

Which brings me back to the impact that big milestones have in our lives - and this is a big one. We can prepare, but won't know if were really ready until we can look back at the experience. Hindsight alone is 20/20. We can learn to bear down and do what it takes to succeed when faced with new obstacles, and I see you doing that - using your experience and knowledge that has guided you well in the past. That's no guarantee of success of course, but one of the last lessons I'll offer is that there isn't ever a guarantee of success. We do what we think we need to do to successfully move though life's stages - and you've already demonstrated wisdom in how you're approaching this change.

I'm proud of you, and for what it's worth, I reserve the right to continue to do the Dad stuff. But know this - I've no fear that this change will be too much for you, or that it will be too difficult. You are ready for this.

Dad xo