tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27018184545017469432024-02-18T18:27:01.199-08:00BadskiBlogA Blog For Fairly Average Craniums Looking To ExpandAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10600762388873698945noreply@blogger.comBlogger296125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2701818454501746943.post-65849831105815344692013-04-05T10:14:00.001-07:002013-04-05T10:14:29.637-07:00The Controlled Rebel<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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In my (admittedly limited) experience in consulting I have learned that organizations actually want people that don't settle for the status quo. They may not know it, but they do. They want someone who can seek and destroy things that don't make sense. Not someone who wreaks carnage upon anything and anyone in their path, but a silent and deadly killer of bureaucracy, band aid solutions, and misguided holdover decisions. They want someone who doesn't settle for the status quo because frankly not settling is a lot of work. Both in the discovery of what doesn't make sense and in the crafting of solutions to impact meaningful change. Most people in organizations are just too busy to engage in one let alone both of these activities.<br /><br />Don't get me wrong, organizations don't want someone to come in and totally rock the boat. They don't want an abrasive personality demanding radical change. They don't want someone to scream "bullshit" when the sacred cows are defended or when the inevitable "this is how we have always done it" arises. What they do want is someone to call "bullshit" in a professional and perhaps even a disguised manner so the organization doesn't have to address the reality that the status quo isn't working. The controlled rebel who can skillfully navigate this delicate balancing act is in demand.....even if most organizations don't know it.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10600762388873698945noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2701818454501746943.post-79938338304379173212012-10-04T09:23:00.002-07:002012-10-04T09:23:55.602-07:00The Great Discriminator - A Culture of Collaboration<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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One of the things I have enjoyed about consulting is the exposure to multiple companies and multiple business units within those companies. In the year I have been at <a href="http://www.guntergroupconsulting.com/#!firm/mainPage" target="_blank">The Gunter Group</a>, I have already worked with multiple clients on projects that span across the respective organizations. It has been very interesting to contrast the clients and more specifically the corporate cultures that exist within those companies.<br />
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I have participated in and watched various projects being driven in different parts of a client's business and it is interesting to see which projects have been, are, and will be successful. The other day I was reading a report of some analysis done by one of the world's largest and most respected consulting firms. The analysis was essentially outlining a path for success for a broad spectrum of projects of varied scopes and complexities. The analysis, which was very good by the way, touched on a lot of elements of the business that would impact the likelihood of project success. Elements like governance, data analysis, process design, etc. The analysis and the accompanying recommendations were undoubtedly sound given the caliber of the firm, the background research done to support the report, and my own confirmation based on what I have picked up about the client. I try and get my hands on these types of reports whenever possible to see how "the big boys" are doing it, to shape my own thinking, and to have examples of successful presentations. <b>I am, however, always surprised that these reports fail to mention what I consider to be a very big influence on the success of a project and ultimately the success of the organization as a whole.</b><br />
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<b>At their core, companies are merely people. A group of people with a collective identity; a corporate culture if you will.</b> Reflecting back on my many interactions with the people that make up these organizations it has become very evident to me that a collaborative corporate culture is a huge discriminator in determining the success of any project. <b>Although it is a macro factor, the collaborative spirit of an organization transcends everything that the company does and/or attempts to do.</b><br />
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Here is an example to give context of the premise I am talking about.<br />
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At client A, the project team I worked with was designing an extremely innovative, complex, and challenging system that has the potential to alter the way they do business. Without going into too much detail, it was a massive undertaking with relatively limited resourcing.<br />
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At client B, the scope of work I was involved in was relatively straightforward and mirrored business practices at other organizations. The bulk of the effort on my part was driving the creation and adoption of a framework to promote cross functional interaction amongst project teams. A very realistic undertaking with appropriate resourcing.<br />
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Below are vignettes that illustrate typical exchanges in both organizations. In both organizations I have been directed to connect with a particular individual or group of individuals as it was thought that our respective works may be related in some fashion.<br />
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<u><b>Client A:</b></u><br />
<i>Me - "Let me give you a brief overview of the project I am working on. John Doe recommended I connect with you as your project may intersect with mine in some manner. We may be able to help each other." (Continue with my overview)</i><br />
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<i>Other Party - "Wow, this is great. I actually have really in depth knowledge of X and would love to get involved in the work you are doing. I am actually simultaneously driving Y effort and it would be great if we were aligned. At a high level we are both supporting strategy A so connecting now would really set us up for success. Feel free to include me on your future meetings and I will pass along our high level overview. Also, have you thought about connecting with So and So? They are working in the Z space on a project and it may help to drive your project forward as well."</i><br />
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<u><b>Client B:</b></u><br />
<i>Me - "Let me give you a brief overview of the project I am working on. John Doe recommended I connect with you as your project may intersect......." </i><br />
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<i>Other Party - (Interrupts) "Well we have already gotten our project approved at such and such level and we have found that we really don't have any interdependencies with your project."</i><br />
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<i>Me - "Oh, OK. Well I am not really looking to create additional work for anyone. I am just looking to leverage the work we are both already doing. We may be able to help each other." </i><br />
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<i>Other Party - (Interrupts again) "Our project team is really busy and we are on a tight deadline. We don't have the resources we need. I have told John Doe time and again we need more help but until we get it I just really need to focus on X."</i><br />
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<i>Me - "OK. Well how about I jump in to what it is we are actually doing and if there aren't any opportunities for collaboration or any synergies to be gained from working together that is fine. I just wanted to be proactive about connecting the dots across the organization. (Continue with my overview)</i><br />
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<i>Other Party - "...........*crickets*..........." (Meeting concludes.....)</i><br />
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These aren't depictions of a single event. They are aggregations of month's of interactions that give a good representation of single events in a variety of contexts on a daily basis. Of course, there are exceptions. However, I have found that exceptions within both cultures are extremely rare based on my personal experience. This only furthers my point. <b>Can you begin to see why a collaborative corporate culture is so foundational to the success of any endeavor regardless of scope, complexity, etc?</b><br />
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<b>The other aspect that adds to the importance of a sound corporate culture is the self fulfilling nature of culture. Which organization do you think inspires future collaborative behavior? </b>Even those people that want to collaborate within client B are consistently met with resistance. Those in client A are inspired by the positive interactions, enhanced results, and they are more likely to actively seek out others to help and work with. <b>Both trajectories are accelerated in opposite directions just by the nature of the prevailing culture.</b><br />
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So how do you create and engender a culture that embodies collaboration? That my friends is a question I don't pretend to have all the answers too. Maybe I'll be so lucky to figure that one out someday......Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2701818454501746943.post-63762833663883158102012-08-03T10:38:00.003-07:002012-08-03T10:38:47.360-07:00Musings, Cliches, Golden Nuggets From My First Consulting Engagement<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I have officially closed out my first consulting engagement and although it ended sooner that I would have liked it was an amazingly rewarding learning experience that I am incredibly grateful for. My post Air Force life has been blast that has brought an incredible amount of change, enjoyment, and stress in short period of time. New hometown, new careers for the wife and I, new house, new & old friends, and a new baby girl! To add to the plethora of change in my life, I have settled into the consulting career field which essentially means that I am changing jobs within a job every few months to a year. Amidst the chaos, I really wanted to carve out some time to capture thoughts and lessons learned from my first consulting engagement at Nike. My learnings range from fairly tactical and borderline anecdotal to strategic and transcendent but I wanted them recorded nonetheless. Here they are:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><u>- The Importance of Visually Expressing Ideas:</u></b> One thing that I took away from working within Nike was the power of visually expressing ideas. The world moves fast and it is only moving faster by the day. People within successful organizations have a lot on their plate, their time is limited, and their attention spans are understandably short. Couple that with a corporate culture like that of a Nike and you have very little time to express, sell, and execute complex ideas. It was no wonder that given that context, everything....and I mean everything was done via slide decks. PowerPoint or bust. There were no long word document proposals. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">At first I found it a bit odd, especially having come from the Government contracting world where stacks of files literally consumed real estate within every organization. But over time I found it to be an incredibly liberating culture to operate within. No formal formats. Just the visual medium necessary to express an idea. What was great was that these presentations were consistently reused and/or distributed to new people to proliferate buy in as well. There wasn't any proposal or commitment document that was shelved or lost, just presentations that marked points of agreement in time amongst relevant stakeholders. An oddly relaxed yet effectively self organizing methodology that delivered results. At the end of the day shared understanding equals shared goals and objectives, so moving forward I will definitely utilize presentations as my medium of choice. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><u>- The Power of Facilitating Workshops/Meetings with Clearly Defined Objectives:</u></b> The project I worked on had an incredibly complex network of internal and external stakeholders that needed to be aligned on where the project was headed. At times it felt like we were doing an incredible amount of work without actually accomplishing much from an enterprise perspective. It felt like swimming in place. Then all of a sudden we would have a week or two where as a project team we really moved the dial on achieving our goals. Our progress looked like a set of continuing (extremely steep) peaks and (longer) valleys. As I neared the end of my engagement I began to piece together a pattern surrounding the causes of those steep peaks of productivity. The common denominator was that we held multi day workshops with extremely defined objectives for each session, day, and workshop.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We started each workshop with a vision of what needed to be accomplished at the highest level. Ex. develop a communications strategy. Then we would break the days into sub goals to support the overarching objective. Ex. Day 1: Align on Current State of Project, Day 2: Identify Risks, Day 3: Design the Strategy, Day 4: Create the Plan. From those subcategories you could design exercises and discussions for each hour. It was a lot of work but that pattern paid extremely large dividends for a few reasons.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">First and foremost, is the undeniable fact that we are social creatures. People love to come together. People really love to come together to create. When you have a complex set of stakeholders separated by function, geography, interests, etc. it becomes very easy for people to be confused, disengaged, or even become a detractor from the mission at hand. When you bring people together participate in a workshop you establish a shared understanding and more importantly you co-create a solution. It becomes a lot more difficult to pull back or sabotage a solution that you helped to created. Additionally, these workshops serve as points in time that can be signed off on by leadership. Outbriefs out of these sessions became the proposal to the powers that be. I saw time and again the fears of leadership being eased merely by the fact that they knew the right brainpower was in the room and that the due diligence behind the thinking had been performed. The workshops were the vehicle for that thinking. Lastly, highly functional teams produce great work. Nothing brings a team together like a structured workshop that allows for all concerns and perspectives to be heard without derailing the goals at hand. These workshops helped to craft a tight knit team as opposed to a group of people that happen to work on a project together.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><u>- Bring In Other People, Meet for Coffee, Ask for Expertise:</u></b> Organizations don't possess knowledge. People do. In the consulting field you are brought in for one reason....there is a problem and work to be done to solve that problem. Given that maxim, it follows that as a consultant you will constantly be thrown into situations wrought with ambiguity and complexity. Not a very comfortable feeling, especially when you first land at a new gig (as I am experiencing with client #2). What I have found to work better than anything else to get oriented in these situations is to ask someone in the organization to grab coffee. Everyone loves to help someone else. Everyone loves to be the expert. So make those around you the expert, build relationships, and reap the rewards. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><u>- Align with the Client on the Purpose of Meetings In Advance to Better Facilitate, Provide Consultation, Capture Key Decisions & Actions, Properly Structure Visual Frameworks:</u></b> This is way more tactical in focus as compared to some of the other insights I have listed but it is important nonetheless. I have noticed that in order to provide the best support possible I need to be clearly aligned with the project sponsor on the details of a meeting prior to it occurring. This sounds really intuitive, but I am not just talking about knowing the purpose of a meeting and having an agenda. I am talking about deeper discussions that can be tedious if you have a lot of meetings but also can make so much better use of your time in the long run. Below are some example questions:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"></span>1. What are you trying to get out of this meeting?</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"></span>2. Who is in the meeting and from what angle will they be coming at this meeting from (challenging, aligned, clueless, etc)?</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"></span>3. Beyond the agenda, how do you see this meeting playing out?</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"></span>4. How do you see me supporting? Is there a need for any facilitation? </i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">From those questions, I can generally brainstorm ways to support the goals of the sponsor and make recommendations for facilitation based on things that have worked in the past. If you don't do this in advance it is a struggle just to capture action items and decisions let alone have the head space to design visual brainstorming frameworks on the fly. As intuitive as this learning may seem, the challenge is consistently doing it!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><u>- Find Mentors in Every Organization: </u></b>As a consultant you don't need a mentor in the career/professional sense within the organization you supporting but that doesn't mean you don't need to seek out mentors at all. There is always someone smarter than you, more experienced than you, and downright more capable than you especially when viewed through various contextual lenses. So treat that reality as the value proposition behind seeking out mentors in everyone organization that you are a part of. Continue to be a life long learner!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><u>- Think Strategically and Work Your Way Down to Execution:</u></b> This little nugget was definitely not learned on the job in the consulting field. It was learned through a combination of education and practical experience in my military career. However, the importance of systemic thinking was reaffirmed while working on my last project. Especially in consulting, it is so easy to get stovepiped into the mind space of the task at hand. However, starting to tackle a problem at that level leads to decisions and solutions that are made in a vacuum. I have blogged recently about the <a href="http://badskiblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/power-of-context.html" target="_blank">power of context</a> and the <a href="http://www.badskiblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/sustainability-military-parallels.html" target="_blank">systemic challenges</a> we often face while working through complicated problems. Those concepts dovetail nicely with the point I am making here. To effectively solve problems you need to gather a broader context of the world you are operating within. From that foundation you can begin to develop strategies that decrescendo down into more tactical level actions. By consistently pulling myself up to a high level of thinking at the front end of scoping a problem I find that I am crafting more thoughtful, inclusive, and systemic solutions.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><u>- Beg, Borrow, & Steal....Brilliance is Borrowed:</u></b> I admit that I (fittingly) stole this gem from an audiobook that I listened to recently called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Borrowing-Brilliance-Business-Innovation-Building/dp/1592404782" target="_blank">"Borrowing Brilliance." </a> Basically the premise of the book is that there are no truly original ideas. Brilliant ideas are a collection pre-existing ideas that are either expanded upon, utilized in another context, or both. It seems oddly cynical but when you walk through the logic it makes sense. I have written on the similar topic of <a href="http://www.badskiblog.blogspot.com/search/label/patterns" target="_blank">pattern recognition</a> in the past.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times;">In the consulting world this is definitely a reality. There are so many frameworks and methodologies out there that have been used. Merely applying previously utilized frameworks to new scenarios can yield huge benefits.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times;">Beyond using templates and frameworks you can beg, borrow, and steal from peers. This ties in a bit to my point above on asking for expertise, but the reality is that no problem or challenge is solved in a vacuum. The more brainpower you can garner from other people the better. Sometimes brilliance can merely be aggregating the brainpower and works of others to solve a specific problem. Although there is nothing inherently "brilliant" about gathering the brilliance of others it will be viewed as such when a solution is delivered and progress is made.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><u>- Develop PM Solutions to the Minimum Fidelity Necessary to Execute:</u></b> Project Management tools and principles are a means to an end. They are not an end in and of themselves. In most organizations project management makes people's heads explode. Nike was definitely no different. Given their corporate culture, I always had to find the very fine line between introducing process,structure, and rigor to the project while minimizing additional work for the team, respecting the corporate culture, and allowing innovative thinking to thrive. It was a challenge but it reinforced within me the understanding that as a consultant you are an enabler. You make others better. If your tools and practices aren't contributing to that maxim then you either aren't using the right tools or they are just too robust given the scenario. PMP certification holders everywhere are furious.....</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><u>- Character Always Has, Does, and Always Will Matter:</u></b> A project is only as good as the person/team behind it. Period. I have been lucky enough to be a part of some amazing teams in my life whether it be family, sports, business, or military service. Every time I am a part of a team with sound character and capable individuals I am always amazed at the results. It is like a lesson that it re-learned every time you are privileged to experience it. Be character and build character teams.</span></div>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2701818454501746943.post-34973445478384663792012-04-29T09:52:00.002-07:002012-04-29T09:52:31.905-07:00The Final Countdown: A Rookie Father's Introspection<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Here I am. Staring down the final weeks before I make, perhaps, the single greatest transition of my life. I have been through a great deal of transition in my relatively short life and just digging back through my various blog posts I am amazed at all that has transpired in the short period of time that I have been blogging. But I am pretty sure that the next chapter of my life will prove more monumental and defined than any that has come before it. The transition I am referring to is that of fatherhood.<br />
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In a matter of weeks my lovely wife and I will bring a baby girl into this world. In some sense it has seemed like an eternity waiting for this moment. An eternity both in terms of the pregnancy/miscarriage/pregnancy journey we have endured and my lifelong actualization of becoming a dad. On the other hand, I feel like I am running out of time to "prepare" for the ceremonious shift that is fast approaching. As if one can ever prepare for a change like this.<br />
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Perhaps my converse perception of time is representative of the majority introspection I have done throughout this journey.<br />
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Emotionally I am overwhelmed by excitement and fear. Excitement in knowing that I have always wanted to be a dad and fear over whether I can pull it off. I can't wait to step into this new chapter alongside my wife but am terrified by an overwhelming sense of responsibility for their well being and happiness. I am so excited to see her little face but petrified on what to do after that moment. I imagine my feelings are common to most new expectant fathers but that doesn't make it any easier!<br />
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I also can't help but consistently think of the dynamic between the known and the unknown with regard to our family's future. I know that bringing a child into this world will be amazing and that it will forever change my life for the better. What I don't know is how parenthood will specifically alter our current existence and how it will change me. I know I won't get any sleep for the next six months but I don't know what our daily routine will be like. I have spent the last few months envisaging what our new life will be and not surprisingly the different visions of what our future could be are pretty broad.<br />
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Although my conscious introspection is wrought with paradoxical thoughts and emotions, my daily ideations and musings are much more random and (ironically) childlike. I can't help but wonder what she will be like. What will baby Blake's favorite color be? What passions will she develop? What will she look like? When will she stop thinking I am "cool?"<br />
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The combination of focused reflection and casual wonder can be mentally taxing and I must admit that I have been more tired than any time in recent memory. I can only imagine what my wife feels like! With that being said, I feel that we have harnessed our excitement for this life change and have continued to optimistically push forward towards our due date.<br />
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If there is one thing that eases my mind and reassures me that everything will turn out fine it is family. I am taking this journey with my loving wife who I have always felt is destined to be an amazing mother. I have been blessed with an amazing family and a set of parents who have given my brother and I a childhood that serves as a retrospective expose for successful parenting that I can follow and emulate. I married into a great family that provided the same loving environment and positive parenting example to my wife. So with that kind of lifelong support I feel like I have a foundation that will allow me to grow, develop, and flourish throughout my fatherhood journey.<br />
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After a few months of introspection I am left with just one question....am I good enough? Hopefully I can look back on a lifetime of trying to be the best dad I can and answer yes.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2701818454501746943.post-15717819129611850252012-03-04T19:56:00.000-08:002012-03-04T19:56:57.980-08:00Academy Business LeadersA great friend of mine has started a website called <a href="http://www.academybusinessleaders.org/" target="_blank">AcademyBusinessLeaders.org</a>. He describes the site as,"an online database of business leaders who graduated from The U.S. Air Force Academy, The U.S. Coast Guard Academy, The U.S. Military Academy, and The U.S. Naval Academy."<br />
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The venture is rather new but he has started by featuring service academy business leaders in summary posts or more intimate interview style posts. I think it is a cool concept that could prove very valuable to the service academy graduate network assuming it continues to grow.<br />
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I feel lucky to have been featured this month in an interview style post that is focused on my non profit leadership work and my transition from active duty into the corporate world. I have included the post below but do yourself a favor and check out <a href="http://www.academybusinessleaders.org/" target="_blank">AcademyBusinessLeaders.org</a>.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><strong>1. Describe the non-profit you started and how it impacts the community. </strong></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em>I started a non-profit called Checking For Charity while I was serving in the Air Force in New Jersey. Checking For Charity is a non-profit that is dedicated to changing the world through competitive hockey events. A little ambitious? Yes. But we believe that change in this world starts by creating a small movement of passionate people with a common goal. Our Goal is to Assist! Our unique hockey centric approach is designed to raise as much money and awareness as possible for charity while putting on the most professional and competitive hockey tournaments. </em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em><br /></em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em>Each team that enters a Checking For Charity tournament picks a charity that is near and dear to their heart. All the proceeds from the tournament entry fees, corporate sponsorships, personal donations, merchandise, raffles, etc are put into the greater Checking For Charity pot. Each team/charity that is represented is guaranteed a percentage of that pot just for participating in the tournament. Each team/charity has the opportunity to increase their percentage depending on where they place within tournament play. Our unique format incentivizes everyone involved to raise as much money as possible as well as putting in the most competitive team possible. Our non-profit impacts the community in a few different ways. First and foremost, it empowers hockey participants to contribute to worthy causes through the game they love. Players can contribute to something larger than themselves through a fun and positive outlet. Secondly, we help the community by serving as a catalyst and a multiplier. We allow individuals, teams, volunteers, and corporate sponsors to have a much greater positive impact on the causes they value than they would individually or by donating to an individual cause. We also allow the participants to choose the causes they wish to support. Often time’s people are naturally funneled into donating time and money into the same few well established and recognizable charities. Nothing against well established and recognizable charities, as they undoubtedly serve great causes, but our charity allows the participants to contribute to local and/or more specialized causes. There are many people out there who are looking for the kind of vehicle that provides real choice and control while capitalizing on the multiplier effect the tournaments provides. Lastly, our charity impacts the community by promoting culture change amongst our citizens. Our charity proves that you do not have to be an extremist to be a positive contributor to this world. You do not have to dedicate your life to a certain cause to make a difference. We show through our model that you can be a model citizen while playing hockey, drinking beers, and barbecuing with your friends. You can be a contributor through the power of choice, the choice to participate in a movement like the Checking For Charity movement. For more information please visit</em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.checkingforcharity.com/" style="color: #213abb; text-decoration: none;"><em>www.checkingforcharity.com</em></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em>.</em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><strong>2. How have your experiences in the Air Force helped you succeed in the business world?</strong></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em>I recently wrote a blog post about this very question (</em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://badskiblog.blogspot.com/" style="color: #213abb; text-decoration: none;"><em>http://badskiblog.blogspot.com/</em></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em>). Although it was more targeted towards my current position than succeeding in the business world in general the same themes hold true here.</em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em><br /></em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em><strong><u>Systemic Challenges:</u></strong> One thing that I learned in the military is how to operate in challenging and ambiguous environments. Throughout my career and most notably while serving in Iraq, I encountered challenges that did not have a textbook answer. There was not a clear cut best solution...or a solution at all for that matter. There were too many unknowns, too many interests, too many interconnected subsets, and too little time to easily solve problems. In the military you are forced to confront challenges that are spread and interwoven throughout a complex system. I see the same type of systemic challenges represented in the business world. Military veterans should not discount the soft skills they have developed that help them navigate and overcome these types of challenges. </em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em><br /></em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em><strong><u>Execution:</u></strong> I am, admittedly, probably more of an idea guy by nature than a down and dirty details engineer type. I am energized by strategic thinking and collaborative brainstorming. However, I crafted my ability to get things done in the military and that is something I will always be grateful for. Now I am in essence getting paid for my ability to get things done as well as my ability to help other people get things done as a consultant in the business world. It is a challenge and I am constantly learning but it is exciting and fulfilling as well. A military force that can rapidly work its way through the planning/decision cycle to execute will have a competitive advantage over its enemies over time. My sense is that companies benefit from a similar (albeit less combative) approach in the business world. Going from idea to execution faster than your competitors is a critical competitive advantage over time. I feel that my military career helped me to realize the importance of executing over all else and that mindset alone is a differentiator amongst many corporate peers. Think Patton – “A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.”</em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em><br /></em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em><strong><u>Leading Change:</u></strong> As an officer in the Air Force I have sat through a few leadership presentations in my day. In fact, my undergrad experience at the Air Force Academy was almost entirely centered on character based leadership training. In hindsight, a great number of those sessions drifted into discussions about leading change. The military isn't all about following orders as many like to think. And although as whole the military machine may be categorized as a bludgeoning bureaucracy of sorts, in smaller pockets the most successful units/organizations are all about leading and implementing change. The business world is no different. It is the organization or individual that can consistently lead change that will consistently win. My military experience helped me, in theory and practice, to lead teams through change initiatives.</em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><strong>3. Do you have mentors, and if so, how have they helped you develop as a leader?</strong></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em>I have had relatively few “formal” mentors in my AF career and my post AF career. I have found that the formal mentors probably served the least value towards developing me as a leader. I think the best lesson I have learned with regard to mentorship is that you can learn from everyone and if you approach even the most challenging personal and professional relationships with that frame of mind you will always be developing as a leader.</em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em><br /></em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em>Additionally, I have learned the value in seeking out mentors before you “need” them as a mentor. Relationships are always a two way street and mentorship is no exception. Focus on creating a valuable relationship and interesting exchange with someone versus seeking out someone for the specified value you can extract from them to benefit your current needs. Ironically, this can feel a bit uncomfortable at times because you are taking action without a focused end state in mind. But the end state should really just be consistent learning and growth.</em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em>A lot of people associate mentorship with one person being senior or providing more value to the relationship than the other. Those mentors are valuable but do not discount the value peer mentors can provide. As a whole I would say that I have learned more from professional peers, teammates, friends, and family than senior professional mentors. Hopefully a few of those peers have learned from me as well.</em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><strong>4. What advice would you give other service academy graduates looking to transition to the private sector?</strong></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em><strong><u>Strategically:</u></strong> Know yourself. Learn what you want out of your life. Not from a career perspective or a personal perspective but from a holistic perspective of the way you want your life to play out. The days of work life balance are gone. The name of the game is work life integration and happiness is the ultimate goal. Make every decision from separation to new career selection with your life goals in mind and continue to learn and grow as you pursue those life goals. Most importantly, never look back and enjoy it.</em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em><br /></em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em><strong><u>Tactically:</u></strong> Learn the value of networking and how to effectively network. This ties in directly with our discussion of mentors. The private sector is comprised of companies, companies are comprised of people, people interact by establishing relationships. Relationships were the only thing that worked for me in my transition. I focused on creating and building relationships and that eventually landed me in a career path that was a great fit for me. As service academy graduates, we are a bit spoiled in the sense that you essentially know everyone at your institution. If you don’t know them personally you know someone who does. Transitioning to the corporate world you should be attempting to create that reality for yourself again. You need to create a network where even if you don’t know someone, you know someone who does. If you are not utilizing LinkedIn as a tool to facilitate this kind of network building you are behind the curve.</em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><strong>5. What is one of the biggest obstacles you have had to overcome while transitioning from Active Duty to the business world?</strong></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em>At the risk of sounding like a whiner, I would have to say that one of the biggest obstacles I had to overcome was other people’s ignorance and stereotypes. I moved back to Portland, Oregon which is not an area with a large military contingent. There were a lot of misperceptions about what a military guy had to offer. But that is the nature of the world I guess. We all have our preconceived notions and biases based on our experiences so when it comes to transitioning it is best to recognize that you will encounter the same things from other people. What makes that obstacle even more challenging is the humble nature of veterans. We come from a world where you don’t talk about yourself, and when you do it is uncomfortable. When you are trying to convince someone, who most likely has strong judgments on what you are all about, that you can add value to their organization it does not pay to be humble and uncomfortable when talking about yourself. Learning that lesson was a long and hard journey for me. What really helped was focusing on establishing relationships where I could speak with candor. When you focus on building relationships versus honing your ability to sell yourself the stereotypes are broken down naturally over time. That person then becomes your bridge to an opportunity, to another relationship, or they become a full blown advocate for what you are all about. Worst case scenario you have established a new positive relationship. You really can’t lose.</em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><strong>6. What piece of advice would you give to a young person thinking about starting their own non-profit?</strong></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em>I would give three pieces of advice for someone thinking about starting their own non-profit. Firstly, I would say that non-profit is not a dirty word. I never thought I would start a non-profit but my life journey led me to a place where I almost fell into creating my own non-profit. Non-profits have their own unique challenges and nuances but as a whole to be successful you must approach starting a non-profit as you would approach any other business endeavor. Don’t run away from the opportunity just because there aren’t opportunities for monetary spoils!</em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em><br /></em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em>Which leads to my next piece of advice; your reward is knowledge. The reason I decided to start my own non-profit was to gather real world business leadership experience while I was still in the military. I had to navigate the challenging startup process and mobilize a motivated team to bring our concept to fruition. The rest of the world may not see the non monetary value that you will undoubtedly receive but who cares. If you are truly striving towards achieving your life goals then personal development is an enabler that must serve as a foundation for your efforts. My experience in less than four years of non-profit leadership will undoubtedly pay dividends for the rest of my life, not mention the fact it is extremely gratifying and fun.</em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em><br /></em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em>Lastly, I would say that you cannot be your 501c3. Rhyming aside, I think a lot of people feel that they need to be consumed by a higher calling to get involved in a non-profit. They almost feel like if they aren’t dedicating a massive amount of time and effort to the cause they are faking it or something. I think nothing could be further from the truth. I was Active Duty when I started my charity and I work full time as a management consultant now. I don’t have the bandwidth to dedicate countless hours to my non-profit and still maintain an enjoyable family life. There is nothing wrong with that! I went into my non-profit journey with systems creation in mind. I wanted to create a system that was great, not an organization that “pumped my own tires” or showcased how great I (thought I) was to the world. I created a system that would raise money for charity with minimal effort. If we signed up four hockey teams to play in a tournament without any bells or whistles we would raise money. I then set to getting great people involved to take that system from one that makes money with minimal effort to a system that is something special. Our last tournament had 25 teams in 3 divisions, a beef and beer event hosted by hall of fame NHL’ers, a puck shoot to give away a car, and many other exciting features. All those extra features were more money and awareness for charity, a better tournament experience for participants, and they were all powered by great people and a calculated business system. If your non-profit is centered around you then you are in it for the wrong reasons and you won’t last. You will burn out! Create a system and mobilize a highly motivated and character group of people around the vision and you will be amazed where the endeavor takes you. </em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em><br /></em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em>Thanks for giving me the opportunity to contributing to academybusinessleaders.org. It is a cool concept and I hope it blossoms into a central hub for likeminded service academy business leaders. Please feel free to connect with me via LinkedIn at</em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/mattbader27" style="color: #213abb; text-decoration: none;"><em>www.linkedin.com/in/mattbader27</em></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><em>.</em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><strong><u>About Checking For Charity President Matt Bader</u></strong></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipJvHmJJXlFuGO4N1ClFoSB2RxjjzRTSjmgVTBqzx5s0BxT-iV0fpngh3owxeet1rO1DX5m1xSzKQe5l6LSePDdmgKZamiVMBOEKPrkgkPlU708PmyfnchPLflP322K5W0KXECKQB8oB7j/s1600/matt-bader.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; color: #213abb; float: left; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipJvHmJJXlFuGO4N1ClFoSB2RxjjzRTSjmgVTBqzx5s0BxT-iV0fpngh3owxeet1rO1DX5m1xSzKQe5l6LSePDdmgKZamiVMBOEKPrkgkPlU708PmyfnchPLflP322K5W0KXECKQB8oB7j/s1600/matt-bader.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0976562) 1px 1px 5px; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(245, 245, 245); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial; border-left-color: rgb(245, 245, 245); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(245, 245, 245); border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(245, 245, 245); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; border-width: initial; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0976562) 1px 1px 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; position: relative;" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Matt is a 2006 graduate of the United States Air Force Academy where he majored in Business Management and was a four year letter winner and two year captain on the men's Div I ice hockey team. Matt served as a contracting officer in the United States Air Force with stints in New Jersey, Boston, and Iraq before separating as a Captain in September, 2011. Matt currently resides in Portland, OR and works as a management consultant for the Gunter Group. He currently works at Nike World Headquarters as a project manager in the Sustainable Business and Innovation division on a project that is seeking to revolutionize the Nike manufacturing base and the quality of life for it's contract labor force. Matt still actively serves as the President of the nonprofit he founded called Checking For Charity. He is focused on building the success the organization has achieved on the east coast while expanding operations to the west coast in 2012.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2701818454501746943.post-42065509372394826682012-02-16T18:44:00.000-08:002012-02-16T18:44:47.211-08:00The Power of Context<br />
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<b>Context is defined as "the set of circumstances, or facts, that surround a particular event, situation, etc."</b></div>
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You can gain context by actively seeking it out to frame a situation or you can bolster your situational context through an osmosis like process of consuming seemingly unrelated bits of information and/or experiences. Planning is preparation before you are forced to prepare. <b>Many people see the value in planning for known events and situations but relatively few people see the value in developing your situational context to prepare for unknown events and situations.</b> I view situational context in a similar vain to planning and as I become older, and arguable wiser, I have taken a much more proactive approach in broadening my world view.</div>
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I remember my days at the Air Force Academy where <b>I would skip presentations given by a wide variety of people on a wide variety of topics because I felt that their presentations had nothing to do with my reality at the time. My reality and their message weren't linearly related</b> and given the demands of academics, athletics, military, and trying to maintain a personal life I chose to use my time in a different manner. In hindsight I should have taken in as many of the presentations as possible.</div>
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Ironically it was during my military career, and more specifically during my time in Iraq, that I learned context is everything. Problem solving in a deployed environment was challenging to say the least. It was that challenging environment that broadened my world view and caused me to place a premium on a maintaining a broad context. <b>I believe that my deployed experience and complex, ambiguous problems in general have that effect on people because it is those situations that clearly demonstrate that most things are interrelated even if they are not linearly related.</b></div>
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The "butterfly effect" is a term that was derived from the concept that a butterfly across the world could flap it's wings and cause a hurricane on the other side of the world weeks later. <b>The butterfly effect is really just an interesting way to describe chaos theory principals. It is used to illustrate that in a nonlinear system (aka life) the trajectory of any future action is dependent on the initial conditions. In other words, small differences at the beginning of a series of events can have large impacts and lead to big differences in the future state.</b></div>
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This is where I make the parallel to the power of context. <b>Having a broader scope of knowledge and situational context will undoubtedly impact the way you make decisions. Those decisions could greatly change the outcome of a given situation. Operating in a stagnant contextual "vacuum" is not only impacting your ability to react to the unknown it is in essence denying the interrelatedness of life.</b></div>
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In my new position I attended a new session started called Insights for a Better World. It is essentially a presentation/discussion set to a normal cadence that is designed to shape and inspire our work. Going back to my AFA days I likely would have skipped it. There is plenty of work to be done on my current projects and in the short run it may even be a more valuable decision to use the hour elsewhere. The session was presentation on 'Citizen Influencers' and how systemic change in the new world is achieved not through traditional organizations but through groups of interconnected and influential individuals. Thinking linearly it could appear that the session doesn't really relate to my focus. However, it was during that session that I was overcome by the power of context and how important it is in decision making, leadership, creativity, etc. The session helped to broaden my awareness of the world I am operating in and it just may influence me enough to significantly impact the success I have moving forward. </div>
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<b>Bottom Line: Context transcends a particular discipline and those who seek and soak in a broad situational context will undoubtedly have a competitive advantage across a range of endeavors moving forward as compared to those who don't.</b><span><span style="color: #888888;"><br clear="all" /></span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2701818454501746943.post-25644523362497640732012-01-14T17:27:00.000-08:002012-01-14T17:27:09.414-08:00Sustainability & The Military: Parallels Between Two Worlds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Since my departure from the Air Force I have had to try and explain to family, friends, and acquaintances what exactly it is that I am doing now. When I explain that I took a role within a start up Portland-based consulting firm called <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/2417135?trk=tyah" target="_blank">The Gunter Group</a> people can generally follow along. However, when I get into the details of the client and division I work in I often lose people. </div>
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I was lucky enough to have Nike as my first client in the consulting arena. It is a company that I have an immense amount of respect for not only due to the fact they are a leader in the athletic apparel arena, but because that have been a shining star company that continually innovates over time. Of course there is a coolness factor that is associated with Nike, it's products, and it's marketing and at the risk of sounding cliche' that attitude transcends throughout the World Headquarters campus. But it is the innovation piece that I am more closely aligned with in my current role and that is the part of my Nike experience that I find most engaging. It has been a great experience and I really have enjoyed my time at Nike so far.</div>
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Not only was I lucky to get Nike as a client but I was also lucky to get on within a unique division of Nike. I work in the Sustainable Business & Innovation (SB&I) division of Nike which in in its simplest form is a bit like a 'green incubator' for Nike. SB&I seeks to innovate and integrate enterprise level sustainability solutions into the Nike business model while mobilizing key external stakeholders to make industry change.</div>
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The first question I usually get is, "what do you consult?" The answer is pretty straightforward in that I provide project management support within SB&I. In short, I help to get things done. Execution.</div>
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The second question I almost always get is, "what the hell do you know about sustainability?" To be quite honest, when I started I doubt I knew much more than the average college educated Gen Y-er does about sustainability. I had a basic understanding of the concepts surrounding sustainability that were mostly garnered through osmosis in a variety life experiences. That understanding wasn't very deep and it came accompanied with limited context. </div>
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However, having been a part of the division for the better part of four months I may have sold myself short a bit regarding what I knew about sustainability. Although I wasn't formally educated in sustainability concepts and I most certainly had never served in a role within that context before, I came from a background that shares a surprisingly large number of parallels with the sustainability world.....the military. What do sustainability and the military environments have in common?</div>
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<b><u>Systemic Challenges</u></b> - One thing that I learned in the military is how to operate in challenging and ambiguous environments. Throughout my career and most notably while serving in Iraq, I encountered challenges that did not have a textbook answer. There was not a clear cut best solution...or a solution at all for that matter. There were too many unknowns, too many interests, too many interconnected subsets, and too little time to easily solve problems. In the military you are forced to confront challenges that are spread and interwoven throughout a complex system. In my relatively short stint in the sustainability realm I see the same type of systemic challenges represented. </div>
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<b><u>Execution</u> </b>- I have discussed on <a href="http://badskiblog.blogspot.com/">BadskiBlog</a> before that execution is everything. I am, admittedly, probably more of an idea guy by nature. I am energized by strategic thinking and collaborative brainstorming. However, I crafted my ability to get things done in the military and that is something I will always be grateful for. Now I am, in essence, getting paid for my ability to get things done and to serve as a catalyst to help other people get things done. It is a challenge and I am constantly learning but it is exciting and fulfilling as well. A military force that can rapidly work it's way through the planning/decision cycle and execute will have a competitive advantage and will overcome resource constraints to defeat its enemies over time. My sense is that companies will benefit from a similar (albeit less combative) approach to sustainability. Taking sustainability from idea to execution faster that your competitors will become a critical competitive advantage over time.</div>
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<b><u>Leading Change</u></b> - As an officer in the Air Force I have sat through a few leadership presentations in my day. In fact, my undergrad experience at the Air Force Academy was almost entirely centered around character based leadership. In hindsight, a great number of those sessions drifted into discussions about leading change. The military isn't all about following orders as many like to think. And although as whole the military machine may be categorized as a bludgeoning bureaucracy of sorts, in smaller pockets the most successful units/organizations are all about leading and implementing change. SB&I is all about leading change and I imagine that is consistent throughout the sustainability space. There are a ton of methodologies for leading change (a book review on John Kotter's "The Heart of Change" coming soon) but like anything else academia can only get you so far. It is the organization that can consistently lead change that will prevail in their efforts to implement sustainability or any other initiative for that matter.</div>
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Below is a video of Nike's <a href="http://www.politico.com/arena/bio/hannah_jones_.html" target="_blank">VP of Sustainable Business & Innovation, Hannah Jones</a>, in which she not only provides an excellent overview of what SB&I is all about, but also some of the concepts I discussed above. Definitely do yourself a favor and watch the full video and enjoy Hannah's, very eloquent, discussion on the future of sustainability.</div>
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Check out the full video <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/video/nike-corporate-social-responsibility-sustainability-leadership" target="_blank">HERE</a>, it is very interesting.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2701818454501746943.post-90110892902251191762011-12-31T10:58:00.000-08:002012-01-01T10:10:38.319-08:00Book Review: Creative Project Management<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Project-Management-Michael-Dobson/dp/0071739335">Creative Project Management by Michael Dobson</a> was the latest book I plucked from the local library. It was in a similar vein to my last read in that it was all about project management and given my recent career change this should surprise no one.<br />
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The book was a solid read and although it took me quite a while to make my way through it, I think that was more attributed to buying and remodeling a home than to the quality of the read. What I really liked about the book was the manner in which it illustrated fairly classic project management concepts. Instead of focusing on a few illustrations and concept diagrams, the book focused on well known (often military) leaders and how they successfully and unsuccessfully implemented project management throughout history. These historical events, viewed through a project management lens, did a lot to show how these concepts can be applied universally to projects instead of sticking with more generic examples of project management like IT implementations.<br />
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What I didn't necessarily love about the book was the way in which it dragged out relatively straight forward concepts. It wasn't that the length was the issue it was the fact that some of the concepts went into great storytelling depth with relatively little practical explanation. It almost felt like the second half of the book was filler to get the book to a certain length. Yet, taken in totality the book was a pretty solid.<br />
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Throughout the book there were great questions that every project manager should ask themselves and others regarding the project. The author even went so far as to compile these questions as an appendix at the end of the book. These questions are an extremely helpful guide in determining what elements of the project must be developed and at what stage they should be developed in order for the project to be successful. I enjoyed the way the author built the appendix so much that I copied the pages and plan on using them to help develop each stage of the projects that I manage. If anything, the book is worth picking up for that reason alone. <br />
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Chapter 1 - Why Do 70% of Projects Fail:<br />
- 32% of projects were delivered on time, on budget, and with the required features and functions<br />
- 44% were finished either late, over budget, or only partially completed<br />
- 24% failed altogether, and they were cancelled or abandoned<br />
- Two reasons projects fail: 1. Things that nobody thought of or prepared for 2. Things everybody thought of but no one prepared for<br />
- Four PM questions: 1. Why are we doing this? (Business Case) 2. Who has an interest & what do they want/need? (Human Being Aspect) 3. What do we have to do & how? (Project Management, Planning, Qualitative) 4. Who needs to be involved & in what way? (Top Management & Other Involvement)<br />
- Embrace the uncertainty & fluidity of the projects you manage<br />
- What makes this project hard? (chart pg 13) 1. Constraints - How tight are time, cost, performance? 2. Complexity - Tasks, resources, technology 3. Certainty - How much do we know about risks & issues?<br />
- Risk = Probability X Impact<br />
- Cognitive biases pg 18<br />
- When work is temporary & unique the unique part guarantees the presence of uncertainty<br />
- 2 ways of learning: 1. Have an experience and learn from it 2. Learn from someone else's experience (The second it cheaper!)<br />
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Chapter 2 - What We Know & What We Think:<br />
- PMs are supposed to challenge assumptions whenever possible but we all have blind spots, biases, & perceptual errors that keep us from recognizing our own misjudgments<br />
- Johari's Window test pg 28<br />
- More PM questions: 1. What aren't we seeing correctly or at all? 2. How will people react to this project? 3. What if I'm wrong? 4. What am I not seeing?<br />
- Ignaz Semmelweis hand washing theory pg 31<br />
- Vietnam quote "Anybody who thinks he knows what's going on clearly doesn't understand the situation."<br />
- Sewell Avery & General Patton project management stories<br />
- "The fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown" - Carl Sagan<br />
<br />
Chapter 3 - The Most Dangerous Word is a Premature Yes:<br />
- "Plans are worthless, but planning is everything. There is a very great distinction because when you are planning for an emergency you must start with this one thing: the very definition of "emergency" is that it is unexpected; therefore it is not going to happen the way you are planning." - President Dwight D. Eisenhower, speech to the National Defense Executive Reserve Conference, Washington DC 1957<br />
- First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is a mountain." Your first understanding of the mountain is an outline, a shape in the horizon. As you get closer the mountain decomposes into a million individual details. Finally you know the mountain as a whole. Zen koan.<br />
- No one starts a war - or rather, no on in his senses ought to do so - without being first clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by that war and how he intends to conduct it." - Clausewitz<br />
- A project isn't the end its the means to bridge the gap<br />
- The first step in any project is to define the gap<br />
- Eisenhower closing the gap story pg 55<br />
- What is the minimum that can be done now?<br />
- Project triage: 1. Likely to survive no matter what 2. Likely to fail no matter what 3. Projects where the level of effort will make a positive impact in success<br />
<br />
Chapter 4 - Good Enough, Barely Adequate, Failure:<br />
- 7 Levels of project outcomes: 1. Perfect 2. Outstanding 3. Exceeds Expectations 4. Fully Satisfactory 5. Barely Adequate 6. Failure 7. Catastrophe<br />
<br />
Chapter 5 - When The Project Appears Impossible:<br />
- "If an elderly and distinguished scientist says something is possible, he is almost certainly right; but if he says it is impossible, he is very probably wrong." - Arthur C. Clarke<br />
- Just because a project appears to be impossible doesn't mean it is<br />
- Can you adjust time, cost, performance to make it possible?<br />
- Ways to accomplish the impossible project: 1. Change the constraints - analysis, negotiation, problem solving, requirements management 2. Get around the constraints - creativity, exploiting holes, different approaches, rethinking assumptions<br />
<br />
Chapter 6 - Knowns & Unknowns: The Risk Factors:<br />
- "The revolutionary idea that defines the boundary between modern times and the past is the mastery of risk: the notion that the future is more than a whim of the gods and that men and women are not passive before nature." - Peter L. Bernstein, Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk 1998<br />
- Risk is a proposed future even that would have a significant impact on you or something you care about should it happen. Positive or negative. Above all risk is uncertain.<br />
- Risk -> severity and likelihood<br />
- Pure risk is all downside<br />
- Business risk has upside and downside<br />
- Residual risk is leftover risk after mitigation<br />
- Secondary risk is new risk introduced as a result of solutions to the original risk<br />
- Risk management table & responses pg 134<br />
- Managing knowns & unknowns pg 138<br />
- Six dimensions of project management table pg 149<br />
- Leverage, relax, absorb = triple constraints risk responses<br />
<br />
Chapter 7 - Project Intelligence:<br />
- Spies pay attention to their environment<br />
- Intelligence process - Collection, Analysis, Packaging, Dissemination<br />
<br />
Chapter 8 - It Takes A Village To Wreck A Project:<br />
- "Normal people believe that if it ain't broke don't fix it. Engineers believe that if it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet." - Scott Adams, cartoonist, creator of Dilbert<br />
- "Want to know if you are a leader? Look back and see if anyone is following." - Marilyn Moats Kennedy<br />
- 4 types of managerial challenges - Martyr, Scapegoat, Hall Monitor, Peon<br />
- 4 types of stakeholders - Positive, negative, tangential, conflicted<br />
- 4 stages of managing stakeholders - Identify, Understand, Maximize, Manage<br />
- There are 3 reasons to communicate: 1. You want someone to do something 2. You want someone to know something 3. You want someone to feel something or some combo of the 3<br />
- Table page 88<br />
<br />
Chapter 9 - Framing Change:<br />
- I confess that in 1901 I said to my brother Orville that man would not fly for fifty years. Two years later we ourselves made flights. This demonstration of my impotence as a prophet gave me such a shock that ever since I have distrusted myself and avoided all predictions." Wilbur Wright<br />
- Counterfactuals are examinations of what might have happened had an actual even turned out another way. A great way to analyze and cope with change<br />
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Chapter 10 - Salvaging Project Value:<br />
- Closeout of a project is often taken for granted<br />
- Closeout: 1. Complete 2. Turned Over 3. Closed Out 4. Value Captured<br />
<br />
- Appendix A - Questions For The Creative Project Manager:<br />
- Questions pg 227Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2701818454501746943.post-80084971467880040642011-11-13T17:53:00.001-08:002011-11-14T20:23:29.819-08:00What Keeps You Up At Night vs. Imagine A World...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Last week was probably the most influential week of my short post Air Force career.</b> I don't want to reveal too much about the project I am working on at Nike as we are implementing a pilot that relies heavily on specific timing and stakeholder engagement, but last week was full of meetings with company leadership from around the world. Those meetings required an immense amount of preparation but what really stood out to me was the incredible amount of truly deep thinking that took place. Not only was the process extremely engaging and exciting to be a part of, but it was also full of business and leadership lessons that I will take with me for the long haul.<br />
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In one of our meetings I pulled out a couple anecdotes that, at the time, seemed unrelated but in hindsight are definitely connected with regard to <b>how teams tackle strategy, approach problem solving, and drive innovation.</b> The two brainstorming approaches I am referring to are:</div>
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<b><i>"What keeps you up at night," and "Imagine a world."</i></b></blockquote>
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Both phrases were, by all intents and purposes, brought forth to organize the team's thoughts around very complex problems. Both sought to achieve results. Both phrases can actually be very useful in getting a diverse team to focus on the same critical issues of a challenge.</div>
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But what I find most interesting is what differentiates the two approaches.</div>
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"What keeps you up at night" can align a team. It can focus the group, most specifically on risk mitigation, while developing solutions to complex problems. And although framing a problem with this statement is undoubtedly better than not steering a team at all, it does have some significant drawbacks. Here are a few I thought of while reflecting on the approach over the past few days.</div>
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<b>1. It is reactionary -</b> Framing a problem in this manner has the team reacting to an environment instead of shaping it. Of course there is value in knowing the world you are operating in but in the long run there is only so much value to be gained in risk mitigation.</div>
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<b>2. It is a pessimistic lens -</b> How do you mobilize your team? I know I like to lead and to be lead with an eye on what we can possibly accomplish, not on what can possibly go wrong.</div>
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<b>3. It doesn't drive you into the unknown -</b> This third point is really a derivative of the first two. How innovative is your team going to be when you are focused on avoiding or minimizing what can go wrong. Sure there are some innovations that are derived from mitigating risk. But when comparing "what keeps you up at night" to "imagine a world" it is easy for me to see which one gets my heart pumping. I think what truly differentiates good enough from great is a truly passionate team and I just can't see people rallying around a focus on what we fear.</div>
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Many of the downfalls of the "what keeps you up at night scope" are the very reasons I gravitate towards the "imagine a world" approach. </div>
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<b>1. It is proactive -</b> "Imagine a world"elicits goals and a unified vision from the team. It focuses the group on where we are going, not what may be coming at us. </div>
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<b>2. It is optimistic -</b> It figures out what the team wants to create without the hindrances of how to get there. Setting the vision without boundaries prevents the team from self eliminating. Once the vision is locked in the team naturally accepts the accountability to get there.</div>
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<b>3. It promotes innovative thinking -</b> When you aren't focused on what could go 'wrong' and you are focused on what you want 'right' to look like you will naturally think more creatively. </div>
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<b>4. It unifies the team towards a set of goals -</b> Enough said.</div>
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These were just a few of the many examples that reinforced to me the importance engaging teams in focused critical thinking. It is very difficult to quantify the benefit focused critical thinking. It is not the type of lesson you would read explicitly in a textbook or within the framework of a management philosophy, however anyone who as ever engaged in the activity while tackling a truly complex problem will undoubtedly see the value. The next time I start a project or a new venture I plan to start with the "imagine a world" construct.<b> I really haven't found a more inspiring way to unify a team around what is truly important in an endeavor.</b></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2701818454501746943.post-8797879553907824482011-10-31T19:52:00.000-07:002011-10-31T19:54:11.267-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq0wjXaUGAwJ-hStntNPhhLV3shldccqUny2SOFYXGN1dH2tdpmPDdOunCURf6ggcVAbBt-tKnVYfqB6haVSlsB_cypVESZJEazLrZ0UNmfvUDzMXwGNd2EBQbim00W7MJsVmAFW88l8DS/s1600/519KSjJHdVL._BO2%252C204%252C203%252C200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click%252CTopRight%252C35%252C-76_AA300_SH20_AA278_PIkin4%252CBottomRight%252C-46%252C22_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq0wjXaUGAwJ-hStntNPhhLV3shldccqUny2SOFYXGN1dH2tdpmPDdOunCURf6ggcVAbBt-tKnVYfqB6haVSlsB_cypVESZJEazLrZ0UNmfvUDzMXwGNd2EBQbim00W7MJsVmAFW88l8DS/s1600/519KSjJHdVL._BO2%252C204%252C203%252C200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click%252CTopRight%252C35%252C-76_AA300_SH20_AA278_PIkin4%252CBottomRight%252C-46%252C22_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000SEOA3G/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0814478352&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1ASAZDDSJ4MPXT3CEEPA">Fundamentals of Project Management by James P. Lewis</a> - One thing that I think every athlete learns at a young age is the importance of fundamentals. I have tried to take that important lesson that I learned early in my hockey career and apply it in other aspects of my life. When I found out my first consulting project would be a project management role at Nike, I went to the local library and picked up Fundamentals of Project Management.<br />
<br />
The book is relatively short, which I actually really appreciated. Fittingly, a book on fundamentals shouldn't be extremely long and wordy. I think the book does a great job succinctly laying out an overview of the basics of project management. The book not only delved into the classic project management tools and theories but it also covered topics like team engagement, leadership, and organizational culture,<br />
<br />
I would definitely recommend the book to anyone who wants to read a good overview of project management or to anyone who wants to learn how they can hone their skills to better deliver projects on time, within budget, and within the desired performance parameters. Below are some of the notes I took while reading this book.<br />
<br />
Notes:<br />
<br />
Chapter 1: An Overview of Project Management:<br />
- PMI.org<br />
- A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to produce a unique product, service, or result.<br />
- Repetitive =/ project<br />
- Definite time, cost, scope, performance requirements<br />
- "A problem scheduled for solution"<br />
- Rule = people who do the work should plan it<br />
- PM role is that of an enabler<br />
- "Leadership is the art of getting others to want to do something that you believe should be done." - Lance Packard<br />
- C=F(P,T,S)<br />
- Project Life Cycle: Concept, Definition, Planning, Execution, Closeout<br />
- Projects fail at the definition phase<br />
- Steps in managing a project: 1. Define Problem 2. Develop Solution Options 3. Plan the Project 4. Execute the Plan 5. Monitor & Control 6. Close the Project<br />
- 9 Knowledge Areas pg 20<br />
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Chapter 2: The Role of the Project Manager:<br />
- The primary role of all PMs is to ensure all work is completed on time, within budget & scope, and at the correct performance levels<br />
- Must understand mission and vision of the organization<br />
- PM is about influencing people<br />
- Scandinavian Airlines Story<br />
- PM has responsibility but authority. Must use leadership and management to accomplish<br />
<br />
Chapter 3: Planning the Project:<br />
- Two barriers to good planning: 1. Prevailing Paradigms 2. The Nature of Human Beings<br />
- Control is exercised by comparing where you are to where you are supposed to be so that corrective action can be taken when there is a deviation<br />
- No plan = no control<br />
- To plan you must have strategy, tactics, & logistics<br />
- Project plan is: problem statement - project mission statement - project objectives - project work requirements - exit criteria - end item specifications - WBS - schedules - required resources - control system - major contributors - risk areas<br />
- Planning tips pg 42<br />
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Chapter 4: Developing A Mission, Vision, Goals, & Objectives for the Project:<br />
- A problem is a gap<br />
- Vision defines done<br />
- Mission, vision, problem statement chart pg 47<br />
- Mission of every PM is to satisfy the customers needs<br />
- 1. What are we going to do? 2. For whom are we going to do it?<br />
- Objectives: what is our desired outcome? How will we know when we achieve it?<br />
- Risk analysis pg 53<br />
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Chapter 5: Using The Work Breakdown Structure:<br />
- WBS developed before schedule<br />
- Break work down to a level sufficient to achieve estimating accuracy<br />
- Assign responsibility for each part<br />
- You cannot give a time/cost estimate without considering who will be performing the task<br />
- Base on historical data<br />
- Beware of Parkinson's law and variation<br />
- List assumptions, +- numbers, things that may skew the estimate<br />
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Chapter 6: Scheduling Project Work:<br />
- Critical pat determines the longest series of activities that can't be done in parallel<br />
- Unless resource allocation is handled properly schedules are next to useless<br />
- Schedule at a level you can manage<br />
- Diagram what is possible then deal with resource constraints<br />
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Chapter 7: Producing a Workable Schedule:<br />
- Harder to catch up than to stay on target<br />
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Chapter 8: Project Control & Evaluation:<br />
- Having authority is no guarantee people will do your bidding. In the end people have to do it willingly<br />
- Give people responsibility & control over what they are supposed to accomplish<br />
- Self control needs 1. Clear definition of goal 2. Personal plan of how to do work 3. Skills & resources 4. Feedback on progress from the work 5. Clear definition of authority to take action & deviate from the plan<br />
- If control systems do not result in action then the system is ineffective<br />
- The simpler the status report the better<br />
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Chapter 9: Project Control Using Earned Value Analysis:<br />
- There are only 4 responses to deviation from the plan: 1. Cancel the project 2. Ignore the deviation 3. Take corrective action 4. Revise the plan<br />
- One of the hardest things to do is actually measure progress<br />
- Variance formulas pg 118<br />
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Chapter 10: Managing The Project Team:<br />
- Project management tools are necessary but not sufficient<br />
- If you can't manage people you can't manage a project<br />
- Have the team participate in planning to promote teamwork<br />
- Getting the team organized: 1. Define what must be done using WBS, problem definition, etc. 2. Determine staffing requirements 3. Recruit the team 4. Complete your project plan with participation of the team<br />
- Rules for developing commitment pg 138<br />
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Chapter 11: How To Make Project Management Work In Your Company:<br />
- Leadership must show interest<br />
- Reward good project management<br />
- Train the team<br />
- Plan small wins for people<br />
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Chapter 12: Project Management For Everyone:<br />
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- Tools should only be used when they give you an advantage<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2701818454501746943.post-8993208823648439432011-10-16T11:54:00.000-07:002011-10-16T11:54:39.937-07:00Checking For Charity 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://www.checkingforcharity.com/">Checking For Charity</a> recently closed out our books for 2011 and in our third year of existence we continued our upward trend in charitable distributions and in the size and professionalism of our tournament. I am very proud to announce that the 3rd Annual Checking For Charity Tournament distributed nearly <b>$28,000.00</b> to <b>20 unique charities! </b>Below are the distributions and charities that were involved in our tournament back in August.<br />
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A Division: </div>
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<table align="center" border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; width: 500px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;"><u>Team</u></td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;"><u>Charity</u></td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;"><u>Amount Distributed</u></td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Team Badski's Warriors</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Homes For Our Troops</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> $1,008.00</td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Selects Hockey</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> Ed Snyder Youth Hockey Foundation</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> $1,303.40</td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Lubers</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> Children's Make A Wish Foundation</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> $1,008.00</td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">RAI - Team Orner</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> Alicia Rose "Victorious" Foundation</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> $1,121.00</td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Macho Madness</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> Angels On Earth Foundation</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> $1,121.00</td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Pirates</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> M.A.B. Memorial Foundation</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> $1,008.00</td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Dunphy A</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> Cole McFarland Scholarship</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> $1,008.00</td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Newmania</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> Endometriosis Foundation</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> $1,419.20</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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B Division:</div>
<table align="center" border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; width: 500px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;"><u>Team</u></td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;"><u>Charity</u></td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;"><u>Amount Distributed</u></td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Hawks</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> Preeclampsia Foundation</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> $1,008.00</td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Dunphy B</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> The United Way of Camden County</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> $1,303.40</td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Sunday Danglers</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> Preeclampsia Foundation</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> $1,121.00</td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Mt. Laurel Moose</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> Alicia Rose "Victorious Foundation</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> $1,008.00</td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Snyder Hockey Loungers</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> Ed Snyder Youth Hockey Foundation</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> $1,008.00</td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Ice-O-Topes</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> Greg T Dalesio Memorial Foundation</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> $1,008.00</td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Team M.S.</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> National Multiple Sclerosis Foundation</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> $1,008.00</td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Dangle Pies</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> American Cancer Society</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> $1,419.20</td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">L.V.I.</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Ed Snyder Youth Hockey Foundation </td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">$1,121.00 </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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C Division:</div>
<table align="center" border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; width: 500px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;"><u>Team</u></td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;"><u>Charity</u></td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;"><u>Amount Distributed</u></td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Toad Slam</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> Breastfest Philly</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> $1,121.00</td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Patriots</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> CHESPA</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> $1,419.20</td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">N.C. Chiefs</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> American Heart Association</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> $1,008.00</td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Charros</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> $1,303.40</td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Aqua Corp</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> Aqua Corps</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> $818.00*</td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The Boogeymen</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> Defending The Blueline</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> $1,008.00</td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Tele-Q</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> Children's Cancer Research Center</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> $1,121.00</td></tr>
<tr><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">NFCA</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> National Foundation For Celiac Awareness</td><td style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> $1,008.00</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /><br />
<b>I couldn't be happier with how our tournament turned out and with our amazing board. </b>Our continued growth is a testament to their efforts. <b>Our growth has ushered in some new challenges as well </b>and has renewed my focus on making Checking For Charity the best it can be. Below are some thoughts and lessons learned from our third and best event ever.<br />
<br />
<b>1. Leadership Still Matters -</b> As you can tell from the content and the frequency of my posts over the last year, my life has been through a lot of ups and downs. The adversity and transitions I endured over the past year undoubted impacted my ability to effectively lead the Checking For Charity movement. When I look at the areas of our tournament that did not go well it is very easy for me to trace those struggles back to a lack of leadership on my part. Not an easy pill to swallow but one that has ultimately renewed my commitment to optimizing and growing Checking For Charity.<br />
<br />
<b>2. We Raised The Bar On Everything.....Including Expenses - </b>Growth comes with a cost, and in the last year our cost......was costs! Our tournament was bigger and better in every way. We grew and improved every major metric we track from charitable distributions to teams and divisions in the tournament. Unfortunately our expenses began to increase at a greater rate than the money we raised for charity. That fact tells me two things. First off, it tells me that our model has reached a plateau in terms of the size we can make a single event. Secondly, it tells me that we need to focus less on growing an individual event and more on optimizing what we do well. In short we need to find our sweet spot and work on getting better results with less effort invested.<br />
<br />
<b>3. Ethos - </b>Our group thrives on an open and collaborative team environment. We rely on unsolicited innovative ideas from our board and more importantly on the ingenuity of the board to bring those ideas to life. While that culture is great for continuous growth and empowering everyone to come up with great ideas, it can send the efforts of the organization in a lot of different directions. The last year made me realize that we need to focus in on who we are, what we are all about, and exactly who we are serving as an organization. We need to focus on our ethos.<br />
<br />
<b>4. Great Ideas Need Great Execution -</b> As I discussed briefly above, we have a culture where all ideas are welcome. Our entire concept has been formed by individuals that have brought forth great ideas that the team ultimately rallied around. This year was no exception. Our tourney was bigger and better than ever, but there were some aspects that did not go as smoothly as we all would have liked. An idea, no matter how great it is, is just an idea until it actually gets executed. That is where the value of great idea is realized.<br />
<br />
<b>5. Cost Benefit Analysis, Money & Effort - </b>Next year I would really like to take a hard look at cost benefit analysis for each proposed idea. Our tournaments are centered on two main principles. We raise as much money and awareness for charity as possible while putting on the most competitive and professional hockey events. These pillars of our success are not always pulling in the same direction and we must keep focus on balancing the two. In order to do that we need to take a harder look at the impact that each part of our business model is providing towards both those goals. We could put on the best tournament in the world and use up all the funds that we raised or we could put on a bare bones event and distribute a bit more in charitable donations. Neither end state is what we are about. We need to analyze the money, and more importantly the effort, that must be invested to carry out our team's great ideas to see if those ideas are worth pursuing or not.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>6. Project Centric Approach - </b>In order to continually improve, grow, and carry out our mission we need to transition to a project centric approach to managing the implementation of our tournament. This last year our board put in more time and effort than ever before. That effort resulted in a better tournament and increased proceeds to our represented charities. However, I am not sure that the increased efforts of the board resulted in the same magnitude of returns as in years past. The numbers don't lie and our time invested and tournament expenses have started to rise at a quicker rate than the size and proceeds of our tournament. We are all volunteers and I do not view that trajectory as sustainable. I need every one of the board members we have and I want them to want to be a part of our organization for the long haul. This is supposed to be fun and enjoyable and I would hate to have anyone burn out. We need to engage more volunteers and in order to do that we must give them a tangible project to carry out, lead, and make their own. The board will then seek to take on more of an advisory role. A work breakdown of what really makes up our tournament will enable us to do that and will allow us to more effectively manage the planning and execution of the event. It will also lay out a scalable model for us to expand to the west coast and beyond. This will be my focus over the coming months.<br />
<br />
Please continue to check out <a href="http://www.checkingforcharity.com/">www.checkingforcharity.com</a> as we will be launching a new and much improved website shortly. If you would like to get involved please do not hesitate to contact me or reach out to us on our <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Checking-For-Charity/371929894335">Facebook page</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2701818454501746943.post-14738335755646817802011-10-12T20:27:00.000-07:002011-10-12T20:30:39.665-07:00Book Review: A Place of Yes by Betheny Frankel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqGeuFci7nJaV0sJwrm-_C_YJDMbeiLImIOKyt78x107bfktFUnxYkRH2SEPTHyWBsKgWkl0-XLxGi__UKmILe75RAcE9eF8C9VqTw4Y-WnSPcZgqpKzVAt6Nx-_ULLtQWssLcH_xUY5u1/s1600/Bethenny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqGeuFci7nJaV0sJwrm-_C_YJDMbeiLImIOKyt78x107bfktFUnxYkRH2SEPTHyWBsKgWkl0-XLxGi__UKmILe75RAcE9eF8C9VqTw4Y-WnSPcZgqpKzVAt6Nx-_ULLtQWssLcH_xUY5u1/s320/Bethenny.jpg" width="222" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Place-Yes-Rules-Getting-Everything/dp/1439186901">A Place of Yes by Betheny Frankel </a>is not necessarily the first book I would grab off the shelf. In fact, I am sure I will lose some man points amongst my friends for openly admitting that I read the book. To be honest I don't really care. Betheny is awesome. She has made some of the "wifey shows" that I am dragged into watching bearable. She is the embodiment of the American dream and she is hilarious. So when my wife downloaded her book on my Kindle and I freed up some bandwidth from my reading queue I gave it a shot. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">There are a few things that drew me to reading her book and those same things are actually what allow me to relate to Betheny. I am referring to her entrepreneurial spirit and her ability/willingness to persevere through adversity. Rising from a challenging childhood and an unfulfilling early adulthood, Betheny was resilient and refused to settle. Traits I admire the older I get. She took some big risks, worked hard, and eventually sold the Skinny Girl margarita company for a reported $200+ million. People often lose sight of those accomplishments amidst her reality TV career but it is those accomplishments that gave her book credibility in my mind.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The book reads like a classic self help book, ten steps and all, which makes her life story and lessons a bit more tangible. But the real value for me wasn't necessarily realized in the ten steps. I found her personal trials and tribulations to be the most interesting and inspiring. I guess I just digest life lessons in story format a lot better than a textbook read. I think I may move on to some biographies in my next round of books as I really like the context that formula provides. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The book isn't the best I have ever read, and to be honest I am probably not the target market either, but the book had some good lessons and I enjoyed it. If you are interested to read a real rags to riches story and to reinforce some good life lessons then check out her book. Below are some notes and quotes that I captured during my read. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Notes:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> Introduction: Who I am, what this book is
about, and what you need to know before you begin:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- This book is about stop saying no and start
saying yes to your own life<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- Life is easier when you settle for less than your
dreams, but good enough is not good enough for me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- Each chapter in the book tackles a rule<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- 10 rules: Rule 1 Break the Chain, Rule 2 Find
Your Truth, Rule 3 Act On It, Rule 4 Everything's Your Business, Rule 5 All
Roads Lead To Rome, Rule 6 Go For Yours, Rule 7 Separate From The Pack, Rule 8
Own It, Rule 9 Come Together, and Rule 10 Celebrate<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- A place of yes is not just being an optimist its
an "it will happen because I will make it happen" kind of attitude<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- Its not where you are all the time but its the
place you go back to. Your home. The real you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- Coming from a place of yes is about getting down
to business. Its active not passive. Yes gives you something to do. A mission,
a purpose, a goal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- Noise is your inner doubt that holds you back and
voice is what is good for you and what is right<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Rule 1: Break The Chain:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "You gain strength, courage, and confidence
by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are
able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next
thing that comes along.'" - Eleanor Roosevelt, former First Lady<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- Everyone has noise that stems from childhood<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- First step is breaking the link between what your
family thinks of you and what you think of yourself. Who you are now doesn't
have to be a product of your past.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- You must look back and recognize how your
childhood has affected your life<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- Don't get hung up on whether or not it was
normal. There is no normal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- Describes a rough childhood and how it impacted
her<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Rule 2: Find Your Truth:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "Accept no one's definition of your
life, define yourself." - Harvey Fierstein, actor<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- When you make a decision based on fear it never
works out<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "We welcome passion, for the mind is briefly
let off duty." - Mignon McLaughlin, journalist<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "Just because you made a mistake doesn't
mean you are a mistake." - Georgette Mosbacher, cosmetics CEO and author<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "Diamonds are only chunks of coal that stuck
to their jobs." Minnie Richard Smith, poet<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- Every 9 year old boy wants to pitch for the
yankees<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- Don't give up on your dreams<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "Waiting, done at really high speeds, will
frequently look like something else." - Carrie Fisher, actress and author<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Rule 3: Act On It:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "Destiny is not a matter of chance. It is a
matter of choice. It is not to be waited for, it is a thing to be
achieved." - William Jennings Bryan, politician<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- Focus on the general direction. You can't know
how things are all going to play out but don't let that hold you back.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- Work hard, learn, do your best, and have fun!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- Action breeds confidence and courage<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "A man's errors are his portals of
discovery" - James Joyce, novelist<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Rule 4: Everything's Your Business:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- Treat everything you choose to do with as much
importance as if your career depended on it<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "You make it to heaven, or you make it to
hell, by your actions." - George Harrison, musician<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "Decide what you want, and decide what you
are willing to exchange for it. Establish your priorities and go to work."
- H.L. Hunt, entrepreneur and oil tycoon<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "A brand is a living entity and it is
enriched or undermined cumulatively over time, the product of a thousand small
gestures." - Michael Eisner, former CEO of the Walt Disney Company<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- Don't let the world tell you what is or isn't a
good idea<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "There are two types of people: the ones who
give you 50 reasons it can't be done...and the ones who just do it." -
Hoda Koth, host of the Today Show<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "The quality of a person's life is in direct
proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen
field" - Vince Lombardi, former Green Bay Packers football coach - Awesome
quote!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "The defining factor in success is never
resources, it's resourcefulness." - Anthony Robbins, author and
motivational speaker<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Rule 5: All Roads Lead To Rome:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "You have got to jump off cliffs, all the
time, and build your wings on the way down." - Ray Bradbury, author<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- The wrong thing can lead you to what is right<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "Don't make money your goal. Instead pursue
the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can't take
their eyes off you." - Maya Angelou, poet and author<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "The restaurant business is trying on a
daily basis. You must be committed to facing challenges that seem impossible.
But when its the moment of truth I just tell my team "Yes we can make this
happen." That's how you separate yourself from the pack." - Bobby
Flay, celebrity chef, restauranteur, Iron Chef, and cookbook author <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "Winning isn't everything, but the will to
win is everything." - Vince Lombardi. football coach<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- Diamond scam story<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Rule 6: Go For Yours:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "Hell is the place for people who did not
live their lives according to the best of what was in them." - Harriet
Rubin, author and media consultant<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "I don't have to be enemies with
someone to be competitors with them." - Jackie Joyner Kersee, Olympic gold
medalist<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- There is a big difference between ambition and
desperation<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- Be yourself and have no regrets because something
better may be right around the corner<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- A great idea is worth about a nickel and making
it work is hard<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "I've got a theory that if you give 100% all
of the time, somehow things will work out in the end." - Larry Bird,
former NBA player<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "Losing is the price we pay for living. It
is also the source of much growth and pain." - Judith Viorst, author<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "Your opponent, in the end, is never really
the player on the other side of the net, or the swimmer in the next lane, or
the team on the other side of the field, or even the bar you must high jump.
Your opponent is yourself, your negative internal voices, your level of
determination." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- She learned that when she really goes for what
she wants she wins even when she loses<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Rule 7: Separate From The Pack:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "In order to be irreplaceable one must
always be different." - Coco Chanel, French Fashion designer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "It takes courage to grow up and be who you
really are." - e.e. cummings, poet <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- If you live your life trying to make others happy
you will lose touch with what makes you happy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- Its not about being different it is about being
yourself<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "Always be a first-rate version of yourself,
instead of a second-rate version of somebody else." - Judy Garland,
actress<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new." - Brian Tracy, author and business consultant<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Rule 8: Own It:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people." - Spencer Johnson, business author</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end there it is." - Winston Churchill, former prime minister of the UK</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "I believe in me. If I don't nobody else will." - Charles Barkley, former NBA basketball player</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt." - William Shakespeare, playwright</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "True love stories never have endings." - Richard Bach, author<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Rule 9: Come Together:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- To come together with others you have to know who
you are<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stats in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime." - Babe Ruth, Major League baseball player<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- You don't have to understand others you just have
to respect that their normal is different than yours<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- "I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion." - Mia Hamm - professional soccer player<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Rule 10: Celebrate:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- Celebrate what you want to see more of<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- Celebrate your life. If you're not happy then what's the point?</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2701818454501746943.post-17886850586880678902011-09-25T14:43:00.000-07:002011-09-27T22:41:15.527-07:00Transition, The Status Quo, & An Ever-Present Enemy<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieaZy2WMXsBAANjXMYxS8obv5O21aRL63tMLVQV8rFm0kAQa3J7JWpSYlZLSoF2oGpdCFgOndPwVYDaReSfsLbUKlG3RJV3qQpMG_2WyJjP9_gZk3MaF0kY0vp2JKhJfAZGzk5HQbyIPiv/s1600/3126187803_72e3b65762_m.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 161px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieaZy2WMXsBAANjXMYxS8obv5O21aRL63tMLVQV8rFm0kAQa3J7JWpSYlZLSoF2oGpdCFgOndPwVYDaReSfsLbUKlG3RJV3qQpMG_2WyJjP9_gZk3MaF0kY0vp2JKhJfAZGzk5HQbyIPiv/s320/3126187803_72e3b65762_m.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656425594146928498" /></a><br />It has been a long time since I have posted. A very long time. I almost feel guilty about it. But a lot has transpired since my last post on sacrifice. I have separated from the Air Force, travelled across country to settle back in Portland, OR, gone through one hell of a job search process, accepted a new position, started my new job, started searching for a house, not to mention the living my life part! It has been a roller coaster ride with many highs and lows, it has taught me some lessons, but most of all it has taught me about myself.<br /><br />Transition is an interesting thing. <span style="font-weight:bold;">There are very few moments in our lives where we really cross over into a new chapter. Most transitions are just slight iterations or developments of where we already are. And although those minor forks in the road are very important and defining in the aggregate, they are not nearly as beneficial introspectively as a major life changing transition like the one I am currently navigating.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">My transition out of the military has forced me to really evaluate what I value, what I want my life to look like, and how I am going to make it happen.</span> As I have discussed in many a post, happiness is always the ultimate goal for me and for my family. As evident by my last post on sacrifice, that doesn't mean that there aren't things or periods of happiness that you sacrifice in the name of long term fulfillment. But this transition has really been an amazing challenge in the sense that I had to make a lot of tough decisions regarding whether an option is worth it or not. Worth it in the short term, the long term, and in the entirety of the life I want to live.<br /><br />Which leads to the next insight derived from my transition experience, that of the status quo. People are social beings. <span style="font-style:italic;">Undisputed</span>. I believe that people are inherently good. <span style="font-style:italic;">Often disputed</span>. <span style="font-weight:bold;">With those contexts in mind I think that people are naturally inclined to default in some sense to the status quo, to push others to do the same, and at times to inadvertently give others horrible advice.</span> I don't think that people want to offer poor advice they just innately find comfort in giving advice that is shared by others. Below are some real life examples and anecdotes that not only relevant to my situation but also illustrate my theory above. <br /><br />"It is a tough economy out there."<br />"Aren't you scared to not get a job?"<br />"Why don't you stay in Boston and get a government civilian job?"<br />"You can't be too picky. People nowadays are just lucky to have a job."<br />"You might have to take a job you hate until you find something else that you really want."<br /><br />Did some of these comments piss me off? Yeah, a little bit. Especially when I heard them 500 times. But going back to my initial thoughts, none of these comments were made with any ill intent. I was never mad at the person making the comment it was just the questioning in the aggregate that became frustrating. <span style="font-weight:bold;">People give advice based on their own frame of reference and set of life values and as a whole many of those values align to a common theme. The challenge, when following your gut, is to keep a tight watch on what is best for YOU and not to let the constant pressure of the status quo influence your decision making. </span>This was an enormous challenge for me especially when things got tough, when I was rejected, when I hit dead ends, or when nothing was happening at all. It was during times like these that I became all too familiar with the ever-present enemy.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">My ever present-enemy is an enemy shared by all....self doubt.</span> My parents gave me and my younger brother an incredible upbringing. I look back and feel like they raised us the 'right' way. They instilled within us a sense of humility and taught us to treat everyone with dignity and respect. They kept me grounded while encouraging me to achieve whatever I wanted. I attribute much of my long term success to those maxims being ingrained into who I am. I think being humble has not only helped me to get along with a wide variety of people throughout my life, but it has also kept me hungry and striving for more. But being humble can open you up to self doubt in the short term. Whether it has been in school, sports, the military, business, or life in general I have always battled self doubt as I am sure most people do. I have witnessed kids in hockey who are anything but humble, to the point that it negatively affects their team relationships, consistently reach heights beyond their ability just because they aren't paralyzed by self doubt. <span style="font-weight:bold;">There are a lot of successful people out there who are successful because they attack life with a relentless self assurance.</span> Although I wouldn't trade places with those people, I have taken notice at how they have overcome (or bypassed) fear to achieve their goals. <span style="font-weight:bold;">In my case, overcoming fear or self doubt must be a much more conscious decision based on who I am. It is a challenge and one that I continually face at every stage of my life. </span><br /><br />My transition to corporate life has been no exception and with the numerous ups and downs throughout the process I frequently faced self doubt and wondered if my goals and dreams were actually attainable. <span style="font-weight:bold;">As the old cliche goes, hindsight is always 20/20, and looking back over the last few months I can start to see that my focus on my goals, refusal to accept the status quo, and my ability to overcome the ever-present enemy were all critical in my successful transition. It wasn't always easy but I can look back at this chapter as an embodiment of how to be resilient in pursuit of happiness. </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2701818454501746943.post-72151851680970146632011-07-03T04:08:00.000-07:002011-07-03T04:54:18.225-07:00Sacrifice<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNL7bKFHry94WQfjbo71rmE6n5xFCzizAe3xcVVe1tB7NHqfesF2QNrsRSCsAwv4T4Zd_5rTVceLfwEVtiYVIXQwAG2U3qNBoC4Cvja0JVwOuOPZMG0OpmB9rIKt1_pP4NNfZX15G8suTf/s1600/turn-the-page.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 195px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNL7bKFHry94WQfjbo71rmE6n5xFCzizAe3xcVVe1tB7NHqfesF2QNrsRSCsAwv4T4Zd_5rTVceLfwEVtiYVIXQwAG2U3qNBoC4Cvja0JVwOuOPZMG0OpmB9rIKt1_pP4NNfZX15G8suTf/s320/turn-the-page.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625089885813460994" /></a><br />Last Thursday was my last 'working' day in the Air Force. I look back and I cannot believe it has been nine years since I set foot on the Air Force Academy campus. Since I knew my departure was coming for quite some time I didn't have a very dramatic emotional experience on my last day, however I did welcome a feeling that everyone experiences throughout the course of their lives. I felt the familiar feeling you get when you know you have reached a crossroads. Last Thursday was the ending of an era for me and although I am extremely excited for the next chapter I will definitely miss many aspects of my Air Force life.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">While reflecting on my time both as a cadet and as a member of the active duty Air Force I could not help but to think about sacrifice. The sacrifices I made, the ones my wife made, and how they have impacted our lives.</span> I started thinking about the greater sacrifices that many members of the armed forces make. My reflection led me to another realization, one that I revealed during my departure speech in my unit. <br /><br />While I was giving my departure speech to friends and coworkers I stated that <span style="font-weight:bold;">"my military service gave me far more that I ever gave back. I imagine that statement will become even more true as time goes on and as I embark on new endeavors in the civilian world." </span><br /><br />I truly believe that statement. That is not to say that I was bum who took all he could from the military and left, because I didn't, and I am very proud of what I contributed during my service. I was merely expressing my awe at how far I have come since the day I stepped into the dorms of the Air Force Academy. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">So were those "sacrifices" really sacrifices if ultimately they benefited me and contributed to my growth and happiness?</span> Maybe I am being naive or romanticizing in hindsight but actions that ultimately benefit you greatly don't really seem to embody what sacrifice stands for. It almost seems more like delayed gratification. Or better yet, an investment in the future. Was the bypassing of a traditional college experience for a regimented character building leadership laboratory really a sacrifice for me? Was the lack of control over where I lived and when a sacrifice, or did it merely expose me to new parts of the world that I never would have otherwise been privileged to? Did the nearly seven months I spent in Iraq away from my family and friends set me back forever or set me apart forever? <br /><br />Without delving into the Back To The Future-esque arguments that compare what your life would have been like had an event not occurred, I think the point of my riff is that sacrifice is not as straight forward a concept as we may think. I can confidently say that the sacrifices my wife and I have made over the years had shaped us, improved us, and have given us a hell of a ride that we never would have experienced had we not had the foresight, and/or ignorance, to embrace.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2701818454501746943.post-26293111603263197662011-06-11T04:01:00.000-07:002011-06-11T04:27:59.455-07:00Book Review: Poke The Box<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUpZ-TAuQg9zH3IRjqQrw6Zy99KipxQnjavup9hqGFMWBsX5MhESyDMFA0Lc3ReRGcy2Rp8fj8TaP6vQlWrXRwpmKVksgBE8nAk3ksn6EsqUOeGdVWWFTFKrP_FxrA8RMglgwIgb6OHoVn/s1600/0218-poke-the-box-seth-godin.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 160px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUpZ-TAuQg9zH3IRjqQrw6Zy99KipxQnjavup9hqGFMWBsX5MhESyDMFA0Lc3ReRGcy2Rp8fj8TaP6vQlWrXRwpmKVksgBE8nAk3ksn6EsqUOeGdVWWFTFKrP_FxrA8RMglgwIgb6OHoVn/s200/0218-poke-the-box-seth-godin.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5616921902363245138" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Poke-Box-Seth-Godin/dp/1936719002">Poke The Box by Seth Godin</a> was pretty much exactly what I expected.....it was awesome. Seth has an uncanny ability to write short, hard hitting, meaningful statements that transcend profession or background and provide the reader with real life, actionable knowledge. Poke The Box is a self proclaimed manifesto about initiative. In short, the book is all about the importance of starting and failing, and how both contribute to doing something meaningful.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;"><blockquote>We send our kids to school and obsess about their test scores, their behavior and their ability to fit in. We post a help wanted ad and look for experience, famous colleges and a history of avoiding failure. We invest in companies based on how they did last quarter, not on what they’re going to do tomorrow. So why are we surprised when it all falls apart? Our economy is not static, but we act as if it is. Your position in the world is defined by what you instigate, how you provoke, and what you learn from the events you cause. In a world filled with change, that’s what matters — your ability to create and learn from change. Poke the Box is a manifesto about producing something that’s scarce, and thus valuable. It demands that you stop waiting for a road map and start drawing one instead. You know how to do this, you’ve done it before, but along the way, someone talked you out of it. We need your insight and your dreams and your contributions. Hurry.<br /></blockquote></span></span><br />The book is definitely a great read that I would recommend to a wide range of readers, however I think it resonates best with business and entrepreneurial minded people. Not only does the book help to shape your outlook towards initiating and failure, but it also inspires you to go out and start something. <br /><br />I will keep my review relatively short since I have already partially reviewed the book on a <a href="http://badskiblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/might-as-well-jump.html">previous post</a>, and since I took notes that equate to about half the book! Typically I take notes on my books to singe particular lessons and important concepts into my mind. I only write when I feel it is an important passage or concept. As you can see my notes speak for themselves on the quality of Seth's latest work. Although the book is a fairly short read it took me forever to get through it because I spent the entire time taking notes! I guess that shows the quality and importance Seth places on each individual riff and rant. Below are my notes.<br /><br />Poke The Box:<br />- The job isn’t to catch up to the status quo; the job is to invent the status quo.<br /> <br />The Initiator:<br />- Annie story page 41<br />- para pg 44-48<br />- This is a manifesto about starting<br /> <br />The Seventh Imperative:<br />- The world is changing too fast. Without the spark of initiative, you have no choice but to simply react to the world.<br />- 6 imperatives page 63<br />- The seventh imperative is to have the guts and the heart and the passion to ship<br /> <br />The difference of Go:<br />- Passage pg 78<br /> <br />The buzzer box:<br />- Uncle is an MIT PHD built a buzzer box for kid with lights and buzzers. To a child it is exciting to poke this and see what happens. Life is a buzzer box. Poke it.<br /> <br />The Elements of Production:<br />- Elements pg 100<br />- “All these elements are cheaper and easier to find than ever. Which makes the motive force so critical”<br /> <br />Walking in Circles:<br />- Study shows that lost people walk in circles. Don’t trust your senses because they’re not good enough. People need a map.<br />- If you’re brave enough to draw one, people will follow<br /> <br />Who Says Yes?:<br />- What do you do here?<br />- Almost no one says I start stuff<br />- Where is the VP of Starting? How many no’s have to be summated before you get to yes? Who is in charge of yes?<br /> <br />Poke the Box:<br />- How do programmers learn?<br />- The great ones all learn the same way. They code and see what happens, change it and see what happens, repeat until they figure out how it works.<br />- The box may be a computer, a market, a customer. It’s a puzzle that can be solved in one way – by poking!<br /> <br />What Can You Start?:<br />- You don’t have to be a famous entrepreneur to be an initiator<br />- People have come to the erroneous conclusion that if they’re not willing to start something separate, world changing, and risky they have no business starting anything.<br />- Somehow we’ve fooled ourselves into believing that the project has to have a name, a building, a stock symbol to matter<br /> <br />When Can You Start?:<br />- Soon is not as good as now<br /> <br />Kinds of Capital:<br />- What can you invest? What can your company invest?: 1. Financial capital 2. Network capital 3. Intellectual capital 4. Physical capital 5. Prestige capital 6. INSTIGATION CAPITAL<br /> <br />Double Double:<br />- In the old world innovation was sufficient to double profits<br />- In the Google world the competition is essentially infinite and innovation alone isn’t sufficient<br />- The only way to thrive is to double and then double again. Innovate on the way to innovating.<br /> <br />Is flux the same as risk?:<br />- Risk involves winning and losing<br />- Risk to some is bad because risk brings the possibility of failure<br />- People confuse flux and risk<br />- 2 mistakes: Risk is a bad thing and movement is bad as well<br />- These people are stuck<br />- Now the whole world is in flux<br />- If your project doesn’t have movement then compared to the rest of the world you are actually moving backward.<br />- Like a rock in a river, you might be still but given the movement around you collisions are inevitable. There is less turbulence around the log floating down the same river.<br />- The economy demands flux. Flux isn’t risky.<br /> <br />The trail of failure:<br />- List of people who have made a career out of starting on page 209<br /> <br />The epidemic:<br />- We are hardwired with fear in our lizard brain<br /> <br />The first rule of doing work that matters:<br />- Making a difference is hard<br />- Make your schedule before you start or your lizard brain will find ways to escape<br />- Show up<br /> <br />Naps.Google.Com:<br />- What separates Google from just about every other startup?<br />- Google ignored Wall St and continued to invest in the new. Most initiatives fail. That’s fine. At least Google isn’t napping.<br /> <br />Your ego and your project:<br />- Somewhere ego became a dirty word. It’s not otherwise all great work would be anonymous and it’s not. Let it motivate you to initiate.<br /> <br />Redefining quality:<br />- Quality used to be “good enough”. Then “zero defect”. Now we expect it.<br />- Now we are beyond quality to remarkable which demands initiative.<br /> <br />Brainwashed by the pit boss:<br />- You can trust judgment of employees to improve or settle on the certainty of compliance. Most choose compliance.<br />- This causes organizations to be unable to innovate and promotes the bare minimum.<br /> <br />Why is this mediocre:<br />- We love to point out broken systems but rarely look at mediocre products and wonder why they aren’t great<br />- There is never a problem of getting a posse together to fix the broken. The upside and the challenge for you is to find the will and the energy to challenge the mediocre.<br /> <br />When in doubt:<br />- Quote page 285<br /> <br />Where did curious go?:<br />- Initiative is a little like creativity in that both require curiosity<br />- Not a search for the “right” answer but an understanding of how something works and how it can work better<br /> <br />Pick me! Pick me!:<br />- There is brainwashing that creative people or people with something to say must wait to be chosen<br />- Pick me mentality acknowledges the power of the system and passes the responsibility to someone else to initiate<br />- Reject the tyranny of picked. Pick yourself!<br /> <br />The promoter and the organizer:<br />- Every organizer gets picked and the promoter does the picking. Why not be the promoter?<br /> <br />Entrepreneurship is merely a special case:<br />- Even entrepreneurs understand that a thriving organization needs more than one person creating change.<br /> <br />The seasons pass:<br />- Ski resorts sell a year long pass for the cost of a week.<br />- People who buy it realize it’s easier and cheaper to decide once than it is to decide over and over<br />- Initiation is like that<br />- Why not sell your boss and colleagues on being the initiator. It’s your job. You start things. Ask once. Do many.<br /> <br />No free lunch:<br />- Of course the challenge is you’ll be wrong. You will pick the wrong thing. You will waste time. You will be blamed.<br />- This is why being an initiator is valuable.<br />- Most people shy away from the challenge<br />- Initiative is scarce…..hence valuable.<br />- The fact is doesn’t work every time should give you confidence because it means you’re doing something that frightens others<br /> <br />Check In Chicken:<br />- 2 things you’re afraid of at every meeting: Things that might fail and things that might work<br /> <br />The lizard misunderstands the economics of poking:<br />- When the cost of poking the box is less than the cost of doing nothing you should poke the box<br />- You don’t shut down a steel mill to use untested technology<br />- Most of us don’t run steel mills. The cost of being boring is high.<br />- Our lizard brain exaggerates the cost of being wrong.<br /> <br />Polish this:<br />- Polishing loses benefit quickly and turns to stalling<br />- What if your reminder wasn’t to polish but to create<br /> <br />The Semmelweis Imperative:<br />- Poking also requires tact. You want change not anger/fear<br />- Semmelweis devoted his life to showing that lack of Drs hand washing was the cause of much of the death and disease<br />- He died alone and a failure<br />- He never explained why!<br />- He was a jerk and never tried to persuade<br /> <br />Welcome to project world:<br />- Most companies have been around for a decade or more and are based on scalability (Ford model T)<br />- The system is the system. Don’t mess with it.<br />- The new companies making an impact are shipping projects. Apple, Google, etc..<br />- After a project is shipped there is no useful work unless someone starts a new project!<br /> <br />The Ford system is dead. Long live the Ford system:<br />- You can’t cut prices forever<br />- The new Ford system is a stable and productive business platform that develops projects<br /> <br />What happened to excellence:<br />- Tom Peters changed the world with In Search of Excellence<br />- Excellence is about taking the initiative to do work you decide is worth doing<br />- Quote page 420<br /> <br />Business Development:<br />- Some orgs have business development teams. Most are horrible at it.<br />- This initiation capability is what every org needs but most are too scared<br /> <br />What’s next?:<br />- What differentiates humans from every other creature is our willingness to go places and explore. The factory has programmed the adventurous out of us.<br />- What's next is now the driving force for individuals and organizations. Ever onward. Ever faster.<br /> <br />If you see something say something:<br />- Examples where society will actually dampen our instinct to speak up on page 450<br /> <br />Allowed (not allowed):<br />- Most employees can give you a long list of things you aren’t allowed to do<br />- Allowed lists are harder to remember and write down<br />- Were afraid of how much freedom we actually have and how much we are expected to do with it<br /> <br />The death of idealism:<br />- Sooner or later many idealists transform themselves into disheartened realists who mistakenly believe that giving up is the same as being realistic<br /> <br />Don’t tell Woodie:<br />- Seth’s dog was trained with a shock collar in their yard. It broke a year ago but the dog can only leave the yard when he takes the collar off. The boundary is in his head not the system<br /> <br />I wonder what would happen:<br />- None of this works without curiosity<br />- Success minded people can follow instructions<br />- We’d all be happy to follow a map if it came with a guarantee<br />- There is no guarantee there are no maps<br />- The opportunity lies in pursuing curiosity instead<br /> <br />3000 TED Talks:<br />- TED conference morphed into TEDx with independent conferences and speakers<br />- 3000 talks later and it’s pretty clear that big ideas and unsettling concepts were not just the work of people who get paid to think that way<br />- That’s your opportunity. To approach your work in a way that generates unique learning and interactions that are worth sharing<br /> <br />The joy of wrong:<br />- Original Starbucks founder Jerry Baldwin just sold beans not coffee. Howard Schultz turned Starbucks into Starbucks.<br />- But what if the “wrong” Starbucks was never built?<br />- One led to the other but the usual route which is never a straight line<br />- The hardest part is the first one, the wrong one<br />- Poking doesn’t mean right. It means action.<br /> <br />The world is a lot more complicated than it appears:<br />- Google finds your answer, blogger tells you what to do, a book gives you steps to achieve, the company has a policy manual<br />- It’s enough to persuade you that all the answers are here and all we need from you is compliance<br />- Two forces driving this: Industrial age where we must make immediate decisions or the system is waiting or digital age where computers like only on or off not a maybe<br />- Initiative and starting are neither of these. They are about let’s see and try.<br />- Something new is often the right path when the world is complicated<br /> <br />Rote:<br />- Quote page 524<br /> <br />“This might not work”:<br />- It’s ok to say those four words<br />- Change is powerful but always comes with failure as its partner<br /> <br />Attempt:<br />- The circus says the performers will attempt not perform. Attempt is something new, something risky, something interesting.<br />- Yoda was wrong when he said “Do or do not. There is no try.” There is a try and it’s the opposite of hiding<br /> <br />Take a lid off it:<br />- You already have good ideas, something to say, a vivid internal dialogue about what you could do and how you might make things better.<br />- There’s an engine running on better but often lies low<br /> <br />Starting implies (demands) finishing:<br />- What's the distinction between carrying around a great idea, being a brainstormer, and tinkering, and starting something?<br />- Starting means you are going to finish!<br />- At some point your work has to intersect the market. Otherwise it is merely a hobby.<br /> <br />Notions belong in the sewing store not in your work:<br />- We all have notions, inklings, hunches. This isn’t the same as poking the box.<br />- If you don’t finish it doesn’t really count as starting. And if you don’t start you aren’t poking.<br /> <br />Shipping and fear:<br />- As you get better at shipping your ability to instigate starts to fade as the fear that others will actually see it makes you scrutinize yourself more.<br /> <br />The initiator as outsider:<br />- Society isn’t nice to those who don’t fit in<br />- Great organizations have figured out how to turn the standard or status quo on its head<br />- The best way to become an insider, leader, someone who matters is to initiate<br /> <br />Winning the Halloween contest (now vs. later)<br />- Easiest way to win is to tell your kid what to do<br />- Easiest way to lose is to let him sit there<br />- The easy way may be the best in the short run<br />- In the long run though all you’ve done is taught conformity and punished initiation<br />- Quote page 590<br /> <br />The kid who made a ruckus:<br />- Kids initiate. They create situations. They start ruckuses. All of them. The essence of being human is to initiate.<br />- But we aren’t left to our own devices and cease troublesome behavior. Most of us.<br />- Those who don’t are still busy starting things big and small.<br />- We can unbrainwash ourselves while there’s still time<br /> <br />The best thing I ever done:<br />- Don opened up a pizza joint in NYC<br />- What would his life have been like had he spent more time thinking about and evaluating whether his handcrafted life’s work was a good idea?<br /> <br />How did you end up with this job?:<br />- Typically a few unlikely breaks and unadorned initiative<br />- People get good gigs because they stand up<br />- Annie Duke the poker player set out to fail often enough to get good<br /> <br />The person who fails the most usually wins:<br />- Once and big is not the most<br />- Never and you’re lucky or you’ve never shipped anything<br />- Fail, succeed, fail, fail, succeed, - you get the idea<br /> <br />Juggling is about throwing not catching:<br />- That’s why juggling is so difficult. Were conditioned to make the catch. To not drop the ball.<br />- If you get better at throwing the catches take care of themselves<br />- The only way to get better at throwing is to throw again and again<br /> <br />A paradox of success:<br />- People with credibility and resources are so busy trying to hold on to them they fail to bring ideas to market.<br />- The greatest challenge is finding the guts to risk that success in order to accomplish something great<br /> <br />How to walk to Cleveland:<br />- Shipping is an event. Life before you ship. The moment you ship. Then life after.<br />- Starting isn’t like that. It is a series of events.<br />- You start walking to Cleveland. The next day you have to start again.<br />- Keep starting until you finish.<br /> <br />The go of science:<br />- One company invented the laser printer, mouse, onscreen windows, and a frame buffer for special effects in movies in 24 months.<br />- The team had the expectation of initiation and you couldn’t be a star unless you started something audacious<br />- Al great science works that way. An individual does something audacious, counters the status quo, pursuing a dream that seems ridiculous at first.<br /> <br />The fear of wrong:<br />- It’s not surprising we hesitate. Starting maximizes the chances of ending up wrong.<br />- The boss hassles, disciplines, humiliates, fires people who are wrong<br />- If you’re not wrong that’s not going to happen<br />- On the other hand, the boss finds someone who never starts, criticizes and plays devil’s advocate and hassles, disciplines, humiliates, fires them<br />- Wait that never happens in a factory centric organization<br />- In the new network focused economy the innovation focused organization has no choice but to obsess on those who don’t start<br />- Today not starting is far far worse than ending up wrong.<br /> <br />10000 hours of hard work and an overnight success:<br />- Hollerado band used to show up to shows far away from home and say their show down the street got cancelled then they would ask to play and it worked. They would sell burned cds at the local hot topic.<br />- Released their first cd free online<br />- Booked a residency tour playing the same bar on the same night during each week 7 nights a week<br />- Started a label and released a cd in a bag<br />- 4 years of doing something new, seeing what works, and doing it again<br /> <br />The market is obsessed with novelty:<br />- So go make some. Were tired of your old stuff.<br /> <br />Organizing for joy:<br />- Orgs and corporations are organized for efficiency and consistency not for joy<br />- Joy comes from surprise and connection and humanity and transparency and new<br />- McDonalds, Hertz, Dell, and others crank it out by lowering costs and measuring output<br />- The problem is that when you approach the asymptote of maximum efficiency there’s not a lot of room for improvement. Making your nuggets for .0000001 cents less doesn’t boost profit much<br />- Worse the nature of the work is unremarkable<br />- The alternative is to organize for joy<br />- The relentless act of invention, innovation, and initiative is the best marketing asset<br /> <br />To be really clear:<br />- Quote page 723<br /> <br />How to do vs. what to do:<br />- Often we turn to authors and experts for what to do<br />- There’s no shortage of to do knowledge<br />- There’s a shortage of people willing to do it<br /> <br />There is no just in just do it:<br />- The problem with the Nike slogan is the implication that all you have to do to take the initiative is to take initiative, that it’s a matter of will<br />- You’re not a starter because you haven’t been sold on the idea, haven’t been trained, or rewarded consistently enough to get into habit<br />- Now you know what's at stake the rest is up to you<br /> <br />The adventures of Andre and Wally B:<br />- Movie for son with digital animation. It freaked him out and wasn’t made into a feature film<br />- Was starting a mistake? How bad did he fail?<br />- John has won 6 academy awards and key in the evolution of Pixar, the most successful film company of all time. No one else comes close.<br />- John starts things<br /> <br />The space between the frames:<br />- The secret to comics is the space between the frames<br />- This between the frames actions is what makes poking the box so powerful. Action is easy once you have a plan. Formatting a plan is a rare and powerful skill<br /> <br />Why growth happens early:<br />- Almost all real job growth occurs in the first days<br />- Once they hit stability they replace workers not invent new jobs<br />- In the early days no one is sure what needs to be done. It’s not a job it’s a passion, mission, experiment<br />- Companies that grow after 5 years embrace the discipline of poking<br /> <br />The right thing to do:<br />- There’s a moral obligation to start. If you’ve got the ability to make a difference you must<br />- You owe it to others to start. To initiate. To be the one who makes something happen. To do less is to steal from them.<br /> <br />A lunch meeting:<br />- Boss at Yahoo told Seth to sit in cube and await instructions<br />- His advice if this sounds familiar: 1. Ignore this book (for now) 2. Start looking for a new gig ASAP<br />- Or ignore your boss if you’re really bold and allow everything to work out in the end.<br /> <br />When it falls apart:<br />- XFL was a total failure<br />- “So?” It wasn’t so bad. Everyone came out alright and probably better compared to those who didn’t have the guts to start.<br />- It’s impossible to have a success only policy. That policy itself guarantees no successes.<br /> <br />Not what I expected to find:<br />- Part of initiating is being willing to discover that what you end up with is different than what you set out to do.<br />- Starting doesn’t mean controlling. It means initiating. Managing means controlling but that’s an entirely different skill<br /> <br />What could you build?:<br />- So many doors are open, so much leverage available. If you could build anything (you can) what would it be?<br />- If you are afraid to start maybe you haven’t fully understood the cost of not starting<br /> <br />Poking Twitter:<br />- Watch people new to Facebook or Twitter. They post something and people respond<br />- That’s not the starting I am talking about. It’s not a real poke, real shipping, real change.<br />- If you can’t fail it doesn’t count!<br /> <br />Initiating is an intentional act:<br />- No one answers the phone, goes to a meeting, or reads an email by mistake. Most of what we do is intentional with preparation<br />- Starting is like that<br />- We can schedule for it, train for it, plan for it, announce it, and even hire for it.<br />- Why not invest in starting?<br /> <br />When public school forbids the act of starting:<br />- It’s not in the curriculum is it?<br />- How much time do we spend challenging our kids to initiate?<br />- Is it any wonder why we don’t teach this mindset? Factories and managers don’t want spunk or even innovation they generally seek compliance.<br />- We rely on the disobedient few for innovation but today innovation is our only option<br /> <br />The expensive act of planning on late:<br />- When you’re late there’s not a lot of choice, decision, initiative<br />- Run down the path you’ve taken before<br />- Late gives us cover. It permits us to trample forward without creativity or panache<br />Late might be useful but it’s expensive to avoid choice.<br /> <br />Dandelion Mind:<br />- Humans protect our offspring for to lose one would be a great tragedy<br />- Dandelions spout out thousands of seeds into the air and many end up on a sidewalk somewhere<br />- The important thing is every spring every crack in every sidewalk is filled with dandelions<br />- That is how you should treat your ideas, innovations, and creativity<br />- When was the last time you were promiscuous with your failures?<br /> <br />Riding a bike and being an adult:<br />- Helping a kid ride a bike and he had a ton of reasons he didn’t want to learn. Turns out the main reason was that he was afraid<br />- Were extremely adept at hiding our fear<br />- The point of this manifesto is not to magically extinguish your fear. It’s to call its bluff. Identifying the fear is the first step to making it go away<br /> <br />What to do with good ideas:<br />- Are you one of those people? Too busy inventing to actually instigate<br />- 2 things fix this: 1. Start 2. Ship<br /> <br />Fear on the left fear on the right:<br />- Many fear the start but some do the opposite. Start and then drop it<br />- The center is where we resonate with the market<br /> <br />It doesn’t hurt to ask:<br />- Actually it does if you don’t ask in the right way<br />- Instead of propositioning everyone invest some time in building relationships<br /> <br />Buzzer management:<br />- The best way to lose at Jeopardy has nothing to do with preparation or smarts. It’s not being good at using the buzzer<br />- Like most things that matter starting is not a black and white process. If you aren’t making an impact think about how you use the buzzer<br /> <br />Fear of hubris:<br />- Lesson of Icarus is burned into all of us<br />- Were trained to fit in not to stand out<br />- We spend most of our days waiting for permission to start<br />- It’s not hubris its essential<br /> <br />Starting as a way of life:<br />- It gets easier. The simple act of initiating is actually profoundly transformative<br />- Forward motion is a defensible business asset<br /> <br />Safe:<br />- Halloween is not safe, flying is not safe, selling is not safe<br />- Innovation is not safe. You’ll fail. Perhaps badly.<br />- What are you going to do about it? Hide? Work as hard as you can to fit in? That’s not safe either.<br />- Might as well do something that matters instead<br /> <br />GO! GO! GO!:<br />- para 974<br />- "There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth. Not going all the way, and not starting." - Siddhartha GautamaUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2701818454501746943.post-75891931609099775632011-05-25T16:36:00.000-07:002011-05-25T20:07:00.234-07:00Paid To Drop Out Of School<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjItZOyjcyRQLIeH5nG9NO-JNgnQgbgsN8wJkriyqkk6beuWpCBFj0WLqedzXhPBFtIcymtlCmdhla0kEEQZvlx0Ehzz5RcSXDlIitySGtfKUzMosB-IFgP7kHOwk8ltz_0CxsgNgfsJw-7/s1600/463px-dropout_svg1.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 247px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjItZOyjcyRQLIeH5nG9NO-JNgnQgbgsN8wJkriyqkk6beuWpCBFj0WLqedzXhPBFtIcymtlCmdhla0kEEQZvlx0Ehzz5RcSXDlIitySGtfKUzMosB-IFgP7kHOwk8ltz_0CxsgNgfsJw-7/s320/463px-dropout_svg1.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610855979862927026" /></a><br />Would you drop out of college for $100,000? That is exactly what entrepreneur Peter Thiel is proposing to 20 lucky winners of his foundation's <span style="font-style:italic;">"20 Under 20"</span> contest. The winners will receive a two year stipend valued at $100,000 and mentorship from a network of entrepreneurs en route to creating their own startup company. The only stipulation is that the winners drop out of college or high school to focus full time on building their business.<br /><br />I found the Thiel Foundation's article on <a href="http://www.economist.com/">The Economist</a> website. You can read the full post on Thiel's quest to incentivize drop outs <a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2011/05/enabling_young_entrepreneurs_leave_school">here</a>. So why would a college graduate who made millions co-founding Paypal and investing in Facebook want kids to drop out of college?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;"><blockquote>"We're excited to be working with them, and we hope they will help young people everywhere realise that you don't need credentials to launch a company that disrupts the status quo," said Thiel.</blockquote></span></span><br /><br />Thiel contends that most kids go to college to avoid thinking about the future and that, by incurring so much debt, many students are actually more at risk by being stovepiped into a career in order to pay back that debt. His foundation is targeting young entrepreneurs who have a plan to create wealth but may otherwise be tempted into attending college versus carrying out their dream. Of course his foundation is drawing plenty of criticism but Thiel responds by saying that people can always go back to college. <br /><br />I have a few thoughts on this interesting endeavor.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">1. We live in a society that loves credentials</span> - Earning a college degree is a great thing. I enjoyed my college educational experience and wouldn't trade it for anything. However, is a college degree really an indicator of success? I would argue it is what you did to reach that point that contributes to your likelihood of success. Yet we as a society love someone who is stamped with a certification, a degree, or a license. Perhaps it the most consistent, quickest, and easiest way to justify your betting on an individual's future prospects but it is by no means a sure thing. I have definitely noticed this throughout my military career, as the military culture places a premium on having a masters degree and no merit in what that degree is in, the quality of the institution, or how the individual has leveraged the skills that were supposedly enhanced by that degree. My sense is that Thiel is frustrated with credentialism within our education system and that is part of the reason he started his foundation.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">2. Education leading to action, action leading to education</span> - My educational experience definitely helped me launch my own entrepreneurial venture. To say otherwise would be a lie. That being said, I have often wondered whether it was necessary for the success of my charity. Would I have been able to work alongside my friends to create our charity with a lesser education, or no college at all? I am not sure, but my guess is that based on my values, personality, and skill set that I could have created something special given the same amazing team to work with. Maybe not to the same extent, but I don't think the creation was dependent on my education. What I find interesting is that most people think that you have to learn before you begin, whereas I find I learn the most by beginning. My education definitely supplemented my ability to launch my charity but I think launching my charity really solidified all that instruction into actionable knowledge and experience.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">3. If you are passionate and have a plan don't fear rejecting the status quo</span> - I didn't start Checking For Charity until after I graduated college. However, I have experienced the social pressures and comments of a society who feels that it is a necessity to go straight to college after high school. My senior year of high school I was drafted in the United States Hockey League. It had been a goal of mine to earn a Division I Hockey Scholarship since I was a young teen, and in order to achieve that goal I knew I had to play junior hockey. Even prior to getting drafted, I did not apply to a single college. People thought I was crazy. Even people in the hockey community thought it was risky. But I knew that it was my passion and that I would achieve the goal no matter what. I had a plan of how to achieve my goal, and I had the passion to get me there. It's funny because looking back I really didn't have any fear. I knew I would make it happen. Since I have gotten older and taken on more life responsibilities that same confidence can be a bit harder to come by, but I truly believe that the lesson still holds true. If you love what you do and have a plan to accomplish your goals don't listen to the naysayers....make it happen. Thiel discusses a similar theme in his video interview below.<br /> <br />You can view the full video of his interesting interview below.<br /><br /><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" width="400" height="264" ><param name="flashvars" value="webhost=fora.tv&clipid=11453&cliptype=highlight" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="movie" value="http://fora.tv/embedded_player" /><embed flashvars="webhost=fora.tv&clipid=11453&cliptype=highlight" src="http://fora.tv/embedded_player" width="400" height="264" allowScriptAccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2701818454501746943.post-44297857539728992502011-05-10T16:31:00.000-07:002011-05-14T10:20:33.253-07:00Life Changing Cheese - Business Lessons From Everyday Life<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg23rFDpSiFk2Kfmd-ZeRNiHJg-MltUNXXSj5dyrVZ5ruM6t0A1fYNaABSUBdZl4nl80Qdx_ed2xJ4sz2kU3jtTdFuv9URbRLCn1TdKD4JvjsQuu2B-kY5UaBUnikdZnO0Yr-9vD6xjvOfA/s1600/cheese.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg23rFDpSiFk2Kfmd-ZeRNiHJg-MltUNXXSj5dyrVZ5ruM6t0A1fYNaABSUBdZl4nl80Qdx_ed2xJ4sz2kU3jtTdFuv9URbRLCn1TdKD4JvjsQuu2B-kY5UaBUnikdZnO0Yr-9vD6xjvOfA/s320/cheese.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606616391626761682" /></a><br />People naturally seek to learn about things they are interested in. In my case I am definitely interested in business. I have read numerous books off the <a href="http://badskiblog.blogspot.com/search/label/the%20Personal%20MBA">Personal MBA reading list</a>, I read business blogs, I listen to business audio books, and I did my undergrad in business management. Although all those sources of information are extremely valuable in developing my own business acumen, <span style="font-weight:bold;">I am amazed at how some of the most valuable business lessons are encountered when you least expect them during your daily life.</span><br /> <br />This past weekend a few friends, my wife, and I went up to Portsmouth, New Hampshire for the day. Portsmouth is definitely a cool little artsy town with plenty of shops, restaurants, and bars. Our couple friends had been there before and were showing us around. We stopped into a quirky shop with tons of kitchen accessories, wine, and other knick knacks (definitely the least manly thing I have ever written). Our friends had mentioned that the place always had wine tastings and that they had this amazing cheese that we "just had to try."<br /> <br />As I approached the tasting area I saw a man behind the table pouring wine and setting up a platter. It was then that the man said something that caught my attention.<br /> <br /><blockquote><span style="font-weight:bold;">“Life changing cheese.”</span></blockquote><br /> <br />Wow. What a great line! I am a very passionate person. When I am into something I am really into it. Whether it is hockey, music, my work, business, or playing guitar I am the kind of person who takes things that I am interested in or enjoy and I turn them into passions. For that reason, I am naturally drawn to people who are passionate about what they do. This wasn’t some person who was there to serve a few drinks and cubes of cheese to collect a paycheck. This guy was passionate about what he did and he was good at it.<br /><br />The man went on to explain how the cheese was made in a cave in England and that the unique conditions gave it the "life changing" taste characteristics. He spoke of how many cases of cheese they sold a week and how they couldn't keep up with the demand. As he spoke I couldn't help but imagine little leprechaun looking dudes working away in a candlelit cave somewhere in the countryside of England. I must admit the cheese was amazing. <span style="font-weight:bold;">The man wasn't just selling cheese, he was creating an experience!</span><br /><br />As we walked through the streets of Portsmouth I wondered how influenced my friends were by marketing of the man selling the cheese. I wondered whether the cheese was really amazing or if it was just good cheese that was made great by the experience. I wondered how many other people went around telling their friends about "life changing cheese." I wondered how much cheese the passionate cheese peddler sold compared to the emotionless sample distributors at supermarkets. <span style="font-weight:bold;">The fact that the "life changing cheese" experience stuck with me and that I put so much thought into a subject like cheese tells me that it was an example effective marketing at its core. </span><br /><br />Not only was it a great day amongst friends, it was also a real life lesson in marketing that I will be able to reference moving ahead. <span style="font-weight:bold;">How can I create "life changing cheese" in my own endeavors?</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2701818454501746943.post-65044461597398936812011-04-28T14:45:00.000-07:002011-04-28T15:03:03.142-07:00Checking For Charity Concept Video Version 2.0!A while back I posted a Checking For Charity concept <a href="http://badskiblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/checking-for-charity-concept-video.html">video</a> I created on my MacBook. Although I had good intentions my graphic execution left a little to be desired. Thankfully, very talented people have been inspired by our organization's goal to change the world through competitive hockey events. The latest Checking For Charity concept video was created by one of our volunteers Alicia Kraus. She does awesome work and has a real knack for carrying out a vision while making it better than you could have possibly imagined. Please visit her website at <a href="http://www.aliciakraus.com/">http://www.aliciakraus.com/</a>. Let me know what you think of the new and much improved video and better yet visit our website and join our team!<br /><br /><iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xKsBzlh8pQs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2701818454501746943.post-24267311337214736682011-04-20T13:30:00.000-07:002011-04-22T11:45:49.472-07:00What Is Failure?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOANcmEJmVPIa2g47Mv5Yyb8TZSpf8_qitGo8USPkjuhGmzQpdEqpkY7M6sAhkrpg_cTeYOI5ONDES14YkXzH7FoXGbAyLUEswGn9WF6aluXSyRRK5SrXxUFYKDupkSyLgR3wg0mnd368W/s1600/failure-success.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 302px; height: 380px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOANcmEJmVPIa2g47Mv5Yyb8TZSpf8_qitGo8USPkjuhGmzQpdEqpkY7M6sAhkrpg_cTeYOI5ONDES14YkXzH7FoXGbAyLUEswGn9WF6aluXSyRRK5SrXxUFYKDupkSyLgR3wg0mnd368W/s400/failure-success.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597773753105428706" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">What is your greatest failure?</span><br /> <br />Most people find this question incredibly difficult for a myriad of different reasons. The answer to this question typically provides more insight into how the respondent views failure itself than the actual shortcomings demonstrated of the respondent.<br /> <br />An article was published in <a href="http://www.economist.com/">The Economist</a> this week called <a href="http://www.economist.com/node/18557776">“Fail Often, Fail Well,”</a> that goes into depth on the benefits of learning how to fail effectively.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;"><blockquote>“Business writers have always worshipped at the altar of success. Tom Peters turned himself into a superstar with “In Search of Excellence”. Stephen Covey has sold more than 15m copies of “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. Malcolm Gladwell cleverly subtitled his third book, “Outliers”, “The Story of Success”. This success-fetish makes the latest management fashion all the more remarkable. The April issue of the Harvard Business Review is devoted to failure, featuring among other contributors A.G. Lafley, a successful ex-boss of Procter & Gamble (P&G), proclaiming that “we learn much more from failure than we do from success.” The current British edition of Wired magazine has “Fail! Fast. Then succeed. What European business needs to learn from Silicon Valley” on its cover. IDEO, a consultancy, has coined the slogan “Fail often in order to succeed sooner”.<br /><br />There are good reasons for the failure fashion. Success and failure are not polar opposites: you often need to endure the second to enjoy the first. Failure can indeed be a better teacher than success. It can also be a sign of creativity. The best way to avoid short-term failure is to keep churning out the same old products, though in the long term this may spell your doom. Businesses cannot invent the future—their own future—without taking risks.”</blockquote></span></span><br />The piece goes on to give examples of how embracing and managing failures can benefit businesses and is a great read. But how can you apply the lesson to you as an individual as opposed to just looking from an organizational standpoint?<br /><br />I grew up, like many people in our society, fearing failure. Whether it was working through school assignments or playing kickball at the park I had been conditioned to have a fear of not doing well. Although I think that feeling is very natural for most people I think it is very dangerous as well. By avoiding situations where you may fail you inevitably begin avoid situations where you have the opportunity to succeed.<br /><br />As I have gotten older and experienced various successes in my personal and professional life I am more and more appreciative of the adversity that led to those successes. I may have not enjoyed the adversity at the time but it was a critical component in my overall success.<br /><br />Two attitudinal adjustments have helped me immensely in managing my fear of failure and have thereby become a foundation for successes that I have: Although, like anyone else, battling self doubt is always a work in progress for me.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">1. Maintain A Commitment To Learning From Adversity:</span> By entering into every endeavor with a desire to learn from the experience it is difficult to categorize any outcome as a failure. So many of my past struggles have served me well in my future endeavors. Of course it is easier to recognize the value in a challenge after the bad taste has faded over time, but that is why it is so important to maintain the commitment to learning from your experiences on the way in.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">2. Failure Is An End State And The Only Certain End State In Life Is Death:</span> Failure is a bit of a dirty word for me in the sense that I don’t view most experiences as "failures." The only experience I view as a true failure is quitting. If you don’t quit something entirely you are merely experiencing a setback, and all setbacks can be overcome over time. If you are citing certain experiences as failures you likely gave up. By maintaining that the only certainty in your life is that it will eventually come to an end, a natural shift will occur in your attitude towards setbacks. Things may not always work out just as you would have liked but if you keep moving forward and learn from your setbacks you will avoid settling into a failure mentality.<br /><br />Successful people and organizations push through and learn from "failures," with the most successful embracing and even seeking out "failure" learning opportunities. Embracing that mentality is not a natural feeling but one that will undoubtedly benefit organizations and individuals alike.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2701818454501746943.post-12084241520066877352011-04-11T14:04:00.001-07:002011-04-11T16:37:50.505-07:00Might As Well Jump....<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKrFBMKGxNJr3_pZnMy9s9aZWmcbZB8XPJA7EnCkw8qyNVndPSAXZYCXhO46PRn81vkT4O4mtWN_evqRbf2oVW514O3bNZRQKTf0QKm59D1FAog3eMjpVz37BiNZ5hyphenhyphenqlD7zOMDpReSzao/s1600/article-1043871-0240B7CC00000578-453_468x297.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 254px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKrFBMKGxNJr3_pZnMy9s9aZWmcbZB8XPJA7EnCkw8qyNVndPSAXZYCXhO46PRn81vkT4O4mtWN_evqRbf2oVW514O3bNZRQKTf0QKm59D1FAog3eMjpVz37BiNZ5hyphenhyphenqlD7zOMDpReSzao/s400/article-1043871-0240B7CC00000578-453_468x297.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594460810316614498" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">Jump.</span></span><br /> <br />When friends and family learn about my involvement in <a href="http://www.checkingforcharity.com/">Checking For Charity</a> one of the first things they ask is, “how did you go about starting a nonprofit?” Jump is the answer that most naturally comes to mind. I don’t say it to be smart or short or because I think 1984 era Van Halen rules. I say jump because it encapsulates one of the most important lessons that I learned during my innovation journey.<br /> <br />I am part way through Seth Godin’s new book entitled <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Poke-Box-Seth-Godin/dp/1936719002">“Poke The Box,”</a> which is dedicated entirely to the importance of starting. Seth argues that while there are many traditionally recognized components to bringing a new venture to fruition the most important factor is largely ignored. That factor is the person with initiative; the person with the guts to say “go.” Below is a clip of Seth describing the concept behind Poke The Box.<br /> <br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6IapqgokfNU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /> <br />I think that Seth has innate ability to simplify complex topics into digestible little knowledge nuggets that truly inspire you. What really sets Seth apart is his ability to choose topics and examples that transcend any one industry or situation. Poke The Box is no exception and based on what I have read so far I definitely recommend reading it.<br /> <br />So when I turn to my friends and family to say that I started my charity through my willingness to jump, I am really telling them that I could have never envisioned what Checking For Charity has ultimately become. By rallying the right people around an inspiring idea and by actually getting the ball rolling on the idea we were able to see where the 'magic of the start' could take us. Here are a few other lessons learned further validating the importance of the start.<br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">1. Planning Is Overrated</span> – Planning is very important, but that is not to say that it isn’t overrated. Planning to implement a new venture or project is great to work through your thoughts and to thoroughly explore the challenges you may face. The problem with planning is that you are focusing on a snapshot in time while life is a moving target. By the time you have thought of “everything” the reality in which you are operating has already changed. Planning also has a way of becoming the focus. Instead of focusing on the objective people often become consumed with putting together a perfect plan to reach the objective. If planning is not getting you a step closer to your goal it is putting you a step back. You cannot plan for everything and all the planning in the world doesn’t guarantee that you will carry that plan out; execution is the real challenge. <br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">2. Improvement Is Iterative By Nature</span> - Rarely do we as humans get anything 100% right on the first try. So the majority of how we improve is done by implementing and correcting over time. If it is guaranteed that you aren’t going to be perfect from the start then you know that you will inevitably be course correcting. By delaying your start you are delaying the value adding component of the process. George S. Patton put it perfectly when he said,<span style="font-style:italic;">"A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week."</span> By beginning the process now you enable yourself to keep pace with reality versus having your plan become more and more outdated prior to implementation. As things change you will be able to moderately update your strategy and business model versus completely recreating the wheel prior to implementation.<br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">3. There Is No Substitute For Experience</span> – I had read numerous books on innovation and entrepreneurship before I started my charity journey. I had been involved in the great game of hockey for more than 15 years before I started my charity journey. My education throughout college was focused on fundamental management principles and character based leadership. All of these things undoubtedly prepared me to navigate the startup process. However, in hindsight the most impactful single action that I did throughout the entire process was to jump. I didn’t know what I didn’t know about starting a nonprofit until I started. Looking back I don’t even think it was possible to for me to learn the majority of those lessons in advance. The same holds true for any endeavor. Preparation is great and should never be discounted but experience is our primary educator. What jumping did for our organization was force us to confront and conquer our challenges now versus deferring the confrontation of our problems until we had the 'perfect plan.'<br /> <br />I am not saying to go out with guns blazing with complete disregard for the world around you. I am not naive enough to think that every venture you undertake will be successful. <span style="font-weight:bold;">My point, much like the premise of the Seth’s book, is merely that improving your ability to “jump” is one of the most important and rewarding skills you can develop as a leader and a teammate.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2701818454501746943.post-35536061911655170512011-03-26T10:21:00.000-07:002011-03-26T10:49:37.591-07:00Warriors In Transition: A Feature On The White Rhino Report<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaonwmXXJM6I1SItiyaAiPxRfk5biSN1gMBOJhU9eUxfpUZx8yX-uLMWKOP_6qyxsqrRyJ7DcGuBPvbzacoJULRi2XaIPYPBPFxr2SGuktLDkZ_vdp8Mezr3xS2IoyfY-_q6SeoTm3Jpef/s1600/gse_multipart56947.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 118px; height: 181px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaonwmXXJM6I1SItiyaAiPxRfk5biSN1gMBOJhU9eUxfpUZx8yX-uLMWKOP_6qyxsqrRyJ7DcGuBPvbzacoJULRi2XaIPYPBPFxr2SGuktLDkZ_vdp8Mezr3xS2IoyfY-_q6SeoTm3Jpef/s320/gse_multipart56947.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588446364045763762" /></a><br />I have been featured on <a href="http://whiterhinoreport.blogspot.com/">The White Rhino Report</a> in a post called <a href="http://whiterhinoreport.blogspot.com/2011/03/warriors-in-transition-matt-bader-is.html">Warriors In Transition</a>. The White Rhino Report is the blog of Dr. Al Chase, a friend and the founder of White Rhino Partners. White Rhino Partners is an executive recruiting company out of Boston, MA that as Dr. Chase so eloquently puts it<span style="font-style:italic;">"specializes in placing senior executives who are "Renaissance Men and Women," and who are entrepreneurial leaders - many of whom have had a distinguished military career and/or are Service Academy graduates and hold MBA's from top-tier business schools."</span> <br /><br />I am honored to be featured in the blog and to be working with Dr. Chase. I look forward to working alongside him to find my way into an organization where I can add value through my unique experiences and professional skill set. Below is the piece that was featured, but do yourself a favor and check out The White Rhino Report for a wide range of interesting topics as Al not only places Renaissance men and women, he is a Renaissance man himself.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Periodically in The White Rhino Report, we tell the story of a warrior who has served our nation in the military and is transitioning to a new career in the private sector. Today I am pleased to introduce the readers of the WRP to my good friend, USAF Captain Matt Bader. Matt is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, where he excelled as a member of the hockey team. He has recently returned from a deployment to Iraq. In the following paragraphs he shares some of experiences he had while serving with Tiger team in central Iraq.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><blockquote>Tiger Team in Iraq:<br /><br />When I was deployed to Iraq I led a team of people responsible for providing contracting support to bases throughout central Iraq. There was seemingly more work to be done than could ever be accomplished, but you worked 14 hour days and did your best to prioritize the work to ensure the success of the mission. After I had been there a month or so I began to settle in and feel more comfortable in my role. Then I was assigned an additional duty as the lead of the DFAS Tiger Team. DFAS stands for Defense Finance and Accounting Service and they are the agency responsible for disbursing payments to all contractors doing business with DOD. I was charged with reducing the outstanding payments that the government owed contractors for goods, services, and construction that had been completed.<br /><br />It was an additional duty that nobody wanted. The problems were multifaceted and complex in nature and each week the General in charge of all contracting for Iraq and Afghanistan got reports on the progress so it was very high stakes as well.<br /><br />My team members were made up of DFAS liaisons, contracting personnel, and me. Most of them were less than thrilled to be given additional duties on top of the seemingly endless workload they already had. Our starting point was more than $2 million in outstanding invoices across Iraq many of which were accruing interest payments and costing the government thousands of dollars. We had conflicting interests amongst the key players and we were facing systemic wartime problems to include government bureaucracy, the fog of war, and the language/cultural barrier of our contractors. The DFAS Tiger Team on the prior rotation had made little to no progress in reducing the outstanding invoices and the lack of progress was becoming a sore spot for leadership. It was definitely an uphill battle.<br /><br />I must admit that when I first took over I was feeling a little overwhelmed but I did the only thing you can really do in that environment which is put your head down, work hard, and give it your best shot. I knew that fostering a real team environment and creating buy in was the first thing I needed to do to get anywhere. I recognized that the DFAS liaisons were undermanned and often took the majority of the “blame” with regard to the outstanding invoices so I sought to earn their respect by immediately showing them that I cared about making a difference with the DFAS Tiger Team. I empathized with their situation and asked a ton of questions about the process. I think my humility and genuine desire to improve our current state won them over which was huge because they were the primary knowledge holders for the payment process and the inner workings of DFAS. I then sought to establish a common vision that was aligned with the overarching mission in Iraq. I described that it was building the Iraqi economy that was going to get us out of the war. Enhancing opportunities for the Iraqi people is the goal of counterinsurgency and there is no better way to do that then to put the Iraqi citizens to work. With that being said, huge damage can be done to our relations when the work has been performed and we do not hold up our end of the bargain with proper and prompt payment. I made sure that everyone on the team was aware that our team could have a direct impact on preventing extremism and that letting the current state continue could actually be fostering terrorism. It was clear that tying our additional duty to the mission of the war effort was a big turning point for the buy in and camaraderie of the team.<br /><br />After I got my feet wet and had fostered a unified team environment I got my 8 member team together for a brainstorming session. I facilitated a mini continuous process improvement event for the team. We came up with the challenges we were facing and eventually came up with a set of action items we thought could improve the state of the payment process in Iraq. It was clear that we needed help from outside organizations such as DFAS Rome back in the states who processed all the payments, the Senior Contracting Official for Iraq, and the Brigadier General of CENTCOM Contracting Command. I knew that simply telling higher ranking people and outside organizations we needed help was a recipe for disaster. So we presented our findings in a very strategic manner. We showcased how we brought different stakeholders together and came up with a consensus of the “big rocks” or issues with payment process in Iraq. We then presented what “we,” Regional Contracting Center Central, were already doing to improve the current state. This included new standard work, re-engineered business processes, and visuals to be used as payment processing templates for contractors and customers. It was after our efforts had been showcased that we had a section detailing the help we needed from outside organizations. We tried to portray our findings as “here is what we are doing to help ourselves, but we could really use your help in these areas to take our successes to the next level.”<br /><br />I presented our findings to my leadership and they in turn passed them onto the SCO-I, and the General. On a visit stateside the General met with the head of DFAS Rome in New York and began forging a new memorandum of agreement between the Command and DFAS.<br /><br />Within two months the changes our 8 person DFAS Tiger Team had implemented had reduced the outstanding payments by more than 50%. This was without the help of the outside agencies. As I prepared to depart Iraq, The SCO-I emailed me directly for feedback on the memorandum they were drafting to be implemented in Iraq and Afghanistan.<br /><br />It was an incredibly rewarding experience to take over a program that nobody wanted to be a part of and to build a highly performing team that achieved amazing results. We went from the Regional Contracting Center with the largest outstanding payment issues to the model for entire theatre in less than six months.</blockquote></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Matt will be leaving the Air force in the next few weeks. He and his wife are committed to returning to the Portland, Oregon area. If you know of an employer in that area who could use a leader with the kind of skills that Matt outlines above, his work ethic, leadership abilities and unimpeachable integrity, have them contact me to get in touch with Matt.<br /><br />Dr. Al Chase, White Rhino Partners <br />1 Broadway, 14th floor Kendall Sq., <br />Cambridge, MA 02142 <br />achase@whiterhinopartners.com <br />office: (617) 401-2113</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2701818454501746943.post-74461328381724249272011-03-20T04:08:00.000-07:002011-03-20T04:41:49.734-07:00Groupon: The Fastest Growing Company Ever…But Will It Be The Fastest Declining Ever?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8kK1YNsLPyQ_IoMsobBaESkgsPk1ET9tkGt0I2wF_4of0qWMBgGHHn-2iNuPbZbQ5gYD2fECdUpKTG4hsoYTWAwZojT7fdshYPu0Rj1MhN9_dEESp6m_331EikXaObnLhwLZ6_C4Fdxi5/s1600/Top-Android-App-Groupon-Icon.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 318px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8kK1YNsLPyQ_IoMsobBaESkgsPk1ET9tkGt0I2wF_4of0qWMBgGHHn-2iNuPbZbQ5gYD2fECdUpKTG4hsoYTWAwZojT7fdshYPu0Rj1MhN9_dEESp6m_331EikXaObnLhwLZ6_C4Fdxi5/s320/Top-Android-App-Groupon-Icon.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586125792832062114" /></a><br />I have had some interesting discussions with a few friends recently on whether Groupon is “for real” or not. One friend is building an online startup on the side and has connections to the Palo Alto world. The other works in finance and is more well versed in looking into companies’ financial reports. Both are smart but disagree completely on whether the success of Groupon is sustainable. Listening to both sides of the argument, I would say that I fall somewhere in the middle. I think that the fate of Groupon rests within the hands of the leadership of the company.<br /> <br />There is a very well written article in <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/">Businessweek</a> that details the rise of Groupon and where it is going. The article, found <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_13/b4221070014682.htm">here</a>, sheds some interesting insight into the company and may have you formulating your own take on the fate of the growing online deal-of-the-day startup.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;"><blockquote>Mason is the 30-year-old chief executive officer of the digital couponing comet known as Groupon, the Google-spurning, Super Bowl-flopping startup that sends deal-of-the-day e-mails to more than 70 million subscribers around the world. He's wearing a heavy winter coat, a lime-green track jacket embroidered with the Groupon logo, sneakers, and garish red Christmas socks. ("Only clean socks I could find," he says.) Holding his iPhone before him like a tricorder, he logs into the new service, called Groupon Now, and shows off two simple buttons that have the potential not only to transform humankind's lunchtime habits but also to alter the topography of the multibillion-dollar market for local commerce.<br /><br />The two buttons: "I'm Hungry" and "I'm Bored."<br /><br />It's only 11 a.m. Mason clicks the "hungry" button, and his phone transmits its location to Groupon's servers and then displays a list of deals from nearby restaurants. Across a bridge spanning the Chicago River, the Asian fusion restaurant Thalia Spice is testing Groupon Now by offering $20 worth of food for $12. A block to the north, an eatery named @ Spot Café is dangling a $10 coupon for $6. Each restaurant has specified that its discount is good only during select hours on that particular day, when a few of their tables would otherwise be empty.</blockquote></span></span><br /><br />The simple expose detailed above is what CEO Andrew Mason is banking on as the future of Groupon. The vote is out on whether retailers will be on board with a more ‘permanent deal’. In fact the verdict is still unclear on whether retailers are completely satisfied with Groupon’s daily deal approach. Groupon repeatedly advertises a significant return rate for vendors but the media loves to highlight disgruntled users who claim to have lost significant amounts of money through the Groupon imposed deep discounts. What is clear is that there are still plenty of local businesses willing to give Groupon a whirl which should fuel company growth into the future whether it be through traditional daily deals or the new Groupon Now deals.<br /> <br />As I read the article a few things jumped out at me:<br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">1. Easily Replicated Business Model </span>– This is the primary point of contention in the polarized argument between my friends. Anyone can create a daily deal business model and many have. With the flood of players coming into the market, how long will Groupon be able to maintain their incredible growth? More specifically, what if an online player with significant influence (i.e. Facebook, Google) unleashes a similar service? I think that Groupon’s ability to maintain their position as the dominant player in the market segment will hinge on their ability to stay ahead of the competition with regard to where the segment is headed. Is Groupon Now the first step in warding off the competition? Only time will tell.<br /> <br />There were a few things that were discussed in article that I did like about how the company views itself and its challenges ahead. <span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">"We had this realization probably a year into launching Groupon that this was highly copy-able," says Lefkofsky. Adds Mason: "We have always been thinking about how to solve these fundamental problems of our model. We have known since very early on that some form of real-time deal optimization is where this had to go."</span></span> First and foremost, I like that they are aware of the reality facing their business model. Obviously it is much easier to combat your weaknesses and seek new opportunities when you are actually aware of the challenges you face. Mason also made some interesting comments regarding his company idols. <span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">"The company I admire most is Netflix," he says, referring to the movie-streaming company that purposefully disrupted its original DVD-by-mail business. "They have figured out a way to be successful and cannibalize their core business. Nothing is more romantic to me." </span></span>Not only does Mason not mind revolutionizing their business model, he seems to see it as a sign that a company is truly successful. This tells me that they at least have the right mindset for success. Execution is another thing entirely, but one has to look no further than Netflix or Google to see how a business can grow, shift, and change to capitalize on new markets that in many cases have yet to be created. I see the success of Groupon hinging on their ability to do the same.<br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">2. A Battle Against Creative Destruction </span>– The term creative destruction, which was popularized by economist Joseph Schumpeter in the 1950’s, is defined as a “process of industrial mutation that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one." As companies grow they become more bureaucratic, less flexible, and typically less innovative. These growing rigid organizations are destroyed by smaller, more innovative companies who either revolutionize the marketplace they are in or simply create a new one rendering the old way of doing business obsolete. Every company faces these growing challenges. However one would assume that as the ‘fastest growing company in the world,’ Groupon should expect to face these challenges sooner than an organization with a more traditional growth pattern.<br /> <br />There are a few examples within the article that indicate that Groupon, despite its extremely rapid growth, seems to be operating in a similar manner to its early startup days.<br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;"><blockquote>Groupon occupies parts of six floors in the former headquarters of Montgomery Ward, the erstwhile catalog retailer and department-store chain that along with another Chicago merchandiser, Sears Roebuck, defined retail during much of the 19th and 20th centuries. Aaron Montgomery Ward might not recognize much of the building he put up in 1908. Groupon employees are jammed in practically elbow to elbow. Doodles and cartoons festoon walls and whiteboards. Shelves are strewn with cartons of bagels and coffee. Adding to the flavor, blue yoga balls, which the company gave to every employee at an all-hands meeting in December, clutter the office and sometimes substitute for desk chairs. A conference room on the sixth floor, the "war room," is the launch pad for Groupon Now. A whiteboard is covered with giant maps of the initial target cities, with tallies of the number of merchants who have signed up in each Zip Code. The company plans to go wide with the service in early April.</blockquote></span></span><br /> <br />Detailing corporate strategy on the walls. Doodles throughout the office. A war room with maps targeting launch cities. People packed together. So what you ask? I think those simple descriptions speak volumes on how the company is currently operating. When you are outlining corporate strategy in brainstorming sessions versus creating bureaucratic point papers and fancy presentations you are doing something right. The idea is what is valuable, not the process to present it. For a company that has grown that much and has had that much capital infusion (i.e. additional vested interests), I think it is pretty cool that they have still managed to operate in that fashion. Perhaps they are taking a page from the Facebook playbook, a company where CEO Mark Zuckerberg is said to sit office-less amongst fellow employees and where conference rooms are nothing but glass rooms without shades.<br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">3. Purposeful And Incremental Strategy Improvement</span> – It is quite clear that from the beginnings of Groupon the leadership has been looking ahead to the next step. When you hear company leadership say things like <span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">“We have known since very early on that some form of real-time deal optimization is where this had to go,”</span></span> you see that they are not just riding the daily deal train mindlessly hoping to cash in. Turning down Google’s estimated $6B buyout dispelled cash in motives as well. In the tech sector I think it is all the more important to continually balance knowing where you want to go and capitalizing on changes that may not even be visible yet. <br /><br />Mason referenced Netflix in the article and it got me thinking about what they have done. I have known about Netflix forever. They were a consistent case study in disruptive markets throughout college. Their DVD mailing model changed the industry. I haven’t joined Netflix yet but I have been thinking about doing it lately. When I went to the website the other day I was amazed that their DVD mailing model is hardly even traceable on the site. Everything is about streaming media now. Their model has changed entirely. With changes in technology and social trends Netflix has incrementally changed direction over the years, evidently without me fully realizing it. If they had offered the strategy shift in one massive roll out it probably wouldn’t have worked out so well. Yet by having a rough strategy in mind and by reacting to world changes over time they have been able to emerge as the market leader in monetizing streaming online media. Mason undoubtedly sees the parallels to his industry and it looks as though they are trying to do the same.<br /> <br />I would love to see the argument on whether Groupon is the next big thing or next big bust continue in the comments section.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2701818454501746943.post-58428337424884378642011-03-07T14:08:00.000-08:002011-03-07T16:02:07.191-08:00Creative Contradiction & Chaos Theory<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNrL4cujMIK1kE4ZUcIL3Iy54bU-GWIvakTZxsNpBZ1X47-7yzSuPfoE4yqzaRwa7GKmXIfz1lTKqNJNf62_Er-7msi7k0q9HuEN1EADoxGC1Rv6mIa9sAl4juelGTNiF87DUgiOeu8UgB/s1600/Chaos-Theory.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 265px; height: 292px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNrL4cujMIK1kE4ZUcIL3Iy54bU-GWIvakTZxsNpBZ1X47-7yzSuPfoE4yqzaRwa7GKmXIfz1lTKqNJNf62_Er-7msi7k0q9HuEN1EADoxGC1Rv6mIa9sAl4juelGTNiF87DUgiOeu8UgB/s320/Chaos-Theory.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581489718012659714" /></a><br />Is Michael Jackson an introvert or an extrovert? Well there are countless records of his extreme shyness that would indicate he is an introvert. Yet his on stage performances showcase a completely different and opposite side of his personality. This contradiction of personality is not limited to the late King of Pop. I came across an interesting article on the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/">Huffington Post</a> entitled<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-barry-kaufman/creative-people_b_829563.html"> “After the Show: The Many Faces of the Performer,”</a> which takes an in depth look at the paradoxes entrenched in the personalities of creative people.<br /><br />One passage particularly caught my attention:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><blockquote>“In the CNN.com article The confusing legacy of Michael Jackson, Todd Leopold discusses the perplexing combination of seemingly contradictory traits displayed by Michael Jackson. In explaining his many sides, Jackson biographer J. Randy Taraborelli essentially throws his hands up in the air in exasperation as he tries to make sense of the apparent contradictions:<br /><br />‘I think that when you're talking about Michael Jackson and you try to analyze him, it's like analyzing electricity, you know? It exists, but you don't have a clue as to how it works.’<br /><br />Creativity researchers aren't so confused. <span style="font-weight:bold;">They have long-ago accepted the fact that creative people are complex. Almost by definition, creativity is complex. Creative thinking is influenced by many traits, behaviors, and sociocultural factors that come together in one person. It would be surprising if all of these factors didn't sometimes, or even most of the time, appear to contradict one another.</span><br /><br />As creativity researcher Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi notes in his 1996 article for Psychology Today entitled The Creative Personality, creative people ‘show tendencies of thought and action that in most people are segregated. They contain contradictory extremes; instead of being an "individual," each of them is a "multitude.”’<br /><br />To me, some of the most fascinating contrasts are those found in creative performers -- those who are constantly on stage and in the public eye.<br /></blockquote></span><br />Although I completely agree with the prognosis of the creative personalities described above, I would argue that the great majority of people exhibit these same contradictions. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Certainly creativity is complex. However, I think it is more appropriate to say that people in general are complex!</span> Maybe we are more attuned to these contradictions in creative types because the contradictions are presented on a grand stage for all to see. Are you going to notice personality paradoxes more in the guy Mark from ‘Accounting’ at work or Michael Jackson? Or perhaps the opposite ends of the personality spectrum in creative people are just a bit more exaggerated or pronounced. I am not sure. <span style="font-weight:bold;">What is certain is that people are complex whether labeled “creative” or not.</span><br /><br />The article got me thinking about how the creative contradiction relates to effective team situations. <span style="font-weight:bold;">How do you effectively lead a group of people in a creative environment given the various personality idiosyncrasies of each team member that are constantly changing based on the dynamic environment? </span><br /><br />That question took me back to college. When I was attending the <a href="http://www.usafa.af.mil/">Air Force Academy</a> as Business Management major I took a Management 303 class which had the reputation of being the weird, touchy feely class. It was described as pretty abstract and ethereal with notoriously low test scores that were salvaged only by the grading curve. Although I too struggled to grasp many of the concepts we learned about, I did hang onto the concepts from our talks regarding chaos theory in management.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Chaos theory seeks to describe the unpredictability of systems.</span> A dynamic system like any organization or team environment is innately complex, erratic, and unpredictable. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Chaos theory, however, shows that even the most complex and chaotic systems fall into some natural order. </span>The chaotic inputs are connected and create some form of order through “strange attractors.” <span style="font-weight:bold;">Strange attractors essentially create natural boundaries for chaotic, dynamic systems.</span><br /><br />Since taking that class, I have always tried to analyze any leadership or team situation with chaos theory in mind. I definitely think chaos theory is an effective way to look as systems. <span style="font-weight:bold;">All the external changes that occur coupled with the complexities of human behavior make predictability of even the most simple tasks utterly impossible.</span> Which brings us back to the question discussed above. From my experience here are a few things that may help to answer the question above.<br /><br />1. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Stay Flexible</span> – I have had the opportunity to lead in some very dynamic, ambiguous, and challenging environments. Whether it has been serving as the captain of a division I hockey team, the president of a nonprofit, or as a contracting officer team lead during Operation Iraqi Freedom I have learned to expect the unexpected. You simply cannot, for reasons detailed above, predict what is going to happen in a team environment while seeking to attain a goal. The more comfortable you can become operating amidst ambiguity the more effective you will be at achieving your goals, even if the path is different than you might have hoped.<br /><br />2. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Create Your Own Strange Attractors</span> – Although easier said than done, I think as a leader it is your responsibility to create strange attractors versus allowing them to develop by chance. Although you may not be able to predict how things will unfold for your team, you can help to shape how your team will respond to the ever unfolding chaos. An example could be as simple as establishing shared values amongst team members. You cannot control how each person will respond to a given situation but you may help to ensure that their response does not violate the team’s shared values.<br /><br />3. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Acknowledge Your Powerlessness</span> – Embracing the chaos is acknowledging your powerlessness in a sense. Not to say that your role as a leader is not important and that you do not have influence. As a leader you want people to want to do the "right" thing. In essence you want to create an environment, or a system, where it is most desirable for all parties involved to do the right thing. Not only are you acknowledging reality by operating in this mindset of limited control, but you are also empowering team members to attain your organizations goals in the most innovative and creative manner possible.<br /><br />I am by no means a guru on the subject of chaos theory in management or the personality contradictions of people. These are just a few observations I have picked up in my leadership experiences thus far. To be honest, half the time my posts serve more as reminders to myself than holier than thou advice columns. I would love to hear your viewpoint on the topics above and thanks for reading.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2701818454501746943.post-60643718316072963562011-02-28T14:47:00.000-08:002011-02-28T17:03:02.431-08:00Checking For Charity Concept VideoOur first Checking For Charity concept video. This is version 1.0 and it will likely be incrementally improved so please leave comments/suggestions!<br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwlj8Gw_i_3-rAy3TQz9NAv0ryQ0lgwIRa_LxcXlmCJ8gIEmaeR6RHWqKUMJYu-kV2_N695C_4CK0ncs9aH3A' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2701818454501746943.post-72954818352102334602011-02-15T16:30:00.000-08:002011-02-15T17:08:35.878-08:00Converging vs. Diverging From The Norm<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGBj1EGcRNHEoxH33EoNbm8FADh1ra0R2-hTAMizLPP63UjZl7CpD4XNVvcStmWZRH38bd4AIvvRK1rSQUu964TFbdz3h_1r-gQI7gF-s8tK06vX00z-ejiUCioEZwDdz6wcdDDuZ68w1s/s1600/264898957_8e5651c5e6_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGBj1EGcRNHEoxH33EoNbm8FADh1ra0R2-hTAMizLPP63UjZl7CpD4XNVvcStmWZRH38bd4AIvvRK1rSQUu964TFbdz3h_1r-gQI7gF-s8tK06vX00z-ejiUCioEZwDdz6wcdDDuZ68w1s/s320/264898957_8e5651c5e6_o.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5574087505393536834" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">How do you differentiate between a high performing organization and everyone else? </span>There are countless answers that likely differentiate the two. However, as I was sitting in a two hour training seminar for contracting personnel at work today and I couldn't help but notice one extremely important differentiator.<br /><br />When people hear the term government acquisition, high performing organization is not necessarily the first thing that comes to mind. That is not to say that there aren't extremely capable people and teams within the career field because I have definitely worked with both. However, the combination of bureaucracy, regulation, and a risk averse culture of the government procurement career field doesn’t propel it into the ranks of what many consider a high performing organization.<br /><br />As I sat through the training session I could not help but notice the same phrases directed at the audience. "If you don't do this....then the auditors will slam you," or "You better do this.....or the Inspector General may write you up," and "You should be doing this.......because it is a direct reflection of you and your superior's work." It was relentless and I couldn't help but feeling like I was being pushed around a bit. Threatened almost. The kind of warnings one receives throughout childhood. Unfortunately these kinds of messages are the norm in the government arena. <span style="font-weight:bold;">In the government contracting environment individuals are pushed to converge with what is ordinary.</span> In that environment ordinary is good. Ordinary means staying well within bounds. Ordinary means being reactive to any feedback that is filtered down. Ordinary is the safe play. Ordinary (hopefully) keeps your organization out of the headlines.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">In my experience, high performing organizations force you diverge from the ordinary.</span> A high performing organization says "You better create or do something new and unique....or something bad will happen to you." There is a distinct incentive to not only break free of the status quo but to change it for the better. Instead of coloring well within the lines you go outside them and establish new boundaries that you would not have known were possible had you not put yourself out there. <span style="font-weight:bold;">When an organization forces you to diverge from the ordinary you in essence become extraordinary, and being extraordinary is the epitome of what a high performing organization is all about.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0