365QOD-Day181

"A good partnership is more than the sum of its parts." —Sigi Moeslinger #99conf

I am usually a nice easy going professor.  However, I do get mean and nasty when it comes to team projects.  I want the team to be a true team.

Most teams have dynamics that come into play and affect the team's effectiveness.  BUT I am not talking about that.  I often have students in teams and they are suppose to produce a product.  Often times it is one of the students producing and the other ones, busy with their lives, coasting on the tails of the producer.

My observation to the teams is usually in the form, "If I was your boss, and this one person produced everything, why would I need the rest of you?"  If the team is not better than the individuals that make up the team then it is not a great team.  This is why I love the quote above.

Today's question is:
"Are you the producer or riding someone's back?"

365QOD-Day180

"Everything I'm not made me everything I am"-rap song lyrics

The other day while walking towards a beach I noticed this tattoo beneath the neck on a young lady.   It caught my eye and occupied my mind. 

We are always so certain of the things we are and the things we are not.  But can the things we are not make us more of what we are?

If something is not enjoyable then we often stay away from doing it.  We do tend to gravitate towards things we enjoy and most likely are good at.  Unless work requires it, we often times play to our strengths.

But can a weakness make us strong?  I believe it can.

In January 1993 I started teaching.  Being in from of a group was a weakness if not a fear.  I did not like being afraid and chose to put myself in a position where I had to be in front of a group presenting at least a couple of times per week for at least one to one and a half hours.

My fear went away.  Now I could be placed in front of very very large groups and I would be OK.  So a weakness became a strength.  That which I was not made me who I am.

Today's question is:
"Have you ever converted a weakness into a strength?"

365QOD-Day179

God may meet you today where you least expect him- church sign

A long time ago I heard a story about a man.  The story talked about the man's entry in the world- the birth day.  And the story told about the man's ending hours-the end day.

I thought about that story and quickly realized that it was very incomplete.  We can not know the measure of the man by just looking at those two dates.  This is the reason why gravestones have both those days and a dash in between them.

It is in the dash that the true measure is created or wasted.  Unfortunately, the dash in itself does not help us determine the value of the life.  We need many more stories and results to establish this.

Today's question is:

"How will you make your dash meaningful today?"

365QOD-Day178

"Reduce everything you want to do, to an action you can do right now." —Jason Randal #99conf

Sometimes we out-think ourselves.  My math students are a great example of this.  They want to see the answer before they do the work.  Sometimes they are so confident that they skip steps to get to a desired answer.

I always tell them that in math you do not have to be a genius.  You do not even have to know what the answer will be.  All you have to do is take baby steps forward.  The small step you take forward you must be 100% certain that it is correct.  

If you do enough small steps of which you are 100% certain that you are correct you will arrive at the answer.   For most problems they are solving at most 3-4 steps gets you to an answer.

Today's question is:

"What is the smallest action you can take towards your biggest goal?"

365QOD-Day177

"That is very subjective"- my thought

Another learning from the strengths seminar was that our yearly evaluations are based on the PIE model.

P-PERFORMANCE - 10%
I- IMAGE- 30%
E-EXPOSURE- 60%

Only 10% of our perceived success is based on how well we do(performance).  The image that we have built over time contributes 30%.  Lastly, how the decision makers above us see us contributes 60%.

What is disturbing is that 60% is made up of the subjective(i.e. political at times) opinions of others about our performance.  Beyond one's immediate supervisor, the knowledge of what one does and how well one does it is often lost.  This makes the process very suspect.  Yet unfortunately even some of the largest companies use this method.

Today's question is:
"What can you do you improve your exposure to your boss, their boss, and their boss' boss?"

365QOD-Day176

"But I get evaluated yearly based on my weaknesses"-my response

Recently I attended a seminar based on the book Strengths Finder 2.0.  After reading the book, and answering the 177 question questionnaire, the seminar tied many pieces together.

Once we had taken the questionnaire we were given a report with five of our strengths.  During class we met in groups with people who had the same strengths as ourselves.  WOW!  I immediately saw in others what I know I have in me.

In one such group we discussed our passion for learning.  One of the participants even wondered how to pass on the learning to her team.  My suggestion was a lunch and learn seminar like the ones I held for a new hire network group.

It was interesting to note how people used their strengths.  But the big AHA moment came when the achiever group, one of my strengths, presented their finding.  It made me question whether my strengths and my values were aligned.  At times they are not.  Most people in the class had family as their highest value.

Today's question is:

"What is your strongest strength?"

365QOD-Day175

"I don't think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday"- Lincoln

A very powerful quote I recently learned.

I remember walking into a steel mill in August 1989 as a young engineer.  I shared an office with a guy named Jim Allen.  On my first day he offered me the following advise:  Don't leave the plant without learning at least one thing each day.

Pretty good advise.  For years it was easy but there came a day when I had to look for something new to learn before I left for the day.

Today's question is:
"What new thing did you learn today?"

365QOD-Day174

"That can't happen!"-Anonymous

Imagine 25 years ago a person walks up to a management consultant
"I've got a cool business model for making software.  Here's how it works:
A bunch of intrinsically motivated people around the world get together to
do technically sophisticated stuff for no pay.  And then after working really
hard, they give away their product for free.  Trust me: It's going to be huge."- Dan Pink Interview in Wired

How many things we imagined many years ago are now a reality?  Cell phones?  Cell phones with video cameras? Smart phones?  iPad?

Today's question is:

"What seems impossible to you today?"

365QOD-Day173

"Change is never a matter of ability, change is a matter of leverage over oneself"- Tony Robbins

In the last post I mentioned the idea that in order for change to occur three beliefs must be present:
1. It must change
2. I must change
3. I can change it

In an early post I mentioned the book Switch.  The authors describe the change process as having three pieces
1. The Rider- the logical part
2. The Elephant- the emotional part
3. The Path - setup for success

We can logically decide what must change, realize that we must raise our level in order to change it, and actually believe that we can change it.  So what is next?  The Path.

You must setup a few milestones which you can quickly hit and your chances of success will greatly increase.  In the book they tell a story of 8 punches vs. 10 punches with two pre-punches that Subway tried out for its customers to earn a foot long sub.  The success rate for the pre-punched cards was 3 times larger.

Today's question is:
"What are the milestones you can pre-punch?"

365QOD-Day172

"Work like you don't need the money...
Love like you've never been hurt....
Dance like nobody's watching...
Sing like nobody's listening...
Live like it's Heaven on Earth."- Wall quotation

This was a bit of advice on a piece of paper taped to a wall in my former office.  When you pull back it is a prescription for happiness.  It provides guidance in the areas of money, emotions, behavior, and joy.

I often say The worst enemy of happiness is not being unhappy enough.  If you are unhappy enough then you decide that you must change.  In order to change the area you are unhappy about you must have three beliefs:
1. It must change
2. I must change
3. I can change it
(idea from Tony Robbins)

So follow the above quote but consider the necessary beliefs if you want to make it change.

Today's question is:
"What is it that must change in your life?"

365QOD-Day171

"Balanced life.  What is that?"- a question from a person living an unbalanced life

I just got through listening to the book Perpetual Motivation.  In it the author explained a balanced life very well.

Reflect on the several pieces that are important to you in your life.  It could be your family, finance, work, etc.

Now visualize life as you trying to balance these several plates like a Chinese acrobat where each plate represents one of the important items in your life.

As long as the plates are spinning, minimal attention once in a while continues the momentum and the plates stay spinning.  If you ignore any one of the plates in order to focus on just one of the plates(i.e. work) at least one of the other plates will fall.

Today's question is:
"What are your plates and what is the minimum effort required to keep them spinning?"

365QOD-Day170

The first part of my mantra I say out loud C is for Confident.  I then continue on the inside with why I consider myself confident. 
         I am confident because of . 
         I am confident because of the .
         I am... continue saying out what makes me confident. 

This allows me to focus on confidence for that run and how it is a part of my life.  After 26 runs I repeat...

I  strongly believe that you need to come up with a positive, powerful words for each letter of the alphabet.  In the I am posts I will share my list with you. 

Today's question is:
"What does your C stand for?"

365QOD-Day169

I recently was shuffling through some old printouts.  I came across an article on the Art of Momentum
http://the99percent.com/tips/6815/The-Art-of-Momentum-Why-Your-Ideas-Need-Speed
that I want to explore in the next four posts.

 Know that momentum takes time to build. 

Andy Swan provides an idea that I found to be very insightful.  He says that of the most common mistakes is to “set lofty goals from a resting start.”  Amazing!

How many times have you made plans about something big while resting and believing that tomorrow you will start the progress towards your lofty goal?  Tomorrow comes you start, next day comes you continue, but after a few days you stop.  Your momentum was from a resting stop.  You only had a little bit of momentum

Now imagine you get an idea and immediately start by doing something little towards it.  Next day you stretch yourself by doing something a little bigger.  Third day you stretch a little more and this continues for a while.  You are most likely going to continue working towards the goal.  Your momentum is growing.

Don’t hold back. When it comes to creative execution, the key is to get moving, and keep moving.

I tried to visualize this and the graph below is what I came up with.

 Initially, the effort needed might feel large.  As you keep moving, it gets easier to keep up.  After a while you will feel slightly behind and needing a larger effort to close the gap.  Towards the end your effort will feel large because you will experience resistance to finish.

Today's question is:

"What is the baby step you must achieve today and the little baby stretches you can achieve in the next few days to build your momentum?"

365QOD-Day168

"That is the rule"- an admonition

Last night I watched a sad story called Water.  It was a story about what happens to widows in India around 1938.

The story is about a little girl, around 9, whose husband dies.  She is forced to live in a widows home.  There she meets many women and she befriends three of them.

First one, Kalyane, was beautiful and she was lent out to men for sex in order for the ashram to survive.  The second one was very smart and strong and she always questioned the rules of the place and her religion.  The last lady, a very old lady, had spent her whole life in denial remembering her marriage at seven and the sweet candy she ate that day and how she is no longer allowed to eat the candy.

I have been harping on blindly accepting rules the last few posts.  It seems to me that this movie  shows the need to challenge rules instead of blindly following them.  Oddly, the movie ends with the statement that about 1.3 million Indian women live in these types of ashrams today.

Today's question is:
"Are some of the rules you are following destructive?"

365QOD-Day167

"Rules should have expiration dates"- Seth Godin

This week I listened to an old book Survival is Nor Enough by Seth.  One of the things that I learned from it was the need to set expiration dates to old rules. 

In Day166 I offered the story of the ham cutting to fit the pan.  A silly little story BUT when you consider that most of our lives are made up of rigid rules it becomes a reminder.

Why do you squeeze the toothpaste from the bottom but it bothers you when your spouse squeezes it from the top.  It is a rule in your mind that says that is the proper way to do it. 

Why do you drive to work the same way everyday?  Because in your mind that is the quickest, easiest, least stressful way of doing it.  Maybe that is no longer true.

The problem is that we believe so many things that we need to be cognizant to note these beliefs down on paper and periodically review them .  Maybe they are no longer the best rule to follow.

Today's question is:
"What beliefs that we hold dearly should have an expiration date?"

365QOD-Day166

"Why not?" - a typical question that a child asks

Maybe we should do more of that questioning.  They have a never ending ability to ask why. 

It seems to be that as we get older we set up many rules for ourselves.  Culture and environment help mold us into not asking why.  We make rules or abide by rules that were set up many years ago.  Often we do not know the logic of why the rule was set up in the first place.  We just know to follow it.

In an old self-help story a husband ask his wife why she always cuts the end of a ham before she bakes it.  She answers that that is something her mother always did.  They decide to call the mother and when they ask her she answers with the familiar...that is something that my mother always used to do.

The three of them call the grandmother.  When they ask her why she always cut the end of a ham she smiles and says... because my pan was not big enough for it to fit.
 

Today's question is:
"What rules are you following that no longer make sense?"

365QOD-Day165

"Get your mental crayons out" - Jose Barrios

I am often amazed that majority of people consider themselves not to be creative.  In order to stretch my students I often require 1-2 assignments in which they have to deliver a creative solution.

The result is that I am yet to be disappointed.  They often get their creative juices flowing and present solutions that at times exceed my expectations. 

The Ignore Everybody book is a wonderful start.  Sketching on a business card?  Why not?  

Today's question is:
"When is the last time you got your mental crayons out?"

365QOD-Day164

"It's Not fitness.  It's life"- a t-shirt message

I saw this t-shirt  the other day.  It made me pause.

As we advance technologically we tend to get less exercise. Our lives are very sedentary. We become more susceptible to illnesses due to these choices.  At home most activities are done near a TV.

From Tim Ferriss' 4 Hour Work Week I learned that we should always have at least one physical and one mental goal that are stretching us to be more.

My physical goal for this year is to do a half-marathon.  I initially wanted to do a full marathon but due to the problems with my knees I have reduced it to a half.  It is still a stretch goal since I have never raced in a 13.1mile race.  The Chicago and NY marathons will have to wait till next year.

Today's question is:
"What is your fitness stretch goal?"

365QOD-Day163

"People don't want a story, they want enlightenment"-Paid to Speak

As a presenter in order to enlighten I always look to do three things(PSA):
1  Point - present what I want the audience to learn
2. Story - share a personal experience about the point
3. Action - provide the first few actionable steps that could be undertaken

Last night I was asked about my experience trying to self publish a book.  I started off my saying that I believed that self publishing is the only way one should publish.  I then told a short story of my journey through writing and what I thought was needed to do it successfully.  Lastly, I offered a particular place to get started and what are a few of the first steps in order to gain momentum.

Today's question is:
"What is your PSA for something you are explaining?

365QOD-Day162

"Tell me a story about myself when I was little"- my daughter's request

Today is my 45th birthday.  A few thoughts are going through my mind.

Am I where I want to be?  Am I doing what I should be doing?  What will the next 55 years hold?  Am I the best Robert I can be?

I keep a little journal in which I write what I have planned for the day and anything that I learned or want to capture.   Periodically I sit down and review the days.

It never fails to amaze me the things that I have learned and came up with.  It is like a story of my life that I re-tell to myself. I often go back and highlight something from each day that makes that day stand out...that makes it re-memorable.

Today's question is:
"What will you do today to make it memorable?"

365QOD-Day161

"Business is like a multidimensional probabilistic chessboard."
"Unfortunately, I came to the conclusion I was better than the CEOs we hired.  If I'm not CEO, I can't make the inventions happen in the way they need to happen"  -  Ion Musk (Tesla and SpaceX CEO )

It is interesting how our views cloud our beliefs.  If we think life is tough.  Then it is.  If we think that life is a game then we act like it is and it is more fun.

Beliefs bring forth feelings and those feelings become our reality.  Long time ago I heard the phrase:
Beliefs become your thoughts,
Thoughts become words,
Words become actions,
Actions become habits,
And habits lead to your destiny

So beliefs become your destiny....

Today's question is:
"What do you believe life is?"

365QOD-Day160

"Once you have run out of excuses, you can begin to change"- James, a man that lost 330 lbs.

I am not one to watch television much but the other night while in a hotel room I watched a TV show called Biggest Loser- The Weight Loss Edition.  In it a 651 lb. guy asked one of the trainers to help him lose lots of weight.  His starting point was 651 lbs.  His ending point was 330 lbs after 12 months.

Why did he succeed?  Was it the coaching? Possibly.  Was it the nutrition choices? Possibly.

In my opinion it was the man himself.  He asked to be pushed and he kept pushing back.  Even after a health setback, he rebounded and lost a lot of weight.  He had his mind set for success. 

Today's question is:
"What is your mind set for?"

365QOD-Day159

"What vision?  I can barely get through the day."-frustrated friend

Often times our vision get cloudy.   It is easy to get discouraged by others who with a quick flipped remark can shoot a balloon down.  During these times it is important to have something that it reminds you to press on.  May I suggest:

Teddy Roosevelt speaking at the Sorbonne a century ago in 1910.

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.

Today's question is:
"Are you working on your dreams?"

365QOD-Day158

" I want to keep it real man.."- a musician phrase

A month ago I read an article in Inc. magazine about a company called Etsy.  It an interesting concept.  It is a business that provides the means for many small crafts people to sell their products.


http://www.inc.com/magazine/20110401/can-rob-kalin-scale-etsy.html

These folks enjoy doing their crafts and make a little money on the side selling those.  There is often times a passion that these creators have for their work. 

Today's question is:
Can a business exist with a great number of small crafts people selling their products?

365QOD-Day157

"If you build a better mousetrap, the world would beat a path to your door"- Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is a long held belief.  BUT is it true? 

Just because you design a great product, it means nothing these days.  It is no different than having a great website or a blog.  Unless people know about your product it will not earn you the money you think it should.

"In the age of abundance, nobody will come knocking unless your better mousetrap also appeals to the right side of the brain"- Dan Pink   

In my opinion Dan Pink gives us an idea that the product must appear to the creative cool side in us.  BUT even a super cool gadget is not enough.  Advertising... word of mouth...social media.....got to spread the word.

Today's question is:
"Do people know what you are selling?"

P.S. If you think that you are not selling then you have already lost the game.

365QOD-Day156

"He has the bluest of eyes"-A woman admirer

In an audio book I just got through listening to, Paul Newman was recalled as an actor.  In it he told a story of his father as his hero.

Paul Newman was more that just an actor.  He did more than just act.  He created.

Newman created something that would last for a long time.  He created a company to sell items under his name.  The company started with a salad dressing.  They added pasta sauce, lemonade, popcorn, salsa, and wine, etc.

Newman's policy was to donate all proceeds, after taxes, to charity.  By 2006 the company had donated 250 millions.

Today's question is:
"What can you do today to benefit others?"

365QOD-Day155

"One a day, each day, for 365 days in a row"- my mission

In an article in Spirituality & Health magazine
     Make a clean  break from anxiety - by Cash Peters

The author describes a technique he used to get rid of fear of doing things.  He decided to:
      Say YES to everything for the next 12 months
      - no messing
      - no second thoughts
      - everything that wasn't harmful
      - or life threatening

WOW!

Today's question is:
"Could you follow the YES! technique for a year?"

365QOD-Day154

"self description=job description"- unfortunate equation

When we first meet people we often ask the question, "So what do you do?" In an earlier post I offered a better question, "Tell me about your life?"

We are not our jobs.  We are not our income level.  As Wayne Dyer has so elegantly phrased it, "We are spiritual beings having a physical experience NOT physical beings having a spiritual experience"

We must diversify our identity.  It must be more than our job.

Today's question is:
"How would you describe yourself if you did not tell how you earned your living?"

365QOD-Day153

"Gently touch the world"- advise from a mother to her child

I heard this phrase while listening to the audio book called My Hero.  It stopped me for a minute.  How powerful! 

In the morning we jump out of bed and lunge at the world.  We are like a bull in a china shop.  Often times not realizing the damage we cause in our path.

Urging the child to be gentle with the world is a great message.  It is one worthy of spending a day or more thinking about.

Today's question is:

'How will you gently touch the world today?"

365QOD-Day152

"What is Zen?"- an often asked question


I read this interesting article on a Zen Master forming a group that questioned the Bible as a group for 10 years. Interesting.



After reading this article the first thought that I had was can one understand something by using something else.  For example, could someone solve an engineering problem by using biology?

That was not a fair question since I already knew the answer BUT you get the idea.  While working on my doctorate I studied genetic algorithms created by a John Holland.  GA technique tries to find the minimum or maximum of a function by using Biology.  Initially a population of binary candidates are created and evaluated for fitness.  After each generation best members of the population are married(combined), some killed off, and after a few generation mutations are introduced.  

After many generations a member is born who knows the exact location of the minimum or maximum of that function.  Impressive.

Today's question is:
"What one area you work in can be used to solve difficult problems in another?"

365QOD-Day151

"We need to create a ..." words I said many times over the last few years

For years I have been telling a university I work for that there exists a need for a free course to be given to the students before they start their undergraduate and their MBA program.  I was always met with enthusiastic agreement. I even brought it up during large faculty meetings.  Again, I was met with large enthusiastic agreement.

Well, I am tired of identifying the need for others.  I have decided to create a product to satisfy the need. 

One of my favorite questions is "Why not me?"  I guess I should have asked myself this a few years ago.
At that time I thought the need was more specific.  Recently, I started seeing the need as more general.

Today's question is:
"What need have you been trying to get other people to satisfy that you should fulfill?"