365QOD- Day1160

Smart Receipts

"We take off 5% of your bill if you would share your contact information with us?"- a smart request

The other day I was reading a new issue of Fast Company.  In one of the articles the writer Barunde Thurston noted how companies and individuals do business with other companies and do not obtain contact information.  This is a great loss.

Imagine going to a restaurant and you finished your meal.  The waiter runs your credit card and comes back with a receipt.  You pay it and you leave.  The merchant just dropped the ball.  They do not have a way of nurturing that relationship.  You leave and they have no way of contacting you.

What if they would make you and offer such as the one I wrote in the quote.  Maybe you would take it?  Maybe you will not.  If you did then the vendor can contact you in the future with additional offers and surveys.

I know.. I know you get contacted all of the time and wish not to be contacted.  But what if the merchant makes it worth your while.  You would look forward to the contact and use the bonuses.  The merchant can structure their deals and relationship to retain you as a customer.  It could be a win-win for both if played intelligently.

It would be nice to know who has purchased my books and be able to reach out to them with special free offers.  Unfortunately, Amazon has that information and I do not.

Today's question is:
"How do you turn a purchase into a relationship?"

365QOD- Day1159

Reinventing the Bicycle Wheel

"Inventor: A person who makes an ingenious arrangement of wheels, levers, springs, and believes in civilization"- Ambrose Bierce

The other day I saw a story of a start up company that is seeking funding for a new type of bicycle.  The bicycle looked like a normal bike.  Upon closer examination the back wheel looked a bit different.

The back wheel contains a motor that assists the rider as they paddle.  This makes the paddling easier and extend the range of the ride.  Additionally, the bike can get plugged into a wall socket to recharge it.

What made me stop and note this invention is that it looks like a traditional wheel but the middle of the wheel looks more solid.  There are still spokes that stick out to the rim but they are shorter than normal. The inventor(s) changed the concept of the wheel to include a motor.  Additionally they provided a security feature that the back wheel is locked and will not let the rider take off unless the app on the phone is near it- like a key without having to lock it.

Immediately, I started thinking about other basic pieces and how they can be changed.  How do you do a lever differently?  A different type of spring?

Today's question is:
"How would you use a reinvented basic piece?"

365QOD- Day1158

Crazy Questions

"Q: What type of questions don't get asked early or often enough in innovation projects?
A :  ...Second ones are the crazy questions.  What if we were to subvert all of the assumptions in the field and do something ridiculous?..."- Warren Berger, Inc. article

Are there such things as crazy questions?  I don't think so.  To me they are out the box thinking questions.  These are the ones that lead to innovative solutions instead of just rational solutions.

We have to realize that as much as we don't believe it we approach problem solving with many assumptions built in.  We have already decided what subset of solutions will work and which ones will not.  All we do next is try to lead ourselves to the rational answer that everyone buys in.

But this approach stymies our thinking and limits our toolbox.  It gives us the same solutions to the same problems and never leads us out of the box to better answers.  JUMP OUT OF THE BOX!

Today's question is:
"How might we ask more crazy questions?"

365QOD- Day1157

Fundamental Questions

"Q: What type of questions don't get asked early or often enough in innovation projects?
A :  There are two kinds.  First, the fundamental ones.  Why are we doing this?  What do people care about?..."- Warren Berger, Inc. article

As someone who manages projects for a living I can really appreciate Warren's first type of question.
It clearly lays out one of the biggest mistake that companies make.  They fall in love with doing something.

Long time ago I worked with a young Project Engineer.  He had a very unusual skill.  He can take any project that was given to him and determine why it did not need to be done.  In other words he asked fundamental questions.  Often times the questions lead him to wants and not needs.  He even got promoted because he managed to save the company a lot of money by killing projects.

I have always believed in defining the customer need and providing vision.  The vision I provide is to not only give them a solution that could solve their problem but also future ones that they might not even be aware. In other words I always lean on the side of doing more with a project instead of killing the project.  Maybe I need to ask more fundamental questions?

Today's question is:
"How might we do this job differently?"

365QOD- Day1156

Beautiful Questions

"Q: What makes a question beautiful?
A : A beautiful question reframes an issue and forces you to look at it in a different way.  It challenges assumptions and is really ambitious.  Often these questions begin with the phrase, 'how might we...' "- Warren Berger Author of A More Beautiful Question  in Inc. magazine interview

As you know by now I love to ask questions.  As a matter of fact today I will pose the 1156th question in this post.  These questions are intended for you and me to pause and think about the answer as it resonates true for us.

This quote gives me some ideas on how to create better more beautiful questions.  It tells me that
1. A beautiful question reframes an issue

it has to reframe it in such a way that you see light where there is none.  It sheds new light on an old issue.

Secondly,
2. A beautiful question forces you to look at it in a different way

than you normally see things.  It should stop you enough to ask yourself why you did not see it that way before.

Lastly,
3. A beautiful question challenges assumptions.

that we all have about how things work.  It might have to stretch our rational minds by pushing it towards irrationality.

Today's question is:
"How might we ask better questions?"

365QOD- Day1155

Laser Focus

"...my temperature got to 105 and I almost died.  That was the day I decided to make each day meaningful"- paraphrase of Rahm Emanuel

I have no opinion of Chicago's mayor.  All I know of him is that he has been in a couple of presidential cabinets and served as a mayor for the last couple of years. But I have always heard of him being focused.

The other day I watched a new series on CNN called Chicagoland.  In it they showed a segment where he talked about why he is seen as focused.  When he was young he was ill.  The illness that he suffered almost resulted in his death.  This closeness to dying led him to find his focus.

His focus now is pretty intense.  He lives every day as if it was his last day.  He lives it with a mission to get something done.  You might disagree with his methods or what he is trying to accomplish but I believe that laser focus is to be admired.  We all would be better off by having a laser focus each day on the things we need to accomplish.

Today's question is:
"How can you retain your laser focus?"

365QOD- Day1154

Intuitive vs. Rational Mind

"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant.  We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift"- Albert Einstein

Our world has become more and more driven by rational thought.  We expect B to follow A.  We expect C to follow B.  Everything has a logical place.

But does the world truly work that way?  My answer is that most of the time our rational thinking will lead us along the correct direction.  Moving along that direction will eventually help us find the answer.

All rational thinking can do is lead us to a predictable solution.  But that is where it all falls apart.  The predictable solution is not often the innovative or out of the box solution.  The predictable solution will lead us to a local minimum or a maximum (good enough answer) but will never lead us to the global maximum or minimum solution (the true best answer).

This is where the intuitive mind can help and it is the only way to achieve great results outside of the current patterns we find ourselves in.  As Albert advises, the intuitive mind is a sacred gift.  It allows us to see beyond pure rational thought.  To get outside our mind we have to feel it with our body.  It has to move our hearts. It has to involve more than logic.

The difference in these types of thinking leads to drastically different results.  Consider where Microsoft ended up with Zoom and Apple with iPod.  Both were creating a product that allows them to capture lots of songs in digital format in a small package.

Today's question is:
"How do we use both types of minds?"

365QOD- Day1153

Living a Great Life

"Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust,  then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will   have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones."- Marcus Aurelius

One of the things we need to realize that this life is not all about us.  We need to evolve to think about others.  Usually most of us get there early in our lives when we learn to share and get along with others.

What I found interesting about this quote is that Marcus clearly lays out that the three cases: existence of just God, existence on an unjust God, or lack of God.  He uses gods but I have changed it into a singular God that we believe in today.  The message stays the same regardless of which case is true for you.

In many posts in the past I have talked about the notion that I believe at the end we would not be asked why we were not more like Jesus/Buddha/Moses/ etc. but that we would be asked why we were not more like [insert your name].  We need to become the best we can be.  

The quote which was written many centuries ago confirms it for me that in the end the only thing we can control is to live a good life.  Live a good life as you define it and make it worth remembering.

Today's question is:

"Are you living a good life?"

365QOD- Day1152

Becoming Human

"Everyone is born a human, but not everyone dies a human"- Unknown

Sometimes phrases do not translate well.  This is an example of one.  In US we believe that everyone is born human and dies a human.  But in other countries this is not true.

Why?

You are born as a human.  But that is it.  You are the raw material that makes up a human. Life molds you and shapes you into a human.  This is done through our thinking and experiences that we go through.  We evolve to that level.  The best way to think of it as achieving wisdom and enlightenment.

So what does it mean to not die a human?  Well, that is the lack of evolution.  You have squandered your life and made poor choices in your relationships and dealings.  At the end you are no better than if you have not lived.  You never became the best [insert your name here].

Today's question is:
"If you were to die today would you die as a human being?"

365QOD- Day1151

One Percent of Your Day

"Take 1% of your day to plan 20% of your life"- Ameritrade ad

As you know, in one day there are 24 hours, 60 minutes per hour.  This gives a total of 1440 minutes available to us in one day.  So what is one percent of a day?

The math teaches us that .01*1440=14.40 minutes= 14 minutes and 24 seconds.  Let us round it up to 15 minutes.  I never realized before today that 15 minutes is about 1% of our day. And by extension 15 minutes each day is one percent of our life. The 20% of your life portion of the quote is most likely the average amount of time people spend in retirement.

How wisely do we use our 15 minute blocks?  I believe poorly at best.  But now that we know that 15 minutes is 1% we need a strategy.   What I believe is the best thing we need to do is to pause after every 15 minuteblock and ask ourselves some questions:
1. Was the 1% meanigful?
2. Was it productive?
3. Were you present?

If it is not then you have another 15 minute block starting soon.  What will you do different in order to get a triple YES!

In addition, the quote advises that we should spend one of those 15 minutes of our day towards planning our retirement.  This could be as simple as reviewing the status of your accounts, bills, 401k, etc.   We can use the same thinking to extend our life by exercising at least 15 minutes.  Another 15 minutes could be used to meditate and say our prayers.

You get the idea...

Today's question is:
"Do you mark the passing of 1% of your day?"

365QOD- Day1150

Best 30 Seconds 

"Immediately after every lecture, meeting, or any significant experience, take 30 seconds — no more, no less — to write down the most important points. If you always do just this, said his grandfather, and even if you only do this, with no other revision, you will be okay."- advice given to George McKeown

I read this story on LinkedIn about the 30 Second Habit with Lifelong Impact by George McKeown.  The story was good and this quote made me want to stop and think through it.

I have been known to capture notes during meetings very well.  Even months after a meeting I can go back and re-read the notes and refresh myself on exactly what happened during the meeting.  But that is not the point of this article.  The point is not about note taking.

The point of the story is to stop and capture the most important point.  It could be a follow-up item.  It could be an idea the meeting generated.  It could be an impression.  You are the judge of what is the most important point to that event.  

I believe that the 30 second pause could be a game changer.  It will allow us to pause and capture something that most likely will be quickly forgotten or overlooked.  Capturing of the most important point will serve as a summary for the event and make it more likely that we would follow-up. 

Today's question is:
"Do you stop for 30 seconds immediately after an event to capture the most important point of the event?"

365QOD- Day1149

Our Limits 

"Our duty, as men and women, is to proceed as if limits to our ability did not exist."- Chinese fortune cookie 

I believe that most of our limitations are self imposed.  We believe we can't, so we don't.  This is the classic fear of failure.

I tend to approach life differently.  When given an opportunity I believe that through it I will exceed my current knowledge and capability limits.  I do not see my current knowledge level and those current limits as my true limits.

To me there are only two fears: fear of failure or fear of success.  Most people are stuck on the fear of failure.  A small majority believe that they can get past the failure but then do not know what to do when they have achieved success.

Neither fear is healthy.  As the quote advises it is our duty to proceed as if our limits to our abilities do not exist.  That means to be both during the striving phase(the fear of failure possibility) and reward phase (fear of success) we need to raise our level.

Today's question is:
"Do you proceed as if your limits do not exist or do you let fear stop you?"

365QOD- Day1148

Walking Around an Art Fair

"Wow!"- my expression

Today I spent the afternoon with friends. We went to an art fair inside Houston's biggest park.  No one had to twist my arm too long.

It was a beautiful day to walk around from stand to stand and admire the quality of work that most people produced.  It was no surprise to hear me say wow! because many of the artist truly deserved a longer look.

A few pieces resonated with me specifically.  The first one was a chair made out of wood.  I love chair design and even bought a book that has several hundreds of chair models in it.  But this chair was very cool and made with different types of woods and polished to perfection. www.sublinerockers.com

Second artist's work involved Japanese characters.  I have seen Japanese characters written beautifully  in black ink on white paper.  It looks like an art piece just within the character.  This artist took it to the next level. He created three dimensional characters of bronze, chrome, and stainless steel.  Beautiful!  www.Caseyhorn.com

I could easily write a unique paragraph for probably 100 of the artist there.  The point is that the art moved me.  It showed me how creative some people can be and how wonderful it was to share their passion for a bit of time.

Today's question is:
"Do you appreciate art?"

  

365QOD- Day1147

Phony Smiles

"Ohhh she is so nice"- a quick judgement

Living in the south has been interesting.  I have met many people and majority of them have been great. Most are true as they appear.  But there is a type that I can not seen to understand.

When I first moved down here I met a few ladies who try to put on the sugary sweet smile on their faces as you approached them.  It seemed very automatic.  You walking towards them and they put pn a smile from ear to ear.

What is interesting is that all of the women, and it has been all women, that first were sugary nice have turned out to be phonies.  Phonies with a capital P.  Why?

In my opinion, this phony facade is just a front for them.  They want to appear nice but behind it they are actually very mean spirited.  This is just a miss-direction to new people.  Over time their facade is uncovered and compromised.  But it still works on new acquaintances.

Today's question is:
"Do you know any phony nice people?"

365QOD- Day1146

Starting Your Day

“I hand write three thank you cards every day on the train ride in to work. Totally-old-fashioned, I know, but how do you feel about your email volume these days? If you're at all like me, even getting a thank you email can be annoying.

When my staff, customers, partners, investors, media and others get my thank you cards, they love them and it cements my relationships with them. But the main reason I hand-write three thank you cards every day is that it allows me to focus on others and transforms my mood from bad to good, from good to great, or from great to ecstatic. You can't be upset and grateful at the same time, and this practice puts me in a great mood--to have a great day--every single day.”-Dave Kerpen, CEO of Likeable Local

Today I read several unusual ways that some people start their day.  The way Dave starts his day was wonderful that I decided to share it with you.  It makes me rethink my start.

I believe that we often are self-obsessed.  It is all about us.  Well, usually it is not about us.  And as Dave reminds us it should be about connecting with people and showing your appreciation.

The wisdom in this quote is in that he writes three cards.  Now that is tough.  I can see how writing one would be off the top response. It would be easy.  But to do three would be tough.  You really have to think about who really affected your life in a positive way.  

I believe that the practice would be very transformative.  I do not know if I am ready to begin it myself.  It would be very tough.

Today's question is:
"Could you continuously write three thank you cards each day forever?"

365QOD- Day1145

Not Making Decisions

"Every day I wear the same outfit and eat the same dinner. As an entrepreneur there are hundreds of micro-decisions I need to make, and decision fatigue can be a huge problem, so I try to eliminate any decisions I don't have to make.

For example, I only own 5 white t-shirts. In the morning I never need to think about what I'll be wearing: it's going to be a white t-shirt. I also only own 2 pairs of pants.

I do the same thing with meals. I have the exact same dinner 6 times a week (1 sweet potato, 1 chicken breast, 1 red bell pepper, 1 zucchini, pan-fried with tomato sauce) for the exact same reason. Staying focused on eating healthy can take a lot of willpower, and I'd rather spend that willpower on different decisions--so I created a healthy meal I can eat every day. The fewer decisions you have to make, the better decisions you can make."- Leo Widrich in an Inc. article titled 20 Unusual Things 20 Successful People Do Every Day

What stood out about this quote is the part "..I try to eliminate any decisions I don't have to make." It immediately send me thinking about this idea.

We all make a lot of decisions each day.  Would it be helpful if many of these were made automatic?  Pick one type of outfit as your style and every day wear the same thing.  Just like Steve Jobs. Maybe eat the same food for breakfast and lunch and vary it for dinner?

I believe most of us would not agree to these extremes.  We like making decisions even if they make us tired.  Maybe the ideal is to reduce the number of decisions?

Today's question is:
"Which decisions you make every day should be made automatic?

365QOD- Day1144

Being vs. Doing 

"...we are HUMAN BEINGS not HUMAN DOINGS !"- Boris Krumov
I was reading articles this morning online and came across this line in a comment section.  The caps signals very clearly that Boris had a lot of passion behind his words.  That is probably why it resonated with me.

So what is the difference?

We tend to be “crazy busy” in our lives.  The tendency is to move from one task to another without pausing to think about what we have done, its effects, or learned.  Action is valued more that understanding and learning. As Boris says, we are HUMAN DOINGS.

The HUMAN BEING portion of the quote implies that there is more to us than just doing.  Maybe we should be freer to be rather than do?  Unfortunately, being costs money and without doing there is no being. 

In the end I believe that we need to seek paths that will allow us more time for being than just doing.  Paths that fit our ways better than expecting us to change our way into fitting.

Today’s question is:
“Are you BEING instead of just DOING?

365QOD- Day1143

Frenemies

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer"- Sun Tzu

I have been thinking about trust lately.  How do we grant someone trust?  How often we give it to the wrong person?  Why do we fail in this critical decision?

In reality, we all have gotten burned in life by the people that we trust.  Hell, we might even be related to some of them.  But the idea of granting someone trust means that person would not willingly hurt us.  This occurs over time when trust remains unbroken.  The other person becomes like a physical part of us.  It is like our left hand hurting the right.  Well, it should be... but often it is not.  The loss of trust reflects poorly on the other person. 

How often we are wrong reflects on us directly.  We gave the trust away to someone who was not deserving of the trust.  We failed at completely understanding the person to whom we gave the trust.  This person might have had a singular slip of trust or a major character flaw.  Only some thinking and time will show the true answer.  

My thoughts have led me to realize that even singular breaks in trust should result in severing the relationship.  If I person fails you once then do not take the chance with them again.  

Today's question is:
"How do you give your trust to a friend?"

365QOD- Day1142

Creating Your Own Programs

"Focus on strengthening your strengths while improving your weaknesses"- my advice

While reading the book Mastery by Robert Greene I came across a story about Bill Bradley.  Bill Bradley is a very colorful person.  He was a star basketball player in college and pros.  Afterwards he became a senator.

What amazed me about his story is that he realized that he wanted to be a basketball player but that he was very limited.  He self created various drills that would improve his basketball skills.

One such example was wearing glasses with a paper underneath to force him not to look down while dribbling.  This allowed him to focus on where to pass instead of where is the ball.  He became an excellent  passer.

In another story he was on a ship crossing the ocean and created a drill in which he dribbled up and down the length of the ship in a super tight walkway.  This improved his control.

As an adult putting drills in place in order to improve a particular skill is impressive.  When you are young and develop these it is even more impressive. 

I believe that the lesson here is that we should all create drills that will improve our skills.  These don't all have to be physical.  They can be drills to improve a thinking skill or the method you use to accomplish a task.

Today's question is:
"Have you ever devised drills for yourself?"

365QOD- Day1141

Two Giants working for a Third

"Both Tesla and Henry Ford worked for Edison"- a new fact I discovered

Edison was a great inventor.  However, he was not a very nice man based on some of the stories I had read about him.  But he did create many inventions.

I am reading a book called Mastery by Robert Greene that mentions that Henry Ford spent the night shift working for Edison.  After he worked the night shift, Henry Ford  worked on his cars during the day.

Similarly, Tesla worked for Edison.  He solved Edison's direct current (DC) problems while on the side working for himself on alternating currents (AC) and motors.

I always knew about Tesla but I did not know about Ford.  What perked my interest up is that both did work on the side while working for their employer.  It seems to me that they wanted their ideas more than satisfying Edison's need for new inventions.  Eventually they had to go on their own in order to get their ideas a chance to survive.

Today's question is:
"How do you keep your side projects moving along while trying to earn a living?"

365QOD- Day1140

Traveling with a Pillow

"I no longer think of it as strange"- my conclusion

I usually do not struggle with falling asleep.  Most days I am so tired that the moment my head hits the pillow I am out.  No need to count sheep.  Well not this trip.

Maybe I have been lucky traveling all these years.  In most hotels I have been able to find a pillow that is not too high or too low.  But this trip I stayed in two hotels and neither one had a pillow even close to normal.

What most hotels are going for is big sturdy pillows.  Well, most of us do not sleep with a high pillow.  When I asked if I could have a smaller pillow I was told they do not have any.  I could not believe it.  One of the hotel staff even instructed me where I can purchase a pillow nearby.

I could not believe that instruction.  I mean we pay usually very high prices to stay in hotels and to be instructed to go buy myself a pillow was not acceptable.  In my world the hotel should provide a medium and a high pillow.  That would probably fit majority if not all of us.  Or even a small, medium, and a high pillow.  Yes this will increase the cost to the hotel but this will eliminate people having to carry pillows around the country.

Today's question is:
"What type of pillow do you use- small, medium, or high?"

365QOD- Day1139

Reading and Forgetting

"Business Books are Virtually Worthless Without This" - Joshua Steimle

This title pulled me in because I can relate to it so much.  I read and I try to capture my thoughts in this blog. But it is hard to get overt the feeling that reading is most often worthless.

Joshua suggests applying the books by creating a business reading club based on a topic that would move your team forward the most.  Then
1. Create a spreadsheet tab for each book
2. Inside each row capturing the idea that you want to apply
3. How you will apply it

This is a wonderful start.  We also add some of the disciplines we learned from my4dx.com \
4. Leading indicators
5. Lagging indicator

I believe that this could be applied in companies, teams, and especially when designing a personal self-improvement plan.

Today's question is:
"Have you created your self-improvement spreadsheet yet?"

The full article can be found at:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/232326

365QOD- Day1138

No Attendance

“Only one person showed up?”- my question to a presenter

I walked by a large conference room where a decision making class was to be held.  I saw the instructor and one of my team members.  So I asked my silly question.

Isn't it amazing that we all make decisions all of the time but yet when there is a course being offered that can teach you how to make better decisions(soft and hard) people do not sign up?  Why?  People see no value in it?

I think that most people are too busy and doing things that could help them seem like time users than something that will benefit them in the long run.  Unfortunately this logic is faulty.

The same logic is often used by people when it comes to exercising.  I do not have the time or energy to exercise.  Well, by exercising you will train your body and it will provide more energy and you will gain time. 

Unfortunately, most people conclude otherwise.

Today’s question is:

“Would you attend a decision making class?”

365QOD- Day1137

Dancing the Dance

“Dance the dance until you find a new romance”- Carrie Mathews

We all have situations that we put up with.  People? Yup there are probably a few in your life who you would love for them to just disappear.

In past I have written that abrasive people are like sandpaper.  They can be used to smooth out our rough edges and help us grow.  But you have to be willing to learn and be polished.

Carrie’s advice is a bit different.  It is one of tolerance until something better comes along.  It is too passive for me.  If something is not working then most of the time I believe in confronting it and either fixing it or replacing it.  But that is just me and I did say most of the time.  She is correct in advising that at times we have to dance the dance.

The only addition I can think is to give you self a date until when you will dance.  And then force yourself to make a change.

Today’s question is:

“Are you dancing the dance?”

365QOD- Day1136

Your Greatest Self

"When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all of your thoughts breaks their bonds: your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive and you discover yourself to be a greater person than you ever dreamed yourself to be." Patanjali

This is a quote that I read a while back and rediscovered today.  Let us break it apart.

First you must be inspired by some great purpose.  You have to get excited in order for your Why to be bigger than the How. 

This requires some extraordinary project.  It has to be meaningful to you.  Even more important it has to be something worth pursuing.  Something that will require something ‘extra’ above the ordinary to accomplish.

If these two things are true then your thoughts will break their bonds.  You will no longer see the limitations- your mind transcends limitations.  Your consciousness will expand in every direction.  This new movement will appear as a great and wonderful world. 

Once you see this new world, many dormant forces, faculties, and talents will become alive.  You will become a greater person.  A person you dreamed yourself to be.

Today’s question is:

“When is the last time you got inspired by a great purpose?”

365QOD- Day1135

One Drip at a Time

“Drip…drip...drip”- progress towards a goal

I believe that most of us want things to happen too quickly.  We want to jump in and simply get it done.   AT times this position is so unrealistic that it causes us extreme stress. 

For a moment visualize a bucket under a faucet.  Drip..drip..drip.. the water comes down steadily.  Eventually you have to empty the bucket because it is heavy and full. 

I believe in baby steps.  These are daily actions that seen so insignificant that anyone and everyone could do them.  Unfortunately most stop and do none of them small insignificant acts needed to progress towards a goal.

I just got through writing a 469 page book on Lean Capital Project Management in Petrochemical Plants.  Yes you read that correctly.  469 pages of stuff.  If anyone would have told me that I would need to write a 469 page book I would probably stop and say no. 

But each day I write a little bit and after a while those small drops become a force and a product.  It is no different than this blog.  365 daily drops become a book.  

These baby steps are the key to getting anything done.  Trust me...

Today’s question is:

“What baby steps did you take towards your large goal?”

365QOD- Day1134

Putting Pieces Together

"In nature we never see anything isolated, but everything in connection with something else which is before it, beside it, under it and over it.:- Johann Goethe
Adding a piece to another piece has the potential to make both pieces more meaningful and stronger or meaningless and weaker. So what is the magic ingredient that makes the connection stronger?

Consider three ideas:
1. Mastery is a journey that requires you strive to reach a higher level.  Each level reached gets longer and longer.
2.  How you practice on the plateaus is critical to whether you ever reach the next level.
3.  Creating a leading and lagging indicators for next level is necessary in order to reach the next level.

These three ideas are from three different books.  The first book shows us what the mastery curve looks like but offers no method as to what to do on the plateau.  So the idea of how you practice on the plateau makes the two concepts stronger.

Now adding the idea from four disciplines of execution, my4DX.com, gives us a way to set up the actions that would formulate the what actions we execute during practice.

The conclusion is that the pieces have to fit naturally in order to make the connection stronger.  By themselves these three pieces are OK but the fit has to make them stronger.  Just knowing the map does not mean we will get to mastery.  Similarly, knowing how we practice is important does not mean we will know what actions to take.  By understanding the right levers to pull we will improve our practice.  This will set us up to measure our progress and get to the next level.

Today's question is:
"How do you know when pieces fit and make the connection stronger?"

365QOD- Day1133

Unappreciated Presents

"The most valuable thing to give is time"- my belief

Last week I got a call from a friend.  He said he needed some time to discuss an opportunity.  We agreed to meet this week and he was to schedule it.

Even though I did not hear from him I fully expected to spend time helping him.  So Friday night I called him and we agreed to meet with a group on Saturday morning.  I looked forward to listening and helping him.

Saturday morning came we gathered and bought extra bay-nays and coffee for our friend.  After one half hour we called him and he did not respond.  After 45 minutes he sent a text saying that he would not be able to make it.

This did not sit too well with me.  After all he chose to reach out and I responded to his request.  I even helped arrange the meeting.   It made no difference.  Maybe I am judging him too hard?  Then I remembered a story...

Many years ago I was working out with a Kempo master.  He had created a form and took a group of us and decided to share it with us.  We spent about an hour working on it.  It was a cool form.

A week later the master asked us to demonstrate to him what we learned.  One of the students just shook him head saying that he did not remember it at all.  He asked the teacher to show it to him again.  The teacher was disappointed.

He looked at the student and told him that a week ago he had given him a present.  He felt that the student had taken the gift stomped in it and was not asking for the gift again.  The master refused.

Today's question is:
"Do you stump on the presents that are given to you?" 

365QOD- Day1132

Sketching on a Cup

“What about using the cup?’- my thought

Recently I finished a book on Leonardo Da Vinci .  He was a pretty creative guy.  Leonardo had notebooks full of sketches and notes.  He studied things.

Recently I noticed that I have stopped sketching.  I used to go to meetings and in my notebook or on meeting agenda I would sketch something.  I would doodle, sketch a person in the meeting, etc.

I have decided to make my work a bit more public.  I decided to start using a single 16 oz Styrofoam cup to capture my sketches.  Maybe at the end of the day I would create a mini video or pictures  of  what I sketched on the cup.    

I need to play with different pens that could produce a controllable sketch.  Notice I said pen and not pencil.  I am a firm believer that there is no imperfection and need for erasing in sketching but simply adding detail and texture.

Today’s question is:

“What would you sketch on your cup?”

365QOD- Day1131

Wanting Something Bad Enough

“Excuses are for people who don’t want it bad enough!”- Anonymous

I read this quote while looking at fitness pictures.  It was not credited to anyone.  And in my opinion it has nothing to do with fitness.

I always say that either you have a reason for doing something or an excuse to not do it.  And both are valid.  BUT if you want something done than you need to want it bad enough.

Excuses are easy.  You can always use the, “I don’t have time”, or .”I don’t have the money”.  But in reality other things are more important than what you do not want bad enough.

Notice that I used “other things”.  The reason for the plural is that it is often many things pulling you in different directions so you feel  overwhelmed and feel like you can not add to your plate.  This is probably true for most of us.

So what is the answer?  The answer is to pick your WIG- wildly important goal and dedicate 20% of your time and attention to it.  Everything else gets the other 80%.  20% of what?  20 percent of your day.  So for a 24 hour day that works out to be 4.8 hours.  OK let us let you slide a bit.  It means you need to dedicate about 4 hours per day towards your WIG.

That might mean giving up 1-1.5 hours  of sleep, staying up by an extra 1-1.5 hours, using your lunch for another hour.  What it means is that you have to become a “time-thief”.  You need to steel time from your life and dedicate it towards your WIG.  No one is going to give it to you.

Today’s question is:

‘How badly do you want your WIG?”

365QOD- Day1130

Amazon’s Brilliant Strategy

“Amazon Launches Pilot Program Selling 3-D Printed Products”- Entrepreneur magazine article title

A month or so I remember watching a 60 Minute piece on Amazon.  I have always been impressed with their strategy and that show did not disappoint.  It showed off Amazon’s efforts to use drone technology to deliver products within the range of a main distribution center.  This would save them shipping costs and time.  Visualize an army of drones dropping off packages at your doorstep.  Wow!

Now I read this story about selling 3D printed products and again I am impressed. Amazon wants to provide a platform for 3-D printed goods.  I believe that this is just a start to their plant. This addition would make them even more innovative. Why?

A couple of years ago I was in a plant on the east coast.  Even though I was there as a customer, I was asked by their management team to do a presentation on my first book.  I am pleased and as a condition of doing the presentation, they were asked to purchase copies of my book.  This was like 2 p.m. in the afternoon.

Next day at 1 p.m. I did the presentation and after the presentation one of the managers presented me with copies of my book to sign. My eyes got bigger.  It had not even been 24 hours.  They had ordered the book, the book was printed on demand, book was shipped, and received. All this was accomplished in 24 hours.

So imagine this with a product you come up with.  You are sitting at home and get a crazy idea.  You go to your software and design it.  Send the print to Amazon, they print it, send it to you, and you get it the next day.  Wow! Wow! Wow! 

And the really amazing part is that you can put it up for sale and let the market decide if your idea is cool or not.  Imagine the creativity that can be unleashed.  I know of a product that I would test it on immediately.

Today’s question is:

“What 3-D product would you print to sell?”

365QOD- Day1129

Short Term vs. Long Term Self

"I wish I’d partied a little less. People always say ‘be true to yourself.’ But that’s misleading, because there are two selves. There’s your short term self, and there’s your long term self. And if you’re only true to your short term self, your long term self slowly decays."- Humans of NY blog

Our lives tend to be very hectic.  It is not very surprising to most that we are trying to satisfy our ‘short-term self’.  What about our long term self?

The wisdom in this quote from a young woman on the Humans of NY blog is to focus not only on the short term but also the long term.  This is pretty wise for someone so young.  But is it true?

I read this quote this morning and immediately it made me think about the difference between the two.  It is amazing that even when our short term makes great self sacrifices for the future,  the long term self often does not appreciate the sacrifices.  Hell, the long term self might not even like the short term self when we look back in time.

But as the quote advises, we can not simply think in terms of now.  If we do then the long term self slowly decays.  To me that means that the long term changes into a different long term self.  If you are choosing to live in the present and not worrying about what your future self will have to worry about then you:

 1) expect everything to be ok in the future

2) you might not even make it that far.

In the end, after dragging tis thought with me all day, I concluded that the 80/20 rule holds true.  We need to spend 80% of our time focused on our short term self and 20% of our time on things of benefit to our future self.  It makes sense to me.

Today’s question is:

“Are you true to your short term or long term self?”

365QOD- Day1128

WW_D

“What would X do?”- my question to me

A few weeks ago I was reading a book when the idea of a mentor group came up.  The author of the book mentioned that he uses Leonardo DaVinci as a mentor.  Immediately I saw the wisdom in his thinking.

I believe that we should all have a wisdom council that gives us advice.  It would be nice if we could have access to some of the people that we most admire or specialize in the field we need help in.  Unfortunately that is not the reality for most of us.  Some of the mentors might be like Leonardo- dead.

By reading and understanding the people who you want to mentor you, you will get a feel for what advice they would give you.  Imagine your group in a room, close your eyes and pose the question to your group. Then listen to the answers from each.  Actually hear what comes back from each person’s perspective. 

What is nice about this idea is that you would think through what that person would offer to you from their perspective.    Just …

Imagine consulting Leonardo about how to make something look more real.

Imagine Steve Jobs giving you coolness ideas.

Imagine Einstein helping you solve a math problem.

Imagine Edison guiding you on persistence.

Imagine Bruce lee giving you exercise advice.

Imagine Malcolm Gladwell giving you outside the box business thinking.

Imagine Jim Collins mentoring your start up from start to great.

Imagine Nelson Mandela mentoring you on staying strong, being positive, and forgiveness.

Imagine Gandhi teaching you to be peaceful and non-violent.

…and others

And guess what? If any one of them is not a good fit, you can change the member of your wisdom council.

Today’s question is:

“Who would be the people that make up your wisdom council?”

365QOD- Day1127

Fourth Discipline of Execution

"One liter per day- easy"- my observation

A few blog posts ago I talked about making a change and used the idea of drinking one liter of water as a challenge.  I even explained the three components needed for the change to take place.

So what happened?  I have not been consistent.  Mentally I know that it is a good thing to do.  I have seen people dehydrated and have some emotional attachment to the issue.  However, I could not find a way to set myself up on the path to success.

The results have been hit or miss.  Some days I make it and it is easy but other days I get busy and forget to keep on the path.

I need to refocus.  I will start recording the amount of water I drink as a way to remind myself.  Like the old adage says, "If it worth doing, it is worth recording."  But I  believe that it is more than that.  I never set up a system where I was held accountable by someone.

That brings up to the fourth discipline of execution.  So far we have a goal that has been set up, and we have leading and lagging indicators, and we have to made sure you have the right lever.  Last discipline is to make it a team effort by having weekly meetings with the team and review what you have done towards the leading indicators and what you will do next week.

I need to find a water buddy...

Today's question is:
"Do you find someone to be your buddy during a change effort?"

365QOD- Day1126

Third Discipline of Execution

"So I got a goal and I got a lag and lead indicators"- my thought

I am really enjoying this book on execution.  It seems very practical so far.  I can see walking into a group and guiding them to apply it.

So suppose I have a goal to change my weight from 220 to 200 by June 1st.  It fits the From X to Y by Z date format.

I have also identified leading indicators and a lagging indicator.  My leading indicators is controlling my calorie input to 2000 calories.  A second leading indicator is to exercise enough to burn 500 calories.  My lagging indicator is to monitor my weight every morning.

The third discipline of execution is to make sure I have the right lever.  I have to make sure collecting data on these two leading indicators I will move the weight towards the goal.  Is there another better indicator than those two?  Should it be a single lead indicator?  I believe that these two are the best ones I can come up with.  You have to make sure that it is the right lever.  A poor lever will not nudge the bolder(my weight) that we are trying to move.

These three disciplines, according to the book, are setting up the game.  In other words, these three are simply setting up the rules by which we believe we can get a win.

Today's question is:
"Do you know if you are pulling teh right lever?"

365QOD- Day1125

Changing X into Y

“ I want to drop my weight from X to Y”- typical weight goal

What is wrong with this goal?  I have used the format and so have many others.  Do you see it?

It lacks a definite date.  A better format should be

     Change X into Y by Z

Where Z is a date

Setting any goal without a date is a BIG mistake.  So lets assume you have set your wildly important goal correctly:

     I want to drop my weight from 220 to 200 by June 1,2014

It is still not good enough.  Why?

Suppose you measure your weight daily.  That is a lagging indicator.  It tells you a result today of what you did yesterday and before to get to this point.  Interestingly, we use lagging indicators in business all of the time.

What would be leading indicators?  Well how about calories input and exercise performed.  Every day we can monitor the calories we put into our system and exercise performed to burn them out.   Note that the better the leading indicator that we chose the easier it will be to get to the WIG.  It is like finding the right lever to lift the rock.

What I am describing is the First and Second Disciplines of Execution from the book  4 Disciplines of Execution that I am currently reading.  You need to set a goal in the Change X into Y by Z with lagging indicators to monitor it and leading indicators to move the X towards the Y.

Today’s question is:

“What do you want to Change X into Y by Z date?”

365QOD- Day1124

Fear of Confrontation

“If the biggest fear you have is an honest conversation with the person closest to you here are tow questions to ask yourself:

 1) Regardless of how much it might cost you to have the conversation, what does it cost you not to have it? 

2) What would you go out and do as a prelude to your courageous conversation so that when you do have that conversation, you’re talking about something you have already checked out rather than asking for permission to explore it.”- Life Reimagined

Even though this quote is about talking with a person closest to you it does not have to be.  In my world it could be about any difficult conversation.  A difficult conversation is that that could potentially end in conflict.

Second part of the quote gives us advice to go out and check out whatever is the issue before the conversation.  In other words, be informed before you engage the other person.

The first part of the advice given by the quote is to ask yourself ‘what does it cost you not to have it?’  Most of us are by nature non-confrontational and would prefer not to have conflict.  And most of us do not consider the cost.  The cost of delay is stress.

Even though it is hard to quantify stress apparently our mind can quantify it enough to not want to engage.  Unfortunately the mind wrongly predicts that the cost of stress is less than the confrontation cost now.  I believe that if you had a way of measuring it than the delay and stress outweighs the emotional cost of having the confrontation.  As the old adage advises,"A hero dies once, a coward a thousand times."

Today’s question is:

“What is it costing you not to have difficult conversations?”

365QOD- Day1123

Connections Between Motion, Emotion, and Knowledge

“Conventional wisdom is that for successful change first you need to know what you want to do.  Then you use that knowledge to make your move.  Conventional wisdom is wrong.

In reality, change happens the other way around.  Doing comes first, knowing second, as you do something start your exploration, get out and look around, gather impressions and information- you start to know what it is that you really want to do.  Doing preceded knowing, it turns out.”- Life ReImagined book

In an old post I discussed the idea that most people believe that they have to ‘feel’ like it in order to move them to do something.  Another way to say this is that emotion leads to motion.

     Emotion è  Motion  (wrong)

The reality if that by doing something it leads one to feel positive enough to continue doing it.  Or simply,

     Motion è Emotion

This quote adds another piece to the puzzle.  It instructs that the old knowledge leads to motion is wrong.  The true reality is that it is motion that leads to knowledge.

     Motion è  Knowledge

Combining these two ideas gives us a new result

     Motion è Emotion è Knowledge

This idea teaches that we should just start.  The emotion will come along and we will ‘feel’ like continuing.  By continuing, eventually we will become knowledgeable.

I like it…

Today’s question is:

“Have you inadvertently used Motion è Emotion è Knowledge?”

365QOD- Day1122

New Life Curve

".. we are shifting from an old story of a single, predictable trajectory prescribed by social convention to a new story of Life Reimagined and a new way of living that enables each of us decide out own path, our own journey.

The old story drew the path of life as a simple parabola- you went up one side, down the other. "- Richard Leider and Alan Webber, Life Reimagined book

I just finished reading this book.  Overall, not a bad book BUT I really love their website.  It has a very cool way of you being able to identify a goal towards which to apply the techniques in the book.

I love the visual of this quote where it describes the typical belief of life going up a parabola and then crashing down.  Pretty harsh!  I titled the post a New Life Curve to think through what I believe is the new way to look at life.

I do agree that the first part of our lives 1-50 will have an upward trajectory.  But a parabola no longer fits the data.  Because of loss of loyalty between employers and employees, most likely we will see the trajectory to be upward and made up a several plateaus.  These would signify transition points.

Now what about the part that drops off.  I believe that most of us will continue working longer than our ancestors because we will be healthier than them and we will be more interested in different fields.  I believe that this part will have a slight downward curve that has a few plateaus drops.  In the end it will not be the drastic drop off that the old models predicted.

I do believe that we will bring the passions from our youth that maybe we delayed and turn those into the passions that will make our later parts more productive than our ancestors.  Some might even start that process earlier by Reimagining life in mid-life.

Today's question is:
"What curve would you draw to represent your past and future life?"

365QOD- Day1121

Take a New Risk Every Day

"Taking a baby aspirin can lower your risk of stroke and heart attack"- healthfinder.gov

If an aspirin a day can prevent stroke and heart attack what is the effect of taking a new risk each day?  When I say risk, I am not talking about stupid risk.  Yes jumping in front of a moving car is risky BUT it really stupid.

What I am talking about is taking risks by doing and exposing ourselves to new people and challenges each day.  Some examples:
You start your day by drinking coffee then switch it to tea.
You drive by taking a highway, instead take the mickey mouse slow road.
You start your day by checking email, leave it until after lunch.
You walk into the same shop you frequent, but you never learned the name of the clerk- now you ask.
Your boss asks for a volunteer, so instead of sliding down the chair you speak up.
....I am sure you can come up with many other examples.

The idea is to progressively make the risk a big tougher and less comfortable.  These seem simple risks.  They are but they will change your mindset to one open to new experiences and people.  It is all about stretching yourself outside of the life box you are living in.  Why not?

Today's question is:
"Can you stomach taking a risk per day?"

365QOD- Day1120

Not Worth a ____

"There are two kinds of players that are not worth a damn: ones that don't do what you tell them to do, and ones that do exactly what you tell them to do"- Bum Philips, NFL coach

I asked a wise co-worker, Mr. Kevin Cotton, for a quote and h gave me this gem.  I love it! Let us take it apart.

First type of player are the ones that don't do what you asked them to do.  This could be because of a legitimate reason(thinking about it) or because the don't 'feel' like it.  In the end these types of people are the thinkers and non-doers.

Second type of players are the ones that do exactly what you ask them.  They do no more, no less.  Literally they give you exactly what you asked for.  Unfortunately, while they are just doing it, the conditions might have changed and the requirement is no longer valid.  So the problem is that they are not thinking BUT just doing.

In the end, based on this quote the only useful players are the ones that are adaptive thinkers and doers.

Today's question is:
"What type of player are you?" 

365QOD- Day1119

Optimal Point

"I do not there is value in step X"- Anonymous

Most companies systems fall into one of two types:too lose or too rigid.  Either your company follows all rules without exception or no one follows any of the rules.  The sad part is that often companies will go from one extreme to other.  Visualize a pendulum going from left to right.

So why do companies swing from one extreme to another instead of finding an optimal point(equilibrium)?  I believe companies do this because it requires less thinking.  To optimize a system it requires knowledge of he system and controls to slowly move towards the bottom spot- the equilibrium.  Visualize the pendulum not swinging.

To get to the optimal point, it require understanding of the current state.  But one must also control large momentum that can easily move you past the optimal point.  Imagine a pendulum swinging wildly.

So know your position(your current state) and drive it slowly.  Control your impatience!  Driving too fast can also lead you back to where you started.  Imagine a pendulum returning to original position.

Today's question is:
"How do you know your state, momentum, and when you have reached the optimal point?"

365QOD- Day1118

Why is a Dangerous Question

"Why is the most dangerous question?"- my observation

As a parent one of the things that drives most parents nuts is a child that repeatedly asks why.  The child keeps drilling until the parents finally snaps with, "Because I told you so."  Not a great position to be in.

In business the 5-Why technique is actually used to get to a root cause of failure.  I like to refer to the 5-Why technique instead as the n-Why technique and not limit myself to 5 whys.  Although most root causes can be discovered within 5-7 whys. Each time you ask why you want to understand the cause and the data that supports that belief.   BUT be careful not to use it on your boss too many times.  They might not appreciate your search for the root cause and feel threatened.

I believe that the n-Why technique is best applied to our own life.  Life?  Often we do not even question why we do anything in our lives.  For example,

Why did you get up this morning?
Why do I eat what I ate for breakfast, lunch, dinner?
Why do I do the work that I do?
Why do I live where I live?
...

Keep drilling until you feel pain and you feel you have identified the root of why?  The answers you get might surprise you and inform you.

Today's question is:
"What is your favorite Why question?"

365QOD- Day1117

Are You Filling or Fulfilling?

"Are you filling time or fulfilling your time?"- my question

The most precious thing in life is time.  A lot of people fool themselves into believing it is money.  Money can be made, lost, and recovered BUT time can only be lost or spent well.

So what constitutes spending time well?  As I have mentioned many times before, to me the most important driver is creativity.  If I can get creativity into my day then the day feels better spent.  I feel fulfilled.

What about days when I let the grind get in the way of creativity?  Well those days are filled with activities but not necessarily with things that are important to me.  For some days that is OK.  It is a part of working for someone else.

BUT if majority of my days are filled with activities that benefit others then I need to reshuffle them or spread the tasks out so that I can get some of my own creative work inserted.  This allows me to be re-charged while accomplishing tasks for others.  If I was solely focused on others then I eventually become drained.

Remember how on planes they ask you to put your mask on before putting one on a loved one.  This principle for me means fulfilling should come before filling.

Today's question is:
"Are most of your days fulfilling or filling?

365QOD- Day1116

Thinking Outside the Box

"Re-Inventing the Flashlight!"- my surprise reaction

Yesterday I read an article about a 16 year old, Ann Makosinski, that invented a flashlight that uses the heat from her hand to power an LED flashlight.  Impressive!  Not only is she 16 year's old but she figured out how to power a flashlight by using the heat of her hand.

I remember about 18 years ago teaching a introductory circuit analysis course.  After covering direct current techniques I told the class that they knew enough to become millionaires.  They laughed at me.  They did not believe me.

I drew a diagram of the simplest circuit possible which had a power source and a simple load(a resistor).  They laughed again.  I said that this simple circuit could become a key warmer or a baby bottle warmer powered off a car cigarette lighter.  They stopped laughing.  The beauty of the simplicity of the circuit fooled them into believing that it was of no use.  They had placed themselves in a box.

Ann used the same circuit consisting of a bulb, a switch, battery, and battery case.  She simply replaced the battery with a difference between the outside of an aluminum case and peltier tiles on inside of the case.  The difference between the two temperatures creates, the peltier effect, the power needed to power the LEDs.
The reason she was successful is that LEDs require less power that older types of bulbs.

The bigger idea is that she took something whose design has not changed much since it was created and figured out an innovative way to re-design it.  It made me think why no one thought about it before.  Maybe some great ideas are a low hanging fruit that no one is noticing.

Today's question is:
"What else could be powered using this idea?"

365QOD- Day1115

Three Questions

“Question 1: What do I actually do best of all?

 Question 2: What do I care about?

  Question 3: Who needs people like me?”- Andrea Kay, USA TODAY

I read  an article by Andrea Kay in which she poses these questions.  But whether you are looking for a job or not, these questions are important enough to pause and ask yourself.  So I am going to get personal and answer them.

So what do I do best of all?  I have worked in steel, academia, consulting, refining, and chemical plants.  What I have done best in all these arenas is to use my creativity to create products and solve problems for my employers.  I am energized when it involves using creativity to solve a problem.  Immediately I enter a state of flow.

What do I care about is a little tougher for me to answer.  If I say I care a lot about lots of things then in my world that is like saying I care about nothing.  The all answer is no answer.  I have noted that this answer changes for me at critical junctions in my life.  When I was leaving steel I asked myself this question and the answer was how people learn.  When I was leaving academia to go back to industry it was to apply my knowledge and presentation skills and see if the results would be different during my second stint in industry.  If I had to answer it now I would honestly have to say that what I care the most is to lead teams that create products and content that change people’s thinking, improve their lives, and solves their problems.

Who needs people like me? I believe that I can walk into a new setting, quickly understand the rules, improve the situation by removing hurdles, provide leadership, and coach the team to a better state.  A company which needs a great leader for a team that will strive to achieve groundbreaking results.  Yes!  That is the company who needs a leader like me.  Notice I did not specify industry or a specific company because my skills are transferable across industries. 

Today’s question is:

“Are you brave enough to pause and ask yourself the three questions?”