Fat is cheap

'Virtual' Collaboration

My new-found blog buddy Trevor Gay from across the pond has done something truly amazing.

He has finished writing his second book with two people he has never met before!

The Nine Fruits of Leadership was written by Felix Gerena from Spain, Roger Noe from the US and Trevor who lives in the UK.  This is their second book they have written.  Their first was Three Amigos with One Message.

As I understand it the Three Amigos came together through blogging conversations.  It is amazing how technology can be used to make our world smaller. 

If anybody out there has a need to improve your virtual collaboration, drop Trevor a note as he and his amigos are thinking about doing workshops to share what they have learned.

Collaborate with someone and have a good one!

Small the New Big?

I am very excited about getting my hands on Seth Godin's new book, Small is the New Big (although the cover gives me the creeps!).

I am a big fan of Seth's, I read his blog everyday.  What he writes is inspiration to me.  He gets the wheels turning.  I am sure this book will do the same. (no he is not paying me nor will he link to my blog!)

All that being said, I wonder about small being the new big when it comes to companies.  If GE went small would it work like a lot of these small companies are doing in the present?  Once a company is big can it go small?  I don't think so.  I believe that a lot of big companies are trying to act small, and I don't see it working.

I think it is less about small for companies and more about young.  Young not being just about age.  Of course age is a part of it.  Young is also inexperienced, risk taking, nothing to lose, up all night, passionate, energetic, lacking in tools, etc.  To me those are the characteristics that are winning.

Big companies are trying to adopt small characteristics to remove their "sterile" environments.  But like many things they are just doing it a little bit, not the full deal.

I have no idea if Seth's book talks about this or not.  But just the title has got me thinking. 

Either way, I cannot wait to get my hands on it and give it a read.  I am sure I will be inspired and spouting all the great rants to my wife and friends.

Go small, go young and have a good one!

White Space

I think I am on information overload.

Last night I spent some time reading Free Prize Inside by Seth Godin (which I won from inbubblewrap).  He brought out two fantastic points that really hit home with me in relation to my work.  I even dog-eared the pages, something that I don't do often.  There is just one problem...this morning I haven't the foggiest clue what the two points were.

Then this morning I read a post about white space from Kathy over at Creating Passionate Users.  She writes,

...new content keeps rushing in to overwrite the previous content...

I keep shoving in new content and overwriting what is already in there. 

Is there a point where information flowing in becomes too much information?  I have believed a steady flow of good information was vital to learning/growing.  I guess there is a point where too much is just too much.

We must have time to "synthesize" the content.  We must have white space.

I am going to take a look at my information flow and tighten up the spigot a little.  A couple fewer blog reads each day, only one book at a time maybe.  Something.

Have some white space and a good one!

Useless Literary Works

Have you ever read a bad book?  By "bad" I mean, useless...a complete waste of time.  Did you finish it?

On occasion I do.  Makes me mad when I get to the end. 

Isn't it better to stop once you realize it isn't any good?  Cut your losses and move onto the next one?

That is a tough decisions to make.  What if it just seems like it is bad, but then is going to take off and become a great read by the end?  You will never really know until you get to the end.  Such is life.  As Kenny Rogers sang "you've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away and know when to run."

It is not just books either; movies, projects, jobs, relationships, "fill in the blank", etc.

There is no easy method to knowing when to continue or walk away.  Some we will make the right choice on, some we will not.  But we must choose.  It is cheap to finish everything you start, just because you started it.

Know when to fold 'em and have a good one!

Hitler Gets a Bad Rap...

...as he should.  After all, under his regime, millions of innocent people were helplessly slaughtered.  But how many times do you think he actually closed the door on the chamber and released the gas? 

I am in the waning chapters of Night by Elie Wiesel.  In this book, Mr. Wiesel, recounts his horrific experience of the holocaust.  And not once, to my recollection, does he mention Hitler.  All of the brutal acts of violence were carried out by nameless members of Hitler's "army."  Thousands of "soldiers" spent their days executing helpless and innocent people.

I don't buy the whole "brainwashing" bit.  They were throwing living, helpless babies into pits of fire!  If that doesn't "wake" one up to reality, nothing will.  How can one do that?   Maybe because they knew if they didn't do it, they would get tossed in too.

Even with a "gun to our head" we have control over our actions.  We don't control consequences.  Just our actions. 

The story of Elie Wiesel is a somber reminder that even in the most disturbing of circumstances we have a choice.  A choice to take the right course of action, and accept the consequences.

If all those thousands of "soldiers" had just done the right thing and not let the consequences (probably imminent death) change their course of action.  Maybe Hitler would have just been a raving lunatic...a blip in the history books.  And maybe millions of people would not have lost their lives so pointlessly.

You can do anything, if you are willing to accept the consequences.

Do the right thing!  Have a good one! 

Telling yourself a story

I can't tell the difference between Pepsi & Coke. 

Apparently 70% of Americans can't either.  Malcolm Gladwell talks about this in his book Blink.  I found this hard to believe being one who enjoys Coke and can "barely stomach" Pepsi.  So I gave myself the test ... 4 times!  Not once could I tell the difference.  So what gives?  How could I have such strong feelings about my likes and dislikes when the reality was I couldn't tell the difference?

I told myself a story. 

I just finished reading All Marketers are Liars by Seth Godin.  He gets your attention with the title, but doesn't really believe marketers (most) are liars.  He contends that successful marketing is about telling stories.  And the best marketers allow the consumer to tell their own story, in effect lying to themselves about the product/service.  This apparently is what had happened to me with Coke/Pepsi.

So now what?  Do I go on lying to myself and pay the extra ten cents for Coke?  Or walk the extra 20 feet to the Coke machine?  Well I am happy to tell you, I don't walk the extra 20 feet.  I buy the cheapest/easiest one.  I have acknowledge the fact that I can't really tell the difference and have changed my ways.

Now I guess I should apply this to things that really matter. 

It is hard to hear things about yourself that you don't believe to be true because you have told yourself some other story.  It is even harder to do something about it and change.

It sure ain't cheap.

I am holding my breath until you comment ... hurry!

Give My Right Arm...

I just finished reading A Million Little Pieces by James Frey.

Somewhere in there James tells us that every addict at the clinic would "give their right arm to be normal."  Non of the patients want to be addicts, they just want to have "normal" desires like most "normal" people.

Unfortunately for an addict, there is nothing they can give/do to instantly be done with their addiction.  It is the day after day, hour after hour battle to do the right thing for the rest of their life.

More often than not, the same holds true for all the things in life worth doing.  There is no one time investment in loving your family, being a good friend or a great boss.  It is the day after day of doing the right things, over and over and over again.

That is not meant to discourage, but rather set perspective and it starts right now, today.  Don't worry about tomorrow, deal with the next five minutes.

And don't wish you could give your right arm, because you would miss all the joy that comes with those little investments, those few words and those little actions along the way.

I eagerly anticipate your comments!