“We believe that we are on the face of the earth to make great products, and that’s not changing,” Cook declared.
via It’s Not What You Sell, It’s What You Believe – Bill Taylor – Harvard Business Review.
what do you believe?
Whats the point of a bookshelf full of books other than as an antiquated trophy case of written ideas trapped in awkward, temporary physical relics?
via Coding Horror: Books: Bits vs. Atoms.
but I love my trophy case!
being a boss is much like being a high status primate in any group: The creatures beneath you in the pecking order watch every move you make – and so they know a lot more about you than you know about them.
via A Method For Determining If A Boss Is Self-Aware (And Listens Well) – Bob Sutton.
When things get too complicated, it sometimes makes sense to stop and wonder: Have I asked the right question? – Enrico Bombieri
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
and I say it’s all rightLittle darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it’s been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it’s all rightLittle darling, the smiles returning to the faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it’s been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it’s all rightSun, sun, sun, here it comes…
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes…
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes…
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes…
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes…Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting
Little darling, it seems like years since it’s been clear
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
and I say it’s all right
It’s all right
After a long winter here in Boston, Spring is here!
‘This land is free,’ said the young King, ‘and thou art no man’s slave.’
‘In war,’ answered the weaver, ‘the strong make slaves of the weak, and in peace the rich make slaves of the poor. We must work to live, and they give us such mean wages that we die. We toil for them all day long, and they heap up gold in their coffers, and our children fade away before their time, and the faces of those we love become hard and evil. We tread on the grapes, and another drinks the wine. We sow the corn, and our own board is empty. We have chains, though no eye behold them; and we are slaves, though men call us free.’
– Oscar Wilde, The Young King
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.– William Ernest Henley, Invictus
I’ve just finished reading How To Make Your Dreams Come True by Mark Forster. (Available free, here on his blog.) This is a small gem that deserves a lot more attention.
A key distinction that he makes is between push and pull methods for getting things done. Instead of pushing ourselves with obligations and promises, Mark suggests that we should be pulled towards our vision of the future. In my own life, I have found that I have enormous amounts of energy when I am being pulled towards a clear and meaningful vision. Mark provides three powerful tools for making your dreams come true:
1. What’s Better?
Instead of focusing on what you think needs to be done each day, reflect on what has made the day better. Most of us excel at writing to-do lists – lists of obligations and promises we have made ourselves and others. Take a moment at the end of your day to jot down what was better about it. It’s liberating to choose to see the positive.
2. Goal Achievement Methodology
These are two working narratives: one of your current reality and one of your envisioned future self. In the present tense, write down what you see your future reality looking like. Then, write what your current reality looks like. Initially, these may be single words: eg “Happy” or “Sad”.
I have often struggled with writing goals for the future. Knowing that it is a good thing to do, I have either seen it as a lifeless list or a work that needs to be perfect and ‘set in stone’. The beauty of GAM is the opportunity to revise it often and regularly; and the use of narratives. I keep a working document of my goals ordered by date of revision, with my most recent version first. Because I don’t delete old revisions, it helps me from feeling that my goals need to be perfect and reminds me that I am a imperfect but developing being. The use of narratives is also a powerful. Unlike lists, narratives and stories evoke emotion. So write how you feel. This emotion is necessary for putting us in [e-]motion!
Finally, describing both the current reality and future vision produces a gap for creative work. This reminded me of Peter Senge’s Fifth Discipline: where the creative tension produced by seeing both the future vision and current reality is likened to the tension in a rubber band as it is pulled between the two hands.
3. Self Coaching
Talk with yourself! This may sound weird, but is really an encouragement to write, reflect and journal your thoughts. Mark does a creative job of exemplifying how this is done by writing the entire book in this format! Mark’s future self coaches his current self, in an insightful dialogue. The trick is: Mark’s future self can only ask questions, and has no answers.
Mark’s tools fit well with Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits and the concept of starting with your higher purpose first. If you read and like Mark’s book, I also recommend his other book: Do It Tomorrow. This is more about push than pull, but contains some good ideas for subjugating your to-dos and many obligations!
Pain throws your heart to the ground
Love turns the whole thing around
Fear is a friend who’s misunderstood
But I know the heart of life is good– John Mayer, The Heart Of Life
Start-ups often fail because founders and investors neglect to look before they leap, surging forward with plans without taking the time to realize that the base assumption of the business plan is wrong. They believe they can predict the future, rather than try to create a future with their customers.- via Why Companies Fail–and How Their Founders Can Bounce Back — HBS Working Knowledge.
Are you creating a shared future with your customers?
Innovation is organic; not linear. A business plan or idea should never be carved or immortalized in stone. Ideas are points of departure. Successful organizations grow and create by developing deeper relationships with those they hope to impact. For business, this means knowing your customer better. For NGOs, this means learning from your beneficiaries. Whatever your sector: your organization’s capacity for becoming a community of impact depends on its capacity to innovate. And, its capacity to innovate on the deepness of its relationships.
Are you creating a shared future with those around you or ploughing ahead with a myopic agenda?