Genuine Curiosity

Author Dwayne Melancon is always on the lookout for new things to learn. An ecclectic collection of postings on personal productivity, travel, good books, gadgets, leadership & management, and many other things.

 

Laugh to death by PowerPoint

I’m always on the lookout for ways to make PowerPoint more interesting.  In the past, that’s been things like using “Beyond Bullet Points” and whatnot.  Here’s another idea:  be funny.

I stumbled across the YouTube channel of a comedian named Tim Lee, who uses PowerPoint in his act – and he is very good! Check out the video below (or use this link).  If you like it, be sure and subscribe to Tim Lee’s YouTube channel.  Enjoy!

Related items:

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Learning styles – awesome interview

Microphone In my last post, I talked about David Allen’s latest book, “Making It All Work.”  One thing I didn’t mention is that I’m a charter member of David’s “GTD Connect” program, which provides access to a lot more information, resources, and other “stuff” to help GTD users.

One of the deliverables in the GTD Connect program is an ongoing series of interviews with various people.  The latest was an interview with a guy named Frank Sopper who specializes in learning styles. Normally, these interviews are inside GTD Connect’s gated community but I was so intrigued with this latest interview I went looking for a way to share it with you.

I’m happy to report that Frank Sopper has a public link to the interview on his company’s web site.

If you’ve ever been accused of being OCD or ADD,  this is a must-listen.  For everyone else, it’s just a good idea.

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Get out of your own way at work

I just finished reading one of the best “coach in a book” type of books I’ve read in a very long time.  The book is Mark Goulston’s, “Get Out of Your Own Way at Work...And Help Others Do the Same: Conquer Self-Defeating Behavior on the Job.”

This book provides very clear guidance on 40 different problem areas that can limit your success at work, each covered in a separate chapter.  index_goyowaw The topics covered include

  • Being Competent but Out of Touch
  • Procrastinating
  • Being Afraid to Fire People
  • Quitting Too Soon
  • Not Forgiving
  • Expecting Your Boss To Appreciate You

and many more (you can see the entire table of contents which includes all the topics in Amazon’s preview of the book).

Chock full of goodness

Each section provides a clear description of how each of the self-defeating behaviors might manifest itself, some specifics about the “damage” the behavior can cause, great quotes, and many of the sections include stories from Goulston’s research to further illustrate the point.

The things I liked best were:

  • “Usable Insight” observations sprinkled into the text (example: “You have more control over trying or quitting than you do over succeeding or failing”).
  • The specific, usable “Action Steps” at the end of each of the 40 chapters that provide real (not idealistic or unrealistic) steps you can take to try to improve.

It’s like self-service coaching

I think anyone can benefit from this book.  When I read through all of the sections, I definitely recognized quite a few areas where I could improve and the advice in the book felt just like it was coming from a wise business coach.  Not bad for a book that costs around 10 bucks.

Go check out the topics in the table of contents.  If any of them sound familiar (and you want to improve in any of those areas), then pick up a copy of this book.

You can also find some good information and inspiration at Dr. Mark Goulston’s excellent blog.

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The Encore Effect

“The Encore Effect” is subtitled, “How to Achieve Remarkable Performance in Anything You Do.”EncoreEffectCover   A pretty tall order, eh?  Well, I must say that author Mark Sanborn has put together a very solid set of techniques that really can help you achieve noteworthy results in what you do.

The name comes from the notion that, if you deliver remarkable performance it’ll be like at the end of a great concert; others will applaud and call you back for more.

To achieve this effect, Sanborn offers a “formula” that centers around Passion, Discipline, and Action.  According to Sanborn, these three elements combine to drive the excellence that leave the crowd wanting more.  Each of these critical elements is covered in a separate section of the book.

Create the magic

“I simply set myself on fire and people come to watch me burn.” – John Wesley

It’s one thing to have passion, but quite another to be able to direct that passion toward a goal.  In the section on Passion, Sanborn talk about a number of techniques you can use to amplify your passion but, more importantly, he follows that up with a lot of coaching on how you can increase your chances of success through Preparation, Practice, Performance (engaging your audience), Polish (paying attention to the details), and how to anticipate and respond to Pitfalls.

Each aspect is dealt with in a concise chapter with advice that feels “right on the mark” to me, based on my experience.

Share your magic

Once you’ve mastered the art of producing encore-worthy performances, Sanborn encourages you to inspire, coach, and encourage others to achieve their own remarkable performances.  He offers some useful advice on how to cultivate the pursuit of excellence in others and I enjoyed reading his counsel.

If you’re feeling like you’re stuck in a humdrum, lackluster world and want to add some “wow” to your performance, I suggest you check out “The Encore Effect.”  It’s short and easy to read, but beneath its simplicity there is a lot of advice you can really use to be more awesome.

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What's your type?

The other day, I was having a discussion with some friends about personality tendencies and how they affect team dynamics. Many of us are "wired" a certain way, which determines how we engage with the world - some think through things out loud, while others need quiet time to process new information; some of us make intuitive leaps, while others need to see it to believe it... and so on.

One of the most interesting tools I've been exposed to for determining your personality "type" is the Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). This is a tool that helps you identify your preferences for processing information, interacting with others, and making decisions.

A bit about the model

There are 4 pairs of traits that define the spectrum of personality in this model :

  • Extraversion vs. Introversion: Broadly speaking, these deal with how you process information and where you gain energy.
    • Extraverts tend to gain energy from action and interaction. They talk through ideas to develop them, and feel energized in social situations involving lots of people and mingling, for example.
    • Introverts tend to gain energy during their quieter, thinking times. They tend to be deep thinkers, and often prefer intimate groups over large groups.
  • Sensing vs. iNtuition. This pair deals with how you perceive the world - how you gather information and process it.
    • Sensors are the "show me" types. They trust facts they can see, feel, touch, taste, and hear and tend to be very grounded in their thinking and are very pragmatic and data-driven. Sensors are skeptical of "gut feel" and hunches.
    • Intuitives are more comfortable dealing with abstract data, patterns, and theories. They often have "epiphanies" based on combinations of things they've been exposed to, and trust those flashes of insight.
  • Thinking vs. Feeling. These deal with how you make and rationalize your decisions.
    • Thinkers are more logical and detached in how they come to a decision. They are comfortable interpreting and using rules, frameworks, and other structured models for processing data.
    • Feelers are more apt to consider the human aspects of decisions - they are driven toward consensus, balance, and harmony in the decisions they make and tend to be influenced by compassion.
  • Judging vs. Perceiving. The final pair of traits define how you relate and present yourself to the outside world.
    • Judgers like to "have things settled" and push toward definitive decisions. They are most comfortable with clear answers and declarations.
    • Perceivers like flexibility. While they will make decisions, they prefer the option to change their mind later and tend to keep their options open.

You'll notice that each pair has one capitalized letter. The capitalized letter is used in a kind of shorthand to describe your "whole type." For example, my MBTI type is "INTJ" for Introverted, iNtuitive, Thinking, Judging. There are 16 different combinations of MBTI types, and you're one of them.

You can read one description of the INTJ type on Wikipedia - it's not 100% accurate for me, but it's pretty darned close. Why isn't it 100% accurate? Two reasons:

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