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.

 

Of broken glass and Boy Scouts

Last week, I posted about how great the Boy Scouts program is for helping boys become responsible citizens, and I mentioned I was going camping up on Mt. Hood over the weekend.

Well, the campout was great, we had snow, the boys had a great time, and we managed to squeeze in some considerable training on first aid.

However, while my minivan was parked in the parking lot overnight, some idiots decided to smash one of my windows and steal (of all things) a roadside repair kit. The kit costs around $45 at Costco, and it will cost me more to fix the window than to replace what they stole. They also stole tools from another vehicle (they were kind enough not to break the glass on that one).

I found the damage Sunday morning as I went to put my gear in the car while our Troop was cleaning up and mopping the lodge, and re-stocking the firewood we'd used. There were other Boy Scout Troops at the lodge camping with us. Some of them noticed the mess I was dealing with in the parking lot. (Without me asking) they helped me clean up the glass, cut cardboard to the right shape to keep the snow and wind out of my car, and let me have some duct tape.

I'd bet money that the people who broke my window were never Boy Scouts. I sure wish they'd had better role models and support when they were growing up.

So, I ask you again - please support Scouting and encourage the kids you know to get involved in Scouts.

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Dusting off a classic procrastinator's toolkit

I just re-read a book on how to fight procrastination. It's called "The Now Habit" and it is really cool. I think I started reading it back in the late 20th century, but never got through it (figures).

I was recently re-introduced to it by a friend of mine, and read it on my flight to Atlanta this morning. There are some very interesting variations on some of the other themes I've seen in other works on personal productivity, including some of the ones I commonly mention here.

I obviously can't do it justice in a short post, but here are some tasty morsels, by way of example:

The Unschedule (time logging with a twist)

The Unschedule involves time logging as a first step, often repeated. Just like all the other time logging techniques, this one is geared to help you become more aware of how you spend your time, so you can improve your effective use of time.

With the Unschedule, you start off by scheduling play time first, then you monitor how you work on projects. You only give yourself "credit" for 30 minute (or longer) blocks of uninterrupted work, and you build in rewards at the end of those blocks.

Another twist: If you complete something at the end of one of those blocks of work, don't stop there even if your 30 minute timer as dinged. Instead, start another task and work on it for 10 minutes so you a) make progress on another task, and b) create a sort of psychic "tension" that will bring you back for the next block of work.

Three Dimensional Thinking

This is a concept on using a "reverse calendar" which is similar to the 'break it down into smaller bites' approach, all the way back to next actions you can take today. Nothing new here, but it's very well-presented.

The Work of Worrying

This part was a lot of fun. You're taken through a process to tease out all the "well, ok, but something bad might happen" scenarios. You come up with all the worst-case scenarios on the nastiest projects on your list, then use those to build a plan to mitigate as much of the risk as possible.

And, of course, there is more. This book hits all of the demons of procrastination head-on: fear of failure, fear of success, no life balance, etc.

This one's worth checking out if, like me, you need tools and techniques for dealing with procrastination.

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What about a GTD merit badge?

Over the past year or so, I've become increasingly involved in my son's Boy Scout troop. I know the Boy Scouts get some bad raps sometimes, but I'm so happy my son's involved in the Scouts.

I've seen a bunch of pretty cool boys get the chance to try their hand at leading others (anyone who's been promoted into a role in which they manage their peers knows it can be tough - imagine what it's like for a 15-year-old!).

I've seen boys who get a ration of abuse at school because scouting isn't cool, but refuse to cave in. I've seen boys push through life challenges (family issues, sport / job / girl pressures, learning disabilities) and hang in there until they become Eagle scouts.

These boys help people - I've worked beside them during grueling community service projects I know I'd have bailed on when I was in high school. They participate in food drives, and other activities to benefit the less fortunate.

Some of these kids will be impressive leaders because of the skills they develop in the Scouts, and I've seen some of them deliver presentations that gave me goosebumps. One year, I spent some time at one of the summer camps and couldn't believe the professionalism and skill with which 17 and 18 year old camp staffers handled rowdy groups of young scouts.

Of course, they also have fun. My son and I will be going on a snow tubing overnighter on Mt. Hood this weekend, which should be a blast.

I mentioned I've been getting more involved - last week, I decided to get Scout leader training so I could be an Assistant Scoutmaster and "officially" help the Troop (I was impressed with the training, particularly the emphasis on Youth Protection practices to keep the kids safe).

Where am I going with all this? Well, I would just like to encourage you to consider supporting the Scouts (Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, I'm not picky) any way you can - the Scouting programs are so good for kids. To help out with financial support, contact your local Scout council and find out about becoming a "Friends of Scouting" donor.

Oh - and the GTD merit badge? The boys involved in scouting learn a lot about balancing the conflicting priorities of home, school, friends, church, and adolescence. They earn merit badges, rank advancements, and help with service projects, but still keep it together enough to get good grades in school, participate in sports, and have a social life. Pretty cool stuff (Yet another reason I wish I'd gotten into it more when I was their age!)

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Cosmic nudging

OK, so stick with me on the following sequence:

  1. A couple of days ago, Bren (Slacker Manager) wrote about a "cosmic nudge" that caused him and me to listen to the same audio book at about the same time. 
  2. Today, I found out that my friend Gene Kim just finished reading the same book, "Leadership and Self Deception."
  3. Today, I re-read Bren's post and noticed that he also mentioned Eli Goldratt, of whom I'm a huge fan (I've read all of his books, along with related works).
  4. Even freakier: as part of some research and "evangelization" of IT best practices we're working on, the aforementioned Gene Kim talked with Goldratt a few months ago
  5. Here's where the nudge comes to fruition: I've had an article on Goldratt fermenting in my drafts folder for about 6 weeks, but haven't gotten around to finishing it up.

Consider me nudged. Here is the article, in all its obtuse glory:

Back in the 80's, I read a book called "The Goal" by Eliyahu Goldratt. It is a "business novel" used to discuss Goldratt's "Theory of Constraints" model for productivity and throughput (keep in mind, this is not about individual throughput - rather, it's about the throughput of systems and processes).

Goldratt's theory (called TOC by us fans) is very complex, and was originally written about in very sterile, technical papers. It was geared toward optimizing manufacturing processes, but Goldratt recognized that it had applicability in many other aspects of business.

Back when Goldratt began writing about this stuff, he held what were considered to be contrarian views about process optimization, inventory, and other aspects of manufacturing resource planning. I found his analysis and premises to be very intriguing and, even though I'm a software guy and not a manufacturing person, in the last 20 years or so I have found that his concepts apply to lots of other contexts if you squint just right.

For example, one of the core assertions of Goldratt is that achieving "local optima" within a system will not optimize the system's throughput. Instead, you have to find the system's constraint (or bottleneck) and elevate it by subordinating all other parts of the system to the constraint.

The premise: throughput of the system can never exceed the capacity of the bottleneck, so what's the point in optimizing the usage of non-bottleneck resources?

Goldratt's principle follows a methodical approach to resolve constraints, at which point you always uncover another bottleneck. So, the cycle repeats as each bottleneck is discovered and resolved.

You can adapt this philosophical approach to many things, such as personal workflow - at any given time, there is probably one key bottleneck preventing you from optimizing your effectiveness. Focus on it and subordinate all other activities until it's resolved, then rinse and repeat.

If you are a GTD follower, your constraint is probably one of your next actions that you've either neglected or have failed to articulate. OK, so maybe I'm stretching it a bit, but I'm one of those people who looks for patterns all over the place (which, of course, means I find them).

If you're interested in more about the Theory of Constraints, check out this link to my top 8 list of TOC books, listed in the order I recommend.

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Make it up, make it happen

Over on Steve Pavlina's blog, he writes about the movie "What The Bleep Do We Know..." and says he's "...convinced that there is definitely some kind of linkage between intention and reality that bypasses direct action."

I've often pondered that connection myself, as well as his question: where's the limit? This is, of course, not a new concept - I've always been a big believer in the power of prayer and the human spirit.

This is also embodied in "the power of positive thinking,"  force of will, and all that sort of thing, isn't it? And, it's what David Allen describes with the premise that a huge part of Getting Things Done is to "Make it Up, and Make it Happen."

All of this reminds me of a book I read recently, called "The Message of a Master" which tells a story about someone who learns a 'secret' from a guru of sorts. In the book, the secret he learns is that all the potential in their world exists for your benefit, and all you have to do is focus on your goal and your psyche becomes a force of attraction that brings all the necessary elements into your life to make the goal a reality. There are, of course, rules that this secret cannot be used for evil, etc.

All in all, a very intriguing concept. Remindes me of the notion that anything in the universe begins to exist the moment someone formulates an idea about it within their mind.

Thanks for provoking the thought, Steve.

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