Genuine Curiosity

Hip & Sage – it’s a journey, not a destination

I just finished reading an awesome book: “Hip & Sage: Staying Smart, Cool, and Competitive in the Workplace,” by Lisa Haneberg.  As you may know from my prior posts (linked at the end of this review), I’m a huge fan of Lisa’s books and her Management Craft blog (which is 5 years old this month, by the way)."...if you need unlimited minutes on your cell phone more than you need unlimited texting, this book is for you."

This book is aimed at Baby Boomers & others from generations with more mileage on the tires than Gen-Xers and Millenials.  You can think of Hip & Sage as part “New Technologies 101” and part “how to find tech savvy tour guides,” and it’s designed to help you become conversant, proficient, and comfortable with social media and other new media technologies. 

But I think this book could be relevant to lots of folks.  Regardless of your age, if you feel like a poser talking with people about Twitter, Facebook, RSS, LinkedIn – or even blogs – then this book can help you.  In short, if you need unlimited minutes on your cell phone more than you need unlimited texting, this book is for you.

What does it mean to be Hip?

According to Lisa, Hipness is is about engagement an energy:

“Our ability to communicate, connect, and collaborate with younger generations.  In business, our hipness determines how effectively we work with, inspire, and influence younger workers.  Hip entrepreneurs are able to enroll, engage, and exicte younger customers and business partners.”

If you work with younger people, being Hip can be a game changer (and becoming Hip can be fun).  Lisa provides a set of techniques and philosophies to help you enlist the help of younger mentors in a way that will tap into their knowledge and excitement, and (I believe) make them want to help you get up to speed.

One of the fastest paths to Hipness is to practice genuine curiosity about the things hip people care about, and ask someone who’s already hip to feed your thirst for learning.

If you can find a social media-savvy “workout buddy” that will help, too (@MattHixson is one of mine, for example)

What does it mean to be Sage?

In contrast, Sageness is about sharing hard-won lessons:

“Our natural strengths and characteristics, goals and priorities, and experiences – manifested as skills, drive, judgment, and knowledge – that have been honed, carved, seasoned, and polished through the years.  Our sageness is unique; it may or may not be visible to others or in use contributing to the world.”

Lisa’s section on “Cultivating Our Sageness” is all about tapping into your experiences, but not just so you can be the guru on the mountain that others seek out.  Her guidance is to actively inject your sageness into the business so that the business can benefit from your experience.

Her advice on goal setting and becoming more self-aware can dramatically improve your effectiveness – you should check it out, for sure.

Putting it all together

The magic all happens in the third section of the book, where Lisa discusses how to become both Hip and Sage, including a discussion of how to challenge your beliefs and leverage new knowledge & skills to achieve non-linear success.

The third section also includes some worksheets to help you achieve greater clarity and document your thinking in a useful way.

The bottom line

This book is so rich with useful information I can’t begin to do it justice in this short review, but the bottom line is this:  pick up a copy of Hip & Sage.  On their own, the two chapters on “Job Seeking and Hiring for the Hip & Sage,” and “A Primer on the Generations” are worth the price of the book, particularly if you’re on the wrong side of this economy.

Lisa provides other resources, as well, including the awesome Hip & Sage blog and a voluminous list of resources at the end of the book.

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Related items:

• Two Weeks to a Breakthrough review
• Focus Like a Laser Beam review
• High Impact Middle Management

del.icio.us Tags: leadership,management,Lisa+Haneberg,hip,sage,genuine+curiosity,Dwayne+Melancon

Need a GPS for your mind map?

A few months ago, I started working with Adam Sicinski’s amazing mind map diagram called the “MasterMind Matrix.”  I’d like to tell you a little about it, since I think it is a very interesting and useful self-coaching tool.

At first glance, I felt that Adam’s work was impressive – this is one of the largest and most comprehensive mindmaps I have ever seen.  You see, Adam is a Life Coach, but is also a guru/student of self development.  He set out to find a way to allow himself and others to answer questions like:

• How do my emotions interact with my beliefs, values and other building blocks of my personality?
• What influence do other people have over the development of my personality?
• How does my Brain interpret what I do? And how does it consequently influence my future decisions & actions?
• How do each one of my choices and decisions influence all other aspects of my personality and life?
• How do I know if I am on track moving towards fulfillment, or off-track moving towards disappointment?

The result is a terrific tool that helps you drill down on various challenges and strengths so you can improve your performance and break through bottlenecks by better understanding how your strengths, blind spots, and emotional tendencies interact.  It’s tough to describe without experiencing it yourself, but I found the process to be very intriguing and invigorating.

You can get a PDF version of the file (that’s what I’m using), or you can order a wall poster.  I am thinking about going for the wall poster, since I can’t interact with the PDF as easily on the screen (though I’m glad I have the PDF for use on the road).

If you want a taste of what this tool is like, you can download the accompanying MasterMind Matrix mind map for free.  This is kind of like an index that can guide you to the right places on the bigger map.

I recommend you read Adam’s “Journey through the MasterMind Matrix” for his perpective on this tool.

You can find out even more about the matrix at the IQMatrix site, or get your own copy at the IQMatrix Shop.

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del.icio.us Tags: personal improvement,self development,mindmap,Adam Sickinski,Dwayne Melancon,mindhacks

Does the iPhone OS v3 fix my top gripes?

Several months ago, I wrote about the top 3 things that I felt were missing from the iPhone.  This week, version 3 of the iPhone OS was released and I’m using it now.  I don’t have the new iPhone 3Gs hardware – I’m running on the “old” iPhone 3G hardware, but since that’s the bulk of the installed base right now I figured it might be useful to share my findings here.

Gripe	Status
I couldn’t cut & paste.	Fixed – and it works very well in iPhone OS v3.
I couldn’t invite others to appointments (i.e. initiate meeting requests).	Fixed – it works fairly well.  Would like to be able to check the availability of other attendees, but at least I can invite people to meetings.
I couldn’t attach / forward contact information to others.	Fixed – it is now possible to “Share” contact, which opens an email and attaches the contact as a .vcf file, which is fairly standard.

The v3 OS update is free for iPhone owners (iPod Touch owners must pay $10 for some reason) so it should be an automatic for you if you have an iPhone.

Killerest feature

The “killerest” new feature (my opinion) is “Spotlight Search,” which provides the ability to search for things on the device.  It was very painful to find things in old emails before – it was all manual and time-consuming.  Now you can search for items, messages, songs, appointments, etc. and find them in a jiffy.  The only limitation I’ve found is in searching email folders other than your inbox: if you haven’t opened the folder on your iPhone, or you haven’t opened it in a while, you won’t find recent emails in the search – you’ll have to open the folder so it will sync.

To make this slightly easier, each folder now has a Search field at the top of the folder so you can easily find things within that particular folder.

…And the rest(ish)

Some other improvements I’ve noticed in this version (not a complete list – there are even more):

• Support for stereo Bluetooth (A2DP) so you can use wireless headphones
• You can now sync Notes between Outlook and the iPhone (not wirelessly – only when you dock with iTunes)
• Better rendering of HTML in the browser
• Addition of a Voice Memo application (ideal for those “notes to self”, though I still prefer Jott)
• Better support for clicking on links, phone numbers, etc. in appointments if you’re syncing with Microsoft Exchange (though for some reason, you can’t click on any of these if they are in the subject of the appointment – only in the body, and only if they aren’t inside an attachment) 
• This capability, along with cut & paste (which also won’t work in the subject line for some reason) will save a lot of idiotic instances of needing to write down meeting phone numbers and passcodes
• This also means you can put addresses inside the notes part of a meeting, click on the address, and it will automagically look up the address in Google Maps – again, don’t put it in the location field because it won’t be clickable there – put it in the notes
• The podcast controls, which I mentioned in my last post
• Lots of cosmetic/usability improvements in the recent calls, favorites, and other phone-related lists
• The ability to rent movies from your iPhone
• Better support for seamless password storage when using WiFi networks that require account names & passwords
• Support for saved passwords and autocomplete on web forms
• Improved VPN support

That’s my list off the top of my head, and I know I’m forgetting a few things.  If you’re lucky enough to be able to get an iPhone 3Gs (the new hardware) you’ll get all of that plus a compass, faster processor, and the ability to film and edit movies on the phone (and you get a higher-res camera).

Hope that helps update you on the iPhone. 

If you don’t care about iPhones: this isn’t an iPhone fanboy site but I will post something about them from time to time, particularly around big releases.

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del.icio.us Tags: iPhone,iPhone v3,gadgets,Dwayne Melancon

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The power of not positive thinking?

I was just reading Kare Anderson’s thought-provoking post on daily affirmations, where she discusses some research that indicates that positive affirmations aren’t as powerful as we’ve been led to believe.

We’ve all heard the “positive self talk” pitch before – repeat the affirmations, become more like them.  (“…I’m good enough, and smart enough.  And doggone it, people like me.”)

Turns out, the conventional wisdom around affirmations may not be entirely accurate (read Kare’s post for more). 

I thought about that one for a while.  Why don’t these affirmations work that well?  What works better?  I’m no expert but I do have some thoughts on this.

• Maybe the affirmations can create too much dissonance inside us.  In other words, even though we say the right things, perhaps some part of us (and even deeper inner voice) remains skeptical.  Could be.
• Maybe some affirmations work better because the don’t define us, they merely inspire us.  For example, maybe we’re more apt to believe an “I can do this.” kind of affirmation before we believe an “I’m a good person.” affirmation.  There is a subtle difference – one encourages us to succeed, while the other places more of a subjective label on us.

Perhaps this is why setting bold goals works for so many of us:  we are more likely to be inspired and motivated to do something than we are to be something.

What do you think?  How well do affirmations work for you, and what works best in getting you through challenges and tough times?

 

Technorati Tags: self improvement,Kare Anderson,Dwayne Melancon,motivation,affirmations

Bigger goals - the bigger "yes"

I've just returned from a trip to London and have been reflecting on goals and outcomes. I wanted to record my initial thoughts in this post (from my iPhone, no less). I've often heard that goals / objectives must be "reasonable" so you can achieve them. But is that right?

When you look at the great achievements of history, you often hear the words "achieved the impossible" or "succeeded against all odds.". Those hardly sound like the accomplishment of "reasonable" goals.

When was the last time you made a big bet by declaring a goal that seemed impossible?  For me, I think it's been a while. With that in mind I'd like to encourage you to think beyond your safety zone and try to set at least one goal that seems impossible, and try to engage the forces of the universe to help you achieve it.

A good book for our times

I just read my friend Rajesh Setty’s new book, “Upbeat: Cultivating the right attitude in tough times.”  I’ve been a fan of Rajesh’s work since I discovered him through his book “Beyond Code,” a couple of years ago.

This book is a perfect book for anyone who’s feeling victimized by today’s financial crises as it was prepared specifically to help people deal with today’s environment.  That said, I found a lot in this book that will help with improving your outlook on life, in general.

The approach Rajesh takes in this book will help you decide whether you’ll be a victim of circumstance, or whether you’ll take responsibility for your own well being and try to improve your lot in life.  From there, he provides a number of examples and insightful observations to help you figure out how to overcome obstacles and anxiety.

Not just a “feel good” book

Don’t worry – this is not just a “feel good and good things will happen to you” kind of book.  Rajesh is a serial entrepreneur and has had lots of experience with both setbacks and successes, and he rolls all that experience into this short book.

The book is organized around 5 key areas:

1. The Trap – this is how to keep the “gloom and doom” of everyday conversation from eroding your spirit, as well as how to look for the opportunities that will take you to the next level.
2. The Discipline – this is about rituals and habits, as well as becoming a “lean and mean” player in the world.
3. The Network – this is the traditional “help and be helped” networking approach, but also about how not to misuse networking tools (i.e. when Facebook becomes Fakebook).
4. The Strategy – this is all about honing your focus and taking deliberate action.
5. The Action – this deals with a notion I think of as “do the things you want to be known for” which will increase your chances of success when people are looking for a new member of their team.

The “Upbeat DIY Helpbook”

While the first part of the book focuses a lot on attitude, persistence, and commitment, the appendix is kind of like a set of mini-workshops.  Rajesh calls it the “Upbeat DIY Helpbook” and it creates short, introspective exercises to help move you along the right path.  I found that it put a fine point on many of the abstract concepts introduced in the beginning of the book and made it all seem more real.

In summary, this is a short book and an easy read, but don’t let it’s diminutive size fool you – there is a lot of power in these pages.  Oh – and I think Upbeat would be a great gift for you to give someone who finds themselves on the wrong side of this economy.

For more on Rajesh, be sure and check out his blog at http://www.lifebeyondcode.com.

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Kindle 3 – early scoop

Just saw a video on the Kindle 3 – just amazing.  It will let you read The Lord of the Rings trilogy in only 9 hours – who knew?  I’m glad I have my Kindle 2 to tide me over…

Check out the Kindle 3 video (if the embedded version below doesn’t work, here is the link).

Watch The Kindle 3 on CollegeHumor

By the way – I’ve done a full review of the Kindle 2 if you’re interested.

del.icio.us Tags: Kindle 3,Dwayne Melancon

Typecasting isn’t always bad

I’ve been talking with my teenage son about career options after high school, which can be a bit daunting (for both of us).  As fate would have it, I found out about a good resource at just the right time – and I think it is a useful resource for anyone looking for a new career path, as well as those who are on a path but want to see if they are really a good fit for what they’re doing.

The resource begins with a quiz to help you figure out what careers are the best fit with your natural thinking style.  The quiz is easy and at the end you get a list of several career areas that are a good match for your personality type, along with suggested study areas.

The classification scheme is based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment and, though this quiz is a lightweight assessment, I think it is pretty accurate.  How do I know?  I also took the quiz and found that it was right on target – and I’ve taken the MBTI assessment several times in the past – with fairly consistent results each time (in case your wondering, I fluctuate between INTJ and INTP – I’m pretty much on the line between J & P).

The initial assessment provides you with a high-level summary and a few career suggestions, and you can get a more detailed report for $14.95.  I got the full report for INTP (the one that seemed closest in this particular quiz) and it was not only spot-on, it was full of information to help me better understand how to play to my strengths at work.

My son is an INTJ, and we have that full report, as well.  He’s still not sure what he wants to do, but this report has been helpful so far.

More good info

The Personality Type site is the brainchild of Paul D. Tieger, who is apparently an expert in personality type.  He has a good reading list in the site’s Articles & Resources section, and he’s also one of the authors of “Do What Your Are,” which seems like a good read.

Curious?  You can check out the high level assessment for free at Personality Type.

del.icio.us Tags: personality type,career planning,myers-briggs,mbti,Paul Tieger,Dwayne Melancon

C2R: Complaint to Request

Continuing the spirit of my post about discussion tools, I want to share a technique we’re trying out at work.  It’s called “Complaint to Request,” or C2R, for short.  It’s an easy approach and it is working well so far.  Here is the gist of this technique:

• When you hear a complaint turn it around by saying something like, “I understand.  How can we turn that complaint into a request?”

This kind of question accomplishes a couple of things.  It acknowledges the issue and – more importantly – it shifts the conversation into “solution mode” and helps engage the complainer in thinking about how things could be better. 

We discussed the technique during a managers’ meeting and I must admit I thought this was a “looks good on paper” kind of concept, and didn’t think it would really work.  Nonetheless, I decided to try it out to see what happened. 

That night at dinner, I had the perfect opportunity to give it a try with one of my daughters:

Daughter:	“Dad, you gave me an orange today in my lunch and that made me mad.  It was messy and I got orange gunk under my fingernails.”
Me:	“I understand.  Now – how can we turn that complaint into a request?”
Daughter:	(without missing a beat) “When you make my lunch, can you either cut up the oranges or give me another kind of fruit, like an apple?  And please put a napkin in the lunch bag.”
Me:	“OK, I’ll do that.  Thank you for letting me know.”

I was fascinated by how well it worked, and how easy it was.  I didn’t tell my daughter I was “trying some new Jedi mind trick” or anything like that – I just tried the technique.  Since then, I’ve tried it a number of times at home and at work, and it generally gets good results.

The other thing this has done for me:  When I catch myself complaining about something, I try to think of a way to turn my complaint into a request.

If you try this out, let me know if it works for you.

[Review] Who’s Got Your Back

Keith Ferrazzi’s latest book, “Who’s Got Your Back,” is about developing an inner circle of advisors who will never let you fail. This book is both inspiring and actionable – a very strong combination. 

Superheroes and Mere Mortals

I found this book to be a very reasonable and achievable approach – in other words, something I believe I can actually do.  Why do I mention this?  Well, when I read Keith’s first book “Never Eat Alone,” I was inspired but very intimidated – “Never Eat Alone” felt very compelling, but I believed Keith must be some kind of Superhero to be able to do all of the things he described in any sustained way.

In “Who’s Got Your Back,” Keith shares some of his challenges and helps us see that he is Mere Mortal after all.  In fact, he talks about how some of the relationship skillz he mentions in “Never Eat Alone” were missing inside his company.  [I can relate – I do a much better with communication, organization, and relationship management at work than I do at home.]

He then goes on to share how he has found 3 key people in his life that provide him with unvarnished feedback, encouragement, and input on life strategies.  These are the 3 people who will not let him fail – the 3 people who have “got his back.”

Five key learnings

I got a pre-release copy of this book and got an email from Keith asking me to summarize my five most compelling ideas, anecdotes or lessons that stuck with me.  I thought that was a good approach for this review, so here are mine:

1. Generosity, Vulnerability, Candor, and Accountability are the currency required to bring people into your inner circle.  You have to invest in relationships with others, and trust comes from investing these four things.
2. “Each of us is responsible for creating the safe place around us.”  When I read this line, I had a flashback to my post from a few years ago about taking responsibility for your own well-being.  In the context of this book, that means we are each responsible for creating the environment / demeanor that invites others in.  Sometimes, that may also mean explicitly inviting them in.
3. “Give and Let Give.”  It’s great to be a mentor or give of your talents to others – it can be quite another thing to be able to accept the gifts and talents others share with you.  If you feel you aren’t worthy of others’ attention or “investment” it can be difficult to ask for help or accept it when it’s given.  You are worthy, and “they” are helping you because they want to – accept the help graciously.
4. You can’t rush trust.  Throughout the book, Keith talks about having conversations over “long, slow dinners.”  Relationships take time and if you rush things or try to do too much at once, you probably won’t enjoy them as much.  Trust takes time to build – they don’t sell trust in the drive-through lane. 
5. If you and your mentor aren’t being candid, something is wrong.  This works two ways:  1) they need to know how you (really) feel and what’s important to you, even if it’s hard to talk about; 2) they need to be able to tell you the straight scoop, even if it’s not something you want to hear.  If you have the right mentor, and you’ve created the safe place around that relationship, you can make this work – if it doesn’t feel safe, review 1-4, above, and see if you can figure out what’s missing.  Still not feeling it?  Have no fear, the book will help you get there.

Step by step, you’ll get there

This book does a great job of providing specific steps to help you through the process of building your inner circle.  I’m still working through it, but the steps are clear and concrete so I think you’ll be able to apply them on your own.  Keith also includes a lot of examples from his own life and these stories help you get a feel for what’s required of you at each step.

You’ll find a bunch of other inspiring stories, too – like the one about two real estate pros that had complementary strengths who worked together and were more successful than either could be alone.  Powerful stuff.

“Who’s Got Your Back” touts itself as a program “…to build deep, trusting relationships that create success – and won’t let you fail.”  I think it delivers.

[Updated] Quick clicks for Monday

Last night I was getting caught up on my online reading and finally got a chance to spend time on some of the sites on my “to read” list.  Here are a couple you should click on:

• My friend Derek Newman’s new blog, “Just Thirty Minutes A Day” [updated with new link to Derek’s newly redesigned site]. He just jumped back into the blogging fray on a new topic and is focused on personal productivity tips.
• A good article on “12 Essentials for the Digital Nomad,” which came to me via Phil Gerbyshak.
• Good resources at John Richardson’s “Success Begins Today” 5 Minute Resources page.  I am trying out the 5 minute outliner.
• On the lighter side (via YouTube), there is a funny new episode of “Ask A Ninja” available, as well as a new installment from season 2 of Chad Vader (this episode: The Basement Strikes Back).

Have a great and productive week!

Resurfacing after a deep dive

I’ve been fairly quiet for the past couple of weeks, but that’s due to a couple of contributing factors:  connectivity (or lack thereof), and jam-packed scheduling at 3, back-to-back software industry conferences (self-inflicted, for the most part). 

Now, as I come up for air, I have a lot of pent up stuff to write about.  Let’s start with some quick updates:

• A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I was starting one of my periodic time audits (yes, I finally got it done after my epic fail).  Here are my key takeaways:
• I was successful in carving out and sticking to one of my goals:  engaging in regular physical exercise.  For the past 5 consecutive weeks, I have kept to a 6-day per week exercise schedule (3 alternating days of weights, interspersed with 3 days of cardio, followed by 1 day of rest).  I even managed to keep to this during 3 weeks of travel.  This is a first for me, but something I intend
• I spent too much time working on things that were not directly related to my top priorities. What’s my diagnosis of the problem?
• I wasn’t consistent in writing down my top priorities and “must do” items at the beginning of the week.
• I said “yes” to too many “urgent but not important” tasks (i.e. someone else’s priorities)
• I read a great article by my friend Mike Kanazawa (author of “BIg Ideas to Big Results”).  The article is called “80% Of Companies Are Thinking More Strategically In The Downturn,” and it looks at some data on how companies are reacting to the economy’s chaos.  One of the key observations is one I really agree with: you need to take care of your existing customers and keep them happy.  I don’t know about you, but I find it much easier to stick by the suppliers that have done right by me no matter what, but during lean times I will not only support them – I’ll go out of my way to give them my business so they do OK.  And I’ll readily drop the vendors that have been lame to me.  There’s more to it in Mike’s article – go check it out.
• I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the positive power of “TripIt” (which I wrote about a while ago).  As my travel has picked up, I’ve been reconnecting with quite a few people I haven’t seen in ages.  I was skeptical about how much I’d like TripIt but was intrigued enough to sign up anyway.  I’m glad I did.

I’ve got a few drafts going that I’ll be finishing up and posting soon – including a review of a forthcoming Keith Ferrazzi book that I have a pre-release copy of.  I think you’ll like it.

Thanks for hanging in there during my time under water.

Epic Fail: My Time Audit

Well, last weekend I told you I'd be doing a time audit during the past week. I had my forms printed and everything. I did a couple of entries on Monday morning and that's about it.

While I didn't learn much about the specifics of how I spent my time, I did find that I somehow got a lot of the items on my list done this week, so I must have done something right.

What next? Back on the horse next week. "There is no try - only do or do not," as Yoda says. This week I will either do, or do not. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Time for another audit

Well, it's that time again - I'm going to do another "time audit" starting next week. As I've written in the past, I get a lot of value from periodically analyzing how I spend my time. Time audits help you better adjust your prioritization, balance, and productivity and I'm feeling like I'm due for one.

Tools for tracking

As usual, I have been looking for tools to make this easier and I've found one that I think is going to be really effective: it's from David Seah's "Printable CEO" toolset, and he calls it the "Emergent Time Tracker."

At David's site, you can find several formats of this form that you can download for free, along with instruction on how to use the tracker and interpret / analyze your results. There is even an annotated example to get you going quickly (thumbnail at right), and a beta version of an online time tracking tool.

Bren told me about another web-based tracking tool called "SlimTimer" that looks interesting.

Give it time

If you're going to do a time audit of your own, I recommend doing it for two weeks. Not only does this give you plenty of data to work with, I also find that my 2nd week is more complete because I'm more diligent about logging my activities as the habit starts to settle in.

Taking another cue from David Seah, I've also just ordered a Kitchenaid timer. I think it'll help me be more conscious of how I use my time and help me with time boxing.

Taking things for granted

On a lighter note, I just got a link from my friend Gene Kim (who sorta has a blog about Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints, if one post qualifies).

The link is to a Conan O’Brien segment with the truly hilarious comedian Louis CK, who’s describing how everything in the world is awesome but nobody is satisfied.

You can watch the video below, or click this link to go to YouTube to watch.

This is must-see PC, believe me.  Enjoy!