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.

 

Some things feel more “done” than others

I took some time off around Christmas and the New Year, and decided to get a bunch of things done on my "Someday Maybe" list. Most of the items were of the "clean up" and "fix it" variety, and some of them were things I'd been putting off for a long time. For example, I rented a 3 cubic yard dumpster for a day and did a massive clean up of our garage (filled the dumpster to the rim and brought a van full of stuff to the Salvation Army) and now we can park in the garage again!

I noticed that checking each of these old projects off my list felt really good -- like a real, satisfying accomplishment. In other words, they really felt "Done."

When I compare cleaning my garage to a lot of the things I do at work, the feeling is a bit different. You see, at work, a significant part of my job is managing long-term, ongoing relationships with other companies and, even though there are lots of deliverables on the way, they don't feel as "Done" as cleaning the garage or filling a dumpster.

When I think about why, some of it is just the "nature of the beast," I suppose. But I think another aspect is that I tend to think of my job as an ongoing stream of "stuff" - and I don't regularly break it down into smaller, more deliberately-defined subprojects. The result? At the end of the week, I see a lot of little check marks, but they aren't nearly as satisfying as checking off a whole project as "Done."

That realization came to me while re-reading David Allen's "Getting Things Done" (GTD) the other day. Part of David's GTD philosophy is to break big tasks into smaller, more manageable chunks, then identify small steps (Next Actions) that you can pick off one at a time.

As we move into 2008, I am re-visiting my approach to GTD, trying to re-establish better habits. One of the changes I'm going to make is to be more deliberate about defining my projects more discretely (and doing more thorough Weekly Reviews to keep on top of them).

And if you haven't read Getting Things Done in a while, I highly recommend it. In the realm of personal productivity, it's a great way to spotlight things that aren't working as well as they should.

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Will you still need me, will you still feed me...

I just finished John Izzo's book, "The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die" and I think it's a good choice to provide some perspective for New Year's resolutions.

This book contains a very interesting collections of anecdotes and insights from hundreds of interviews Izzo has conducted with "elders" in various cultures around the world (ages ranged from 59 to 105). He distilled what he learned from these interviews into the "Five Secrets" that these elders deemed essential to a happy life. For those of you who crave the list, the five secrets are:

  1. Be true to yourself
  2. Leave no regrets
  3. Become love
  4. Live the moment
  5. Give more than you take

A simple list of the Five Secrets is useful, but the "why" really comes out in the stories Izzo shares in this book. I learned a lot of subtleties about the five secrets through the stories in each section.

Powerful perspective from others - and some questions of my own

Izzo went down the path toward this book because he wanted to learn how to have the most fulfiling life possible. His father died at age 36, and Izzo's sense of urgency about his own life increased as a result. This study process got him to spend a lot of time with old people and he found that different cultures place different amounts of value on the old in their societies. Izzo found many cultures where the elders are held in very high regard, and regularly consulted about weighty matters - for example, he cites a Romanian saying, "The house that does not have an old person in it must buy one."

He also observes that the US culture, for one, tends to focus more on the ideas of the young, and relegates elders to nursing homes and retirement communities. I think his observation is an interesting one and, while his statements about this may be exaggerated a bit, it's worth considering whether we are systematically dismissing the value of the old people in our society - and figuring out how each of us, individually, can embrace the value of our elders more often.

As cool as Izzo's ideas are, one thing bothered me after reading this book: Most of the "elder honoring" cultures Izzo mentions (Romania, Tanzania, etc.) are not exactly dominating the world's stage for political, economic, or social contributions. Why not? What else is needed? And is there a way to accelerate world contributions by better engaging elders in our activities and decisions?

Start the New Year with some new ideas

There is a lot to think about in this book, and I think it provides an excellent backdrop for reviewing your life's priorities and purpose. If you're thinking about New Year's resolutions this would be a good book to read before you put pen to paper - it's an easy read for such a deep message, and the stories will be good for you no matter what..

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Here’s to you, Marc - wherever you are

I just read the sad news about the passing of one of my favorite friends and personalities in tech, GTD, and just being an all around neat guy - Marc Orchant. I never met Marc in the flesh, but he touched my life in a lot of ways. He was funny, smart, kind, and supportive.

We talked a lot on email, and followed each others blogs regularly. He helped me get mirrored on OfficeZealot a long time ago. I took Marc's Microsoft Outlook online course. But most of all, I just liked Marc and loved his energy and perspective.

I miss you, Marc. My thoughts and prayers to Marc's family.

You can read a wonderful tribute to Marc on bub.blicio.us, which is where this picture came from (photographer: Brian Solis).

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ruggengraat

I've just returned from a week in Japan where I was speaking at a conference on JSOX (Japanese Sarbanes-Oxley). While I was there, I visited with a bunch of customers, prospects, and partners. My goal in these meetings was to develop a more tangible understanding of some of the business drivers in the market so my company can provide a stronger solution in Japan.

In the course of these meetings, I was extremely impressed by one partner I met with - not just by what they do, but by how they have built their company. When we started the meeting, they wanted to begin by explaining their company philosophy to me - before we talked any "real" business.

They explained that, though they operate in a very technical market space, they don't hire specifically for technical skills or expertise. I was intrigued - "What do you look for when you hire, then?" Their answer: "We hire first for integrity and core values. We can teach technical skills, but we cannot teach integrity and ethics. Our customers trust us with their IT infrastructure, including things that have sensitive data on them - and we must be trustworthy. If we start with employees with high moral character, we can help them learn the skills they need."

I asked for a copy of their mission and values - which they really apply in their business (I saw some great examples of this even in my short visit with their President/Founder and members of his team). I'd like to share them with you - maybe they'll inspire you, as they do me:

Embracing a global philosophy

Here is an excerpt from the English version of their company brochure:

"All of us at [the company] firmly believe that having the strength 'to safeguard things that don't change' and 'to strive to see the things that cannot be seen' is essential, and that improving oneself is a daily challenge.

With that in mind, our philosophy is:

  • Cherish the immutable.
  • Enjoy in moderation.
  • Value the people around us.
  • Observe propriety.
  • Be attentive when communicating.
  • Persevere to the best of our abilities.
  • Apply imagination and creativity in forming ideas.
  • Share knowledge and experience.
  • Have an altruistic heart.
  • Appreciate opportunity and use a critical eye in analysis."

Very inspring.

Their results

I don't think it's an accident that this is a rapidly growing, profitable company (they've tripled in the last couple of years). And I imagine they have a very loyal employee base (they were training about 30 newly minted university grads in one of their training rooms when I was there - all hired for core values).

I think they are headed for greatness - and I think we can learn a lot from this approach. Another interesting benefit of this approach: the space they operate in has traditionally had a scarce hiring pool in Japan, but their method should be very insulated from that scarcity since they can create their own workforce on demand. Way cool.

Oh - and the significance of the title of this post? The notion that this company understands that you "can't teach integrity" reminded me of an observation I once heard from a basketball coach. He talked about how certain, uncoachable attributes made it easier to succeed in basketball. In his example, he said he could help players improve in just about any skill, but he could never coach height.

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Learning in a different context

Last week, I had the privilege of being a chaperone for my daughter's sixth grade class as they went to "Outdoor School." I wasn't familiar with this concept until we moved to Oregon but, apparently, it's pretty common up here. Basically, the whole class goes to an outdoor location (some classes go to the coast, my daughter's went up to a Kiwanis camp on Mount Hood).

For several days, we worked with the kids on a variety of physical, mental, and team-building activities, and it was extremely effective. We went to a couple of mountain lakes to do water studies, went on night hikes to observe the stars and constellations, went on nature hikes to study things like microenvironments, and went on an 11.5 mile hike to a peak where we could see 5 nearby mountains all at once.

For each activity, the students were asked to answer a number of questions in their science journals to enforce what they's learned. There was also plenty of time to reflect, enjoy nature, and get to know each other in a new environment.

One of the things that really struck me was how well some of the students did in this environment. In many cases, students who are usually disinterested or "just OK" in the classroom dove into the activities with tremendous focus and passion. Just being in a different context -- along with combining learning, physical activities, and a more social, team-oriented approach -- really unlocked their curiosity.

If you ever feel uninspired when it comes to learning, maybe you can unlock your own curiosity or create a new spark by changing how you approach it. Find a way to get outside, make it more hands-on, or get involved in a supportive group environment to make it more fun and change the context of learning.

For example, it's one thing to read about the life cycle of fish but one of the "big moments" we experienced was standing on the banks of the Salmon River watching a couple of salmon spawning. Way cool - you can get a glimpse of it in the short video I captured of salmon spawning.

This was at the Cascade Streamwatch project in Wildwood, Oregon. If you're ever out this way, it's a wonderful place to do some outdoor learning!

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