Monthly Archive for February, 2007

The Rules and Laws of Life and Success

Published on 28 February, 2007 in Business, Creativity and genius, High performance and Self-awareness. 0 Comments

There are the Seven Habits, the 48 Laws and The Rules. So many different models and theories, mostly unvalidated, frequently so abstract that they border on platitudes. But since these books represent some of the most popular and perhaps at times thought provoking pieces of work, perhaps some consideration ought be given.

I like The Rules of Work. It’s simple and applied. I prefer Robert Greene’s 48 Laws of Power – but it’s a little more abstract, even in the pocket version, but the style is magnificent. Of course, if you don’t know Covey’s Seven Habits by now (and even his Eighth Habit – find your voice and help others find their’s), perhaps you should wake up and smell the self-help section of your favourite bookstore.

The enduring challenge is that books don’t succeed: People succeed. No matter how abstract or applied, the challenge remains how to convert concepts into reality into results… and, to me, how to have a hell of a fun time along the way!

What would you do on the moon?

Published on 22 February, 2007 in Business, Creativity and genius, High performance, Science and technology and Self-awareness. 0 Comments

NASA has come up with 181 things to do on the moon. While there are a few cool ideas about how to enjoy your time on the moon (eg mHH8 – “Provide leisure activities, in the form of arts, entertainment, and recreation, for people living on and visiting the Moon”), it looks like they have a few ideas about science too.

What I thought was interesting was the structure that they gave this information. The table is structured with the following headings: Category, Objective ID, Name, Summary, Value and then which of the six themes that the objective supports. I love seeing the parallels between business and personal life, so it really strikes me that this could be a great way for people to structure their objectives.

Goal setting is great, but it’s really easy to mess it up! Goal achievement is usually more hit-and-miss than anything else; often because of a lack of personal alignment. We might want to do something, but to actually make that happen is a different story altogether once you factor in ‘divine redirections’ (aka failures) and new opportunities.
The Balanced Scorecard/ Strategy Maps/ Alignment approach is powerful, though it’s still pretty limited in application to the business world. Covey’s ultra-popular “Roles” approach is nice and neat, though lacks the power; Tony Robbins’ RPM/OPA system is beautifully presented but (like so much of Tony’s stuff) lacks the real robustness (even through his Time of Your Life course – a course that sounds so great yet delivers so little at the real front line) that would allow it to really work. The best (in my view) at personal productivity is David Allen, and while he says “consider this stuff”, he largely abdicates any structure for higher level thinking in favor of the methods that do work very well at a tactical and operational level. I believe that the ‘solution’, at least for me integrates the “Roles” of Covey within a BSC/SM/A framework somewhat like the NASA outline, and, while being mindful of the Outcomes championed by Tony, structures efficiency through the GTD/ David Allen approach. If that really didn’t make any sense, ask me about it and I’ll see what I can do…

I like the notion of identifying the themes that we are trying to fulfill… trans-disciplinary outcomes that we are using a range of vehicles to fulfill.

From an education framework, to me this is an uber-cool way to introduce personal excellence and achievement into science-minded students.

Lose Yourself… or Lose this Day Loitering?

Published on 22 February, 2007 in Business, Creativity and genius, High performance and Lifestyle. 0 Comments

Lose this day loitering – ’twill be the same story

To-morrow – and the next more dilatory;

Each indecision brings its own delays,

And days are lost lamenting o’er lost days.

Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute -

Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.

Only engage, and then the mind grows heated -

Begin it, and then the work will be completed!

While The Secret is riding its wave of popularity it is easy to forget that things change when we change. Not just when we think, but when we do. Not think about doing, but actually do.

Von Goethe wrote about a tendency towards activity with such precision that his words continue to be repeated and contemplated perhaps two hundred years after he wrote this piece. While he was one of the creative giants of history – and a polymath, having attained world-class status as a dramatist, novelist, poet, journalist, painter, statesman, educator and natural philosopher – it is clear that as creative as he might have been, he made things happen and got stuff done.

Intellectualisation, rationalisation and introspection are some of my favourite hobbies. I like to think that many of the mistakes that I have made shall not be repeated as many times because I took the time to notice and amend the cause. But there is nothing quite as powerful as doing stuff! A bit of science helps us understand this – it seems that eminent performance comes after about a decade of disciplined and focused practice within a domain (from Ericsson originally, but more accessible here). Instrumentality – believing that what you do will make a difference – has a big impact in results too (kids who believe that they can get smarter if they work harder do get smarter!)…

But once you’re done intellectualising, the only way that you get somewhere is to get on the phone or the internet and buy the plane ticket… or buy your own plane of course.

Oh yeah… and a huge thanks to Daniel Lewis for his photographic work. You’ll see it here soon!

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