Monthly Archive for December, 2008

The meaning of Christmas – insights from my brother

Published on 26 December, 2008 in Self-awareness. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Christmas means many things to many people. As I spent my first Christmas in Shanghai this year, I was fortunate to have my brother Andrew remind me of some of the deeper meanings of Christmas. He delivered a sermon that you can read from here. It helped clear my mind a lot and remember what it’s all about… and for those of you who aren’t from a Western background, it might help you understand why we do so many of the things that we do. Andrew has written it with a great deal of depth – so drink of it as it appeals to you.

Thank you – and Merry Christmas.

What is “Genius” Anyway?

Published on 16 December, 2008 in Creativity and genius and Karate. 1 Comment Tags: , , .

One of the challenges with writing about the meaning and nature of genius is finding an adequate definition. Let me identify a characteristic of a genius:

  1. Geniuses solve problems that novices cannot.
  2. Geniuses solve problems that novices can solve but much more rapidly and accurately.

We also observe that the thinking process used by genius to solve problems is briefer, reflecting that more subprocesses have been automated.

I have taught martial arts since 1998. Last week, I was doing some punching with one of my students, Kenny. I wanted Kenny to throw a left jab then a right cross. A novice would need to be told “left punch, right punch” – or something even more simple. Someone who had trained with me for a while could be told “double head punch”. However, Kenny had done quite a bit of boxing training; for him “one-two” was enough. Indeed, even after a few minutes, if I used the term “left-right” or “double head-punch”, he would internally translate that as “one-two”. Kenny is skilled, but he is not an expert or a ‘genius’.

My original fascination in genius came from the contrast between Jack and Barry. Barry studied hard. Jack didn’t. But they got similarly outstanding results.

When we were 16, they completed an examination in advanced mathematics. Here, they were asked to show a proof. However, the proof was impossible. Each identified that the question was flawed and so in a sense ’solved’ the problem. To gain marks for the problem, Barry provided six pages of working. Jack only provided three pages.

At the time, we thought that Jack was smarter – after all, he had worked it out in half the time that it took Barry. However, while Barry was granted full credit for his six pages of working, Jack was only granted half-marks.

One more thing to remember (that has relevance to the self-help goal setting world):

  1. Experts work forward, noticing and reporting consequences of the ‘givens’ until a solution appears, at least on problems that are easy for them.
  2. Novices work backwards from the problem goal.

Make your life easier: Frame your questions. Through finding the right framing, you increase your chances of finding the models and strategies that can give you the answer you seek.

From TheGeniusProject.com

Bureaucratic micro-enterprize

Published on 15 December, 2008 in Business and High performance. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

I designed a sales brochure for a client. They wanted a Chinese version, so we had the text of the brochure translated into Chinese.

But the translation wasn’t very good. My girlfriend said that while it was better than Google Translator, it looked like a foreigner had done it – certainly not to the professional standards of a company selling business communication training.

So I told them.

Weeks passed. There was talk of hiring a professional translator. There were other people in the office who could have done it. But finally the company asked me to identify the areas of the translation that needed to be improved.

But in case you missed it: I don’t read Chinese.

You might expect that a small company – with at most five desks in the office – would have a dynamic, engaging and entrepreneurial spirit. But not here.
They have a culture of putting responsibility for solutions into the hands of the one who identify that the problem exists.

It’s one of the best ways of shutting down innovation around – and indeed productivity of any sort.

A lit warning light is a good sign that the light is working. Be careful of just turning it off.

To know it for the first time…

Published on 12 December, 2008 in Overcoming. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

TS Elliot would have us believe that the goal of journeying is to arrive at the place from which we started, and to know it for the first time. Tonight, I delivered the first speech in the Toastmasters Competent Communicator series at CAT. It is a manual that I have never before completed – when I completed my previous Ice Breaker in early 1997, it was known as the Competent Toastmaster manual. And it was a challenging experience.

Challenging because in front of a small and distinguished audience of experienced speakers, I was to present a self introduction. A self-introduction that was to be engaging and interesting – despite many of the audience already knowing me very well. A self-introduction that was to be thought provoking and stimulating – despite the erudition and extreme intelligence of my listeners. And a self-introduction that was to be judged not as it was back in 1997 – when provided that I spoke at all, I would be congratulated and encouraged – but rather judged as a DTM and champion speaker.

Yet we are all making that first speech.

Every night, at every meeting, we each stand up to speak that first word.

And every time we speak, we all face those same challenges as we did that very first time.

Sometimes the butterflies are flying in formation. Sometimes the fear is transmuted into exhilaration. But sometimes we can mess it up.

I spoke on my personal passion, genius training. My brother spoke very well on a very similar topic just a few weeks before – he’s writing a book on the topic even! But as this was my Ice Breaker, I also needed to introduce myself.

Previously, I have talked about how you are naked as a speaker. How when you take the stage, you take the responsibility to honour the trust that each member of the audience has placed in you by giving you their attention and time… and how when you do, you are exposed there. If your clothes don’t look right or your voice doesn’t sound right or your hair doesn’t sit right – it’s there for all to see, hear and feel.

And you can either embrace that spotlight of attention or wish it away.

But the credit always belongs to those who are in the arena…

-->