My Riffs

What a good team in place, there are times to take your hand off the wheel and let the team perform. They will come up with things impossible with a leaders hand on the wheel. There is obviously a time and a place for this, and it needs to be done at strategic times. But when it's time, something magical can happen. Happy New Years!

The amount of publicly available information today is staggering. And it's not slowing down at all. The rate of ignorance hasn't improved with the rate of knowledge. Today it could be argued we have as much or more ignorance than ever. Whether educated or not. Ignorance at so many levels too. The access to knowledge doesn't cure the problem of ignorance. People who have knowledge still often lack wisdom. So today in a world of so much knowledge, we need to teach people how to use the knowledge they have available to them, have to process it and how to put it to good use. If knowledge doesn't lead to wisdom and ultimately to betterment, it's a complete waste. Don't assume having knowledge will make you or anyone less ignorant. Gaining knowledge doesn't push out ignorance, the two can live quite fine together. Wisdom will push out ignorance though. So seek wisdom and understanding to overcome ignorance.

Never has the world moved faster. Never has there been so many possibilities, so much potential. From where I am sitting now, I can literally reach around the entire globe. That's absolutely mind blowing. We now even take this unbelievable fact for granted. With all this speed, potential and possibilities though, there are still no shortcuts. To be successful, to do good work, to be effective still takes the same amount of work. What's changed is scalability and speed. But the required work hasn't changed. Many have mistaken these changes in potential as shortcuts though. No shortcuts have been discovered, the rewards for good work have just increased. Even with big rewards comes big responsibility, so in many ways things have not gotten any easier. Don't make the mistake many have in thinking technology and the connectedness of the world allows for shortcuts. If anything these global changes require better work to get noticed and to succeed. The endless op...

So many things can irritate me when I let my irritations rule me. I've realized that oftentimes these irritations are actually revealing something about myself. The irritations are revealing less about the situation, thing or person that I am finding irritating, but more about myself. Irritations are real and rational, however many are the result of a problem or weakness in myself, not others. So exploring your irritations is a fun way to discover areas to improve in :)

There are two primary ways to make changes, incremental or wholesale. There is a time and place for both approaches. The more common and safer way is incremental change. This is the way most humans change. People make wholesale decisions and changes happen, but by in large, most change is incremental. So in making goals and decisions for the new year, the best way to ensure they are attainable is to set them up in a way you can meet them incrementally. Incremental change doesn't jolt systems as much as wholesale change. We don't often make large jumps in thinking or behaviour, but a series of small steps. So handling change in such manner makes for better, more realistic change management.

Strong and weak people surround themselves with different groups and types. Weak people generally surround themselves with people who don't challenge them. People who don't provoke thinking and growth. People who just affirm them. (in balance we all need this of course) Strong people surround themselves with those who may be smarter than themselves. Who may provoke different thinking and who challenge them. The weak group will remain weak, and the other group will get stronger and better. You will be the sum of your closest friendships and relationships. Surround yourself with friendships and relationships whose sum is higher than yourself, it will cause you to level up.

Some days we set aside needed time to celebrate. Today is such a day. Merry Christmas to all!

The more important you feel you are, the less you will need to let others know that. The less important you feel, the more you will feel the need to let others know how important you are.

Soren Kierkegaard said, “most men pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it.” In this holiday season let’s not get in a rush to get past the important moments of being together and sharing memories together. That is where the pleasure is to be found. Memories and connection is where the pleasure is to be found during the holiday season.

All leaders are selling something. The product is usually a vision for people to buy into. But people won't buy into the vision if they can't buy into the leader. So what really backs what you're selling is yourself. If people can't buy into who you are, they won't buy into your vision. You could have a great vision, but it won't go anywhere if people don't buy into you.

The barriers are fewer than ever. Social media and technology has removed many of the barriers between creators/voices and the public. Now the voices/creators have direct access to the public. We could say this has watered down the talent level. Or we could say this has uncovered much more talent/voices than previously possible. As with all technology/information, sifting through the junk becomes the important thing.

Every rule has an exception. But we cannot let the exceptions become the rule. This will skew the rule and not allow the rule to benefit the greatest amount of people possible. The rule will cater to the exceptions and alienate the ones the rule is to help.

Decisions generally are polarizing. Appreciate the few times when a decision is looked at favourably by all, it doesn't happen often. Most decisions will make some people mad and some happy. The decision criteria should be less focused on who will be happy and who will be upset, and more on what's the right decision. Trying to move a particular person/group into the happy camp will more than likely push a different person/group into the upset camp. So making the right decision is more important than ensuring the happiness of a single person or group.

The more junk I carry the more junk I will attract. Junk is magnetic. Learning to put down the junk is one of the most important lessons and disciplines one can learn.

Our words have power to build or destroy. Most of our words and conversations can be classified into two caragories. Strengthening or Weakening. The more weakening words we say, the weaker we make ourselves and those around us. The more strengthening words we say, the stronger we will be and those around us. The thing is, more often than not, weakening words don’t need to be spoken. So speak strength.

In doing something simple this morning I realized something profound that I somewhat already knew, but hadn't quite thought of in this way before... I was grinding my coffee beans using my Hario hand grinder and realized, broken isn't always bad. The coffee beans were being broken, and that was a good thing. In the "whole" state, they were of little use. But in their broken state, they were suddenly much more usable. As humans, sometimes we break. Sometimes there are hard edges on us that should be broken off and they do break, simply because they're hard edges. The areas of ourselves that are like unbroken coffee beans need to be broken to allow the new and better life underneath to come out. When something breaks, something new comes to life. Not all breaking is good, but oftentimes even in bad breaks, something good and new will come. So at the moments and times we break or feel completely broken, there's opportunity for the new to blossom. Breaks a...

To get what you’ve never had, to go where you’ve never gone and do do what you’ve never done you have to give something up. To get something new or different you have to give something up. What’s the extra’s we’re carrying that we could give up for a better more prefered future?

If you’re not looking for the good, you’ll never see it and it will never happen.  Because even if something good happens you’ll miss it. 

In order for your product or message to have mass appeal it will need to be standardized and processsd to become bland or tasteless enough for everyone to be able to digest it. I’m thinking of McDonalds and Subway. Almost everyone can every now and again stomach one of the two. The problem with mass appeal is quality. There’s a correlation between mass appeal and quality. It’s hard to maintain quality as something is produced for the masses. It’s hard to maintain uniqueness and creativity as something is made for the masses. Oftentimes finding your niche is much better use of resources than trying to appeal to the widest audience possible. Find those who will see the value of your product and message without compromises. They will value the specialized version over the version for mass appeal. A specialized product may be available to all but only appreciated by some. And that’s okay. Making an impact and engagement is more important than appealing to all.

We know that hindsight is 20/20. But it only is real 20/20 vision if it informs and guides the future. If foresight isn't effected by hindsight than hindsight isn't 20/20. We can use hindsight to provide better foresight. Hindsight on it's own isn't valuable until acted upon for the future.

Sometimes it’s only one small pebble that disrupts. Small things really matter. A pebble a fraction the size of what it’s disruptung can cause complete havoc. Dealing with the pebbles can often have much bigger reward than the size of the pebble would suggest. It’s important to not minimize the details and small things. They have big consequences both when attended to and when left alone.

Sometimes what’s right isn’t apparent. That’s when you start identifying what is wrong. Cross off enough wrongs and some rights will start making themselves apparent.

Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . What are you doing with yours?

A few times recently I've found myself saying or being sorry because I didn't mean to do something. I think while you can never eliminate all mistakes, you can live intentional and eliminate many of them. When I'm moving too fast, I don't take time to think through by actions or words, and there is very often unintended consequences for doing so. To live intentional means to take time to think about every action and word. Your mistakes will get fewer doing this. So when we unintentionally do something we didn't mean to, it's time to slow down and become intentional.

What we eat is actually very important for our health, both physically and mentally. The same came be said though for non-food diets. What we feed will grow and demand more. If you feed laziness, it will grow and grow. If you feed negativity, it will grow and demand more negativity. If you feed your desire for junk food (junk music, literature, video) it will grow and demand more. So it's just as important to be careful what actions, thoughts and tendencies we feed. They will grow. Feed the positive thoughts and actions; starve the negative or potentially dangerous. What you feed will demand more and grow accordingly.

We all have things we're good at. Some things come naturally to one and much harder for others. The tendency is to really rely on the things we've become good at. These best attributes can become weak points though. We can become too reliant on that one attribute or skill and stop developing others. We can become so good at that one skill or attribute that we overuse it. Make sure your best attributes do not become points of weakness. Keep them in balance and they will remain your best attributes. Don't lean on them too much and allow them to grow and morph as needed to remain relevant with where you are in life.

Add an extra second to it. To that text, add a second to see if you could be a bit clearer or kinder. Add an extra second when you greet someone to look them in the eye and inquire how they're doing. Add an extra second when typing your email to review it. Add an extra second when conversing to someone to listen, to really listen. Add an extra second to make sure of things when learning or taking in instructions. Add an extra second to enjoy the sunrise/sunset. Add an extra second to be grateful for what you have. One second can make a big difference.

Our natural tendency is to see how little we can do to accomplish a job. Or how little we can get away with to maintain something. But what if we started trying to understand what's the most we can do for it? Quality would most likely go way up. Move from least amount to most when doing a job. Not to the point of being inefficient, but how much value can you provide, how much quality can you contribute, etc. These are the questions to ask.

For long enough to cause a problem, people have been focusing too much on image and not enough on their character. We have a deficiency of character today and we’re seeing this be revealed all the time in the news right now. When we worry more about how we appear than who we really are, we see morality failure. If we focused on our character instead of image, it would make ourself and the world a better place. A return to character development is needed to stem the tide of image driven action that leads to moral failure. Work on your character and your image will follow. Let your image be the quality of your character.

With the closing of so many news sources in recent times, it has brought to light the importance of public discourse. While not perfect, public discourse is critically important. Once it’s lost, communities and societies suffer hugely. Public discourse provided a level of balance, fairness and forward ness that doesn’t happen without it. Stifling public discourse leads to tyranny. There is more safety in public discourse than closed systems. It’s in public discourse where bad ideas can be eliminated and better ideas can rise. But they have to be hashed out in public discourse properly. When this avenue closes, the balance of power and equity becomes lopsided and those in power rule without checks and balances. When possible allow public discourse. It’s not perfect, but it acts like a self regulating filter and incubator. It filters the bad from the good and provides ideas that can advance. Wisdom from an individual is never better than team wisdom. Public discourse allows f...

We live in a busy, busy, busy society. With very little free time. But want some insight into yourself? What you do with your free times tells you a whole lot about yourself, your priorities and your interests.