Do you know anyone who blogs for blogging’s sake? They blog b/c they haven’t had a post in a while, not because they have something to say? I Freudian slipped and typed bogging, but that’s what this is, isn’t it? Bogging down our servers, our emails, our tweets with useless stuff?
So let’s make a pact - no more bogging, only blogging.
As with many processes, I’ve found that what gets monitored on a regular basis tends to stay at status quo, or improve; what is ignored, tends to deteriorate quickly.
Let me give you a quick example: We just got back from twelve days in Maui (it was fabulous!) Yes, that’s why you haven’t seen a post since then… I just could NOT focus on work while I was there! [And, that's good news, when you think about it...]
However, we left our swimming pool, and directions for maintaining it, with a contractor who would be working on the house. Turns out, the materials we were waiting for were delayed, so the contractor didn’t come for the last 8 of the 12 days we were gone.
Those of you who own swimming pools may be able to write this next part with me: we came home to a green swimming pool. The algae was pretty prevalent, and we had to do something pretty quickly. More worrying, the pressure in the filter was way too high, which can burn out a motor pretty quickly. So, instead of the pool being monitored, it was ignored. And, instead of the pool being swimmable, it wasn’t.
How often does this happen in business? How often do we think that something is going along ’swimmingly’ only to find out that we have a BIG problem - a problem that could have easily been avoided or minimized by a little attention more frequently?
Go review your processes now, and see which of them might benefit from a little more frequent attention.
Just found out about Ed Dale and his great 30 day challenge (or 30dc) - I could explain it to you, but it wouldn’t be as good as seeing the info for yourself, so do us both a favor and go here instead…
Here I sit in a client’s office in Los Angeles, still trying to recover for the 5.8 earthquake that just rocked the area about an hour ago. I’m still a little queasy (probably adrenalin aftermath) and a little shaky (my insides as well as the building movement)…
I gotta tell ya, it’s really thrown off my concentration. I can’t focus on what I was doing when the quake struck; I can’t focus on what I’m supposed to be accomplishing right now; and just when I think I’m OK and ready to get back to it, the lights freekin’ flicker! Like, every 2-3 mins - just enough to be annoying as well as a reminder that “Things aren’t like they were this morning”. So, here’s my deal with myself: when the lights stop flickering, I’ll start working on diagramming a process again.
Till then, it’s hangin’ around on Twitter and hopin’ that I can continue to fake out the client with my perceived nonchalance - all while silently screaming “I want my mommy!” in my head… and I’ll gladly pay the big trucks that rumble by the building $100 if they take another route - their passing feels too much like aftershocks.
I wanted to find someone to build a website to very specific requirements. I was referred to a person (we’ll call him Idiot Jerk, a pseudonym for his real name) and I went to his website, www.idiotjerk.com. I looked for a button that said “contact me” or something, instead I found this sentence:
“To reach Idiot, think about the URL of this site and how it might relate to his email address.”
Gee, I get to puzzle this out prior to giving him work! How fortunate for me, the time-starved entrepreneur! Let’s try some variations! Let’s try some permutations!
Let’s try someone else.
Yep, I’m going to follow the time-honored tradition of telling you some cool sites to visit:
Meryl Evans, from Meryl.net, writes the Bionic Ear Blog [can you spot the mistake on this page? She may be looking for a bionic ear, but she apparently has got time travel down pat!] as well as some great technical stuff. She had a links page which was fun to go to also!
Another blog I read constantly (much to the detriment of my work/sleep) is Jenny’s, in various incarnations - she has The Bloggess, and Good Mom/Bad Mom - both of which are a hoot. If you get easily offended, you may want to skip these sites… if you don’t, be prepared to laugh you *ss off. I have a bazillion more I could post, but I’m laughing too hard… and as a side note, did you realize that ‘blog’ spelled sideways is ‘glob’, which is what these posts are — globs of fun!
I also follow Guy Kawasaki who’s got some cool posts - I learn a little bit about a lot from his Alltop sites (I’d suggest a Quality listing, but I’m afraid I wouldn’t make it, an then I’d be crushed), and I learn the latest in Apple toys from him also. That said, he seems like he’s a cool dude and doesn’t take himself to seriously. Everyone should follow his Powerpoint Presentation rules (me included - they can easily be adapted from VC to Quality, right?).
Finally, I faithfully read Glenda Watson Hyatt’s blog. She’s got athetoid cerebral palsy due to being denied oxygen at birth, and as a result has limited body control… she types everything with her left thumb, and hence is AKA The Left Thumb Blogger. She’s got more humor, courage, and brains in her left thumb than most of us have in total, and I am constantly in awe of her. Most of all, her humor keeps me coming back…
That’s it for now, kiddos!
Improving a process is sometimes like teaching an old dog new tricks — although it sounds like it might be fun, the dog may disagree.
“I like the way I’m doing something now.”
“We’ve always done it this way.”
“This is the way I was trained to do it.”
“I can do it this way without even thinking about it - I don’t want to learn some newfangled method.”
The truth is, we need to keep moving forward to ensure that we’re not left behind. Will Rogers summed it up when he said, “Even though you are on the right track - you will get run over if you just sit there”. So, accept improvement as a good thing rather than a necessary evil, and give the new trick a try!
[reposting after moving my blog... sorry if you didn't see this last week!]
I knew that blogging was one way to get more popular, but WOW! I’m overwhelmed by this…
Watching our great moving team from Bouffard Transfer, I learned that improvement principles are, indeed, universal.
THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX - the refrigerator box, that is…
The frig won’t fit through the door — our obvious choice: remove the door (frig door or front door, your pick). The non-obvious choice: rotate the frig 90 degrees, where it passes through with 1/4″ to spare.
PLAN THE WORK, THEN WORK THE PLAN
The really heavy office credenza needs to take 3 right-hand turns to get into the office — so our guys figured out how it needs to be laid out in the office before ever starting, and then oriented the heavy dang thing once at the beginning, so it ends up where it needs to be without further fussin’.
TAKE CARE OF THE BIG THINGS, AND THE LITTLE THINGS TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES
When loading the truck, it’s loaded with an eye to what can be stacked on top of what, and what can’t. We thought we were done, when one of the movers noticed that there was a bit of room at the very top of the truck asked if we’d like our closets moved also [they have rope strung across the top so we can move them on hangars]. We all trooped into the house, where my family each grabbed 8-12 hangars’ worth of clothes and trooped outside. I was surprised that the movers weren’t right behind us — until I saw that they were carrying 35-40 hangars’ worth - on each hand. JUST when we thought the truck was full of big things and we were done, we were able to load in another 4 closets’ worth of stuff - and save ourselves countless car trips to do it ourselves.
WORK SMARTER, NOT HARDER
The moving guys worked very hard, no doubt about it. But they also worked smart - lots of verbal cues to make sure that nothing was scratched as it was carried down the curved staircase [watch the top left; bannister on bottom right; tilt up/back/left/right more]; that the guy at the bottom knew when he was on the last stair of the staircase [3 left; 2 left; 1 left; done]; and they weren’t afraid to ask for help if they needed it [did I mention the heavy credenza?]. Working smarter ensured that they had a happy customer, healthy crew, and were able to get to another job when done with ours.
We are moving tomorrow. Movers will arrive at 8 am and carry all the big heavy pieces of furniture and the multiple boxes we’ve accumulated. Moving is much more than shifting locations for things, though. Moving implies change - the new rooms aren’t exactly the same as the old rooms. The stuff I’m bringing may be inadequate, or may be superfluous. Decisions have to be made constantly - pack or toss? File or throw? Save or discard? Where to put this? How to set this up?
In a perfect world, I would have had unlimited time to casually yet thoroughly sort through my stuff, culling filing cabinets, purging irrelevant or outdated reference materials and coursework, and generally being a Lean Queen. Ummm, we’re not in a perfect world. I’m tossing as much as I can, but also know that most of the culling and sorting will happen AFTER the move given the time constraints I’m working under (I keep telling myself that there IS a light at the end of the tunnel, and pray that it’s not a freight train bearing down on me…)
Some decisions are easy - the desk will go next to the door, away from the windows, so I don’t have to worry about TX sun beating in on me directly. It will be sideways, so a quick glance to my right will show me the beautiful canyon outside (I think there’s a family of cardinals living nearby since they zip past the window all the time in a streak of red…)
Other decisions are not so easy - some are philosophical: What do I want to accomplish by the move? and some are tactical: How should I set up the printing peripherals to maximize their usage and eliminate the spaghetti tangle of cords?
Either way, it’s a great opportunity to start fresh without the restrictions of “it’s too hard to rearrange” - now to make it better - one idea at a time! Wish me luck!
