Monday, April 23, 2012

All Impossible, Become Possible (no typo)


"Find something we feel good, when you feel good, all impossible become possible. Believe."
-- Manuel De Los Santos
("Destined to Play Major League Baseball")

In his broken English, Manuel tells us what it means to be "an owner" and how not to think like a victim.
Owners know that they alone control their thoughts and that they alone are responsible for what they achieve in life and business. Whatever obstacles arise they know that no one is going to bail them out, it is up to them to overcome the fear and take action.

Victims, on the other hand, believe that everything happens to them. That "things" outside their control are the cause of their situation. Things happen to them. Life is not fair. You and I know victim thinking when we or those around us use language like:
"I'll try, I can't, I know I need to but, I can't believe this happened to me..."

Rather than:
"I am, I will, I committed to, Just do it..."

Knowing your core purpose, your "Why", the things you love to do and when you are doing them you are at your best goes a long way in having those owners thoughts and taking those actions. Find yours and "Just do it".
This 3 minute video tells his story about how he found his "why" and changed his life.

Manuel De Los Santos
Manuel De Los Santos


Monday, April 16, 2012

4 Factors That Will Solve Global Shortages

"I'm not saying we don't have our set of problems - climate crisis, species extinction, water and energy shortage - we surely do. [But] ultimately we knock them down."
-- Peter Diamandis, Technophilanthropist

Do you grow discouraged listening and reading the news every day? Watch this 16 minute TED talk by Peter Diamandis and find out why the future, no the today, is so exciting and how it is only going to get better.

He cites the following as the key factors that will continue to solve our problems.

  1. Exponential Technologies- massive, ever faster developments (infinite computing, 3D printing, robotics, digital medicine, Artificial Intelligence, sensors, synthetic biology)
  2. The DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Innovator - Burt Rutan, Chris Anderson, etc.
  3. The Technophilanthropist - think Bill Gates, Jeff Skoll, Pierre Omidyar, Elon Musk
  4. The Rising Billion - by 2020, 3 billion more people will be on the internet, the new middle class. A bigger market but, more important, 3 billion minds we have not heard from.

He talks about the technology ready now to distill any water, salt, sewage, etc. for 3 cents a gallon, portable hand held devices that will allow people to self-diagnose illnesses anywhere in the world, etc.

Get a positive boost to your day and show it to your kids. It is a good time to be alive.

All the best,
Rick Wallace

Monday, April 9, 2012

Weekly Quote: Simple & Complicated

"Good ideas are not adopted automatically.
They must be driven into practice with courageous patience."

-- Hyman Rickover, Admiral

The following is from Seth Godin:

“There are two ways to begin an answer to most questions we face in organizations:

"It's simple" and

"It's complicated."

Both are usually true. At 10,000 feet, most challenges are simple. But actually making something work is quite complicated.

Nuance is the sign of an intelligent observer. Nuance shows restraint and maturity and an understanding of the underlying mechanics of whatever problem we're wrestling with. After
all, if the solution was simple, we would have solved it already.

On the other hand, resorting to nuance early and often can also be a sign of fear, of an unwillingness to go out on a limb and make a difference. Hence the reactions of boards hiring
consultants and CEOs, or of passionate primary voters. "Don't tell me it's complicated. Just show me the guts to make something happen."

My vote: your goals and your strategy must be simple. You must have passion and certainty in order to make a difference as a leader. Your tactics, on the other hand, should be layered,
multi-dimensional and reflect the patience of someone who cares about reaching a goal.

When Howard Schultz talks about coffee or Jill Greenberg talks about lighting or Cory Booker talks about education, they can impatiently demand clear and simple results. At the same
time, successful leaders see the nuance they'll need in executing to get there.

The paradox is that the simplicity we often seek in search of solutions rarely leads to the patient
leadership we need to get them.”

- Seth

As leaders we have to develop new habits and have a process to ensure follow up and execution of the the Goals and Strategies we define for the organization. If you tend to not be able to follow through and execute solutions in your business learn more about a process that does work by
signing up to recieve Free - The Leadership Matrix ebook.


All the best,
Rick Wallace