Archive for the ‘Good Idea!’ Category

I´m so excited that TED finally have published the talks from TEDx SoCal in Long Beach, California the 16th July 2011. It was such a thrill and great experience to be there, so I have been waiting for these talks and performances to be published to be able to see them again.
If you want some background information on the different talks – please see previous post from the conference. But be sure to see them all here, thats what I recommend, and be ready to be inspired..

Here they are, in the order they were presented:

THRIVING !

Session 1: Lifelong Learning

Taiko Project, “Transforming Taiko”- Musical performance

 

Kathryn Schultz, “On being wrong” (clip from TED, Long Beach 2011)

 

Dr. Brian Stecher, “Cultivating Thriving Schools”

 

Elizabeth Amini, “Top 10 Tips to Keep Your Brain Young”

 

Daniel Kish, “No Sight, No Limits: the Blind Teach a New Way to See”

 

Ray Ricafort, ”The Power of a Roadtrip and How it Transformed My Story”

 

Tim Carpenter,  ”Thriving As We Age”

 

Adora Svitak,  What adults can learn from kids (clip from TED 2010)

 

Dr. Judy Rosener, If You Aren’t On the Edge, You’re Taking Up Too Much Space”

 

Session 2: Sustainability

Paul Dateh,  ”Adventures in Mashups” – Musical performance

 

Majora Carter, “Greening the Ghetto” (clip from TED 2006)

 

Charles Gandy,  ”Creating Charismatic Communities”

 

Rosie Romo,  ”The Cooking is the Easy Part”

 

Josh Tickell, “Redesigning Society – From Scratch”

 

Hayley Hoverter,  ”Revolutionizing the Sugar Industry”

Darren Saravis, “The Art of Solar Power”

 

Rebecca Harrell Tickell, “Unite!”

 

Dr. Sylvia Earle, ”Sustainable Seas, The Vision, The Reality”

 

WIFE, “The Grey Ones” – Dance performance

 

Derek Sivers, “How to make a movement” (clip from TED 2010)

 

Session 3: Well Being

Robert Nagourney MD, “The Future of Cancer Research Lies Behind Us”

 

Justin Rudd,  ”Life is Good, and Getting Better”

 

Diana Hendel – “Childhood Obesity – Local Solutions to a Global Problem”

 

Anja Garcia,  ”No Excuses. Make it Happen”

 

Lalo Alcaraz, “A Cartoonist’s Guide to Life”

 

Nick Pugh, artist, designer and teacher , “The Future of Painting”

 

Chip Conley, ”Toward a Psychology of Business”

 

At 16th of July I was lucky enough to be able to participate at the TEDx conference in Long Beach with the topic “Thriving”. The conference had a great agenda with many interesting speakers and some great artists. I am sure their performances will be posted shortly on ted.com so check there for the videoclips. In the meantime I have found some other clips and links. Here is a listing of those who shared their lives with us this day:

Session 1: Lifelong Learning
Taiko Project, “Transforming Taiko”-musical performance
TAIKOPROJECT was founded in 2000 in Los Angeles, California by a group of young, emerging taiko drummers. They were seeking to create a truly American style of taiko, blending traditional forms in which they were raised, with an innovative and fresh aesthetic approach to the Japanese drum. In just 11 short years, they have garnered critical acclaim from all over the world and amassed an impressive resume.
Such a cool, mind-blowing and great music and dance experience! This  was a great way to start the day!

Kathryn Schultz, “On being wrong” (clip from TED, Long Beach 2011)
A great talk on the difference on being wrong and finding out you were wrong, importance of sometimes being wrong, embracing error blindness with a historical view of what started as good plans…. “but then something else happened”.
“I err therefore I am” (St. Augustine)

Dr. Brian Stecher, “Cultivating Thriving Schools”
Brian Stecher is a senior social scientist and the associate director of RAND Education. Stecher’s research focuses on measuring educational quality and evaluating education reforms, with a particular emphasis on assessment and accountability systems. During his 20 years at RAND, he has directed prominent national and state evaluations of No Child Left Behind, Mathematics and Science Systemic Reforms, and Class Size Reduction. Brian gave a great talk on how to better cultivate for thriving schools and made good arguments that the diagnosing of the systems were based on too few facts.

http://www.rand.org/

Elizabeth Amini, “Top 10 Tips to Keep Your Brain Young”
Elizabeth Amini is a social entrepreneur with a background in science. She learned data analysis while working as a scientist at JPL/NASA. Elizabeth earned a bachelors degree in Cognitive Science (the study of the brain) from Occidental College and an M.B.A. from University of Southern California. Her Anti-AgingGames.com business plan won the USC Business Plan contest as well as the YPO (Young Presidents’ Organization) award for promising new companies.
She have a great inspirational speech, and listed her 10 well proven tips to keep your brain young and reducing memory loss and chances of alzheimers etc. Here they are:
-fast walking, good for both brain&body
- constantly learning new things
-avoid poisons (smoking, led, aluminium, toxics in everyday product)
-being social
-finding your purpose and life direction
-relaxation (reading, yoga, music etc )
-partner with your doctor (someone that understands prevention)
-protect your head (against injuries) ( Seat belt, don text while driving, bike helmet)
-mediterenean diet
-positive outlook (avoid negativity)

http://www.elizabethamini.com/

Daniel Kish, “No Sight, No Limits: the Blind Teach a New Way to See”
Daniel Kish is the lead founder and President of World Access for the Blind – a nonprofit organization which facilitates self directed achievement for blind people.   Daniel has created the first systematic, comprehensive echolocation curriculum for advanced training. Daniel and some of his students have applied FlashSonar combined with other techniques to riding bicycles independently at moderate speeds through unfamiliar environments, and to participate effectively and independently in other complex activities such as skating, ball play, and solo wilderness travel. In this passionate talk he explains his theory on Seeing by hearing, and makes us all understand the huge difference this can have but also in simple examples what it means to be blind.

Ray Ricafort, ”The Power of a Roadtrip and How it Transformed My Story”
Ray’s journey with Roadtrip Nation started when he hit the road in New Zealand to interview Leaders from all walks of life, including: hip hop pioneers, the first double-amputee to climb Mt. Everest, fashion designers, and the co-founder of modern bungy jumping. His experience was featured in Season Six of Roadtrip Nation on public television.
Ray tells a very moving story on his roadtrip with his own father and how this changed him as a person. How to turn challenges to advantages is a key topic.

http://roadtripnation.com/

Tim Carpenter,  ”Thriving As We Age”
Tim Carpenter is the founder of EngAGE and host/producer of the EXPERIENCE TALKS radio show. EngAGE is a nonprofit that transforms aging and the way people think about aging by turning affordable senior apartment communities into vibrant centers of learning, wellness and creativity. EngAGE provides life-enhancing arts, wellness, lifelong learning, community building and intergenerational programs and events to thousands of seniors living in Southern California. Tim spoke with great passion and humour about his experiences with the projects and makes a compelling argument on getting older (instead of the alternative).
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up” (Pablo Picasso) http://www.engagedaging.org/

Adora Svitak,  What adults can learn from kids (clip from TED 2010)
Adora Svitak is 13 years old, and already an internationally published author, teacher and conference speaker. She gives a really humorous though mindpuzzling talk on what adults can learn from kids, the importance of this and  the importance of two way dialogue and sharing in a teaching environment which can only be possible with trust -both ways. Truly inspiring.
Remember the name. She will do great things.

Dr. Judy Rosener, If You Aren’t On the Edge, You’re Taking Up Too Much Space”
Dr. Judy B. Rosener has taught and done research in the areas of men and women at work, cultural diversity, and business and government for 30 years. She has authored two books and published numerous articles in academic journals and the mass media.
Rosener gives a humorous and interesting talk on the importance of acting and thinking differently, standing out from the crowd and daring to speak up.

Session 2: Sustainability
Paul Dateh,  ”Adventures in Mashups” – musical performance
Originally, Paul Dateh was only supposed to be a violinist. Beginning his violin studies at the age of four, it seemed that Dateh’s future in the classical industry was set in stone. But, on his first day at The University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, Dateh suddenly dropped his major in Violin Performance and instead enrolled in the Jazz Studies Vocal program instead. The move shocked his colleagues, as it was hard to understand why anyone would walk away from fourteen years of classical training to begin learning an entirely new musical discipline. But, Dateh knew that he wanted to be more than just a classical instrumentalist; his goal was to become a musician in every possible way.Since first appearing on the music scene three years ago, singer and violinist Paul Dateh has gone on to garner millions of views on the web as well as national exposure on television and in print. Dateh has since released two records: a self-titled record issued in January of 2009, and “The Good Life” – a collaborative EP with guitarist Ken Belcher. In 2010, Dateh scored his first short film (“The LXD: Chapter 10 – I Seen a Man”) distributed by Paramount Digital Entertainment.
Here Paul Dateh together with DJ InkaOne and guitarist Ken Belcher delivers a pure “mashup” of hiphop, classical violin and funky guitar play! Wow! Look out for this guy!

http://www.pauldateh.com

Majora Carter, “Greening the Ghetto” (clip from TED 2006)
In an emotionally charged talk, MacArthur-winning activist Majora Carter details her fight for environmental justice in the South Bronx — and shows how minority neighborhoods suffer most from flawed urban policy. Carter redefined the field of environmental equality, starting in the South Bronx at the turn of the century.  Now she is leading the local economic development movement across the USA.

Charles Gandy,  ”Creating Charismatic Communities”
Charles Gandy is a nationally recognized expert in community design, trail planning and design, and bicycle and pedestrian advocacy. He is a popular consultant, speaker and lecturer on the leading edge of both the active living and livability conversations. As the Mobility Coordinator for Long Beach California’s Bike Long Beach program Gandy is leading the city’s award winning “sharrow” experiment, and the 3rd and Broadway national “protected bike lane” pilot program. Charlie is giving a great speach on how to create charismatic community, based on some of the same principles of what creates a charismatic organization or person. Interesting!
www.charliegandy.com

Rosie Romo,  ”The Cooking is the Easy Part”
Rosie Romo is a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu College of Los Angeles (formerly the California School of Culinary Arts). She is a nationally recognized chef, lecturer and innovator in the culinary field. Rosie aspires to be a conscious cook through thoughtful training, creativity and consistency.
Rosie  speaks on importance and difference in creating food that is sustainable rather than wasteful.

Josh Tickell, “Redesigning Society – From Scratch”
In 1997, Tickell set out on the road with a biodiesel powered “Veggie Van” and a video camera to begin filming what would eventually become known as FUEL, the 2008 Sundance Audience Award winning documentary film that investigates the possible replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy.
Tickell’s Veggie Van Organization was selected by President Bill Clinton as an inaugural part of his Global Initiative on Climate Change. The organization serves to educate people about sustainable energy and provide pathways for integrating sustainable energy into homes, communities, cities, states and ultimately nations.
Wow!!! Josh delivers a jaw-dropping presentation actually explaining the background for some of our worst environmental nightmares. I hope the presentation Josh did get shared on ted.com but if not check out

Hayley Hoverter,  ”Revolutionizing the Sugar Industry”
Hayley started Sweet SerenDipItTea, a business that manufactures sugar packets encased in soluble rice paper, to sell to local, ecologically-conscious cafes. Her inspiration for her business comes from the detrimental environmental impact of paper sugar packets, which are compulsively and mindlessly thrown out by coffee drinkers. She feels that is ironic that today, in the middle of this wave of innovation affecting consumerism, people still have to waste so much paper on something as trivial as sweetening their hot beverages. Inspirational talk by young and inspirational inventor, environment fighter and entrepreneur.

Darren Saravis, “The Art of Solar Power”
Darren Saravis is the founder and CEO of Nectar Design, a Long Beach-based engineering and product design consultancy dedicated to innovation and sustainability. For 19 years, Nectar has been known for design that pushes to the edge of art and function. The firm has worked successfully in numerous fields including medicine, high tech, green tech, and general consumer products.
Darren gives a moving apresentation about the background and the potential future for his newest innovation with Nectar, the Solarflora™. Suggestive of a tree or a giant flower, the sculptural device can hold as many as four solar panels and supplies up to 1.2 kilowatt-hours of electricity per day. Saravis envisions the Solarflora as a means of mainstreaming the use of solar energy into the contemporary urban landscape, contributing to a more ecologically balanced, and more prosperous, nation and world.
check out http://www.solarflora.com

Rebecca Harrell Tickell, “Unite!”
Rebecca Harrell Tickell, wife of Josh Tickell, dedicates herself to the advancement of women and the environment.p She produced the award winning documentary, FUEL. She is currently Co-Directing and Producing a documentary called ‘The Big Fix’ which is an ‘Official Selection’ of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. Rebecca gives a fantastic performace as she speaks on thriving sustainability in rime! Powerful !

Dr. Sylvia Earle, ”Sustainable Seas, The Vision, The Reality”
Sylvia A. Earle, called “Her Deepness” by the New Yorker and the New York Times, “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress, and first “Hero for the Planet” by Time Magazine, is an oceanographer, explorer, author and lecturer with experience as a field research scientist, government official, and director for corporate and non-profit organizations.  She has a B.S. degree from Florida State University, M.S. and PhD. from Duke University, 19 honorary degrees, has lectured in more than 80 countries, appeared in hundreds of radio and television productions and has authored more than 175 scientific, technical and popular publications. Earle has led more than 100 expeditions and logged nearly 7000 hours underwater with a record solo dive to 1000 meters. Her research concerns marine algae and deep water ecosystems. She has been awarded more than 100 national and international honors.
There is no doubt about the significant work this lady has brought and is still bringing to the world in her aid in saving the ocean. Sylvia holds a truly gripping and fantastic speech on the vision of sustainable seas, the importance of the wildlife and the potential consequences. at the end we get to see the trailer for the movie on the “Mission blue” project. Watch out for that one.
www.sylviaearlealliance.org
www.tedprize.org/sylvia-earle

WIFE, “The Grey Ones” – dance performance
WIFE is live, contemporary, dance, interacting with original, projected, animations and music and is the creation of Nina McNeely, Kristen Leahy, and Jasmine Albuquerque. The three members are dancers, choreographers, teachers, editors, animators, and performers thriving in the underbelly of L.A subculture.
An interesting contemporary, bold  dance performance combining dance, sounds and animtions.

Derek Sivers, “How to make a movement”
Derek is giving a funny presentation with video example on leadership and how to make a movement on the way from lone nut to leader and the importance of the followers. Funny and true!

Session 3: Well Being
Robert Nagourney MD, “The Future of Cancer Research Lies Behind Us”
Robert Nagourney is Medical and Laboratory Director at Rational Therapeutics,  teaches Pharmacology at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. He is board certified in internal medicine, medical oncology, and hematology.He has pioneered the development of “personalized cancer therapy” applying a laboratory platform to match patients to therapies based on their unique response profiles.
Dr. Nagourney  delivers a facinating talk (and makes the audience understand) on cancer research, the angle of this and argues that the focus needs to shifted to pure biology rather than the current DNA focus. “Cancer cells do not grow Too much, but die Too little”.

Justin Rudd,  ”Life is Good, and Getting Better”
Justin Rudd has dedicated his life for the good of the city. For several years he juggled a part-time public relations job, was a substitute school teacher, cleaned offices and restrooms, mowed lawns, taught group fitness classes at gyms, taught weekend beach bootcamp classes, coached pageant contestants and organized and coordinated one successful community event after another. In 2001, Rudd ended his PR job and started his  nonprofit organization called the Community Action Team (CAT). He now devotes his time to CAT and continues to coach pageant contestants.
Justin delivers a fun speech based on own experience arguing that the secret to peace in own life is to define how you can make a difference. Both Past, present and future is what defines you as person. Ask yourself the questions of Why do you do what you do, and Why choose you?

Diana Hendel – “Childhood Obesity – Local Solutions to a Global Problem”
A long-time leader in the MemorialCare health care system, Diana Hendel, PharmD and chief executive officer of Long Beach Memorial and Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach.
Diana really highlighted the severity of childhood obesity in the US with statistics not looking very good. An increase from 1990 to today of 40%! Kids using an average of 7,5 hours on “entertainment systems” (tv, pc etc) per day! Big part of the problem lies with marketing of food, junkfood and sweets, the supersize approach and the change in what food we eat. Scary facts! Hendel argues that man often tend to try to solve big problems by big changes, and maybe too big because often it just fades out. Instead we should try small improvements that in the end will lead to big change – one day at a time. here are some of  her tips on small steps  everybody can make today:
donate to community gardens, know your numbers (weight, blood pressure etc), do  walking meetings, 10000 steps per day, always eat breakfast, an apple a day (and vegetables), reduce tv, more hours of sleep (go to bed 1 hour earlier).

Anja Garcia,  ”No Excuses. Make it Happen”
Anja is a certified group exercise Instructor, a former division 1 gymnast, and registered nurse. While saving lives is a love of hers, her true passion is teaching others how to take care of themselves to live their healthiest, happiest life!
I was actually prepared to take notes from this but it turned out to be a really cool sesion of energetic aerobic for the whole audience! Great fun!

Lalo Alcaraz, “A Cartoonist’s Guide to Life”
Lalo Alcaraz is the creator of the nationally syndicated and politically charged Latino comic strip La Cucaracha, featured daily in about 80 major newspapers. Lalo is a one-of-a-kind cartoonist, satirist and writer who captures the essence of the country’s changing cultural and political landscape like no other. Bringing a young fearless Latino sensibility to his political and social commentary, his is a fresh voice  and shows the need for a multicultural visibility in the media is long overdue.
Lalo gave a great talk filled with humour which he toppex at the end with some of his cartoon drawings. He presented his ideas on how to succeed as a cartoonist, which I guess also applies to a lot of other professions:
-practice
-give your art away
- use best material
-take others material (steal)
-Listen to others
-write to amuse yourself
-coffee, not wine
-Deadlines, respect them
-No hatemail reading
-no unfair attacks
-Work hard
-Self promote
-Add cartoons at end of presentations;))

http://www.pocho.com/

Nick Pugh, artist, designer and teacher , “The Future of Painting”
Nick’s innovative work has been featured in numerous publications including Wired, the Los Angeles Times, Vogue, Intersection and GQ. He is the author of Luminair, Techniques Of Digital Painting From Life (Design Studio Press, 2006) and is a featured artist in the seminal books Concept Design 1 and 2.
Nick is both inspirational and energetic in his speeche where he through many good examples shows the audience the possibilities, the quality and the versatility of digital painting as another medium than your usual photography or oil/canvas paintings. He also shows what he calls “digital impressionism”, work that really can stand out together with the “old masters”.He explains on just the right level the process this has been from the earliest computer graphics until what we can se today. At the end Nick also surprises by showing the work of 10 artists that has been in the audience during the conference and their different approach and interpretation of the event.  This was a speech thst really opened my mind for this as a medium.

http://www.nickpugh.com

Chip Conley, ”Toward a Psychology of Business”
Chip Conley is the founder and executive chairman of Joie de Vivre, California’s largest boutique hotel company consisting of over 40 award-winning hotels, spas and restaurants. Chip and his company’s time-tested techniques and transformational leadership practices have been featured in Fast Company, Fortune and the Wall Street Journal. Also a best-selling author, Chip illustrates the theory that transformed his business and shares his unique prescription for success (even in turbulent times) in his latest book PEAK: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow (Jossey-Bass 2007). A popular speaker and innovative lea
der,  honored by the San Francisco Business Times as the “Most Innovative CEO” in the Bay Area,
In this facinating and exciting talk Chip shares very personal stories from his personal life and how this has affected him as a person. He argues the importance of understanding emotions and how it affects us both in challenges in personal life and business. With the basis from Maslow, Viktor Frankl and others he elaborates on the equations to our emotions; what creates and is the bacground for our different feelings. I.e.; Despair = suffering-meaning, Curiosity= Wonder+awe etc.To the part of business life he empasizes that emotions a contagious and that we lose about 10-15 in IQ when emotinal. This affects decions taken during this time. he proposes the new title CEO as Chief Emotions Officer as that is really the role of a CEO.
Last equation; Curiousity+meaning = good life?

Until this talk is published you can see his last speech from TEDx Berkely

I am really happy that I today finally got around to registering as a Kiva lender. Kiva.org is an organization that organizes micro-loans to people with entrepreneurship around the world in need for some business capital to start or continue their business. The business plan and credit is checked by local representatives, and as part of Kiva you make a contribution together with other “lenders” (everything from $25 and up) to the people/business idea of your choice. The payment is through PayPal and you will get the money back as described in the payment plan for that loan. There are certain countries that through local regulations, currency issues or local conditions cause more risk than other places, but all together I am very impressed with the statistics Kiva can show to. For now I have started with a small amount spread on four different projects. If that goes as planned I am prepared to increase the contribution.

How do you raise performance in your team? How do you raise performance in a project ? How do you increase team spirit? How do you preach the true core values to your co-workers? All different aspects of the same thing, and covered in Guy Kawasakis post  How to Change a Job Title Into a Mission commenting Steve Gary Blanks book The Four Steps to the Epiphany.  The statement is that, for your company or department, to focus on its mission rather than the employees titles you may be able to raise  performance. And I think this is very true!

Having the department and its workers to identify the mission they are on, its intent and the value of the mission you will raise the awareness and the drive for your employees. Installing core values and a sense of crusade you will raise the willingness to contribute. This is something you as a leader and manager should not underestimate, and if you don’t abuse it you can achieve a lot. Here’s what he recommends:

1. Develop a mission for each department. This should summarize “why people come to work, what they need to do, and how they will know they succeeded.” The SuperMac marketing department’s mission became “Help Sales deliver $25 million in sales with a 45% gross margin.”
2. Teach the mission intent. A specific mission such as this is bound to change according to market conditions and product development schedules. Thus, employees must understand that the mission intent—achieve corporate revenue and profit goals—is the “big picture” and even more important.
3. Instill core values. The final step that Steve took was to instill core values of “accountability, execution, honestly, and integrity.” In other words, there would be no surprises and excuses. He only wanted facts and requests for help.

Technical Project Meetings, like any meetings I suppose, have a tendency of sometimes getting out of hand both in sense of time and agenda. This can be reduced by some simple tips on how you prepare and how you carry out the meeting. There are also som pitfalls you should be aware of. Let’s start with a few rules on planning and carrying out the meeting:

1. Set Crispy Clear Objectives
   Ever experienced the meeting that took half the day and where you achieved nothing? Yes? Chances are that one of the issues were lack of clear objectives for the meeting. Before calling any meeting, make sure that you have clear objectives that follows the idea of S.M.A.R.T. (S = Specific, M = Measurable, A = Attainable, R = Realistic, T = Timely).
2. Set an Agenda
   Meetings without a clear agenda will take longer than they need to and don’t get the results you need to. Write and distribute the agenda in advance, at least 1 or 2 days before the meeting, not 30 minutes before the scheduled time. Give timings for each item and allow for small delays, otherwise you will get halfway down your agenda by the time you have to leave.
3.  Keep meeting papers short or avoid them
   Receiving a ton of papers is the biggest turn-off for someone attending a project meeting. Consider whether you really need to distribute papers for your meeting, and try to keep papers to a maximum of one page. For status reports, consider giving people a template that include a simple traffic light system to indicate where things are good(green), there are issues (yellow) there are major issues (red).
4. Get the right people in the meeting
   While there usually is a core team you need in the meeting, there might be decisions that require someone more senior occasionally. If you know this, make sure that you get the person who can make the decision along otherwise you will have a frustrated team on your hands. If difficult, try to schedule that persons part of the agenda to the end of the meeting and limit the time.
5. Make sure the environment is comfortable
   Effective meetings only take place if the people attending are comfortable, so get the room with A/C and provide cold water and hot coffee if needed.
6. Start and Finish on time
   I know you hate it when people turn up 15 minutes late when there is 15 minutes left. Make sure it is clear to everyone that you will be starting and finishing on time. Encourage them to leave 30 minutes either side of the meeting free to ensure they can get there on time and that if something major arises it can be dealt with. If that doesn’t work you will have to schedule it in for them.

Now, with those six rules you should be quite well prepared for your meeting and it should be ok. However, as you know, there are always some people who can sink a meeting totally just by being themselves. So there are a couple of stereotypes you should know how to deal with. I am quite sure you recognise them:

• The Dominator
  Some people tend to dominate discussion simply because they are excited. These can actually be useful to the team if we find appropriate approaches manage their positive energy. Unfortunately, most of us are also familiar with the other type – the aggressive bully that disrespect others comments and hijack the meeting completely. Sometimes these dominators are overly negative, and other times they just won’t let anyone else get a word in. In either case, you need to deal with it:
  • Thank them for their feedback and ask for other opinions (“Paul, that’s an interesting idea. Let’s see if others have ideas as well.”)
  • Repeat the dominator’s comment and write it visibly for all to see, then ask for other ideas to complete the list, before you discuss them all. You can say; ”that is a good idea, let us get three more ideas on the table before we discuss them all”. 
  • Suggest you use a round robin technique of going around the table and ask each person to share a comment and start off with the other participants, or ask everybody to use a minute to write down their ideas and then have everybody read it out loud while you write it all down. Then discuss.
  • Make sure you also ask the more quiet people to share their ideas
  • If necessary, take a break and have a word with the dominator where you explain that he/she brought up several key points and you appreciate that because it helps the others on the way, and now you are hoping to get some of the other team members involved in the discussion. Ask them to help you get the team involved.

 

•  The Multi Tasker
  We are seeing more and more multi taskers in our meetings. You know the ones whose attention constantly darts between the meeting and for example PDA, laptop, reading etc. And usually with the explanation that he can not be away from his work. Otherwise the world falls apart.
  • Using a “drop box” in the meeting room and agreeing to place all phones, etc there prior to meeting start.
  • Limiting meeting time to one hour to ensure participants aren’t away for too long.
  • If you arrange a full day workshop, agree on 5-10 minute technology breaks every hour
  • Use techniques to keep participants engaged (round robin, team work, voting)

 

• The Rambler
  The rambler derail the meetings with their extensive rambling commentary. Often the rambling goes into areas with little or nothing to do with the agenda, and not only extend the meeting,but also completely alters the agenda – and thereby minimising effectiveness. A couple of pointers:
  • Have a printed agenda on a whiteboard. When conversation goes into wilderness, point to the specific agenda topic to refocus the group.
  • Include timings for each part of the agenda, and ask someone on the team to give a 5-minute warning before the end time for each section.
  • Simply interrupt. Remember, it’s your meeting. Raise your hand and interrupt discussion to ask if the conversation is on topic and helping the group reach their goal for the meeting. You can also introduce a list of these unresolved issues that come up which you address at the end of the meeting and assign action items for each.

At the end of the day, running effective meetings is about planning and executing. And in regard to the team members; too often project managers simply ignore their “personality issues” and instead stick their head in the sand hoping the behaviour will improve on its own. It won’t! The good news is that there are a variety of facilitation techniques you can use, and they enable us to be assertive while preserving those critical relationships. Remember these key points when using the techniques:

• Don’t forget the power of questions. Questioning is a powerful way to deliver a difficult message.
• Try less assertive techniques before progressing to more assertive ones. Many will respond to very mild interventions.
• Act early! You want to send a very clear signal to the team that you will address counter-productive behaviour quickly.
• Act on behalf of the team. The more you remember it’s not a situation of “you” verses “them”, the easier the exchange will be.

I’ll finish this brief lesson off with a quote form the book of Tim Ferriss; “The 4-Hour Workweek”;

It is your job to train those around you to be effective and efficent. No one else will do it for you.

Here is some interesting info for all geeks, and also non-geeks really. Kevin Rose just published an interview with Dr. Andrew Weil, author as well as founder/director of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at University of Arizona. The interview includes a lot of good questions and interesting answers on everyday health topics such soda drinking, use of multi-vitamins, coffee, tea, anti-oxidants, Omega3, krill, detoxing vs. more natural ways, soy food, exercise and diets. The interview was really good and informative. Absolutely recommended watching! I also recommend having a look at his website which holds tons of info. Thanks Kevin for your good work!

Kevin Rose gives a demo of the beta version of Square – a new device for iPhone that will allow you to accept card payments with your iPhone.
This looks really cool, and I look forward to seeing the product when it hits the market.

Brian at CAIN MOSNI thought of a cool concept and coordinated a virtual “jam session” with musicians from all over the world!
It’s AMAZING what you can do nowadays!
Dumbfoundead

A month ago I wrote about the idea of creating a Life List to help achieve ones goals. This has been on my mind for some time, and writing about it made me think some more. I don’t know whether this will help me achieve more than I would if I didn’t write a list, but it is certainly an interesting experiment for the mind to write it. I don’t know if I am supposed to add things later on if I think of anything else. I think I will. I will certainly cross them of when accomplished. This is certainly an entertaining exercise and I think I have written a list that is quite true to what I want. I think I can recommend others to try this as well, if not for anything else but for the mindprocess of it. Here we go, it is now out in the open!

Reading through one of my favorite travel websites I came by The Gutsy Girl’s Guide To Drinking Alone, and the first impression is that this is a post on how girls are to have a drink alone without getting bored or necessarily getting picked up by guys. But reading closer I realize these are great tips for any traveler, single or not, traveling alone or not, just to get in touch with local people and get that “extra flavour” to your journey. Because that is one of the main things it’s all about, isn’t it? I find that the more I travel the more I want to find and get in touch with the local residents, get their tips and experiences, learn about their way of life and see if that doesn’t expand yours just a bit too ;) Happy traveling everybody !