ghandi...

he said, "be the change you want to see in the world."

many understand this statement but only a rare few actually live it. you can always tell those companies or people that understand business is infinitely more than just dollars and cents. they actually operate like they have a heart. they use terms like people, friends, human beings instead of consumer, customer, client. that's a hard habit to break believe me, i fall into the routine from time to time...

i suffer from wanting to help people almost too much. my life is filled with times where i can see the issue as clear as a mountain lake and the same goes for the solution. i look for turbulence and a new course out of it......and from time to time i find that the person who would benefit most from this new path is not listening. that's my frustration, i see families, and whole companies that could benefit as a result and yet, no go. so, i deal with that frustration internally and understand that everyone is on their own path and timeline and that i simply can't help everyone...that used to bug me way more, today, i'm really focused on the early adopters, those who are open to learning, experiencing and changing...i look for sponges....

just recently i suggested to a potential business friend that he should consider taking a look at his "customer experience." i said it differently than this...but you get the idea.

this guy is a decent and honest small business man who's just overwhelmed and he's making some tactical and execution errors on various business decisions relating to service, it's starting to show, complaints are surfacing, balls and plates that were once spinning are dropping. these errors follow a pattern within his personality and how he views the world around him; he doesn't consider it to be a serious issue. we all have these moments and traits, it's part of what makes us unique and i wanted to help him understand the pattern, of course that's in part what fusedlogic does and we always start with the people...

he didn't see value in what i was saying obviously because he brushed me off, now that's not the first time this has happened to me and i know it happens to everyone occasionally.

sometimes and often it's me...my approach, my personality, my breath who knows and sometimes it's their fear, it's timing, it's money, there can be a myriad of issues that get in the way. ultimately though...it simply wasn't painful enough for that person to want to focus on it and there's a fine line on how far to take the conversation without offending someone. (remember i said it's often me...that's because i rarely tip toe over this line, usually i drive a truck over it at high speed....something...that as i get older and develop patience is getting easier to avoid)

when things go right however...it's magic. i believe in an ancient chinese proverb that i'm sure you've all heard before..."when the student is ready, the teacher will appear." i've seen this the moment it happens many times and it's very exciting to watch...the theoretical light bulb above the student goes on in slow motion as if the actions of a light bulb turning on takes minutes rather than a millisecond...very cool experience and one i'm addicted to. i imagine in my head that i'm going to walk over flip on a light switch, and watch...

so instead of getting frustrated by the one that got away i strive and focus on helping the next person (who's a sponge) reach the launch pad so they can rocket to the next level...and by doing so i accelerate too...

i'm listening to ghandi as well as the voice in my head and by doing so, in my own way, i suppose "i'm living the change that i want to see in the world"... maybe i suppose so is that fella who brushed me off and if that's the case...that's just fine with me...

by the way, i found this site called audible for audio books, i think it's pretty cool. also another cool site... summary was referred to me by my dear friend lori colborne of lsl marketing.

have a great sunday...

intellectual capital...

capturing intellectual capital from within your organization is critical and many companies do not have a plan to capture the potential torrent of crazy smart ideas your employees typically keep to themselves....here's an attempt by IBM to capture ideas and spur on an exchange with 100,000 employees......

perspective....

don't stare at the finger....or you'll miss all that heavenly glory.

- bruce lee

31.5% of the world in 3 years...

so if you're not an avid, crazy intense blogger, (i'd put myself in that category) then you most likely do not really understand the rushing torrent of activity that is the blogosphere....(blogosphere - the community of bloggers around the world)

it might surprise you to know that the prediction made by some is that in approximately 3 years 31.5% of the world's population will be blogging...that's a large amount of opinions and information coming from individuals and companies alike wouldn't you say? never before has the planet ever experienced such an ability to communicate...hmmm, must be a business opportunity there somewhere...(pardon my capitalist mind)

to find out more about how things are flying along and his view on the state of all things blog take a look at david sifry's blog, he's the ceo of technorati, a popular blogging hub...

technorati tracks 75,000 new blogs every day...imagine you could capture the attention of the blogosphere, how might you do that? something hugh macleod, a well known blogger at gapingvoid has been promoting for sometime is unusual and engaging content supported by what he calls a "global microbrand." in his case, he has a few loyal clients who have paid him enough to buy a pint now and then to talk about their brands on his blog...they include stormhoek wine, for example, you'll see hugh lending his type of in your face humor and blog intelligence to their brand, clearly....it's working. as here i am referring to a wine i've never consumed yet they've got realestate on my blog for free.

by the way, my inspiration for some of my cartoons and one pagers have come from hugh macleod's brand of business communication on the back of business cards....a great idea he executes flawlessly.....way to go hugh, thanks for the inspiration to push myself into new territory and for the removal of boredom at least for myself....

now even though almost no one reads my ramblings the concept is still valid, your eyes are being exposed to a global micro brand for free all because of passion for blogging and the free will - open communication blogging provides.

this is already a massive force to be sure and it's only going to get more powerful....

impossible dreams...

why do corporations set goals they can almost always easily acheive? not only corporations but of course the people within them...government agencies are especially adept at doing this so they get their bonuses...

paradigm shift - dream impossible dreams and see just how much you actually accomplish. people have been programmed to be mediocre, why do you think we're so impressed with those characters that rise above the crowd? wow, unbelievable, incredible acheivement, freakin amazing...rare comments for most of the working stiff population...why does it have to be that way? laziness, fear and complacency all contribute to a society of mediocrity...snap out of it!

over the coming months you will experience my journey as i explore the outter edges of consulting, business high performance, life achievement and personal development. i will be pushing myself and my team as hard and as far as we can possibly go then set up for round two and push even further, squeezing every ounce out of every day, every project...i'll keep you in the loop as we collectively experience all sorts of emotions, set-backs, huge successes and new levels of consulting existence....

easy come easy go...

t-shirts are gone! actually i've sponsored a charity event and outfitted the entire volunteer staff with t-shirts, the rest are all spoken for and i guess i'll have to order some more...

other than that i've been extremely busy and so time management is critical like it is for most business people. we're working on a really cool project proposal and it's exciting as well as a crazy amount of work, with all the research and effort all i can say is we're going to be very well prepared. right down to personality traits of our potential clients...since i believe that effective partnering is in the personality details...one can never have too much information regarding the personality type of your client and what goes on in their head...