Saturday, January 24, 2015

Motivating a Team of One

It feels awful to let your team down, just ask Green Bay Packer Brandon Bostick, after his team's recent NFL playoff game. Likely though he has the advantage of leaning on his teammates for support and motivation he'll need to recover from this dramatic loss.

How to start a team of one


One unfulfilled lifetime goal and solo initiative of mine has been to commit to a 3-4 times a week routine of physical exercise and activity. Over the years I've taken up jogging, joined health clubs, tried cross country skiing, biking, swimming, and other sports only to be knocked off course eventually by the excuse of distraction, interruption or some other life circumstance. And time and again there I am, staring at the person in the mirror knowing there's no one else in the room other than the reflection to blame for the breakdown -- the feeling can be overwhelming.

When there's no friendly teammates on hand to support you -- no question about it, it is hard to go it alone, to pick up and carry on. Recently though, for me, there's been an exception.

The only service a friend can really render is to keep up your courage by holding up to you a mirror in which you can see a noble image of yourself.--George Bernard Shaw

Picture of Jack Russell terrier jumping obstacle with trainerFor two years now I've had consistent success in living up to my exercise goals.  The same set of excuses are still present, but my personal motivation and commitment are stronger. What's changed? Psychologically speaking, I've become a team of one+ (one plus).

That's right, no less than three times a week there's me and my dog, Fergus, running, training or participating in dog agility trials. Wait a minute, you say, that's a team of two. Not exactly.

Never once has my dog looked at me and said, "you know I just don't feel motivated today."


The reality is, and it's the most wonderful thing about dogs, they give 100% from the time they're born till the day they keel over. And in so many ways they are the perfect teammate -- they don't complain, rebel, or back-stab. So we work and compete as a team, and I do my best to keep up to the expectations of my four-legged teammate. But in the final analysis, I am a team of one.  I made the commitment, keep the practice schedule, drive to the competitions, and do everything I can to help us win.  And that's what's different.

It's just a point of view -- I don't want to disappoint my dog. Even though it's literally impossible to disappoint him -- he has no expectations. He's just as happy playing tug of war, taking a walk or chewing the fuzz off a tennis ball (the latter typically being about 180 seconds of entertainment).

Not letting down my friend is what always favorably tips the scales in the daily motivational debates in my head -- but it works.  Even Capt. Pickney  (see my Jan 2nd blog --Finding the Courage to Make Change) who has to face high seas after he leaves the dock, could have stopped half-way and turned back, but for his friends.  You see he had regular radio calls with school children during his journey -- he was a team of one who couldn't disappoint his friends.  
So the lesson learned for success is don't go it alone.  Build a team of one+, check in with a friend, routinely consult a mentor, educate an apprentice, or last but not least get a dog. 


Recent Articles

We Can Fix Stupid
Keep Us in the Dark
Daring Success and Failure
Change Happens
Small Matters
I Am Charlie

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Tuesday, January 13, 2015

We Can Fix Stupid

Really?  You can't fix stupid?

Perhaps at least we can work to prevent it.

There's too many stories in the news everyday regarding stupid.  We encounter stupid everywhere: walking down the street, in our spiritual organizations, in restaurants, on school boards, city councils, in local county, state and federal government, in our media, at our jobs, in our clubs, trolling on social media, and even at our kid's soccer games.

So if we can't stupid, we're all really screwed. No wonder Elon Musk is working so hard and fast to colonize Mars.

Stupidity is a lack of intelligence, understanding, reason, wit or sense.--Wikipedia

Seriously. We have to fix stupid.


Picture of decorated cake from Walmart which reads: "Best Wishes Suzanne, Under Neat that, We will Miss you
No, for real. If you care about the future of our species I implore you to consider it may be time to stop sitting on the sidelines, sharing the stories on Facebook, and having a good laugh.

It may very well be true we can't fix stupid but at the very least we must take matters into our own hands to ensure the stupid become a dwindling class.

Start with promoting and supporting all forms education, over communicate, take risks, vote for the well-informed, report stupidity, blog, protest, expect proper grammar, join a group, start a movement, write a book, and most of all, remember:


Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.--Albert Einstein
Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.--Martin Luther King, Jr.
Stubborn and ardent clinging to one's opinion is the best proof of stupidity.--Michel de Montaigne
A newspaper is a public trust, and we will suffer as a society without them. It is not the Internet that has killed them. It is their own greed, it is their own stupidity, it is capitalism that has taken our daily newspapers from us.--Michael Moore
I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.--Dwight D. Eisenhower
Some scientists claim that hydrogen, because it is so plentiful, is the basic building block of the universe. I dispute that. I say there is more stupidity than hydrogen, and that is the basic building block of the universe.--Frank Zappa


Recent Articles

Keep Us in the Dark
Daring Success and Failure
Change Happens
Small Matters
I Am Charlie
A Call to News Beat Activisim

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Monday, January 12, 2015

Keep Us in the Dark

Indoctrination is long been the modus operandi for organized religion, oppressive governments, ideological fundamentalists, and the rich & powerful. Why?

Indoctrination is the process of inculcating ideas, attitudes, cognitive strategies or a professional methodology... [as distinguished] from education, claiming that the indoctrinated person is expected not to question or critically examine the doctrine they have learned.--Wikipedia
By suppressing information and education accessible to the common people an elite charter is kept in place. To put it another way, it is easier to spread disinformation, fear and violence among an uneducated populace who are too afraid and too ill-informed to effectively disrupt the delicate imbalance that girds the status quo.

Malala Yousafzai has become the personification of the extreme measures to suppress education. She survived being shot in the head by local Taliban who had banned girls from attending school. She is now an activist for female education and the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate. Her advocacy has since grown into an international movement.

"Charlie Hebdo Cover Features Muhammad Holding 'Je Suis Charlie' Sign"
And now, we have the massive march in Paris, where over a million protesters have decided to act in opposition to the tactics of the Islamist fundamentalists. (see my Jan 8th blog -- I Am Charlie) And, in concert, The Huffington Post just released the cover for next issue of Charlie Hebdo.  Millions have taken action to say they are not afraid.

These events are a warning to all of us to be alert to anyone who shuns science, suppresses education, stifles progress or discourages change -- all to keep us in the dark.

Change this.


Recent Articles

Daring Success and Failure
Change Happens
Small Matters
I Am Charlie
A Call to News Beat Activisim
Help to Break Bad Habits

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Sunday, January 11, 2015

Daring Success and Failure

Surely this is science fiction:

photo of massive Space-X Remote Drone Landing BargeMan dares to safely land first stage rocket booster, in an upright standing position, on an unmanned drone barge in the ocean.  The booster hits too hard and crashes.   Elon Musk tweets, "Close, but no cigar."

It is not science fiction, and as a National Geographic article puts it...

Failure is an Option


The failed attempt is part of the efforts of a bold agent of change, Elon Musk (see my Jan 5th blog --Transformational Change) who planned the test booster landing as part of what NASA called a flawless mission launch to re-supply the International Space Station.  Here is an example of a man who has set out to change everything about the way we launch into space and think about space travel.

Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm.--Winston Churchill
Some businesses have made efforts to institutionalize the power of failure by creating Walls of Failure within their offices. Workers post their failures and what they learned from the experience.  The practice keeps others from repeating the same mistakes.

The takeaway here is not to let fear of failure keep you from acting on what matters.  Instead, plan on it as part of the process.

I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.--Michael Jordan


Recent Articles

Change Happens
Small Matters
I Am Charlie
A Call to News Beat Activisim
Help to Break Bad Habits
Transformational Change

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Saturday, January 10, 2015

Change Happens

Change is relentless and affects all things.


It is a fact, there is absolutely nothing in the universe capable of standing perfectly still, except perhaps the stubborn thoughts in our heads.

photo of polar bear stranded on tiny piece of floating ice


Life is not a spectator sport. If you're going to spend your whole life in the grandstand just watching what goes on, in my opinion you're wasting your life.--Jackie Robinson

Change or get out of the way.


Simply put, people who fight for the status quo are asking to be left behind by the universe. They choose short term comfort for certain extinction -- and those of us who stand on the sidelines to watch are complicit in their negligence.

Success is shy - it won't come out while you're watching.--Tennessee Williams

So the choice is ours, to stand by while our leaders resist change, or to instigate change to resist those leaders.




Recent Articles

Small Matters
I Am Charlie
A Call to News Beat Activisim
Help to Break Bad Habits
Transformational Change
Daily Struggle

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Friday, January 9, 2015

Small Matters

It is brutally cold outside today, it's Friday, and there is not even one small thing I have the motivation to start. What good would it do anyway?


picture of tree branches laden with ice and snow
It reminds me of another Friday, early in my career when I was freelancing for my friend Lou's creative agency. It was 4 pm and out the window nothing but sheets of rain.  Inside, beer and wine started to break out among the staff when, just then, the phone rang. Lou emerged from his office and handed me a small note containing contact information.  He explained it was someone wanting a small project done, but they wanted to meet for a discussion right now -- tonight! Lou didn't want to drive 35 miles away, during rush hour, in the rain, so he said that if I wanted to pursue the job on my own, to go for it. I called back, agreed to meet, and then cursed the whole drive out to his office.

Put your heart, mind, intellect, and soul even to your smallest acts. This is the secret of success.--Swami Sivananda

The office was very small -- a travel agency -- and I had a sick feeling that this was going to be a total waste of time.  Nonetheless, I was happy for the referral and decided to give it my best effort thinking perhaps it would lead to something down the road.  

After some preliminary questions regarding my experience, the owner of the travel agency explained that this year it was his turn to chair his industry's national association meeting and that he needed my help to put on the meeting in Nashville for its 2,000 members.   I hyperventilated the entire ride home.

The project billed out at a quarter of a million dollars. Attending at the Nashville meeting was the head of an even larger allied travel association. Eight months later, we produced his meeting in Washington, DC for its 5,000 members.  I suddenly found myself with 5 employees and looking for a larger office.

If you had asked me that late Friday afternoon if I could tackle a meeting for 5,000 people, I might have backed off driving out for the meeting.  It's only because I took the first small step out the door, in the rain, that the course of my career changed dramatically.  As for my friend -- he learned the hard way that no job is too small.  How about you?

Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference has never tried to fall asleep with a mosquito in the room.--TBD*


*TBA is my acronym for "to be attributed" -- still looking for the author.


Thursday, January 8, 2015

I Am Charlie

The contributors and staff of Charlie Hebdo are heroes. All who believe in change have a duty to honor those who dissent, who protest, who satirize without fear. Their courage and of those who continue will change the world forever.

Here are the cartoons that brought about their murder:


     



Je Suis Charlie.

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

A Call to News Beat Activism

Where are the citizen journalists?

The tragic events of 2104, with the killings of Michael Brown in Ferguson and Eric Garner in New York City, are disturbing on so many levels it is overwhelming.

The issues raised to national consciousness comprise a dark list that have sparked protests, marches and public outrage.  Here's what's on my list :

  • Racial profiling by local law enforcement
  • Excessive force by police in minor instances
  • Necessity of 12 bullets to "stop" Michael Brown or anyone
  • Incompetence of Missouri state leaders
  • Ethics violations, malfeasance, manipulation, and knowing presentation of false testimony by Robert P. McCulloch, St. Louis County District Attorney
  • Mutiny of NYPD police turning their backs on their mayor and engaging in a work stoppage
  • Militarization of our local police agencies with transfer of $5.1 billion in military hardware from the Department of Defense since 1997 resulting in the what Radley Balko called in a Wall Street Journal editorial, the "warrior cop" — armed to the teeth, ready to deal harshly with targeted wrongdoers
  • Warnings concerning the "standing army" going back to our founding fathers becoming  real
  • Increasing put downs of peaceful protests (like Occupy Wall Street) -- as comedian and activist, Russell Brand comments in his new book, Revolution --  police are to here serve and protect, not to be the henchmen of the establishment
And, last but not least the media:

  • It's arguable that the complete abandonment of journalistic best practices and ethics by the mainstream media, and Fox News in particular, is tantamount to treason against the state

How would any one person reverse the course of this madness? Where would you even start?


cover of Pulitzer: A Life in Politics, Print, and Power by James McGrath Morris
One answer came to me during an interview I heard with author, James McGrath Morris on his biography of Pulitzer: A Life in Politics, Print, and Power.

It seems his publications were responsible for the creation of the beat reporter. Besides creating a competitive edge in gathering news, their routine presence at city council and school board meetings, state legislatures, and other government agencies managed to keep politicians and executives more honest, and became a bellwether for the general public when things were heading in the wrong direction.

Under economic duress and corporate pressure, news organizations have all but eliminated these vital, local reporting positions. It is no wonder we don't hear about problems anymore until they are completely out-of-control.
Beat reporting, is a genre of journalism that can be described as the craft of in-depth reporting on a particular issue, sector, organization or institution over time. Beat reporters build up a base of knowledge on and gain familiarity with the topic, allowing them to provide insight and commentary in addition to reporting straight facts. --Wikipedia

Democracy is not a spectator sport.   

One way to beat that lurking feeling of helplessness is for like-minded local groups and individuals to engage in activities that might effect positive change and regain power -- from the bottom up. What I propose is a grassroots effort to resurrect the beat reporter -- sort of a  News Beat Activism.  Go to a city council meeting, ask questions, then blog, tweet, post and report what you find. Go back again and again, or create a local beat pool with friends.  Our society has lost a lot of ground since the departure of the beat reporter, this is something we can do to change the trends.

Tell us where your beat reporting could make a difference?



Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Help to Break Bad Habits

My pal Vinnie worked on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier in the Navy.  Arguably, he had one of the most demanding jobs on the ship, he controlled the movement and storage of aircraft both on and below deck -- a logistics nightmare with no room for error.  When he got out, it makes sense, he became a technical stage director. Some say his logistics training made him one of the best in the business.

Over his lifetime he traveled the world administering the technical set-up of hundreds of large-scale concerts, events, and meetings.  I could sit for hours, typically over a pint, and listen to his incredible stories of what he witnessed on-stage, and behind the scenes, working with music stars, the famous, and top corporate executives. "I'm going to put all of this in a book someday," he would say.  Then, my friend died of spinal cancer.

I wish he had written the book.

Will your tombstone read,"Just wait till tomorrow"?


I'm sure you know some too that have gone to their grave ready to quit smoking, write a novel, lose weight, record a song, get in shape, design a house, learn a second language, etc.  The aspirations of millions of people never get fulfilled because they could not change their habits. Are you headed for the same destiny?

Why are these things so hard? An NPR Morning Edition feature may have the answer.

In June of 1971 President Richard Nixon created the Special Action Office of Drug Abuse Prevention.  He took this action in direct response to an alarming report that some 15 percent of U.S. servicemen in Vietnam, were actively addicted to heroin  The office was chartered with starting a program of prevention and rehabilitation along with collection of data on the addicted servicemen once they returned home.

A well-respected psychiatric researcher named Lee Robins was assigned to the study and found that about 95 percent of the people who were addicted in Vietnam did not become re-addicted when they returned to the United States.  This was a shocking finding, in fact, many simply could not believe that heroin addiction (a really bad habit) just simply did not reoccur at home.

Dr. David Neal, writing about Habits, Behavior Change, and New Year's Resolutions, commented:

"Once a behavior had been repeated a lot, especially if the person does it in the same setting, you can successfully change what people want to do. But if they've done it enough, their behavior doesn't follow their intentions."-- David Neal

Environment's Key Role In Behavior Change


Neal says, our environments come to unconsciously direct our behavior. Even behaviors that we don't want, like smoking. He gives this example, "For a smoker, the view of the entrance to their office building — which is a place that they go to smoke all the time — becomes a powerful mental cue to go and perform that behavior."

Over time those cues become so deeply ingrained that they are very hard to resist. And so we smoke at the entrance to work when we don't want to. We sit on the couch and eat ice cream when we don't need to, despite our best intentions, despite our resolutions.

To battle bad behaviors then, one answer is to disrupt the environment in some way. Even small changes can help — like eating the ice cream with your non-dominant hand. What this does is disrupt the unconscious learned body sequences and allows your conscious desires to take over.  Think about it.  Then share with us how you disrupted your environment.
“All great changes are preceded by chaos.” – Deepak Chopra 



Monday, January 5, 2015

Transformational Change

It's common to attribute great innovation to creativity, intelligence or wealth.   Not everyone though can be brilliant, geeky, and a billionaire -- on the other hand,  it sure seems to help. Two transformational figures that come to mind are Steve Jobs and Elon Musk.

picture of Elon Musk with superimposed SpaceX and Tesla Motors logospicture of Steve Jobs, founder of Apple


What chances
do the rest of us have for creating great change?



One can only stand in awe looking at the legacy of change created, and being created, by these two men.  

The innovations of Steve Jobs are widely recognized, but Elon Musk is still far from being a household name. 

What's important in looking at these two icons, is not to be intimidated, but inspired. Their ability to create change is really no different from the rest of us.  Clearly they they have had phenomenal resources to enable them to start and scale faster once they have an initial idea. But how they start the idea process and work with it is something we can draw from by drilling down past the personas and wealth.  


First principles and the iterative process.


Two things these men share in common are zero base thinking (what Musk calls First Principles)  and an iterative development process.  
Iteration is the act of repeating a process with the aim of approaching a desired goal, target or result. Each repetition of the process is also called an "iteration", and the results of one iteration are used as the starting point for the next iteration. --Wikipedia
The core of iteration is that your concepts, ideas, products or processes are in a constant state of improvement.  You create something great today and tomorrow you approach it as starting point for improvement rather than the ending point.  Musk says it's, "Constantly be thinking about how you could be doing things better and questioning yourself."

Zero base thinking is just what it sounds like, it is starting with a blank piece of paper rather than building upon the best practices and examples around us.  Most of us think and communicate by way of analogy — comparing new experiences and ideas to those we already know exist.  Musk says the benefit of “first principles” thinking, "allows you to innovate in clear leaps, rather than building small improvements onto something that already exists." 
“I think it’s important to reason from first principles rather than by analogy. The normal way we conduct our lives is we reason by analogy. [With analogy] we are doing this because it’s like something else that was done, or it is like what other people are doing. [With first principles] you boil things down to the most fundamental truths…and then reason up from there.”--Elon Musk
Watch this video interview with Kevin Rose where Musk gives an example of the first automobile. While everyone else was trying to improve horse-drawn carriages, someone looked at the fundamentals of transportation and the combustion engine in order to create a car.




"All men dream, but not equally.  Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible." -- T. E Lawrence

Sunday, January 4, 2015

Daily Struggle

“Life is how you see it. The only way to change your life is to change your perception of it." -- TBA*
Overhead view of marble spiral staircase

It's easy to say change your perception, but in practice not so easy to do -- it's something people struggle with everyday. What works for me is to decide once, make a commitment, and "leave the dock." (see my Jan 2nd blog --Finding the Courage to Make Change)  Leaving the dock is what mentally and/or physically moves you to a different location, and by definition, your perspective is changed. It is here where you then focus your energies on how to survive in your new reality.

With full credit to Seth Godin's blog, I've found these three sentences to be life changing:
"There's a fundamental difference between the things you do every day, every single day, and the things you do only when the spirit moves you. One difference is that once you've committed to doing something daily, you find that the spirit moves you, daily. Rather than having a daily debate about today's agenda, you can decide once that you will do something, and then decide every single day how to do it." --Seth Godin
*TBA is my acronym for "to be attributed" -- still looking for the author.

Saturday, January 3, 2015

Empathy is a Good Start

Most of your ideas for bringing about a positive change likely come from a single perspective -- yours.  

Typically it might go like this, something doesn't look right, sound right, or impacts your senses in a way that evokes a visceral response. Instinctively you come up with a set of solutions you could envision. Then, as you evaluate the various actions you might take to implement these changes, you are overcome with a fear of how others might react to your actions. At this point, you abandon the thinking because it seems too personally risky to rock the boat.


At least this is the way it often works with me. 


“Put yourself in their shoes — look at the world through their eyes."    -- Barack Obama
Dr. Samuel M. Richards,  Penn State University Senior Lecturer in Sociology, at a Ted Talk he gave in 2010
The key words from above are, "personally risky".  What if the immediate benefits or risks of your plan of action were to be viewed from perspectives outside your immediate world and the usual suspects?   Would you uncover evidence allowing to you broaden the benefit or spread the risk?

Empathy provides another lens to view the implications of change.


This past week my good friend Mikey urged me to watch the video I've embedded below.  It is Dr. Samuel M. Richards,  Penn State University Senior Lecturer in Sociology, at a Ted Talk he gave in 2010 concerning empathy. Without spoiling your viewing, I will simply say that after watching it, it made me think that risk is a point-of-view, and that solidly considering the perspectives of others can often change the risk equation in favor of action.





Friday, January 2, 2015

Finding Courage to Make Change

Bill proudly wears a gold loop earring in his left ear he's entitled to wear as a member of a very exclusive club -- one of only a handful of sailors who have demonstrated the courage to face (and survive) the treacherous eastbound passage around Cape Horn.   His talk begins in the dark with a dizzying, fear-inducing, floor-to-ceiling video shot off the bow of his sailboat as he faces 60 ft. (19 m) seas.  After a few nauseous minutes the lights come up slightly and Bill appears in front of the waves to ask for a show of hands from those in the audience who think it takes courage to sail in these seas -- alone.  
Fear is an emotion induced by a threat perceived by living entities, which causes a change in brain and organ function and ultimately a change in behavior, such as running away, hiding or freezing from traumatic events. -- Wikipedia

What are you afraid of?


So facing 60 ft.(19 m) seas, would you be afraid?  Don't be too quick to answer yet.

What about this -- are you afraid to take action to ruffle feathers, say no, make waves, rabble rouse, volunteer,  protest, change the rules, or make a scene?  Would you be any less fearful if your gut was telling you these were the right actions to take?  

Fear is very powerful -- it can paralyze.  It's no wonder then that it's the primary tool used by those who wish to suppress change.  Sadly, the Politics of Fear is actually even defined as a style of leadership. The idea is that causing fear induces a reaction that leads you to run away, hide or freeze --  it's a perfect recipe to ensure nothing will change.

The answer.


So back to our audience, everyone raised their hands.  The lights come up full, and Bill points back to the massive waves and surprisingly says, "That? That doesn't take courage! You don't have time for fear when you're facing those conditions. That? That's reflexes. Trusting in all the knowledge and life experiences that have led you up to that point to carry you through. It's about trusting in yourself, your gut, your talent."

Capt. William Bill Pinkney at the helm of his sailboat
CAPTAIN William "Bill" Pinkney

His story is a demonstration that it is possible to use the trust that you have in yourself, your own skills and reflexes to overcome the fear that surrounds making change.

Then he finally, during a moment of rapt attention, finishes by saying, "I'll tell you what does take courage... leaving the dock."

So, bon voyage as you embark on a passage to leave the status quo behind.

What does your dock look like?  Feel free to comment below.



Bill is Capt. William "Bill" Pinkney,  the first African-American to sail solo around the world via Cape Horn. I brought him in to speak at a series of sales conferences in Florida and had nine days to hear his fascinating tales. You can read more about him here and here. 


Thursday, January 1, 2015

Resolution for Change

Resolve to use social media as tool to enact positive change.

I saw a young boy yesterday challenge a hardware sales associate to find a meter stick for his school project.  Perplexed, the sales associate consulted others by radio to no avail.  By the time the boy's mother arrives she is clearly dumbfounded by the associate's shrug and ignorance of the item.  She goes on to describe a wooden stick with measurements indicated.  The associate grins, takes them to a shelf,  and proudly produces a yard stick.  "No", she says, "it's longer, a meter stick, you know to measure millimeters and centimeters."

It's an insignificant transaction, but it brings to my mind how resistant to positive change we are as a society.   How stupid we must look to the rest of the world when we stubbornly cling to outmoded ways. Is it stubbornness, superiority, stupidity, laziness, greed, or just human nature that hold back our progress?

Perhaps it's all of the above. My gut tells me though we're running out of time waiting for common sense change to simply happen.  I see too many politicians, corporate executives, journalists, administrators, educators, leaders, and others seemly imprisoned by the status quo. History shows some go so far as to even enshrine stagnation by enacting laws or building barriers to prevent and bury change.  So what to do?

Social media now enables a near universal access to news of scientific finding, evolving technology, religious freedom, corporate greed, political wrongdoing, human rights, fairness, justice, etc. -- increasingly there seems no reason for common folks armed with knowledge to wait for their leaders, they can act on their own. My motivation came two days ago via radio.

Book cover: What to do when it's your turn, by Seth Godin

I heard an interview with Seth Godin regarding his new book, What to do when it's your turn. (and it's always your turn).  



One particular thought of his really resonated with me (and has inspired this blog), the idea that you owe it to the world to pick up the microphone and say something meaningful.  He advises that your efforts might work and they might not but that’s OK.  Not to run away from the fear, but not to ignore it either. He said, "The ability to live in that tension and discover what you can do in the midst of that… that is artistry."

Well artistry or not, my microphone is now turned on to spur change.