For the past three weeks I have been part of Tara Newman’s virtual book club hosted within her The Bold Leadership Collective group on Facebook. Along with others in that club, I posted daily thoughts on the chapters. Mine were streams of consciousness-type notes. This bog post is a collation of all those posts.
Google Books entry
Greg’s Talks at Google talk
I introduce myself:
Hi, I'm Simon in the UK and here to read "Essentialism".
Husband and Father to 3 kids (13,15,18).
IT professional (business consultant and project manager mainly but do anything the owner needs to get projects delivered).
Christian, part of the leadership team of a church on a challenging housing estate.
Lead a 6-weekly All Age Worship event. Next series is based on some materials from Rend Collective (https://goo.gl/3ybw7x).
Lead a monthly film club now in its 11th year. We watch a film on DVD and then discuss it. List of films we have done: https://goo.gl/CE6i0b.
Member of a book club in real life.
An online learning junkie. I've done 20 MOOCs in 4 years (summary: https://goo.gl/F9qunu).
I am currently leading a 12-week 5-person Working Out Loud Circle (http://workingoutloud.com/) comprising a guy in Boulder, Colarado, 2 ladies in Barcelona and a lady in Sydney. We "meet" weekly for a 1 hour call using Zoom and Slack (both new tools to me).
This year I am doing "One Word". My word is "Discipline". I basically need more focus and less distraction but I love variety and am fascinated by everything. I am also seeking to sort out all my incoming content streams and marshal/ share them better. A start of the year blog post sets the scene: https://goo.gl/y3RnsO.
Big music junkie. My current all-time top 10: https://goo.gl/yGiJlm.
I live on Twitter: https://twitter.com/srjf.
Blog: http://srjf.blogspot.co.uk/
The Power of Precision
Love it when strands of my life collide. Started reading Essentialism this morning and also just heard this Christian talk that was delivered in the USA last weekend.
The Power of Precision
(1st in Steven Furtick's series Work Your Window)
"Feeling overwhelmed by all of the things you want to change in your life? Trying to win everywhere at once? Learn how to work your window of opportunity by taking aim and taking action."
2 Kings 13:17
https://youtu.be/aUJER0hKKq0
Amazingly relevant to the essentialism tribe, I reckon.
PS if the Christian worldview is not yours, this still has things to teach 
:)
@stevenfurtick @elevationchurch
"Spark Joy"
===========
#essentialism chapter 1 #bookclub
"This requires, not just haphazardly saying no, but purposefully, deliberately, and strategically eliminating the nonessentials, and not just getting rid of the obvious time wasters, but cutting out some really good opportunities as well. Instead of reacting to the social pressures pulling you to go in a million directions, you will learn a way to reduce, simplify, and focus on what is absolutely essential by eliminating everything else."
...
"In the same way that our closets get cluttered as clothes we never wear accumulate, so do our lives get cluttered as well-intended commitments and activities we’ve said yes to pile up. Most of these efforts didn’t come with an expiration date. Unless we have a system for purging them, once adopted, they live on in perpetuity."
[from "Essentialism"]
... * wondering whether Marie "Konmari" Kondo is channelling Greg or vice versa 
;) ... *
https://youtu.be/9AvWs2X-bEA
PS I am the world's worst hoarder of physical/digital content
(this podcast relates: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05v7tjt)
#sparkjoy
@srjf
Focus
=====
#essentialism chapter 1 #bookclub
... so after reading chapter 1 before leaving the house this morning, the 1st podcast playing in the car (always on random from a set of podcasts pre-loaded on the iPod nano), .... THIS!
David Allen; Making Change Stick
"David Allen discusses the power and practical usage of focus and vision. Learn the keys to creating and maintaining successful habit change by utilizing visioning, goal setting, and clarifying positive outcomes."
https://goo.gl/OnDyJf
Thought of fellow book club member Jordan Gill re systems, processes etc.
Jordan, as per earlier comment, I dug out your "Systems Saved Me" podcasts last night, downloaded ALL of them, 1st 10 in set ready to random play, sounds like an ideal "home team" podcast for me, I am a process/systems junkie by profession and inclination (being a type A project manager and leader in an IT services company).
Systems Saved Me (Jordan's site): https://goo.gl/IG6JsA
@srjf
Choose
======
#essentialism #bookclub chapter 2
dictionary definitions
Stimulus and Response
===================
#essentialism chapter 2 #bookclub
Reminded of the late Stephen Covey's teaching on the power to choose in the space between stimulus and response.
Habit 1: Be Proactive
Blog post: https://www.stephencovey.com/blog/?p=28
Article: https://www.stephencovey.com/7habits/7habits-habit1.php
I Choose To Be Holy
===============
#essentialism chapter 2 #bookclub
This Christian song came to mind as I read ch 2.
I have this disease where I "get" songs the whole time! Getting worse as I get older - more songs that I know.
PS defo not perfect, ask my family ;)
#essentialism chapter 3 #bookclub
discern:
to perceive by the sight or some other sense or by the intellect; see, recognize, or apprehend;
to distinguish mentally; recognize as distinctor different; discriminate
discern
recognize or find out; distinguish (someone or something) with difficulty by sight or with the other senses
synonyms: perceive, make out, pick out, detect, recognize, notice, observe, see, spot; identify, determine, distinguish, differentiate, discriminate, tell apart; become cognizant of, become aware of, become conscious of
#wordnerd @srjf
#essentialism chapter 3 #bookclub
"So I asked myself, “What is the most valuable result I could achieve in this job?” It turned out to be winning back customers who wanted to cancel. So I worked hard at convincing customers not to cancel, and soon I achieved a zero rate of cancellation. Since I was paid for each client I retained, I learned more, earned more, and contributed more."
[from "Essentialism"]
A fave HBR article came to mind ...
Zero Defections: Quality Comes to Services;
"Service companies have their own kind of scrap heap: customers who will not come back. That scrap heap too has a cost. As service businesses start to measure it, they will see the urgent need to reduce it. They will strive for “zero defections”—keeping every customer the company can profitably serve—and they will mobilize the organization to achieve it."
https://hbr.org/…/09/zero-defections-quality-comes-to-servi…
I had a strong sense as I read the chapter today that the challenging work of winning back defected customers is similar to retaining control of my various "inboxes" and that it is easier retaining existing customers and staying on top of those "inboxes". I know this but I need to do it!!
I am not a gardener but tending a garden also came to mind. If I weed often it is more straightforward than having to rescue the land when it takes over after leaving it for months and you then need bigger and stronger tools!!
Laziness (!) also came to mind, remembering this Christian talk by Alistair Begg "A Warning Against Laziness" (and procrastination):
"Laziness and procrastination are two characteristics to avoid. The lure of deferring our daily responsibilities can be appealing on the surface, but as a habitual practice, laziness is sinful and can grow into a view of hopelessness toward individual achievement. Speaking at a college campus, Alistair Begg explains how laziness is sinful behavior that breeds a lifestyle of excuses and ultimately an inability to find fulfillment."
https://goo.gl/K7s2tD
@srjf
#essentialism chapter 4 trade-off #bookclub
"trade-off":
a balance achieved between two desirable but incompatible features; a compromise.
and on to "compromise":
an agreement or settlement of a dispute that is reached by each side making concessions.
synonyms: agreement, understanding, settlement, terms, accommodation
#wordnerd @srjf
#essentialism chapter 4 trade-off #bookclub
The Genius of the "And" vs The Tyranny of the "Or"
Interesting seeing reference to Jim Collins (a fave author/speaker) later in this chapter after he came to my mind earlier in the chapter as I remembered his view that it does not always necessarily mean that everthing has to be an either/or it can be both/and
#controversial in the context of this chapter! this is now messing with my head ;)
https://goo.gl/R2qYYu
@srjf
#essentialism chapter 4 trade-off #bookclub
The One Thing
Gary Keller and his book "The One Thing" came to mind. That book is another on my "to read and apply" list ...
Article: https://goo.gl/uXSmoL
Book: https://goo.gl/Uho9fG
@srjf
FOMO
Tara's reference to FOMO (day 4, trade-off) reminded me of this FOMO/JOMO episode from Note To Self (another fave podcast series)
http://www.wnyc.org/story/fomo-jomo/
#essentialism day 5 ESCAPE #bookclub
"EXPLORE: Discern the Vital Few from the Trivial Many"
I heard an amazing podcast over Christmas as part of an Intercontinental Hotels ad campaign. All about curiosity and fascination. This is so me!!
"Whatever you're fascinated by, whatever you're curious about, gives you information about yourself." - Julie Klam
https://life.intercontinental.com/gb/fascination/#podcast
This intro section before the chapter gives me permission to explore widely and then focus.
@srjf
#essentialism day 5 ESCAPE #bookclub
"WITHOUT GREAT SOLITUDE NO SERIOUS WORK IS POSSIBLE." Pablo Picasso
Loved this quote at the start of the chapter. Strong resonances with Cal Newport's Deep Work. I know this is a theme for my year to have the discipline to lengthen the periods of time when I am doing one thing and one thing alone.
As the chapter starts, I see myself again as being so busy at work and at home with so many interests and distractions that there is no time to make sense of it all, think deeply about what I truly care about and start charting a course of where I want to get to. I am not getting younger but it feels like I am just getting started.
Reminded of Rick Warren's strategy for resting - divert daily, withdraw weekly, abandon annually - in the following vid:
https://youtu.be/MFLg81DkHlA
Increasingly, I am aware I need to read for longer and more deeply. Also I need to actually review the "inboxes" to decide where I am going to mine for more gold. I actually need to process those "inboxes" including my Evernote clipped content items (standing today at 4k!).
@srjf
#essentialism day 5 ESCAPE #bookclub
BOOK LISTS
I expect many of us are book readers. I love (and agree with) the phrase "leaders are readers and readers are leaders". This list of book lists is great. Any favourites from this list?
https://goo.gl/UMOvN
@srjf
mindset to strategy to execution
Essentialism begins as a mindset, becomes a strategy and ends in execution. https://t.co/KBfFO3QQU7
— Greg McKeown (@GregoryMcKeown) January 28, 2017
A FB tip ... no extra charge for this ... an added value service from Simon :)
I love informality even in formal situations. Recently learned you can shorten people's names when you name them in a FB post. When you get the full name displayed and highlighted in a post, press backspace as many times as there are names to remove and that is it ... so easy even I can do it ....
#clearingthefog @srjf
do for ONE what you wish you could do for EVERYONE
===========================================
This leadership gold from Andy Stanley came to mind reading the following from Amanda yesterday ...
"Trading in the need to help everybody with anything to focus on where I can help a few in a deeper way."
I quickly found the video and this is the relevant clip. Great to be reminded of this!
... and as I played the video, these!
3 tips:
(1) go deep not wide
(2) go long term rather than short term
(3) go time, not just money
https://youtu.be/00Zu-BeUHTI?t=5m
PS Amanda, loving exploring the photos from the photographer of your large FB pic: https://500px.com/oxota
All, re photography, this is an inspirational vid and amazing work re Jeremy Cowart (one of the most influential photographers on the internet per HuffPo:
https://youtu.be/jC-rpAkfE2I
Video Sessions:
Tara, suggestion re the vid calls, can you mirror/unmirror the cam so we can see the letters the right way round on your wall posters and the "You Rock" when you flash your mug (the coffee one!)?
Tara/All, you seen Zoom? free vid con calls for half hour with up to 50 participants, can record and save file for posting anywhere
https://zoom.us/
We are using it in the Working Out Loud circle I am in. This is a gang pic!
https://twitter.com/srjf/status/818553773555650560
If anyone wants a play, just message me or post in here.
... psych-ing myself up ... repeat after me ...
"I MUST NOT MULTI-TASK TODAY" ...
playing this track which was my walk-on song for every university exam 1980-1984 ... it worked then ... got a First! ... #ICanDoThis
The most successful person in Babylon
Bringing 2 of my current tribes together in this post. In the Working Out Loud circle we have read this blog post about the importance of investing money in yourself. The blogger, who created Working Out Loud, draws a parallel with what we need to do with our time.
Blog post: http://workingoutloud.com/…/the-most-successful-person-in-b…
Full text of book: http://www.ccsales.com/the_richest_man_in_babylon.pdf
Look - day 6 #essentialism
Vantage Point is a great film for challenging the viewer about the diversity of perspectives on the same story.
https://youtu.be/vDp-08uNH0Y
@srjf
Look - Story - day 6 #essentialism
"It’s crucial, Mariam says, to seek “a different perspective on a given story, one that would shed the light on the topic in a fresh, different or thought-provoking way.” One trick she uses is role play: she puts herself in the shoes of all the main players in a story in order to better understand their motives, reasoning, and points of view."
My go-to content on "Story" is this Donald Miller talk:
https://youtu.be/mky-OVVoDok
More links in this blog post:
http://srjf.blogspot.co.uk/…/book-million-miles-in-thousand…
@srjf
Play - Jane McGonigal
Tara got me thinking about "play" before tomorrow's chapter ... so glad I stumbled over Jane some years ago now. A fave lady/speaker on a subject that is not my "home" subject (and I am not a gamer!) but she defo makes me think. Playing this video now and seems really appropriate to us as essentialists! Powerful talk :)
https://youtu.be/lfBpsV1Hwqs
... and my fave ever The Big Bang Theory clip ...
https://youtu.be/v0pFXhG0Fa4
Play #Essentialism day 7 #bookclub
Defo an area, by the sound of it, that I need to look at and improve upon. However, those that know me would say that I am not serious all the time and often fun to be around. I have already said elsewhere in this group that I am improving on my spontaneity.
"spontaneous":
(1) performed or occurring as a result of a sudden impulse or inclination and without premeditation or external stimulus
synonyms: unforced, voluntary, unconstrained, unprompted, unbidden, unsolicited, unplanned, unpremeditated, unrehearsed, impulsive, impetuous, unstudied, impromptu, spur-of-the-moment, extempore, extemporaneous
(2) having an open, natural, and uninhibited manner.
synonyms: natural, uninhibited, relaxed, unselfconscious, unaffected, easy, free and easy;
(3) (of a process or event) occurring without apparent external cause.
Interesting seeing the reference to "without ... external stimulus". Making me wonder if my newly-found increasing spontaneity is actually independent of any such stimulus.
I looked up info on Stuart Brown and found his TED talk "Play is more than fun":
https://youtu.be/HHwXlcHcTHc
"play":
(1) engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose.
synonyms: amuse oneself, entertain oneself, enjoy oneself, have fun, have a good time, relax, rest, be at leisure, occupy oneself, divert oneself, play games, frolic, frisk, gambol, romp, cavort, caper
(2) take part in (a sport).
synonyms: take part in, participate in, engage in, be involved in, join in, compete in, do
#wordnerd
@srjf
Play - Tales of Creativity and Play
* reminded that I need to explore the company Ideo more! *
TED talk: https://goo.gl/tK136A
Tim's bio: https://www.ideo.com/us/people/tim-brown
"6 Ways to Integrate Play Into the Workplace:
Adding a healthy dose of play to the workday makes this company an incredibly satisfying place to work."
http://www.inc.com/brendan-boyle/play-has-a-pr-problem.html
... and reminded of Ideo's Method Cards, that I have not seen in real life ...
https://www.ideo.com/us/post/method-cards
Sleep #Essentialism day 8 #bookclub
I am one of those really irritating people who is "always on" being an early bird and a night owl, hyper from start to finish (OK, I admit, I do get into a bit of a lull after eating meals as I get older).
So, confession, regularly get less than 6 hours sleep a night. I knew this was an issue before reading the chapter. I am convicted seriously this time. My issue is that I see what I want to do for myself and spend hours doing that after my day job. I know I need to up the sleep hours and hold myself to account to achieve that, may be even graphing it!
... and as I was closing this post, I remembered Jason Fried's profile in a fave series - Lifehacker's How I Work - and he talks about sleep!!! #spooky
http://lifehacker.com/im-jason-fried-ceo-of-basecamp-and-th…
@srjf
#Essentialism - day 9 - SELECT : The Power of Extreme Criteria - #bookclub
This chapter reminded me of the content that I learned and the consequent application of changes in my life relating to physical and digital hoarding on Harvard's Immunity of Change MOOC. I have definitely got a long way to go on that. We all have criteria for whether we do or do not do something. These are invariably implicit and often inconsistent. The challenge for me from this chapter is to make fully explicit what those criteria are and make them consistent. Until I do this I will continue just going with the flow as things take my fancy.
This is a challenge for me as I perform a number of roles where there are things expected for me to do and when. However, even this week, I have been hearing more about job crafting and changing things in your job to move it more to what you really want to do. For me, also, a challenge is I am passionate about delivering exemplary customer service even when this means I plug gaps and cover for people who are not doing what they should be doing when they should be doing it etc. I need to address these root causes.
I went on a slight rabbit trail digging out some videos on Vitsoe (I have seen these before but I have no idea in what context!!):
A persistent system: https://youtu.be/QlgXFRqfyWo
Tidy up your life: https://youtu.be/yeK8dM0Q6dE
The opportunity evaluation criteria are really helpful:
1) opportunity
Q: What opportunity is being offered to you?
2) minimum
Q: What are your minimum criteria for this option to be considered?
3) extreme
Q: What are the ideal criteria for this option to be approved?
I suspect my impulse purchases when I see bargains (sic) - especially books! - would reduce if I applied these criteria fully!
@srjf
Infomagical: Make Information Overload Disappear
Reading Kristen's ditching FB off her phone story, reminded me of this Note to Self podcast series from last year. I suspect it is still accessible and I reckon this gang would find it helpful.
"Ever wanted to be more creative? More knowledgeable? More up to date on the news? More in touch with family and friends? More in tune with yourself?
Well, Note to Self wants to make it happen.
Take part in a series of experiments designed to help you find focus and discover the magic of clear thinking."
https://project.wnyc.org/infomagical/
#Essentialism - day 10: CLARIFY - #bookclub
So again the book nails Simon. I am totally unclear about my purpose in life. I suspect there is a real fear in me that if I try to be clear I will make a wrong choice and sacrifice the best for just the good.
My world was rocked on Sunday evening by a coach from Barcelona who is in my Working Out Loud circle. There are 6 of us each working on a personal goal for 12 weeks. She asked if she could call me to understand more about my goal because she was unclear what it was!!!!
In the course of a 1h 15m call, I was totally found out by a lady who knows virtually nothing about me. We have been on group con calls for c5 hours prior to this in the last 4 weeks.
I am sorting myself out in response to that latest call.
Who is Simon? Is he an expert? Is he a visionary? See the 2 tweets attached. Should I be narrow? Should I be wide?
https://goo.gl/GHkO1D
https://goo.gl/isN2ys
Who is Simon at the end of the circle (in 8 weeks time) and how does that differ from the Simon now?
Soul-searching stuff. I have never nailed these questions in my 54 years. It does not feel like I'm finishing!
I so need that "essential intent".
I do overthink things.
I am a worrier.
I need to act more on instinct and not rationalise everything.
Some of you may be getting to know me through my streams of consciousness posts. If anyone has any words of challenge, direct advice etc, please feel free to tell me. I am seeking to be more fearless in all things.
@srjf
This may be of interest to the Essentialism gang:
How to Make Your Non-Fiction Reading More Productive http://mhyatt.us/2ki7spe via Michael Hyatt
#Essentialism - 11 - DARE - The Power of a Graceful “No” #bookclub
During the impromptu session with the lady coach in our #WOL circle last weekend, "what should I say "no" to?" was one of the several questions that came up. I am looking to say "no" more to doing things that others should be doing and that is their responsibility.
Another classic Stephen Covey story. I am a strong believer in committing to something ahead of time and, may be, even before you have to (!), and then never wavering in doing that even when good competing opportunities come up.
More "no"'s from "Creativity, Flow and the Psychology of Discovery" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi:
http://www.kateschutt.com/…/creativity-and-the-time-you-hav…
At our church we are strong on "hate the sin, love the sinner".
Re everyone is selling something, I am on a personal mission to be clear in my own mind why I am responding to Tweets etc with likes/RTs etc and ideally by saying why and not just Like-ing.
The "what should I deprioritise?" "No" reply is one I need to use more and I am aware that I need to be aware in real time what tasks are on the list so I can "use" this reply clearly in an informed way demonstrating that i am on top of the situation.
And this also reminds me that if you are not clear what you are saying/have said "yes" to it is far harder to say "no" to anything. More importantly, if you know your "yes", you are actually under an obligation to yourself to say "no" to things that are not consistent with that "yes".
#clearthefog @srjf
#Essentialism - 12: UNCOMMIT - Win Big by Cutting Your Losses #bookclub
The chapter title set me off remembering "commitment escalation":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escalation_of_commitment.
First heard of that via a fave talk by Micky Dickerson who got sucked into sorting out Obama's Healthcare.gov. A great listen/watch:
https://youtu.be/7Vc8sxhy2I4
I need to be careful that I do not go to the other extreme and use "sunk cost" (in my case in time) as an excuse to stop doing something that I really should do (e.g. I have challenges in building a MOOC and this is reducing the joy I had in doing it BUT only this week I was contacted by an influential lady executive in Europe in response to sending her some info on Working Out Loud and when I mentioned the project management 101 MOOC she indicated great interest!).
... remembering the criteria for assessing opportunities and now how these would be good to apply to my work in progress (or work halted) list ...
... my hoarding issues get exposed again ... the waste of money for buyiing the things in the past that I know I need to bin/chuck ... one day! one day!!
The Tootsie story reinforces my recent realisation that God has wired me (and all of us!) in a unique way and that if that is an issue for others it should not be for me and it now is not and I am thriving in my spirit.
Finding it amazing the crossover between what I am doing in my Working Out Loud circle. Stumbled over this only last night: Seth Godin's "The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)"
http://hubpages.com/business/theDipBook
Zero-based time allocation is attractive and needed for me. With my many interests, some coming and going, taking a checkpoint on those interests and related "projects" would definitely be helpful.
Defo not guilty of hazy commitments. This is at my core. If I say I will do something, see you, ring/email/FB msg you etc, I WILL !! And I hate it when people do not deliver on what they have said to me they will do.
#SparkJoy is taking over my life (in a good way!).
The "reverse pilot" reminds me that I know some people who ask me to do something and unless they ask me 3 times, say, I know that this is just them thinking out loud ...
#clearthefog @srjf
#Essentialism - 13: EDIT - The Invisible Art - #bookclub
"Clearly, editing—which involves the strict elimination of the trivial, unimportant, or irrelevant—is an Essentialist craft."
I NEED to get crafty then!
Big fan of Jack Dorsey and NOT just because he created Twitter. Here's his talk that was mentioned:
https://youtu.be/fs0R-UvZ-hQ
Loving this "a good editor is someone who uses deliberate subtraction to actually add life to the ideas, setting, plot, and characters."
Reminding me of Andy Stanley's "Take It to the Limit Study Guide: How to Get the Most Out of Life":
https://goo.gl/z8hGMG
"The Latin root of the word decision—cis or cid—literally means “to cut” or “to kill.”"
Re condensing and words, huge fan of The Economist and how their writers convey huge amounts of information in very few words. Here is their Style Guide:
http://www.economist.com/styleguide/introduction
"We think you can live large in small spaces"
LifeEdited.com
https://youtu.be/BtYxuoj6x9o
"We need to eliminate multiple meaningless activities and replace them with one very meaningful activity."
#clearthefog @srjf
#Essentialism - 14: LIMIT - The Freedom of Setting Boundaries - #bookclub
Reasonably OK at this but need to get better to set boundaries for particular tasks at work and home so they get done and other distractions do not take over.
Definitely a challenge when tools/workspaces are used for both work and play. May be I need to stop working from home to reinforce the boundries. Currently, work every Friday from home so I can so the school run.
I have had issues in the past where I have hated interruptions but at times they did actually need my help, my listening ear or, simply, my company. I need to make sure I do not go too far that way in hating those interruptions!
Boundaries has reminded me of "core" and "flex". Those have come to mind a few times but I now do need to add the videos. This is really helpful stuff:
What is core and flex?
https://youtu.be/trPOurwfB4w
How to Find Your Core?
https://youtu.be/TgKj-gOa5i8
#clearthefog @srjf
... the crazy way we work ... via Michael Hyatt
#Essentialism - Part 4 - Execute - How to make execution effortless - #bookclub
I am defo not there yet, not firing on all cylinders.
Doing blog posts are getting easier and I am going for it.
Key for me now is DO IT .... DO NOT JUST TALK ABOUT IT ...
15: BUFFER - The Unfair Advantage
The sharpening the ax quote from Abraham Lincoln reminds me of Stephen Covey's Sharpen The Saw. I use the phrase all the time including any listings of my roles and to explain what I do, how I operate re learning and processing input content. I defo need to apply this more in a conscious way.
The reference to buffers reminding me of Andy Stanley's teaching series on margin titled "Breathing Room";
https://goo.gl/W0NK8J
Reminded me of stopping distances which get scarily long when roads are wet.
When planning my diary, I need to try more to "schedule" spontaneity to allow space for it to happen.
References to worst cases plays to my role as a project manager where risk management is a key discipline. Analyse out all the things that could happen and then assess what you do about them, if anything, to mitigate the risk of each one happening. So probablity of the thing happening is important and then deciding whether you Avoid, Reduce, Fallback, Transfer, Share or Accept the risk.
I am a really bad estimator and I tend to excuse that by me rarely doing the same thing twice with the same tools, situation and so on so even if I were to record metrics and "learn" those figures would probably not help in future. I am seeking to improve my estimating and work on Deep Work practices may also help this.
I wanted to comment positively on the use of the female gender in the book. It should not be but it s refreshing to see. Reminded me of a book that I have not seen for years but was the first to really strike me with the use of he/she throughout with examples that included both at all levels of an organisation on all kinds of roles and used interchangeably. It was refreshing and came across as perfectly natural. It was a really helpful book and deeply influential on my work and style. I need to dig it out, It would be great as the basis of training still after all these years. The book was "Consulting Skills for Information Professionals".
Loving the "extreme and early preparation" as a typical Project Manager, preferring structure, clarity and a plan! I could do more in this area, probably more for my personal goals outside work time. Some that I work with and play with will cringe at that :)
Contingency: I am learning more about this as I manage increasingly complex projects with high uncertainty of work estimates and technical challenges; a client programme manager played hard ball with a business sponsor and added contingency to all tasks as well as adding contingency to the whole project as a way of recovering a project from wildly optimistic/unrealistic timescales.
Good to be reminded of punctuality. One of my core values!
"Planning Fallacy":
"The planning fallacy, first proposed by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky in 1979, is a phenomenon in which predictions about how much time will be needed to complete a future task display an optimism bias and underestimate the time needed." (from Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planning_fallacy).
In my view, project sponsors have a lot to answer for with imposing deadlines on projects prior to any planning work taking place and then not understanding the time/quality/cost relationships.
Something has to give!
Scenario planning is back to risk assessment and our response to those risks.
#clearthefog @srjf
#Essentialism - 16: SUBTRACT - Bring forth more by removing obstacles - #bookclub
"The Goal"; Alex Rogo: summary
Constraints reminding me of the critical path of a project (the shortest elapsed time to complete a project from start to finish) where you look at the constraints, the critical activities that impact the process cycle time, and how could you speed up that part of the process.
Another reference to being proactive and not waiting to be reactive.
Also reminded of the need to do root cause analysis fixes.
Another reference to "essential intent" (reminding me of "commander's intent" that is often referred to by Jocko Willinck in his podcasts.
What is the obstacle that if removed would make the majority of the other obstacles disappear.
Remove that obstacle.
#clearthefog @srjf
#Essentialism - 17: PROGRESS - The power of small wins - #bookclub
Start small, celebrate progress. I should know this re breaking things down but I usually fail to do that and I am even worse at celebrating progress - I just get on with the next thing relentlessly.
Re visual progress, I have started playing with Kanban boards on my laptop but not totally happy with how that is going. I probably (!) need more discipline.
I sensed that this included the building of momentum.
Starting to understand "minimum viable product" but most systems I am involved in building are very large and so the "minimum" is "very big". But it will be interesting applying that to other products I create.
Good to read the example of tweets becoming blog posts.
Defo more of a start early/small than late/big.
Make a quick start on all tasks e.g. create a document with a couple of headings if the task is to do with a report.
#clearthefog @srjf
#Essentialism - 18: FLOW - The genius of routine - #bookclub
Ideally, you should aim for repeated processes by designing routines (or rituals per Michael Hyatt). This helps you output more and better, making execution almost effortless.
NOT IN THE BOOK: See this chart on flow:
(taken from "Stanford Webinar - Design Your Life: Part I: Reframe Your Passion")
Section on Michael Phelps' routines that he followed for years.
"The Essentialist designs a routine that makes achieving what you have identified as essential the default position." THAT!
Routines help eliminate distractions.
Repeated execution of routines embeds them deeply.
Takes time to master routines at the start.
Beware the world's view of routine as boring and dull!
Frees up brain to do other things.
Eliminate existing routines thst are unhelpful.
Triggers to bad and good routines are key.
Reference to Charles Duhigg's The Power of Habit: a cue, a routine and a reward.
Create new triggers.
"Focus on the hardest thing first". Defo need to do more of this. Really easy to put these off and cross off simpler tasks.
Can mix it up and have different routines through week on specific days.
Start small with single new/changed routine at a time.
#clearthefog @srjf
#Essentialism - 19: Focus - What’s Important Now? (WIN) - #bookclub
Be fully present in the moment and fully focused on what is most important now.
Focus on your game, not their's.
Losing (because eg you lost focus) vs being beaten (eg they were faster etc).
Kairos: clock time
Chronos: opportune time, the time is right
"The way of the Essentialist is to tune into the present.
To experience life in kairos, not just chronos.
To focus on the things that are truly important—not yesterday or tomorrow, but right now.
"multitasking itself is not the enemy of Essentialism; pretending we can “multifocus” is
In any given instant, until you know what is important right now, what is important right now is to figure out what is important right now!
get the future out of your head cf GTD all out of your head into a "system" that you can trust
do things to consciously switch gears/contexts
look out for your own kairos moments:-
- write them down
- what triggered that moment
- what brought you out of it
- try to re-create it via the trigger
"Training yourself to tune into kairos will not only enable you to achieve a higher level of contribution but also make you happier"i
Loving the reference to "contribution" - a Working Out Loud term which is already special to me - I am experiencing this increasingly as I act more on instinct rather than over-thinking it and missing the opportunity.
#clearthefog @srjf
#Essentialism - 20: BE - The Essentialist Life - #bookclub
Interesting comment about reading/watching news not being essential. It may be for some people. I like to keep reasonably up-to-date as part of my incoming content stream scanning."
"We can all live a life not just of simplicity but of high contribution and meaning." reminding me of this fave Rend Collective tune "Live Alive" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5qZ7PIa8D0
"There are two ways of thinking about Essentialism. The first is to think of it as something you do occasionally. The second is to think of it as something you are.". I am defo seeking to get in the swing of this being a lifestyle.
Love the idea that each part of being essentialist builds on the others and so is cumulative.
Reminded of Tiesto's "Just Be": https://youtu.be/qEYueRVuqmg
This really resonated with me and a great way to end my reading of this book:
"But the way of the Essentialist isn’t just about success; it’s about living a life of meaning and purpose. When we look back on our careers and our lives, would we rather see a long laundry list of “accomplishments” that don’t really matter or just a few major accomplishments that have real meaning and significance?"
"... focusing on the essentials is a choice. It is your choice. That in itself is incredibly liberating." I defo need that liberation ....
Lastly, "whatever decision or challenge or crossroads you face in your life, simply ask yourself, “What is essential?” Eliminate everything else."
#clearthefog @srjf
#Essentialism - APPENDIX: Leadership Essentials - #bookclub
I found LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner's acronym FCS (a.k.a. FOCUS) really powerful
- Fewer things done better
- Communicating the right information to the right people at the right time
- Speed and quality of decision making
.. that about covers it!
Essentialism also applies to how we lead orgs and teams
Clarity equals success
Reminded of the power of having 1 priority and NOT 50!
Reminder of One Thing!
the elements of leading as an essentialist:
- mind-set
- talent
- strategy
- empowerment
- communication
- accountability
- result
Rabbit trailed from Peter Thiel reference to watch his Fortune interview in 2014 "How To Build The Next Billion Dollar Startup"https://youtu.be/JqxzLUE6pP8
Photo at top of page is my 1st Working Out Loud circle https://twitter.com/srjf/status/833...
#clearthefog @srjf
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