Where does growth come from?

I received a YouTube video link via an email forwarded across multiple mailing lists praising its insight. It was Clay Christensen’s talk at Google titled “Where does growth come from?” I have read and seen many of Clay’s talks now and feel a certain familiarity with the material. However, I am a fan. In fact,…

Problems have solutions

“Problems have solutions. That’s what makes them problems. A problem without a solution isn’t a problem, it’s simply a situation.” | Seth Godin in “The Practice” This articulation made me chuckle. It reminded me of the serenity prayer: “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I…

Mastering Aikido

“How long will it take me to master Aikido?” a prospective student asks.  “How long do you expect to live?” is the only respectable response.  Ultimately, practice is the path of mastery. If you stay on it long enough, you’ll find it to be a vivid place, with its ups and downs, is challenges and…

Factory of the future

I found this humorous while reading Machine, Platform, Crowd: Harnessing Our Digital Future by Andrew Mcafee: _______________________________________________________ The factory of the future will have two employees: A human and a dog. The human's job will be to feed the dog and the dog's job will be to keep the human from touching any of the…

Beginning is underrated

Merely beginning. With inadequate preparation, because you will never be fully prepared. With imperfect odds of success, because the odds are never perfect. Begin. With the humility of someone who is not sure, and the excitement of someone who knows that it is possible.

Noticed vs. Missed

Will they notice that you have left? There are lots of ways to be noticed. You can be loud. Argumentative. You can be sour, difficult, a bit of a diva. You can take offence at every opportunity, crack jokes at the expense of others, or merely frown. You can use exaggeration, drama and shame to…

Failing forward

Like a baby who learns how to walk for the first time, every time she takes a few steps forward and falls, she smiles, holds on to something to stand up, and tries again. She may not perfect her walk in day one, or day two, but with consistent practice, after a week or two,…

The secret place

Clarke Kent [Superman] did not go into the phone booth to show off, it was his secret place of transition to go into the next dimension. When all hell breaks loose in your life, you don't have to tell everybody that you are praying. Just go into your secret chamber and God will hear you…

Leaders have the hunger to learn

It is important to remain teach-able. If you are not learning, and you are not hungry to better yourself, you are on a shelf-life already, your time is ticking. Your effectiveness and your relevance is short-lived if you are not still teach-able. What is the greatest attribute of a leader? I think it is teach-ability,…

Enjoy the day

When you sit down to write, to be creative and you come up with something really good, something you really like…just enjoy it for the day. No need to rush to show everyone right away. Because if you show someone and they are indifferent about your excitement, now your day is spoiled. You should simply…

Helicopter parenting

Came across an interesting article on Helicopter Parenting featured in Quartz that I have been thinking about. Economists Matthias Doepke of Northwestern University and Fabrizio Zilibotti of Yale University point to economic inequality as the reason for helicopter parenting. Below are a few of the highlights: _________________________________________________ The pair look at how inequality and parenting styles around…

I have been here before

It helps when you can say: ‘I have been here before’. Because you have been there you know your way around, you have better intuition of what comes next, where to turn, what to find, you can show the new comers the lay of the land, you know where the potholes and the puddles are…