Continuing then, from my prior post --- HERE&#39;S A TINY EXAMPLE of what it means to live in a possibility mindset.


You MUST watch this; it&#39;s only 00:03:37, and you&#39;ll enjoy every second:


<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLF9iEXnBRo">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLF9iEXnBRo</a>


Have a stellar weekend; sing your lungs out.&nbsp;

Feel Good Friday

Here&#39;s a fable you&#39;ve read before...&nbsp; 


A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back.&nbsp; The frog asks, &ldquo;How do I know you won&#39;t sting me?&rdquo; 


The scorpion says, &ldquo;Because if I do, I will die too.&rdquo;&nbsp; The frog is satisfied and they set out but, midstream, the scorpion stings the frog. 


The frog &ndash; now paralyzed &ndash; starts to sink and gasps, &ldquo;Why?&rdquo; 


The scorpion replies, &ldquo;It&#39;s my nature.&rdquo;1 








...Michael Jordan, generally regarded as the finest basketball player to ever grace the court once commented, &quot;Tough times don&#39;t build character; they&nbsp; R E V E A L&nbsp; it.&quot;&nbsp; 


...Lately, I hear and observe a lot of people who are very nervous, paranoid, panicky.&nbsp; &quot;Surely, the sky has fallen,&quot; they whisper.&nbsp; And they call their bank,&nbsp;they pat down their pockets, they prepare for the worst. 


...For 18 years, Abraham Maslow researched, wrote, and taught at Brandeis University.&nbsp; At the beginning and end of each semester, he would challenge his students by asking the simple questions, &quot;If not you, then who?&nbsp; If not now, when?&quot; 








I am reminded tonight of how we become self-fulfilling prophecies.&nbsp; The scorpion stings; difficulties REVEAL character; Chicken Littles abound with their doomsday&#39;ing. 





But Maslow challenged eager / young minds to BE the answer... rather than&nbsp;WAIT for it. 





Years from now, when &#39;the current&#39; is &#39;history,&#39; I wonder what others will write and say about us.&nbsp; About our times.&nbsp; About our generation(s). 


Did we worry and fret and PULL THE SKY DOWNWARD UPON OURSELVES, or did we RISE TO THE OCCASION and IMPROVE OUR TIMES for all time? 


Please, please, please -- do not succumb to the hysteria that grips too many; to those who permit themselves to become driftwood circling in the commode.&nbsp;&nbsp;Victims of circumstance.&nbsp; Instead, as Gandhi encouraged, we must &quot;be the change we wish to see in the world.&quot; 


The choices are ours to collectively make... we can either will ourselves into failure and despair, or we can work ourselves out of it and begin co-authoring the future together. 





Ask deep questions, surround yourself with solutions, and you will attract hope and victories. 


Worry, blame, fret, complain, curl into a fetal position... and we&nbsp;could very well&nbsp;reap a maelstrom that absorbs all our energies into itself.&nbsp; A black hole&nbsp;unparalleled in the history of humankind. 


Times are tough; yes indeedy.&nbsp; But the sky&nbsp;remains fixed in the heavens.&nbsp; Do not succumb to the hyperbolic myths, lest ye wish them to come true.&nbsp; 


&nbsp;






&quot;The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie -- deliberate, contrived, and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.&quot; 


&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; John F. Kennedy 


&nbsp;


&nbsp;








1Though sometimes attributed to Aesop, The Frog and the Scorpion is essentially a derivative of Aesop&rsquo;s The Frog and the Mouse.

Scorpion, Frog, Jordan, Maslow, Market

I spoke with a dear client this morning who commented, &quot;Blake -- our people have lost their way.&nbsp; Business is tough, we&#39;re pounding for more sales where there are none, and I don&#39;t know how much longer we can hold our breath.&quot; 


Ah,&nbsp;yes, that sounds very familiar.&nbsp; I&#39;ve heard something similar for several weeks now from many corners of the world. 


The greatest panacea is perspective, so I offer that in large doses: 


1. First, remember the Paradox of Change: During difficult times, when we need people the MOST focused, they are generally the LEAST.&nbsp; Keep things simple; don&#39;t chase rabbits.&nbsp; Pick an attainable lighthouse and focus on it.&nbsp; &quot;The vital few always trump the compelling many.&quot; 


2. Attend to Energy: Remember, people&#39;s energy tends to drift and dilute during change.&nbsp; Again... focus. 


3. Encourage Others: A kind word goes a long way... intrinsic often trumps extrinsic. 


4. Be Thankful: Someone has ALWAYS got it worse.&nbsp; Count your blessings, and explore making lemonade from lemons. 


Times will get drastically worse before they get any better -- and probably not for a few years yet... so rather than holding one&#39;s breath, learn to find eddies of comfort within the tsunami. 


&quot;He is richest who is content with the least, for contentment is the wealth of nature.&quot; 


&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;- Socrates 


Now go hug your family.

Four Suggestions for Difficult Times

The day after Thanksgiving, I located my cell phone (which I had stuffed in a sock drawer) to find a half-dozen kind &quot;Thank You&quot;&nbsp;texts from several friends, colleagues, and clients.&nbsp; Back in my saddle this week, I find the same is true of my email inbox. 


To these, I can only say, &quot;No.&nbsp; Thank YOU.&quot; 


<img src="/blogging/editors/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-smile.gif" border="0" alt="Smile" title="Smile" width="18" height="18" />&nbsp; 


I am a part of all whom I have known, as well as &quot;all the better for it.&quot; 


Blessings to&nbsp;each of you&nbsp;as we&nbsp;teeter into&nbsp;December 2008.

Thank You for the Thank You's

and <img src="../../blogging/image.axd?picture=2008%2f12%2fMillionaire's+Secret%2cbookthumbnail.jpg" alt="" width="70" height="110" />are both fine reads.&nbsp;
Make it Plain and The Millionaire's Secret are&nbsp;great reminders of what mighty things come from humble beginnings.

2 Brief Book Reviews: "Make it Plain" and "The Millionaire's Secret"

I shudder to share this&nbsp;unwieldy &ldquo;book list&rdquo; &ndash; this bibliography of sorts &ndash; in its current state of disrepair.&nbsp; But time is our collective enemy, and if I wait until it&rsquo;s &ldquo;edited,&rdquo; it will likely never see the light of day.&nbsp; 


And people are waiting!&nbsp; 


I am frequently asked, &ldquo;What books do you recommend I read?&rdquo;&nbsp; &quot;What magazines do you read?&quot;&nbsp; &quot;What television shows and movies do you watch?&quot;&nbsp; 


And I cobble together lists of books (and articles and shows and movies)&nbsp;I&rsquo;ve read or even enjoyed (!) only to lose the lists months later.&nbsp; 


Alas, I have spent the better part of the past hour cutting and pasting my various, located lists into one document.&nbsp; 


Yes, it is a rat&rsquo;s nest, but at least &ldquo;here it is.&rdquo;&nbsp; (PLEASE forgive any errors, key omissions, or outright unattractiveness of this list.&nbsp; It is redundant, unformatted, and outright ugly.)&nbsp; 


Maybe one day, someone will Pay it Forward by boomeranging it back to me &ndash; neatly organized, academically formatted,&nbsp;and much beautified!&nbsp; &nbsp;Hint, hint.&nbsp; (Don&#39;t worry, I won&#39;t hold my breath.) 


But until then, here it is &ndash; a messy, but quite thorough accounting of some of the books (and articles) I&rsquo;ve read&nbsp;or skimmed and referenced and recommended since the early and mid-90s.&nbsp;&nbsp; 








I have excluded nearly all HBR articles I have read, because they are simply too many and it&#39;s easier to say, &quot;Subscribe to HBR.&quot;&nbsp; <a href="http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/">http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;&nbsp; 








It occurs to me already that I have also forgotten the pleasurable Mental Floss (<a href="http://www.mentalfloss.com/">www.mentalfloss.com</a>) magazine.&nbsp; See there; the list is already outdated and I haven&#39;t even uploaded it yet.&nbsp; Please help me... send&nbsp;us your recommendations and we&#39;ll try to include them in v2.0 several months from now! 


I hope these books serve you as they have served me but, moreover, that you enjoy them and find them both &ldquo;educational and implementable.&rdquo;&nbsp; 


Read on.&nbsp; 


<a href="/blogging/file.axd?file=2008%2f12%2fTBLG_Monograph_BookList_12-01-2008.pdf">TBLG_Monograph_BookList_12-01-2008.pdf (461.75 kb)</a>

Monograph: Book List

With Gladwell's third book, he is officially "2 for 3" in my book.
I give Outliers a solid, solid A.
With the exception of the Chapter Five and the Epilogue, which comprise the&nbsp;least engaging&nbsp;sections in the book, Outliers&nbsp;is one of the most remarkable books I've read in the past six months.
Gladwell's first published book, The Tipping Point, was simply outstanding.&nbsp; Blink, however,&nbsp;was a real snooze.&nbsp; (My own personal opinion is that he was rushing to cash-in on the success of The Tipping Point, but there was hardly a kernel worth writing about in Blink.&nbsp; "Thin-slicing?"&nbsp; Come on... much ado about nothing.&nbsp; Thin-slicing, indeed.)
But this latest contribution, Outliers, is a real treat.&nbsp; Candy for the brain.&nbsp; It reminds me of all the great, wonderful, intriguing ideas that led me to study the human and social sciences in the first place.&nbsp; To learn more about Outliers from Gladwell himself, check out <a href="http://www.gladwell.com/outliers/index.html">http://www.gladwell.com/outliers/index.html</a>.&nbsp; But the reasons I enjoyed it can be captured in the following representative list of&nbsp;topics that reminded me of undergraduate coursework in psychology, anthropology, and sociology that&nbsp;spurred me to continue studying and reading until... well... this very day:
1. patterns
2. selection, streaming, and differentiated experience
3. accumulative advantage
4. the 10,000 hour rule
5. divergent vs. convergent intelligence
6. general and practical intelligence
7. concerted cultivation vs. accomplishment of natural growth
8. the culture of honor
9. mitigated speech
10. the ubiquitous and unparalleled work of Geert Hofstede
&nbsp;
So, why don't I give Gladwell an A+?&nbsp; Well, setting aside Chapter Five and the Epilogue, my greatest concern is more substantive, of course, and it has to do with "too much cultural determinism."&nbsp; By Gladwell's way of thinking, we achieve what we achieve, in large part -- in fact, practically predominantly -- because of the culture in which we are raised.&nbsp; He strives to prove this through a series of stories and examples that are, indeed, fascinating.&nbsp; But they are not quite enough to fully convince.
In the particulate, his anecdotes are super.&nbsp; But in the aggregate, they border on stereotypical and ring somewhat hollow in today's increasingly 'post-racial and post-cultural' world.&nbsp; Indeed, differences remain among and between people of various backgrounds, but as a dear friend of mine from Portugal once said, "We are not all that different.&nbsp; There is TOO MUCH STEREOTYPING and GENERALIZING."
As Morris Massey articulated in his infamous, What You Are Is Where You Were When, some mild generalizations can be helpful, but they are inadequate.&nbsp; Indeed, with any taxonomy or typology, generalizations give us what Robert&nbsp;Cialdini (Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion) would describe as 'a shorthand way of interacting with each other,' but beyond that... generalizations and stereotypes can be dangerous and&nbsp;altogether misleading.
I am certain, as are countless others, that MANY individuals achieve a great deal on their own, as well as overcome and transcend the shackles of their culture, background, history, and surroundings.&nbsp; I know that Gladwell does not believe, 100%, that who we are and what we accomplish is solely because of those around us, but he works himself into a corner of sorts by&nbsp;arguing so strongly&nbsp;that we do.
But, my goodness, out of 309 pages (all of which you will, indeed, read in a B-L-I-N-K)... if this is my only concern, then color me IMPRESSED and DELIGHTED and AMONG HIS BIGGEST ADVOCATES.
This book will prove to be enormously successful, and millions of people will soak it up like a sponge.&nbsp;
Here's hoping they do... and wishing Tom Friedman's Hot, Flat, and Crowded could have achieved the stickiness of Outliers.
<img src="../../blogging/image.axd?picture=2008%2f12%2fOutliers%2cbookthumbnail.jpg" alt="" width="169" height="254" />

Book Review: "Outliers: The Story of Success" by Malcolm Gladwell

This past week I was in Savannah, GA.
While eating at The Gryphon Tea Room, I observed an interesting exchange between a waiter and a hostess. The hostess asked the waiter, "Would you please serve the table against the window?" To which the waiter replied exceedingly ironically, "Sure. I have nothing else to do right now. Are YOU working today?"
Harumphhhh.
And then, a day later, as I waddled through the security checkpoint at the quaint Savannah "International" Airport, I witnessed a very 'put out' TSA agent harumph behind the x-ray machine (carrying more than his fair share of 'curious items') shouting, "Man Working Here! Step aside, step aside!" He was bellowing, not at me mind you, but at his co-workers.
I found it&nbsp;interesting that within a&nbsp;twenty-four hour timespan, I had witnessed two very put-out&nbsp;employees 'harumphing' about their colleagues!
You know, times are tough. I get that. We all get that. We are that.
But I'm ceaselessly flabbergasted when employees vent and harumph in front of customers.&nbsp;The very, ahem, customers they are meant to be serving.
I remember, several years ago, working with an airline to help it restore its reputation. (Long story short: the airline remains its own worst enemy.) As my colleagues and I flew dozens and dozens of trips to ride jumpseat and observe Flight Attendants in the air, we were literally dumbfounded by the negative, disruptive chatter that consumed them and which was all overheard by paying customers within earshot. When we reported our findings, the airline acted somewhat SURPRISED. Surprised? Are you kidding me? Who's not paying attention here?
As leaders and co-workers, let's remember&nbsp;the Golden Rule of&nbsp;Customer Service: "Keep your miseries to yourself."
Customers are paying for a service, not for the sidebars that distract and diminish what could otherwise be an acceptable or stellar experience.&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;
p.s. If you are ever in Savannah, be sure to visit The Gryphon Tea Room. Despite my dismay at the single blip I described above, the food is phenomenal and the experience is worth the wait.

"Man Working Here!"

Given the amount of change occurring around us, I have noticed a marked &#39;uptick&#39; in the number of requests to facilitate &#39;re-organization.&#39;&nbsp; In short, many companies and organizations are forced &#39;to do more with less.&#39; 


In light of this need, I submit a brief White Paper that may help.&nbsp; It is merely one of many required &#39;stakes in the ground,&#39; but it is indeed one. 


Happy Reading. 


<a href="/blogging/file.axd?file=2008%2f12%2fTBLG_WhitePaper_OrganizationalDesignElements_12-01-2008.pdf">TBLG_WhitePaper_OrganizationalDesignElements_12-01-2008.pdf (256.63 kb)</a>

White Paper: When Re-Organizing, Consider These Elements

Bringing Down the House led to 21 with Kevin Spacey.&nbsp; I have not seen the movie, but a number of friends have recommended the book.
It's a quick read -- one of three I&nbsp;enjoyed over Thanksgiving 2008 -- and I predict you'll crank through it in a few hours too.
The bottom line: it's a blast, but also a bleak series of recollections.&nbsp; Given the many dark and twisted characters, you may feel the need to bathe afterward.&nbsp; The underbelly of Vegas attracts all manner of humankind, and most of them are in rare display here.
For the mathematician in all of us, the feats accomplished by the merry band of blackjack raiders is quite impressive and always fascinating.
Enjoy the book... I'm sure it's much better than the movie.
<img src="../../blogging/image.axd?picture=2008%2f12%2fBringingDownTheHouse%2cbookthumbnail.jpg" alt="" width="240" height="240" />

Book Review: "Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions" by Ben Mezrich

Wow -- this book was a figurative and literal&nbsp; B E A T I N G . 
I know he's a three-time Pulitzer Prizer winner... perhaps that's why I expected better.
Sure, he knows his stuff, but the book is circular, redundant, dry, and only momentarily compelling.&nbsp; Given his obvious zealotry about the important subject matter, it's&nbsp;unfortunate he becomes his own worst enemy.&nbsp;
Friedman makes his point SO WELL, AND SO MANY TIMES that I wonder how GREAT the book might have been were it only half the overwhelming 438 pages.
In time, it will prove to be a classic... ahead of its time... brilliant... and will be heralded as "the book that&nbsp;encapsulated it all."&nbsp; His sources, data, statistics, and stories are second-to-none... but then become second, third, and fourth-only-to-himself after&nbsp;perhaps 200 pages or so.&nbsp; His hypotheses and recommendations are dynamite, but hardly pithy.&nbsp; I feel guilty for perceiving the book to become tiresome about something that is so profoundly critical to us all.&nbsp;
But today, it is simply overkill, and too wonk-ish to attract the millions upon millions who need to read it if we are to truly democratize and integrate what has hitherto been known as 'the green movement.'
Thanks, Tom, for writing it.&nbsp; I only hope that enough of us are up to reading and implementing it.&nbsp; In time, perhaps an abridged version or summary will follow that can be distributed and implemented by the majority.&nbsp;
<img src="../../blogging/image.axd?picture=2008%2f12%2fHot%2cFlat%2cCrowded%2cbookthumbnail.jpg" alt="" width="91" height="137" />

Book Review: "Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution -- And How It Can Renew America" by Thomas L. Friedman

For too many years, I entered Thanksgiving with a TON of work to be done on the backside of it.&nbsp; My first week of December has often been as busy as &ndash; or busier &ndash; than any other week in the year.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s generally the mad client rush to &lsquo;get in what we can get in&rsquo; before year-end.&nbsp; 


As a result, it&rsquo;s hard for me to remember enjoying Thanksgiving all that much, at least &ndash; in recent years.


Instead, what I recall is being consumed by work over the Thanksgiving week, preparing for and anticipating all that would be required of me the week following.&nbsp; And then, of course, the same onslaught often just grew and grew, snowballing into the Christmas and New Year week, leaving me zapped every January!


I remember one Thanksgiving where I spent five days &ndash; Wednesday thru Sunday &ndash; writing a course for a client that had to go to press the Monday after.&nbsp; Another year, I spent the ten days around Christmas day developing a three-course curriculum for a large banking client because they wanted to &lsquo;go live&rsquo; in Mid-January but didn&rsquo;t decide this until mid-December.&nbsp; (On both occasions, my family was NOT happy.)&nbsp; The list of &lsquo;Thanksgivings and Christmases barely had&rsquo; is too shameful and embarrassing and personally convicting to mention.


Being an entrepreneur in a service company &ndash; exacerbated by this year&rsquo;s tough market and thin dollars &ndash; can make &lsquo;the going&rsquo; quite rough.&nbsp; As is the case for most every for-profit organization the world over, saying &lsquo;No&rsquo; can be hazardous to one&rsquo;s health, and so I have generally found a way to say &lsquo;Yes,&rsquo; but often at my family&rsquo;s expense.


So here we are, the week of Thanksgiving 2008, and how am I doing?&nbsp; With all my limbs crossed and knocking on wood as I write this, I am very optimistic that I&rsquo;ll have a more balanced Holiday Season this year than I can recall in a long time.


Yes, I have several curricula to write &ndash; a 12-module Leadership series, a new Strategic Thinking module, an entire semester&rsquo;s worth of content for an Executive Education series, and several smaller projects too minute to mention here &ndash; but alas, for all but one of these deliverables, I have &lsquo;more than three weeks&rsquo; to finish!


My writing time will be punctuated with two final trips for the year &ndash; but I am confident that I can pull it off and not lose my mind in the process.


My wife, daughter, and I will be spending Thanksgiving with family in and around Hilton Head Island, SC and Savannah, GA.&nbsp; Something about the Southeast always calms my soul.&nbsp; I don&rsquo;t know if it&rsquo;s the billowy moss that swings and drapes like ghosts&rsquo; linens or the easy manner of those who live there, but I find myself drawn to the area year after year.


Two of my favorite movies are The Prince of Tides and Midnight in the Garden of Good &amp; Evil. &nbsp;Both possess such haunting soundtracks and engulfing moods and scenes that whenever I watch them it&rsquo;s all I can do to avoid packing and heading for the airport.


And so this year, it&rsquo;s away we go.&nbsp; A big trip, ripe with expectation and hope and recovery at the end of a hectic, tumultuous year that runs concurrent to most people&rsquo;s summary of 2008.


Ironically, as the world seemingly spins out of control, many of us are blessed with good family and health enough to find comfort in those we have known all our lives.&nbsp; Thanksgiving is a fine time, as good as any, to tell them how much we love them, how much they mean to us, and how fortunate we are &ndash; despite our many losses &ndash; to either have them still, or to recall their sweet memories and all they did to prop us up on the wobbly bike of life.


My mother sent me a sweet note the other day, commenting, &ldquo;You make a living by what you get.&nbsp; You make a life by what you give.&rdquo;


Amen.


Now get thee to thy family gathering, and rip yourself off a plump turkey leg and dig in.


Nothing says, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m home&rdquo; like eating meat around a homemade fire.


And do your family a favor, would &lsquo;ya please?&nbsp; Try turning off the stinkin&rsquo; Blackberry for a few days.&nbsp; If you can&rsquo;t, try stuffing it in your sock drawer until Monday, or hand it over to someone who loves you. 


Amen2. 

&nbsp;