The QLog

What's Your Excuse?

As a manager and coach, I've heard a lot of excuses of why people couldn't, shouldn't, or wouldn't do something important for their company, family, or self. Most of them are untrue when examined objectively.

What is your excuse? Too old? Too young? Not enough money? Not attractive enough?

It is time to leave excuses behind. 

Next time you generate some excuses, I challenge you to consider Joseph Merrick or James O'Neal. They probably could have fell back on excuses, but they both chose to strive forward. Life is not always easy and these men each struggled with physical, emotional, psychological, and sociological difficulties that few can imagine.

Who are they? You might know Mr. Merrick as 'The Elephant Man' and perhaps you have seen the 1980 biopic loosely based on his life experience. James O'Neal has a very similar genetic disease: neurofibromatosis. Although he is deformed, he has decided to go beyond excuses and work extremely hard in a very public job for the past seven years. I think his persistence at being an excellent human being is paying dividends finally.

His customers say that he is amazing and I agree. Watch the full story here: http://www.komonews.com/news/19339104.html?video=pop&t=a

As of 2008, James O'Neal lives near Redmond, WA and his efforts at being a constructive member of society even with his deformity has resulted in an effort by others to change his life. I would like to give Safeway a big kudos for pledging the first $10,000 for his reconstructive surgery project (perhaps someone should call Microsoft as I'm sure many of their local employees have met James).

Also, I'd like to recognize Katie Knopf who setup the initial website for the cause in March. I also understand that an updated site with donation information will be up very shortly, if not already.

My last question is this: what's your excuse to not donate and help James O'Neal?

A Reason to Consume Smart: The Island of Garbage

Productivity, in part, is about the efficient use of time, energy, and resources. However, as a society, many believe that any solution which is 'faster and cheaper' for a single person is the best one. I would argue that true productivity for an individual, firm, or the planet as a whole needs to embrace a systems approach which accounts for long-term impacts and is more 'global' to integrate the various parts. Otherwise, the real costs are not considered.

Due to the nature of ocean currents and the waste disposal habits of modern Homo sapiens, a very large island of plastic garbage exists within the Pacific. In fact, this floating heap of trash is visible from space. Here it is within Google Maps. Clearly, systems thinking with a time horizon extending far into the future is currently lacking for our world.

I am not advocating that everyone should stop using plastic; however, I would suggest that smart consumerism includes making responsible choices. Vote with your dollars when plastic is concerned (e.g. small bottles, shopping bags, single-item wrappers, and many other packages). There is currently too much waste. Of course, if the costs of oil continue to rise (especially if we have really crossed Hubble's Peak), then Adam Smith's invisible hand might solve this problem with market forces as firms will seek other remedies.

To learn more about this island of trash, I've embedded this clip from an web documentary called Garbage Island (note: this was produced by VBS, an online broadcast network, not PBS...and therefore, it does contain some adult language).

NO TV redux

My Two Year Anniversary

Since June 1, 2005, I have not had access to cable or network TV (by design). Read more about it this powerful lifestyle choice here.

Although I have peaked at television when visiting other people at their homes, I’ve mostly avoided Television for two years now. As a result, I take a much more active role in the media content I feed my mind.

My 30 Day NO TV Challenge!

I think everyone should try this. Live some of your life with NO TV. My challenge: Try 30 days without any broadcast TV. Do allow yourself an occasionally DVD. If that works, try to go 90. Although it seemed hard the first week, I found this to be much easier than one would believe. If you have a favorite show that you really do not want to miss, it is likely on DVD or online and you can watch it another time.

On your deathbed, I can guarantee that you will not regret missing any TV! I do not plan to hook-up cable TV anytime soon (although I do have broadband for my internet connection).

Productivity 101 (Day 11): The NO TV Challenge

“When television is good, nothing — not the theater, not the magazines or newspapers — nothing is better. But when television is bad, nothing is worse. I invite you to sit down in front of your television set when your station goes on the air and stay there without a book, magazine, newspaper, profit-and-loss sheet or rating book to distract you — and keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that you will observe a vast wasteland." – Newton N. Minow, 1961

“TV does not exist to entertain you. TV exists to sell you things.” – Gene Roddenberry, 1978

Confession

Yesterday, I discussed how someone could end up watching over 500 hours of television a year by merely viewing two hours a day (and this calculation excluded weekends). In May 2005, I realized that someone was me!

I have a confession. On June 1, 2005, I did something some people would consider crazy, but I think made good sense: I cancelled my cable TV. Why? First, I realized that I spent 10-15 hours week watching TV…and too often, shows I’d already seen before. Second, I did not enjoy spending $50.00 a month to watch TV. From my viewpoint, this was a debit in both in both the time and money columns.

I knew I’d miss everything from the funny nonsense of Adult Swim on The Cartoon Network to the many nature programs I loved to watch on The Discovery Channel; nevertheless, I cut my digital umbilical cord on June 1, 2005. I left the Matrix! I also decided NOT to attach an antenna to my set as I rarely, if ever, watched network TV. The end result was that none of the channels on my television could pick-up any outside signal.

The bottom line: yesterday, I celebrated my one year anniversary without cable, network, or any broadcast TV in my abode.

Yet, I am not a Luddite and my TV was not completely dead. I did use it, on occasion, to watch DVDs. I will admit: I got a good value from my Netflix subscription and the local library. Over the past year, I have watched everything from Hollywoodmovies to PBS documentaries. This strategy has two wonderful benefits:

·          No Ads!

·          I had to ACTIVELY choose the content. Nothing random just showed up on the screen. I decided on the ideas that would be presented to my mind.

The only real consequence of not having TV for a full year is that I could not join into conversations about the latest ‘funny’ ad. Yet, this small inconvenience was well worth all the productive time I’ve gained over the past 365 days. Besides, many TV commercials are now posted online, so if I really wanted to see them, like the super bowl ads, I had that option. 

My 30 Day NO TV Challenge!

I think everyone should try this. Live some of your life with NO TV. My challenge: Try 30 days without any broadcast TV. Do allow yourself an occasionally DVD. If that works, try to go 90. Although it seemed hard the first week, I found this to be much easier than one would believe. If you have a favorite show that you really do not want to miss, it is likely on DVD or online and you can watch it another time.

On your deathbed, I can guarantee that you will not regret missing any TV! I do not plan to hook-up cable anytime soon!