Weekly Download 15.13
Posted: August 14, 2015 Filed under: Weekly Download Leave a comment
Here’s a recap of news and notes from around the Web that caught my attention over the past week or so.
Who doesn’t love a good list? 30 business books every professional should read before turning 30 does a great job of reflecting my tastes. The few books that aren’t on my shelf already probably won’t make it there—I have a hard time agreeing with their inclusion. Perhaps I should compile my own list!
Innovation Isn’t Dead, it just becomes more obvious only in hindsight. This is so true: “The typical path of how people respond to life-changing inventions is something like this:
- I’ve never heard of it.
- I’ve heard of it but don’t understand it.
- I understand it, but I don’t see how it’s useful.
- I see how it could be fun for rich people, but not me.
- I use it, but it’s just a toy.
- It’s becoming more useful for me.
- I use it all the time.
- I could not imagine life without it.
- Seriously, people lived without it?”
Addicted to Your Phone? There’s Help for That highlights a new industry that has arisen to provide solutions for this affliction. There are apps that limit usage, a “Light Phone” that only lets you make and receive calls and the option that really takes the cake for me: the NoPhone. This piece of plastic ($12) makes it so the sensory feelign of having a phone in your hand isn’t lost. Can’t we just go back to chewing on swizzle sticks? It’s worth a visit to their website to see their schema that shows no camera, no music, no screen and no phone.
When Vaguely Right is Good Enough
Posted: August 12, 2015 Filed under: Leadership, Misc. | Tags: choice, decisions, Marshall Goldsmith, Triggers Leave a comment
Too often it is easy to fall into a trap of perfection—many of us experience this challenge from time to time. Simple decisions, such as what to wear or what to eat, can become daunting due to a proliferation of options. But is perfection always required? When is a decision good enough?
Recently I read Triggers: Creating Behavior That Lasts–Becoming the Person You Want to Be by Marshall Goldsmith. Essentially it is a book about the incredible challenge of personal and organizational change. Goldsmith cited one example that I found quite interesting. Goldsmith coached a senior executive who stated that one thing that would make him happy was to improve his golf game. In his late fifties, he had a lot of demands on his time, was never an accomplished athlete, and disliked practicing. Goldsmith asked, “Why don’t you quit worrying about getting better at playing golf and just enjoy it?” His point was that “marginal motivation produces a marginal outcome,” further elaborating:
“If your motivation for a task or goal is in any way compromised—because you lack the skill or don’t take the task seriously, or think what you’ve done so far is good enough—don’t take it on. Find something else to show the world how much you care, not how little.”
My personal take away is that what is most important is to choose what matters. Where do you really want to strive to be the best and make a difference? In comparison, when does being vaguely right and good enough get the job done? You will be much happier and healthier if you choose carefully where you spend your most valuable and limited resource: motivation.
For more on the topic of decisions and choices, see these earlier posts:
Apple Watch in Action
Posted: August 6, 2015 Filed under: Technology | Tags: Apple Watch Leave a commentA friend who doesn’t own an Apple Watch recently asked me how I was enjoying mine. She was trying to figure out how someone might incorporate yet another option into one’s personal array of devices (hers currently includes an iPhone, Kindle, iPad, Fitbit and MacBook Pro).
A fair point is that sometimes in our eagerness to own the latest gadget, we don’t spend enough time exploring its features and using it to its greatest potential. The conversation led to a challenge for me to record, over the course of one day, how I use my Apple Watch. See my log and summary below. Beyond just owning a new bright shiny object, I have been taking advantage of a number of the features—actually a fairly broad array. There is still potential to do more, especially in the realm of fitness tracking. I’m excited to continue to explore the capabilities of my new “executive jewelry.”
ZMAB15 