by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Collaboration, Creativity, Mindset, Productivity, Resources, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 45 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: These Movies Will Help You Innovate and Work Better
— From The Little Black Book of Innovation: How It Works, How to Do It by Scott D. Anthony
What happens when you don’t have enough resources to innovate or to do what the gurus and the books say you should do? A modified version of this question is what author Scott D. Anthony received from a workshop attendee.
It is not uncommon to feel that there are never enough resources, and the answer, according to Anthony in his book The Little Black Book of Innovation, comes from pop culture: movies. Specifically, the author cites these movies to help you innovate and work better: Under the Dome, Zombieland, and Honey, I shrunk the kids.
Under the Dome is a book by Stephen King (the king of horror) made into a movie, where the residents of Chester’s Mill, a fictional town, suddenly find themselves trapped under a dome covering the entire town. “The dome lets in enough air to let people live but blocks out everything else,” says Anthony.
“People too frequently approach innovation like the residents of Chester’s Mill, that is, they feel as if they have to do everything themselves, but the best innovators are constantly looking to connect with outside resources. Break free of the dome and find outsiders who are keenly motivated to help you. […] Sometimes innovators seem to think they get extra credit for doing things themselves. In fact, the best innovators have a degree of humility in that they recognize their own limitations. […] The resources at your disposal need not end at your floor, building or–if you are in a large company–department. The world can literally be your oyster if you look at it in the right way. Breaking free of the dome can help you extend your resources.”
Zombieland is a gory movie in which lots of zombies get killed. The point of mentioning this movie has nothing to do with the plot itself, but merely as a reference to “zombies, the walking undead,” says the author.
“If you look closely at the way most companies approach innovation, you see a surprisingly high number of zombie projects. That is, projects with little hope, some of which have been officially shut down, but linger on. Individuals suffer from this zombie-project problem as well: ask how many items on your to-do list really matter… Time management experts suggest that you are probably working on too many things that seem urgent but really aren’t that important. So, start by cutting out the 30% of things that are shuffling zombies. If you are a senior leader in a large corporation, you have to look for zombie divisions or product lines too.”
Honey, I shrunk the kids serves as an apt metaphor for finding resources for innovation, says Anthony. “Cut the size of the zombie projects by 30-50%. Why? Small teams almost always move faster than large teams. Well-oiled teams with a single master can be powerful, but they are the exception… These efforts to reduce the team size allow you to increase focus and financial resources on high-potential ideas that are getting close to a major inflection point, or on new initiatives. You aren’t magically creating more resources here, you’re just making sure that you get the most of your resources by organizing appropriately.”
And there you have your pop-culture answer to the question on how to innovate when you don’t have resources galore. Thinking about the lessons in these movies will help you innovate and work better!
Have you seen any other movies that have sparked ideas for business or innovation? Please share them in the comments here, I’d love to know.
ACTION
TODAY: Make a list of all the activities and projects in which you are currently working. Find the zombies and kill them or shrink them. Of the remaining activities that you are involved in, where can you escape the dome? What can you delegate, outsource or simply ask for help to someone who can do it faster, better, cheaper, or just more efficiently and effectively, overall?
FUTURE: Whenever you find yourself filled with zombie projects (yes, just as the “real” zombies, these projects are relentless…) get in your best zombie-exterminator mindset and get rid of them. Make these movie references a part of your vocabulary to help you innovate, work better, and be more effective when you need to, they come in very handy!
Know a movie buff or two who would like this post? Please share it with them via email, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Creativity, Goals, Mindset, Planning, Productivity, Time, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 16 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: The Endless To-Do List
— From: Habit Changers: 81 Game-Changing Mantras to Mindfully Realize Your Goals by M. J. Ryan
I love Habit Changers: it’s a little book by M. J. Ryan that always seems to have the right answer for what I’m searching…
In this case, I was all worked up because, no matter what I do, work is never-ending. And Ryan has a very simple mantra for this that says, “Don’t worry, your to-do list is endless…” and she really means both the no worrying part as well as the endless to-do list!
Since I can imagine that most of us become overwhelmed at times with all that we have to do, I thought I’d share this quote from the book with you. It goes with my best wishes so that you can get rid of the anxiety that plagues us all when we have a crazy day (or several in a row) and our list seems interminable!
“This one’s for you if you are someone who stresses about trying to get everything done and/or feels anxious that your to-do list is too long, your email in-box too full. I promise you that no one gets to the end of the list or has an empty e-mail in-box–well, maybe for an hour or two, but if fills up again in a blink of an eye. We all have too much to do, and when you try to finish it all, you only put unnecessary pressure on yourself and cause yourself to work beyond the point of exhaustion. Doing the important work is hard enough–no need to add the extra pressure of presuming you should be superhuman. I’ve recommended this habit changer to dozens of people to help them stop beating themselves up over what is left undone.”
And this reminds me of an entry in Tim Urban’s blog Wait But Why that I read a while back. It’s called 100 Blocks a Day. The premise is very simple: between the time you are awake and the time you go to sleep you have approximately 100 “blocks” of 10 min each on a daily basis. How many blocks will you devote to each of your activities? Which tasks take up the bulk of your blocks? Is what you do during those blocks worth the time you spend doing it? What else should you do? What should you stop doing?
Lots of food for thought! How do you deal with your to-do list and with your blocks of time? Let me know in the comments here.
ACTION
TODAY: Do you have what seems like an endless to-do list? (Welcome to the club!) Here’s how I dealt with my overwhelm today: Remember that the list is there to serve you, not the other way around. Ask yourself these questions: How can you simplify your to-dos? What can you outsource, delegate, defer, or simply not do? Give some deep thought to each item on your to-do list today. Is everything in there absolutely necessary? Is there something that you can break down into a minimal component to make progress on that and continue tomorrow or next week?
FUTURE: I consider myself quite productive, yet sometimes I take on too much. When that is the case for you, consider putting some non-essential parts of your life on hold until you can return to them. For example, I’m working on several projects, and I also signed up for an online course. I was trying to do it all, but the truth is I can’t. So, I have given myself two weeks to finish the current projects, and then I will start again taking my online classes, otherwise, I’ll get overwhelmed with trying to do too much. Look at your to-do wants vs. your to-do needs and focus on the essential first. You can always return to the non-essential later.
Know someone who has an endless to-do list? Please share this post with them via email, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Creativity, Growth, Leadership, Mindset, Planning, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 55 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: On Batman and Perfectionism…
— From Barking Up the Wrong Tree: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Success Is (Mostly) Wrong by Eric Barker
Have you ever tried something once, failed, and given up? Or have you ever wanted to try something but got lost in the planning, analysis paralysis, or some other logistical problem that impeded you from even starting out? If so, you are not alone.
A lot of us have a perfectionist streak that wreaks havoc when it rears its ugly head. We want to be like superheroes: do everything right from the start and get the biggest, highest, and best result possible while we’re at it, the first time–of course–and then move on to the next success. But, how well has that perfectionism served us? (Ugh, don’t get me started…)
In his wonderful book, Barking Up the Wrong Tree, author Eric Barker takes a look at Batman from a perfectionism and success perspective. I liked this passage so much that I’m leaving it here intact for you:
“The Caped Crusader is among the most relatable of superheroes. He doesn’t possess any superpowers. Being a billionaire and having a collection of cool gadgets helps, but it doesn’t change the one overriding problem with staying Batman: he can never lose a fight. While a professional boxer with a record of thirty wins and one loss is very impressive, for the Dark Knight it means death. The villains of Gotham don’t let referees stop the bouts. So to be Batman means never losing. Ever. You cannot afford to fail. So if you did everything it takes to become the Dark Knight, how long could you maintain that perfect record? Luckily, we can draw on research, Yes, this has been studied. (God, I love science.)
Paul Zehr, a professor at the University of Victoria, looked at comparable athletes to get a rough idea. He studied the records of top boxers, MMA fighters, and NFL running backs. How long could they stay undefeated and without a crippling injury? How long could you stay Batman?
Three years. Yup, that’s it.
Let’s hope Gotham’s criminal element consists of more jaywalkers and fewer evil masterminds, because… you’re not going to have a lot of time to clean up the city.
Luckily, you’re not trying to be Batman. But too often you and I act like we are. We think we always have to be perfect. One failure and it’s all over. But you’re not Batman. You can fail and quit and learn. In fact, that’s the only way you can learn.”
How do you manage to keep your perfectionism in check? Let me know in the comments here.
ACTION
TODAY: Figure out where you are trying to become Batman. Ask yourself why 5 times. This will uncover the real reason behind you trying to act like a superhero on this project. Once the core issue is revealed, you can allow yourself to try to do it and not be devastated or quit altogether if you fail.
FUTURE: Give yourself permission to test or play with situations or projects to familiarize yourself with them. This way, will you be able to try, try, and try again, and accumulate knowledge about small and big failures, so that you can either continue down that path or find a better one. Don’t pin the failure on you, treat each project as an experiment and it will be easier to see yourself in “testing mode.”
Know someone who sometimes acts like Batman? Please share this post with them via email, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Creativity, Goals, Growth, Habits, Mindset, Miniseries, Planning, Resolutions, Tools, Wellbeing, Willpower
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 59 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Only 19% of People Keep Their New Year’s Resolutions. How Do They Do It?
–From Careful: A User’s Guide to Our Injury-Prone Minds by Steve Casner
In the past post we learned the things that do not work to keep our New Year’s resolutions alive: thinking that it’s just a matter or commitment or willpower, deluding ourselves with wishful thinking, and flooding our minds with negative thoughts.
In this post we will learn the things that work well to be among the 19% of folks who were successful in keeping their resolutions going after 2 years.
But don’t expect something grandiose accompanied with great fanfare. According to Steve Casner, author of Careful, “It’s the little stuff that matters.”
And I agree with him on this. If you look at our lives, they are made of moments, small moments and small actions that—when compounded—create the milestones and the successes that we envisioned as our goals.
So, what are these small things, you ask?
Social support. “[This] was named as a strong contributing factor by the successful 19%, especially after 6 months had gone by.” Social support usually takes the form of enrolling ourselves or other people with psychological contracts.
A psychological contract “is a promise to do this or not do that, with the exception that it isn’t written down.” These are very common. We may know them better as pinky swears or pinky promises. You promise to someone else that you will do something, and/or they promise you that they will do something, for instance, your best friend going with you to the gym every morning at 6 am.
You don’t have a written contract with your friend or with yourself, but the idea of your friend waiting for you at the gym in the morning makes you jump out of bed and get ready to go, instead of hitting the snooze button. These types of psychological contracts are nothing new. The key is that they are made not to be broken, and when there is a social bond they are much harder—if not almost impossible—to break.
“Apparently, when we promise someone that we are going to do something, it seems we are rather inclined to do it,” says Casner. So, go ahead and find a friend, and pinky swear over your goals.
The author also mentions an ingenious way to remind us to do/not do things: the nagging power of children. “Described as an awesome renewable resource… [we should] enlist our kids to become nagging machines programmed to keep their parents [resolutions].” So, if you have kids, enlist them to help you out, it will be very effective, albeit it may drive you a bit crazy…
Reminders. “The 19% who made it to the 2-year mark consistently reported that they used reminders, and they reported using them at every stage of their success. During the first week, after a month, after six months, after two years, they used reminders. Reminders can be little things left anywhere in your environment that prompt you [about your resolution]. You can even use reminders to help you remember pinky swears that you’ve made.”
Reminders can be anything: wearing one of those flat rubber bracelets with an inscription to remind you of your goals, tying a string, changing a ring or watch to the opposite hand, post it notes, an alarm on your phone… really, anything that helps you avoid deviating from your resolutions works!
Rewards. These were mentioned by the New Year’s resolvers as a very helpful tool as well, especially after the first few weeks and also after the two years had passed. Rewards can also be anything you want them to be, big or small, free or expensive… it all depends on you and the milestones you have to go through to reach your goals.
And finally, nothing like practice, practice, practice. Do what you need to do to accomplish your resolutions. Do it over, and over, and over again, until it becomes so ingrained that you don’t even think about it.
As you can see these things are rather simple, yet they are not easy, otherwise a much higher percentage of the New Year’s resolvers would fulfill their goals. Just remember what Casner said earlier: “It’s the little stuff that matters,” and keep focusing on taking one step at a time.
ACTION
TODAY: If you’ve given up on your resolutions, think about them again—it’s not too late. Find a friend to help you, or pinky swear over something. Set reminders and a schedule of rewards for every milestone you’ll go through. Then get started and practice, practice, practice.
FUTURE: These little things that help people stick to a goal are not exclusive to New Year’s resolutions—they work for any goal. Use them when you set goals to help you accomplish them.
Know someone who would like this post? Please share it via email, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Collaboration, Creativity, Goals, Growth, Leadership, Mindset, Planning, Productivity
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 33 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: 7 Principles of Leadership
— From No Excuses!: The Power of Self-Discipline: 21 Ways to Achieve Happiness and Success by Brian Tracy
Leadership and business guru, Brian Tracy, refers to 3,300 studies of leaders done by James MacPherson where the latter states that the first quality of leadership is vision.
“You become a leader when you accept responsibility for results,” says Tracy. “You become a leader when you begin to think, act and talk like a leader. You become a leader when you develop a vision for yourself and for your company, your life, or your area of responsibility […] and then share this vision with others and gain others’ commitment to make this vision a reality.”
And while there are hundreds of books written about leadership and vision, Tracy boils them down to one single word: success in the leader’s field. For instance, “a military leader has a vision of victory, from which he never deviates. A business leader has a vision of success for the business based on excellent performance, to which he or she is completely committed.”
But that’s not all. The author also points to the fact that in addition to a clear vision, “the leader must have a set of values and organizing principles that guide behavior and decision making.” Thus, he shares the following seven principles of leadership as a starting point:
1. Clarity: “This is perhaps your most important responsibility. You must be absolutely clear about who you are and what you stand for. You must be absolutely clear about your vision and where you want to lead your people.”
2. Competence: “You must set a standard of excellent performance for the organization [or project] as well as for every person and function [involved].”
3. Commitment: “The leader is absolutely committed to the success of the organization… This passionate commitment to the organization–—and to success and achievement—motivates and inspires people to do their best work and put their whole heart into [whatever they’re doing].
4. Constraints: “The job of the leader is to identify the constraints or limiting factors that set the speed at which the [organization achieves its goals]. The leader then allocates people and resources to alleviate those constraints and remove obstacles.”
And I would add to this one that leaders not just alleviate constraints, but help the team work creatively within the constraints to come out ahead. When how can we get rid of this constraint?, is no longer working or simply not feasible, the leader changes the mindset to how can we achieve our goal within or despite this constraint?
This reminds me of a quote by George Bernard Shaw that I love:
“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world, while the unreasonable man persists in adapting the world to himself….therefore all progress belongs to the unreasonable man”.
5. Creativity: “The leader is open to new ideas of all kinds and from all sources.”
6. Continuous learning: “The leader is personally committed to reading, listening, and upgrading his or hers personal knowledge and skills… and encourages everyone in the organization to learn and grow as a normal and natural part of business life.” Hint: I know of a blog that can help you with that… 😉
7. Consistency: “The leader has the self-discipline to be consistent, dependable, reliable, calm, and predictable in all situations. One of the great comforts of business life is… to know that the leader is completely consistent and reliable… calm, positive, and confident—especially under pressure.”
As you can see, these seven principles of leadership are rather simple, yet not easy. While they are obvious and should be a given in leaders, they aren’t always! Have you ever met someone who embodied these seven principles in their leadership? Let me know in the comments here, I’d love to know.
ACTION
TODAY: Create your list of values and principles, the ones that you hold dear, live for, and fully believe in. What are they? Pour your heart into it.
FUTURE: Share your list with the people that surround you so that they can be aware of your principles. Ask them to do the same. You’ll have the most wonderful conversations about this and will get to know each other so well!
Know someone who would like to read these seven values of leadership? Please share this post with them via email, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Celebration, Growth, Opportunity, Wellbeing
A reminder that EntreGurus is turning 1 — WOOHOO!! We’re having a virtual party and you’re all invited: click this link to join me. We’ll have fun chatting, I’ll answer any questions you have about EntreGurus, the books I read, or my experience blogging; and I’d love to see those of you that I know and get to know those of you who have recently joined the Gurupie community.
Looking forward to seeing you at the party and cheers to many more celebrations together!!
Throughout the past 365 days, I’ve shared with you many ideas, including a few centered on celebrating wins, both big and small. As busy people, we tend to move from one thing to the next faster than a lightning bolt, a rarely do we stop to smell the proverbial roses. Milestones are good points along the way to reflect on what has happened until then: they give us a vision of where we started and how much we’ve advanced, thus giving us a sense of accomplishment.
According to Colter Reed, blogger on personal growth and productivity, “If we only ever pay attention to the road ahead of us, we become too focused on the gap between where we are and where we want to be. We can become blind to what we’ve gained so far in our journey. All we see is a finish line that’s always out of reach.” Thus, the importance of celebrating our progress.
Reed specifically points out five things that happen when we celebrate our progress as we move along:
1. We acknowledge that we’ve already achieved something. If we don’t celebrate the (sometimes considerable) work we’ve already put in, it will quickly start to feel like it’s all been for nothing. The celebration when you cross the finish line should be the biggest, but not the only.
2. We make sure we like where this path is heading. In addition to celebrating, pause and reflect. You should be able to see early signs of what the final goal will be like. Don’t give up because the going gets tough, but feel free to modify or drop the goal if you determine it’s not someplace you want to go.
3. We reconnect with our motivation. When the going does get tough, it helps to reconnect with your why.
4. We feel good. You know why you write down things you already did just so you can check it off right away? Dopamine! It feels good! It’s our body’s natural way to reward progress.
5. We notice that progress takes time. By celebrating the gains we’ve made, we face the time it’s taken for us to get this far. We’re not going to close the gap in a day (until the day we do). Be patient and keep going!
And I would add an additional thing: We become grateful and recognize the help we’ve received all along . As we reflect on the path we’ve traveled, we recognize that every step of the way there was somebody there to help us, guide us, open up a door, point us in the direction we needed to go, encourage us, and so much more.
We don’t do anything alone, so it’s important to make the people who helped you part of the celebration. That’s why this party is for YOU. Because I couldn’t have done it without you, your wonderful emails, comments, suggestions, ideas, etc. Each of you have made EntreGurus what it is today and I’m immensely grateful.
Reflecting on the past year, here are some of the highlights and accomplishments of EntreGurus that YOU made possible:
And in terms of stats, here are some fun (and crazy!) numbers:
- Pages written: 601 (in a word document which is where I write everything before uploading it online).
- Words: 236, 216 (or an average of 647 per day — that’s why most posts are about a 3-min read at 200 words/min).
- Characters with no spaces: 1,118,034
- Characters with spaces: 1,348,993 — that’s 230,959 spaces!
- Paragraphs: 7,382
- Lines: 27, 385
None of this would have been possible without you, my dear Gurupies. It’s truly a joy and a privilege to be able to write for you and I’m so grateful you are a part of the EntreGurus family. Cheers to you and cheers to the wonderful authors and books that provide so many incredible and useful ideas.
Looking forward to many more milestones and celebrations together and I’ll see you at the party!
With heartfelt thanks,
Helena
