Thursday, April 30, 2015
Genius on a Cocktail Napkin
Check it out from the source here:
https://hbr.org/2015/03/strategic-humor-cartoons-from-the-april-2015-issue
I loved this particular cartoon because I am crazy about just scribbling my ideas pretty much wherever I can find to write them. One of my favorites was the back of the vomit bag on a US Airways flight, but normal people just carry around a notebook.
It is well documented that it is important to write down your ideas when you have them. I have read multiple places that you should keep a notebook to write your ideas on when you go to sleep- first of all to help you sleep, but also to help you remember the next day.
In the book The Organized Mind, the author explains the importance of keeping notes as a way to clear your brain space for focused thought.
My old boss held a staff meeting once on the importance of taking notes in creating the perception for clients that what they are saying is important and we are understanding it and retaining it.
I take things a step further and almost always draw out my Powerpoints in colored markers to get my story straight before I actually sit in front of the computer.
What are your thoughts on note-taking? How does it help your creativity?
Monday, March 30, 2015
Book Review: The Organized Mind
I don't even really remember how I came across the book The Organized Mind. I'm pretty sure I saw it in a bookstore and then ordered it off Amazon, but not totally sure anymore. Bottom line, I ordered it and then it served as decoration on my bookshelf for some time. I did finally kick it off after a very productive reading January, and it took most of the way through February to get it done.
Not that it wasn't a good read. It has been fascinating because I am also taking a class from Coursera on Emotional Intelligence and there is a significant amount of overlap between the neuroscientific principles presented in both books. Who know I would learn so much info about neurochemistry in 2015.
This book was an incredibly easy read for such a complicated topic. I had read another review that said it was hard to get through- but I didn't have that experience. I did, however, just read The Idiot by Dostoyevsky so I could be biased.
Here is the official Creative Space rating:
Readability: A
Creates Consistent Interest: B
Applicability: B
Design: C
Differentiation: A
The design rating is a C- but at the end of the day, this wasn't intended to be a "pretty" marketing book, so who cares if it isn't pretty. The content was great.
Creative Space Takeaways:
1. Decision Making and Sleep: So this book hit home about two days after I started reading it. A little back story... I am on a diet. I also sometimes have trouble sleeping. The Organized Mind discusses all of the cognitive issues that go along with lack of sleep. So I have a hard night sleeping because I am on diet and I am hungry. The next morning I am driving to work and pass by Bojangles, home of the best chicken biscuit on the planet. I am having this mental discussion with myself that goes a little bit like this: "Kristen, your cerebral cortex isn't functioning at its best due to lack of sleep and it is affecting your ability to control yourself. STAY AWAY FROM THE BOJANGLES. I passed it by. It is one thing to get a biscuit because you have a craving- it is another thing to just shove it in your mouth because your brain is tired.
2. "Neuroscientists have discovered that unproductivity and loss of drive can result from decision overload. Although most of us have no trouble ranking the importance of decisions if asked to do so, our brains don't automatically do this." Bottom line- this is why it takes so long for me to clean the kitchen. I can't prioritize my tasks unless I think it though- it is lumped into a category called "clean the kitchen." So, I wander around the kitchen, picking up a piece of trash, walking to the trashcan to throw it away, noticing the laundry needs to be switched, then the dog needs to be fed. Put away two dishes, my son asks for a glass of milk. Etc. Etc.
3. "Every status update you read on Facebook, every tweet or text message you get from a friend, is competing for resources in your brain with important things like whether to put your saving in stocks or bonds, where you left your passport, or how best to reconcile with a close friend you just had an argument." My work life is one hot mess of interruptions. I am sure there are tons of advantages to open workspaces, but one of them is not being able to work without a ton of questions, snippets of conversations from co-workers, phone calls, etc. And don't even get me started on the constant e-mail alerts. The Organized Mind states that a multi-tasking brain is about as good at doing its job as a drunk brain. Or a sleepy brain. Let me have some wine with the Blackberry Instant Messenger.
4. "Memory is fiction. It may present itself to us as fact, but it is highly susceptible to distortion. Memory is not just a replaying, but a rewriting." I just got done reading the book Patterns of Childhood, which was a fictional reflection of a girl remembering growing up in Nazi Germany as a German. The purpose of the book was to emphasize the importance of memory in preventing things from happening again, an interestingly the point was also made in that book. In short, write it down. Eyewitness testimony is crap. You fill in the blanks for things you can't actually remember and your brain tricks you into thinking it is real.
5. The importance of triage. A lot of The Organized Mind emphasized the way that really important people with a lot of moving parts to their lives function. First, these folks have a process to have information enter their sphere and a process for how that information gets sorted into "take care of now" "take care of later" and "delegate or delete". Second, they don't fill up every waking second of their time. The schedule time to get the important things done. Musicians schedule time to write. Executives cut the meetings so that they can focus on what THEY think is the most important way to spend their day.
6. An organized home really does help keep your brain working. If you aren't having to focus on where your keys are, because they are always in the tray by the door, you can focus on your diet, remembering to pick up the drycleaning, etc. Another great read on this topic that I actually found to be more helpful was The Art of Tidying Up.
7. Flow States. "Flow occurs when you are not explicitly thinking about what you are doing; rather, your brain is in a special mode of activity in which procedures and operations are performed automatically without your having to exert conscious control." There are times when I can get into the flow state when I am writing and there are times that I can't. The key though is that when I have been writing consistently, it is easier. When there are fewer distractions, it is also easier.
8. Previous to reading this book, I was a huge believer in Ambien. However, studies apparently show that people who take it only sleep on average eleven minutes longer. Further, they influence the way that your brain consolidates memories at night reducing cognitive function. BTW, if you read this, prepare yourself for several nights of sleeplessness because they do pack one hell of a placebo effect.
9. In the chapter on "Organizing the Business World" there is a section regarding trademarks of good leadership. It inspired me to take a class on Coursera on Leadership and Emotional Intelligence. It is such a fascinating topic. As a marketing person, you know that people are strongly influenced by emotion, but we tend to forget that that is also the case in management.
10. Final takeaway- my brain is doing stuff I don't know about and don't think about to get me through the day. The least I can do is figure out what cognitive shortcuts I can cook up to make its job easier. Or I can just check my phone another thousand times and never let it focus on what it needs to. It is all up to me.
Not that it wasn't a good read. It has been fascinating because I am also taking a class from Coursera on Emotional Intelligence and there is a significant amount of overlap between the neuroscientific principles presented in both books. Who know I would learn so much info about neurochemistry in 2015.This book was an incredibly easy read for such a complicated topic. I had read another review that said it was hard to get through- but I didn't have that experience. I did, however, just read The Idiot by Dostoyevsky so I could be biased.
Here is the official Creative Space rating:
Readability: A
Creates Consistent Interest: B
Applicability: B
Design: C
Differentiation: A
The design rating is a C- but at the end of the day, this wasn't intended to be a "pretty" marketing book, so who cares if it isn't pretty. The content was great.
Creative Space Takeaways:
1. Decision Making and Sleep: So this book hit home about two days after I started reading it. A little back story... I am on a diet. I also sometimes have trouble sleeping. The Organized Mind discusses all of the cognitive issues that go along with lack of sleep. So I have a hard night sleeping because I am on diet and I am hungry. The next morning I am driving to work and pass by Bojangles, home of the best chicken biscuit on the planet. I am having this mental discussion with myself that goes a little bit like this: "Kristen, your cerebral cortex isn't functioning at its best due to lack of sleep and it is affecting your ability to control yourself. STAY AWAY FROM THE BOJANGLES. I passed it by. It is one thing to get a biscuit because you have a craving- it is another thing to just shove it in your mouth because your brain is tired.
2. "Neuroscientists have discovered that unproductivity and loss of drive can result from decision overload. Although most of us have no trouble ranking the importance of decisions if asked to do so, our brains don't automatically do this." Bottom line- this is why it takes so long for me to clean the kitchen. I can't prioritize my tasks unless I think it though- it is lumped into a category called "clean the kitchen." So, I wander around the kitchen, picking up a piece of trash, walking to the trashcan to throw it away, noticing the laundry needs to be switched, then the dog needs to be fed. Put away two dishes, my son asks for a glass of milk. Etc. Etc.
3. "Every status update you read on Facebook, every tweet or text message you get from a friend, is competing for resources in your brain with important things like whether to put your saving in stocks or bonds, where you left your passport, or how best to reconcile with a close friend you just had an argument." My work life is one hot mess of interruptions. I am sure there are tons of advantages to open workspaces, but one of them is not being able to work without a ton of questions, snippets of conversations from co-workers, phone calls, etc. And don't even get me started on the constant e-mail alerts. The Organized Mind states that a multi-tasking brain is about as good at doing its job as a drunk brain. Or a sleepy brain. Let me have some wine with the Blackberry Instant Messenger.
4. "Memory is fiction. It may present itself to us as fact, but it is highly susceptible to distortion. Memory is not just a replaying, but a rewriting." I just got done reading the book Patterns of Childhood, which was a fictional reflection of a girl remembering growing up in Nazi Germany as a German. The purpose of the book was to emphasize the importance of memory in preventing things from happening again, an interestingly the point was also made in that book. In short, write it down. Eyewitness testimony is crap. You fill in the blanks for things you can't actually remember and your brain tricks you into thinking it is real.
5. The importance of triage. A lot of The Organized Mind emphasized the way that really important people with a lot of moving parts to their lives function. First, these folks have a process to have information enter their sphere and a process for how that information gets sorted into "take care of now" "take care of later" and "delegate or delete". Second, they don't fill up every waking second of their time. The schedule time to get the important things done. Musicians schedule time to write. Executives cut the meetings so that they can focus on what THEY think is the most important way to spend their day.
6. An organized home really does help keep your brain working. If you aren't having to focus on where your keys are, because they are always in the tray by the door, you can focus on your diet, remembering to pick up the drycleaning, etc. Another great read on this topic that I actually found to be more helpful was The Art of Tidying Up.
7. Flow States. "Flow occurs when you are not explicitly thinking about what you are doing; rather, your brain is in a special mode of activity in which procedures and operations are performed automatically without your having to exert conscious control." There are times when I can get into the flow state when I am writing and there are times that I can't. The key though is that when I have been writing consistently, it is easier. When there are fewer distractions, it is also easier.
8. Previous to reading this book, I was a huge believer in Ambien. However, studies apparently show that people who take it only sleep on average eleven minutes longer. Further, they influence the way that your brain consolidates memories at night reducing cognitive function. BTW, if you read this, prepare yourself for several nights of sleeplessness because they do pack one hell of a placebo effect.
9. In the chapter on "Organizing the Business World" there is a section regarding trademarks of good leadership. It inspired me to take a class on Coursera on Leadership and Emotional Intelligence. It is such a fascinating topic. As a marketing person, you know that people are strongly influenced by emotion, but we tend to forget that that is also the case in management.
10. Final takeaway- my brain is doing stuff I don't know about and don't think about to get me through the day. The least I can do is figure out what cognitive shortcuts I can cook up to make its job easier. Or I can just check my phone another thousand times and never let it focus on what it needs to. It is all up to me.
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Quote of the Day: Daniel Levitin
"Recent research in social psychology has shown that happy people are not people who have more; rather they are people who are happy with what they already have."
Book Review: Ditch Dare Do
The book Ditch Dare Do, by William Aruda and Deb Dib, caught my eye while browsing Amazon because of its tagline "66 Ways to Become Influential, Indispensible and Incredibly Happy at Work. At the time, I was not incredibly happy at work.
This book was incredibly helpful for another reason entirely, it helped me ask some pretty insightful questions about how I want the world to see me... what is my personal brand? This is a question that supercedes my thoughts about how to be more successful and happy at work and instead starts to focus on what I see my value as being to any organization.
This book walks a fine line, however. At the beginning, the topics in the book are pretty high-level, like relating to people on a personal level. At the back of the book, it has gone pretty deep into the tactical pieces of developing a personal brand, but it has gone almost all the way into a laundry list.
Creative Space Ratings:
Readability: B
Creates Consistent Interest: A
Applicability: A
Design: C
Differentiation: B
I have recommended this book twice since I read it and both people who read it enjoyed it and, interestingly enough, got something completely different from it. As I read it, I did not do all of the assignments. Maybe on a second reading I will go all the way- and this is definitely one of those books that you hold onto.
One thing that I didn't love was the name of the book. Ditch, Dare, Do refers to some next steps at the end of the chapters. "A ditch replaces thinking and habits that don't help you move forward. A dare propels you to take new, exciting tasks. A do is a critical step you must execute to build your brand." There were also Sparks, Go-Time Grids, Know, Show Grow and Go sections, etc. etc. It was all a a little much. Plus I kept getting confused about what I was supposed to be doing. The content was really good- all of the "helpers" didn't really help. As a reader, I'm not stupid. I got this.
Creative Space Takeaways:
1. Be YOU: "To truly be yourself you must know who you are, where you want to go, and what drives you. You much also understand others' perceptions of you. Only after deep introspection and regular pursuit of feedback can you gain true knowledge of yourself and true clarity about your reputation. That clarity - that authentic comfort in your own skin- build a confidence that is magnetic to others. We all know people at work who radiate authenticity and confidence, and we like to be around them. They are natural leaders; they make us feel better and do better."
2. Be Open: Arruda and Dib make the point in the book that without self-awareness, you are going to have a really hard time establishing your personal brand because you have no way of knowing your starting point or whether you are making positive progress. Getting this kind of feedback is painful, but the hard messages will be the most valuable to your progress. Thinking of it like doing a benchmarking survey about yourself!
3. Make Your Mark: "The difference between distracted (and distracting) multitaskers and strong brands is this: Strong brands don't fight distraction with attention; they meet distraction with intention. Intention means knowing how and what you want to contribute so you don't miss opportunities to make your mark- to express and leverage your brand on a daily basis. If you've attended your meeting but were working on the report that is overdue rather than actively contributing and leaving your mark, have you done your job? When you check your e-mail while on a teleconference or text under the table in the middle of a client meeting, have you missed an opportunity to build your brand?"
4. Ditch Dare Do incorporated a clever series of questions to ensure that not only do you have a personal brand, but that people around you will want it. They call it the Why-Buy-ROI formula:
5. Keep a Job Journal - I always send my boss a reminder e-mail of my accomplishments immediately prior to reviews. They probably think it is annoying, but they are as busy as I am and I think that it is only fair to have the opportunity to give them a rundown of what they need to keep in mind. Ditch Dare Do takes this concept a step forward and encourages you to keep a job journal that keeps a running summary of major accomplishments so that you can have them on the ready when you need them.
6. The Aesthetics: Make your resume reflect you. Choose a brand color. Take a good headshot. Create a trademark for you. These were some of the ways that the book suggests that you make sure you are always putting your best foot forward.
7. Brand Your Office: After reading this article, I went and massively purged my office. It didn't reflect how I wanted to be seen and perceived. I got a standing desk because I wanted to be seen as someone on the move. I got rid of a bunch of paper and hung up infographics. I made sure to have some cool marketing books around. Your space is a reflection of you.
8. Blog to Bolster your Brand: "A well-written blog is a direct path to virtual visibility and better Google results. A blog lets you promote your ideas and accomplishments to communicate your value. It helps you build community with people who are critical to doing your job. It will make you a more branded, attractive, quoted and admired professional - and deepen your differentiation from other professionals who seemingly do what you do."
And I started a blog. Well, look at that!
This book was incredibly helpful for another reason entirely, it helped me ask some pretty insightful questions about how I want the world to see me... what is my personal brand? This is a question that supercedes my thoughts about how to be more successful and happy at work and instead starts to focus on what I see my value as being to any organization.
This book walks a fine line, however. At the beginning, the topics in the book are pretty high-level, like relating to people on a personal level. At the back of the book, it has gone pretty deep into the tactical pieces of developing a personal brand, but it has gone almost all the way into a laundry list.
Creative Space Ratings:
Readability: BCreates Consistent Interest: A
Applicability: A
Design: C
Differentiation: B
I have recommended this book twice since I read it and both people who read it enjoyed it and, interestingly enough, got something completely different from it. As I read it, I did not do all of the assignments. Maybe on a second reading I will go all the way- and this is definitely one of those books that you hold onto.
One thing that I didn't love was the name of the book. Ditch, Dare, Do refers to some next steps at the end of the chapters. "A ditch replaces thinking and habits that don't help you move forward. A dare propels you to take new, exciting tasks. A do is a critical step you must execute to build your brand." There were also Sparks, Go-Time Grids, Know, Show Grow and Go sections, etc. etc. It was all a a little much. Plus I kept getting confused about what I was supposed to be doing. The content was really good- all of the "helpers" didn't really help. As a reader, I'm not stupid. I got this.
Creative Space Takeaways:
1. Be YOU: "To truly be yourself you must know who you are, where you want to go, and what drives you. You much also understand others' perceptions of you. Only after deep introspection and regular pursuit of feedback can you gain true knowledge of yourself and true clarity about your reputation. That clarity - that authentic comfort in your own skin- build a confidence that is magnetic to others. We all know people at work who radiate authenticity and confidence, and we like to be around them. They are natural leaders; they make us feel better and do better."
2. Be Open: Arruda and Dib make the point in the book that without self-awareness, you are going to have a really hard time establishing your personal brand because you have no way of knowing your starting point or whether you are making positive progress. Getting this kind of feedback is painful, but the hard messages will be the most valuable to your progress. Thinking of it like doing a benchmarking survey about yourself!
3. Make Your Mark: "The difference between distracted (and distracting) multitaskers and strong brands is this: Strong brands don't fight distraction with attention; they meet distraction with intention. Intention means knowing how and what you want to contribute so you don't miss opportunities to make your mark- to express and leverage your brand on a daily basis. If you've attended your meeting but were working on the report that is overdue rather than actively contributing and leaving your mark, have you done your job? When you check your e-mail while on a teleconference or text under the table in the middle of a client meeting, have you missed an opportunity to build your brand?"
4. Ditch Dare Do incorporated a clever series of questions to ensure that not only do you have a personal brand, but that people around you will want it. They call it the Why-Buy-ROI formula:
- Here's who I am
- I know what you need right now
- I've done it, here's how I did it
- Here's what happened when I did it
- And I can do it again.
5. Keep a Job Journal - I always send my boss a reminder e-mail of my accomplishments immediately prior to reviews. They probably think it is annoying, but they are as busy as I am and I think that it is only fair to have the opportunity to give them a rundown of what they need to keep in mind. Ditch Dare Do takes this concept a step forward and encourages you to keep a job journal that keeps a running summary of major accomplishments so that you can have them on the ready when you need them.
6. The Aesthetics: Make your resume reflect you. Choose a brand color. Take a good headshot. Create a trademark for you. These were some of the ways that the book suggests that you make sure you are always putting your best foot forward.
7. Brand Your Office: After reading this article, I went and massively purged my office. It didn't reflect how I wanted to be seen and perceived. I got a standing desk because I wanted to be seen as someone on the move. I got rid of a bunch of paper and hung up infographics. I made sure to have some cool marketing books around. Your space is a reflection of you.
8. Blog to Bolster your Brand: "A well-written blog is a direct path to virtual visibility and better Google results. A blog lets you promote your ideas and accomplishments to communicate your value. It helps you build community with people who are critical to doing your job. It will make you a more branded, attractive, quoted and admired professional - and deepen your differentiation from other professionals who seemingly do what you do."
And I started a blog. Well, look at that!
Book Review: Fascinate
I first encountered Sally Hogshead when attending the 2014 Corporate Researchers Conference in Chicago. She was the keynote speaker and we received free copies of her book "How to Fascinate" for attending.I am OCD and still haven't read How to Fascinate, by the way, because I felt like I needed to start with the first book in the collection, Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation.
One of the cool things about this book is that you are able to take a quiz when you buy the book on Sally Hogshead's website to figure out your fascination type. When this book was originally written it was to determine which of the 7 triggers you gravitate to, but as her fascination research has evolved, you now take a quiz to determine which of your fascination archetypes you can leverage to become "more you."
It's a pretty good deal- you get your archetype and a 30 page report on what that means, what it means to others, and your strengths and weaknesses. Also, Sally sends out some pretty decent information on an on-going basis once you subscribe to the newsletter.
In case you are wondering, I am The Provocateur.
So, let's get this party started. Here are my overall ratings:
Readability: A
Creates Consistent Interest: A
Applicability: B
Design: B
Differentiation: A
Some of my favorite takeaways were:
1. On a first date? Measure his elbows. Sally kicks off her book with a pretty decent description of the biological roots of fascination. How your brain keys into fascination, how you become attracted to certain people and certain brands. This isn't immediately applicable to the book, but it provides the most fascinating (haha) "bet you didn't know that" type facts. Things like you are most likely to attract a person with a favorable genetic profile if you are NOT on birth control. Fascination is a complicated subject!
For more on the elbows, read the book. But FYI, it isn't the size of the feet!
2. Why is the Mona Lisa fascinating?
"The Mona Lisa was recently analyzed with cutting edge software developed to recognize facial emotion. Mona Lisa, according to the program, is 83 percent happy, 9 percent disgusted, 6 percent fearful, and 2 percent angry."
So, the Mona List is fascinating because we can't quite figure her out. I wonder what the software would have to say about RBF. (Resting Bitch Face)
3. Trends Driving a Distracted World
The book had an interesting point about in the past you spent money to go to the movies and you were essentially "paying" attention. Now, people are so inundated by choices for entertainment, even in your free time it is hard to make a decision. Why all this clutter? Sally indicates that you have to deal with an overload of distracting choices, the rise of ADD culture, and people have become more skilled at blocking out messaging. Now if only I can figure out how to block out my incoming e-mail!
4. So what makes a message fascinating?
There is an easily, digestible list! The Gold Hallmarks of a fascinating message include:
- Provokes strong an immediate emotional reactions
- Creates advocates
- Becomes "cultural shorthand" for a specific set of actions or values
- Incites conversation
- Forces competitors to realign around it
- Triggers social revolutions
6. Lust: "The pursuit of pleasure is often more fascinating than the pleasure itself. Keeping that desire unfulfilled, or at least never entirely satisfied, is the key to long-term fascination through lust... Lust engages our imagination. It allows us to participate in the process, filling in the possibilities. As with the mystique trigger, lust makes us want more, yet once we experience the complete truth, our desire might weaken."
7. Completely random fascinating fact from Fascinate!: In 1636 there was a huge economic bubble driven by high demand for tulips. Many economists consider this the very first economic bubble and subsequent burst. At this point in history, a single tulip bulb was sold in exchange for four fat oxen, twelve fat sheep, four tons of butter, a thousand pounds of cheese, a complete bed, a suit of clothes, a silver cup, and large measures of rye, wheat, beer and wine. No wonder tulips are my favorite.
The end of the book includes some pointers regarding how to create your own fascination plan of attack... I thought the recommendations were kind of one-size-fits all, regardless of whether you were talking about becoming more fascinating, or whatever else you wanted to do to improve your company.
Overall though- it was a good read. Definitely will read the second book, to understand some more about "personal" fascination.
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