Archive for the ‘Random Thoughts’ Category

Eating Turkey On the US East Coast – Travel Time 60 x faster than in 1621

Tuesday, November 25th, 2008

I made it back to the lower 48 (Connecticut specifically) for Thanksgiving, actually arriving 15 minutes ahead of schedule by the most optimistic estimate. When things go that well, it is easy to say, “what is meant to be happens easily.” By that measurement, Connecticut for Thanksgiving is meant to be for me.

We were able to do travel plan A – that was leaving our little town in Alaska by air taxi instead of ferry. It was raining, foggy, and windy, yet the little plane still flew. It took us 21 hours – we left Haines, Alaska at 9:30 AM AST and arrived in Connecticut at 9:30 AM EST. According to mapquest, the drive would have been 3874 miles and taken 66 hours 29 minutes. The distance from England to the US East Coast is around 3700 miles. It took the 102 Pilgrims about 60 days to travel here from England in 1620.

The Jaunt Across the Continent to Eat Turkey in Connecticut.  Almost as Far as the Pilgirms Had to Travel, but a Heck of a LOT Faster.

The jaunt across the continent to eat turkey in Connecticut. A little bit further than the Pilgrams had to travel to eat turkey here, but over 60 times faster to get here.

After we got to CT, my oldest daughter called to tell me that more people are killed by moose and small airplane crashes in Alaska every year than by bears. Weird how I never heard that one before, but no matter, we survived that (and many other) small plane rides in Alaska, as have many other people.

While traveling here for the Pilgrims, they were going from a civilization where they understood the cultural traditions, to one that was more bound by the rhythms of nature. I just did the opposite. And found myself having to re-aquaint myself with my east coast “attire” to look like I belong in Connecticut. (I find it far easier if I at least make some attempts to fit in). And I have to wait until I get here to really get into the schwing of things with the clothes. I had put on my east coast travel attire, but sitting in a Starbucks in Connecticut yesterday, I felt like a person out of place in two worlds. I was certainly not dressed for Alaska, and just looked weird for Connecticut. It totally makes sense why the RNC thought that Sarah Palin coming out of Alaska needed a new “look” to the tune of $150k. The rest of the country just does not get the fashion trends of Alaska (or is it that we in Alaska have a lot more other things that are more important to focus on – like not breaking your neck on the ice skating rink outside the Mountain Market).

The Pilgrims faced much more daunting issues about “fitting” in – it was a very matter of their survival to befriend the natives. While Alaska sports a very casual demeanor, an everyone is welcome attitude, and it appears easy to fit in, it does take a little effort. Dan Fine’s book – Not Really an Alaskan Mountain Man shares just how challenging it can be to survive in modern day Alaska. In retrospect, it is probably more important for my overall survival that I “fit in” better there than here. Both places take some adjustment – I call it getting the cultural bends. Only happens when you change cultures really fast.

What We Focus on is What We Tend to See

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

In Paul Scheen’s Book – Photo Reading, he points out that our subconscious brain takes in 2000 times more information than our conscious brain is aware of. If you don’t believe this, start photographing your day to day life. Then study those pictures a couple hours after you take them. When I first noticed this phenomena, I was at the Houston Rodeo. It the first show we went to with our Belgium Blue Cattle. I was taking pictures of the cattle and wasn’t even aware there were three cattleman in the row behind our stall – not until I looked at the pictures later. I was literally only focusing on our cows.

Only Noticed the Other Guys When I Looked at the Pictures.

Only noticed the three cattlemen when I looked at the pictures much later. I had no recollection of people being in the background.

Lets fast forward to today. Look at what the mass media chooses to focus on – the mismanagement of companies that need to be bailed out, disasters, the basic depravity of the human condition. But lets look at some different facts. According to The Wealth Report, the amount of millionaire households has doubled in the past ten years.

Number of Millionaire Households

Number of Millionaire Households

Let’s look at this chart. This was created in 2004 – so from 1994 to 2004, the number of millionaires doubled. Six of those years we had a democratic as the president of the US. For some reason the folks I know in the finance sector always seem to feel they will be better off when there is a republican president. Is this really true or is it just what they are choosing to focus on?

If you start to find yourself getting excessively down about life, check out Rob Brezsny’s *PRONOIA IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR PARANOIA: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings* – for sale at http://tinyurl.com/qaj62. (I am not getting any royalty compensation from this endorsement – I just think he presents a much different way of viewing the world).

So now if I want to see things differently, I change what it is I am choosing to focus on. It truly is all just a matter of perspective.

From Wearing the Baby to Wearing the Business

Sunday, November 16th, 2008
From Wearing the Baby to Wearing the Business - No Helmet Required for the Business

From Wearing the Baby to Wearing the Business - No Helmet Required for the Business

Yes, that is the ENTIRE contents of the backpack that carries the tools I need to run my global operation.

Yes, that is the ENTIRE contents of the backpack that carries the tools I need to run my global operation.

I’ve been lugging 25+ pounds on my back for close to 20 years now. I started “wearing” my babies, and then just migrated to “wearing” my business. So I just don’t get what all the hula ballo is about with motrin ad dissing on mom’s wearing their babies being twittered about #motrinmoms. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmykFKjNpdY.

I wore my babies for quite a while – the youngest one until she was about 5. It was just far easier and when I went for walks, there was no need to carry weights to get a more intense workout. Their Dad, an avid hiker, would wear the older one and trot up Mt. Si – a very steep climb just outside of Seattle. And he did this up until she was about 50 pounds. Neither one of us ever suffered any pain or damage from doing this – it just made us more fit and stronger.

It just seemed natural to “wear” my business in a backpack as well. For a very short period of time, I carried my laptop in a sophisticated looking shoulder bag. I tried a case on wheels, but it was just too much of an appendage. I always go back to just fitting everything I need to run my company into my backpack. A year or so ago, CNNMoney.com thought it was an interesting enough idea to feature me in their magazine – http://money.cnn.com/2007/08/20/smbusiness/business_backpack.fsb/index.htm.

For the most part, I still use the backpack. I had to take a break from it for several months earlier this year because of a shoulder injury. I did NOT get this carrying the back pack – I got it using one of those Chuckit things with the dogs and then aggravated it by carrying a six gallon gas container to my boat. But after much physical therapy in the pool, I am VERY happy to be able to go back to “wearing” my business in my backpack.

One of my books currently in the publishing process (done writing it) – Business in a Backpack – how I run my 100 person multi-national company (Cheetah Learning) completely out of this backpack, is coming out spring 2009.

Focusing on What Gets the Desired Results

Saturday, November 15th, 2008
What a fascinating picture of the 2008 US Presidential Election.

What a fascinating picture of the 2008 US Presidential Election.

Looks like if you live in a less populated part of the US, you have less sway on national executive politics. Congress and the Senate is where rural folks have more sway.

Looks like if you live in a less populated part of the US, you have less sway on national executive politics. Congress and the Senate are where rural folks have more sway.

What is Accelerated Learning?

Wednesday, November 12th, 2008
Levels of Learning

Levels of Learning

Being in the field of “accelerating” learning, I hear this question quite often. Accelerated Learning is just making it faster and easier to learn and master new skills. Learning has four basic components:

Awareness – people first become aware of what it is they don’t know. Just becoming aware of not knowing something isn’t enough to drive desire to learn more though. When combined with “purpose” – that is a reason to learn more, then people develop the desire to learn more about the topic.

Knowledge – this is where people accumulate facts about the specific topic. Knowledge of a subject is exhibited by the ability to recall facts and to synthesize the information in the area sufficiently to answer test questions on the subject, and to communicate about the subject.

Skill – this is where people can use what they know to accomplish a specific task.

Mastery – this is where people can achieve consistent results with their skills. Mastery is where power and success come with learning new material.

So Accelerated Learning in the way I’ve developed courses for Cheetah Learning means getting people to a level of mastery in the subject area very quickly.

I first became aware of the concept of Accelerated Learning in the early 90’s. By 2000, I had developed mastery in creating accelerated learning curricula. In 1998 I was a research scientist and started testing out some ideas on how to teach people project management in a way that they would develop mastery in doing the fundamentals of project management in one day. This means that they would be able to leave the class and the next day be able to achieve consistent results with their new project management skills. This became the basis of the Cheetah Project Management technique.

There are three fundamental components of creating accelerated learning courses so that people are able to master new skills faster:

1. Put the mind in a peak performing state.

2. Engage multiple forms of intelligence.

3. Set up the experience so that it makes it easy to recall and retain the new knowledge and become proficient in the new skills.

If you’d like to learn more, I discuss the topic of how we create our accelerated learning curricula on the radio show Power Learning co-hosted with Scot Nichols, the Executive Director of the Center for Advanced Learning Concepts.

How to Create Curricula that Uses Accelerated Learning

How to Create Curricula that Uses Accelerated Learning

Why November 11th for Veteran’s Day?

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

Veteran’s Day is celebrated on November 11th because WWI ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. In 1926 Congress created a national holiday known as Armistice day. However when another world war broke out, in 1954, President Eisenhower changed the day to recognize all veterans. In 1968, Veterans Day was changed to the fourth Monday in October. However, November 11th had significant historical precedence, and in 1978, Veterans Day observance was returned to the original day.

Being a Veteran myself (US Air Force 1980 – 1987) – we are commemorating all Veterans this day by offering a 10% discount for our students. Use the promotion code “thanksvets” for any course on Cheetah Learning or Cheetah PM and receive a 10% discount.

Veterans Day Interview – History and Personal Significance

Gratitude, The Most Important Element of My Projects

Friday, November 7th, 2008
November Sky at 3:00 PM Over Lynn Canal, Alaska

November Sky at 3:00 PM Over Lynn Canal, Alaska

The best part of any project for me is when I get to sit back and enjoy what it was we set out to create with that project.   Really think about – when do you receive the value of a project?   Sure, it’s fun to do projects, but you do the project because you want the benefit of what you’re creating.    What is the value if you just pop from one project to the next, never stopping to enjoy the benefits of what you created?    I took this picture this afternoon when I was out walking the dogs.   I live in the most beautiful setting on the planet.   This is project “life” for me – creating the type of life that I’m excited to wake up and live to the fullest every single day.   What more important project is there?

Haines Bald Eagle Festival

Tuesday, November 4th, 2008

Bald Eagle Fishing in Haines Alaska

Bald Eagle Fishing in Haines Alaska

The Haines Bald Eagle Festival has had to put their project management capabilities into high gear as they get ready for this year’s event, which starts tomorrow. Today, their facility is being used as the polling location for Haines. They appear to have used their resources well and are ready for the 5000+ visitors who are descending on Haines over the next week to see the largest congregation of Bald Eagles in the world. The bald eagles return every year to the Chilkat Valley to dine on the last salmon run of the season. You can learn more about Haines and the Bald Eagle Festival by visiting the Haines website.

500 Channels and There is Nothing On, 700 Friends and No One Shows

Saturday, October 25th, 2008

My twitter pal Kay Ballard shared this link with me on this guy who has 700 friends on face book, invites them all to a party and only one person shows. It reminded me of the lament from 15 or so years ago how there were 500 channels now on cable TV and there was nothing on. Why has it become a sign of your popularity how many people you have following you on facebook and twitter? Is this really any better than having 500 stations to choose from on the TV when really there is no entertaining content there?

For some reason Kay got an invite from me to join Kwippy (I didn’t send it – some how this service got my twitter list and invited everyone on it). Kay replied that she would have rather been invited to dinner. So I invited my entire twitter list to dinner – I do afterall have 1600 pounds of lean beef that I need to consume (it is going to a food bank soon). I did not get one response on my invitiation to dinner – yet got five responses thanking me for the invite to join Kwippy.

If we want interesting things to watch on cable, and we want people to come to our parties, we have to start creating interesting things to watch and have to start showing up at other people’s parties. Dare I say, I don’t think this will happen if you sit behind a computer, alone, all day long.

Got to run, my friend (in real life) Monica just showed up and we are heading to the pool.

Intentional Chocolate – Like Project Management?

Friday, October 24th, 2008

I’m not even sure how I stumbled upon Intentional Chocolate – the concept is entirely fascinating.    And just how does this apply to Project Management?   Doing project management in a way that is fast, easy, and fun, can have you hit the same pleasure centers in your brain as “intentional chocolate.”   First – you do projects in the pursuit of some goal.   Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his book, Flow, shows that people attain the highest levels of happiness when in aggressive pursuit of a goal.   Second, just like intentional chocolate, when you have a fast and easy way to do projects (i.e. achieve your goals), your life is in fact a lot more fun and less stressful.    When you follow a simple way to pursue your projects, you are more calm in the pursuit of your goals, and you tend to stay more focused.   Third, when you efficiently pursue the projects in your life, you actually have more energy to do more of what you love.   A good chocolate and a well run project – does life get any better?