Posted by David at 02:22 PM

June 25, 2005

Our NoteTaker wallets are back in stock

I'm delighted we've got our NoteTaker Wallet back in stock. For those of you who've been waiting for us to re-up our inventory - it's back. In black.

(FYI I designed it because I couldn't find one just right anywhere else. And we were out of stock because our previous leather supplier [Gary's] went out of business. Got lots now...)

My own well-used NoteTaker

Posted by David at 07:50 PM | Comments (23)

June 24, 2005

A tiny thing that ticks me off...

OK, it's Friday. And here's a Very Minor Topic I have ranted about for years: "Casual Friday."

Excuse me, but if it's OK for someone to show up dressed casually for 20% of their work time, why on earth is it not OK to show up the rest of the time that way? Or... if it's not OK to show up casually 80% of the time, why on earth would it be OK to show up casually at any time?

The only rational explanation anyone in all these years has cared to give me (when I have felt it sufficiently safe to broach this core life issue) was that it's a bone thrown to the troops from senior management as a perk - that one day of the week you get to be comfortable - even if it's not the best way to interface with each other and our customers. Because we care about our people. Gag me.

Can anybody out there give me anything other than unconscious knee-jerk pseudo-progressive-management crap justification for such nonsense?

I'm not voting for casual dress better than business dress. Which is most appropriate for what you're doing? Then why in heaven's name would you then ever do anything else?

What's most intriguing about all this is that I have never heard anyone else raise this question. I can't imagine why so many people have so many things much better to do...!

Posted by David at 10:09 PM | Comments (39)

June 23, 2005

Pubbing vs snubbing after hours...

Conducted another one-day session yesterday for Managing Directors for the same company as last week in London, this time in Manhattan. Nothing particularly noteworthy (same issues, same interests). But I did have a fun conversation with a couple of their folks who had spent time both in the UK and NYC - about the "pub" culture vs the "NY grind." I was commenting how much I really like London in the summer - the pubs just open their doors and (though it's illegal I understand) all the after-hours crowds just ooze out into the streets and for the long daylight evenings it's really quite a buzzing social event around the neighborhoods. There is a little bit of that in the U.S., but nothing like the Brits. The "I'm working then leaving" thing seems to be an American city syndrome, particularly true in New York. Obviously exceptions to all this, but there was consensus that pubbing in the UK was a unique institution, quite different than on the Yank side of that pond...

Posted by David at 12:12 PM | Comments (5)

June 22, 2005

Spread too thin at the top?

Enjoyed another seat-mate chat recently with the CEO of a relatively new software company in southern California. They make and install an application that helps large vendors to retailers intelligently forecast out for just-in-time deliveries that will meet the stores' demands. He had sold a previous company for good money, yet was inspired to play the game again with another software opportunity that came his way. Doing OK, apparently.

To my question about what gets in the way of his own productivity, he answered, "I let myself have too many priorities. I'm focused on eight or ten things, and I know that it's distracting me from doing what I need to be doing about the two or three that are really mission-critical."

Ah, one of the toughest things at the top - the good idea to stop doing, the bright bauble to ignore. Or, of course, how much smarter can I work or how much more can I organize, hire, delegate, and manage so that I can go for them all (and afford it)?

I think ignoring the bright bauble is the hardest of them all.

Posted by David at 03:43 PM | Comments (7)

Richard Leider and the big picture stuff

Lovely to share a stage again with Richard Leider last week at the Conference Board event. His message about living with meaning from your uniqueness bears hearing regularly. Interesting stuff from my notes:

- Elders, when asked how they would live their life differently if they could do it again, consistently said:

1. They'd be more reflective
2. They'd be more courageous, living more authentically
3. They'd work harder to understand their own personal bottom line (purpose)

- Two-thirds of the people in history who have lived over the age of 65 are alive today.

- $1700 of what we pay for every GM car goes to fund the retirement of 400,000 current GM pensioners, 300 of whom are over 100 years old.

- Isolation is the new poverty.

--------

Richard and I are the same age, and hopefully we'll cross paths some more. Nice to see that his Inventure Group has done so well with such a valuable but potentially "squishy" topic for the buttoned-down boys.

Posted by David at 01:17 AM

June 21, 2005

Torstar

Had a great time yesterday doing a Mastering Workflow seminar in Toronto for a new client, the Torstar Corporation. Hadn't really known much about them before, but from my short window into the company and the people, I was impressed. Interesting to find a newspaper (Toronto Star)/publishing company making good money, doing good work, with quite a spirit of contribution and service in their atmosphere (the profitability of their Harlequin romances probably helps, too). They were ripe for GTD, which seems to be growing in fertile soil in many parts of Canada.

Nice to think "abooot"!

Posted by David at 12:48 PM

The books in my hotel room bedside drawer

I was delighted to find in my drawer here at the Westin Prince (Toronto) not only the usual Gideon Bible, but also a copy of The Teaching of Buddha. Not that I prefer one to the other (truth is truth), but it's sweet to have the option. Is both books in the drawer uniquely Canadian? Westin-ian? Toronto-ian?

From a random page opening (which often holds answer to an unformed question in my mind) of The Teaching...:
...even under the best of conditions the mind will bear watching.

ps: wouldn't it be cool to have the Koran in there make up a threesome?

Posted by David at 02:22 AM | Comments (15)

June 20, 2005

Read the new Atlantic cover article

New Atlantic cover article - (if you don't have access to it, it's in the paper edition) is another stunning piece by Jim Fallows. It's a memo to the U.S. Presidential candidate in 2016 from his campaign manager.

I had dinner with Jim in DC while he was finishing it, and was intrigued with his idea of what he was trying to do. Here's our correspondence about it this morning:

---------------

Jim,

Just got around to holding the rest of my world at bay long enough to read your piece. Wow. Is there something you guys are calling this kind of art form now? Like, expository literary-journalistic hypotheticalism? Great stuff. Chilling, as usual, but great stuff.

I'll blog about it... anything you'd care to share about it, like what the feedback has been or what it was like to write it, that I can quote you on for my network?

All the best,

David

---------------

David, thanks for noticing and writing! Glad to have caught your interest.

The guiding spirit here was actually something old: 'A Christmas Carol,' you know, by Charles Dickens. That is, presenting a "Ghost of Christmas Future" that was chastening enough that, on awakening, people might think: Jeez louise, I'm going to do whatever is necessary to keep THAT from happening!

Or, to put it another way, the assignment for the piece was : find a way to talk about (often-boring-seeming) economic trends without, in fact, being boring! That is what led me to the election scenarios, "Preachervilles," the 'Desert Eagle,' and so on.

Email feed back has been quite positive to date, mainly in the mode of: so if this is true, what can we do with (a) our own personal investments, and (b) the country's policies. Wish I had answers -- especially on (a)!

Jim

(Other relevant point: I actually interviewed A TON of people when doing the piece, trying to get an idea of what the *plausible* future trends were in petroleum, trade patterns, tax streams, and so on.)

Posted by David at 03:44 AM | Comments (15)

June 19, 2005

Tracking rote projects vs complex ones

On a call this morning with one of my clients, he shared something as an aside that he was doing with his project tracking in Outlook, which I thought might be useful for some people. He says he has a number of projects that are straightfoward - linear sequences of obvious next steps. Do A then B then C, etc., without much variance or detail (projects like "Set up baseball game event with the kids" and "Replace the tail light on the van.")

He codes those just as the next action, ("Call the service department") but puts two carats at the end ">>" with the outcome. then he just moves it to the next action lists as it moves forward until it's done. That way he keeps his "Projects" category as such discrete for those projects that need not-that-obvious, more detailed, or creative thinking. He says it's easier for him to review where he's at, keeping those kinds of projects separate. He can still filter and see the simple projects, but makes sense to keep the "Projects" list one that gets more of the 10,000-ft attention.

Might be useful to make that distinction. If any of the rest of you try that out, or do something similar, let me know.

Posted by David at 08:37 AM | Comments (5)

June 18, 2005

How ephemeral all this is

My last day in London was spent in bed, hardly able to eat, drink or even to stand up. I woke up early Friday morning thinking I had food poisoning, with all of its glorious symptoms (certainly more than you need to know). I called my Associate Julie (Daniel) to cancel our day together, and she said that there was a 24-hour virus going around London, schools closing, etc. Sort of a relief, that I probably wasn't going to die, nor sue the restaurant. But, having been blessed with a relatively healthy life, I was reminded how easy it is to take for granted the instrument we're walking through this game with (body); and how puny all the issues (as well as the inspirations) can be, when we're up against it, physically.

I remember reading several years ago about Success Magazine's poll of their readers, asking them to vote for the criteria for success. #1 at the top was, yes, good health.

I won't say I had a near-death experience (though I thought there were moments); but I did get to be reminded at least briefly of the state of consciousness in which nothing matters. That can be existential hell or a window into deeper priorities. I don't want to sound too dramatic, but as I make my living in a world of positive ideas and practices, with inspiration as a medium, it was an humbling reminder of my own vulnerability and the value of being able to have a body in good enough shape to be tuned to those frequencies. As I've said many times, perspective is the slipperiest and most valuable commodity on the planet. But health is a close second.

Gratefully I'm getting back to the world of the living now, managing to get on planes and get to Toronto this evening. Hopefully though I won't forget too quickly how grateful I ought to remain, just having the energy to wonder what to say...

To lose one's health renders science null, art inglorious, strength unavailing, wealth useless, and eloquence powerless. - Herophilus

Posted by David at 05:15 PM | Comments (10)

June 16, 2005

No one's exempt from the down-and-dirty

Gave an energetic one-day seminar (Mastering Workflow) with a group of Managing Directors of a global investment bank in London today. Seems there's great press for our stuff in the UK these days, so they had positive anticipation to start with, which is always nice. Sophisticated folks, dealing with typical issues, but one specific was a real hoot for us all:

One guy had a "problem" he realized he needed to morph into a "project." He and his wife had adopted a goose egg and hatched it with a heat lamp. It grew up as part of the family, joining them at the pool, etc. Problem: it craps everywhere. So, what's the project? "Handle goose issue." What's the next action? He hadn't figured that out before we ended, but he was considering options, like "Buy hatchet."

Ain't it great that we all have the same kinds of nitty-gritty that can get in the way?

Managing Directors today grappling with crap...

Posted by David at 10:35 AM | Comments (5)

June 15, 2005

Why I love the Brits so much...

Saw this arriving at baggage claim at Heathrow a couple of hours ago. Just...well, so damned civilized! (or is that "civilised"?)

Posted by David at 07:44 AM | Comments (8)

June 14, 2005

Finishing a body project!

Seems there's always a couple of "body projects" on my Projects list, and it's usually a fabulous feeling to mark them off as done. Certainly true for the one I finished this afternoon, in between my Conference Board event and catching a plane in a few minutes to London. Had my final session in this six-month project with Brian LeSage, an outstanding dentist in Beverly Hills, fixing lots of stuff in my 59.457-year-old mouth. Had major resorations done twenty-five years ago, but they wore out (apparently that's about their life span). Anyway, more than you need to know... but I wanted to give Brian a plug. He's one of the country's top esthetic dentists, teaches this stuff at UCLA, is a super guy. Totally meticulous, and loves his craft. I understand that my totally consistent 16-micron occlusion is nothing to sneeze at! (And it wasn't even in my ideal scene...)

No web site yet, but if you or anyone in Southern California might be interested, he's at 310-276-2468.

Dr. Brian LeSage and I celebrate completion this afternoon!

Posted by David at 04:59 PM

Blog spam - Chapter 2...

Thanks to Robert and Chirill on our team, we've implemented our own version of CAPTCHA for this blog this morning, so you'll see a code to type when you add a comment. I've turned off the "Approve Comments" function, so they should post right away. If you do notice any spam blogging in other comments here, let me know. Thanks!

Posted by David at 09:48 AM | Comments (10)

June 13, 2005

Executive coach networking...

Had a creative day delivering a presentation and networking at the Conference Board Executive Coaching event at the Marina del Rey Ritz Carlton today. Engaged, interested participants; and I got to hear and hang with some really good resource people - Marshall Goldsmith, Gary Ranker, Homa Bahrami, Richard Leider, et al. I'll try to blog about some neat bits when I get the chance. Marshall co-sponsored the event, and is the quintessential networker (highest 'E' on Myers-Briggs possible, he says); and I've appreciated his support and good PR over the years - he generally introduces me as the guy who's good enough to have coached the worst basket case around (him)!

Marshall being Marshall today on a break

Posted by David at 10:19 PM | Comments (1)

June 12, 2005

The briefcase I'm using most now...

On one of my earlier trips to Levenger, Steve Leveen asked me to try out their new Endurance case, which I've dutifully done for the last couple of months. Have to say I really like it - actually more than the Tumi of the same size and shape I was previously using. It has fewer pockets than the Tumi, but they're bigger, and I was surprised to find that I actually like the cloth material - somehow easier to throw stuff in (like AC cord, batteries, camera, etc.) and get it out. Also seems to fit better in small spaces on airplanes. It's my rugged on-the-road standard case for laptop traveling now.

Posted by David at 12:05 PM | Comments (5)

June 10, 2005

It's all about pruning...

Decompressing from a nonstop day on this cool Ojai evening, pinching the new growth off the ends of a couple of my bonsai, I'm catching the seed of what's got to be another major theme to understand and hone and, well - prune. Editing is where the action is. Many an author and screenwriter I've met confirm this.

So, what's the life/work equivalent of that germ of creative truth? Creativity is. Can't help it - anything alive grows. But that growth can take on meta-natural proportion when it is facilitated...by what? Pruning. Take the sentence down to half its words. Cut the dead wood out of your team. Unhook from the non-mission-critical projects.

The first thing is to have something to prune. Then, it's the ever-graceful dance of taking away that which is growing haphazard to allow the essence of the life form artistry to unfold and come to conscious expression. Or something like that...

(To be edited - ed.)

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning. Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun. So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth. Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself. He threshes you to make you naked. He sifts you to free you from your husks. He grinds you to whiteness. He kneads you until you are pliant; And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred heart. - Kahlil Gibran

Posted by David at 12:50 AM | Comments (6)

June 09, 2005

Journaling

Just received this e-mail in response to my latest newsletter commentary (re: expressing vs holding thoughts):

You're right on, as anyone who journals regularly can tell you. I often begin my day by dumping whatever is in my mind on to paper, and as you say, it's often just a germ. What it uncovers, so often, is a fleshed-out creative idea that I could have never achieved if the germ had been left to ruminate in my mind. Journaling is difficult to begin - and even more difficult to explain the benefits to someone who has never done it. I think your commentary captures it's power in a nutshell. I suppose similar results could be achieved by bouncing ideas off the right partner. But nothing replaces the pen and pad, especially since they're almost always available. - Sherry McKinley

I've been journaling off and on for the last twenty years, but have become more rigorous with it in the last eighteen months. Especially since I've gotten back into fountain pens, and discovered the absolute best in journaling notebook gear in London at Smysthon of Bond Street (they now have a store on 57th in NYC too). They have leather-covered notebooks with ultra high-grade thin paper for terrific ink writing.

Something about great looking/feeling gear to create the motivation to just get started...

Posted by David at 01:32 AM | Comments (13)

June 08, 2005

Any of you care to comment...?

Our office gets a few e-mails like this one today:

"If I've read Getting Things Done and (at least claim to) understand it though haven't been totally successful at implementation (ahem), can you tell me why attending one of the Road Map seminars might be more helpful?"

Though none of you have yet actually done The RoadMap, anyone care to give us a quotable testimonial to the value of sitting in a live session with me about this GTD material, even after reading (and "understanding") the book?

(Rachelle Bonsignori is our new Public Events Director in our office, and she'd love things to share with the inquisitive folks...)

Posted by David at 05:59 PM | Comments (10)

Our favorite restaurant

Kathryn and I spent one of those errands-in-L.A. days yesterday (you know - teeth, hair, shoes, bathroom accessories - all the sexy stuff). But we did treat ourselves to dinner at our truly favorite restaurant in the universe. An unimposing place on Montana Ave. in Santa Monica, Vincenzo Ristorante is run by Vincenzo Nicoletta, a very Italian, very lovely friend, who catered our wedding fourteen years ago. His tiramisu - the best on the planet - was our wedding cake! I've eaten lots of places around the world, and his stuff remains a benchmark for the best basic Italian - the stuff we'd eat regularly. Treat yourself, if you're ever in the mood for really good (I mean, like, really good) food, plus understated neighborhood Italian style. Hint: penne vodka and rack of lamb with mustard sauce. Tell him David sent you. 714 Montana (just above 7th) in Santa Monica CA - 310-395-6619.

Me and Kathryn and Vincenzo last night

Posted by David at 01:28 AM | Comments (3)

June 07, 2005

How about an @blog list?

As many of you know, there's a big potential set of sub-categories for "Someday/Maybe": Places to go on vacation. Restaurants to try in Boston. Things to do next time I'm in Frankfurt. Weekend trips to take from where I live. Things to do with my kids when they're older. Etc. Etc.

Apropos of this venue, how about "Things I might want to blog about"? That's a Category in my Memos section of my Palm. (This blog is an option that's been on there a while - "Keeping blog list on my Palm"...!)

Posted by David at 10:38 AM | Comments (19)

June 06, 2005

Activewords eliminates thinkstation drag

I've mentioned it before, because it's such a great tool, but it's worth mentioning regularly - ActiveWords.com is one of those once-you're-using-you-can't-do-without apps. I had always wanted a macro writer that sat on top of all my Windows applications, and Buzz and company created it. They got the technology down about how to read keystrokes a nanosecond ahead of the operating system, so you can just type whatever keystrokes you program to do almost whatever you want, in terms of opening specific docs, launching apps, navigating to Web sites, inserting text, date-stamping, etc.

Buzz Bruggeman (Activewords founder) and I have had an ongoing conversation about why anyone in their right mind would not want to use something like this. But, alas, I find even people on my staff who are just unaware of speed keys, much less something that would turbocharge that function. I think it is akin to the syndrome of GTD adoption - it's the most productive who are the most interested. They're the ones who are most sensitive to drag on the system, and inspired by its elimination. In terms of macros, it's those who are most invested in the computer as a think-station (and that's not everyone yet, by a long shot) who'd be most interested in reducing process attention.

But then, after spending a half day again with my buddy Buzz, I had to kick myself for not utilizing half the power of the tool... duhh...

Buzz holds forth on his baby ActiveWords

Posted by David at 09:48 AM | Comments (13)

June 05, 2005

Playing in the digital sandbox...

Had a boys-and-their-(digital)-toys day on Friday. Buzz Bruggemann was in the area, he and I drove up to Eric Mack's mountain hideaway, met up with Paul Edwards (friend of Eric's who also lives in Pine Mountain Club).

Great conversation (as always happens with Buzz and his stories); updates from Buzz's recent techie hobnobbing around the country, Eric's R&D with tablet PC etc., Paul's perspectives on home office dynamics. And I got to "Motor On!" with my mini on great mountain roads, up and back...

Paul, Buzz, Eric and me in Eric's digital lair

Posted by David at 10:18 AM | Comments (1)

June 04, 2005

Ever heard of the country doc?

A great feature of my lifestyle is our medical doctor - Rob Feiss - who does house calls. Rob's a great guy, trained as an emergency room specialist, taught at UCLA, had a growing practice associated with a large hospital. Then he just got tired of cranking as many people through the mill as fast as possible, wanted to create quality relationships and spend quality time with his patients, and just jumped out of the race to do a family practice in Ventura/Ojai area. He does house calls. Any time. (Shows up with pretty cool gear, too!)

Nice when good people buck the system to really do good work. His practice is quite successful, on his terms, as you might imagine.

My doc visits me on a house call

Posted by David at 10:32 AM

June 03, 2005

Nothing like an expert...

I've had the privilege of connecting recently with Alan Nelson, a partner at CRA, a small but highly respected consulting firm in Philadelphia that specializes in communication and leadership coaching. Alan heard about me and GTD through 43 Folders, has been a fan ever since, and as it turns out we have a number of mutual clients. Randall Stutman, another partner at CRA, had introduced us to Childrens Hospital in Philadelphia a few years ago, for whom we wound up doing our workflow coaching program for most of the surgeons (thanks again, Randall!)

While speaking with Alan a few weeks ago, he gave me some coaching which has served me well already: "the more strategic the conversation, the broader the communication bandwidth needs to be." E-mail won't cut it, in other words, if you're trying to communicate about something at 40,000 ft. That's creating problems now, because many in the e-mail-raised generation of kids ain't kids any more, with higher-level jobs requiring focus and skills at interfacing more intimately than they are used to.

Thanks, Alan for the advice. Tweeked some important things I'm doing, and the way I'm doing them.

Posted by David at 08:50 AM | Comments (2)

June 02, 2005

Dealing with blog spam

My apologies to those who have commented here in the last few days and haven't seen your posting. I had to turn ON the "approve comments" function a couple of weeks ago, because blog spam was pouring in, and I realized RSS was just spreading it further. And, being off line on own spiritual retreat for three days, plus etc etc... didn't get a chance to "approve" the last week's worth.

Not sure what to do about all that spam stuff - it's too labor-intensive to keep having to block IP addresses (I've blocked 150 so far, but the "loans, poker, and enlarge" sources seem to just go send from new ones!) and delete comments, so I'm either going to have to have a staff person do that, or just nix this whole game. Hopefully not the latter...

Posted by David at 10:56 AM | Comments (20)