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Thursday, July 31, 2003
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Dallas and I decided to make some goals for the rest of the year (renewed/new resolutions) to be completed by December 14
Dal:
1. Draw more (yay!)
2. Write short stories
3. Start non-profit
Bec:
1. Write a children's book (see yay above. heh)
2. Paint more
3. Blog more original ideas (not this journaly stuff or just posting others comments).
Aaron:
1. Screenplay
2. New Job
3. Travel light (but think heavy)
John P.
1. Get my kids to Disneyland
2. Finalize the adoption of our 14-month-old
3. At least finish the outline of a book
Anyone else?
10:37:46 PM 
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More on the 5 Patterns.... I've gotten several requests for more information about The 5 Patterns of Extraordinary Careers. I found the first chapter online here: http://www.bzzagent.com/downloads/5patterns_intro.pdf. At their site is also a PowerPoint deck with the key points here: http://5patterns.com/files/UnlockthePotential.pdf. Worth a read, and goes into more detail than I can. Some of the key points of the books I've found helpful so far:
After doing a lot of research (2,000 executives interviewed), the authors found a handful of patterns. One thing they found was that executives "never took their job descriptions too literally and had always found ways to expand their responsibilities within their organizations (p. 4). Extraordinary executives, in a process similar to compound interest, achieved success slowly and consistently, with each phases building on the prior one. (8) THE FIVE PATTERNS OF EXTRAORDINARY CAREERS So what are the five patterns of extraordinary careers? As the five chapters that follow will detail, they are to: 1. Understand the value of you. People with extraordinary careers understand how value is created in the workplace, and they translate that knowledge into action, building their personal value over each phase of their careers. 2. Practice benevolent leadership. People with extraordinary careers do not claw their way to the top; they are carried there. 3. Overcome the permission paradox. People with extraordinary careers overcome one of the great Catch-22s of business: You can’t get the job without experience, and you can’t get the experience without the job. 4. Differentiate using the 20/80 principle of performance. People with extraordinary careers do their defined jobs exceptionally well but don’t stop there. They storm past predetermined objectives to create breakthrough ideas and deliver unexpected impact. 5 . Find the right fit (strengths, passions, and people). People with extraordinary careers make decisions with the long term in mind. They willfully migrate toward positions that fit their natural strengths and passions and where they can work with people they like and respect. (9) The average professional with thirty-five years of experience has worked for just over six different companies during his or her career. Yet those with only ten years of experience have, on average, already worked for four companies. (11) Understand the Value of You The most successful professionals have come to understand the underlying factors that determine value in the job market, and how to maximize their market value at different stages of professional life, and why some careers prosper while others peak and decline (15). Your value in the talent marketplace is derived from two distinctly separate elements—the value of your potential and the value of your experience. … The trick is to fill the bag of experience before you empty the bag of potential. Experiential value is usually more highly compensated than potential value for the simple reason that it is much easier to measure what you have done than what you can do. … Even if you find yourself considering a role similar to the one that you have been in, it is important to look for and discuss the growth potential of the new role itself and you in it. … You must turn your potential value into valuable experiences, which together can be converted into renewed potential. (21) The Potential Versus Experiential Promotion: The critical element to potential promotions is trust. It should be noted that potential promotions … are relatively rare. Because these are promotions of trust earned over time, they seldom occur when changing employers, since senior people in the new organization are usually not yet familiar with you or your capabilities. (27) The pattern of leveraging successful experience in one company or industry for the opportunity to do something similar in another plays itself out in a majority of the four thousand searches that Spencer Stuart conducts annually. (29) The Promise Phase The key to building experiential value in your career is straightforward: Gain experiences that really matter. (29) Understanding when it is in your long-term interest to do something in the short run, such as going for a potential promotion within your current organization to position you for an experiential promotion later on , is a key trait of extraordinarily successful executives. Executives switch employers every 4.6 years on average. … When an individual is recruited to a new employer, the appointment is typically accompanied by an increase in compensation of between 15 percent and 30 percent. In general, potential promotions tend to be accompanied by the more typical 5 percent to 10 percent pay raises. (29) Value changes throughout your career, shifting from potential to experiential to potential again.  The path of successful professionals often visibly diverges from that of the less successful in the middle of a career. (31) The importance of the first stage is often underestimated. Start something that will begin the process of building experiential value. Early professional experience will provide feedback and input into what you enjoy and are good at. And it will certainly create the most freedom and alternatives later on. (33) If you choose not to use your potential, you will have still spent it. Working in the promise phase is in fact one of the best times to identify your strengths and passions. … An individual’s ability to convert potential into valuable experience is one of the most important elements to achieving long-term success. (33) There is a twofold goal for the end of the promise phase: to have achieved the endorsement of having worked for at least one recognizable company or institution while having learned enough about yourself to become directed toward a situation that plays to your strengths and interests in the years ahead. One executive interviewed said “Looking back (in the promise phase), I am convinced that not taking a risk at that point in my career would have been an even riskier strategy, because I would have been just another associate.” (35) “It’s amazing how seemingly minor differences in momentum and perspective that you establish very early on in your career can led to such major differentiation later in life.” (36) The Momentum Phase: Your potential value is steadily converted into experiential value as you master functional skills, develop a track record, take on broader responsibilities, manage other professionals, and cultivate a network of business relationships. This is the phase (usually in your mid-thirties, when you shift into the momentum phase of your career. This phase corresponds to the downward fall of the swing, or the point of greatest acceleration. The momentum phase is when many professionals approach their maximum experiential value. (36) If you are on the right track by this middle stage of your career, then you are in a position to take maximum control over your career’s direction. … The most successful executives in the momentum phase achieve positive impact an accelerating rate. (37) Unfortunately, those who haven’t managed this phase are at serious risk of seeing their career stall. If you have been unable to migrate your career toward roles that play to your strengths and passions, enabling the kind of impact to attract the most important opportunities, then you may have lost your greatest opportunity for momentum. (38) [John Porcaro's Weblog]
10:25:55 PM
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Am I cool enough to go to this?
BB readers' discount for Stanford Singularity con. Boing Boing readers can attend the Accelerating Change Conference at Stanford this September 12-14 at a five percent discount:
Special early bird extension: Save $100 (25%) on conference admission until August 4th, for Accelerating Change Conference 2003, Stanford University, September 12-14. PLUS: BoingBoing readers will receive an additional 5% discount by using the discount code "ACC2003-BoingBoing" (no quotations).
The Accelerating Change Conference will be a forum to explore the paradise of resources, as well as the risks and responsibilities, represented by cascading breakthroughs in computational technologies. Ray Kurzweil, K. Eric Drexler, Steve Jurvetson, Tim O'Reilly, William H. Calvin, Howard Bloom, Robert Wright, and 17 other world-class minds will present to 300 attendees. Link Discuss (Thanks, Tyler) [Boing Boing Blog]
1:14:06 PM
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Let Go, Be Yourself, Make the Moment Matter. Diane Reischling recently did some training of folks you might run into if you're in some retail stores in the US, part of Microsoft and HP's "Experience Centers." She talks about highlights from the training in her blog:
"I stood up and said, "The only thing I want to do is to simply give you permission to NOT sell anything. All I want you to do is make sure that customer walks away being known, understands a bit more about how our software can meet some need/curiosity in their life, and believes it's a good thing for the world. If you do all three things each and every time...I'll be thrilled." Total silence. I'm getting that a lot here. :) And then we all decided to come up with three things to remember together as we are in front of customers. I was so inspired by them, that I'm writing them down: 1. Let go - everyone gets to play 2. Be yourself - be real 3. This moment matters " Good advice, no matter what your job, or to whom you're speaking. [John Porcaro's Weblog]
12:56:11 PM
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From KMWorld magazine: How to measure the bottom line performance of KM systems.
Trotta provides some examples of how those seemingly “soft” benefits (of KM systems) can be linked to the bottom line. Employee satisfaction can mean less turnover, which in turn reduces the costs involved in recruiting and training new employees. Improved workflow can mean that a customer’s complaint is addressed in a timely manner and that the customer continues doing business with the company. And having greater knowledge about customers and prospective customers can mean less money spent on marketing and promotion because the message can be targeted to specific demographics. "Customer satisfaction and retention, price premiums and cross selling are all very measurable,” Trotta say. Another way to measure the value of knowledge is to evaluate what it would cost to purchase the same information from the outside. Trotta explains, “What if your salespeople didn’t share information on their customers and prospects, which happens frequently, and you had to buy a database? Get a handle on what that knowledge is worth on the free market.” [John Robb's Weblog]
12:52:07 PM
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Obviously I just subscribed to John Porcaro. What took me so long? He's that nice mix of business/tech/people that I'm after.
11:17:10 AM
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I'm an Ideas Guy (okay, I admit it). From Discover Your Sales Strenghts The Strenghtsfinder Signature Themes report below displays my five most powerful themes, as indicated by the Gallup StrengthsFinder Web-based assessment. MY SIGNATURE THEMES: Ideation: People strong in the Ideation theme are fascinated by ideas. They are able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena. Maximizer: People strong in the Maximizer theme focus on strengths as a way to stimulate personal and group excellence. They seek to transform something strong into something superb. Strategic: People strong in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues. Input: People strong in the Input theme have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information. Intellection: People strong in the Intellection theme are characterized by their intellectual activity. They are introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions. To learn your Signature Themes, buy any one of these Gallup strengths publications, each of which provide an ID code that will allow you to take StrengthsFinder, and will help you think about how to best leverage your talents: If you are a manager, "Now, Discover Your Strengths" will help you think about how you can help other people leverage their talents. You can find "Now, Discover Your Strengths" at any major bookstore, or through this link: http://www.gallup.com/publications/strengths.asp If you are a salesperson or sales manager, "Discover Your Sales Strengths" will teach you to focus on your personal talents and strengths, then guide you to transform those assets into solid sales performances -- and successful careers. You can find "Discover Your Sales Strengths" at any major bookstore, or through this link: http://www.gallup.com/publications/sales.asp [John Porcaro's Weblog]
11:16:35 AM
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Too Much to Do?. Harvard Business School's Working Knowledge has a great article called "Understaffed and Overworked: What Now?"
"The sure recipe for failure is to suck it up and try to do it all," says Isabel Parlett of Parlance Training, a Santa Fe, N.M., firm specializing in business communications. "You'll burn out, your team will resent you, your reputation will suffer, and the work probably won't all get done anyway." 1. Stay Focused. What is its economic impact? Is it aligned with the company's strategy? How will it satisfy stakeholders? What is my level of passion, talent, and energy for it? Do we have the resources? 2. Remember the Little Picture: Get out in front. Create alliances. Manage up. Focus on your new duties. To position yourself, start with your team. Of course, we're all really busy. With the recent reorg, my team's been challenged with continuing all the work we're currently doing, plus taking on more, both from other organizations in our larger group, and more worldwide. There are some great suggestions in this article. Worth a read, and worth a subscription to the newsletter. Link from Dana VanDen Heuvel. [John Porcaro's Weblog]
11:15:24 AM
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Stay In School! (figuratively-speaking). Peter Provost reminds me (us) how important it is to stay current (or ahead of the curve!) in your industry. He links to a slide deck by Dave Thomas (of Pragmatic Programmer fame), who recently published the slides from his talk "How To Keep Your Job". Peter echoes my thoughts: "It always amazes me how few people take any time for personal education once they get a job. They go to work, do their job, and they go home. Very few people allocate any time for continuing education. Read this and pay attention, it is important." It's not enough to do your job, or even to do it well. In the days of downturns and layoffs, playing it safe is the most risky thing you can do. Don't stop studying just because you've finished school, or because you rely on your one-week-a-year professional development program. Programming changes every year, and I'd argue marketing, even management practices, changes just as fast. [John Porcaro's Weblog]
11:14:35 AM
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© Copyright 2005 Rebecca Schwoch.
Last update: 2/8/2005; 2:13:01 PM.
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Fonts that mimic corporate fast food brands (Coke, McDonalds, Burger King, etc.)