Posts in Meandering Genius

Interested in blogging? Here are some tips.

Meandering Genius

If you have given a thought to blogging, there are some things I have learned that might help.

Two years ago, I was seriously blogging, along with my business partner on SAXtreme Magazine. Lisa, my business partner taught me some things about blogging that I’m reminded of as I write my blogs every day. If you have any tips after reading this, please share.

Some of her blogging advice I don’t follow like I should, but it’s with reason, but I digress.

Blogging is a lot of work…if you want to do it right. Yea, anyone can put their thoughts done on electronic paper, but can you get your thoughts read?

Let’s start with the blogging platform. WordPress has proven to be a good platform for me, but there are many out there. Choose a platform that provides a lot of tools and free statistics and has a good companion app. WordPress’ app has come a long way, but it still needs a few tweaks.

One of the key things your blogging service must do is auto post your blogs to your social media sites. As a minimum, you should set up a Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter site and then link your blog to them. This helps get your blogs out to the public for consumption. A few people might stumble across your blog in the blogging site, but in today’s world, people expect things pushed to them versus them having to find it.

When thinking about a blog, you need to consider frequency. If you plan to write two or three times a month, then, as my friend Ved says, “Forget about it.” You should blog every day–yep, you heard me right. You should honestly post a blog every day. This will encourage traffic to your site and keep it fresh. If you blog once in a while, then people won’t be too interested in what you have to say.

Also, you should only post one blog a day. This can be hard, because you might have all kinds of things that you want to say in one day and you just want to get them out there. More than one blog is overload for your readers. Keep your blogs to once a day–no more. You can always save blogs for later and on WordPress, when on the computer (not app), you can pre post blogs to release on future days. Lisa and I used to write blogs so much that we would have up to two weeks of blogs pre-posted and ready to go out. On the WordPress app, you can save your post in draft.

Also, you should either write and post your blog early in the morning or schedule it to release early in the morning. This way, the normal people who get up at 8 and log on with their coffee will see your newly posted blog on the top of their mail. Posting later in the day means it might roll down pretty far on someone’s reading list and not be seen. I don’t always follow this rule, but I try.

Having something interesting to say is one thing, but saying it in the title is another. People want to read interesting blogs, not mindless stuff. Leave your daily activities to Facebook and Twitter and blog about your more interesting thoughts. However, if you want someone to read it, make sure you have a title that catches peoples’ interest. Also, keep the title short–no more than 75 characters. This allows it to show on Twitter. Additionally, make sure the first sentence is catchy too. That will show up on Facebook and LinkedIn, so make it memorable if possible.

Here a two tips that I don’t do very well during the week. Mainly I don’t follow them because I use the app and it’s more difficult. Number one is to add tags to your blog. Tags are key words that search engines will find and make your message a bit easier to find by those not on a social media site. The WordPress app doesn’t have. Tagging feature for blogs that you are writing. Second is to add links to other related material. This makes your blog more interesting and effective. If possible link to content on WordPress, if you are using WordPress. This sends a link to the owner of the content and encourages them to come check out your blog–neat huh? The app allows linking, but it’s not easy to find content and link on your mobile phone.

Spelling, grammar, and sentence structure are important. You should read over what you write before you post. I do this much easier when I’m sitting at my computer, but I try on the phone. I like that the phone has auto correct and it works well most of the time. If you are on your computer blogging, then write out the blog in Word first and read it over and then post it. This helps keep it well written.

If you blog from your computer, create a Word template to write in. Every Saturday, I write a very specific blog on this site about Strategic Planning. It’s part of a bigger storyline called Think Big, Take Small Steps. I have a very specific format I follow and my template allows me to stick to the format. I use links to other blogs in the storyline to broaden reading as well, which works. The opening blog is set as Sticky on my site so it stays on the front page when logging into my site.

Using categories on your site allow readers a way to browse your work that they might be interested in. This blog is posted in my Meandering Genius category, which for me means my basic daily thoughts. I think we all come up with interesting things to say…I’m just trying to say them.

Another thing you should do is add a picture with alternate text to your blog. Keep it small when posting unless it’s a photo you are trying to share. This way when the blog posts on Facebook and LinkedIn, the photo goes with the title and tagline. I don’t do this on the app again because it’s just difficult. I always do this on Saturday.

One trick I also found is that once you post your blog you can promote it to LinkedIn. If you click the LinkedIn button at the bottom of the post (after posting) it allows you to post it to LinkedIn. What I use is the post to groups and the. You can select groups you belong to to share your post. I do this on Saturday with my strategic planning blog. This generates the most publicity around your blog and I recommend it.

Well, the last tip is to encourage in your blog feedback and action. Ask your readers to comment and share their thoughts. What I ask from you is to share your ideas on blogging. Tell me if any of these ideas help you. Also, take the time to follow me on the blogging site and let me know you care. 🙂

Choices We Have — Decisions We Make

Meandering Genius

ChoicesEvery day–at work and at home–we are faced with choices.  Some of these choices are fairly big decisions and others are as simple as do I want fries with that or a salad.  Have you ever stopped to consider the options you have to respond to and how the choices are formulated?

Last year, around the end of June, we experienced a hot water heater leak in our house we had just bought in May.  The water heater, like many Texas homes, is in the attic above the second story part of our home.  I won’t go into the choices and decision that led up to this, but the choice and decisions afterward–those I have given a lot of thought to.

I will say, that we (my wife and I) made a choice to get a low deductible when we set up our insurance, which was good.  The damage amounted to about $15,000!

So, here I am with about $13,000 after the initial water repair work.  I have damaged, but dry walls, some holes in the walls and ceiling where things were cut out to allow drying, a couple of pieces of damaged furniture and electronics, and carpeting that insurance said they would replace, but really wasn’t bad off.

We were faced with some options–some choices:

  1. We could get the required repair done (pretty much beyond my fixer upper capability), have some touch-up paint done, and pocket the rest of the cash for the repair and call it done.
  2. We could use the insurance provider’s contractor who would have repaired everything, repainted everything, and replaced all the carpeting for exactly what the insurance was paying.
  3. Or we could get the initial repair work (stuff out of my capability) done and then do the rest of the work ourselves, using the remaining cash to do more than what the contractor would do.

This gives me pause now because I look at the results of the different choices and how pretty much everything we do looks like this.  Sometimes we simply jump at our decisions–we don’t look before we leap–and some times we think about it.  It really wasn’t until after making my decision that I really examined the choices and the results of our decision.  I think these results are true for all choices we make.  First I think we are always faced with three choices and a decision.  Sometimes the choice we make is followed up by three choices again.  But I think we have the Easy, Normal, and Hard choice and, of those, the results are pretty much the same.

  1. Easy Choice:  This would have required no effort on our part, we would have repaired the visible damage, and we would of probably walked away with about $10,000.  This means we would only have repaired that which was clearly damaged.  We would still have the same old carpet and old paint where we were actually being paid to recarpet and repaint everything. Also, this would have taken a couple of weeks at most, so very little impact to us and our lives.  In the near term, we would have had a lot of money to “play” with, but in the long term every time we went upstairs we wouldn’t have been happy.  Thus, we really wouldn’t use the media loft and even probably wouldn’t like going upstairs.  Over time, we probably would forget about the money we made and regret the decision.  For us, it wouldn’t have seemed right to not fix everything with the insurance money, so this choice really had no merit from us.  However, every day we’re faced with this easy choice.
  2. Normal Choice:  Our insurance (USAA) not only backed the promise 100%, but they also have a service to provide a contractor to repair everything based on what you’re being paid for.  If you go with the contractor, they do ALL the work–you can’t subcontract anything or do anything yourself.  They take all the insurance payout and return the entire area to perfect condition.  We would of had everything repaired, repainted and recarpeted.  Yes, everything would be the way it pretty much was, but the paint and carpet would be new.  The work probably would have taken a couple of months and our lives would have been a little disrupted.  I would have had to stay home a lot as contractors worked in the house, but it would have been done.  The thing is, we really wanted to change the décor (painting) with accent walls and specific colors per room.  Also, we wanted to get rid of all the carpet in the home and go to wood flooring.  So, although we would have had all the work done, all the money would have been spent and we really wouldn’t end up with exactly what we want.  Needless, this was a serious choice for us.
  3. Hard Choice:  We’re not contractors.  We’ve done some house work and renovation, but we’re talking a media loft, stairs, a bedroom, a bath area, and a closet–that’s a lot!  But, our hard choice was that we could plan out and do the work ourselves.  What this would mean is we could pick out all our own colors of paint and paint rooms however we wanted and we could get really nice wood flooring–distressed, caramelized, strand bamboo.  Also, we could do some special work on the stirs with tile and wood flooring.  We also would still have enough money to get paint to take care of some other rooms in need and enough paint and wood flooring to do my upstairs office (another bedroom), a bath area, and another closet.  I’ve painted several times, but never put down wood floor, but from my research, with the right tools, it really seemed easy.  The big drawback was doing the work ourselves (a bit of back breaking labor) and the time required would significantly increase on our part.

The choices weren’t simple and once we decided, then we were faced with other choices at the start and even further down the road.  However, we decided to do the remodel ourselves and get exactly what we wanted and a little more.  That decision was made in the middle of last year and we’re still working on the project.  The money (and a little more) has been spent, but as we finish each stage of the project, the sense of accomplishment is very strong.  The paint looks fantastic.  The wood flooring in the bedroom (first room done) turned out to be pretty easy after all and looks incredible.  Yes, we’ve made a couple of mistakes along the way, but we’re really the only ones who will notice them.  When this is all done, which I am planning to be by June (including all the extra work), we will thoroughly enjoy the results.  This will drive us to want to finish our effort of replacing all the carpet with wood floor–it will leave the game room, dining room, formal living room, downstairs office, and master living space with bath and closet (this is a big project).  Also, we’ve learned new things as we’ve gone along and we’re really making the house look like what we want–a place we plan to live in and enjoy for a long time.

So, all of this gave me pause as I look back that we are always faced with choices–easy, normal, and hard–every day.  The easy one results in immediate gratification, takes little effort or time, but pretty much will result in long-term disappointment.  The normal one can work and is usually the best of both worlds.  The time involved isn’t bad and the results are something you can live with.  You’ll not gain a great deal but you won’t lose a great deal in the decision.  It’s pretty much a compromise.  The hard way results in the most long-term gratification from a cost perspective and feeling of accomplishment.  Its difficult because it’s the hard choice.  Making this choice is never easy.

The bottom line is every decision leads to another round of three choices.  Our lives are made up of choices and decisions.  Simple things like do I eat fast food, which is cheap and easy, but tends to be bad for me; do I eat at a nice restaurant, which generally has better choices and food, but costs more; or do I take the time and effort to purchase food, which I can get more for my money and then prepare the food, which is time consuming?  With that last choice you generally get a better meal, a sense of accomplishment, and possibly earn new skills from the activity.  Once you make the decision, you’re faced with another three choices on where to eat and/or what to have.  Each decision results in another easy, normal, and hard choice.

I know that New Year’s is over, but it’s still January.  Still time to make new resolutions.  Look at your life today–really take a good look.  Are you an Easy Choice, Normal Choice, or Hard Choice kind of person?  Maybe this is the year you decide to make a change?  If you’re the Easy Choice person, how satisfied are you in the long run with the choices you make?  Do you even stop when making a decision to examine the choices before you?  Perhaps this is the year you slow down and start to look before you leap?  Or maybe you start taking the longer route a few more times to see if you can handle the work and how the effects feel?  Maybe you’re always the “hard choice” person and you just need to lighten up a little bit?

You know what?  If you got this far, you’re faced with three choices:

  1. Ignore this post altogether and go on with your life.  You’re next choice will be what do you want to do next?  Maybe a little television?
  2. Take a little time (maybe an hour) to consider this blog and examine your life up to now.  Consider your past choices in 2013 or maybe just this past week.  Determine if your are the easy, normal, or hard choice person and think about what you want to do about it.  Make a determination and see where it takes you.  Then maybe you’ll sit down with a good book and read–the news is on in two hours.
  3. Or, you can make the hard decision.  Print out this post and/or share it with family and friends.  Really think about the post and comment on it to share your insights and thoughts.  Sit down and write down a list of the major decisions you’ve made over the last several years–the really big choices and decisions you were faced with.  Also look at the day-to-day choices you’re faced with and group them.  Discuss with your family and friends the choices and decisions of your past and get their input.  Determine how you face life and what that has resulted in for you.  Then decide on if and how you will change and write it down.  Take specific actions and evaluate your progress as you go.  Yea, this sounds like a lot of work…no time for TV…but getting some reading done might be a good thing.  However, consider the benefits of the hard choice…

Here’s to the choices you make in 2014.

TT: Growing up at work

Meandering Genius

Thoughtful Thursday (TT)

Have you ever read, “What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There?”

It’s an interesting book–I read the readers digest version comic book, but got the message.

Human dynamic are very interesting. When you work in a transactions-based operation where you are pushing widgets either in manufacturing or office, you come to work at a specific time and leave at a specific time and work is shoveled at you while you are in the work center. As you move up, you focus more on the shoveling versus the doing, but the environment is the same. Normally these positions, until you get to management are hourly non-exempt. Then, if you do well or hire out, you might move to a salary job (exempt).

Now your life is focused on you determining your own hours and you tend to shovel your own work to yourself.

The transition is normally difficult for many who were used to being told what time to arrive and given work to do that followed specific processes (followed or not).

Now you are thrust into a role where you have to take the initiative to determine your role and find work. Also, you tend to stay longer hours (as normally expected) to get things that need to be done. Your deadlines are are in days and weeks versus seconds and minutes. The focus is quality over quantity.

How does one effectively make this transition? This isn’t the only transition, but tends to be the first one in the work-a-day world.

Training a culture of continuous improvement

Meandering Genius Process Improvement

So, I’m faced with a interesting challenge. How do you evolve a quality training program to develop a culture of continuous improvement?

Providing more of what isn’t working doesn’t seem like a logical approach. If you’ve been training yellow belts, green belts, and black belts, but it’s not having much effect, will more of the same type of training help?

Has anyone had success in this area?

If you want to train leadership, do you train them the same way? Won’t it be just as ineffective? Is there a method of giving them a demonstrated training approach that they could replicate and pass down that contains the burning platform, an overview of methodologies that can be trained to masses, engagement with literature discussion, and tours of quality and non quality organizations? Ideas?

Would you hold simple stand alone training and pull everyone out of their work centers or inculcate your message in all the current organizational and culture training programs? Or both?

Definitely a quandary and would love to hear your thoughts?

Your new home–direct from the printer?

Meandering Genius

20140121-051425.jpgSo, what have you read about 3D Printers?

I want you to imagine that these machines–this concept–has only been around now (popular-wise) for a year. They gained a lot of press several months back when it was learned that they can print working guns. I went to a presentation on them three or four months ago and basically, they can built anything–well print anything–out of any material up to titanium.

Today they are applying this technology in the medical field to reconstruct body parts and in space to make whatever is needed on the fly (sounds like Star Trek doesn’t it?).

Now today they are saying they can construct a printer large enough to print out (i.e., build) multi story homes. Next it will be apartments and then high rise buildings.

What about printing a copy of yourself? Shades of Multiplicity–“I like pizza!”

Today garages are looking at simply printing replacement parts for new cars and heck, why not simply print me a new car while you’re at it.

What can your imagination dream up to print–it would seem that size is not a limiting factor nor is base material? Think about it.

This message printed without the use of a 3D printer.

Using a maturity model for large problems

Business Consulting Meandering Genius

I really only started learning about maturity models about five or six years ago. I had heard of them, but didn’t know what one was. Over the last couple of years I have applied and seen the positive effect of a maturity model on a major problem.

What is a maturity model? I’m glad you asked. Basically a maturity model provides a measurable framework to systematically and deliberately improve the thing you are looking at.

Probably the most popular maturity model is CMMI, which was built off the original maturity model call CMM. It is used to measure the maturity of information management domains. CMM was created to evaluate IT contractors for the Air Force. Today there are maturity models for many things

Two years ago, when I was just starting to work in document management with USAA, I learned about the GARP assessment, which is a records management maturity model. The name changed recently, so look it up under ARMA it interested. Also, a past consultant called DOCULABS provided their assessment of our document creation activity with a nine vector model. As I researched more, I saw several document-related models, mostly focused on stovepiped parts of the document life cycle or strictly on the electronic content management domain.

So, without anything to leverage, we built our own holistic document management majority model, which we call the DM3.

The point of this blog though is to focus on the important tool.

How a maturity model works. Basically, it’s a pretty simple table. Across the top you define a set of levels for measuring the maturity. I have seen three and five-level models. The DM3 is a five level model. The first level is the very basic level of maturity, like the item doesn’t exist and the highest level of maturity is the best it could be. Our levels range from AdHoc to Best in Class.

Then, along the left edge of the table is a list of major functions or capabilities. We used very holistic things like Strategy and Organization with a short definition of what they mean. Our model has six functions, but some have more and maybe you’re only looking at the maturity of one thing.

At each level, you define what the function or activity would look like. Thus you can easily determine what the best and worst would look like for your model. In our AdHoc level for Strategy, we’re basically saying that what strategies exist are developed in an AdHoc fashion at best and nothing is linked–basically everyone is following their own strategy Nd thus there really is no strategy. Best in Class would mean there is one single definitive and well developed strategy with a fully funded and detailed roadmap. When you are dealing with a big issue like document management for a Fortune 200 company, this is pretty important.

The beauty of the model is that you now have a stake in the ground to measure where you are today and clear expectations of where you need to go. This is especially helpful if you are dealing with a really big issue. We have found the DM3 to be a great tool to measure, plan, and communicate. Our hope is to share this device for broad use and then it also becomes a benchmark against all companies dealing with document management.

For you there might be a model already developed that you can quickly adopt. If not, they are really quite easy to design and use. Perfecting one can; however, take some time.

Good luck and I hope this information is helpful. Let me know if you use a maturity model of any type in your dealings?

An opportunity to vent regarding ASQ

Blogging Business Consulting Meandering Genius 1 Comment

Well, thank you American Society for Quality (ASQ) for providing me with a topic for today’s blog.

My faith in ASQ has been restored.  All I can say is that when something doesn’t seem right, challenge it.  That’s really what ASQ is all about anyway. (see recent blog)

I have been an extremely active member of the local ASQ Section in San Antonio for many years, not only attending most meetings, but speaking at several of them.  I’ve been on their standing list for the last three years to call upon at the last minute if they need a speaker and I speak at least twice a year.  I’ve been a member of ASQ since early 2000, soon after returning to the states (retired from the military in 2008).  I even attended the world conference last year and had planned on attending this year–I offered to present at the world conference this year, but ASQ wasn’t interested in my topic.

I’ve been going to school for a long time–11 colleges to date–due to military moves and earning four degrees.  I’ve been a management consultant for the last 20 years (internal and external) and my recent Master’s Degree is in Quality Systems Management.  I also have earned Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, Black Belt, and Master Black Belt certifications and I have two Change Management certifications–Prosci and a Master’s-level certification from Georgetown University (Change Management Advanced Practitioner).  Additionally, I’m trained to be a PMP, but never bothered with the certification.

There are three main categories of membership in ASQ, Full, Associate, and Student.  Full Membership in ASQ provides little difference from Student, except price–Associate cost less then Full, but more than Student, but has very little benefits.  Because I’ve been a student the entire time I’ve been an ASQ member, I always selected the Student membership category.  It has pretty much the same membership benefits, but is much cheaper.  This year’s renewal would have gone from student to full since, for the first time in many years, I’m not a student, but I am considering starting my PhD in Organizational Psychology this year, which would have made me a “student” again.  However, I didn’t “chose” the category because of the price, but simply because I’ve been a student for my entire membership and plan to continue with school in the future.  After all, it is a category of membership, right?

This year, instead of staying with the Student category, I thought I would apply for a special category–the Senior membership category.  I had thought that with my experience, education, and involvement with ASQ, that would be the right decision at this point in my life.  I had actually hoped to someday be considered a Fellow with ASQ, but you have to be a Senior member for three years minimum first.  These advanced memberships are for loyal and longtime members that serve as the backbone of the Society.  Regarding Senior membership, ASQ says, “Leadership and professional achievement do not go unnoticed by ASQ.”

Well, I submitted for the Senior membership category this week and I received this email from ASQ yesterday:

“Thank you for applying for Senior membership.  We are unable to process your application at this time due to one requirement has not been met.  You must be an ASQ Full member in good standing for at least one year prior to the date of application for advancement.  Your currently not an individual full member but are a student member.”

I seriously would recommend ASQ consider not using membership levels as their criteria.  Senior Member in my mind denotes someone with a high level of experience, education, and involvement with ASQ–punishing someone because they’ve been a student for several years (it’s a category of membership after all) really doesn’t make sense.  However, if a ‘full membership level for one year’ is their key “requirement” to be considered a Senior Member over experience, education, and involvement, then I’ll guess I’ll have to consider whether I’m with the right organization or not.  It would seem that money is more important to them than accomplishments.  Maybe I’ll simply let my membership drop since clearly the Senior membership in ASQ means very little in the grand scheme of things–people will look at it and simply say, “Oh, he just paid more money.”  Now I wonder if being an ASQ Fellow means anything either.

Needless, I’m very disappointed with ASQ–they seem to have lost focus on what is important as a professional organization.  What are your thoughts?

Consultant is a dirty word

Business Consulting Leadership Meandering Genius Strategic Planning

When someone uses the word “consultant,” what comes to mind?

The age old joke is that a consultant is someone that will take your watch and tell you what time it is.

Consulting as a rule has a bad rap because of a lot of bad consultants. It’s really quite easy to do a lot of interviews and research only to tell an organization what they really already know. Sometime this is valuable to the organization if you are honest in your assessment. That’s where really bad consulting takes shape–the consultant tells the client what they want to hear. This is a sure fire way to destroy your credibility.

In my 15 – 20 years as a consultant, it is pretty clear that you need to find out what’s happening in the organization and document the as-is. The most important aspect of this is to be honest, followed closely by really being able to understand an organization’s issues and operation fully. Delivering an as-is that is honest and complete can sometimes be difficult, but when done tactfully, I have yet to be thrown out f someone’s office.

The real skill is to know what are the top issues facing a company before you even start doing your assessment. If you’re calling me in, your number one problem is a lack of communication. You probably have leadership and management issues, there is a lack of formalized performance and process management, your organization lacks any formal employee development approach and probably is doing little to deliberately develop employees. You might have a strategy, but you came up with it in a conference room. Most of all, you know you have a problem but you have no clue why it’s happening.

So, before I start and assessment, I already know what to look for. Plus, I know what needs to be fixed and how to generally do that–plans vary based on the organization.

That leads to one of the most important things that a consultant can do–become one with your client’s mission and vision. If they don’t have it written down, ferret it out of them. Being part of the team focused on the purpose f the team and focused on where they are going builds a level of trust that you “get them.”

The other thing is that you have to have the ability to provide quick improvements, sometimes even during the interviews–solve the immediate needs and get quick wins. This means a consultant has to be an “executor.” Be willing to roll up your sleeves and turn a wrench or two when you see a bolt that needs tightening–no extra charge.

Lastly, you have to be able to turn that assessment into a gap analysis between where they are today Nd where they need to be–even if they don’t know where that is today. Out of that analysis you determine the things that MUST CHANGE for them to be successful. Most of all, I find organizations are doing well operationally, but on the business side they have. Lot of roadblocks. That’s because in order to safe on inefficient operations, they lean out the professional staff or neglect them altogether.

Consultants, focus on being a partner to your clients and delivering solutions that last not telling them the time with their own watch. Clients, look for the consultants that can already tell you what is wrong in your organization before they step one foot inside it. Also, have the intestinal fortitude to accept that you might be part of the problem and let the consultant tell you the truth.

Life is like golf

Meandering Genius

How many of you play golf? How many actually like the game? Well, I started playing back in early 2000 and it didn’t take me too long to figure out that every hole in golf is like a day in our lives.

When you play golf, you take every hole one at a time. Each hole provides different challenges and different rewards. Every day in our lives is much like that too.

Think about when you wake up in the morning or even before you go to bed the night before. You think about the day ahead of you. When do I need to be to work, what meetings are planned, what do I need to get done, etc? Golf is the same–you depart the last green and you start to think about the next hole you will play. What is par for the hole, what club will I start with, what hazards will I need to avoid, etc?

How a professional approaches the game of golf and how you approach you day can have a direct correlation. A pro learns the course before competition and then develops a plan to deal with the course each of the four days he will play it in a tournament. Pros know which are the easy and hard holes that they will have to deal with every day. The pros also examine how something like weather conditions can change the course each day. Planning out how you will deal with future days before they happen is pretty much the same.

The hole you play is much like the day you’re having–you have a plan, but sometimes things don’t work like you plan them, right? In golf, how well you hit the ball, wind conditions, and even humidity can affect the perfectly planned golf shot. What you planned to be a hole in one turned out to end up is a hazard–the unexpected.

It’s really not how we play the perfect game of golf–the one that is perfectly planned and happens exactly as expected. It is how we respond to the hazards that crop up in our day when we least expect them. Do we adjust our stance, accept the bogey lay up, and play through; or do we refuse to recognize the hazard and try to make our original plan happen even when it’s not feasible to achieve?

The biggest thing is that how you play every hole on the golf course is like every day in your life. Yes, you might have trouble on one hole, but if you can put that behind you, you can move forward and succeed in the game. Life is the same–do you focus on past mistakes and past challenges, or do you continue to strive to achieve greatness that you originally envisioned in your plan?

Without risk, there is seldom reward. Most of the time we play the same golf course all the time. When we start out playing, we believe that we can make the green in one stroke and putt in for birdie. However, experience on the course reins in our expectations and after a while we become happy with a double bogey on the hole. We have let our past experiences hold us back from going for the green in one every time–we learn to play it safe and stay out of trouble (and stay off of other’s people’s radar).

Like him or not, Tiger Woods has always been a risk taker. He is an exciting player to watch because with every shot, he believes he can do more so he tries it. He pushes himself and when Tiger messes up, he usually does so on a grand scale. Do you push yourself everyday or are you content with a 100 game?

Everyday we are faced with a choice in life, do I go for the green or do I lay up for a safer second shot? The things that the pros do is practice getting better at the game and this they reduce the chance in their shots and become more accurate. This is something we can do in life as well. Have you stopped going to school or is there some work-related training you can take that would improve your day-to-day ability. Do you jump at the opportunity to play another course–one that you are not familiar with, or do you remain content (and stagnant) with the same old par three course you have learned very well. Even if a new course isn’t available to you, how well do you know the one you play every day and do you constantly try to improve your game on the same course every day?

So, regardless if you love the game or never played, take today to look at your day and the days in the future to plan out your game. Look for the opportunities to go for it and try a few risks on your same old course. Up your game with new equipment and training that allows you to play better over time. Practice at being better. And most of all, seek out the opportunity to play on new courses whenever possible, even if it’s one day.

Today is your day to challenge yourself to play better.

It’s been a while…

Blogging Meandering Genius Publishing

I was just looking back at past blogs and my last one was when I released my paperback, One Dead Marine. That was in 2012.

Back then the WordPress app was pretty weak, so I literally had to sit down at the computer and write. Now, when the thought hits me, I can put a daily blog together. That seems to be inspiring me.

Lately I have been examine lots of productivity tools in the area of phone apps. The market seems ripe, but I’m not seeing a lot. At work I often think about some of the apps that could really speed up things. We use Good for the Enterprise and often I don’t see much Good in it at all.

A couple of years ago, after I got my iPhone, I bought the Lark at Best Buy. It’s an armband that tracks your sleep at night and wakes you up by vibrating. I’m thinking there are better tools out there today for this.

In a world where Google Glasses, Autonomous Vehicles, and 3D Printers are taking the center stage, I think we have a lot of room to improve on what we have today.

What are your thoughts? Do you use any apps that make your life more productive?