April 2007

You Never Know Who You'll Meet                                       April 2007

If you spend much time on an airplane you're certain to meet some interesting characters. In fact, it's normally a total crapshoot who you'll sit by. Some people are interesting, some are not. Some talk like they've spent the last four years on a deserted island with zero human contact. Some have to be checked for a pulse every hour or so to ensure they're still among the living (much like the one I'm sitting next to as I write this article).

Just about every week I get the opportunity to engage in a conversation with someone on an airplane. These people come from all walks of life. Regardless of where they're from, they all have their own interesting story. This past week I met someone with a fascinating story. As I got settled into my seat on the plane, I struck up a conversation with a man who it turned out had a more fascinating story than the average person. He was the inventor of the Post-it Note.

It's not every day that you get to sit next to someone who contributed to forever changing people's communication and organization behavior. Although we were together on a short leg of two much longer flights (I was on my way to Bermuda for an engagement, and he was headed to Tokyo), I took advantage of the opportunity to engage in a very enlightening conversation. Beyond making a new friend, I learned a few things. I looked at the experience he had putting together the Post-it Note product, and walked away with some lessons, including:

You don't have to do it by yourself

Somewhere along the way I had heard the Post-it Note story. I recall that while attempting to create a super-strong adhesive, a scientist at 3M discovered an adhesive that didn't stick very well at all. It turns out that the version I had heard was true. However, I don't recall the part where it took an entire team to make the product a reality. While one 3M employee created the adhesive, it took another employee to find a use for the "worthless" adhesive. It took an entire team of employees to get the product to market. Too often we hear these heroic stories of how one person made a significant difference with their contributions. While they make for interesting stories, they set high expectations for others to do it on their own. I think sometimes we try to do too much on our own, and can accomplish great things if we're just willing to turn to others for their help and expertise.

Hang on to great ideas

The 3M scientist discovered the adhesive used on Post-it Notes in 1970. It took four years before a co- worker found a use for it. In case you're curious, this employee (named Art Fry) was sitting in church one Sunday morning singing in the choir. He used markers to keep his place in the hymnal, but they often fell out. He sat and pondered a solution, and eventually used some of the adhesive to coat his markers. Two observations. One, he used great creativity. Two, that must have been one boring sermon. Although it seemed like a great idea, it took six more years (and an entire team of 3M employees) to make it to store shelves. Production and engineering divisions were unenthusiastic, as was the market. They stuck with it, and six years later it was introduced. How many times have you had a great idea and let it fall to the side because no one else seemed excited? Some times they simply need a little time to simmer to find the best application.

Set aside time to be creative

Take a look at the typical workday. Most people arrive in the morning in hopes of getting through an enormous to-do list. Most of those things never get done because of the myriad of interruptions to help co- workers with their challenges. How can we ever be creative in finding new ways to do our jobs if we're too busy doing our jobs? At 3M, employees are encouraged to be creative. In fact, there is a long- standing policy that permits employees to spend fifteen percent of their time working on projects of their own choosing. Now that's what I call big thinking! You don't have to create the next big idea, or develop a product that's used by just about everyone on the planet --- you just need to spend time finding better ways to improve your own piece of the world.

We cross paths with people every day who can teach us lessons to enhance our personal and professional lives. Whether we're sitting on a plane or spending time with someone we see every day, we can experience the many lessons of life if we're willing to keep an open mind. Of course, if you're on a plane, it helps to sit next to someone with a story to tell. Speaking of which, it's been an hour, and I better check on Mr. Charisma sitting next to me. He hasn't said a word, and I'm not certain he could fog up a mirror.

Here’s to the next lesson. God bless!

Enthusiastically, 

Clint Swindall - President & CEO

*Book Review

Letting Go of Your Bananas... How to Become More Successful by Getting Rid of Everything Rotten in Your Life, by Dr. Daniel T. Drubin

Here's what I've been reading lately ...

Most personal development books are written to suggest "new things" for readers to embrace as they work to enhance their life. Sometimes we simply need to determine what to eliminate in our life, and that's what I found in Letting Go of Your Bananas.

This book, written by Dr. Daniel T. Drubin, encourages readers to let go of negative influences and behaviors. In it, Dr. Drubin explains that in an effort to capture monkeys in Africa, people would place bananas in the bottom of narrow-neck jars. In an effort to remove the banana, the monkey would put its hand into the jar and grab the banana. Unwilling to let it go, the monkey was now stuck with a jar on its hand. Using a rather effective visual, he explains how we hang on to our own rotten bananas (limitations) -unhealthy habits, relationships, jobs, and belief. He shares some common sense ideas on how to get back on track. Nothing ground breaking in the book, but it serves as a great reminder of how success often includes letting go of the rotten stuff in our life.

*Welcome New Subscribers

Over 200 Subscribers Added in April

Next month Everyday Leadership will celebrate its one-year anniversary. Throughout 2006, the database doubled in size. If you joined us in the middle of the year and would like to see previous editions of Everyday Leadership, you can find every edition in the Newsletter Archive at the Verbalocity website.

* Raise a Glass

A reason to celebrate

This month we raise a glass to the progress of Clint's first book, Engaged Leadership: Building a Culture to Overcome Employee Disengagement. The book is in the production phase, and is set for release on the 29th of June. The book cover has been designed, and will be put on the Verbalocity Web site in May. In the meantime, we've put the cover on a back page on our Website. For a sneak peek, click here.

*Quotes

Inspirational thoughts

"The things we fear most in organizations -- fluctuations, disturbances, imbalances -- are the primary sources of creativity."
- Margaret J. Wheatley

"It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all."
- Edward D. Bono

"Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties."
- Erich Fromm

*Question to Ponder

Some time to think

"We've always done it this way." This one sentence is perhaps the most common response any time you try to change something in your personal or professional life that makes someone else uncomfortable. It makes me wonder why we've always done it this way. Is it because no one else is smart enough to think of something better (or different), or is it that we simply don't take the time to be creative? In a world that seems to be moving faster and faster every day, how can we ever expect to find new ways of doing things if we never take time for creativity?

That is my question for you to ponder. At the beginning of each day, I want you to ask yourself that one simple question ... how can I carve out some time today in the midst of all the insanity to think creatively about my personal and professional life?