Tyler Jorgenson

At night I read Fiction books to clear my mind and escape a little.  Recently I finished my first ebook by reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen on my iPhone.  Although it is the favorite book of a large percentage of women I found it to be enjoyable to somebody such as myself, who is a man.  One quote struck me early on.  It was said by the female protagonist, Elizabeth Bennett, who had a sharper eye and keener wit that the other women in the book.  Speaking about a man that was handsome, bright and wealthy some of the ladies commented that he was vain.  Elizabeth Bennett commented that:

“Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.”

I am not a supporter of unfounded pride, or the type of pride that causes one to look down upon others.  This is more of a post on the vice of vanity.  I’ve spoken with a lot of people that have had a hard time at work, or some other interpersonal situation, where they felt criticized and discouraged by the opinion of others.  If you are doing your best work and you are proud of what you’ve accomplished do not let others take that away from you.  Most likely they’re being critical because they aren’t doing their best and they don’t like seeing you do yours.

The rub to all of this is that if you aren’t doing your best, if you are doing the average and the ordinary, then you deserve to be the recipient of all the fiery darts of criticism.  Allow yourself to feel the pain of doing something mediocre, then resolve never to do so again.

What could you do with $750?

This photo was taken by affixing a pocket camera to a helium balloon.  The photographer, Robert Harrison, attached a Canon Sure Shot camera to a high altitude helium balloon.  The contraption made it 22 miles up before the balloon burst and deployed the parachute.  Harrison then recovered the camera using a GPS device he’d installed.

See more photos here.

This may not change the world for most of us but I still think it’s meaningful work.  Harrison made a choice to do something remarkable and although it was simple in design it took some skill and diligence to execute.  His photographs are now circulating around the world and reaching people that they may inspire.  They’ve inspired me.  Next time I go to spend anywhere near $750 I’ll remember that some guy in the UK spent that much to fly higher than a spy plane.

He who never leaves his country is full of prejudices.
– Carlo Goldoni

Living in South Africa for two years changed me in many ways. One major lasting effect that it had on me was the knowledge that material goods have very little connection to ones happiness.

During my time in Africa I worked in a variety of locations, each with their own sub cultures and sometimes different languages. At one point I was in a wealthy suburb with guard gated communities, fancy cars, maids and even milk and bread delivery services. I remember sitting down as a dinner guest at one particular house and being taken back that each course of dinner was brought out at the ringing of a bell which the lady of the house kept next to her plate. A week later I was in a remote area outside of Bloemfontein and was working with the people that would have been grateful to answer the bell and have a job.

More surprisingly was that, after my initial callousness wore off, I realized that the people in the new area appeared to have greater happiness than many of the people I had known in the rich suburb.

I share this story and the above quote because I think some prejudices are only removed through experience. It is for this reason that I want to travel the world with my children and let them see and learn first hand how people live outside of Southern California.

Have you ever traveled somewhere that has changed you?

One of the songs that I sing to my kids at bedtime is ‘Up On The Roof’ by The Drifters.  I don’t know how it started, but it’s one they choose quite often.  I was singing the first verse to myself today and thought that although I don’t actually go up on the roof to escape each of us must have somewhere we go to just escape.

Where do you go to escape?

What is your ‘roof’?

This is me on a roof in Sandton, South Africa

	James Taylor – Up On the Roof .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

When I was in Boy Scouts we went on a trip to the Palomar Observatory.  While touring the giant dome that holds the massive telescope the guide told us that one of the biggest challenges the ginormous lenses were up against was, not distance or space or anything natural, but the lights from the city.  Light pollution apparently is a big problem for astronomers.  As cities grow and more and more hotels offer to ‘leave the light on for you’ the cosmos get harder and harder to explore.

The world is a noisy place these days and it’s not the noise we hear with our ears that’s the problem anymore.  We’re connected 24/7 via cell phones, twitter, facebook.  We used to watch tv when a show was on, now our DVR’s stealthily record hours of television and plea for us to pass our invaluable hours plopped down on the sofa with a tub of cheese balls.  Add to technology the demands on our time from jobs, school, church and other social activities and one hardly has time to remember which flowers are roses, let alone smell them.

I recently eliminated 50% of my daily incoming email and stopped email from automatically ‘pushing’ to my iPhone.  It’s like I just got a piece of my life back.  In my minds eye I can see the classic Apple commercial with the chick throwing the hammer through the giant screen.  I’ve got a little piece of me, a piece that was stolen by technology, back and oh how I missed it!

Eliminate noise and start (again) listening to the thoughts in your head.  You may have an idea that’s been trying to get out, and who knows, maybe that idea can change the world.

When I was a kid I remember going to the video store to rent a VHS.  (For readers under 21 those were what we had before DVD’s.  For readers under 16 DVD’s were what we used before streaming video).   Renting videos in the 80’s was fun.

I drove past a new video store yesterday.  Well, it wasn’t so much new as an old Hollywood Video store with a new name.

Hollywood Video owner filed bankruptcy this year and closed 805 stores.

I wonder what entrepreneur had this thought, “Wow, a major national video rental establishment couldn’t cut it in today’s market despite all of their experience and financial backing but if I can lease the building, buy the inventory and change the name I can make it work and be rich!”

Sometimes it’s best to just let sleeping dogs lie.

Not too long ago selling ads in the phone book was a pretty lucrative sales position.  Not too long ago there was a pretty big market for payphones in public places.  Not too long ago people would search their pockets for a quarter to make a call.

Times have changed.

I took this picture of a wall full of empty payphone booths in a hotel the other day (5 points if you can name the hotel).  Change happens in business.  The trick is to not get left behind.  Take a look at your industry.  Chances are it’s going through some sort of change right now.  If you find that the market is moving away from your industry it may be wise to make a change.

Just because something was important yesterday, doesn’t mean it matters today.

It’s easy to just show up and go with the flow, that’s probably why most people take that route.  There are certainly times when it’s ok to follow instructions and wait your turn.  Going through security at LAX is as good a time as any to just shuffle along.

But at work, why?

Most of us spend at least 40 hours of our waking hours week after week doing a job.  We punch in, we do some stuff, we punch out and go home.  Nobody said that ‘stuff’ in the middle had to be boring, but somewhere along the line we accepted it.  Somewhere it became ok to just do the stuff and go home.  I have an old habit of watching shows recorded on my DVR when I should be fast asleep.  Tonight I was catching up on NBC’s Thursday night line up and watched 30 Rock.  Jack Donaghy, Alec Baldwin’s character, pontificates at one point about how America has become a nation of consumers and that we need to start producing again.  I’m not taking the credit for the script or anything, but I’ve been saying this for the past couple of months.

I’ve never worked in a factory.  One summer I helped out a friend’s Dad that was a contractor.  Those two days were hard labor.  No, I’ve never been a roll up your actual sleeves and get to work guy.  I have, however, been a roll up your proverbial sleeve and let’s tackle this business strategy type of guy.  Producing can mean making widgets but it can also mean doing something meaningful with the time between clock punches.  Making a connection with a co-worker you barely know, discovering a more efficient process for handling a mundane office task, helping a customer have an extraordinary experience.  This is producing and it’s work that matters.  At least it’s work that matters to the co-worker, the office manager and the customer.  If you’re going to spend so many hours of your life punching the clock, don’t waste your time in the middle.  Do work that matters.

1989 introduced the world to Bill & Ted, a couple of misfits from San Dimas, CA that ended up having a most excellent time traveling adventure.  My Father quoted a line from the movie for some years later.

“Be Excellent To Each Other.”

Sure, it’s the 80’s version of the rule “do unto others as you would have others do unto you” but there’s something more involved.  What can you do in your next interaction with a co-worker that would be excellent?  The next call you answer for work, how can you treat that customer with excellence?  When you get home from work how can you be excellent to your loved ones?

Too often the vice of apathy and complacency robs us of rich experience and weakens the connections we have with the world around us.

“Be Excellent To Each Other.”

While discussing business plans and ideas with a friend today the concept of causing a market disruption was introduced.  Reference was made to Clayton Christensen, a Harvard professor and author of whom I had not yet been acquainted.  Upon visiting Christensen’s site I found this key concept:

Disruptive innovation, a term of art coined by Clayton Christensen, describes a process by which a product or service takes root initially in simple applications at the bottom of a market and then relentlessly moves ‘up market’, eventually displacing established competitors. 

As readers of this blog know, I am a big fan of Seth Godin.  Seth often quotes a banner he saw in Wal-Mart that says,

“You can’t out Amazon, Amazon”

What that means is that you can’t beat them at their game, their model or their business plan.  To become a major player in that marketplace you have to disrupt the market and cause a shift.  If you think of companies that have made it big in the last 5 years I doubt you will think of any that are following an old business model or operating under and aged paradigm.  To make it big a company must shift the market through innovative ideas and brilliant execution.  It certainly isn’t easier, but it’s certain to be a short cut.

Consider this concept in your job or in a relationship.  If you truly want to get things to the next level can you really expect to get there by doing the same old thing?  ‘If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got’.

I don’t normally even open email forwards, but I did the other day and found this gem. 
Quick Lesson in Judgment

I was shocked, confused, bewildered
As I entered Heaven’s door,
Not by the beauty of it all,
Nor the lights or its decor.

But it was the folks in Heaven
Who made me sputter and gasp–
The thieves, the liars, the sinners,
The alcoholics and the trash.

There stood the kid from seventh grade
Who swiped my lunch money twice.
Next to him was my old neighbor
Who never said anything nice.

Herb, who I always thought
Was rotting away in hell,
Was sitting pretty on cloud nine,
Looking incredibly well.

I nudged Jesus, ‘What’s the deal?
I would love to hear Your take.
How’d all these sinners get up here?
God must’ve made a mistake.

‘And why is everyone so quiet,
So somber – give me a clue.’
‘Hush, child,’ He said, ‘they’re all in shock.
No one thought they’d be seeing you.’

Judge not & Remember…

Just going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in your garage makes you a car.

Every saint has a PAST…
Every sinner has a FUTURE!

During his amazing presentation at LinkedOC Seth Godin shared this bit of inspiration with the crowd.

“Just because the tide is out doesn’t mean there is any less water in the ocean.” – Seth Godin

If Twitter is a good indicator, it hit a chord with a lot of people.

Consider this quote in relation to today’s economy or job market.  Sometimes it’s a matter of changing where you are looking rather than giving up.  It wouldn’t make much sense to cast your lines from the side of a boat that was beached.  Get the boat back in the water, then go fishing.

Here’s to your success!  Happy fishing!