Tyler Jorgenson

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!

I’m a fan of Seth Godin. To me he is a lot more than a marketer and businessman, he is a thought leader and ‘agent of change’. I had the privilege of meeting him a couple of weeks ago when he spoke here in Southern California. There are a few major points that stuck with me and I’ll post about them separately.

Seth’s new book, Linchpin is about being indispensable. It’s a great read so far and I highly recommend picking up a copy. One thing he covered that stuck with me was a hierarchy of work skills. I’ve outlined them in the hierarchy below.
Taking a look at this hierarchy, where do you fit in? The lower down the list you get the easier it is to be dispensable. Just after returning from Africa I worked at UPS for 2 months. I lifted stuff, and I was easily replaced. If you are on the bottom 4-5 levels of the hierarchy you must take great strides within your company or market to become that one individual that can not be lost. I challenge you to find something that you can do in your work today that will set you apart from the partially cognizant cogs working around you.

Tyler Jorgenson and Seth Godin at the LinkedOC event at the St. Regis in Monarch Beach February 11th 2010

Starting the weekend off right with a trip to the dump with my best
friend.

Blogging is dying, or maybe it’s already dead. I’ve been noticing that people still do blog posts and that blog activity is still high (so say our analytics) but that people have started to comment less and less. This may be happening for a few reasons.

Why Blogs are Dying

1. When the blogging craze was picking up steam a few years back people followed 10-15 other people’s blog posts. Today it seems to have bloomed to dozens. In the old days if I were a Mommy Blogger sitting down in my spare 45 minutes between laundry, soccer practice, cooking dinner and church meetings I would have been able to squeeze off a post about cheerios in the nose and still blog surf and leave a few comments. But now, after writing that post I have to try and navigate 50 blogs with updates just so that the next free moment doesn’t greet me with 100 new posts. I’m fighting a losing battle.

2. Facebook. The present of the internet landscape has changed the way we interact. The advent of the ‘Like’ button has greatly sped up the ability to leave our stamp upon a status update, note, picture, etc. Plus, everything streams to one central place. No more hunting down, link to link, somebody’s most recent post. It shows up in a summarized feed.

I’ve had this blog since before the word was well understood and I haven’t always been the most active poster. I enjoy the medium but have found the centrality that facebook offers much more appealing in the long run.

Why Blogs Will Still Exist

1. Some people still use postal mail for letters. Some people haven’t adopted the reality that facebook isn’t a fad. Some people are slow to change.

2. It’s great for SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Although I feed this blog into my facebook profile it’s still a good source for increasing search engine rankings. Although the present and future of the web may be more focused on social networking sites blogging can be a great tool when properly applied.

3. Many people do it more for themselves than for others. For many, especially ‘Mommy Bloggers’ posting a new post on their blog provides 2 things. A sense of accomplishment and a journal for the future.

What’s Next?

I have no idea. I understood why Facebook would work but am still surprised that Twitter was such a crowd pleaser. There will certainly be new things in the future as change is the only constant. One thing I would recommend, don’t be afraid of change. Enjoy the technology and advancements, just don’t forget that real life relationships are what matter most.

Wake up to this outside of your window:

1. Wait inside a stuffy old Dennys for my next meeting.
2. Wait here (see photo) and check email.

I'm getting ready for a great work day. I have some meeting lined up
but am most excited by the changes I am making to my business plans.

Meeting 1: Temple

Yesterday I did my first 20 minute exercise in speed reading. The first step was to calculate words per minute (WPM) baseline.

Baseline – 244 Words Per Minute

I then did 6 exercises for a total of 11 minutes of reading.

New Speed – 350 Words Per Minute!