NaNoWriMo

I found something new… again.

An online friend pointed me to this site and challenge.  Did you know that November is National Novel Writing Month?  They call it NaNoWriMo for short.  And the challenge is for you to write a novel in 30 days. 

The only requirement:    50,000 words

Sure, there are few other stipulations like you can’t use stuff you’ve already started, or copy something, but basically everyone who writes 50,000 words wins!  And all those words don’t even have to make sense. You can’t type the same word over and over again, but their definition of ‘novel’ is pretty loose – basically, whatever you say it is.

I thought it might be a fun challenge, and something I could get the kids into also.  They have a Young Writer’s Program where they set age appropriate goals for word counts and have some really cool resources for the kids.

You can also find local writing groups who organize write-ins where they all get together and write, I guess.  I haven’t been to one, but it sounds like fun because you have kind of a support group.

I don’t read novels and wasn’t really interested in writing one, never mind coming up with a story, but I read somewhere that “writing is the key to all wealth,” so I thought it would be good for me to get into the habit of writing.  Since I didn’t have a storyline in my head, the only place I could think of to get stories from is my childhood.  And I realized that there is a lot of material there.

So I just started writing about funny things that happened when I was a kid.  Things about my house, dog, friends, elementary school, my brothers, our pool, etc.  Plus my kids are always asking me what I did when I was young, so I thought it would be a good idea to get them down on paper.

If you divide 50,000 by 30 you get a daily quota of 1,667 words, so my goal was to hit the quota every day.  Well, I actually made it each day for the first 3 days.  I made it to 5001 words!  

Then, I fell off the bandwagon.  I’ve continued to write each day, but haven’t made the quota.  I’m hoping to catch up this weekend.

It’s still not too late to get started, you can join any time.  I know I should have posted this before I started, so you wouldn’t be so far behind, but I only found out about it 2 days before November.

Maybe if I get into the habit I’ll be able to post more entries in my blog.  In fact, I’ll probably create some as part of my ‘novel’.  It really is a mish mash of stuff, such as a little history or explanation about my family, crazy made up scenes that lead to an unbelieveable climax then end, some poetry, and streams of consciousness.  They say editing is for December.

Write, write, write!

Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose

I just watched a TED video by Dan Pink on the science of motivation. He makes the case that there is a huge gap between what science knows about motivation and what companies do. Over and over again, study after study prove that the carrot and stick model of rewards and punishment are not effective.

Actually, he says they are effective in the kind of work where the tasks are specific and known, where all you do is follow the predetermined steps to accomplish the work. But in work that requires some creative thinking, or some unknown process or outcome, then the reward model actually makes performance worse.

The new model, that is most effective for the kind of right brain work we do, revolves around three principles: Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose.

Autonomy:  The urge to direct our own lives.

Mastery:  The desire to get better and better at something that matters.

Purpose:  The yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves.

Makes sense to me. I’m realizing more and more that this is the kind of work environment model where I would flourish.

And I would venture to guess that a lot of you would too.

Check out the presentation at http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation.html

Trust Agents

One of my favorite bloggers, Chris Brogan, is releasing a new book, and I’m betting that it’ll be pretty good.  It hasn’t officially released yet (supposed to on August 24th) but it is already #30 on Amazon’s overall top seller list (passing up Twilight).  So a lot of other people think it’s going to be a good book too.

He doesn’t usually self promote, but on one day, yesterday, he made a big push.  Here’s his announcement:

http://www.chrisbrogan.com/the-big-push/

and here’s how to get the book:  http://bit.ly/buy-ta

I think his subject is going to be at the root of how things get done in the future – both online and off.

Trust me.  It’ll be good.

I’m your trust agent.

Because of a Blog

You wouldn’t think that your life could change much just by reading a blog, but somehow mine did.

Maybe because it wasn’t just any old blog that I started reading.  I knew there were  millions of them out there, so it seemed like a good idea to just start with who I thought was probably the best (based on my limited knowledge.)  And as it turns out, after a year or so, and reading a lot of other blogs, I still think it’s the best.

I’m talking about the blog of Seth Godin.

Soon after I started reading it, things began happening to me. 

One day, in one of his posts, Seth offered an opportunity to have our picture on the cover of his next book.  All we had to do was send him a mug shot.  So I said, “Why not?” and sent one in.

Then he made an offer that if we pre-purchased his book before it was released, we could join his Triiibe, an online community hosted on ning.com.  It just so happens that today, July 29th, is the one year anniversary of the launch of this Triiibe (the 3 i’s have special meaning).

And what a year it has been!

It’s kind of hard to explain, but when you bring a diverse group of smart, take initiative -type people together, you get a lot of good discussion, education, and an opportunity to make something happen.  Which is just what we did.

We published two e-books, got one of us to speak at the TED Conference, helped a graphic artist start a comic column, provided some consulting for a company, created more Squidoo pages, started multiple movements, and most of all, built relationships that have enabled countless more things to happen.

And that’s just what the triiibe has done, from my corner, off the top of my head.

In my own personal life, in the past year I’ve been promoted to a dream position as a community builder at the highest levels of the company, started my own blogs (inside and outside the company), earned an Alternate MBA, read many books, organized some big events, and took leadership in making a difference.

All because I started reading a blog.

Who knows, maybe big things could happen to you if you pick the right blog to read.

PS. And my picture did make it into the inside cover of “Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us” (good luck finding it)

Today, in honor of the one year anniversay, a bunch of Triiibe members blogged about their experience. The image below links to another person on the list, but here’s a link to the whole list of Triiibal blogs:

http://mattkern.com/triiibes-links/

triiibes_blog_ring

The Best Writing Advice Ever

Experienced another breakthrough epipany – so I must write.

I’m an Actor

I’ve been acting like a writer lately at work, interviewing people and writing their stories.  I guess the reason I’m doing it is because it’s kind of fun for me, even though I’m a total amatuer (although I have been told by some writers that I’m not bad, which is probably why I keep doing it.)

I Have Good Friends

Last week I was talking to a friend of mine who is a writer and I was telling her how I was kind of dabling in her business.  Since she is very nice and friendly, she gave me some good advice: read copyblogger.com.

It’s kind of funny because it’s one of those things that have been right under my nose for a long time and I never saw it.  It is one of Seth Godin’s recommended blogs, so why didn’t I think it was worthwhile?

Love at First Read

So when I went to copyblogger.com I quickly scanned the blog post titles and immediately fell in love.  Then I started looking at the most popular posts and said, “where have you been all my life?”  I guess I must really be a wannabe writer if the stuff they talk about on copyblogger gets me so jazzed. (Of course those who know me know that I get jazzed about a lot of things pretty easily.) (Which you might be able to tell from my posts.) (But never mind that, this time it’s for real.)

Here is the Best Advice Ever

So here’s one of the most popular posts on copyblogger:  10 Steps to Becoming a Better Writer

Which is why I got motivated again and immediately wrote this post.

No, Actually it’s This One

But then I read this one: The Two Most Important Words in Blogging

And totally blew it in this post.  Do you think it was because I didn’t want to or just habit?  There, now I can say I used them.

Then Again, Maybe…

I do love writing when I produce something good.  But I am pretty slow. It takes me a long time to craft a sentence sometimes.  Then later, I remember how hard it was and how long it took, so I wimp out and don’t do it again.

Which is why this post grabbed my attention and gave me some good stuff: How to Write an Article in 20 Minutes.

Advice is Cheap… and Powerful

I could keep going, but you get the point.  A friend gave me a little advice, read copyblogger, and that turned out to be the best writing advice ever.

Peaks and Valleys

How can a person be completely devoted to a cause, committed to writing in his blog every day for instance, and then, in an instant, turn from his devotion to other interests?

Well, I don’t know for sure, but I’ve seen it done by other people in different areas of life and always wondered, “How can they do that?”  Now I know, or at least have a taste of what happens when a person turns from one thing to another, because I’ve experienced it myself. 

But I’ve experienced it many times, as probably you have too.  Whenever someone starts a diet and then doesn’t stick with it, or whenever a new workout routine is started and not continued.  People are constantly changing things about their life.

Instead of looking at these ups and downs of change during life as failures, I’ve learned to see them differently and take on a new perspective: they are all part of the normal terrain of life containing both peaks and valleys. 

Of course I gained this new perspective from a book (which is why I like books so much) with the same name: “Peaks and Valleys” by Spencer Johnson.  He was the author who wrote “Who Moved My Cheese?” which was very popular a few years ago and so has been read or heard of by almost everyone.  His latest book has a similar style, it is a short parable that teaches deep principles about life.  Another highly recommended book, because it is so quick and easy to read, yet it contains deep messages if you are looking for them.

For example, here are some of the main messages:

Peaks Are Moments When You Appreciate What You Have.

Valleys Are Moments When You Long For What Is Missing.

Peaks and valleys are not just the good and bad times that happpen to you, but they are also how you feel inside and respond to outside events.

The Path Out of The Valley Appears When You Choose To See Things Differently.

And since I’ve read the book, I am starting to see things differently.  So I must be on my way up to a peak.

Hope to see you there!

Communicators

I don’t remember what I signed up for, but I’ve been receiving a daily email called Ragan’s Daily Headlines that contains main headlines from Ragan.com which is a site for internal business communicators.  Even though I’m not an official ‘communicator,’ I do similar work as I communicate with people inside the Boeing company. 

And this Ragan site has some great info.  Relevant stories, videos, and discussions from people trying to make things happen within big corporations.  Again, I found a place with more stuff to learn.

Will it ever end?

 Of course their business model is to hook you with good stuff, then make you subscribe if you want more of their good stuff.  Some articles require you to be a member of ‘Ragan Select’.  But there’s plenty of free stuff for me.

A telephone call

There really is no end to what’s happening ‘out there’ and who are the movers and shakers. 

I found another one, Dave Winer, who pioneered the development of weblogs, syndication (RSS), podcasting, outlining, and web content management software.  He is a former contributing editor at Wired Magazine, research fellow at Harvard Law School, entrepreneur, and investor in web media companies.

What was interesting to me was his  podcast phone call with Chris Brogan, marketing mogul. 

What do you do when you want the world to hear what a smart, influencial person has to say about the latest trends in social marketing?  Call him up, record the conversation, and create a podcast.  Genious.

It’s 30 minutes long, but you don’t have to listen to the whole thing.  It’s just kind of fun to listen to two smart guys having a conversation.  Plus, you can learn something about what’s happening in the twitter, blog, web 2.0 world.

Venus de Milestone: the car

Here’s an interesting story that proves a point about the way projects are managed these days.  What would happen if a car operated the way most companies managed their projects?

http://billiondollarsolution.com/blog/?p=74

There are some fundamental concepts regarding variation in projects that more people should be aware of.

Young Authors

Craig Orback, Illustrator

Craig Orback, Illustrator

This week I had the priviledge of attending a Young Authors Conference with 2 of my daughters who are in 4th and 5th grade.

It was a wonderful event where children from elementary schools all over the area converge on a community college (which happened to be on Spring Break) and get to learn from and interact with real authors and illustrators.  There were several presentations throughout the day and also a bookstore where you could buy the authors’ books and get their autograph.

This year’s theme was poetry, so we met two excellent poets, James Bertolino, and Lorraine Ferra (snagged their books and signatures) and also a very talented children’s book illustrator, Craig Orback - who is a real artist that can create art in a variety of mediums: oil and canvas, pen and ink, water color, pastels, chalk, pencil sketch, etc.

The point I’d like to make is that true scarce skills are still valuable.  These people actually make their living by being very good poets and artists.  Even though the publishing world is changing because anybody can publish a book online these days, and all the new digital tools for creating graphic arts allows almost anyone to become an artist, the fact remains that you still need to have skills to produce high quality material.

Craig told me that work hasn’t slowed down for him at all, just because of the digital age.  And these older poets we met have written many books and their poetry is used all over, in a variety of places.

James Bertolino, Poet

James Bertolino, Poet

So even though the world is changing, and the kids need to learn new skills these days, if they can be the best (or one of the best) in whatever skill they choose, people will want to experience what they produce.  And they’ll always have something to do.

Building Communities

I finally found what I’m looking for.  This is my newest favorite blog, along with this one running a close second.

They’re about building communities, and more about the personal side of it than the technical side.  The posts are short and to the point and provide great insight.

It turns out that community building is now a whole new industry with many available jobs, consultants, books, and communities.  Who knew?

Of course I knew it was a hot topic and something that many people were talking about, but I never dug deep enough to find the actual experts on it.  And I still think I’ve just scratched the surface.

Call me naive or disconnected or out of the loop, but it’s still true: the more you learn, the more you realize you don’t know.

The world is one big place, with a lot of stuff happening.  And just watching TV only makes you think you know what is happening.

The Long Blog Tail

I know for a fact that there are a lot of talented musicians in the world that you have never heard of.

Like this guy for example.

By the same token, there are a lot of good blogs out there that some people may never see (like this one. The one you’re reading.)

So why not share a little and spread the knowledge of something good.

Here’s a good obscure blog that I found.  He has a great post with an interesting analogy for today’s financial situation.

(Okay, so he happens to be a friend at work.)

(Okay, so the musician happens to be my brother.)

How else would I find these things?

Oh yea, I suppose I could surf the net too.  But it doesn’t hurt to start with your world.

The Alternative MBA

I thought it might be a good idea, once a week, to share the book review presentations that we are creating in the Alt-MBA program.  One reason is because they are really well done, and another was to give me some authomatic material at least once a week.

Well, it doesn’t make sense to continually share something that is already on a public web site (so much for automatic material.)  So I’ll just tell you to bookmark this website and check it each week as new book review presentations are posted. 

The guys running the program have done a bang up job.  We also have interviews with some of the authors and have shared those as podcasts in iTunes.  We are trying to show that with the new technology and social tools available today, it can be quite easy to redefine what it means to ‘get an education’.

Respect

Many people of the world understand the basic concept of this word, and in fact, demand it for themselves from others, but obviously we’re a long way from everyone really living it, otherwise we wouldn’t need locks on our house and car doors, security systems, virus protection software, police officers or armed forces.

All these things (and many others) protect us from the disrespect our fellow man gives to us and our property.

We may always need to design more airtight security systems and stronger defense mechanisms for those forces of disrespect that prevail, but they won’t address the root of the problem.

As history can testify, the most powerful force in the world, and therefore also the most dangerous, is an idea.

The most horrifying and extreme case of man’s inhumanity to man in recent history is the story of the holocaust in Nazi Germany, although there are many other similar stories around the world that have not been as publicized.  Our recent terrorist attacks are also examples of the awful brutality that can be administered by our fellow man.

These extreme cases, along with all the others of lesser extreme, are due to some idea held in the hearts of man that justifies their actions.

Therefore, the best offense and defense against these dangerous ideas is to spread the opposing idea of respect for our fellow man.  And when I say ’spread’ I don’t mean like a news story that everyone hears about one day, then forgets the next day. The idea of respect must lie deep in the heart of every individual so that it guides every decision and therefore all their actions.

This kind of deep, imbedded standard of behavior usually doesn’t happen overnight.  It takes many years and most easily occurs during the time when our minds are most impressionable.

It’s called upbringing.

Therefore, the solution is for me to teach my children to respect others.  And to try to teach others to teach their children respect for their fellow human beings.  And when I say ‘teach’ I don’t just mean ‘tell’.  It must be part of our entire way of life.  I must lead by example, and through many little opportunities I must instill in my children’s hearts the strong desire to respect others.

It may not be easy, or work very quickly, but in the end, it’s the only viable solution.

Citizen Marketers

A while ago I posted about a group I joined where we were getting our Personal MBA.  It amounts to reading a bunch of the latest business books and having discussions about them, even sometimes having the authors speak to us in an online forum.

Well, we’ve actually called our version the Alt-MBA (for Alternative) and have been going gangbusters.  We’ve picked our own list of 25 books that we’re reading in 25 weeks, and our only graduation requirement is that we have to teach someone else something we learned.

Now, I’ll admit, I haven’t been keeping up with reading every book (actually the first few were ones I’ve already read) but I’ve still learned a lot from the summary presentations and the discussions, and will be catching up by purchasing a few tomorrow.

So what I really wanted to share today is this latest book presentation on Citizen Marketers by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba.  The presentation is by Cassie Pruett and is best viewed in full screen mode. (She does an awesome job.)  Check it out, it’s only 22 slides and will take you 2 minutes.

By the way, all our presentations are located on SlideShare and all of our podcasts are on iTunes.  A good idea would have been for me to share these presentations once a week when they come out, but since I just thought of it, I’ll try and catch up (we’re only on week 7.)

Anyway, Citizen Marketers is a good one about the new influencers and how it’s all about the online community and (digital) word of mouth these days.

Now go tell someone about it.