groupcreate

purpose:

groupCreate is a collective of individuals who are interested in changing the world. The primary focus of this group is to generate world changing ideas and solve problems that make the lives of the group members and the people around them better. Our current thought exercise is the personal mba reading list.

If you are interested in joining the group, send us an email.

New Website Option

So I asked my friend who is rather "techy" about website hosting and he said that Google Wave may be worth checking out for what we are looking for. I will try to do some investigation myself.

: )

one love. nate.

Real Life Example of 80-20 Project Management

One of the tenets in The 80/20 Principle, is to “impose an impossible time scale” for project management. With an impossible time scale, author Richard Koch writes, people will identify the 20 percent solutions that will bring 80 percent benefit.

Last night (10/21/09), on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, I heard a real-life example of this. Judy Woodruff interviewed Steven Rattner, described as the man behind the overhaul and rescue of Detroit’s auto companies. He has an article out in Fortune magazine outlining his role. What I found most intriguing was how he described the impossibility of the project.

He says, “The whole thing was -- was very traumatic, because I almost didn't take this job, as I wrote in the piece, because I looked at the situation, and I said, these companies are going to run out of money in a couple months. Bankruptcy is generally a multiyear process.

It was not -- it wasn't clear we were going to be able to restructure these companies. They had tried for -- people had tried for years to restructure these companies, and failed. How were we going to manage to do this in a couple of months?

But it's -- it's a little like the saying, never let a crisis go to waste. The urgency of this, the magnitude of the problem ultimately caused all the stakeholders to recognize they had -- they had to help.”

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/july-dec09/gm_10-21.html

Re-direct the Journey with 80-20 Thinking

The first set of books on the Personal MBA ™ reading list is all about self-knowledge, productivity and effectiveness, http://personalmba.com/best-business-books/. 

On the groupCreate project, we’re now reading the fourth book in this section of seven. At just about half-way through the list, I can say that this section alone has already transformed my future. I can only imagine the goodness to come! Thank you, Josh Kaufman, for putting this list together.

The current book is The 80/20 Principle, by Richard Koch. Even though I already had a grasp of the basic 80/20 concept, this book startled me awake in how to apply the principle in novel ways.

Richard Koch has a summary of 80/20 insights for individuals (pp 142-143 paperback) that is just wonderful. One key idea is that 80 percent of achievement and happiness takes place in 20 percent of our time—and that those peaks can be expanded greatly. He suggests examining our lives for our “happiness islands” and focus on multiplying them.

One of my favorite re-thinks was the author’s declaration that too much analysis was harmful. I enjoy research, but have found that there is a point of diminishing returns when researching for the benefit of a specific project. (Some years ago I knew WAY TOO MUCH about computer monitors.) What I learned from this book was a practical way of drawing the line on analysis.

For example:

• Take guesses first, then analyze just enough to find out if you are on the right track or not
• For important decisions, gather 80 percent of the data and perform 80 percent of the relevant analyses in the first 20 percent of the time available, then make a decision 100 percent of the time and act decisively as if you were 100 percent confident that the decision is right
• If what you have decided isn’t working, change your mind early rather than late
• When something is working well, double and redouble your bets
• Schedule time to step back and ask yourself what you are missing

He also discusses 80/20 thinking as unconventional, and gives advice about how to apply it. Here’s the quote that crystallized the approach for me:

“Our objective, as 80/20 thinkers, is to leave action behind, do some quiet thinking, mine a few small pieces of precious insight, and then act: selectively, on a few objectives and a narrow front, decisively and impressively, to produce terrific results with as little energy and as few resources as possible.” (p. 137, paperbook)

Another realization was his point that few decisions really matter, but those that do matter a great deal. That 20 percent of decisions (e.g. what kind of work to do, who to spend time with, lifestyle), have an enormous impact on the whole lifespan. It reminded me of the idea that when you alter course just a few degrees early on in a sea journey, you can end up on a different continent.

I’ve applied the ideas in this book by:

• Using time eccentrically (I definitely want to be part of his “Time Revolution”)
• Creating lists that go in my decision-making and happiness-making folders, to help me make better decisions
• Letting go of caring too much about causes, and shifting my focus to results
• Thinking a great deal about the few decisions that really matter

Imagining Excellence

I found the ideas in Getting Things Done to be exhilarating. The focus on personal productivity by corralling and shaping the flow of information has really helped me see my work in a new way.

David Allen's concepts embrace the transition from "work" being a place to a process. My goal, as I implemented the ideas in the book, was to create for myself the best possible environment for effective and efficient living. Clearing mental space for new growth in all my projects felt right.

I appreciated the author's practical information (the actual how-to steps and checklists) as well as the philosophical underpinnings. His illustration about how, and why, bright people procrastinate made me smile.

He asks the reader to imagine slicing and tasting a lemon--which should, if you are reading right now, cause your mouth to salivate. Then he explains how the same principle of creative thought applies to piles of unprocessed work. He describes a smart, sensitive, creative person thinking about needing to do his taxes. That thought leads to wild, what-if scenarios (WHICH forms do I use?! DO we have receipts?! What if we get audited?! We're getting AUDITED?! Oh no!) that lead to thoughts of going to jail. "And so," he writes, "a lot of people put themselves in jail, just thinking about their 1040 tax forms." (p. 241 paperback copy).

What appeals to me is taking that same, creative, what-if energy and applying it towards imagining, as he puts it, "wild success." The whole principle of imagining wild success at the beginning of ANY project suits me. For me, the word "excellence" is easier to see than "success." So I started looking at each project and asking myself, "what would excellence look like?" That was a good way of generating what success would be for that particular project.

Getting Things Done - Word of Mouth

GroupCreate Post 1 (10-19-09)

Hey Everyone! I thought I would do something different, and post my review of Getting Things Done, in the form of an audio file. Enjoy!!!

-Joshua Jordison
 josh@joshuajordison.com
 www.joshuajordison.com

groupCreate is on Vimeo!!!

Hey everyone! I have created a groupCreate Channel, on Vimeo. You can click the above badge, to go check it out. If you don't have your own Vimeo account, I strongly recommend you get one. Vimeo is one of the best video hosting websites around; and, it's FREE! I have already uploaded one video (a tutorial, originally made for Cynthia Scott). 

If you are interested in adding your video(s) to our new channel, please send me an email. Have a wonderful week!

-Joshua Jordison
josh@joshuajordison.com
www.joshuajordison.com

Mind Like Water

"Getting Things Done" is such an incredible work and I am excited that David Allen has shared his brilliance with us. 

My favorite part of this book is the end result: A clear mind with the space to be creative. The premise is simple; until you take all of your open commitments (and next actions) and get them out of your brain into a trusted source, you will not have the ability to reach your maximum creative potential. Beyond that this book is about eliminating all forms of clutter from your life including the mental clutter of all the broken commitments your brain is reminding you that you need to keep. 

I still remember the first time I went through my capture process. I was on a plane and I had about 2 hours to think about all of my open commitments and digest them into a trusted system ( I currently use the most amazing GTD(Getting Things Done) system that works on your iPhone and Mac: OmniFocus ) That night I went home with some of the most creative thoughts I have had and ways to make my life better. I have been so excited to read this book again as it has helped me get back on my GTD horse. 

What have you done to make sure that your mind has the uninterrupted space to be creative? I am interested in how GTD has changed the way you manage your commitments? 

Making use of the StrengthsFinder Test

Here is one way to make use of the $10 spent, on the StrengthsFinder test: 

Put your results on your personal website, as a resource for possible employers to evaluate your effectiveness, or simply as a supplement to your resume.

Here is a direct link, to my "About Page", where you can find my results. 
Best of luck!

What are some other creative ways to make the most of the
StrengthsFinder application???

-Joshua Jordison
www.joshuajordison.com  

Questioning the Validity of the College Degree

    College is widely accepted as the premier vehicle for achieving personal and financial success. Every year, more students set-out to find their place, in the market. For many, including myself, the decision to attend college is born from a combination of personal desire and parental encouragement, with most of the energy coming from the latter. 

    As a "young person", I have often noticed that certain influential forces, in my life, are not always correct about any given topic. This realization has encouraged me to question my beliefs, which are widely inherited from said influential forces. My latest question has been: "Is a college degree worth what it used to be; and, is earning one the best way to push oneself into a life of success?"

    In order to properly tackle this question, I have had to consider several variables. They are:

1. Financial Expenditures
2. Time Expenditures
3. Opportunity Costs
4. Alternative Means of Pursuing Success
5. What History Tells Us
6. The Current Academic Market
7. Statistics 

    Financial Expenditures play a huge part in attending college. As a UCLA bound student, I am less than thrilled with tuition hikes, including the latest one that UCLA is deciding on, which would raise tuition by 33%. If a student is pursuing a doctoral degree, the costs go up, significantly. Getting out of college, with thousands, possibly over $100,000 of debt is a big concern.  

    Time Expenditures also play a big part in attending college. In fact, I think that time expenditures are an even bigger deal than financial expenditures, since time is not a renewable resource, unlike money. 

    Opportunity Costs are important to consider. For every hour spent in a classroom, one less hour may be spent elsewhere. Of course, one could spend that hour doing something completely meaningless, or something vastly meaningful. It all depends on how the said hour is spent. 

    Alternative means of pursuing success are available, to anyone who dares to think outside of the box. Perhaps you have heard that it is possible to save $2.50, every day, for 65 years and die a millionaire. That is not the kind of "success" I am referring to! I absolutely despise such suggestions! Why would I want to defer my success, for 65 years, when I will be less able to enjoy it, from a physical standpoint. Entrepreneurship seems to be the best alternative means for achieving success. Less than 1% of the millionaires, in the USA, have made their fortune as an actor, athlete, singer or other type of "star". 

    What history tells us, is that the wealthiest people, in the world, did NOT finish college. I know that this statement seems rather unintuitive; but, it is true. According to an article in Forbes Magazine, only 10, out of the top 25 billionaires, in the world, finished college. Possibly even more important, is that many of them majored in subjects that had nothing to do with their financial successes, such as: Warren Buffet, who majored in Science, not Finance or Investing. 

    The current academic market is, as I am defining it, the value of a college degree, relating directly to the amount of degrees in circulation. As I am sure you know, the Federal Reserve issues our currency and causes inflation and deflation, in order to prevent said currency from devaluing, completely. The more paper bills out there, the less they are worth. In the same way, a college degree is worth more, if fewer people have one. I am not arguing that having a college degree does not increase income, often doubling it; I am, however, interested in the idea of a college degree losing general value, as more people earn one. 

    Statistics:

A. Here is an interesting table, showing the most educated cities, in the US, as well as the median household income for each. Please note that Seattle, the most educated city, has a median household income that is around $6000 less than New York's, which is at the bottom of the list. In fact, as the list is studied, it becomes clear that how educated a city is, has nothing to do with the median household income. Indeed, the highest income ($70,921), belongs to San Jose (#15 on the list). 

B. This article, claims that: "student debt has nearly doubled, since 1992." This is yet another factor that decreases the value of a college degree, since a degree is really a financial investment. As they say: "Count the cost."

C. Finally, I offer a list of successful entrepreneurs, who never attained a college degree:

1. Mary Kay Ash (Founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics)
2. Richard Branson (Founder of Virgin corp.)
3. Coco Channel (Founder of Channel)
4. Simon Cowell (May be a jerk, but still rich)
5. Michael Dell
6. Barry Diller (Founder of Fox Broadcasting, Chairman of Expedia etc)
7. Walt Disney (My favorite example)
8. Debbi Fields (Those are some great cookies!)
9. Henry Ford
10. Bill Gates (Booooo!)
11. Steve Jobs (Yayyyy!)
12. Milton Hershey
13. Rachael Ray (Okay... bad example)
14. Ty Warner 
15. Frank Lloyd Wright

    In closing, I would like to propose that the above mentioned people are no different than you and I, except in one fundamental way; they refused to settle for less than they could dream. Why do so many people resign themselves to a life that is less than they want it to be. I am not suggesting that all college graduates are settling, only that a few are. As the value of a college degree continues to diminish, we must ask ourselves if it is worth it. We must explore new avenues and take-part in self-education. Although college is still widely accepted as the norm, for achieving success, I believe things will look much different, 10 years from now. I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes, given to the world, by Walt Disney:

"If you can dream it, you can do it." - Walt Disney