Making a Difference that is Greater than the Sum
I realize I am likely quite late noticing this since it was out in June. Nevertheless I’ll post it because I thought it was a brilliant video and idea. Perhaps publishers should hold events like this. Even better, have editorial vs. sales and marketing vs. production vs. web — yes I added web in there 
The Great Office War from Runawaybox on Vimeo.
I’m back from my vacation — sort of. For two weeks on the road, I’ve had plenty of time to ponder and take photographs. In fact, I took over 3000 photographs and now I’m sorting them out so I won’t talk about my adventure on the road yet.
In the meanwhile, I thought I’d post a few things that have really inspired me this week as I struggle to catch up with the two weeks worth of work and decision making that I have on my desk and the top of my mind respectively.
Know Your Math … or not
My dad used to tell me that no matter what you do, where you go, and how you live; you will need math. It was decided then that he would teach me algebra while I was in grade one while all my peers were out playing outdoors. I sucked at math. I still suck at math. But only closer examination, I am primarily bad at arithmetic. Algebra and word problems are no problem! Thank you calculator! Nevertheless as I got further into coding, I gained a greater appreciation for mathematics and the beauty of the mathematical equation and formula. Actually I probably prefer them over chemical formulas. This talk by Robert Lang was stunning and as a fan of origami myself (I enjoy folding action origami frogs), Lang’s illustration of the intimate connection between mathematics, design and origami is brilliant.
Living life in a Carnival
I’ve been to a few carnivals — typically big city ones. I’ve never been to small town carnivals and I’ve never thought about joining the carnival and working the circuit but Globe and Mail’s feature, The Long Summer by Charla Jones, on life in the Carnival, a fading way of life, brought me that much closer to it. It wasn’t the typical article in the newspaper — it was much more than that and for that, I have to applaud Jones and the G&M.
Actions vs. Politics
If it’s one thing that reminds me of working in government, it is the lack of action. There’s nothing bad about it because that is the nature of government, civil service, and hammering out a policy that works for as many stakeholders as possible. But you need patience and a heck of a lot of it. Other times you have to tip toe around sensitive issues — even in businesses. George Ayittey reminds me of how bureaucracy and the reluctance to leap into action — sometimes even corruption, can create disillusion and discontent.
I am reminded of what a number of my friends and colleagues strive for: Get the job done and get it done right.
Connect the Pics
Lastly I had just had to share this because I love photography. David Griffin talks about how photography connects us to our world and how photos can help resolve or identify issues. I particularly liked how he pointed out that amateur photography is now playing a greater role.
Lastly this week, I am inspired by Blog Action Day — coming October 15th when bloggers all around the world are encouraged to examine the issue of poverty from their own perspective. What better way is there for individuals to attempt to tackle a problem that affects so many people, than to begin with looking at the world around themselves and each other.
I believe that we all strive to achieve something on a greater (not necessarily higher) level every day. Whether we are on vacation, dragging ourselves to work, or contemplating why we find ourselves in class every day — there is a common goal. We all want to do something else … something greater.
The unfortunate aspect of this daily life is that it’s tough to see the end of the path or the finish line. That’s because one path typically leads right into another. I think I still wonder every so often how I went from studying bio-medical science to developing online marketing strategy for a book publisher. Everything else is pretty much a blur. If you had asked me what I’d be doing 9 years ago when I was a university student, I never would have guessed that this is where I’d end up. I guess I just fell into it — and I am quite happy about it.
With the exception of my addiction to IRC (Internet Relay Chat) back in high school, never have I felt so connected to so many people around the world until a few years ago — and never have I felt so strongly about challenging the way we live our daily lives and do business from day-to-day — and I am quite happy about that too.
Over the past two years, I’ve had a great friend who works in the same area as I do. We typically share ideas and thoughts on overcoming the problems and issues we face — in addition to simply venting frustration at times. Unfortunately for me, she’ll be going back to school — yesterday was her last day. The funny thing about the connection between my friend and I was that our problems were shared. Similarly, my approach to work in the office is that everything is technically a “shared responsibility”. If my colleagues have a problem — that’s my problem too.
When the people around you who work become less optimistic, enthusiastic, and energetic than you are — then it’s up to you pull them back up if you can. Just try. It happened a couple of days ago to me. What I discovered was that there are two types of optimism:
Those who wield an optimistic energy about life from day to day.
And those who are hopeful.
I think I’m the latter type because I go into work everyday grumbling — but I see the horizon. To work, I need inspiration. I don’t wait for something to inspire me — I seek them out. This week was jam-packed with people and projects that provide me with inspiration. My friends and colleagues really liked what I sent around so I figure I’ll try and provide a weekly compilation of what has inspired me from now on. Maybe it’ll provide that necessary dose of inspiration to someone else in the world.
Don’t worry — next time, I’ll do less talking (or writing).
Unfortunately until I read the Globe and Mail the other day, I did not know who Randy Pausch was — but after watching his Last Lecture — I got a glimpse into what he believed in. It’s a long lecture but very worthwhile to watch — especially with references to the Alice project and “head fakes”.
Chris Abani’s stories revolving around the topic of humanity are immensely powerful and touching.
And Jonathan Harris’ work with stories is purely inspirational and soulful. But you definitely should see WeFeelFine.org for yourself.
Lastly, I am inspired by twitter. I know the conversations are tiny — heck we’re limited by 140 characters, but it really helps to force us to be as concise and to-the-point as ever when we talk with one another. To read these concise statements, questions or exclamations from so many people around the world continues to inspire me — this includes those who permit me to listen to them and those who are listening and responding to me. I would not learn the tremendous amount of what I learn on a daily basis without you.
How we do or respond to something is fascinating, don’t you think? Whether it may be a casual glance, a dismissive wave, or an onerous glare — these are just a few of the many combinations of actions that can occur.
So far here’re a handful that I’ve come up with:
We first run into some random stimulus — something that triggers a response or reaction from us.
The Just Do It Attitude
Some Random Spontaneous Stimuli –> Roll Dice + Take Action
The Deer in Headlights Approach
Blank Look –> Hope for the best … and let’s cross our fingers in case
The Puzzle Piecing Fanaticism
Some Random Spontaneous Stimuli (i.e. random tidbit of information) –> Search and Acquire Mode is ON!
The Pondering Life Act
Stimuli triggers mental white noise –> Flashbacks occur in the mind faster than the average CSI episode
No. Nothing else happens.
The AUGH! Syndrome
Perceived sudden stimuli –> Some ear-piercing or bass-heavy scream of sorts
The Swerve & Disintegrate Tactic
Bothersome Stimuli Occurs –> Avoid at all costs until stimuli fades from sight or mind
The Twitch Process
Stimuli triggers emotion –> Result: a form of habitual behaviour
The MudderFudder Grumble
Stimuli Here –> Some form of “pleasant language” spoken under one’s breath
The Rebel Without Even a Reason Effect
Some shape or form resembling stimuli –> A response that happens anyway … just because
The Backwards Logic Drive
A stimulus –> Rational thinking that is triggered but is ignored because it makes too much sense
Perhaps we can compile a list!
So the point — visualizing. What do we do when we visualize something? We seem to make better decisions. We can see into the distance, the impact of our decisions. A simple example would be Amazon’s review chart.
More importantly — being able to visualize our behaviour or the behaviour others allows us the opportunity to change. Check out Chris Jordan’s video on Picturing Excess. Quite astonishing.
I’m really supposed to be focusing on programming a website but I felt it was necessary to share this after @nejsnave posted this link to this video(below) over twitter. This’ll be a quick post. The video is by a HarperCollins author, Dennis Cass.
This is the problem that every marketing department is facing in the book publishing industry. It is wrong for a marketing or publicity department to throw everything at the author. Promotion on the web does not require an author to throw themselves into every social medium — rather the idea is to ensure that there is a way for people to connect with an author and vice versa. Marketing departments should be working with the author to develop what I refer to as a connection point. I’ll get into that another day but I think it’s pretty self-explanatory.
That said, authors still need a blog and they still need to blog on a not necessarily frequent but consistent basis. I’d rather authors have a blog than a purely promotional website. It is pretty much the same except the fact that a blog is the old classic homepage on Geocities that has evolved into a social and communication medium that is way more versatile.
Marketing is key to engaging people. Causing individuals to begin examining and questioning their current behaviour has the potential to instigate change — even those who are reluctant may just turn their heads to see what the noise is all about. Well done Dave Schlafman.
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