Tag: Physical exercise

Search and Sedentary Life Style

It’s only been a bit more than 15 years since the Internet entered our homes (You’ve Got Mail).

Before that we got to run errand, with multiple stops e.g. at the library, bookstores and retail stores.

Now, just Google it. Price-comparison shopping, or just ordering it online.

We find friends online, learn online and practically do more things online (when someone comes up with a new app like SimCity or DropBox – now acquired Mailbox).

Around the time the Internet got to be popular, social scientists had already alarmed us about the decline of community participation (Bowling Alone). If that study were conducted today, the title would be ” The disappearance of Bowling.”

Let’s imagine that the ARPANET project did not get out for civilian use.

We would have:

– still run around to the library, searching through Dewey card catalog

– ordered from the Sears Catalogue

– played cards with friends (some still do, but not as frequent)

– gone clubbing to be seen

– treated phone, TV and computer separately (phone is personal, TV is social and computer is professional, for HR Block tax preparers).

So far, there has been a correlation, but not definite linkage, between Search (Internet) and Sedentary Life Style.

But every sign seems to point to a more mobile (on the go) computing and convergence, which at least relieves us from a desk-bound life.

I hope among the multi-tasks we find ourselves doing, walking will be one. Even McDonald now serving Egg-White Muffin.

After all there is a down side (sitting too much for too long) to even the most blessed event in human history: Search at our fingertips, and let the “bots” do the “hunting” for information.

Personality as motivator

Besides fun, fear and need for recognition, each of us is motivated by an unique set of triggers.

Some are expressive e.g. talk it out to then realize what they think.

Analytical people, however, weigh the pros and cons before opening their mouths.

Amiable people just empathize, feely-touchy and are good listeners

Social folks love to smok’em at barbecue parties: the more the merrier.

Finally, the quickest of all are the Alpha-Male types: shoot first aim later.

Most managers have been managed by other managers, who in turn, pass down the command-control model.

Just Do It!

And they are right half of the time.

When workers left their company, nobody bothered to do a post-mortem.

It’s like a death in the family. To be politically correct, nobody should mention the “others” who are no longer “us”.

Write if off on the left column, as burnt rate, from attrition.

Even in warfare, military historians take years of reflection and review to extract “lessons learned”.

Companies cannot afford this. Just hire new staff. Invest in new head counts.

The (vicious) cycle starts again. One motivational model imposed on various types off workers.

My way or highway.

The best middle manager is the one who can negotiate and walk the fine line between corporate interests and line workers/market expectations, between Wall Street and Main Street.

The best leaders are ones who can detect conflicting signals sent up and down the chain. Without the people carrying out strategies and tactics, things don’t move. But to move so fast in the wrong direction is much worse. (see Matterhorn or My Lai Massacre).

It boils down to attitude, aim and action. Recent article in the NYT shows that people who adjust their course mid-stream (after examining underlining assumptions)  can pivot to success. It’s not difficult to apply the right mix of motivators. But first, one needs to be self-motivated and undergo self-examination (ego? pride? face-saving?).

And this process is hard. Look yourself in the mirror, know all the weaknesses  and seek redemption. That’s when things start to turn. There is no coach that will yell at you. Just an empty locker room at half-time. Helmets off. Sweat and tears. The score board doesn’t lie. We are all behind, to face imminent loss. And worst of, loss of self-confidence. Seek the right mix of motivators for your team, yourself and your families. Tough-love yourself.

SWOT and ROI

We do millions of those calculations a day (the reptilian brain). Threat? Opportunity? Fight and flight.

Yet we also learn to trust, to take risks.

In business or in life.

Situations and circumstances, problems and people (who often times become problems).

Some of us are more reflexive than others.

But at long last, we will have arrived at the same conclusion to validate that initial BLINK (first impressions, first 6-seconds).

Without that instinct for survival, we wouldn’t still be here.

No matter what color we put on outside.

Underneath it all, lays our human nature: ambitious and ambivalent.

We initially employed SWOT and ROI analyses in business.

Then, work doesn’t stop after 5PM. So we start doing that in social and academic context (study for a career that is most promising, she is a good match i.e. suitability measured in socio-economic fit).

So there is no  point in denying it.

Still cavemen-like. Still operating reflexively with the reptilian brain (WIIFM = what’s in it for me).

Keep that in mind. When two or more get together, there will be collision of self-interests.

Group leaders know this and thrive on it. 2+2=5 when it is handled well. It’s called synergy.

Hunt in pack. Celebrate together. Burning men and bushmen. Boardroom or bedroom. We need one another if we were to live a ROI life. It’s worth a try. Despite all the threats. We are still here, together, working for the common goods.

Under-utilized imagination

The-girl-with-a-dragon-tatoo series got me hooked. I know it’s cold  in Stockholm. And I know he did not produce tangible products from the factory, such as sweet or swatch.

But he offered readers an emotional experience (getting out of mundane existence, stepping into character and experiencing triumph and tragedy unavailable to us otherwise).  The author did not live to enjoy his success, which is a tragedy in and of itself.

We despise those who cooked up sub-prime collateral obligation. But we wasted a lot of brain power which could get us out of our dilemma. I am hopeful that someone is building a better Twitter, a faster YouTube, and a more efficient Netflix.

On LinkedIn, the Innovation group has experienced phenomenal growth. It is to show that we want to connect with like-minded creative people.

If you want to generate energy, join a Samba group. We don’t get much results by exercising alone. The same way when it comes to exercising our imagination.

One person’s zany idea might trigger another’s bankable invention (the Orange Revolution).

Last Saturday, I sat with a few people who at one time in their career achieved sales success.

These sales veterans wanted to brainstorm some ideas. I remembered the excitement and anticipation among the group.

Multiply that experience by nth time. Then we might get  that gene pool to work. Each of us already is a miracle (at conception). Now, we need idea incubation (Edison and his team, not Edison the lone inventor).

And maybe, a star is born. It doesn’t cost much to exercise our imagination. It’s already there as nature’s gift. Some of us capitalize and monetize it better than others. In the case  of the-girl-with-a-dragon-tatoo trilogy, the author did not live to see his characters alive on the screen. God rest his soul. His characters are so real to the million who bought those books. Who said imagination is cheap? It is just under-utilized.