How Disillusioned Do You Want To Be?
Reading FriendFeed tonight and a particular comment stood out and got me to thinking more about disillusionment.
If 2008 goes down in history as nothing else, it will go down as a year when many realized that they were laboring under some very large illusions. The shock of those illusions falling away is evidenced daily in our headlines: the housing market, the stock market, and even personal tragedy as a result of the Madoff scandal.
We all have our illusions. And if you’re reading this, odds are that you’ve had a few of them shattered recently. I’ve certainly had my share of disillusionment and disappointment this year and frankly I don’t expect that 2009 is going to be much different.
Further more, I really don’t want it to be. By definition, to be disillusioned means to no longer be under an illusion. And how is that not a good thing?
As Stephen Covey put it so eloquently in Seven Habits, “The map is not the territory.” So, if the map isn’t the territory, the difference between the map (how we view the world) and the territory (reality – the way things really are) must be the illusion. And I think there is still a lot of gap left to be exposed.
So, what do you think is it going to be? “Back to Reality” or “More of the Same”? Which will be more difficult in the long run? How disillusioned do you want to be?
Who are you reading?
As anyone that knows me well is aware, I keep two or three non-fiction books going at all times. (Saves me having to drag them around with me you see.)
I’m currently working my way through the following four:
Reality Check by Guy Kawasaki
Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky
Buying In by Rob Walker
Welcome to the Creative Age by Mark Earls
I’m of the opinion that it’s not so much what a book says that’s so important, but what it makes you think. Each one of these is making me think differently about my industry, the economy, and my opportunities. And frankly in trying to synthesize what I’m seeing, reading, and experiencing right now I’m coming up with more questions than answers. Here are a few of the excerpts that I’m wrestling with…
From the end of Chapter One of Reality Check:
“Instead of pursuing professional entrepreneurs, we should figure out how and why ordinary people can do heroic things. Dr. Phillip Zimbardo of Stanford University and Zeno Franco of the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology wrote an article called ‘The Banality of Heroism‘…about this very subject.
The short explanation is that heroism requires the presence of a ‘heroic imagination,’ which the authors describe as ‘the capacity to imagine facing physically or socially risky situations, to struggle with the hypothetical problems these situations generate, and to consider one’s actions and the consequences.’”
From p-69 of Here Comes Everybody:
“Professional self-conception and self-defense, so valuable in ordinary times, becomes a disadvantage in revolutionary ones, because professionals are always concerned with threats to the profession. In most cases, those threats are also threats to society; we do not want to see a relaxing of standards for becoming a surgeon or a pilot. But in some cases the change that threatens the profession benefits society, as did the spread of the printing press; even in these situations the professionals can be relied on to care more about self-defense than about progress. …evidence that the ecosystem is changing in ways they can’t control usually creates considerable anxiety, even if the change is good for society as a whole.”
From Walker’s introduction to Buying In:
“When marketing experts in particular talked about the birth of a new consumer, what they were really talking about was the re invention of their own business. Many popular business gurus have become fond of declaring that the advertising business is, as one announced not long ago, ‘on its way to extinction.’ What these people mean is the end of “traditional” advertising…”
And finally from p-76 of Welcome To The Creative Age:
“Everything has changed; all of the condition of the world which spawned the ‘Marketing Revolution’ and on which the current order was built have been demolished. Marketing is a product of its time and that time has gone. All swept away. All flotsam and jetsam.
Out goes the idea of a grateful attentive consumer. Out, the idea of a pliant punter, ignorant of our trickery. Out, too, the idea of the proud and powerful organization. And out the idea that we own our employees. Hey, like our customers, have a choice and know it.”
Four different authors. Four very different viewpoints. And yet the same themes of revolutionary change, the impending death of our existing models, the need for action, and new ways of thinking are peppered throughout.
Charlene Li of Forrester and Groundswell fame said something last week that bears repeating. Paraphrasing: “Pay attention to the relationships, not the technology.”
So I ask, who are you reading? What are you thinking? What are you doing differently than you were six months ago, three months ago?
How to Sync FriendFeed with Twitter
How many times have you wanted a way to sync FriendFeed with Twitter? Since I use FriendFeed as an expanded version of Twitter I wished for it every time I follow someone new in FriendFeed. I typically go look and see if I can find them on Twitter, but the search by username functionally of Twitter is next to impossible.
Wish no more. Carter Rabasa has a solution for you at “Twitter-to-FriendFeed Contact Sync (v 0.62). Hat Tip to @markobon for passing this along.
Here is a quick review of how it works:
1. Go to Contact Sync: https://twitter2ff.appspot.com/
2. Type in your Twitter username and password
Sync - Step 1
3. Type in your FriendFeed username and remotekey (there is a link to FF to retrieve the key)
4. Start following your friends in Twitter that you follow on FriendFeed.
Nice work Carter! We’ll be looking forward the ability to sync Twitter with FriendFeed next. 
Blogging: Never before have so many…
I’ve been a fan of despair.com since the early 2000’s. Besides finding them downright funny and insightful, posters like “Blogging” above, similar to “Consulting” in my previous profession, help keep my attention focused on the primary objective: bringing value.
Take a short break and peruse through the despair.com website. Find one that makes you grin at your humanity and share it…
3 Steps to Surviving and Thriving in the Coming Recession - Step III: Maintain Perspective
Step III: Maintain Perspective
Started over four weeks ago, this post (and this blog in general) has fallen prey to an overzealous work schedule, a major pitch, the natural consequences of taking my own advice, and perhaps most importantly the need to be authentic.
Things are never so good that they can’t get better – and never so bad that they can’t get worse. Whether this turns out to be a u-shaped, v-shaped, or “hockey-stick” recovery, it is going to be what it is going to be. Worrying about it isn’t necessarily going to help. What is going to help personally and economically is doing something about it.
I’m at my best when I have a challenge in front of me that I can engage in, a solid team around me that can I can depend on, the right tools at my disposal, and the energy and creativity to pop me out of bed every morning ready to tackle the day. Unfortunately for me, without the last one, the other three lose most of their effectiveness. I highly suspect that I’m not alone in this regard.
So, whether you call it “sharpening the saw” or “recharging your batteries,” my questions to myself – and thus to you, are these:
- What is it that really makes you tick?
- What renews you?
- What keeps you productive and effective?
- And most pointedly: What are you doing to ensure that those things are integrated into your lifestyle?
For me, the last month, in addition to all the overtime, has been an experiment in stepping away from the computer after work and reconnecting with my friends and family. It’s been a month of dinner parties, long walks, concerts, movies, photo-walks, great motorcycle rides, delving into new books, and generally counting my blessings and being thankful.
As a consequence, while I’m probably no more rested than before, I’m certainly feeling more balanced and more capable of dealing with what comes my way.
As you may guess, there’s more to follow, but for now, I’m focused on consciously redesigning the rhythm, cadence, and speed of my life. What are you doing to maintain perspective?
Related:
Step II: Dig Your Well Before You Need It