Tag: focus

More on the Battle of Focus in an Information Overload Era – (with insight from McChrystal’s Team of Teams & Cal Newport’s Deep Work)

In 2011 Americans took in five times as much information every day as they did in 1986—the equivalent of 175 newspapers. Where once an educated person might have assumed she was at least conversant with the relevant knowledge on a particular field of study, the explosion of information has rendered that assumption laughable. 
 General… Read More More on the Battle of Focus in an Information Overload Era – (with insight from McChrystal’s Team of Teams & Cal Newport’s Deep Work)

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Charles Dickens, Twyla Tharp, Steve Jobs – Focus; Focus on the Core, the Spine

The first steps of a creative act are like groping in the dark:  random and chaotic, feverish and fearful, a lot of busy-ness with no apparent or definable end in sight.  There is nothing yet to research.  For me, these moments are not pretty.  I look like a desperate woman, tortured by the simple message… Read More Charles Dickens, Twyla Tharp, Steve Jobs – Focus; Focus on the Core, the Spine

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“A Citizen-Centered Organization” – Thoughts on the Importance of Focus

“We are a citizen-centered organization.” Lynda Humble — City Manager, Rowlett, Texas ————— Focus…  What are you “centered on?”  This may be the first lesson in business success.  You have a better chance of accomplishing what you focus on, and little chance of accomplishing what you don’t focus on. Lynda Humble of Rowlett is clear… Read More “A Citizen-Centered Organization” – Thoughts on the Importance of Focus

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Clarity; Focus; Definition; “What kind of company do you want to be?” – observation/insight from Farhad Manjoo

The incoherence, I think, is a sign of something deeper: Research in Motion doesn’t know what kind of company it wants to be. Farhad Manjoo, What on Earth Happened to BlackBerry?:  Research in Motion’s new tablet is a misguided mess. ——- I know practically nothing about technology.  I use a Mac, an iPhone, and I’m… Read More Clarity; Focus; Definition; “What kind of company do you want to be?” – observation/insight from Farhad Manjoo

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You Get What You Pay Attention To — Consider Brazil’s Focus on Extreme Poverty

I have written before about this simple concept:  you get what you pay attention to.  (read this earlier blog post).  I am convinced that this is as true a maxim as you can find.  What gets attention determines the areas in which progress is made.  What is ignored goes downhill…  pretty quickly. My friend, Larry… Read More You Get What You Pay Attention To — Consider Brazil’s Focus on Extreme Poverty

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You Get What You Pay Attention To – Consider the Astonishing Safety Record of the United States Air Force

(personal note:  be sure to read to the bottom of this post for a “personal” note) (1935 – re. the Boeing Model 229, the B-17, the “Flying Fortress”) — The test pilots made their list simple, brief, and to the point – short enough to fit on an index card, with step-by-step checks for takeoff,… Read More You Get What You Pay Attention To – Consider the Astonishing Safety Record of the United States Air Force

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Aaron Sorkin Reminds Us To Keep Our Focus

Folks, a lot of people got killed last night. Let’s try to keep our eyes on the ball, okay? (Fictional President Andrew Shepherd, The American President, after the press corps wants to know more about his private life than about the international incident that prompted the press conference). ——————————- If Aaron Sorkin wrote a business… Read More Aaron Sorkin Reminds Us To Keep Our Focus

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Ten Lessons about Business and Personal Success from Temple Grandin (the person, and the movie)

For years, I have listened to interviews with Temple Grandin.  (Here is a great program, with excerpts of a series of earlier interviews, conducted by Terry Gross of Fresh Air on NPR – broadcast on February 5, 2010).  She has an amazing personal story.  Autistic, did not speak until age four, she made it through… Read More Ten Lessons about Business and Personal Success from Temple Grandin (the person, and the movie)

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About that multi-tasking expertise…

A person using a computer experiences “cognitive drift” if more than one second elapses between clicking the mouse and seeing new data on the screen.  If ten seconds pass, the person’s mind is somewhere else entirely.  That’s how medical errors are made. Levitt and Dubner, Superfreakonomics The books say that women are better at multitasking… Read More About that multi-tasking expertise…

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It’s All About Focus — A Lesson confirmed by Drucker and Collins

I had a conversation with a CEO of a company that is doing pretty well in the midst of this recession.  A lot of companies aren’t, and he is experiencing a new “challenge.”  Others — other people, other companies – are trying to get him to expand his company’s efforts into areas that really aren’t… Read More It’s All About Focus — A Lesson confirmed by Drucker and Collins

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