How many times do you ask yourself,
"What'd you do today?"
Try this instead,
"What'd I receive?"
It might be a good customer insight. A sound business model. Or confidence confirming you're on track in a tough project.
Most of us are acutely aware of our everyday grindings. We have our "To Do" lists. Maybe even "Don't Do" lists.
My friend, a wise blind Jesuit priest, once said,
"There's way more going on than we know is going on..."
I'm learning it’s simple to tap this "way more going on" the wise blind priest sees.
Make a new list today.
Call it "Just Received."
--tim
author Love, Your Mother
twitter tjmorin
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
Jobs and Life
Where's life?
You ever ask yourself that and find a good answer?
Seems Steve Jobs did.
"Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact and that is everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it. You can influence it. You can build your own things that other people can use. Once you learn that, you'll never be the same again."
--tim
author
Love, Your Mother
twitter tjmorin
You ever ask yourself that and find a good answer?
Seems Steve Jobs did.
"Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact and that is everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it. You can influence it. You can build your own things that other people can use. Once you learn that, you'll never be the same again."
--tim
author
Love, Your Mother
twitter tjmorin
Friday, November 11, 2011
Bliss
I looked at a guy in a museum.
For a long time. A really long time.
He looked back.
For just as long.
He's an object he says. On loan to the museum.
"With Nothing To Give, I Give Myself" is how this guy, the exhibit, titles himself.
"I am living at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts from November 8 through 17, around the clock. During these days, I am in this corner of the gallery much of the time. I do not talk, use the phone, or use the computer...If you see me, forgive me for not doing much other than maybe looking back at you...I have experienced bliss while practicing this behavior."
This guy, the exhibit, was on display in the Modern Art Gallery.
Naturally, it took a while for the suburban guy to understand.
Sort of.
Yes, eventually it was peaceful looking at that guy. A human. I have never looked at a human so long. And never have been looked back at like that either.
He blinked his eyes.
Me too.
He scrunched his shoulder.
I cleared my throat.
At first, looking at him creeped me out.
Why could I look at Long's Peak or Lake Superior or a late fall Maple endlessly, peacefully? Why does looking at this guy make me nervous?
Humans scare me, I guess.
Soon enough, as this guy looked at me and I looked at him, it started making sense. Pretty soon there was this...bliss.
What if bliss is as simple as you looking at me and me looking at you? And it's all we needed, say, for red states to like blue.
Yes, there was this bliss. I guess.
What didn't make sense though is this.
Why there's just this one guy.
If this is bliss in this museum, then why just here?
And why not more than just him?
--tim
twitter tjmorin
For a long time. A really long time.
He looked back.
For just as long.
He's an object he says. On loan to the museum.
"With Nothing To Give, I Give Myself" is how this guy, the exhibit, titles himself.
"I am living at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts from November 8 through 17, around the clock. During these days, I am in this corner of the gallery much of the time. I do not talk, use the phone, or use the computer...If you see me, forgive me for not doing much other than maybe looking back at you...I have experienced bliss while practicing this behavior."
This guy, the exhibit, was on display in the Modern Art Gallery.
Naturally, it took a while for the suburban guy to understand.
Sort of.
Yes, eventually it was peaceful looking at that guy. A human. I have never looked at a human so long. And never have been looked back at like that either.
He blinked his eyes.
Me too.
He scrunched his shoulder.
I cleared my throat.
At first, looking at him creeped me out.
Why could I look at Long's Peak or Lake Superior or a late fall Maple endlessly, peacefully? Why does looking at this guy make me nervous?
Humans scare me, I guess.
Soon enough, as this guy looked at me and I looked at him, it started making sense. Pretty soon there was this...bliss.
What if bliss is as simple as you looking at me and me looking at you? And it's all we needed, say, for red states to like blue.
Yes, there was this bliss. I guess.
What didn't make sense though is this.
Why there's just this one guy.
If this is bliss in this museum, then why just here?
And why not more than just him?
--tim
twitter tjmorin
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Occupy The Business Model
"The Occupy movement has no vision..." So says the New York Times.
Maybe. Maybe not.
More interesting than Occupy's own vision is this:
Occupy IS a vision for future business.
Occupy is a movement to many.
What if it's a business model instead?
Imagine businesses as nurturers and curators of communities, i.e. Occupiers, instead of sponsors or spammers of market segments.
A good nurturing, curator with its own version of Occupy The Business Model needs to do three things well in order to do the one thing it must: make money.
First, you need to offer the world something you do well free. And your offer needs to be meaningful. Go big as honchos are saying to one another these days.
Small samples of something free are 20th century stuff and won't cut it. You don't want to give a trial taste. If you want to occupy something, you want, you need people to go all-in.
A year ago the media business I was leading offered a free working trip to cover India to journalists around the world. We spent a few hundred bucks for two weeks getting the word out. We went big. It was a meaningful offer.
Four hundred qualified, experienced Journos responded.
Second thing you need is a set of rules of the road. This is probably what God had in mind with the 10 Commandments when humans started to occupy the planet ages ago.
God doesn't strike me as much of a command-and-control guy. And, in the Occupy Age, we're wasting our time trying to do stuff God figured wasn't worth the trouble.
That's why clearly stated standards are important. A year ago we were clear on what kind of Journo we wanted (experienced in the craft as well as with emerging social media techonologies...). We also were clear on what we expected in return for our fabulous offer then and for those offers we'd be making in the future.
Third thing you need is platform which means chiefly a place. I think of place as if they are parks.
Your platform can be physical like major city parks across the country (but make sure you don't annoy the mayor and chief of police).
Or your park can be virtual (the social tools of the moment are perfect here...).
Or it can be both.
It takes courage to open your park so everyone can play as they wish. But give it a rip. Keep out of the way. Your people will go all-in because they love to play.
A year ago we were fascinated watching how hundreds of Journos connected with each other around the topic of India.
Offers. Standards. Parks.
Do those three things well and you'll be in position to do four things every business needs to do: sell, grow, innovate, profit.
A year ago we had an "eee-gads" moment when we asked ourselves "Are there business partners in the world who would pay us to hang out in our parks?"
It took a few minutes to come up with a long list of global companies that would want to know about a park full of Journos working on India stories.
It took a couple weeks to get a handful of well-recognized names to show real interest.
Not bad for a little experiment.
Whatever you make of kids in parks these days, Occupy The Business Model is a vision worth a look.
As the would be Wizard in Oz once said, "It's as clear as the nose on my face."
--tim
twitter tjmorin
Maybe. Maybe not.
More interesting than Occupy's own vision is this:
Occupy IS a vision for future business.
Occupy is a movement to many.
What if it's a business model instead?
Imagine businesses as nurturers and curators of communities, i.e. Occupiers, instead of sponsors or spammers of market segments.
A good nurturing, curator with its own version of Occupy The Business Model needs to do three things well in order to do the one thing it must: make money.
First, you need to offer the world something you do well free. And your offer needs to be meaningful. Go big as honchos are saying to one another these days.
Small samples of something free are 20th century stuff and won't cut it. You don't want to give a trial taste. If you want to occupy something, you want, you need people to go all-in.
A year ago the media business I was leading offered a free working trip to cover India to journalists around the world. We spent a few hundred bucks for two weeks getting the word out. We went big. It was a meaningful offer.
Four hundred qualified, experienced Journos responded.
Second thing you need is a set of rules of the road. This is probably what God had in mind with the 10 Commandments when humans started to occupy the planet ages ago.
God doesn't strike me as much of a command-and-control guy. And, in the Occupy Age, we're wasting our time trying to do stuff God figured wasn't worth the trouble.
That's why clearly stated standards are important. A year ago we were clear on what kind of Journo we wanted (experienced in the craft as well as with emerging social media techonologies...). We also were clear on what we expected in return for our fabulous offer then and for those offers we'd be making in the future.
Third thing you need is platform which means chiefly a place. I think of place as if they are parks.
Your platform can be physical like major city parks across the country (but make sure you don't annoy the mayor and chief of police).
Or your park can be virtual (the social tools of the moment are perfect here...).
Or it can be both.
It takes courage to open your park so everyone can play as they wish. But give it a rip. Keep out of the way. Your people will go all-in because they love to play.
A year ago we were fascinated watching how hundreds of Journos connected with each other around the topic of India.
Offers. Standards. Parks.
Do those three things well and you'll be in position to do four things every business needs to do: sell, grow, innovate, profit.
A year ago we had an "eee-gads" moment when we asked ourselves "Are there business partners in the world who would pay us to hang out in our parks?"
It took a few minutes to come up with a long list of global companies that would want to know about a park full of Journos working on India stories.
It took a couple weeks to get a handful of well-recognized names to show real interest.
Not bad for a little experiment.
Whatever you make of kids in parks these days, Occupy The Business Model is a vision worth a look.
As the would be Wizard in Oz once said, "It's as clear as the nose on my face."
--tim
twitter tjmorin
Friday, November 4, 2011
Giggle
Eight million men
Though voiceless and vanishing will you recall you're silly?
Tell your daughter wondering
All these months you’ve been home
Alone
After school riding
Dents the Van side by side
At the crossroads
We call Long Lights Red
Da'ad
Who will you be?
A poet.
A poet?
First she smiles, smirks
Shaking her head
Seriously?
Then
Delights
The sweet time two
Souls wiggle out a loud little
Giggle.
--tim
twitter tjmorin
Though voiceless and vanishing will you recall you're silly?
Tell your daughter wondering
All these months you’ve been home
Alone
After school riding
Dents the Van side by side
At the crossroads
We call Long Lights Red
Da'ad
Who will you be?
A poet.
A poet?
First she smiles, smirks
Shaking her head
Seriously?
Then
Delights
The sweet time two
Souls wiggle out a loud little
Giggle.
--tim
twitter tjmorin
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