Read and Enjoyed

Bren over at Slacker Manager offered this review of my book, Focus Like a Laser Beam. Here is a snippet:

I think my favorite section was the last three chapters which described ideas and techniques for dialing in personal focus. Some of this was really timely for me, since I’ve been in a bit of a funk for a while. I’ve got lots to do, but had a hard time digging into it. Reading this book gave me just the kick in the pants that I needed to get moving on a few critical new initiatives.

Bren also does a good job summarizing my use of the laser beam as a metaphor for focus:

Digging into the physics of lasers led her to the understanding that there are some real comparisons to be made between how we focus at work, and how lasers work. Basically, lasers can be described in three stages: stimulated emission, which is when a photon passes by an atom, which causes the atom to produce a new photon identical to the original–this happens over and over until there are lots of happy, excited photons dancing around; coherency which describes the light emitted from a laser is constituted of photons that are of parallel wavelength (which basically means they’re of the same color and that the crests and troughs of each photon’s wave are in step with its’ peers; and collimation which describes the property of laser light to stay as a tight, focused beam for long distances.

Cool. Check out the rest of the review. Thanks, Bren!

Here are a few diverse posts I read and enjoyed.

This is an interesting post from Fractals of Change about what's going on the Linksys Social WiFi world. It's pretty cool stuff and  something to think about if you travel and need WiFi.

Foneros are members who’ve agreed to share their Internet access through their WiFi routers.  If you’re a Fonero, you can be a Linus and allow other Linuses to use your access free in return for free use of all FON hotspots.  Or you can be a Bill and charge nonLinuses for use of your access. Currently the rate is 3 Euro/day.  The Bill keeps half and FON keeps the rest.

I like this post from Dick Richards called 3 Principles of Change. If you drive change, facilitate change, manage change, or experience a lot of change, check it out.

That things change in the realm of human activity only after they are accepted for what they are is the reason that customer and employee satisfaction surveys are important. It is the reason that W. Edwards Deming insisted that fear be driven from the workplace: where there is fear there is likely to be denial or avoidance of what is. It is the reason that a recovering addict must say, “I am an addict.” It is the reason that honest feedback is essential to the growth of a person.

And I love this short post from Bert at Open Loops about the downside of talking too much.

As I began the first practice interview to establish a baseline from which to measure his progress, something became very clear:  He couldn’t stop talking.  I would ask a 30 second question and he would drone on and on for at least 10 – 15 minutes — or so it seemed.

This is not and introvert-extrovert thing. I am a strong introvert but I think that I have this problem sometimes, too. Some people talk too much because they like to talk and are natural story tellers. Others talk too much so they can be in control. The root of my talking too much is in the need for control, I think. I have in the past confided that I am a recovering control freak.

I sometimes talk too much and interrupt people. Here's the cool thing. When I notice this (getting better at it all the time) I can immediately stop and the conversation improves. When I have coffee chats with folks I will often talk to myself and remind me to talk less and listen more.

Let go of control. Doing this makes for a better conversation and is much more fun. Although I am a recovering control freak, not being in control feels like a cool breeze.

Comments

[Noel Jensen]

Lisa, I also read and enjoyed this book very much. You cover a ton of valuable material in a short and readable format. I'm recommending it to all my readers: http://noeljensen.com/?p=21

Noel Jensen

[Lisa Haneberg]

Noel - Yippee! Thanks so much.