"Quitting Is Not An Option"

I often talk to audiences about having the courage to make changes in your life. Perhaps one of the best examples of that philosophy passed away last week. You may have heard reports of Wayman Tisdale's death after a battle with cancer. Tisdale, who was in his mid 40s, was known to many as a basketball player, a musician, and an inspiration to those who are fighting cancer.

For more on this man's journey, watch this video:

(If you can't see the embedded clip, follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ4DaBVn4Uk)

This is a great reminder that our lives frequently include various acts, both good and bad. The challenge is, through it all, to stay true to yourself, have a hunger for trying new things, and enjoy the ride, no matter where it may take you.

Over Engineered & Under Thought

Recently I looked at my remote control instead of my TV. I noticed how some buttons are well worn from repeated use. But on one of the top rows, I noticed a rather new looking button. It features the symbol of an asterisk. I then found the instruction manual where I tried to find out the button's function. I was surprised to read: "This button is not available."

Evidently the creators of the device decided to place a nonfunctioning button prominently on the keypad. That's a bit weird as there is an expectation that a button must do something.

In other areas of life we see similar things. Ever been told about a daily special at a restaurant, order it, and then be told there's no more available. Perhaps you've bought a ticket for a movie but when you get in the theater, the only seats available are in the front row. Or you've gone to a 24 hour pharmacy at 2 a.m. only to find that the convenience is outweighed by the fact that the place is massively understaffed.

It's good to deliver a product or service that creates anticipation. But it's equally important to make sure the expectation of quality is met.

Changing a Habit

My home has a fence around it and in order to get in, you have to do through a gate. Over time, that had become progressively more challenging as the wood door seemed to have warped. In order to open the gate, I'd have to do an acrobatic move with both of my hands to simultaneously pull the door up and over the the left.

This created problems when you'd have your hands full of groceries or you wanted to race in during a rainstorm.

Eventually, I decided to address the problem so I put on my handyman hat. Ten minutes later, I had moved the latch down about half an inch and the door now opens perfectly.

The funny thing is that it took me a while to remember that I didn't need to open the door the old way anymore. This is classic example of becoming numb to a problem and conditioning yourself to accept a less than desirable situation. I've heard that it takes about 30 days to form a new habit. That's about the amount of time it took for me to remember how to normally open the gate.

There Are No Secrets, Only Links...

Has it happened to you yet? You're going about your day when someone makes a remark that surprises you:

"Did you enjoy your trip to Disney with the your grandkids?"

You're not sure how they can know this about you. You hadn't mentioned your trip to them and yet they seem to know all sorts of details about it. Were they spying on you? No. Instead, someone has learned about you through online resources. Nowadays, privacy isn't what it used to be.

It can be as simple as posting a picture on Facebook. Someone in your network makes a comment about it and then the picture is visible to everyone in their network. Before long, your family vacation is known to a whole bunch of people!

The world has changed. Anything about you could be shared online. Is this a bad thing? I think it's mixed bag. Using services like, LinkedIn, a college graduate could network his or her way to a new job. But if that student has pictures on the web of doing a keg stand at a party, then that job offer might disappear.

Think about the image you want to project in cyberspace. Perhaps on this Mother's Day, the best rule to keep in mind is whether you'd be embarrassed to have your mother see any of your online adventures. If so, you may want to be less public in your online life.

You Know You're Good When...

Imagine being so good at so one thing that it's nearly impossible to duplicate. That's what the creators of the movie, "The Blues Brothers," discovered while working with Aretha Franklin and James Brown.

Both artists have singing roles in the 1980 comedy, which also could be described as musical. From the special features on the film's DVD, I learned that both Franklin and Brown had a very tough time lip synching their songs. This is critical while making a movie as the singing is typcially recorded separately in a studio and later matched up with the pictures on screen. The editor can then choose from multiple angles while keeping the singing consistent.

But Franklin and Brown were anything but. Apparently, neither was very good at lip synching because they never sing the same song the same way twice. Think about that. Every time they sing, they add something to their music depending on their mood, the crowd, or the moment. It's second nature to them and neither could change the way they perform.

So the producers had to do some creative editing with Franklin's song so that her lips matched up her voice. By the time he shot James Brown's song, the director decided to record the live singing and then match up everything else. It was an unconventional choice but one that ultimately worked.

So many of us follow the same routine that requires us to repeat tasks over and over again. Perhaps we should take some inspiration from the Queen and Ambassador of Soul to treat every time we do it as if it was the first time.

Are You the Exception or the Rule?

I recently read an article about study that stated that 94% of the respondents say they've worked with "toxic people." This designation covered all sorts of bad workplace behaviors from laziness to anger. Normally I'd provide a link to the study but to get that info, you have to buy a book by the authors of the study. No thanks.

Nevertheless, the study got me to thinking about how we perceive others and ourselves. If almost all of the people surveyed complain about toxic people, there's a good chance that some of those people (doing the complaining) are themselves, toxic. Very often there's a disconnect between stated behavior and actual behavior.

For instance, it's easy to speak out against speeding. You wouldn't want someone driving recklessly near your family. But if you're running late for an event, it's easy to find yourself driving well over the limit. And most smokers don't think of themselves as litterers but when it comes time to get rid of their butt, a lot of them end up on the ground and not in an ashtray.

Perhaps the next time you condemn a behavior in others, it's important to consider if it's something you practice. A society of professional complainers will contribute little to the world, other than noise.

Social Media & Nonprofits Survey

A new survey finds that more and more nonprofits are embracing social media, although many admit they need help. The research comes from the just released Nonprofit Social Network survey, which can be downloaded here. Close to 1,000 nonprofits of different sizes, budgets, and missions were polled (from 2/20/09 - 4/15/09) about their use of online social networking tools.

Facebook is the most popular tool, with about 75% usage. Next came YouTube and Twitter.

80% of the organizations have a staff member spend a quarter of their time on social media work.
40% have allocated funds for the effort.
55% plan to increase social media staffing.

Another trend shows that nonprofit leaders want to make their time spent on social media more productive. But 44% say they are being held back by a lack of expertise. As a result, 27% say getting additional training would make better achieve their goals.
To immediately improve your social media skills, take advantage of the learning tools on my Resources page at Social Media Nonprofits.