Book Review: Outliers

I'll admit it. I never been a Malcom Gladwell fan. I read Blink, but didn't really enjoy it. I thought it was quite, well, ordinary common sense.

When my father-in-law gave me Gladwell's latest book, Outliers, I was less than excited (sorry Ken). It sat on my nightstand, looking at me every night. Then finally, my wife got tired of it sitting there and started reading it. "I think you'll really like this," she said every night and she devoured the book.

I'm happy to say that I'm now a Malcom Gladwell fan. This was one of the best books I've read in a quite a while. (Even though this guy has insanely crazy hair:)

The following paragraph sums up the book nicely, "[Successful people] are products of history and community, of opportunity and legacy. Their success is not exceptional or mysterious. It is grounded in a web of advantages and ingeritances, some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky--but all critical to making them who they are. The outlier, in the end, is not an outlier at all."

I thought the most intriguing part of the book was the discussion of 10,000 hours. Gladwell's theory is that to become an expert at something, you have to practice doing it for 10,000 hours. He cited the Beatles, and how they would play gigs all night in Hamburg, and that because of this time, they learned to work together and create the genius music they did. It left me wondering what I'm going to become an expert it. 10,000 hours is a long time...

Matt's Rating: ***** (out of 5 stars)

I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I!

5 Tips To Help Avoid Burnout

Stress, anxiety, and doing more with less. These are all things that are happening in today's workforce. I've never been one to back away from hard work, I put in my time. But when you work tirelessly without the chance to take a break, burnout can occur.

So, if you're 10 minutes from burnout, here are some tips I've learned to help you keep going.

1) Eliminate Chaos: When everything around you is moving fast and you come back from one meeting only to have to to go another, you don't have time to get organized. Do what you need to do to prepare yourself for your tornadic days. Come in 15 minutes early and straighten your desk. Organize you files so you know where everything is. Block out large chunks of your days to ensure you have time to get work done.

I know that when my life is chaotic, I work minute-by-minute. I can't see the horizon and I start to feel overwhelmed.

2) Embrace Others: Odds are, when you're working fast and furious, there is probably someone, somewhere in your organization that doesn't have enough to do. Find them. Capitalize on their skills. And have them chip in. People are generally happier when they're engaged and contributing. Sure, quality might slip a bit and it might take longer for you to get that project done. But there is a major feeling of relief when you delegate a task to someone and you go back to your office and are able to tackle something else. And there is an even better feeling when they come back to you and the project is finished and better than if you did it yourself.

3) Plan or Perish: If you're like me, you have several lists of projects each with a dozens of tasks. Before your work week begins, review this list. See what the critical items are for the week and see what you can delegate. Then, try to focus on one task at a time and get it done. You'll always have interruptions you'll have to manage. But come right back to the task at hand and execute on it. It will keep you moving forward on your plan and keep you sane.

4) "No" is not a four-letter word: When times are tough, people will ask you to do more. It's important to help others as much as you can. You may have the knowledge or skill they need, plus it's always good karma. However, there are times when you just can't do it all. You'll know when they are. And if you can sense that the request isn't "mission critical" just say no. The other person will survive. And it will keep you from getting distracted on your plan.

5) Find Time for Self: In the past this was the hardest thing. When I get to work I tend to be heads-down and not resurface for a long time. I would eat at my desk, or not eat at all. But what I found over time is that burnout comes faster. So, take time to read a news story of interest, run an errand at lunch, or call a family member or friend for a few minutes. Once I even went to Costco, grabbed a hot dog and walked the aisles for 20 minutes. It opened my mind and kept me fresh for the remainder of the day. Regardless of what you do, find some time just for you.

Hopefully these steps will help you avoid a crash and keep you moving forward.

The Art of Shawn Ray Harris

I've known Shawn Harris for years (decades actually). I've seen his artistic styles grow and expand over the years. My claim to fame is being the first first face from which he made a plaster mold -- I'm still missing part of my eyebrows from getting the mold off.

Recently I was amazed with his "Ice Project" -- a photography series of things melting in ice. You can see it on his website shawnrayharris.com or on his Facebook page. My favorites are the gold fish, the foreign currency and the eyeball (I'm afraid to ask who's eye this is.)

Some of my favorite photographs are his self portraits at the top of this page -- they're definitely worth a look.

I Like Chicago

There's something about Chicago that I really like.

My first trip to Chicago was about 10 years ago when I was doing market research for a client. At that time I categorized the people in Chicago as New York style without the attitude.

I just got back yesterday and realized that people are still the same. In Chicago people held the door for each other. Greeted people in elevators. Looked you in the eye on the street and smiled. There's something great about this city.

And then there's the cold. I've been to Chicago probably two dozen times, but never in the winter...until now. It was biting cold!

Monday night I needed to walk eight blocks to the Apple store to get a new headset for my iPhone but I walked two blocks, thought my hands were going to freeze off, and went right back to my hotel. People were walking around in full body-armor winter gear to protect them from the bite, all I had was just a thin leather jacket--no hat, no scarf, no gloves and no boots.

Perhaps now I realize why people were looking at me on the street.

Book Review: Lessons From Private Equity Any Company Can Use

Here's a short book that carries a punch. Although "Lessons From Private Equity Any Company Can Use" is the more boring title of any book I've read lately, the content is quick, easy and informative. Here's my book review.

(Authors: Orit Gadiesh and Hugh MacArthur, Bain & Company; Harvard Business Press)

MATT'S RATING: * * * (out of 5)

WHO SHOULD READ THIS? Managers, Directors, Executive. Small business owners will learn something from this as well. I think it's a bit too analytical for the typical front-line worker.

WHAT'S THE POINT? Exactly what the title says. They try to offer "clear, practical suggestions" for implementing the ways PE firms do business in order to make your business more valuable.

WATCH-OUTS: I'm always suspect of books that use the word "top-quartile" within the first 100 words. Don't plan on some fast-reading Dan Brown novel.

SUMMARY: They cover six main lessons.

1. Define the full potential.
2. Develop the blueprint.
3. Accelerate performance.
4. Harness the talent.
5. Make equity sweat.
6. Foster a results-oriented mind-set.

Here are quick take aways that I learned from the book:

• No company can be successful when it divides it's resources among too many initiatives. I'd like to also extend this to say, an individual worker cannot do this either.
• "The prospect of being hanged focused the mind wonderfully." -Samuel Johnson
• The discipline of NOT doing things can preserve tremendous value.
• You need to be committed to your short list of key initiatives and designing action oriented plans to achieve them.
• Make managers owners of the business. Often management teams will own 10-30% of the business - sometimes through phantom equity.
• Watch cash more closely that earnings. It is the true barometer of performance.
• Use substantial bonuses to reward great performance.
• Find the entrepreneurial people in your business and harness goals to them.
• Embrace those individuals in whom the company has invested a great deal and who could know more about any outsider ever could.
• The job of a CEO is leading. And many times leading into change.
• The best communicators find new and different ways to get the vision of change and milestones across to as many different internal audiences as possible.