Areas of Interest

Moving

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Akin) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 04:18:00 +0000

Well after almost 4 years, I've decided it was a good time to start writing again.

So, I am moving my blog to www.anthonyakin.com.

I hope you take an opportunity to go check out my new blog.

Determine and ACT on important priorities

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Akin) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 00:15:00 +0000

This is the third post of the "Daily Dozen", a series inspired by John Maxwell’s book Today Matters, on how I’ve applied the “Daily Dozen” to my daily routine.

“Priorities: Determine and ACT on important priorities daily.”

I’m a fanatic GTD’er, and I have fallen off the wagon almost as often as I have gotten back on. This chapter completely reinforces the concepts my favorite productivity experts Stephen Covey, David Allen and, Sally McGhee.

During my weekly review, I place my “BIG ROCKS” on my calendar, limiting myself to only a few per day. “BIG ROCKS” are the major things you want to get done this week. Every morning I review what’s on my plate for the day, looking at my calendar, then my task list. Some days my eyes are bigger than my stomach, days I list twenty things that I need to accomplish for the day – setting myself up for failure. It’s sad that it took me a while to realize this! We cannot do everything.

Related Books:

del.icio.us Tags: Personal Development,Task

Choosing Your Attitude Daily

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Akin) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 14:00:00 +0000

This is the second post of the "Daily Dozen", a series inspired by John Maxwell’s book Today Matters, on how I’ve applied the “Daily Dozen” to my daily routine.

“Attitude: Choose and display the right attitude daily.”

I completely agree that this should be 1^st on the list! Too many times I have started the day off, on the wrong foot. Remember it’s a CHOICE, you ultimately decide – you’ll be contagious either way!

I have also incorporated suggestions from Tom Rath’s & Donald O. Clifton’s book How Full Is Your Bucket into this section. The authors state, “Everyone has an invisible bucket. We are at our best when our buckets are overflowing - and at worst when they are empty.” With this in mind, I try to have positive attitude, and avoid the vampires/dippers!

Five Strategies found in How Full Is Your Bucket for developing a better attitude.

1. Prevent bucket dipping - ask yourself whether you are adding to or taking from another bucket.

2. Shine a light on what is right - don't focus on the negative, spend time, energy and attention of what is right.

3. Make best friends - great relationships lead to increased satisfaction

4. Give unexpectedly - the gifts can be material, trust or respect, but given unexpectedly increases their bucket filling power

5. Reverse the Golden rule - "Do unto others as they would have you do unto them".

What whould you add to the list, to help one maintain a positive attitude?

Related links:

http://www.bucketbook.com/

Daily Dozen Intro

Related Books:

del.icio.us Tags: Personal Development,Attitude

Daily Dozen Intro

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Akin) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 18:01:00 +0000

I recently finished reading John Maxwell's Today Matters. I had very high expectations for this book! John referenced this book a couple of times in his other books, and I waited in anticipation while it was being shipped by Amazon. Currently, I have skimmed the entire book and I’m working back through each chapter. So far the book has been solid, but I was disappointed with 10^th chapter “Today's Faith Gives Me Peace”. With John’s background I expected a stellar chapter. Personally I am looking to grow spiritually and was hoping he would provide an outline on how to develop a plan. Other than this, Today Matters is a solid book and I would recommend reading.

After reading Today Matters, I have applied many of John’s “Daily Dozen” into my Weekly Review. Also, I review the “daily dozen” first thing in the morning – this is a great way to start the day.

This is the start of my Daily Dozen post, where I will be showing how I've applied these concepts into my life.

Here is a look at the upcoming "Daily Dozen" post:

“Attitude: Choose and display the right attitude daily."
“Priorities: Determine and act on important priorities daily.”
“Health: Know and follow healthy guidelines daily.”
“Family: Communicate with care for my family daily.”
“Thinking: Practice and develop good thinking daily.”
“Commitment: Make and keep proper commitments daily.”
“Finances: Make and properly manage dollars daily.”
“Faith: Deepen and live out my faith daily.”
“Relationships: Initiate and invest in solid relationships daily.”
“Generosity: Plan for the model generosity daily.”
“Values: Embrace and practice good values.”
“Growth: Seek and experience improvements daily.”

Related John Maxwell's Links:

http://www.injoy.com/

http://www.johnmaxwell.com/

del.icio.us Tags: Books,Personal Development,Routine,John Maxwell

Burn Baby, Burn!

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Akin) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 02:54:00 +0000

How can one achieve their weight goal and still disappointed? For most of us, just look into the mirror. Most of my life I have been slender, until a took a job as a sales representative. In the car ALL day, grabbing a soda here and there, large sizing every meal. Reality hit me when I was getting measured for a tux, for my wedding. The seamstress, quickly blurted out my measurements to her helper, then the snickers started! As soon as I arrived home that night I found the bathroom scale. At first glance I knew the scales were wrong - reading 230'.

I went straight to my wife, asking "AM I FAT?". Here is the (one)difference from men and women, she answered truthfully and said "YES!"

From that moment I started paying attention to my nutrition. I counted calories for 7 days, observing that my intake well exceeded my exertion, building a baseline of where to start from. Taking notice, a huge portion of my calories were linked to soda. I normally consumed 2x20 oz cola @ 240 calories each or 20% of recommended daily calories. This didn't include the soda I consumed with my meal, this was just traveling calories.

After this I quickly modified my behavior. I started drinking diet soda, with a max of one a day. I stopped LARGE sizing my meals, because they were making me large! I began exercising 3 days a week for at least 30 mins. In a few(6) months my weight returned to a desired limit, but I was not satisfied. What was left over from my weight gain, was a spare tire.

This is when I realized that a weight goal is not the best indicator of fitness. That's when I modified my goal, I added a desired body fat. For awhile I used a scale that measured my weight & body fat, but I recently changed to Accu-Measure Fitness 3000 Personal Body Fat Tester. I had my body fat calculated by a professional, and the Accu-Measure is much closer to my actual body fat than my old scale.

Honestly, I have been mildly successful reaching my body fat goal - from 25% to 15.7%. but I decided to reevaluated my plan. Noticing that my caloric intake was not enough to support my activity level - so the body hoards BODY FAT.

During this time I started running, where I learned about the importance of using a heart rate monitor so I bought a Garmin Forerunner 50, and having been using it to monitor my runs for the past few years. Recently, I decided to wear the monitor while working out. I was surprised.

This represents a normal work, 35mins. avg heart rate 110 bpm.

Formula for calculating and explanation:
Maximum heart rate / Pulse:
For men: 220 − Age
For women: 226 − Age
Health zone:
This amounts to 50-60% of the maximum heart rate.
Within this pulse range particularly the cardiovascular system will be invigorated. This range is particularly suitable for beginners.
Fat burning zone:
This amounts to 60-70% of the maximum heart rate.
Within this pulse range, most calories from fat are burned. Furthermore the cardiovascular system will be trained.
Aerobic zone:
This amounts to 70-80% of the maximum heart rate.
Within this pulse range, carbohydrates and fats are burned for power production in the muscle cells. This range requires the cardiovascular system as well as the lung and the metabolism.
Anaerobic zone:
This amounts to 80-90% of the maximum heart rate.
Within this pulse range, the body cannot cover the oxygen demand any longer. This range is for the development of power and muscle mass.

Using this information, I found most of my strength workouts stayed in the "Health zone", so I was not burning desired fat. I have followed a Men's Health article advise, on how to use a heart rate monitor to improve my running performance, but I have never applied this thought to my strength training - until now. I now begin each and every workout with 10mins of a cardio exercise, to elevate my heart rate.

Under the revised plan, my avg heart rate 135 bpm, this translates to 69% of my maximum heart rate and now I staying in the fat burning zone longer -burning more fat.

del.icio.us Tags: Fitness,Running,Heat Rate

Run Journal 6/15/2008

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Akin) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:52:00 +0000

I hit the road this weekend, running a scenic 5.85 mile loop around a local lake. The route is hilly, to say at least. During this Sunday afternoon I decided I would start posting a running journal entries. During my runs my mind wonders, nothing is sacred.

My Run Vitals

Distance 5.48 Miles
Heart Rate (Avg - 155 bpm, Max - 177 bpm)
Speed (Avg - 7.3 mph, Max - 9.2 mph)

My Gear

My Thoughts

I went on the South Beach Diet last year and lost 40lbs. <yeah>, but now I feel I am limiting my calories too much. I tracked my caloric intake last week using VidaOne Health & Fitness (I love this application, but more on that later). I noticed that on an average day, I was consuming only 2100 calories. I have dropped weight in the past by controlling calories, but now I am after BODY FAT. 2100 is simply not enough calories to support my current activity. In a normal week I will run three days, weight train three days, and play tennis a couple of times. I came across a blog a few weeks ago, Stronglifts.com. Mehdi gave me a simple formula to make sure I consume enough calories.

Eat. At least 18x your bodyweight in lbs. More if needed. Track your food intake using Fitday.
Protein. 2g per bodyweight in lbs. Might seem a lot, but your muscles need it for recovery.

My second driving thought was built on Mehdi's suggestion to use Fitday. I have used VidaOne Health & Fitness off and on for the past two years, but I decided to check out Fitday. I honestly didn't give the application a chance. I browsed, checking out features. I have decided that I am in the search for a new Health & Fitness Journal. Here are the features that I am looking for, that I can't seem to find. I am not going to waste time listing the normal stuff.

Web based application that has offline capabilities.
A mobile application that synchronizes over the air (OTA).
Offers Badges or Widgets to post in blogs, Facebook and other social networking sites. I would like be able to show my health & fitness goals, and progress towards my goals.

I have looked into a few application, but so far nothing that suits my fancy. I would love to hear your suggestions and thoughts!

del.icio.us Tags: running,fitness

My Personal Objectives

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Akin) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 03:40:00 +0000

I have been greatly influenced by many great pieces of work. Here is a short list of my favorites in no particular order:

1. The Power of Focus

2. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

3. Focal Point

4. Life Matters

5. Rhinoceros Success

I have developed my objectives using a Balanced Scorecard approach. The key areas: Personal Growth & Development, Physical, Spiritual, Cultural, Benefactor, and Financial. I have decided to remove my career objectives from this list, for the time being.

A. Personal Growth & Development

1. Earn MBA with MIS (Management Information System) Concentration - 2012

2. Earn Bachelor of Science Business/ Marketing - 2010

I recently started going back to school. During my first attempt I studied Psychology. I spent time working in the field and decided it was not for me!

3. Learn to play guitar - 2009

I need to pick a song; I am WAY behind and this may slide to .Someday Maybe! list.

4. Read One Book per Month (my book list)

5. Listen to Two Audio Books per Month (my audio book list)

B. Physical

Exercise

1. Complete a Triathlon in 2011

2. Run a Marathon in 2010

3. Run two 5K events in 2009

4. Run three time per week (Avg. twenty miles per week)

5. Weight train three days per week (my strength workout routine)

Weight & Nutrition

1. Target weight goal – 190lbs. @ 8% body fat

2. Maintain a healthy diet eating five meals a day.

Calories = Body Weight x 18 = 3420
60% Carbohydrates, 20% Protein, 20% Fat
1 G Protein per Body Weight (190 g)

C. Spiritually

1. Find a way to become more involved in our Church Community

2. Read the whole Bible by 2008

3. Allocate daily time to reflect – utilize a daily journal

D. Culturally

1. Learn Spanish - 2011

2. Learn Sign Language – 2010

E. Benefactor

1. Tithe to my church

2. Donate – time and money to local charities

4. Become involved w/ Neighborhood homeowners association

This is a great place to develop leadership skills.

5. Get involved w/ my children’s school

WATCH D.O.G.S.® (Dads Of Great Students)

This is a great program, I would encourage every father to become involved. My daughters loved me being @ their school and interacting w/ their class mates.

F. Financially

1. Pay off all personal debt (besides home and car) – 2009

2. Pay off car loan – 2010

3. Fund an emergency fund (money market account) w/ six month of our expenses. – 2011

4. Have 30K in college funds for my daughters (2013, 2017)

5. Pay off our home – 2022

6. Total Net Worth $360,000 - 2020

Net-worth Goal = (Age*Income)/10
To be affluent according to The Millionaire Next Door – Net worth Goal * 2

7. Have $1,200,000 in Retirement Funds by 2037

del.icio.us Tags: goals,benefactor,financial,physical,spiritual,cultural,objective

My 2008 Book's List

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Akin) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 03:37:00 +0000

Here is my listing of the books that I intend to read or listen to during 2008. I will be attaching a review to each item as I complete the book. I owe you a few reviews! My goal for 2008 is read one book per month and listen to two audio books per month. I am currently behind, because I have picked up a bad habit of Skimming. I tend to skim the book looking for the high points, this leads to me having a book in each room of my house, left partially read! Hopefully this list helps me keep on track.

Books
1. How to Read a Book (A Touchstone Book), Mortimer Adler & Charles Van Doren
2. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, David Allen
3. 48 Days to the Work You Love, Dan Miller
4. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You, John Maxwell
5. Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know, Meg Meeker
6. The New CIO Leader: Setting the Agenda and Delivering Results, Marianne Broadbent, Ellen Kitzis
7. Leveraging the New Infrastructure: How Market Leaders Capitalize on Information Technology, Peter Weill, Marianne Broadbent
8. Think and Grow Rich!: The Original Version, Restored and Revised, Napoleon Hill
9. Financial Intelligence: A Manager's Guide to Knowing What the Numbers Really Mean, Karen Berman, Joe Knight, John Case
10. Breakthrough Networking: Building Relationships That Last, Second Edition, Lillian D. Bjorseth
11. Optimal Thinking: How to Be Your Best Self, Rosalene Glickman
12. Performance Dashboards: Measuring, Monitoring, and Managing Your Business, Wayne W. Eckerson
13. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2nd edition, Edward R. Tufte

Audio Books

1. Life Matters: Creating a Dynamic Balance of Work, Family, Time & Money, A. Roger Merrill, Rebecca R. Merrill
2. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Malcolm Gladwell
3. The Purpose-Driven Life, Rick Warren
4. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey
5. Good to Great CD, James C. Collins
6. The World Is Flat 3.0, Thomas L. Friedman, Oliver Wyman
7. Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert T. Kiyosaki, Sharon L. Lechte
8. The Millionaire Next Door, Thomas J. Stanley, William D. Danko
9. 50 Success Classics, Tom Butler-Bowdon
10. The Richest Man in Babylon, George S. Clason
11. The Fifth Discipline, Peter M. Senge

Strategic Cost Reduction

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Akin) — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:04:00 +0000

Today, the world in which we compete is far different from what we've previously experienced. Competition is stronger than ever; customers have more choices and are demanding products and services that are delivered as fast as possible (speed), with no errors (high quality), and at the lowest possible price (low cost). It's easy to see why profit margins are shrinking across our industry. To thrive and effectively compete we must develop a strategy in which we continue adding value to our products and services while, aggressively seeking ways to eliminate waste.

Lean Six Sigma (LSS) incorporates Lean's focus - process speed, and Six Sigma's focus - process quality. Together they take aim at eliminating or minimizing waste. A company must constantly lower its cost (Total Cost of Ownership or TCO) to remain competitive. By eliminating waste we will increase our ability to meet our customer's requirements, while maximizing the firms' profits.

Lean Overview

What exactly does lean mean? In 1990, James Womack, Daniel Roos and Daniel Jones coined the term "lean production" in their book The Machine that Changed the World. This book primarily focused on the automotive industry, refers to Lean Production as a manufacturing paradigm based on fundamental goal of the Toyota Production System (TPS) – continuously minimizing waste. Dr. Womack and Professor Jones followed that groundbreaking work in 1996 with Lean Thinking. Where they demonstrate how lean concepts can be applied to practically any business or industry.

Goals of the Lean Enterprise

Define value from the customer's perspective.
Reduce Total Cost
Create the most value while consuming the fewest resources.
Eliminate Waste
Identify which process steps create value and which are only waste (Muda).

Muda – The Japanese word meaning "waste" which, when applied to management of the workplace, refers to a wide range of non-value adding activities.

Types of Waste
Waste is any activity that takes up time, resources or space but does not add value to a product or service. The seven types of waste are:
Over-Production
Production of service outputs or products beyond what is needed for immediate use.
Waiting
Also known as queuing - refers to the periods of inactivity in a downstream process that occurs because an upstream activity does not deliver on time.
Transportation
Unnecessary movement of materials, products or information.
Over-Processing
Trying to add more value to a product/ service than what your customer is willing to pay for.
Inventory
Refers to the amount of materials or work-in-process within the system.
Motion
Movement of people that does not add value to the product/ service.
Defects
Are products or aspects of our service that do not conform to specification or to our customers' expectations, thus causing customer dissatisfaction?

Evolution of Six Sigma

The expression Six Sigma was first used in the context of quality improvement by Motorola engineers in the mid 1980's. Initially within Motorola Six Sigma was purely a quality metric that was used to reduce defects in the production of electronic components. Six Sigma was then simply a statistical term that specifically referred to a performance target of 3.4 defects per million operations or 'opportunities' (DPMO). During the mid to late 1980's Motorola quickly realized that they could extend Six Sigma principles beyond manufacturing - to reduce variation and defects in all aspects of organizational performance.

Six Sigma as a Performance Goal
Before Six Sigma most companies believed that 99% was good enough.
Is it? As you can see in table 1.a, 99% is equivalent to a sigma level of four or five. The process will have 6,210 – 233 errors per million opportunities. Studies have shown that the typical process operates at approximately 3 sigma (σ).
Key Concepts of Six Sigma
As you can see, Six Sigma started as metric and has evolved into business philosophy. The philosophy uses data and statistical tools to systematically improve processes and sustain process improvements.

The methodology is a project-focused approach consisting of five phases; Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC). Projects are selected and Defined from business, operational, and customer needs, based on their linkage to executive strategies. In the Measure phase, tools are applied to validate the measurement system and characterize the process. In the Analyze and Improve phases, sources of variation are identified, a statistical relationship between the process input and output variables is established, and the process performance is optimized. The Control phase applies traditional and statistical tools to sustain the process improvements. Emphasis is places on controlling the key process inputs to consistently achieve key process outputs.

Conclusion
Lean and Six Sigma were originally designed for the factory floor. They have often been regarded as rival initiatives. To sustain our leadership role in our industry, we must utilize tools from both philosophies. Lean Six Sigma will enable firms to provide a cost savings and delight our customers by rapidly accelerating and improving our performance, processes, products, and services.

Related and Recommended Reading:

Miss leading truths about Economics of Scale

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Akin) — Sat, 31 May 2008 23:14:00 +0000

Economies of scale are the cost advantages that a firm obtains due to expansion. Economies of scale refers to the decreased per unit cost as output increases. The initial investment of capital is spread over an increasing number of units of output, and therefore, the marginal cost of producing a good or service decreases as production increases.

When applied on the factory floor, this tends to increase cost throughout the plant. In Economics, you are taught that “an increase in a firm’s scale of production leads to lower cost per unit”. This maybe correct, when you are looking at total output of the firm. Total output quantity divided by total cost equals average cost. This works, when looking at the firm as a whole. When this concept is miss-applied, firms try to apply this thinking to individual production areas. This kind of thinking raises cost throughout production. I have watch individual production lines run as hard as possible, for machine efficiency while building mounds of inventory (or cash) waiting in stock piles! Remember, economics of scale is only valid if the firm’s total out is increased. Many American organizations are working to achieve the benefits of economics of scale, while countering forces of diseconomies of scale are holding the firm back. The most often cited example of diseconomy of scale is bureaucratic inefficiency. As size increases beyond a certain point, operations tend to become more difficult to manage.

As this continues, production cost rises and inefficiencies expand throughout organizations – making the firm less competitive in the open market place. The firm will have choices, become lean or outsource/ offshore their production! Lean is a tougher journey and is better for local communities. American manufacturers’ will continue face this competitive pressure, the firm must make tough decisions.

Related and Recommended Reading: