(c)2012 Emi Watanabe Daines

I saw The Avengers over the weekend and mentioned how much I enjoyed it on Facebook. One of my friends replied, asking which Avenger I would be, if I were a superhero. It is an interesting question. I think there is a desire to be a superhero in all of us.

Where did the concept of a superhero come from? Mankind has looked for help to solve overwhelming problems since before the ancient days of Greek and Norse mythology. Now, we love a good superhero story, people who have superior strength, special powers or crazy-good skills that can protect us from the “forces of evil”, no matter what form they take. It makes for great cinema.

However, what forms do superheroes take in real life? Who do we look to in times of trial to carry the load for us? There aren’t any mythologically endowed men and women flying around in special suits or tights. We have to solve our own problems.

The heroes we look to in real life wear a policeman’s uniform or a doctor’s coat, carry a teacher’s textbook or a mother’s first aid kit. The superheroes of today are all of us, quietly doing our jobs, helping and improving wherever we go. Yesterday, I watched my wife work with a child to improve her ability to speak clearly. How does one measure the impact this will have over the coming decades? We call her a speech therapist, but to this little girl, she will be a superhero who changed her life forever.

We may trade a few paper and coins for these superhero services, but it doesn’t really represent the impact on the lives in the long term. Small acts of kindness do more to “save the world” than any mythological, heroic effort. There isn’t a Bat Signal to call in a superhero; we must watch out for each other. Every day, we need to be aware of those around us and find a way to lend a hand. When we do something for someone else, it may be a small effort for us, but because the other person can’t do it for themselves, it is a Herculean task from their perspective.

I initially answered my friend that I would like to be Tony Stark/Ironman because he has all the wonderful toys. Since then, I have been rethinking that choice. I think I would more likely be Agent Phil Coulson, the man in the dark suit who facilitates for all the others. He doesn’t have any special powers beyond a cell phone, no super abilities beyond calm, determined purpose. It is he who brings the egos together and provides the catalyst melding others into a team. Agent Coulson is my kind of superhero. He just quietly gets the job done.

Last month, we took a trip to San Francisco. On the last day, we were in Mountain View, killing time by wandering around the shops in downtown before heading to the airport. One fascinating shop sold all sorts of items for Eastern religions, like Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism. Denise found a candle holder she liked about the same time I found some Chakra candles. I really liked how one smelled, so decided to get it.

Since we have returned, I put the candle on a small table in our bedroom. Every morning as I am putting on my shoes and socks, I would smell the candle and think how nice it would be to actually light it. A month later, I still haven’t lit it. So why not? What is so hard about lighting a single candle?

The more I thought about this candle, the more I realized it is a metaphor for many of the things in my life that I just don’t quite get around to doing. I recently watched The Bucket List, a delightful movie about two elderly men, both stricken with terminal cancers, who decide to live out all the dreams on their lists before they ‘kick the bucket’. It was then that I realized I had to light that candle before I kicked the bucket.

Letting perfection be the enemy of good

My wife often says I am too much of a perfectionist. She is right, of course. I have a drive to do everything perfectly. I don’t know where this comes from, but I know it can drive me crazy. I will plan something interminably so that I won’t do it wrong. The problem is that planning and doing are very different things and one can only help the other so much. Several times over the last month I had planned on lighting the candle, but realized that I needed to make come sort of foil insert in the holder in case the wax dripped. I mentally designed several different methods of folding the foil so that it not only did the job, but would be attractive. I had elaborate origami folds going on in my mind about how to make a square piece of foil fit into a cylinder and become circular at the top… Oh, good grief!

Look for blocking tasks

Often when I don’t get started, it is because there is some task that is subconsciously blocking me. Usually, it is a small task, like the foil being in the kitchen and the candle being in my bedroom. And where did I put the matches? I allow tiny things like this stop me from all sorts of tasks I want to accomplish. I have a shop that needs cleaning, but since I am not sure where the broom is located. Perhaps it is a small purchase the needs to be made and I never remember when I am at the store. It goes on forever. Sometimes I have to just stop and analyze what task is blocking me from starting. Once identified, I can then focus on that particular task and do it. Then the rest becomes easier to get started.

Just make a move

One of the hardest things for me is making the first step. I am paralyzed by just getting one foot in front of the other. Once I get started, finishing is easy. Cleaning the shop would only take 5 to 10 minutes. All I have to do is start sweeping. My mother would ask me when I was a kid, “Are you waiting for an invitation?” I have found putting the task on a list and making that empty check box stare at me can help me get started. Other times I just have to get into action mode and suddenly starting one task leads to a bunch of them getting completed – starting one makes it easy to start another. Just getting started makes everything fall into place.

Leave room for spontaneity

Occasionally, I have to quit planning and be spontaneous. A few years after we were married, Denise challenged me to do something without planning it to the Nth degree. I realized then that I didn’t know how to just do something without laying it all out. I have worked on this since then, but I still have trouble being spontaneous. Something as simple as going for ice cream can be a paralyzing planning session for me. It is rare that I can surprise my wife, but every now and then, I do it. Just pick something and do it. Don’t plan it, design it or “begin with the end in mind.” Just get moving and see where it goes.

Just Do It

Nike had the right idea with this ad campaign. Just do it. Don’t wait around for the perfect set of conditions. Don’t wait for the sun to shine, the stars to align or the foil to be made into the perfect wax basin. Just light the candle! Strike a match and leave the consequences to another day. Take a risk and see what happens.

I love watching a candle burn. It is very relaxing and peaceful. This one smells really nice, too.

What is a Time Vampire?

Time vampires are everywhere. They are activities that take more time than we would like to spend. Television, video games or even daydreaming are some common Time Vampires. I’m not saying the act itself is bad . That is a whole other argument. These, and many other activities, easily get out of control without our realizing just how much of our life they have consumed until it is too late. I know when I sit down to play a video game, time seems to speed up and evaporate. The next thing I know, it is 3:00am and the rest of my week is shot while I recover from a lack of sleep.

Silently, these vampires suck away our lives, leaving us disappointed in ourselves and destroying the ability we have to accomplish bigger goals and ambitions. We have to constantly be aware and on guard. Some of these vampires can even be disguised as things we usually consider to be good, like reading, paying bills, yard work, cleaning or cooking. If it gets out of hand and keeps us from accomplishing a higher goal, it is a Time Vampire.

Recognizing a Time Vampire

Time Vampires are not easy to recognize. I wish they sparkled when brought into the sunlight. They don’t appear in front of us in swirly black capes in pointy teeth, either. They often can’t even be recognized directly, but only by their effects, sometimes over long periods of time. This is why they are so difficult to identify. If we don’t arrive at a goal when we think we should, too often we shrug and say, “That’s life.” However, it could be that we have allowed a Time Vampire to deflect our course along the way.

First, we must know where we want to go. I believe Louis Carroll summed it up best in Alice In Wonderland.

One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. Which road do I take? she asked. Where do you want to go? was his response. I don’t know, Alice answered. Then, said the cat, it doesn’t matter.

If we do not know where we are going, we will never recognize a Time Vampire deviating us from our destination. To identify a Time Vampire, we have to evaluate every activity we do and ask if it is moving us closer to our goal.

The second question is ask how much time it takes to do the activity in relation to how much it should require. For example, paying bills is a Vampire for me. I enjoy the analysis just enough that hours can go by in a blink. Vampires come in all shapes and sizes. What is a Vampire for me, may not be one for you. Gardening is not a Time Vampire for my wife, but it is for me. She loves it and I don’t, but because I love my wife, I participate. I will get on a project for her and time will get away from me and the next thing I know, I have lost an entire day. It isn’t wasted time, just spent completely on activities that don’t contribute directly to my personal goals. I’m not saying am not saying I should never help my wife, just need to be aware of what I am not getting done as a result so we can judge a compromise.

Guarding Against Time Vampires

I wish wearing a garlic necklace would help ward off a Time Vampire. It isn’t nearly that easy. The most important thing is to have that firm goal in mind of what we are working toward. Once we suspect a Time Vampire is in play, start keeping track of the time it takes to the the various activities of the day. Before starting something, decide how much time is going to be allowed for the task. This evaluation needs to be done regularly as Time Vampires can creep quietly in and take over. Weekly reviews are made to help us identify Time Vampires. We not only review all the tasks and projects we are working on, we spend time evaluating our goals and plans. We should constantly question whether the tasks and projects are moving us toward those goals. Once we have found a Time Vampire, we then have to develop a plan on how to eliminate or at least contain it.

Becoming a Time Vampire Slayer

Just as vampires don’t like wooden stakes or crosses, Time Vampires don’t like awareness. Once we know something sucks our time away, we can consider alternatives. Coming up with different ways of eliminating each unique Time Vampire can be a lot of fun. The more creative, the better the solution may be. Remember, everyone is different, so my alternatives may not be acceptable for you.

When I identified bill paying as a time vampire, I decided to automate as much of it as possible, using electronic bill pay options. I automated bill paying to the point I have very few bills to manually pay each month. I use a checklist of expected bills to quickly work through the bills and be confident I haven’t forgotten one.

Another option is outsourcing. I outsourced lawn mowing to my kids. For Christmas, I outsourced one of my wife’s Time Vampires – housecleaning. I hired a talented woman to spend a few hours every other week to do the deep cleaning so my wife can spend her time on other activities. It was a little expensive, but we haven’t regretted it once.

Another technique that works for those things I still have to do, like email, is the Pomodoro Technique. I set a timer for 20 minutes and focus intently on clearing as much as possible during that sprint. The timer helps me stay on task, keeping the Time Vampire from distracting me into long deviations. This technique also helps me get through tasks that easily wipe out an entire day, like cleaning the garage. If I focus for 20 minutes over several sessions on consecutive days, it actually takes less time than one long, daylong session. Breaking big tasks into smaller ones keeps the Time Vampire in check.

What are some of your Time Vampires? Share them in the comments section. It may help the rest of us identify ones we haven’t recognized yet. How did you find them? What works to keep them at bay? We all need to stick together to guard against Time Vampires.

If you find this post of value, won’t you please share it with some friends? I want to help as many people as possible and could really use your help. I appreciate every link or a retweet. Thank you!

Alec Stratton as Willy Wonka

A couple mornings ago, I was laying in bed, trying to convince myself to get up and go running. The problem was I felt drained of all energy, too tired to get up and do the things I wanted to do. Rather than get up, I started wondering about why I felt so drained. After starting to make a mental list, I realized why. I have been in a Life Pile Up and didn’t even know it.

What’s a Life Pile Up? For the past six weeks, I have been in constant motion, running from project to project, making choices to work on important projects, but dropping lots of others in the process. All those dropped tasks just don’t go away and now they are all coming back to haunt me. I have an overwhelming feeling of being buried in critical tasks that can no longer be ignored. Life Pile Up.

Step 1: Don’t Despair

When I get that drowning feeling, I usually respond by getting down on myself. “If only I were a little more efficient and effective, I wouldn’t be in this situation. Something must be wrong with me.” In my old age, I am finally starting to understand that kind of self-talk doesn’t help. Instead, I started listing all the things I said ‘Yes’ to over the past six weeks. Stacking the ‘Yeses’ up against the ‘No‘ to helps me realize what I accomplished as well as analyze my judgement. My list of completed projects included:

• I built a bed that turns into a boat.
• Took the family on a trip to San Francisco.
• Found a contractor and had the front yard landscaped.
• Prepared our tent trailer for sale (and received a full offer on it last night!)
• Moved our daughter home after completion of her first year of college.
• Made a quick trip with my brother to see our mother (recovering nicely, thank you).
• Attended every performance of Willy Wonka, starring our son as Willy himself.
• Finished wiring my neighbor’s basement bathroom in time for company from Australia.
• Refocused on diet and exercise and lost 7 pounds (so far).
• Managed to get Alec to rehearsals, performances, recitals and contests.
• Moved several projects at work forward.
• Kept up on the daily chores like cooking, washing, finances, and such.

Step 2: Understand what is left to do

Clearly something is bothering me. I started by writing down everything I had floating around in my mind. Doing a mind sweep involves writing fast and furious about everything that needs to be done. No analysis, no prioritizing, just writing. It was amazing how much stuff was jammed into my subconscious. Getting it out was just what my mind needed. Getting it on paper felt like giving my mind space to breath, making room for clear thought. I know I am supposed to be doing these at least weekly, but in the rush of keeping up, weekly reviews had fallen to the side of the road.

My list didn’t take more than fifteen minutes to commit to paper. It included things like paying bills that had slipped through the cracks, following up on a couple bills where the automation I thought had set up failed, understanding why I was double paying my VISA (yikes!), fixing two broken sprinklers that were geysering, and chasing down another attempt to pfish my bank account. Pretty important stuff.

Step 3: Identify the critical

Looking at the list all laid out in front of me made it easy to identify why I was feeling anxiety. There were plenty of tasks that were time critical. Some were actually down to the wire, where inaction for one more day would have resulted in hefty consequences, like late fees or stolen identity. With everything identified, organizing the list into a prioritized order took very little time, perhaps five minutes.

I also found several items floating in my mind were not critical at all, but were just cluttering up my thought processes. I put these tasks on my normal lists where they will be addressed in due time. That is one thing to be careful of. The subconscious is not good at prioritizing when everything is jammed up.

Step 4: Action!

Finally, I was able to get started attacking the list. While it always feels good to finally be doing something, it is important to note had I not take time for the analysis in Steps 1-3, I would have probably started working on something less important that the list I now had in front of me. I would probably have started, realized something else was more critical and shifted over to work on that one, only to repeat the process over and over. A little planning can really focus efforts and accomplish tasks in their proper order.

Step 5: Evaluate

Taking the day off to work on my list was the best use of my time. I accomplished all but one of the seventeen items on the list when I started this morning, and it can easily be finished tomorrow. I have a calm feeling again. I have cleared the Life Pile Up and am once again sailing free on the freeway of life. I have learned that following these five steps can help enormously to getting myself clear. It would have been better to have been doing the mind sweeps all along, as part of a weekly review. I allowed myself to get out the habit in the heat of the battle. I have to watch that in the future. Avoiding Life Pile Ups is the best course of action, but at least I know a good way to get out should I drive straight into one again.

If you have ever wanted a cheerleader for making a business on the Internet,  Gary Vaynerchuk is your guy. in Crush It!, Gary states, no, evangelizes his case for following a dream and making the jump to Internet business. The force of his personality leaps from the page, energizing the reader to absolutely believe they, too, can “crush it”.

Gary immigrated to America with his parents from Belarus when he was three. From an early age, he began selling. He sold baseball cards, building a small empire at his school before branching out to trade shows and the mall. His success was cut short when he turned fifteen and started working in the family wine shop. Even though he couldn’t drink the wares, he studied the wine guides and magazines to learn the lingo and be able to convince shoppers who came in for a bottle to take home a case. Then, during college, Gary discover YouTube.

Embracing the videos and convincing his father to let him, he started an Internet TV show dedicated to wine. Gary, who wasn’t happy being stuffy and pretentious like other wine critics. He used his personality and “earthy” ways to describe wine (including a NY Jets spit bucket) in a video blog. In a few short months, sales increased over 500%.

Vaynerchuk is convinced everyone can accomplish the same exciting feat of building and online brand and attracting a large following. From there, dreams come true (his dream is to buy the Jets and I believe he will somehow pull it off someday). Through out the book, as he discusses his beliefs on building an online business with the devotion most reserve for sports teams. His energy is infectious.

While light on detail, Gary lays out some of the methods for creating an audience. He discusses the importance of building a brand, creating great content and being available on every platform. What’s is most valuable, I believe, is his energy on the subject. He literally jumps off the page to motivate and make a believer out of the reader. The first time I read Crush It!, I was put off by the enthusiasm. This time through, however, it infected me and motivated me to start thinking about where my passion lies and how to leverage it.

My only complaint is the lack of detail on how to get started. I was hoping for a little more concrete detail. This book doesn’t have it, instead containing general concepts and discussions about some venues to be aware of while building an online empire. I had to go searching in other places to find the  detail and mentorship I wanted. Still, Vaynerchuk is a pretty good cheerleader.

Last fall, my wife hired a landscape architect to design a master plan for our new house. We have landscaped two houses before, but spent a lot of time and money redoing large portions each time. She wanted it to be done right the first time on this go around – something I really appreciate, since I really hate the work. The design done by Stephanie Hansen of Countryside Landscape Design was really well done. While Stephanie and Denise chatted merrily about plant species, I looked at the amount of grass to be removed, dirt to be brought in, boulders (not rocks, BOULDERS) to be placed and sprinkler lines to be moved. Ugh. This was going to be a lot of work for someone. Hopefully not by me.

Learning lessons in all the wrong places

I started calling landscape companies for bids. I figured with the economy being what it was and winter fast approaching, someone would like to pick up another job before the snow flew. Boy, was I wrong. I couldn’t get more than a couple of companies to even return my call. I finally convinced them to give me a bid, laying out the rule that Denise wanted to do all the planning of shrubs and flowers herself. She is the gardener, after all, and it would be therapy, not work, for her. Upon giving bids that included planting anyway, I requested they do as I asked and remove that part out from their bids. Their response was to not return my phone calls or emails. Silence. Nothing. Are you kidding me? How is that good customer service. It began to dawn on me that if I wanted this project done, I was going to have to do the work myself.

Testing a theory

When I read Write It Down, Make It Happen by Henriette Klauser, I started a small journal where I wrote down the things I wanted. Here is an entry for January 2, the very first day I began writing my desires down:

I want to pay someone else to do landscaping.

This is one dream I really wanted to happen, so in the early Spring, I started making more phone calls. The same thing happened. I would get estimates including the pieces I didn’t want them to do, only to be unceremoniously dropped when I requested it taken out. Finally, one landscaper confided that I was removing the biggest profit margin item on the list. By the way, he didn’t even call me back with the bid either – he just disappeared, too.

Finally, a good experience

I had just about given up when I came home one day to find a door hanger advertising a local company, Forrestbrook Landscaping. It even had a coupon for $200 off for a quick booking. I called immediately and to my surprise, not only did they answer the phone on a Saturday, Chris came over an hour later to look over the job. He had a bid back that very night for the exact job I requested. After I swallowed a little at the price, I realized I would have to reduce the scope of what I wanted done. I called Chris back. He enthusiastically discussed options and helped me develop a three-year plan to get the entire job done. He assured me breaking it up was no problem for him – he would be glad to do it.

Strike that. Make that a “great” experience

Chris and his gang got started early on Monday last week. They arrived exactly when they said they would. After a quick check on final details, the crew flew into the task. By the time I left for work an hour later, they had the sod removed, sprinkler system nearly fixed and were starting to dig holes for the trees. My neighbor, who builds houses and knows about landscapers, reported he was shocked to see how quickly they finished up, sweeping the sidewalks and street behind them. After a couple of rain delays, the curbing company showed up to finish the job. Even these guys were the best I have worked with, checking and making small modifications to the plan at no charge.

Testing customer service

The real proof came this week. I finally got a chance to work with the sprinkler system after the curbing had dried sufficiently. Water came shooting up out of the ground in the wrong place. I called back, hoping Chris would even answer my call. After  all, he had his money. Not only did he answer, he had a crew over the next day to see what was wrong. They found the break in the worst possible place, directly under the new curbing. After a little puzzling over options, they figured out how to cap the pipe. They wanted the pipe to dry for a couple of hours before testing, so he requested I call him when I did. When I called back at 8:30pm, he cheerily answered the phone. Clearly, his stock is rising in my book.

Now for the real test…

Late last night, Denise was preparing the list of shrubs for planting. This is a multi-hour research process for her which she dearly loves. In the process, she discovered Chris had missed a couple small boulders in one bed on the plan. I figured there is no way they would want to deal with that now, since the boulders are from a quarry in another county and would be overly costly to deal with now. I figure the best we could hope for was to have them include it in next year’s effort. I suggested she email Chris and let him know, bracing myself for the worst. I offered to place them myself in a hopeful compromise. To my surprise, Chris replied within 15 minutes, apologizing for the miss, promising to get the boulders and place them for us. He is even offering to let us take advantage of his discount with a local nursery for the shrubs Denise wants.

Customer for life

Did all this service cost Forrestbrook Landscaping money? Absolutely! It has taken time from their other jobs and money out of their profit. What is the result? There is no doubt on who I am calling for the rest of my landscaping. Whenever anyone asks for a reference, I will gush praise until they ask me to stop. I’ll even write a blog post about it. These guys get it! The money they will get from future sales will far surpass the small investment of time and money now. They have just secured another salesman whom they don’t have to pay. Customer service may cost more in the short-term, but in the grand scheme, it the best thing for the business.

A sound board, in musical circles, is a wood board that, when attached to a vibrating string, will amplify the sound, making it many times louder than the string itself. Sometimes, we use others to do the same for our thoughts, testing ideas and hearing how it sounds as they discuss their reactions, giving us a better insight. My brother did just that for me as I discussed with him some of the plans and ideas I have been thinking about lately.

Sound Board Properties

A good musical sound board will resonate well with the vibration of the string. Not all species of wood make good sound boards. It is the same with people. Not every person will be a good sound board for your ideas.Look for the following qualities before bouncing ideas off them.

1. Close, but not too close. When looking for an honest opinion, I go to people who are close to me, who understand me and have a vested interest in me. I appreciate advice that can only come from someone who has emotional skin in the game. How close this relation needs to be depends on the level of advice I am seeking. My wife and brother are much closer to me and therefore give advice I trust more than acquaintances at work, for example. However, there is such a thing as too close. There are times when my wife is too close to the issue for me to discuss. We have spent so much time together over the last 24 years, we think too much alike. A fresh perspective is very helpful, too.
2. Experience with the problem. A good sound board needs to have some background in the area in question. The response needs to be based on some expertise for it to be of value. When someone comes to me for advice on how to climb a mountain, I can’t help them. I haven’t done it. However, when someone asks for an opinion on a plan to build a piece of furniture, I can use my experience to judge the validity of their plans and offer advice.
3. Willingness to listen. Finding someone who is willing to sit quietly and listen is critical. Good advice comes after a thorough understanding and understanding comes from active listening. What is active listening? Engaged, attentive attitude, questioning for clarity and understanding. My brother is a master at this.
4. Honest, clear feedback. The whole point of having a sound board is to hear the original idea, amplified and resonated through the ears and experience of another. The sound board needs to be willing and able to repeat back what they have heard, ask leading questions to guide the thought process and render and opinion. The topic should be examined from many angles and honest feedback provided.

My brother came through for me. We had a wonderful talk about my ideas and he put some additional thoughts into the mix that have helped me clarify the idea. I trust his experience and ability to think things through. After all, he got the brains in the family. I just got the good looks. I’m just glad to have him close again to bounce ideas off. Thanks, bro.

Canoes and kayaks have very little draft, how much of the craft is below the water. Sitting on top of the water means there is little to keep the boat from being pushed around by the wind and the current. The lack of a rudder means all the steering must be completed by the person paddling. In short, the oar becomes the method of propulsion AND steering. These important tasks only happen when keeping an oar in the water.

A little oar makes a big difference

The oar blade is wide and thin, When pulled through the water, the wide surface powers the boat forward. When flipped sideways, the narrow blade becomes a rudder, able to direct the craft in the desired direction. I have always marveled somewhat that a 17 foot kayak can easily be directed by a 6 inch rudder. By contrast, an 1100 foot air craft carrier’s rudder is only 22 feet long.

My scout advisor taught me a few different methods for controlling my craft, including a couple different stroke styles. However, the one lesson he pounded into our heads time and again was the only way it worked was if we kept our oar in the water. Perhaps he really wanted us to quit splashing around, but the lesson is profound. Keep the oar in the water and it puts the boat at your command. Take the oar out of the water and the boat becomes instantly at the command of the current and the wind.

Oars in life

There are many analogies and lessons that can be made to our lives and the oar. Today, I am thinking about how goals are like an oar. Goals don’t have to be very big in size or scope to keep us tracking toward a greater destination. Working toward something, no matter how small, means we are not just allowing the current of life to sweep us along. A goal focuses our efforts and moves us along.

When I made the goal of getting up earlier in the morning, I had no idea how much change that little difference would make to my life. When I get up and get my “Three R’s” of Reading, Writing and Running complete before breakfast, the rest of my day goes much more smoothly. My day becomes more productive. When I sleep in, I have to fight harder to get everything done that I should.

Put an oar in the water

Goals are simple desires to improve ourselves. Without action, though, they are just hopes for someday. Putting the oar in the water, so to speak, is the only way the goal will benefit us. A little speed develops with each stroke or action. Pulling against the resistance of life helps us gain speed to where we want to go. A few small successes and we have momentum. Then we can settle into a steady rhythm, using the oar or goal to guide us.

When I feel adrift in my life, I realize it is time to do as my scout advisor suggested and put an oar in the water. Make a goal and start pulling. it doesn’t take long to get under way to somewhere special.

Clayton M. Christensen is a professor at the Harvard Business School. In the Innovator’s Dilemma, he presents his research into business life cycles and how larger companies find it difficult to innovate. He shows how these larger companies eventually are replaced by innovators who make inroads by taking the bottom markets willing ceded to them by the bigger companies. Little by little, the smaller companies eat away until they have market dominance themselves, leaving the once market leader without a place to go.

The concept of how small companies can thrive in a world dominated by large companies is an interesting one, especially for the entrepreneurs facing Goliath. Christensen lays out several test cases where the larger company couldn’t innovate, allowing smaller companies to enter at the bottom of the market. He even shows how and why it made sense for the management of these dominant companies to allow this to happen – at the time. Innovation is not an easy prospect for large companies because their large existing customer base often will not allow the innovations to move forward because it doesn’t fit their needs. Innovations often bring a different customer and large companies are not always able to choose to service both.

Christensen provides a few examples of this phenomena in excruciating detail, studying the rapidly changing industries of disk drives and steel production. He rounds out the book with a discussion of the steam shovel and how it lost out to hydraulics. In a final case study, he examines how the principles could be applied to a potential disruptive technology – the electric car. He lays out a complete game plan for a company to take the innovations available and capture a new market. Sadly, in the years since publication in 1997, it doesn’t appear anyone has taken up the challenge, although perhaps Tesla Motors has come the closest.

The problem I have with Christensen’s book is his writing style. He is definitely a Harvard Business School professor. He delves deeply into his research, explaining every nuance of the industry in such detail as to leave no doubt he has done an extensive study. I grew up in IT, living just miles away from one of the great innovators of the disk drive industry, yet I learned many things about  disk drives. I hadn’t imagined I could get a technical education from a book on business management.

Christensen’s writing style was the biggest barrier to the material. His explanations were too deeply steeped with details that didn’t move the story forward. While the datum was valid and important, it didn’t necessarily have to be presented in long, exhaustive detail. Today’s readers do not have a lot of time or desire to spend long stretches of deep explanation. I found it necessary to spend at least 45 minutes reading before getting “into” the book. I couldn’t help comparing the style to that of Jim Collins in Great By Choice. Yes, Collins is also a researcher who loves detail. The difference is that Collins moves all his detailed explanations to the appendix where those who desire it can find it. The book itself is organized into fast moving, short chapters laying out the salient points distilled from the exhaustive research. I would really have appreciated this approach in this book by Christensen. Collins is a storyteller where Christensen is a Harvard professor.

Christensen’s insight is worth the slog through the knee deep data. Just be ready with a canteen for dry stretches of endless detail as far as the eye can see.

I have always been fascinated by flying and how to navigate over long distances. When a pilot flies to a faraway place, she doesn’t set an exact course and then forget about it of the rest of the trip. Constant, tiny course corrections are required over the entire duration of the flight. One degree difference in course doesn’t make a difference immediately, but over the span of hours at high speed, it builds to a difference of hundreds of miles. Consequently, pilots must constantly adjust their heading so the airplane arrives precisely as desired.

I want to be in a different place in my life this time next year. To get there, I need to make changes in what I doing today. The necessary alterations don’t seem all that big today, so it doesn’t seem all that important at times to make the tiny adjustments. I can easily talk myself out of the effort to make that one small course correction today, because it doesn’t seem all that important. However, over time, those tiny changes add up.

Fifteen months ago, I started writing with the goal of gaining discipline in my life. Thinking about it the morning, I thought I may have written around 100 articles. As of today, I have amassed 230 blog posts. I was surprised to see it more than double my expectations. Small, daily changes will do that. As I finished my run on Saturday, the application I use for tracking informed me I have completed nearly 200 miles over this same fifteen months. I haven’t been great at the discipline of running, but 200 miles is a far sight better than I would have predicted when I started. The point is through small, daily changes, I have made great progress.

Now I want more change. Here are the steps I am going to take to make it successful.

1. Write down a specific goal.
2. Break the goal down into one month milestones.
3. Define daily actions to achieve the next milestone.
4. Find an accountability buddy for a daily progress report.
5. Track the progress and put the chart where I see it.

Sounds pretty basic, doesn’t it? That is the point. Daily tiny shifts in habit become radical changes. I am going to write on these topics over the next few days, so I would love to hear your perspective. What has worked for you? Which works better for you – tiny change or dramatic change? How do you keep momentum? What do you want to change? Have you been surprised where a tiny shift has led you? I would love to hear your successes (and failures). Please leave a comment and let’s learn together.