First off, I have to say that I take issue with their terminology. While they accurately discuss the root issue here, that of insecurity, they label the problem “Insecurity Work“. While constantly checking Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, e-Mail alerts, and Blog stats takes time and effort, it is the opposite of work/what you are paid to do/results.

That being said, check out the article: Tip: Reduce Your Level of Insecurity Work.

I have to admit that it’s a little painful to discover, or even worse, have someone point out, a weakness. The good news is that we have an opportunity to better ourselves and then help others. Isn’t that what management is about?

After seeing his daughter graduate from High School, Serial Entrepreneur Steve Blank took a look back and wrote Epitaph for an Entrepreneur.

At the core of his post is a list of “Family Rules” and I’m stunned to say I am in complete agreement.

No one says on his deathbed, “I wish I worked more”. In fact, many say, “I wish I spent more time with my family.” If you value your marriage and your children, read Steve’s post now.

Life is too short for negatives. Skip down to the positives. Creativity will flourish given constraints, focus, ground rules and conditions.

37Signals conclusion? “That messy planning stage that delays things and prevents you from getting real is, in large part, a waste of time. So skip it. If you really want to know how much time/resources a project will take, start doing it.”

Check out my earlier post, Why Planning is Counter-productive. It has better links if you’d like to look further into the planning fallacy. Also be sure to check out last month’s In Your Face, MBAs series.

To those of you following along via New Readers/Aggregators, be sure to visit the web site from time to time!

UPDATE – Wordpress v. 2.8 upgrade fixed the issue!

Oh, it’s Gina Trapani of LifeHacker guestblogging. Alles klar.

• READ the post.
• DO everything it says (thus leading by example).
• BUDGET so that your staff can do everything it says. (Especially the part about a good chair and monitor real estate!)
• TRAIN so that your staff can do everything it says.
• ROCK.

Many weeks ago, Ars Technica discussed a bleak report on employee misuse of the Internet. While this would concern anymanager or business owner, creative businesses offer additional challenges.

The Internet is a pervasive part of creative businesses. “Connectedness” is part of our jobs. That being said, I’d like to point out the hidden (or potential) costs every manager or owner of a creative business must be aware of:

1. Distraction. While the Internet is an incredibly powerful tool, allowing creatives to collaborate, research and find inspiration, I would argue that the Internet is every bit as much a threat to productivity and “human resources”. “Oh, I was just checking my e-Mail/Facebook/eBay sale/eBay bid/RSS feeds/the news, Twitter…” All of these can add up to hours each week or even within a single day! Salaries are your biggest expense. Do the Math.
2. Bandwidth. Though you probably know how much your Internet connection costs, it is difficult to measure how much of your bandwidth is used for business purposes. Based on personal experience as an IT pro, I can make a good estimate. As a percentage, we’re probably talking single digits. 
3. Security of sensitive documents. This largely has to do with peer-to-peer File Sharing programs, the point of which is to make sharing files easy. Such programs intentionally subvert security measures such as firewalls and often lead to sensitive documents being seen or distributed. Think tax forms, client lists, bank statements and IP theft.
4. Legal Exposure. These same peer-to-peer File Sharing programs also expose your business to  liability for copyright infringement (if copyrighted materials are being downloaded and therefore distributed by your employees) as well as liability if sensitive client data is leaked or stolen.

The mere mention of an Internet usage policy will likely draw fire. Creatives tend to have an aversion to rules. Yet, those same creatives need to understand that protecting business assets protects their jobs.

We’ll look at ways to manage Internet usage in a future post. Stay tuned.

In this Web 2.0 age, where collective knowledge is valued, leaders must keep in mind that “collective stupidity” also abounds. Often, leaders need to move ahead, even when support is lagging behind, knowing that eventually the group will catch on. And just as often, they need to listen.

So, what better way to introduce him, than by letting him speak for himself? Click here to see his 2004 TED Talk.

As you’ll see, Csikszentmihalyi’s big thing is “flow”, which I find to be more descriptive than “being in the zone” (uh, where’s that, exactly?) or having a “creative streak” which could be either something in your hair or your state of dress/undress. Of course, we all realize that what’s being articulated is more commonly known as “Creative Reaction”. We expect that academia will eventually catch on. 

Nomenclature aside (wink), an intriguing video!

• The Dreamer - the visionary who dreamt up ideas for films and business ventures.
• The Realist - the pragmatic producer who made things happen.
• The Critic - the eagle-eyed evaluator who refined what the Dreamer and Realist produced.

The article draws upon a book by Robert Dilts, who studies “Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) (which) explores the way people sequence and use fundamental mental abilities such as sight, hearing and feeling in order to organize and perform in the world around them.”

Quoting Dilts, “Walt Disney’s ability to connect his innovative creativity with successful business strategy and popular appeal certainly qualifies him as a genius in the field of entertainment. In a way, Disney’s chosen medium of expression, the animated film, characterizes the fundamental process of all genius: the ability to take something that exists in the imagination only and forge it into a physical existence that directly influences the experience of others in a positive way.”

So my only question is, which one of the heads got frozen?

(via Innovation Tools.)

Ending the Illusion of Control notes “the dismal historical track record of much, if not most, economic forecasting”. 

Planning and forecasting have their place. Unfortunately, they are wrought with uncertainty. Making matters worse is the fact that “humans, driven by over-optimism and wishful thinking, often underestimate uncertainty even more than statistical models do”.

The authors assert that forecasts can be as addicting and dangerous as cigarettes and, therefore, should have warning labels. 

Nice.

Download it now.