Juggling Elephants Blog

In the Time Magazine article, "Fine Fast Food", Steve Ells, the founder of Chipotle Mexican Grill tells the story of his success. It's a great read about staying true to your purpose and always striving to improve.

The most telling quote about his success, to me, came near the end of the article. Ells writes, That's why we have been so successful. They [customers] have finally found a fast-food restaurant that has respect-for them, for their taste buds, for their sense of aesthetics, for service, for its employees and for its suppliers.

It's easy to discount some of the needs of the performers in our circus, whether it's at work or home. It takes a tremendous effort on our part and often sacrifice of some of our own needs-for a period of time to keep others fully engaged. As Ells shows in his article, however, the work can lead to a fantastic payoff for everyone. Ole'!

Labels: chipotle, purpose, teamwork

Check out another review of Juggling Elephants on Newsweek.com:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20920161/site/newsweek/

Labels: juggling elephants

Today is recognized across the US as Family Day-A day to eat dinner with your children. According to CASA (Center for Addiction & Substance Abuse at Columbia University), research has consistently shown that children who eat dinner with their families at least 3 times per week are less likely to smoke, drink alcohol or use drugs.

That's not surprising. As a parent, the more time we spend in our "relationship ring" with our children, the more comfortable they are talking about any number of things. It's also a superb time for us to simply listen to them. I just spent the better part of 4 days with my 3 year old daughter and I can tell you that I have a much better understanding of her. Sure, I spend lots of time with my family members, but so often I am jumping from ring to ring instead of making my time with them the only act I am focused on at the moment.

May you bring a great performance into your relationship ring tonight-quality time with your family.

For more informaton on Family Day: http://www.casafamilyday.org/

Labels: family, priorities, relationships

Raven Young of "Raven's Brain" put Juggling Elephants in some pretty good company. Read her thoughts at:

http://ravenyoung.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!17376F4C11A91E0E!3774.entry

Labels: business management, personal growth, raven young

It's amazing how people come to see the value of the message in the book. Some people connect with it immediately, while others need to have it validated by someone else before taking a look. Consider this comment we received last week:

I wasn't really buying into the concept of Juggling Elephants, and then one of my co-workers said that she felt a little like being in a circus today. I asked her if she felt like she was "juggling elephants", and she said "exactly". So it started me thinking that I need to dig deeper into this.

We welcome all comments or thoughts related to the book or the concepts. Send us an e mail at info@jugglingelephants.com to give us your opinion.

We received this feedback about the book yesterday:

Our students are all non-traditional students who are juggling work, school, family and personal lives. Somehow they have added a fourth ring to their already busy circuses. We were planning a celebration for them for Non-Traditional Student week in early November and came up with the juggling act and circus theme. I searched for a book or prize we could use and found your book Juggling Elephants. I ordered several copies immediately and just finished reading it.

Your book will be perfect for our busy students. I love the lighthearted analogy to a really serious issue. I think we have all struggled with finding the balance and many of us have tried most to the time management methods. They work but they are not always fun. Your approach with the ringmaster who must learn to choose only quality acts, create the line up, and move quickly from ring to ring offers us a fun way to remember to pay attention to what is important.

Keep those comments coming!

Labels: juggling elephants, priorities

800ceoread asks its readers about a challenge they are facing in the workplace and then offers insights from a business book that they believe has a viable solution. Today (September 17) they use Juggling Elephants to solve a workplace challenge. Click the link to read more:

Labels: focus, productivity, stress

In an article entitled "The Knowledge Maestro", (Fortune, September 17) Jimmy "Jimbo" Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, is asked about how he best works with others. One of his most striking comments to me was,

If you have the right people, and you're organizing things sensibly, there shouldn't be a lot of telling people what to do.

That's a great affirmation of the need to have the right "performers" in your circus and for creating a lineup that keeps everyone focused on the right tasks-including you.

Labels: focus, management, planning

Leadershipnow.com has posted a superb write-up of Juggling Elephants on their Leading Blog. Read it at:
http://www.leadershipnow.com/leadingblog/2007/09/my_life_feels_like_a_threering.html

Labels: blog, juggling elephants, leadership

In training programs on Juggling Elephants, we talk about the need to focus on your purpose, and use the definition of "desired intent or outcome." Well, if you wanted the outcomes of:

• No housekeeping
• No laundry to wash
• No cooking to do
• No heating or cooling bills

What act should be in your lineup? Why, living in a motel for 22 years. Here's the link to the story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070911/od_afp/lifestylebritainhoteloffbeat

This couple definitely stayed true to their purpose. What are you willing to do (or say "No" to) to stay true to your purpose?

Labels: choices, purpose

Six years ago today was such a horrible moment in time. It was also a day that so clearly demonstrated a time most of us wanted to be in the "relationship ring" of our circus. As people learned of the tragedy, many just wanted to go home and be with their families. People stranded by grounded flights rented or bought cars, purchased RVs and did almost anything humanly possible to get home. Those people who could not get home were comforted by the amazing generosity of others who also knew which ring was most important in their life at that moment. I simply went home and spent the day with my daughter and wife.

Which ring(s) do you you need to be in today? The sense of urgency may not be as great as 9/11, but it probably is just as important.

Labels: relationships, work/life balance

Following a training program in San Antonio on Saturday, I had someone say, "In the past 4 months, we have a new 'Ringmaster' in our organization, we have lost several 'performers' due to various reasons and we have more 'acts' going on at work than ever before. After this session on Juggling Elephants, I can see that I need to take better care of things in my self ring if I am going to keep up my level of performance at work."

Yes! They got it.

Labels: self-improvement

In today's WSJ (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118912967608820227.html?mod=todays_us_nonsub_weekendjournal), there was a follow up article to one in June where they asked people how they planned to spend their Summer Vacation. The article chronicled how well they had done in meeting their goals.

The article mirrored the way many people look at taking a break or an "intermission." Some do things to plan for the "next half" of their performance, they mentally or physically rest or they reflect on how their circus is going. When the intermission is over, they are more focused and better prepared for what's in their lineup.

Others just keep the acts going, and often wonder why their performance rarely improves.

Labels: focus, planning, stress reduction

Finally! Juggling Elephants is in the stores and available online. What a journey it has been.

Three and a half years ago we were discussing our frustration with having too many priorities, too much stress, and too little time. Little did we know that such a powerful yet simple solution to these challenges could be found when one of us said, "My life feels like a three-ring circus!"

The concepts have changed our lives and our hope is that the message of the book will be of benefit to all individuals and organizations that struggle with "getting it all done."

Labels: juggling elephants

Here's a great e mail we received from an early reader of Juggling Elephants:

Last week our boss visited our office. The day was spent talking about how to make sense out of the mounting workload and set priorities so we don't miss committments to our customers.

Before he left, I gave him my advance copy of Juggling Elephants and told him that the book was well worth the read on the flight home.

This week, he started a group conference call by referring to the book and followed up with a discussion about getting the project acts lined up correctly, every ring needing good acts and that the customer expects a great performance.

Juggling Elephants is amazingly accurate about the challenges we face everyday.

Let us know your thoughts!

Labels: book review