Juggling Elephants Blog

Now that I have your attention. Been in a meeting recently where people were more engaged with their PDAs, phones or laptops than they were in the meeting? Thought so. It can be extremely frustrating. In response some companies have gone "topless" at meetings. No laptops during the discussions. Other companies have chosen to include IPhones and other personal devices that are so common in the workplace.

The article brings out several critical points both pro/con for the idea. They include:

• Partial attention due to using the devices during the meeting leads to partial results.


• Using the devices has created a mindset of "continuous partial attention." There is no point at which one is fully engaged in just one event or activity.


• Etiquette has not kept up with technology.


• The root problem may be that people just hate meetings.

Read the entire article at http://www.mercurynews.com//ci_8688897?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com

Labels: focus, meetings, technology

Learn to Play the Guitar, Write a Novel, Sky Dive, Take Flight Lessons, Try Out for American Idol, Visit the Pacific Islands, Buy a House, Start a Family, Go Back to Graduate School...

Sometimes our "To Do List" seems to us to be more like a "Wish List". Especially as we get older. Time, money and resources seem to be barriers that get in the way. The quote below from Kathy Seligman offers a good strategy:

You can't hit a home-run unless you step up to the plate. You can't catch fish unless you put a line in the water. You can't reach your goals unless you actually do something.

It is that easy! Do something. Begin! Layout out a plan and get started. Anything worth achieving is going to take effort and require sacrifice so put on the waders and get fishing.

Labels: goals

Recently I did a keynote presentation to over 200 sales managers from a large corporation. It was a pleasure to be asked to speak to this group. What was even more exciting was to walk into their corporate facility and see the "set up" of the meeting. They had taken the concepts from Juggling Elephants and wrapped it around the theme for their conference. It included:

• In the lobby they had set up a concession stand for the breaks where they served drinks, popcorn (popped fresh in a circus-like popcorn machine), and cotton candy.
• The Directors had dressed up in a variety of circus outfits (gypsies, barkers, clowns, etc.) with the emcee and the vice president dressed as ringmasters.
• Every detail was covered right down to circus music that played at the breaks.

Each participant had been given the book Juggling Elephants prior to the conference and were encouraged to read it before attending. This was a group, like most of us, that has plenty of acts in their circus. The stage was set for us to have a fun yet very frank discussion on the importance of being the ringmaster of our circuses and creating the performance of a lifetime. I would highly recommend such a setup and experience to any organization whose employees are feeling overwhelmed with too much to do. Taking an intermission to refocus is critical and will bring a return on the investment (and lots more standing ovations).

Labels: juggling elephants

While reviewing the headlines of the New York Times, I spotted the quote of the day and it really caught my attention. It read:

The very success of immunizations has turned out to be an Achilles heel. Most of these parents have never seen measles, and don't realize it could be a bad disease so they turn their concerns to unfounded risks. They do not perceive risk of the disease but perceive risk of the vaccine.
-Dr. Mark Sawyer, an infectious disease specialist at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego

Unfounded risks. I talk with people so often who are unwilling to make a change in their work or personal routine because of perceived risks that have little or no basis in reality. Sometimes they voice them while other times you can see the fear in their eyes.

The next time you are considering changing the acts in your lineup, seek out those individuals who have suffered from poor productivity or feeling overwhelmed and made changes in their routines that got them more standing ovations. You might just find that the pain of change is worth the cure.

Labels: change

I enjoyed an article in Inc Magazine recently titled, "How Hard Could It Be?: Five Easy Ways to Fail" by Joel Spolsky. The article mentioned five reasons technology projects go wrong. In line with the message of Juggling Elephants was "Mistake No. 5: Work till midnight". Some highlights from the article are:

• "There's a whole body of literature establishing that working more hours doesn't produce software any faster. Edward Yourdon, the software entrepreneur and author, dubbed this kind of project the 'death march.'"


• "Software development takes immense intellectual effort. Even the best programmers can rarely sustain that level of effort for more than a few hours a day. Beyond that, they need to rest their brains a bit."


• "Compelling employees to spend even more hours sitting in front of a computer won't really translate into more output--or if it does, it will be the wrong kind of output."


• "Running a death march is not the only way to make a project late and a budget buster. But it is a surefire way to do so."

I think the same concepts apply to "non-programmers" as well. A lot of times we feel that if we work longer hours we will be more productive and get more done. The reality is that the law of diminishing returns applies. We need to take daily intermissions and "rest our brains a bit". We need to maintain a good performance in all the rings of our life. A good, focused, 8 hour day will deliver better results in the long run.

Labels: burnout, stress reduction

Bernie Garcia, an 83 year old great-grandmother, was in a tough situation. As she was buying gas for her vehicle, a man approached her and tried to grab her purse. She fought back, and was pulled to the ground and dragged a short distance by the man before another man confronted the would-be robber. The thief was soon caught by local police after he fled in his vehicle.

Ms. Garcia, required no medical treatment. What really hit me about her story, however, is what she told her son after the attack. He asked, "Why didn't you just give (the purse) up?" Her reply was, "---- no, that was my purse. I was fighting for what was mine."

Take the same approach today with your time and energy. Don't let unnecessary or frivolous acts in your lineup "steal" your resources, making you unable to accomplish what is most important to you. Remember... you are fighting for something that means more to you than anyone else.

Click here to read her entire story.

Labels: focus, interruptions

I came across this quote today by Edgar F. Roberts:

Every human mind is a great slumbering power until awakened by a keen desire and by definite resolution to do.

What acts in your lineup today do you have a "keen desire" to complete? If there are none or very few, maybe it's time to take a quick intermission and consider making some changes to the lineup-or to revisit your purpose for doing them.

Labels: focus, motivation

I usually see myself as a "the glass is half full" type of person or at least I try to be. I think that optimism and enthusiasm go a long way toward creating quality performances – especially at work. I like this quote my Norman Vincent Peale:

Think enthusiastically about everything; but especially about your job. If you do, you’ll put a touch of glory in your life. If you love your job with enthusiasm, you'll shake it to pieces. You'll love it into greatness.

Imagine if a ringmaster half-heartedly introduced an act. It would affect not only the audience's expectations, but also the performer's willingness to give their best to the performance. We spend a lot of time and a good deal of our lives working. We might as well spend the time chasing greatness, being passionate and creating a love for the work that we do.

Labels: enthusiasm, motivation

Many times managing our busy schedule is not a matter of getting rid of the "bad acts" from our circus – it is having too many good acts going on and piling up. One key strategy is to figure out what it would cost to delegate certain acts to someone else (outsourcing) and compare that with what we could gain by doing something other than that act.

For example, paying a neighborhood youth to mow the lawn. What would that cost and what could I gain by doing something else (time to work on that novel or more time in my relationship ring?)? A good friend of mine figured out that he could make more money by working and hiring someone to do a remodeling project than by taking time off and doing the project himself. He actually made money by hiring someone. Now, the key here is to make sure that by outsourcing you are taking advantage of that saved time and doing something more productive.

I also realize that doing activities like mowing the lawn and remodeling can be therapeutic as well – an intermission. Just remember that being able to let go of some acts will help you to schedule in the most important acts and reduce your stress level.

Labels: delegation, time management