A Crane's Eye View

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Educational Session with Naomi

Hi Naomi,
Thank you for taking the time to work with me.

This Blog has Moved! Please view the 1000 Cranes Blog

I had originally started this blog with the intent of sharing my personal views of the world separate from my business blog.  Then when I made the decision to blog everyday starting April 15, 2007 on my 1000 Cranes Blog, this personal viewpoint blog was looking to be a bit redundant. 

In an effort to consolidate, this viewpoint blog has moved!  Please point your browser to the 1000 Cranes Blog.  You'll get daily insights from me with questions posed to you about your business and your view.  It's worth checking out!

Thanks!

Naomi

Bodies: The Exhibition at a Mall Near You

Needless to say, I was fairly distraught when I saw that Bodies:  The Exhibition is now showing at my local mall.  You may recall from my previous posting on June 28, 2006 called "Is Science Art:  A review of the Bodies Exhibition", I was appalled when I heard about the source of the bodies for the exhibit, and how it may be possible that the cadavers on display may be executed prisoners who had practiced Falun Gong in China. 

So in between shopping for the endless goods that we don't need, and sipping $3.50+ coffee drinks, we can plop another $24.50 to see plastinized cadavers of "unclaimed bodies from China".   Somehow "Bodies:  The Exhibition" sounds so much classier, doesn't it? 

I can understand if a local museum would want to display the exhibit, but please, at the mall?  What has our world come to these days? 

My Low Carbon Diet

Last Friday on my drive to Charlotte, I had the fortune to listen to the NPR Talk of the Nation "Science Friday" program talking about global warming and the activities that took place on April 14, 2007 sponsored by Step It Up '07.   

One speakers was Chris Goodall who spoke about living a low-carbon diet.   He brought up an interesting point about our food system's use of pesticides and the transportation of this food from all places in the world actually contributes more to the global warming crisis.  Plane travel is the apparently the most toxic contributor to this effect. 

So here is my plan for my low-carbon diet:
- Support local farmers reducing the requirement to transport food from distant places.    
- Look for more organic foods that do not use these pesticides. 
- Insulate my home properly and monitor my heating and cooling usage.
- Reduce or eliminate my travel by plane (apparently, this is one of worst things we're doing!)   
 
The program is fascinating...check it out on the NPR website. 

Another interesting WSJ article about the billionaire, Johan Eliasch, who purchase 400,000 acres of Brazilian Amazon rainforest in order to plant more trees to curb the global climate crisis.   He started an organizaton called Cool Earth to work toward this end.  It's worth a quick look. 

What is your low-carbon diet? 

The Problems with a Flat World

Thomas Friedman's, The World is Flat, was a real eye opener.  As more and more companies are leaning toward outsourcing or "insourcing" in order to cut costs, the differences between cultures and guidelines becomes more apparent. 

Of course the latest horror has occured with the recent problem with Menu Foods use of wheat gluten imported from China.  The melamine (or is it rat poison...the jury is still out), has brought the problems of outsourcing right into the homes of many animal lovers including myself.    If a lethal substance can get into our pet's food supply, how long will it take to reach the human food supply?

It's time to start rethinking about the origin of our food supplies.   No wonder organic homegrown  foods are becoming a great hit.   

Brain Power through Music

It always amazes me when I travel for conferences, lectures or consulting engagements, how small things can make a difference.  I've always been a fan of improving your brain through various exercises.  After doing some research in brain synapse development and having been a fan of Professor Marion Diamond during my UC Berkeley days (she led the team that dissected Einstein's brain), I try to exercise that "muscle" when an opportunity arises.  For example, when I have the opportunity to use a computer with a mouse, I use the it in my left hand rather than in my dominant right hand.  After doing that for several years, I noticed my peripheral vision improved and my reflex reaction became faster.  I also believe it helped broaden my view of the world.    Several friends of mine are now "hooked" as well in using their mice as south paws.   The other added benefit is when I do this, it frees up my right hand to take notes. 

In a recent engagement in Virginia Beach last year, one of my students, Linda Riddle of Alternative Resource Center for Student Wellness (ARC for Student Wellness), was playing classical music during the breaks.  She had a variety of CDs to help with productivity, motivation, learning, etc.  They were the Sound Health CDs from Advanced Brain Technologies.    Intrigued, I purchased one CD at the time (the Inspiration CD) and found it useful while brainstorming ideas for expansion of the 1000 Cranes business and to continue to keep my spirits uplifted when faced with challenges.   The purchase of the CD also helps this nonprofit organization continue with its mission to help children with learning disabilities. 

Needless to say, last week, I returned to Virginia Beach to lead another lecture, and I decided to purchase the entire set and tried them out at some recent engagements.  After playing the Learning CD for a recent Strategic Planning session, I was surprised to notice that the students were asking more thoughtful questions and there was greater participation and engagement.  I can't necessarily say that it was all attributed to the CDs, but it does seem interesting that after teaching this course for several years to a variety of groups that the participation of this one particular class was more insightful than I have seen before.   I also used the Thinking CD for a recent facilitation session which required some brainstorming with some good results as well.    I've made it a goal to get my first book out this year, so maybe using the Inspiration, Productivity and Motivation CDs will get me in the right direction!   Hopefully, I'll have something good to report in the upcoming months.  :-)  If you are interested in getting a set of CDs yourself or try out an individual one, contact Linda Riddle at the Alternative Resource Center for Student Wellness (www.arcsw.org) or Advanced Brain Technolologies (www.advancedbrain.com).  I usually don't promote such things on my blog, but this is something that can benefit just about everyone.  Don't you deserve to keep your brain healthy? 

What is Your Traffic Light Pitch?

The other day, I was sitting in my car at a traffic light, and the driver next to me to my right gives me the hand motion to roll down my window. [Now that we no longer have crank windows, the signal is just pointing with your index finger down.]  Usually, when something like this happens, someone is asking for directions or perhaps providing a passing compliment or warning you of a problem with your vehicle (you're trunk is open or gas cap is hanging off).   However, this person absolutely floored me. 

He started off by saying.  "You're a woman...I'm sure you wear perfume, right?"  I'm thinking to myself...uh, yes, every now and then.  I'm thinking this guy must be insane...if he didn't have a woman in the car with him, I would have immediately rolled the window back up!   So he asks me, "What kind of perfume is it?"  Okay, so I humor him, and for the record, I like "Romance" by Ralph Lauren. 

Needless to say, it's a bit of an awkward moment, and as the light was starting to turn green, he finally got to the point...but it was too late.  He started saying, "I'm a Fayetteville State student, and we are sending samples...".  Sorry, guy, too late.  I've already sped past and I'm turning left at the light.  I was a little disturbed by the approach, but then again, I did admire the guy for being gutsy.   

It made me think, if I was at a stop light and absolutely needed to tell the person in the next car over about my business.  What would I say?  Unlike the elevator pitch where you have a captive audience that can't go anywhere, and you have only enough time to make your pitch before the elevator opens ...what is your traffic light pitch?  What would you say to captivate someone's attention before they speed off and think you're an absolute nut case?  :-)   What would you say that would give them an opportunity to know about your company and to find out more information. 

This man had a difficult time because he had to break the ice and then get to his point.  He couldn't just yell out his window, "Hey Lady!  What kind of perfume are you wearing?"  Zip...up goes the window.  On the other hand, he didn't have time to get to his point...which was..."My name is _____, and I'm a student at Fayetteville State University, and we're asking this question because _________."

So if I ever see you at a stop light, don't be surprised if I motion to you to roll down the window and say, "Hi there!    You look like a smart business owner.  Do you or someone you know need a strategic consultant or speaker who helps you strategically handle change?  Check out our website at 1000 Cranes.com and let us know if we can help!  That's 1-0-0-0-C-R-A-N-E-S DOT COM!"  Simple and to the point.   Get them thinking about it and hopefully by the time they can get to a computer, they are finding out more about your business. 

You never know what will happen to you at the next stop light!    I may give it a try sometime and see where it leads me.  It may prove to be an innovative form of prospecting! 

 

Joy to the World - Reflecting on a Good Year

Reflecting on 2006 as the first full year after leaving corporate America, it has been a wonderfully rich year with such vast experiences.  No doubt, building a business away from the comforts and benefits of a large company can be challenging, but then again, the ability to create a new environment where new opportunities come forth directly from the hard work of the entrepreneurial spirit cannot be matched.  Some personal and professional  quarterly highlights this year include: 

Q104:
- Acquired the 1000cranes.com domain
- Met President Bush, Secretary Elaine Chao and Secretary Carlos Gutierrez
- Hired as a spokesperson for the Sister Study, a government breast cancer study
- Appointed as the VP of Programs for ISPI Carolinas

Q204:
- Earned the Standards for Excellence Certified Consultant credential
- Wildacres Leadership Institute Finalist
- First exhibit at the North Carlina Community Action Conference in Sunset Beach, NC
- Appointed as the Support Committee Chair for the Toastmasters Spring Conference in Durham, NC

Q304:
- First national speaking engagement at the Alliance for Nonprofit Management in Los Angeles, CA
- Received our first trademark for "Believe.  Plan.  Fly."
- Visited England and Scotland
- Appointed as Toastmasters District 37, Area 43 Governor

Q404:
- Met Elaine Chao again at the Department of Labor Conference in Philadelphia, PA
- Produced our first CD "Business Plans:  A Blueprint for Change"
- First Cashflow Circle Holiday Party

Every year brings such blessings and joy.   2006 was a fantastic year, and 2007, no doubt, will be a year to celebrate as well.   Many thanks to everyone who has supported 1000 Cranes and this business building adventure.  Looking forward to a fantastic and fun-filled 2007!!! 

If You Want to Start a Fire, Don't Drop a Log!

It never ceases to amaze me how events happen in groups.  As several sayings go whether is "when it rains it pours" or "it's either feast or famine" "luck seems to come in threes"...it reflects how groupings of similar events happen, and these events all seem related.   

What surprises me lately is that I've been exposed to several people within the last several weeks who have an expectation of instant gratification and demand instant results. They expect to be paid high wages when they haven't built their practice and customer base.  They expect relationships to be built instantly, and that the conversation revolves around what that individual can get out of a project or relationship rather than what can be done as a collaboration or team.  It disturbs me sometimes when I see this behavior as often the individual has absolutely no clue that they are so self-centered.  Needless to say, when you point this out to them, it's not greeted with a kindly tone such as "gee, thanks, and I'll try to improve on that."  Rather it's like the Cartman character on Southpark who'll say "Screw you guys, I'm goin' home."   

With the advent of electricity, television, the cordless phone, the cell phone, pagers and the Internet, people want an answer and they want it now!  People seem to have an entitlement attitude of believing they deserve a job, a promotion, a new car, house, etc. and they deserve it now!   It seems that hard work and starting slow just don't count for much anymore. 

It reminds me of the process of building a campfire.  I had done some backpacking and camping throughout my life, and when building a fire, it's important to take steps gradually.  You need to find a good clearing and a spot where you know the fire won't cause any damage.  The necessary materials need to be gathered ahead of time in order to make sure there's enough fuel for the fire.  And lastly, the fire needs to be monitored and fed properly in order to grow and sustain itself.  The whole process of building a campfire also takes patience, and in this world, I'm finding that there is less and less of that and people are so busy moving, moving, moving that they forget why they needed to so frantically get to their destination so quickly. 

So, I leave you with this thought.  When you're building a relationship, think about this like building a fire.  It takes time to plan and prepare the materials.  And once the relationship begins, you need to tend to the fire and keep feeding it in order for it to sustain itself.  Whether this is a business relationship or a personal relationship, start slowly.  Build the relationship, set the stage and add the kindling gradually.  Don't just drop the log onto a small spark.  It will squash it out immediately and smother it.  Gradually build the relationship or fire and feed the log later at the right time.  If you've tended to the relationship well, you'll know when the right time takes place.    It's really that simple.   It's worth the investment and the patience to see the results.