great catalysts reduce roadblocks

Great quotes: 

"Because rather than asking what might convince someone to change, catalysts start with a more basic question: Why hasn’t that person changed already? What is blocking them?"

And this: 

"These five ways to be a catalyst can be organized into an acronym. Catalysts reduce Reactance, ease Endowment, shrink Distance, alleviate Uncertainty, and find Corroborating Evidence. Taken together, that forms an acronym, REDUCE. Which is exactly what great catalysts do. They REDUCE roadblocks. They change minds and incite action by reducing barriers to change."

Catching up (yes, I have quite a bit to do) to sharing this from Jonah Berger via Maria Shriver  https://mariashriver.com/the-5-key-roadblocks-to-change/

Mitch Joel has a good conversation with Jonah you can listen to here ->   https://www.sixpixels.com/podcast/archives/spos-740-jonah-berger-on-being-a-catalyst-for-change/

reflections on Day 1 (audio)

There is a Jeff Bezos' letter to shareholders on Day 1 that I reflect on this time.



Link to the Day 1
https://www.amazon.com/p/feature/z6o9g6sysxur57t

The Mitch Joel retail reference
http://sixpixels.mirumagency.com/podcast/archives/spos-561---reengineering-retail-with-doug-stephens/

the crack sealing in front of the house

Change management (audio)

Reflections on the intersections of change management and project management

construction sign in Franklin

change and irrelevance

listen to ‘change and irrelevance’ on audioBoom

technology disrupting business

You have gone to a website and purchased something recently. Usually there are the normal credit card options and increasingly, there is a PayPal option. It is almost expected to be there as it is so convenient, easy and secure to use. PayPal is looking to become the in-store payment option!

After TARP, the mortgage banking crises and the demise of Goldman and all the rest, it's a lot to ask a banking investor to think in terms of the threat of technological innovation. But click on PayPal's "In Store" page and you get a feel for the bank profit-killing gun PayPal is waving around. 

Sign up and you will see that PayPal has managed to engineer a point-of-sale system that does away with traditional debit or credit cards. Never mind that deck of financial identity plastic. The PayPal retail product doesn't even need a smartphone -- just your phone number and an easy-to-remember PIN.

Technology creating a disruption in business! And PayPal is not the only one. My internet buddy Trevor is visiting the US and we had made arrangements to meet this week. We already had email and other connections available so we shared cell phone numbers to prepare for connecting on the last mile. I didn't give it a thought until I recognized the incoming call and couldn't pick it up. Not due to fumble fingers but due to the service on the phone that prevents international calling. Trevor's from the UK and has an international number although he is calling me locally.

Scrambling to call Verizon to check out the options to add international calling to my phone took about 20 minutes and still wasn't activated about 30 minutes after the call. About this time I got my laptop booted up and decided to try Google Voice. I could also have used Skype. Both of these services are wrecking havoc with telephone companies like PayPal is starting to do with the banks.

What use of technology can you make to help improve your customer service or service delivery?

The other side of the well

When running I am usually concentrating on going forward and watching for where I am going. I am careful to watch for the changes in surface to avoid falling.

Sunday was a nice day for a long run, albeit on the cool side with a strong breeze driving the wind chill into an area some would not venture into.

Jordan Road is a nice loop. Rolling slopes building up to the well. Yes, good image. Going to the well. It happens on Jordan Road.



I paused a couple of times to look at the road behind be, what did it look like back there? I realized most of time I do this loop I go the same way. I should reverse the loop next time.

Reversing the loop would not only provide a change of scenario. It would be a different route. Look at the long downhill I would be able to cruise! Yes, there is no such thing as a free lunch. I would still have to climb up the other side. It would be shorter and steeper. Then look at that long downhill!

Consider changing your loop and see what it can do for you?

Change

What was:



Is no longer:



Change can happen rapidly and frequently, are you ready for change?

finding a place of balance (video)

Posting this hear for me to review in detail later



There is so much goodness in this, I didn't want to wait to share it.

Enjoy! Change is about finding a place of balance!



Thanks to Nancy White for sharing this

Behavioral

Why so much from Tom Asacker recently?

He is on a roll. What he is covering I am finding compelling and I hope you do to.

So give people an experience that reveals the vision and intention behind your idea. An experience that conveys look, feel, and, especially, meaning in a no spin, passionate way. An experience that allows people to alter their own attitudes of mind, without a hint of external persuasion. An experience that creates a motivation to act.

Will you be compelled to make a change in what you are doing?

Our iceberg is melting

Good friend Trevor Gay sent this link along and after viewing it, I decided to share it here.




I think I will add the book to my "to read" listing

Will you?

The ones who do!

"The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do!"





Many thanks to Tom Asacker for sharing this and to Steve Jobs for all he has accomplished!

5 for Wednesday - dynamics of change

Time for #the5 today before work and other events take precedence.

Shedding light on lumens | BCP Business Center:http://t.co/by4UMZP via @AddThis #the5 and it was said, let there be lumens!

You'll start hearing more about this as 2012 approaches but it will be good to know this is coming!

"some goodies, but oldies, including one article from the 90s because, really, trust, trust never changes" http://j.mp/kEoqOC 

While there will be change in how we talk about light, moving from watts to lumens, the nature of trust doesn't change. How we talk about trust may. What do you think?

"what it means to be an author is changing for the first time in a hundred years" http://j.mp/muBZBh #the5

Anyone who has followed Seth Godin can recognize a change master, that is he fosters change.

"Being contextually sensitive is the key to making powerful connections with people" http://j.mp/l8QlIF #the5 from @tomasacker

One I have followed for some time and find as insightful as Seth is Tom Asacker. His story about the content in the context is one of my favorite.

"it has nothing to do with the future. It’s about being intimately involved with the dynamics of change" http://j.mp/jjr4zC #the5

Back to change and Tom Asacker gets 2 entries today. Well, why not!

What have you learned that you can share?

What small change can be made

What small change be made such that is has a great impact?

(Aside from getting folks to deal with accurate information rather than hearsay and misinformation.)

Interesting perspective posed here in this TED Talk from London:



I have advertised myself as Community Information Director, maybe I should consider shifting to Chief Detail Officer? This is a volunteer position. In either case, Franklin's budget problems couldn't support the role financially although there is the need.

What do you propose?

job search notes: page change detectors

A new site to add to your collection of site associated with job search is one by Matt Youngquist who writes at Career Horizons, The Blog!. He has a great tip in this posting:

... there’s a little-known type of online tool that many of you might not yet have come across, but that could potentially play a useful role in your job hunting efforts if you acquaint yourself with one of these applications to a certain degree.  These tools are known colloquially as “page change detectors” and basically, all they do is monitor a certain web page (or 2, or 20, or 200) that you designate out in cyberspace, notifying you (via e-mail or other means) immediately if the content on the page changes for any reason.

Matt goes on to explain further and then to provide this:

As far as which page detector program to use?  The good news is there are plenty of different options available, and most of them are absolutely free.  Among the more popular ones I’ve come across are:

FollowThatPage (http://www.followthatpage.com)
Page2RSS.com (http://page2rss.com)
WatchThatPage (http://www.watchthatpage.com)

Thanks for sharing Matt!

Fight obesity!

There are a number of problems in this world but many of them pale in comparison with obesity.

Jamie Oliver did this talk at TED recently. It is a powerful and yet easy message to take a step on. Today.

Powerful? Wait until you see the wheelbarrow!

dogwood tree in autumn glory

dogwood tree in autumn glory, originally uploaded by shersteve.

The changes this tree goes through each season are amazing. I'll add this photo to the collection I have at the Joyful Jubilant Learning blog.

Have you stopped to notice what changes around you?

Government that you can trust

While I work on Franklin Matters sharing information to create an informed community, the fact that there is still mistrust of government is an issue to be addressed. The ethics changes made by Governor Patrick and others are a step in the proper direction for the state level. This Common Cause effort should help us on the national stage.



What change would you like to see to enable a government you can trust?

The car future - no oil

If we want to change, change needs to be able to be adopted by users. Users tend to adopt in increments and not in wholes. This is one of the most realistic approaches to a no oil future that includes automobile transportation.

Forget about the hybrid auto -- Shai Agassi says it's electric cars or bust if we want to impact emissions. His company, Better Place, has a radical plan to take entire countries oil-free by 2020. (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 18:06.)

What do you think of this?

Amaryllis series 3/13/09 AM

Amaryllis series 3/13/09 AM, originally uploaded by shersteve.

The daily changes are subtle. Two blossoms are down and continuing to dry up. The remaining one is beginning to close up and dry up as well.

What is harder to pick out in this view, but maybe will show better in another, is that two new blossoms are just beginning to come up. Their green points are rising. How soon they'll bloom will be interesting to watch.

Development 2.0: The Non-Profit Stock Exchange

My daughter Carolyn, a student at Northeastern University sent me this email:

I'm not sure if you've heard, but there's a movement of citizens inspired by the presidential campaign who are now submitting ideas for how they think the Obama administration should change America. It is called “Ideas for Change in America”.

One idea is titled Development 2.0: The Non-Profit Stock Exchange. I thought you might be interested in getting involved and recommend you check it out. You can read more and vote for the idea by clicking the link here

Very interesting concept! Please click through to read more about it and consider casting your support for this initiative.