Leadereview - another interesting business
A few months ago I wrote about businesses that are built around your passion and those that pay you to enjoy doing what you love to do. I was introduced to another business called Leadereview which reviews books on leadership and then sends you those books to read. Once you read the book, you get an opportunity to discuss the contents with the author as well as others in a group. This is not only a great way to pick up new ideas but a great way to network with like minded people.
Disclaimer: I am not a member of Leadereview group and don’t know the experience of participating in the discussions. I do think it is a neat idea to make some money while having fun.
Tackling Email Overload
Is your email inbox under control? Are you a fan of Inbox Zero concepts i.e. do you like to ensure that you keep your inbox clean? I like to see my inbox empty just to keep my mind clear that I have addressed every email that has come my way. Here are the rules I follow for organizing my emails
- I set up filters for coloring my incoming emails:
- identify my name in the TO: field – color 1 e.g. green
- identify my name in the CC: field – color 2 e.g. blue
- identify my name in the BCC: field – color 3 e.g. yellow
- Go through each email: quickly determine if action is required, if so file to action-required folder
- If no action required, delete it if there is no further need to store it
- If I need it for future reference, file it in archive folder
That’s it for my folders – Inbox, action-required, archive. I rely on the search mechanism of the email system to find any old emails.
I go through my Inbox to sort out what really requires my attention, then it is on to real work in action-required folder and I feel that I have addressed all emails requiring my input.
Note: For more information about Inbox Zero, you read more about at http://www.43folders.com/2006/03/20/action
PhilosophersNotes has launched
Recently I posted an entry on “Getting paid for what you enjoy” in which I introduced the website PhilosophersNotes. Well the site has launched and you can sign up for $19.95/yr subscription along with access to 25+ titles in the archive. If you haven’t taken a look, this may be a good time to take a look – http://philosophersnotes.com.
Getting paid for what you enjoy
We all want to do something we love, at our own schedule and get paid for it. Recently a friend of mine introduced me to PhilosopersNotes, a website that provides book summaries for self development in audio and text formats. While there are other companies providing the same service for a different market segment, what I like about this particular site is that the founder is getting paid for his pleasure reading. Whether or not this business sustains to provide financial independence is to be seen. It is a great idea to do something you love and then get paid it. I wonder if I can get paid for thinking and documenting my thoughts and self conversations!
If you are interested in trying out samples, the PhilosophersNotes website offers free samples of 3 books in audio and text format. Give it a try.
Book - Myths of Innovation
During a recent visit to the library the title of this book caught my attention. I wanted to browse a few pages but found it hard to put the book down. It dealt with the our preconceived notions of how innovations work. The book also gives a systematic overview of what it takes for innovations to be successful. If you are in the mood for understanding how innovation works, this book is a good read. The following are some of the points discussed.
How Innovations Start
- Hard work in a specific direction
- Hard work with direction change
- Curiosity
- Wealth & Money
- Necessity
- All of the above
Challenges of Innovation
- Find an idea
- Develop a solution
- Sponsorship & funding
- Reproduction
- Reach your potential customer
- Beat your competitors
- Timing
- Keep the lights on – keep afloat to pay your current bills
Paths to Innovation
- Self knowledge
- Be intense, but step back
- Grow to size
- Honor luck and the past
How Innovations Gain Adoption
- Relative Advantage – value of new vs. old
- Compatability – how does it fit current environment, transition effort needed
- Complexity – how much learning has to be done
- Trialability – ease of trying it out
- Observerablity – visibility of results
Making Great Decisions
I watched this video at Google Video quite some time back. The topic of this book has always intrigued me. The authors gave a presentation at Google on how we make decisions and how to improve our ability to make decisions. Time and again when I am swamped with information overload or when I am analysis-paralysis mode, I step back and ask my self what is the desired result and how to improve my decision making.
It is a fairly long video (about 1 hr) but I think the benefits of watching this video and reading the book will bring rewards throughout your life. I haven’t bought the book yet but will be buying it soon as soon as finish some other books on my bookshelf.
Here is a link to the video:
Making Great Decisions – Video
Choices - Less is more?
Recently I watched a video by Barry Schwartz, author of the book ‘Paradox of Choice’, who gives various scenarios and shows how less is more. We are all inundated with too many choices for every little thing in our lives on a daily basis. His talk cites examples of how fewer choices result in a higher conversion rate e.g. when presented with 24 types of jam vs. 6 types of jam, you have more people trying the jam when 24 types are presented but more people buy the jam if you have only 6 types presented.
I found this topic resonates with my daily experience and invite you to watch and compare with your experiences. I find fewer choices also lets you focus on getting to the end result faster otherwise you end up spending far too much time thinking about the decision and whether you did well in coming to the conclusion. Irrespective of the result of the decision you are more stressed about making the ‘best’ decision.
Video link at Google: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6127548813950043200
Note: The video is about 1 hr long.
Alternately, you can read a summary of his interview with the NewYorker magazine at http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/03/01/040301crbo_books?currentPage=1
You can buy the book from Amazon to read more about the subject matter.
Simplicity Survival Handbook
Book Author: Bill Jensen
Communication – Think in terms of
- Know
- Feel
- Do
Email – To communicate effectively using email, email should fit 3×5 card. It should have the following elements to achieve the desired result.
- C – Connected to your workload/project
- L – List next steps
- E – Expectations – success criteria
- A – Ability – tools/support
- R – Return (What’s in it for me?)