Incentivizing For Humans
This little video clip I stumbled across on Reddit brilliantly displays some elements of successful association management.
An elegant and fun solution to get people to use stairs instead of escalators from r/Damnthatsinteresting
They wanted more people to take the stairs. They did not install a sign with statistics on the positive health benefits of taking more steps each day.
They made it fun.
They also did not mount an information campaign with volunteers and leaflets at the top and bottom of the stairs to educate as many people as possible before they chose the stairs or escalator.
They just made it fun.
And separately, they counted a 66% increase in the number of people taking the stairs as a success.
Because when you are incentivizing for humans, even with your most fun plan, you will never get 100%. So pick a realistic goal, and go have fun with it!
To Do or To Done
Ted Urban's TED Talk on procrastination is a brilliant and hilarious journey into the mind of a long-term procrastinator. The star of the show **spoiler alert** is clearly the Procrastination Monkey, but the line I find myself recalling of the most is "It has always been a dream of mine to have done a TED Talk, in the past.".
While most of us don't aspire to stand on the TED stage, the line is so relatable because we all know the feeling of unhappily measuring the distance between how we feel about tasks or projects not completed and how much better we would feel if they were just done.
For me, it is all of the things. I am such a captive of my to-do lists, that I have a notebook that if opened from one side is work items and if opened from the other is everything not work. And the problem of course is, it is much easier to add items to a list than the time it takes to actually get them all done. So both lists always seem to grow and never ends with the final item, "Now go have a nice day!".
Recently I was thinking about the infinite nature of my to-do lists and thinking that they should more accurately be called "Things I don't particularly want to, but have to-do lists" which of course made me think of the Ted Urban quote about the good part being to "have done a Ted Talk, in the past." since I also wanted to have my to-do list done.
I have previously written about the underestimated power of words and their ability to shape our thoughts and how we perceive the world, so I didn't care for the negative way my proposed list title sounded in my head. So I considered what a positive spin on it might be.
The answer for me has been a new title and a whole new approach to my daily lists. Instead of feeling like a litany of things still to be accomplished when I look at them, my new lists help remind me of the satisfaction of being done.
Rig your life for the results you want!
The Gift of Being Noticed
In this week's episode of the StarTalk podcast, one of Neil deGrasse Tyson's guests is Sir Martin Rees, a long time legend in the field of astrophysics. Neil tells the story of a time they had met before that contains powerful leadership lesson.Neil was attending a society conference as a graduate student, too young in his career to be given a speaking opportunity. Instead, he and others stand next to their scientific papers, published on poster board and hope a conference attendee will stop to read their work.Neil says "You came up to my paper! And you looked at it and you asked me questions about it. And you didn't have to do that. I felt that my future as a participating scientist was blessed, if you, will by your presence. So I just want to thank you. I don't know how often you do that, but I just want to thank you because what may have been little for you was big for me at the time."Neil reminds leaders so eloquently that although the gift of your notice or thanks may seem small to you, it could mean something much greater to the person you gift it to.This wonderful story is from 3:35 to 4:50 on the episode link above.
Wisdom Across the Ages
I had the opportunity to spend some time last week visiting our Nation's Capital and stood at the feet of some of the greatest minds to grace this Republic.Their vision, wisdom and words, meant to unify a people during times of great upheaval continue to resonate and inspire across the years.
Below the Jefferson Memorial is a small gift shop and learning center. I was delighted to find Jefferson quotes stenciled over each of the door ways and made my way around the small, crowded space to note each one.
This one in particular caught my eye because it instantly reminded me of something the brilliant Brian N. Larson said about our industry a few years ago, "We are an industry driven too often by our fears and not enough by our dreams.", a perspective I think Mr. Jefferson would appreciate.And it made me wonder, what would someone see in our industry if they were intent on viewing changes as either merely new inventions which may or may not prove useful over time, or potentially as improvements that can create new opportunities? Looking at the quote above, I think there is much to be excited about.
#LeadFromWithin
Even if you don't think you need a little inspiration or perspective, I highly recommend spending a little time on a regular basis trolling the #LeadFromWithin tweets:#leadfromwithin Tweets Actual leaders from various types of industries come together on Twitter under the hashtag #LeadFromWithin to share their 140 character thoughts on different aspects of passionate leadership that frequently translate very well into lessons for a life well lived in general.