Malcolm Gladwell video from Pop!Tech

Malcolm Gladwell at Pop!Tech

"Outlier" is a scientific term to describe things or phenomena that lie outside normal experience. In the summer, in Paris, we expect most days to be somewhere between warm and very hot. But imagine if you had a day in the middle of August where the temperature fell below freezing. That day would be outlier.

Besides talking about his newest book, Outliers, Gladwell mostly shares some great observations from life and sports. Twenty minutes long, but I watched it intensely the whole time. -ski P.S. It pays to have smart friends. I picked this link up from a blog that I follow, then learned that Dave Lakhani is on Twitter! Small world. Do you tweet?

Wisdom :: Mike Murdock

Who are your mentors?

One of my heroes, is Mike Murdock. His web site is overflowing with profound thoughts on wisdom. I have heard him live and in person on a couple of occasions. Most excellent.

In the process of doing some office cleaning (more reorganizing than actual cleaning) I found a small (in physical size) book that Murdock wrote, Secrets of the Journey - Part I. So I flipped through it, and this passage caught my attention:

Reading affects your thinking
Listening affects your feelings
Reading affects your mind
Listening affects your emotions

This helps explain (in a small yet powerful way) why I love my iPod. I have created podcasts of my TV interviews with good friend, Ed McCullough and have been listening a lot of late to the most recent episode of Talk of the Town.

I shared the actual TV broadcast via the web (on SKI TV) with some friends, and one remarked how good of an interviewer Ed was, and how knowledgeable he was on Constraints Management fundamentals. In case you did not know, Ed was a partner in one of my old adventures (eDivision.net LLC) and wrote the landmark book review of Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point. In the review, written shortly after the release of Necessary but not Sufficient, Ed applied the tenets in Gladwell's book to the characters in NBNS. Great stuff... but I digress.

If your iPod is not full of podcasts, might I suggest that you are not really serious about the success of your business?

Too strong a statement?

Sorry. Life is too short.

Was it Col. John Boyd that said, "The victory goes to the wise?" Maybe not. But he was a big fan of reading. I would expect that he read King Solomon's thoughts on war, like this passage:

"For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war:
and in multitude of counsellers there is safety."
—Proverbs 24:6

Thanks Mike, for reminding me how important the spoken word is to our mental health and attitude. Your efforts are appreciated.


-ski

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Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah
www.throughput.us
+1 330 432-3533

tag: Mike Murdock
©2008 Throughput.us LLC. All rights reserved.

tipping your movement

Which are you? Connector? Maven? Salesman? Malcolm Gladwell is a rare individual, applying common sense and logic where few have bothered to explore. His book, The Tipping Point, is a great business text. However, it was a little more than I could bring myself to read. So I asked a good friend, Ed McCullough to do so, and his review has become quite popular. Especially those familiar with Goldratt's TOC. Of course, his latest book, "Blink" is popular too. Since I had to shelf my magazine, TOCreview, some of the great pieces from it have been hard to locate. So, here is a new link to the review: www.ApplyingCommonSense.com/tipping.pdf Why did this article come to mind, at this point in time? I recently quoted Gladwell's article for The New Yorker, "The Talent Myth." Which should be required reading in every B School in the world... of course, it may already be required, for all I know! And this article caused me to search for my copy of Ed's review... Check "The New Yorker" archive for July 22, 2002 for the article. Of course Friday's post about throughput brought it to mind as well.

-ski

focus is not enough

Subtitle: focus (take two) There are times when desire and focus are just not enough. Believe me, that is a tough confession for me to make publicly. I have made a lot happen in my entrepreneurial adventures over the last "twenty something" years. Many of you are aware of Malcolm Gladwell, the author of The Tipping Point and now Blink. I have shared with a number of folks about his great article on McKinsey & Company and its influence on decision making within Enron... today, let me share a new post on one of Gladwell's old articles: Charlie Wilson Please take the time to read the whole article. It is simply amazing. It is an unpleasant wake up call. One that I needed recently. -SKI

MBR :: Manifestation

Ed McCullough's MBR

Manifestation is a powerful word. Over a late supper (7pm is way late for me to eat the last meal of the day!) last night Ed shared a concept with me that I found simply amazing.

He had shared portions of the concept over the last few months, but when he announced the title, which I will simply encode as MBR for the moment, the mental image of the completed book raced through my mind. I remark, "That is brilliant."

To which Ed responded, "Maybe."

No, it is perfect. Too perfect to share at this time. I knew that I knew that it was the perfect title for the book. The contents of which would perfectly match the title. As I drove home, my biggest concern was how to prepare Thayer for yet another potentially low paying manuscript to edit!

Merriam-Webster hit the nail squarely on the head with this definition:

manifestation

2. Materialization: a public demonostration of power and purpose.

Ed shared his target (and his passion for this project) with me probably six months ago. Maybe longer. I watched from a distance as his efforts took root. Grew. And finally manifest into the perfect storm!

To think, we met by chance (or was it?) at Toastmasters. Fast Tackers (club# 7199) on Hilton Head Island, SC in 1998. We became fast friends, and among our adventures over the years was his contribution to TOCreview magazine of a great book review of Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping Point".

As March 2008 draws to a close, and I return to consulting full-time via WWW.THROUGHPUT.US (TPU), I wounder where I would be without mentors like Ed McCullough. No, that is wrongheaded thinking.

I wonder where I will be this time next year because of mentors like Ed.

Allow me to share this one thought: I will be spending a lot more time exploring this "manifestation" concept.

Thanks Ed. Your friendship is worth slightly more to me than all the gold on planet Earth. Here is but a simple toast:

"To manifestation. May we both experience a hundred-fold return."

-ski

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Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah
Throughput.us LLC
(330) 432-3533

P.S. If you have not viewed it before (or, like me, you just want to study the message in greater detail), check out the latest interview that Ed and I did for his Talk of the Town TV program on SKI TV.


©2008 Throughput.us LLC. All rights reserved.

More un-Systems Thinking

And the reason I am so mad This is a great unassuming article from The New York Times back in 1999. Hopefully Malcolm Gladwell (or someone with solid credentials) is researching this financial meltdown as I write this post. Willing to explore the lack of holistic or "systems thinking" and will report back to us the true cause, the tipping point, and some suggestions on fixing the core problem. What has me so mad is the fact that this exact bailout was predicted as a direct result of the Clinton administration's actions. In 1999. From the article:

''From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us,'' said Peter Wallison a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. ''If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry.''

Hopefully at least one political candidate will seek to understand the complexities of the world around us before demanding more of the same stupid changes... Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey

Made to Stick

I just finished thoroughly reading: Made to Stick It will be the very next book I read. Next to Marketing Outrageously and Purple Curve Effect, it is my favorite marketing book. Are you into "story telling?" Remember those brain twisters like the husband and wife found dead, in a cabin, in the woods, on the side of a mountain? There is a reason that you do. The Heath brothers give us the "rest of the story" on stickiness as introduced to the world by Malcolm Gladwell in The Tipping Point. I loved the story of the mess hall in Iraq. During my tenure with the USMC, the chow exceeded my expectations. I remember at Camp LeJeune being offered omelets in the morning. If you do not own it, consider making it your next purchase. Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Publisher www.ThroughputPress.com P.S. But only if you have goals to accomplish. tag: Made to Stick (c)Copyright 2007, Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey. All rights reserved.

Wednesday is Primary Systems Day

Tony Rizzo on Primary Systems

Just to set the record straight, I did not compare Tony Rizzo to Sir Isaac Newton.

I was simply relating the mental image that raced through my mind's eye as Rizzo related his discovery of the Primary Systems concept for businesses.

As Malcolm Gladwell pointed out in his book, Blink!, we simply "know" things within an instant. A gut reaction triggers the effort required to do the research to prove (or disprove) that feeling. Since Rizzo shared the details of the value in applying engineering practices to the business of business, my mind has been racing.

For me, this is profound

I have been working business models out in my head for days, trying to quantify this new (to me) discovery. Oh yea, disclaimer: Tony Rizzo is a client. I profit from his success in the Total-Matrix arena. Had Tony not went out of his way numerous times in the past seven years on my behalf, I probably would have sat back, and let him evolve without my input. But I cannot.

My blogs over the past three years have one common theme (IMNSHO): throughput. Which is defined as "money in my pocket now, and more in the future."

Like blogging about my love for the new 2008 Cadillac CTS with Direct Injection 304hp engine! Or the Harley vRod. Or the Apple iPod touch. Or Tony Rizzo. It is not about compensation. It is not about working the angles in order to benefit personally. It is about promoting "stuff" that brings passion to the forefront. Results. Beauty.

Of course, when someone offers me compensation to say what I would have said anyway, that makes perfect sense to me. Like the consultant that Earl Nightingale talked of that shared the power of the list with a client. After sharing the idea, the consultant told the business owner to use the idea for 30 days, then send a check of any amount if the idea had any merit. It did. He did. The business owner sent a check for $25,000.00USD (back in the 1970s as I recall, when that was a lot of money!).

Do I promote Tony's efforts to line my pockets?

No. However, that may happen.

Why then?

You might not make it without his insight!

I have launched a lot of businesses. Employed great people (and some well meaning, but not so great people)... guess what: it is never their fault. It is the CEO or President that bears the responsibility for success or failure. Over simplified? Perhaps.

When light dawns over marble head, and one must admit (to themselves, at least) that they are not the smartest person in the room. It helps to have smart friends! Like Tony Rizzo. And if you know Tony, you know that he is not all that comfortable with the praise that I lavish on him. Humble. I like that in my super heroes! {grin}

Seriously, check out his new blog on Total-Matrix.

It's Engineering applied to Business.


-ski

P.S. Know someone struggling with a business model that is not generating enough throughput? Share this post with them. Let them decide as David Letterman asks, "Is it anything?"

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Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah
www.throughput.us
+1 330 432-3533

tag: Total-Matrix
©2008 Throughput.us LLC. All rights reserved.

Ed McCullough for Mayor

Ed McCullough for Mayor of Hilton Head Island, SC Be sure to join Ed's Official Facebook page. I am pleased to support in any way possible my friend's bid for Mayor. As some of you may recall, Ed wrote an amazing article on Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point for my business magazine, TOCreview back in 2001. However, we actually met in the Fast Trackers Toastmasters club on the island in 1997. That is a long time ago... and yet it seems like just yesterday. If you live on the island, I ask that you consider voting for Ed. If you are one of the few people that have yet to meet him in person (and that must be a small percentage!) please walk up to him and introduce yourself. Tell him, "SKI sent me!" Then, ask him to tell you how the Boys & Girls Club came to be located where it is today. And how the funding happened. The answer will amaze. It did me, and I knew him for years before he happened to tell me the story! Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey ©2010 Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reprint small portions of this post for the promotion of Ed McCullough for Mayor.