Some notes on change

Hopefully these will be short notes - I don't want to get into a long treatise on what change is - just to point out a few things that have helped me attempt to reframe my stress related to change.

#1 Change causes stress.

This point probably is a painfully obvious one but, remember - there are three types of changes:

those sought after,
those dreaded/feared,
and those unexpected.

All of these forms of change create stress.

Dealing with the stress is a topic for another day but, I think that the best way to cope with the stress of change is to remember two things:

1) at some point every change looks like a disaster
2) every change brings surprises

The essential root of the stress of change is to remember to change expectations. It is our sense of the gap between expectation & reality that creates the perfect breeding grounds for disappointment. Disappointment leads to anger & that, if left unchecked changes into bitterness.

We are never more emotionally dangerous than when we have unmet expectations of those around us. Sometimes the expectations are clearly defined & sometimes they are unvoiced.

Recognizing the change in reality & adjusting to form new clear expectations is the best step towards dealing with the stress. Even those who abhor plans feel better when one is formulated.

#2 No change is permanent

Danny Glover's character in the movie 'Grand Canyon' has a wonderful monologue about his father who said [paraphrase] 'if you live long enough you gonna see bad things come down another way'.

While that might pessimistic or even fatalistic there's an element of truth there.

The other side of the coin is that we, as human beings have a marvelous ability to adapt. To even the craziest of circumstances. The lomg & the short is that @ some point the 'change' becomes the new normal.

This means we should always be planning for the next change. Proper preparation allows us to take the next change in our stride.

Finally, I'd like to give props to Octavia E. Butler's book 'Parable of the Sower' for reframing much of my thinking about the concept of change.

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quoth the raven 'Nevermore!'

Contributing through your career

Over @ stevepavlina.com, there's a nice little essay about how to benefit others most through one's occupation. I can understand this idea if one is happy & satisfied in their career, feeling as if they are making a difference but, far too often folks fine themselves in spots where the place that they earn their income is the last place in their life to find positive impact on their sphere of influence.

Perhaps it's a negligent or critical supervisor. Sometimes it could be a 'hostile work environment' - the fact remains some of us are put in places where our contributions are limited to the narrow confines of our job specifications.

But that should not be the end of the story. My suggestion is to optimize your workflow in such a way that your stress is minimized if you are in such a spot. This will give back a hundredfold on your ability to impact your world beyond the 'working hours'.

And, always remember to be thankful for what is there.

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quoth the raven 'Nevermore!'

Overloaded?

@ http://www.lifehack.org/articles/management/opportunity-overload.html# The author comes up with a whack of ways to 'focus' & not be distracted by the 'wealth of opportunities that are out there'

I disagree.

Why? Well, simply put puts a matter of focus. Steve Pavlina points out on his weblog that @ his Tae Kwon Do dojo there is a sign that says 'you a studying to become a blackbelt'. His argument is that this simple minded 'filter' helps focus on the essential.

A very long time before that a great Christian preacher said it pretty much the same way - that those that train for the prize cast off that which hinders them.

Nearly two thousand years later even with the Inter(tube)net we are faced with much the same set of circumstances & the answers are the same - over & over again.

Reduce the clutter. My wife couldn't have said it better.

Focus.

That's my mantra.

Be here now. Know where you want to be & take the next step.

The rest is just spam.

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quoth the raven 'Nevermore!'

80|20 rule

On his blog yesterday, steve h young talked about the 'pareto rule'.

The pareto rule states that 80% of the wealth in most countries ends up being in the hands of about 20% of the population.

This concept has a life beyond it's original inception having been found to apply in areas such as the social sciences - to fields as arcane and difficult to understand as orginizational engineering (human factors I think it's called).

Most notably, (in personal experience), it seems to come to play in Non profit endeavors, where one can see that 20% of the workers do 80% of all the work.

I'm treading on ve y familiar ground here because the 'pareto mem' has been trumpeted very loudly by the 'four hour work week' guy, Tim Farris in his book & the blogosphere is all abuzz with the idea, repeating it ad nauseum.

Steve poins out how Mr. Farris reviewed his customers & found the ones who did 80% of the complaining and generated 20% of the revenue & he either worked out new arrangements or he parted ways with them.

While I find the process he went through interesting, I have to say that this is a standard business tactic: identifying the customers who require the most work & bring the least profit is done everyday.

Generally the 'parting of ways' comes during negotiations & everyone walks away justified - the client has separated from an 'unreasonable vendor' & the vendor has freed their capacity to serve more profitable clients.

Furthermore the process of client review fits nicely within any business that seeks to continually improve - not only profits but, also processes.

For the businessperson who honestly seeks to improve their business there needs to be periodic reviews of all the core functions. Any company that does not engage in this activity is not serious about itself. Just because ones Not an entrepreneur, does not mean one should not think like one at least once a week.

For now, i'll wait for Mr. Farris book & see if he can change my mind.

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quoth the raven 'Nevermore!'

the passing of a great one

i couldn't possibly do as well as some of the writers who are sharpening up their pens at this time but, i'll take my shot at it.

you see, michelangelo antonioni has passed on to the great beyond.

cinema has lost another of it's giants as we stumble on into the 21st century. antonioni was known for his depictions of alienation and with his experimintation with the art form itself by the use of editing, camera placement, mise en scene etc. the whole raft of trips and techniques that a film maker was afforded at whatever time in the last fifty years he worked - he used, subverted and made his own to tell his view of the world and by commentary, modern civilization.

my first encounter with him was with 'red desert' and while it's a masterpiece of modern cinema, with the framing and the long takes along grimy city streets - echoing it's depiction of a marriage that fails slowly before the viewer's eyes - it's the film 'blowup' that made me a fan.

adapted from a novel by julio cortázar - it is the story of a photographer in the midst of the hedonism in the sixties london who believes he may have photographed a murder. then again, he may have not.

classic modernims, questioning the 'objectivity' of cinema, of perception, of the entire mode of where the 'frame' is, and what it means to quest for the 'truth'.


rest dear sir, your work has left us staggered and we, now are left in a place of sadness you depicted so well.