Month September 2012

Discussions on the Net

Geir Isene 352 Comments

I am sitting in a relaxing chair in one of my favorite places (Tehuset i Lillegrensen), contemplating three years of actively discussing on the Internet. Enjoying a cup of Chocolate Mint Tea, I write my current conclusion:

“Internet discussions are generally unproductive. They most often serve to solidify the viewpoints and opinions of a debater. When faced with opposing views, a debater will usually come up with increasingly strong and intelligent ways to defend his own – regardless of the value or rightness of those views. Discussions tend to be an exercise in rightness rather than a way to mold and morph and inspire one’s opinions, beliefs, trusts and outlook.”

Want to discuss this? Let’s meet over a cup of tea.

T

Try this

Geir Isene 8 Comments

Go to work and let go of plans and focus for the day.

Do something at work that you feel is fun and that contributes right now.

Be alert to hidden opportunities and grab a fun one when it arises.

Practice “less focus” for this one day, and see what happens.

Bill & David’s garage rules

Geir Isene 6 Comments

Most readers of my blog knows about my passion for HP calculators. But you may not know the reasons why. First of all it’s about exploring new mathematics. Secondly, the old programmable calculators offer the most easily accessible environment for programming – the calculators are small and with a push of a button, you can start programming away. Thirdly, it’s the sturdy design and craftsmanship and the constant innovation that used to be the hallmark of HP. The very essence of Old Hewlett Packard is captured in the rules that Bill Hewlett and David Packard put up on the wall in the their first office space – a garage:

  • Believe you can change the world.
  • Work quickly, keep the tools unlocked, work whenever.
  • Know when to work alone and when to work together.
  • Share tools, ideas. Trust your colleagues.
  • No Politics. No bureaucracy. (These are ridiculous in a garage.)
  • The customer defines a job well done.
  • Radical ideas are not bad ideas.
  • Invent different ways of working.
  • Make a contribution every day. If it doesn’t contribute, it doesn’t leave the garage.
  • Believe that together we can do anything.
  • Invent.

That mindset formed the foundation of what came to be one of the most successful technology companies.

These days, we find tech businesses more focused on focus than innovation. More focused on regulating people than encouraging them. And more driven by profit than their heart.

One day I will implement this mind set in an modern technology company. I will keep you posted.

hp

Generous

Geir Isene 22 Comments

Being generous.
Giving without thought of reward.
But giving.

Every person is an adventure.
Of endless possibilities.
And everything is possible.

Chill.
No Blame, Shame or Regret.
What’s done is gone.

These are my aspirations.

I believe being generous is the most important.

What’s with the fuckin’ drama?

Geir Isene 9 Comments

Ten years ago my youngest son was three and sitting besides me in the front of the car on his little baby-seat. I was 20 minutes late for an important presentation for 12 eagerly awaiting important people. My phone was dead and I couldn’t call in to say I was late. I was running 5 red lights in a row, teaching my son a few swear words in the process. When I got to the final intersection, there were three cars in front waiting… on a green light! The light was fuckin’ green and they weren’t moving. I was honking the horn and about to decide to freak out when my son looked at me calmly and said: “Daddy, this is no crisis”.

All my stress inflated like air from a balloon. My body and mind went instantly calm as I turned my head to him and said “You are absolutely right – this is no crisis.” I chilled, ran the car in second gear, whistled a tune, had fun with my kid, parked the car, walked jolly and unseriously into the meeting and completely rocked the room by relating my newfound knowledge. Delivered to me by my son no less. A lesson that has served me well ever since. I’ve told this story before, but it’s worth repeating.

Nowadays I look at the apparently serious and critical situations that seems to abound. When people write to me in fits over something, when business people tie themselves into a not over details, when everyday situations gets the better of stressed-out individuals. I curiously watch when this happens to me. And then I remember my son’s words and decides to instantly chill.

The drama is very seldom warranted. “This is no crisis”.

Tools

Geir Isene 331 Comments

A tool is any aid to accomplish a task. From a hammer, drill, robot or car to a process, method, equation or your own mind. A plan, a preconceived idea or an expectation are also tools. As long as a toll remains under your control, you’re fine. But when the tools start running you, responsibility and control suffers. Let’s kick this off with the dictionary definition of “tool”:
tools

TOOL (Mirram Webster)

1 a : a handheld device that aids in accomplishing a task
b (1) : the cutting or shaping part in a machine or machine tool (2) : a machine for shaping metal : machine tool

2 a : something (as an instrument or apparatus) used in performing an operation or necessary in the practice of a vocation or profession [a scholar's books are his tools]
b : an element of a computer program (as a graphics application) that activates and controls a particular function [a drawing tool]
c : a means to an end [a book's cover can be a marketing tool]
d often vulgar : penis

3 : one that is used or manipulated by another

4 plural : natural ability [has all the tools to be a great pitcher]

Origin of TOOL: Middle English, from Old English "tōl"; akin to Old English "tawian" to prepare for use — more at "taw". First Known Use: before 12th century

Let’s focus on definitions 2a and 2c here.

I could go on and on explaining the usefulness or necessity of tools, the joy of my tools (HyperList, my HP calculators, my PC, my mind and my penis), or the troubles that ensue when your tools starts taking over. I could explain how troubles in life most often come about when your mind starts running the show, rather than you remaining in control (the essence of irrational behavior). I could point to the article “Processes, Automation and Human Potential“, and show that automation must remain under someone’s responsibility, lest it will bereft the user of will. Etc.

But for the sake of succinctness, I will leave you with a scale of “free will“:

  1. No Tools
  2. No tools needed
  3. Tools used freely
  4. Tools used compulsively
  5. Tools needed
  6. Automation
  7. Only tools

When you are in prison, you are at level 5 or 6 – the effect of tools (the prison system). When you are scared shitless of a spider on the floor, you are likewise at level 5 or 6 as your mind has taken over the control. When you use a calculator to figure out an answer, you are on level 2, 3, 4 or 5 depending on whether you could have gotten the answer without the calculator. When you use a slide show in a presentation… levels 2-5, unless you have no choice at all – as when your boss has ordered you to run those exact slides (then you would perhaps serve at level 6). When a process or method or ideology becomes more important than the result it aims to achieve, you operate at a level below 3.

In different areas of life and at different times, we are operating at different levels on this scale. Our need for tools depends on our inherent abilities, our confidence and our love of the tools we use.

Of course, tools are part of any game. To master a game, you must master the tools, and that implies being able to use the tools freely, if at all. When you are struggling in a game, you are struggling with the tools, you are unable to use them freely. And that includes your mind.

Personally, I am on a quest to nudge myself towards the top of the scale on most any area of life (except for my HP calculators). It seems to me that freedom is gained through regaining the ability to freely use the tools in a game, and by the subsequent shedding of the tools involved.

I get the ball, I pass the ball.

Geir Isene 11 Comments

Perhaps the best midfielder in the world, Xavi, explains how he and Barcelona is so successful in the game of soccer: “I get the ball, I pass the ball. I get the ball, I pass the ball”.

I use his quote to make business people understand what 100% responsibility, simplicity and immediate relevance is all about. It is a simple enough statement, but it is only immediately relevant in business when you understand the meaning of the two operative words “get” and “pass”. Xavi didn’t say “I happen to get the ball, I get rid of the ball. The ball got to me, I kick it somewhere.”

Let’s take a look at the definitions of those words. From Mirriam Webster’s:

Get: To gain possession of, to seek out and obtain.

To “get” the ball means to seek out and obtain and gain possession of the ball. It is a causative action – the player takes 100% responsibility for the input – getting the ball under his control.

And for the sports definition of “pass”, we turn to Wiktionary:

Pass: The act of moving the ball or puck from one player to another.

To “pass” the ball is to take 100% responsibility for the output – that the ball passes from one’s own control to that of a teammate.

This is the essence of the article titled “Processes, automation and human potential“. It is a simple concept and very visible when it fails or succeeds in soccer. But oh so difficult to get people to understand and practice in the business world.

One doesn’t just sit around and wait for the input, one obtains the input needed to produce value in one’s job. One takes 100% responsibility for getting what one needs in order to deliver what is expected. And 100% responsibility means no blame, shame or regret – only that one gets the needed input.

And one doesn’t just pass off any package out of one’s area of responsibility. One ensures the customer really gets the value expected, or better. The customer is the recipient of the value one creates. whether internal or external to the company.

This is all about 100% responsibility. And it is simple – that’s why it works so well. And it is immediately relevant. Even in the family, among friends or in business.

Xavi really gets it, and he’s the best.

Trust

Geir Isene 111 Comments

Holy crap! That can’t be possible! The car was heading for disaster at 170 km/h. The space between the two cars in front of us was surely not enough for this cab to squeeze through. Three lanes wide. Three cars driving at perhaps 80 km/h. And here we were coming up at more than twice their speed. I could be freaking out. Instead I reached for the safety belt. Slowly. I didn’t want to offend the taxi driver. I was part terrified, part determined to put on the safety belt unnoticed before I could brace for impact.

Woosh! Like a baby squeezed through a tiny opening at birth, with a few centimeters to spare at each side, and with the the driver whistling a funny tune while he turned around wondering if I said something to him. My lips had let out a tiny squeak, and he wondered if enjoyed the scenery. Scenery? What scenery. I was close to shitting my pants and he was looking at me and the mountains. Look at the fuckin’ road.

Now what?? Off the road? This time there was no space in between the car in front. So this bat shit taxi driver decides to pass on the outside of the road at 150. Gravel, sand and dust everywhere and again – woosh! We were back on the road. The only thing that indicated that this driver was not acting on his death wish was his relaxed and jolly whistling.

In between the death defying stunts I got around to ask him “How long have you been driving a cab?”. In Greek-English he revealed that he had been driving since 32 years and with only 1 or 2 weeks of vacation each year. And 7 days per week no less and some 14 hours each day. Sure to offend the guy, my lips formulated a rude question before I could swallow the words “Is this how you usually drive?”. “Sure” he answered unaffected in between the funny tunes.

I started calculating – 14 hours times 7 days equal 98 hours. Times 48 weeks or so becomes 4700, times 32 years is more than 150000 hours of driving like mad. And with less than two hours from Athens to Poros, my chance of dying on this trip is less than 1 over 75000. I am safe! The maths got to me and I immediately decided to relax and enjoy the ride like it would have been in an amusement park.

Then it dawned on me – this guy is displaying a degree of trust like I’ve never seen before. Not just in his own abilities as a driver but in all the other drivers on the road. From then on I was enjoying the scenery, the ride and the admiration of this cab drivers display of trust.

isene.com

Geir Isene 11 Comments

My homepage, http://isene.com has a new home… here.

Look to the right side of this page. You will see a list of all the static pages that used to be my old homepage. The old stability issues should now be history – with WordPress.com as the platform, everything should be running smooth from now on.

The page isene.com serves as a hub for most everything I do in cyberspace.

I do love my old quirky hand-drawn design, and I may do something similar here, but for now at least the content is safe and sound. Hope you like it.

Old design on isene.com