🐟Golden fish or socks?🧦
Lobo Library #1 - 12/2/19 - a 3 min 39 second read ahead...
🗞TL;DR: Keeping this one short and sweet: I can breathe underwater, I’m reading High Output Management, I’m learning Human-Centered Design, and I’m piloting a new age business card.
Before we get started - I’m going to start publishing this newsletter on Substack so click here to keep getting updates!
Happy Monday! I hope you are finally able to tighten your belts post-Thanksgiving-meal. I just got back from two great weeks of filled with plenty of dancing, celebrating, under-water exploring, quality time with friends, and jet lag (fun fact - this term dates back to ~1965 when it was described as “not unakin to a hangover”).
One of my favorite teachers, JS for short, gave me a lesson that I think about from time to time. I took his class during my Lauder immersion in Colombia. He said that when writing or presenting, make sure you give the audience something valuable and don’t waste their time or attention. He conveyed this through in a personal anecdote in Spanish, which I don’t fully remember, but what I do remember is the ending - always ask yourself if you are providing un pescado de oro (golden fish) o calcitines (socks). Thus, since I don’t have much in the way of updates, I’m going to keep this issue short to avoid wasting your time.
🏃🏽♂️What I'm doing:
🐠I’m proud to announce that I briefly ignored my fear of sharks and medicated for sea-sickness long enough to become officially Scuba Certified (PADI)!!! I honestly can’t believe I hadn’t done this before and this might become a new addiction. Diving felt like an unreal other-worldly experience (fun fact - there are only 5-10M divers worldwide). HIGHLY RECOMMEND👍🏽
🤓What I’m consuming:
👨⚖️FOCUS ON OUTPUT: High Output Management by Andy Grove - I finally got around to digging into the legendary book that has been recommended countless times over the years and is a Silicon Valley staple. It is a management bible for middle managers written by the former Intel CEO. Despite being written in the early ‘80s (it references "electronic mail service” and “overhead transparencies”), all of the points and strategies are still highly relevant and useful. I’m only half-way through, so I’ll provide my recommendation once I’m done, but here are some examples of useful takeaways from Chapter 3 - Managerial Leverage:
Takeaways:
Managers are judged on output, not activities. To increase output, you can increase your team’s productivity or improve “leverage” from managerial activities.
Achieve “managerial leverage” by focusing on activities:
When many people are affected by one manager
Maintain high standards in your work and demeanor (manager is a de-facto role model)
When a person’s activity/behavior is affected for a long time by a manager’s brief, well-focused set of words or actions
Prepare for performance reviews
Be timely in addressing personnel issues
When a large group’s work is affected by an individual supplying a unique/key piece of knowledge
Ensure your team benefits from the critical insights needed to do their job effectively
👥HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN (HCD): I started a free course on HCD on a friend’s recommendation. Human-Centered Design, popularized by the design firm IDEO, is a creative, and iterative approach to problem-solving based on the premise that the people who experience challenges have the keys to answer those challenges through 3 phases: Inspiration, Ideation, and Implementation.
I’m also reading through IDEO’s robust book on this topic, which can be downloaded for free here: The Field Guide to Human-Centered Design.
🎥HEY MR. GRUMP GILLS: China Eastern had a horrible movie selection; luckily, it had a highly relevant post-Scuba movie that I just had to rewatch, Finding Nemo. Remember folks - “When life gets you down you know what you got to do?…Just keep swimming!”
🛠Device/App/Tool I’m trying:
🗃GIVE AND TAKE: I met someone working on an interesting tool called PushPull Card. Its a novel take on a traditional Business Card which is aimed at people who actually want to help/be helped (more effective networking). While still in it’s early stages, I think its a great idea and I’m testing it in my email signature (and at the bottom of this email).
🎰Random:
The first mass-produced underwater breathing apparatus was released in 1865.
🏁Wow - you made it to the bottom. Hope you enjoyed. Any feedback you have is helpful!🏁
Love,
Lobo
Ways I'd love to help you: bit.ly/pushpull-lobo