Category Archives: Information Research

06/23/2015
5 Comments
Information Research

Grit

I really need to thank my friends Laurie and Kim for the idea. This blog post was based on several conversations I had with them recently/over the years. Ditto for the TEDX talk on this http://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_the_key_to_success_grit?language=en
——

First, I’m looking forward to sharing my new head shots and photos (thank you Laurie – you really should check out her work at http://www.lgh.photography/) with you very soon (finally!!! Funky profile pictures for my LinkedIn/Twitter/Facebook page!). 

Second, we started discussing why people ended up giving up finding their dream job. Was it due to laziness? The process (omg, if I ever, ever find out that you’re spending a lot of your time job hunting online instead of flipping it around and making contacts….)? Then, we boiled it down to one thing. No, it wasn’t determination. Nor persistance. One word – GRIT.

A lot of people have this but aren’t tapping it to get what they want (dream job, relationship etc). Not only do they find the process hard (it’s suppose to be hard. If it was easy, you’d end up being bored) but they give up way too easily. Like the acquaintance who wanted to get into the environmental field. But ended up settling for something less. Or, someone you know who starts an exercise program and gives up when he/she is lagging behind. And stops going to exercise class because it’s too hard (at this point, their motivation is lagging. And their comparing themselves to everyone else. They should be focusing on their progress).
Listen, I get it. Change is hard. You don’t want to get hurt. You want to play it safe. You think it’s impossible to get your dream job (as I’m doing the same thing, I totally understand what you’re going through). I only have 1 question to ask you – if you don’t want to get hurt (eg: reaching out to managers via email to see if they’re hiring or developing the contacts you need to get into the industry), how are you going to grow? Develop your grit? 

Developing your grit gives you the ability to duck. And to weave around obstacles. It gives you the determination (in conjunction with your North Star (thanks for this Kim!!)) the guidance you need to succeed. Believe me, you’re going to be ducking and weaving a lot to get the changes you want. It’s not suppose to be easy. Nor should it be easy. 

Grit also gives you the ability to keep going. To look at your target and say “this is what I want. What am I going to do to get it?” It forces you to make the hard decisions. And it keeps you honest.

Grit – you keys to success. Without it, you won’t be successful. With it, the possibilities are endless

Tagged , ,
06/15/2015
Leave a comment
Information Research

Information Is…..Sexy

In today’s world, tons of information is being generated every second. 

A lot of people hate finding it.

They think it’s boring sifting through the data.  To find the good stuff. 

Me? I love it.

Boolean searches? Swoon. 

Using online databases? Google? Duckduckgo? Bring it.

Reading the papers/magazines/email newsletters every day? And storing the information (either in a folder in my inbox or somewhere in my brain)? You might as well leave me alone. I won’t be paying attention to you for awhile. 

Using social media? Absolutely. It’s amazing what kind of results you get when you use hashtags on Twitter, do a search on Facebook (thank you open individual profiles! For goodness sake, secure your profiles people) or Instagram (Pinterest? What’s that? Are they still around?). Wait until I find a way to datamine Periscope, Snapchat and Meerkat feeds. Then I’ll be in heaven!

See?

Not only is information a set of facts and figures, but if you package this properly, someone (clients, friends etc) will be amazed.

Need proof? 

Here’s two personal examples:

I remember my former running group. Former because as a group leader, it became increasingly boring for me to follow the “plan” (by the way, I love breaking them. Knowing that there’s a more efficient way of doing things. Thank you CNBC, GE and Neutron (Jack) Welsh). We were sitting at the coffee house after the run on a winter’s day. One of them was going to be laid off. And he was trying to find a way to change careers. As I was listening, I was sifting through my mental folders. I know I had the solution (I read a lot). The information somewhere in my brain. All I had to do was access it. As I was doing this, someone else was observing me and say “wait a sec. I can see Nick’s thinking about it. He’ll have the answer for you in 3,2,1.” Yep. I had an answer for him. It blew his mind. 

Finally, I’m a director for a non-profit. We wanted to donate money. At first, the other directors wanted to target organizations but they found out that there was no transparency. Why not schools I asked? Underperforming elementary schools that could use the money to buy tech items? To improve their students marks. And the schools test scores. Prove it the directors said. It was easy to find the information. Unfortunately,  it was scattered all over the place. School data from one organization. Neighborhood data from another. Combining it into a report to get the complete picture? Priceless. Needless to say, the others were convinced. The money is flowing. The schools are pleasantly surprised that an organization is giving them money. Out of the blue. I’m positive some of them are wondering how we found out about their situation. 

These examples show the affect information has on a person or an organization. It prompts them to act.  

Remember, information isn’t boring. It’s sexy.

Tagged , , ,