Are we falling or flying …

Steven Jobs, cofounder of Apple, has been labeled many things, from visionary to egomaniac.

Often I think he is inspirational too:

• We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why else even be here?
• Innovation is the distinction between a leader and a follower.
• The system is that there is no system. That doesn’t mean we don’t have process. Apple is a very disciplined company, and we have great processes. But that’s not what it’s about. Process makes you more efficient.
  But innovation comes from people meeting up in the hallways or calling each other at 10:30 at night with a new idea, or because they realized something that shoots holes in how we’ve been thinking about a problem. It’s ad hoc meetings of six people called by someone who thinks he has figured out the coolest new thing ever and who wants to know what other people think of his idea.   And it comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don’t get on the wrong track or try to do too much. We’re always thinking about new markets we could enter, but it’s only by saying no that you can concentrate on the things that are really important.
• Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It’s not about money. It’s about the people you have, how you’re led, and how much you get it.
• When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
• I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.
• Death is the destination we all share, no one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be because death is very likely the single best invention of life.
• Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
• Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.
• Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
• When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960’s, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.
• I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to [learn calligraphy]. I learned about serif and sans-serif typefaces, about varying the space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful. Historical. Artistically subtle in a way that science can’t capture. And I found it fascinating. None of this had any hope of any practical application in my life. But 10 years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would never have multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it’s likely that no personal computer would have them.
• Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.
  So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma,whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
• The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.
• Stay hungry. Stay foolish.
• Do what you love to do. Find your true passion. Do what you love to do a make a difference! The only way to do great work is to love what you do.
• Be different. Think different. “Better be a pirate than to join the navy.”
• Do your best. Do your best at every job. No sleep! Success generates more success. So be hungry for it. Hire good people with passion for excellence.
• Make SWOT analysis. As soon as you join/start a company, make a list of strengths and weaknesses of yourself and your company on a piece of paper. Don’t hesitate in throwing bad apples out of the company.
• Be entrepreneurial. Look for the next big thing. Find a set of ideas that need to be quickly and decisively acted upon and jump through that window. Sometimes the first step is the hardest one. Just take it! Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.
• Start small, think big. Don’t worry about too many things at once. Take a handful of simple things to begin with, and then progress to more complex ones. Think about not just tomorrow, but the future.
• Strive to become a market leader. Own and control the primary technology in everything you do. If there’s a better technology available, use it.
• Focus on the outcome. People judge you by your performance, so focus on the outcome.
• Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.
• Advertise. If they don’t know it, they won’t buy your product.
• Pay attention to design. “We made the buttons on the screen look so good you’ll want to lick them.” “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
• Ask for feedback. Ask for feedback from people with diverse backgrounds. Each one will tell you one useful thing. If you’re at the top of the chain, sometimes people won’t give you honest feedback because they’re afraid. In this case, disguise yourself, or get feedback from other sources. Focus on those who will use your product – listen to your customers first.
• Innovate. Innovation distinguishes a leader from a follower.
• Delegate, let other top executives do 50% of your routine work to be able to spend 50% your time on the new stuff. Say no to 1,000 things to make sure you don’t get on the wrong track or try to do too much.
• Concentrate on really important creations and radical innovation.
• Hire people who want to make the best things in the world. You need a very product-oriented culture, even in a technology company. Lots of companies have tons of great engineers and smart people. But ultimately, there needs to be some gravitational force that pulls it all together.
• Learn from failures. Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.
• Learn continually. There’s always “one more thing” to learn! Cross-pollinate ideas with others both within and outside your company. Learn from customers, competitors and partners. If you partner with someone whom you don’t like, learn to like them – praise them and benefit from them. Learn to criticize your enemies openly, but honestly.

Tonight the LA Times online today includes an obituary for Dave Freeman, co-author of “100 Things to Do Before you Die.”  (Side note - I’m a little confused about the date - theoretically both the LA Times and I are located in the Pacific US time zone, and it’s definitely August 25, 2008 in Seattle right now; yet the article is dated August 26, 2008…?)

But, I digress:

The article goes on to note:

“Freeman died Aug. 17 after falling and hitting his head at his home in Venice, said his father, Roy.”

“This life is a short journey,” the authors wrote. “How can you make sure you fill it with the most fun and that you visit all the coolest places on earth before you pack those bags for the very last time?”

Freeman had visited about half the sites in the book. He preferred to travel alone because he could cover more territory, said his aunt, Barbara Freeman.

Dave Freeman’s life captured a lot of life theory, and more than a little irony.   Imagine visiting all those places to then die at home from a freak accident…

Oh yeah - I forgot to mention throughout the time it took for me to I stumble upon the LA Times’ obituary for Dave Freedman, and to blog about it, I’ve had Randy Pausch’s life changing “Last Lecture” running in the background on my laptop. 

And yes, I really do still watch - or at least listen to - that lecture about once a week.  One week is about the length of time I can go without needing Randy’s inspiration to be able to remember to seize today even if yesterday sucked, since ”some day” may not come.

How did it get so late so soon?
It’s night before it’s afternoon.
December is here before it’s June.
My goodness how the time has flewn.
How did it get so late so soon?
~Dr. Seuss

Last night I fell asleep with the tv on, and so woke up this morning to the sound of an Olympic commentator excitedly calling out the play-by-play moves in the water polo match between “Team USA!” and Serbia.

Cautiously, I opened my eyes and looked at the tv screen and could see men wearing swim caps sometimes treading water, or sometimes swimming.  The one with the ball usually stood on the bottom of the pool as he coldly calculated his next move.

A second commentator chimes in “Go Team USA!”  Then more swimming. 

I jumped up, grabbed my morning dose of caffeine from the refrigerator (yes, as a matter of fact, everything does taste better with Diet Coke); fed the dogs, then trudged back to the tv for more water polo.

Water polo?  When did water polo become an Olympic sport?

Now - don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the dedication and hard work required to excel at any sport, water polo included.  Plus, I think anyone willing to live a big percentage of their life in a big pool of chlorinated water gets extra points - chlorine gives me a headache, and in any case, given a choice between walking on a beach or shriveling in a pool of chlorinated water, I’ll take the beach walk every time.

I grabbed one of my laptops and search wikipedia for the history of water polo and was surprised to learn water polo became an Olympic sport 108 years ago, and originated in Scotland and Great Britain; countries known for stiff upper lips and very cold lochs and lakes. 

And yet - detailed in the wikipedia article on water polo is the 1956 Olympic “Blood in the Water” match:

The most famous water polo match in history is probably the 1956 Summer Olympics semi-final match between Hungary and the Soviet Union. As the athletes left for the games, the Hungarian revolution began, and the Soviet army crushed the uprising. Many of the Hungarian athletes vowed never to return home, and felt their only means of fighting back was by victory in the pool. The confrontation was the most bloody and violent water polo game in history, in which the pool reputedly turned red from blood. The Hungarians defeated the Soviets 4-0 before the game was called off in the final minute to prevent angry Hungarians in the crowd reacting to Valentin Prokopov punching Ervin Zador’s eye open. The Hungarians went on to win the Olympic gold medal by defeating Yugoslavia 2-1 in the final. Half of the Hungarian Olympic delegation defected after the games. A documentary by Lucy Liu, Freedom’s Fury, premiered in April 2006, recounting the events of the 1956 Hungarian uprising and climaxing with this politicized game.

Wow.  There may be more to water polo than I first realized.

Team USA won the match. Suddenly the Olympics coverage switched to … Olympic Ping Pong.

I turned the tv off. 

If I start practicing now, maybe I could compete in the Olympics, too; that is, if the US actually has a curling team…?

“If winning isn’t everything, why do they keep score?”

- Vince Lombardi                   

These past few days have been a combination of rain and overcast clouds, a prelude of the wet winter to come.

These are the types of days when only bluegrass music will do, particularly the fast and furious picking in this classic bluegrass tune:

Douglas Dillard  Foggy Mountain Breakdown (Cover Flatt & Scruggs)

Lonesome Ridge Bluegrass Band Foggy Mountain Breakdown (Cover Flatt & Scruggs)

Earl Scruggs, Steve Martin & Jerry Douglas Foggy Mountain Breakdown (Cover Flatt & Scruggs)

If you’re interested to know the history of this instrumental song, there is a short but informative entry on wikipedia.

I’m back in the Great Northwet - and no, that wasn’t a typo, it’s raining here. 

While it’s nice to be back in my house, it’s also really nice to be able to reconnect with friends.

Leslie and I didn’t make it up to the cabin after all; but Plan B was possibly even better - we bummed around the SF for a bit, headed back to the South Bay for a bit shopping, then spent the rest of the time at back at the Ranch and enjoyed several hours of house renovation as well as technology discussions with Ben.

I know - imagine me having any interest at all in either of those topics.  Surprise…!

Eventually we piled into Ben’s car to drive to Willow Glen to pick up dinner from a sort of dive restaurant there; I’ll ping Leslie for the name and will then post here - since they serve really awesome Mediteranean food you might want to try yourself.

Willow Glen was new to me, but I was taken in by its charm.  I was surprised to discover that interesting of a neighborhood within the San Jose city limits.  Occasionally I toy with the idea of moving to the Bay area but never really seriously consider doing so due to housing prices, etc. - but I’m going to really check out Willow Glen again during my next trip south.

Leslie and I then spent more hours on their deck, watching the stars and talking through life and all the pieces that go with it.  Ben popped in and out in several times in between his trips to his new office building since he couldn’t wait until Monday to set up his workstation, etc. However, the construction crew was still hard at work Saturday night… go figure.

Eventually, we headed into the den to watch a couple of movies on dvd while also doing fun art projects (yes, really!).   Leslie is really getting into scrapbooking; and I’m finally ready to get back into making traditional miniature quilts, which combine my interest in history and design; and the smaller size and scope allow me to see progress/success quickly enough to keep me motivated for more…

 “Days up and down they come
Like rain on a conga drum
Forget most, remember some
But don’t turn none away
Everything is not enough,
And nothing is too much to bear
Where you’ve been is good and gone
All you keep is the getting there
Well, to live’s to fly, both low and high
So shake the dust off of your wings
And the sleep out of your eyes.”

                    - Townes van Zandt 

Most of us are aware of the adage “Lead, follow, or get out of the way.”  I like to include “Add value or stay out of the way.”

The world would be a better, more effective, and much happier place if “Lead, follow, add value, or get out of the way” was reality and not just a wish.

It’s late, I’m tired, and I didn’t save my last draft of this post - which just now disappeared into the blogosphere.

Rather than start from scratch - again - I offer up Chris Banescu’s worthwhile Leadership essays/podcasts to inspire each of us to be great leaders  - but also to hold accountable those who pretend to be:

 http://chrisbanescu.com/blog/2008/06/21/key-characteristics-of-great-leaders-part-ii/

Great leaders surround themselves with greatness. They actively seek out the best possible people and hire them to fill all key positions within their organizations. Great leaders know that surrounding themselves with excellence is a direct reflection on their own character, abilities, and effectiveness as leaders. They understand that their own success and the success of their organizations depend mostly on hiring and promoting the best qualified, ethical, skilled, responsible, mature, and productive people and giving them the proper resources, authority, and freedom to do what’s needed for the long-term benefit of their companies. Great leaders do not feel threatened by anyone lower in the chain of command who’s smarter, better educated, more productive, or more popular than they are. They respect the greatness and unique abilities of the individuals they lead and encourage them to continually flourish and grow.

Great leaders are optimists and realists. They are individuals who always look at life with a great deal of hope and optimism, and yet remain staunch realists who face life’s challenges head on and don’t shy away from adversity and hardships. Great leaders are great dreamers and visionaries, but with their feet firmly planted on the ground. They embrace truth and live in reality. They deal with things as they really are, not as they would like them to be. Great leaders have an infectious optimism that inspires and reassures their followers. They are not easily fooled by phony individuals or taken in by bogus schemes and unrealistic dreams. When meeting them one is struck about how clearly they see reality, yet how focused and optimistic they can remain in the face of adversity, uncertainty, and turmoil.

Great leaders earn the respect of their followers, they don’t demand it. A cornerstone of true leadership is evidenced by the voluntary submission of followers to the leader’s authority. Most great leaders have reached positions of prominence by virtue of their actual experience, knowledge, and leadership abilities, not due to schmoozing, luck, cronyism, longevity, abusing or manipulating others, or by virtue of avoiding controversy or failing to “rock the boat.” They are individuals who people respect because not only can they get the job done, but they also know what they’re talking about. Great leaders’ integrity, character, and abilities continually earn the respect, love, and trust of their followers. When great leaders speak people listen and obey, not because they have to, but because they want to.

Great leaders reward, recognize, and promote the best. They understand that a company’s most valuable asset is its employees. Acting on that belief great leaders strive to hire the best employees for their organizations and insure those individuals reach their full potential. They nurture and recognize excellence in their employees and continually aim to fairly and proportionality reward and actively promote those that contribute to the long-term success and profitability of the business. Great leaders know that hugs, plaques, and awards are wonderful ways to acknowledge employees, but nothing says thank you more eloquently than giving them a promotion or writing them a check or rewarding them in another substantive way that is financially meaningful to the individual.

Great leaders have character, integrity, and courage. They exemplify a solid moral foundation in both their words and their actions. Their management style and decisions demonstrate an unwavering consistency and integrity in practicing what they preach and speaking truthfully even when it’s not expedient or beneficial to them personally. Great leaders stand up for what they believe in and have the courage to defend their principles and their people even when it would be easier to cave in and compromise. They are not afraid to challenge lies and falsehoods, take action to deal with incompetence and evil, and defend those who are doing what’s right and needed for the long-term benefit of their organization and their employees. Great leaders have the courage to do what is right and ethical despite the pressures to be cowardly, silent, or complacent. Cowards, fence sitters, enablers, and those who believe in political correctness never make for good leaders.

Great leaders embody proper humility. They are genuine individuals who let the content of their character and leadership abilities speak for themselves. Great leaders do not boast about their accomplishments, abilities, and intelligence, nor justify their mistakes. They are not condescending towards those they lead or their peers. Great leaders are genuine, friendly, and steadfast in their dealings with others. They are just as quick to say ‘thank you’ when praised, as to say ‘I’m sorry’ when wrong. Great leaders give proper credit where credit is due and always take responsibility for their actions. They strive to recognize their employees for all organizational successes and take most of the blame for any failures or mistakes. They are open to and actively encourage constructive and substantive criticism. Great leaders purposely surround themselves with people of character, courage, and integrity whom they empower to speak and act in order to insure the same leadership ethos permeates the entire organization and outlasts their tenures.

“All men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power. “

 - Abraham Lincoln

I have a love hate relationship with travel - which mostly evolved after I became the single owner of two dogs, and definitely hasn’t improved now that I have three.

I also am not good with really early morning travel but tomorrow morning I need to be at Seatac at 6am to catch a flight to the bay area to meet up with my friend Leslie (also fondly known as LH) who will pick me up at SJC, then we drive 2 1/2 hours to a remote cabin on a lake and spend the next 36 hours chilling out. 

I’ve already written about theory vetted from years of experience - that people in general mainly hire themselves, or close variations thereof.

LH and I used to work together but despite the location and other challenges have remained very connected, and sometimes joke she is a younger version of me - despite the fact I was not raised JW; or in “the federal republic of Northern California;” and she majored in Renaissance lit at UC Berkeley, while I majored in 20th century/modern lit at UIowa.

It’s been many years since Leslie was JW; and in fact, neither one of us is at all religious.  We discovered pretty quickly despite there being many other major life differences, we’re very similar people and think about and view life in very complimentary ways.

It’s not a far reach (particularly after a quick mental survey/tally) to extrapolate not only do people in general mainly hire themselves, or close variations thereof; most of us (including myself) utilize a very similar methodology when bonding with those who become our friends.

I’ll be off the grid until Sunday night but will post pictures of this weekend when I get back. 

Cheers (and - this weekend, please make mine a double…).

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” - Anais Nin

I’ve become a fan of last.fm.  Most of the time I just let it run while I listen to my itunes, and don’t think about it.

Sometimes though I actually listen to last.fm instead,  using either the “friends” or “neighborhood” feature; which I’m actually doing right now, and so am listening to “Bad” by U2 thanks to Malc64.  Utilizing last.fm’s neighbors and neighborhood options is often more fun because even though the “scrobbling” engine does a fairly good job of grouping last.fm users by musical genre, so the range of my neighbors’ radio stations goes from “spot on ” to “wide-ranging” to “incredibly random.”

Right now i’m really enjoying lizzmac’s radio station with Colby Caillat, Tyrone Wells, etc. - thank you lizzmac, whoever and where ever you are…

Check it out; and feel free to send a friends invite to andi7910 (particularly if you’re a fan of Ryan Adams, Eli Young Band, U2, Abdel Wright, or…..

:-)

Sometimes when people ask me what kind of work I do, I just kind of laugh and say “Well, in my next life I’m going to sell swampland in the Gobi,” and leave it at that (or try to).

If pushed, I say I enjoy technology, like to solve problems, build things, and change peoples’ lives -hopefully in a good way.  Usually I also really like the work I do - recruiting - because I get to partner with hiring managers to build great technology teams which solve interesting technical and business problems. 

<rant>

I don’t like being lumped together with the many “recruiters” who push paper, don’t know what they are talking about,  and don’t understand their <internal or external> clients’ business, needs, or hiring bars. Unfortunately HR organizations and staffing agencies have too many people exactly like that.

For example, my friend Ben is fairly well known within geekdom, particularly by Firefox fans and users.  His contact info is also very very easy to find in under 30 seconds, via a websearch utilizing his current (and my former) employer.

Even so, some over reaching recruiter posted a comment on his blog which I think illustrates too well the calliber of some of my peers:

Hi Ben,

My company is currently looking for a Mozilla Engineer. We are a startup based in San Jose that focuses on speeding up the internet delivery on handled devices.

I found your profile online and was wondering:
a. if you would be interested in a new opportunity.
b. if you would know anyone in your entourage that would be interested in such a position.
We offer a $3,000 bonus referral fee.

Please send me an email and I will gladly give you further details about both the position and the company itself!

Have a great day.

Technical recruiter rule # 1:

Do not spam senior technologists or they will publicly post your spam for the world to see - and for their fellow geeks to laugh at for years (or longer, via the Way Back Machine).

Or rather, !!!

</rant>