Given the number of decisions we make all the time, you’d think we would be good at it by now. Unfortunately, decision-making is still one of the hardest things for most groups (and individuals, for that matter) to do effectively. At the core, decisions are scary things. In an ideal world, we would weigh the pros and cons, everyone would agree, and a clear winner would emerge. In the real world, we often have to make big decisions on limited information in limited time.

I saw an interesting TED talk last night by Simon Sinek. He was talking about inspirational leadership.

The basic concept is what he calls the Golden Circle. In the center is "why," the next ring out is "how," and the outer ring is "what." "What" is what you do - your service or product offerings. "How" is how you differentiate yourself from others. How you do what you do that's different and valuable. The key is why you do it - the purpose behind the whole enterprise.

There are some ideas that you just have to savour like hard toffee. Lately, I’ve been sucking on strange attractors. Attractors are all about complex systems. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say that complex systems are all about attractors.

Simple systems usually settle on a single final resting state – tumbling rocks find the lowest point, friction eventually stops a coasting car, and people in Texas will vote for the biggest liar. But complex systems are more, well… complex. Here are a couple different websites that demonstrate the idea with some mesmerizing videos.

I'm trying something different this week. Instead of focusing on my task list I am focusing on how I spend my hours.

I tried it last week. On Monday, instead of focusing on getting some big tasks done, I focused on spending just one hour of focused work on one task. It worked great.

I went to a Meetup talk last week where they were talking about sales. One of the most interesting things they said was that it takes between seven and eight contacts to land a new client. This is one of those things that makes sense when you think about it. I just hadn't stopped to think about it before.

Before someone will buy from you, they first need to know that you exist. You have to create visibility. Then you have to build trust. They have to understand what you're about and believe in your services and trust them. It's also going to take time for you to understand their needs and for them to understand that you understand them.

In Presence, Peter Senge, Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworski, and Betty Sue Flowers look at what it takes for profound change to happen. While they come out the topic from the perspective of large organizations and systems, what they find seems directly relevant to the work that many of us are doing - trying to find our way in non-traditional career paths, making meaning while making a living.

I wanted to share an experience that happened to me yesterday. For the past few days, I’ve been feeling stuck. I have a list of things I should be working on, but I just didn’t seem to have any energy to really do them. I feel like I’ve been pressing the accelerator with the handbrake on. Somehow, I think I lost the plot – like looking at one of those magic eye posters, but just not being able to get the image to come into focus.

An unusual thing has been happening to me lately: things seem to be working out. All those things that I’ve been waiting to fall into place are lining up like gears in a Swiss watch. Lucky coincidences and happy develops lurk around every corner. It’s like I’ve won the karma lottery.

The irony, though, is that sometimes it seems harder to accept the good stuff than the bad. 

Last Wednesday, I just didn’t want to be me. It wasn’t like there was someone else specifically that I wanted to be instead... I was just tired of being me. Tired of my struggles, tired of trying all the time, tired of being “noble” and “mature.” Sometimes, I just want it to be easy. Sometimes, I just want to whine. But done properly, whining can be very therapeutic.

Parker Palmer has two main rules to guide his circles of trust: 1) no fixing, no helping, no setting each other straight and 2) only ask honest questions. I love the idea of honest questions because so few questions actually are. “Are you going out dressed like that?” “Do you really think that’s a good idea?” “Have you thought about seeking professional help?” These are not honest questions: they are criticisms cloaked in the guise of a question. But it's even worse when we do it to ourselves.