http://archive.aweber.com/7questionsotlSeven Questions For a Life of Fun, Inspiration & Action plus Outside the Lines newsletterTue, 15 May 2012 06:06:35 -0400http://archive.aweber.com/7questionsotl/4jHhU/h/_OTL_Why_you_might_want_to.htm IN THIS ISSUE... Why You Might Want to Look Backwards 2 New Learning Opportunities For You Great Work Blog Why You Might Want to Look Backwards Onwards!If I've had a rallying cry throughout my life, Onwards! might just be it. Keep moving, keep dreaming up what's next. You're not finished yet. Nothing wrong with pushing onIt's served me well, mostly. I've achieved goals and then accomplished goals that built upon those that came before. And I'm excited about the plans that dance through my head for the future, thinking about the cool things I might do to edge closer towards my goal of infecting a billion people with the possibility virus. But wait, weary traveller My friend Mark says that every choice you make always comes with prizes and punishments. You've got to weigh decisions and hope the balance tips towards prizes. The prizes of Onwards! include the adrenaline of movement, the sense of progress, the embrace of ambition. But there are punishments, and as I get older and slower and maybe a tad wiser I'm starting to see those more clearly. One I'm particularly seeing right now is the loss of celebrating what's been completed, recognizing the journey already walked. Say to yourself: Well Done! You're not the person you were three months ago, a year ago, five years ago. You've walked paths, seen things, collected scars, got smarter and wiser. But unless you stop for a moment to recognize what you've done and where you've been, you might just miss what's happened. How do you remind yourself? I've got three key structures that I'm using to remind me to stop, look back and celebrate the moment. My planning wall. I've created a big whiteboard on the wall next to my desk. It's got post it notes all over it with my plans for what's coming up in the next month, the next quarter, and the next three quarters. It's also got a Well Done section, where I capture the projects that we've completed at Box of Crayons. (Thanks to the Behance gang for this inspiration.) iDoneThisA smart little program (with a nominal cost) that prompts you at the end of each day to write down what you've just done. One thing it does is send you historical actions as you build up a history. I'm currently getting what you did six months ago, so I know that on November 10th I spent the day with Mark and Michael planning our Get to the Next Level program. What's cool is that we've now run that five times and it's going very well. It's marvellous to realize that it was only six months ago that we were still figuring out how it might work. Our check inWhen Nora, Marlene , Marcella and I check in with each other at the end of the day, we send a quick email with the three most important things we've done that day, plus what we're happy about and what we've learned. The last two are vital - they take it from being a manic task-driven conversation to one which looks to extract the wisdom from the work. How about you? How do you slow down to celebrate what's been done? Don't Take My Word For It Smart people thinking out loud about reflection. Education begins the gentleman, but reading, good company and reflection must finish him. John Locke, philosopher If we would only give, just once, the same amount of reflection to what we want to get out of life that we give to the question of what to do with a two weeks' vacation, we would be startled at our false standards and the aimless procession of our busy days. Dorothy Canfield Fisher, social activist By three methods we may learn wisdom; First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and Third by experience, which is the bitterest. Confucius, philosopher A string of excited, fugitive, miscellaneous pleasures is not happiness: happiness resides in imaginative reflection and judgment, when the picture of one's life, or of human life, as it truly has been or is, satisfies the will, and is gladly accepted. George Santayana, philosopher Contemplation seems to be about the only luxury that costs nothing. Dodie Smith, writer Monday mornings can start with The Great Work Quotes. Get someone's quirky, provocative perspective on life to start the week off well. Sign up here. 2 Learning Opportunities For YouI'm speaking at the (WBECS) World Business and Executive Coach Summit in June, and throughout the month of May they're giving free 'tasters' from all the presenters. It's certainly worth signing up for the freebies, and keep a special eye out for my free session - it's on May 30th. You've heard me talk about just how important my Brain Trust has been to furthering my personal and business development. Jen, who got the ball rolling for us six years ago, is running a class on how to set up your own MasterMind Group. Highly recommended if you'd like the support, insight and arse-kicking a MasterMind group can provide. Great Work Blog I've upped my blogging game and I hope you'll take a peek. Interviews and articles to check out from April include: Courageous Leadership Skills - Get Going Great Work Interview - Danielle LaPorte, The FireStarter Sessions Work Hacks to Amp Up Your Week - Tip #1 Best Three Books On: The Next Level of Personal Growth Great Work Interview - Gina Amaro Rudin, Practical Genius In May I've got a number of posts planned around the topic of Work Hacks to Amp Up Your Week. If you'd like some new and different insights on how to have more impact and create more focus and do more Great Work - check them out here, and subscribe by email or RSS feed. With warm wishes, Michael Bungay Stanier, Founder, Box of Crayons Outside the Lines is a publication of: May 15, 2012 Please forward Outside the Lines to anyone you think might be interested. You can find a copy here. Warm wishes, Michael Bungay Stanier, Founder, Box of CrayonsTwitter | Linked In Here's how we help organizations Here's how we help individualsHere's more free stuff for you Subscribe To subscribe to Outside the Lines go to http://www.boxofcrayons.biz/ Reprint I'd be delighted if you should wish to reprint (for free) any part of Outside the Lines in your newsletters, websites, and message boards. Simply include the following attribution: Michael Bungay Stanier is the founder and Senior Partner of Box of Crayons, a company that helps organizations do less Good Work and more Great Work. Schedule Outside the Lines is distributed once a month. Your contact information is never traded, never rented, never sold. I send out an extra email one to three times a month detailing programs and offers. visit us online at http://www.boxofcrayons.biz/ Tue, 15 May 2012 06:06:35 -0400http://archive.aweber.com/7questionsotl/7DdPw/h/_OTL_Two_May_Events_with.htm Two May Events with Michael on Coaching and Feedback I'm part of two cool events this one month, one global and the other local. If you're a coach, manager or leader, read on... Yours, PS The newsletter comes out next week! 1. World Business and Executive Coach Summit (global, May and June) I'm pretty stoked to be part of WBECS, a two-month extravaganza of usefulness that will be deeply interesting if you're an executive or business coach - or if you use them in your business. A month of freebies Here's the skinny... Throughout May, the WBECS faculty (lots of big wigs like Sir John Whitmore, Marshall Goldsmith, Suzi Pomerantz, Karen Kimsey-House - you can see everyone here) are running short TED-style sessions. They'll be interesting, practical, and no fluff/sales pitch. (I really hate free webinars that are just thinly disguised sales pitches - you too I bet.) Mine's on May 30th, one of the final pre-summit sessions before the full Summit kicks off. It costs nothing to register. Here's the page And then the summit After you've sampled the buffet throughout May, you'll be in a perfect position to decide whether you want the meal come June. Then each of the presenters is doing a 60 to 90 minute session, going deep on their topic of choice. You can see how it makes sense to sign up for the May experience. No cost, and you'll be in a perfect position to decide whether you want or need more. Again, you can sign up here. 2. The Last Feedback Workshop You'll Ever Need (May 9, Toronto) The CSTD is sponsoring The Last Feedback Workshop You'll Ever Need on the evening of May 9th in downtown Toronto. It's an abridged version of one of Box of Crayons' new programs. I know seats are limited and that the CSTD just put out another reminder to their mailing list. So if you're in Toronto and curious, take a look. Here's what we'll be up to: Ask any group of people what good feedback looks like, and you'll get all the right answers. But let me ask you this: In your organization, is everyone having those more challenging conversations? Is Feedback now a mastered art? Of course not. In the words of the baseball philosopher Yogi Berra, In theory, theory and practice are the same. But in practice, they're not. So why do people still struggle to give feedback well, when they know the theory? What if you and the people around you could more quickly and easily prepare for and have those tough conversations? Join us for The Last Feedback Workshop You'll Ever Need, a practical, provocative and engaging workshop with Michael Bungay Stanier of Box of Crayons. You'll walk away with: - New insights based on neuroscience on why people resist feedback (giving it and getting it) - A simple but powerful tool to help you better understand and navigate the difficult conversations - A plan to put these new insights into action on your return to work I hope you can make it May 1, 2012 Please forward Outside the Lines to anyone you think might be interested. You can find a copy here. Warm wishes, Michael Bungay Stanier, Founder, Box of Crayons Follow Us TWITTER YOUTUBE RSS End Malaria End Malaria brings together more than 50 of the leading writers and thinkers of our time. $20 from every copy sold goes to Malaria No More.GO Free Manifesto! 7 ways to stop the busywork . GO Practical coaching skills for managers and leaders. GO Programs and tools to focus on the work that matters. GO The award-winning self-coaching tool. GO Subscribe To subscribe to Outside the Lines go to http://www.boxofcrayons.biz/Schedule Outside the Lines is distributed once a month. Your contact information is never traded, never rented, never sold. I send out an extra email one to three times a month detailing programs and offers. visit us online at http://www.boxofcrayons.biz/ Tue, 01 May 2012 06:06:38 -0400http://archive.aweber.com/7questionsotl/EjdX./h/One_week_til_World_Malaria.htm 30,000 Nets So Far You'll know that in September, I published End Malaria, a collection of useful, provocative and challenging essays on how to do more Great Work. The list of contributors is amazing, from Tom Peters to Brene Brown, Johan Lehrer to Pam Slim. Why is it called 'End Malaria'? Well, that's where the magic is... $20 from every book goes to Malaria No More to help fund their fight against malaria, a disease that kills one child every minute. So far we're raised more than $300k. One mosquito net costs $10, so that's a lot of nets - and a lot of lives saved. Once last push! And you can help me. With World Malaria Day just a week away (April 25th), we're going to do one final push. Can you help me sell more books, raise more money and save more lives? Anything you can do on April 25th to help get the word out would be fantastic. I'm giving you full access to my EM Resources page. It's full of copy, pictures, the book trailer, tweets, everything I could think that you might need to spread the word. Seven things you could easily do. Pick one! Pick more! 1- Send an email to 3 of our your colleagues 2- Put the awesome book trailer on your Facebook page or blog 3- Like our Facebook page 4- Tweet about it (using http://amzn.to/qOwyhl and #endmalaria tag) 5- Write a blog post 6- Write an Amazon review 7- Buy a copy or two for friends, clients, colleagues, team members Thank you - your support means a great deal Michael PS - take a look at the End Malaria resources page and grab anything you need. Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:30:10 -0400http://archive.aweber.com/7questionsotl/9xjdE/h/Did_you_take_a_peak_at_the.htm Friday the 13th! A day for some timid souls to avoid walking under ladders, breaking mirrors .... Or the day you take 2 minutes to watch Beyond the Timid Middle. You may not have had a chance to read this week's newsletter (I know it's easily filed for later or I'm too busy right now -- delete.) But I'm inordinately proud of the new movie. It's 2 minutes long and is both funky and provocative. Take a look and enjoy! Michael Fri, 13 Apr 2012 06:11:05 -0400http://archive.aweber.com/7questionsotl/L8F0E/h/_OTL_Stuck_in_the_timid.htm IN THIS ISSUE... The Timid Middle WBECS Great Work Blog Let's Go to the Movies Welcome to the premiere of our new movie. Beyond the Timid Middle. Thanks to Robert Kabwe, the genius behind Poplogik and our fantastic animator. Take a look - it's a smidgen over two minutes long. *You can find all our free stuff on the Box of Crayons website. The Great Work Quotes, the Great Work Blog, the Great Work Interviews, The Great Work Movies... all good, all juicy, all yours. Are you stuck in the timid middle? How I Won the Rhodes Scholarship I opened the door and my high level of anxiety immediately increased. Around an enormous, ancient wooden table sat the ten-member interview panel - academics, people of note, former Scholars - all looking focused and daunting. I'd already got clear the night before at the dinner that I really didn't have much of a chance. Somehow I'd scraped into this final round, but I was clearly the odd-ball outsider. The other 14 candidates were smarter, fitter, better looking and far more accomplished than I. And this interview was going to reveal just that. Great. So Michael, one of my interviewers said. You've done a law degree and a degree in English Lit, and now you're proposing to do Politics and Philosophy at Oxford. Can't you make up your mind? I had of course rehearsed all sorts of answers to all sorts of questions in the previous weeks. I had opinions and facts on everything I thought they might ask me about. But I hadn't thought of that question. So... what was the answer? Couldn't I make up my mind? You can imagine the pregnant pause as I tried to figure out the best answer. I cleared my throat. Well.... Yes... and No. Silence. And then laughter. Somehow I'd accidentally made a joke. They laughed. And I wasn't so stupid as to not realize that I should laugh too and pretend that I'd meant it all along. And from there, it all went well. I relaxed, they relaxed, and while I can't remember a thing I said, I am certain it was the moment I won the Rhodes Scholarship and a new world opened up for me. But this is not joke That was a lucky break for me. But the question I was asked that day is an important one: Can I make up my mind? I suspect that too many of us don't actively make a choice about where we're going and what we're doing. Rather, life sweeps us along and before we know it we're Kind Of doing this and Kind Of doing that. And while that doesn't mean things are bad (in fact, I'm pretty sure it means things are tolerably OK) it does mean that you're not making a clear, mindful, bold choice about what you might be doing and - big picture - how you might be living your life. It means you might be stuck in the Timid Middle. It's Yes. Or it's No. There's a reason I keep coming back to this, and it's because I'm easily distracted. I write this newsletter to remind myself of my work as much as I write it as a useful resource for you. So here's the question that gets you out of the timid middle. What's the strong Yes you want to say? And knowing that, what's the strong No that must support it? Here's one way of making the shift. Six steps to get out of the Timid Middle 1. Watch the movie You can watch the movie right here - it will take you just a couple of minutes. You'll find it useful to have a pen and paper handy so you can note the five choices that the movie suggests. 2. Pick one of the five pairs from the movie Think of a challenge you're facing at the moment where you might be feeling a little stuck. It might be ongoing, it might be about a specific project you're working on - doesn't matter. With that in mind, I suspect one of the five choices will speak louder to you than the others. Pick it. 3. Where are you now? On a bit of paper laid out horizontally (landscape), draw a line with one choice at one end and the other .... So it might look something like this: Hold On Tight ----------------------------------------------------------------Let It Go Free Now, thinking of your challenge, mark with an X where you think you currently are. For instance, with the new book I'm writing I would put myself here: Hold On Tight ---------------------X------------------------------------------Let It Go Free 4. Explore the ends First, move to the end that's closest to your X. (In my example above, I'd go to Hold On Tight.) Imagine you were there, making this choice. What would you do? What would you do differently? How would you act? Get clear on what it would mean to make that choice. And now, go to the other end of your spectrum. (In my example above, I'd now go to Let It Go Free.) Imagine you were there, making this choice. What would you do? What would you do differently? How would you act? You're now getting a real sense of what it means to make a bold choice at either end of the spectrum. 5. Make a choice Now - the penultimate step - make a real choice about where you want to be on this spectrum in regards to your challenge. It doesn't have to be one of the ends. But it does need to be an active, mindful choice. Draw a new X. And again, imagine you were there, making this choice. What would you do? What would you do differently? How would you do things? 6. Act on your choice And this is the so what? moment. What will you now do differently, now you've made the choice? What will you start? Stop? Do more of? Don't Take My Word For It Smart people thinking out loud about avoiding the timid middle. There's nothing in the middle of the road except yellow lines and dead armadillos. Jim Hightower, columnist I'm at my best in a messy, middle-of-the-road muddle. Harold Wilson, politician In the middle of the road of my life, I awoke in the dark wood where the true way was wholly lost. Dante Alighieri, poet Froth at the top, dregs at bottom, but the middle excellent. Voltaire, philosopher Hell isn't merely paved with good intentions; it's walled and roofed with them. Yes, and furnished too. Aldous Huxley, writer The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty yes to your adventure. Joseph Campbell, scholar Anon. Monday mornings can start with The Great Work Quotes. Get someone's quirky, provocative perspective on life to start the week off well. Sign up here. WBECS - Join me there for free Join me at the World Business and Executive Coach Summit (WBECS). (To find out more, just click here. I'm thrilled to be speaking at this prestigious event and I want to tell you how you can check it out at no cost. The web-based summit is in June, but throughout May, the organizer, Ben Croft has created a free pre-summit event where all of the speakers give a short, TED-style introduction to their talks which are punch, profound and pitch-free. The line-up of the speakers is pretty fabulous: Marshall Goldsmith, Sir John Whitmore, Karen Kimsey-House (founder of CTI where I did my coach training), Prof. Vijay Govindajan (voted World's #1 strategic thinker by Harvard Business Review), and another 15 or so speakers - me included. Things start happening May 1st and as far as I can see there's a fantastic opportunity to get a boatload of smart business coaching knowledge at no cost during the pre-summit series. You can read more about it here. Great Work Blog I've upped my blogging game and I hope you'll take a peek. Interviews and articles to check out in the March archive include: Great Work Interview with Anders Dahlvig, talking about the IKEA edge Courageous Leadership Skills- What Wouldn't You Do? The Practical Coaching Series: Fierce Love Great Work Interview with Craig Ross, author of Degrees of Strength Having Trouble With Your Millennials? If you'd like some new and different insights on how to have more impact, create more focus and do more Great Work get The Great Work Blog by email or RSS feed. With warm wishes, Michael Bungay Stanier, Founder, Box of Crayons Outside the Lines is a publication of: April 10, 2012 Please forward Outside the Lines to anyone you think might be interested. You can find a copy here. Warm wishes, Michael Bungay Stanier, Founder, Box of Crayons Follow Us TWITTER YOUTUBE RSS End Malaria End Malaria brings together more than 50 of the leading writers and thinkers of our time. $20 from every copy sold goes to Malaria No More.GO Free Manifesto! 7 ways to stop the busywork . GO Practical coaching skills for managers and leaders. GO Programs and tools to focus on the work that matters. GO The award-winning self-coaching tool. GO Subscribe To subscribe to Outside the Lines go to http://www.boxofcrayons.biz/ Reprint I'd be delighted if you should wish to reprint (for free) any part of Outside the Lines in your newsletters, websites, and message boards. Simply include the following attribution: Michael Bungay Stanier is the founder and Senior Partner of Box of Crayons, a company that helps organizations do less Good Work and more Great Work. He is the contribution editor of End Malaria, author of Do More Great Work and Get Unstuck and Get Going, and the creator of The Alchemy of Great Work, The Great Work Movie, The 5.75 Questions You've Been Avoiding and The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun, short internet movies seen around the world. Michael was a Rhodes Scholar and the 2006 Canadian Coach of the Year. He is Australian and now lives in Canada. Schedule Outside the Lines is distributed once a month. Your contact information is never traded, never rented, never sold. I send out an extra email one to three times a month detailing programs and offers. visit us online at http://www.boxofcrayons.biz/ Tue, 10 Apr 2012 15:08:24 -0400http://archive.aweber.com/7questionsotl/7Pc.A/h/The_Next_90_Days.htm The Next 90 Days May has begun ... Spring in the northern hemisphere ... a perfect excuse to take a breath, take a moment, and reflect. First, where have you been? What goals did you set yourself for the 90 days just passed? What are you happy about? What's gone well? What are you disappointed about? Where have things gone less well? Now where are you going? What's the most important thing for the next 90 days? What's your Great Work Project? What do you need to say No to, to make that really happen? What have you learned from the last 90 days? What needs to change as a result? Looking for some (free) inspiration? If you're looking for a little grain of sand to make the next 90 day pearl, check out our Free Stuff page on Box of Crayons where you can sign up again for the free 7 week e-course The Great Work Kickstarters. (Here's what one reader said about the course: Brilliant!!!!! Thank you! You've helped me to transform a dull and grey Monday morning into a smiley one!!! With warm wishes - and all the best for a fantastic 90 days ahead Michael Wed, 04 Apr 2012 09:58:42 -0400http://archive.aweber.com/7questionsotl/ASc8w/h/_OTL_Rediscover_Your_Mojo.htm IN THIS ISSUE... Great Work Provocations Rediscover Your Mojo Great Work Blog Great Work Provocations Great Work Provocations is live! It's a Start the day-less-than-30-seconds-to-read message from me, Monday to Friday designed to help you think differently about your day, your work and your life. It's like a shot of espresso but healthier. Sign up now and get provoked! *You can find all our free stuff on the Box of Crayons website. The Great Work Quotes, the Great Work Blog, the Great Work Interviews, The Great Work Movies... all good, all juicy, all yours. Rediscover Your Mojo I was on the phone this week with my Brain Trust - Mark, Eric, Jen, Michele and Molly - when one of them mentioned that they were freaking out a little because the year was already half gone. We all chuckled a little but in truth, I knew exactly what they meant. It was all so shiny in January. When the calendar kicked over to 2012, I was feeling good. I was feeling very good. I had big plans for the year. I had a grand theme I wanted to pursue: Deep Collaboration. I had Great Work Projects lined up - first one book, then another - then three, then four. No worries - I should be able to knock those off with ease. I set up a few metrics that I felt mattered, such as limiting my delivery days to 40. (After all, I now had four books to write.) I had a white board up on my office wall with post-it notes tell me what to do when. (Colour-co-ordinated post-it notes at that.) Yet here we were in March - March! - and it already felt that things had fallen off the rails. I was behind on almost every single project I was pursuing. Deep Collaboration was shaping up to mean Do Everything By Yourself. Again. I was feeling stuck on the one book I'd started. Everything that had seemed so clear and clean and strong and doable was now ... negotiable. Quite frankly - from the depths of my petulant-sad-resigned-and-in-denial self - it was clear that the year was already done, ready to be written off and got through so I could give it another go in 2013. Reminder: This Is Normal My mistake was thinking that my white board plan was reality. And as I've reminded you so many times (so I can remind myself), the map is not the territory or to put it in Eisenhower's words, Plans are useless but planning is useful. If this is normal - and it is - the question isn't, Why is it so hard and confusing? but really this: Should I stand up again and carry on? I think so. How about you? Should We Get Back On The Path? I don't have any great answers on how to revive the situation. But let me tell you some of the small ways I'm trying to step back into Great Work to make sure this year doesn't slip by in just get through it mode. 1. Remember whose plan it is Winston Churchill once said, We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us. It reminds me of the Heath brothers' useful book on change called Switch, and how they point to structures in our lives - physical and otherwise - as the most powerful way to influence behavioural change. A strategic plan is one of those structures. By putting it up on my white board I've made it real and visible, but I also run the danger of believing that it's now The Truth and Inevitable and Non-Negotiable and so on. It's just a plan. And furthermore, it's just a plan I created. I can tweak it, change it, revise it, abandon it. And that will help me... 2. Pick one thing Whether it's David Allen saying you can't do a project you can only do the next action or it's Annie Lamott reminding us to do things bird by bird, there's plenty of wisdom out there to say simply this: Focus! Perhaps I should remember I can't do a year but I can do a day. (I can do that.) Pick one project. (I can do that.) Then commit to working a little on it every day. (I can do that too.) And as I start again - one project, one day, one step forward - try to ... 3. Remember how bad my memory is I do appreciate the irony that most of the time I forget I have a dodgy memory, but it's true. It's not that I forget events so much as I forget the reality of things. When I look back on past Great Work Projects - Do More Great Work, End Malaria, Presentation Genius, Get Unstuck and Get Going - I edit out the confusion, effort and despair and put in place a Spielberg-esque triumph where with ease, nobility, casual brilliance and courage I whip something up overnight that is glorious. Ha! This stuff - life - is hard and messy and confusing. Remember that. (It's one of the reasons I wrote this manifesto, At The Speed of Seth.) And knowing that... 4. Don't take it so hard On a recent trip to Singapore to deliver one of our programs, I tried out a new piece of teaching I'd been working on. It was a new model both epic and subtle, one that would get to the heart of people's Great Work while speaking to universal truths. It was a flop. And a flop not in a that's wrong, you're crazy sort of way but in a I'm bewildered sort of way. When I debriefed with my fellow facilitators, I understood how we might tweak what I'd done to make it (perhaps) useful. But more usefully, I also saw that my base standard for a pilot beta-run of this (and anything) is Perfection. Even if it goes well, I'm a little disappointed. And if it flops, I'm very down in the mouth indeed. So seeing my pattern of impossibly high standards helps get me unstuck. Being gentle on myself is always easier if I can... 5. Get some encouragement So maybe this is what I mean by Deep Collaboration after all. Not (only) working with people on cool projects, but working with people to help me me work on cool projects. I started with my Brain Trust, so it's nice that I'm ending with them too. They (along with my coach, Ernest, the Vice President of Everything Else, my Toronto Strategic Drinking-Planners Karen and Mark, and others) not only help me see the games I keep playing with myself but they are undoubtedly, persistent champions for who I can be. They offer up ideas and technical support and all that, but most consistently they say to me: Remember: You're Fantastic. And that's what gets me going again. How about you? Have you drifted a little of course this year so far? And what's worked in getting your mojo back? Drop me a line and let me know. Don't Take My Word For It Smart people thinking out loud about getting their mojo back. Begin - to begin is half the work, let half still remain; again begin this, and thou wilt have finished. Marcus Aurelius, philosopher Inspiration is wonderful when it happens, but the writer must develop an approach for the rest of the time. Leonard Bernstein, composer Day, n. A period of twenty-four hours, mostly misspent. Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary He, who every morning plans the transactions of the day, and follows that plan, carries a thread that will guide him through a labyrinth of the most busy life. Victor Hugo, writer Always do whatever's next. George Carlin, comedian Monday mornings can start with The Great Work Quotes. Get someone's quirky, provocative perspective on life to start the week off well. Sign up here. Great Work Blog I've upped my blogging game and I hope you'll take a peek. Interviews and articles to check out in the February archive include: Your 24 Hour Bonus - What Will You Do? The Practical Coaching Series: Fierce Love Great Work Interview with Dov Seidman, author of How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything Will One of These Five Be Your Deathbed Regret? If you'd like some new and different insights on how to have more impact, create more focus and do more Great Work get The Great Work Blog by email or RSS feed. With warm wishes, Michael Bungay Stanier, Founder, Box of Crayons Outside the Lines is a publication of: March 13, 2012 Please forward Outside the Lines to anyone you think might be interested. You can find a copy here. Warm wishes, Michael Bungay Stanier, Founder, Box of Crayons Follow Us TWITTER YOUTUBE RSS End Malaria End Malaria brings together more than 50 of the leading writers and thinkers of our time. $20 from every copy sold goes to Malaria No More.GO Free Manifesto! 7 ways to stop the busywork . GO Practical coaching skills for managers and leaders. GO Programs and tools to focus on the work that matters. GO The award-winning self-coaching tool. GO Subscribe To subscribe to Outside the Lines go to http://www.boxofcrayons.biz/ Reprint I'd be delighted if you should wish to reprint (for free) any part of Outside the Lines in your newsletters, websites, and message boards. Simply include the following attribution: Michael Bungay Stanier is the founder and Senior Partner of Box of Crayons, a company that helps organizations do less Good Work and more Great Work. He is the contribution editor of End Malaria, author of Do More Great Work and Get Unstuck and Get Going, and the creator of The Alchemy of Great Work, The Great Work Movie, The 5.75 Questions You've Been Avoiding and The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun, short internet movies seen around the world. Michael was a Rhodes Scholar and the 2006 Canadian Coach of the Year. He is Australian and now lives in Canada. Schedule Outside the Lines is distributed once a month. Your contact information is never traded, never rented, never sold. I send out an extra email one to three times a month detailing programs and offers. visit us online at http://www.boxofcrayons.biz/ Tue, 13 Mar 2012 06:09:33 -0400http://archive.aweber.com/7questionsotl/5weKA/h/Great_Work_Provocations_Like.htm Hello It's that odd and interesting date today, February 29th. An extra day to ... well, what? Go through the daily grind? Or do a little more Great Work? It seems the perfect time to launch our new Great Work Provocations series. A Less-Than-30-Seconds-To-Read email Monday to Friday mornings to help start your day off with a twist. Sign up and get provoked! It's totally free of course. If you'd like to get your days off automatic pilot and pick up new ways of seeing the world, this will help. Sign up here now and you'll get your first Great Work Provocation tomorrow. Thanks for playing along.Michael Useful? Please feel free to forward. Not a subscriber? Get provoked here. Box of Crayons helps people, teams and organizations do less Good Work and more Great WorkWe've got some practical programs and cool products that help make it happen, like our award winning book Do More Great Work. You can always get in touch with us at Michael@BoxOfCrayons.biz Wed, 29 Feb 2012 07:10:28 -0500http://archive.aweber.com/7questionsotl/5xW6w/h/_OTL_Get_Provoked.htm IN THIS ISSUE... Great Work Provocations Get Provoked Great Work Blog Great Work Provocations We will be launching a new free service* for you at the end of this month, The Great Work Provocations. It's a Start the day-less-than-30-seconds-to-read message from me, Monday to Friday designed to help you think differently about your day, your work and your life. Eclectic, insights, facts and questions, like Pop Rocks for the brain. Sign up now to get on the list and make sure you don't miss one. We'll let you know when we're ready to launch! *You can find all our free stuff on the Box of Crayons website. The Great Work Quotes, the Great Work Blog, the Great Work Interviews, The Great Work Movies... all good, all juicy, all yours. Get Provoked The Curse of a PhD For part of my time in Oxford, I lived in a house with 11 people, 10 of whom were doing PhD's. (I was the exception to the rule - I'd snuck in to hang out with my girlfriend.) * Editor's Note - 17 yrs ago today Michael proposed to that girlfriend ... who said yes - Happy Valentine's Day Michael! (from the VP of Everything Else) As you might suppose, it was a house of smart people. Breakfast conversation could be daunting, exhilarating, amazing at times. But it could also be a little depressing. The T-shirt that drove the nail home Walking back to the house one day, I passed a printing shop with a T-shirt in the window that summed up the depressing bit for me; all that is wrong with an increasingly narrow point of focus: For my PhD I learned more and more about less and less. Until at last I knew everything about nothing. Are you trending to zero too? As I get busier and my life sends out tendrils of commitment here and there, I find it's easier and easier for me to stick with what I know. I walk the same paths day in and day out, and I walk them faster and faster (got to get where I'm going). Now, there's an important place for routine in your life. If you read Jonathan Field's Uncertainty or Tony Schwartz's Be Excellent at Anything, you'll see that one of the core secrets of people who are highly creative is that they combine the uncertainty of creation with the certainty of routine. But what I see in myself sometimes are routines that just fill up my day. They've become mindless patterns and they're not elevating me so much as they're wearing me down. So how about we mix it up a little? Six ways to get provoked 1. Change what you read The same types of books by the same authors. The same blogs. The same papers. the same don't read anything at all. Mix in fiction with non-fiction. Add science to your business. Pick 150 blogs to follow and scan them using Google Reader. Better yet, subscribe to Brain Pickings for the best curated content on the internet. Including an on-going flood of book recommendations. 2. Change the role you play Always the leader, the follower, the starter, the finisher, the quiet one, the loud one, the funny one, the serious one, the ideas person, the implementer. Flip your role for a bit. Take the opposite tack. Invite others in to fill the space. Notice what's different. Notice what's useful. 3. Change the rhythm of the day The first thing you always do, the same trip you take from here to there, the what and the where of lunch, the place you sit, the automatic left hand turn, the familiar haunts. Start something new. Stop the usual. Zag instead of zigging. Notice what you stumble across. Notice what you find in unexplored corners. 4. Change what's showing up in your Inbox Sign up for the Great Work Provocations. They'll start showing up later in the month. And I have to say, they're kind of awesome in a sweet and sour way. Notice what shifts. Don't Take My Word For It Smart people thinking out loud about changing it up. The less routine, the more life. Amos Bronson Alcott, educator All of us, from time to time, need a plunge into freedom and novelty, after which routine and discipline will seem delightful by contrast. Andre Maurois, writer Habit is habit and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time. Mark Twain, writer I began to realize how simple life could be if one had a regular routine to follow with fixed hours, a fixed salary, and very little original thinking to do. Ronald Dahl, writer Curious things, habits. People themselves never knew they had them. Agatha Christie, writer All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer Monday mornings can start with The Great Work Quotes. Get someone's quirky, provocative perspective on life to start the week off well. Sign up here. Great Work Blog I've upped my blogging game and I hope you'll take a peek. Interviews and articles to check out from January include: What Martin Luther King can teach us about decision making Planning is useful...but plans are useless. Great Work Interview with Jason Womack, author of Your Best Just Got Better The Practical Coaching Series: How to Get Clear 6 Twists on the usual productivity tips for the busy manager Great Work Interview with Michael Hyatt, author of Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World In February, I've got a number of posts planned around the topic of practical coaching. If you'd like some new and different insights on how to have more impact and create more focus and do more Great Work - check them out here, and subscribe by email or RSS feed. With warm wishes, Michael Bungay Stanier, Founder, Box of Crayons Outside the Lines is a publication of: February 14, 2012 Please forward Outside the Lines to anyone you think might be interested. You can find a copy here. Warm wishes, Michael Bungay Stanier, Founder, Box of Crayons Follow Us TWITTER YOUTUBE RSS End Malaria End Malaria brings together more than 50 of the leading writers and thinkers of our time. $20 from every copy sold goes to Malaria No More.GO Free Manifesto! 7 ways to stop the busywork . GO Practical coaching skills for managers and leaders. GO Programs and tools to focus on the work that matters. GO The award-winning self-coaching tool. GO Subscribe To subscribe to Outside the Lines go to http://www.boxofcrayons.biz/ Reprint I'd be delighted if you should wish to reprint (for free) any part of Outside the Lines in your newsletters, websites, and message boards. Simply include the following attribution: Michael Bungay Stanier is the founder and Senior Partner of Box of Crayons, a company that helps organizations do less Good Work and more Great Work. He is the contribution editor of End Malaria, author of Do More Great Work and Get Unstuck and Get Going, and the creator of The Alchemy of Great Work, The Great Work Movie, The 5.75 Questions You've Been Avoiding and The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun, short internet movies seen around the world. Michael was a Rhodes Scholar and the 2006 Canadian Coach of the Year. He is Australian and now lives in Canada. Schedule Outside the Lines is distributed once a month. Your contact information is never traded, never rented, never sold. I send out an extra email one to three times a month detailing programs and offers. visit us online at http://www.boxofcrayons.biz/ Tue, 14 Feb 2012 06:11:27 -0500http://archive.aweber.com/7questionsotl/6ELUQ/h/We_re_looking_for_new_program.htm Box of Crayons Looking for new program leaders Hello We're expanding the Box of Crayons faculty to deliver our terrific suite of programs. If you're an independent consultant/facilitator/trainer and you're looking to add new programs to your portfolio, you might be interested. All the information about what we're looking for and how to apply is here: If it's not for you but you know someone who might be a good fit, I'd be very grateful if you'd pass this email along. (We're looking for awesomeness.) With all best wishes, Michael Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:47:49 -0500