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CLEAR SPACE THINKING - the original - lipscombe.richard@gmail.com
Friday, 23 September 2011
Risk taking.
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Action networks = success

 

If you are young this is your time.  If you are old this is your time.  If you are in the middle this is not really your time.

This is a time for dramatic risk taking anchored by risk averse choices.  If you are raising a family then it is a time for you and yours to be as secure as you can be. The risk taking is with your kids.  Encourage them to be creative, experimental, and open to a plethora of worldly experiences.  They will gain so much in this time of uncertainty and gloom if they are free to explore their own creativity.

If you are young adults then you have the world at your feet. So too if you are older and in the final stages of life.  The key for both groups is to secure your life in some aspect - economic, relationships, etc - and then be radical in most other aspects.  Embrace the digital economy, travel, seek adventure, etc.  The digital economy is your friend if you are willing to be bold, risk taking, and refuse to just tag along with your peers.

Life is full of challenges ahead, there is no doubt about that, but it is also full of rewards for those of us who can find the right balance between taking risk and being risk averse.


Posted by richard-lipscombe at 1:43 PM NZT
Updated: Friday, 23 September 2011 1:58 PM NZT
Panic
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Action networks = success

 

Woke up this morning to read about 'markets' in panic.  What are 'the markets'?  Nothing more nor less than you and me acting in percieved self-interest. When we hit the panic button though we may not be acting in our own or others best self interest.  We are usually acting on a position we have taken that is not going as well as we had predicted, expected, or hoped.  We panic because we have no redundancy in our position.  We are forced to do the opposite to what we thought we would be doing.

When groupthink becomes panic then we all suffer.  The market is fuelled by groupthink - at its core is a group of people driven to act on either their fear or their greed.

Panic is here again....  it is never a good thing but it is worse for those of us who are caught in its groupthink.


Posted by richard-lipscombe at 9:36 AM NZT
Thursday, 22 September 2011
Seth Godin
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Action networks = success

 

My friend Seth has nailed the difference between systems people and people systems.  I have riffed about the virtues of 'systems led people' and 'people led systems' here many times before over the years.  Here is Seth's take on it ......

Merging/Emerging

By Seth Godin......

Emerging is when you use a platform to come into your own. Merging is when you sacrifice who you are to become part of something else.

Merging is what the system wants from you. To give up your dreams and your identity to further the goals of the system. Managers push for employees to merge into the organization.

Emerging is what a platform and support and leadership allow you to do. Emerging is what we need from you.

 


Posted by richard-lipscombe at 2:39 PM NZT
Quality
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Action networks = success

 

2011 is a time of uncertainty, ambiguity, and complexity.  Prediction is difficult.  But as we know the  more things change the more things stay the same.

Quality stays the same.  It is a long-term asset.  Buy quality assets. Be a quality asset yourself.  Provide quality service.  Quality is the winner in every aspect of life today.

Those who stick to the rules of buying, being, and providing quality will become rich in all meanings of that word.


Posted by richard-lipscombe at 11:41 AM NZT
Updated: Thursday, 22 September 2011 11:48 AM NZT
Wednesday, 21 September 2011
Remove clutter.
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Action networks = success

 

Harder times are ahead for all but those who live in Asia.  It seems that the next 10 years will be grim.  

The prediction may be right or wrong.  If it is right we all need to remove clutter from our lives.  If it is wrong we all need to remove clutter from our lives.


Posted by richard-lipscombe at 2:23 PM NZT
Creativity needed - apply within.
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Action networks = success

 

Creativity is hard to define.  We all know it when we see it perhaps but we struggle to describe it.  We have even more trouble when we try to manufacture it.  Why?

Creativity, whatever it is, comes from those who are willing to disrupt the current pattern of things. Which means you or I could be creative today if and only if we are willing to buck the trend.  If we are willing to walk around for a day with a mindset that challenges everything we normally say and do we could come up with a remarkable breakthrough.

Creativity is needed today more than ever before in some aspects of our lives.  Want to help?  Apply within.


Posted by richard-lipscombe at 2:10 PM NZT
Tuesday, 20 September 2011
The good news is bad!
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Action networks = success

 

The good news today is that all the bad news can be trusted.  Sometimes the best news we can get is confirmation.  We got the job, we lost the job.  Either way it is good to know the outcome.

The good news today is we probably now know the outcome of recent events in Europe, US, Japan, Britain, Ireland, etc....  The news is bad.  All the news is bad if and only if you are looking for a bull market in stocks, real estate, etc.  It is good news though if you hold gold.  It is good news too if you live in China.

The good news for me is that I can trust all the bad news.  I can expect a recession/depression that will last 10 years and if it does not happen I am well positioned to cope with what does happen.  If it does happen then I should not be badly affected by it because I am prepared for it.  What does it look like?  Not sure.  Do not have to know really.  All I need to know is that the debt-driven growth and prosperiety of the past 20 years is unwinding.  Will we get deflation and unemployment or inflation and unemployment? Do not know.  Does it matter?  Whatever we get is probably not what we have prepared for anyway.  

So I am taking this good news to heart and preparing for disruption, ambiguity, complexity, uncertainty, and a good dose of the unexpected.


Posted by richard-lipscombe at 3:05 PM NZT
Monday, 19 September 2011
Successful colleagues.
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Action networks = success

 

Ever noticed how "success" tend to come to groups of people not just to an individual.  Sure the individual might be showcased by the success of the group but without that group around the success will fade.

How many successful colleagues do you hang with?  How interested in your success are the colleagues you hang with?  How do you share your success with the colleagues your hang with?

Having successful colleagues is essential if you want to be successful yourself.  Being a person who is willing to share success with colleagues is a good starting point for finding future successes. 


Posted by richard-lipscombe at 4:51 PM NZT
What are the right questions?
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Action networks = success

 

We live in a digital world and so the questions we ask ourselves and our colleagues may have to change.

Remember digital revenue models are based on "free provisioning" and "low cost distribution" of goods and services. Where is the free provision in your revenue model? How low cost can you be in the next generation of your product or service? How soon can you make and sell your next generation products or services? How stable are your clusters, clans, and tribes? What can you do, right now, to improve the stability of your clusters, clans, and tribes?


Posted by richard-lipscombe at 2:31 PM NZT
Sunday, 18 September 2011
Square pegs and round holes.
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Action networks = success

 

There may never have been a better time to turn our world inside out.  To take everything that we know for sure and question it.  To look at the future as a separate entity from our past actions.  To shape our future rather than just tumble into it......

What made sense before 2008 should be under review.  What will likely make sense in 2020, when we look back at 2011, is probably not obvious.  Today the commonsense view of the world we will live by the end of this decade is not what most people talk about.  What they talk about is the end of the world that lasted until 2008.

Today people talk about the problems of forcing a square peg into a round hole.  Every five year old knows that is does not fit.  But not every adult.  The square peg is the future and the round hole is our immediate past.  

A simple example of a round hole is the fact that most of us paid too much for our home.  Should we sell it and rent?  Now that could be  a very good starting point for asking ourselves some pertinent square peg questions.....


Posted by richard-lipscombe at 7:55 PM NZT
Updated: Sunday, 18 September 2011 8:11 PM NZT
Defaltion and depression
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Action networks = success

 

Harry Dent is well known for his predictions based on demographics.  He wrote a book that predicted the boom times at the beginning of this century.  He did so on the basis of the spending patterns of the baby boomers. They were in prime for spending during the boom up to 2008.  

Harry Dent within those predictions also warned of a pending depression.  He initially put the framework for this downturn around 2012.  He was not too sure what it would bring.

Harry Dent now sees deflation coming and a lasting depression.  He warns us that deflation is coming just when many economists and central bankers are focussed on the signs of inflation.  The economy that we have been very use to is gone now.  What is coming will be more testing (in ways we can only guess at) than we can imagine.

Are you ready? 


Posted by richard-lipscombe at 2:43 PM NZT
Friday, 16 September 2011
What world are we living in?
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Action networks = success

 

The world we live in is defined by each of us if only in the sense that we all choose who we listen to and who we hang with.

We tend to listen to those whom we agree with.  We tend to hang with those we feel comfortable with. But are these the right people to define our world?

2011 is a time of ambiguity, uncertainty, and unpredictablity.  In such times it is only natural to get form a strong need to belong.  It is natural to feel like we belong to a movement, club, social network, or community.  So we change those little things about ourselves that allow us to 'fit in' and in the process we also change how we see and experience the world around us.

This is a perfect time to give up who we are at our core so we can belong to a group.  This is also the perfect time to be strong about who we are at our core and not seek to join a group. Each of us get to choose.  It turns out that this is an important choice because what we choose will largely decide what world we are living in. 


Posted by richard-lipscombe at 3:38 PM NZT
Updated: Friday, 16 September 2011 4:03 PM NZT
Thursday, 15 September 2011
The issues
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Action networks = success

 

The world today is full of issues.  Everyday there is a new one raised with constant chatter over social and professional media.  It is easy for us to feel overwhelmed by the buzz.  The way most people cope is to take a position on the issue and use the 'script' of those who defend your side of the debate. 

But is this the best way to live your life?  Let me suggest another approach that may just suit you better.  Let most of the issues go bye without you taking a position.  Do not waste time or energy becoming involved in the great majority of issues that do not really affect you or your life.

Engage in debate and discussion of issues that do directly affect you or have the potential to truly influence your life.  First and foremost look carefully at both sides of the debate.  Often you will find that there is not a good fit for you on either side.  If this is the case then let this issue go bye with the rest of the chatter and clutter.  

Where you find you have a good fit with an argument then pursue it with vigor.  But always remain open to the views of those on the other side of your position - again it might not be long before you let this issue slide bye too.

Finally, find your own issues and prepare yourself to deal with them as best you can.


Posted by richard-lipscombe at 10:54 AM NZT
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
Intelligent glib.
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Action networks = success

 

Money makes the world go round, right?  Well no.  What works best today is 'intelligent glib'.

If your 'glib' is 'intelligent' it will be repeated and repeated and repeated around the globe at supersonic speeds.  Then the money will flow to you.

Some people have a talent for propagating the type of glib that today's social media needs.  Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, TV, Radio, etc are all full of 'intelligent glib'.  If you are  good at producing such glib then you have a new age career.

Get to work on your 'intelligent glib', you never know who is listening.


Posted by richard-lipscombe at 4:31 PM NZT
Fragmented generations.
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Action networks = success

 

The gap between generations has always been a talking point.  Today there is a new talking point - the gaps within generations.

Have you noticed the emerging gaps within generations?  Baby boomers are not a cohesive generation.  There are great divisions in the way they spend, save, vote, live life, and contribute to the future of the planet after them.  Younger generations too are fragmented.  They are not idealistic like their parents or grandparents and thus do not look for big picture solutions to current problems.  The young are locked into spending, living, and being patterns that can look the same but on closer examination are very different.

What are we to make of generations that are not cohesive, predictable, and stable entities?  Am I right in my observation that generations are fragmenting? Is this a good thing?


Posted by richard-lipscombe at 11:49 AM NZT
Updated: Wednesday, 14 September 2011 12:10 PM NZT
Tuesday, 13 September 2011
Simply repeat it.
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Action networks = success

 

Social media works the same way as the drums did for the tribes of Africa.  It is a communication channel for oft repeated messages.  There is little new.  There is little content of quality.  There is little done here that is not a repeat of what was done elsewhere.

The sameness of the content in social media is its key asset.  The content is repeatable again and again.  People get hooked on social media because they can simply repeat what they have been told.  They repeat it as if it is new.  They repeat it knowing that they are enhanced, in reputation and credibility, because the people who receive their riffs know they can simply repeat it.

Social media is great for strengthening tribal  cohesion & culture.  It provides a key element needed for a robust, practical & efficient tribe - that is groupthink.


Posted by richard-lipscombe at 1:27 PM NZT
Updated: Wednesday, 14 September 2011 12:09 PM NZT
Monday, 12 September 2011
Leading the way to future prosperity.
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Action networks = success

 

The digital economy is different to anything we have seen before.  It is a networked economy that roams the world.  Nodes of people and activity stretching from Asia to Europe to the Americas and back again.  Within those nodes there is a new challenge. The challenge of facilitating productive economic activities.

In the past world commerce relied on labour - that is people with jobs to do.  Those jobs are now done increasingly by robots.  The new challenge is to ensure that wherever people meet face to face there is a productive effort and a positive economic outcomes results.  Whereas leaders were needed in the past to direct, motivate, and energise labour now its skilfull facilitators who are needed to perform that role.

Are you currently recuiting facilitators to your enterprise?  Are you a competent facilitator? Are you part of the new push that is leading the way to future prosperity? 

 


Posted by richard-lipscombe at 1:04 PM NZT
Sunday, 11 September 2011
Generational change.
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Action networks = success

 

Generational change is the big news already this century.  The big news about generational change is that it is about people.  For the first time since the 1960s the young generation are driving change.  From the Arab Spring to the London riots the young are taking charge of their lives in new, albeit confusing, ways.

This is a time for all of us, no matter our age, to shape the future.  We all need to take risks and do different things to those we have done in the past.  The big opportunities will present themselves to those who are prepared.  Are we prepared? 


Posted by richard-lipscombe at 1:15 PM NZT
Friday, 9 September 2011
Groupthink
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Action networks = success

 

Groupthink has set in.  2011 is a time of huge and radical change - in the power of nations, new technologies, economic limits to debt funded consumption, etc.  But people are not for changing.  Indeed the insiders (ie those with shared values, ideologies, and habits) are stuck in Groupthink.

Groupthinkers talk almost exclusively to those who think like them.  They rebel against almost all of those who do not share their mindets.  They form tribes of insiders who are angry at the changes that are being forced on them.  They cacoon against the changing environment we all have to embrace in 2011. 

Groupthink can be very good for social cohesion and progress in difficult times if the purpose is to carve out a new future. Groupthink that is based on past success not future success it is a major constraint to progress for all of us.  


Posted by richard-lipscombe at 10:32 AM NZT
Updated: Friday, 9 September 2011 10:44 AM NZT
Thursday, 8 September 2011
Decision fatigue.
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Action networks = success

 

Decision fatigue. Do you suffer it? When? Where? Why? What can you do about it? See http://goo.gl/kTjKP


Posted by richard-lipscombe at 11:29 AM NZT
Updated: Thursday, 8 September 2011 11:31 AM NZT

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