Derek Neighbors » motivation

5 Steps to Achieving Great Things

Derek Neighbors — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 02:38:31 +0000

If you want to achieve really big things. The kinds of things that people believe to be difficult, improbable or even impossible. It will require passion, purpose, planning and the ability to execute actions. To accomplish them you have to have a plan. That plan has to has to be fueled by passion. The plan has to have an ultimate purpose. Most importantly you have to have the discipline to take the actions necessary to achieve them.

It takes time to map out a plan and be purposed. However, you can’t plan forever, at some point you have to act. When you do, expect people to freak out on you. They will question you. They will tell you it can’t be done. Hell, they will even tell you that you are wrong or stupid. The best innovation comes when the goal you are reaching for is seen to by others as impossible to achieve. You have to have the courage to set a course and stick to it.

The things that are the most worth doing are the ones with the biggest risk. The more impossible or likely to fail the more worth doing something probably is. The only way to ultimately succeed is to take massive risk with the utmost of determination. Performing action while others stand by and mock, laugh or ridicule isn’t fun. It isn’t glamorous. It won’t win you friends. However, it will allow you to achieve great things.

To achieve great things you need to do the following.

Find what you are passionate about.
Redirect that passion into a purpose. (what to achieve)
Plan what it would take to fulfill that purpose.
Execute the actions in your plan.
Have the courage to stick to it until complete.

When you learn that the world is your oyster, then all have to do is just take it. When you understand that the only thing keeping you from doing the impossible is you, new doors open up. Fear can be replaced by action. Several actions chained together with purpose can do tremendous things.

It is important to remember that the most important achievements were done by someone taking some sort of action. Leonardo da Vinci expresses it well, “I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.”

I urge you to stop trying to know everything. Stop just saying you are willing to make change. Instead, get up and start applying what you know and start doing the change you want to see.

Political Bites: Lessons from September 11th

Derek Neighbors — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 13:00:38 +0000

What most lasting lesson should Southeast Valley residents take from the events of Sept. 11, 2001?

The lesson we can all learn is that a community united is capable of tremendous things. The human spirit is caring and compassionate and extremely resilient. We need to not wait for tragedy for a community to find its common fabric, but instead drop our personal baggage and exude that cohesiveness today.

If You Play the Numbers Game, You Will Always Lose When Trying to Change the World

Derek Neighbors — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 13:00:11 +0000

Why do we focus so much on attendance numbers when trying to make change? The truth is that numbers can deceive us and give us a false sense of progress. Let me give you an example.

Recently and event was held in Phoenix that two or three “popular” community activists got behind to try to institute change on something. Between these connected people they mustered up roughly 5,400 people to invite. This includes the reach of their reach within a social graph. If there are 3.5 million people in Phoenix, their effective reach is 00.15%. Significantly less than 1%. In reality, let’s cut it down to their audience, the creative class. In Phoenix that would be about 500,000 people. So their reach in the creative class is about 1.06%. Roughly one percent.

Of the 5,400 people they invited to participate, 175 decided to stand behind them with another 235 saying maybe they would participate and nearly 1,254 flat out said no. Another 3,700 were apathetic and gave no response. If we go by numbers the organizers were proud that the day of the event 300 people showed up. They were effective in getting 00.06% of the creative class to stand behind them.

So on the surface 300 people showing up seems great and inflates the ego, but in reality .06% is a miserable turnout. The reason you lose when you make it a numbers game is because then the focus is only the numbers and someone who is paying attention can easily see that the numbers suck.

300 people showing up might make an organizer feel accomplished, but to the educated their delight in the numbers only highlights them as the paper tiger that they seemingly are, thus negating most momentum they seem to be gaining. The real problem is that trying to use the attendance measuring stick is an old economy way to think of things. It is the epitome of corporate. Events and organizers looking to see their effectiveness based on their attendance are missing the point.

Stop looking at “how many people we have” and instead start asking “do we have the right people?”, “what impact are we making?”, “what value are we adding”. The only time attendance should matter is if you are charging ticket fees and attendance relates to your bottom line. At that point you are changing the world or are you simply providing entertainment (which is totally acceptable).

Random Sidebar
It is interesting that there were only 12 disciples. Imagine how popular Christianity might have been if there would have been more of a focus on attendance. In fact, maybe the demise of modern Christianity could be that pastors are more concerned with attendance instead of making an impact?
Summary
Some people might ask that a better number than the time before should count for something as it is an improvement. They would be right, but they still miss the point. What do numbers mean? Even if they are trending up? The truth is when you are focused on numbers you are focused on your own self and not on changing the world. Would you rather impact the people close to you or just be surrounded by legions of cheerleaders? Paris Hilton and Jessica Simpson have lots of fans. Is that what we aspire to be?

You Can’t Do Collaboration Without Being a Collaborator

Derek Neighbors — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 21:14:47 +0000

In various software development circles I hear the phrase “You can’t do Agile, you have to be Agile”. This makes sense to me so never thought much about it. However, when asked about Gangplank and describing it we choose say collaborative workspace over coworking, but it’s hard to get people to understand that difference.

It wasn’t until I read Johanna Rotham’s “Six Behaviors to Consider for an Agile Team” that it really hit home. It made sense. “You can’t do collaboration, you have to be a collaborator”. In a nutshell, we didn’t create Gangplank because it’s what we do, we created Gangplank because it’s who we are. This might sound like a trivial subtlety, but I think it’s really what makes Gangplank work.

The Future, It’s About People..

Derek Neighbors — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 00:21:05 +0000

We have been talking about concepts in software development for the last few years at Integrum getting back to humanity. That the separation of goals and values between developers, product owners and users is out of control. We have executed a grand experiment with Gangplank of restoring fellowship and collaboration back to the workplace. Tearing down the context of work and ushering in a place of collaboration, connectivity, creation and innovation.

Recently, I was listening to famed economist Richard Florida talk about what he sees in store for us in 2050. He ends with “But I think by 2050, we’ll have a much more urban, a faster-paced world, a hopefully a more diverse world, and a world that I think at the bottom not only treats the natural resources and natural environment better, but really for the first time in history, really values human creativity and human beings. And, you know, if we can leave that kind of world for our kids and grandkids, we’ll all be better off.”

I am excited for the day where we celebrate the human spirit and all that it encompasses, seeing every person not as a cog or a stepping stone, but as a person that should be valued for their uniqueness. I hope that is the world that my grand kids are able to enjoy.

What is the Motivation of Making Gangplank Free?

Derek Neighbors — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:00:10 +0000

A common question is “How does Gangplank work? Why is everything free?”. The common theory is that if you don’t charge people something they won’t see any value in it. Maybe if they are working on an assembly line, but for creatives this just isn’t true. Our value lies in three things..

1. Gangplank is nearly completely self-autonomous. If something is missing someone steps up and does it or organizes with others to get it done.

2. Gangplank believes it’s okay to fail as long as you keep trying. The goal is a journey of excellence. Seek mastery in what you do.

3. Gangplank has purpose. It believes that you should be making a positive impact in the community you live in. Not just for today but in the long run.

None of this should be surprising or new. Economists, Psychologists and Sociologists have been saying it for years. I found this great talk from Dan Pink that is animated in real time that explains it well.

I hope this helps answer the question.

SBR: Linchpin by Seth Godin

Derek Neighbors — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 13:00:56 +0000

Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? by Seth Godin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Seth is back. He really gets it right on this one. This is an excellent book to pair with Richard Florida’s Reset. The world and they way we work in it is radically changing.

This is a good book to help people get ahead during this great changing of industry. One of the better books I read this year. It is easy reading. If you put yourself to it you should be able to finish it in one sitting.

View all my reviews >>

The World is Changing and so is our Economy

Derek Neighbors — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 13:00:33 +0000

We might be in the midst of a recession, but I don’t think we have seen anything yet. Most of America is not willing to acknowledge a few key concepts.

1. Things won’t bounce back to where they were, expect recovery to be in decades not months. A new normal has been set.

2. The old economy is dying. The days of manufacturing things is now a commodity. That other countries are able to much better and cheaper.

3. Our educational system is broken to prepare America’s youth for the new economy.

I understand that I sound like chicken little and at this point people are laughing at the mention of the sky falling. I could point to statistics and reputable journalists, but perhaps the best thing to do is show you reality. Let’s take a look at a great city that at one time was the “model city” for “industrial” America, Detroit.

It literally lays in ruins. It looks vacant similar to Chernobyl after a nuclear meltdown. Will all cities be in this position? No. Is there a little of Detroit coming to every city? Yes. We can no longer stand idle and watch as things decay. It is time to step up and unite. Tackle the tough problems we face in educating our youth and training a displaced workforce. It is time to make creativity and innovation core to our culture and walk through to the other side prosperous and and top. As you watch these samples of urban decay ask yourself what you can do to change your neighborhood, city and state. How can you help be part of the solution?

Coworking is a commodity. It is a race to the bottom.

Derek Neighbors — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:00:24 +0000

I read “A case against ‘free trial coworking‘” by Alex Hillman from IndyHall and it reminded why I can’t relate to the coworking movement. I purposefully use the word collaborative workspace when talking about Gangplank because implying that there is a coworking component is a misleading comparison.

Coworking claims to be trans-formative and future thinking. Changing how people work and think about work, but in reality it is a lie. It highlights independence of the worker, but still structures itself on old economy models of thinking.

Don’t believe me? Let’s examine a single phrase from this article to highlight the point.

‘..it’s unwise in an early stage business to give ANYTHING away that you wouldn’t otherwise charge for..’

That is conventional wisdom. That if you give something away it costs what you gave. The more you have the less I have. The more I share the more I lose. This is a dying model. Repackaging it as a revolution by telling the participants they have ‘independence’ is disingenuous.

The truth is charging for space turns the relationship into a transaction and destroys the ability for real community to flourish. Coworking is a commodity. It is a race to the bottom.

At Gangplank we choose to give our space away for free. All the time, not just on a trial basis. When you give something away, you benefit more than the recipient does. The act of being generous makes you rich beyond measure, and as the goods or services spread through the community, everyone benefits. Giving space as a gift with no reciprocity allows us to experiment and create. We seek to help people be dangerous and challenge the status quo. It’s not for everyone, but it’s how we see the world and we hope to help the right people change their view of the world and how they contribute back to it. We want to give them the gift of finding the creator within themselves.

Metro Phoenix has been hit harder than most during this recession. We feel that giving to the community freely let’s us all prosper more quickly. It increases the quality of bond between our members and ultimately strengthens our community. It leaves an obligation for our members to help the next person. The gift creates a surplus as it spreads and ultimately gives us joy.

The argument we always hear is ‘Some one has to pay for it. You can’t run a space for free’. The truth is if you were remarkable you would find a way to give it away for free.

The reason Gangplank is hard to quantify is because its worth something more than we could ever charge in rent.

Sunday Review: Things I Overheard While Talking To Myself by Alan Alda

Derek Neighbors — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 18:48:56 +0000

Take Away: Great words of wisdom. I grew up watching MASH and always liked Alda, but I had no idea how brilliant he really is, well worth the read.

Derek Neighbors » motivation

5 Steps to Achieving Great Things

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If You Play the Numbers Game, You Will Always Lose When Trying to Change the World

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