Management Craft

Today is "Take Your Dog to Work Day"

But what about the cats? You know I love dogs, I have three, but in my office are two cats.

Here are my wonderful office cats. Take your cat to work, too!

Studies have shown that companion animals help lower our blood pressure (except when they are naughty) BUT that cats lower our blood pressure more that do the dogs.

Why? My guess is that the difference is caused by the purring. When a purring cat sits on your lap, it is like a teenie-tiny massage, and although it might be hard to notice, I bet our hearts enjoy the vibration.

Here is Paris on top of my file cabinet. Ready to help keep my files in order.

Here is Siam (she's newly adopted, as a pal for Paris), surveying the roads for the FedEx guy.

Cats are so helpful!

Fireside Chat with Michaele Weissman - God in a Cup

Did you know that coffee has more aromatics than most other foods? Check out this podcast!

During this 23 minute podcast, I chat with Michaele Weissman, author of God in a Cup: The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Coffee. This is another great summer read. If you drink coffee and/or are interested in fine foods, you will enjoy this podcast and the book. Michaele goes deep into the world of the high-end specialty coffee industry - an exploration that takes her to several countries and behind the scenes of a enigmatic slice of the world.

You can listen to my podcast with the Michaele Weissman by clicking here:

You can also download an MP3 version of the podcast here.

And just a reminder.....

Here is the Podcast Feed for the entire Fireside Chat podcast series:

To see the complete list of podcasts in this series, select the Podcasts and Webcasts category on this blog or see the list on my main website here.

You can also find this series on iTunes (and several other podcast sites), just search under my last name for Fireside Chat.

Butterfly Flap - Journey's New Lead Singer Arnel Pineda

I am captivated by the story of the new lead singer for the band Journey, Arnel Pineda. They interviewed the band on the Sunday Morning Show  this  morning.

Journey's founder found Arnel, who was born and lived in the Philippines, on You Tube. He was in a cover band in the Philippines and a fan had loaded up several songs from their performances.

One thing led to another and Arnel was asked to come to California to audition to be the new lead singer for Journey.

Arnel had been, at times, homeless, eating street scraps, and sleeping on benches. Now he is the lead singer for Journey and he was found on You Tube.

This a fascinating. But there is more.

The other Journey band members are so jazzed about Arnel - his spirit, his passion, his story - that they feel invigorated and renewed as creative artists. In the Sunday Morning interview, one band member said that knowing Arnel makes him want to be a better human being.

They have released a three CD set that includes 11 new songs (comes out Tuesday).

I am blown away by the butterfly effect in action here. Imagine all the little flaps that occurred to make this happen. What are the odds?

Crazy-wonderful things can happen when we - and those around us - flap, flap, flap.

Will you sponsor me with a pledge at Write-O-Rama?

I am asking for pledges for this fund raising event for the Richard Hugo House (Seattle based nonprofit dedicated to the development of writing arts). All the details are listed below. If you have been a reader of Management Craft, please consider a small pledge for this good cause (it is tax deductible and you will get a receipt in the mail directly from the Richard Hugo House).

I would like to get to the $500 total pledge level or better. Please help! If I get to the $500 level, I will share what I write at Write-O-Rama on the blog. If I get to the $1,000 total pledge level, I will video tape me dancing for joy and post the video on the blog (I know, some of you are wondering if this is really a reward...I was quite the disco queen back in the day, I will have you know...I even won a $100 dance contest at the local ABC Liquor Bar in Tampa, FL when I was a broke college student).

What is the event? Write-O-Rama

Write-O-Rama is a full day of hour-long workshops offered to anyone who wants to write by the creative writing teachers at Hugo House. On June 7 we will hold over 30 writing workshops, and to sustain you as you write we will also have free food, beverages, two open mics, and a wrap party following the last session. Guests will have the opportunity to generate new writing, meet fellow writers, share their work, sample the work of Hugo House writing teachers and find new motivation to write.

How does it work?

Write-O-Rama is a benefit for Hugo House. So participants must raise at least $45 through pledges from people. (If 100 people raise $100 each, fireworks will ensue. Let's be clear about that.) Registration starts at 9:30 a.m. and the first workshops start at 10 a.m.  The wrap party begins at 5 p.m.- right after the last sessions of the day.

Pledge me! Here's how.

Because I am doing this "virtual" (and not handing you the pledge form to fill out), I will need you to do two things:

1. Email me with your pledge amount and your full name, address, and telephone (my email address is lhaneberg AT gmail DOT com). This is the information that would be on the pledge form. I will write this information in for you. The Hugo House uses this info to send you your donation receipt. And since I have your mailing address, I would not be surprised if you get a wee thank you something from me, too. :-)

2. Send me your pledge by June 6th. You can do this three ways. First, you can snail mail me a check made out to Richard Hugo House (email me for my mailing address). Second, you can pay me directly using Paypal (my paypal pay address is lhaneberg AT gmail DOT com). Just put Write-O-Rama in the description field. A third option is to donate directly online on the Richard Hugo House site. If you want to do this:

Go here: https://www.networkforgood.org/donation/MakeDonation.aspx?ORGID2=911718383

Under designation put: Write-O-Rama

Under dedication put: Lisa Haneberg

Choose the option to send me a confirming e-card so I can attach it to my pledge form.

Regardless of the payment method, your pledge is tax deductible and you will get a receipt. For your reference, here is a what the pledge form looks like (you can download the form to see it here):

Thanks so much for your support!

Red or Green?

In case you are wondering, I have been traveling all week. I am in Santa Fe - hiding away to work on two writing projects, my essay collection and Hip and Sage.

And you know what my fuel is? Chile, and lots of it. Green chile. Red chile. On eggs, in soups, on sandwiches, everywhere!

I find that the psychoactive properties of New Mexican chile stimulates my brain. Well, maybe that's just my reaction, but it's my story and I am sticking to it.

What do I have to say about management? You can't do I well unless your brain is fed and stimulated. What's on your development plan? When was the last time you attended a class that you really wanted to attend (versus being told you had to go)?

Do you know the conditions under which you do your best work?

Here are a couple great posts for you to check out:

First, from my pal Starbucker, this post called, E-mail and The Decline of Western Civilization: An Open Letter.

Second, check out this great management advice from Joe and Wanda on Management.

Here's a quote for you:

"Eliminate numerical quotas, including Management by Objectives."
W. Edwards Deming

Butterfly Flap to the Wolves

This is not a management post. I feel the need to do a little butterfly flap for an organization that I care about and that is having financial problems.

The Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary is located in the high-desert country of Candy Kitchen, New Mexico. They provide a permanent home to over fifty wolves and wolf-dogs. Their mission is three-fold: to educate the public, to rescue abused and abandoned captive-bred wolves and wolf-dogs and to provide our residents with permanent, safe sanctuary.

You can see their cool blog here. If you can help in any way, I am sure it will be much appreciated. If you are traveling to New Mexico, you can visit the sanctuary and see the wolves up close.

I just went through the online process of sponsoring an animal and it was quite easy. Here is who I sponsored, Shakti:



And here is a little bit about Shakti from their website:

Shakti is a strong girl who loves attention from people. When anyone is in her enclosure, she will beg for pets all over her body. If outside of her enclosure, Shakti will scent roll the fence, hoping for a scratch. She will also bound up when tours come by, for she knows she might get a treat. Shakti's favorite past-time is to fence fight with her neighbor, Cove. The two have had an on-going conflict since they both matured, and they do not look as if they are going to stop any time soon. At one point, Shakti took part of Cove's nose off. Then, Cove got her revenge, and split Shakti's lip, giving her a slight deformity. However, it is believed it is all in good fun, and the two seem to enjoy the feud. Shakti lived with her brother, Zeus, and the two got along great. Unfortunately, Zeus passed away and now Shakti lives by herself. She does not seem too upset, however, and is quite content being a bachelorette.

Shakti is a pure Timber wolf.

Seen and Heard

I am traveling this week, doing five presentations in DC and Vermont. Here are a couple observations from the airport in Seattle:

Looking out the window from my plane seat I saw an airline worker driving one of those baggage carts, with three bag carts attached, while text messaging. Scary. Dumb. As an aside, when I am driving behind a car that is going too slow and holding up traffic, I have found that it is almost certain they are talking on their cell phone or texting.

There was a couple sitting in first class. Very well dressed, he wore a Rolex. They were arguing about whether they should have paid for first class and how they were going to pay for their American Express card bill that is due Friday.

The current issue of Leader to Leader is a good one - I read it on the plane.They don't have the new issue on the website yet, but check out the dead tree version from your local bookstore - the focus for the issue is on leadership development. There is a great article from Ram Charan based on his latest book Leaders at All Levels (which I have on my stack to review but have not yet read).

Lots of things going on - Outbound Link Love

I am a bit behind in letting you know some of the cool things happening with some of my blogging/writing colleagues who write about stuff that might interest you. So in effort to get a wee bit more caught up, here is a new list of things to check out. I regard these folks/sites highly and recommend you check their stuff out:

SOBCon 08 - The Chicago based conference has a new website up with all the details for this year's conference. Terry Starbucker, among others, will be speaking and that's reason enough in my book to go.

My pal Phil Gerbyshak celebrates the 3rd anniversary of his blog, Make it Great! Congratulations, Phil, you do such great work.

My friend Jodee from Fargo has a new version of her book, The 100% Factor coming out - very cool. Check it out here and put her blog in your aggregator. Watch for announcements about this summer's Bigger Small Talk Conference that Jodee organizes. Fargo is a great town and I loved going through there on my motorcycle trip.

Michael Stallard has come out with a new Change This manifesto called, The Connection Culture: A New Source of Competitive Advantage. You can download it for free.

The fine folks at blogged rated Management Craft recently. They gave it an 8.3 out of 10, which they say is "Ggrreeaat!" Check out the other business blog and their ratings. This is a great place to find new blogs to read.

The month of march will be a bit light for me as I am coming down the stretch on the deadline for my latest book, Hip and Sage. Thanks to everyone who has been chatting with me and sharing your ideas and perspectives. Here is an updated version of my definitions for Sageness and Hipness. Tell me what you think!

Our sageness: Our particular strengths, characteristics, goals and priorities, and experiences - manifested as drive, skills, judgment, and knowledge - that have been honed, polished, carved, and seasoned through the years. Our sageness is unique and it may or may not be visible to others or in use contributing to the world

Our hipness: Our ability to communicate, relate, collaborate, and connect with younger generations. In business, our hipness determines how effectively we work with, inspire, and influence younger workers. Hip entrepreneurs are able to enroll, engage, and excite younger customers and business partners.

When Things Fail - So Long to Motto Magazine

I have started getting Ode magazine delivered to my home. I did not ask for Ode, but the letter that came with it said that I am getting this as a continuation of my subscription to Motto, which has apparently gone under.

This was the first I heard that Motto magazine went under. I still have an ad for them on one of my blogs. I should probably take that down.

Ode seems like a cool magazine, and I am OK with getting it instead. It just seems odd to me that this is how I would find out that Motto is no more. The motto of Motto seemed counter to this approach. I interviewed Kevin Salwen for a podcast and regard him as a stand up guy. This response seems out of character.

I am sad that Motto is gone - it was a great magazine with a great spirit and intent. I felt a special connection to Motto as they sponsored my motorcycle book tour for the Year of the Breakthrough tour.

Motto's website does not appear to be working any longer. I wonder what happened. Does anyone know?

Biodiesel and Kindle Juxtaposition

Just a couple quick follow-ups.

First, I was flying this past weekend, reading Louis L'Amour on my Kindle. The juxtaposition of that - a modern gadget and a classic western struck me as amusing.

Oh, and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the preview feature on Kindle. I have been much more adventurous in my selection of books because I can read the first chapter or two for free.

On another follow-up from a previous post, I finished my first tankful of biodiesel. I replaced 13.3 gallons and had gone 447 miles, for a MPG of 33.6. That's not great for a diesel, but I was in a lot of rush hour traffic during this tank. But since it was 100% (actually 99.9%) biodiesel, I feel better.

From a cost perspective, here's a comparison to the average gas car that gets 25MPG. Biodiesel is more expensive, $3.85, or about 11 cents per mile. At $3.00 for regular gas, that's a cost of 12 cents per gallon. So my biodiesel cost per mile is about the same, but I am doing a greener thing for the planet. Sweet.