If A Salesman Wrote The Golden Rule

"The best way to sell yourself to others is first to sell the others to yourself." - Napoleon Hill

Okay, Be Like A Monk After All

"In a world of endless meetings, cell-phone calls, BlackBerry messages, and beepers, finding time for solitude requires conscious intention and commitment. Investment in solitude promotes well-being, creativity, and energy. And, as Edison understood, it helps us get more out of our social interactions. Psychologists investigating the benefits of solitude... conclude that time alone strengthens our ability to connect with others.

Take time to meditate or just go for a walk by yourself on a daily basis. Once every few months, however hectic your life may be, get away by yourself for at least one day." - Michael Gelb

No Wonder There Aren't More Monk Millionaires

"Overseriousness is a warning sign of mediocrity and bureaucratic thinking." - Michael Gelb

Honest, Boss, I Was Working On My Memory

"Researchers studying the psychology of memory have discovered that taking regular breaks will improve your recall. If you study something for an hour and then take a ten-minute break, your recall for the material will be higher after the break. Psychologists call this the reminiscence effect. Breaks allow your mind the opportunity to incubate and integrate new learning so that your memory functions most effectively." - Michael Gelb

Striving For Perfection

"In trying to perfect a thing, I sometimes run straight up against a granite wall a hundred feet high. If, after trying and trying, I can't get over it, I turn to something else." - Thomas Edison

I'm thankful that I've run into granite walls often enough to recognize one coming down the road. I turn early. Saves a lot of nail-scraping and keeps the granite company happy. Win-win!

Ideaphoria

"To have a great idea, have a lot of them." - Thomas Edison

I've been thinking of ways to spend my free time recently, hunting for a great idea. Hunting's a good word there because it conjures up images of sitting quietly behind a duck blind with lots of time to think. Lots of things pass, eventually a prime target enters the picture. Somewhere in this town of 100,000 is a group of people whose cause and chemistry matches me well. Or maybe it's time I start writing that book that's been simmering in my mind for a few years.

Once it's discovered, then "ideaphoria" will become "euphoria"!

Be Natural

"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished." - Lao-Tsu

Most visions that come to me tend to be realistic only over a series of years.

"When I have fully decided that a result is worth getting I go ahead of it and make trial and trial until it comes." - Thomas Edison

It takes a team led by a committed leader in order to fire up and maintain this type of persistence from top to bottom, assuming also of course that the right members are on the team to fit the situation. I feel that sense of responsibility as lately, I've been enjoying the view as my team at work moves steadily toward an overhauled reorganization of our filing system without needing much more from me than an extra voice to facilitate ideas. It has the feel of true teamwork in action - input, open-mindedness, planning and ultimately buy-in.

Clear Thinking

"In a classic study, two groups were asked to read the same book. The first group was told that they were 'responsible for the whole book.' The second group was given the objective of discerning only the book's three major themes. When tested, the 'three themes' group did better on all aspects of the exam, including questions that were unrelated to the three themes. Formulate specific objectives... and write them down." - Michael Gelb

A manager once remarked "If you're overwhelmed, that's good." Joking or not, that strikes me as a statement that can drain effectiveness out of an organization. Management sets team members up for success, not hopelessness! My reaction in that situation would be to revisit job duties and staffing as needed.

Turning Failure Into Dust

"Pessimists respond to this rejection by personalizing: 'It's my fault. My proposal isn't good enough and neither am I'; assuming the failure is permanent: 'I blew it. They'll never give me another opportunity'."

"Optimists respond with a much different and more adaptive inner dialogue. Instead of blaming themselves for the rejection, the optimists think, 'The members of this board aren't receptive to innovation; I will have to think of a stronger way to get through to them. New board members are elected next quarter. I will try again then.'"

The act of failure is but dust. We choose to either compact that dust into a brick wall and set it in our mind to weigh us down, or to blow it away with a smile and the confidence of learning and a brighter tomorrow.

Big Problem Solution

"Edison took on big problems in his career, but he always approached them with the attitude that success was inevitable. And this became a self-fulfilling prophecy that brought him fulfillment and wealth as it changed the world." - Michael Gelb

But Was He Ever Swarmed By Mosquitoes?

"Like Gandhi, [Thomas Edison] believed that 'Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages.'" - Michael Gelb

Non-violence in the workplace includes the way we choose to attack or respect another person's thoughts when expressing ourselves. I've been involved with consensus-building for a group of a dozen supervisors, supervising 70 people, trying to "calibrate" performance ratings. At its best, these kinds of exercises are like religious summits, where perfectly clear-headed people hold valid yet opposing views strongly. Further, since this group doesn't make widgets but instead does a variety of tasks foreign to many of the other supervisors, the imprecision of it all generates quite a bit of natural tension. Focus on the common goal of reasonable expense management slips the mind easily. "Violent" statements like "I have a hard time believing..." trickle out instead of "What do you think about..."

Like Edison said, "If we all try to carry out the Golden Rule in this life we have little to fear... no matter what our belief may be."

The Inventor And The Creator

"[Thomas] Edison's mother, his wife Mina, and his father-in-law Lewis were all deeply religious, and attended church regularly. But Edison did not have much interest in formal religion. He joked that he was 'oblivious of Sunday.' Edison did, however, believe in a divine Creator. This notion of the Creator was one who had set forth precise laws of the universe that were to be known throughout science and mathematics. As he phrased, it, 'I know this world is ruled by infinite intelligence. Everything that surrounds us - everything that exists - proves that there are infinite laws behind it. There can be no denying this fact. It is mathematical in its precision.' But Edison's God wasn't a personal one. As he wrote in his diary, 'What a wonderfully small idea mankind has of the almighty! My impression is that he has made unchangeable laws to govern this and billions of other worlds, and that he has forgotten even the existence of this little mote of ours ages ago. Why can't man follow up and practice the teachings of his own conscience, mind his own business, and not obtrude his purposely created finite mind in affairs that will be attended to without any volunteer advice.'" - Michael Gelb

It's easier on me to imagine a more personal God than Edison, since the act of giving thanks isn't nearly as meaningful when casting it into empty space.