Quotable Kids

4 year old daughter E coming into my office from being outside with her mother:

"I'm going to go back outside but I just came in to give you this rock that I decorated I just put some grass on this rock and a dead flower it's brown do you like brown daddy?" (lack of punctuation intended)

Better Communication

I didn't say that... Yes, you did.

Better Communication. Every time, in any organizational meeting where we brainstorm how we can improve, "Better Communication" is always on that list. More often than not, it's at the top. Why? Because when people communicate effectively, everyone understands their role better. If my manager can effectively communicate the vision of the company and his superiors to me, and from me accurately communicate my concerns, strengths, weaknesses, etc. up to his management, we all win.

Better communication isn't just the Holy Grail of organizations, however. As an individual, the ability to communicate is tantamount to a great sauce; everything just works better. Without further ado, here are a couple tips I've learned:

1. Say Less

Before I send out an email, even brief ones that don't (theoretically) hold any importance, I reread through and remove words and phrases that don't add meaning to the email. Sometimes this is time consuming, but as I've done it for years I've gotten better and have to do less and less revisioning. For any communication, but email especially, you want to say all that you have to in order to convey meaning, but no more than what is required. For example:

Non-Edited:

Bobby Jean,

I think that we would probably get the quote to her by tomorrow. We just need to make sure that there's not a large delay that puts us behind once we purchase it.

Thanks,
Brandon

Revised

Bobby Jean,

We should have the quote by tomorrow, but we'll need to insure there's no delay after we purchase.

Thanks,
Brandon

Trimming the fat on our words accomplishes two goals. First, it clarifies our meaning to the reader. Second, it shows that we value the reader's time. Both of which the reader will appreciate.


2. Be Nice

We all know the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." However, knowing a rule and following a rule are two entirely different items. Just as we were told, "If it's not true, kind, or necessary, don't say it", we need to be kind in our communication. First, never reply when emotional. Whether the emotion is anger, hurt, embarrassment, etc., let the emotion run its course, then reply. You will get plenty of chances to follow this rule, but it only takes breaking it one time to cause permanent consequences. Second, be courteous. If you are asking for something, acknowledge the help you are being given. If you are asking for something big, make the acknowledgement big, and be free with offers to return the favor. Lastly, give thanks and appreciation for help given. If you can do a quick thank you in person, all the better, but even an email saying thanks is better than no acknowledgement.


3. Do It!

The easiest way to communicate better is to communicate more. Manager X asks you to provide Item B, but Priority Q trumped it and made it late? Tell Manager X. Someone sends an email to twenty people on a problem, and you jump on it? Let everyone know you're working on it. The players in a project can only play well when they know what's happening, and the more you communicate, the more they know what's happening. I have turned around an entire department's view of my team by doing nothing more than focusing on communication.


4. Bonus #4
   Don't put stupid stuff in emails.  I know you think it's funny, but when your joke goes askew and you put your follies down in written format, you'll regret it.  Sure, levity is great, but stupid is still stupid. 

Coffee Date

Noun:
A period of time specifically set aside for drinking coffee and talking to your spouse, during which time no children are allowed into the designated coffee date area.

The Humble Bundle

I love video games and I love good deals.  The Humble Bundle meshes those two wonderful items together perfectly.  Here are the basics:

• You pay whatever you want for a bundle of high quality Indie video games (Examples include World of Goo and Osmos).  
• They usually have perks for paying more than a certain amount, like paying more than $1 to get the games on Steam, or paying more than the average to get a bonus game.
• Choose the percentages of your payment that will go to the Developers, the EFF, or to the Humble Bundle team.
• Get an email with a download link for DRM-Free games.

The bundles go on sale periodically, and right now you can pick up Bundle # 5.

www.humblebundle.com

CHFG?

Complications from Helping Freed Goats

Abilities + Attitude = Results

This post's title comes from John Maxwell's book, Attitude 101.  I liked it so much I tweeted it, but wanted to expound my elucidative commentary on the equation (Tangent 1).  The ultimate level of our success will be dictated as much (or maybe even more) by our attitude as it will be by our abilities.

I'll be 30 this year.  I looked in the mirror a few months ago and, aside from noticing how handsome my beard was, traveled the journey of self-reflection and reached a decision.  I had underachieved this decade of life.  Why is that?  I am reasonably confident in my abilities, and have a good understanding of what they are (and what they aren't), so why did I accomplish less than I'm capable of?  Attitude.  Some days I'm lazy, some I'm discouraged, some I'm negative, some I'm combative, some I'm gluttonous, etc. etc. etc.  Those days are where my abilities are shackled by my attitude.

How can I change my attitude?  Don't know.  Just started that section of the book. :)  In all seriousness, my own experience says that you change your attitude like you change your habits.  Consistent effort.  I can say without a doubt that my attitude today is exponentially better than my attitude at 20, and that has taken a lot of effort (as well as that process of life slapping us upside the head we call Experience).  Start with identifying the bad attitudes and the stuff in life that triggers them, and work like the dickens (Tangent 2) to fix them.  Pray, read books, listen to speakers, ask for advice and feedback. 

Tangent 1:  "elucidative" is flagged by spell check for not being a word.  I get great pleasure from this.  It's like I'm rebelling against the system, one made up word at a time.  Maybe I'm a Shakespeareal Ninja.  Then again, maybe not.

Tangent 2:  Euphemisms crack me up.  I can say "Like the dickens" or "Dad blame it" or "Crud Muffins" and most people don't even notice it (unless to laugh at me for saying Crud Muffins.  However, replace those with real, non-PG versions, and a lot of people would freak out and revoke my Christian credentials.  The spirit of the response is the same.  So, imhho, it makes sense to either 1) refrain from all interjectory language, or 2) not care about either one.  This argument is independent of two other arguments.  First, that of using references to God flippantly (or "in vain").  Second is the argument that we shouldn't do things that cause others to stumble.  For if in my language I cause my brother distress, my language should reflect my care for his distress.

Noise

I regularly go through my Twitter account and... well... it's like this...  I Unfollow people.  Don't look at me like that.  You know you want to do it too.  Here's the deal; you can only process so much information.  Did you know there is more information in a single issue of USA Today than the average person, hundreds of years ago, would come across in their entire lifetime (a fact I got from the Leadership 101 Series by John Maxwell.  Great books, btw)?  I don't want to put useless filler in front of my eyes.  You might have a great point of view, maybe even say things that would change my life if I were listening, but if I'm not listening/reading/watching you then there's no reason for you to be on my Twitter, or my Facebook, or my blog list, or my IM buddy list, or my cell phone, or my email, or... well, you get the idea. 

Seth Godin had a post on his blog recently concerning signal to noise ratio.  I wholeheartedly agree.  We put so much unused information into our head that what we could use and often times need is lost in the static around it. From his post:

Until you remove the noise, you're going to miss a lot of signal.

As Switchfoot so wisely said, if you're Adding To The Noise, turn off that song.