A Samurai and his smartphone...

The following is the original and the rewrite can be found by clicking here.

Remember how cool it was to be a Samurai swordsman? (Just go with it) - I mean you had this ability that few others could rival, your skill was valued, you were respected and you were important (and dangerous). Then along came the gun and almost overnight it was all gone... not so dangerous except when you were "packing".

So along comes the Internet, then the smartphone and "bam" the value of knowledge for knowledge's sake isn't really that important anymore. I mean, want to know when Louis XIV reigned? -  It's twenty seconds away on your smart phone (from 1643 to 1715 btw). Facing extinction is the person who has knowledge for knowledge's sake... more and more we all have this knowledge at our finger tips, along with greater convenience and connection... the playing field is now equal and in effect we are all Samurais with a smartphone...

So here is one Samurai's story about a smartphone, decision making and risk tolerance.

When I travel, I take a Go Pro and my smartphone to meet all of my memory capturing needs. My last trip took me to Iceland and as expected my portable cameras left me with some amazing visuals and a fine tale to tell. The very last picture I took with my smartphone was of a glacier on which I was hiking and climbing- oh yes, I should foreshadow this by mentioning it was raining. With this picture you see here taken, I put my phone back into my "water proof pocket" and went about climbing and hiking said glacier. 

On the way back to the hostel and with a long bus ride ahead, I settle in and decide to listen to some music, as a smartphone is rather multifunctional compared to a cool sword. Reaching into my pocket I first ask myself why the bottom of my phone is dripping wet, then secondly recognize that my home page is half its normal size and then finally settle into the gut wrenching realization that my phone is wet, possibly ruined and I've now cut myself off from the world as well as everything that is holy! So how did this happen you may ask? Well the water proof pocket only really works when you zip it up fully. (Ugh)

Just so you know Samurais don't throw rabid tantrums or lament to the cosmos as to "why me?", they calmly review the situation, solicit advice from other travellers who have dry smartphones and envision how you can bend the universe to get a box of rice. And get this, ten minutes into the drive we make a pit stop and across the street is a grocery store - 500 Icelandic krona later I have a box of rice and a phone nestled snuggly inside. For those of you asking" why rice"? Well it is a tried and true method for drying things out as the grains of rice absorb water.

So over the next two days the functionality of my phone is restored except for the mechanical home button, which can easily be replaced by the virtual screen version (thank you Dave for helping me discover this). My worst fears have evaporated -  I'm connected with the world again and regained my equalizing smart phone.

Fast forward two months... I'm having a business lunch and all of a sudden my smart phone speaks, and keeps speaking, randomly dials people and plays music. Looks like my smartphone's voice control has become sentient and it's now a contest for the soul of my phone. Periodically for about 15 minutes the voice control takes over, wreaks havoc and then the phone is mine again. Over the next week I work with the friendly and patient people in technical service to reset the phone a couple of times as well as reinstall the operating system twice ... but still I wrestle with the voice control for supremacy. Ultimately though, it's off to have someone look at it where an hour and a half later I'm told it's water damage, the warranty is void and I can either buy a new phone or hope the voice control has surrendered the contest.

So in the end I'm hoping that between having the phone inspected and shutting off the voice control I have prevailed and don't have to spend $300 on a phone.... just incase though, I have an appointment booked in two days to buy a new phone. We shall see.

In all of this, which is probably more reflective of every day modern Samurai life than anything, I am most proud of how calmly I worked through this situation instead of looking to the stars and screaming at the top of my lungs "why does this kind of thing always happen to me!!!" As you know, Samurais don't do that sort of thing.

Oh yes, glaciers really are blue - Who knew?

gpe

It just happened... my head exploded

The following is the original and the rewrite can be found by clicking here.

So I was asked to articulate creative problem solving and outline the process to others so they can understand how it works  -  take the concept, along with my enthusiasm and design a tangible utility that people can understand and execute on... Sounds reasonable.

An example of a problem solving process

Truth be told I figured I needed a couple of days of thinking and rough notes, two days for formalizing a crisp PowerPoint deck and a day for proofing... I'd be ready for the boardroom or the coffee shop. You would think that after all these years I wouldn't be so "impulsive" with my scheduling.

What became apparent very quickly is that good ol' effective problem solving (and it's process) is primarily defined by successful resolution of the problem; creative problem solving seems to creep into the discussion when problem resolution isn't "so successful". Let me also throw this out there - it is very possible that the problem was not solved because of poor execution of the solution, not because the solution was flawed... this just gets better all the time don't you think?  So for this current discussion, and the sake of my sanity, let us assume execution of the solution is not an issue.

So why don't we just start with creative problem solving and just increase the probability of success - it is assumed creative problem solving increases success right? There is something in the word creative it seems... magical and mysterious.

There are a number of problem solving processes that are well defined and can take you through the process of situation analysis, problem identification, solution identification and execution & monitoring (simplified) ... and they work. It's when they don't work the word creative appears. It was this word that threw a wrench in my "impulsive planning schedule" that I mentioned. 

I've delayed the inevitable long enough and now I guess I will have to take a stab at what creative means with regards to creative problem solving... so here goes - "thinking, interpreting and acting differently". And this dear reader is where my head exploded -  as individuals, and business in particular, we want consistent, predictable, constant and straight forward ... oh yes, we are also habitual, change adverse and more often than not do as we are told (and lets not forget all that schooling). Different is really not what we are looking for.

So what does it take to "think, interpret and act differently"?  I've started a list -

• Identify and change belief systems
• Develop a diverse knowledge base
• crush group think
• encourage lateral thinking
• become risk tolerant
• more to come

So let's say, up until now you agree with my train of thought and feel sorry for my head exploding (as spectacular as it was), there is still that looming question which in light the list I started  speaks to the antithesis of how we behave, even with the best problem solving process supporting us... "How do you actually get one to think, interpret and act differently?"

Well it seems like that crisp PowerPoint deck is going to take a little longer and I now have a much larger number of potential blog topics.

Stay tuned.... and thank you for reading,

gpe

Movember - raising the awareness of a fundamental flaw.

The following is the original and the rewrite can be found by clicking here.

I will put it out there and say that there is a fundamental flaw with human nature and most definitely with being a man ...it goes something like this : "that won't happen to me", "I don't have time for being sick so it won't happen", "cancer happens to other people not me", "I don't want to know", "I don't need a map... I know the way" ... "deep down I'm strong; I'm a white knight who will not be knocked off his horse".

Mish-mash this together in any combination you want but men just don't think it will happen to them or if it does... "my super human strength will beat it".

Understand the fundamentals of Cancer.

News "fucking" flash for my brethren... cancer will touch you either directly or indirectly in your lifetime!!! You can not sidestep it,  IT IS A PROBLEM.

Up front I will say my sister, as  my well as my oldest friend passed away from cancer recently and way before their time -  so this is a sensitive topic for me. This is what I know from the experience - it is a disease that is relentless and will take everything away from you without mercy... I also know that the more you know about cancer (see video), its prevention and early detection the more you will be in a position to deal with it if it comes knocking.

So now we get to Movember - here's some quick facts for future dinner party chit chat.

In 2003, two guys from Melbourne, Australia, Travis Garone and Luke Slattery, were having a beer (or two) at the Gypsy Bar when their conversation turned to fashion trends and where the moustache had gone - they joked about bringing it back. As with guys and beer, the conversation led to a "thing", and the "thing" led to a "lets do it", which then manifested itself into growing facial hair and formally supporting prostate cancer as a cause. (I was not there but I am familiar with where two guys and some beer can lead)

• About 1 man in 7 will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime.
• In North America 256,000 men will be diagnosed with prostrate cancer in 2014
• In North America 34,500 men will die from prostrate cancer in 2014

The Movember message has moved away from just Prostrate Cancer to a broader Men's Health message and in the grander scheme of things it is heightening awareness about cancer in general, because as we know, cancer pays little mind to gender, race, creed, religion, political stripes as well as if you are good or bad. It is very equal opportunity that way.

So cancer is a Big Problem - and with all problems, it needs to be understood so it can be dealt with it... here we are back at the fundamental flaw I speak of. 

So Gentlemen, spend a little time understanding what cancer is (and what it isn't), have regular physicals (particularly the Canadians, with our socialized medicine and all), consider donating to cancer research (the cost of a weeks worth of coffee) and know as a community we can keep beating cancer back.

Ladies, if you happened to know any "flawed gentlemen" please pass this on.

gpe