What's Woody Doing Now

Ship is My One-Word Theme For 2011

In 2011, I will overcome the resistance.  I will ship.  Seth Godin says shipping something out the door, doing it regularly, without hassle, emergency, or fear makes you indispensable and a Linchpin.  

For me, shipping means implementing our bio-sand filter project, drilling our first water well, and building our prototype vinyl classroom.  Also, I will record those audio- and video-blog posts.

My One-Word Theme For 2011: Commitment | MariSmith.com.

Each year, I choose a one-word theme that becomes my guide throughout the entire year. Something magical happens in choosing just one word: the word helps guide my decisions and also activates the “law of attraction.” It’s as if all that resonates with my intent with the word comes to me effortlessly.

I'm Thankful

I am thankful for all those who support me and other worthy causes that make a difference in the world.  There are lots of causes because the world is full of problems that we can change for the better.  So you should be working on or supporting some cause.  Just open your eyes and heart!

Thank YOU! 

Seth's Blog: A modern thanksgiving.

A modern Thanksgiving would celebrate two things:

The people in our lives who give us the support and love we need to make a difference, and...

The opportunity to build something bigger than ourselves, something worth contributing. The ability to make connections, to lend a hand, to invent and create.

It's NOT for the Money or the Challenge

For me and my work in the Congo, I do the work because of the calling of doing the work (#3) and for the impact it makes on the world specifically the Congo (#4).  And it's interesting work to solve some long standing problems (#6).

Possibly, it's for the reputation you build in the community (#5); to be part of a group and to experience the mission (#7); and to be appreciated (#8).

My work in the Congo is NOT for the money (#1).  It's a volunteer position.

My work in the Congo is NOT for the challenge (#2).  Although, Congo is one of worst places in the world to do business, it's no fun.

Again, I agreed with Seth Godin.

Stop Thinking Others Are Dumb

Here are two signs when it's time to change the approach to an old problem.  Either when we think last person was dumb or when we think they were not trying hard enough. 

Seth's Blog: Our normal approach is useless here.

Perhaps this can be our new rallying cry.

If it's a new problem, perhaps it demands a new approach. If it's an old problem, it certainly does.

Or Maybe It's Because

 

SHENPA OR NOT!!  I'M SCRATCHING THE ITCH!  I don't see the big deal of over TSA's body scanners.

Or maybe it's because I am man.  Someone touching "my junk" or me showing my junk would not upset me.

Or maybe it's because I have lived in Europe where nudity is not a big deal.  I have sat in co-ed sauna fully naked and the killing heat was the only thing on my mind. 

Or maybe it's because I flew a Pan Am flight from Germany just months before Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed out of the sky.

Or maybe it's because I have been in dangerous parts of the world where being an American is sometimes a liability.

Or maybe it's because I don't have wings and can't fly myself.

Seth's Blog: Groping for a marketing solution: TSA and security theater.

There's plenty of controversy about the new full body scanners that the TSA is installing at airports, and plenty more about the way some TSA agents are handling those that choose to opt out.

The heart of the matter comes from the fact that the TSA often doesn't understand that it is in show business, not security business. A rational look at the threats facing travelers would indicate that intense scrutiny of a four ounce jar of mouthwash or aggressive frisking of a child is a misplaced use of resources. If the goal is to find dangerous items in cargo or track down Stinger missiles, this isn't going to help.

Instead, the mission appears to be twofold:

1. Reassure the public that the government is really trying and

2. Keep random bad actors off guard by frequently raising the bar on getting caught

Linchpins are Unreasonable, too

Linchpins are indispensable.  I believe a linchpin must be "unreasonable", too.  And you have to create an "unreasonable" product or service.

The book, "The Power of Unreasonable People: How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets That Change the World", drove home the point.  I was so impressed that I gave the book away.  I JUST had to pass it on in the Seth Godin's tradition.  (Seth, what are we going to do with Kindle books?)

Muhammad Yunus is a linchpin just like Steve Jobs and Sir Richard Branson. 

Seth's Blog: Unreasonable.

All that succeeds is the unreasonable.

You can get my attention if your product is unreasonably well designed, if your preparation is unreasonably over the top, if your customer service is unreasonably attentive and generous and honest. You can earn my business or my recommendation if the build quality is unreasonable for the intended use, if the pricing is unreasonably low or if the experience is unreasonably over-the-top irresistible given the competition.

Response to 'Moonshine or the Kids?'

Nicholas D. Kristof, a Pulitzer Prize winning author of the New York Times and co-author of best-selling book Half the Sky, wrote about the ugly secret of GLOBALLY poverty.  That is, the poor spend a higher portion of their meager income on alcohol, tobacco, and others.  Also, they spend less on their children education, health, and others. 

Duh!  Mathematically when you make less income, the choices that the poor make or MAGNIFIED. 

It is fact and true.  And it's universal and does not just apply to the poor in Africa, the Republic of Congo (Nick traveled in the other Congo), my Congo, or the inner city or rural areas of the US. 

I think the one of the root causes of this errant spending is lack of a vision of the future.  Frankly, I have NOT seen it in rural Congo.  But I am sure it happens everyday throughout the world where the poor do not see a chance of breaking the cycle of poverty.  They can not see beyond today.

In many situations, the Congolese poor bank and invest in their children's prosperity.  It is their living retirement plan or long term health care insurance.

I agree with Nick that women or mothers spending (or savings) habits are better than their men and husbands.  Also, I agree that most microfinance plans help the poor (especially women) focus on savings.  It forces them to think about the future and develop a vision of the future.

My vision of the future is that the poor develop a vision of a brighter future for themselves, their families, and their communities, and their countries.

Op-Ed Columnist - Moonshine or the Kids? - NYTimes.com.

There’s an ugly secret of global poverty, one rarely acknowledged by aid groups or U.N. reports. It’s a blunt truth that is politically incorrect, heartbreaking, frustrating and ubiquitous:

It’s that if the poorest families spent as much money educating their children as they do on wine, cigarettes and prostitutes, their children’s prospects would be transformed. Much suffering is caused not only by low incomes, but also by shortsighted private spending decisions by heads of households.

That probably sounds sanctimonious, haughty and callous, but it’s been on my mind while traveling through central Africa with a college student on my annual win-a-trip journey. Here in this Congolese village of Mont-Belo, we met a bright fourth grader, Jovali Obamza, who is about to be expelled from school because his family is three months behind in paying fees. (In theory, public school is free in the Congo Republic. In fact, every single school we visited charges fees.)

Is There Really No Difference?

My marketing guru, Seth Godin, posed the following scenario below. 

Seth's Blog: Fear of philanthropy (avert your eyes).

Peter Singer is famous for posing a stunningly difficult question, paraphrased as, "If you are walking by a pond and you see a child drowning, do you save her? What if it means ruining a very fancy pair of Italian shoes?" Okay, if we assume the answer is yes, then why not spend the cost of those shoes to save 20 kids who are starving to death across town or the world? There's really no difference.  Or by, extension, invest in research or development that solves a problem forever... The issues are proximity and attention.

I agree there's really NO difference.  I would add compassion to his list of proximity and attention.  

READING Seth's Blog: Phoning it in

It's showtime!  Go for it!  Everyday is your Olympics' final.

Here's a gentle reminder for me.  I need to work more from the heart and NOT from the head!

Seth's Blog: Phoning it in.

This was sort of shocking, at least to me:

I was talking to a religious leader, someone who runs a congregation. She made it clear to me that on many days, it's just a job. A job like any other, you show up, you go through the motions, you get paid. I guess we find this disturbing because spiritual work should be real, not faked.

But isn't your work spiritual?

I know doctors, lawyers, waiters and insurance brokers who are honestly and truly passionate about what they do. They view it as an art form, a calling, and an important (no, an essential) thing worth doing.

READING Seth's Blog: The least I could do

We like more.  Because more is better. 

Seth's Blog: The least I could do.

One way to think about running a successful business is to figure out what the least you can do is, and do that. That's actually what they spent most of my time at business school teaching me.

No sense putting more on that pizza, sending more staff to that event, answering the phone in fewer rings... what's the point? No sense being kind, looking people in the eye, being open or welcoming or grateful. Doing the least acceptable amount is the way to maximize short term profit.

Of course, there's a different strategy, a crazy alternative that seems to work: do the most you can do instead of the least.

Radically overdeliver.

Turns out that this is a cheap and effective marketing technique.