We are the music makers

Not too long ago, I watched the 40th anniversary edition of the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. As a child, I attended a summer camp, and this movie was the Saturday night feature at the end of a week filled with activity.

The basic plot of the movie is that a candy maker, Willy Wonka, has offered a free tour for five children and their chaperones. One by one the children are forced to exit the tour prematurely because they make some blunder inside the chocolate factory, largely because they don't listen to instructions. Inside the factory are outrageously fantastic designs such as a chocolate river, candies that last forever, and other treats beyond imagination.

In one scene, the remaining children are taken into a special room where Mr. Wonka has developed the technology to take a massive bar of chocolate, teleport it across the room while reducing the size, and have it be available for eating at the opposite side of the room. He calls it "WonkaVision." One of the parent chaperones asks, "Why would you want to do that?"

Mr. Wonka's answer is the source of today's post: "We are the music makers and we are the dreams of dreams."

In yesterday's post, I shared some techniques for brainstorming using self-adhesive notes and an app to brainstorm on your computer. I hope you will check it out or look for your own resources on how to be more creative in your life, both personally and professionally. Modern Mind Mapping by Tony Buzan is another excellent resource, as it introduces mind mapping concepts within the concept of enhancing creativity.

A key ingredient of creativity is more flexibility. You can start today by taking a different route home or to the store or to somewhere. Do things differently and you just may become one of the "dreamers of dreams."

Douglas G Pratt, 2014

Video review of StickyBoard2 app

A few posts ago I summarized a great resource, How to Become a StickyNote Ninja.  Using Post-it notes (also generically known as "self-adhesive notes") are an incredibly useful tool for brainstorming, planning, creative thinking, and storyboarding.

StickyBoard2

A search of Apple's app store will yield several possible apps designed to replicate Post-it notes.  In my video review below, you will see the highlights of StickyBoard2, which comes the closest the experience of organizing notes on a whiteboard.



StickyBoard2 is what I use to plan this blog as well as my food blog, www.EatAtHome.info. 

Posting stats for Personal Change

As I have written about before, collecting and analyzing information about yourself can be helpful in determining future strategic directions both personally and professionally.

This is my fourth year of writing posts for this site.  While I love the idea of posting every day, it has not worked out that way for me in the past as you can see from this set of sparklines, one for each year, and a longer sparkline showing all four years.

Blogging inspiration

In March, I wrote a post about a webinar on blogging.  The featured presenter was master blogger Ray Higdon, who posts regularly on network marketing related topics.  His webinar inspired to reorganize my blog and develop a plan for posting.  Another avid blogger that I follow is Sacha Chua.  She has been writing her "Living An Awesome Life" blog since 2003 and has almost 7,000 posts. 

Future direction

In thinking about the future of Personal Change, I have identified the following goals for the remainder of 2014.

• Post four times per week - Monday to Thursday
• Maintain a posting schedule for planning
• Balance the post categories

 

Whether you write one post a month, once a week, every day, or more, I encourage you to start a blog and experiment with capturing your thoughts and ideas. 

LandFillharmonic

Stradivarius was a manufacturer of stringed instruments during the 17th and 18th centuries.  A few of his instruments are still in existence, and typically sell at auctions for a few million dollars.  These violins, violas, and cellos are prized possessions for the owners.

In contrast, the music instruments used in a particular orchestra in Cateura, Paraguay, are created from trash.  Rather than owned by the world's elite professional musicians, these instruments are played by children who live in a landfill.  These children learn to play the instruments, read music, and perform as an orchestra.  Their successes there lead, for some at least, out of the landfill and to success elsewhere.



 You will be inspired as you watch this video as you see children use what is around them to achieve something more.

Become a StickyNote Ninja - Review

A short history of Post-it notes

Post-it notes, the self-adhesive notes that come in a variety of sizes and colors, were developed by 3M over the course of two decades.  Originally designed to be a strong adhesive, the resulting solution was one that worked as a pressure-sensitive, temporary adhesive.  Serendipitously, one of the research engineers applied the adhesive to the bookmarks for his church hymnal.  Thus, the Post-it note was born, and marketed to the public starting in 1980.

Since then, Post-it notes and off-brand copies have made their way into almost every business and home.  The self-adhesive notes are convenient because they can serve as temporary reminders and bookmarks.  The need has been met, the note can simply be discarded.

StickyNote Ninja

In 2007 Kate Rutter presented at a design conference (UX) on using self-adhesive notes as part of  brainstorming and creative problem solving.  At some point in my browsing around the Internet I came across her website and presentation (links below).  This post is a summary of her presentation, which I encourage you to download and review.

Why use self-adhesive notes for brainstorming?
Self-adhesive notes are designed to stick to almost any smooth surface, they are generally available in any business setting.  People are accustomed to using self-adhesive notes.  While the 3M brand can still be a little pricey, off-brands are less expensive.  The size of these notes (typically 1.5x2.0 inch and 3x3 inch are the right size for one idea or concept per note.  Because of temporary sticking nature, self-adhesive notes are easy to re-arrange and simple to use.

Two ideas underlie the use of self-adhesive notes for brainstorming.

1. Create information by generating new ideas, exploring problems in more detail, and exploring attributes of some topic.
2. Consolidate information by identifying patterns, prioritizing, making decisions, and creating plans.

Basic layouts
There are four basic layouts for brainstorming with self-adhesive notes.

Work space
Self-adhesive notes can be applied to almost any surface.  As such, they will work with whiteboards, windows, doors (watch out for people using the door), and flip charts.  Standing while working on a vertical surface seems to lend itself to the brainstorming process, but you could also use these techniques on a flat surface, such as a table.

Tips for capturing
When writing ideas on self-adhesive notes, legibility is a key consideration as the notes need to be readable later.  Using a chisel-point marker provides the right amount of thickness and font size for reading from further away.  Additionally, when a brainstorming session has been completed, the work can be captured with a smart phone camera, edited, and shared with others as a PDF or image.

Resources
Rapid Problem Solving with Post-It Notes by David Straker

StickyNoteNinja.com

Focus on the Basics

A morning of scales

Recently, someone related a story to me about his recent hotel stay.  He got up early to get ready for the day.  As he was dressing and drinking his coffee, he kept hearing scales being played on a cello from the room next door.  For an hour he heard nothing but scales:  up and down, up and down.  About the same time he opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, so did the scale-practicing cellist.  It was the famous cellist Yo Yo Ma.

When he asked Yo Yo Ma why he needed to practice scales for an hour, Yo Yo Ma replied, "You have to keep the basics mastered."

This is the same advice that I received when I was in 8th.  As a budding pianist, I was enlisted to accompany the congregation during church services.  An elderly lady, Ms. Foote, was my mentor, and frequently reminded to focus on the rhythm, especially the first beat of the measure to keep the song moving, regardless of extra or missed notes.  When accompanying others, keeping the song rhythmically on track will make it easy to get the notes right.

This is a football

This is similar to the classic football story about Vince Lombardi.  Faced with coaching a team with a terrible record of games lost, he gathered the team together, held up a football, and said, "Gentleman, this is a football."  He coached the team to victory by initiating an intensive training program that focused on the fundamentals of football.

A great place to start

The reason that the military places a premium on physical fitness is because military leaders know that physically fit soldiers will have a solid foundation of endurance that will prepare them for missions.

In the movie, The Karate Kid, the lead character desires to learn karate to defend himself.  Rather than teach innovative karate moves, the instructor has the lead character perform mundane tasks like polishing the car and painting fences.  When asked about this, the instructor shows that the physical skills learned by non-karate tasks provided a basic training for karate.

When you're in an unfamiliar or pressure situation, focusing on the basics can help you reorient and focus.  Frequently for me, when writing a post, I'll jot "5WH" on a notepad.  This acronym stands for who, what, when, where, why, and how - the very basics of writing.  On a larger scale, you can always remind yourself of your personal mission or goals when you feel overwhelmed.

Stay Close to the Goal to Score

Every four years the countries of the world come together in the competitive sport of soccer, known outside of the United States as "football" or "futbol."  The Fédération Internationale de Football Association's (FIFA) 20th World Cup series is held in Brazil this year, and started June 12.

World Cup PreGame in Miami

In the week preceding the start of the World Cup, several teams played pregames in Miami, Florida.  This was convenient for my family because we were vacationing that same week in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, about 20 miles from Miami.  We decided to attend the game featuring Korea vs. Ghana.   

Although I have watched soccer on television, this was my first live game.  In the continuum of competitive team sports, I think basketball is the fastest pace and highest scoring.  On the other end of the continuum is baseball which has a slow pace and is typically low scoring.  Soccer falls in the middle.  While it is extremely fast paced, many games end with scores of 0:1 or 1:2.

Ghana 4 - Korea 0

Unfortunately for the Korean team, the final score was little more lopsided.  The team from Ghana focused more on offense, and as a result, spent more time closer to their goal.  More time spent at the goal increases the likelihood of a score, and the Ghana team made four goals while Korea did not make any.  The final score:  Ghana, 4 - Korea, 0.

Life Goals

All of this got me thinking about goals in life.  Are you making offensive plays that continually move you closer to your goals, or are you far from where you need to be?

When I was in college, there was a fellow student from Nepal.  For me, at the time, that seemed like the most remote place on earth and about as far from Chattanooga, Tennessee, as one could get. 

The primary land feature in Nepal is Mt. Everest.  Let's say that I wanted to climb Mt. Everest.  From a practical standpoint that will never happen because I don't have $100,000 to pay for the opportunity to climb. 

If climbing Mt. Everest is my goal, what am I doing to work towards that?  What kinds I activities should I be involved in?  A lot of physical stamina training, losing weight, and building muscle for, what many climbers have described, the most intensive physical effort.  It's likely that sitting in the relaxed setting of Starbucks writing a blog post will not advance that goal.

Well, I actually don't have the goal of climbing Mt. Everest.  But I do have a goal of publishing a book, and writing a blog is moving in that direction. 

Living the Dream

For several years I lived in Nashville, Tennessee.  Nashville, known world-wide as the home of country music, draws people from all over the United States who aspire to a successful singing or songwriting career.  Nashville actually has a much more diverse music scene than just country music.  People come to Nashville to live their dreams, and while most don't make it the level they imagine, they put forth an effort while working as servers in restaurants.

Recently, I relocated to Hot Springs, Arkansas.  Hot Springs is a resort town with a variety of attractions including actual hot springs (the oldest US National Park), several lakes, and a horse racing track established in 1904.  There's something for everyone.

However, when I describe Hot Springs compared to Nashville, there's one big difference.  No one comes to Hot Springs to live out their dreams as they do in Nashville.

Stay Close to the Goal

If you want to achieve your goals, you need to position yourself mentally and possibly physically to be closer to what defines success.  Sometimes this will mean making significant, life-changing decisions.  Sometimes it will mean foregoing a few small extravagances in order to save up for the vacation of a life time.  Wherever you need to be, start thinking - and doing - now to get there.