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"I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot... and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that's precisely why I succeed."
Michael Jordan
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 08:57 PM
Just reviewed the story behind the development of the mega success RAZR Motorola phone on Fortune magazine.
Two of the lessons cited:
1. Research isn't everything.
Motorola's "human factors " unit dictated that phones over 49mm were an uncomfortable "no no." The RAZR development team went with their instincts and against conventional wisdom.
Remember knowledge will always give the entrepreneur, the personal development enthusiast enough reasons not to act. Choose pure connection - listen to your intuition.
2. Secrecy limits distraction.
The RAZR team was insulated away from the "influence of group think." The result - leading edge, successful product.
My interpretation of this is that this small project team had all the elements of a winning team including respect, appreciation of failure, creativity culture and much more. I have no doubt someone in Motorola are looking at their culture with the hope of duplicating elsewhere within the organisation.
Celebrate failure and follow your instinct - take this narrow path today.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 09:22 AM
"The mother of excess is not joy, but joylessness."
Friedrich Nietzsche
Recent research highighted on this site has shown that too much choice isn't good for your stress levels contrary to popular opinion.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 11:04 AM
Check out our latest Podcast.
It will challenge you to take one "simple" step to geometrically increase your happiness levels.
Enjoy.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 05:02 PM
Thinking of starting a business?
Well should you just go for it - tiger thinking, or play it safe and have a part time job while you are developing the business idea? The latter was referred to recently as becoming a 'chicken entrepreneur!'
Though I can see the merit of working in a job/ part time position in your chosen entrepreneurial field, in the main, I believe focus is your greatest asset and anything that takes away from this, can have a negative impact on the journey.
So don't be a chicken, focus on the dream and watch yourself attract teachers, circumstances and events to help achieve the impossible.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 09:44 AM
Would you like to get your message across the world faster than the speed of sound?
Well here is how?
Researchers at Liverpool University have shown that if a text message is sent to ten people and those ten forward it on to another ten and those ten continue the pattern it would take three minutes to reach 1 billion people.
Imagine reaching 1 billion people for the price of a text!
Quite a marketing opportunity.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 10:50 AM
According to a survey by Monster Ireland, a third of people have fallen asleep on the job with another thirty five per cent saying they found it a big challenge to keep awake.
Good news for Monster Ireland mmmmmmmmmh!
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 09:45 PM
Does your creative ability wither and die with age or blossom?
Analyzing the creative output of leading artists, David Galenson, an economist at the University of Chicago, plotted the relationship between age and the value of their paintings.
He quickly realized the artists broke down into two distinct groups - conceptualists, who did their breakthrough work early in life and then declined eg, Mozart (age 30), Andy Warhol (33), Picasso (26), F. Scott Fitzgerald (29) and experimentalists - who developed slowly, experimented, and peaked later in life eg Twain (50), Cezzanne (64), and Beethoven (54).
Conceputalists rewrite the rule book of their area of speciality.
Experimentalists innovate more incrementally, but actually are more creative over much longer periods of time.
For many the question is not what age - is how to unlock their creative potential at any time.
Get beyond thoughts - learn how to tame your mind, and you will unlock your creative juices.
This summer focus on timeouts in your time off and come back from your holidays renewed, greater energy, focus and clarity.
You can find many techniques on how to calm the mind and get below thoughts on past entries.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 11:53 AM
"Your actions are your only possessions."
Lao Tse
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 09:42 AM
"Be gentle with yourself. If you will not be your unconditional friend, who will be?
If you are playing an opponent and you are opposing yourself - you are going to be out numbered."
Dan Millman
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 02:36 PM
Can your intuitive powers save your life?
Check out our latest Podcast for the answer.
Enjoy!
For past Podcasts:
http://www.kevinkellyunlimited.com/PodCastArchive.html
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 12:54 PM
For many pain is the word most associated with change - the reality is that change can be the catalyst that re-ignites your potential - indeed it can kickstart your entrepreneurial ambitions.
Panasonic recently commissioned research into what people who have the ability and motivation to turn themselves into businesspeople actually do with it.
The main conclusion that surprised Panasonic was how little planning went into the process.
"About 54% of UK businesses start without any business planning at all, so they're often described as accidental entrepreneurs," he says. "Something forces a change in their life, normally it would appear to be in their 30s, prompting them from doing what they're doing, to being an entrepreneur."
These prompts can be redundancy, a geographical move, anything. "We found the spark that makes that happen doesn't necessarily leap from, 'I'm going to do this' to, 'I'm going to make a plan'."
So pain is the shell that encloses your understanding as Kahlil Gibran asserts so the next time it visits your door look for the idea or the associated learning experience and move closer to your dreams.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 08:22 AM
Research published in the Journal of Applied Psychology confirms a team Leader tends to set the tone - positive or negative within a group.
A team from California State University took 189 volunteer undergraduates, divided them into 63 groups of three, and told them they were going to take part in a team-building exercise: putting up a tent.
Before the exercise, a “leader” chosen from each team was shown one of two video clips — “Saturday Night Live” skits or a video clip on torture — designed to induce a positive or negative mood.
All team member's moods were measured before and after the task.
Result: The leader's moods ruled, and negative moods ruled most. If a leader was up, some team members’ moods also improved. But if he or she was down, everyone was down.
Researchers at Purdue University delivered similar findings.
Their team took 43 pairs of undergraduates and asked them to complete a task. One was designated the leader, the other the subordinate.
The leaders, again, were shown movie clips, this time a scene in “Sophie’s Choice” or a scene from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”
Bad moods ruled again, with negative proving much more contagious than positive.
Great leaders tend to infest you with their enthusiasm for their project and lead by example. People will always be more influenced by what leaders do as opposed to what they say.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 12:58 PM
'If you know the point of balance,
You can settle the details.
If you can settle the details,
You can stop running around.
If you can stop running around,
Your mind will become calm.
If your mind becomes calm,
You can think in front of a tiger.
If you can think in front of a tiger,
You will surely succeed.'
Mencius 372-289BC
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 12:04 PM