If you don't know about Seth Godin, you need to. He writes fun-to-read books that are poignant and practical for anyone trying to work and be happy, or in other works, anyone or any company trying to market themselves or a product and enjoy doing it. The first of his books that I read was Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable. The premise being that you (an individual or a company) will not be noticed or remarked about, if you are like every other cow in the pasture. A Purple Cow - something new, different, and refreshingly authentic - now that is remarkable!

Here is a complete list of books by Seth Godin.

And, you should subscribe to his blog because he posts almost everyday short provocative ideas that help the reader get really honest about what you are doing and how. Here is his most recent post about goals.

The thing about goals

Having goals is a pain in the neck.

If you don't have a goal (a corporate goal, a market share goal, a personal career goal, an athletic goal...) then you can just do your best. You can take what comes. You can reprioritize on a regular basis. If you don't have a goal, you never have to worry about missing it. If you don't have a goal you don't need nearly as many excuses, either.

Not having a goal lets you make a ruckus, or have more fun, or spend time doing what matters right now, which is, after all, the moment in which you are living.

The thing about goals is that living without them is a lot more fun, in the short run.

It seems to me, though, that the people who get things done, who lead, who grow and who make an impact... those people have goals.

The thing about setting goals is that it starts with honest assessment and reflection. You have to critically look and honestly state where you are. This does not include defending how you got there or why you are there. Just state where you are.

Next, you have to decide where you want to go. What placement, position, and quality of service for your organization makes sense for your customers two years from now, five years from now? This step is often short changed because the people crafting the vision get mentally, intellectually, and emotionally bogged down by thinking and spreading the idea that it sure will be hard work to get there from here. It is easy to hear: that's a lot of work! Mr. Been-Here-A-Long is not going to go for this! Can't we just make a few spruce-up type fixes and call it a day? - (as if they customers are so dumb that they wouldn't notice!) When this sort of sabotage happens in the visioning process, you might as well just quit because the process is so severely tainted that it is not worth finishing because it is not true to the mission of the organization. It has been adulterated by the I might fail and it sounds like I will have to change and work harder disease.

If you get get through the honest assessment and the imagining the future parts, then your goals become clear: What do I have to do to get from point A to point B? What resources - financial, intellectual, human, mindset, etc - will I need to get there? Who shall lead this initiative and in what ways are they going to be measured and held accountable? The process has lots of components, but its an elephant you can eat, one bite at a time.

Vatican Goes Techno

In a recent post, Jeff De Cagna of the Principled Innovation blog, writes about the Vatican joining the social media revolution. He asks, simply and provocatively, "If the Vatican can do it...."

It seems that the Vatican's got its on gadget and web designer in Reverend Paolo Padrini who has written an application for the iPhone that downloads the liturgy, in seven languages. The application is called iBreviary. The daily prayers, daily mass, and other special prayers are available at a touch to catholic priests and believers around the world.

The liturgical application, iBreviary, costs $1.10 and is available in the iTunes store with free updates. The proceeds from the sale will go to charity.

MSNBC reports that the Catholic Church is using social media technologies as a means of bringing its message to the world. Monsignor Paul Tighe, secretary of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Social Communications, says the Church "is learning to use the new technologies primarily as a tool or as a means of evangelizing."

Even Pope Benedict XVI is in on it. During last summer's World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia, he sent out mobile phone text messages citing scripture to thousands of registered pilgrims — signed with the tagline "BXVI."

The Catholic Church is arguably one of the largest global organizations around. And, they have a stout reputation for being extremely conservative. Yet, they have a committee, the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, creating and selling their message via downloads. Priests, even the Highest Priest, are texting and using iPods.

When is the next meeting of your organization"s committee on social media and when will its app be available? I guess we should pray for those with their heads still in the sand.

Transformational Experiences

In a recent post I mentioned that Think Fun was transforming the way children think. If you are interested in creating transformative experiences then you might be interested in Charles Halton's Never the Same: How to Create Transformational Experiences. Download a .pdf file via changethis.com

Here is a quick summary of the 18 characteristics that are essential for creating transformational experiences:

1. Inspire Passion or Go Home
2. Create Controversy
3. Be Different
4. Be a Social Butterfly
5. Repetition is the Mother of All Learning
6. Humans are the Same
7. Humans are Different
8. Embrace Paradoxes
9. Repetition is the Mother of All Learning
10. Pass Along Methodologies
11. Don’t Be a Slave to Fashion
12. Be Inefficient
13. Produce a lot
14. Humiliate Yourself
15. Cultivate an Atmosphere of Trust and Safety
16. Stop Thinking You Know Everything
17. Be a Master of Surprise
18. Make it Clear

7 things Meme

I’ve been tagged by Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach of 21st Century Learning to contribute to this meme. Many thanks to fellow Twitterer @ckyle who let me know I had been tagged. The idea is that you share 7 things about yourself that would be unknown to your readers.

1. I grew up the middle child of 5 kids. I think it made me a natural calm and shrewd negotiator.
2. I attended the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, intending to become a diplomat. My parents overruled my plans and I was too immature to realize I had the power to do it anyway.
3. I finished all of my course work for a Masters in Creative Writing but had a three year bout with writer's block that torpedoed my thesis efforts.
4. I wish to return to Washington, DC to live.
   
5. I have twin girls who are now almost 18. People who say "I always wanted twins" are obviously naive.
6. I have a 15 year old son whose severe dyslexia is the reason I am passionate about highly functioning and relevant schools.
   
7. I believe the work I am doing is my calling

Now I am suppose to tag 7 people who will do the same thing I just did.

I tag:

Jürgen Fauth

Carson Baker

Tim Tyrell-Smith

Seth Godin

Dan Pink

Andrew Galasetti

Scott McLeod

Think Fun

Over the holidays, we did a little straightening up around the house and uncovered what might have been the toy of the season. Curiously, it was a set of games and puzzles that had been a Christmas gift years ago. All the puzzles were from a company called Binary Arts. A search on the net revealed that Binary Arts is now known as Think Fun. That is exactly what these games are about. Think Fun claims a mission to ignite brains. 'Think Fun games teach children to become better problem solvers, transforming the way they think.' Check out the Think Fun website or the Think Fun Education website