Enklings Studio

Tribes

Just finished "Tribes: We need You To Lead Us" by Seth Godin. 

I had a little heads up on this because Seth did a very cool and unique launch event around this book.  Back in August, he started up an invitation only forum on the Internet called Triiibes.   To join, all you had to do was order a copy of his new book from Amazon.  He let in about 4000 people or so and then closed off the invites.  It is a very active forum that has collectively written a couple of e-books on social networks as well as tons of collaborative discussions.  A week before the pub date on the book, Seth sent out a free book to anyone that preordered the book and asked that we give away the book we ordered when it came.  Very cool - this is a guy who walks what he talks. 

The book is a very good treatise on the need for leadership in today's society.  It's also a great primer on social networking and what to do as well as what not to do.  In addition, it's a reminder what leadership is and how best to make it happen regardless of your place in the hierarchy of you job or social group.  Anyone can lead from any position.  That's the new rule in today's hyper-connected society.

I also appreciated his thoughts on selfless leadership.  It can't be about you as a leader.  It's about the purpose of your mission and the people following you.  Without focus on these two, a leader is just a loud person.

You need to read this book whether you lead a tribe, a family, are trying to grow a business or are a part of any organization that has some life left in it.  This will help you understand group dynamics and how to lead.  It will not teach you how to manipulate, however.  You have to want to be a true leader and have a real cause other than just profit for your own pocket.

Pick it up and read it twice.

Pops Blair, 2008

Fun With Flash

Don't have to tools to code the flash itself, but I am having some fun learning to "place"it.  My buds at Rule29 did the flash video for me.  Those guys are amazing!

Pops Blair, 2008

What Half Dome Used To Look Like

Before the glacier came through - it had a face...

Pops Blair, 2008

The Dip

"The Dip" is a cool little book by Seth Godin on knowing when to quit and when not to quit.  The classic line here is that what you were told is not always true and sometimes "winners quit and quitters win."   You just have to know when to throw in the towel and when not to.  This book will help you with that.

Definitely a short recommended read for everyone.

Reading and advanced copy of "Tribes" by Seth Godin.  This guy is crazy smart.

Pops Blair, 2008

Christian Idols

We sang a song in Church on Sunday that I just couldn't bring myself to sing.  The music was beautiful and the sentiment was heartfelt, but I believe the song is evidence of a subtle and worrisome path we are taking.

The 1 in 60 Rule of navigation says that if you are 1 degree off on your navigation, after 60 miles you will be a mile off course.  A very subtle difference can make a very big difference over time.  I believe this is true of how we treat icons in the Church.  The cross is powerless.  Yep, I said that out loud, the cross is powerless.  In fact, Jesus proved that it was powerless by rising from the dead.  He conquered death and the cross.  They were enemies to be conquered and He did it to prove to us that there is absolutely nothing to fear, even death and through His resurrection, life is available for anyone.

So why is this a big deal to me?  When we talk about bringing people to the cross or how the cross has power, it is subtle, but a few degrees off from the truth.  We bring people to Jesus, to his feet, not the foot of the cross.  Jesus has the power, not the cross.  Yes, I understand the sentiment and the brand of the cross and what it stands for as an icon, but the attention to this icon, I believe, will put us hundreds of miles off course in the future.

I'm not rabid about this, nor angry, just concerned.  I still have a Celtic Cross in my garden as an icon to remind me of my faith as the cross on the wall at our church behind the pastor reminds us that the pastor is not speaking from his own wisdom and authority.  In it's place, the cross is a good reminder, but when we give it power, we make it a god.

More idols later....

Pops Blair, 2008

Cutest Picture Ever

No, I'm not just being partial to my own beautiful grandaughter...this is the cutest picture ever!

 

See?  I told you...

Pops Blair, 2008

New Diet

So in honor of the continuing financial crisis, I've switched diets from The Husband Diet to a new diet I'm calling the Economic Diet.

Here's how it works.  It's basic economics of supply and demand.  I have too much of a resource of fat stored up in my body.  This means my supply side is too high and my demand side is too low.  So...(you guessed it) I'm lowering my supply and raising the demand(i.e. eating less and exercising more) to reduce my storehouse or inventory of fat. 

15 pounds off so far....

Yeah, I'm a geek....

Pops Blair, 2008

My Case for None of the Above

So I’ve been asked a lot about the sign in my car and the one on my blog that mirrors my frustration with this election.  Mostly I’m told, “You’re just wasting your vote if you don’t vote for either McCain or Obama.”

Here’s my case:

If you moved to a small town and there was only two restaurants to choose from and you had no choice but to eat out one evening, but you know these are your only two choices what would you do?

Restaurant “D” was a place that spent a tremendous amount of money on the building itself.  Hired lots of chefs and wait people, spent a lot of money on marketing, telling you how great the restaurant is and had lots and lots of great slogan as well as a terrific looking menu with all the choices you liked.  But, they never actually got around to serving you anything.  Not even water.  Just a lot of hype and talk and a lot of money spent on infrastructure, but nothing that really got to your table.  Oh they took your money, they needed your money to survive because the place is so big and so many people to support, but you still didn’t get anything.

Restaurant “R” was a place that catered to the rich and famous who got all the best meals and you were told that as soon as they were done, you’d get your meal.  The place was nicely done and there was a lot of talk about how you’d get a better meal because the rich and famous ate there.  Eventually, because the rich and famous got a lot of expensive meals there, you would benefit from the restaurant having some of that great food left to cook for you.  But, they never got around to serving you the really good food.  In fact, you never even got even water because the rich and famous folks just decided not to leave you anything.   Oh, the restaurant took your money anyway because they give away most of the meals to the rich and famous to get them to eat there, but you still didn’t get anything.

If it were me, I wouldn’t waste my time with either restaurant and if there was no alternative, I would choose None of the Above and just go hungry that night.  If enough people chose None of the Above, perhaps another restaurant would open up and these two would go out of business.  If we all chose None of the Above even for a short time, the Restaurants might notice and make a change for the better.

Lame as it is, that’s my thinly veiled case.  If we don’t stop the Bipartisan madness, we’ll never see real change.

Pops Blair, 2008

ASBO Jesus - Love this guy

 

  

 

 

 

The Ongoing Adventures of ASBO Jesus (anti-social behaviour order - British )

Pops Blair, 2008

We Can Do That? (a link filled posting extravaganza)

Just finished Peter Shankman's book "Can We Do That?" this morning.  I highly recommend it.

Really enjoyed the insiders view of PR.  I've been carrying on a conversation with Peter about the launch of our product, The YETI, (yes, you too can buy a YETI now) getting some confirmation on some of my wierd PR ideas like "EffenThief.com" to get people in the construction trades talking to each other on-line about tool theft. (site is live but not promoted yet, feel free to join and add a story if you like....)

Anyway, the book is a good one if you want to know the inside and out of PR from a PR Guru's perspective.

Peter's company is The Geek Factory based in Manhattan.

Pops Blair, 2008