Outside the Lines
your monthly splash
of creativity and wisdom

read in at least 26 countries

The first snow is falling in Toronto.  It's a great moment - suddenly, things are different.

Some of you may remember ViewMasters, a pre-computer gadget that allowed you to see "in stereo" a world view. It was a little like a pair of binoculars. You put a disk of images in and pressed a lever on the side to move between them. Looking out my window now, it's as if someone's pressed the lever. Autumn yesterday, winter today. (For all you non-Canadians, you can see three different pictures of Canadian snow-bound landscapes here, here and here).

In this month's newsletter, I'm talking about the 20% that makes all the difference.

Like to make a difference to 20% of your family and colleagues? Would they enjoy Outside the Lines? Please forward this (in its entirety please, using the link at the end of the newsletter) to anyone else you think might be interested. This community grows with your help. As a thank you, I'll donate 10 cents for every subscriber to The Nature Conservancy Canada. You can check out the great work they do at www.natureconservancy.ca.

Michael Bungay Stanier
Principal, Box of Crayons

80% off!

What have been the most memorable Christmases/holidays for you?

For me, three stand out:

• Christmas lunch with my family back in Australia. We drove out to Tidbinbilla, a nature reserve about an hour from our home, and set up a table for lunch... in the middle of the stream. Plum pudding, 103* F, wind chimes in the gum tree, and a stream rushing past waist deep.
  
  
• My first white Christmas from a hotel room in Niagara Falls. The falls were lit up with coloured lights with fantastic ice sculptures, and during the day we walked through a blizzard to a greenhouse that improbably had blooms, butterflies and birds.
  
  
• Arriving at 5am on Christmas morning in Agra, India after a 3 day train trip from Nepal. We were first through the gates of the Taj Mahal, and got to see one of the amazing buildings in the world emerge through the mist and the dawn. Our Christmas dinner was a feast of cashews, chocolate and a mango lassi.

In 1906, economist and avid gardener Vilfredo Pareto established that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. Later, while gardening, he observed that 20% of the peapods in his garden yielded 80% of the peas that were harvested. From this macro and micro observations, he formulated the 80:20 rule, the Pareto Principle. Dr. Joseph Juran, one of behemoths of Quality Management in the 1930s and 40s, reframed this principle as the "vital few and trivial many."

A good deal of my work with clients is to help them focus on "the vital few". It's not an easy thing to do. You have to know what's vital, and you have to resist doing the trivial. In work and in life, the challenge shows up by having an often endless list of tasks to be done. But if you have 23 things on your "to do" list, have you really been most effective if you've crossed off 21 by the end of the day... but not done the two things that were the "vital few"?

And likewise for the holidays. Who doesn't feel sometimes that this time of year can sometimes feel more of a chore than a pleasure? Cards to write, families and friends to negotiate, parties to plan, celebrations to attend, presents to buy, meals to cook...

I suspect that much of what we do in the holiday season has crossed the line from sacred ritual to mindless habit. Have you really thought hard about what would create the most memorable and special holiday celebration? What are you doing simply because "that's what you do"? What are the "vital few" elements that, if you gave them more of your focus and energy, would help elevate your holiday celebration?

So rather than wish you a happy holidays, I'd like to wish you a Great Holiday and that you create a time that is truly awesome, memorable and sacred.

Action:

Write down all the elements of your holiday celebration. My personal tradition is Christmas, so my list would look something like this: buy cards; write cards; send cards, go shopping, buy presents, wrap presents, decorate house, find tree, decorate tree, attend parties, plan Christmas eve, look at Christmas lights in neighbourhood, buy nice wine, plan menu, call family, give gifts... you get the idea.

Now, if you could only focus on three elements of that list, what would you focus upon? (For me, it's 1. a special place with 2. family and friends, and 3. conversation over a long and lazy meal).

How can you amplify the best parts of the holidays, so you increase their impact by a factor of ten?

What elements would you like to eliminate altogether? How could you do that?

(The "vital few" connects with topics we've previously talked about. You can review the Art of Saying No [http://www.boxofcrayons.biz/otl6.html], and Great Work vs Good Work [http://www.boxofcrayons.biz/otl7.html]).

Booster Shot!

I'm starting to get some generous pre-publication praise for Booster Shot! Here's what some people are saying:

"A powerful blend of creativity and action, Booster Shot! is as practical as it is provocative. A terrific tool for coaches and clients alike!"
Karen Kimsey-House
Co-founder, The Coaches Training Institute

"This book revitalizes your thinking and shakes you out of 'analysis paralysis', allowing you to create a realistic action plan quickly! ... I feel that Booster Shot! will become as critical a tool to keep on my desk as my computer!!"
Violet Couch
VP, HR, Canada, ABN AMRO Bank N.V.

"Booster Shot! is a clever and innovative tool for getting unstuck and thinking creatively. The first time I used it, I discovered an unexpected answer to a question that had been plaguing me for months. The book's unique format and unusual approach to problem-solving will help you think outside the box to find new solutions and put them into action."
C.J. Hayden, MCC
Author, Get Clients Now! and Get Hired Now!

Booster Shot! is a self-coaching book that allows you to get unstuck and get going on stuff that matters. It combines the deepest principles of creativity and coaching, and it's a source of infinitely renewable possibilities. Because of its unique structure, you can generate 125,000 different possible perspectives with this book to any challenge you might have - and then work through the Action Acceleration(TM) Sheet to commit to doing something about it.

Pre-register now
Booster Shot! will be available in March 2005. You'll hear more about it as we get closer to its release date, and you can register for no-obligation pre-publication specials and information at http://www.getunstuckandgetgoing.com.

Quote

"When personal mastery becomes a discipline - an activity we integrate into our lives - it embodies two underlying movements.

The first is continually clarifying what is important to us. We often spend too much time coping with problems along our path that we forget why we are on that path in the first place. The result is that we only have a dim, or even inaccurate view of what's really important to us.

The second is continually learning how to see current reality more clearly... In moving toward a desired destination, it is vital to know where you are now."
Peter Senge, Business guru

Business models for coaches - new teleclass series

I met some of this month's new readers at a workshop I ran for members of the Montreal ICF chapter last week. Having learned rudimentary French in Australia, they were generously understanding of my need to present only in English!

We talked about creating new business models for coaches, and the eleven levers you can use to differentiate your business model from the crowd. Why bother? A different and successful business model allows you to play to your strengths, attract new people and make more money.

In January's edition of Outside the Lines I'll be announcing the details of a new teleclass series, starting in March 2005, that will work with coaches on how to build their own powerful business model. Stay tuned for details.

Creativity Camp

A number of you have expressed interested in the Creativity Camp (www.creativitycamp.ca), which I've mentioned in previous issues. It's now been rescheduled to January 19 2005. I'll be presenting the opening session, which will help set the day up so it is both inspiring and useful (it's a process you can use every day of your life). Save the date, and sign up.






Michael Bungay Stanier is a certified coach, consultant, trainer and speaker. He works with people, teams and organizations to step forward into possibilities, so that they have more impact and have more fun. You can find out all about it at www.boxofcrayons.biz or you can just contact him directly at Michael@BoxOfCrayons.biz or +1 (416) 532-1322.

Outside the Lines is distributed on the 2nd Thursday of every month. Subscribe at www.boxofcrayons.biz. Your contact information is never traded, never rented, never sold.

All writing (c) Box of Crayons 2004. Box of Crayons is a registered trading name of Maida CC Inc.