In This Issue: October 2006

I spent much of last week with two of my oldest friends from Australia. Phil I've known since we were both four, while Greg was my first ever boss - he was the local milkman - and we all lived together during university.

We headed north, and spent some days hiking through the Fall colours of northern Ontario. I was the driver in between hikes, and we spent quite a bit of time backtracking, as I failed to use the map to my full advantage... (hey, I'm not a detail person .... and as Daniel Boone once said "I was never lost but I was bewildered once for three days.").

So in this Scribbler, I'm looking at times when you might want to "chuck a u-ee" (as they call doing a u-turn in Australia).

Also in this issue:

• Alison Smith looks forward to November 1st and National Stress Awareness Day in her article Stressed? Me? Never! She looks at new standards for measuring stress - and suggests some tips to cope.
• Bill Taylor argues in the Maverick Manifesto that the only companies and leaders that matter are those with the guts to be distinctive and disruptive. Among other things, he offers 10 powerful questions to ask yourself and your organization to check your "maverick quotient".
• Market Place Products of the Month: Free creativity CD; Marketing Qi Teleclass Series
• A quick boast: Get Unstuck & Get Going wins another prize
• "What's going on?": Where Michael's speaking over the upcoming months.
• And if you're interested in other Aussie slang, I've got some examples up on my blog, Possibility Virus

Introducing My Guest Writers

Every month in The Scribbler I feature two hand-selected articles from writers and thinkers I admire. You get a few paragraphs of each of my guest authors' articles, and the link if you'd like to read more.

I met Alison Smith last year when we were both presenters at the European ICF conference in Tonsberg, Norway. Her company, Empowering Manager, works with organizations to... well, just as it says on the label. She's particularly smart about using the body to manage stress, and touches upon that in her article.

Bill Taylor was the co-founder of "Fast Company" magazine. He's just published Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win, which is the result of in-depth access to 32 of the world's most 'creative and disruptive competitors'-organizations that are thriving in the marketplace by rethinking the logic of how business gets done.

Michael's Quick Scribble: How to "chuck a u-ee"

I'm not sure who coined the phrase "the only way through it is through it."

However, it certainly has an attractive grit-your-teeth, plunge-on-regardless-ness to it.

And I think there are times when "going through it" is exactly the right thing to do.

But not every time. Sometimes, "going through it" is like the Charge of the Light Brigade: gloriously reckless ... but fatal.

So when might it be time to retreat, to "chuck a u-ee"?

Here are three possibilities.

1. When you've got old tapes playing

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

It's a question we all get asked - and ask ourselves - when we're kids. Most of the time we have opted for the classics (ballet dancer, fireman, princess :) I've wanted to be all three. In fact, I still do) because at that age, how can you possibly know?

But at the same time, we all seem to get programmed in terms of what and how we should be - behave in a certain way, respond in a certain way, create a certain type of life, and even pursue a certain career.

One of the great things about spending time with Phil this last week, was hearing his story about how he ditched the "old tape" he had playing about being a musician, and found a new direction to follow- that of being a science communicator.

What are the tapes you've got playing about how to think, feel, do, be?

Which ones still are true? Which ones need to be replaced?

(If you'd like some help, check out Dick Richard's book, Is My Genius at Work on my bookshelf.)

2. When you're #2

If you're in the marketplace - either as an entrepreneur or in a big company - what's your strategy of difference?

Too many of us have a strategy and business model that's exactly the same as those around us.

And as most of us are not #1 in our markets, it means we're trying to compete against the leader on their terms, using their strategy. Which, to be blunt, is a plan that's guaranteed to keep you at #2... or worse.

So what do you need to do differently in how you show up in your market? What "moment of truth" in your process to you want to make bigger/louder/smaller/faster? What do you want to eliminate? What new and funky experience do you want to create?

(This thought was inspired by Adam Morgan's Eating the Big Fish, a book on branding and competitive strategy and by Seth Godin's Purple Cow, a paean to difference, and W. Chan Kim's Blue Ocean Strategy, a book on how to create your own market space. You can see them all on my bookshelf.

3. When it's time to do Judo

The key insight of Judo - as I understand it, and I'm not a martial arts sorta guy - is that you use the opponent's energy and momentum to further your own ends.

In other words, when they come at you, rather than pushing back you pull and use their own impetus to nullify the attack.

It's a different perspective on resistance, one that can be far less time and energy consuming.

What are you resisting in your life? What if you stopped resisting and let it into your life? What would happen then?

(This thought was inspired by this Fast Company article.)

"Stressed? Me? Never!" by Alison Smith

Today I defrosted the freezer. I don't want to think about how many years' worth of ice dripped, and dropped away. It had become totally normal to have most of the top shelf occupied by a trainee iceberg, leaving only a tiny space there to make ice cubes, and I had got used to not being able to open the next drawer down at all. An abundance of fruit and veg in the garden has finally led me to get on with the job today to have room for produce in the freezer.

When something builds up slowly like ice in a freezer, it's easy to get used to the small scale irritation of minor inconveniences, so that the whole thing becomes invisible even while it grows. Sometimes it takes a crisis or a compelling reason before we notice the polar bear on the shelf and, more important, do something about it.

In my experience, it can be like that with stress at work. It's unusual that an overload of stress suddenly appears overnight.

Read about the UK Health and Safety Executive's new thoughts on stress - and Alison's tips for managing it.

Market Place I: "Meet the Masters of Marketing Qi" Teleclass Series

This is a great opportunity if you run your own business - or have aspirations to do so...

It's a marketing teleclass series, featuring me and a bunch of smart and not the same old same old folk.

I personally know and admire most of these folk: Marcia Wieder, C.J. Hayden, Chris Barrow, Andrea J. Lee, Kim George, Steve Davis, Milana Leshinsky, Marcy Nelson-Garrison, Suzanne Falter-Barns, Ginger Cockerham, Patsi Krakoff and Denise Wakeman - these are all wise and experienced practitioners who I think are terrific.

Each speaker will be covering a key issue, all of which can help contribute to build your business. I personally will be sharing my viral marketing secrets - secrets that have built my list to over 18,000 people from 132 countries in under a year.

Other topics include: "blogging for dollars", "the best way to get clients", "how to get PR", "creating a wildly successful product ", "how to build your media platform", " how to get JV partners ", "cold calling executives", "getting past gatekeepers," "getting an avalanche of web traffic," and "leveraging the power of groups."

Not bad, eh? And that's only half the topics. Check out the additional topics here.

Each of the speakers are mentioning this to their own list, so over 100,000 people will hear about it. So don't dilly-dally too long: seats are limited...

And this teleseminar is free. Yep, free. That's pretty cool.

Find out the details here.

Market Place II: Fire Sale

I've just discovered 10 CDs of a teleclass I recorded for the International Coach Academy in March 2003 on Creativity At Will. It's a one hour lesson on the three barriers to creativity, and the three core principles that can help you generate idea after idea.

I'm clearing out my shelves, so they're free + $5 shipping and handling. If you'd like to have one, order here.

"A Manifesto for Mavericks" by Bill Taylor and Polly LaBarre

Over the past few years, we've seen the face of business at its worst, and it hasn't been a pretty sight. It has been a dark and trying period in our economy and society - an era of slow growth and dashed expectations.

It's time to rediscover the power of business at its best and to develop a better way to lead, compete, and succeed. The good news: Despite all the bleak headlines and blood-boiling scandals over the last five years, the economy has recently experienced a period of transformation and realignment, a power shift so profound that we're just beginning to appreciate what it means for the future of business - and for how all of us go about the business of building companies that work and do work that matters.

Check out the 10 questions you need to ask if you organization is going to thrive and survive.

A Proud Boast: Get Unstuck & Get Going wins its third book prize

This week USABookNews announced that Get Unstuck & Get Going... on the stuff that matters is the winner in the Self-Help - Motivation category.

That adds to two Honourable Mentions we've already collected this year, one from the IPPYs for Outstanding Book of the Year - Best Design, and one from ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year in the Self Help category.

Woo hoo!

And with less than 500 copies left, time's running out to get one of these beauties for yourself. Check it out here.

What's Going On?

I'm very excited about the upcoming ICF Conference in St Louis (PDF). I'm speaking with Molly Gordon and Jen Louden, and the topic is The Five Unspeakable Truths About Coaching that None Dare Acknowledge. Curious? I give it all away (or most of it) at my blog.

The first Destineering retreat in Whistler is now sold out, but I know there are future ones planned - stay tuned, because I'll announce them here

My next open Get Unstuck & Get Going teleforum is on Wednesday, November 15 at 2pm EST. I'll be talking about Six Strategies to Get the Support You Need. You can register here.

And finally, for my Ontario readers, I'll be running a rare (but beautiful) public workshop based on Get Unstuck & Get Going on December 7th. Email if you'd like to be on the waiting/I'm curious list while I finalize the details.

As you might be able to guess, I love to speak and run workshops or teleforums for groups! Read more about the keynote and workshop topics I offer in this PDF.

Michael Bungay Stanier is the Principal of Box of Crayons, a company that works with organizations, teams and individuals to help them move from doing Good Work to doing Great Work. He is the author of Get Unstuck & Get Going ...on the stuff that matters, a self-coaching tool endorsed by leaders in the coaching and training professions, and creator of The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun, a Flash movie that's taken the internet by storm. He is the 2006 Canadian Coach of the Year. You can find out more at www.boxofcrayons.biz or you can contact him directly at michael@boxofcrayons.biz or +1 (416) 532-1322.

To subscribe to Outside the Lines & The Scribbler click here. If you have any trouble accessing the form, send an email to info@boxofcrayons.biz.

Outside the Lines is distributed on the 2nd Thursday of every month. The Scribbler is distributed on the 4th Thursday of every month. Your contact information is never traded, never rented, never sold.

©Box of Crayons 2006. Box of Crayons is a registered trading name of Maida CC Inc.

*Outside the Lines/The Scribbler is Read in at least 132 countries:
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Antarctica, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belgium, Benin, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Bouvet Island, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, England, Estonia, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Isle of Man, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Macedonia, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, Namibia, Nepal, Netherland Antilles, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Serbia, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United States, Uruguay, US Virgin Islands, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Wales, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe!
Did I miss your country? Let me know!