Tag: blogging

Mission

An important assignment, a mission is focussed.

It works towards the dream and vision you might have, but it is very much grounded in the real world. It is specific. Many missions may achieve a larger dream or a vision.

If my dream is to sell solar power to the world, my first relevant mission might be to become an accredited environmental engineer, or a solar technician.

A mission is an important task and it has a beginning and an end. It is a clarification of what is important and what is not. Do this, don’t do that.

Guided by the vision, a mission zooms in on the day to day stuff that needs to be executed before a dream comes true.

That’s my take.

 

 

Vision

Vision is the dreaming part. Seeing an ideal future. Looking up ahead at where you want to go.

I don’t struggle with vision as I have an active imagination. I can picture myself in various situations quite easily. What’s harder is to fit this dream into your everyday life.

Thinking about the vision long and hard leads to a refined version. Why this vision and not another? What is the core drive behind this dream?

I would place one boundary on the vision you have. Make the vision about something other than yourself. I think Ego will only get you so far. To complete bigger projects might need a bigger cause, such as community, utility, risk management, etc.

Phone blogging

Writing blog posts from my phone is pretty easy.

I am writing this post on my iPhone and it will not look any different to the desktop posts I usually write.

I can tag the posts, edit and publish direct from the WordPress app on my phone. This means there is really no excuse not to post something each day.

A few short years ago, it was nearly impossible to self publish a piece of your own writing.

Publishing is easier today than ever before.

Planning a project

I have found a useful framework for planning a project. Its origins are mostly from the military. Its application to the business world, and in fact to any dream you may want to fulfil are most useful.

I will be outlining each section and then over the coming days running through what I think each one means practically.

So, the sections/framework:

  • Vision
  • Mission
  • Strategy
  • Tactics
  • Objectives
  • Values
  • Culture

There is an interesting mix of harder and softer stuff in there. Culture and values being softer in my mind than tactics or strategy.

I’m finding it useful to focus and to plan. Something I can always use help on.

 

Ranking wine

What is the best song ever written? The best movie? The best wine? There isn’t one of course. Art is subjective, and yet we always want to package it, rank it, market it. Put it into a little box so that we all know where we stand.

If your wine scores highly in a snooty ranking system (link) does is mean anything? It’s comforting but it doesn’t tell the whole story. Sure, sales will rise and brand value may go up. But there is a problem with forcing a ranking on a product so varied and subjective as wine.

You may want wine for fish or for pizza or for a camping trip. You may want cooking wine or sweet wine or boxed wine for a million different reasons.

With wine, as with all art, it’s not a linear race. The very concept of a single winner is forced.

Insomnia, America, and Tunein Radio

I can’t sleep. Insomnia is hard to shake because the more you worry about not sleeping, the less likely you are to sleep. When this cycle happens I eventually make a call – It’s time to get up and drink coffee.

So here I am listening to my newfound, favourite TuneIn radio station “American Routes”.

This has me thinking about America and American culture. I am not American in any way – I come from Kenya and South Africa, but in many ways America is always on my mind. I grew up on American cartoons, toys, series and movies. Whether it is the brunt of our jokes, our jealousy or our ambitions, America is a place and an ideal that is all over Africa: “Stupid American tourists” “America is keeping us in debt”. “America is killing our traditions”. “America will save us”. “God bless America”.

At a personal level, this relationship between myself and America is at its most peaceful when American music is playing. For the last 20 years, hiphop has taken Africa by storm. But this is the tip of the iceberg. Blues, jazz, soul, folk, country, bluegrass and gospel traditions of America have enriched my life like little else. All merged together into the melting pot that is Rock n Roll, I would feel starved without American music in my life.

 

 

The world is your ostrich – on scope

The world is your oyster. (Or as they say in Kenya, the world is your ostrich). This is a fine saying full of hope and optimism, but how do you know what part of the world/oyster/ostrich to focus on? How do you define scope for your next project?

Scoping your work is probably the most important part. Scope is what lets us understand where to allocate time and resources to a project. It sets the boundaries, and it is very subjective.

How to decide on a focus and a scope of a project then? Stick with what you know. This is hard because the internet and TV can convince you that you know about all sorts of stuff. But to quote Seth Godin: “There’s a difference between being aware of the emergency of the day and having firsthand experience and firsthand empathy for different people in different places.”

Focus then on something which you understand through first hand experience. Perhaps you can show people how to do something (check out my mate Martin’s excellent Vlog series for his art). Or perhaps you know exactly where there is a gap in the market. The point is – take the real, personal interactions you have in the world and grow the project from there.

Avoid inhuman work

Autopilots are inhuman. They take away all responsibility. All tension. This is great if you have to travel from A to B – a well defined path with a roadmap. Not so good if you have to build something great. Something that people need to relate to. Something that needs a response. That needs responsibility and effort.

Any great art comes with humanity built in. That means it has a tension built in. To be human is to be constantly in a state of tension. Light and shade. Contrast.

Think of any great story you have heard. The hero likely wasn’t all good. Similarly you could probably identify with the villain to an uncomfortable degree. If not, there is no tension and a boring lack of humanity.

Will it work out? Despite all the forces against us (think of gravity, atrophy, ageing) we can create wonderful art (think of blues music, Shakespeare, skyscrapers). But it will never happen without recognising the imperfect humanity in everyone. That should be step one.

Step two is turning off your phone and getting to work.

Hospital

Disinfectant, needles, white lights, sickness. As much as we fear and dread going to the hospital, it’s actually a great place to be. A great place to lower the risk of something terrible happening.

My child needs help in the hospital and I’m lucky we have a good one within reach. I’m on my way to see her. Sitting in the Uber putting everything else in perspective.

Hospital hospital hospital – over and over in my head.