The Underlying Blog

Social Ecosystems Brought to You by Basketball

Great illustration of the different layers in a social ecosystem:

How We Watch Games

Technorati tags: Kyle McFarlin, Basketball, NBA, Social Ecosystem, Ecosystem, Systems Theory, Mark Hollander

Another climber to scale Mt. Getting Things Done

Over at the 'What's the Next Action' blog I saw a post you'll find interesting, especially if if my Elvis sighting post resonated with you. The author blogged about 5 tools he's stopped using for GTD, and is soon going to be trialing ResultsManager as a potential candidate for his trusted system... hope he finds what he's looking for! Check the below link for more:

Link to 5 GTD systems I stopped using and why - What's the next action

To anyone who follows my blog and is using ResultsManager as their tool for GTD implementation, here are a few top tips:

1. Get your maps in some reasonable order before you start loading projects onto them. It's a house of cards if your map structure can't sustain the weight of your projects.
2. Ties in directly to #1: Take a phased approach to the Gyronix System, because like any life balance tool if you bring too much in too early on, you'll face overwhelm and may come tumbling back the mountain to where you were before.
3. Ties in to #2: GTD is a mountain to be climbed - get climbing! I've often thought the many practitioners over the years have built up a wonderful city at the base of the mountain (think blogs, websites, seminars, etc) to support the GTD climbers. The city is there for a crucial reason: Support. Just don't get so comfortable there you never scale the summit!

Stay tuned: I'll try to tune you into more user stories of ResultsManager, MindManager and the Gyronix System as I see them.

What Ecosystems are You In?

I wanted to put up a quick link to Mark Hollander's videos for the core modules of the 100-Day Plan. You want cathartic and transformative, this is it.  Pay special attention to the piece on Ecosystems: a lot of what people are trying to map are, in reality, Ecosystems. 

For Example: You want to make a map of your industry using the Gyronix System but you can't figure out how your new building fits into it? Or where to put government influence?  Make it an ecosystem map and all of a sudden, you're creating a better visualization by adhering to laws as old as the Earth itself.

If you can see how Mark's ideas will easily have a financial impact on your business, I encourage you to contact him for a consultation. I know I'm richer from my 100-Day Plan.

How to Network Without Being a Dick

I told you I'd be learning about 'How to Network Without Being a Dick' from Mark Hollander in my 100-Day Plan, and I've come down from the mountain to tell you about it.

Okay, storytime- let's start with a definition: The 'dick networker' is the master of the shoddy bridge: you can just picture him/her with a martini in one hand, making airy movements with the other, all while sporting a sunshine grin from one of the far moons of Stepford.  He/she does not build, deep lasting connections (now I sound like eHarmony), but instead builds fake/glossy introductions, card-passes, spins, and then its serving number 83!

According to Mark, you don't want to be this guy/gal: I agree.  But how do you disagree in reality, not just principle?  Let's face it, we're presented with a lot of social scenarios (ecosystems) where the situation is slanted toward networking in dick mode.

The trick is to be different, be maverick.  Look for that person in the room whose eyes convey substantiality and depth.  And then say 'hi', be genuine and LISTEN to what the person has to say.  Take an actual interest in people: they really are better than your Blackberry, and they can intuitively sense when you are engaged in the content they are setting out for you.  Go a step further and don't answer an incoming call while engaged with the person: that's so rare anymore they'll probably do a podcast about what a cool cat you are just for that gesture alone.

The phenomenal thing about building genuine, quality relationships with people is the strength of the bridges you layout.  When I was talking with Mark about the fake networker, the previously mentioned example in my mind that seemed to resonate with Mark is the dick networker builds tons of shaky, poorly structured bridges to others.  They seem and look popular, but the bridges are not stable and/or load-bearing. 

Just think about the kind of life and business you can build on six sound bridges, vs 30 shaky bridges.  And going further, think about the business you can roll across sound footing - some heavy-duty transactions!  On the other hand, think about what could make it acrosss 30 crummy bridges: maybe a few light infantry, but definitely not the heavy cavalry.

There is one drawback to networking in a dick-free fashion, however. The Stepford networker's bridges are brittle but quick to put up.  On the other hand, bridges of structural integrity require time and effort to create and maintain.  So you can't just be out for instant results, you've got to have a long-term, Win/Win focus.  But then it's a lifestyle, not a diet :).

Ecosystems: MySpace, the Infinite Yearbook of the Universe

My work with Mark Hollander on the 100-Day Plan has me thinking about the zillions of ecosystems that exist within the Internet's newest darling, MySpace.  Some thoughts I've had:

I think it fills the same role the yearbook did in highschool: people look through it as a sort of Dashboard for the social framework of their lives. It allows them to make decisions about who they want to be friends with, who they don't and even provides a starting point for romance (yeah folks, that typically starts with looks, and people don't seem too shy about that sort of thing on MySpace).

But it's so much more if we take the analogy further: now the picture of the jock leads to dates to catch them at their soonest athletic event. Now the picture of the cool cats with the rock group takes you to samples of their music and pics of their groupies (I mean fans). Now the pic of the girl or guy you fancy leads to enough information to make a more informed decision about whether or not to take the interest further.

We're scattered enough in mind and location that one place that aggregates the important participants in our social ecosystems (Mark Hollander shout-out again) has become worth its weight in gold, so much so that MySpace, like Ebay and Amazon, has now established itself in the mainstream of popular culture. I just wish they'd up the bandwith so the beast would move faster.

If you have an opinion on the social implications of MySpace for biz and culture I'd love to hear from you.

Mark Hollander Videos

In a recent post, I said to keep a lookout at Mark Hollander's website for 100-Day Plan supplemental materials.  True to his word, Mark has published some great videos that really demonstrate the value of his work.  I particularly liked Working Backwards Means Getting Specific.

100-Day Plan Module: Ecosystems

Recently I took 'Ecosystems', one of the main learning modules of my 100-Day Plan with Mark Hollander, and it really blew my socks off.

My understanding from Mark (Hey Mark, feel free to correct me if I'm messing up) is ecosystems for human beings are the social structures we work, live and play in on a daily basis.  One example of an ecosystem would be a family reunion.  It is its own, self-contained social structure.  But everyone there is also part of myriad social structures outside of the reunion. Take the school principal present at your family reunion, for example.  They would be a member of various ecosystems in the educational, youth athletics, and local goverment realms.

So, ecosystems are overlapping and interconnected.  You walk into a bridge party and you are in an ecosystem - but think about how many ecosystems the people in the room connect out to!  And by scrutinizing the ecosystems you move through, routine situations become puzzle challenges as you attempt to think through the dynamics of the system you are in and the outside systems the people in the room connect to.

Keep a look out over the next week at Mark's website for some cool visuals on ecosystems.

And once you've gained an understanding of ecosystems, it makes sense you'd be curious how to navigate them with the utmost skill.  Keep on the lookout for my next post, covering the brilliantly titled 100-Day Plan Module, "How to Network without Being a Dick."

Framework of the 100 Day Plan

If you've been following my blog, you may have noticed I've been going through a 100-Day Plan with Coach Mark Hollander. The 100-Day plan addresses that nagging, seemingly insurmountable business project that continuously surfaces in your mind to steal your peaceful moments like an invading Mongol Horde.  To catch-up, checkout my posts on sessions 1 and 2.

I've had some questions on what the actual framework of the 100-Day Plan is, and Mark has graciously allowed me to broadcast in living color!  As an added bonus, Mark will have downloadable PDFs at his website later on this summer detailing what I'm about to describe.

The 100 Day Plan Agenda

So you've signed up for a 100-Day Plan, now what?  As a rule, Mark meets with a client once per week for about an hour across a 100-Day time period.  As I've seen thus far and understand from Mark, the framework works as follows:

Sessions 1 - 4

You'll establish a business goal that is realistic and measurable as the main focus for the 100-Day Plan.  The goal isn't finalized for the first 4 sessions, leaving room for the possibility that the goal may evolve or roll-right.  According to Mark the goal is to, "keep on unrolling the ball of string until you find the end tied to piece of paper with your goal on it."

5 Modules

The 5 Modules of the 100-Day Plan have an interoperability about them that gives you the flexibility to progress through them in the most desirable fashion.

• Organization

             Get your infrastructure in check

• Archetypal

  Alliance

             Learn to have command over thinking-feeling-knowing

• Concept of Systems Theory

             Learn to see where you fit into the ecosystems you live in

                  See how they overlap

• Cashflow forecasting

             Learn to generate business projections you feel comfortable with.

• Optional: could be anything you choose

             (I'm leaning toward aquatic karate)

I hope this provides some perspective on the moving parts of the 100-Day Plan.  I invite Mark to post any corrective comments :).

Session 2 of 100 Day Plan ... No Going Back

As I continue to move through my 100-Day Plan with Coach Mark Hollander, I'm noticing that while Mark may have a gentle conversational style, it's about like noticing the smoothness of steel.  Let me elaborate:

In what I now realize was something of a wimp-out on my part in our last session, I asked if I should think about scaling back my ambitions a bit, that I was going after too much too quickly.  And then Mark's calm voice came back and said: "I think you're wimping out."  It hit me: Mark may have a relaxed style, but he isn't going to put up with ANY retreat.  And it made me think, why would I be thinking about going back?  In my guest post at Walter Terry's Taming Project Chaos Blog, I wrote about conquering yourself like the Roman Empire.  Now I was sounding like someone they'd have steamrolled over, and Mark called me on it.

I'm looking forward to learning more about the 100 Day Plan's framework as we go: not sure I fully have my arms around it yet on a structural basis ... more to come.

Session 1 of 100 Day Plan

I've recently embarked on a 100 Day Plan with Business Coach Mark Hollander.   From what I understand so far, my 100 Day Plan is going to help me make major progress on a project that is of importance to me in the professional realm.  Seems like just the right amount of time: short enough to feel immediate but long enough to eat the elephant bite by bite.  For more information on the definition of the 100 Day Plan, click here.

I was nervous going into my first session with Mark.  And when I thought about my nervousness, it wasn't about opening up.  I've known Mark a little while and had no qualms about confiding in him.  What I was anxious about was going into another potential situation where someone prescribes before they diagnose.  You know how it goes: you're paying someone for a professional service, you go to the first appointment expecting to have your thoughts and concerns heard, only to find the professional tells you what you need before they even have a clue who the hell you are!....:(

Thank God Mark wasn't that way.  He has one of the most reassuring conversational styles I've encountered, the type that says to the eternal children-of-road-warrior-question "are we there yet?" -  "it's all going to be okay and we'll be there in 93 days."  I particularly enjoyed his technique of letting much of the initial session be a massive brain dump, fully nullifying my fear that I wouldn't get to portray my situation before remedies were brought forth (After all, you don't want Monistat if you need Prilosec).  Sometimes, you've just gotta get the crap out of your head plain and simple.  To that end, he never interrupts, letting you finish your thoughts.  Further, Mark asks questions in a reassuring fashion that has you venting AND going toward your desired outcomes.

It might sound like I just came from a great session with one of the Crane brothers, but alas, there was a dark side to my session with Mark: HOMEWORK.  But I must say (grudgingly ;), the homework was not only helpful knowledge-wise but moved me toward a better understanding of what it is I'm really trying to achieve.  So I'll get my assignments in on time and look forward to my next session with Mark.