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In the turbulent environments we now face, a quick thank you for reading, contributing, and giving your priceless attention to my work here. It's a privilege! Second, let me leave you with a few thoughts and questions. Happy holidays, everyone.
- I continue to explore Twitter. My current purpose is to inform, help, lift spirits through humor, connect with interesting folks I can learn from, and make relationships with prospective clients. I'm at twitter.com/matthewcornell, and I'd be happy to have you following me. (Related: A Late Adopter's Productivity Experiment With Twitter, Plus Some 140 Word Humor)
- Fill in the blank: ____, unlike a fine wine, does not get better with age.
- What is the role of art during crisis? What does history show?
- What do you call lessons learned that predate an event, i.e, ones learned before it's too late (or before you try something)? Build your ship while sailing? (Related: Some Thoughts From Tracking "lessons Learned" For A Year)
- Fear and curiosity can't cohabitate. Do you agree? I wonder if curiosity pushes us up Maslow's hierarchy of needs...
- Hunch: An unarticulated (personal scientific) hypothesis?
- A micro experiment for you: Pick a strongly-held belief and apply the Five Whys. (Related: Mentioned in Why Every Problem Should Be A GTD Project)
- "You are what you tag." What do your tags (Wiki, Delicious, idea file) say about your life? I realized mine are optimistic and assume some future value. I guess I'm preparing my future self for something, but I don't yet know what!
- All great superhero stories are experiments...or accidents? (Yea, I'm on a superhero kick. Related: The Personal Productivity Encyclopedia Of Superhero Powers)
- What's the relationship between curiosity and attention? I wonder if curiosity is a higher source of attention, as is love. Thoughts?
- Politics as experiment: "Rule one: Never allow a crisis to go to waste ... They are opportunities to do big things" (from Obama Weighs Quick Undoing of Bush Policy).
- I like the expression "sensemaking." This makes me wonder if that's why phone numbers are so hard to memorize: They have no intrinsic meaning. Ditto for faces. This means we have to make meaning and assign it at the time we encounter it/them. Otherwise, they're difficult to retrieve. (Related: How Do You Treat Life As An Experiment?)
- Networking: Avoid "one hand gives while the other takes away." I caught myself doing this when I emailed someone a potentially helpful article, and then asking for something at the end. This not only negated the gift, but also sacrificed a bit of trust. Don't link giving and receiving!
- Productivity wisdom from Dale Carnegie. In his Golden Book I found: 4. Apply these four good working habits:
- a. Clear your desk of all papers except those relating to the immediate problem at hand.
- b. Do things in the order of their importance.
- c. When you face a problem, solve it then and there if you have the facts necessary to make a decision.
- d. Learn to organize, deputize and supervise.
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