A Random number of tips about life, the universe, and everything

Agility in organizations is fundamentally about people behaving in effective ways.  Yeah... I know those soft topics that most leaders find about as comfortable as fiberglass insulated underwear.  Unfortunately, this most important dimension of business can't be easily quantified, analyzed, or understood via pivot tables.

This is one of those 'people' focused things.  Take it with a grain of salt (it's early and my caffeine serum level is still dangerously low).

This morning I stumbled upon one of those enumerable blogs with truthy sounding tips about how to live life.  Normally, I give them a browse; scan for a tidbit here or there that might inspire a thought, but this time I mostly smirked. It reminded me of one of those obsequious posters that once adorned office walls and inspired an entire genre of (far more entertaining) Dilbertesque 'demotivational' posters.

Now.... I've learned a thing or two about people (at least the one peering through bleary eyeballs at the world this morning) and on the eve of a brand new journey of my own, I used the above as inspiration for my own list.  So, in no particular order (and with tongue somewhat in cheek), here's a few of my own tips about life, universe, and everything mirroring the above blog. 

1. True wisdom and insight comes at great cost (TANSTAAFL)
2. Real power arises from trusting others with yours (knowing whom to trust is another matter)
3. Embrace the fact that most of us are wrong about a great many things - we just haven't realized it yet.
4. Screw library cards - get a Kindle (if you're not scribbling in the margins and highlighting things, you're not really learning)
5. Stop using the word 'respect' when 'courtesy' is what you mean.  (Courtesy is nearly always due but respect is something earned)
6. Think critically - not skeptically. A closed mind gathers no thought (see 3 above).
7. Collaborate and really listen to others to achieve what matters (and stop all the damned fighting)
8. There are many methods that work (The concept of 'best practice' is a myth - there is only stuff that works pretty good so far)
9. Start a movement (the world is full of joiners)
10. Drink your coffee any damn well way you please (and don't hesitate to spit in the pot of those who believe they've figured out the 'right' way for you to drink your Joe)
11. Photoshop your ass off if it makes you happy - save the photojournalism for war orphans and kittens (okay.. maybe not kittens).
12. Read broadly, well out of your area of expertise (but most importantly read)
13. Stop feeling stupid - you're just wrong about a lot of stuff like the rest of us
14. Don't judge people strictly by their behavior - actually stop and try to understand what's going on. That 'slacker' in the office might be struggling with a wife at home with Cancer.
15. Teach something to somebody - we learn most when we teach
16. Inspire others (it's fun to watch the surprise on their faces)
17. Never skip breakfast.  No really... you're mom was right about that.
18. Thrive on just a little, just to prove you can do it (mere survival is for beginners)
19. You're a success for just having won the sperm races. Find satisfaction not in just the big things but in the every day wins (like beating your boss to the good parking spot)
20. Keeping your commitments is important but more important is a) knowing when not to commit and b) communicating your ass off when you realize that you can't keep them.
21. Learn a new programming language
22. Eat more stuff that grows in the ground (try not to get enough protein on most American Diets!)
23. Seek truth from others and offer the same but for Odin's sake remember to use a little tact 
24. Execution is nothing if it doesn't achieve the desired result. Remember Algebra? Cross check your answers dummy.
25. If you can't do a pull-up, so what? It's not important what you do to stay fit - but it's important to stay fit.
26. Everyone likes somebody who will really listen to them empatheticaly. Get good at it.
27. Stay up as late as you like, some of us do our best work when our eyeballs are feeling like their ready to bleed. 
28. Learn how to climb down from trees (climbing up is easy)
29. Buying stuff won't make you happy, but it's a hell of a lot of fun at the time
30. Leave the internet access on your phone, wifi is overkill most of the time
31. Take warm showers... long warm showers - they sooth the body and inspire creative thought
32. Before you get a tattoo - imagine you had the choice to get one when you were five.  How appealing would that Powers Rangers ink be to you today?
33. Avoid using any sentence that includes the phrase "don't take this personally but.. "
34. Instead of finding ways to cheat the system, find ways to change the system
35. Catastrophic failures rarely arise from a single fault - they're nearly always the result of lots of little mistakes that didn't seem like a big deal at the time
36. People who think agility is about process are almost never agile. The world is far too complex and changes far too fast to rely on rigid steps to deliver best results.

And... I'm up way too early this morning.  I'll play with this more later.

Cheers,
J.